# Enjoy bluewater sailing?



## kdurant (Oct 26, 2004)

Interested in participating in the Southeast''s fastest growing bluewater event of the year? Contact the Charleston to Bermuda Race office at (843) 722-1030 for more information. The C2B Race has been developed to give every sailing enthusiast, from the die hard racer to the family crewed adventurers, a chance to participate in a 777 nautical mile challenge of navigational skill and true bluewater sailing. The race departs Charleston Harbor, Saturday, May 14, 2005 setting sail for the beautiful island of Bermuda. We are a relatively new blue water race, attempting to appeal to a broad scope of vessels. The Charleston to Bermuda Race Committee would like to offer individual fleets for classes entering five boats or more, to include fleet trophies. The C2B Race is a great way for you, your family, and friends to experience the open ocean. Call the race office to find out how to register or visit us at www.charlestontobermuda.org. We don''t want anyone to miss this event.


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## starcresttoo (Aug 30, 2004)

I am not so much into the racing aspect as I am in to cruising.I sailed from california to hawaii and back 3 times mostly single handed.I am now in south florida ona 30 foot full keel fiberglass sloop and am considering a "shakedown"cruise to bermuda and back.I need to know the best time of year(probably after hurricaine season)to do this and typical routes from the south east florida coast.I am new to this area but not new to deep sea offshore long distance single handed voyaging.I would venture to guess that a typical route would be to go north to the appropraite lattitude then head east.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Eric:

The basic routing is as you imagine it (tho'' shaped by the frontal systems as the passage unfolds), but the timing isn''t. The run to Bermuda is subject to frontal systems passing regularly, and the deeper the lows sweeping across N America, W to E, the deeper into the Caribbean the fronts penetrate, and the stronger and colder the winds. Thus, waiting until the end of November, you are lining yourself up for the late Fall frontal wx systems while enroute. Perhaps not as big an issue as if you were headed there from New England, but still problematic with the clocking winds, cold temps and heavy air. (I imagine it to be like some departures from SF Bay enroute to Hawaii for the first 4 or 5 days). So...too soon and you risk a tropical storm; too late and you bounce and shiver your way to ''tropical'' Bermuda.

The late Spring period is preferred but offers its own dilemma. Spring wx patterns can still have lots of deep lows, e.g. in both 2003 and 2004, Spring ''lasted longer'' than normal and so there was a lot of frontal weather most boats had to wait out. Then the snag is that you are arriving in Bermuda with one eye already on the calendar and its upcoming storm season. Bermuda is a wonderful place and quite cheap to visit by boat (assuming you provision well); it deserves more time than most boats feel they can give it.

While you''ve probably used SSB Nets on your Pacific passages, you may not know about SOUTHBOUND II, the call sign of Herb Hilgenberg who conducts a daily HF wx net for boats all over the Atlantic and enroute the Caribbean. (Yachts, tugs, commercial ships, F/V and R/V; it''s quite amazing). No one knows that stretch of water like Herb and, if you have a SSB aboard, you might want to consider listening in, or talking with him while underway. His service is free, but most of us like to send a small donation and a postcard of thanks; if you saw his elaborate station, you''d appreciate how much effort and investment he makes on our behalves.

www.rhadc.com/yachts.htm for an extensive Yachtsman''s Guide for sailors voyaging to Bermuda; lots of good poop in there

www3.sympatico.ca/hehilgen/vax498.htm is Herb''s website

www3.sympatico.ca/hehilgen/weatherman020309.html is the text of Peter Jennings ABC News story about Herb; nicely done

Jack


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## starcresttoo (Aug 30, 2004)

thanx for the info.while its still quite some time away,I have that much time to prepair for it.I tell you, no matter what time of year, it cant be as miserable as the first 600 miles back from hawaii.The only way to describe it would require 4 letter words.as per late spring,the timing is the same as going to hawaii.but its 2500 miles there and 3500 miles back.all told some 6000 miles of provisioning for I have done on vessels 26 and 28 feet long in a time period of 3 months.as my current boat is 30 feet long,I would like to make this trip a round trip to last no more than 5 weeks there and back.as I have said this will be a shake down cruise for a much more extreme voyage


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Eric:

"I would like to make this trip a round trip to last no more than 5 weeks there and back..."

Then I''d recommend a target departure date of 5/15, which leaves a tad of slack at either end while you wait for a front to pass Florida or the same frontal passage (and hopefully, not a tropical disturbance) to exit the Bermuda area).

Jack


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## starcresttoo (Aug 30, 2004)

sounds familiar.tell me more about the return trip.is it a 180 back or do I have to go a different direction first.Im willing to wager depending on the location of the high pressure system I can take a loop to the south then west.when you refer to "the deeper the lows"you are referring to the jetstream that carries these lows.And that jetstream does the same kind of ''seasonal dance ''with the atlantic high that it does with the pacific high


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Eric:

"tell me more about the return trip.is it a 180 back...? Im willing to wager depending on the location of the high pressure system I can take a loop to the south then west."

The routing back is determined somewhat the same as the one over in the sense that the frontal systems and a turning point around the N Bahamas will shape your course. However, the Stream can play an extra card on the return since you''ll be opposing it as you cross and then hug the shore for your last leg S. As for one dominant High, that would be the Azores High and is influential if continuing E beyond Bermuda enroute the Azores but the SE USA high pressure zones fluctuate more over time.

"when you refer to "the deeper the lows"you are referring to the jetstream that carries these lows."

No. I meant to refer to the fact that some low pressure systems have a lower (deeper) pressure, which in turn generates stronger pressure gradients and so stronger winds. And while the jetstream does have an influence on these systems, you''ll find LP systems stacked up against one another on occasion and so influencing one another, and also being influenced by the strength of adjacent highs. It''s not cookbook, which is one reason why folks like to at least listen in to SOUTHBOUND II even if they only carry a receiver.

Jack


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