Med Bound 07, First Leg

Florida to Bermuda

Day 1, Monday May 28, Memorial Day

Beginning L and L. 26 08 N, 80 06 W

Partly cloudy, light rain occasionally, temperature around 85 degrees, air conditioning on.

Departed Ft. Lauderdale’s Port Everglades 1420, accompanied by 8 other Nordhavn yachts, 40 to 62 feet.

Went through a photo drill with helicopter, first with boats in single file running down the port’s ship channel, then in a column of three boats wide and three boats deep.

On board the chopper was Jim Lieshman of PAE, and PAE’s photographer, taking hundreds of shots of each yacht individually and groups. See some of the photos at www.nordhavn.com, then Med Bound 07.

We turned north and ran up the middle of the Gulf Stream. Rough at night with remnants of the past week of north winds. Capt. David caught one small mackerel.

Day 2. Tuesday, May 29. Position at 1200 hours- 28 44N, 79 38W.

173 miles in 22 hours

Fishing by 0700. Two lines out. 3 25 pound Mahi-Mahi, 5 pound barracuda. Two heavy strikes lost. Fish for lunch!

Mostly sunny and clear. Continued rough in Gulf Stream, 4-6 foot head seas. Winds east 10-14.

Esther slept for the first time this afternoon. Dennis late this evening.

Day 3, Wednesday May 30. Position at 1200, 29 57N, 77 16W. Miles traveled last 24 hours- 169. Total miles to date- 342.

Seas flatter after a rough night and early morning. Turned east bound for Bermuda about 850 miles away. Left Gulf Stream and good fishing. We are resting on our laurels after a great day yesterday. We are planning on producing a “Fishing Techniques” video, and have confirmed orders from several other boats in the group.

During the night the vessel The vessel Downtime had to turn back to Florida after incurring a leak in both stabilizer hydraulic rams. Eight vessels now in the fleet.

Day 4, Thursday May 31. Position at 1200 hours 30 32N, 74 07W.

Miles in 24 hours- 172, total accumulated miles 514.

Seas 2-4 swells, winds E5-10. No fish taken. Two other boats took two mahi-mahi using our advice. Video sales going well. We start production tomorrow.

Un-predicted east winds at as high as 20. Moderated by around 5PM. Still no fish for Salty Dawg. Late on Thursday afternoon it got rougher and rougher, up to around 20 east.

Around 6PM we boarded a 20 pound wahoo, the first fish in two days.

Seas flattened out during the evening and we had a good ride for the night watch.

Early Friday 4 lines were set by 6AM and we were rewarded with another 25 pound wahoo, then a HUGE fish.

The fight took 50 minutes to get it to the swim platform. Dennis set the hook on a cedar plug, gave Dave the rod and he fought it for about 15 minutes before he tired faster than the fish.

Dennis took over and continued the fight for 35 more minutes.

We finally got the fish to near the swim platform where we could just see it. When we realized it was a marlin, Dennis went out on the swim platform to bring the fish a little closer for a photograph prior to cutting the line when it broke the leader.

Dennis estimated the fish at 6-7 feet and 200 pounds. Later we decided the fish was most likely a swordfish as it never jumped at all, but sounded deeply every time we got it close to the boat.

After the exhausting fight we decided since we had no more freezer space we’d pull in the lines and relax for a day or two. Needless to say the Salty Dawg has a well deserved as a fish factory.

Extensive VHF conversations took place after the marlin episode with Dennis advising the relatively less successful rest of the fleet on techniques. Of course the whole event drove up the demand for the video which is under production by Esther and Lowie.

Day 5, Friday June 1.Position at 1200 hours- 31 05N, 70 59W.

Miles in 24 hours- 165, total accumulated- 669

We stopped fishing after the swordfish, as we were too tired to pull in anything else first, second we were out of freezer space, and third, we had dropped 5-6 miles behind the fleet while trying to capture the fish.

Later that afternoon, Rally leader Bluewater finally got the urge to fish, reported a hit and fight underway. A few minutes later they reported catching and releasing a sea bird! New Frontier had a marlin hit, with lot’s of jumping, and finally a release.

Nice full moon for the night’s passage, relatively calm and good sleeping! No fishing as we don’t have any freezer space. According the the weather forecast we are either just going to miss a weather window closing event or just get caught in a bit of the most recent tropical storm, Barry

Day 6, Saturday June 2. Position at 1200 hours- 31 05N, 70 59W

Miles in 24 hours- 179, total accumulated- 848

Changed ship’s clocks at noon.

Saturday afternoon and evening were uneventful. The rough water earlier predicted did not materialize, but is expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon, hopefully after we are tied up.

Started fishing again around 6 AM about got no hits as we approached the shallow waters just off Bermuda. Arrived Royal Bermuda Yacht Clubs docks around 12:30 Sunday afternoon.

We willl post mileage, speeds, and fuel consumption when we refuel in a few days .

Monday June 4, 2007.

Esther and Dennis spent the morning cleaning up boat. We transformed Salty Dawg from a fish killing machine to a yacht in about three hours.

Today we add another couple moving on board for a few days as the boat they were on was expecting other guests who needed a berth. By another of boating’s often coincidences, they recently bought the boat of another old friend.