Keewaydin's Travels

Back in the U.S of A

2007-08-15T04:57:00.001+02:00

17 Days from Madeira...3 low pressure systems and 2 Gales later, we are Here. We "Arove" at 0730 Hrs on Monday August 13th. We are in Seal Harbor, Maine. we anchored in Bar Harbor for the first 2 nights back and cleaned a little salt off the boat, pulled out a few wet things and dried out. I have posted a new photo album of our return trip on the left hand side of this page. please enjoy! cheers

NEW PHOTOS

2007-07-10T14:27:00.000+02:00

Well, I thought this would get you attention!........ That is actually a pigs foot sticking out of the garbage left on the dock in Valencia. Spaniards love their cured Ham. The new photo album to the left is what was taken on Tressa's Camera. This means that the pictures are of the evening shots and dinners out when i would leave my camera at home. We had a great time traveling together and we got to see some amazing things. Her first Sailing Regatta was the America's Cup, so that one might be tough to follow up back in Annapolis, but she really got into the competitive spirit of the event. She is back in Maryland now, and We are departing on Keewaydin from Split Croatia bound for Maine, USA. cheers

Travel To Croatia

2007-06-30T08:59:00.000+02:00

Here we go. One week of our trip left and we have some great plans for Croatia. we will actually be trying to meet up with some friends that are coincidentally traveling via sailboat through the islands at the same time. We are looking forward to our stay in Dubrovnik, at the Hilton Imperial. This should be a nice location. We will post as much as possible. cheers

GAUDY

2007-06-28T19:32:00.000+02:00

Well, literally this is what it is all about. "gaudy" in our English tongue meaning overly ornate comes from this man's handiwork. Antoni Goudi is Catalonia's most famous Architect, he has also got a very unique sense of style. Please open up the photo albums to the left with his name on it to see the pictures we took of the Sagrada Familia and one other building in the city. I attempted to capture not only the individual pieces that Litter the Facade, but the whole construction site that has been in constant work since its groundbreaking ceremony in 1884. The estimates for completion are around the year 2026. That is 100 years after the Architect's death. You can read more about him in the following link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD

Back in Barcelona

2007-06-28T19:20:00.001+02:00

So, Back here in Barcelona for a few days to take in some of the Catalunyan city sites. We have been on foot and are very surprised at how accessible everything is. Our spanish was just getting good enough to confuse the valencians, now we are playing mute with the Catalunyans. The Spanish is different enough. This City is much cleaner than Valencia, and much busier. You will see some amazing pictures of the street troup of break-dancers. They performed for almost 10 minutes, and some of their acrobatics were truely amazing. Looking at this picture to the right you will see that he is fully off the ground and if you think about how he got to this position, it will truely boggle your mind. We have toured the Old City of the Gothic Neighborhood, seeing many churches. The city is a mix of very old and very new. Tressa has found some nice shopping and I found a barber. Cheers.

Now the competition gets good!

2007-06-27T13:00:00.001+02:00

A RACE OF EMOTIONS (June 26, 2007) This America’s Cup just keeps getting better, and more interesting. Tuesday's contest was a race of emotions for the 34 sailors on the two yachts. The lead changes were frequent and dramatic. This was one of the best races in the 156-year history of the America’s Cup. And we are a long, long way from deciding the winner. Both teams were at times brilliant, and at other times sloppy. In the 6.5 to 9.2 knot wind range, there was little speed difference, upwind or downwind, between these boats. The waves out on the race course were huge, confused and nasty. It was a tough day for the helmsman. At one point on the first windward leg Alinghi’s helmsman Ed Baird looked over his shoulder at Emirates Team New Zealand surging into a big lead and uttered (expletive deleted) and thrust his head down. He looked mighty frustrated. Not a good thing so early in a race that promised a lot of wind changes. Alinghi’s superstar tactician, Brad Butterworth, calmed Baird down and the team went to work. -- Gary Jobson, read on: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/07/gj/#Race3

Tied in Valencia

2007-06-24T22:02:00.000+02:00

We have been here 2 days watching the 32nd Americas Cup. What an Event!!!!!!!!!!!!! we have been guests of Tucker Thompson after racing at the Foredeck Club, with Stunning views of the harbor and beaches. we were on a spectator boat on the water, and finally the value of the telecast has shown its face. we all were glued to the satelite feed in the main cabin, just trying to watch the action up close. This was a great day for the cup, and now we all know that either team has what it will take to take it home. check back tomorrow cheers

Barcelona!!!

2007-06-23T00:00:00.000+02:00

We are officially on our vacation!!!!!!! This is Tressa coming down the walkway at the Barcelona Airport where she had been delayed 2 hours in Paris after her transatlantic flight! I think she is ready for a vacation. Here is our Trip Plans: Saturday June 23 Train from Barcelona to Valencia. Saturday thru Tuesday in Valencia for Cup Racing. Check out www.versus.com for US TV coverage. Our Friend Tucker Thompson will be covering the action for them. Tuesday we train back to Barcelona. Barcelona Touring thru June 30th. Sat June 3oth we fly From Barcelona to Dubrovnik for a few days, then ferry up to Hvar Island for a few days. We are going to try to Meet up with our good friend Ann Daly who happens to be chartering a Bavaria 44 in Split, Croatia then sailing to Dubrovnik. Small world huh? We finalize our 2 weeks together in Split, where Tressa flies out on Saturday the 7th, and I meet Keewaydin in Primosten Harbor for our Return Crossing. We will keep you posted. Cheers.

Setting the Record Straight

2007-06-19T17:39:00.000+02:00

Just so everyone is Clear. Back on May 6th of 2007 there was a bone fishing tourney that took place on the Grand Bahama Island. The players were Team "Ebbie" of Pat and Clay against Team "no chance" of Reagan and Dave. The challenge was, Most and Largest Bone fish for the half day of chartered flats boats. Team No Chance was located on the western shores of the island as Team Ebbie was all the way out on the East End! As you will see in the album, there are no pictures with Team "No Chance" with Bone fish. While there is this beauty of Patrick and his Silver swimmer in hand. So As Pat has pointed out in his comment on the last post, you all are witness to the winning Team! cheers

Great NEWS

2007-06-15T23:35:00.001+02:00

You can now click on the photos to the left of the page to go directly to the photoalbum online. Sorry that took so long to figure out. we have not had great wireless reception and the bandwidth makes it tough to do a lot of photo editing online. So none the less, we have Links!!!!!!

New picture album online

2007-06-14T17:20:00.000+02:00

www.picasaweb.google.com/claybartel Here are some more shots of our days in Dubrovnik. So, Since we arrived in Croatia early we have had lots of work and lots of play! (for some) Pat and Reagan took a few days off just after we arrived at the Hotel Argentina just outside the city walls of old town Dubrovnik. Very Nice! So everyone got some time off while yours truely held the fort down and ticked off a few more items on the work list. Really it was quite peaceful to have everyone off the boat and the marina to myself. (even though i didnt get off the boat) So we have been working away getting the boat prepared for the return of the owner which includes cleaning everything (even the Mast) As you can see here Dave is polishing the Forward Mast in a 2 day project of cleaning. We have had some time to have some fun. I was able to meet Reagan and Pat for dinner at the "best restaurant in Dubrovnik the " Nautika" just outside the city gates. This was a very nice meal, with great service and a stunning view of the water and the cityscape. Leah and Yanir have gone off for a few days to a getaway in the city and David and Stephanie (dave's girlfriend) have gone off to a few days as well. Pat and Reagan have returned and we are going to continue with the preparations for the Croatia cruise! We will be back with an update soon enough. Cheers. PS: lots of pictures on the picasaweb site. so check it out www.picasaweb.google.com/claybartel

apology

2007-06-12T21:57:00.000+02:00

So sorry about my inability to make links to my web albums you still need to go to www.picasaweb.google.com/claybartel to see my albums. clay

Surfing off the coast of Africa

2007-06-10T10:03:00.000+02:00

We have made it to Croatia, and just so that everyone, and that is Everyone! knows... This place is STUNNING. good, now you can all book your vacations here and see what we mean. We arrived around 4:11AM on June 8th. We made great time with no delays along the way. We did however have another mocktail party on Burger Friday, and the theme was ..." it's not easy being Cheesy" . We all dressed up as our favorite hamburger topping. Once again we saw Dolphins along the way, and this time, we got a great shot of some acrobatics right next to the boat. You will notice the site looks a little different. instead of having to go to the picasaweb site you can click on the links to the photo albums on this page, and it will take you right there. a little trick i learned from my friend Tim Forderer( www.sailnxs.blogspot.com ) We saw many big boats along our journey. 1500 Ft was the largest tanker we came across, actually he came across our bow, and we were eager to oblige him. The US Navy vessel that you will see in the pictures is the USS Iwo Jima. My sister Lindsay informed me of this as it has only one marking on it, and that is the large #5 on the stack. we saw a double rotor helicopter take off and land. Dave informed us they were doing "flight ops" that day. The interesting part for all of the other boats in the Med that day, was that, every few minutes you heard one of the radio operators on the Navy ship come on and let everyone know that they should stay well clear of them. Again, we obliged. Their gun is bigger than ours! Gibraltar was a quick stop for us, so we did not get very far away from the boat. We did however notice, as you will, the vast number of tankers and cargo ships. The locals in the port told us that there are a few ships out there that NEVER move off their anchors. They act as fuel tankers to all the traffic coming through the straights. So in Essence we saw the gas-station side of Gibraltar. The most fun day we had on the Mediterranean Sea was the day it was soooo glassy calm, Reagan instituted a group swim!!! you will see pictures of some of us being towed by Keewaydin, on a kneeboard, and a surf board! this was Serious Fun. We believe that Dave is the first Man to be towed into a wave on a surfboard by a 110 foot sailboat! I think we are going to get him on the pro tour soon. Well, we will post more as we learn about Croatia first hand. cheers

Monkey Business in Gibraltar

2007-06-02T14:34:00.000+02:00

Couldnt leave Gib without putting this one up. We are on our way to Dubrovnik, but this morning Pat and David went to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, and met a new Friend. cheers

Azores to Gib

2007-06-01T14:00:00.000+02:00

Hello , first I want to say a big thanks to all our family and friends and those we have yet the pleasure of meeting for the well wishes and for checking in on us as we hop across the pond and a big thank you to Clay for sharing our world with the rest of you so we can finally dispense of the myth that our job is glamourous.

So, here are our vital stats:

Lat:36 08.0N

Lon: 05 21.3W

our time: 1405 east coast time: 0805

M&M’s consumed : 7 pounds of peanut, 2 pounds of plain…..yes, that’s in pounds

Sunday May 27

With our fuel tanks topped and the m&m jar no longer at threat level orange, we are underway. I would like to say we are well rested bc being good little kittens, we all stayed in last night. But, turns out, we were all most likely in a diesel fume induced coma from a small leak in the generator. Never fear, Yanir the engineer and token smarty pants got us back on track. Next on our list of chores, Keewaydin needed a bath so we donned our boat issued, hunter green speedos and scrubbed away.

Monday May 28

Though Pat, Clay and Dave made an impressive campaign of how to pass the time in the Azores, their idea of the other boats launching their lazers for a regatta was not received with as much enthusiasm. However, they did manage a friendly waiver with the S/Y Parisio as to who can get docklines on and refueled first when we hit Gibralter. Our bridge log now includes not only RPM’s and exhaust temps but DTP (distance to Parisio).

Tuesday May 29

The chute is up and Parisio overtakes us…but at least we look cool. Plus, there is an unstated but understood fishing clause in the rulebook, article 4, paragraph 3, page 1, that reads “All race activity is secondary to the cry of FISH ON!” Clay had an Albacore and a Big EYE that put up a heck of a fight but allowed our nemesis to take the lead. So in true sporting manner, we saluted them with our cannon as they passed within 50 yards of our starboard beam. It still amazes me that out here in the Atlantic we are waving at people we know.

Wednesday May 30

“Looks like someone’s having a case of the Monday’s”….with the exception of Clay and myself so we made our own mocktails of Fanta, ginerale and lemonade and pondered who Dr. McDreamy was going to pick. On a side note, SOME people are not putting their mugs away..but nobody likes a tattle tale.

Thursday May 31

After a week of preparation, the highly anticipated “Fly your Freak Flag Day” has begun. We all channeled our artistic inner beings and created our own personal flag and anthem to share with the rest of the crew. A great effort was made by all but Leahs own interpretation of "FreeBird" really moved us. And then the race was one as our radar screen lit up like an Irishman at happy hour and we slowly pushed our way into the traffic scheme among the "big boys" (1000ft tanker).

Friday June 1

Nothing has been quite as cool as this morning, sailing through the straits with Africa to the right and Spain to the left with the rock up ahead and a pod of whales and dolphins escorting us in. We all agree that we really miss our cubicles.

Horta for a few days

2007-05-27T01:58:00.001+02:00

In the world of the internet, and Blogging, i have found if very tedious to upload each and every picture to this website. So, to ensure that you get the total pictorial experience, please visit my photoalbum pages at www.picasaweb.google.com/claybartel You will be able to look at the vast quantity of pictures that we are collecting, and some video too.

We will continue to select a few pictures for these postings, but we will have the entire album on the previous website listed above.

This is us at the mouth to the crater that is at the center of the volcano that created this island. we are at 2000 Ft. above sea level and 1500 Ft. above the crater floor behind us. This is Huge!!

Please Visit this website, or any to see the History of the island of Faial in the Archepelego of the Azores. They are Beautiful, and we were lucky enough to have a personal tour by a nice man whom Reagan had met on a previous trip to this Island. He also had a Limo drive us around the island in style. http://www.destinazores.com/faial.php Cheers. P.S. I have invited Chef Reagan to visit the editors desk and do a "guest Editorial" issue at our next stopover. Please tune in to see this next issue that will be created by the wonderful Mrs. Quigley.

Departing Horta

2007-05-27T01:46:00.000+02:00

We depart Horta tomorrow morning at 0900 GMT. We are headed straight for Gibraltar, the town of Jib. we expect to be there within 6 days. So we will have more to write and pics then

We Made Land in the Azores!!!

2007-05-24T15:05:00.000+02:00

We are in the Town of Horta on the Island of Fial in the Archipelago of the Azores. 1700 Nautical miles East North East of the island of Bermuda, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (I expect all the school children reading this to be putting push pins into the map in this location) 11 Days with an average speed over the earth's surface of 7 nautical miles per hour! We did it.

Day 7 Underway: Sunday may 13th

Leaving Bermuda 0845 hrs with Southerly breeze blowing 15 kts.

A little "salute" to our sleeping friends in St. Georges harbor on our departure at 0730 hrs!

Great sailing all day long. No real weather surprises here.

Reagan gave out invitations to our firs “mocktail party” the theme was “grub in our scrubs” in honor of our viewing of the last episode of season one of “Grey’s Anatomy”

(We have all gotten hooked on this show, so if anyone would like to volunteer to send us season 2, that would be great)

Day 8 Underway: Monday May 14^th

The weather forcast for today was not so nice as yesterday and during the afternoon watch Pat and I observed the cloud formations and were reading up on our weather forcasting books, just as the wind was coming up behind us. We were overtaken by a weather system that had 35-40 knot winds and the seas began to build. We furled in some sail and rode out the waves that were coming on our beam at this point.

After a few hours of not so fun rolling and pounding, we used this opportunity to practice the “Hove-To” position to keep the boat stationary while the weather moved ahead of us.

We sheeted the staysail to the windward side, eased the main till it was out about halfway, with a preventer. We put the rudder over hard to port and the boat came to a crawlin 2 knots through the water. This position allowed us to hold our position by crabbing to windward and falling off with the backed staysail, without crashin into the large waves that were coming on our beam. The Waves were large

We rode this position from 4PM till the following morning 4AM.

Day 9 Underway: Tuesday May 15th

Beautiful sunrise today!

The winds are steady at 25 knots out of the North. Waves10 feet. Clouds breaking up.

We are going to start watching “Rome” the HBO series today!!!!!!!

Well, We all feel that "Rome" is the TV event of the Trip so far. We have enjoyed every minute of the episodes just following our evening meals. Reagan even organized a Toga Party for us!

Here you can see that we all have plenty of time on our hands during the good weather to have fun and dress up. Thats all for now. We will add more pictures and stories tomorrow, tonight we are tired and need to rest. Cheers

In and Out

2007-05-13T12:58:00.000+02:00

Well, that was short. We did however get to do one thing in Bermuda that many people who visit here by boat, probably think of doing, but rarely do. We went to Bermuda Radio Station. this is the building on top of the tallest hill in Bermuda, used over the centuries as the lookout for the entire island. Armed with 64 pound cannons this fort has been transformed into a modern communications station. they locate and communicate with every boat in the 300 mile radius around the Island. We are up early and pushing off for an early start to the Azores Archipelago. More Photos Then. Cheers

Bahamas To Bermuda

2007-05-12T19:57:00.001+02:00

We got under way around Noon on Monday last and said goodbye to Grand Bahama. We had a favorable wind, so we set sail and rounded Aabaco and set a course for Bermuda. We had the great fortune to be off and in front of the storm called Andrea that wreaked Havoc on the NC area. We sailed and fished the entire way. Some of the seastates were a bit rough, but we dont have anything to complain about! Fishing was good Too! Pat caught a White Marlin, and unfortunately we did not know that it was not edible until after its head had come off! but it was a beauty!! We also caught a Dorado, or otherwise known as "Mahi" ...aka "Dolphin" . This was a good fish for Dinner! We pulled up to the enterance to Bermuda around 5:30 AM EST so we waited for the sun to come up, and proceded in to the St. Georges Customs dock to check in get fueled up and provision the Galley. Then off first thing tomorrow morning! Azores are Next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers

2007-05-06T23:52:00.000+02:00

FISH ON!!!!!! so what do you do with a beautiful morning in Grand Bahama when you have to wait till the 1PM flight lands at the airport????? you go fishing with a guide and try to hook yourself a bone-fish. These fish are the bane of many fisherman that come to the islands to go flats fishing. Known for being easy to spook and very intelligent, these fish are notoriously hard to hook. So there was a bit of tournament this morning. Pat and Clay went to the Far East end of the island to fish with GT. Reagan and David went to the local Freeport fishing hole with their own guide and it was a Challenge. total number caught as well as largest fish in the boat, with digital proof! We won. Pat caught the only fish of the day! after more than 30 oportunities to hook a fish, he finally got one in a shallow spot right near some mangroves. A place that bone-fish love to hang out. After we got back, David and Clay took the Tender out to the mouth of the harbor, tied off to a bouy and went for a scuba dive. Max depth was 70 feet, the Coral Reef was beautiful in 70+ feet of visible water. We saw a 5 foot Black tip Reef shark!!! that was Cool. We pull off the dock around noon tomorrow with the favorable Tide. All in all the hold up has not been that big of a setback, it has afforded the crew some extra time to relax and a more favarable tide during daylight hours for our departure. Bermuda is our next stop, and on to the Azores from there. Cheers

Arrival Day

2007-05-05T23:41:00.000+02:00

So, after a delayed Flight this morning at 8:45AM until 9:30, I arrived in the Bahamas!!!!! Unfortunately my bags, with 3 months of gear and all the boats entertainment (games, books, movies, tv series DVD's) DID NOT! I arrived with my carry on bags to meet Pat and Reagan at the Freeport Airport. They brought me back to the boat, and declared today an official "day-off", so...i went to the infinity pool at the Westin at Our Lacaya resort and sat at the pool with Dave and Reagan for the afternoon. As it is Cinco De Mayo, the crew has a dock party planned for the evening! Since my bags will not be here till the 1PM flight arrives, we are planning a day of scuba diving and fly fishing. I'm not sure, but i dont think this whole trip is going to go this way!!!!!!!! So we will push off as soon as we retrieve my bags from the airport. cheers

The Night Before

2007-05-04T21:04:00.000+02:00

The boat is at the slip at Port Lucaya Marina on Grand Bahama Island.

I am flying out first thing tomorrow morning and at this time tomorrow I will be aboard the S/Y Keewaydin as we bigin our journey accross the Atlantic. Our first stop will be St. Georges, Bermuda. The weather looks dim, so it will most likely be a power boat trip accross.

I am packed for 3 1/2 months of travel and have (almost) all my affairs in order. At least all the ones I can do anything about!

I am really Very Excited to depart on such a great trip. As the only non-permanent member of the crew, I am very grateful that Patrick and crew have asked me to sail with them.

When Patrick and I were younger, we grew up sailing FJ's and Snipes (and anything else we could heist out of the dry-sail area of the yacht club) together. We have sailed many boats over many miles of water together and at one point in the middle of a storm on Lake Huron, aboard the S/Y "Surfrider" one of us said to the other..."I'd sail anywhere, on anything with you".

Over the years that has proven to be the case, and I am honored to be taking my virgin crossing with such a fine Sailor.

Reagan and Pat were recently married at a wonderful ceremony in a beautiful piece of "God's Country" near Zion National Park in Utah. I was lucky enough to be there and capture a few good shots on film. I will post them from time to time for your entertainment.

This is Pat and Reagan as they welcomed their guests to Utah. Yes, those are Bison in the background. A Far Cry from the middle of the ocean, but I guess thats what you yearn for when you live on the water.

I don't know how long it will be till I have internet access again, but when I do, i will post some more shots and stories our our first leg.

Clay