Peter Bourke - Rubicon

Rubicon and I are safe and sound in Newport, RI, having crossed the finish line at 3:30 pm (7:30 UTC) on Friday, July 3rd. To all my friends and supporters who followed this adventure and posted messages on the website, I extend my deepest appreciation. This OSTAR proved somewhat more challenging than I might have anticipated. Oh what the heck, let me be honest and admit that it has joined the short list of the hardest things that I have done on this planet.

I’m starting to feel more and more like Dorothy trying to find her way home from Oz. Perhaps I feel this way because it was two months ago today that we cast off the dock lines and sailed out of Narragansett Bay bound for Plymouth. It’s a lot of time to spend on the boat and a long time at sea, though I must admit that I’m starting to get the hang of this sailing thing. In any event, I don’t have a yellow brick road, just meridians of longitude. I have just passed 60 west and I can’t tell you how satisfying that is, particularly as I lost my windvane steering back at 54 West.

Yesterday morning the auxiliary rudder which drives my Hydrovane windvane system detached and is now at the bottom of the Atlantic. Rotten luck and surprising as it was just installed in April. As windvane was backup to autopilot, I am backup to windvane. Can heave to or forereach to sleep etc but lots of hand steering required. Not to worry, but little time to blog.

Peter Bourke
Rubicon

I never thought I would be writing a blog titled Day 26, unless it was to thank all of the people who have posted such supportive comments. Come to think of it, there’s no reason why I should wait until I get to Newport to do that, particularly as many of them will no doubt be busy with Christmas shopping by the time I get here. I don’t have direct access to the internet, I can only send and receive emails through my satellite phone but a number of the blog comments have been forwarded to me and I am deeply appreciative of the support I have received from so many people.

At a time when I should be on dry land visiting with my family, shaving off my beard and having a much needed drink at Crowley’s Pub, I am still out here battling gear and the elements, and today’s battle was more than a little wearing. I came on deck this morning to find Rubicon humming along nicely under full main and full Genoa, close hauled and with spray flying. We were doing a good turn of speed, whatever it was, but the boat was close to getting overpowered so it was time to roll in some of the Genoa.

Sailing in the Rain

I felt a bit like Gene Kelly this morning, though far less nattily attired, as I danced around in the rain going nowhere. For the first time in my eight Gulf Stream crossings the wind died. It didn’t die so much as just go really light and skittish, the result I’m guessing of our approach to a frontal boundary. This happened about two in the morning and I went on deck to see the Windex at the top of the mast doing some lazy 360 degree revolutions.

I’m a patient man. I think I learned it during a long business career, or maybe it was in my marriage or parenting; yes, that was it, parenting. In any event, it takes a lot to make me really loose it. This morning did it.

The morning started out well enough with Rubicon moving along briskly and on course but the windvane was having trouble keeping the course. This was because the rig was unbalanced. I had rolled up some of the Genoa during the night as the wind started to come up so I had a small headsail while I was still flying the full main.