Voyage of the Gryphon

Embedded Videos

2007-06-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1

YouTube video up

2007-06-01T21:27:00.000-05:00

You can now view the chapters from the DVD we made after Shane returned from the trip with all of the still pictures from the on on board camera.

This link is to the play list of all 21 chapters.

Click on it and they should all play in order. If you want to pick out individual chapters those should be listed on the YouTube page as well.

Craig

Final Google Earth Files

2006-12-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

I have taken all of the final GPS data Shane provided from the boat and from the car trips on Madeira and to Marrakech and converted it to the following Google Earth files:

The entire trip, boat and car excursions all together in one file:

GPS_Boat+Car.kmz (125kB)
This file contains boat and wind vectors in addition to the GPS Lat & Long information.

The road trip on the island of Madeira:

GPS_Car_Madeira.kmz (34kB)

The car trips to and from Marrakech:

GPS_Car_To_Marrakech.kmz (18kB)
GPS_Car_From_Marrakech.kmz (16kB)

Just the at sea portion:

GPS_Boat.kmz (56kB)
This file contains boat and wind vectors in addition to the GPS Lat & Long information.

All of these Google Earth files have folders like you see here. The one shown is for the entire trip kml file. If you check the boxes off and on for each sub folder this will allow you to selectively show or hide that portion of the trip.

Craig

The End

2006-12-10T00:27:00.000-05:00

We left El Jadida after topping off our fuel tank and refilling our jerry cans. Refueling was quite the experience because the port did not have a fuel dock. We had to put our empty cans on a cart that a man pulled by hand to the nearest gas station.

We’ve decided to make Gibraltar our final port of call. The boat broker called us today and said that he had a spot for the Gryphon in a marina and that it was easily accessible from the UK where Aerodynes are popular. Also, a large storm system is forecasted to hit over the weekend and could last for over a week. So our journey will come to an end at the base of the Rock of Gibraltar, a fitting destination for our trans-Atlantic adventure.

Sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar last night was exhilarating! We approached at night under a full moon with countless stars in the sky. Fighting squalls and choppy seas, we did not get much rest earlier in the day. Nevertheless, we both were alert and on the lookout as we passed through the shipping lanes of the Mediterranean. We encountered a dozen or so tankers, freighters, and ferries as we crossed. The winds became steadier towards the evening and by the time we sailed through the strait we were on a beam reach with 20 knots of wind. Barreling through the strait at over 8 knots was a fitting last passage for our journey aboard the Gryphon.

We are in the process now of cleaning the boat up and making it presentable. On Monday, we are going to drive to Malaga to catch our flights. Walid will be flying to Rome on business and I will be returning to Boston. We are looking very forward to seeing all of our friends and family. Thank you very much for sharing with us in what has been the most thrilling adventure of our lives. Knowing that we were in your thoughts meant a great deal to us as we braved hurricane-strength winds, fought vicious squalls, played with dolphins, and barely escaped from being thrown into a Moroccan jail!

End of the Line

2006-12-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

The Rock of Gibraltar gazing upon the Gryphon at rest in port.

More pictures will be up later tonight.

Craig

The rest of the pictures from Shane along with his captions follow. Click on them to enlarge.

A little visitor that joined our sail to Gibraltar

The Gryphon at port in Gibraltar.

Surfing down a wave during the storm

Smiling at the storm.  Is this the best you can do?

On dry land in Gibraltar

The around-the-world bio-diesel boat that we saw in Boston Harbor

Walid at the helm as we filled our fuel tank and jerry cans in Boston

Villages scattered around the mountains of Madeira

A curious seal peered up at us in Boston Harbor

Getting some very much needed rest inside

Saying goodbye to Boston

Fishing boats in the harbor at El Jadid

The port of Funchal in Madeira

Guided to port in El Jadida by the local fishermen

A little village in the backwaters of Morocco

The Berber antique shop in Marrakech

The market in Marrakech

Some things just don't need a translation

Snake charmers in Marrakech

Our off-roading beast of a Ford

Which way to Marrakech?

Camels on the beach in El Jadida

The Portuguese fortress guarding the port in El Jadida

A view from our hotel roof in Marrakech

Night at sea

The Gryphon at port in El Jadida

First sightings of El Jadida

Approaching Madeira after 18 days at sea

Cheers to Madeira!

The lighthouse guarding the eastern edge of Madeira

Our patched mainsail

Arriving in Madeira

Amazing Adventure is Over

2006-12-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

Shane called this morning to say the amazing sailing adventure is over. They are in port at Gibraltor in the Mediterrania. Walid is leaving the Gryphon in the hands of a boat broker in a British run marina. He said boats such as the Gryphon are very popular in London, and Walid thinks he'll do well there. Shane is packed. They'll clean the boat today. They will spend a night or two on the Gryphon, then Walid and Shane will part company. Shane will drive to Malaga, Spain and take a flight to London, then head for Boston. He should be there by 7 p.m. Monday. Walid will fly to Rome, and then New York. (Hope I have all my facts correct!)

Well done, young men, well done! I, for one, will be glad when they are back on American soil! But it was fun living vicariously through them since November 9.

Boston MA to Gibraltar

2006-12-09T10:41:00.000-05:00

So it's Gibraltar instead of Valencia. Shane just called and the adventure is over. They have finished their trip in Gibraltar. Apparently Walid's boat agent thinks it will be easier to sell the boat their instead, plus a large storm is coming as well so Gibraltar.

They are safe and sound and Shane's said it was the adventure of his life. He will be heading to a cafe tonight with Internet access and getting me a large post of pictures for everyone. I'll update the blog as soon as I get them. I will also have all of their final GPS data to update the Google Earth files, apparently they will have the data from their car drive through Morocco as well.

Shane plans to fly back Monday to Boston. He will have the 1 Terabyte hard drive in hand that is full of the high definition pictures taken from the on board camera once every second. Seth and I will in the coming weeks work as quick as we can to get the time lapse movie made of the entire voyage. I'll follow up with Shane for a list of everyone who wants a copy of the DVD.

Craig

Mobbed in Marrakech

2006-12-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

Where to begin? After leaving Madeira we set sail towards the coast of Africa. Our plan was to stop in Casablanca to refuel and then follow the coast towards the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Med. At least that was the plan…

Although we had maps of Africa’s coast, we did not have any detailed charts of the port areas. After Craig emailed us satellite images of Casablanca and doing some research ala Blackberry, we decided that its port was primarily commercial and was not favorable for smaller vessels. In addition, given our current wind conditions we would not arrive until dusk. We noticed a couple of smaller towns south of Casablanca that were a bit closer and so we decided to change course. We had no idea which one was more suitable so we headed between them. As we approached we saw that the southern-most town was more industrial with billowing smoke-stacks and tanker traffic, but the village to the north seemed pleasant. Not even knowing where the port was, we hailed one of the tankers to ask for directions (yes, two guys actually stopped to ask for directions). We headed towards the coordinates they provided but became very concerned when we saw very large rolling waves breaking very far offshore. We almost turned back until we saw a small wooden fishing boat ahead. We waved at them and they came over for a closer look. Walid began speaking to them in Arabic, but quickly realized that due to their dialect, French was easier to understand. Even then communication was very limited and confusing, usually involving pointing and gestures. They indicated that the harbor was nearby, and so we bartered a bottle a wine for a guide into port (evidently they liked the wine because they threw a bag of fish into the deal as well).

The fishermen guided us past the break wall and into the harbor. A medieval Portuguese castle stood guard over dozens of wooden fishing boats of all sizes lashed side-by-side. All the fishermen stopped and stared at the Gryphon as she traveled through the narrow channel into the port. We were the only non-local vessel. We tied off to a large concrete wall and came ashore to clear immigration and customs. I think that we were the first visitors by sea this town had seen in weeks based on the old date that was set on the immigration officer’s stamp. After clearing customs and speaking with the local police, we hired a “guardian” to watch over the boat and to make sure that nothing “happened” to it.

With the boat in safe hands (or so we thought) we headed into town to find a place to stay. We checked into a hotel, got cleaned up, and headed downstairs for a celebratory beverage. At the bar Walid began a conversation with an older gentleman who turned out to be the Minister of French Culture in Morocco. After a few drinks, he invited us to go into town for a tour. He took us to a very dingy and smoky bar full of the locals. Something I ate that evening didn’t agree with me, so I walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night worshiping the porcelain goddess. Walid stayed and the story that I am about to tell is his. After many drinks and packs of cigarettes, Walid, the Minister, and several of his friends go upstairs to a disco. Interesting thing about this club was that it was all local…men. Walid started to catch on when the owner of the club asked him if he was the Minister’s lover. Walid explained that he was definitely not and that he had a beautiful, wonderful, and intelligent girlfriend back in New York. Chalking it up as a cultural learning experience, he ended up closing down the club and having a great time dancing hand-in-hand with an Arab Liberace.

Afterwards, he goes down to the port to check on the boat with his new found friends. Our guardian greets them plastered out of his mind. He starts yelling at one of the Minister’s friends (the local baker) and would not let him into the shipyard because he was a Muslim. After several minutes of heated debate to no avail, Walid parted company and went down to the pier by himself. He ended up staying the night on the boat instead of walking back to the hotel.

After taking some antibiotics and Pepto, I felt much better the next morning. We rented a car and planned to drive north to Casablanca. Walid was told, however, by the Minister that the south was much more scenic and interesting. So we headed south to the Moroccan countryside to see what could be seen. The roads were terrible, (although only slightly worse than those of Cambridge, MA) often with just a single lane. We shared the road with mule-drawn carts, rickety motorcycles, dilapidated trucks, and the occasional pedestrian. Given the conditions, Walid switched into third-world driving mode, i.e. driving like a bat out of hell. Big mistake. We soon found ourselves pulled over by the local smoky. We played the stupid tourist routine of “we didn’t know any better, honest officer.” In the end, we were able to talk our fine down to about ten dollars and promised never ever to do it again.

Our rental was a compact, front-wheel drive Ford Fiesta. Why not go off-roading? Scattered throughout the hills were these small towns with buildings made entirely of mud bricks and thatched roofs. We headed off the “main” road into the hills on what appeared to be a donkey-cart trail. The town was something out of a movie. Chickens and goats were roaming between the houses. Eyes peered out at us behind the dark windows. They did not know quite what to make of us. The trail we were following soon ended and we saw the main road in the distance. We headed towards it through a rocky field and down a very steep embankment. With just a few scrapes we managed to get back onto the road and continued our journey south.

After exploring the countryside further and visiting several small villages, we arrived in Marrakech to find it a bustling cosmopolitan of old and new traditions. We checked into a wonderful hotel that used to be an old courtyard-style mansion. It was gorgeous! Every room in this three-story palace overlooked the courtyard and was intricately decorated with colorful tiles and mosaics. The roof deck overlooked the city’s skyline of spires and towers.

The streets of Marrakech were narrow and filled with vendors selling everything imaginable from lamps to livers. At the center of town was an enormous marketplace and bazaar. Snake charmers mesmerized cobras and vipers as they swayed to and fro. Merchants sold carpets and other wares. Smoke from grills cooking lamb, beef, and chicken filled the air. We happened to arrive during an international film festival and a giant screen and projector loomed on the far side of the square. With my blonde hair and blue eyes, more than once I was asked if I was from “ollie-wud,” here for the festival.

After eating a wonderful dinner of lamb tagine we set off to explore the city. We found a very eclectic shop selling antiques and other local goods. After a few minutes of haggling, we purchased a couple ornate rifles and some antique jewelry. We had interest in so many other items that the owner invited us back the next day to have lunch with him, claiming that his wife made the best tagine in Morocco. He was right. It was absolutely delicious! With several more hours of negotiating and bargaining we procured an antique engraving, a backgammon table decorated in mosaics, an ornate Berber sword, a glass table with engraved bone legs, candlesticks made of ram horns, and much more. The merchant was very comical, insisting that we just “close our eyes and give him our credit cards.” We must have gone through five rounds of “final” prices over several hours of heated negotiations before closing the deal. After we had paid, he wanted our sunglasses and insisted that as a gift we should buy him a Dell laptop. We politely excused ourselves and went about our way.

If we had thought the market during the day was colorful, the night-time experience proved to be much more intriguing. Upon a suggestion by the merchant we went to a very shady and seedy cabaret with belly dancing and hookah pipes. What a sight! Smoke filled the air as scantily clad dancers jiggled to exotic music encouraged by drunken hollering. Kuwaiti oil sheiks threw money into the air as the dancers gracefully seduced them. We were the only non-Arabs in the establishment. Walid’s Lebanese heritage allowed him to blend in relatively well. I, on the other hand, was a lost cause and stood out like a sore thumb. We smoked pipes while watching the dancers and listening to the enchanting music.

And then the night became very interesting. Walid had a bit too much to drink and wandered off in a drunken stupor while I was in the bathroom. I came back to our table with him nowhere to be found. As I was looking for him around the club, it became very apparent that I was no longer welcome without my Arab sponsorship. I tried to explain that my friend was still there but I was told that I was not allowed to wander around the establishment by myself. Evidently they didn’t like Americans…hmmm…I wonder why? I was escorted back to my table somewhat forcibly, asked to pay our bill, and then directed to leave. Not to cause a scene, I complied and went outside. Luckily, Walid hadn’t wandered too far away before falling asleep on a bench. I flagged down a taxi and managed to communicate to the driver (barely) where we were staying. I’ve traveled to many places in many foreign lands, and never once had I felt so unwelcome. Nevertheless, all ended well and it will make for a great story!

In Route to Strait

2006-12-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

I got the following e-mail from Shane this afternoon:

We are about a day’s sail from the Strait of Gibraltar right
now. The winds are not very strong so we are running the motor.

No Pirates! Safe and Sound!

2006-12-06T20:17:00.000-05:00

Shane called me this afternoon and again tonight. He and Walid are fine -- Just having the adventure of their life. They didn't realize everyone would be so worried about them. They had no e-mail and the antenna on the sat was broken. He said he was sorry for scaring us! They will get the boat prepared to sail again in the morning and will set sail tomorrow afternoon for the Strait of Gibraltor. He will post to the blog tomorrow and tell us all about Morocco. Judy

Voyage of the Gryphon

2006-12-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

Voyage of the Gryphon

Where are Shane and Walid?

Everyone is wondering where Shane and Walid are. If you haven't seen Brent's message in the comments, here it is below. This is the last anyone, that we know, has heard from Shane. Craig and I have called the satellite phones to no avail. Craig knows the boat is still in port.

Phone Call from Shane to Brent: I spoke with Shane on Sunday at around 5 PM EST. The phone reception was horrible but it sounded like they had arrived in port and found security to watch the boat. They were planning to hire a cab for the following day and tour the city. He said they would be there for about 2 days. Brent

El Jadida

2006-12-03T11:07:00.000-05:00

Shane and Walid seem to have taken port in El Jadida South West down the coast a bit from Casablanca.

Craig

Questions

2006-12-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

We received the following email from Kari,

Jordan

, and Seth asking us some questions about the trip. Seth is a friend of mine back in Kansas City. He was the one that put together the real-time Google Earth tracker for this trip. Because we’ve been asked similar questions by other people, we thought that we would share our responses with everyone:

-------

For Shane and Walid, Questions from Kari, Jordan and Seth:

Do you have to "file a flight" plan to cross the ocean?

If so, with whom?

You don’t have to file a sail plan to cross the ocean. It is recommended that you tell someone about the trip, though. You’ll come and rescue us, right? If we were staying within U.S. coastal waters we would have given our intended route to the Coast Guard. We do have emergency radio beacons that would communicate via satellite if something should go really wrong, however.

What's the longest sailing trip you've taken before this?

This trip is by far the longest time at sea for either of us. We have both sailed around New England, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean for a week or two at a time. Walid also sailed the Gryphon twice to Bermuda and back in large off-shore races.

Do you wear some sort of tether when you’re outside the cabin?

Yes, we have tethers that connect to our life-jacket harnesses. We wear them whenever we go outside at night or during stormy seas.

Hey! That's one big steering wheel!

Yup! If you are going to have a boat, it better look cool! Actually, having a large steering wheel gives you additional leverage as well as allows you to be on the high side of the boat when it is heeling.

Did you get seasick? Do you normally?

I usually don’t get motion sickness, but I felt very queasy at the beginning of trip for a day or two. After awhile your body gets used to the motion of the waves. In fact, after you’ve been at sea for an awhile, you’ll get sick when you step back onto land. During the first day on Madeira I had really bad vertigo. It was especially bad at night when I tried to sleep. I continually felt like the bed was uneven and that I was falling out of it because I had been sleeping at an angle on the boat for weeks!

What do you miss the most?

Shane: dry land

Walid: his girlfriend Colleen

What do you not miss the most?

Shane: the daily grind

Walid: bills and daily tasks

Are you sailing the boat back to the US?

No, Walid is planning to sell the boat in Europe.

Would you do it again? Perhaps it's too soon to ask :-)

I would definitely do it again! Next time, though, I would do it earlier in the year and make more stops along the way.

Did you take pictures? Movies? Can we see those dolphins?!

Yes, but due to our limited internet connection we have a hard time sending pictures from sea. Once we get back on land, I’ll post more pictures. We have some great movies of the dolphins! Also, Craig is going to put together an awesome, hi-def movie using pictures from the camera mounted on the back of the boat.

Did you know you sailed right by the Titanic? (+/- a few km)

We were on the lookout for icebergs the entire time!

You guys are amazing, have a great rest of your voyage!

-s

Swimming?

2006-12-02T01:07:00.000-05:00

I received this e-mail from Shane today:

We are underway, although very slowly at the moment. The winds are very calm, but the sea is very quiet. We are motoring right now to Casablanca. I’m very excited about visiting Morocco. It is very warm here. In fact we almost went swimming today!

Judy

Mutiny on the Gryphon?

2006-12-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Below is an email from Colleen’s dad Mike. We thought that it was hilarious. For those on Shane’s side of the adventure, Colleen is Walid’s girlfriend.

--------------

Hello Walid, After careful reading of the Mutiny on the Bounty--I see some dangerous parallels:

Shane is quite taken with the beauty of the island stopover (just as Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers were)
the Bounty had some problems with rotten sails--and technical problems that demoralized the men.
the naked Tahitian dancing girls are tempting Shane to stay---just like the crew of the Bounty.
Shane has resented the 12 lashes you handed down as punishment for losing iBoat satellite contact during the storm.
reading between the lines in the blog, Shane states--"at first chance I put Walid over in the rescue dinghy--and I'll take control of Gryphon myself--return to Madeira and the king size bed, real food and demon rum!"

As you can see--things are slow here on shore! Happy sailings to Africa and Spain--and the beautiful Med

Mike

Underway Again

2006-12-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

Shane and Walid are underway and headed to Casablanca, Morocco.

Ottawa Herald Newspaper Article

2006-11-30T01:20:00.000-05:00

Shane's mom Judy sends along these pics from an Ottawa (KS) Herald newspaper article. Click on them to enlarge (that goes for any picture on the blog actually)

New Pictures

2006-11-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

With better net connectivity in port Shane got me a number of pictures to share with everyone. They are below as well as in some of the previous posts:

Running with the Big Boys

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!

A picture of the boat with spinnaker flying

Land Ho!

2006-11-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

We’ve arrived in Madeira! I had trouble sleeping the night before even though the seas were comfortable. I felt like a kid at Christmas, eager to wake up the following morning to open his gifts. When I finally did fall asleep, I was out like a light. Upon awakening, I saw a mountainous island covered in tropical vegetation shrouded in the mist and clouds. Try putting that into a stocking!

We pulled into the harbor at Funchal on the south side of the island. Taking my first step onto land was very disorienting. I could not walk in a straight line and had to hold onto the railing. I bet the immigration officials thought we had hit the rum one too many times! After clearing customs we sat down at a little restaurant in the marina and had our first fresh meal in weeks. The first bite of lightly toasted garlic bread dipped in olive oil was beyond description. We had a meal of fresh (just caught an hour ago by a local fisherman) fish, shrimp, fruit, and vegetables. Simply amazing!

After stuffing ourselves until we could eat no more, we wandered into town and checked into a hotel. Washing away more than two weeks of filth and grime never felt better! I slept so well that night in a warm, clean, king-size bed with cotton sheets!

The next day we rented a convertible and drove around the island. The tropical landscape and rugged terrain was just breathtaking. The roads were very narrow and curvy, switching back and forth through the mountains. Driving was such a pleasure!

Gluttons for punishment, we will probably leave port tomorrow after making a few more repairs. The storm appears to be calming down and we should have light winds on our way to the Med. It will be very hard to leave such a beautiful island, though.

Landfall?

2006-11-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

Has anyone heard from Shane or Walid since they made landfall in Madeira? It looks like from the tracker below they made it to port in Funchal. If I had been them my first orders of business would have been to :

1) Check into a nice Hotel
2) Take a long hot shower
3) Hit the Snack Bar O Garrafao and have a nice tenderloin steak (Shane's Fav)
4) Back to the hotel for a soak in the hot tub
5) Retire to my soft bed for 12 hours uninterrupted of sleep

If anyone has heard from them post a comment.

Craig

click on map pic to see the Snack Bar O Garrafao! :)

Wave data

2006-11-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

Per Shane's request here are some of the latest wave height maps...

Google Earth with overlay:

Here is a link to an animated GIF file that shows the wave height forcast for the next three days. Nov. 26 to 29th. With the legend/key below.

Almost There

2006-11-26T16:20:00.000-05:00

We are about 14 hours away from Madeira. We will be docking at the port of Funchal for a few days to wait out the storm and make repairs. Our propane stove sprung a leak today. Add that to the list...

Today was a many shades of gray kind of day. The sky was overcast and we could see squalls on the horizon. Luckily they seemed to mostly miss us and we were able to make steady progress. The highlight of the day came when we were visited by a school of dolphins. These Portuguese dolphins looked very different than their brethren in the Grand Banks. They were a little smaller and had grey freckles. They sure liked to jump, though! They exploded through the waves with remarkable force.

Squalls, Squalls, and More Squalls

2006-11-25T22:49:00.000-05:00

We are heading south to Madeira to weather the storms and to swap out our shredded mainsail. The seas today remained turbulent, but Bud (yes, we were so impressed by its performance that we named our drogue) and Bob kept us on course. Although the winds were not as strong as yesterday, we were constantly bombarded by squall after squall. We would unfurl the big jib and then moments later have to take it down when 40+ knot gusts hit. All day long we tended to the sails, constantly trimming and changing them. Finally as the sunset, the seas calmed down and we pulled Bud back on board. The winds continue to shift to our front and fade as the low pressure system falls on the Azores. We are making slow, but steady progress towards Madeira. We'll probably arrive early Monday morning at this pace. We are really looking forward to stepping onto solid land.

95 knots!

2006-11-24T15:49:00.000-05:00

What a day! We woke at the crack of dawn with the tell-tale beeping that Bob, our trusty auto-pilot, had been overpowered. Sure enough, the winds were howling above 40 knots and the seas were swelling to over 20 feet. We scrambled to put on our foul-weather gear and headed outside to manually steer and adjust the sails. Just as we brought the situation under control, a squall came out of nowhere. Winds gusted above 95 knots (that's right...over 110 miles per hour!) and the seas churned with 30-feet breaking waves. I've never been in such gusts in my life! The howl of the wind alone was a deafening, high-pitched shrill, let alone its extraordinary force. With our harnesses jacked to the deck safety lines, we held on for dear life until the squall calmed. Even after conditions quieted, waves were still over 30 feet and winds above 40 knots. Squalls continued to overtake us every half an hour or so. An enormous wave even twisted our camera rigging mounted on the stern (don't worry Craig, we were able to get everything back into place). Flying just our small trysail, we hove-to until we could further evaluate the situation.

When we went below we found that the cabin was in disarray with several inches of water sloshing out of the floor boards. Because the boat was heeled over at an angle, our bilge pump could not remove the water. We cut a garden hose and rigged a makeshift wet-vac using the bilge pump and removed most of the water from the cabin. At this point, we called our weather service and asked for their prognosis. It wasn't good. The storm wasn't forecasted to dissipate over the next a few days. And even if it did, another storm system will likely take its place. They recommended heading south as quickly as possible to avoid the second storm.

Unfortunately, the waves were just too strong to get any steerage under sail or motor. The back of the boat would get tossed around by the waves, and the boat would become overpowered as we tried holding it downwind. We were in utter despair of the thought of heaving-to for a week to wait out these storm systems. Wet, cold, and tired we gave up and went down below. After a brief nap, we woke up refreshed to tackle this problem.

We began reading our heavy weather sailing books for tips and suggestions. We knew that we had to drag something to keep the stern from slipping out from under us as we crested the waves. But what and how? The answer was on page 77: we needed to rig a drogue system. We waited for the winds to die down below 30 knots, and then sprang into action. I grabbed the helm and took us downwind to begin surfing the waves. Walid ran to the bow and unfastened our anchor chain and line. We tied the free end of the anchor line to the other end of the chain to form a gigantic loop. We then fastened the side of the loop opposite of the chain to the stern docking cleats. Pushing the chain overboard, we began dragging this loop of anchor gear behind the boat. The results were immediate and remarkable! The drogue acted like a stabilizer against the waves, keeping the stern of the boat under control. We now were able to make way under sail. The give and take of the stern lines kept us pointing straight as we rode the waves.

We are now heading south as fast as possible to the small island of Madeira, just off the coast of Africa near the Canary Islands. If the storm continues to develop as forecasted, we will take shelter there and swap out our mainsail. If it dies down, we will likely continue to head east towards Gibraltar.

Today was an exhausting and trying day. We went from a state of pure exhilaration, to complete despair, to one of renewed hope all within a matter of hours. To celebrate the conclusion of this difficult day, we broke out the chocolate truffles that Manolis and Gergana gave to us the night before we left. Ah...a little bit of heaven in the midst of the tempest!

One Sea-sick Turkey

2006-11-24T06:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We give our best wishes to everyone as they gather with their families and feast to their heart's content. People have asked if we had any special plans for today. Well, the turkey that we've kept cooped up in the cabin is pretty sea sick, so I think we'll spare him. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any freeze-dried turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy when we were provisioning. But we will give thanks as we're eating our pickled eggs and spam tonight. In fact Walid and I put together a top-ten list of what we are most thankful for at this very moment. Drum roll please...

10) GPS technology; Even though Columbus did it first using the stars, we'd much rather have Garmin covering our backs.

9) Dog-bowl technology; We eat all of our meals out of them. Nearly indestructible and they do not tip over.

8) Long-lasting deodorant; Although Walid seems to prefer au' natural.

7) Sticky-back tape...even better than the original! If only they could make entire sails out of this stuff!

6) The quarantine chamber that is now keeping the stench of Walid's socks out of the main cabin.

5) The untippable, indestructible, incredible mugs that we almost didn't buy.

4) Staying afloat; Only a thin layer of balsa wood and fiberglass keeping us above five miles of ocean.

3) Our "Heavy Weather Sailing for Dummies" handbook; Never leave port without it!

2) Bob; Our faithful auto-pilot that keeps us on course and braves the storms.

And the number one reason we give thanks on this day is...

1) Our loving families and friends; We are very fortunate to have the support and encouragement of our wonderful families and friends. We love reading your emails and the fact that you are keeping us in your thoughts.

Thanksgiving Waves

2006-11-24T01:21:00.000-05:00

I've included a plot of the current wave conditions. Looks rough. I've not heard from them today and assume dealing with 20+ foot waves takes precedence over emails.

It looks fortunate they got past the Azores Islands before those 35-40 foot waves moved in, that would have been 8 times as bad. I'm assuming here "badness" to be a cubic function of the relative difference in wave height. ;-)

The Last Straw

2006-11-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

The winds continued to build over night. We woke up from our slumber to place another reef in the mainsail. But winds gusting above 40 knots and 15 feet seas were just too much for our battered, triple-reefed main. The trailing edge of the sail shredded just above the third reefing point. The bad news is that unlike the previous tear, I don’t think that we will be able to repair this one (oh, our previous repair held up just fine!). The good news (depending on your perspective) is that the winds are forecasted to blow above 25 knots for the next week. Because the tear is along the trailing edge, we can still use it for a downwind run. If the winds shift to a beat, however, then I think it will shred. Nevertheless, we decided to take it down completely and put up our small trysail.

Taking down the main and rigging the trysail was quite an ordeal. A squall came out of nowhere and we did the swap in 35 knot winds and 20 feet seas with a torrential rain pour. It felt like the rain was coming at us from the side. Waves crashed over the bow and the side of the boat. We successfully rigged the trysail and lashed the main to the boom, however.

The weather has calmed down for the moment, but the forecast does not look good. The low pressure system has strengthened, but still remains far north of us for the time being. It is likely to move east and then south over the weekend, just about the time we are approaching Portugal. At that time our weather service is forecasting 50+ knot winds and 20+ feet seas. We might have to heave-to or try to take shelter at port if these conditions arise.

First Picture from Sea

2006-11-22T00:34:00.000-05:00

Shane and I have had some challenges getting a picture uploaded from the on board highdef video camera but have finally met with success! They look happy, healthy and amazingly beardless. I was expecting more facial hair by now :)

Second Reef and Staysail

2006-11-21T23:53:00.000-05:00

The low pressure system has moved down a little earlier than expected. Its center is approximately 400 miles north of us at the moment. We are catching the tailing winds of its southern edge. The seas and winds have steadily increased throughout the day. We just woke up to take down our large jib and hoisted a smaller staysail in its place. We've been running all day at 8 to 10 knots with our main reduced down to its second reefing point. The winds are now gusting above 30 knots and the seas are swelling over 10 feet.

Yesterday, the bolt that we replaced to keep the mainsail in the mast sheered off again. We've been on the same tack for several days now and the lines and sails are showing some signs of wear. We've been adjusting them and changing course every now and then to keep the wear even.

Forecasts are calling for the low pressure system to follow us east for a few days before heading south. We are currently setting a pace that hopefully will allow us to outrun it (as my mom asked, "It's a racing boat, isn't it?"). We should reach the Strait of Gibraltar just as it falls down behind us. We have our storm jib and trysail ready, though, in case we have to weather it.

Hello to Mr. Haas' Math Class in Liberty!

2006-11-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings from the North Atlantic! We are cruising along at a steady eight to ten knots trying to evade a storm system coming at us from the north. Our sails have torn; we've been buffeted by gales; and almost run over by tankers. It's been quite an adventure so far!

My brother asked me to convey to you some applications of mathematics and why studying it is worth your time. You might notice when you look at our course on iBoat Track that it seems we've gone much further north than we needed to on our voyage to the Strait of Gibraltar. Why wasn't the shortest path a straight line? Now look at our track using Google Earth. Does it make sense now? Many problems arise when trying to project a three-dimensional surface such as the Earth onto a two-dimensional surface like your screen. Although a line is the shortest path between two points in general, if you are constrained to travel on a sphere the shortest path is along a great-circle route, i.e. a course that divides the sphere into two equal halves. All the maps of the world that you've seen have limitations in representing long distances. Some maps preserve distance better than others, but distort other features in the process. Can you name three ways of representing the three-dimensional Earth onto a two-dimensional map?

In the mean time, listen to my brother. The math that he is teaching you will take you far. Perhaps across the Atlantic, to the moon, or even beyond!

Running with the Big Boys

2006-11-21T19:50:00.000-05:00

Today we passed within a mile of a very large American freighter heading west. I think it was scared of us because as we drew nearer to check it out and take pictures, it kept on veering away! Our little boat can be pretty intimidating I must admit.

We have been making excellent progress on beam/broach reach these past couple of days, averaging just shy of 200 miles a day. The storm system that we are trying to outrun is providing us with very cooperative tail winds. A low pressure system currently off the coast of Newfoundland is forecasted to join the low pressure system hovering over Ireland in a couple of days. It will then most likely proceed south along the coasts of France and Spain and meet up with us about the time we are passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.

We saw sea birds for the first time since we left the Grand Banks. The Azores are just a day’s sail southeast of us at the moment. A high pressure system typically resides in the Azores that we can duck into if the weather gets too bad.

Half Way To the Med

2006-11-19T18:10:00.000-05:00

The winds were perfect today, allowing us to cruise along at a steady eight to ten knots. After making a small touch-up last night, our sail repair is holding up nicely. We flew the spinnaker for most of the morning until the wind picked up to around 15 knots. We are slightly behind our intended schedule, but with the forecasts looking favorable over the next few days we should make up a lot of time.

We approached the half-way point of our 3000-mile voyage from Boston to the Strait of Gibraltar today! If we continue to average eight knots we should arrive in little over a week. A low-pressure system is coming down the coast of Ireland from the north, however, and we are expecting some rough weather (40+ knot winds and 20-feet seas) as we approach the Med. We have our storm jib prepared and tri-sail ready if we need them. The more distance, however, we travel over the next few days, the more likely we will be able to miss the storm. The race is on!

Posted for Shane by Craig

Almost Road Kill

2006-11-18T22:11:00.000-05:00

The sunset today was spectacular, followed by full complement of stars. I was sitting below writing some emails when I glanced up at the radar above the nav table. Usually empty, I saw a speck about eight miles straight in front of us. We couldn't see much of anything on the horizon when we looked outside the cabin. After hailing several times to an unknown vessel without avail, this half-asleep voice with a thick Russian accent crackled across the VHF. We identified ourselves as a 38-feet vessel under sail, and they responded that they were a 500-feet bulk freighter heading our direction. We pleaded jokingly for them not to squish us and they considerately obliged. We passed starboard-to-starboard several miles apart. It's a big ocean, but evidently not that big.

Sail Repair for Dummies

2006-11-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

Today was a very productive day! The winds died down last night to a stand still as we entered the Gulf Stream. What a difference in temperature between the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream, though! In fact, we thought about going swimming today (we could definitely use baths). Instead, we tackled the daunting task of repairing our torn main sail.

I knew my junior-high, home-economics class would come in handy some day! The rip wasn't as bad as we previously thought. The tear was a little over a yard long, but very clean along the trailing edge of the sail. First, we buffed the area around the tear with sandpaper and then cleaned it with acetone. We cut out several circular patches of sticky-back tape to secure the ends of the tear. Next, we placed long, rectangular patches along the length of the tear to hold the two edges together. We then added circular patches to the seams of the rectangular patches. Finally, we laid large rectangular strips over the entire tear and smeared the seams with epoxy. I don't think she'll win any beauty contests, but we have confidence that other parts of the sail are likely to give way before our repair comes undone.

While the main was down and the winds were calm, we decided that it was a good time to refuel. In planning for the trip, we were concerned that we would not have enough storage space for the diesel required to make a trans-Atlantic. We budgeted running the engine to recharge the batteries for four hours each day, consuming roughly two gallons of diesel a day. We provisioned 62 gallons to last a thirty-day trip. To our pleasant surprise, the RPM required to recharge our batteries was much lower than we had planned. Instead of using two gallons a day, we have been using only one. So, we actually have enough fuel for a return trip if we so desired (don't worry, I don't think we're that crazy)!

The winds for the next three days are going to be terrific. They will be a steady 10-20 knots from behind. With our repaired main back in action, we have resumed averaging eight knots of speed.

Red Sky at Night...Sailor's Delight

2006-11-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

Well, the old adage is partially true. Last night's sunset was a brilliant mural of reds and oranges. The wind today is blowing a steady 20 knots, and we are cruising along on at a very fast broad reach. The sky is overcast, though, and rain poured down this morning during a brief squall. A low pressure system is moving down from the north over the next few days. If we continue our good progress, we should be able to regulate the wind speed using the Azore highs as a buffer.

Today is definitely an inside day. I spent the morning learning how to tie a monkey's fist. Hey, you never know when a big ball of rope will come in handy. Besides, with a name like monkey's fist, it's a knot that everyone should know. I'm now acclimated to reading down below and am making good progress on the book Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. I suppose that it is particularly relevant to this adventure.

We're still experiencing email issues. We are not sure if the emails that we have sent out over the past few days have reached their recipients. We seem to be receiving emails just fine, though.

There She Blows!

2006-11-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Today was a gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and cooperative winds. We flew the spinnaker all day on a beam reach averaging 7.5 to 8 knots. The high pressure system now lies beneath us and is blowing us straight towards Spain.

The Grand Banks are an amazing ecosystem of bountiful variety. At first we thought that the sea birds were following our boat, mistaking us for a fishing vessel discarding unsuitable catch. Instead, they we were actually stalking schools of dolphins and other fish hoping to get scraps of their fallen prey.

We sailed today through a huge feeding frenzy with hundreds of dolphins (as far as the eye could see) leaping through the water. At the same time, we saw two fountains erupt from the sea a few miles away. We eagerly watched as the spouts came toward us, surfacing every few minutes. Two whales breached less than a hundred yards from our stern, blew magnificent sprays, and rolled over onto their backs. Every now and then we would see them surface in the distance as they continued their journey north.

We are about to sail across the south-eastern edge of the Grand Banks on a course that will take us north of the Azores. The wind over the next few days is forecasted to blow at 10 to 15 knots from astern. We hope to bang out 200-mile days if these conditions persist.

Comments

2006-11-16T18:00:00.000-05:00

Shane had mentioned a lot of you following his and Walid's adventure through this blog wanted to post comments. I have set it up so anyone, not just blogspot members, can post now. I'm sure Shane and Walid would like to hear from everyone. Comment away!

Craig

Back on Track

2006-11-16T08:28:00.000-05:00

After three days of beating into a headwind, we now have winds from the south east and have resumed our course. The high pressure system is moving beneath us and we are catching winds from its trailing, clock-wise edge. We should have three more days of this perfect wind as the system moves south and the winds shift to our tail. The rip in our main sail has not worsened, but we are losing about a half a knot because we can’t remove the third reef. Once the winds shift behind us and we are flying our spinnaker, we should be able to take the main down to repair it.

We are crossing the southern edge of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland at the moment. The weather is gorgeous with sunny skies and calm seas. Earlier in the day we passed through a choppy patch of sea littered with sea gulls going crazy. As we got closer we realized that we were sailing through a feeding frenzy of various fish and dolphins. A pack of 30 to 50 dolphins began leaping beside our boat in unison. They would synchronously jump out of the water and race each other to the front of our bow. We have some great footage and pictures, but unfortunately our limited bandwidth connection cannot support the upload.

We have been having trouble sending emails. I have been trying to reply to as many of your emails as possible, but I’m not sure which ones are getting through. We have been able to receive emails just fine, and we really appreciate your support and encouragement. These past few days have been really rough.

If you haven’t checked out our progress using Google Earth, I would highly recommend it. Thanks goes to Seth and Craig for setting up such a cool visualization of our journey!

Hove-To

2006-11-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

Last night was quite an experience! For those of you following our route, you might have noticed that we actually went backwards yesterday. We encountered 40+ knot head winds a little after dusk. We had our mail sail triple reefed and were using a small head sail. Even so, the boat was overpowered by the strong winds and large seas. Our main sail tore just below the second reef. We think we will be able to repair it once the winds calm down in a couple of days. Not too worry, though, the sail is still strong above the third reef and we have a spare main just in case.

With the wind striking us head on, a strong current pushing us backwards, and terrible swells, we back winded the jib and hove-to. I think the deciding factor was when a big wave crashed into the boat causing Walid's bunk cloth to tear. Because he was on the high side of the tack and leaning against the cloth, he crashed to the floor and into the table. When he woke up he was terribly disoriented, a bit shook up, but not seriously injured. Anyway, heaving-to essentially stopped our forward motion and made the boat drift with the seas. What an amazing difference it made! I wouldn't have believed that it would become so calm inside afterwards. I slept like a baby and had very vivid dreams for the first time in days.

We are back on track now. As the high-pressure system moves down in front of us, the winds are backing and we should be able to make up for lost time. We are currently moving at 6 knots right on course for our great-circle route. The seas are still pretty strong, but not as bad as last night. The skies are overcast, but there is no rain and the sun is flirting with us from behind the clouds. We played a board game (thanks Brian and Renate!)and read for most of the day.

"Real Time" Google Earth Tracker

2006-11-14T19:39:00.000-05:00

Seth Hollub did a great job last night setting up this Google Earth .kmz file that reads the GPS info off of the iBoat website and builds this .kmz file to match it:

Download it here: Gryphon KMZ

You will need Google Earth installed to view it.

The permalink over in the Links section will let you get to this at anytime as well.

Craig

Beating

2006-11-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

The winds shifted overnight to a very strong head wind. Consequently, the waves started bashing into the front of the boat and I didn’t get much sleep last night. The storm hasn’t really materialized, but we are catching the bottom of a high pressure system that is producing steady 15+ knot winds and 5-10 feet seas. With the wind beating against us progress has been slow because we must continually tack the boat back and forth to make way. Clouds have covered the sky and the air is very saturated to the point that everything is covered with a layer of water. Waves continually crash over the bow of the boat, flooding the cockpit area with sea water. It is very cold outside, but very comfortable (other than the moisture) inside the cabin. This weather should continue for the next 12 hours or so, until the high pressure system moves in front of us. At that point we should see southerly winds and make great speeds on a beam reach. We haven’t broken out the chocolate truffles yet (a special thanks to Manolis and Gergana), but today has been one of the more miserable days at sea. Our spirits our high though as we grab the helm, waves crashing around us, and blast “Magic Carpet Ride” over the stereo.

Google Earth Track Added

2006-11-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

Every 24-48 hours I plan to update the "Track us with Google Earth" .kmz file in the Links section on the left with the latest tracking info. Its much nicer to look at and you can see how deep the water is :)

If you don't have Google Earth grab it at: http://earth.google.com/

The perma link on the side of the blog to the kmz file is:
http://www.overlandaudio.com/Shane-Walid-Trip(GoogleEarth).kmz

If you have Google Earth installed all you need to do is click on the .kmz link and choose Open with Google Earth.

Craig

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!

2006-11-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

We were visited today by a school of dolphins. They played in our bow wake for over an hour! We saw them in the horizon at first, and then they progressively swam closer. They were very curious, looking up at us from the water. What a remarkable animal!

Posted for Shane

The Calm Before the Storm

2006-11-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

The winds are very light today and we are flying our large downwind spinnaker. A high pressure system is moving northeast below us and will be followed by a low pressure system in the next day or two. Winds around high pressure move clockwise while those around a low pressure system move counter-clockwise. The result for us will be this double vortex funnel of wind, something akin to the ball return at a bowling alley. The weather reports are a bit conflicting at the moment, so we will see what happens. Yesterday, we had a section of our main sail snap out of its track. The bolt holding it sheared off, but we were able to quickly repair it. All sails are doing great today. Best purchase of the trip so far: a $20 wide-base coffee mug that doesn’t tip over.

Posted for Shane

Dousing the Spinnaker

2006-11-12T11:37:00.000-05:00

For the first time last night the winds changed from a steady tail wind to a shifting head wind. We had to wake up several times to douse the spinnaker and tighten the sails. Last night was also bitter cold. I was wearing four layers of fleece and a jacket, but the wind pierced it like knives. Today is another beautiful day at sea. The swells are at a minimum and we are cruising along at a steady five and a half knots. We have been averaging 6.38 knots along a great-circle route to the Strait of Gibraltar. This route has taken us north along the coast of Nova Scotia and we are now approaching Sable Island. (Actually, we just wanted to stop by Matt’s parents in PEI to restock our fridge!) For those of you following our route via iBoatTrack, don’t worry, we are not off course. We are actually slightly south of the great-circle route to get better winds and weather.

Talked with Shane

2006-11-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

I talked with Shane and Walid via the satellite phone this morning. All is well and they are preparing for some rougher weather ahead. Shane had tried to call me yesterday with some computer/camera/FTP server problems he had with the on board camera but its all worked out now and he says its taking great pictures. Shane had some problem uploading a picture so he is going to email me one to post when he gets a chance and I'll get it right up.

He pointed out that when you look at their path on the iboat track link it shows them heading slightly north past the 43rd parallel. This is normal and their intneded Great Circle path that is actually shorter than heading due East. One of those globe vs flat mercator projection map things.

First Blog from Sea

2006-11-11T08:45:00.000-05:00

It’s been little over a day at sea. The winds have been cooperative at 15-25 knots. We have had some rough swells, and I am still growing my sea legs. I’m finally able to spend some time below (let alone write an email) without getting sick. The stars are amazing! The Milky Way is a white blanket across the night sky. You can even see an occasional satellite streak across the black. The wake of our boat is also spectacular. Every now and then we hit patches of bioluminescent algae that glow a firefly blue. We have some rough weather ahead. A storm is brewing two to three days out that we are keeping a close eye on. Should be fun.

Test Pix

2006-11-10T04:57:00.000-05:00

Just a test

Underway

2006-11-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

Shane just called:

Sunny, beautiful, low pressure system moving up from the cape, not a lot of wind but underway. Last look at land as they pass Logan airport on the way out of the bay through hippocrate channel. And they just passed the around the world bio diesel boat.

2:20 PM EST

Good luck Shane and Walid!

The Perfect Storm

2006-11-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

We are waiting for a low pressure system to move through before heading out. We should have 30+ knot winds for the first few days. Look at all the yellow and red! How cold could it really be?!? The little circles outline our intended path across the Atlantic.

Boat Cam Pictures

2006-11-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

A high definition camera was installed on the boat to take a time lapse movie of the entire voyage, shore to shore. It's an IQeye501 that takes a 1280x1024 image every 5 seconds and stores it to a 1TB RAID USB hard drive that is attached to the navigational computer on board running an FTP server.

Before the camera gets ripped off in a tidal wave here are a few shots of what it all looked like:

And some day and night shots from the camera after it was installed:

How to Contact Us

2006-11-08T13:53:00.000-05:00

So the pony express doesn't seem to work well in the middle of the Atlantic, but we do have satellite phones and email:

Shane: shanemhaas@gmail.com

The Night Before

2006-11-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

It's raining in Boston, but the winds look good. Just enjoying a couple of beverages after a wonderful meal at Les Zygomates. We have been provisioning the Gryphon during the past couple of weeks at Boston's Rowes Wharf.

Pictures from dinner the night before at Les Zygomates.