Roleur

You are right. I was using my old mileage from Newport to Anacortes via DC. It is still 3,000 miles according to Google maps. I've not found a rental truck (F-150 type) that will go one way. You can get a Uhaul moving truck, but I wouldn't wish driving one of those pieces of crap for 3000 miles on anyone, much less doing it while pulling a 5000 pound boat. Just rented a Uhaul to do a 120 mile round trip. The suspension was so bad the front wheels were trying to come off the ground on the freeway. Had to drive 40 in a 70. And I don't have the time to do the drive myself. I had a perfectly laid out plan where I could do the transport as part of moving from TX to WA and in between jobs. That window has passed. I have thought about buying a used truck and selling it over here. I have some friends that could do the driving, but they don't own vehicles for the job. Renting a truck on top of their costs is more than I wanted to spend, but may be the only option.

So, Spadefoot will be shipped on her own good trailer from Bermuda to Elizabethtown, NJ this week. Once there, she needs to make a 3,500 mile trip to Washington state to be home. Unfortunately, due to the previous circumstances (see link in signature) our truck that was designated to do this haul is already in Washington. Anyone have any suggestions for getting the boat across the country? I tried UShip, which is what we did when we bought the boat, but so far, no bids. And yes, I'll be over 50% of the value of the boat completing this recovery, so it would be nice to find a solution that isn't outrageous.

Full summary of the recovery mission here: Spadefoot Returns - 23 Days Adrift

Thanks all. Trailer move is sorted out. With luck, Spadefoot will be back in the U.S. in about 2 weeks.

Just posted new found info about the keel on FB and a photo of what failed. https://www.facebook.com/SpadefootRacing/

Oh, the keel definitely did not fall off, but it almost did. The actual damage is quite minimal and easily fixed. Here's the FB post I just put up describing the issue and a photo of what did fail. https://www.facebook.com/SpadefootRacing/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

It does. She's being towed through St. George's cut as we speak. More info here: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/179610-bermuda-1-2-2017/&page=2

Here's track. I got off the boat just over 3 weeks ago when the SE'ly course became E'ly. You can see that initially the track was more or less NE'ly and a recovery seemed impossible, with the expectation that the boat would keep going NE with the Gulf Stream, bound for Europe. But over the following 2 weeks Spadefoot found a magnetic attraction to Bermuda, at times travelling SE in a SW'ly breeze (eddy current?) It got as close as 75nm from Bermuda yesterday, before making a last ditch break to the NE. I think at the maximum it was 300nm from Bermuda.

Newport to Newark for loading on a ship to Bermuda. Flexible date, just sometime soonish. Trailer is empty and for a 28 footer. 2" receiver.

Uh, yes. The friends that I flew to Bermuda. We've had the tracker on a private page for the past 2 weeks and watching the track closely. Put a recovery plan in motion late last week when the CPA from Bermuda looked like it was coming up rapidly.

We got her! Spadefoot is under tow about 100nm north of Bermuda. Headed to St. George's. A crazy drift pattern made the very unlikely, possible. More later. Probably a 15 hour tow now.

Day 3 update from Spadefoot (http://www.svshearwater.com/?p=1927) B 1-2 (Leg 1) – Day 3 (240 miles to go) ------- Howdy! Yesterday evening and last night were really nice. A little more wind than earlier Sunday, close reaching and flat water. Makes it easy to move about the boat and tidy up. I’ve gone from jib top, to A0, to jib top, to new #3. Almost close hauled now aiming straight for Bermuda in about 12 knots of breeze. I’m expecting to increase throughout the day and hold the direction, so it is going to get bumpy. I feel like the fox being chased by the hounds. The key points are the hounds are all bigger than me, and there are a lot of them. I can see Solarus and Choucas on AIS, and they are both closing/passing by. Concussion is around 8-9nm behind, but just dropped off AIS. I know Upstart and Breakaway are nearby because I could hear them on the morning check-in. I think it is going to be a tough ask to hold off these bigger boats over the next 240nm. 240nm! That is a long way to go upwind in a 28 footer. Hoping the new GRIB this morning has a Christmas present. Oh, and I’ve been battling a 1.5 knot adverse current for hours. So, despite ripping through the water right now at 7 knots, it probably looks like I’m poking along. If I can get clear of the current I will really start making some tracks toward Bermuda. Lots of sleep and rest last night. It was quiet sailing, so I just kept sleeping. A flying fish landed in cockpit while I was sleeping. Two other boats had the same thing happen last night. A pod of dolphins visited yesterday evening. That is always nice. They are so fast. I think I was disappointing in the light air. Another mostly sunny day. Batteries are getting fully charged during the day, and then I use around 22-24 Ah over night.

Second update from Spadefoot (http://www.svshearwater.com/?p=1913) B 1-2 (Leg 1) – Day 2 (340 miles to go) ------- Another bright sunny day. I can hear Jason (Concussion), although it sounds like he and Solarus aren’t very close, but are close each other. A bit of everything. Too much wind. Too little wind. Too big waves. Super flat water. Easy sailing, hard sailing. I flew the kite from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon, then switched to the jib top and double reefed main, the the jib top poled out with the double reefed main and now I’m back to the A2. It’s really hard flying the kite with no apparent wind mode. I spent much of the morning laying on the cockpit floor, staring at the Windex and pushing buttons to change course to keep the kite flying. Very shifty right now. I’m almost halfway, and I just got into the Gulf Stream this morning. 79 degree water. I feel like I’m past the strong part as the cross-current has eased off and the temperature has started to drop. Boat got wet inside, but I got most of it sponged out this morning. Nice to have a break from the wind and waves. Pretty tired. I’m getting little naps, but they are very short, before the boat needs attention. I rested good yesterday morning, knowing last night would be harder. I think that’s all I have for today. I need to go tend the spinnaker.

First update from Spadefoot (http://www.svshearwater.com/?p=1910) B 1-2 (Leg 1) – Day 1 -------- Good morning! Pretty good stuff out here so far. It was nice getting out of the Bay and cracking off a little. The cold front arrived earlier than expected, which was great because I was able to shift to the jib top and then the A5/A0. As the front passed I saw 20-35 knots for about an hour with the A5 up. Spadefoot was full lit up. Top speed was 13.5 knots, and we made up 2nm on Barcanova in 1 hour. After the front passed the skies cleared again. Still clear this morning. Good for the solar panels. I put up the A2 spinnaker around 10pm last night, and it is still up. Moderate breeze overnight. Mostly 8-10, and now it is more like 10-12 out of the north. The wind instruments (speed & direction) aren’t working. Not too surprising, but a bummer about the wind direction, because now the autopilot can’t steer to apparent wind. Tricky with the spinnaker up. Lots of adjustments and handling required. Pretty cold last night. I wore everything I had. But now with the sun up, it is nice. Wind just shifted and/or changed speed. Need to go do some sailing stuff.

Saw Comanche loaded on a ship in Narrangasset Bay today. Rig up, keel on. All by its lonesome, but looking like they were about to depart. Presumably to LA for Transpac.