Aleria's Adventures

Alex and I drove to Sligo for the Autumn lunch of the western ICC members. It was a lovely event, with good food, good friends, and good times. The Driftwood restaurant at Rosses Point was a nice spot with beautiful views across the water. It also gave us the opportunity to see a lovely part of Sligo I hadn't seen before, and to meet some new potential members including the Harbourmaster of Sligo.

On our recent trip up from Spain to Ireland, we had some rather large and confused seas along the way. I thought I'd make a short video of what it's like to sail offshore in these waters. No comment, just the feel.

Today the wind howls Creating uneasiness  Yesterday flat calm (c) Daria Blackwell

The sea welcomes us As waves break over the bow And wind fills the sails (c) Daria Blackwell

The first aerial photos coming out of Marsh Harbour are heartbreaking. Almost everything is gone. Buildings, cars, boats...all gone. Much of the island is still underwater long after the hurricane has passed. The devastation caused by Category 5 Hurricane #Dorian on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas is catastrophic. It hit with sustained winds of 185mph (298km/h) and gusts well over 200 mph. The wind speeds equalled the fastest ever inflicted by a hurricane upon landfall, matched only by the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. It was Labor Day weekend in the States last weekend. Alex and I chartered out of Marsh Harbour in the Abacos years ago. It was a delightful place. The main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco were separated from the barrier islands by the Sea of Abaco which was ideal for sailing. I wonder what's happened to the string of tiny out islands we visited: Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Great Guana Cay and Green Turtle Cay. No one is mentioning them, but seeing the de

Category 5 Hurricane Dorian approaching the Abacos As I write this, at 185 mph sustained and gusts greater than 220 mph, Hurricane Dorian is passing over the Abacos causing extreme damage and devastation as the strongest storm they have ever experienced. It's eye passed pretty much over Marsh Harbour. We have such beautiful memories of sailing in the Abacos, but there's not much that can survive that kind of force there. I just hope people secured their homes as best they could and escaped from the coast to safer ground.

I've been following Randall Reeves'  Figure 8 Voyage . He is currently en route from Greenland to the NW Passage. It's a bit late in the season to be attempting the transit but his goal is to complete a circumnavigation of the Americas and Antarctica in one season. He and Moli are pushing to complete their amazing journey. It prompted me to have a look at what he might be facing and who else might be up there. What I found was at first not encouraging. The July news was that the sea ice had started melting almost a month earlier than it should have. But by August, the Passage was still closed. When Randall discovered an oil leak in his drivetrain, he contacted Viktor Wejer, "I wrote to Victor, lamenting how far behind my original schedule I had fallen and asked for an ice update. 'There is no need to rush, Randall,' he responded. 'Environment Canada isn’t reporting on the central parts of the Arctic yet. Solid ice. You have at least ten days.'"