Category: Caribbean
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How I Think About Rigging // Mate Liz Karamavous
In my final year of university, I knew I wanted to pursue sailing as my career, knew the layers it took to be a competent sailor, had a small background in rigging and young, bold confidence. I decided to move to Newport, RI. The March before graduation I drove there in business casual in my…
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NORTHBOUND // Escape from the Caribbean // COVID-19 Update
Today’s the day. As I type this, both ISBJORN & ICEBEAR are at-sea…well, kinda. ICEBEAR, under skipper Sean Westoby, is at-sea for real, sailing north from Grenada towards USVI, while ISBJORN is on a short motor-boat right from BVI over to USVI having just be re-launched and commissioned on Friday at Nanny Cay Marina. They’ll…
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Off to Sea Once More // Escape from the Caribbean
By ICEBEAR Mate Emma Garschagen Everyone has the pre-departure jitters. Excited and busy energy all around. We all just went for our last Caribbean swim and everything except this laptop I’m typing on has been stowed. How fast the world can change! Just a week ago, Alex and I were leaving home in Boulder, CO…
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Skeleton Crew // ICEBEAR & ISBJORN at-sea Report
by ICEBEAR mate Emma Garschagen, via sat phone email. Good morning / afternoon ! Emma here, emailing with an update from us all aboard ICEBEAR. We had a perfect start on Sunday evening when we pushed off from St. Thomas. Steady trades made for a happy ICEBEAR and happy crew. Matt and Layton made a…
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Bermuda & Back // SPIRIT OF BERMUDA Rally July 6
CREW ALLOCATION Though this is a ‘race’, we’re treating it like a cruise due to the stopover and the accommodations on the boat. So ICEBEAR will be taking 6 paying crew, ISBJORN 4. Here’s how we are prioritizing crew requests: A2B Race Crew get first dibs (note: There is no ‘formal’ A2B in 2021, but we are already…
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SPIRIT OF BERMUDA RALLY // Landfall Imminent for ICEBEAR & the Fleet
July 10, 2020, St George’s, Bermuda: Facing headwinds on their final approach to the finish, Andy Schell’s Swan 59 Icebear skippered by Sean Westoby is poised to be the first entry to cross the finish line in the inaugural Spirit of Bermuda Charity Rally organized by the East End Mini Yacht Club (EEMYC) and the…
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Beating to Bermuda // ISBJORN Offshore
We’re finally on a good lay-line to Bermuda, a feat that’s required eleven tacks since leaving the Chesapeake Bay (yes, I counted). Our general strategy involved riding the Gulf Stream East-North-East for a bit – trying to stay as south as possible but squeezing the SOG advantage as hard as we could. Next, we turned…
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ICEBEAR WINS FIRST LEG OF THE SPIRIT OF BERMUDA CHARITY RALLY
July 12, 2020, St George’s, Bermuda: After a difficult leg of nearly five days of light air and upwind sailing, all teams have finished their first leg of the Spirit of Bermuda Charity Rally, organized by the East End Mini Yacht Club (EEMYC) and the Sailing Yacht Research Foundation (SYRF). Proceeds from this race benefit…
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Refits and Reflections from Annapolis // How the Hell do we Move Forward?!
If there is any cure for the COVID blues it’ll be offshore sailing. Next week the crews of both boats arrive in Annapolis for what will be an epic passage south. Our goal is Antigua, over 1,600 miles from Annapolis, normally a 10-11 day passage or so. But with COVID, the island is requiring all…
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ICEBEAR Update, November 13 // Headwinds
Update from ICEBEAR, Friday 13 november, 04.30 boat time Friday the 13th. Spooky. Day five of headwinds. They’ve varied in strength but never in direction – right on the nose. It’s been a while since I’ve sailed close-hauled for this long. 847 miles since we left Annapolis, with the first 130 or so motor-boatin’ down…