The Voyage of the SV MISTRESS

This page will contain periodic updates from the yacht MISTRESS during her journey through the Great Lakes, out the St. Lawrence Seaway and across the Atlantic. We are able to provide these updates through the use of a single sideband radio that we will use to contact a friend in the Azores. He will then E-mail accounts of the voyage to Connie Dietzel (Gus Paron's daughter). Connie will add the updates to a HTML on her web site, to which you are now linked.

Mistress departed SBYC at 1045 UTC (0645 ET) on Saturday June 15th, 1996 with clear skies and light NE winds. A bon-voyage party was held Friday night on the south point of SBYC.
Wed. June 19th, 1996 Mistress locked through the Welland canal and is in Lake Ontario.
Wed. June 26th, 1996 Mistress is in Quebec, through the last of the seaway locks and into the open waters of the St. Lawrence river.
Sun. June 30, 1996 Mistress is at the top of the Gaspe Peninsula, about 250 miles from Pictou, Nova Scotia.
July 9, l996 The Mistress left Pictou and locked through the Canso Straits, The spent the evening in Port Hawkesbury.
July 11, l996 The Mistress is under full sail power with 20 mile per hour winds, and sunny skies. Two of the four crew members are experiencing bouts of sea-sickness. Latitude and Longitude are unavailable. Approximate location is 200 miles southeast of Nova Scotia.
July 13, 1996 Latitude 43.28 north, Longtitude 52.47 west Light winds, 240 miles from Canso Straits.
July 16, l996 The latest position of the Mistress is Latitude 41. north Longitude 39. west. They are approximately five days from the Azores.
July 17, 1996 The latest position of the Mistress is Latitude 41. North and Longitude 36. West. They are on an Eaterly course and they are in squalls from hurricane Bertha.
July 20, 1996 The latest position of the Mistress is Latitude 39. North and Longitude 29. West. The Mistress is motoring and the winds are light. They are expected to arrive in Horta today.
these are excerpts from the original ships logs, sent from Bill via Pedro, ENJOY.
Sun July 7 Left Pictou for the Canso straits, got within three miles of Cape George and found the engine alternator was not charging. Returned to Pictou. We were able to see the final of the Lobster festival, Natalie MacMaster from Cape Breton. Wonderful fiddler, Scottish/ Nova Scotia folk music and step dancing, bought her tape. Had lobster at Stone Cafe that night. Melissa Mcginnis, daughter of Gus's friends Greg and Pauline and her friend Chris stopped by, Melissa runs the Pictou tourist associations.
Mon. July 8 Jamie the repair guy said alternator was shot, got replacement. Ate at the Relic, good fish chowder and Kiets's ale. Talked quite a bit with Sandy the owner about restoring and the history of the building. Pat and Chris and I went to the Relic for Kiets Ale. Jamie returned with new alternator.
Tue. July 9 Left Pictou again. Planning to return next year by car for the lobster carnival 2nd weekend in July. W.H. Davis bed and breakfast looks good, $54 a night. Rounded Cape George and into the Canso straits. Locked through about 3 P.M. docked at Port Hawkesbury an hour later. Walked 1 mile up hill to nice grocery store. Got ride back.
Wed July 10 Got fuel and water left about 1100 A.M. Motored through the Canso straits in about 1 mile visibility fog. Able to pick up buoys by site and radar. Straits well ranged also.
Thur July 11 20-25 kts wind on the beam rain and fog. As soon as we cleared the straits the ocean rollers took me down, missed two watches. Made 204 miles that day
Fri July 12 Bob talks with Herb every night. Herb is a HAM in Canada that tracks transatlantic sailors and advises them on weather patterns and courses. Herb is on 12.359 mhz. around 1900. Herb tells us to stay on a easterly course to keep favorable winds. This will this will keeps us above the 43rd parallel, thus in warmer gear, watching for ice bergs and into the Grand Banks and the North Atlantic fishing fleet. Bob saw a ship during the night, Pat spotted a sail headed our way during the day. Tried to raise her on VHF and she tried to raise us. We could hear her, Kialoa V. I would have liked to talk to her, big time racer. Winds and seas lighter 10kts. broad reaching at 5 kts across the southern tip of the Grand Banks. Had three dolphins riding our quarter wave today. Something broke the sound barrier just behind us. Gave us quite a start when you consider that we carry are propane tanks in the stern!
Sat July 13 Five fishing trawlers on the south horizon. 20 - 30 dolphins playing around the boat in the morning. Later about 5 whales blowing about a mile north of us, two came with 25 yds of boat. Continuing east about 500 miles from the Canso straits, weather good sounds like we will avoid Bertha altogether. I picked up a English speaking Swedish rock and roll station on my walkman last night.
Sun. July 14 Le jour de la Bastille! Caught the BBC on the walkman talking about the Bastille day celebration on the Champs E'Lyses. We are really in the Grand Banks. Fog rolled in at midnight, no wind, and the fishing fleet to our starboard... thank God for Radar. Twelve hours later still fogged in, running under the iron jenny all day, but have cleared the Banks. I was expecting to see the "We're Here" come out of the mist. Herb says to say above 42 degrees for another 24 hours then head southeast to the Azores, should pickup about 20 kt breeze. I put us about half way to the Azores. If we get those winds my guess we'll see the Pico light by Thur. More Dolphins riding the bow wave today. Current position N 42.52 W 48.26. Have not been able to raise Pedro, propagation has been terrible.
Mon. July 15 Staying above 42 lat. winds 20 - 25 knts, seas 10 - 12 ft on the beam. Making 8 knts but very uncomfortable ride, cold, long underwear, wool sweater and full foul weather gear all the time. Are now below 42 lat. but weather has not improved, I think Bertha finally caught us.
Tue July 16 Same as Monday. I missed another watch, ODed on Dramamine. Sea sick. Caught the edge of a small gale, 44 knts and horizontal rain, must be hell on shore on a night like this.
Wed. July 17 More of the same, getting sea sickness under control, not eating much.
Thur July 18 Winds NE 15 kts, heading due east because predicted easterly wind shift. Actually a pleasant day, still in long johns. Seas have flattened and are making good speed. The prevailing westerly have never appeared.
Fri July 19 Dropped down to 120 heading, winds are going light. Saw a couple of boats on the horizon, probably Azores fishing fleet. These are the only signs of life since the Grand Banks fishing fleet, not even a plane. Spotted a light! Around 0130 UTC saw a beacon on the horizon before haze moved in, either Pico or Corvo. Dawn breaks, haze burns off and there's a big island in front of us, then two. I am confused until it is pointed out the there are two islands Corvo and Flores. We are in the Azores but still 150 miles from Faial our first landfall. Beautiful day, warm (shed the long johns first time since Pictou), sun is out (haven't seen that in four days), and no wind. Motor past Corvo four miles south of us, have dolphins riding bow wave and glide past sea turtles basking themselves in the sun. We see lots of Portuguese Man o' Wars floating by. Corvo is quite impressive rising 2500 feet with sheer rock cliffs and a huge crater in the center. We leave Corvo astern, 100 miles to Faial so we motor slowly to try to time our arrival at dawn Sat. The Azores are known for having no wind in the summer and violent winds in the winter. About 50 dolphins ride our bow wave this evening.
Sat July 20 Pico is huge ahead of us in the morning light, rising 7700 feet, with Sao Jeorge to the left and Faial to the near right. As we pass by Faial we see whitewash houses with red tiled roofs and fields defined by some sort of hedgerow. We pass by a small village with what appears to be a rocky beach and a large church under repair. Children are swimming at the beach and small fishing boats appear near shore. We round the point and see Horta, a well protected harbor with many masts in it. We clean boat as we wait to clear customs and get a dock assignment. About 1300 we are cleared for shore leave. Gus, Pat and I start out for a quick walk to check things out. We have a ham and cheese sandwich and Super Bock beer in a local pub and exchange some money, 150:1 is the going rate for Escudos to U.S. dollars. We continue our walk and spot a restaurant with a menu posted, a couple that where in the pub are on their way in and invite us in for a beer. Very nice place, on the grounds of a 16th century fort overlooking the harbor. The couple are Eric and Daphne who have been house sitting here a year. Pat talks to Eric and Daphne Gus plays the keyboard and I talk to the manager about some construction work that is going on and the fort. We part company with Eric and Daphne and head back to the boat, Pat spots a Citroen 2CV and stops to look at it and Eric and Daphne are in it, about to go home. They invite us to go for a ride to their village for a beer. We drive along the bluffs along the coast and end up in the village we passed on the way in with the beach and the church under repair. They are going to leave in Sept. for the Canaries. Have our beer and call a cab back to the boat. Gus and I go back to the hotel and have Manuela help us make a call to the states. Pat and Bob meet us there and we go to a local pizza place for dinner.
Sun. July 21 Gus, Pat and I go for a 0700 walk through town, we find a sailmaker loft and an old hospital with beautiful gardens. Pat heads back to the boat and Gus and I continue down the coast road toward Eric and Daphne's village. We get to the top of the mountain separating the two villages and head back to the boat, Gus says we walked about five miles. Big day, did laundry. Pat met a German, Herb, who is here because of dropping out of OSTAR race. We had a beer with him while waiting for our laundry. He is on a 29 footer and says he was one of the smallest boats in the race. From what he says the OSTAR fleet got nailed by Bertha as they headed East, six boats sunk. Herb says there are about six OSTAR dropouts here in the harbor at Horta. He also says he has been retained to skipper the new Coyote that is now being built in France for the Globe race. I asked him if that is a redesign of Mike Plant's Coyote and he said yes, this time with hydraulic keel design that allows for a movable keel. Tomorrow is a big day, stores will be open, got to go to the boat store and the sailmaker's for some stuff and do some work on Mistress.
Mon. July 22 Gus and I went for a 1 hour walk a 0700 this morning, Michigan weather type day, overcast and 30 kts of wind. Gus went back to the boat to fix the port turning problem with the autohelm. I walked around looking for sailloft that we found yesterday and a place to by film. Could not find the loft but got film. I'm getting pretty good at doing this dollars to escudos thing. Gus found the problem with the autohelm and Bob and I went to the local ships chandlery to find a solution of a US wired boat running on European shorepower. The ship store owner is from the USA and was very helpful. He store is small and he didn't have anything on our shopping list except the sail thread I need to fix the main. The owner said he would make some calls to find if there is what we need on the island, if not he said we can get what we need in Gibraltar. When we get back to the boat we have an Irwin 52 rafted off us. Two guys from Uruguay, one Spaniard named Alex, and one Hungarian also named Alex. Alex #1 filled us in on the details the New York plane crash, not good. Gus paints a Mistress sign on the wall to surprise Margie and Dorothy when they arrive tomorrow. Bob and I replace a bolt in the driveshaft flange, hanging upside down in the bilge sure is fun! We have a few drinks with the OSTAR racer, Herb Uphaus, he is planning to leave tomorrow for England with two other boats, one from Poland and one from France.
Tue. July 23 Gus and I get up to take our 0700 walk and it is still blowing 30 knts and raining. By the time the rain lets up Gus does not have time to walk because of going to get Marge at the airport. I go looking for the sail loft again and walk a good five miles. I run into Pat and he was with us the time we walked by the loft and he had a general idea where is was. With the help of a young lady going to work we find the loft. Run into the sailmakers wife and she takes us through a very nice house to the loft. Ralf, the sailmaker remembers me from yesterday and gives me the sailtape I have been looking for. We go back to the boat and Gus is talking to Alex about a problem he is having with his generator. Gus, Alex and I dive into the problem, we have to remove all the main salon flooring hatches and one of the settees to get to engine and the generator. After checking all the wiring and the alternators Gus determines the regulator is shot and we can't get one in Horta. Gus comes with a work around using a battery charger and a step-down transformer. Alex and I go hunting for a US wired battery charger. We check with an auto store two hardware stores and an appliance store to no avail. We run into the other Alex and we all go to Peter's Sport Cafe for Ham and cheese sandwiches and Super Bock, Portuguese beer.
Wed. July 24 Bid farewell to Alex and Alex and Horta at about 1030. We sail close to the Island of Pico on a course of 120. We close reach with a reefed main and a staysail and hit 9 knts. We make good passage until about 0300 Thur when the wind clocks East and we go to motor sailing with 50 miles to go. I go on watch at 0300 and at about 0330 I spot the San Miguel beacon.
Thur July 25 At about 1130 we pull into customs at Punta DelGada and check in, get water and fuel and move to a mooring on the wall. Pat notices that we lost three screws from the boom gooseneck plate and the locking nut from the boom pin. One more day of bad weather with the boom like this and we would have lost the rig. Gus and I go back to work, locktite all the screws and mouse the pin. Gus and I are getting ready to go the marina pool for a swim and Pedro shows up. We find out that I was on the wrong frequency, that's why we never made contact, should have been 14.310.0 not 14.301.0. Gus and Pedro work out at schedule for the rest of the trip. Pedro will come back tomorrow morning, Gus and I go for our swim and return to the boat for a candle lit filet migon dinner.
Fri. July 26 We take the mainsail down and I take a good look at the ripped seam. There is about five feet of stitching to be done. I talk to Luis, a guy that is working on a stored Alberg 29 on the dock next to us. He takes Bob and the sail to a friend who has a drapery business, $20.00 U.S. and the sail is fixed in 2 hours. Pedro shows up and Marge goes with to walk through town and get some things. An Italian Navy LST comes in all the sailors are on deck in their dress whites. We go to the local marina cantina for dinner. Marge, Gus and I walk all the way around the harbor to look at the LST.
Sat. July 27 Gus and I take our morning walk, we leave Punta DelGada at about 1200. As we exit the harbor we pass Esprit escorting Dizzy in, Dizzy is having engine trouble and had been hit by a freighter just West of the Azores. We pass the Eastern end of San Miguel at about 1700 hours, 900 miles to the Straits. Dorothy raises Esprit, they left Punta DelGada about 1400 and are slightly north of us. Wind on the nose so we are motor sailing.
Sun. July 28 More of same wind, we are able to sail a real close reach, heeled 25 degrees. Wind picks up and backs later in the day, by evening we are making 8 knts on a close reach. A night watches are now seeing ships, getting Spanish stations on the radio. We still are not able to contact Pedro.
Mon. July 29 About 0400 winds lighten and clocks east, more motor sailing, 700 miles to go. Herb says to get above the 38th parallel to pick up the Portuguese trades. At about 1700 we are able to sail a close reach in 15 knt winds making 7.5 knts boat speed, 650 miles to go. Herb also says there are 35 knt winds off the Portuguese coast, that's three days away and we aren't worried about them. If these winds hold we will have a beautiful full moon sail tonight. A few more degrees E. long we will foot off and broad reach to the coast. No other boats in sight, Esprit is still about 30 miles behind us, we have seen a few sea turtles.
Tue . July 30 Scattered clouds with the full moon behind them. Wind still to far forward to sail a proper course. When the wind freshens I sail above course as it lightens I have to drop below course trying to keep boat speed between 5 and 7 knts, sailing the "wally". As dawn breaks the winds go even more east and we have to motor sail again, we are also below the 38th and are climbing back north. Present position N37.49 W16.46, course 88, clear blue skies, azure seas. 545 miles to go. Noon winds lighten and swing east, more motor sailing. At 1700 winds back and freshen 6.5 knts on a close reach, course 89, 500 miles to go. Herb still says to stay north, gales expected as we approach the coast. If the winds hold through the night we will make fair passage and can start cracking off and heading for the Straits. Dorothy talked to a freighter and we hear that Carl Lewis won another gold medal and a bomb went off at the entertainment center
Wed. July 31 As I start my 0300 watch we are beam reaching under full main and genny. Moonlight, flat seas and violet skies making 7 - 9 knts. We have finally gone on to a heading that will take us past Cape Tafalgar and into the Straits of Gibraltar. A day break the wind pipes up and I reef the main and the jenny, speed still 8 knts, reduced heel to 15 degrees. Bob had a freighter come up astern during the night, it did not bear away until he shined the spot light on it. 395 miles to go, course 110. If the winds continue to hold we should make the Straits by Friday. As I start my 1500 watch I spot ship SE heading SSE probably Lisbon to the Madreias route. At 1600 I spot a super tanker passing our bow and another ship left of her. We turn on the RADAR to track them. 330 miles to go, about 150 miles from the Portuguese coast.
Thur Aug. 1 When I start my 0300 watch Bob thought he saw flares on the horizon. It was Venus winking as us through the clouds. Bob saw one ship in the night I saw none we must be inside the shipping lanes. Cold again, 20 knts of wind just aft of beam Bob in his snowmobile suit and I'm back in my wool sweater. We are only 60 miles from Cape St. Vincent, the SW corner of Portugal, 200 miles from Gibraltar. Current position N37.10 W10.02. At my 1500 watch we spot Cape St. Vincent, massive cliffs rising from the Atlantic at the southwest corner of Portugal. Wind on our port quarter at 24 knts with 8 - 10 ft following seas. We are crossing the outbound shipping lanes of the Straits of Gibraltar, lots of traffic. A small tanker on a reciprocal heading about a mile to our starboard makes a 90 degree starboard turn which puts him on a perpendicular collision course with us. We call him on the VHF to see if he intends to pass astern of us, we get no response. We finally have to fall off to a point where we are sailing downwind and by the lee, not good in these winds and following seas. As we come up to course and pass astern of him he gives us 5 whistle blasts and calls us on the VHF. He says "You American sailors should follow the shipping lanes". At that point the tanker turns to port taking him back to his original heading. There is no question in my mind that he made the zigzag in his course just to screw with us. About an hour later we have breaching whales about a quarter mile off our starboard beam. Winds lighten at sunset.
Fri. Aug. 2 Just before my 0300 watch I hear the engine cranking but not starting. We have no wind and the engine won't start. As I take my watch Bob and Dorothy work on the engine, apparently air in the lines but Bob can't get it bled. 112 miles to go and we are becalmed, someone must have killed an albatross during the night. At 0900 there is absolutely no wind and the engine still won't start, Gus takes a look at it and I get dragged into the problem. Gus and I start checking all the fuel line fittings, air is entering the system from somewhere. We both find some suspect connections and rebled the lines. Nine hours have passed and the wind is starting to pickup. By noon we are under full sail making 6 knts. The fuel system is free of air but the batteries are low from us trying to start the engine. As we sail toward the Straits we run the generator to charge the engine batteries, at 1500 we will try to start the engine and see if we have fixed the problem. Dorothy called Esprit to let them know we were having problems and they told us a ship pulled the same stunt of changing course and heading for them as they approached the Cape of St. Vincent, must be a local sport. 1500 and the acid test, the engine does not start! Gus and I dive back into the problem, bleed all fittings and get a little air. We try again.. nothing. We decide to take a look at the stop solenoid. There is an old mechanical linkage that is preventing the stop valve from returning to the flow position, the engine starts and we are really on our way. We lost nine hours of passage making.
Sat. Aug. 3 0300 little wind our of the East. We are just off Tafalgar, fishing boats all around but they give us wide berth, they don't want us in their nets any more than we want to get tangled in them. At dawn we are off Tariff and in the rip tides of the Straits. At about 1030 UTC we see the Rock of Gibraltar, well kind of, we have about one mile visibility in fog. Clear customs, and get a dock in the marina just South of the airport runway. Nice marina, several bars and restaurants right on the main dock. Bathrooms and showers are all Italian marble. Gus, Marge and I walk to the airport to see about a flight out. The road crosses the runway and there are crossing gates just like a railroad crossing in the states. A horn sounds we a plane is landing. The British Airways guy says I need to get a ticket from an agent in town on Monday. We exchange Escudos for Sterling and I start this conversion thing all over again. We eat at Binac's at the dock, very good. A 154 foot ketch pulls in, Andromeda, owned by an American venture capitalist, built in Italy six years ago and registered in Bermuda.
Sun. Aug. 5 Gus and I take our morning walk. A 225 ft power boat, El Bravo, pulls in we check in a yachting magazine on board she is one of top 25 largest yachts in the world and is for sale. Gus and talk to a South African couple, Lynn and Jerry, who just delivered a ketch from England and are waiting for the owner to arrive. They told us a lot about what to see and do in Gibraltar. Gus and I also talk to a Scottish couple on holiday, Ian and Karlyn and their five year old son Ross, I show Ross Mistress, he is more interested in the Avon on deck. We take a taxi tour of the peninsula and see all the fortifications on the Rock, and the monkeys. Tom, our driver has been doing this for 27 years and did a very good job. We walk the docks and Dorothy invites the crew from Andromeda, El Bravo, and Lynn and Jerry over for drinks. Lynn, Jerry, and Linden and Jimmy from Andromeda show up. I had done some marlinespike work on Mistress's wheel and Linden says he does that stuff on Andromeda and likes my work. They all stay for about an hour and then we go to the Mermaid for dinner, very good local place Tom told us about.
August 25, l996 Marge called from Ibiza, Spain. Ibiza is an island off the coast of Spain. The Mistress has experienced wonderful skies and seas.
March 15th, 1997 Bob called from Flint. He is home to do taxes, Mistress, Dorothy and Mandy are in Tortola, B.V.I. The Mistress went as far East in the Med as the Spanish islands, she then returned to Gibraltar and a Canadian friend of Bob's flew in to help with the return trip. Mistress left for the Canaries in November. She spent a couple of weeks there while Bob flew home for his daughter's wedding. About the 1st of December she left for the Caribbean, she encounter about four days of +25knts wind and the autopilot failed. They hand steered four days to the Verdes where the autopilot was repaired and they picked up another Canadian looking for a ride West. Mistress had a pleasant sail from the Verdes, steady 8 knts of wind. They carried the spinnaker for 16 days straight. The total crossing from the Verdes was 21 days. Bob and Dorothy plan on leaving for Bermuda about the 1st of May and to make Pictou, Nova Scotia early in July. Mistress should be back in her slip in early August.

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