This Summer I had a wonderful adventure in taking my 42-foot trawler Katahdin to Bermuda. It all began last Winter when I happened upon an article advertising that, for the first time, the Bermuda Cup would include a class for trawlers. Since purchasing Katahdin in May of 1999, I had dreamed of taking her out on a significant ocean passage, but the longest passage I had yet accomplished was a 323 nautical mile passage in the Gulf of Mexico back in July of 1999. The passage to Bermuda would be twice as long. I had heard wonderful things about Bermuda, and the idea of going there on my own boat really excited me. So, in early April, with a trembling hand and a head full of images of the open ocean, I filled out the application forms, wrote a check for the application fees, and sent it all to Cruising Rally Association. The Cruising Rally Association is based in Hampton, Virginia, and for several years has been well respected for its skill in organizing sailboat rallies. Each year they run three rallies -- one from Hampton to Bermuda (Bermuda Cup), one from Hampton to Tortula in the British Virgin Islands (Caribbean 1500), and one from Tortula to Bermuda (Atlantic Cup). The decision to open the Bermuda Cup to trawlers had been partly inspired by the success of the Nordhavn Rally from Florida to Gibraltar, but unlike the Nordhavn Rally, the Bermuda Cup would be open to an trawler as long as it was seaworthy and could provide documentation of its capability to safely make the trip "with a 25% fuel reserve not considering any fuel carried on deck." The trawler class of the Bermuda Cup was given its own name -- the Trawler Trek. Very soon after sending my paperwork and money, I received a beautifully thought out binder with all kinds of useful information about the rally, about Hampton, and especially about Bermuda. It was all very professionally done. Also included, of course, was a quite lengthy list of required safety equipment. I had considered Katahdin a well equipped boat so I was a bit taken aback by the amount of additional equipment I needed to purchase. Overall the list was an excellent one and reflected the Association's extensive experience, but in my opinion one or two additional might have been included (e.g., an SSB radio), while a few other items seemed a bit much. I think I was most put off by the requirement to purchase a MOM8-A for over $700, especially since I already had a Lifesling and other throwable flotation devices. I ultimately persuaded myself, however, that with its strobe on a pole the MOM8-A would be valuable if someone fell overboard at night. At any rate, with only a modest amount of teach grinding and rationalizing, I eventually had Katahdin fully equipped and ready to take on the North Atlantic -- or at least the inspectors up at Hampton. The rules of the rally require at least two people, and preferably at least three, on board. Deborah can enjoy coastal cruising but has a very low opinion of ocean passages -- a prejudice significantly strengthened when she joined me on a very rough passage from Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs in January of 2004. With no hope of persuading Deborah, I ended up inviting a friend from my home town of New Bern, NC, and a delivery captain who was among several guys who applied after I put an appeal on the Trawlers and Trawlering and the Passagemaking Under Power lists. Both of these guys are highly qualified -- certainly more qualified than I in terms of knowledge, skills and boating experience. Just the way I wanted it. The three of us left New Bern on June 15th for a very pleasant and easy trip up the ICW to Hampton, arriving at the Bluewater Yachting Center in the early afternoon of the 17th. From then until the morning of the 21st, we participated with the other rally crews in social events and in several briefing sessions that were highly informative and run by people who definitely know their stuff. I was impressed with the skill and professionalism of the folks from Cruising Rally Association. Between scheduled events and making field trips to pick up supplies, the three of us worked feverishly to convert the Naiad fin stabilizers from being cooled by coolant from the keel cooler to being cooled by raw water. This solved a persistent problem I have had with the Naiad's hydraulic fluid running at too high a temperature. I had previously done some re-plumbing trying to solve the problem while still using coolant, but switching to raw water proved to be the only real solution. With this work completed, Katahdin was inspected and passed with flying colors. A fairly large number of trawler owners had contacted Steve Black (the head honcho at Cruising Rally Association) about participating in the Trawler Trek, but most decided their boats weren't ready. In the end, only five trawler owners submitted paperwork and money, and one of those withdrew during the Spring. So, the first annual Trawler Trek departed in the late morning of June 21st with only four boats -- Norm Mosher's Crosswater 49 (a power cat), John Coyle's Nordhavn 57, Bill Bradshaw's Island Gypsy 40, and my 42-footer, a custom one-off designed by Stephen R. Seaton and built by North End Marine in Rockland, Maine. We left a little before the 15 sailboats also participating in the Bermuda Cup. Once each trawler's photo had been at the starting line just south of Thimble Shoals light at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, the trawlers were off and running. Katahdin crossed the starting line at 1107 and set off at a blistering 6.5 knots. Of the 15 sailboats, some were in the racing class and some in the cruising class. None of the trawlers were racing, but I'm sure all of you readily understand that Katahdin was not Trawler Trek's fastest boat. The Crosswater 49 averaged 12.4 knots on the trip to Bermuda; double Katahdin's 6.22 knots. Now, in order not to offend my beloved boat, I should emphasize that we could have averaged another knot -- maybe even more. But the faster you go the more fuel you burn (at least with a full displacement boat), and I was in no hurry. The joy is in the passage, and besides we beat at least a third of the sailboats. The water was choppy with short confused seas. These conditions didn't surprise me as we cruised down the coast before heading out on an eastward-looping section of the Gulf Stream, but I thought once we got out to deep water we'd have nice long even swells. Shows how little I know. It was generally short confused seas the whole way. For the most part, they were't very high -- usually only 4 to 5 feet. But with the short period, Katahdin did a lot of pitching. Rarely during the entire trip could we walk around the boat without holding on to something. For a while, in addition to the short choppy seas we had larger swells (perhaps 10 or 11 feet) coming in from the aft starboard quarter. The Crosswater 49 was traveling fast enough to be dealing with these seas for most of their trip out, but before long they passed beyond us. This, I decided, was yet another advantage of going slowly. If you wait long enough, everything will pass. On the first night out, the motions aboard Bill Bradshaw's Island Gypsy 40 became abrupt and uncomfortable that a decision was made to turn back and abandon the effort -- at least for this year. Those of us on the remaining three trawlers were very sad to learn of this on our SSB radios since Bill played a major role in encouraging Steve Black to include trawlers in this year's rally. Katahdin's Naiad's beautifully controlled the rolling, but when I told Deborah about the pitching she (rightly) concluded that she would have been miserable. I, on the other hand, loved the trip (although I too would have welcomed a little less pitching). I really love being out on the ocean, especially in my own boat. Both out and back the sea was an incredibly beautiful and luminous blue, the stars and night were brilliant, at one point at least 35 dolphins accompanied Katahdin, and the flying fish constantly kept me entertained. I love putting behind me all of my land-based concerns, and I love the feeling of adventure in being far away from shore. On this trip when out at sea I felt a deep sense of satisfaction in reflecting on the countless maintenance tasks I had performed over the years, and the many steps I had taken in readying Katahdin, all of which had made it possible for Katahdin to purr along dependably, hour after hour and day after day, with all of her systems functioning properly. Katahdin was paying back the love I have lavished on her by keeping us safe and doing everything we asked of her. I was a happy and thankful man, and I’m not embarrassed to say that I felt like giving her a big hug. We crossed the finish line at the entrance to St. George at 1825, exactly 103 hours and 18 minutes after crossing the starting line. It was a great trip and I loved every minute. And what a wonderful landfall! Bermuda is truly a spectacular set of little islands; fiendly and welcoming people, an enchanting history, everything clean and freshly painted in pastel colors, and all of it surrounded with the most beautiful, crystal clear water. We rented mopeds for a couple days and explored from one end of Bermuda to the other. I love the narrow curving roads, the lush foliage, and the colorful flowers. The numerous beaches are spectacular, and when snorkeling I found the coral to be the healthiest I have found anywhere. There are excellent restaurants and charming little shops, and thankfully Bermuda is devoid of outdoor advertising or crass consumerism or hucksterism. I was accosted by neither beggars nor peddlers, and felt no concern about crime. For what more could one ask? (Perhaps lower prices, but then no place is perfect.) Except for one overnight trip to Castle Harbour for snorkeling (and a friendly greeting from Ross Perot), we kept Katahdin in St. George Harbour and explored the islands on mopeds or by foot. Many boats in the Bermuda Cup stayed at the St. George Dinghy and Sports Club, but we tied up near the cruise ship dock right in downtown St. George since med mooring doesn't work well with Katahdin's high canoe stern. It was certainly a more convenient location, but it did mean we had no electricity or water and missed some of the friendly socializing among the other crews. Still, we did make it to the Club for the excellent dinner as well as the party and awards ceremony, all of it organized and provided by the Cruising Rally Association. At 0700 on the morning of July 3rd we departed Bermuda, this time heading to Beaufort, NC, where we spent the night of July 7th. In the morning on the 8th we cleared customs and then proceeded on up to New Bern. It was good to be home and to see Deborah, but I was a little sad that the trip was over. It had truly been a wonderful adventure. For those of you who own trawlers that are sufficiently seaworthy, I couldn't recommend the Trawler Trek more highly, and I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have if you want to email me directly. Lee Robinson M/V Katahdin New Bern, NC