Alcyone

St. John

jspano — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:53:14 +0000

Alcyone saw many visitors those 3 weeks.

Morning swims to shore were a standard as were beautiful sunset views. This year we really got to know St. John.

Happy Birthday Sue!

To view this video with a slow internet connections click here: Underwater Slow Connection

St. Barths

jspano — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:40:34 +0000

We sailed through the night from the Virgin Islands to the beautiful island of St. Barths. What a change of atmosphere.

The food was excellent and the people are verry nice. Five days in St. Barths was a dream.

[Show slideshow]

Newport to BVI - Pt 5 - Made it!!

jspano — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:28:35 +0000

After 30 days of waiting, and 11 days at sea we made landfall in Jost Van Dike, British Virgin Islands.

2 miles outside of Jost we were hit with a squall that was… well, frustrating. After weather that last bit, we hapily made landfall.

Thanks Alcyone for a safe and fun passage!

Newport to BVI - Pt 4

jspano — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:42:48 +0000

After a couple great days of sailing we finally lost our wind. Fortunately Alcyone carries a large suply of diesel.

Newport to BVI - PT 3

jspano — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:01:01 +0000

After a few refreshing days in bermuda Alcyone headed on to the BVI. With a strong notherly wind we were making great time.

The seas were a bit bumpy at first, but the hardened crew was ready for anything.

Newport to BVI - PT 2 - Made it to Bermuda!

jspano — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:15:52 +0000

After 4days 6hours at sea Alcyone and our crew made landfall. Captain Jon Spano, First Officer Dermot Bremner, and Seamen Dave and John Egan smiled upon the sands of Bermuda and it gleefully smiled back! The first couple days were a bit bumpy with with seas that were both confused and large, but once we crossed the gulf stream things settled down considerably. The stiff winds and rough waters made life a bit difficult below deck and considerably more dangerous above, but it was thanks to those same strong winds that sped us briskly through the waves to this splendid island hundreds of miles off the Atlantic Coast. Thank you once again, Alcyone, for a safe passage!

We were ready to leave by 11pm but a technical glitch caused a long delay (our global positioning system was turning a cold shoulder to the ship’s computer until Dermot and Jon were able to calm the tensions between the two technological counterparts). We finally got underway and had Newport Harbor fully to our stern by 2am.

Our four-man watch schedule was broken up into two sections as follows:

A day schedule was kept from 6am to 6pm broken into three-hours long segments, and the hours of 6pm to 6am were broken into two hour increments.

Captain Jon Spano began, John Egan followed, then Dermot and next Dave who was, in turn, relieved by Jon and the cycle continued thus-wise.

Anytime a crew member is alone in the cockpit he is securely harnessed in and when out of the cockpit on deck we tethered to the jack lines (bright orange safety straps which line either side of the deck).

CREW:

Jon Spano - Captain/Owner

Dermot Bremner - Captain/First Mate

Dave Branford - Second Mate

John J. Egan III - Crew - johnegan@alumni.uchicago.edu - www.myspace.com/johnegan

Newport to BVI - PT 1

jspano — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:19:06 +0000

After waiting over two weeks for an appropriate weather window we are finally ready to go. Thanks to everyone supporting us in our voyage preparations.

Crew from left to right: Dave Blandford, Dermot Bremner, Jonathan Spano, and John Eagan.

Bermuda here we come!

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Shake Down

jspano — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:11:52 +0000

With a stiff NE breeze we decided it would be a good oportunity to take Alcyone out for a late season, early delivery “shake down”.

Circumnavigating Jamestown seemed like a reasonable goal with the time we had available. We were making good time and all was well until we reached beavertail (the southern end of Jamestown). While close hauled into 20kts of wind we found ourselves plunging into 9′-12′ waves. Things got exciting quickly and some of the crew were not sure if we would capsize.

The videos hardly show the danger at hand…

Newport Folk Fest 08

jspano — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:06:40 +0000

This was one of the largest crowds on the water I’ve ever seen, but what would you expect… the parrotheads came out Jimmy Buffet.

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Babies on board

jspano — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:54:27 +0000

What a beautiful Newport summer day to mark the occasion.

The 1/4 mile journey from the dock to the anchorage was brief, but exciting when your under 2 feet tall.

Today Eamon aquired his sea legs. Well… maybe his sea crawl. I’m pretty sure Lucian went up and down the companionway at least 27,456 times in the 2 hours we were anchored, and Gabriel did at leas 23 laps around the deck.