EPILOGUE:
The conditions we were operating under and my being sea sick the first 2 days did not allow me to write as much as I would have liked to at the time, thus the reason for this epilogue. I hope to add here a little depth and explanations to the daily blogs.
Day 1 -- November 6, 2013
The decision to go North to enter an East going eddy in the Gulf Stream was a mistake. The extra distance and slow entry to the Gulf Stream cost us at least 1 day travel time. This tactic looked so good in the Animations of the Gulf Stream that Chris Parker showed us in the webinar discussions.
The east going eddy was there but the seas were very confused with pyramid shaped waves. The waves proved to be rough but not too high, generally in the 6 – 8 foot range. A good part of the time we transited this area was at night when we had no visibility so I don’t know how high the waves were then. Occasionally a rogue wave would hit us on the beam and cascade water under the skirts of the enclosure getting us a little wet, but it was warm water.
In retrospect now we really should have just gone straight out from Beaufort Inlet and crossed the Gulf Stream in a straight line fashion and taken whatever northing the Gulf Stream gave us.
Day 2 -- November 7, 2013
I was still feeling Mal de mar but not incapacitated. I stood my watches and took my turns at the helm but volunteered for no more. We just slogged across the Gulf Stream and found the South going eddy and started South just as the winds clocked to the North. We were able to exit the Gulf Stream before the waves built too high due to the North wind.
It was difficult to determine when we left the Gulf Stream because the water temps never dropped below 78 degrees. In fact, we carried an average of 78 degree water temp all the way to Tortola were the temp rose to 82 degrees. That’s a lot of very warm water still in the Atlantic in mid-November.
Day 3 -- November 8, 2013
During the night we saw some Rally boats on the AIS display on the Chart Plotter. One was as close as 5 nm but we didn’t get a visual. Until now I didn’t think an AIS transponder belonged on a sail boat but after this ocean passage I’m convinced that it is really necessary to have to aid in avoiding collision at sea when sailing at night.
The moon has been low on the horizon these first few days and sets before 9:30pm. So the nights are very dark. It is an act of trust and hope (we don’t hit anything) that we sail through the night and not being able to see anything but lights on another vessel. AIS and Radar are very nice tools for night sailing.
Day 4 -- November 9, 2013
We troubleshot the Marine VHF but to no avail – it was dead. The night before someone had accidentally kicked the command Mic plug in the cockpit and broke the housing. I suspect some wires in the connector had shorted and caused the VHF to fail.
We also troubleshot the water maker. We found that if we took all weigh off then it would start and run but once we got underway it would shut down – sucked air. Oh well we thought we had enough water to complete the trip.
Day 5 -- November 10, 2013
The day was marked with apprehension about the weather forecast of a Gale center that that might develop near us. We concentrated on getting as far South as quickly as possible today.
Day 6 -- November 11, 2013
This was a GREAT sailing day. We really enjoyed the respite.
One thing I noticed now that things were calmer is I have virtually no short term memory. I would read the weather forecast e-mail from Chris Parker on the computer at the nav bench and by the time I had gone to the cockpit – just 5 steps away – I had forgotten the details. I think and hope that this is associated with the sleep deprivation I’m experiencing. I can get no more than 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time.
Day 7 -- November 12, 2013
Finally after days of dragging the fishing hand lines we had a fish on! It was a Mahi Mahi. Beautiful. This really added a ZING to the trip and the eating was GREAT.
Today we found that it was increasingly difficult to make connections via the SSB to WINLINK stations on the US coast. We are more than 700 miles from the coast now. We are on our OWN!!
Up till now we have been pretty much able to connect any time of the day. Now we can get connections but only during two time intervals per day. Usually between 6am – 9am and 4pm till 8pm.
Day 8 -- November 13, 2013
Pretty uneventful. Just a nice sailing day in warm temps making good distance to our destination.
Day 9 -- November 14, 2013
Just another day of travel. Kind of monotonous now. We just take turns at the helm and watch the miles tick by.
Day 10 -- November 15, 2013
WOW what a night. We caught up to that stalled cold Front that passed over us the day before yesterday and now we have to sail through it. Unfortunately it has grown and Chris Parker says it is 100 miles wide now. Great – a full day of travel through strong North winds, clouds, and frequent squalls. I’ve never done this before while coastal cruising. I would like to be somewhere else right now but we just have to slug this out.
Day 11 -- November 16, 2013
We didn’t find the trade winds at 24 degrees north. The cold front had upset them. We had to drop to 22 degrees North before we finally found then and then the living was easy – or so we thought. That night the sailing was great. The Autopilot handled it easily and we took two and half hour shifts allowing the others to get caught up on some much needed sleep. Looked like easy sailing from here on.
Day 12 -- November 17, 2013
Last night around 5pm we saw squalls pop up all around us. It was not a good night. We had squalls and strong winds with building seas all night long. To compound the uncomfortable sailing conditions the AIS showed at least 3 boats within 10 miles of us and we had no visuals on them.
It was tough. We expected a better night but it didn’t come. Bob and Mona had the worst shift with the strongest winds till midnight. I took it till 2:30am and then Steve took it till 5am when Bob and Mona came back.
During Steve’s shift the lights of Tortola showed and then the weather moderated and it was a nice sail into Sopers Hole by 8am. We were all in the cockpit to greet the very welcome arrival.
We took a slip at the Sopers Hole marina to gather our wits, connect to the free WiFi, and take a LONG HOT Shower on land.
Well like the Bahamas , not all is as advertised. The WiFI had been down for more than a week, and the Marina Shower – men’s at least – did NOT work. Oh well the food mart was open with good stocks and the Restaurants served great food.
Welcome to the BVIs.
