Land Ho!

Late in the evening on Sunday, November 10 we noticed a few low lights in the distance in front of us.  Anegada!!  Around midnight we entered the Gorda Sound and grabbed a mooring at the Bitter End Yacht Club. I checked my watch and looked at the chartplotter's cumulative track of miles:  180 hours, 1350 nmi.  That's some sweet whole number math--180 nmi/day! 

Pratique on her mooring at the Bitter End Yacht Club

Looking down at Gorda Sound.

Venus--The Jobs megayacht--anchored nearby

The next few days were well-deserved decompression days, with some chores peppered into the mix.  Clearing customs was made easy at the new facility in Gun Creek, and between meals and happy hours we got the boat all clean and tidy.  It was great to share experiences with the other crews, not just from Wynot but also the other boats that arrived around the same time:  Freestyle, Distant Star, Il Sogno and Saucy Fox.

The final stop for Pratique was the east end of Tortola, at Penns Landing Marina.    

approaching Fat Hogs Bay, Tortola

 

Pratique on her new mooring--strange camera effect!

A few last pics from my tour of the whole island by rental car:

Looking down on Road Town, Tortola



West end:  Sopers Hole



Little Apple Bay

Long Bay:  Sleepy beach bar and bartender.  And he's a Giants fan!

Full Moon Party tonite at the Bomba Shack . . .

. . . but we decide to do the Trellis Bay Full Moon Party

Overlooking Cane Garden Bay



Looking down at East End Bay and Penns Landing Marina,
 with Beef Island in background and Virgin Gorda in the far left background

 See you next month!

The Salty Dawg Rally

After work on Friday November 1, Susan and I jumped in the car and drove back to Hampton VA where I had left Pratique for the last few days.  It was time to meet my crew and finalize provisioning for the 1,350 nmi passage to the Virgin Islands. 



My crew:  Mike Deihl, Jim Cole and Bruce Kapteyn

The three crew--Jim, Bruce and Mike--would be flying in throughout the day.  (Thanks to Hank Schmitt of Offshore Passage Opportunities for running a great crew match-making service!)  Simultaneously we would need to keep tabs on weather windows and decide our time and date of departure.  The Salty Dawg Rally, which this year enrolled over 100 boats, has no "official" start day, although Monday November 4 was targeted.  The rally organizers, Bill and Linda Knowles, have seen their rally grow exponentially over the last few seasons.  They have done an admirable job not only just keeping up with the demand, but also providing key resources, at no cost, to the registered boats.  However, responsibility for all decisions, including the status of the boat, the provisioning, the routes and timing of the passage, ultimately falls entirely on the individual captains. 

Tom, Skip, Wally and Geoffrey on Wynot, before departure

This year two other Outbounds, Wynot and Georgia, would be participating in the rally.  Wynot is a new Outbound 46 owned by Geoffrey Lewis.  She would be captained by Outbound's Skip Pond and two other experienced bluewater sailors would round out their crew.  So while the "Bad News Bears" on Pratique were finalizing provisions and settling on sleeping spaces, yours truly was in close consultation with Skip and Wally on deciding a departure strategy.

Aft cabin, converted to two sea berths for the passage

The majority of the SDR participants decided to delay departure by a few days, which at the time seemed to be a sound strategy because of weather and Gulf Stream factors.  However for the larger and faster boats, an early Saturday or Sunday departure was in play.  When Skip decided that Wynot was leaving on Sunday morning, I decided that Pratique would, too.

Off we go!

Sunday morning was windy and clear, and both boats left within an hour of each other.  By the time we approached the  Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, Wynot was still in visual range.  Even though there was no guarantee that being in proximity to the sister ship was a recipe for success, it was reassuring for me.

Here is what we faced:  Sub-gale winds with occasional gale strength gusts from the NW on day one, from the N on day two and from the NE on day three.  All good, since we are headed Southeast to South.  But out 100 miles or so the formidable north flowing Gulf Stream separated us from the rhumb line southeast to Virgin Gorda.  How would we fare there?



Sunset on day one.  The Gulf Stream ahead of us.

In the stream, with wind and seas off the port quarter. "Hey this isn't bad at all!!!"




After 24 hours at sea, several things became clear:  I had a very competent and fun crew.  I had a great boat.  The Gulf Stream was not horrible, we had sailed 200 miles on day one, and we were still right there with Wynot!  All was good!!





Decisions, decisions:  Put another reef in?? . . . .



. . . . Slow down to let the tanker pass, giving Wynot the opportunity to pass us??



As predicted, we were ahead of the cold fronts and in really good shape.  The foul weather gear did start to come off in favor of shorts and t-shirts.  We were making 200 nmi/day.  The fishing lines went in the water, and we are rewarded:

Ceviche for lunch . . . .

. . . and fresh, broiled fillets for dinner.  Shirts and a shave, optional.

While on the subject of food, special thanks go to Susan for advanced meal and snack planning and preparation.  We had some great meals, including what she had pre-cooked and froze, what specialty meats we bought from Avon's local Meat House store, and what we caught along the way.  Also, shout outs go to Bruce (aka "Felix") and Mike (aka "Oscar").  Before long it became clear that they would share the primary galley responsibility: 

Oscar:  "More salt."   Felix: "More pepper."

Oscar:  "10 minutes for boiled eggs."  Felix: "No, 8 minutes."

Oscar:  "This goes great with rice."  Felix:  "Pasta." 

Despite the Odd Couple routine, they both kept us all eating like royalty!  Here's a small sampling of what else they whipped up for us:

Great breakfasts

Marinated Steaks from the Avon Meat House

By day four, it was pretty clear the tough stuff was all behind us.  In fact, weather routher and guru Chris Parker and the GRIBs that I downloaded myself were predicting 36 hours of light to no wind, with the last day or two calling for the east trade winds to gradually fill in. 


So that meant one thing--Photo Ops:



Pratique, from Wynot

Wynot, from Pratique

 

Hey, who took that one??

 







 

"Are we there yet??"

 

 

Next up:  We make landfall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going South Again!!

By summer's end it was pretty clear we were going to take Pratique south for the winter.  But to where, and by what route? 

courtesy of Don Street and Cruising World

My first thought was that since we had explored the Abacos last winter, a natural progression was the Exumas.  At the same time, I explored the idea of taking the boat to Virginia in October in order to be staged to participate in one of the southbound cruising rallies. The Salty Dawg Rally from Hampton VA to Virgin Gorda, BVI was my first choice, and pretty soon the late summer and early fall season morphed into one long period of preparing for a passage to the BVI's!

Unlike last year's coastal passage from Norfolk to Ft. Lauderdale, this would be a true bluewater experience.  Over the last few seasons I closely followed the southern migrations, and by the 2011 season it was clear to me that one cannot skimp on planning and prep work for this kind of passage. This would be my first long passage with myself as captain, and the first step was to see who was interested in joining me.  I say "me" because although Susan had successfully completed the passage north last spring from Treasure Cay to Norfolk, for this one she decided to skip the delivery in favor of her full participation in the subsequent vacation weeks we would have over this winter.  I have to admit that it is hard to argue that logic, especially since Susan volunteered to do all the meal preps which were pre-made and then frozen and/or vacuum sealed for the passage.  But that is jumping ahead . . . .

After juggling some work commitments for end of October, I was able to carve out the last week in October to get Pratique to Hampton.   Once again, cousin Hank was eager to join me for "leg 1" but he and his wife Kim already had travel plans during the time of the Salty Dawg Rally, scheduled to depart Hampton on or about November 4.   Returning also would be Peter Capobianco, who was crew with us last spring from the Bahamas. 

Hank Kashdan

Peter Capobianco

On Saturday morning October 26 we cast off the ice coated Warwick RI dock, waving goodbye to Susan, and setting a course south, exiting the Narragansett Bay by mid morning.

Down the East Passage, Narragansett Bay. First of two Verrazano Bridges ahead!

The wind was first from the southwest around 30 kts so we headed west toward Watch Hill and what I thought would be the protected waters of the Long Island Sound, the same route as last year.



Passing the Watch Hill Inn













"Can Taylor come out and play? . . . "




Watch Hill Light



 However by the afternoon the winds were more from the west and so right on the nose, and gusting into the 40-50 range.  Was this an omen of challenges to come??



We motor sailed all afternoon and evening, hugging the north shore of L.I. as much as possible until the wee hours of the next morning when we ducked into Port Washington to get a few hours of  rest at anchor while waiting for a fair current in the East River. 

The morning was crisp but beautiful, with much more favorable conditions than the day before.  The trip through Hell Gate, then down the East River and into the New York Bay was, as usual, spectacular!

Approaching Hell Gate

New York Hospital, one of my old stomping grounds.

"Hey, that thing is stuck!"

Passing the U.N.--No "nice young man with the machine gun" this year!

Empire State Building

Chrysler Building






One World Trade Center

The Battery



Queen Mary 2



Approaching the "other" Verrazano Bridge



"Out to sea again!"

Off Atlantic City N.J. at sunset

Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel

Monday evening, October 28 we sailed into Hampton VA.   A great start to the migration south!  The next day the three of us returned north.  In a few days Susan and I will be driving back to Hampton, to meet the new crew and the other "Salty Dawgs," and begin the trip to the BVI's.