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| 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.
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| Hank Kashdan |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Passing the Watch Hill Inn |
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| "Can Taylor come out and play? . . . " |
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| 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!
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| Approaching Hell Gate |
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| New York Hospital, one of my old stomping grounds. |
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| "Hey, that thing is stuck!" |
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| Passing the U.N.--No "nice young man with the machine gun" this year! |
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| Empire State Building |
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| Chrysler Building |
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| One World Trade Center |
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| The Battery |
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| Queen Mary 2 |
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| Approaching the "other" Verrazano Bridge |
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| "Out to sea again!" |
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| Off Atlantic City N.J. at sunset |
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| 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.
