BLUE WATER
volume 2 2020
SAILING NOTABLE SMALL BOAT VOYAGES A FAMILY’S FIRST OCEAN CROSSING COVID 19 FORCES UNPLANNED PASSAGE
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SUMMER 2020
22 Bluewater Adventure Atlantic Crossing
Their first ocean passage turned out to be a textbook crossing from the Caribbean to the Azores by Erin Casey
14 14 Bluewater Events
Notable Small Boat Voyages
Since the early days of yachts there have been many great adventures and cruises in pocket cruisers so it is fair to say that it is not the size of your boat that matters, it is the size of your dreams. Here are some of my favorites by George Day
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Cover: Jeanneau 349 under full sail
32 Classic Passage
She Wanted a Zephyr and Got a Tempest
With the world shut down by Covid-19, the only way they could get their boat home from the Caribbean top New England was to sail it themselves, double handed by Bob Osborn
6 Captain’s Log 8 Blue Water Dispatches 42 Classifieds 4
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{ CAPTAIN’SLOG }
BLUE WATER
The Pleasures of Pocket Cruisers WE ALWAYS ENJOY PUTTING TOGETHER OUR ANNUAL pocket cruiser issue since we have so many fond memories of sailing and cruising in small boats. My first offshore passage was a double overnight from Cape Cod to Camden, Maine aboard my parent’s Tarten 27. We hand steered the whole way and had only a radio direction finder and a depth sounder for navigation. We chose to hug the coast at a distance of about 10 miles as we sailed north so we could tick off the light houses at Cape Ann and the Isle of Shoals before setting out across the Gulf of Maine. We made landfall on Monhegan Island and then sailed up Penobscot Bay to Camden. Along the way we saw two whales, a whale shark and a pod of dolphins. I was 14 and I was completely smitten by offshore sailing and never once thought a 27-footer was too small for such an adventure. Not too many years later, I joined my childhood friend John aboard his “borrowed” 30-foot Tahiti ketch for what turned out to be a year of sailing from the U.S. East Coast to Panama and then across the South Pacific via the Galapagos to French Polynesia. The John Hanna-designed Tahiti ketch was designed specifically for trade wind sailing and gave a very comfortable and safe ride across oceans. The passage from the Galapagos to the Marquesas took us 21 days which is not bad even by today’s standards. In the fleet of pocket cruisers on the market in 2020, you will find a good selection of boats that can take you safely on coastal and offshore passages once properly equipped for blue water sailing. In the end, safe and successful cruising and passagemaking is more about the crew and the preparation than it is about the size of the boat. The Pardey’s always liked to say “Go small and go now.” That’s still advice to sail by, especially if you remember that their first two circumnavigations were about the 24-foot cutter Seraffyn.
SAILING Volume 25, Summer Blue Water Sailing, LLC 747 Aquidneck Avenue, Suite 201 Middletown, Rhode Island 02842 - USA phone: 401.847.7612 • fax: 401.845.8580 web: www.bwsailing.com
Editorial Editor & Publisher George Day george@bwsailing.com Editors-at-Large John Neal Amanda Swan Neal Contributing Editors Bill Biewenga, Patrick Childress, Rebecca Childress,
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Circulation Subscriptions and back issues are available at www.zinio.com Published quarterly. One year: $18. For questions about your subscription email the publisher. george@bwsailing.com Blue Water Sailing is copyrighted 2020. All rights reserved. Blue Water Sailing is published quarterly by Day Communications, Inc. 747 Aquidneck Ave. Middletown, RI 02842 ISSN#1091-1979
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photo by Bill Kund
BLUE WATER SAILING
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Safely Done Salty Dawgs
THE HOMEWARD BOUND Flotilla from the Caribbean to the U.S. has come to a close, and all 184 boats have safely made landfall in the U.S. or Canada. The Flotilla had 473 sailors, multiple countries (31 non-U.S. flagged vessels), 3 tropical storms, and over 240,000 boat miles collectively sailed. Whew! No wonder the Salty Dawg Sailing Association volunteers are exhausted after 11 weeks of planning, plotting, texting, tracking, and rescuing from afar.
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{ CRUISINGDISPATCHES } Majestic Dream sailing towards home from the Caribbean in the Homeward Bound Flotilla, 2020
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With hundreds of cruisers “stuck” in the Caribbean as hurricane season approached the SDSA organized the Homeward Bound flotilla to help get sailors to safety. All sailors were welcome and many were quick to sign up for the assistance. With about a month to set up and implement weather planning, boat tracking, and safety-net assistance the Dawg board and volunteers drew on years of rally planning to create a system to help the short-handed cruisers safely home. The boats left in fleets of “manageable sizes” between April 12 and May 20. In keeping with Salty Dawg practice, each captain was free to set the vessel departure date according to weather, crew comfort,
and readiness. Participation was free, but donations were accepted to cover Chris Parker and other expenses. All interested were permitted to participate, figuring it was safer that they went with us, rather than taking on a long ocean passage on their own. Each boat that participated was asked to “check in” at least twice a day with a position report. Their position was collected by PredictWind and displayed on the Flotilla Tracking Map. Meanwhile, the Shoreside Coordinators kept track of the map. If a vessel didn’t report in for 36 hours, the team would try to contact the boat to locate them. There was a plan in place for assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard if shoreside efforts were
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unsuccessful. There was also a three-member Emergency Response Team made up of exceptional and experienced blue water sailors. Any situation that came to the Shoreside Coordinators that seemed “exceptional” or an “emergency” was referred to them. During the flotilla this team assisted with several such situations including broken shrouds, engine loss, steering loss, and communication issues. The largest hurdle for the support team was the sheer size of the participation. With Salty Dawg Fall Rallies typically running at 80 - 100 boats, having 184 was a challenge. The rapidly changing situations of closing national borders and
changing regulations was an additional factor to deal with, including coming into the USA; which ports were open, what marinas had space, what was the process for checking in. These things changed as the boats were making their way to safety. With borders closed to all incoming traffic, the SDSA described to participants what was happening. The Shoreside Team informed of tropical storms that were coming, and processed 155 exceptions safe passage through the Bahamas, including emergency stops for fuel, or anchoring for rest and shelter. Hats off to the 473 sailors and the 23 volunteers who made it safe. An epic adventure. BWS
Onboard LodeStar sailing towards home from the Caribbean in the Homeward Bound Flotilla, 2020
Summer 2020
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NOTABLE SMALL BOAT VOYAGES
by George Day
Since the early days of yachts there have been many great adventures and cruises in pocket cruisers so it is fair to say that it is not the size of your boat that matters, it is the size of your dreams. Here are some of my favorites Susan and Eric Hiscock IN THE 1950, NOT LONG AFTER THE END OF World War II, Susan and Eric Hiscock had a 30-footer built to a Laurent Giles design with a circumnavigation in mind. In 1952, they set off from England and spent three years sailing westabout via Panama, the Torez Strait and the Cape of Good Hope. Their voyage was a model of seamanship and prudent adventure and they laid a wake that many, many sailors would follow. 14
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John Guzzwell ALSO IN THE 50S, ENGLISHMAN JOHN Guzzwell succumbed to the call of the sea. With a modest budget, he built a 21-foot Laurent Giles design that he named Trekka and in this little boat he set off from his home in British Columbia around the world. In 1959, after many adventures and several years, he returned to B.C. as the youngest solo circumnavigator in the smallest vessel to sail around the world.
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Robin L. Graham IN THE SIXTIES, A YOUNG CALIFORNIAN DECIDED AT the age of 16 that he thought it would be a good idea to sail his family’s 24-foot Lapworth sloop singlehanded to Hawaii. Along the way, he hatched the plan to sail his little boat around the world. Surprisingly, his parents went along with the plan and even more surprisingly the National Geographic agreed to take installments from him along the way. In 1970, Robin L. Graham returned to California as the world’s most famous sailor and the one who instilled visions of world sailing in thousands of young dreamers who had followed his trip.
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Lin and Larry Pardey IN THE SEVENTIES, LIN AND LARRY PARDEY began their lifetime of seafaring aboard their 24 foot Lyle Hess designed Serrafyn. In this little cutter, they made epic voyage after epic voyage as they sailed eastabout around the world via Panama and Suez Canals. Their books and lectures inspired a whole generation of cruisers.
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Yves Gelinas ALSO IN THE SEVENTIES, Yves Gelinas set off on his Alberg 30, Jean-du-Sud, from St. Malo in France with the intention of sailing non-stop around the world via the five great southern Capes. While he had to make a stop to repair his mast, he finished his circumnavigation in Canada having sailed 28,000 miles alone. Gelinas is the inventor of the elegant and simple Cape Horn selfsteering windvane and his prototype steered his boat around the world in all conditions.
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Tanya Aebi IN THE EIGHTIES, young Tanya Aebi convinced her father that instead of attending university she would get a much better education if she sailed solo around the world. Her father agreed and took the tuition money he had saved and bought her a 26 foot fiberglass Folkboat design named Varuna. Learning as she went, Tanya spent two years cruising around the world in the classic tradewind route via Panama and Suez. She returned to her home port in New York City to a hero’s welcome and her book, Maiden Voyage, remains a best seller 30 years later.
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Matt Rutherford MORE RECENTLY, in 2011 and 2012, young Matt Rutherford sailed a borrowed, 27-foot Albin Vega sloop nor th from his home in Maryland to the Northwest Passage. His m i s s i o n wa s t o complete a non-stop circumnavigation of the America via the NW Passage and Cape Horn. The grueling and arduous adventures took him 10 months yet he prevailed. And along the way he raised $130,000 for a local Maryland charity.
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Webb Chiles NO ONE EPITOMIZES THE SOUL OF THE SMALL boat voyager than American Webb Chiles. Since the 1970s he has made five and a half circumnavigations, mostly singlehanded. His boats have always been small but none smaller than Chidiock Tichbourne. This 18foot open Drascome Lugger, is considered by most to be a fine daysailer and a good day boat that had no business blue water sailing. Yet, Chiles did indeed sail the boat around the world via the Panama and Suez Canals and he was even arrested in Saudi Arabia as a spy because authorities did not believe a man could or would sail such a boat along around the world. He is currently, at age 75, sailing a Moore 24 racing boat around the world and has thus far got to Australia. It is his hope, he writes, to complete his sixth solo circumnavigation before he leaves this planet.
Chidiock Tichbourne
Webb Chiles has sailed a number of small boats around the planet. Summer 2020
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ATLANTIC CROSSING
Their first ocean passage turned out to be a textbook crossing from the Caribbean to the Azores by Erin Carey
DIARY EXCERPT ON 15TH JUNE: “WE need to get you into Horta ASAP,” the message on our Garmin InReach read, “There’s a low forming north of you, and if you don’t get in by Sunday morning, you could experience gale force winds of 50-60 knots.” We were about 300 nautical miles from 22
our destination of Faial, an island of the Azores archipelago, 900 miles off the coast of Portugal. We had less than 48 hours before the low was predicted to arrive. From our calculations, we’d have to cruise at least 6.5-7 knots the entire way to make it on time. While our Moody 47 was a moderately fast boat, what if something BLUE WATER SAILING
went wrong? She was also a solid boat, but we had three children on board, we didn’t fancy encountering gale force winds. THE DREAM Before we’d even bought our yacht, sight unseen on the other side of the world, we knew we wanted to cross an ocean. That dream was what lead to our particular choice of boat. Known for its blue water capabilities, with a partial skeg hung rudder, solid fiberglass construction, center cockpit, and a stout rig, she was more than capable of making the crossing, in fact, she’d already done it seven times with previous owners. We weren’t seasoned sailors when we moved aboard ROAM, we barely knew how to sail her at all. However, during the following we were installing the new stays. eighteen months, we covered many miles Then, a week before our planned and made many mistakes, all of which departure, our 34-year-old chain plates, helped us prepare for our crossing. which my husband had polished to within an inch of their lives, were a subject of PREPARATIONS contention on a Facebook post, spreading There were numerous obstacles in the further doubt in our minds. That lead to us lead up to our departure, that almost finding a company to manufacture eight put an end to our dream. Two months brand-new chain plates, one at a time, and prior to our leaving, the additional crew my husband and a friend installed each member whom we had found a few one before they removed the next, all in an weeks earlier, pulled out. Then, a month effort to avoid having to remove our mast. beforehand, what was meant to be a quick Lastly, the day before departure, our SSB rig inspection, found four cracked swages. radio stopped transmitting. A mad dash to It was a massive blow to our budget and the chandlery and a last-minute purchase our confidence in the seven-year-old of a new copper grounding strip was the rigging. Despite the setback, we ordered miracle we needed in the final moment. new rigging through a company called the Amazingly, we left on our intended Yacht Rigger in Florida, and a week later departure date, May 29, 2019, albeit late Summer 2020
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in the day. The weather window looked that other boats were also departing from perfect, 10 days of moderate winds and that location. Arriving in St. Maarten two months before our departure date smooth seas. was meant to be a quick stop before we headed off to the BVI’s for a few weeks of ROUTING When deciding when and where to exploring. We never made it to the BVI’s. depart from in the Caribbean, we looked Instead, we spent two whole months to well-known references such as Jimmy painstakingly preparing our boat. While we were in St Maarten, we were Cornell’s World Cruising Routes, and the pilot charts for the North Atlantic. The lucky enough to meet John Kretschmer, an Imray 100 chart showed the average wind ocean cruising legend, with over 400,000 strengths and directions, pack ice limits, miles of sailing experience under his historically sighted icebergs and ocean belt. John had completed the west to east currents. St. Maarten was chosen as our Atlantic crossing 14 times and advised departure point due to the availability that a June departure shouldn’t present the of a large number of marine services, problem of too much wind but rather not ample provisioning options and the fact enough. This was a risk we were willing to take; we were happy to burn some diesel if required and we just wanted to avoid being caught in high winds and large seas. Due to the number of boats departing from St Maarten, the yacht club hosted an afternoon information session led by a sailor who had made the jump some 30 times. He gave his detailed opinion on which route to take. As his yacht was a mere 30 feet, and as a solo sailor, he tried to avoid winds over 20 knots. For that reason, he always left in June, heading north-northeast until he was about 300 miles east of Bermuda. Once reaching latitude 38 north, he would then turn east to follow the ridge between the Azores high and the low-pressure systems coming off North America. In this way, he avoided gales while having enough wind to keep his boat moving. He would then make landfall in Horta, arriving from the south to make the most BLUE WATER SAILING
of the southwesterly winds that are usually experienced during the last leg of the trip. He had never stopped in Bermuda. This meeting was the confirmation we needed to leave around the start of June, despite the majority of other boats leaving in early to mid-May. BERMUDA OR NOT For us, the decision to not stop off in Bermuda was both financial and strategic. For our family of five with an extra crew member, it would have cost approximately $500 AUD just to step foot on the island. As our budget was in its worst state since buying the boat, we were in no mood to spend any additional money. Also, we knew that some of our children suffered from sea sicknesses and we didn’t want to reset the clock, so to speak, having to get into the rhythm of the motion of the boat twice. What Bermuda did provide was a backup in case of an emergency or the requirement for serious repairs, of which we almost needed. WEATHER Overall, the weather we experienced on the passage was more than manageable. For the first 10 days at sea, our daily wind averages were around 15 to 18 knots out of the east, akin to trade wind sailing between the Caribbean islands. Summer 2020
The seas were a smooth three to six feet, the sun was shining, and the days were warm. However, as we started closing in on 34 degrees north, the weather became noticeably colder, and our shorts and t-shirts were replaced with long pants and sweaters. The wind shifted between south and southwest. Squall activity was mild, with the largest we experienced at that stage, increasing the wind strength to 25 knots. The radar was particularly handy on night watches when a squall could be easily identified as a significant red disturbance on the screen of our chart plotter. Often, we could adjust our course slightly to avoid them. The last week of the trip was more 25
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difficult due to a low-pressure system that was rolling past us. On one particular day, the winds were 30 to 35 knots and the seas were between 12 to 15 feet. While it was nothing our boat or the autopilot couldn’t handle, it was slightly uncomfortable. We were eternally grateful we had been the recipients of blankets and offshore sailing boots from friends back in the Caribbean, and our previously purchased offshore jackets and pants were definitely required. We were receiving weather updates via our SSB radio and Pactor modem, along with our Garmin InReach, which proved invaluable. Our weather router, Chris Parker from Marine Weather Center, was kept busy trying to keep us away from the worst of the weather in the second half of the trip. Most of our sailing was either on a close reach or a beam reach. Although we sourced a whisker pole for downwind sailing, we never experienced conditions that warranted its use. Our mainsail, stay 26
sail, and headsail were what got us across, making some great daily runs. Our best was 175 NM in 24 hours. The end of the trip proved the most interesting, with two lowpressure systems converging with each other in the exact location we wanted to make landfall, Horta. Funnily enough, these systems managed to steal our wind due to our location, so motoring was required. All in all, we ran the engine for about 30 hours of the voyage. THE BOAT: WHAT WENT WRONG Our passage was reasonably fast, averaging 6.5 knots, and we completed the trip in 17 days. We did experience some issues along the way, with the main problem being our headsail. Four hundred miles east of Bermuda, our newly purchased, though admittedly second hand, carbon fiber headsail catastrophically delaminated. As we furled and unfurled the torn sail to bring it down, this caused a tangled nest of taffeta and synthetic fibers to tightly wrap around the forestay, which made it impossible to drop. After seven hours of trying various techniques to remove the sail, including the construction of a threeBLUE WATER SAILING
meter-long knife handle, we admitted defeat. We agreed that going up the mast and swinging down the forestay with a knife at sea was not a safe option, so we motored 18 hours toward Bermuda. The following morning, miserable and annoyed, I encouraged my husband to have one last attempt at removing the sail. With renewed enthusiasm, a sharp knife and much patience, he was finally successful at removing what was left of the sail. Luckily a spare headsail found deep in the sail locker only weeks earlier, was hoisted. While it wasn’t pretty, it did the job, and we were able to adjust course back in the direction of the Azores. Early in the passage, our generator failed, meaning our AC powered water maker was out of action. It was an electrical fault and one for which we weren’t prepared. We had never had this issue before, despite working on it dozens of times. We had to enforce water rations, and showers were no longer an option. In hindsight, we took too much food and not enough water. While we had 550 liters of water stored among our tanks and numerous jerry cans, if we were to cross an ocean again, we would aim to take at least 700 liters. Other issues we had to overcome were water ingress from the anchor locker and leaking deck plates, although Summer 2020
both of these issues were more of a hassle than a safety concern. We also encountered a problem with our battery bank. When motoring at high revs in the final 24 hours, our lead-acid batteries were gassing. Upon inspection, they were extremely hot with barely any water in the cells. As we had topped them off before leaving, we had no distilled water in the boat, a mistake we won’t make again. They were topped up with regular water, and after 12 hours rest, they showed no signs of damage. Most other systems worked perfectly during the crossing. Our dual below-
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deck autopilots presented no problems whatsoever. We used one system for the first half of the crossing, then changed to the second for the last half. This was done in the hope of avoiding too much wear on the electric actuators. The redundancy of two autopilot systems gave us much confidence that we could avoid having to hand steer, something we were not keen
to do. We saw one or two ships a day. Our AIS gave us all the information we needed to avoid them, but they rarely came closer than eight miles. Our fuel supply included a full diesel tank plus 230 liters in jerry jugs on the rail, giving a total of about 500 liters and an 800 nautical mile range from our Yanmar 4JH4E. We used roughly half of this amount. THE CREW 28
Three adult crew members were the perfect number and our watch schedule of 3-2-3 hours worked well. The children handled the trip surprisingly well and there were very few complaints of boredom or seasickness. It helped that our third crew member was a qualified teacher and spent many hours teaching and playing with them. THE FINAL 24 HOURS 10:00 am: Anxiously and obsessively I am checking the chart plotter and Navionics for our estimated time of arrival. With our lack of wind and cooked batteries, we are averaging 3 knots of boat speed. This is painful; we are not going to make it before the gale is forecast to hit. 9:00 pm: Day has turned into night, and as the light has faded. I’ve noticed more and more ships on the radar and a more significant number of birds flying around us. A sure sign of land nearby! The motion of the boat is uncomfortable, and for the first time in 16 days, I’ve found myself wishing the journey was over. Gradually, the winds have increased, and for the last time, I watched as bioluminescence crashed into our hull and reverberated off, causing our boat to look as though she was sailing through a sea of glitter. The chill of the night air has made my fingers stiff, and I am eternally grateful for my offshore jacket and boots, neck warmer and beanie. Our boat speed has increased to a consistent five knots, but it’s still not enough to get us into Horta before the storm. I really hope the forecast is wrong and we make it in time. BLUE WATER SAILING
11:00 pm: We’ve received a message from Chris Parker, “Low not due to arrive until noon Sunday now, you’re safe to make landfall Sunday morning.” With a sigh of relief, we turn the engine back on, and amazingly, there doesn’t seem to be any ill effects from the overheated batteries. We are finally making good speed, and we’re expected to arrive around 8 am tomorrow morning. 4:00 am: I awoke for my watch with the sight of lights in the distance! Land Ho! After a good few hours of stiff winds, we are now estimated to arrive in just over two hours! Alone in the cockpit, I am navigating the last leg of our journey in silence. With the island of Faial to our leeward and another called Pico dead ahead, I feel a sense of alertness and nervousness I’ve not felt for the entire trip. The thought of making it this far only to come to grief now is too much to bear. The seas are building, and the sky is overcast, making our arrival feel ominous and intimidating. What if Chris had made a mistake, what if the low is about to hit? 5:30 am: These last one and a half hours have been filled with mixed emotions, elation for our impending arrival, empowerment because I am sailing our 47-foot yacht by myself towards land for the first time in almost three weeks, and trepidation. Will we make it in time? 6:00 am: My face is covered in a smile as I inhale the fresh smell of soil and moist foliage. The sun rose, and the clouds parted to my right, illuminating an enormous volcano I had not even noticed was there Summer 2020
minutes earlier. “Wake up everyone,” I yelled down the companionway. Three sleepy little bodies rose from their beds, their hair tangled, and their skin tanned. Next came Dave and our crew member Kasia and for a few glorious moments, we stood in the cockpit and took in the sight together. LANDFALL Arriving in Horta AT around 7 am, we were stunned at the sight of the village before us. Like nothing my children had seen before, the whitewashed cottages and red terracotta roofs, punctuated by church spires, were a far cry from the villages in the Caribbean. Rolling green pastures surrounded the village and fields divided by neatly trimmed hedges, were home to plump cows, grazing happily. We entered the harbor, which was hidden behind the ancient stone wall and, after radioing the marina only to find they were full, made several attempts to anchor in the tight space between the equally salty and seagoing vessels. Eventually, the anchor was down, and the engine was off, we’d made it! We’d sailed across the 29
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Atlantic Ocean. Despite not having sailed more than 120 miles in succession before our departure, we had just sailed for 17 days and 2,514 nautical miles. Perhaps we got lucky; perhaps it was due to our meticulous planning and preparation. One thing’s for sure, we had achieved something we would remember forever, and we were incredibly proud of ourselves.
excellent protection from the sea. For those who wish to anchor, the bay is roughly 10 meters deep and well protected. The marina is lively and packed with oceangoing vessels. The town is beautiful, and a visit to Peters Sports CafĂŠ is inevitable, a rite of passage for those who have completed the crossing. Other options to make landfall are Flores, a beautiful island to the northeast; however, in a decent swell, the anchorage and marina WHY HORTA? can become untenable. Also, Terceira, Having cruised to several other islands a 25-mile sail east from Horta, is also a since arriving into the Azores, I would lovely island with two protected marinas, continue to advise other cruisers to make but why sail further than you have to? landfall in Horta, Faial. The approach is very straight forward, with a 400 meter THE BOTTOM LINE opening between the breakwaters and As we exchanged stories with other 30
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sailors in Horta, it seemed that our experience was very similar to those who took the same route. This could be attributed to our departure date, the route we chose, and a bit of luck. We did hear of sailors who took the traditional route heading northeast from Bermuda to 40 degrees north, experiencing winds up to 50 knots, others had no issues with heavy weather and completed the crossing safely. We did not experience any moments of downwind sailing, again this varied from boat to boat. The highest winds we experienced were 35 knots, and the largest seas were 12-to-15 feet high. Other crew we spoke to experienced similar sea states. Unlike crossing from east to west, it seems as though it’s merely the luck of the draw as to what conditions you will experience. I am confident that leaving later in May attributed to our relatively calm conditions. However, we did speak to other boats who arrived after us, that experienced 50 knots of wind. We were also happy with our decision to approach from the southwest, never going above 38 degrees north. If you are confident in your boat, your ability, your crew and your preparations, there is no reason you too cannot be among the estimated 1,200 yachts that safely cross the Atlantic Ocean, from west to east each year. BWS Erin is an intrepid traveler who came up with the idea of sailing the world with her family after watching a documentary. Despite having practically no sailing or boating experience, Erin and her husband Summer 2020
Dave and their three young sons quit the rat race and embarked on a two-year adventure of a lifetime. Erin now owns her own public relations company and helps others live a life of freedom by sharing their inspiring stories. Follow Erin on Facebook @Roam Generation. 10 THINGS WE WOULDN’T DO A CROSSING WITHOUT A crew of three adults A Garmin InReach for weather updates (or an alternate form of satellite communication) A Spare headsail Proper wet weather gear including boots A tub of stop leak A dual autopilot system Radar / AIS Enough water to complete the crossing independent of the water maker A weather router A battery temperature sensor (so we can be alerted to this problem before the potential for a thermal runaway occurs, a fire at sea is not something we want to experience.)
{ CLASSICPASSAGE }
She wanted a zephyr and got a tempest
With the world shut down by Covid-19, the only way they could get their boat home from the Caribbean to New England was to sail it themselves, double handed by Bob Osborn
FOR THE LAST SEVEN SEASONS, Brenda and I have spent our winters afloat, and for the last several years we have sailed in the eastern Caribbean. Last November I sailed Pandora, our Aerodyne 47, to Antigua, with crew, as part of the Salty Dawg Rally, and by February, Brenda, who joined me in Antigua, and I were in Martinique with other cruising friends, enjoying the riotous fun of Carnival. Just two weeks later, we were locked down in quarantine 32
in St. Lucia as the threat of the Covid-19 Pandemic shuttered island after island. Along with hundreds of other cruisers, we were struggling to decide what to do. Some opted to head immediately to Grenada and Trinidad, hoping to arrive before those islands closed. In our case, we were unwilling to leave Pandora in the Caribbean until things got back to normal, fearing that normalcy might be two seasons away. We decided that we had to get Pandora home to New England. Finding crew that were willing to risk a flight to the islands wasn’t looking like a viable option. Even if they arrived before the airports were shuttered, we’d have to wait 14 days to be sure that none were sick with the virus before heading offshore for the 1,500-mile pasage home. The idea of dealing with a desperately ill crew member so far from help was a risk we were not willing to take. Since we weren’t willing to risk Brenda BLUE WATER SAILING
catching the virus herself on a flight home, our only option was for us sail Pandora home to the U.S. ourselves, shorthanded. Brenda and I have been sailing together since the '70s, and she is just about the last person I know who would be willing to undertake a 1,000-plus mile bluewater passage. Under the circumstances, that option was the lesser evil when compared to a commercial airline flight. Given the fact that we would be making the run shorthanded, we wanted to have as much support as possible so we signed up for the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound Flotilla. Along with the bulk of the 185 boats that ultimately participated in the flotilla, we opted to take the “easy� route
Spring 2020
from the USVI, the downwind run to Florida, south of the Bahamas, north of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and through the Old Bahamas and Santarin Channels, past the Cay Sal Banks and Bahamas and across the Gulf Stream to Florida. By the time we left St. Lucia in late March, nearly every island between there and Florida had slammed their borders shut, with only Antigua and the USVI still open for arrivals. Our first stop was Antigua, arriving on the very last day before they closed the borders. We had been planning to make a straight run to the USVI, but opted for Antigua, after hearing that so many boats were descending on the USVI that services there were becoming
33
overwhelmed. All the islands in the eastern Caribbean were very serious about keeping cruisers out and some had even forced those who were not nationals to leave. On our passage north to Antigua, as we passed Martinique, we were shadowed by a French Navy frigate seemingly focused on keeping us safely away from their waters. We arrived in Antigua on the very last day before they too closed their borders and we decided stay for several weeks since it was still early in the season. We wanted to wait until the weather to the north was more settled before making our run to the USVI. A few of the boats that opted to head north from the Caribbean earlier in the season encountered stiff weather with multiple gales north of the Bahamas. In at least one case, their run north took a full two weeks. While Brenda and I were planning to take the more southerly route, I wanted to do whatever we could to make the trip easy for her since she was 34
very anxious about the run to the U.S. We took a mooring in St. John to wait until early May for a good weather window to make the passage. Brenda and I have subscribed to Chris Parker’s weather service since 2012, and were confident that he’d do his best to help us make the run with a minimum of hardship. Unfortunately, in spite of decades of sailing, Brenda still suffers from motion sickness, and I really didn’t want this to be a miserable trip for her. Our boys love to remind me that I need to be sure and avoid “Career Limiting Moves with Mom,”or CLMs for short, so that was my hope. After several weeks of waiting on our mooring in St. John, it looked like the time was right to begin our run to Florida and we set out. I worked hard to take on extra fuel since Chris feared that anticipated light tradewinds might make it necessary for us to motor much of the way. Pandora carries a lot of fuel but not enough to motor the entire way to Florida. With every island along the way closed to visitors, we had to be sure that we could make it if conditions were persistently too light for sailing. Our boat is a light, composite sloop that sails well in light air but it is tough to keep moving fast enough in the light BLUE WATER SAILING
downwind conditions that were forecast, so we were certain that we’d be running the engine quite a bit. As we approached the halfway point of our trip, Great Inagua, we learned that a low, that became tropical storm Arthur, was developing off of Mexico and Chris suggested that we stop in Great Inagua for a few days to allow time for the low to move across Florida and north of the Bahamas. We had never stopped there on previous trips, although we had passed the island on our way to Cuba back in 2016. We had not stopped since we heard that the anchorage was often quite unsettled, with wrap-around swells, even when the wind is light. After being anchored for a few uncomfortable days and nights, with near constant swells knocking us about, along with enthusiastic nightly visits by local mosquitos, we were happy to weigh anchor and continue on. By this time, Chris cautioned us that we needed to watch our speed so that we would not arrive at the far side of the Old Bahamas Channel too early and get caught in the tail end of the forecasted low. With this in mind, we furled the jib and put a second and later a third reef into the main. However, with the wind well aft and fresh, we were still going nearly twice the recommended speed of less than 4 knots. At one point, I even deployed a sturdy bucket behind us which finally slowed Spring 2020
us down enough. As luck would have it, the forecast soon changed, and Chris advised us to increase our speed to be sure that we were in Florida before a strong front that was forecast to be accompanied by powerful convective thunderstorms. We shook out the third reef, unfurled the jib and took off, confident that Pandora’s speed of 10 knots over the bottom would get us into port ahead of the front. After passing the Cay Sal Banks our course heading to Ft. Lauderdale had us crossing the Gulf Stream at a favorable NW angle, on a beam reach with forecast 20-to-25-knot easterlies. The Gulf Stream, which can quickly turn terrible with wind opposing current, can still be plenty rough with brisk winds crossing the current. For a while we were doing fine, but then we ran into a strong squall with sustained 30 knots on the beam which happened to be heading in the exact direction we were going. While a squall can be uncomfortable, this one stayed with us
Porto, Azores
for 8 hours and conditions became quite uncomfortable. To make matters even more unpleasant, as night fell, there was a new moon so we could not see a thing or anticipate when the next wave would hit. Pandora is a very powerful boat, with a fine entry and flat run aft. That means that she can handle a short chop easily. Pandora was making 10 knots on a beam reach with two reefs and no headsail and it made for a very wet and noisy ride. These conditions were not new to me, but to Brenda they were terrifying. The constant din of the waves slamming into the hull and washing over the decks made a terrible noise. At one point there was a loud crash, and I will admit that I went below “just to be sure” that something hadn’t broken or caved in. And, at another point, a wave hit the windward aft quarter with such force that we were certain that the aft enclosure had been ripped away given the amount of water that ran across the back of the cockpit and out the leeward side. In both cases, while impressive, there was no damage. 36
Conditions in the cockpit of Pandora are generally pretty settled since we have a very generously sized hard dodger with the forward seven-feet protected by tempered glass windows, but it can still be quite noisy when a big wave hits. As always, when we head offshore, our dink was securely lashed on the deck between mast and dodger, and if it had been in the davits, I am confident that it would have broken loose. We had heard there was a boat in last fall’s Salty Dawg Rally that lost it’s dink, even though it was very securely connected to sturdy davits. They ran into rough conditions and as the dink began to come loose, the skipper was hurt trying to bring things under control, and ultimately had to cut it loose. That sort of risk is one that we take seriously and to heart whenever we are on any passage that’s more than a few hours. As rough as the Gulf Stream and squalls were, we made great time toward Ft. Lauderdale and, as Chris Parker predicted, very strong squalls followed our arrival, the first of which arrived just as we were approaching the channel to begin our run into the harbor. I generally bring in all sail as I approach a harbor, especially in the dark and when winds and sea are up, this arrival was no different. With the easterly winds brisk, and surf up, we entered more shallow BLUE WATER SAILING
waters west of the Stream, and I pulled down the main at the entrance to the channel. As the sail lowered, the boom was behaving badly, and I soon realized that the some of the gas in my hydraulic boom vang had leaked out causing the boom to drop too low, in spite of the topping lift. Without the support of the vang, the boom, which overlaps the hard dodger by several feet, threatened to pound into the dodger. Fortunately, I keep a preventer secured on deck to manage the boom at anchor and was able to secure the boom out of harm’s way. Accomplishing this, after a night with little sleep, in rough conditions in the dark off an unfamiliar inlet wasn’t a great way to end our voyage. Now that the trip is behind us, and I have moved Pandora, with crew this time, from Florida up to Annapolis, it’s safe to say that all is well that ends well. But Brenda, a self-admitted cream puff, will not soon forget this run. And, even if she won’t admit it, I think that she is pretty proud of having made an ocean journey that most will never do. For sure, those who know her are impressed. For Brenda, whose longest run to date was less than four days, Spring 2020
the nearly two weeks it took for us to get from the USVI to Florida, was quite an accomplishment. We don’t know yet when we will next be sailing the Caribbean but you can be assured that Antigua, perhaps the best island to make landfall for a season of cruising, will again be on our list. Why Antigua? Well, that’s a story for another day. BWS Bob Osborn is a board member of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association and serves as Antigua Port Officer for the Fall Rally to Antigua. He and Brenda have spent most winters since 2012 cruising south, most recently aboard their Rodger Martin designed, 47’ Aerodyne solent rigged, sloop, Pandora. Bob has been keeping a blog for over a decade chronicling their travels, www. sailpandora.com He can be reached at bob@ saltydawgsailing.org
37
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