We spent the last couple of weeks of October cruising the Chesapeake and getting some key upgrades (new lithium batteries), preparing to go off shore. We visited several lovely harbors including the Solomon Islands (Mill Creek) and Deltaville (Jackson Creek) but spent most of the time at Yankee Point Marina in Lancaster, VA getting the battery upgrade. All of the creeks are amazingly calm and quiet – even on a blustery day. We found it so interesting that in the creeks you are surrounded by beautiful homes rather than commercial boating centers.

The battery install took several more days than anticipated (cha-ching) but it was worth it to get it done and done right. One benefit was meeting the oysterman docked in front of us. His name was Luther and after heading out one morning he brought as a huge bucket of oysters. He gave me tips on frying them up and they were amazing! With the install (mostly) complete we headed south (finally) for Hampton.

We caught up again with Bill and Kelly Kenney and anchored right next to them near Phoebus point in Hampton. Our first crew, Scott Vorhees arrived from FL and we had a lovely kick off dinner. All the Salty Dawg events were taking place at the Blue Water Marine so we headed over there for several sessions on First Aid, Safety at Sea, Fishing and lots of great “insider” info on the passage to Antigua. Kelly had her aunt’s car and took me to Sam’s Club for a last big provision. Karl Hoyt arrived a few days later and spent the last couple of days up at Salt Pond Marina where we were able to plug in and do final preparations (which seemed endless).

While we were “scheduled” to leave on November 1st – the weather dictates when to go and so we had to wait a bit to depart to “hopefully” let a weather system go south. The whole Salty Dawg rally (80+ boats in Hampton) was working with Chris Parker who provided detailed weather forecasts and recommended routes. Each boat determines their own path – and some left early and some left days after we did. We decided to depart on Thursday November 2nd we left the dock at 11:30 am. It was about 45 degrees but the sun was shining, so while chilly not too bad. It was really fun to see all the Salty Dawg boats headed out together through the Chesapeake. Throughout most of the journey we had visual sightings of other Salty Dawg Rally boats – the Rally had a track of all the participating boats, and if not – we could see them on the AIS (system that identifies boats on the navigational display).

Day one was pretty uneventful. Captain Bill set out the watch schedule. During the day (6 am to midnight) we did 2 hour single person watches and then overnight 12-3 am and 3-6 am we have 2 people on watch which makes the most tiring and stressful times much easier. On the first night, we were a bit anxious about hitting the Gulf Stream in the middle of the night – but we crossed into the stream without much fanfare – what you notice most is the water temperature warming. The winds were fairly mild so no big seas. The recommended route was to head directly east across the Gulf Stream and then basically head South east for Antigua. On Day 2 we learned the weather system had not moved through and we needed to slow down – that was strange. Going really slowly (3 knots) when you have a long trek ahead felt very awkward, but avoiding 40 knot winds and heavy seas was worth it – we really just slowly made our way across the Gulf Stream . Seeing other Salty Dawg boats doing the same was comforting. We passed out of the Gulf Stream Saturday (11/4) morning, once again with little fan fare.

When the wind did pick up a with 10-15 knot breezes and moderate seas and we had some great sailing. In the early part of the trip the moon was bright at night and illuminated the sea which made the visibility much better at night. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular!

We did hit several rain squalls on day 5 – but there was no wind – just torrential rain which actually felt great to get the boat washed and extra benefit – end to end rainbows -several of them!

The early going weather was mild enough that would could use the grill and had some yummy meals. While the watch schedule makes having meals together difficult (someone always needs to be resting) we did get the in habit of having dinner at 6 pm so we could all be together and in the early days that was really easy.

The wind picked up (which was not predicted) and we started making great progress – the fishing line was out from dawn to dusk and we did hook on to two fish -one was definitely a Mahi Mahi but we were going a bit fast and didn’t think to slow the boat down so the fish got away. Clearly more fishing seminars will be needed!

While the early part of the passage was fairly mild, it did raise the issue that if we had to run the engines for too many days, then fuel consumption could be a challenge. We carry 190 gallons of diesel and had 20 gallons in reserve containers on deck so we were in pretty good shape but if we got becalmed it would be a challenge. There were a lot of calculations being done on how much fuel we were using and had left! In the end – we were fine and have plenty left in the tanks when we arrived in Antigua.

With the Gulf Stream behind us it was time to head South(east) – we followed the recommended route to pass south and west of Bermuda and chose to go as far east as possible – staying to the east of much of the Salty Dawg fleet – with the idea that once we hit the trade winds (strong easterly winds) we would easily be able to head back west, but getting further east would be a hard slog. We put some miles in the “bank” heading east and it made all the difference later on.

With stronger winds it did put more stress on the boat and crew. One of the biggest challenges we faced was on Day 7, the main halyard came loose in heavy winds and seas and detached from the main sail. Fortunately the sail was down so the halyard was not lost at the top of the mast, but rather blew in the wind and got tangled all around the back stay and lazy jacks (which hold up the sail bag). Of course it was the middle of the night when it happened so we just had to wait for daylight to figure out a plan to retrieve it – which did give Captain Bill some time to “sleep on it” – meaning he got no sleep, but did come up with a plan…..we would head down wind with the genoa out which moderated the sea swell (7-9 feet) as the waves came behind us and pushed us along. Bill would go up the mast in the bosuns chair (yikes), unwrap the halyard tie a line and we’d be able to haul her down. Not fun to do in the open ocean with the captain up the mast – but everyone did their assigned job just right and we go the halyard down and reattached. Phew! Deep breaths for all – trying to sail the remaining miles without the main would have been a huge problem. (Authors note – probably my fault that it got loose as I usually am up the mast when the sail goes up – add it to my checklist to make sure the halyard is secure!).

Notably no pictures of that exercise as we were all too busy!

The wind stayed with us and we made great progress to the designated point when we hit the famous (infamous?) “Trade Winds” which blow steadily out of the east at 17-20 knots with gusts to 25. The winds did oscillate a bit and it made for sloppy seas – with waves hitting us from the port side, but inconsistently. While we started with a single reef in the main and a double reef in the Genoa – the pounding was tough – we were going fast (for us) at 8.5-10 knots but Carried Away (and its crew) was taking a beating – so we added the second reef to the main which slowed us down (just a little actually) and made for a much better ride. We had 4 solid days of constant wind at 20+ knots. The Salty Dawg fleet was in the same conditions and all moving along together for the next 4 days. The fleet continued to move south and we found being to the east was the right choice.

On Sunday November 12th (Day 10) we hit the “100 miles to go” mark and knew we’d be to Antigua by late Sunday / early Monday. Everyone was very excited! The fleet had separated in recent days but now we began to converge and as we approached Barbuda (north of Antigua and the first land seen for 10 days!). Since we were arriving to Antigua in the dark, we were very happy to see Pandora (who had come directly from Newport) and had done the trip often, just ahead of us – so we were able to follow them into Falmouth harbor and drop and anchor. Arrival time 12:30 am Monday November 13th!! What a feeling! From Hampton VA to Antigua 10 days 13 hours and over 1700 miles traveled. We enjoyed a toast to our successful arrival and all went to bed! Later in the day Monday we moved over to English Harbor and Nelson’s Dockyard where we tied up and went through customs – was a blast to be there with all the other Salty Dawgs who continued to arrive!

Now we get to relax and enjoy time ashore in Antigua – so far looking like a beautiful and very welcoming island. More to come in the next post!