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In the first 24 hours after our departure from Virginia, we had such a subtle, yet 'in-your-face' blend of absolutely everything that represents the adventure, thrill, boredom, and fear you would expect to encounter during an offshore ocean sailing passage! You'd never believe it was the same day the way the weather shifts would evolve from one mood to another as we headed out to sea. It always starts off innocently enough... everyone smiling as we finally cast off the dock lines at the long anticipated start time, the weather is light and variable as we make our way gently around the final turns as we exit the marina and join a very long line of sailboats that are all heading out to experience the same unknown challenges to come as we are.
We left the marina in the company of all 70 boats on a clear day that within one hour became so thick with fog that you could barely see the boat beside you... let alone the fact that you were heading down a major shipping channel with all 70 of these boats that were all trying to be at the start line on time, at the same time, and none of them can see you, or each other, or the ships, or the channel markers, except on radar!
The
Rally actually started in the fog at 12pm on Wednesday. You couldn't do
anything but feel your way slowly up to the start line and hope that nobody came
storming out of the fog suddenly bearing down on you! The start went well, all
things considered, and we were finally underway!!
Within
a couple hours the fog lifted as a gentle breeze started to fill in from the
West. Before long it had shifted to the Southwest giving us enough wind to sail
our course and head to sea!
We had
a great first night, the wind blew steady and we were sailing along at 7 knots+
heading exactly where we wanted to go. We got into our night watch schedule and
began settling in for the long voyage ahead. Around 3am the wind starting
easing and we slowed down a bit but kept on moving along our course. The wind
was forecast to gradually shift around to the Northeast by the next day
sometime... I think by gradually, what they meant to say was 30 seconds or
less! At 6am we were still sailing along in 12-15 knots of beautiful Northwest
wind, we were in the middle of the Gulf Stream with waves about 8 feet or less
and the water temperature had increased dramatically making the boat much more
comfortable than in the chilly weather we had grown used to over the past few
weeks.
All of a sudden (it always starts that way, doesn't it?)... from inside our cabin we heard a big 'whooosh' in the rigging and then that really loud 'BANG' that nobody likes to hear on a sailboat... the windshift had come alright... it rolled in out of the Northeast with over 30 knots of wind on the front wall. It had swept behind our mainsail and thrown the boom across the boat! We were out of our cabin like lightning to make sure everyone was ok... John and Dwight were both in the cockpit struggling with the furling line trying to get the jib in to reduce our sail area.
We were now in a sustained 40 knots+ of wind gusting over 50 that was making it very difficult to get control of all that sail area. The windward sheet on the jib had been flogging so hard while trying to furl in the sail that it had tied itself in a knot around the forestay and the jib making it impossible to bring in any more of the sail. Luckily, nothing was damaged when the boom gybed so we turned down wind to unload the sails, used the mainsail to cover the jib and then sorted out the lines and got it furled in. We still had over 40 knots of wind in the mainsail and the idea of turning upwind to do anything about that right now really didn't appeal to anyone at this point. We ran down wind and checked our course... due South... at least we're heading in the right direction! And were we movin... averaged about 10 knots the whole time!
After about a half hour the wind settled down to a comfortable 25 knots (anything is comfortable when it's been blowing 40+), so we turned into the wind and John and I went on deck to reef the mainsail. We went straight to the second reef and then got ready to turn back downwind... we had just given Dwight the ok to turn off the wind while we were standing at the mast, still all nice and dry... when 'Whooosh'... the bow of the boat had driven straight through a huge wave that had built up from the North wind over the Gulf Stream and a trailer load of water dumped over us. John and I just looked at each other with that look that says... 'ok, we're wet now, keep moving.', and burst out laughing... what else could you do... at least the water was warm! The boat finally turned downwind, we we're still doing 9 knots and the boat was handling superbly. Dwight kept the boat on course, John and I went down below to shower and change.
Clean and dry and back in the cockpit we were all reveling in the fact that we had already successfully passed our first major challenge. Nobody in the fleet expected to be dealing with gale force winds on our first night out, but once your out there, there really isn't much choice. We were lucky, we came out unscathed... by the next days radio chat the damage reports were coming in... mostly sail damage, but a couple boats had to turn back and return to port. We pressed on and were able to maintain great speed and have been doing really well. The weather has settled and spirits are good, but it is amazing what 24 hours can bring...
Cheers,
Rick
She Said: Coming Soon!!
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