When sailing there are usually many ways to get from A to B, depending on the weather, your schedule, your boat, other boats etc. Oftentimes, when sailing for recreation, you choose a nice day, sail a distance that can be easily covered in daylight, and end up somewhere nice for dinner and overnight rest. Fair weather sailors we would call those people. For what we have chosen to do, we would love to be fair weather sailors, but the distances and timescales involved simply don't allow it.
So, it was just a few weeks into our great journey, after leaving Miami for the Bahamas, that we found ourselves planning our first 'passage' - loosely defined as a sail between two countries, or across a significant body of water. Due to the distances involved a passage usually involves sailing more than 24 hours, in other words overnight, or maybe even two or more nights. Our first real passage on catamaran india came as we left Georgetown in the Bahamas Exumas to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) - about 240 miles. Up until then we had enjoyed short spurts between towns and islands in the Bahamas, Abacos and Exumas with no real stress. 240 miles may not seem far, but when you can only move at 5 - 8 knots, little more than walking speed, it takes a long time.
We planned this first passage to take about 40 hours, leaving late one day and arriving on the morning two days later. Little did we know. The wind had other plans for us. We knew at this time of year, the winds are mostly from the East, the trades as they are known, and these are the famous winds that blow all those little tropical depressions all the way from the coast of Africa to become hurricanes by the time they reach the Caribbean. Our passage to TCI took us in various directions to sail around the lower Bahama islands - Crooked Island, and Long Island, to our destination. But, whichever way we sailed the wind changed to always be head on. It is possible to sail when the wind is in many different directions to your intended heading, but head-on isn't one of them. So we struggled for some time after leaving to find a direction where we could sail, and not have to use the engines, after all this is a sailboat, not a power boat, but doing so by tacking would have taken us far off our course and added many miles and hours to our itinerary. On top of this, on our first evening of that first passage, just as the sun was setting behind us, the Genoa sail furling line decided to detach from the furling drum. This is problematic. One has a large sail deployed at the front of the boat, with no way of bringing it in. And when that beast of a sail has the wind, it harnesses a huge amount of power. The seas were rough, and had been for some days, since the winds had consistently been 15-20 knots form the east, and the waves and rollers out in the open sea were easily six feet plus in height. This results in a pretty uncomfortable ride as the boat pitches and rolls along its way. I can tell you it is pretty uncomfortable laying on the trampolines up front, trying to repair the detached furler line, with disappearing light and water everywhere. Of course, we fixed it, an hour later and we had a good temporary solution in place allowing us to control that Genoa. Dara took care to steer a course that made the wave action as slight as possible, and we had full deck lights on so she could see if I was tossed overboard, so she could turn around and retrieve me. A good team effort and back in action.
And so it continued for the next 50 hours, with us struggling to find parts of the course where we could sail, and resorting to motoring when we couldn't. The other aspect of long passages is watch management, especially overnight. This was my first taste of serious sailing in the dark, and I have to say it was less of a stress than I had imagined (other than the furler incident). With modern technology, you can sail a course, take a nap at the helm, and feel perfectly safe. We have a chartplotter with radar, so at night we can see exactly, to the metre, where we are in relation to the earth and seas around us, and also use the radar to spot objects around us, such as land masses and other vessels, even rain clouds and storms. Then we use an iPad with a dedicated navigational app, and a backup on another iPad and two iPhones - all with GPS, so no worries knowing where we are. Then we have a system called AIS (Automated Identification System) which sends out a unique signal from india with our details - size, name, MMSI number etc - and the ability to receive that same information from other vessels up to many miles away, so that we know who else is around and what their intentions are. So no real need for headlights on the boat. We have all the necessary navigational lights in addition to the great technology I mentioned, but even with no moon when it is pitch black and one can't even see the horizon, it is possible to feel safe as you lurch along your way through the waves. The only things we really worry about are things in the water that shouldn't be there - like containers that fell off a ship (it happens - there are something like 50 lost every day worldwide), tree trunks, fishing pots and other large floating debris. Oh - and lightning. When you sail through the night you frequently see lightning on the horizon, and wonder why you would sit in a boat in the middle of the ocean with a huge lightning conductor pointing up to the skies. Statistically there is a much higher chance of being hit by lightning on a sailboat than walking around on dry land, but it is still about one in a thousand. Luckily, if it happens, it rarely, if ever, injures anyone, but it will take out ALL your electrical and electronics systems - you know, the ones I mentioned above that you need to keep you safe and navigate at night. So sailing at night is not without it's orifice-clenching moments.
Dara has completed many passages but for me these were the first I had experienced. The passage itself is exciting - being able to control this 26 ton beast through miles of rough seas, the weather and the darkness using new skills and technology was a rush. We chose a catamaran because it is more comfortable than a monohull - but not in all situations - on a passage being downstairs is a somewhat terrifying ride. The huge boat lurches unexpectedly from side to side, back and forth, pitching like a bullride at the local fair. And the noise is unbelievable - the slap of the waves against the hulls is like someone trying to break through with a sledgehammer. All the while the woodwork, cabinetry and fixtures are creaking and groaning as if they have a voice of their own. Then the background soundtrack of the constant rush of the ocean water and waves all around as you try to catch an hour or two of sleep before your next watch. On top of the auditory and visual bombardment comes the non-stop spray of salt water as the bows crash through the waves and leave you covered in a salty, greasy coating. And as each hour goes on, your mind and body starts to crave sleep and rest - but not until it's really over. It is definitely something different!
So far we have completed three longish passages - the first from Bahamas to TCI (240 miles), then TCI to Dominican Republic (a mere 120 miles), then DR to Puerto Rico (275 miles). We are now staged in Puerto Rico to leave later today and sail overnight to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. All of these passages had rough seas, unfavourable winds and many long hours of watching the lightning. Soon it will be better as we reach the easternmost point of this Caribbean jaunt. We then turn right and head more south towards the windward islands and down to Grenada. Apart from better winds and sailing conditions, the jump from island to island becomes shorter and more easily achieved in a day-sail. Then we can kick back a little, enjoy those happy hours and sunsets, and really appreciate this new adventure.
By the way - I mentioned AIS above - there are several AIS trackers online which allow you to see where we are currently in the world. Here is a selection:
Marine Traffic
My Ship Tracking
Vessel Tracker
So, it was just a few weeks into our great journey, after leaving Miami for the Bahamas, that we found ourselves planning our first 'passage' - loosely defined as a sail between two countries, or across a significant body of water. Due to the distances involved a passage usually involves sailing more than 24 hours, in other words overnight, or maybe even two or more nights. Our first real passage on catamaran india came as we left Georgetown in the Bahamas Exumas to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) - about 240 miles. Up until then we had enjoyed short spurts between towns and islands in the Bahamas, Abacos and Exumas with no real stress. 240 miles may not seem far, but when you can only move at 5 - 8 knots, little more than walking speed, it takes a long time.
We planned this first passage to take about 40 hours, leaving late one day and arriving on the morning two days later. Little did we know. The wind had other plans for us. We knew at this time of year, the winds are mostly from the East, the trades as they are known, and these are the famous winds that blow all those little tropical depressions all the way from the coast of Africa to become hurricanes by the time they reach the Caribbean. Our passage to TCI took us in various directions to sail around the lower Bahama islands - Crooked Island, and Long Island, to our destination. But, whichever way we sailed the wind changed to always be head on. It is possible to sail when the wind is in many different directions to your intended heading, but head-on isn't one of them. So we struggled for some time after leaving to find a direction where we could sail, and not have to use the engines, after all this is a sailboat, not a power boat, but doing so by tacking would have taken us far off our course and added many miles and hours to our itinerary. On top of this, on our first evening of that first passage, just as the sun was setting behind us, the Genoa sail furling line decided to detach from the furling drum. This is problematic. One has a large sail deployed at the front of the boat, with no way of bringing it in. And when that beast of a sail has the wind, it harnesses a huge amount of power. The seas were rough, and had been for some days, since the winds had consistently been 15-20 knots form the east, and the waves and rollers out in the open sea were easily six feet plus in height. This results in a pretty uncomfortable ride as the boat pitches and rolls along its way. I can tell you it is pretty uncomfortable laying on the trampolines up front, trying to repair the detached furler line, with disappearing light and water everywhere. Of course, we fixed it, an hour later and we had a good temporary solution in place allowing us to control that Genoa. Dara took care to steer a course that made the wave action as slight as possible, and we had full deck lights on so she could see if I was tossed overboard, so she could turn around and retrieve me. A good team effort and back in action.
And so it continued for the next 50 hours, with us struggling to find parts of the course where we could sail, and resorting to motoring when we couldn't. The other aspect of long passages is watch management, especially overnight. This was my first taste of serious sailing in the dark, and I have to say it was less of a stress than I had imagined (other than the furler incident). With modern technology, you can sail a course, take a nap at the helm, and feel perfectly safe. We have a chartplotter with radar, so at night we can see exactly, to the metre, where we are in relation to the earth and seas around us, and also use the radar to spot objects around us, such as land masses and other vessels, even rain clouds and storms. Then we use an iPad with a dedicated navigational app, and a backup on another iPad and two iPhones - all with GPS, so no worries knowing where we are. Then we have a system called AIS (Automated Identification System) which sends out a unique signal from india with our details - size, name, MMSI number etc - and the ability to receive that same information from other vessels up to many miles away, so that we know who else is around and what their intentions are. So no real need for headlights on the boat. We have all the necessary navigational lights in addition to the great technology I mentioned, but even with no moon when it is pitch black and one can't even see the horizon, it is possible to feel safe as you lurch along your way through the waves. The only things we really worry about are things in the water that shouldn't be there - like containers that fell off a ship (it happens - there are something like 50 lost every day worldwide), tree trunks, fishing pots and other large floating debris. Oh - and lightning. When you sail through the night you frequently see lightning on the horizon, and wonder why you would sit in a boat in the middle of the ocean with a huge lightning conductor pointing up to the skies. Statistically there is a much higher chance of being hit by lightning on a sailboat than walking around on dry land, but it is still about one in a thousand. Luckily, if it happens, it rarely, if ever, injures anyone, but it will take out ALL your electrical and electronics systems - you know, the ones I mentioned above that you need to keep you safe and navigate at night. So sailing at night is not without it's orifice-clenching moments.
Dara has completed many passages but for me these were the first I had experienced. The passage itself is exciting - being able to control this 26 ton beast through miles of rough seas, the weather and the darkness using new skills and technology was a rush. We chose a catamaran because it is more comfortable than a monohull - but not in all situations - on a passage being downstairs is a somewhat terrifying ride. The huge boat lurches unexpectedly from side to side, back and forth, pitching like a bullride at the local fair. And the noise is unbelievable - the slap of the waves against the hulls is like someone trying to break through with a sledgehammer. All the while the woodwork, cabinetry and fixtures are creaking and groaning as if they have a voice of their own. Then the background soundtrack of the constant rush of the ocean water and waves all around as you try to catch an hour or two of sleep before your next watch. On top of the auditory and visual bombardment comes the non-stop spray of salt water as the bows crash through the waves and leave you covered in a salty, greasy coating. And as each hour goes on, your mind and body starts to crave sleep and rest - but not until it's really over. It is definitely something different!
So far we have completed three longish passages - the first from Bahamas to TCI (240 miles), then TCI to Dominican Republic (a mere 120 miles), then DR to Puerto Rico (275 miles). We are now staged in Puerto Rico to leave later today and sail overnight to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. All of these passages had rough seas, unfavourable winds and many long hours of watching the lightning. Soon it will be better as we reach the easternmost point of this Caribbean jaunt. We then turn right and head more south towards the windward islands and down to Grenada. Apart from better winds and sailing conditions, the jump from island to island becomes shorter and more easily achieved in a day-sail. Then we can kick back a little, enjoy those happy hours and sunsets, and really appreciate this new adventure.
By the way - I mentioned AIS above - there are several AIS trackers online which allow you to see where we are currently in the world. Here is a selection:
Marine Traffic
My Ship Tracking
Vessel Tracker
Our MMSI number is 368071790 - track us online!!
 |
| The infamous furling drum with furling line now attached again! |
 |
The passage from Georgetown, Bahamas to Turks and Caicos Islands |
 |
The passage from French Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands to Luperon, Dominican Republic |
 |
The passage from Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico |
I'm exhausted - and so impressed. Sorry, but being out in the ocean in the boat with no light, listening to the waves,(and me puking up my guts)is a tad more adventure than I'm made for. I had no idea what was involved in a trip like this. The education you give is highly interesting, and the fact that you don't make this whole trip sound easy and effortless makes me appreciate all the positives you share. You guys are a helluva team and we love you.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear you are getting much closer to the point where you can have a more relaxed and enjoyable trip. Reading what you have gone through scares me to death and I worry about you all the time. Thank you guys so much for keeping us updated and letting us know you are okay. I talk to Judy a lot so she also keeps me updated on what is happening. I will definitely be checking the AIS trackers at times and really looking forward to that. Be safe and know I love you guys!!!
ReplyDelete