Mark Smith and iLean Windward - a 2003 Bavaria 38 Cruiser
Part I: Hey, lets take a long sail.
The Idea...
I love to sail: The sense of adventure I feel every time I step on a boat. Distant lands across endless seas, foreign ports and tropical scenery- the possibilities are endless. One of my favorite fantasies is to sail out of our homeport in New Jersey, turn south, and keep going until I reach the Caribbean. With present day family and work obligations, however, my Caribbean journey is only in my mind and not yet ready for the planning stage. Weekend sails keep my dreams afloat, with multiple day-long journeys offering the occasional glimpse (with a very active imagination) into long-term passage making. Last summer, a plan began to form in my mind of a week-long sail to Block Island (off the coast of Rhode Island- just north of Montauk point- the very end of Long Island New York).
The previous year my family and I had journeyed for several days up the New Jersey coast, up the East River past Manhattan and into Long Island Sound to Connecticut. Each day we stopped at pre-arranged transient slips in well-accommodated marinas. A re-occurring thought I had during that trip in 2003 was a growing curiosity about a “non-stop sail”- not stopping each day, but just keep going- round the clock until the destination port is reached. I have sailed at night before, but never all night. I’ve stood watch before, but never during the wee hours of the night into the early morning.
We had taken delivery of our new Bavaria 38 in March of last year in Annapolis Maryland. Prior to that, I had spent a few weekends in that historical sailing town installing a GPS and VHF radio on our new boat. Those installation tasks gave me a great opportunity to start learning the boat- crawling though tight spaces, running cable, figuring out the DC circuits, thinking, re-thinking, figuring, and re-figuring. The final weekend of delivery brought us to our official “check out” of the boat with the Sail Annapolis technician and our final check of added safety and comfort equipment- extra anchor, extra fenders, etc. My family headed back to New Jersey by car while my brother-in-law, Ken, and I started the 3 day journey up the Chesapeake, through the C&D Canal, down the Delaware River out to sea and up the coast of New Jersey to our home port at Sea View Harbor Marina, Long Port. The three day journey had gone well (for March!).
iLean
Windward: Home Port. The bow is pointed almost directly due
east- sitting in the cockpit presents the most incredible
sunsets!
During
last spring and early summer it was time to get to know the
boat as a sail boat- and not just a floating platform for
various systems and equipment. I was immediately impressed
by the stability of the boat. It is very well balanced- so
well balanced that when sailing a close reach or close
haul, there is usually very little or no weather helm.
She’ll do 7 kts (according to GPS) easily and like
most sail boats, likes to go to weather much more than
down-wind.
As the summer went on, my thoughts turned once again to
dreams of journeys lasting not a few hours, but of days.
One of the sailors on our dock had mentioned a trip he had
taken a couple of years ago to Block Island. I had never
been there, but had heard from my wife and others of its
relative “low key” atmosphere (compared to the
very-much “cosmopolitan” and rarified
Martha’s Vineyard) and small size. A plan began to
form in my mind of a non-stop sailing journey to this small
historic island.
Another new boat owner at the marina, Steve, had taken
possession of his new Benateau 38 that spring, and had
talked about taking a sailing trip up or down the coast.
Steve was my first enlisted crew member- the journey
started to move into the serious planning stage. My
brother-in-law Ken was also brought into the conspiracy as
was a neighbor and very good friend Patrick. Ken and I had
sailed many times together as well as Patrick and his
family. Ken had extensive sailing experience- including
some off-shore trips down around the Bahamas. Combined with
my almost 20 years of sailing (which includes 2 instructor
ASA certifications and several years racing experience) I
felt we had the experience and knowledge among the four of
us to successfully plan a safe and enjoyable adventure.
Preparation...
and an uninvited Guest!
After
re-checking all the emergency equipment and procedures, the
only “missing” equipment was an EPIRB
(Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). Fortunately,
Boat US has a rental program for EPIRBs that’s only
$50 a week plush shipping- a deal! I had quickly came to
the conclusion that this was an essential piece of safety
equipment since our proposed “straight-line
course” to Block Island would take us almost 50 Nm
off shore.
As the planned departure date drew near (Sep 8) the weather
(always a focus for sailors) became an obsession! It was a
busy hurricane season, and none of the crew was ready to
battle even a former hurricane as it made its way up the US
east coast as a tropical storm or depression. As the week
of our proposed departure approached, the eastern Atlantic
off the coast of Africa spun up yet another tropical wave,
which quickly grew to Hurricane Frances. I started checked
each tropical update from NOAA (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/)
as the three and five day forecast “probable
path” projections extended onto the US coast and then
inland. The crew were all wishing for an western track for
Frances, as an eastern track near or up the coast would
delay our trip; too much of a delay and it would result in
crew dropping out due to time constraints. Historically,
ex-hurricanes, as tropical storms and then depressions,
travel northwest to northeast if they make US landfall, but
eventually tend to turn northeast- the question for Frances
was how far west it would travel before eventually turning
to a more eastwardly path, and she wasn’t talking :)
Our
plans progressed: leave the dock in Long Port at 6:00 am
Wed Sep 8, after the three-day labor day weekend. Sail on a
straight line (course approximately 065 degrees) to the
Montauk bell, turn a bit more north and head to the
entrance to New Harbor, Block Island. We estimated the trip
would take between 32 and 36 hrs, with a distance of about
185 Nm. We would stay on the island for two nights and then
head back early Saturday morning.
As the days ticked down to our planned departure, the
forecast for Frances was in our favor: a very westward
track before finally turning eastward crossing northern New
England and out to sea - well west and north of our planned
route. We would have some effects of the tropical
depression as it passed to our west and north, but nothing
significant.
I
initially liked the forecast track of Frances, but as our
departure grew closer, the forecast steadily became more
eastward.
Saturday,
Sep 4 - the forecast track of Frances is revised to a more
eastwardly track- not to my liking! Still within reason and
safety for us, but I didn’t like the trend. I talked
at length with Ken about the consequences and possible
effects of a closer encounter with Frances. We finally
agreed to continue to watch the weather and sea forecasts
for our entire route, carefully allowing for margin of
errors in conditions, timeline, and location: we would
reserve the option of canceling at any point, even after we
had left port. We also charted the ports we could duck into
along the way if conditions looked like they were
deteriorating. A very important part of our planning was
our continual reminder to ourselves: cancel the trip or
duck into safe harbor BEFORE conditions get bad.
Ken and I were on the boat Monday night and began final
preparations. Patrick would arrive Tue night and Steve
would join us very early on Wed. Ken and I planned on
practicing some maneuvers on the boat on Tue: hoav-to,
reefing both the main and Genoa, putting the boat in irons
and observing how she responded, and so on. As we went
through those various maneuvers Tuesday afternoon, it
became obvious that we needed the practice – we went
through a couple of tries reefing the two sails before it
became smooth, controlled, and efficient. Back at the slip,
we checked the windless, checked blocks and cleats, and
tightened screws and fasteners until we were satisfied
everything was “ship shape”.
The boat was ready! I felt we had prepared and planned as
much as possible. With eye and brain silently praying to
all the sea gods we could fathom, Ken, Patrick and myself
had some boat grill and wine for dinner- and then it was
time for some (hopefully) very restful sleep.