Finally!

November 21, 2011
We’ve Arrived!
Nanny Cay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
18 23.904’N:64 38.151’W
Cathy/weather is perfect – sunny and warm

As you can see from the photo below, we’ve arrived at our BVI destination. Finally - at 2:25 this morning - we crossed the finish line, and slowly sailed back and forth down Sir Francis Drake channel to this marina which we entered at first light. We were met dockside by some of the rally staff and received some marina/Tortola information as well as rum punches for all, a delightful tradition. It has been more than 4+ years since we developed a plan to get us here, and now that we are here the real adventure begins.

The trip from Hampton, VA to Tortola will be memorable for many reasons. It was our first true offshore adventure, lasting into the 11th day. We found ourselves settling into a rhythm by the third day, with everyone having 2 3-hour watches per day (except me; I had 2 2-hour watches as I also had cooking duties). From other sailors we had heard horror stories about the Gulf Stream crossing, when a strong north wind would create 4 foot standing seas against the northward moving 3-4 knot current. But we had perfect conditions with the wind fairly much aligned with the current, and were thrilled when the only real clue that we were already in the Gulf Stream was the brilliant deep blue color surrounding us. It was a good portent, especially given our recent rudder issues. Perhaps we’ve left all our troubles behind.

We spent the next 5 days looking for wind while using up precious fuel as we motorsailed in light winds. A small number of other boats in the rally diverted to Bermuda for a fuel resupply; that thought did cross our minds, but before we had to make that decision we found enough wind to make us feel confident that we could steer over to where there would be more. That has been certainly true over the past 4 days with wind speeds ranging from 18 up to 24, and gusts of 30 or more. That has made for great sailing and Katahdin has performed beautifully. The drawback has been the swells, up to 10 feet at times, which not only slows down our forward progress with the up and down motion but also makes us wish we were back on land. Remember the Tarzan movies of old? That’s what it felt like as we moved around downstairs, grabbing a pole here, a handhold there, propelling ourselves forward mostly by our arm action which then pulls our legs along. It has not been pleasant, especially while cooking, and there’s been a fair amount of grousing on the Net at the roll calls.

Speaking of roll calls, we have been in contact with the rally organizers – and each other - throughout the trip. Every day at 7:30 am and 7 pm the captains call in via single sideband or satellite phones to report positions and conditions, such as sea heights, wind speeds, etc. Larry has been keeping the boat position information of other boats so he knows what which ones are in the vicinity. By vicinity we mean an average of 20+ miles apart which, given the distances we’ve travelled, isn’t too bad. Nearby boats do try to contact each other on a designated channel but the radios are VHF and operate only to the limits of line of sight, about 15, 20 miles if the VHF antenna is mounted high on the mast. After the first 5 days we had no sighting of other vessels for 4 nights, and that feels really strange; we, who normally see people throughout every day of our life, are suddenly alone with only a dolphin pod swimming alongside the boat once in a while to keep us company.

Our two crewmembers were wonderful, and patiently helped us new-to-blue water sailors with some tactics and tips. Charlie O., a recent Maine Maritime Academy graduate, was a instructive and calm guide with a confident manner and Tom T. was our onboard raconteur, always ready with an appropriate anecdote. Their presence certainly made a huge difference to us, and we appreciate the chance to get to know them over most of two weeks.

What are we up to now? Good question, as we really have no itinerary for the next month, except to be during Christmas in St. Martin where our children, Andrew and Becky, will be meeting us. We’ll stay at Nanny Cay for a few more days, then perhaps we’ll go across “the border” to St. John in the US Virgin Islands for a while. We will try to make little, if any, long-range plans, a strange concept for us and probably for you too.