After seeing a few CYC members take Blue Water cruises, I said to myself, “I would like to try that.” Kind of a “bucket list” type of experience.
A few years ago I re-connected with a high school friend Nick Cancro who has a 48 ft. cutter rigged yawl (http://www.sailmarieelena.com). Nick annually sails to the Caribbean in the fall, to stay for the winter. So I e-mailed Nick this past spring asking if he needed “some able bodied crew.” He signed me on.
Summer of 2015 he kept his boat on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland to do a major overhaul which included his hull and mast being repainted. The boat is beautifully maintained and has every option available on it, even a navigation system that includes AIS (Automatic Identification System). AIS is really great as it shows on your chart plotter the location, speed, and heading of boats within 5-10 miles of you. If the calculations show that you will pass within two miles of each other, the boat will flash on the chart.
Nick lives on Long Island. So we met in Mt. Vernon, NY (our home city) on October 28, 2015 and drove to Annapolis where the boat was docked. We left Annapolis around noon on October 29th for Hampton, VA. After sailing through the night we arrived around 9:30 AM. There we met up with Bill Gillet, a seasoned blue water sailor.
Nick had contracted with a weather service where he contacts them every morning and evening via short-wave and gives them his coordinates, and they suggest headings and inform us about the expected weather ahead for the next 12 hours. On October 31 the weather forecast looked a little “iffy” for our planned November 1 departure, but we decided to go. We went out food shopping and I made my first mistake: I did not pick up any soda, as I do not normally drink them anyway.
Off we go on the 1st of November – out past the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel into the Atlantic. We made a sharp turn to starboard and headed for Cape Hatteras. On November 2, close to Cape Hatteras, we turned due east to cross the Gulf Stream. The winds had picked up considerably so we rolled up the genoa, reefed the main (3rd reef) and were sailing with a staysail, reefed main, and mizzen. Apparent wind speed was 23 to 30 kts from the northeast so we were close hauled on port tack, moving along quite smartly at 6.5 to 7+ kts. The seas were rough. After 8-12 hours of this sailing, I found my second mistake: no sea-sickness pills. I started “chumming” off the leeward side. The strong winds were great as far as getting across the Gulf Stream, but I was quite ill. Strong winds continued for the next few days. I continued chumming off the leeward side. After four days of chumming I told Captain Nick, “this is not good.” He searched his medicine cabinet and found some sea-sickness pills, so I took two. Things settled down almost immediately. I took one every day for the next four days.
Now for some more bad news. The weather service informed us that a tropical storm had formed and recommended we head north. We went north for a day and got within 120 miles of Bermuda. We then headed west for a day, then turned south. My health was improving, but Nick’s cooking did not agree with me, so I still ate little. I was dying for a cold 7-Up, Pepsi, or Coke, but I was the one who said no to purchasing them. For the rest of the trip I yearned for a cold 7-Up. Meanwhile Nick and Bill were drinking all the beer and gulping dark coffee with rum mixed in. These guys had stomachs lined with cast iron.
At around 66 degrees longitude we headed south. Most of the time we had the genoa, staysail, reefed main and staysail up. Speed was around 6 to 7.5 kts.
A grackle landed on our boat one day. He then flew down into the aft cabin and landed on Bill, who was sound asleep. He later flew out, off to try to find land. Of course, we saw dolphins and flying fish.
Our night watch hours were: Roy 8-12, Nick 12-3, Bill 3-6 and Roy 6-7. One night the winds were strong and very erratic. I told Nick I did not feel comfortable at the helm so Nick and Bill stood in for me.
I also learned that on a boat the potty and shower work best when tied up to dock, not while crashing through rough seas.
We were now getting close to Antigua. It looked like we would not get to Jolly Harbor until around 10 PM. We decided to drop anchor just north of Antigua by the island of Barbuda. On the 14th, we left for Jolly Harbor and arrived around noon. We checked in through customs. The marina where we were going to tie up sent over a small power boat to show us the way to our dock. We tied up and went to the marina office. There I was put into contact with a hotel and booked a room. Nice hot shower.
I then met with Nick and Bill and we had dinner and a few cold ones.
Sunday morning November 15th, I caught a flight to Puerto Rico, then JFK.
I am sure had I not gotten seasick, the trip would have been a lot more enjoyable.
Was the trip fun? Yes/No. Would I do it again? No. Am I glad I did it? Yes!
Anybody interested in sailing with Nick, let me know. I will put you in contact with him.
Hershey
A few years ago I re-connected with a high school friend Nick Cancro who has a 48 ft. cutter rigged yawl (http://www.sailmarieelena.com). Nick annually sails to the Caribbean in the fall, to stay for the winter. So I e-mailed Nick this past spring asking if he needed “some able bodied crew.” He signed me on.
Summer of 2015 he kept his boat on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland to do a major overhaul which included his hull and mast being repainted. The boat is beautifully maintained and has every option available on it, even a navigation system that includes AIS (Automatic Identification System). AIS is really great as it shows on your chart plotter the location, speed, and heading of boats within 5-10 miles of you. If the calculations show that you will pass within two miles of each other, the boat will flash on the chart.
Nick lives on Long Island. So we met in Mt. Vernon, NY (our home city) on October 28, 2015 and drove to Annapolis where the boat was docked. We left Annapolis around noon on October 29th for Hampton, VA. After sailing through the night we arrived around 9:30 AM. There we met up with Bill Gillet, a seasoned blue water sailor.
Nick had contracted with a weather service where he contacts them every morning and evening via short-wave and gives them his coordinates, and they suggest headings and inform us about the expected weather ahead for the next 12 hours. On October 31 the weather forecast looked a little “iffy” for our planned November 1 departure, but we decided to go. We went out food shopping and I made my first mistake: I did not pick up any soda, as I do not normally drink them anyway.
Off we go on the 1st of November – out past the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel into the Atlantic. We made a sharp turn to starboard and headed for Cape Hatteras. On November 2, close to Cape Hatteras, we turned due east to cross the Gulf Stream. The winds had picked up considerably so we rolled up the genoa, reefed the main (3rd reef) and were sailing with a staysail, reefed main, and mizzen. Apparent wind speed was 23 to 30 kts from the northeast so we were close hauled on port tack, moving along quite smartly at 6.5 to 7+ kts. The seas were rough. After 8-12 hours of this sailing, I found my second mistake: no sea-sickness pills. I started “chumming” off the leeward side. The strong winds were great as far as getting across the Gulf Stream, but I was quite ill. Strong winds continued for the next few days. I continued chumming off the leeward side. After four days of chumming I told Captain Nick, “this is not good.” He searched his medicine cabinet and found some sea-sickness pills, so I took two. Things settled down almost immediately. I took one every day for the next four days.
Now for some more bad news. The weather service informed us that a tropical storm had formed and recommended we head north. We went north for a day and got within 120 miles of Bermuda. We then headed west for a day, then turned south. My health was improving, but Nick’s cooking did not agree with me, so I still ate little. I was dying for a cold 7-Up, Pepsi, or Coke, but I was the one who said no to purchasing them. For the rest of the trip I yearned for a cold 7-Up. Meanwhile Nick and Bill were drinking all the beer and gulping dark coffee with rum mixed in. These guys had stomachs lined with cast iron.
At around 66 degrees longitude we headed south. Most of the time we had the genoa, staysail, reefed main and staysail up. Speed was around 6 to 7.5 kts.
A grackle landed on our boat one day. He then flew down into the aft cabin and landed on Bill, who was sound asleep. He later flew out, off to try to find land. Of course, we saw dolphins and flying fish.
Our night watch hours were: Roy 8-12, Nick 12-3, Bill 3-6 and Roy 6-7. One night the winds were strong and very erratic. I told Nick I did not feel comfortable at the helm so Nick and Bill stood in for me.
I also learned that on a boat the potty and shower work best when tied up to dock, not while crashing through rough seas.
We were now getting close to Antigua. It looked like we would not get to Jolly Harbor until around 10 PM. We decided to drop anchor just north of Antigua by the island of Barbuda. On the 14th, we left for Jolly Harbor and arrived around noon. We checked in through customs. The marina where we were going to tie up sent over a small power boat to show us the way to our dock. We tied up and went to the marina office. There I was put into contact with a hotel and booked a room. Nice hot shower.
I then met with Nick and Bill and we had dinner and a few cold ones.
Sunday morning November 15th, I caught a flight to Puerto Rico, then JFK.
I am sure had I not gotten seasick, the trip would have been a lot more enjoyable.
Was the trip fun? Yes/No. Would I do it again? No. Am I glad I did it? Yes!
Anybody interested in sailing with Nick, let me know. I will put you in contact with him.
Hershey