DAY 3 Chesapeake Bay to BVI.

[Nahbrown]

Day eight,

We made our turn south before dark last night. The wave height has been incredible. We’re seeing swells that come to the coach roof or to eye level when we are in the trough of the wave. 10ft? Imagine when we get to an Anchorage we will break out a tape measure to see exactly how high that is. The wind has been 18-21 knots but we have seen some gusts that have went up to 30.

The boat speed at 1 AM was 9 to 10 kn and we decided to slow the boat for comfort. We are now maintaining speeds anywhere from 6 to 8 kn . At this speed with the waves just forward of the beam we are not slamming the bows hardly at all. Its a much more comfortable ride. Hull slap comes and goes

Main sail- reef one
Genoa - half reefed

We are about 12 miles east of our heading to the BVI’s from where we turned south. This a nice buffer in case we need to turn to run from a storm cell. As we get closer tomorrow night or Friday morning we can always run downwind .

Last night we had three storms cells coming across our bows one after the other. We pulled the “Top Gun” maneuver, slowed the boat down and let them fly right by us. Slowing the boat consisted of furloughing the Genoa and turning the boat into the wind for about 15 minutes at 3 1/2 kn.

Everything right now I guess is as best as could be expected with the current conditions.

Our star link dish seems to like a southern heading. Because we’ve seen A decrease in service drops since we turned south.

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We are all excited about finishing our first true passage!

[bensolomon]

Keep this up! It's excellent!!

[Nahbrown]

Originally Posted by bensolomon

Keep this up! It's excellent!!

lol, I often wonder if anyone is actually reading my drivel.


Quick update. The wind has reduced to 11 knots at port tack 120 to the boat so we are struggling to maintain 5 knots of boat speed. The waves have disappeared however large swells rock us in the dark occasionally.

Starlink has been bulletproof today with zero drops in service. Off watch people streamed a movie, I called family on whatsapp. Its been this way since we took a southerly heading. This makes me wonder if the mount position on the boat was blocking it partly as we traveled E-SE.


We’re 263 miles away from the BVI and hate that the winds have reduced

[Tin Tin]

Have you got a code 0 or an asymmetric spinnaker?

[Nahbrown]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

Have you got a code 0 or an asymmetric spinnaker?

I did on my boat however The owners do not. They do have a parasailor that I understand is good from 150-150 however we are expecting squalls tonight so…

[leboyd]

Some of us read your "drivel" (and enjoy it). Fair winds!

[Nahbrown]

Day 9

Are we lucky? This final stretch of the voyage is known for being rough. Typically the winds are in the 20s with 9-12ft seas. The salty dog rally came through a few days ago with big winds and seas much to many of the crews discomfort. This is why boats get east as much as possible/practical before turning south into the trade winds .

We on the other hand are getting 9-13 knots and 6-8 foot gentle rolling swells. The only downside is that the wind has a southern component that so our heading is 194 at a port tack of 70. The light winds means that the boat will turn into the wind a few degrees and speed up to 6.5 then fall off and slow to 4.5. Its a cycle or rhythm that we have gently been repeating for hours now. At some point we will need to tack back to regain some easterly if the winds don’t turn back to come from a true east.

Honestly we feel lucky because there have been a few days that we have been beaten up this trip. Gently sailing south when we thought this would be the hardest stretch is fine. If it takes another day that is fine too.

Starlink is still rocking without any service drops since we turned south a few days ago. We had a 41 minute FaceTime with our son when we came on watch at 2am. Zero issues.

205 miles from Tortola,


Happy Thanks Giving!

[bensolomon]

Yes, some of us not only read your drivel, we thoroughly enjoy it, and live vicariously because of it. Also, it's an opportunity to learn. I fantasize about about doing this trip in my own boat from the Chesapeake. So, thank you for taking the time to write and post! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your entire vessel.

[mjscottinnc]

My question is... is it easier with a GPS or just waiting for the butter to melt?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by mjscottinnc

My question is... is it easier with a GPS or just waiting for the butter to melt?

Butter is an unreliable indicator of turning points in my experience. No more then looking out for dead horses !!

[Nahbrown]

Land Ho!

After sailing comfortably the last few days we see the shadow of the BVIs ahead.


Quick thoughts.
AIS and weather radar were tools I never want to do a passage without.
There are faster boats but the Leopard 45 does pretty well for its self for sailing and comfort
A code zero, get one. We wish we had one!
Jack lines are comforting for everyone watching you out on the deck, use them!
Sometimes you motor to beat a weather front
Pick who you crew for carefully, we had a great time!

Sometimes all you can do is “embrace the suck” because complaining isn’t going to help anyone.


Thats it, time to enjoy the BVIs

[Nicholson58]

We are in Antigua. The Salty Dawgs are mostly here, arriving over the last week. We had thanksgiving dinner at Antigua Yacht Club for 120 Dawgs and guests. Many social and group activities are planned for the next weeks. About 100 boats in our rally.

Many have Starlink or are getting it. The opinion is good according to the users.

Instagram #saltydawgsailing
Facebook, salty dawg sailing and friends

[sailmontana]

"...SO GOOD SO GOOD!!!"
J-

[lestersails]

echo the post by bensolomon - great enjoyed the thread and I endeavor to do it someday!

[merrydolphin]

You’re 3 HUNDRED MILES off shore?! Are you CRAZY? Ha ha just kidding.

Thanks for the report.

Our favorite part of this trip for us was when we had paid our dues on easting and were able to head mostly south and haul butt with the trades near the beam.