Passagemaking is a much different feeling than daysailing. Go out for a daysail and if things don’t go right… well, you just cut the day short and head back to port. Casting off for a passage is different. It’s a commitment. There’s no turning back if the weather turns foul or you forgot to top off the water tank. You adjust to the new situation and forge ahead. You are traveling. By boat. And by wind power. There is a remarkable feeling of freedom in knowing that you can, with enough time, go pretty much anywhere on the globe. Now… I am going to be quite happy to travel 500 miles to Charleston, SC after a few days at sea, but the feeling is the same. A new port and a new city to explore.
The Gulfstream ought to give us a boost heading north. Definitely excited! We have had a couple of shakedown cruises. One 250 mile jaunt out to Freeport on Grand Bahama and a second shorter run down to Miami and back. Both convinced me that the Gulfstream is not to be taken lightly. It moves an unbelievable amount of warm water north along the Atlantic Coast and ultimately all the way over to the British Isles. The Gulfstream provides a 2-5 knot push on our way north. And if the prevailing wind has a northern component to it, the seas that result can be huge. Not at all hard to bury the bow in an oncoming wave, which is pretty impressive the first few times it occurs.
Grand Bahama Island is clearly devastated and the residents are pretty shell-shocked. Getting hit by two Cat 5 hurricanes in the past four years will do that. When we pulled into the marina in Lucaya we would normally expect it to be packed during their prime season. Not the case. The 150 boat marina had perhaps 15 boats docked there. Very happy to see boats coming in since their livelihood depends on tourism and the business we bring with us. It’s just odd to walk around vacant hotels and virtually empty marketplaces.
For those of you who are joining me, following is our updated schedule. It is pretty close to what I originally planned and allows time for things to go wrong, which they will! And for anyone else who may have an interest, there is definitely space aboard except for the run up the Hudson River. Two people can manage the boat, although ideally on multi-day passages three to four people make it easier on everyone, particularly if offshore and standing watches.
