From the last post we moved the boat from Soamesville closer to the offing point for the overnight sail - only about 6 NM down Soames Sound - and anchored up in a bay just outside Northeast Harbour. Soames sound is a small fjord and so the land rises pretty steeply from the water. At one point the cliffs tower about 700ft vertically and so we took the boat in close to the sides and the kids had fun shouting at the wall and hearing their echo come back. That was on Monday afternoon.
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| Can you hear me now? |
On Tuesday at 0400 we started the journey south. Turns out the lobster pot buoys which were a nuisance during the day are even worse at night. We had Peter on the bow with a torch for the first hour while we motored out of the islands until there was enough dawn light to see. The sails were hoisted as soon as we settled on a favourable course. We quickly cleared all the outlying islands and then set a course direct to a turning buoy near Boston. The wind was forecast westerly at 15 to 20kts and it lived up to expectations. During the day we fairly flew along on a close reach at an average speed around 8 or 9 kts and even hit 10 kts a few times. By lunch time there was nothing in sight except the Atlantic Ocean and only the occasional vessel far off. The boat was moving a fair bit but but the motion was not excessively uncomfortable and it was an acceptable trade off given the speed we were doing. We had to reef and shake loose the reefs on the main a couple of times and that all went without incident. The roller furling on the boom is working very well and we are happy with the system.
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| Porridge at dawn |
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| Claire taking a turn at the helm |
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| Peter on watch |
Around late afternoon the wind started to come around and head us which forced us first to sail close hauled and then pushed us around to the east. This just meant it was a more uncomfortable ride. Eventually we had to put in a couple of big tacks and beat into the weather for the whole night. Peter and Scott did most of the time on deck but everyone except Calley tried a turn during the night. All the systems and equipment worked well and the AIS (automatic identification system) and the radar both proved their worth. These were some of the upgrades which we installed in Newport and we are glad we did now. At one point in the early hours we had lights from a boat steaming across our bow who would not give way or answer a radio call. We were tracking him the whole time so it was never an issue but all very exciting. Eventually we had to bear off and go around behind him.
The weather was great for the transit but getting cold as you will see from the pictures, especially at night. Everyone was dressed in various combinations of layers of thermals, fleeces and wet weather gear. The sun shone during the day but the wind was cold. On watch you try to stay out of the wind in the shelter of the dodger as much as possible.
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| Sheltering from the wind |
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| Owner takes control |
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| Nic - Looking every bit the nautical adventurer |
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| ......but confidence may be lacking |
On passages like this, down below becomes a bit of a mess. Obviously we stow everything before leaving but stuff still comes loose and unless its a danger or a nuisance we leave it where it falls. Dishes get stacked in the sink, beds are unmade, wet weather gear is lying where it fell when you have come off watch and clothes are strewn around all the cabins. There is no incentive to tidy up because working down below brings on seasickness and it would probably be messy again in a very short space of time. On most of the bunks there are lee cloths which are net sides which can be put up to stop someone falling out of the berth. These were put up and proved effective. In Nic and Scotts cabin however on the island queen size bed there are no such lee cloths and so they had to either lie sideways or use one of the kids beds. Also found out that there are actually two mattresses on the double bed with a friction coefficient between them akin to butter and glass. As a result the top mattress slides off the bed with the sleeper at about a 5 degree angle of heel. Will need to either ditch the top mattress or get some velcro. Upshot of all the above is that down below turns into a tip and the place is left in a tip until we get to our destination and the movement stops. Then it does not take long to tidy up.
By early morning we were at the entrance to Cape Cod Bay with the wind still in the wrong direction and dying. We were about 20 NM from the entrance to the canal and Scotts patience finally gave out and we started up the engine and motored for the canal entrance. Peter was at the helm through the canal and we exited without any incidents and then headed to Edgartown on Marthas Vineyard via Woods Hole arriving around 1500. In total we had covered approximately 230Nm.
So we had survived the night sail. It was fantastic that Pete was along for the first one but it was an eye opener for everyone including Scott. Scott was pretty exhausted from the journey and will re-evaluate the night sailing in light of this experience. It certainly is tiring trying to sail for 24hrs when you are short handed. We know that lots of people do it but it will take some getting used to. We also need to sharpen up certain areas such as food and hot drink preparation earlier and also the safety aspects. We have decided that in future for every night sail lifejackets, tethers and jacklines will be compulsory. Given the size of Dulcinea and the sheltered waters of Maine we have probably become a bit complacent so need to reassess and make sure we are ready next time. The next time will be when we leave New York for Cape May. The good things about the trip were that the boat worked well, everyone got a taste of night sailing.
More on Edgartown later as this post has ranted on a bit already.
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