Hi all,
Sorry this has taken so long.. But here goes.
A little background: I purchased a Beneteau 473 through TMM (awesome working with them) back in April. The boat was to be finished in October and to be delivered early Nov to the BVI. I wanted to lifetime experience of doing a passage like this and found Tony N/W (BVIMATELOT) here at TTOL. We made an agreement through PMs for him to be the captain on this passage.
I have NEVER done ANYTHING like this before. Several experienced sailors told me that I was crazy for doing this. They said I should gain more offshore experience before trying anything like this. I was going anyway.
I have always felt that there are many ways "NOT" to do something, and only ONE way to make things happen. just do it..
Along with Tony and I, a friend of mine from here in Colorado (that I met in the BVI) was going to join us.
Some of you might know that 1 week before we were supposed to leave from Charleston, my friend here in Colorado backed out. I posted an invitation online and got a response from Larry (I won't post his last name) from Niagra Falls, Canada. He pushed a number of buttons at home with work and family and arrived on October 29th in Charleston to join Tony and me.
So here we were in Charleston, our International crew (Canada, USA, England) ready for our voyage.
the Characters:
Tony (Anthony Newling-Ward).. There is no way I can tell any of you how I feel about Tony. He is one of the most upbeat and postive people I have ever met. He is an EXTREMELY experienced sailor. His knowledge goes way beyond boating as well. I loved the conversations I had with him. He's quite eccentric in my opinion (in a good way). He would point out planets and constellations at night, Talk about nautical vs civil twilight, History of the caribbean, Insider opinions on BVI matters, and so on.. and so on.. never a dull moment. Oh, he's also an awesome cook.
Larry.. (fast Larry..lol he knows what I mean). We were so lucky to have Larry on board with us. I'm frankly amazed of how lucky I could be with him and Tony. A family man and an AWESOME sailor, Larry's a racer. He is always even tempered and very calculated in his thoughts. He was right on cue when our 2nd reef line chaffed through. His jury rig solution was immediate and perfectly effective. The best thing that I found Larry to be is such a very good soul. His work with charity and kids is something all humans should strive for. I took a great lesson from him in that way.
Me--- Well, I still feel sorry for Larry and Tony. (read on)
Captain Bob (huh? I thought there were only 3?) Bob was the weather router that I hired (and fired) read on...
October 31-- We left the marina to go for our test sail. As we neared the breakwater, Tony said, "Let's just go". We were all provisioned and otherwise ready, so WE WENT!!
I was SO NERVOUS. I am prone to seasickness. I had every remedy known to man with me. I was on a combination of scopalimine and dexidrine (according to a book I had this was the #1 most effective seasickness drug according to the US Navy).
I called BOB (i had a sat phone with me) and told him we were going and he promply scolded me for leaving sooner than he told us to. "You're sailing right into a low". He advised us to slowly sail south to allow the low to move north in front of us then east as it passed to use the NW winds to our advantage.
That first night is one of my "good" memories of the voyage. It was the first time I ever sailed at night. It was also the first time I have ever seen bioluminecent plankton. It was So very cool. I was also happy that I wasn't seasick.
The next day we got back on "BOB'S" schedule and made our way ENE toward the gulf stream crossing and the low that was passing.
We had next to no wind and motored along. 4 different times on this day we had dolphins come and swim along our bow with us. It's an amazing sight to see the dolphin turn on their side to look up at us as they swim.
That night, during my night shift (midnight to 3 AM) the winds finally filled in as the rain was coming down.I went to sleep right after my shift.
I woke up the next morning to a storm (well, it was a storm to me EVEN THOUGH it might have been just wind and rain to Tony) The wind was from the NE and we were traveling E. The wind was the opposite direction of the gulfstream which created chaotic seas. I was sick in NO TIME.
As I was below losing my cookies, Larry and Tony were up top flying the boat off waves. It sounded like death down below. When the boat would pound into a trough, I could feel the fiberglass flex and moan. The sound, OMG, I really thought it was going to break. I was sick and scared. (this was the "not fun" part).
Late that afternoon (which I spent below) I called BOB again and he told us that a 2nd low was coming north faster than he thought. He said we should turn south to avoid it.
Larry and Tony manned the watches that night (I was no use to them) We flew south under a double reef through that night and into the next day. We traveled 200 nautical miles in that 24 hour period. La Joie de Vivre showed how fast she can go.
That afternoon I still couldn't see this other low on the horizon so I called BOB and he said "ah yeah, it moved east"
I lost it.. I was yelling at BOB on the phone and basicly said. "you have given us bad advice after bad advice" I fired him right there. (was that Tony I heard cheering?)
We were now much farther south than most boats on that passage would ever want to be and faced a long beat to windward at this lattitude.
The weather was great from that point on. The seasickness medications screwed me up and I stopped taking everything after day 4. They gave me a bad headache. I was fine up top or in my bunk with my eyes closed.
During the trip, 2 things happened.
1) I fell in love with my boat. She is awesome in every way to me. I recommend anyone that owns a boat to sail a voyage with her so that you can fall in love. (I know, sounds stupid but it's true)
2) I got to know 2 people that I had never met face to face. Stuck on a boat for 240 hour. Can't even take the dinghy to shore to get away. LOL. I could not have ever met two better people. Tony and Larry, I love ya both.
Of note*** regarding Tony, one thing he said struck me--- while sailing in perfect weather with only a couple days to go, he said, "I like storms".. I looked over and thought to myself 'are you nuts?'.. He said further "It keeps me busy, I mean, this is boring" He shruged and made this expression that helped me realize that he was serious.
That's when I knew that I will never make a passage like this again. I'm extremely glad I did it. But I wont do it again.
"I don't like storms"
