WE MADE IT!!! We have just completed the longest passage on our own boat! 233.9NM, 46hrs, from the Severn River, VA around Cape Hatteras to Cape Lookout Bight, NC. We’ve each chosen 5 words to describe this voyage:

D => ‘Accomplishment’ – Well, yes we did it. Not every sailor has made it through CAPE HATTERAS. ‘Grueling’ – The stress of sailing your own boat and the personal & family risk you take. Now exercise that for 46 hours in a bouncing Atlantic Ocean in a notorious dangerous location. ‘Frustrating‘ – Really? The WHOLE way into the wind. Just please do what the forecasters say, NOW! ‘Proud’ – Super proud of K and her ability to get this done without ever giving up in the heat of the moment. It’s probably not in her DNA to take this kind of thing on, but she can and did and is stronger because of it. Wow. ‘Exhausting’ – At 61 years old, I guess 46 hours straight is not as easy as it once was. I bet it will be easier next time. Smile face 😉

K=> ‘Drone’ – the monotonous sound of the engine running for 46 hours. ‘Arduous’ – the most taxing of this trip and of any we’ve taken. ‘Toes’ – every. single. muscle. in my body down to the ones in my toes were utilized to maintain balance on the boat while underway and are henceforth sore. ‘Elation’ – upon anchor down, the euphoria that fills you about the fact that we actually accomplished this. ‘Confidence’ – SO much more gained in Captain D, myself but mostly in Rory girl herself.

We spent 5 days @ the Severn Yachting Center Marina on the Severn River near Hayes, VA. We utilized this time to prep the boat and ourselves for the trip around Hatteras. D checked all systems, fluid levels, managed to add a solar panel ‘wing’ (separate post coming on that) and ensure that Rory was good to go. K helped D some but mostly prepped food for the voyage (cooking while underway can suck)-stuff like making a pot roast, cooking a chicken, making rice, making pasta, cutting up & sautéing veggies-all for ease of throwing together while being tossed about the galley like a salad. She also got all of the safety equipment ready and made sure it was easily accessible. K also dug out and had at the ready all of the warmest, driest clothes for the trip.

Best of all we made some awesome friends from Canada; Sinisa & Katarina. They have had their catamaran at the marina for 4 months post-purchase and are converting her from a charter boat to a cruising boat. They are meeting up w/many of the obstacles that are plaguing the ‘system’ these days; supply chain issues, labor issues, communication issues; very very frustrating for them. To help ease their pain we enjoyed wine, appetizers, charcuterie plates and a delightful Croatian meal prepared by Katerina (Croatian) and Sinisa (Serbian). I was odd person out-3 engineers vs me; Sinisa was odd person out-3 Gemini’s vs him (worse in my opinion). It all worked out splendidly. They had a rental car and took us on our provisioning run for which we were/are extremely grateful; the marina was in the middle of nowhere and Uber, Lyft, taxis didn’t ‘come’ there. Again, this is why one ‘cruises’; to meet and exchange stories w/like-minded cruisers. It was actually very hard to leave because of them. However, when cruising one has the opportunity to ‘meet up again’. Pictures; one fuzzy, one Kat not smiling.

In response to our last posts comments about weather/wind planning our good friend, Mark M, who has made many many passages; offered up his advice and shared his method for departure wind planning. It involves building a daily chart, filling this w/wind forecasts for 0900 & 2100. Doing this daily prior to departure allows one to ‘see’ patterns in the wind forecasts and choose a departure time based on that. What a wonderful method! K the ‘spreadsheet queen’ from a previous life, jumped all over this and now D & I fill out the spreadsheet each morning w/our coffee. In planning for our next passage one can definitely see favorable patterns form (denoted in green shade).

Thank you so much Mark for sharing!!!

Sorry, I haven had time to add any ‘if/then’ formulas etc, but at this time simpler is better.

The Route:

Tues 11/09, 0800. Depart Severn Marina. Glass calm out so motor was on out the river, out of Mobjack Bay and out the Chesapeake. Forecasted wind direction and speed determined by the above method for this trip did not show up AT ALL. THE ENTIRE TRIP! Goes to show that data input is only valuable if the data itself is ‘good’; and that Mother Nature does whatever she darn well pleases. Of the 46 hr trip we had the sails up for maybe 10, while still under motor. Wind was right on our nose the entire time; when we changed direction, the wind graciously changed to remain right on our nose. GRRRRRR! Most ‘true’ sailors would state; ‘well, you could’ve sailed’. Of course we could’ve sailed. We would have been tacking left and right for 400 nm and it probably would’ve taken at least 2-3 times as long to complete the passage. Not to mention that many of those tacks would have dipped into the Gulf Stream which runs about 4knots north (against us). And the actual weather window closed Thurs nite with a low, wind and storms coming in. Anchor down before that please. Also, one ‘plans’ the sailing trip to utilize daylight to ones advantage; wanted to ‘see’ the entrance into the Atlantic, the rounding of Cape Hatteras and arriving at our anchorage in light. Another consideration in the planning process is noting the location of the Gulf Stream current which can and does move from day to day.

Would we have left knowing that the wind would be in our face the whole time? Would we would have left if we knew we had to motor the entire way? Unsure but probably not. If it were calm the whole way to get around the Cape, perhaps.

I have a post coming out shortly to explain the significance of what “on the nose” really means in sailing.

Didn’t really take too many pics while underway, but here’s a couple. Leaving, Chesapeake Tunnel Bridge, Atlantic, first sunset of passage by Virginia Beach 1700.

Wed 11/10, 1230. Rounding Cape Hatteras. Wow, up until this point the sea state had been incredibly bouncy. The swell was coming from the NE (previous weather pattern wind driven) but the wind & waves were coming from the S to SW. The swell(4-6ft high) would lift Rory up and the wind & wave pattern would help drop her bow like a rock; bow slapping as I call it, every 7th swell or so. Up down up down up down, you get it. Do you get used to it? Not really. Once we got w/in 20 miles of Hatteras the seas became very confused and bouncing all around. Up down side to side, repeat. Rory struggled to maintain a 4.5 knot speed going forward. That was coupled by the fact that we chose to maintain a 2000 RPM rate (rather than 2400) due to a potential ongoing fresh water cooling issue. Bouncy to say the least. I actually made a video of the swell/wave scenario but it just doesn’t do justice to the actuality of it all, so no video.

Pics- Red can signifies the ‘end’ of the Diamond Shoals, roughly 9 miles out to sea from Cape Hatteras. The Diamond Shoals area is one of only a few truly ‘uncharted’ areas on the oceans. Due to the fact that the ground beneath shifts, moves, roils too frequently for anyone to chart. IE. Avoid that area at all cost! D checking the chart, and the location.

Watches. We chose to do 2 1/2 hour shifts for night and 1 hour shifts during the day. The 2 1/2 hours gave you enough time to get all your warm gear off/back on (I would have SO won at a game of strip poker), get a drink of water, go to the bathroom etc, and yet get 2 hours of sleep. We slept on the settee in the salon close to the companionway to be able to hear an ‘all hands on deck’ call. It actually worked quite well. Me on watch, the chart plotter at nite showing the entourage of boats making the passage the same time as us. And there were a boatload(hahaha) of them. All saw the same wind/weather pattern as us. All motoring as us. Some faking it a bit, but still motoring.

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