Antigua, here we come!

It was pitch black on our second night at sea. It was my turn for the 3-hour night watch steering the boat. The two other crew were exhausted after no sleep in 36 hours so they were below trying to get rest as the boat pitched and turned madly in the raging sea. The waves were massive and packed too much force for the autohelm to manage so I was steering as best I could gripping the wheel with two white knuckled hands, hanging on for dear life. I could not see where the night sky joined the tar black ocean as the storm clouds were preventing any light from the moon and stars from shining through. Another wave crashed into the stern of the sailboat sending buckets of North Atlantic ice cold sea water into the 30 knot winds right into my soaked body as I was trying to steer the boat on course. I was sopping wet and it was cold and miserable. It had been like this for the past 36 hours. We were running downwind with our mainsail only with a double reef going 9 knots and the cold fierce wind was coming directly from the north.

We left Hampton at 0641, November 12, 2022 after almost a 2 week delay because of bad weather in the Caribbean. It was early dawn in calm seas. We hoisted the sails and the Code 0, our large downwind flying sail to get as much speed as possible – It was blowing 18 Knots from a broad reach and we were flying along at a solid 9 knots. We headed out of Chesapeake Bay uneventfully hoping to be adequately prepared for the adventure of a lifetime on the high seas en route south to Antigua . We calculated that it would take us at least 10 days to cover the 1500 nautical mile journey down to paradise and after much planning and provisioning, we were finally underway.

It was a beautiful start to the day in the sun. We had already donned shorts and t- shirts, even though it was mid November. We had big plans for dinner stir fry a-la-Neil. We had plans for the watches, 4 hours during the daytime and 3 hours at night. Life was good!

The warm sultry weather didn’t last. It was almost like the weather was enticing us to leave the safe harbour and head for the open ocean where the weather could have it’s way with us. We didn’t apreciate the devious nature of the weather at the time of departure and we were looking forward to the “fair winds and following seas” wishes that everyone had been blessing us with.

Earlier on the 2nd the day at sea we had exited the gulfstream after a rough transit. The gulfstream runs from the south to north and in the wise words of Chris Parker our weather router “you do not want to be in the gulfstream when the north winds hit. There will be massive breaking waves created from the wind against current”….we almost made it unscathed. The waves were huge making it difficult to steer the boat, and it was too much for the aurohelm to handle so we all spent our watches hand steering trhe boat. Once south of the gulf stream the temperature felt like 28 degrees. Neil saw a pair of dolphins frolicking near the boat, we once again we were in t-shirts and shorts. This had all the makings of an idyllic worry-free passage to Antigua. We reminded ourselves that it was snowing in Toronto that day, and although some of us were a little seasick we knew from experience that this would pass within 24 hours….The weather was enticing us to continue out to sea to the point where if it decided to turn nasty, we would have no choice but to carry on.

It didn’t take long for that to happen. There was bad weather coming. We could see the dark clouds on the horizon and we could see waterspouts in the distance, We prayed that they would miss us. We could see the bad weather on the radar as dark red indicating heavy rains and likely big accompanying winds. Neil was at the helm when the deluge hit us. He was soaked in seconds. The strong winds caused the boat to heel over on the starboard side. Two cupboards flew open and all of the dishes flew horizontally across the main salon and lodged under the table. When we put them back in the cupboard the process would repeat itself every time we took out a plate to make a sandwich, until we put in a barricade to stop this from repeating itself….

In preparation for the upcoming night passage on that 2^nd night, we had put in a double reef in the mainsail, furled the jib and headed southeast. I had the great idea to put on a boom preventer. This is a rope going from the back of the boom to a block forward of the mast and then run back to the cockpit and tied off on a cleat. This would prevent the boom from an unexpected jibe. A jibe is when the mainsail flies to the other side of the boat and in 30 knots of wind would likely do unspeakable damage to the boom, rigging and mast.  To put the boom preventer on the end of the boom required that we head into the wind so Paul could tie it on. Paul then crawled up the deck and put the rope through a block and ran it back to the cockpit. Before he could lash the boom preventer onto the cleat, the unimaginable happen. The boat suddenly jibed with a huge crash. The boom preventer was now wrapped up against the dodger and threatened to tear it off if we had another unexpected jibe…. which unfortunately happened again within seconds. Neil with herculean strength was able to untangle the boom preventer rope from the dodger without losing any fingers before the unexpected jibe crashed over to the other side. Paul crawled forward to inspect the damage and the determined that force of the unexpected jibe broke the block and bent a stanchion. This all occurred in the pitch blackness in raging seas in 30 knot winds. We were bouncing around like we were inside of a barrel going over Niagara Falls in the huge waves. It was pitch black. We did not know up from down or windward from leeward. What should have been a simple nautical task was turning into a nightmare event that could strand us hundreds of miles away from safety. Paul and Neil quickly fixed the problem by attaching a new block forward of the mast and lashed the boom preventer rope to a cleat before more damage could ensue. Although none of us would say that the task went smooth as silk, we all agreed that the boom preventer did actually do what is was supposed to…….prevent several unexpected jibes during the night which would have caused us more unspeakable damage.

Neil took over my watch at 4 am after a few hours rest and took over the watch until daylight. I collapsed on the settee in the main salon which was less bouncy than the forward cabin and slipped into a dreamless sleep. I needed to get enough rest to help with guiding through another day in the passage to Antigua.

Day 3. The nights are the most challenging. The winds seem stronger and the seas are wilder once the sun goes down. The wind shifted to the Northeast. We put 2 reefs in the mainsail and had our small jib unfurled anticipating a rough night. I came to relieve Paul at 10 pm. I have managed to squeeze in a few hours of comatosed sleep, so I was ready for anything. Paul explained the heading that we trying to maintain. He said the winds were gusting up to 33 knots, but was maintaining 26 knots. I grabbed the wheel and spent another 3 hours with white knuckled. Paul came up to relieve me at 1AM. He was severely sleep deprived. It is very hard to sleep on a boat as it gets tossed around by the massive waves. He later told me that he was hallucinating during his watch, but passed out into a coma immediately when Paul relieved him. When I was up at 6 AM, the winds had settled and the sun was getting up. It weas warm and balmy, tha waves had become smaller. The motion of the boat was gentle and relaxing.

I tried to impress my crew with my fishing stories from the last trip. Paul said that was great, but maybe we should have a plan in case we caught something. Neil was not convinced any fish would be in the middle of the Atlantic. I said that we could formulate a plan on the fly if we were lucky enough to catch a fish. I put the line dragging out the back of the boat. I was certain that we would be having filet fried in garlic and butter for dinner. When this didn’t happen, I put some burgers on the BBQ. Unfortunately I leaned on the BBQ and one of the burgers flipped into the ocean. The grill did the same, so dinner was looking less likely to happen. As it was getting dark. I started to pull in the fishing line that had been dragging from the back of the boat for the night. It seemed a little heavy, but it was 300 lb. test line which was quite heavy. As the line got shorter it was obvious that we had a HUGE monster fish on the line we may have been dragging the poor bugger for hours without knowing it, We had a debate as to how to get this monster onto the boat. Paul grabbed the grappling hook ready to hook the gills. Neil grabbed the bottle of rum to pour into the gills. The fish was fighting like crazy. We had no idea what kind of fish this was, but I was sure hoping that we could eat it. We realized that if we brought him on board, and he was fighting as much as he was promising to, the massive fish hooks could end up skewering us instead. Paul couldn’t get anywhere near the gills as the fish was fighting on the transom as we attempted to pull it on the boat. Neil had the bottle of rum in his hand ready to beat the head in, when all of a sudden the monster fish freed the hook from his mouth and then swam away…. We put what was left of the burgers in a frying pan and regaled how great fishermen we were and how we would land the next one…..

Day 4- The winds started to die down as predicted by our weather router during the night. The boat had slowed down to about 5-6 knots. The strategy was to turn the engine on around midnight and head east as quickly as possible to pick up the trade winds.  We had anticipated the motoring and had packed extra fuel on board. The autohelm was working great so it was easy sailing on our 3 hour watches. There were a few cargo ships that we radioed to make sure that they saw us so we wouldn’t end up split in half as they roared through us at 25 knots. The sky was clear and I could see a million stars. It was warm and although it night time, I was wearing shorts and t-shirts. There was a flying fish on deck, so I put him in a hook and threw him back, hoping to catch a little breakfast…..no such luck.

I was able to make a few gallons of water yesterday with our SPECTRA water maker, so we washed some dirty clothes. I promised my crew that we could all have showers, but the watermaker packed it in this morning. I spent all morning trying to pin down the problem but was not able to sort it out. I called the manufacturer in California on my satelite phone. They promised to call right back if I left a number…..I’m still waiting. We had a discussion about having showers, and the crew preferred to have water to drink….besides the ocean water is 27.5 degrees and it was sunny and hot. We pulled down the mainsail, stopped the engine and jumped in….not all at once, but one at a time. I think that we’ll do the same thing tomorrow. We have another 240 miles of motoring before we hit the trade winds, so we used a few of the diesel Gerry cans to fiil up the tanks.

Day 5. Uneventful night with little to no wind. Motored all night using the autohelm so there was plenty of time to stargaze and enjoy the warm sultry night with the gentle swells during the night watch. When I got up this morning it was brilliant warm sunshine. We refilled all the fuel tanks with the Gerry jugs of diesel. I tried the water maker again. It failed to make water. I was able to contact Spectra and after 4 satellite phone calls, narrowed down the problem to a broken pump…. This took all day and Paul jumped all over this when I could not find the solution. We are almost certain that the pump is busted. It is a new watermaker, so I will battle it out with Spectra when I get to shore for a replacement. The water tank read empty an hour later….. We still had 4 days at sea before Antigua and no water. We checked the bilges and under the beds and scraped together about 40 liters of water. We also had 24 cans of beer and 24 bottles of red wine that my wife had squirreled away. Paul and Neil stepped up and offered to consume those liquids instead of water as I do not drink, but the only caveat was that did not feel competent to stand watch at night as their judgement might be a tad impaired…

We will approaching the furthest “Easting” in a few hours and from there we will head south to Antigua. We are hoping the east trade winds are close by. Our weather router in his last communication with us said that they are expected to be brisker than usual with frquent squalls packing 25 knot winds. We are ready for the challenge after 2 days of motoring and relaxing in the warm sun.

Day 6. As the night deepened into the morning, the winds began to freshen. At first 2 knots from the east and then over the course of a few hours up to 10 knots. We were entering the trade winds. There is typically an area of no wind about 200-300 miles wide north from where the trade winds start. As we motored south on the flat seas, the wind slowly picked up. We were able to shut of the engine and unfurled the massive code 0. The Code 0 is a massive sail about twice the size of our jib and we took off like a rocket as the trade winds settled in. The further south that we went, the stronger the winds blew. When we were having difficulty controlling the boat because of the powerful trade winds at 16 knots, we furled in the Code 0 sail and launched the smaller jib. The helm became manageable and we continued heading south. We got a text message from Chris Parker to expect gusty conditions up to 35 knots as the trade winds picked up strength on the final approach to Antigua. We were looking forward to thi excitement after 3 days of motoring on the flat seas.

Day 7. We are deep into the trade winds now with consistent east winds at 16-20 knots. The rolling motion of the waves is hypnotic and comforting. I was passed out in the main salon dreaming of beaches and drinks with little umbrellas when my slumbers were quickly erased by Paul who yelled down to me. It was 3 AM. Come quick, there are 30 kt. squalls pummelling us. I put on my life jacket and tied myself onto the jacklines to keep me from been blown overboard. We both knew what to do. Paul loosened the main sheet so the sail was flogging in the strong wind. I released the main halyard and Paul winched in the 2nd reef line. Once employed, he tensioned the main sheet and we were back on course with the boat under control with reduced sail, The entire process took less than 2 minutes. The rain was horizontal, and we were both sopping wet. We were happy with the process of reducing sails in adverse conditions and commented that these might be the squalls that Chris Parker had referred to.

I began my watch at the wheel at 4AM as Paul went below deck to catch up on his sleep. The winds had settled by this point and the skies had cleared. The stars were bright and I could make out Mars and Jupiter. I got hit by a huge wave and the boat suddenly veered to starboard knocking us off course. The autohelm suddenly cranked the wheel to port …and then a huge alarm went off. “there is no connection with the computer” Once again my autohelm had failed me on an ocean passage. I called Peter, who installed it and he was concerned that the NAC3 computer that controls the auto helm had failed. This is the 4th time this failure has happened and I install a new one in the past 2 months. We are about 300 miles north of Antigua so we are going to hand steer the boat until we get there and then try to sort out the problem then.

Day 8. The trade winds continued to build throughout the night. Neil was at the helm when we were overpowered with 28 knot winds. Paul and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to deploy the 3^rd reef. My wife and I had asked Al Stokes, my sailing guru friend and his wife to come for dinner on my sailboat one night before I headed south. I asked him how he would rig a 3^rd reefing line so that when things really got hairy out in the middle of the Atlantic, I would have a better chance of reducing sail and controlling the boat. Al spent some time looking at the rigging and after about 15 minutes of running thru the scenarios in his head, he arrived at the best possible plan for single reefing without having to leave the cockpit. I had my rigger do the appropriate measurements, install the hardware and sent the sail to Northsails for the appropriate adjustments in incorporate the specifications as outlined by Al.

As luck would have it, the opportunity to try this out occurred at midnight in pitch blackness in a howling gale. A little bit of foresight would have had us trial this system in less hostile conditions,  but my line of thinking at the time led me to believe that having spent a small fortune to install this 3rd reef, I would never need it……. There are many things that can go wrong when deploying a new system at sea such as the ropes getting fouled when especially in the violent conditions in the darkest hours of the night, but our backs were against the wall so to speak and we had to reduce sail. We went through a plan in our minds, deployed the 3^rd reef and absolutely nothing went wrong….. We were flying along in comfortable control and kept the 3rd feer flying all night. At 0622 Sunday morning the tracker clocked us at 9.8 knots which is a rocket like speed for us. Mind you Neil was at the Helm and had been up most of the night and was wired on double caffeinated coffee which contributed to our record breaking pace.

At night when it is rough, there will be always two of us on deck in case the helmsman needs something. Sometimes when it quiets down 2 of us will go below to make dinner or have a nap so we have an airhorn near the person on watch in case assistance is immediately required. At 0930 today, the air horn blasted as Neil was having a nap and I was writing down details for my blog. I put on my life jacket to find Paul manhandling the wheel in 39 kts of wind, as the boat was heeling on the side getting laid flat. The rain was horizontal. We were in the middle of a massive squall. Paul was soaking wet in seconds. We headed the boat into the wind and let the squall pass which lasted just a few minutes. After it passed we were treated to the most magnificent rainbow imaginable as we got back on course. !00 miles to Antigua!

The rest of the trip was spent dodging these wicked squalls by using radar and trying to figure out whether we should go behind the squall or try to outrun the tempest. We didn’t always get it right….. We arrived in Antigua, English Bay at 0322 on Monday N0vember 21, 2022. It was pitch black and blowing 25 knots. Once we were in the harbor, the massive swells settled and we picked up a mooring ball. The rest of the day will be spent at Customs and cleaning up the boat.