End of Day 1 - Beaufort NC towards Antigua

These Blog entries are edited versions of the messages we sent back as we completed the passage. They were sent by radio using a laptop that controls a modem and the HF/SSB radio, using the SailMail system. We sent the messages daily to Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members.

BV on her mooring/dock at Homer Smith’s Marina Beaufort NC

2359hrs (EST, 5hrs behind GMT) 29 Nov 2018

Dear All,

Cold enough not to melt the ice

So, we are finally off and running on our 1400-1500nm passage towards the Caribbean (direct route is 1320nm). The photographs for our departure show clear blue skies and you would be forgiven for thinking that it was delightfully warm in Beaufort.  The truth was exactly the opposite.  The heater was running from the moment that we got up until we departed and we were wrapped up against the cold wind for most of the day.  When we topped up the water tanks, the spilled water on the pontoon froze almost immediately making a small ice-rink and the bucket of ice that we had in the cockpit to rapidly chill the wine/beer for our pre-departure OCC gathering the previous evening had not melted at all.

The OCC gathering we had on board BV last night was great fun.  What started in concept as a beer and shrimps/prawns sundowners for us, Enjoyand Coolchangeturned into a full-blown dinner for 9 people.  Ruby Tuesdayarrived on the fuel pontoon and, as they are also OCC members, we couldn't exclude them and so we added Elsie and Laurie, plus we wanted to say goodbye to Dianne Tetreault, the fabulous OCC Port Officer in Beaufort. All 4 yachts were moving on today and so it became a bit of a last supper together.  Our small order of shrimps from the seafood part of the marina operation turned into a 5lbs buy which we cooked in 3 ways:  steamed, grilled with bay spices and fried in very light batter. Nina (Enjoy) and Cate (Coolchange) bought a pasta salad and a savoury rice respectively whilst Dianne turned up with a lovely spiced Texan cheese dip and a chocolate wine for desert. It was great fun and a lovely way to end our time in the USA.

(Top) Approaching the old lifting road bridge now being demolished,
which has been replaced by the high wide-span bridge pictured
 the background of the lower photo

Our 0915 departure was timed so that we had enough water get out of our berth without risking running aground, plus enough time for a last minute dash to the shops to get some mayonnaise. We'd run out last night making up aioli to go with the shrimps/prawns and discovered that we didn't have a spare jar in our store.  Just as well that we spotted that victualling oversight before we untied and set off! Surprisingly we didn't start sailing straight away.  The forecast had us believe that we would but, in the end, we’ve had to motor-sail nearly all of the way so far.  We are hoping for the forecast 15 knot wind to arrive soon so that we can conserve fuel by continuing under sail power alone.

Beaufort’s Town Quay area on Taylor Creek.  (Top left) this is one of the oldest houses in Beaufort (dated 1780ish) and is one of the transits (‘the white house’) for entering Beaufort Inlet as shown on old charts of the time

Beaufort slipping away behind us as we make our way through the channel and out to sea

We are heading ~145 degrees which is not directly towards our destination.  Our strategy is to make as much distance as we can on this heading for the next few days so that we can (hopefully) be on the outskirts of strong winds that the next winter low pressure area brings.  These low pressure systems run up the eastern coast of the USA and then on towards Europe and they usually have really strong winds associated with them. In the gap between systems we are hoping to get far enough south and east to miss the worst of the winds associated with the next depression.  When we start to 'feel' the depression, the winds will likely turn more southerly in the area we will be, so we will ride it east and then, as it passes, we should be able to start to head south towards the top of the Lesser Antilles chain. That might be made a little more tricky than we would like because as the low pressure systems passes us the wind will change markedly and we may even end up with a ridge of high pressure (no wind) or headwinds.

We're rather expecting this to be a passage with several periods of not as much wind as we would like, followed by periods of too much wind, possibly from the wrong direction.  So, it will be very interesting for us to see how our strategy works out and how much further we end up sailing to get to Antigua.

Dolphins in the Beaufort Harbour entrance channel

We have seen lots of dolphins both in the Beaufort entrance and now further out to sea, plus the other excitement for the day was at 1600hrs when we got into the Gulf Stream.  Nicky said that suddenly she could see the current in the way the sea was moving, much like looking at the way a river moves; there was a really obvious delineation between the Gulf Stream and 'not the Gulf Stream'. Over the next few hours the sea temperature jumped up from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius so whilst it's not shorts and T shirts weather yet, we'll probably be losing several thermal layers when the sun gets up.

Aside from all of that, the priority for us now is to settle into the watch routine and try to get BV making good progress under sails alone.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 29 Nov: N34 27 W76 33
Position at midnight 29 Jul: N33 55 W75 22
0915hrs to midday distance: 17 nautical miles
0915hrs to midnight distance: 85 nautical miles
Total miles covered:  85 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (direct line): 1241 nautical miles

End of Day 1 Beaufort in North Carolina to Antigua