When it should only take 10-11 days (for our boat) to sail from Hampton, Va to Antigua, one might wonder how it could take 18 days. Well, here’s our story:
After waiting for a weather window for over two weeks in Hampton, and losing our initial crew for the Salty Dawg Rally to Antigua, on Nov 15th our new crew arrived with a thirst to go sailing! Joe, a referral from a good sailing friend, is a licensed captain from Baltimore. We knew he was going to provide entertainment when moved into his bunk and set up Christmas lights. Christian (another referral from a sailing friend) & his girlfriend, Meredith, drove Joe down from Annapolis. We re-re-reprovisioned and prepared for a weather window on Nov 17th.
Day One (11/17) - When departure day finally arrived, our weather forecaster had completely changed the expected forecast but we were ready to go regardless. The question was, which direction? Should we dive south to get behind the oncoming low or should we beeline to Bermuda to get ahead of it or something in between?? We headed out early that morning and figured we would make decisions as the weather developed. Wind was 12-16 knots, seas were 3-5 ft as we headed out of the Chesapeake with our new friends Chris & Kelly on Fayaway, buddy boating on a similar course. Another boat hailed us both (presumably just to chat!) multiple times as we proceeded into the night. At one point the other boat hailed us as “Bellepheron”, apparently knowing something about our boats namesake. Turns out, he was a professor of military history and familiar with “Billy Ruffian” being the British nickname for the captured French warship (“Bellepheron”), on which the British delivered Napoleon bound for St. Helena.
Day Two - We were in the Gulf Stream, mostly motor sailing. Seas were calm with 5-6 foot swells. This mornings’ priority was fishing with our Dolphin Delight lure. Andrew reeled in a small dorado by 10am and we enjoyed fish sandwiches that afternoon. We continued motor sailing that day and thru the night until we had to douse sails to stop the slapping main with light & inconsistent wind directly behind us.
Day Three - The guys changed to shorts and I finally took my long underwear off. Based on the latest weather reports, it looks like we are headed to Bermuda. We developed a new & exciting product for sailors that have trouble balancing a drip coffee funnel on top of their thermos offshore. It comes in your choice of 1 of 3 bright colors (pink, green and yellow) and is made of high quality, bendable cutting boards and twisty ties. You can put your orders in at BillyRuffnSailing.com.
Day Four - It’s raining but eventually all sails are up and these enormous porpoises came by to play. We were still sailing around dinner time, when the boat that was chatting us up on the Chesapeake, hailed us again. Joe, our boisterous crew member, responded with his best Pepe le Pew imitation. The hailing boat responded in fluent French. These are the things you do to entertain yourself offshore!
Day Five (Nov 21) - The Sturgeon that I take for sea-sickness was working well but bringing on it’s full effects. I entertained the crew recounting my great dreams; this mornings’ was about doing a Ted Talk with Michelle Obama in which we were demonstrating the flying angel (you might recall the child’s game of balancing on your parents feet while they flew you over their heads). With 98 miles to go (for Bermuda), we shook out the reefs and sailed all day, arriving at Customs around midnight. The friendly agent greeted us (delirious sailors) with a cheery “Good afternoon”. Having no idea what day or time it was, we responded in kind and from that moment on, no matter what time of that day it was in Bermuda, we greeted everyone with a cheery “Good afternoon”!!
To be continued (in Bermuda)…
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