Tuesday, November 1st

First Day at Sea

Weather Window

When to leave?  The biggest question, impacting all that follows.  Unlike other rallies, the question is answered by each skipper individually, for his/her boat and crew.  The Rally began its weather routing briefings with its esteemed weather expert, Chris Parker, on Saturday, October 29th.  As I arrived on the boat, Baxter and Molly's plan was to leave Wednesday.  There were calms near shore before then, which they preferred to avoid, and a cold front was expected to drop south through the area Thursday night to Friday, which would bring some good down wind sailing.  

That plan changed with the weather briefings yesterday and this morning.  The front is developing into a serious problem.  Sailing into it near the northern latitudes of the trip will take a boat into strong gale and, possibly, storm conditions.  Never fun, occasionally leading to boat and crew harm, and life threatening if encountered in the Gulf Stream.  So, what were the options?  Wait until the cold front passes, and then leave?  That will delay the departure until Saturday.  And, Chris can't say with much confidence what weather will follow Saturday.  Leave early?  That is our option.  We will motor for 1-2 days through the calms.  That will get us across the Gulf Stream and get us some southing in calm weather.  The cold front will catch up to us probably over the weekend, but it should spend some of its energy up north and we will likely experience no more than gale conditions.

We back out from our slip at 11:30 at high tide.  The current will be behind us as we pass out of Chesapeake Bay.  Several other boats will leave today, before and after us.  They will remain on our AIS screens for the next several days, helping to persuade us that we made the right departure decision.  

Beaufort Scale

Here is a portion of the Beaufort Scale, used to measure and describe wind and sea states.  

Beaufort Scale

Wind (Kts)	Classification	Appearance
34-40	Gale	Moderately high (18-25 ft) waves of greater length, edges of crests begin to break into spindrift, foam blown in streaks
41-47	Strong Gale	High waves (23-32 ft), sea begins to roll, dense streaks of foam, spray may reduce visibility
48-55	Storm	Very high waves (29-41 ft) with overhanging crests, sea white with densely blown foam, heavy rolling, lowered visibility

Chart

 

Maritime Weather Discussion

MARINE WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR N ATLANTIC OCEAN 
NWS OCEAN PREDICTION CENTER 
WASHINGTON DC 905 PM EDT MON OCT 31 2016 

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE OFFSHORE WATERS BY THU NIGHT WITH NW WINDS INCREASING TO 30 KT BEHIND THE FRONT THU NIGHT AND FRI. WINDS MAY REACH MINIMAL GALE STRENGTH BEHIND THE FRONT...BUT FOR NOW WILL KEEP THE WINDS AT 30 KT AND SEE WHAT THE LATER MODEL RUNS SHOW. WINDS ACROSS THE OFFSHORE WATERS WILL THEN BEGIN TO DIMINISH BY SAT.

 

Log

Journal

Wx: front is expected to move through rally area about Thursday night. 30kt winds sustained for ~36 hours, gusts to 40-45, possibly 50-55 around impulses. We decide to leave today to get across stream and make southing, where the front should be weaker. Spent couple of hours making drogue cones while Bx, M & Scott get boat ready to leave. Last phones to F before leaving.

Underway

Leaving Hampton & the Chesapeake was a series of delights. Naval gunboats and a hovercraft rushing towards Norfolk as we left Hampton Roads. Dolphins, ignoring us and fishing? along the ships channel. A whale in the distance? Right wales are reported in the bay. More naval and commercial ships. Then, the grand parade, a departing submarine, with a gun boat at each side and regular vhf warnings to maintain 500 yard distance. 

Photos