Bahamas to Chesapeake via the Gulf Stream

Maureen Lanshe

4/22 started the offshore passage. Heavy winds and big confused seas with up to 8 ft waves with short intervals. Winds started on our starboard quarter and moved to 50degree wind angle. Winds started to die out during my 12-3 am watch and we turned the motor on at 3:00. At the beginning of watch, Elon Musk thruster recovery boat Bob hailed us and asked us to change course. I totally forgot how to use the vhf and had to wait for Cindy to come talk to them. Saw bioluminescence behind the boat. They looked like little fairies hopping around. Woke to calm seas and more motoring today. Winds may pick up later but from our stern and not strong enough to sail in. Cindy saw 3 pilot whales sleeping and I have seen some flying fish. The water was glass most of the day Thursday. Greg and I saw a pod of dolphins playing in our bow wake. Motored until 9:00 Friday morning. We now have building wind and seas 18 knots and 5-6 ft seas with wind chop. Making 9-10 kn consistently with up to 12 when surfing down waves. We made the decision to continue around Hatteras and into the Chesapeake, hopefully getting anchored in Hampton early Sunday morning before the weather moves in. As Friday progressed, the seas calmed then kicked back up again. The wind angle changed in an unfavorable direction and steadily increased to 20. We continued to make 10-11 knots with a double reef in the main and full jib. Reefed the jib to the second reef when winds hit 21 and didn’t lose any speed but felt much more in control. Around 6:00 we started getting 8-10 ft seas with 5 second intervals and 28 kn of wind. Still moving 7-9 kn with 3 reefs in the main and in the jib. Making dinner was an adventure though it was just heating up rice and stir-fry in the microwave. Prepping for rain and cold once we round Hatteras. It was a bumpy night but at 7 am today the seas calmed and the wind died. We have been motoring since trying to make it all the way up the Chesapeake without stopping. We may need to stop for a few hours since there is a forecast of 6-8 Ft chop with a wind chill in Virginia Beach. Ick. So in the meantime we are trying to enjoy the warm sunny flat day. 3 hours to the bay bridge tunnel and a line of thunderstorms with potential hail will most likely be there to greet us. Approaching the tunnel channel, we had some thunder and lightning in the distance. Once into the bay, we headed to the west coast and aimed towards fishing bay. The seas started out choppy then settled for a while. They picked up quickly making us turn back and go to Bryant bay off of Mobjack bay. We came in around 4:30 and had to wait for daylight to go down the channel. We anchored at 6:30 went to bed and woke up at noon. Very protected anchorage for the north winds. Leaving Monday afternoon for Rock Hall.