Ocean Watch - going the wrong way in a Gulf Stream gale
by Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader/Sail-World on 14 Oct 2009
Wild waves - David Thoreson David Thoreson
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There's nothing like sitting in a warm room and reading about someone else's experience in a bad ocean with a contrary gale.
Last May Ocean Watch, the expedition ship of the Around the Americas project from Sailors for the Sea, set out from Seattle to circumnavigation the Americas.
Having completed the North West Passage they are on their way to the Horn, but read here their tales of sailing for Cape Hatteras:
Our plan had been to aim for a waypoint off Cape Hatteras, away from the worst of the Gulf Stream, and then catch a fresh northwesterly breeze to Charleston. The plan did not work. In the early morning hours on Saturday, the crew of Ocean Watch, en route to South Carolina from New York, sailed into the Stream and rendezvoused with 30-40 knot southwesterly winds. Everything since has been a fire drill. As a result, today's report will be told in a series of brief vignettes. Here goes:
Water temperature 82-85 degrees F in Stream. Cabin temperature belowdecks, with boat buttoned up against ingress of water, 91 degrees F. A sauna. A stream-room. A disaster.
Ocean Watch taking terrible pounding, even with triple-reef main and storm staysail. But arguably doing better than crew. Sick feeling to the stomach when boat launches off wave, momentarily achieves weightlessness, then falls down a mineshaft into the trough. Not good.
As a sailor, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, more frustrating than pointing your boat south and making a course almost due east in one of the most powerful ocean forces on the planet. Really: Nothing.
Worst wave of the day obliterated side curtains of dodger, completely filled cockpit with ocean. Your typist was temporarily under water. All I lacked was a snorkel. Have jury-rigged side curtains with wire ties. We're thinking this may be a highly tenuous solution.
David Thoreson and I have come to a conclusion. Worst night/day of trip so far. Since Seattle. Bar none. There is no second.
Was going to bring daughter Maggie on this leg of the trip, to have an adventure with Dad. Maggie currently playing with friends and family in Newport, RI. Best decision of Dad's life. Bar none. There is no second.
In a related dispatch: Dad not doing so great. Bad head cold. Big sneezing. Seasick for first time in eons. Sweating like Patrick Ewing.
But, hey: Wearing shorts!
Food. What is this thing they call food?
And sleep. What is sleep?
Okay, it needs to be said. The Gulf Stream is beautiful and awesome. The dramatic tropical-looking clouds at sunrise, with big rays of sunlight radiating in the distance, were breathtaking, as were the schools of porpoises that have come diving and plunging across our path - Release the hounds! - on a couple of occasions. I have to keep reminding myself, not many people get a look at the Gulf Stream in a gale.
Yada yada yada. Who has a helicopter?
Goodness gracious, how great is standing by the sink and pouring glass after glass of cold water over your head?
Skipper Mark Schrader, wearing a sporty green t-shirt that almost perfectly matches his complexion, has just emerged from typing up a Captain's Log. There's (yet another) cheap joke here about appearances but I'm the last one to talk, that's for sure. So let's go to the Skipper:
'We're in the clutches of the strong northerly flowing Stream with a southerly gale on the nose. Progress toward Charleston is laughable - if anyone here felt like laughing, and we don't.
Overnight and most of today we've managed to make only four miles toward the shrimp and grits waiting for us on arrival. We're 266 nautical miles (n.m.) from New York and now 170 n.m. offshore. Wind and sea conditions have pushed us southeast rather than southwest. The wind has been something over 30 knots for the duration, the seas are now six to eight feet and giving Ocean Watch and crew a pretty good pounding.
'A few hours ago one whopper of a wave broke over the dog house, flooded the cockpit and much of the companionway, shredded parts of the dodger and gave Mr. McCormick a pretty good soaking. Several slightly smaller waves have boarded since then and managed to soak us all. Deck work, as in dropping the staysail and setting the storm staysail and pulling in the third reef, have been wet and athletic experiences.
'These conditions are more frustrating than dangerous for us as long as safety tethers are used and moves are planned from one hand-hold to the next. Nothing about this is fun - it just comes with the territory. And, according to the latest weather report, conditions should change for the better sometime tonight. Our ETA for Charleston will be later than planned, how much will depend upon what happens tonight.
The good news - it is anything but cold. The sea temperature in the Stream is now 80.6°, air temperature 77°. With all hatches, portlights and the companion way door shut because of the sea conditions - temperature at this desk, according to our meat thermometer - 91°! I do feel slightly overcooked.
While desperately trying to keep our soggy senses of humor intact, I'm happy to report we're all well.
- Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader with photographs by David Thoreson
The Around the America's voyage was launched on the premise that the continents of North America and South America are, in essence, large islands surrounded by a complex, fragile ocean environment that's at risk on countless fronts.
A major objective of the 13-month, 24,000 nautical-mile journey 'Around the America's' is to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of these seemingly independent continent-islands, and bring the message of necessary sustainability to coastal communities along the way.
From now, travelling southwards, the crew will make several stops along the U.S. East Coast and in San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there, they'll embark on the longest voyage of the trip, a 3,500 nautical-mile passage across the fickle doldrums that dot the equator en route to the welcome destination of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
South of Rio, the crew will again enjoy the friendly, bustling ports of Punta del Este, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. But once south of 'B.A.' the landscape will again become rugged, as Ocean Watch calls at the remote Falkland Islands and enters the high, cold latitudes that define the coast of Patagonia before engaging Cape Horn. Sailing from east to west, against the strong, prevailing westerly winds of the Southern Ocean, the mighty Cape will offer a test every bit as challenging as the Northwest Passage.
Once north of Cape Horn, Ocean Watch will call at ports in Chile and Peru before stopping in the enchanting Galapagos Islands, then heading on to Costa Rica and Mexico before once again tying up in U.S. waters in the sunny enclave of San Diego. From there, it will be one last bash to windward, up the coast of California and back to Seattle, the city from which it all began.
To learn more about Sailors for the Sea, join the organisation, or donate to their cause, click http://www.sailorsforthesea.org/!here
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Letter from Reader:
Sender: Martin Conn
Message: Dear Me!! 30 Kn + and 6' sea??? She should try crossing Cook Strait between North & South Islands of New Zealand! That would be an average to good crossing. Has been frequently described as 'Character Building' by those who cross regularly in small craft.
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