Choosing When to Go

While cruising, one of the biggest decisions you will need to make is "when to leave." While this may sound like a silly thing to ponder, it really goes much deeper than you would first fathom. 

The first step in deciding when to leave is considering your comfort. If you are anchored in the middle of nowhere, and have no protection or access to any stores for supplies and provisions, then it is easy to leave and head towards new waters. The problem is when you find yourself in the perfect place. 

You have easy access to shore, the holding is wonderful, and there is great protection from wind and waves. Now you are very comfortable, and leaving such a plush spot can seem rather hard to do. It gets even harder when you throw in cheap restaurants that are within walking distance and wonderful wifi! Now the thought of leaving seems rather insane! 

We have come across this dilemma while in Deltaville, VA. There is no crime here, and we have everything we could need or want right where we are! It is now late October, and the winter gales are starting to occur every 8 days. We know that when we leave here, we will have a 40 mile journey to the mouth of the bay in relatively cold and powerful winds.  

When we leave, we will have to brave strong winds, tall seas, and no more amenities at our fingertips! The choice is really hard, so we have been waiting for the perfect weather window to feel out when we should leave. 

It gets further confounded when you throw in the fact that when we leave here, we will be heading to Bermuda, and that means crossing the Gulf Stream! Now, our perfect weather window needs to be warm, blowing in the right direction, and timed perfectly with the tides to get us out of the bay. Then the winds need to be blowing correctly for the Gulf Stream. As fall descends and winter approaches, this list seems more like a wish list and less like a check list for a weather window. 

So what could make us leave our comfortable spot? The dream of clear waters and sandy beaches! While we are here in the marina, we can only dream of far away places; but we can never reach them if we don't untie the lines! 

Sometimes, we have to go because our heart tells us to, not because the conditions are right! We are planning on leaving very soon and simply dealing with the weather as it comes at us. We have our list of wants when we set sail, and then we have the actual forecast. Picking the compromise that gets us where we want to go and how we want to get there is the secret to it all. 

We could leave tomorrow, where the winds will be blowing 18 knots in the right direction, sending us on a 40 mile run that will probably take about 8 hours to complete, but it will be in the low 50F's. The alternative is to wait until the next day, when the winds will be blowing 4-8 knots, but at a much warmer 60F's. Leaving when it is windy will get us where we need to go, but the rigging will be slack from the cold and the seas will be trying. Then we will appear in the ocean for our first night with a significant swell. The alternative of leaving the following day might mean that we sail through the night to make it to the ocean, but we will be warmer and receive a much calmer welcome to the Atlantic Ocean. 

You might be wondering about the Gulf Stream, will the winds be good for crossing it any time soon? The answer is no! 

The winds are supposed to blow the wrong way for nearly a week! So we plan on getting out there and analyzing the situation for ourselves. If we feel that the stream looks tame, we will try to brave it, if not, we will continue to head south riding the counter current just west of the west wall of the Gulf Stream. 

This approach to cruising might sound crazy, but we see it as getting ourselves to a better waiting spot to head to Bermuda. This year has been a very strange year for weather, and the storms that have developed don't seem to follow the normal rules. With this in mind, we fear that we might get stuck in the Chesapeake for winter if we don't just get out of here.  

Heading south along the East Coast of the United States gives us the freedom to simply pull into another port if we need to restock our provisions, or head to Bermuda if the weather presents itself. Worst case scenario, if we head south long enough while trying to escape the horrible winter storms that are plagueing our area, we will end up in a much warmer place, such as Florida or the Bahamas.  

Looking at the situation this way, it seems foolish not to leave now! The sooner we go, the sooner we can get someplace new to explore and seas to sail! 

How to Tell When You Are in the Gulf Stream

When the winds are blowing out of the North, against the direction of the flow of the Gulf Stream, it is very easy to tell when you have reached its magical waters. The waves will build high and break in steep fashion and the crossing will be miserable! 

If the winds are blowing from the South, with the direction of the flow of the Gulf Stream, it will be much less noticeable. When the wind and current is going in the same direction, the Gulf Stream can be rather hard to denote.  

One of the biggest ways to tell that you are in its waters is your position will not match up with your dead reconing because the current will cause you to drift north as you move east. On a GPS display, you will note a deviation between the heading of the yacht and your course over ground. As you are pointing East, yet moving slightly North-East. 

This is all well and fine, but it takes navigational equipment to identify the stream. What about a method that may seem out of place on a cruising yacht? What about water temperature? 

The waters along the east coast of the United States will usually be in the range of 60F to 75F. The Gulf Stream on the other hand will typically be well above 80F. By measuring the water temperature, you can easily discern when you have actually entered the stream and also tell when you have exited the other side of the stream.  

Having a salt water plumbing setup makes this job much easier, as you can simply fill a glass with sea water in the galley and let the thermometer do its thing! If you do not have the luxury of salt water plumbing, you could also pull up a bucket of sea water every now and again to measure the temperature of the water you are passing through. 

I would caution against towing a thermometer behind you for a few reasons. First, a fish might find it to be an intriguing morsel and it might get bitten off its tow line. Second, the tow line could also break. Both of these scenarios involve you losing your thermometer, in which case you would no longer be able to accurately measure the water temperature. The other problem with losing your thermometer is they tend to contain plastic components which would break down and add to the already significant plastic pollution problem in the oceans. 

For these reasons, I would highly recommend that you pull sea water into your boat and measure the water temperature in the safety and security of your yacht. 

The Gulf Stream can be a tame river in the ocean that you innocuously pass over or a nightmare, all depending on the winds and how they interact with the current. Be sure to cross the Gulf Stream only when the wind is blowing with the current. Otherwise, as others have told me "Add 20 knots to whatever the forecasted wind speed is, that's what it will be like out there." 

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream is a massive current that passes up the East Coast of the United States. This meandering highway in the ocean has two definite areas that it will always pass by, the Straights of Florida and the Cape Hatteras. Everywhere else, the stream moves around on a daily basis.  

There are horrible stories about hellish Gulf Stream crossings where the winds and seas build quickly, making the crossing a horrible endevour. Other times, people state that they crossed the Gulf Stream without even noticing its presence. 

The trick to the Gulf Stream is to only cross it if the winds are flowing with the current. The current tends to run at around 3 knots from the South. If the winds are from the North, the winds and current will clash and form very steep and hellish seas. If the winds are from the South, along with the current, then the passage will be most mundane.  

As you approach the Gulf Stream, the west wall will be your greatest challenge. If you are able to get over this hump in the ocean with favorable winds, you will simply be carried along by the current as you make your way to the other side. This will make for a very uneventful journey and a calm crossing. If the winds are blowing from the North, it would behoove you to heave to and wait for the winds to change, as jumping into the Gulf Stream at this time would be a huge mistake. 

Weather Windows

When people hear the term "weather window" they usually think it means smooth sailing from Point A to Point B. This is far from the case. A weather window is smooth sailing from Point A, and nothing more.

When you first depart land, you are now as close to land as you could possibly be. Should a storm crop up and you heave to, you are now close to land and have less seaway available to you for drifting. The idea of a weather window is to give you that necessary seaway. 

When you depart land, you want at least two full days of smooth sailing so that you can make your way far from land. Your heading towards Point B is irrevalent at this point, as what you need to do is get as far from land as you can. In two days, you will usually make around 200 miles from land, and this will give you plenty of seaway to drift in should a storm arrive on day 3 of your voyage. 

When cruising, a storm near shore is something to avoid or seek safe harbor for. A storm at sea is something that you must deal with accordingly. Having that seaway is the best thing you can do to safely deal with a storm. 

This is why it is important to wait for a weather window to present itself that way you can slip out to sea and far from land without any hiccups. Now, if you see that a nasty storm is approaching on the third day but it is clear for a week after that, common sense would tell you to wait a little longer and enjoy the longer weather window instead of jumping out to sea to experience a storm. 

Watching a Monster

Maddie and I are currently anchored in a tiny creek, next to a tiny town. There is deep enough water for our keel and enough room for us to swing, but that is about all there is to appreciate in this small town. 

Reedville has a few restaurants, a museum, and an ice cream shop. These locales are only open a few days a week, and are all closed by 9pm. When we asked what the locals do for entertainment, the answer is unanimous: get in their car and drive to the next town over which has everything! 

Being how we do not posses this luxury, we instead opted to stay on the boat and pass the time with projects that needed to get done. 

You might be wondering why we are anchored in such a random place, and why we don't just sail to a different town that has more activities and amenities? The answer is simple, Hurricane Jose has passed by and Hurricane Maria is close on his heels. We were in a completely protected anchorage for Hurricane Jose, but had no town to visit and explore.

Instead of heading out into the bay and risking getting caught with no wind to return to a safe anchorage, we chose to sail to Reedville and wait out the time. It was a full week between the storms. The winds were all in upheaval as the hurricanes disrupted their normal patterns, and we just waited at anchor. 

In a few days, we had explored the entire town, made a few friends, and had friends come visit us, but the reason we were staying here seemed to slip past our minds. We often wondered why we were anchored on such gorgeous days! The winds were steady and pleasant, on sunny yet cool cloudless days! We often completely forgot why we were here and almost raised the anchor when once again, we remembered that we were hiding from Hurricane Maria. 

After being here for over a week, we were both on the deck. Maddie was reading a book in the hammock while I was dissasembling our windlass to re-grease it. The winds had been building steadily as the storm was approaching. The day before, sky became completely covered by altostratus clouds, letting us know that severe weather was nearby. Today, the sky was completely clear, as the hurricane had drawn all the clouds back into it. Off in the distance, a giant mound of clouds sit. 

That mound of clouds was Hurricane Maria! It was passing a few hundred miles away but the towering storm reached up into the sky and we could see it from our protected anchorage. 

That giant monster of a storm had destroyed the homes of millions as it tore through the Caribbean, smashing islands that had just been devastated by a Hurricane Irma! This moment felt like in an action movie, when the superhero would leap out from the shadows and command the attention of the monster villain. Then they would duel and justice would prevail. 

Unlike in a movie, we simply sat quietly as the monster slowly lumbered on by. We sit quietly in our protected refuge hoping that it doesn't notice us, and instead passes on by.  

We are not superheroes, nay, we are merely extraordinary chickens.