Bermuda to Portsmouth

This is Part II of a two-part blog.  This blog describes the leg of the ARC USA Rally from Bermuda to Portsmouth, VA.  Part I detailed the beginning of our trip and the first leg from Tortola BVI to Bermuda. If you want to learn about that leg, who we sailed with and a bit about Bermuda, you’ve gotta read it.

We’d planned to stay in Bermuda just three days: until midday Tuesday, May 7th. However, at the ARC skippers’ briefing on May 6th, we learned that a large-scale storm was schedule to hit the east cost of the U.S. (at Virginia) the evening of the day we hoped to arrive. Because not all of us felt confident that we could reach the U.S. before the storm hit, we opted to delay our departure from Bermuda. I suppose it wouldn’t be a stretch to claim that being “stuck in Bermuda” wasn’t the worst experience of our lives. Certainly none of our co-workers appeared to be sympathetic.

In any event, we explored Bermuda until we detected a favorable sailing forecast.

Colorful homes in Bermuda

View from Railway Trail

Another view from the Railway Trail

We left Bermuda on Friday, May 20th, with the expectation that we would arrive in Virginia late in the day on Tuesday, May 24th. Because Mother Nature had other plans for us, that didn’t happen. We experienced the following (and more) during our sail from Bermuda to Portsmouth:

• Atlantic Ocean swells. Sailing ocean swells can be supremely enjoyable. My watch the second night of our trip – from midnight to 2:00 a.m. – was a case in point. The three meter swells approached from the stern. Because the sailing was pleasant, it was fun and exciting. However . . .
• A five-hour lightning storm. I came on watch at 10:00 p.m. one night to find the sky filled on three sides with lightning. The squalls were far enough away that we didn’t hear thunder for the first two hours or so. The sky was alive with lightning, which was both beautiful and frightening. (I should note that Martin – who I was supposed to be relieving – remained in the cockpit with me, for which I was grateful.) As we neared the squalls the thunder became deafening and we saw lightning strikes reach the ocean. It eventually poured rain as well. Michael came up at midnight for his watch. I decided to remain in the cockpit because I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep. The rain, lightning and thunder continued until about 2:00 a.m., when I left the cockpit to try to get some sleep. I was told that it calmed down at about 2:30 a.m.
• Head (bathroom) experiences. For about 24 hours we were heeled so far to starboard that two interesting things happened in the head. First, the sink filled with ocean water. The sink, in truth, overflowed with ocean water. Second, we experienced what we dubbed the “submarine effect.” There is a window in the head that allows you to look outside while washing your hands. (It is at my eye level when standing.) I noticed one time that the window was actually under water when a particularly large wave caused the boat to heel more than usual. This was quite amusing to me so I shared it with my fellow crew when I came up to the cockpit. Jason later used the head and reported that he, too, had experienced the “submarine effect.”
• Too much wind on the nose for too long. Much to our chagrin, and in contrast to the forecast, we experienced 15-20 knot winds directly on our nose for a full 48 hours. We’d been making great time until this happened. Even though we had the motor running, our velocity made good was only about two knots per hour. On Tuesday (the day we’d hoped to reach VA), we were still far from our goal. In addition to motoring into the wind, we’d had issues with the genoa and couldn’t unfurl it. It was about this time that we realized that if the winds didn’t change or lighten significantly we’d run out of fuel before we reached the coast. I’ll admit that I sent several prayers to God even though I knew that the direction and speed of the wind couldn’t possibly be high on God’s priority list what with all of the other more pressing prayers to answer.
• Wind change. There was very little wind on Wednesday but we were able to hoist the genoa. We sailed in light winds, added five liters of diesel from one of the jerrycans and made about three knots per hour.
• Final stretch. I arrived in the cockpit at 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Martin was still sailing and had been making good time. The wind dropped as soon as I came on watch (Really? Am I a jinx?!) so we started the motor. We added our final five liters of diesel at 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning. By that time we knew we’d make it to VA.

So, here are our two routes.  The first one is pretty straightforward. The second one depicts the times we sailed in the opposite direction of our goal to deal with sail issues.

Map of our sailing route May 7 to May 12 from Tortola, BVI to St. George’s Bermuda

Map of our sailing route May 20 to May 26 from St. George’s Bermuda to Portsmouth, VA