Arrival British Virgin Islands

We spotted land just after 6am this morning while motor sailing at 7.6 knots, by 10.46 we had arrived in Great Harbour Jost Van Dyke.

Our passage was 7 days and 23 hours, 1,170 rumb line, our route sailed was 1,377.  We had a maximum sustained wind of 20 knots, as a result  we used the engine for 79 hours. We had wind from every direction, frustrating current against us but experienced only 4 squalls and just one with a big wind shift. On the wildlife front we saw one white bird and a few flying fish, annoyingly in the cockpit on two occasions.

Askari was amazing and the only breakages was the water tank sender that got stuck (easy fix with a magnet) and the oil pressure gauge on the engine which was a bit disconcerting until Andrew realised it was just the sender playing up. 

This passage ended up being really straightforward and nicely boring, however we were really glad to have it behind us. Our last boat was in a really mean hurricane on this passage with her previous owners and they wrote a number of articles which I have read many times so that's what I had in my mind all the time. Andrew did a fantastic job of picking the weather window and managing our route as a result I think we've had a much more comfortable trip than many down to the Caribbean this year.

Arhhhhh calm water

A flag from Askari at Foxy's to celebrate our passage

Askari Position 23rd November 2018 UTC 1600

21 degrees 06 minutes north, 64 degrees 35 minutes west
sailing on a course of 200 degrees magnetic with wind of 11 knots from the south east, making 7 knots over the ground

Yesterday was mostly a cloudy day with light winds and we just motor sailed on a rhumb line towards the BVIs. It was a bit boring but that is good on an ocean passage, especially as we are now getting close enough to be able to plan our arrival. We really don't like motor sailing but sometimes it's just necessary - even though it makes Andrew a bit grumpy.

This morning was a spectacular sunrise over a clear sky just as the full moon set, the wind then gently filled in from the South East and we were able to start sailing again - oh joy! It felt like a such a gift and we both showered and spent some time on the aft-deck reading as Askari gently sailed us right towards our waypoint.

The only thing that spoilt this beautiful morning is rust - OMG I can't believe what a week of sailing into the wind with the foredeck being virtually being under salt water all the time has done to my stainless steel. All the staintion posts have leaked a rust around their base, the surrounding deck and even down the hull where the water runs off the boat at mid-ships. Anyone who knows our boat knows I might be a little obsessed with keeping the stainless shiney so seeing like this is just making me crazy. I can't bear to look at it and am hoping I can get it cleaned up before we pull into an anchorage. Ah these our my first world problems of the day.

We had good copy on most of the Backstreet Buccaneers last night on the SSB and everyone is now south enough to avoid a mid storm that is coming off the US East Coast so that was a relief. One of the yachts may have been enjoying a few wines for thanks giving..... We have loaded our fridge for arrival and will be ready to taste our first beer when we get in, hopefully Saturday afternoon. We have 163 miles to go.

Overnight Andrew spoke to a yacht who had run out of fuel and was sailing slowly - they didn't need any assistance but this made me glad Andrew is as obsessed with fuel management as I am about stainless.

All well on board.

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Askari Position 22 November 2018 1700 UTC

23 degrees 44 minutes north, 64 degrees 36 minutes west
motoring (yes motoring) south at just over 6 knots

So the engine has been on since yesterday mid afternoon. We sailed into a wind hole about 2.30pm and then conducted sea trials to work out the best angle for speed and comfort; we snaked around the ocean for about half an hour testing all different sail and motor configurations and the result was motor sail into the wind as close as possible - about 28 degrees apparent wind. The sea had calmed off and only occasionally sent a curly wave to slam into us and knock out our speed over the ground.

We had calculated that based on our VMG for yesterday afternoon we would be arriving in the BVIs on 22nd December - this confirmed it was time to put the engine on, even though it's actually pretty nice out here. Last night on the radio net we were discussing Christmas plans as many of the boats behind us are also without wind and are a bit worried about fuel supplies; we have used very little until yesterday so were in good shape. A couple of them had however been in for a swim it was so calm.

Our wind was about 6 knots and varied from 6 to 12 over night with a bit of a confused sea with weird currents and swells that would come and go. To keep things comfortable we had to keep adjusted our course a little now and again but mostly just got a good night's sleep. We both find the drone of the engine quite soothing. Today was supposed to be really light winds but its been around 10 knots from the SSE all day, we are expecting it to stay light and move around to the south east, which would be more comfortable for tonight. We should pick up wind for sailing tomorrow from the South East and then East.

When we set off south we left our little pack of three other yachts behind, although we think Moonlight Serenade is on the same track further east. We've picked up a new yacht just a little ahead of us on AIS - they called to wish us happy thanks giving this morning - of and get our latest weather info....

If we can keep this speed up we should arrive in the BVIs on Saturday late afternoon which would be pretty exciting. Bring on the Painkillers.

Happy Thanks Giving American friends out there x x

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Askari Position 21st November 2018 UTC 1700

25 degrees 49 minutes north, 65 degrees 41 minutes west
sailing on a course of 130 at 6.5 knots with a southerly wind of 12-15 knots and a bit of a confused sea

It's been a mixed bag over the last 24 hours, yesterday afternoon was lovely gentle sailing in about 10 knots of wind, sunny skies and we couldn't quite believe we were out in the Atlantic Ocean. For the first time we started talking of arrival and what we would do first when we get to the BVIs.

Lovely sunset

We carried on sailing into the night and it was lovely although we were on squall watch as we had heard a band was heading our way after midnight. The wind however died around 4 am and I put the engine on a motored on a more southerly course as that direction looked to be our challenge over the next few days. We started off motor sailing but then by 7am the sails were just flapping and squalls were around. Andrew furled the sails and we motored south for a bit and we both rested. A large squall washed the boat off and confused the sea then the wind gradually filled in from the south. We tried all sorts of options to get the boat moving but this sailing boat loves to sail more than anything; so a wind angle of 40 degrees close hauled and we were off. We are making about 5 knots of VMG (ie 5 miles an hour directly towards our waypoint) and it's super comfortable plus not using any diesel.

I'm just about to get lunch sorted - I made a lovely chicken and leek fritatta in the light conditions yesterday so leftovers today - yum!

Yum

All well on board, just going slow......

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Askari Position Report 20th November 2018 1500 UTC

27 degrees 42 minutes north, 68 degrees 00 minutes west
sailing at 7.5 knots with 15 knots of wind from the south west


Had the most amazing sailing overnight with a nearly full moon and the brightest shiniest stars I ever saw. Andrew did get hit with a flying fish in the cockpit which he wasn't best pleased about as they really are the most stinky fish in the world.

This morning I woke up about 6.30 to see a large squall approaching. Yay, my watch....

Squall approaching

The sky was amazing with these dramatic rain squalls against light blue of the morning. There was one beautiful feather cloud that looked just like a quill dipping into the ink well of the squall - I hope I got a good picture of that one. (Now added - cool Eh?)

Escapade just ahead of us

Escapade was about half a mile from us and so I grabbed my camera to try and grab some shots of them with the squall behind. As I put the camera away I noticed them furl their foresail - hmmm I'll just stick a turn on the jib. I was monitoring the squall line on the radar and we were still a way off. As I furled the sail the wind picked up so I double reefed that and just got to the main sail when it hit us with 25 knots - a double reefed main all done and we were hurtling into the squall at 8 knots. All good and Andrew is still sleeping (it turns out he was awake but pulled the sheet over his head - thanks mate!)


I radioed Sea Larks and they were already reefing, now I just had to wait for the rain. As usual the other side of the squall the wind died off for about 10 minutes and then we were back underway again. Now he gets up for a cup of coffee!

All very well on board.

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Askari Position 19th November 2018 - 1200 local (UTC 1700)

29 degrees 22 minutes north, 69 degrees 51 minutes west
Sailing on a course of 160 degrees magnetic towards the BVIs
Wind East 10-15 knots
Speed over the ground 7 knots

Happy Wedding Anniversary to us! Yay we actually remembered for once…. To celebrate we are back in bathers, Andrew had a shave and I have even washed my hair.

The wind eased off over night and we had a great calm sail from about 10pm onwards. It's amazing that we have still only run the engine for an hour on this whole trip.

Hair wash day

This morning the wind has come around more to the East (from north east) and we've followed it on a more southerly course. We have unusual wind on this passage, which we expected to be using fuel to get east. An upper level trough has sat just below our course for the last 3 days creating the north easterly winds we've ha,d in the region of 10-22 knots. Later today we expect to cross it, pick up some squally weather and then get light-ish south to south westerly winds on the other side. Right now it's gloriously warm, we are fishing and have both Escapade of Rame (Oyster 485) and Sea Larks (Catamaran) on our AIS. It's funny as we have been within 20 miles of Escapade since we left - I know for a fact that neither Andrew or Richard would be following each other however they definitely appear to follow the same philosophy and the boats both enjoy sailing into the wind, even in some of the seas we had yesterday.

Passing ship.....

On our radio net last night, there were a few reports of sea-sick crew, kids and dog- hopefully everyone had the same lovely conditions we had last night and will be a bit more cheerful tonight. I actually don't mind being on the wind as you can get wedged in and plan to do things carefully knowing the boat will stay on one side - yesterday with big square waves was a little more lively certainly though…..

We've been reading, listening to podcasts and sleeping mainly, I have also learned how to get the weather in on the SSB, something I've been meaning to learn for the last 2 and a half years. Andrew went out for deck inspection this morning and all was good, just a couple of spare halyards to tighten up.

So all is very well and we are having a lovely day.

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Askari Position Update 1000 local time 18/11/2018

Position 31 degrees 29 minutes north, 072 degrees 18 minutes west.
Sailing at 8.5 knots heading 140 degrees magnetic with 17 to 20 knots out of the north east

This boat loves to sail into the wind

Its fast and furious out here this morning, actually most of the night - Askari or course loves it and we are wedged in. We have a double reefed main and full genoa and it's actually comfortable enough.

Looking out the window

wedged in

I'm popular as I just cooked a sausage sandwich.

We haven't had to run the engine and are in serious fuel conservation mode as motoring is expected in the coming days. There's more wind than we expected so are taking the opportunity to use it.

All well on board.

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Askari Position 1200 local time 17th November 2018

Position 33 degrees 7 minutes north 074 degrees 28 minutes west. Sailing in 10 knots of wind from the north east.

Please let it stay like this

We had a great gulfstream crossing over night and sailed all but an hour when the wind was light. It was chilly but sunny all day yesterday and we eased ourselves into passage mode with a customary lasagne for dinner. This morning it's unbelievably warmer - the fowlies are packed back away and its a beautiful day with light fluffy clouds. We are just hoping this wind will hold and we can keep sailing.

All well and happy aboard.

Gulf stream crossing

Hoping for warmer weather tomorrow

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Backstreet Buccaneers heading to the Caribbean

It's been a whirlwind since we got back to Beaufort - first we had to get the depth sounder fixed and Andrew was all over that working with the local Raymarine agent, but it also ended up being a fabulous social time meeting some really lovely cruisers all heading in the same direction - I just love these jumping off spots for this. Two of the boats had abandoned the Caribbean 1500 and others had been waiting like us for the window that suited us - we all found each other in or around the Back Street Pub in Beaufort. We also enjoyed an OCC dinner at Clawsons hosted by Port Officer Dianne who gave each yacht a jar of her fabulous local peanuts.

It was decided we'd get an SSB net going and a coffee meeting was planned to get that arranged. Amazingly all 7 yachts are going roughly in the same direction and all have an SSB radio. We have agreed to be the initial net controllers and we all look set to leave on 16th November for points south.

Mike on Aleta came up with the name Backstreet Buccaneers after the great cruiser pub and the pirate connections in Beaufort- then he designed a logo incorporating their boat dog Marlon. Hats were made and this group is now cemented in cruiser history.

The boats are Aleta, Askari, Escapade, Loon, Lulu, Moonlight Serenade and Sea Larks - we have two others joining from other ports (Rockhopper and Miclo III) and hope to have some fun along the way. It should be around 10-12 days and we will generally head east before approaching the caribbean trade winds. However, we will see what the weather brings

All being well we will provide daily updates via our sail mail to the blog - so come along with us back to the warmth of the Caribbean.

Buccaneers send off last night at the Backstreet Pub

Chesapeake to back to Beautiful Beaufort

We eased our way back into cruising with a lovely short sail across the Chesapeake Bay to Solomons Island - we had been here before but it was certainly a lot colder. We spent a couple of nights at anchor and met some nice people around the happy hour bar - everyone was moving south.

Solomon Island - Beautiful

Rugged up in October on the Chesapeake

The northerly wind allowed us to press on down the bay and we made a stop in at Reedville. There were two reasons to call in at this cute small village which is a real fish town complete with fish processing plant. Firstly our friends Neil and Ley were staying at a friends house and had just heard that there lovely boat was to be written off after a collision with a fishing boat off Long Island - big hugs were required and alot of wine. Their story svcrystalblues.blogspot.com

On Walter and Mary's dock in Reedville

The other was I'm a Reed so to sail by Reedville without checking out if there was a family connection seemed silly. Actually we couldn't find a family connection to Capt Elijah Reed but my Uncle advises me all Reed's have the same DNA..... The town is really quite lovely so I'd be happy to claim it. Neil & Ley have been made very welcome here and that hospitality was extended to us with a dock for Askari and an invite to Halloween and what an amazing experience that was.

Sea Witches

Australians do Halloween....

At the maritime museum - the lady on the left was a jelly-fish

This small town is so perfectly laid out for kids to trick or treat in a safe environment that over 800 kids were brought into to town for the spectacle and the locals went to town to welcome them. It was such fun however there was a part of me that felt sad that it was obviously not safe for them to go out in their own neighbourhoods.

Look at the lines for treats!

I had a go giving out candy at Donna's house

After the fun of Halloween we enjoyed some lovely days exploring the village, meeting locals and getting Askari ready for the trip back to the Caribbean.

I wonder if Oyster Yachts might consider a new office here..... The logo looks about right

Sadly the morning came to move on and we got great winds to have a fantastic fast sail all the way to Norfolk Virginia, arriving a day ahead of schedule. We were welcomed by the OCC port officers, Gary & Greta, at their private dock that they make available just for OCC members right in the heart of historical Norfolk. Andrew has been monitoring the weather for our trip South for weeks and the day after we arrived there was an opening, we quickly got everything ready, provisioned and I even cooked the lasagne. We went over to Hampton with Gary and Greta to see off friends in the Salty Dawg Rally and thought we might be off too the next day.

We decided to get one last weather update the next morning and changed our minds. This is the joy of not being on a schedule. We stayed a few more days and got the chance to catch up with Fred & Tiffany in Portsmouth, checked out the USS Wisconsin and then grabbed a weather window to sail south around Cape Hatteress back to Beaufort, North Carolina exactly to the day we were there last year.

It was quite an exciting trip as the window was pretty tight, so we left the minute the squalls from one front ended, at about 4pm and set off into the dark with an amazing red sunset. We sailed in every wind direction as the winds clocked back and then arrived at Cape Lookout at 1am the following day just before the next front later that day. Then as we approached the south of the cape our depth sounder stopped reading. Beaufort, is a little complicated in the dark so we had planned to anchor in a bay at Cape Lookout we hadn't been to before. Entering an unknown bay in the middle of the night without a depth reading was pretty stressful but we got in and safely anchored and managed to get a little sleep before heading in at 6am next morning.

Arriving at Homer Smiths we were given Shrimp and had one of the best lunches ever......

You can't beat Homer Smith's Shrimp