Greetings from the Habits of Health!
As you know, for the last 4 years, the sailing vessel, Habits of Health has embarked from the port of Hampton, VA for the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. We are part of the annual Caribbean 1500 sailboat race. Each year dozens of boats set sail on this, the largest offshore sailing race in the Americas and one of the last remaining big adventures of our times. I am writing you today to chronicle our progress on this journey.
The Habits of Heath is a 54 ft. sailboat built by the Moody company in England. It is a gorgeous, well-equipped, and state-of-the art vessel owned and skippered by Dr. Wayne Andersen and his wife and first mate, Lori. I have been with them as a crew member on this voyage for the past 3 years and have joined them this year along with first time crew mates, Terri and David Miller We converged together in Hampton at the mouth of the Chesapeake on Friday, November 2nd with the expectation of starting the race on Sunday morning, the 4th.
Arriving in Hampton
When I arrived at th docks in Hampton late Saturday afternoon, the marina was abuzz with activity. The sailboats were lined up along the dock side by side with brightly colored banners - including the colors of the 1500 waving in the late afternoon breeze amid a backdrop of the colors of the fall leaves and their reflections in the water. These magnificent boats reminded me of a group of thoroughbreds lined up at the beginning of a race. Well provisioned with crews and captains making last minute adjustments and checks, there was that excitement that comes with great expectations. These boats couldn't wait to get out into the blue water of the North Atlantic and their crews were anxious to experience the thrill of sailing offshore.
Being the last to arrive that day I was greeted by the captain and crew and told the good news! The organizers of the race had made a determination that because of impending weather there was a very good chance we would depart a day earlier than expected. The final determination to go on Saturday would be made the next morning... We would have to wait to find out. That night, we all attended a reception at the Hampton Yacht Club with the captains and crews of the other boats in the race.
Saturday Morning and the Decision to Go
When we woke up Saturday morning we generally had a sense that we were going to start the race that day. What we learned was that in along the southeastern seaboard of the United States, a large winter storm was forming from northern Florida along the coast all the way to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. The storm would be very large and pack gale force winds. If we didn't leave on Saturday, we would have to wait the storm out, which might mean up to a week's delay. However, with this tight weather window, if we could get south and east cape Hatteras, we just might be able to dodge it. And therein lied the challenge.. get south and east of the storm. If we missed the storm we'd be ahead of schedule and could use the energy of the storm to propel us further south west to
Tortola. But, if we didn't get to our way point, we could find ourselves in the middle of a nasty and violent storm. Looking at our options and assessing the risks most of the boats elected to leave on Saturday. We did too.
Leaving Port
Pulling calmly and effortlessly from our slip into Hampton Harbor we began our journey of 1500 miles over open ocean. It was early afternoon and simply a magnificent day. The bay was smooth as we made our way towards the mouth of Chesapeake The sky was a picture perfect blue with soft cumulous clouds and the air was clear and crisp. It was mid afternoon and the sun seemed to highlight reds, oranges, greens and yellows of the tress. The docks were vibrant with people and all kinds of water craft from sailboats like ours, to fishing boats and power craft. Everyone in the cockpit of the Habits was smiling and in high spirits... we were on our way!
We passed the naval yards or Norfolk with their impressive aircraft carriers and headed for the Chesapeake Bay and Bridge tunnel... Once we crossed over the tunnel, the race had officially started for us. It was 2:38 in the afternoon.
On this first day we sailed along the Virginia coastline with the shore in sight. We passed numerous light houses and the great resort town of Virginia Beach. Our conditions were calm: light winds, light seas and the steady rhythmic up and down motion of the waves beneath us. As darkness approached, we had ate dinner in the cockpit chowing down a salad along with chicken and bow tie pasta. Perfectly delicious!
Captain Wayne and the crew discussed the schedule of who would be on watch the first night. I took the 9 PM to 1 PM shift, Lori and David took the 1 AM to 5 AM shift, and Dr A from 5 AM on. Our goal as to get to the Outer banks of North Carolina, west of Cape Hatteras, and then we take a south easterly change in direction and crossing the Gulf Stream. The shifts were uneventful... we all encountered other vessels on our radar physically spotted a few other boats.
As night descended upon us, the air temperature became noticeably cooler. We all had to bundle up... wearing our long johns and layering warm clothes. On my shift, at around midnight, I experienced a spectacular moon rise over the water. If you've ever experienced this on the open seas, you know what I mean. The skies changed from plethora of brightly shining stars in a background of absolute black to to a big yellow orb rising from east and lighting the night sky in the twilight of the moon's glow. This moon rise was particularly pretty because on the horizon stood a bank of intermittent clouds outlining the moon in a golden array of splendor.
Day 2
On morning's light Sunday, November 4th, we had indeed made our way point east of Hatteras. We were now crossing the Gulf Stream. What is always interesting when you cross the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic is the change in temperature. We went from water temperatures of 59 degrees to 83 degrees once we entered the stream. It is always a reminder to me just how critical this ocean current is to keeping North America and especially norther Europe warm. Without it, much of the Northern Hemisphere would be significantly cooler.
Our conditions on the water were much like those of the day before... mild mixed and variable winds and mild seas. The outside temperature was quite pleasant and we found ourselves in short sleeves clothing in the cockpit. For the morning hours and into late afternoon these conditions pretty much remained the same. During this time we whiled away the time engaged in conversation, listening to music, and listening to satellite radio.
One unusual observation we witnessed in the afternoon was the sighting of a great blue heron over the ocean. This was a unexpected as we were ow more than 100 miles offshore and one does not commonly see this species of bird this far away from shore. We could only speculate that perhaps it had gotten blown offshore in the storm.
Another observation we discovered was that the mail sail had a two foot tear near the foot of the sail. Captain Wayne and I went on the deck to try to temporarily repair it and at least prevent it from ripping further. We don't view the ripped sail as a safety hazard nor should it affect our ability to get to our destination on time.
A Rocky and Wild Night
The mild conditions of the day belied what was about to happen at night. During the day we had been tracking various weather patterns on our radar. We were offshore somewhere between the latitudes of Cape Hatteras and Cape Fear and had been trying to avoid these formations but, around 6 PM we got hit with the outer bands of a fairly significant storm. The first salvo from this storm hit with a vengeance. Heavy winds, micro basts of up to 50 knots and a raging sea made for an interesting 45 minutes or so. The captain had the crew go downstairs into the main cabin while he and the First Mate donned their life jackets and were harnessed into the lines in the cockpit. Heavy winds, rain, and hale hit the Habits pretty hard and we were healing at times well beyond 30 degrees...but she's a tough boat, and after nearly an hour, the winds calmed again.
What we didn't know was that this calm was to be sort lived... long enough for us to eat dinner and determine our shift schedule. Then, just like before, we encountered several cells of high energy and the real impact of the storm was about to begin..
Captain Wayne took the first watch and experienced a relentless pounding of weather...rain and lightening everywhere with heavy winds reaching gusts past 50 knots. Water was not just simply running over the gunwales, at times t was completely covering the cockpit. Lighting was striking everywhere lighting the horizon like fireworks on the 4th of July. Captain Wayne witnessed one fireball hitting the water and sending an iridescent blue wave for hundreds of feet around. This celestial demonstration was unrelenting for nearly all of the night.
Since we were still in the Gulf Stream and under heavy wind, the wave action was choppy Well.., choppy doesn't exactly describe it! With all of the weather upstairs, the conditions below were less than favorable. We were dry and warm... that was good. But, the boat was healed beyond 30 degrees so it made for some challenging maneuvering in the cabin. And, sleeping on a slant this steep is always interesting.. especially if you are healed the wrong way for comfortable sleeping, which we were. But, the most unnerving part was the frequent crashing of the bow of the boat as it slammed into the waves.
The storm lasted all night. Lori and David spelled Captain Wayne on the second watch and Terri and David sat with me for the 3rd watch. Finally at around 7:30 the rain ended.
Day 3
As I just reflected, today we started with a storm but by mid morning, we were seeing some gray skies that eventually cleared to a few clouds and sun. This has been a good day for sailing and we're making good time. Everyone is in great spirits and glad we are experiencing this adventure together. Right now we are about 250 miles from Cape Hatteras and 350 miles from Bermuda. we are in the beautiful cobalt blue oceans of the Atlantic. Night will be approaching in a few hours and we are anticipating a beautiful sunset...
This is Crew Member Dan Bell signing off until next time!