We were still working at the time, and we had three weeks’ vacation due us. We recently completed our celestial navigation classes with the United States Power Squadron. We were ready, or so we thought.
Bermuda is east of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean. Specifically, 32 degrees 18’ North and 64 degrees 47’ west. It has 20.6 miles in area with 64 miles of coastline. It is 650 miles east of Raritan Yacht Club in New Jersey, or 1300 miles round trip. It is like a postage stamp in the middle of the ocean. And we were going to sail there in a 34’ O’Day sloop rigged sailboat. This is before the GPS; Global Position Service was in use. We had LORAN, which is Long Range Navigation. This is a land-based signal system which sends out pluses. The further away from the transmitters, the less accurate the position of the receiver, or your gear. It was highly inaccurate near Bermuda. But we had our sextant, and we knew how to use it.
The first thing we had to do was to make the vessel seaworthy for an ocean passage. We figured we could do 100 miles a day, either sailing or motoring. If we couldn’t sail at 3 knots, we would motor at 5 knots. Had to do this since we were on vacation and had to get back for work. We did not have a life raft, and this bothered me. Too much money to buy one or even rent one. We decided to talk with good friends of ours, Bob, and Dorry Tull. We had sailed together in the past and we agreed to be each other’s lifeboat. This was a challenge because it meant that we always had to keep the other vessel in sight. A testament to very good seamanship, and it worked beautifully.
We had to add third reef points to the main sail. You can’t control the wind, but you can control the sail area that you have flying. We also added “Jack Lines” which ran the full length of the boat on either side of the mast. You attach your harness to the jack line whenever you leave the cockpit, and we took our 66-pound Bruce anchor and put it down below as close to the keel as possible. We surely won’t be anchoring when the water was five miles deep. Next, we had to secure the batteries. We don’t want them flying around if we get rolled over by a rogue wave. We checked our ham radio, KD4RSU, and our navigation equipment. We added lee boards to the bunks so we could sleep without falling out of bed. Of course, we had enough food and water on board for three weeks, but we would have to add diesel fuel in cans on deck since we will be motoring more than usual. We had our charts and Pilot chart. The Pilot Chart shows the various currents and eddies in the ocean by month for many years. This helps you avoid those that go against you and helps you to find the ones that help you.
We set the date and watched the weather. It brought us back to reality when we heard that a tall ship with a crew of kids on board was sailing in our area and they sunk. It was warm and they had all the hatches open when they got hit with a rough wave and it rolled them over. Nobody who was down below managed to get out.
The two sailboats, SEAGULL TWO, ours, and VALELLA, the Tulls, left Raritan Yacht Club in New Jersey on time as planned. It was a beautiful sail and VALELLA was always in sight. You could tell when you were in the Gulf Stream. The water was 80 degrees and there were cumulus clouds in the sky.
We were out a few days when the wind started to pick up its windspeed. As the wind increased, I shortened the sail area. In no time it reached 45 knots and the seas climbed to 20 feet high. The sun was just setting. It looked like we would have to ‘hove too’. This is where you put the third reef in, secure the main on a starboard tack and tie the rudder to the opposite side. The effect is that the boat tends to go forward, but the rudder knocks her backward. Not comfortable. But you can’t sail in these conditions anyway, Marianne and I had our harness on because a Life Preserver wouldn’t do you any good. You wanted to stay with the vessel. And after hearing the story of the Tall Ship sinking, we didn’t want to be down below. So, we huddled together through the night, not fearing for our lives, but being very uncomfortable.
After six and a half days we arrived at Bermuda, tied up at the city docks and cleared customs. To our delight the Queen’s ship, Britannia came in and tied up just in front of us. What a pleasure to listen to God Save the Queen as they raised the English flag each morning.
Being on a schedule has its drawbacks. We had to leave Bermuda in a time of high pressure that gave us 12-foot following seas for three days and nights. We completed our trip on time and off to work we went. Proud of our accomplishment.
