Being so focused on getting to a quiet place to make the business call, we forgot to attach our jack lines and fix the jib sheets.
Note for non-sailors. Jack lines are lines (or in our case a thick yellow webbing) that get attached fore and aft on the deck. Another webbed strap with carabiners on both ends clips to the rings on our life vests while the other end clips to the jack line. If someone (Greg) has to go on deck while at sea, you clip to this line before leaving the cockpit. We also have a jack line that runs around the lower perimeter of the cockpit that we clip into when we come up from below. So - we are always clipped in to prevent the disaster of going overboard.
So - we are nearly out of the channel and Greg goes out on the deck to affix the jack lines. Greg says, "Keep the boat as still as you can." Yeah, right! We had five foot waves and a brisk breeze. And the tugs, a container ship, and several small boats were in very close proximity. Jacklines deployed!
Additionally, we opted not to raise the main sail in the harbor, thinking that the angle of the wind would make it difficult to fill our large genoa. In fact, we found that the wind was good, so we were bobbing up and down getting the main up.
An auspicious start for sure. Jack lines, jib sheets, main sail! Those office calls!!!
Finally settled in, we turned north and pulled out the genoa as well. Sliding into the Gulf Stream within an hour, bounding along at 10.8 knots, we made 60 miles by 4pm. Gotta love that Gulf Stream when it's on your side!
By evening, the wind was picking up. We had already reduced the genoa by half and now we had to reef the main. We can do this from inside the cockpit and Greg managed it like a pro. We were very happy to have done this when later the wind was piping up to 18-20 knots. This, of course, means that waves pipe up as well. Just after Greg went down to get some rest on Sharon's watch, a bucket of water splashed over the side and into the cockpit. Yuk! That happened several times throughout the night, so you know the wind was up and the waves were tossing us around a bit. The good news was that our speed was up to 11.2 to 11.4 knots over ground. Very fast!
Another note to non-sailors. We have two speed indicators that we watch all the time. One is the speed through the water or "boat knots". The other is speed over ground (SOG), or how fast we are going over the ocean floor. These can be very different if there are ocean currents or tides affecting the boat's progress. The Gulf Stream is the largest ocean current in the Atlantic, pushing north at 3 to 5 knots all the time. Knowing this, the prudent north-bound sailor will seek out this current and ride it north.
Throughout the night on Friday, we saw consistent speeds as high as 8.4 boat knots (through water) and 11. 5 knots over ground for long periods of time. It helped that we just had the bottom cleaned this past week, making the boat slippery through the water. However, it is a rare occurrence to see speed like that on Dream Catcher. We blew along at 11 to 11.5 knots through the first night.
Fortunately, the only wet water we experienced was from the occasional wave splashes into the cockpit. We had no rain the whole way, but it was very moist. The air was humid and everything was damp. Yuk. But there were millions of bright stars in the sky and the phosphorescence lit up brightly with each bounce of the hull in the water. It is beautiful being at sea on a clear night.
By morning, the wind was down to 8-12 knots and right behind us. We shook out the reefs from the mainsail, stowed it, and sailed with just the genoa for most of the day, continuing to make 10 knots over ground. By evening the wind dropped below 10, so we pulled in the genoa, and turned on the engine. The good news was that the waves diminished with lighter winds and we could move around on the boat a little easier.
Sunday morning dawned like this.
The final leg of this route is the portion from where the Gulf Stream turns East and we leave it to travel North to Charleston, about 80 miles of sailing. It's so interesting how this seems like the longest part of the trip. You are ready to be in, but you are still at least 60 miles away. The miles go by so slowly, especially without that Stream push that we had gotten used to. Plus, they don't call this the "Low Country" for nothing. You cannot see land until you are five miles from the Charleston Channel. So interesting. Normally we can see land 20 miles out.
Approaching Charleston Harbor Channel we saw two ships leaving. Our AIS (Automatic Identification System) shows us each boat's characteristics - length, beam, direction, speed etc. In the length category one ship was listed as being 1/8 mile long! After figuring this out to be about 660 feet, the next ship was listed at 996 feet long and 144 feet wide! We steered clear.
The rest was a snap. We caught a favorable current, known to be strong in this area, and motored our way for the remaining five miles to the marina. On the way, we encountered these shrimp boats heading over to the "Blessing of the Fleet". It was a Sunday party day!
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We pulled into the Charleston Harbor Marina and Resort at 11:45am - about 49 hours and 443 miles after leaving Miami, averaging over 9 knots over ground. It was a sleigh ride for most of the way! We are happy to be here and look forward to celebrating Greg's 65th and eating our way through town!
Thanks for being with us along the way! 'Til next time.
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