Narragansett Bay, Newport, RI and our daughter's visit

We had a fabulous weekend due to the visit of our daughter, Courtney, and her boyfriend, Paolo.

Courtney and Paolo 

We sailed, had great meals at our favorite restaurants, watched a polo match, and cycled around Newport's coastline and historic mansion district.

Cycling around the Newport coastline

After they left we fueled up for our transit to the Chesapeake Bay.  Pete Townshend's yacht, the guitarist for The Who, was docked in front of us at the fuel dock.  This is a 126 foot schooner with lots of varnish.  Beautiful!

Pete Townshend's yacht Gloria

Close up of PT's Gloria

So, we are preparing for another offshore passage.  Heading south again!  We've had a lot of enjoyable times this summer in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Long Island, Boston Harbor (and the North End!!!), Portsmouth, NH, and our sailing soul home, Newport, RI.  We have cherished our visits with family and friends (including Greg's mom's 91st birthday).  And we have loved our family and friends visiting us.  Courtney and Paolo just left.  We all had a fabulous time together!

So, what does one do to prepare for an offshore passage?  And, by the way, what the heck is an offshore passage?  Well, an offshore passage is usually a sail of a full day or longer (24 hours+) in the open ocean - as compared to coastal sailing, which is often a few miles from a land mass and shorter durations.

Preparation? Really?

Here's the short list...

The obvious:

Top up water and fuel tanks.
Fill the reefer (aka refrigerator) and cupboards with fresh, frozen and preserved food.
Make sure belongings are secured.  You don't want cameras or laptops sailing through the air to the other side of the boat due to wind and wave action....or an anchor coming undone 50 miles from land.

The not-so-obvious:

Pay very close attention to weather.

Waves - look for a time when ocean waves are benign and/or flowing in the direction you are going (more or less).  Avoid leaving when waves are high and/or against you.  This would make for a very difficult and slow ride.  Imagine 48 hours in a washing machine moving ever so slowly toward a destination hundreds of miles away!  Really, it's sorta like that on a bad day!

Pay equal attention to wind conditions - look for wind that is in any direction other than opposite, or near opposite, your intended route.  Sailboats like to sail.  So, wind from behind or across the boat will give you a lift that you can use to deploy sails, turn off the motor and have a very enjoyable ride. This is what it's all about!

The trick is assuring that if offshore for several days in a row, the wind and waves are still predicted to be favorable.  Our 340 nautical mile sail from the Bahamas to Charleston, SC was true bliss.  We didn't go until the storm, Anna, was working her way north, leaving a "high" in her wake.  A barometric high usually means very nice, settled weather with mild winds.  We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather and enough wind to sail much of the way...and a sea state (height and mix of waves) that was very calm.  It was a perfect two-day offshore sail.

On the other hand, things can change. A weather disturbance can develop or dissipate.  So, we always look at many sources of weather information in order to understand the weather for several days in advance.  And, knock on wood, so far, we have been fortunate.

As of this writing there is the seed of a possible hurricane leaving NW Africa, which is where all north Atlantic hurricanes start.  This one is called 93L until it develops further.  If it reaches storm status, it will be called Tropical Storm Ida.  Later, if winds rise to hurricane force, it will be Hurricane Ida.  We hope it doesn't!  See http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tropical-system-atlantic-depression-tropical-storm-ida/52379971

OK, so we filled the tanks, stocked the cupboards, checked the weather...ready?  Not quite.

Remove the outboard motor from the dinghy and secure it to the aft rail so the dinghy isn't too heavy in large wave action.

Secure anchors so they don't move constantly and break something.

Check engine oil, antifreeze, alternator belts.

Make sure instruments (wind speed and direction, water depth, boat speed, compass and course) and radio are working.

Fasten jack lines along side decks and cockpit floor.   These are to clip your harness onto when offshore so you can't be thrown overboard.

Charge and make sure cell and satellite phones work.

Check that all hatches and ports are closed tightly so no sea water gets into the boat (particularly on your bed).

Check all shelves and bureau tops so that nothing can fall over, drop to the floor, or fly to another location.

Make sure all cabinets, drawers and closets are latched shut.

Deploy water bottles, quick snacks, binoculars, sun lotion.

Chart course to destination (well in advance - then recheck), taking into account shorelines, shoals, shipping lanes, tides and currents (especially canal tides and currents, such as the Chesapeake and Delaware, or the Cape Cod Canal, where currents can reach five knots - you want them with you, not against you!)

Time your departure so as to maximize weather, canal transits and arrival times (avoid arriving in deep night, although not always possible).

Then go!

At this moment, if weather forecasts stay reasonably steady, we will haul anchor early Wednesday morning, head South out of Narragansett Bay, turn southwest past Block Island and continue along New York's Long Island for 260 miles to reach Cape May, NJ.  The plan will be to reach Cape May Thursday late afternoon.  This gives us an opportunity to sleep at anchor and continue on the next day.  Once rested we will head North up the Delaware Bay, through the C and D canal, into the Chesapeake Bay and reach Annapolis a few days after leaving Newport.

We'll let you know how it goes.