NARC Rally Overview
2011 will be the 12th Annual NARC Rally!
From a scheduling perspective, you should arrive in Newport as early as October 24 for an October 30 departure.
If you are planning to sail south this fall there is no better way then sailing with a fleet. Two years ago we had 31 boats! It is a lot more fun meeting many new like-minded people and benefitting from the socials and discounts that a larger fleet can attract. You will make new friends that you will continue to see all season in the Caribbean.
The Rally is free to veteran offshore sailors and professionally crewed boats. There is a small head fee to defray the costs of the socials and to cover general overhead. First-time participants will benefit from a full one-day seminar of pre-departure thoughts.
If you do not have a boat and would like to join us, you can sign aboard a Swan in our Offshore Program or join OPO and see about helping one of the boat owners who may be looking for crew.
Schedule
Rally participants should arrive in Newport at the Newport Yachting Center by Wednesday, October 26. Dockage at the Newport Yachting Center is only $1.00 per foot per day the week before the event so you can arrive as early as Sunday, October 23. All other boats should be in by Friday night, October 28. There will be a skippers meeting Saturday morning and Rally dinner at 5:00 pm.
Weather Forecasts
Weather routing has been provided by Susan Genett of Real Weather http://www.realwx.com/ since the rally began 11 years ago. Susan is based in Newport and is able to give a live presentation before departure. All participants will be given a weather package and Gulf Steam information for route planning.
Our Host in Bermuda
In Bermuda we will be hosted by the St. Georges Dinghy and Sports Club. We receive discount dockage, the $35 per head fee is waived, there is a Gosling’s Rum Party http://www.goslingsrum.com/ one night and a Fish Fry all included in the rally.
After filling up on duty free fuel, most boats will head to the final Rally destination of St. Maarten in time for the final Rally party hosted by IGY Marina Group http://www.igymarinas.com/ with a special two days of free dockage upon arrival. Even if you are planning to end your passage in the Virgin Islands or another island, we encourage everyone to come to St. Maarten first. It is the best place to provision in the Caribbean, has the best repair facilities for marine work in the area, and is the easiest and cheapest island for flights.
Signing Up
It is very simple to sign up for the rally. Simply fill out the short form and mail in a check for $300 to cover the first two people aboard. The balance, if there are additional crew, will be paid in Newport just before departure. If you need crew you can use the services of Offshore Passage Opportunities to get free crew that will pay their own way to and from the boat. If you have never made the passage before we would like you to have at least one crew who has made the journey. If you do not have a friend or family member that fits the bill we can help get you someone through Offshore Passage Opportunities.
Questions
If you have any questions please feel free to call or e-mail anytime.
Rally Benefits:
- Discount dockage in all three ports
- Free Weather routing
- Radio Net
- Fuel Discount
- Optional Offshore Seminar
- No Head Tax in Bermuda
- 1st Annual “Can Jam” Tournament in Bermuda (Cash Prizes).
- Socials in Newport (Dinner)
- Bermuda Fish Fry & Goslings Rum Party
- IGY Marina “Start of the Caribbean Season Party”
Green Rally – The 11th Annual Rally will also be looking to ‘Leave a Small Footprint”. Garbage will be weighed in Bermuda and St. Maarten. Re-usable water bottles will be distributed along with grocery bags and best practice advice for all rally boats to adopt.
2010 Recap: 16 boats in 2010
NARC Round-Up
Dear Rally Participants,
Avocation - Swan 48 - 5 OPO members aboard
I am sure everyone would like a recap of each others’ passage south this fall. Please send me an e-mail and let us know how you fared. I will collect all the accounts and pass them on to each other so we can compare notes and plan to meet again this winter in the Caribbean.
The 6 day wait in Newport was tough and several boats waited even longer. However in all cases I think the wait was well worth the time with crews waiting for their individual “comfort levels” to arrive.
Avocation departed with 5 boats on Saturday Nov 6th. We followed Susan’s advice to stay west. Heading west of rumb line, and then south of Long Island we had a few hours of sun rather than being under the cloud line from the stationary Low that was dictating the southern dog leg and extra miles. That night was very dark with no moon or horizon.
Before dark we set the pole and sailed wing and wing for 24 hours which was very comfortable and had us averaging 9 knots, hitting 10 & 12’s often on a surf. We went as far west as 73.49 degrees, before gybeing and heading for the narrow part of the Gulf Stream. Our crossing was the easiest part of the first leg with calmer seas than either side. But we did have 25 to 30 knots and 10 to 15 foot seas at times. We made it to Bermuda in 4 days, 4 hours, all down wind, and just one gibe. We did not break any gear. Three crew felt mal-de-mer at some point, but only one missed one watch.
We spent only one day in Bermuda and got together with crew from Equinox and “2 if by Sea” for burgers and dark’n’Stormies at the Yacht Club. Only in Bermuda. We departed the next day with 2 if by Sea. We arrived in St. Maarten in 5 ½ days arriving at midnight. We sailed the entire leg except for 16 hours of motoring before the trade winds came in below 19.00 degrees. Tranquility was 1st in port having departed Friday Nov 5th and making no stop in Bermuda. We look forward to their report about being the 1st to arrive in St. Maarten.
Simpson Bay Marina did cancel the final party in St. Maarten at our suggestion since only two boats were in port. However they are honoring your two days of free dockage at anytime before the New Year and 10% off for longer stays.
Our spot trackers helped some of us know where each other were and are. But it would be much better to have a recap from you. Please check in and send me an e-mail when you get done clearing customs and recovered after your first full day in port, let us know how you are and your plans for the winter so that we can keep an eye pour for each other. If you continue to fly your red NARC rally flag we will be able to identify each other in an anchorage.
I will send everyone an update in a couple of weeks so please try and get back to me in the next week or ten days.
I depart on another passage south from Beaufort NC to Tortola on Dec 4th and would like to send out a near final draft before then.
Happy Thanks-Giving wherever you are.
Hank Schmitt
NARC
Rubicon – Outbound 44 – 3 OPO members aboard
Here is a brief recap of Rubicon’s passage to St. Martin. After some delay we left with a number of other boats on Saturday, November 13. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful and extremely flexible crew consisting of Jim Chessen, John Jamiesen and Huw Thomas. They are all well experienced sailors and I think we all learned a few things from each other as the passage unfolded.
It was not a tough passage as we had four on board and our watch schedule was two hours on and six hours off. This left everyone well rested. We did add one twist to the schedule. Whoever had the 10 AM watch stood a double watch of four hours. This wasn’t particularly onerous as it was midday and there were usually others up and about. It also meant that you only did the four hour watch once every four days. This watch schedule served to keep the watches rotating so we all stood the beautiful dawn and sunset watches as well as the middle of the night watches. Everyone agreed that it was a fine watch schedule for a crew of four.
We did close to the rhumb line to Bermuda which we left to our west. We wanted to keep open the option of stopping in Bermuda if there was a need for fuel or repairs or weather considerations, but there was no pressing need to stop so we reluctantly passed on our opportunity to down a few ‘dark and stormys’ and sailed on by. We heard Bermuda Harbor radio a few times but never saw that lovely island. Once we turned the corner, the winds were favorable so we put the pedal down. We had beam reaching and broad reaching conditions for most of the way from Bermuda to St Maarten and the last 3 to 4 days gave us steady winds in the mid 20s. We never pushed the boat hard but we managed to make the full passage from Newport in 9 days and 7 hours, arriving just after the last bridge opening on November 22nd.
At Jim’s suggestion we started to trail a lure at some point on the second day. We probably towed that lure for 1200 miles with no hint of a nibble when , on the final day and practically within site of Anguilla, we caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi. It was just large enough to provide double filets for each of us which we enjoyed at anchor outside Simpsons Bay just a few hours later. It was absolutely the freshest and most delicious fish I have ever tasted and we all enjoyed our welcome to St. Maarten feast which was ably prepared by Jim.
We sailed into Rubicon’s winter home the next morning where everyone chipped in to clean up the boat before we repaired to Jimbo’s for libations.
Thanks to Hank for the organization and to a fine crew for a wonderful passage
Peter Bourke
Laughing Lady – Swan 44 – 4 Finish crew
Laughing Lady left on friday with three crazy Finns on board who had a natural affinity for Swans and sailed a deep western route down to Hatteras and ultimately to St John, USVI. Tranquility took a similar route. It was a sleighride, ten days end-to-end, some 200 mile days, no damage to crew or boat, and a great time had by all. We all missed the fun and companionship of Bermuda, but after a full week of going stir-crazy on the dock and in the bars of Newport, when the window opened, we jumped through. In the interim, the crew took the boat to Block for a night mid-week just to have some time sailing.
The Finns had no fear of cold or seas, but might have been a little bolloxed by the spectre of the Gulf Stream. They had not sailed through it, and after a week of weather router threats, they could have feared huge monsters that would leap from the sea, grab the mast by the top, swing the boat around and deposit it in the Paleolithic era. Worse yet, Susan encouraged the western boats to hide in Norfolk until the weather cleared and we got the message on board just after we passed the Chesapeake entry.
Admittedly, it did get a bit bad near Hatteras. 40kts and a flogging #4 made for a heavy night. In the end, the sail whipped its clew off but all else was fine. And the Gulf was like last year, flatter than expected, and thankfully warmer.
Ten days to St John, a great trip, 30 gallons burned the whole way: a green trip for sure. Tracking the fleet by SPOT was a boon for all -- kudos to Theresa Hedleston for putting that together. Maybe next time we'll try putting in a reef.
Andy
Osprey – Oyster 53 – Skipper OPO members
Osprey left early. After talking with you Saturday morning on the fuel dock in Newport, I returned to NEB and got away from the dock at 1030, arrived at Beavertail at 1200 and began our voyage. Attached find voyage statistics.
for Newport to Bermuda leg.
10/30/2010 - We had prepped since Wednesday evening and were ready to go Saturday. We consulted various wx sources, including Susan, NWS, Acuweather, and Commanders WX with whom Osprey owner Tim McCarthy has an account. And we looked out the window and observed local conditions and tell tale signs in the clouds. As I told you on the fuel dock..... the frontal system manifesting itself looked far to good to miss. Commanders told us on Friday to leave ASAP, no later than Sat. afternoon, or we would have to wait a week for another window. Osprey owner Tim strongly recommended we leave ASAP. I liked what I saw in the sky and the stiff westerly breeze, so we left.
We motored from NEB in Portsmouth to Beavertail, where we set sail for what promised to be a spirited, lumpy ride with 30 to 35 out of the west and occasionally WSW. We deeply reefed main and put out about 1/3 genoa and thus canvased, hauled ass at about 7.8 to 9 knots with wind on our stbd. quarter. Seas got lumpier as we left the lee of RI. But the speed of the ride made it all seem worthwhile.
10/31 - We ran the rhumb line as recommended by Commanders. This route looked good to us as well. Gulf stream analysis showed rhumb line passing through east side of a warm eddy, promising a bit of a boost. This proved out at about 1.5+ knots on our stern speeding us on. Winds backed some to the SW requiring us to go east of the rhumb line. This did not hamper us.... in fact it may have helped us get even more of a boost as or SOG increased. That's why I sent the attached statistics and way points back to you guys in Newport.... thinking we found the best route for currents.
11/1 - And further down the rhumbline we hit the Gulf Stream's strongest current where it had a southeasterly set, which not only gave us a 2.5+ knot boost, but settled the seas. The NWesterly winds on the ESE setting current made for a lovely smooth ride. I felt like I found the Holy Grail of courses to BDA from Newport, at least at this time. Andrei cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast in the Stream!
- Winds backed somewhat forcing us to go more East of the rhumbline than I would have liked. But the winds sustained in the 20 to 30 range giving us good speed.
And Greg caught and cooked 3 Mahi Mahi along the way. Fine eatin'.
11/2 On the third day winds started to veer to the North giving our poleless boat little alternative than to go more West then we would have liked. Winds also lightened to 15 to 20... Winds continued to veer to NNE and we followed, sailing off the wind as much as possible yet keeping the genoa drawing clean air.
Our biggest mistake was waiting too long to jibe as winds continued to clock to the N and NE.... I waited until first light but should have jibed at midnight of the 3rd day. This added perhaps 10 or 15 miles or more to our through the water track and several hours to our voyage time.
11/3 - We contacted Bermuda Radio at about 0400 and they advised us that heavy traffic was scheduled for the the Narrows area near Town Cut between 0700 and 0800, so we turned on the engine to get in before this possibly delaying traffic. Thus I was denyed my ambition to sail all the way in to and through Town Cut from Bevertail.... Maybe next year.
We made fast at Customs Dock at 0530 on Wednesday 11/3. Cleared in and tied up to warf accross the canal from Ordinance Island.
We negotiated with several other boats and Bermuda Yacht Services and arranged berth for Osprey inside in the lee of Ordinance Island, on the south side with two other boats, GodSpeed and Cayanne, rafted up to us.
We holed up there and prepped for a predicted southerly gail that never really materialized. We also watched wx for track of TS Tomas which threatened Bermuda and our path to St. Maarten. He held station there until Monday, when we left with favorable wx predicted, passing town cut at 1200.
Our passage to St. Maarten was relatively uneventful with notherly winds on our starboard quarter. Greg caught a wahoo and made steaks, and he also caught a 15 lb. tuna which provided several dinners of sasheme (sp?) for us and which we shared with our neighbor crew on Cayanne while at Simpson Bay Marina.
We had left Bermuda, clearing the cut at 1200 on Monday, 11/8 with good NW winds at 25 knts. + kicking up seas to 8 to 10 feet or so, and enjoyed these conditions until Friday, 11/9 when winds subsided and we reluctantly motored for the last 26 hours, arriving in Simpson Bay at 1530 Saturday, 11/13 in time for the 1730 bridge opening. We tied up at Simpson Bay Marina at 1750.
Such was our voyage. I look forward to hearing from others.
I too leave on another delivery Sunday. Houston to Key West to St. Thomas on an Amel Super Maramu.
Wishing us both fair winds!
David
Rob Swain Sailing School – Beneteau 473 – Owner OPO Members
Hi Hank
Nice talking to you just south of Bermuda; tried on day 2 VHF but negative contact - you must have been on a Swan. You did another fine job, thanks for that. Hopefully run into you before Nov 1 2011. All the best, Rob.
Here's my recount:
Dep newport 0630 on Sat w/ Hank, Murray, Jon, and 3 others under sloppy conditions awaiting the offshre northerlies to kick in which they did and we were off skirting BI on a low broad reach pulling 8's. Paralleling the fleet going well west I decided to jink southeast to avoid a low off NJ and cross the GSC 40 miles west of rhumbline. GSC was a bit troublesome but completely manageable as we had jib alone with 8 kts vmg. Found a low to pass west of and got nicely catapaulted into Bermuda Wednesday morning. Equinox, Avocation and us shot pool and did shots at the Dinghy club and then started south the following day.
Enviable NW 25 kt conditions pushed us to Tortola until they ran out at latitude 19.8 N and we motored the rest of the way arriving Tuesday am. Best trip(s) ever - never jibed, never tacked,very little broken.
Stagger Lee
After many delays and crew changes Stagger Lee ended up leaving Newport on Saturday, November 13 after finally getting the green light from our weather router for a direct route. We left with 5 other boats who we were able to contact from time to time via VHF and e-mail. We encountered some rough seas for the first 2 1/2 days until we crossed the gulf stream. Several crew were feeling the conditions until the seas settled. We then had 3 days of very flat seas and motor sailed our way south. The weather was fantastic with clear sky and warm temps. Our crew of 5 was very well fed on the trip - we caught 3 good size Mahi Mahi and hooked into a giant White Marlin that snapped the line after a spectacular tail walk and a wild run across about 5 wave crests before breaking the line. On Friday Nov 19 the winds and seas picked up again. This time from the NE. We enjoyed great boat speed with just a reefed Jib - but the seas made life less than comfortable below deck. We arrived in Virgin Gorda on Monday morning Nov 22 at 3AM after a 9 day passage. We were greeted at the dock by the Leverick Bay dock cat, Pumpkin, who joined us for beers in the cockpit.
Jim Hedleston
Stagger Lee=
Tranquillite - Hylas 46 - 2 OPO members aboard
Hank. First, let me thank you for the effort you made in the initial posting of our trip through OPO. There were 15 responses and It took just a short time to identify and confirm our third crew. Then with your help I was able to make a last minute substitution and ended up with a dream crew! Experienced, talented, willing, hardworking and most important, they had wide time frames which made working with the weather possible. Thank you very much. They spoiled me rotten.
We departed Newport Friday Nov 5th at 2:20 with Laughing Lady. There was another boat tacking behind that we could not identify. We followed Susan’s “vicinity of” way points SW down the coast but somewhat further east as we were finding the seas manageable despite a few Buicks being sold ( mal de mare) as Hank calls it, spirits were high. Not a whimper from this great crew about bypassing Bermuda even though one had never been there.
At about 2:00 PM on Sunday near Chesapeake we made the turn S into the GS. We had by this time firmly made the decision to bypass Bermuda and felt good about getting South before the next front could arrive. The stream was a pussy cat. Some of the smoothest water we sailed in. Great call from Susan on that area.
We exited the GS Monday AM on a course of 206 and just gybed our way down with N wind 30-40s for a few days with 2-2.5 reefs in both sails 20 ft trailing seas. Wind began to moderate and shift favorably to more westerly on day 6. We made good S E progress for a couple days with some wing on wing. Day 8/9 was light winds shifting E under a high pressure ridge about (30 hrs under motor there) we picked up wind around Sombrero and went in under the 11:30 Bridge at Simpson Bay on Monday the 15th . So just about 10 days and just about 1650 Nm.
We are at C 36 in Simpson Bay and will be in and out all winter unless we decide to explore other marinas but I am very happy with the facilities, security and great service we are getting from IGY. 49 Steps from Jimbo’s tex mex bar. This Colorado boy feels right at home there.
In closing, let me reiterate that the success of this trip was entirely due to crew strength, time flexibility and talent. We not only didn’t break anything but arrived in port with several things fixed that were not perfect at departure! I had a retired plumber and electrician on board for 10 days. Do you think I got my monies worth from that! It doesn’t get any better than coaching your crew through disassembling the holding tank Y valves to clean and service them while you pop up for air! Anybody else have a crew person get on board with several pairs of latex gloves for cleaning and sewage work?
OLD CONSTRUCTION GUYS RULE!!!!!!!
What’s Up Doc – 47 foot custom Cat – 4 OPO members aboard
You may or may not want this report since I never got to Newport
We left Camden Maine on Friday the 28th at 13:00 with weather reports of 5 knots SE changing to 15 knots NW by late evening and then dropping to 8-10 knots by midnight. We were outside the lobster pots ( now at 250 foot depth) by dark and headed SE 132 miles straight for the Cape Cod canal a 21:000 with west winds at 15 K. Choppy short 5' seas from SE. Off Monhegan island, the weather reports were unchanged with winds dropping to 10 by midnight.. We were making 12 knots with full main and screecher and jib. Then the winds hit 17 k and we reefed and took in the screecher. By the time that was done we were at 25-30 knots and we reefed more. But one of the reef lines got caught on the spreader preventing a full triple reef. The screecher partially unfurled and we struggled in breaking seas to get her down and lashed. Two crew were seasick including me (first time in 15 years) from going below to bandage a cut on a crew and one incapacitated by hypothermia ( me). At 02:00 we were at 35-40 knots NW going 15-17 knots and getting bashed and leaking from several ports on the starboard side. Our port electric motor was not able to be turned on ( turns out the wire to the ignition switch had come loose but this was not discovered for a week. We had hooked a pot on the port dagger at 17:00 but shook her loose and figure the port motor failure had to do with this. With poor maneuvering and now 60 miles out from the canal with a looming lee shore if we moved in to Cape Cod bay, I decided to run outside the Cape giving a 20 mile set to the graveyard of the Atlantic. We did a dead down wind run with triple reef and no jib. We close hauled main in 40-45 knots with gusts to 50. All this is documented on my GPSANYPLACE site, which is like SPOT but gives speed and direction as well as location.
We were sailing at 17- 20 knots top speed was 22K. Fishing boats and gear were a worry at times and it turns out that one boat lost a crew by MOB and was not found. At daybreak we were past the wrist of the Cape and 20 miles out. We had lost the bow sprit which was dragging in the water. This was because the furling drum was left on the end of the end of the bow sprit without a spinnaker halyard supporting the sprit. This combined with the seas made too much bounce for the small cable holding the sprit to the pigeon striker.
This combined with the seas from the west and NW wind at 25-35 K made our points of sail Maryland, Nova Scotia or Bermuda The leaks would continue or worsen with anything but Bermuda. We could not contact Commanders Weather as our satellite phone Global star was down for yet more repairs). We had been talking to the Coast Guard for 2 hours and did not get an offshore weather report so did not want to continue on line to Bermuda. Coast Guard was asked to contact Boat US but no reply on that either. By mid morning we were 53 miles out from Provincetown. Boat US would not tow us as per the Coast Guard. (Nantucket Boat US said they were never contacted) The leaks had gotten to the electric panel and the transmitter on the VHF was shot. So on instruction from the Coast Guard we set off the EPIRB. An hour or two later the 110 foot Cutter Tybee showed up and towed us into Nantucket. After 4 or 5 passes to get the line to us. (One pass was within 3 feet!), we were towed into 15 foot steep waves at 7-10 knots.This took out our starboard tramp and sea anchor. We were transferred to a hip tow at 22:00 and taken to the Nantucket Basin Marina. Safe and secure at 01:00. The winds were too high for Nantucket Boat US to tow us to Falmouth On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but had an uneventful tow on Wednesday.
Lessons.
1:I should have done a day sail with the crew to practice reefing, furling jib changes, MOB and deployed sea anchor. I had planned to do this before the NARC But hey! this was just an easy coastal cruise to Newport and we could practice that on the way! More experience with the crew would have made me trust their skill more than I did. It takes a little time to figure out that guys know their stuff or don't. As it was I had only had a few hours with the most inexperience crew at the helm before the fan got hit.
2. I should have taken a scope patch at the start although I had not been seasick in 10 years I was the only person familiar with the boat and to put me out of commission was a problem even though we had two excellent crew both with more sea experience than me but I thought little to no experience on a boat like this - built as an ocean racer and converted to a cruiser when she became obsolete. When I finally put a patch on, it took 8 hours to kick in since my skin blood flow was so low ( I was pale). Usually they kick in in 2 hours. They are by far the most effective than any other drug but must be applied early or before the vertigo.
3. We should l have put to sea anchor instead of run. But no one on board had used one and we were in a shipping channel for a good part of the trip to the canal.. We bashed too long, fast and hard into the waves. Still would have been better to anchor and wait her out, figure out the motor problem, and/or had a shorter tow to a more accessible place.
4. We should have hove to for the furling. My inexperience in these temperatures made me think we could furl while under way as with summer racing in Maine- cold but not THAT cold! Temps in the low 30's with water temp in the low 40's was a far different to deal with than I had ever done. Fleece hats under hoods, fleece underwear and tops with foul weather gear did not stop the breakers from soaking me several times. putting me out fully for 4 hours and partially for another ten. This boat had been in 50 foot seas without having breaking waves on her deck but we had constant breaking waves in these seas.
5. Crew communication suffered from lack of experience together and my being out of commission. Orders and ideas were not heard or if heard were not confirmed. This was a two way failure. This is something I normally practice with crew during the maneuvers we did not have.
6. Never use Global Starr!!! My experience with Irridum has flawless. Global Starr was cheaper and of infinitely lesser value. It is NOT an emergency communication system!
7. Ask more forcefully with the Coast Guard to tow slower. At first she had asked if the speed was too fast and I said yes that 3-5 knots seemed good but I went back to bed and we did 7-10 all the way. Maybe they had to get back to the search and rescue for the MOB. They did a great job and took videos of the operation. I hope we can get them. They have tentatively said they will provide them.
8. It seemed that she had a large slick to stay in while under tow but in the dark this was hard to find. I don't know if there was a way to stay in it better. We would suddenly get into an almost calm, no bashing, condition for a minute and then get bashed again for most of the tow. Straight behind the boat was probably not the best spot. I suspect staying to port would have provided more protection with a NW wind and a W bearing.
She is now hauled in Falmouth awaiting $85k in repairs. Expensive lesson. But she will be a better boat and I a better sailor.
Maybe 2011!
Hi Hank,
We had a windy, but nice and fast crossing - 10 days to the USVI with
3 persons on-board.
As you remember, Laughing lady left Newport on Friday with the plan to
hug the coast SW and then head directly to Caribbean.
The first day windy and we had some sea sickness on-board. The hard
night was made easier by a dozen dolphins staying with the boat.
Second day was very nice and fast sailing with both jibs (Yankee and
stay-sail) and a full main. We did not feel like crossing the
Gulf-steam on that day, so we ended all the way to Cape Hatteras where
we had some rough time (40 knots, dark, damaged stay-sail, etc.). The
actual Gulf-stream crossing was mainly in daylight and much easier!
After that the challenge was to go east while keeping appropriate
latitude to maintain good wind (there was a low pressure North of us).
Steering close to downwind was heavy work for 3 guys, but luckily
Laughing lady has a nice autopilot. The boat speed was 8 knots and
life was good. We even got some fish with the line and lure you gave
us. During the last 24 hours the wind died down, so we ended motoring
in the end. The log showed 1700 miles.
Great trip. USVI was a paradise, but luckily we now have a nice winter
here in Finland - lot´s of snow and the sea has frozen).
My pictures (and Finnish story) can be found at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hansenit/sets/72157625326530321/
I am down-shifting, focusing to be a dad and sailor for sometime. If
you ever need a contact in Finland or a delivery skipper please do not
hesitate to contact me!
Thanks for organizing the event!
Best regards,
Harri
harri.hansen@gmail.com tel: +358 50 483 6594
Sea Witch - Pearson 53 – 2 OPO members aboard
You're probably at sea right now, I hope having a good ride from St. George's down to the Islands. I just now got home from our voyage aboard Sea Witch, from the Cape to St. John.
We had a long wx delay in Bermuda till Tomas cleared and that big low sent us nice westerlies. Would you believe we did the whole 1,480nm trip on Starboard tack??!! I did not think that was possible, but even south of Bermuda we had no tradewinds (due to the big low).
Thanks again for all your help with crew. I certainly learned the big advantage of OPO. Dennis Kerr worked out great on the trip down to Bermuda, but he then had to go back given our long delay. We then took on Bruce Johnson, who also worked out fine.
Hope you fetch St. Maarten soon, and have a wonderful winter in paradise.
Best,
Rick Meisner
2009 Rally ReCap: 31 boats in the 10th NARC Rally to the Caribbean
One way to extend your boating season and not pay winterizing and haul out costs is to sail to the Caribbean in the winter. Despite the economy, a record number of boats sailed south this past fall from our waters. However most of the crew in the 10th Annual North American Rally to the Caribbean, or NARC Rally, were helping owners get their boats south and were then flying home to jobs and family like the rest of us. Why so many boats this year? With no entry fee, but a small per head fee to pay for the socials, the fleet enjoyed discount dockage, four parties, free weather routing, waived head tax in Bermuda and a radio net. The Rally organizer, Offshore Passage Opportunities, also offers a free crew networking service and over twenty OPO members were sailing in the fleet. Rally participants can request extra crew for their offshore legs from a pool of OPO members who sail for free and often pay their own way to and from the boat.
Many boats in the rally were from Long Islands Sound including the Beneteau 461 Stagger Lee from Guilford CT, Belvedere Blue a Jeaneau 47 owned by New Yorker Nick Rebraca, and two Swans out of Huntington, Avocation a Swan 48 and Boonasta a Swan 57 to name a few. There were seven Swans this year as the rally started in 2000, when the delivery of the Swan Charter fleet, turned into an organized rally inviting all boats to join the annual fall migration from the Northeast US Coast to the Caribbean after the Caribbean 1500 left Newport and moved to Norfolk. This year there were also five boats from Canada and one Dutch entrant, the Swan 46 Blue Fin, and Fado Fado flying the Irish flag (and 18 kegs of beer) although the owner, Denis McCarthy, has been living in NYC for many years.
The fleet gathered at the Newport Yachting Center the last week in October. Dock master Chuck Moffat and crew did an outstanding job of accommodating the fleet while also getting ready to put the marina to bed for the winter. Social headquarters for the week was the Rhino Bar and Grille, steps away from the Yachting Center in downtown Newport. This year the fleet was able to depart on time after getting the go-ahead from local weather router Susan Gennett of RealWeather. Some boats made it to Bermuda in less than four days and on one tack. The Gulf Stream was tamer than the approach on day two. With a quick passage and no delay, the fleet enjoyed a long layover in Bermuda to work on their boats and enjoy the hospitality of the St. Georges Yacht & Dinghy Club.
The smaller boats that took longer to reach Bermuda had a rougher time as they were caught out the last day or two with bigger winds in to 20’s and low 30’s out of the southeast. Several boats hove to or deployed sea anchors or drogues to get some relief. Three boats had steering problems and the 42 foot Steel Ketch Rights of Man was thankful to get a long tow in from a large boat also heading to Bermuda.
Bermuda Radio and the Customs and Immigration folks in Bermuda spoil the expectations of North Americans as they are so accommodating and helpful to visitors arriving by sea. They even stamp sailors passports with a special “Arrived by Sea” stamp to commemorate ones passage. Bernie, the unofficial greeter would answer new arrivals questions and explain docking options. For the NARC Fleet that meant discount dockage down at the club for much needed showers, laundry and happy hour.
On Saturday the sailors were rewarded with a much appreciated “Dark-n-Stormy” party on the club balcony with the BBQ fired up and manned by Commodore Brian Oatley and the all-volunteer crew of the Dinghy Club. Sunday’s banquet was down below in the new (second year) “Polaris” Restaurant where owner and chef Abdul conjured up some of the freshest Fish & Chips ever, miraculously never ending as it was all you can eat.
For the first ten years the rally was designed to let boats linger in Bermuda if it was their first time visiting and they wanted to stay longer. However next year the organizers plan to host a final destination party in St. Martin in order to keep the fleet together on the second leg. If need be, boats can still elect to sail directly to the BVI if they wish. This year the second leg had the fleet divided into two fleets as some boats elected to stay longer and others decided to take advantage of a closing weather window and depart right after the “Gala Fish Fry” on Sunday. Those leaving early had strong east winds for two days making good time, but then had head winds for the next four or five days of the trip. Not the most pleasant tactics. One entrant Idunn, a Ted Hood 48 Motor sailor, had one pilot house port stove in by a wave and damaged her electronics. Luckily owners Julius & Mette Feinleib, are veteran circumnavigators and were able to handle this emergency with aplomb and on their own. They told the fleet they were going back to Bermuda for repairs and arrived in St. Martin two weeks after most of the fleet. The second fleet group on this leg had lighter winds. More than one boat needed, asked for and were accommodated with a fuel drop from other vessels.
The NARC Rally emphasizes that it is not a race since the boats are loaded with cruising gear, much of it newly installed and many of the crews sailing short handed. Racing encourages risk and delays reefing. However, put any two boats in the water heading the same general direction and you have a race. Line honors for both legs would have gone to the Hylas 54 Freestyle owned by newly retired Don Cody and ably crewed by his two sons Craig & Jim and friend Bob Small. On corrected time, if the rally kept track of such things, the winner would have been Tony Iacona from the very well sailed J-42 Affinity. Both Don and Tony can commiserate over that fact that there are no prizes for finishing first.
If you do not own a boat yet capable of making the passage south you can volunteer to help others sail south. If you have never been offshore before, or need fixed dates well in advance, you can also sign aboard a paid berth on a Swan in the NARC Rally. If you want to sail sooner there is a return trip from the Caribbean to Long Island Sound in May. Going along as crew is the best way to prepare yourself to take your own boat offshore one day and plan your own adventure.
Read all about it in the words of the Captains who participated in the 2009 NARC Rally.
