First Big Jump Offshore

Georgetown, Maine to Onset, Massachusetts

October 6 & 7, 2022 

I was on my way out of Robinhood in Georgetown, ME  around 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon and just getting into the Sheepscot River heading for points south when I got a phone call. It was the crew member I had hoped was going to join me for the balance of the trip down to Annapolis. Turned out he could go! I did a quick turnabout and headed back to the mooring I just left. This was very exciting news. With another crew member we could do the longer offshore legs and make the portion of the journey down to the Chesapeake Bay in much less time. It isn’t that the schedule itself is particular important, but having  good weather and wind line up within the needs of the route you plan to sail is. We had such a window and now we could capitalize on it. 

Craig and his family came aboard Rejoice Tuesday night to have a look and talk a bit about the boat and our plans. We then said goodby to his lovely wife and daughter who bravely rowed ashore in the dark and Craig and I prepared for an early morning departure timed to make good the west running current in the Cape Cod Canal. We’d be sailing all day and through the night to be at the eastern entrance of the canal for the start of the Ebb tide at 0818 the next morning. The current runs at 5 knots, so if we missed it going in our direction we’d have to sit it out and wait for the next one twelve hours later. We could either be shot through the canal like a pea through a straw or be at full power making no way with no steerage. It was an easy choice and a critical one if we wanted to stay in synch with favorable wind and weather forecasts for the next several legs that followed.

The Weather and Why Not Many Pictures!

Without crushing you with a bunch of weather gobbledygook, our route from Georgetown to the Cape Cod Canal was under the influence of a high pressure system to the northwest and a low pressure system to the southeast. The winds rotate clockwise around a high in the northern hemisphere, and counterclockwise around a low. The result of those merging airflows for our time offshore was to be a strong northeast wind. We’re a sailboat heading south so good for us. A wind in the other direction would most likely have mean endless long tacks back and forth or motoring into a strong headwind and big seas. Neither option is optimal. The wind was forecast to be strong and gusty, 15 to 25 knots with seas running in the 5 to 9 foot range during the day, but diminish through the night to 10 to 20 knots and seas 4 to 7 feet. What we actually got though were winds out of the north at 21 to 27 knots from almost start to finish and cross seas 7 to 10 feet coming from multiple directions. Likely the seas were being influenced by left-overs of hurricane Ian that were still slowly churning south of Cape Cod. It was a very bumpy ride. The good news was that we configured the sail plan early during the day with a double reefed mainsail and the staysail. That configuration kept us at a stead 6.5 to 7.5 knots, relatively flat, and completely in control with gusts approaching 30 knots. The sea state was such that it overpowered the autopilot and we had to hand steer the boat. It was tiring managing the boat downwind, getting pushed around by the seas, and using the magnetic compass as our only heading reference in the dark. Both of us collapsed in a heap after our three hour rotations at the helm.

I really like being offshore at night even when things are a little challenging. There was a warm front nearby and there were brilliant flashes of lightning that just lit up the night’s overcast sky. Turns out seabirds were circling the boat too that appeared as apparitions, like dark moving spots in the night flying past the bow. It wasn’t until, they appeared in the glow of the white stern light that I realized what they were. I’ve seen bioluminescence at night at sea before, but amazed by its brilliance every time. With every collision with a wave large glowing spots would appear in our wake. The only really sporty exercises we had that night were two very windy and lumpy jibes. We were sailing as close to downwind as we could and our original course was wonderful till around 1:00 in the morning when the wind turned more northerly, taking us farther out to sea and east of Cape Cod. We needed to pass our stern through the wind to establish a westerly heading to be in a position to jibe again in Cape Cod Bay for the final run to the canal entrance. The wind was blowing 25 and we took care to brief the maneuver before making any quick head movements. Both jibes went without a hitch and were completely anticlimactic, thankfully so. 

Though it was still foggy and rainy, we were both encouraged when darkness finally gave over to the muted grey light of early morning and our last tack brought us close to the Massachusetts shoreline. We made the turn towards the canal and motor sailed downwind to reach it arriving at its entrance only 30 minutes after the ebb tide started. 

We were happy campers to finally be in the canal and watch our speed over the ground accelerate with the strong current to over 10 knots. We were doubly happy when we reached the other side no longer having to make good a time based on the tide. We were through and well positioned for the next leg to Block Island, RI the next day. We made the short trip to Onset, MA from the canal’s western exit and picked up a mooring at Safe Harbor Marina shortly thereafter looking forward to a real meal and an uninterrupted, full nights rest.

Vegetables Onboard

After several days offshore on a previous passage Craig, being a healthy eater, asked the skipper if had any vegetables onboard. With a grimace, the skipper tossed him a can of Pringles Potato Chips and said, ”Here are your vegetables!” We enjoyed a quick vegetable catch-up once on the hook in Onset.

All total, we covered 213.8 nm in 27 hours and still had 30 gallons of fuel out of 37 available after securing the engine. It was an exciting experience and a good first big sail offshore. On to Block Island!