Land NO!
The adventures of the Amel 50 and her crew have begun again. This time we are pointing the boat north for her first trip to the United States.
Yesterday after a couple of final swims, provisioning, and safety checks we unfurled the sails and raced away under the steady press of moderate easterly trade winds. Beam reaching at 8kts is always fun and as the day faded so did the high mountains of the USVI. In short order the call was made “Land NO!” and it won’t be until New York harbor that “Land HO!” is likely to be heard.
We’ve now sailed this fine ship from Europe and across the Atlantic. Through the Caribbean and it is exciting to be pointing for “home.” We have quickly fallen into the rhythm of the sea. Big breakfasts, card games, and naps for lunch. Listening to music and slowly reading books while the boat does most of the work.
The generator rumbles to life around 1700 and we fill our water tanks and battery banks. Somebody takes the lead on making dinner while the rest of the team squares away their personal items and prepares for the night’s structured watches.
For this trip, we’ve elected to go with short three-hour solo watches. With four of us onboard we easily make it from sunset to sunrise, with the first watch getting the afterglow of sunset and the last two watches getting to see the dawn’s early light and sunrise. It’s only the middle watches that get to see shooting stars, moonrises, and the constellations transit the sky. Because each watch is unique and FOMO is real, we rotate every night, advancing one watch per night. Everyone will likely get to sail each watch twice.
The sailing is impressive. As I write this we’re still making 7kts; directly at the target, with only 12kts of wind. We sail on the main and jib alone, but I secretly yearn for a Code Zero or an A3 to lean on. That would go against the grain of the ease that this boat affords. I think twice about it and instead, enjoy the simplicity the set-up allows. KEEP IT SIMPLE SAILOR! The sails can be trimmed and reefed from the friendly confines of the cozy cockpit. I chuckle to think that in more than 8 months of sailing this boat I’ve never had to put on my fancy foul weather gear. Not once.
We know in this part of the world that the weather will change. Maybe it’s all we know. Our forecast shows a finger of high pressure working across our course overnight and into tomorrow. That will likely mean we’ll be motor sailing for a while - but the white noise of the purring Volvo also means we’ll have full water tanks, hot showers, and plenty of juice to power the ship and all our stuff. I am not so secretly hoping we get a calm noon tomorrow for a deep ocean swim. The chart shows we’re in 18000’ of water—perfect for a swim in that blue water. That color can only be seen out here and it’s worth the price of admission.
That light patch will be short-lived and the prevailing S/SWly winds should fill and take us to the Gulf Stream. It may get a bit trickier as the timing of a cold front could make where and when we cross the stream a critical decision. But that remains 800 miles away. There’s time to think it through.