Let me tell you, after going through that. I never want to do it again. But we have 8 more days to go…
We left Hampton and the weather was amazing. There was this beautiful parade of boats, everyone leaving at once. Lots of radio chatter. It was fun.
The first 24 hours were perfect sailing. Calm seas, good winds, the stuff you dream of when you sail! we got through the Gulf Stream with no problems at all…
Then it all went to shit . The next 72 hours were terrible. HUGE waves, some of them crashing over the helm station. Strong winds mostly 25+ gusting to 30-35. At one point gusting above 40.
Squalls, rain storms, waves. It was just not fun. I think I slept an average 1-2 hours each night. I kept waking up and checking on the people who were at the helm.
The boat did good overall. We only broke a few small things.
Other boats did not fair so well. Broken booms, broken windows, etc etc.
Our weather router was telling us that it would die down and we’d have to motor for 4-5 days!!! So that was very frustrating. We were debating a detour to Bermuda… Then he said “You need to get 520 miles in 72 hours or you’ll get hit by another big front”
That sealed it for us. We went to Bermuda.
So we’re here in Bermuda. It’s been so nice to have land, somewhere to eat. I slept like a rock last night.
I can definitely say I do not ever want to do a passage like this again.