Close your eyes and imagine all the romantic notions you have about sailing.
Then take a big bucket of salt water and throw it in your face. Do that over and over again for about 6 hours. That was our passage from Chatham to Vineyard Haven.
As any smart sailor does, we checked the tides in advance with the Eldridge guide and the wind on our SailFlow app. We knew we were in for a crappy ride, but we had a long leg planned for Monday (Vineyard Haven to Block Island) and that day the wind was going to be perfect. So we decided to go for it, figuring we might have to run the engine the whole way, but at least we would make some progress and be in a good place for setting off early Monday morning.
We got up at 5am, to a beautiful, calm, morning that was fairly warm—low 60s. We had fried eggs, pre-made some salami and cheese sandwiches, and fired up the engine. We left the Stage Harbor mooring behind and found ourselves officially underway at 6:24 just as the sky was filling with the first light.
We made it through Chatham Roads without trouble even though we were motoring against the tide. It was slow going, but I was still comfortable in just my hoodie and regular pants. We reached the “bush buoy” at 6:54am, visibility was good (9 miles) and it was 64 and cloudy.
Then things started to get rocky. We were fighting the tide and the current. The chop in the water seemed to be coming from multiple directions, so we would go up and over some waves, and then we would roll side to side in between. At one point we were only traveling about 1-2 knots. The wind meter read 35-45 knots and it was directly in our face! I kept thinking that once the tide changed things would get better (spoiler alert, they did not get much better!).
With so much sea spray hitting us in the face, it was tempting to go down below where it was (mostly) dry and warm. But down below the rocking sensation was amplified so much that I could only stand a few moments. I went down to note the passing of Bishops and Clerks at 10am and then again to get into my foul weather gear, and that was it for the rest of the ride! No hot tea, no pre-made sandwiches, no notes in the ship’s log, and definitely no attempts to use the head.
After Bishops and Clerks we raised the headsail and attempted to motor sail tacking back and forth at an angle to the wind. But it was adding so much time that Joe decided to lower the sail and just return to motoring into the wind. As uncomfortable as it was going over the waves and getting repeatedly splashed in the face with salt water, it was not horrible and the foul weather gear kept us pretty much dry and warm. I just kept thinking, the boat was built for this and as choppy as it is, these swells are really not that high.
The only times I was really anxious was when Joe was up at the bow raising (and then later lowering and making up) the head sail, and I was back at the helm trying to keep us on course. A few of the swells were such that as we crested up over them, I could only see sky beyond Joe and the ship’s bow. Then we would come crashing down and I would see tons of sea spray and pray to God that Joe had not fallen onto the deck or worse—overboard! But he returned to the stern totally fine, albeit a bit seasick. If you’ve been boating before you know that the roughest ride is in front and the smoothest ride is in the back. So Joe was feeling 10x what I was feeling when he was up making up the headsail. Ugh!
Eventually the tide did turn in our favor, as tides always do. It didn’t help with the wind or the waves, but it did help with our speed over ground. We were finally traveling at about 7 knots and Martha’s Vineyard came into view. Joe took over at the helm and guided us on a bit of a tack back and forth to take some of the sting out of the choppy seas.
Once we got past the shoals (which are shallower areas that create extra waves and choppiness) the seas laid down a bit and we finally starting slicing through the water at a level plane. The wind was still in our faces, but the tide was with us and we were no longer fetching from side to side.
We entered Vineyard Haven at about 1:40 pm. We were wet and chilly and I could not get my hands dry (salt water never dries). I had called the harbormaster on Saturday about getting a mooring for the night, but once we arrived in the harbor there was no answer at the harbormaster’s phone line! We tried a couple of other places and after 30 minutes of idling around the harbor we managed to get ahold of an awesome dude named Brook over at Black Dog Wharf via VHF. We tied up at the pier at about 2:16.
This worked out much better than a mooring, because we were able to get a hot shower and do some laundry. We cleaned up the boat and started making plans for an afternoon walk around town and early dinner. Joe just wanted to check all the engine systems first, and top off the gas and the oil.
When I returned from the shower, all fresh and renewed, I realized that those plans of a leisurely afternoon and evening were not going to happen. The engine was leaking oil and Joe was determined to figure out how, why, and where the oil leak was coming from before we were going to go anywhere!
Note: I will be adding more pictures later so be sure to come back!
