A summary of around Cape Cod - an epic sail

I wrote a lot of entries in the live blog during our sail this past couple of days. Rather than rewriting (not my strength) I will post pictures and let them tell the story.

We left Boston at 6:35pm on Thursday 9/11/14 and headed east. The wind was predicted to follow us and make for great conditions. It did not disappoint.

 Leaving Boston

After we left Boston we sailed SE with the wind initially from the SW. The wind turned to come from the north and assisted us all the way. Of course most of this was at night. But on Friday morning we were welcomed to a new day with a great sunrise. Rudy and I were both in the cockpit covered in blankets as it was getting chilly by 5am.  But once the sun rose we warmed up quickly.

After we rounded the tip of Cape Cod ee headed south on the east side of Cape Cod mostly on a dead run. Near Chatham we were sailing on reefed mainsail alone. True winds were 25kts and the seas were building. It was glorious. We had a little trepidation about passing through the Pollack Rip Channel since we know it can be tough. However, we were to learn that was the easy part - today.

We gybed the main and it tore. The gybe was perfectly executed, we can only imagine that the sail life is over. We have put 10,000 miles on the boat and we take her out about 90 times a year. Probably the biggest wear and tear feature is the reefing into the mast. She has been a good sail. I called Yolande before I posted on the blog about this as I didn't want to hear from someone else or just to read it. Later she called back telling me we already had quotes and that Doyle sails would be able to help us quickly.

When the sail tore we quickly turned up into the wind and rode the bucking bronco. Rudy gallantly went out on deck, we unreefed and dropped the sail and used a dock line to tie it to the boom. See beneath.

With the situation now well under control we entered Pollack Rip Channel. Fortunately for us the conditions in the channel were perfect.

Here is the sandy beech as we passed through the channel

Once we had navigated through the channel we used autopilot to control our direction and determined if we could improvise another sail for the main. We have a 90% jib and we tried all sorts of configurations. Here you can see the sail hoisted with the toping lift, the tack attached to the deck with an improvised shackle attachment, and the clew attached to a block on the stern cleat using an old halyard that was relayed to the cabin top winch. Without cutting the length of the sail we couldn't get the luff sufficiently tight. Consequently we tried a couple of other configurations. In one of them we used the electric winch to raise the sail. It blew the fuses for all the electrics. Now remember, we are on autopilot, have hardly slept and are getting physically tired. We quickly scurried around, hand steered, sorted the fuses out and took stock of the situation. We decided that although there were other things we could try, we were getting tired and only making a poor situation worse. So we decided to sail with the 135% genoa only. It turned out to be a great decision - she is a work horse.

 Rudy checking if the new main is helping - it wasn't.

 Here is the torn main in the saloon. At one point we had three sails down there. In addition to the torn mainsail we had the spinnaker and the 90% jib sail.

I went beneath and checked my tides and currents in Open CPN - after this trip I am a convert to this software - and we estimated we had until 7pm to get through the Woods Hole channel. Its not possible to fight against that current in a sailboat. So now we were focussed on the shortest safest journey and trimming our sail (singular) perfectly. We put the spinnaker on the deck ready for action in case we needed to try to get an extra knot or two, stowed the 90% jibsail. After sails were put away we decided it was time for an IPA and to put the fishing rod out. Soon thereafter we caught a nice bluefish which became our fresh dinner in Buzzards Bay. Things were looking up!

We made good time and managed to get the current in WoodsHole. Here is a buoy in the channel, as any of you know who have transited the Hole, we were close to slack current. We made it 10s of minutes before it turned against us.

The northern edge of the Hole

 Looking back through the Hole

Sunset in Buzzards bay, still sailing.

We entered the Cape Cod Canal and did a steady 10 knots. Because the wind was low we decided that once past the Cape Cod Canal that we would anchor and sleep. Were we surprised, it was like a different climate when we arrived. The wind was from the NE and sending rollers in from the Atlantic. We close haul sailed up the MA coast and the wind grew and grew. Yolande's previous repairs of the 135% genoa held well (thank goodness). At one point in the night Rudy noticed that the waves were pulling the spinnaker out of the bag. He went on deck, recovered it and brought it back to the cockpit. As we were getting it into the safety of the cockpit a big wave hit and we both (Rudy more than I) got a full frontal shot of sea water. Thank goodness for our all weather gear.

A great vision at night was the sea water breaking and spraying over the bow and the red and green running lights making the water those colors.

Yolande and Rochelle made lee clothes for a previous trip. They worked beautifully in these conditions. We both managed to get some sleep while close hauled in 6 foot seas with 25kts of wind.

Here is one of our lee cloths installed on our starboard couch. It is fantastic. If you don't have one and sail overnight you need to make one. Well worth the effort. I know someone who can make them, or give you the plans.

The cockpit of Prairie Gold was the wettest I have experienced. Even with Dodger and Bimini we had water coming in with every wave. But we kept laughing and smiling and making comments such as "isn't this great", "this is life". I think we are both going to get checked out at the local clinic this week :)

In the early morning we hit 10,000 nm on Prairie Gold. Pity Yolande wasn't with us, but then again I imagine she was glad to be home warm and dry.

Once we had returned to Boston, cleaned up, slept, oh and slept again we took a look at the mainsail on Sunday.  Oops! Our order is being placed with Doyle Sails tomorrow and hoping for a fast manufacture so that we can get out and enjoy more journeys on Prairie Gold.

This can be classified as an epic journey, one I am glad to have taken. Its been my dream to do this trip non-stop. Rudy is a great person to sail with. He is a good friend, and very knowledgeable and calm in difficult situations. Its nice to have someone like that to share laughs, fears and fun times.

Stay tuned - we intend to bring Kalue down from Maine to Boston in late October (I am taking better clothing this time) which will be Phil and Rudy's great adventure Chapter 3. We are also planning a trip next year in which we have to break 200nm. This trip was only 197 nm. Any ideas for destinations? Nova Scotia? New York? Block Island on the outside returning through the canal? Anyone interested in joining us? Are you that crazy?

Time for bed as I am still tired.