Except, it was November.
Being a warm water girl, I had not experienced cold sailing. I flew to Virginia and got to the marina late. Even in the dark, I loved SS Juno, a 44" Alden Cutter. Three of us left Virginia the next morning...the weather was in the 40's.
The Intracoastal was a pure joy. Our only worries were finding anchorage before dark and the optical illusions that the bridges give you going under them. (Oh yeah, and somehow ending up backwards in the Lock...was it MY fault the guy couldn't catch a line?!)
Little did I know it would be the Voyage of the dammed.
Researching a boat to buy is different than really knowing her. Being an unfamiliar boat to the Captain, he spent days prepping best he could and knew that the European past owner had done ocean crossings. But once we hit open ocean, everything that could go wrong did.
Starting with the other crew member spending the next 48 hours pucking.
NOAA had called for 3 to 6 feet with perfect winds. God had other plans. The waves turned 8 to 10 with a 10 foot swell that first night. The wind turned to be worse case scenario and 50 knot winds gusted for added excitement. First to go was the Weather Vain, an automatic pilot device for heavy weather. This meant taking 100 percent of the helm and the weight of every wave. I was too ramped to sleep so I took the first rotation: Midnight to 3am. I refused to look behind me again after seeing the moonlight light up a wave looming overhead. Even though I had 5 layers of clothing on top and 4 on bottom including my foul weather gear, by 3am I was absolutely freezing and exhausted. Finally, after singing every camp song I could remember from childhood at the top of my lungs, I just started to sob. Seasick crew mate Mathew awoke with courage enough to run thru the galley and to the fore cabin and wake the Captain. Once we changed shifts, safe in the galley, I peeled off my cloths and realized the real culprit. My brand new foul weather gear had failed; I was soaked to the bone with the freezing water.
When I returned, I had to make a list just to process all that had happened. Here it is:
Leave Virginia in the 40's
Mosquito's
Shower breaks
Weather Vane breaks
Takes on water, bilge every hour
Drop lock nut in water---that was me
End up backwards in the Lock---blamed on me
Dingy motors (2) do not work.
Brown water comes out of facets
Complete fog off Charleston
Found out LATER we were reading the radar wrong
Lightning
Tanker anchored 25 miles out
Motor Stops; help change fuel filter, bleed lines, get diesel only to discover we really just ran out of gas on the port side. (didn't I suggest that?)
Winds N/W. Our direction: N/W= bad combination for making progress
Rouge wave hits Shirish on watch; rips canvas and swamps deck.
Engine Blower Breaks
Propane emergency alarm keeps going off to read: Exposives! Danger!
Wind Generators not ready to be used
Storm hits nearing destination---can't see Chanel markers.
Marina cancelled our reservation
Moored the boat in a gale with a rapid current
My car is in sight with warm clean cloths but I can't get to it until morning.
Arrive in Florida to freak weather: Temperature in the 40's!
AND NO RUM.
A year later, Juno is a tip top sailing machine already in Italy. But for anyone who thinks sailing is only a vacation, you have not been on a passage. I thought long and hard about the maiden voyage before I made my decision to join them. Skyping from Italy one day, The Captain assured me the NOTHING like what happened to us on that first trip had happened again. I'll take my chances.
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