Publish Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Location: East Greenwich, Rhode Island
Coordinates: 41° 41.113′ N 71° 26.789′ W
After twelve days underway and 2026 nautical miles, we arrived safely in East Greenwich, Rhode Island yesterday afternoon. When we left Fajardo, Puerto Rico on Thursday, May 5 we didn’t know how far we would be able to go before the weather would stop us, but Mother Nature was quite accommodating, and we were able to reach our intended destination without stopping. It was definitely a voyage for our record books, and one that we will never forget. Here are some facts and milestones for the transit:
- Distance Traveled: 2026 nautical miles
- Transit Time: 11 days, 22 hours (286 hours)
- Fuel Consumed: ~810 gallons (2.5 mpg / 2.8 gph)
- Average Speed: 7.1 knots
- Maximum Speed: 11.2 knots (in the Gulf Stream near Florida)
- Minimum Speed: 3.8 knots (banging into head seas, tidal flow, and 25 knot wind near Long Island, New York)
- Largest Seas: 12-14′ swells (in Gulf Stream off the Carolina coast)
- Worst Seas: 5-7′ wind waves on the nose (off Long Island)
- Best Seas: Glassy flat calm (Exuma Sound in The Bahamas)
- Deepest Water: 26,000 feet (Puerto Rico Trench, north of Puerto Rico)
- Shallowest Water: 10 feet (Highborne Cut, The Bahamas)
- Highest Temperature: 90°F (Florida)
- Lowest Temperature: 58°F (Rhode Island)
- Scariest Moment: Crackling electronics, followed by simultaneous lightening bolt/thunder crack. Close call!
- Coolest Moment: Submarine surfacing 1/2 mile off our port side.
- Consumed 36 oranges, 3 pounds of carrots, and 4 pints of ice cream
- Began under an almost new moon; finished under a full moon.
Our boat and her systems performed flawlessly for the entire journey. This kind of voyage is a testament to the vision and workmanship of the folks at Nordhavn (not to mention Northern Lights, Trac, Furuno, and other systems providers). These boats are rock-solid platforms for extended blue-water cruising, and we are so happy to call her our home.
Kathryn’s provisioning was unbelievable, giving us outstanding meals and snacks every day, regardless of the conditions. When it was calm, we were able to grill; When it was rough, Kathryn had pre-prepared meals ready to microwave. We were never at the end of our supplies, or our tolerance for the journey — we could have kept going.
Having “trained” with a voyage like this, we look forward to the opportunity to cross the Atlantic or Pacific sometime in the next couple of years. We know we have the ship to do it, and we’re now convinced that we can do it. All we need are the time and money, which we are diligently working on. 🙂
Thanks for following along!
Great Post David; glad all went so well
David, as usual, it sounds like you have all the bases covered……..congrats!
Question: Do you ever do any deep sea fishing while underway……fresh tuna sounds real good on the grill?
Art
As always, you guys are my heroes! Great job! I just returned from a month in the Bahamas on OBAN-Nordhavn 62-35. ShipChannel cut north of Highborne is a deeper cut. Hope to see you soon.
Hi Art,
Funny you should ask about fishing. We have not yet done any fishing, but we’re finally preparing to do so. Kathryn recently gave me “The Cruiser’s Handbook of Fishing” by Scott and Wendy Bannerot, which is apparently the definitive source for cruising fishermen. I’m making my way through it, and we’re planning to get some entry-level equipment to start experimenting.
We have often enjoyed the catches of our fellow cruisers over the last couple of years. Their catches are usually so large that they’re happy to share with us (especially when we bring ice from our ice-maker — a rare commodity aboard most cruising sailboats). For fresh grilled mahi-mahi or spiny lobster I’ll bring bags of ice along. 🙂
I’ll let you know when we finally land our first catch!
David
Hi Besemers,
Not nearly enough ice cream! Ha! 😉
But seriously, welcome to land and congrats on an excellent voyage!! Great post, David!
Hopefully Ayla and Kathryn will be posting their thoughts. I’m sure many, like me, are curious as to their perspective too.
Jackie, Mike, Mitchell, and Anthony
Wow, what a great story David. Wwe will be talking soon about where and when. We need an excuse to do a field trip. Lets hear it from Kathryna dn Ayla.
Thankyou for the updates,that was a big one,now your ready for Panama to Tahiti,then on to NZ and Australia.Good stuff!!We are waiting for good sailing to head north from Auckland to Fiji,maybe late next week,unless the world ends saturday,HaHa.
I hope you come back down to Long Island this summer. Greenport is few hours away and nicer than Montauk. Godspeed, Ed W.