[This first blog post is adapted from the daily updates Jill sent to our worried families as we made our first blue water passage — qualifying us for the Ocean Cruising Club — from Annapolis to St. Thomas, USVI.]
Day #1 update
Greetings from S/V Che Figata on Day 1 of our voyage down South. So far we’ve had a largely uneventful “sail” (in quotes because we are really motor sailing at the moment), though we did have some heavy winds with gusts up to 25 mph over night. It made for some real rocking and rolling! We are headed to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (ETA 2 PM ET) where we intend to refuel and set sail, hopefully without a stop, to St. Thomas. Right now the ETA is next Thursday but that could change based on weather patterns and what that does to our route.
In less than a day we have settled into a nice routine. For those interested, here is our watch schedule subject to change at my whim — after all, I am the admiral. (All times repeat AM & PM): Our unflappable captain, Dan Valoppi: 9 – 12; Zack: 12 – 3; Jill: 3 – 6 and Mano: 6 – 9.
But more important than the watch schedule is what we are eating. I am pleased to report that no one will go hungry this trip. For breakfast we have overnight oats, steel cut oats, eggs, frozen breakfast sandwiches, and avocado toast. For lunches we have assorted cold cuts and cheeses as well as a variety of frozen burritos, wraps, etc. And for snacks we have nut mixes and chocolate galore! But I am most proud of our dinner menu. Just because we are sailing for ~12 days straight doesn’t mean that we don’t have to eat well. For those who might be tempted to join us for a future passage, here’s the dinner menu:
Menu for Passage
- Monday: lentil soup
- Tuesday: caramelized onions & lentils
- Wednesday: pasta with zucchini, garlic & tomato (Italian sausage will be added for the non-vegans — which would be everyone but me!)
- Thursday: Sweet and sour eggplant with Kung pao cauliflower appetizer
- Friday: caramelized shallots pasta (again, with Italian sausage for the non-vegans)
- Saturday: Black bean and sweet potato chili, dressed with sour cream, cheese, cilantro and avocado
- Sunday: Ethiopian lentil stew with brown rice (a Hummel family favorite)
- Monday: tofu surprise #1 (many options like coconut soy and green peas)
- Tuesday: lentil soup (this is not ordinary lentil soup. Thick with lentils and rich with onions and garlic I add a variety of herbs and spices including Berbere, Curry and herbs de Provence . Yum! We had the first batch last night with multi-grain bread and it received rave reviews!)
- Wednesday: pesto pasta (garlic, basil and pine nuts)
- Thursday: tofu surprise #2
Unfortunately, there are no wine pairings. This is a dry voyage.
Remember, you can watch our progress on Marine Traffic. Just Google “Che Figata Marine Traffic” and we pop right up!
Day #2 update
We are now very much off shore with connectivity only via our satellite connection which we need to use sparingly. No excitement to report — that is a good thing. Mostly calm seas and we are almost across the Gulf Stream. Once that happens we can head South and hoist the sails, taking advantage of Easterly winds. In the meantime, we are mostly motor sailing. We did toss out a fishing line this morning and caught a tuna but the tuna got away. (Really!) No sushi tonight! Drats!
And, we are all still getting along — still smiling like the picture sent yesterday. (Well, the captain wasn’t smiling because he has a very important and serious job of keeping the rest of this crew safe.) Hopefully, the good spirits will last for the next approx. 10 days notwithstanding our unusual sleep patterns. My contribution to that good spirits goal (as you probably guessed) is keeping the crew well fed. I won’t speak for all men but some men I have spent a lot of time with get grumpy on an empty stomach. More tomorrow!
Day #3 update
At the start let me assure all that the crew of S/V Che Figata is happy, well and safe. We continue to enjoy the beautiful night time skies, void of light pollution, and had a wonderful escort of 20+ porpoises yesterday afternoon riding the wake from our bow. Zack got some great videos that we can send when we aren’t reliant on satellite. And last, but not least, having successfully crossed the Gulf Stream we are sailing! The motor is shut down and we are enjoying the soothing sounds of the waves as we cut through the water at the grand speed of 4 – 6 knots. We still hope to arrive at St.Thomas by next Thursday.
That said, I can’t decide if the theme of Day #3 is “Are we there yet” or “That will be another bruise.” As we entered the open ocean the wind and waves have definitely picked up. It is hard to get from point A to point B in the interior of a sailboat when you are in 6 foot seas — hence the bruises that we are wearing like badges of honor. Slight sea sickness has also set in but the Dramamine works well. In a day we will be adjusted so that will be a thing of the past. But, as I started this note, despite the discomforts, we remain in great spirits, safe and happy to be experiencing this voyage together. Hopefully, that will hold for Day #4!
Day #4 update
Greetings from the crew of the S/V Che Figata! Day 4 and we seem to have gotten our sea legs. Those of us (Jill and Mano) who experienced mild queasiness have recovered and we have settled into a consistent watch pattern. We still haven’t quite figured out how to stop banging into things so the bruises — none serious but some in interesting places — continue to mount. Most importantly we all still like each other though I did have a moment with Zack just before I started typing this update when I was drenched with a wall of salt water that entered in through the window of the dodger that he opened to get air. Of course, it came straight for me! I will be rinsing off in the shower right after sending this note.
There are a few highlights from our last update. First, the crew continues to eat well. Last night we enjoyed sweet and sour eggplant with homemade garlics chips as an entree with Kung Pao cauliflower as an appetizer. (Note to my dad since I had shared the Kung Pao recipe with him — I ended up increasing the honey from 2 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons and that did the trick. Such a great recipe.). Second, we had another porpoise escort with a lively pod joining us for a portion of the day late yesterday. And, finally, 2 crew members — Zack and Dan — got to see the “flash of green light.” Supposedly, when the sunsets on the ocean, there is this sudden flash of green light just as it dips below the horizon. They had heard about it but hadn’t seen it personally. Well, last night while I was below deck preparing dinner, they saw it. I accused them of seeing too many Men in Black movies because all I could think about was the green flashily thing the way they described it but, truth be told, it was just sour grapes that I didn’t see it as well. Whatever I am doing I will be sure to be above deck for sunset for the remainder of the trip.
The weather has been cooperating with winds in the 10-15 knot range for the last day and a half. Looks like it is going to pick up tomorrow so we will have another day of high seas and more bruises for sure.
P.S. We are getting the news twice a day so we are aware what’s happening with the election results. We know that many of you have very strong views on both side of the election and are probably feeling the same anxiety that we are right now. I hope our light and frivolous updates not only assure you that we are happy, well and safe but also provide a nice distraction from the news of the day. We are actually glad we have limited access.
Day #5 update
Hard to believe it is day 5 and we have passed the halfway point. We have definitely all adjusted to life at sea and are in a really nice rhythm. You do your watch and then you eat when you can and sleep when you can. Due to the watch schedule we are all up and about at different times but we do tend to come together at dinner time which is nice. Other than that we are either reading or watching movies, or sometimes both. Oh, and I almost forgot the competitive game of backgammon between Mano and Dan. (Dan won this time but there will be a rematch!) Plenty of things to do to pass the time.
Now that we are in this rhythm, there’s a certain tranquility that has set in. There is something about being in an ocean with no land or other boats in sight. We all like the feeling of remoteness and the connection with nature. Of course, tranquility is a relative term. It is not exactly tranquil when there are high seas and winds — we have definitely experienced periods of a wild ride — but I think we will all most remember the quiet times and star gazing. Lots of opportunity for peaceful reflection. (And, again, a nice antidote to what’s happening back home with the election).
To my dismay, no green flash of light during yesterday’s sunset and I came up from the galley so I wouldn’t miss it. We still have at least 5 more nights so hopefully Mano and I will be able to validate Zack’s and Dan’s sighting. We don’t want to have to call in question what they saw or why they saw it. That’s it for today!
Day #6 Update
Greetings from N27*57’ & W66*16’. [Note: there is no degree symbol on the iPad — at least not that I was able to find — so the asterisk was a convenient substitute]. I realized that in all of my updates, I never really told you (with any precision anyway) where we are so I thought that I would start today with our coordinates. For those who don’t feel like looking at the coordinates on a map you can easily visualize where we are if you draw a straight line on a map from Bermuda to the Eastern tip of Cuba. If you then divide that line into thirds with dots we are just to the southwest of the mark closest to Cuba
I learned a very valuable lesson yesterday: never taunt the weather and wind gods by speaking of tranquility at sea. They don’t like that and will seek revenge. By dinner time last night the winds were back in the 20 knot range with gusts up to 25 and the occasional squall. If you wonder what that feels like, imagine a virtual reality ride. The kind you go into that looks like a movie theatre and when the movie starts the theatre moves up and down with some sudden jerks to make you feel like you are on that plane or roller coaster. Now imagine getting sprayed by salt water while on that ride. For those of you who have never experienced a virtual reality ride, picture yourself in a front loading washing machine but instead of the washer spinning all the way around, it just spins a quarter turn, constantly. And, again, don’t forget the water — it is a washing machine after all — though instead of soap the water is filled with salt. If you can visualize either one of those you have a very good sense of exactly what it is like to be sailing on S/V Che Figata and you saved yourself an 10 – 14 day passage. Needless to say, the bruises continue to mount!
Other than the weather which continues today, yesterday was relatively uneventful. As I have said before, that is a GOOD thing. We slept, we read, we took turns on watch and we ate well. We did have a flying fish sighting which was very cool. The excitement for today is that it is shower day! Zack used our water maker to fill the water tanks and ran the generator to heat up some water. If you tried to visualize what it’s like to be sailing now (re-read the second paragraph above) you can understand that showers are tricky but after being covered in salt water they are worth the effort. That’s a wrap!
Day #7 update
So hard to fathom that this is day #7 at sea. (Okay, bad pun, but it is hard to wrap your head around. Like many situations involving the passage of time, it both feels like we left yesterday from Annapolis and that we left an eternity ago.)
I realize that I may have created some unnecessary angst with my wave and wind update yesterday. It is true that the wind is kicking and the waves are responding accordingly, but these are precisely the conditions that Che Figata was built for. Though she served us well in the Long Island Sound, she was not fulfilling her potential there. So, at the risk of personifying our beloved Che Figata, she is happiest doing exactly what she is doing now: delivering her crew safely after a fairly typical ocean passage. She will be rewarded with a stem to stern cleaning after we arrive in St. Thomas (there is salt water everywhere!) and we will open up a nice bottle of champagne and drink to her honor during the celebratory dinner we are planning for Friday night — and we do plan to be celebrating. Only 480 nautical miles to go and we cover about 140 nautical miles a day. Hopefully, that eases any concerns!
We are all learning a lot during this passage. So glad we have Captain Dan along. I am learning many basics that, quite frankly, I should have known and would have know if I wasn’t always working while we were out sailing and Zack is definitely fine tuning his sailing and weather routing skills. Mano is just taking all of this in and really appreciates understanding all the goes into setting a sailing route. It is not just about the shortest distance from point A to point B but includes analysis of weather, wind patterns, current, etc. There is a real science to it so the route is very specific to the trip though it can be adjusted while underway based on changing conditions.
My favorite part of having Captain Dan along though, aside from the security of having a true expert on board who has sailed thousands of miles, is learning important sailing terms like “Seahab.” Zack and I have decided we are no longer in retirement but seahab. I find that particularly fitting as someone who has long referred to herself as a “recovering attorney.” Question: “What does a recovering attorney do when she retires?” Answer: “She goes into seahab”. [Insert canned laughter.] And, by the way, with the days becoming somewhat monotonous, this is the way we entertain ourselves. (Believe it or not, this is not alcohol induced. This is a dry passage.) Not sure anyone is going to want to spend time with us following this passage.
That’s it for today. In the words of two of my favorite NPR personalities (the Car Talk brothers), you’ve just wasted another perfectly good 5 – 10 minutes of your time reading the musings of a crew member after the onset of ennui.
PS: Yes, as you can tell, the trip is finally getting to Jill—addition by Cap’n Zack
Day # 8 update
We are now at N15*52” by W56*58. If you draw a straight line from Bermuda to the USVI we are not quite 2/3 of the way towards the USVI. The wind and waves continue to kick and we are now sailing at a really nice clip — it varies, of course, but we are averaging about 7 knots per hours. BTW, this is why these passages take so long. Imagine driving from New York to Florida at 10 MPH. (Not an exact apples to apples comparison from a speed perspective but close enough for these purposes.) Che Figata is a displacement hull which means no matter how favorable the winds and seas are or, if we are motoring, how high we rev the engine, we cannot exceed our top speed of about 10 knots. (Those of you who have been on a sailboat before know that you may only be sailing at 7 knots but you feel like you are flying. Especially in these conditions.)
Of course, the length of the passage is also impacted by the route. So on your trip to Florida, further imagine that you have to take a detour or two because a portion of the highway is closed due to construction, taking you miles out of your way. That’s what we encounter when we need to change our desired course due to weather or wind conditions. All that said, we are still on track to arrive at Sapphire Beach Marina on Thursday (November 12). We were thinking it may be very late on Thursday (after dark in which case we were planning on dropping an anchor for the night so we arrive at the marina in daylight on Friday) but now it is looking like we may get there earlier in the day on Thursday. (And there I go tempting the weather gods again!).
Have I mentioned that the days are monotonous? Every day feels like ground hog day. Same wind, same waves, same bad jokes, another black and blue mark to add to the collection. We are now at the point where we all feel like that kid in the back seat asking “are we there yet?” Even Dan, our professional, is ready to be at our destination though that may be more a function of his crew than anything else. (He isn’t saying.). As miserable as I am probably making this sound though, we are all enjoying the experience. Really! Certainly not in the same way that you might enjoy a stay at a nice resort but in the way you might enjoy a really strenuous, multi-day hike, to a beautiful vista. Sure you test yourself and push your limits but there is a reward at the end and, as I mentioned before, lots of time for personal reflection. Sometimes being forced to slow down, both literally and metaphorically, is a good thing.
I think that’s a wrap for today. Have a great Tuesday and the slap happy crew of the S/V Che Figata will be back at you tomorrow with the Day #9 update. (Given my dribble, I have a hunch you will all be more relieved when our voyage is over than we will be. I am waiting to see how long it takes for one of you to suggest that I forego my plans to start a blog!)
Revised Day #8 update
As I have acknowledged, I have so much to learn and my report on the coordinates is a great example of that. I read the coordinates for our cursor position and NOT where our boat is. My physical description was correct — I can read a map — but the coordinates where wrong. (Wish I could say I did that as a test to see how many of you are looking at a chart following our updates but, alas, my nose would grow!). At any rate, we are actually at N23*42” by W65*20’. More tomorrow!
Day #9 Update
Greetings to all! Day #9 and we are getting so close to our destination we can almost taste it. Assuming no unexpected changes in weather, wind patterns, etc., it looks like we should arrive on St. Thomas late tomorrow morning. After some refueling (or “splashing some fuel” as Dan calls it — I just love sail talk), we should be on the dock by lunch time or early afternoon the latest! Yay! Expect the Day #10 update to come out tomorrow afternoon with a gin & tonic in hand.
As the days have gone on we have had no relief from the waves and wind. Unfortunately the waves, while no bigger, are now hitting us broadside which made for our most uncomfortable night yet. Very difficult to sleep when you are being tossed from side to side with often sudden, hard, jerks. But we all catch cat naps throughout the day when we can.
When we are not reading (I have now finished three books), Mano and I often spend our time talking about our respective experiences in the business world — we have covered everything from cognitive biases and behavioral economics to what makes a good leader and comparing notes on our worst and best managers. We don’t agree on everything and we have not solved world hunger but we are definitely aligned on how important it is to take a long break and regain perspective. Of course, this is the conclusion we reach at the end of every discussion (and there have been many) which, unfortunately for Zack and Dan, adds to the monotony of the trip. Zack feels that these continued discussions serve as just one more piece of evidence that I am in desperate need of seahab.
Really nothing else to report. As I have said before, despite the discomforts we remain in good spirits and safe. We continue to appreciate being so close to nature — the evening sky never gets old! While I can safely say that Mano, Zack and I would not sign up to do another one of these within the next few weeks, this is definitely not one of those “check that box,” once in a lifetime, experiences. Of course, Dan does this for a living so he long ago crossed that line but for the rest of us this was a new and wondrous experience and one we now intend to do again.
With love from the “almost there” crew of the S/V Che Figata, Dan, Mano, Zack & Jill
P.S. Sending birthday love to Aline who has a birthday tomorrow!
Day #10 Update.
We arrived! After ~ 9 days at sea (and 10 days after leaving Annapolis), we arrived safely at Sapphire Beach Marina on St. Thomas. Though we left Annapolis the evening of Monday, November 2, the true sea leg started when we left the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at Cape Henry ~207 hours before we docked at Sapphire Beach. Of those hours, we only motored 43 hours. I have no basis of comparison but, according to Dan, that is quite impressive. Not sure what else he would have expected from this crew (I was only slightly insulted he seemed so surprised) though, in full disclosure, the constant wind did help.
Aside from the bruises, which are truly plentiful (and just for the record, I win the contest for not only the most bruises but also for the bruises which include the most colors of the rainbow), we arrived totally unscathed. In fact the most dangerous part of this journey — and not for us but for our beloved S/V Che Figata — was docking. First, you must enter the marina through a very narrow channel with imposing rocks on each side and then you have to make a sharp right turn into the marina and do a pirouette with a 60,000 lb 56’ boat (62’ if you include dinghy and bow sprit) so that you can enter, bow first, into the narrowest of docks. As with many things in life, the rewards are directly related to the degree of difficulty. Below is a picture of the view from our “front porch.” Still, it was a little harrowing even with the help of a professional who has done this many, many times. It will take Zack and me a while to get up the courage to leave the dock and sail around the islands, moving from one beautiful secluded anchorage to another, as is the plan.
With the passage under our belt, today is cleaning day aboard S/V Che Figata. She is quite a mess inside and out. Before leaving I was under the impression that I would be keeping the interior clean with some daily maintenance and my weekly vacuum, mopping and dusting. Ha! So while we all did our best to keep the boat from becoming a floating frat house, with waves up to 14 feet (have you ever seen a wall of water coming towards you and then feel the motion when that wall of water hits you broadside?), the constant rocking motion and water splashing in on us, including into the salon from the companionway, it quickly became evident that I was not going to win the cleaning battle and had to accept that our usual spotless ship was just going to look “lived in” until after our arrival. Those of you who know me well know how hard that was for me but I did get over it. We will celebrate, of course, throughout the day — the marina greeted us with a few six packs of beer, we have a cold Veuve Clicquot Brut in the refrigerator and I will be serving up my awesome gin & tonics — but the real celebration will be tomorrow night when everything is back the way it should be, Dan’s girlfriend Nichole arrives, and we head out for a really nice meal and libations!
So that’s it for the maiden sea passage of the S/V Che Figata and most of its crew. (In full disclosure, the S/V Che Figata has done this trip before, with Dan, but that was when she was named S/V Dharma). I don’t want to close this note by getting too mushy but I do have to share with you that though you didn’t know it you were all here with us in spirit. You are part of our fiber and hardly an hour passed when one of you didn’t come up in some story — all good. Whether it was stories about the Manhasset crew team, our granddaughter, the significant others who were not on board with us, our wonderful kids, siblings and parents, you were with us and writing our updates to you became a favorite pastime during the voyage.
Love to you all from the unscathed (mostly), totally grateful and awe-struck crew of the S/V Che Figata, Dan, Mano, Zack & Jill
Epilogue
Today marks the 2 week anniversary of our arrival at St. Thomas. The significance of that anniversary on Thanksgiving is not lost on us. (More on that later.) Following the adage that no story is complete without an epilogue, I thought it would be fitting to write ours today. Many of you have asked what life is like now that we are “settled” and what’s next as we enter this new chapter.
I will start this epilogue by sharing something I once heard at a women’s leadership conference. The speaker was talking about the duality of our lives — what we project or our “FaceBook” selves and how we really feel or our “Google” selves. On FB, or more commonly now, Instagram, we post happy pictures of us celebrating with friends or enjoying exotic locations while our Google selves ask questions like “how do I know if my husband is cheating on me” or “when will I start exhibiting symptoms if I was exposed to COVID.” Of course, both are authenticate — it’s just a question of what we choose to share and we generally choose to share our happy moments rather than our anxieties.
Our current lives are no different. Though I am still working (my last day is finally and truly November 30th – yay!), we have found time to walk the beautiful Sapphire Beach, lay and read by the pool (I am now on book #4) and discover fabulous restaurants on both St. Thomas and St. John. We have both posted pictures from some of these moments on Instagram. But our “Google” selves are wondering why our freezer/refrigerator is broken again (creating an “ice” crisis) when we had major repair work done on it ($$$$$) just before we left CT and what that funny fuel smell is emanating from the AC in our master cabin. We have shifted from a belief that on a boat “most things work most of the time” to the belief that “some things work some of the time.” [Post script: Zack just found the cause of the smell — a leaking fuel tank for the dinghy. He now has a clean up project. He wondered what we were going to do today before our afternoon Zoom calls — head to the pool or go to Coki beach for some snorkeling — and now he knows! Thankfully, we stockpiled on Dawn detergent before we left for our voyage.]
In terms of what’s next, we had planned to sail around the USVI and BVI once I don’t have to be tethered to the dock for work. Unfortunately, the BVI remains closed. While the BVI is opening on a limited basis on December 1 it is not opening to cruisers. The only way to enter the BVI is to enter by plane on Beef Island, take a COVID test on landing and quarantine in an “approved” resort location for 4 days and submit to another test. And the BVI is very serious about its rules. We have heard about one cruiser (who happens to be a good friend of our skipper and was sailing down to the USVI just a few days behind us) who inadvertently crossed into the BVI territorial waters, had his sailboat impounded and had to pay a $20,000 fine to release his vessel. Needless to say, while we still plan to explore the USVI we will be hugging the coast lines tightly and, for now, the BVI is off limits. Fortunately, there are so many wonderful coves with sandy beaches and excellent snorkeling within the USVI to explore so we won’t get bored and, of course, there is always the repair and maintenance work to do that we are learning will be constant!
All of that said, we are not complaining and remain grateful — which brings me back to my opening paragraph. We are thankful for amazing careers that have allowed us to do this, for supportive and loving families who miss us but understand our need to live this dream, for children who warm my heart by asking me for their favorite recipes as they prepare for Thanksgiving this year, for being in a place where we can easily socially distance and there is a constant breeze, reducing the risk of COVID exposure, that our families and close friends have remained healthy throughout the pandemic and for the promise of an effective COVID vaccine that gives us hope that all our lives will return to something that resembles our former “normal” and we will be able to begin our circumnavigation in January 2022 — a year later than we planned but something we put in the category of “mere nuisance” in the broad scheme of things.
We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you take pause today to think about what you are grateful for. For those we will connect with later today via Zoom, we can’t wait!!!!
