Colin, you've worked out a pretty good strategy. And it sounds like to you have also worked out that time schedules and weather windows don't always work together. I usually leave from the Newport area for the Caribbean, but if the weather is just not cooperating, I'll do exactly as you suggest, and even head down the ICW to Beaufort and leave from there if the mast is short enough. This tactica has worked well for me the past 3 decades of taking 2 or 3 boats south every year. I too was flabbergasted when I saw Bounty's track on the AIS last week. The result was almost inevitable.
On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 1:12 PM, Colin Kilgour <charliekilo...@gmail.com>wrote: > I've spent a lot of time thinking about it too, and I can't fathom the > logic. > > Getting into Norfolk or Hampton might have helped, but really they should > have bailed before getting that far south. They may not have had time to > get in there. I don't think the Delaware Bay would have offered much > safety either (it can be crappy in there even when the weather's good!)... > So really, you've got to head back to Long Island Sound, or even through > the Cape Cod Canal. > > Others have suggested heading east early, and that may have been helpful, > but as was pointed out, they didn't make any easting at all after Montauk. > Also, given the size of the storm, they would have had to sail pretty much > due east after leaving the sound in order to get clear. > > Given that they knew the hurricane was out there before they left, and > they knew it was heading their way. They should have, imo, waited... and > then if looked like New London was going to get hammered, spend your > remaining time making the boat secure. Then go to shore. > > -- > Having sailed offshore in this part of the Atlantic for 3 of the last 4 > Novembers, I'm finally refining my tactics. Increasingly, my preferred go > south strategy is to get at least as far south as Norfolk, then wait as > long as possible (ie: until you wake to ice on the dock). Then, on the > first weather window thereafter, get the hell out of there and across the > stream. Make a bunch of easting toward Bermuda, and then head south to the > Caribbean. > > It sucks when you're on this side of the stream in November, but once > you're across (after a chilly and lumpy 24 hours or so) it warms up > quickly. And the longer you wait, the calmer winds you'll get for the > passage south. > > My $0.02 > > Colin > > > > On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 9:41 PM, jtsails <jtsai...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> It seems from the course track that I have seen that may have been his >> intention, but it was a very poor decision! The area he sailed into has a >> strong gulf stream flow from Southwest to Northeast and the storm winds >> from the Northeast. The waves stack up and get very steep in even a mild >> Nor'easter, can't imagine what it was like out there at the time. There's a >> reason they call that area the "graveyard of the Atlantic". >> James >> S/V Delaney >> 1976 C&C 38 >> Oriental, NC >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Moriarty" <bobmo...@gmail.com> >> To: <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> >> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 9:22 PM >> >> Subject: Re: Stus-List HMS Bounty Abandoned - 2 Crew Missing at Sea. >> >> >> I wonder if the Captain was expecting to get through the Gulfstream >>> and then just turn right and deal with less-rough conditions. I have >>> no familiarity with that region. >>> Bob M >>> Ox 33-1 >>> Jax, FL >>> >>> ______________________________**_________________ >>> This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album >>> http://www.cncphotoalbum.com >>> CnC-List@cnc-list.com >>> >> >> >> ______________________________**_________________ >> This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album >> http://www.cncphotoalbum.com >> CnC-List@cnc-list.com >> > > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > > -- Andrew Burton 61 W Narragansett Ave Newport, RI USA 02840 http://sites.google.com/site/andrewburtonyachtservices/ phone +401 965 5260
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