What a Way to Go! Our Passage North Along the Gulf Stream

Something we never thought we’d say… Panta Rhei is in America! Read on for details of our passage from the Bahamas along the Gulf Stream to Beaufort, North Carolina… a total distance of 762 nautical miles, our longest passage yet. It took us 6 days and 6 nights, and there was lots of (mis)adventures to be had! Read on for details & pics.

Day 1: Friday, May 13

Ready to depart the Bahamas with full provisioning, water, and fuel, we lifted anchor at 7:30 AM and were waved goodbye by Jack and Julia from SV Vesna. After spending two months with SV Vesna, it was hard to say goodbye; but we are so thankful for all of our shared experiences and wish them the best as they venture south to Guatemala! Leaving at high tide, we successfully navigated the extra shallow sections of Harbour Island and made our way out of the cut. Exiting the cut into open North Atlantic Ocean was an exciting experience for sure! Swells and breaking waves were on either side of our boat, as the reef was on one side and the land on the other… a tight squeeze. Even though we were beating bow-first into these huge swells our speed was increasing due to the strength of the current. Usually, our boat would slow right down in these conditions, so it was a weird experience seeing the speed pick up! We had radio communications with Jack up until we were about 20 nautical miles (nm) away from the anchorage. It was nice to know our friends had our back, as they would relay weather information (especially reassuring since we seemed to be surrounded by rain and thunderstorms when leaving Eleuthera). We lost VHF contact with Jack just as we had to enter an unavoidable squall – our first of many this trip, unbeknownst to us

at the time. This wasn’t the first squall we’ve found ourselves sailing in during our time aboard, but it was definitely the one with the most lightning strikes around us. The closest strike had a 2-second interval until crashing thunder sounded… so it was about 620 metres from our boat… AHHHHHH! Thankfully we were spared from the wrath of Zeus, and weathered the storm without incident. After exiting the squall, fishing lines went back in the water and Paul caught a skipjack tuna! We were rewarded with perfectly flat seas after enduring the squall and enjoyed fresh skipjack tuna & jalapeño ceviche for dinner. By 10:00 this evening, the winds picked up in such intensity that we needed to drop our mainsail and furl our headsail; even with these modifications, we were still sailing with speeds up to 7.0 knots overnight.

Day 2: Saturday, May 14

By sunrise, the winds had calmed down and eventually disappeared into a light breeze around 8:00 AM. This was our first instance of needing to bring out the iron

genoa, the sturdy Yanmar diesel 55hp inboard engine. Much to our chagrin, we discovered that the shackle which attaches the headsail to the furling mechanism had lost its pin sometime during the night sail… so no more headsail until we find a solution. For lunch we enjoyed spectacular (I can find no other adjective) bluefin tuna melts, with coke and ice from our new to us freezer (thanks for the gift, Jack!) At 2:45 PM, we were 35nm away from the approximate axis of the Gulf Stream and started to see speeds slowly climb on our ‘Speed Over Ground’ (SOG) gauge. The Gulf Stream has about 2.5 knots of northbound current, so it was a huge help to us on this trip.

165.5nm down, and 584nm to go! Wooo! Once we cleared the last of the Bahamian islands – Grand Bahama – the winds started to pick up as we entered the waters of the Florida Straight. We plan on hitting the axis of the Gulf Stream at approximately 10:00 PM this evening.

Day 3: Sunday, May 15

We experienced our second thunderstorm of the trip at 4:30 AM this morning – of course it has to happen in the dark! We went down to the cabin for a warmer and drier experience versus sitting in the cockpit getting drenched. Surprising to no one, this was a much more comfortable way to endure the storm… why haven’t we done this before?! After the squall passed, it was back to a windless and calm motoring experience along the Gulf Stream. Paul took the opportunity to fix the headsail shackle, by using a bolt to replace the pin. This afternoon we spent about an hour with a pod of over a dozen spotted dolphins! They played along the bow of the boat, jumping, flipping, and slapping their tails on the water. There was even one baby with the group,

and the adorable-ness factor was through the roof! During today’s fishing, Paul caught and released two barracuda and caught one ‘mystery fish’ that snapped his 40lb casting rod completely in half… By 5:15 PM, we were 317nm into the trip and had 422nm to go. Finally, late this evening we were able to turn off the engine and sail on a lovely beam reach with very little swells. Paul caught a beautiful Mahi-Mahi after dinner! The ocean must’ve been pleased with our sacrificial broken rod earlier in the day… how it gives and takes away.

The beginning of our night sail was lovely on a broad reach with very little swell. We enjoyed seeing a full moon and it was a welcome sight to see no thunderstorms on the horizon. Definitely spoke too soon on that one however, as we got absolutely pounded by a storm at 2:40 AM. Talk about a shitshow! With lightning fast approaching, we dropped the mainsail and started the engine. As we motorsailed with a reefed headsail, we began to notice an odd clicking noise coming from the engine compartment down below in the cabin. Shortly after, the revs from the engine were alternating in speed even though the same throttle was being applied. Within moments… the engine failed. Second AHHHHHH of the trip! The storm hit us, but our reefed headsail kept us on track. We stayed in the cabin down below and watched the lightning flashes through our portholes. Paul tried adding fuel, changing the fuel filter, bleeding air from the fuel line, but nothing seemed to work to start the engine again. We suffered through the squall without electricity (no engine = no alternator) and were dependent on our small headsail to keep us on track. After the squall passed and the inevitable drop in winds occurred, we raised the mainsail around 4:00 AM and locked the helm in irons until the winds picked up.

Day 4: Monday, May 16

What. A. Day. We ‘woke up’ (that’s a very generous way to put it) to our mainsail beginning to pick up the slightest amount of wind around 5:30 AM. I jumped up, untied the bungee, and started to hand steer. Thankfully the sun came up about an hour later and we were about to turn on auto-pilot with solar power charging the batteries. Both Paul and I racked out in the cockpit for a few hours, and then I skipped while the wind continued to slowly climb. Our plans were all over the place today as we tried to decide what made the most sense going forward. Our engine didn’t work, but we had tons of water and food, so time spent away from port wasn’t an issue in that way. We decided that we’d head for the closest port of Jacksonville, Florida (about 70nm away) and call for a tow once we were closer to the inlet. Unfortunately, the winds were not in our favour and we would’ve had to tack back and forth – and with the Gulf Stream current, that really slowed us down when heading south. Our next plan was to follow the winds we had and just continue heading north; this time, to Beaufort, South Carolina. We figured that either way – between Jacksonville or Beaufort – we’d still be spending one night hand-steering without battery power (no engine, no alternator) so we might as well take advantage of the winds. Well, the winds lasted about two hours and then piddled away to nothing! Literally, I mean nothing! Our boat sat pretty much in the same spot for about three hours. Overall distance travelled in 5 hours was about 11 nautical miles. Usually, we’d travel that much distance in less than 2 hours. Taking advantage of that time (being near completely still on the water) Paul tried again to troubleshoot what was going on with the engine. We knew it had to be something fuel related, because the motor would turn over when we tried to start it, but just wouldn’t start. Paul tried swapping out the other fuel filters on a ‘hot swap’ system, but neither of them were functioning. He then disassembled the spare room (emptying it of all our equipment) to get to the fuel tank. Directly at the tank, there’s an emergency fuel disconnect which was goopy and clogged. Paul took another hose from the fuel tank to the fuel filters, bled the system, and presto! Our engine came back to life! I was so incredibly relieved, there may have been tears of joy. We put everything back together, feeling relief to be able to depend on our engine once more, especially during night sailing. Course set for our original destination: Beaufort, North Carolina! Beaufort or bust!! We’ve got about 322nm to go, and honestly, we’re not in much of a rush to get there. Conserving our remaining ~140L of diesel is now a priority. Highlights of the day that didn’t include joyously crying over diesel engines were having our spotted dolphins return to visit us, plus a visit by a huge loggerhead turtle right up to our boat. The turtle must’ve been about 3 metres long, and came right up to the transom three times – very curious! Paul also caught his second Mahi-Mahi of the trip, a big bull that got chopped up and went right into the freezer. This evening we had a beautiful night sail. There were absolutely zero clouds in the sky accompanied by a near full moon (waning 97%). Mother Nature finally took it easy on us and gave us our first night without thunderstorms! There was another equipment breakage over the night sail – the outhaul / shackle that attaches our main sail to the boom broke. It was a quick fix as we started the engine (hoorah!), turned into wind, and reefed the mainsail at its first reef. No big problem until we can buy a replacement part in Beaufort, we’ll just have a slightly smaller mainsail in the meantime.

Day 5: Tuesday, May 17

This morning our speeds picked up and we saw 7.5 knots on our SOG – back in the Gulf Stream. Speeds kept up and SW winds were in our favour as we continued on a broad reach up to Beaufort, NC. By 9:30 AM we had travelled 507nm and have 232nm left to go. The usual calm arrived in the late afternoon where we were forced the motor; thankfully we were still in the Gulf Stream which added about a 2-knot boost to our overall speed. Just as we thought we’ve seen it all, in the late afternoon the winds and waves shifted to the NNE – directly in the direction we were trying to go! We needed to bear away and motorsail close hauled to get off the Gulf Stream as soon as possible. This added some extra miles to our overall trip but we needed to get closer to the coast both for safety – N winds and waves can be dangerous on the Gulf Stream, as it opposes the strong northbound current – and just in case our diesel supplies needed replenishing and help from shore. At 10:20 PM we saw a gorgeous blood-red moon rising into a night spotted with stars (and free of thunderstorms!) 184nm left to Beaufort… almost there. We had a wonderful overnight passage; it was a motor show since the conditions were so calm, but it was a nice change to no longer be beating into the waves as the winds shifted to the SW.

Day 6: Wednesday, May 18

This morning as winds started picking up, Paul fixed the issue with our mainsail. The connection point between the bottom of the sail and the end of the boom had broken; we ended up using one of our reef lines to act as a reconnection point. Voila! Full main! We held a great heading to Beaufort on a beam reach with near zero swells. It hardly felt like we were even moving, yet our speeds stayed consistent around 5.0 knots. Paul caught two fish within one hour in the early afternoon today – a blackfin tuna and a Spanish mackerel! It’s a good thing we were gifted a freezer since we added these huge catches to our already massive stash of Mahi-Mahi. By 1:30 PM, the winds started dying on us and at speeds of 2.5 knots, we started the engine once again. We’re trying to ration out our remaining diesel supplies; with 114nm left to go to Beaufort, we’re hoping we can make it without needed to call either another private vessel or the Coast Guard for assistance / diesel drop-off. Fingers crossed our fuel-consumption calculations are correct, and that the winds pick up again this evening. We had superb blackfin tuna melts for lunch – YUM! As we were enjoying our sandwiches, yet another blackfin tuna was caught on the hand reel. Success! Around 6:30 PM, the winds picked up enough to give the engine a break. We were running downwind with a ‘barn door’ sail configuration; the mainsail held out to one side of the boat, and the headsail attached to a spinnaker pole holding it out to the other side. This way, both sails are ‘flat’ and are maximizing the amount of wind they can catch while sailing downwind. We’re looking forward to our last night sail this evening, with only 87.8nm of travel remaining just as the sunset. At 8:00 PM, Paul caught his last fish of the day; you guessed it, ANOTHER tuna! We had an awesome night sail this evening, sailing downwind with speeds from 5.5 to 6.5 knots the whole night through.

Day 7: Thursday, May 19

So close to Beaufort! We had excellent winds which held the whole night through, and into the morning as well. Paul put out his fishing lines at 6:30 AM and caught his fifth tuna of the trip pretty much immediately. We were able to sail the remaining approx. 50nm to the entrance of the Beaufort channel. There were no issues entering the inlet as we motorsailed in with a rising tide, the currents in our favour. We anchored Panta Rhei in the Beaufort town anchorage, and took the dinghy in to check out the waterfront. A super cute, coastal, tourist town, Beaufort had tons to see and many opportunities for us to spend cash we may have saved while on the boat for almost a week! Check-in via online customs was completed, laundry done, (free) water refilled for the tanks, and diesel topped up. We even had some time to shop along the waterfront, and visited a local brewery called Fishtowne Brew House. Looking forward to an early evening tonight as we continue to make our way north tomorrow morning! Now that we’ve arrived in Beaufort, we’ll be transiting northbound along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW) until we reach Norfolk, Virginia. We’ll travel a distance of about 224nm, mostly motoring, as we make our way along rivers, creeks, and sounds. Two main reasons that we’ve chosen to transit this section of the AICW: one, to avoid an offshore passage around Cape Hatteras which is a notoriously treacherous section of coastline to navigate (Google it if you have time!) Secondly, to enjoy some different scenery, meet some American cruisers, and nom the local food! We’ll be sure to keep in touch once we’ve arrived in Norfolk, and will share our AICW experiences before departing for the Chesapeake Bay (ultimate destination pre-Halifax being the Big Apple!)

Thanks so much for checking in on us, and we hope you enjoyed reading about our (mis)adventures along the Gulf Stream. Take care!

Cheers,

Paul & Toni