Ep 122 Why a Bluewater Boat? Big Weather St Thomas to Bermuda

The difference between a dedicated bluewater boat and lightweight charter type boat becomes clear (again) as we leave St Thomas for Bermuda. Although the whole passage wasn’t like this (but could have been), leaving under 35-40 knot winds and huge swells once again reinforced the decision to buy an oceangoing hull that was designed for this sort of abuse.

From the planning side, insurance wanted us out of their Tropical Storm (Hurricane) Zone between June 1st and November 15th, so our choices were to go south to Grenada or north to somewhere above Cape Hatteras. We eventually decided on Annapolis, Maryland, well up the Chesapeake Bay. But first we’d have to sail 950 nautical miles to Bermuda, and this is what we’ll see here. It’s a major offshore passage.

But we do pay the price for our adventurous departure, and that comes when the wind finally dies a day and a half from Bermuda. We knew this was coming, as we’d been forced to choose the “least worst” departure date. The Azores High had been elongated for the previous month, extending all the way to the US coastline north of the Bahamas, and we were hoping against hope that it might move north along with us, but such hopes were dashed as we approached the island. Eventually we fell back on the iron genny to get us through the final glassy miles of the central Atlantic, finally arriving in St George’s after 6 days on the water. Such is life in the cruising world.

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