My Sailing Trip Begins

On November 6th, I started my round-the-world retirement cruise on SOULMATES with friends Perry Burgess and Andrew Graham when we sailed from New Rochelle, N.Y., to Florida. The non-stop 860-mile trip took five-and-three-quarters days.

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Just after noon, we departed western end of Long Island Sound, rode the ebb tide through Hell Gate, down the East River past the iconic New York City skyline, through New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty, and then pointed the bow south. 

The weather window couldn’t have been better as the whole East Coast of the USA was getting record breaking warm temperatures in the 70s; though, we did have less wind than was forecast. We saw all conditions and the boat performed perfectly. The only gear failure was the shackle holding the mainsail clew ring to the outhaul car, which was quickly fix with a spare. 

The sportiest part of the trip was crossing the Gulf Stream after passing Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras at 12:30 am on Nov. 9th. We had sailed and motorsailed for 350 miles to reach Cape Hatteras. Luckily, the wind stayed light for three hours after we passed Cape Hatteras, known as the “Graveyard of the North Atlantic.” Instead of battling big seas, went around the feared waypoint under power on a calm sea and a bright moon. 

 Since the forecast called for the wind to build to 20 knots, with gusts to 30, after midnight, I set our UK Sailmakers Hydranet Radial main with a single reef once the breeze started to fill. While the wind was still moderate, we raised the jib and shut down the engine. As the breeze built, I took down the jib. It wasn’t too long after that we tucked in the second reef in the early morning darkness. The maneuver went smoothly since we had practiced reefing the weekend before setting out. 

Florida Route
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At one point we had to jibe, which must be done carefully on SOULMATES as the boom is 20-feet long and the main is very powerful. One of the modifications I made to the boat during the three-year preparatory refit was to move the running backstays to the transom so that we could tack and jibe under the runners when the main has at least one reef. Even so, in the dark with the wind near 20 knots, we performed a “chicken jibe,” which is where you tack instead of jibe. The resulting turn is 270 degrees. This maneuver allows the boom to cross the boat without being whipped across.

As the sun came up, the breeze continued to build. We were screaming downwind on a broad reach surfing on the waves that grew to 10 feet. Even with a double-reefed main only, we hit a record speed for the boat of 17.7 knots. I thanked the boat’s designer Rodger Martin as we never buried the bow. Rodger designed the boat with reserve buoyancy in front of the mast above the waterline. One time it almost happened, but the foredeck never scooped green water.

That day I had to steer the boat for 15 hours straight as neither Perry, Andrew nor the auto pilot could keep the boat under control in those conditions. As the wind moderated, Perry took over and drove the boat well. She got her confidence and became a solid shipmate. 

The wind was much more moderate when we crossed back across the Stream as we headed west to Cape Canaveral; in fact, we flew the Code Zero to have enough speed to overcome the three-knot of north-flowing current. 

In the end we resorted to engine as the wind died off. We arrived at Cape Canaveral all safe and successfully completing our non-stop passage. It was my first ocean passage on SOULMATES and she proved to be a great sea boat and I am looking forward to many more broad reaches across board oceans. 

Adam Loory
Adam Loory

Adam Loory is a lifetime sailor, who worked as the General Manager of UK Sailmakers International for 34 years. He is based in Port Chester, NY and regularly sails his custom Rodger Martin-designed 40-footer Soulmates on the Long Island Sound.

Articles: 28

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