Beaufort, North Carolina, to Nanny Cay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

November 16-November 30, 2022

By the numbers:

• 1489 miles traveled

• 138 hours of engine run time

• 48 gallons of diesel burned

• 14 nights at sea

• 12 hours hove to 

• 4.6 knots average boat speed

• 5 cockpit showers for each of us

• 4 dolphins sighted 

• 1 bird stowaway

• 0 fish caught

Calypso’s first successful long passage (as Calypso anyway) is in the books! The last time we did more than a night offshore was in 1996 when we crossed the Caribbean Sea, from Venezuela to St Croix. Though Jeremy and I have helped friends cross the Atlantic on their boat, this was the longest passage for us as just the 2 of us; I’m happy to report we did just fine despite some challenging weather.

Our biggest worry before we left had been the weather. The North Atlantic in winter is not a simple body of water to traverse. Between fronts and gales coming off the US East coast or down from Canada, and possible tropical systems still stubbornly trying to form in the Caribbean, there’s a lot to keep an eye on as you travel 14 degrees of latitude and 12 of longitude. 

We prefer to sail when possible. Comfortably ghosting along at 3 knots is usually just fine with us. But this passage, particularly early on? We felt a bit like we were being chased by demons we couldn’t see, and the engine was on regularly to boost our speed. It never occurred to us we might run out of wind later in the passage, when our easting was all made; the general idea generally is that once you get to about 65 longitude you can crack off and head south, riding the trades down to the islands. Not for us!

The 2 hardest weather obstacles we overcame were kind of polar opposites. There was the strong wind and big seas section 5 days in, when we had to heave to for 12 hours because the seas were just so uncomfortable and potentially gear-breaking. (Bent solar panel supports on the boomkin are all we found.) And then there was the 4 days of essentially no wind at the end of the passage, when we kept being told (by weather forecasts from numerous sources) that the trades were just 30 miles south of where we were. For 4 days. There are lessons to be learned from both of these weather obstacles. Stay tuned! We decided the trades are a myth; they finally filled in the morning after we cleared into the BVI to give us a wonderful sail from Soper’s Hole up to Nanny Cay.

When we left Beaufort, our destination had been St. Martin. Why did we crack off and head to the BVI? The winds (when we had them) would have definitely allowed for so much easting. Pretty much it was because the kids are flying in to join us for Christmas, and the BVI offers a lot of really fun cruising and easy sailing. It didn’t hurt that we haven’t been here for 30 years and wanted to see it again! St. Martin, for us, feels like more of a land explore spot. A stock up spot. A rest stop on the way to other cruising grounds. 

So the BVI it is. Pinch me. We made it!