Sailing to a Schedule

Sailors and schedules don’t mix.

Except (and this is controversial, I know) we’re all on some kind of a schedule. It might be tight (we needed to be back in the US by June 1 to make Bee’s graduation last year, for example) or looser (the “best” time to sail offshore from the US to the Caribbean is early November, during the historic shoulder seasons between hurricane risk and fierce winter northers) but really, there’s some kind of schedule in all we do.

Whether you agree with me or not, there are a couple of ways to make sailing to a schedule more pleasant.

First of all, leave yourself plenty of time. As in, way more time than you could possibly imagine. It’s far less stressful to be twiddling your thumbs at your destination than taking ill-advised risks because weather isn’t working out when you thought it would.
And second? Have back up/bail out plans.

*Sailing to meet a schedule last spring involved some lovely moon shots*

We’ve lately been sailing to hard deadlines that involve actual dates and calendars, though I suppose our escape from the boatyard in November was a looser deadline of the temperature kind. Our version of a white Christmas involves sandy beaches and not snow, thanks. For Bee’s graduation and for the recent Christmas arrival of the kids to the boat, we spent quite a bit of time giving ourselves time to get to where we needed to be. And in both cases, we spent quite a bit of time talking about the bail out plans if we couldn’t get the boat where we wanted it to be.

Bee’s graduation in early June “just” required that we get the boat back to Pasadena, Maryland, where our car was stashed with friends. Historically during this time of year, weather lays down and allows for fabulous sailing. Should be an easy two weeks directly back from the Eastern Caribbean, no worries about beating into headwinds.

Not so much.

*Sunset somewhere en route north, spring 2023*

We left the BVI on April 25 and didn’t clear into Beaufort, North Carolina, until May 14. From there, it was another full week until we made it safely up the Bay to Pasadena. If you’re counting, that was just shy of FOUR weeks to make that passage.

Along the way, when the fronts rolled off of the US East coast every 2-3 days, halting progress to a stilted day here day there, we talked over our options. Really, all we needed to do was get to Florida. From there, we could rent a car and drive up for graduation if needed. We’re thrilled it didn’t become necessary, but the important part was getting to graduation.

*Family shot. Height order not intentional.*

More recently, we “needed” to get to Marsh Harbour in the Abacos to greet our kids when they flew in for Christmas. We’d decided this was a reasonable goal maybe even before we left the boatyard, a tall order for a boat that hadn’t really been cruised in well over a decade, but we crossed our fingers and bought the plane tickets. If worse came to worse, we’d just have the kids miss the connection from Miami.

I’ve written about the early not-exactly-great-geographically weather window we took to get across to the Bahamas, a decision that turns out to be brilliant as there was not another opportunity to cross the stream until after Christmas. So we won on the “get there early” front. But there was a further complication, involving a short jaunt into the Atlantic Ocean crossing two shallow cuts. The same weather that precluded any stream crossings was creating nasty conditions in those cuts. Would we actually be able to get to Marsh Harbour, a mere 10 miles south? Along comes the bail out plan - like the one we had in May, it was unnecessary - in the form of a ferry. The kids could, if needed, take a taxi to Treasure Cay, and from there take a ferry to Green Turtle Cay. Not ideal, of course. The taxi ride would be far more expensive, the ferry ride an additional adventure, and reprovisioning in Green Turtle Cay for the visit would have been a bit more limited. Again, though, the important part was getting together and getting the kids on the boat. The bail out plan would have accomplished that goal, no question.

As I write this, surrounded by incredible beauty in Pipe Creek, Exumas, we’re staring at yet another hard deadline. Julian graduates from college on April 23, in Utah, and we’re either driving out there with our trusty van (stashed with friends in Deltaville, Virginia), or flying. We’re flirting with the idea of getting back to the US in time for the eclipse on April 8. The Bahamas is a lot closer than the Eastern Caribbean, and there’s always the Florida bail out plan. It’s January 15. Maybe we need to start back in 2 months.

Better get busy enjoying ourselves. Someone’s got to do it.