Passage is a word used by boaters for an extended, non-stop, trip across the ocean from one location to another. Generally the word “passage” indicates a voyage at sea of 24 hrs or longer. A shorter trip is usually called a “crossing” or a “jump”. For example, in the Bahamas going from the Eleuthera region of the Bahamas to the Abacos region is all ocean, takes 9 to 12 hours and is usually called a crossing. Shorter ocean trips like this can still be boisterous, but the crew is not subject to the extended fatigue as in a passage.
We do not take passages lightly on Regina Maris – they are the most dangerous part of boating travels because you are truly on your own and the ocean can be unpredictable and unforgiving. We check our safety gear carefully before departing on a passage and we make sure we’ve got all gear secured so that it won’t go wandering about the boat when things get rough. We heard about some friends recently who had a multi roll package of toilet paper fall off a shelf during a passage. You wouldn't think that would be much of a problem except that it hit the faucet handle turning on the water and emptied their 70 gallon tank before they realized what had happened! To make things worse, they had closed the thru hull sink drain valve before departing because they sometimes get water up into their sink when they are heeling. They had 70 gallons of water pumped into their boat! Thankfully it flowed into the bilge and their bilge pumps took care of pumping it overboard. It's hard to anticipate everything! We have locks on all of our cabinet doors because we have learned the hard way that they love to pop open when the boat is getting bashed by waves and everything spills all over the salon. We also review basic safety procedures that are in-force while at sea.
Another important pre-departure item is getting weather forecasts and comparing them and checking the Gulf Stream position and flow since it must be crossed to get from the Bahamas to the east coast of the USA. The Gulf Stream, as most of you know, is a strong flow of warm water from south to north off the east coast of the USA. The Gulf Stream is essentially a river within the ocean and it flows strongly northward along the east coast of the USA at varying distances from shore. It is about 70-90 miles wide. The big concern in the Gulf Stream is when winds are from the north. A northerly wind fights the Gulf Stream’s south-to-north flow and this builds very steep, confused and nasty waves. Typically it takes about 18 to 24 hours to get across the Gulf Stream depending on where you cross it and the conditions.
There are many resources available to help with the pre-voyage planning process. For trips close to the USA, NOAA weather reports are very helpful. There are also subscription services that can be purchased. Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center has early morning SSB (short wave radio) time slots with weather forecasts and, for a fee, vessel-specific passage planning. There are apps like Windy and Predict Wind that provide weather forecasts and passage planning based on weather and sea condition models. However, it is a rare occurrence when there is agreement between these sources and models. Even with all of this available it is still impossible to know whether or not you have picked the right time and route for your passage. You will only know that when you have completed the journey and look back in time to see how accurate the forecasts were. We have yet to experience a case where forecasts were right, so the best you can hope for is “pretty close”. On our most recent passage, they were all pretty much in agreement about expected conditions and were "sort of" accurate.
Underway in the ocean there is much less weather information accessible, so pre-departure passage planning is essential. Once the journey starts the boat and crew must deal with whatever comes. Once you are 150 miles into the 500 mile passage, you are in it for the duration. We are typically 150 miles offshore, basically a day+ away, so "bailing out" and heading into shore isn't a near term option.
So here we were in the northern Bahamas checking weather and sea condition forecasts and picking our passage window. We left on Sunday morning, April 28. What we expected was winds blowing from the East between 12 to 15 mph and seas in the 3 to 4 foot range for the first two days. After that wind and seas would drop somewhat, and we might be motoring with no wind the last 10 hours or so of the trip. We expected to arrive in Cape Lookout NC (off of Morehead City and Beaufort NC) in the early hours of Thursday, May 2nd.
The first two days were windier than forecast. Winds ranged from the upper teens to the mid-twenties (18mph to 25mph) for those two days. The wind direction forecast was close, but the winds were from the Northeast instead of East which meant we were beating into the wind and seas instead of the forecasted delightful beam reach where wind is coming across your side. There is a big difference between 12-15 knots East wind and 20-25 knots NE wind. It is the difference between sailing along with a slight heel at maximum speed versus bashing into seas heeled at a 30 degree angle. To make good progress we had the sails “close hauled” which means they were tight against the boat and this makes the boat heel (lean) a lot more and doing anything – cooking, using the head (toilet), getting something from the cabin, washing your hands (because the water comes out of the faucet at a 30 degree angle) – much harder. Although this tack was uncomfortable we were making good time. Sailing with the sails close hauled is referred to as beating, and a beating is what it feels like at times. We felt safe at all times but the seas were larger than we liked. At one point a 9-10 ft high wave smacked us along the side of the boat. Thankfully we had our enclosure panels zipped down so we didn’t get too wet.
To get a sense of living on the boat in this condition, picture yourself in your home and doing your normal things. You cook, take showers, use the toilet, read, sleep, walk around etc. Now picture doing these same things with one end of your house lifted up to a 20 or 30 degree angle. In your kitchen all of your counters are leaning at this angle. Nothing you set on them will stay there. Zucchinis roll away while you are trying to chop them. Some of your cabinets that you forgot to lock have taken the initiative to fly open and jettison their contents. When you open a cabinet that has remained closed, it will want to empty itself the instant you open the door. The water coming out of your faucet will appear to shoot off at an angle and miss the glass you wanted to fill. When you lay down to sleep your bed is sloped to the side and bucking up and down like a cheap carnival ride. And I won’t go into the details of MB trying to pee while sitting on a toilet at that angle… If that sounds to you like a situation for poor sleep, you would be correct. And by the way, not only is your house tilted, but it is jumping up and down and twisting back and forth and sometimes shaking violently all at the same time. The noise can be impressive – creaking, groaning (the boat, not me), banging, wind and water noise… All of these things are magnified by sailing close hauled. Had the wind been a bit more from the east and lighter as forecasted it would have been much more comfortable.
Luckily, the wind and seas did calm down during the second night and the rest of the passage was smoother. We had a very easy crossing of the Gulf Stream.
By now you are asking why anyone would want to do this. It is a great question, and there are as many answers as there are boaters. Some people truly love passages. There is, even I admit, a uniqueness to passage-making that can be habit forming. It is you, your ship mates, and your boat working simultaneously with and against nature to get you safely to your destination. There are some amazing things during the passage-the sky filled with more stars than you will ever see at home, the phosphorescence that appears like fireflies in the froth trailing the boat, the feeling of smallness in the great big ocean when you don’t see another boat for days, the feeling of gratitude when the sliver of the moon appears at 5am to dispel the complete darkness are some things that come to mind. Another amazing thing is that you can actually see about 300 square miles of ocean from your boat, and in the ocean you will rarely, if ever, see another boat in all that space.
Not particularly flattering pictures of MB, but they capture the fatigue you feel on a passage! This time we did four hour watches-MB on watch 8-10pm, D on watch 10pm-2am, MB watch 2am-6am, D watch until MB gets up. We catnap during the day.
You must never forget, however, that the sea is the sea, and it does not care about you. It is a natural force. We used to call the ocean “Mr. Ocean” to show our respect. Now we call the Ocean “His Highness Sir Ocean” in the hope of getting better treatment, and it does seem to be working. On a passage you know that things can go wrong and could quickly become “existential crises” (i.e., your existence is not be certain). In many cases undertaking a passage is the only way to achieve an objective. If you want to explore Bermuda with your boat, for example, you have to get in the boat and sail to Bermuda – five days at sea and far from land. If you want to see the Pacific Islands from your boat, at some point you have to make a 3 week passage where there will be no land and very few boats near you for over a thousand miles. In some cases, deciding to do a passage is simply the least of two evils. For example if you live on the east coast of the USA and want to go to the Bahamas by boat you can make the direct passage from your home port in NC or you can go down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). As we’ve written before, the long trip down the ICW is slow and draining, and after getting down to south Florida, you still have to make a 24 hr passage east and across the Gulf Stream to get to the Bahamas.
For me it is sort of an “investment/payback” thing. I like cruising. The act of sailing, the people we meet, the cultures we see, the things I learn from other boaters and “locals”, and the physical and mental demands this lifestyle requires are challenging, energizing, broadening and often fun. I do not like passages, though that may come with time. However, I like passages more than I like slogging down the ICW under engine power (it is too narrow to sail most of the time) which is the only other way to get from NC to the Bahamas, and you still have to make the Gulf Stream crossing anyway.
During this cruising season, I had much less trouble with seasickness and during the passage only had to take 1/2 a meclazine/Bonine a couple times plus use my wristband pulse device. MB was very glad that my friends from our first passage over to the Bahamas two years ago did not reappear as I did not use a scopalamine patch this time!
After our 3-1/2 days at sea, sighting the shoreline of Cape Looking was a great moment. There are several things that we feel at times like this. There is the “we did it!” exuberance. There is the “thank God (literally)” feeling of relief that we are both still on the boat and nothing bad happened to us or the boat. Most of all there is the “I can’t wait to get the anchor down in Cape Lookout and go to sleep” feeling.
Now I know a few of you are thinking “this passage thing sounds great, where do I sign up”! Cruisers are often looking for extra bodies on passages, however, most would not sign on a person who did not have enough experience to be useful. For a sailboat passage if the helmsman yells “ease the main sheet” you need to know what that means and how to do it. If you are at the wheel and someone says “head up a bit” you need to know what that means and when you have satisfied the “a bit” part. If you want to learn, start with day sails in protected waters and learn the basics and you will soon be skilled enough to be an asset to a short-handed crew needing help with a passage. Power boaters also make passages, although less often than sailors, so power boat experience can get you a passage on a power boat too I would guess.
Thanks for reading!
David
P.S., Here’s a bonus thought to leave you with: It’s sobering to ponder how much ocean you can see from a boat and how empty it is. The curvature of the earth is what limits your sightline in clear weather. A general rule of thumb for recreational boats is that you can see about 12 miles. If you do the math, that means standing at your wheel you have 450 square miles of ocean you can see. What’s sobering is that on our passage we did not see a single boat in the ocean once we were out of sight of land. This is one reason we pay a lot of attention to safety while at sea. If you go in the water, your odds are not very good. It’s best to stay in the boat!