The voyage from Virginia to the Virgin Islands

We left November 11th at noon from Hampton Virginia. We had a good breeze from the stern for about 24 hours. The first two days it was very cold, but with the right clothing on you don't notice it! We crossed the Gulf Stream without any problem and turned on the motor to get as far east as we could. One way to make this passase is to go east to longititude 66 and then head south to Tortola, picking up the trade winds around latitude 20. A group of boats headed east. This year the eastern course put us in an area of light winds. For three days we made very little forward progress. But a front was predicted to come in a few days that would bring very strong winds in the right direction. We waited for the front. It was frustrating but we enjoyed our time reading, relaxing, having good meals, talking and laughing. It was wonderful to be on a calm sea and experience the vastness and beauty of the Atlantic. The water is incredibly blue. However, the fact that you are in a precarious situation is always in the back of your mind. It keeps you alert. Everyone on the boat worked to keep it moving safely towards our destination.
Both Bob and Julio were good company and excellent crew. Julio was the fisherman and caught a Mahi Mahi with his trolling line. Bob kept us laughing.

The winds came along just as predicted and blew us all the way to Tortola! We were on a reach or a broad reach for 4 days going at top speed the entire time. At one point we were sailing with just half the Yankee (jib) out and no main. We used various sail combinations based on the wind speed. We had ocean swells on the back quarter and that had us rolling side to side at times. Moving around down below was pretty hard, sometimes we had to hold on with both hands. We still managed to make coffee every morning and have a hot meal every night. Even though it was a little difficult it was extremely satisfying to experience Jade as a sailboat. To move at 6 to 8 knots for days at a time was more than we could have hoped for in this passage. Jade felt like being on a smoothly galloping horse. It was fantastic to be sailing on Jade after the time and effort we have put into making her ready for this trip.

We made it to Tortola at 6:30am Wednesday November 23rd. We were greeted with a glass of rum punch. We were actually a little sad that the trip was over but very happy to have made it safely.

Since being in Tortola we have been to parties and had some celebratory dinners on the boat. We toured Tortola by car with Bob and Julio. We have cleaned up the boat and are now ready to start moving again. We are leaving the marina this morning but we don't have a destination yet! There are lots of places to go that are just a few hours sail away. Our plan is to stay in the Virgin Islands area for a month and then move on. For now we just need to take it easy and savor the feeling of accomplishment of having made it this far.