When to Know you Should Have Been Worried but Didn't Know Until Later That You WERE - DAVID

Our route through Quicks Hole and past Cuttyhunk, only to return to Cuttyhunk hours later, older and wiser.

We departed Vineyard Haven Harbor (on the North side of Martha’s Vineyard Island) on Monday the 3^rd of June.  The winds were supposed to be 15 gusting maybe 20 knots in the afternoon.  Probably a bit bouncy but not a problem.  Or so I thought.  The actual STEADY winds ended up being over 20 knots and the gusts went to 35!   

Recorded wind speeds during the last hour before we turned around.  Note the steady apparent wind of 21.4 at that moment and the 35 knot gusts within the past ten minutes~!

 Introducing a Cape Cod given; when you combine a Sou’western blow with current flowing past Martha’s Vineyard where strong currents can oppose the winds it is a setup for a VERY rough ride with steep sided waves that are so close together that the one you are cresting is a setup for you to bury the bow of your boat into the next one waiting three seconds further upwind.

This story is basically a study into the subtle processes that leads you from bravely taking on that which is difficult to turning and running from it.   I have been in pretty rough conditions on the Delaware and Chesapeake bays in the past.  You get rough conditions based on the shallow waters (15-30 feet deep) interacting with the winds in a predictable 3-4 foot chop that is rough but not dangerous in a vessel the size of Justice.

When passing Martha’s Vineyard we were protected from the wind and waves coming in off the open ocean.  As we got past the protection of the island the seas began to stand up.  It was a “less comfortable ride” but totally manageable.    I got this bright idea that we could cut through the passage between Nashawena Island and Pasque Island and get from the Easterly current flowing through the Martha’s Vineyard Sound into Buzzard’s Bay where we would have the help of a current flowing westbound…. The way we were going. 

At first this worked beautifully as the islands protected us from the ocean waves and the winds. But as we passed the last island in the chain (Cuttyhunk Island) the seas really started to kick up.   We ended up needing the diesel to make any progress into the winds that were now gusting to 30 (and eventually 35).  I was hoping we could make it around the corner of Little South West Rock on the northern shore where we might find (wishful thinking) smoother waters.  We labored forward at between 1.5 and 2 knots.  At this rate we would not make it to Newport until between 10 PM and midnight.  Strike two.  No, Strike Three!  Arriving through incredibly rough waves and wind, arriving late at night into an area known for rocks and currents and, on top of all of this, was completely unfamiliar.  We came abreast Southwest Rock and looking ahead could tell that the sea condition was worse, if anything, not better.  I looked at the steep waves we were crashing into…..  Every third or fourth wave the bow would bury and we would throw solid green water the length of the boat, crashing into the fabric and clear plastic cockpit cover. 

I had been hand steering for a couple hours as the autopilot could not handle the sea conditions and getting sideways to the wave trains ….. well I just didn’t want to consider what that might mean.  Roughly 30 minutes prior to arriving at the corner of the ‘Rocks I remember wondering “Are we getting in over our heads?”  I was concerned but not frightened.  During the next 30 minutes I wondered if I SHOULD be frightened and was just not smart enough to realize that I should be!

We came around the corner and the sight of the seas, rougher and higher, made the final decision pretty easy.  We needed to turn and run.  At that point I was not even sure as to where we would run.  The first problem was getting turned around to head downwind, as getting hit by these steep sided closely spaced waves broadside could have caused loss of control of the boat.  We were down to the Mizzen sail alone at this point, so we didn’t need to do much sail shifting just wait and watch for a space between the waves that would give us a chance to quickly spin around.  Finally the space appeared and we used full engine power and the wheel to the locks to turn around before being plowed by the next wave.

It had taken three hours to cover the space since passing Cuttyhunk Island.  It took us 45 minutes to cover the same space racing downwind, trying to match our hull speed to the wave trains.  Taking a quartering wave to the stern of the boat can cause a broach, or an instantaneous loss of steering following which you end up sideways to the waves without the ability to maneuver.  We pulled into a small indent on the downwind side of the island.  The inlet to the protected harbor was narrow and too shallow for us to seek refuge there so we buried the anchor with 200 foot of chain rode keeping us in one spot while the waves roared around the island and did their very best to stir the water where we sat.  It was a restless night as we kept an ear open to the anchor drag alarm on the GPS.  I remember Frank (Justice’ builder) saying “Cuttyhunk is a great place be visit but not at which to spend the night”. 

So what did I learn?  Maybe I was not frightened but I sure as heck was relieved when we pulled in behind Cuttyhunk Island!   I did not consider the opposing wind and wave interaction even though I knew about it from other circumstances.  The Yanmar Diesel kept us under control for the last three hours of fighting our way upwind but under sail alone we would have given up much earlier.  Don’t let yourself depend on only one resource for continuing into conditions that you would otherwise turn from much sooner.

So when should you turn back?  In this case the best time would have been before I first thought about it.  Makes complete sense to me now, in 20/20 hindsight!

David