Milk run. That’s the idea anyway.
For the boats in ARC USA, the Old Bahama Channel passage is the long way home – 1,000 miles to Ft. Lauderdale, then a coastwise trip to the Chesapeake and beyond for those northern-bound boats – but it’s statistically an easier one than aiming for Bermuda, with sheltered seas in the lee of the Bahamian islands and favorable current nearly the whole way to Florida.
So far, it’s living up to its reputation – though with a lack of wind, it might just be too easy – as evidenced by the logs sent in from at-sea amongst the fleet.
“Still, no rain and we continue to be fortunate with weather,” wrote the crew of Nirvana, one of two newcomers to World Cruising Club rallies. “We motor sailed as long as we could last night. We are wanting wind at 050º on the compass, so think ‘050, 050, 050.’ The engine has a nice sound, but the silence of the sails is what we are longing for.”
Aboard the Saga 43 Free Spirit, one of the Caribbean 1500 entries from 2013, they were slaves to the iron genoa as well. “We're motoring along, off the coast of the Dominican Republic,” they wrote, “making agonizingly slow progress while sucking diesel fumes. Hard to sail when there isn't any wind.” Touche.
Though the conditions might be inducing a little bit of cabin fever, there seems to be plenty of excitement nonetheless, at least aboard Free Spirit. “We celebrated Brandon's birthday yesterday and surprised him with birthday brownies and sang Happy Birthday to him. Hopefully he wished for wind when he blew out the candles.”
The other newcomer to World Cruising Club rallies was the 48’ Hinckley Sou-Wester Dark Star, who we met at the Nanny Cay beach bar during last fall’s Caribbean 1500. Dark Star is bound first for Annapolis, where she’ll spend some time, and ultimately Cape Cod, where she'll spend the hot summer months in the cooler New England climes. One of Dark Star’s crewmembers will be participating in the first-ever ARC DelMarVa rally coming up in about a month’s time in June. Welcome to the family.