Sail Whiffle

31/05/2024

Need I say more….

31/05/2024

The start of many glorious Maine adventures!

27/05/2024

Twelve Days, 2,000 NM, 83 degree water to 48 degree water and we are home! Grateful for another peaceful, safe passage. Thanks to our awesome crew! Time to relax and enjoy the beauty of Maine.

26/05/2024

Air temperature dropping, fog and morning dew, slipper and foul weather gear… must be close to home!

22/05/2024

Passage Update: We have been at sea for a week and it has been smooth sailing. We have left the drifty, hot days of Caribbean waters and are now moving up the eastern coast of the US, traveling by the Carolinas today. The last 48 hours have brought some unsettled weather and rougher seas but more wind! Below are some photos of spectacular stormy skies. Wish we had Benjamin Williamson here to take some shots!

20/05/2024

Day 6: The past 24 hours have been eventful. We caught a swordfish! Never thought that would happen! We also had to make landfall in San Salvador for fuel. With no wind we have motor-sailed for four days and knew we couldn’t make it to Maine without more fuel. Of course, making landfall meant clearing in and out of customs/ immigration. However, we were on and off the dock in less than two hours and headed north again. We woke today to welcome cloud cover and finally enough wind to sail without engines. Of course, if we didn’t care how long we spent on passage, then we would drift along, but I am eager to be in Maine and I miss my fur babies! Running wing and wing thus far today with boat speed hitting double digits at times so we are feeling good about covering some miles in the next 24 hours.

18/05/2024

Passage Update: Day 4 and we have travelled about 490 NM. We will be approaching the Bahamas by tomorrow evening. It has been hot with no wind so lots of engine hours. In fact, it was so hot today we treated ourselves to a quick dip. It’s been very quiet and peaceful. Very little action, thus the picture of the bird that hung out with us for the majority of the day. The final pic is entitled, “the one that got away.”

18/05/2024

Interesting night watch tonight! Any guesses what this might be? I’ll post the answer in the am!

16/05/2024

Our first sunset on our passage to Maine. Eventful day with an unexpected haul out to deal with a prop, but we persevered and are having a glorious sail tonight. Huge thanks to West End Boat Yard for helping us get on our way. Ended our evening with a sailfish on the line. Luckily we were able to release it without injury to us or the fish. Until tomorrow…..

06/04/2024

Check out my blog post https://wix.to/w3A3dzM

Cruising sailors and bareboat charters alike flock to the British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands every winter. And for good reason. There is a long history of great sailing, beautiful beaches, and the ever-present rum bar. All of which are certainly not to be missed. But have you considere...

11/11/2023

Love catching fish on passage!

10/11/2023

Hmmm… which end is the gold?

06/11/2023

Another day breaks in the Atlantic….

06/11/2023

Spotter is essential to safe fishing!

03/11/2023

The glow of night watch….

18/10/2023

Passage mornings. Enough said.

27/08/2023

A beautiful weekend regardless of weather. We bake bread when it rains, enjoy new anchorages in the nightly fog and of course, play Wiffle ball on the beach!

26/08/2023

Buckle Harbor… enjoying the Coast of Maine!

04/07/2023

Happy Fourth of July 🇺🇸

03/07/2023

Some of our favorite anchorages in Penobscot Bay!

25/06/2023

Where’s Whiffle? A beautiful foggy morning on the Coast of Maine.

17/06/2023

Great view on a rainy day! Perry Creek.

10/06/2023

Navigating from some warmth… Owl’s Head Light ahead!

10/06/2023

https://youtu.be/T9QoHcw_Q_E

Day 14: We were welcomed to the Gulf of Maine by some incredible whales. Photography by Blair Kopp/ Editing by Carly Craig.

09/06/2023

Last sunrise before Rockland… lines in the water… shark fin swimming by!

05/06/2023

Friday was a calm, almost flat day and the crew enjoyed a swim in the ocean and a fresh fish fry with homemade slaw and chips. Good thing we enjoyed the day because Saturday we woke to markedly rougher seas and knew that we were in a race to head to shore to avoid a storm that we had been tracking for days. We also knew that we were not going to hit the mark our weather routing expert had suggested for us. We knew we were in for a few hours of rough weather.

Seas were status quo through the day on Saturday, but as we began our night shift squalls were popping up and the weather was turning. On my shift we had two squalls come thru with about 30 knots of wind which easily blew us off course. While we had prepared for the night with 2 reefs in the main sail, I also reefed the jib to keep the boat balanced during the squalls. I wanted to correct our course as soon as possible, but I also wanted to avoid the 600 foot cargo ship that was poised to pass in front of us. Usually we can see the cargo ships at night at about 12 miles out, but the stormy conditions significantly decreased our visibility and I knew that I wanted the cargo ship to pass us at least 5 miles off our bow. I avoided turning up until the ship passed, and then worked to get us on course despite radical wind shifts caused by squalls. By the time Blair came to the helm to relieve me of my shift, I was ready for his assistance in getting the boat moving and on course. By this time the seas were building and just as we began to settle into a rhythmic motion, we had a massive wave crash over the bow and the entire helm station. We were now seeing the weather we were hoping to avoid.

By 1:30 am Ian took the helm, while Joan, Brian and I hung out in the main salon. Luckily our kids were cozy in their bunks and slept thru night. Winds stayed about 25 knots and were not the problem. It was the sea state and building of waves that pounded us for 8 hours. Whiffle and our crew handled it perfectly.

By 9 am on Sunday we had finally reached shore and dropped the hook in Southport, NC. We enjoyed hot showers, brunch at a local restaurant, refueled, topped off with water, and did loads of laundry. While I had hoped we could make the passage without any stops, our layover in NC was necessary. The seas on Sunday were predicted to be 10-12 feet and keeping our crew safe and comfortable is the priority. Even more decadent was that we all had a restful sleep Sunday night and are refreshed and ready to set sail for Maine.

02/06/2023

Here Fishy, Fishy

02/06/2023

Day 7: We are currently 129 NM from making the turn to head up the US coast. Since leaving the BVI we have sailed 930.5 NM and are averaging 6.05 knots. Looking ahead to the weekend, it looks like we may have some weather that will force us to shore for 24 hours around the Carolinas. Stay tuned!

31/05/2023

North Helix Code Gennaker…best sail ever!

31/05/2023

Another beautiful sunset. Headed into our fourth night at sea. Haven’t seen another boat or land for more than 72 hours. So far it has been smooth sailing!