Where is the Far Reach?

John Stone · Post by **John Stone** » Dec 7th, '15, 16:39

Anchored in the Bight at Cape Lookout. The Far Reach is patiently waiting for a weather window to make her first offshore passage. More to follow . . . .

Paul D. · Post by **Paul D.** » Dec 7th, '15, 18:42

Safe and voyaging John! Do let us know how she goes.

tjr818 · Post by **tjr818** » Dec 7th, '15, 19:40

All the best, on your first offshore voyage. Far Reach is certainly prepared and ready. I love that shot over the coaming. How did you join the top piece to the rest; and why ( other than it looks great )?

Jim Walsh · Post by **Jim Walsh** » Dec 7th, '15, 20:11

Very mysterious. When I posted the "Where is ORION" query I provided a hint in a photo.
I'll take an educated guess. You are going to wait for a southwesterly to make the run to Bermuda. I don't think you'd choose to buck the Gulf Stream so a run further south along the coast doesn't seem plausible. You may run directly for the Caribbean but I feel that would be a rather long first voyage so I'm sticking with my first guess.
Good luck regardless of your destination. Keep us updated when you have the chance.

Paul Clayton · Post by **Paul Clayton** » Dec 8th, '15, 11:48

My guess - straight down the coast on a nice gentle northerly. Since you are starting south of Cape Hatteras, the Gulfstream is far enough offshore to let you slip along to its west, close alongshore, and maybe even catch some south-setting eddies in Onslow Bay and points south. A good shakedown cruise with several easy inlets in case of mechanical trouble or bad weather - Masonboro, Cape Fear, Winyah Bay, Charleston, Savannah. If all goes well, into St. Augustine in about a week.

Skeep · Post by **Skeep** » Dec 9th, '15, 05:08

A great tease!

Andy Denmark · Post by **Andy Denmark** » Dec 10th, '15, 11:11

Cape Lookout ... see the lighthouse

Steve A · Post by **Steve A** » Dec 14th, '15, 20:44

Hey John, wish we would have had more time to chat, glad your onboard and ready to head out. Hopefully you'll catch a light norther to ride down. Please keep us updated once you get there. Sail On ! Steve

Jim Walsh · Post by **Jim Walsh** » Dec 24th, '15, 12:46

Quite a bit of time has passed. I'm still eagerly anticipating a notification from John, as I'm sure are all the other members. Can't wait till Far Reach's destination is finally revealed.

John Stone · Post by **John Stone** » Dec 26th, '15, 20:48

The Far Reach, with my sister and me on board, took our departure from Cape Lookout on the morning of 8 Dec. We made landfall at Jost van Dyke, BVI after 18 days of almost all upwind sailing. I have not tallied the total distance sailed but expect it will end up being about 1500-1600 miles. The Far Reach was magnificent in every way. She was solid, quiet, and did not leak a drop of water. We had the Atlantic wash over the deck a few times. It was a wet upwind ride most of the way.

We had three days of absolute mirror calms just drifting--a painted ship on a painted ocean. We went swimming in 17,000 ft of water so clear and blue it defies description.

We had frustrating headwinds almost the whole way. A couple of times we were forced to sail away from where we wanted to go. Around 26 degrees north latitude we had to sail east about 180 miles out to 62 degrees 30 minutes W longitude, well east of Bermuda, to try to get a better angle on the expected easterly trade winds as we pushed further south. The last five days, when we were finally able to reach off a bit, the trade winds were 25-30 knots (35 knts in the squalls) with seas about 10' to 14' with a few larger one thrown in on occasion.

Many times it was so rough we sailed only under the stays'l, often still making 5-6 knots, sometimes reefed. We both got sick a couple of times. I was not eating much the last 12 days. I lost my "love handles" and now proudly have an "outie" for a belly button!

We also had some glorious sailing. We made 140 miles in one 24 hr period an 135 on another with 12-14 kts of wind sailing close hauled on a fairly smooth sea. We drifted north about 20 miles in the Gulf Stream at the beginning of the trip dodging commercial shipping. We saw tons of flying fish and had a beautiful Tropic Bird drop down south of Bermuda and check us out from about 20 feet.

We were reunited every night by the eternal constellations that have guided and reassured mariners for millennia. Early in the trip we saw meteor showers fascinating us with shooting stars sometimes every 15 seconds.

There was a new moon when we started where it was dark as hell and we finished under an awesome full moon shining a path for us on the final night.

We were cheerfully wished a Merry Christmas on our handheld VHF radio on Christmas Eve by the huge cruise liner "Regal Princess" as we crossed paths.

We made landfall over the north bank of the BVI on Christmas Day about 14 miles west of the west end of Anegada Island blasting along down wind with a 30-35 knot breeze with a stays' l and double reefed main. A few times the Far Reach surprised me by surfing probably hitting close to 9 knots. We sailed in to Great Harbor, Jost van Dyke anchoring under sail in 35' of crystal clear water.

The two heroes of the trip were my sister Tricia and our magnificent Cape Horn self steering windvane.

It was a very hard grueling sail but epically worthy. I feel blessed and eternally grateful to so many who helped make it possible. I am thankful if God had a hand.

Steve A · Post by **Steve A** » Dec 26th, '15, 21:38

Cheers mate glad ya made it, hope you and the family enjoy the Virgins, time to slow down....keep us posted. Steve

Jim Walsh · Post by **Jim Walsh** » Dec 26th, '15, 22:48

Excellent news John! Congratulations! You sailed a bit farther than I had guessed. Glad everything went well. Sitting in a millpond surrounded by the empty cobalt sea has to be experienced. It happened to me north of Bermuda. The flying fish are frequent visitors and help to break up the day. I presume you had daily visits from porpoises as I had. They can startle you because they just appear out of nowhere and sometimes show up nearly within arms reach.
Fantastic news! Please keep us updated.

Jerry Hammernik · Post by **Jerry Hammernik** » Dec 27th, '15, 01:30

John,
Along with many others I've followed this project for years. What great news! The boat did what she was designed to do and the no leaks, no major problems is a fine testament to all the years of work you have poured into making the Far Reach your own. And when the wind went away you didn't fire up an iron jenny, you went swimming. And to do it with family… it doesn't get any better than that.

Well done to the ship and her crew!

SF
Jerry

Keith · Post by **Keith** » Dec 27th, '15, 08:29

Hi John,

Thanks for the inspiration for all of us arm chair long distance cruisers. I as well have watched your rebuild and can only imagine how proud you must be of your accomplishments. Please keep us all current with your adventures.

Best Regards,

Keith

jen1722terry · Post by **jen1722terry** » Dec 27th, '15, 17:22

What a great cruise! Enjoy your winter in the BVI's.

That first photo was interesting, in that you installed a cap on the combings, something we've been thinking of. I like the bulwarks also.

Happy New Year and thanks for sharing the dream with us.

Jenn and Terry

The Cape Dory Board

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