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| Our inReach Track to Nassau |
On Monday
24-April we drove back over to Palm Beach once again, with the goal of
completing another round of provisioning as well as getting Relish’s punch list
completed and moving her back to Nassau. By late morning on Wednesday,
26-April, we were ready to go. On the
way out of the Lake Worth area we stopped for fuel, taking on about 1100
gallons of diesel (bringing our total to 2800 gallons) and then headed out into
open waters. (Click HERE for our tracking site.)
Onboard were
James Knight and Scott (from Yacht Tech), Gary Brace (our 4th
crewmember for the upcoming sortie to Bermuda), plus Rick & Michelle. On the first leg of the route we sailed due
south hugging the coastline, mainly to minimize the impact of the Gulf Stream
current. Then at Fort Lauderdale we
turned Relish eastward towards the
Bahamas.
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| inReach Track....with Messaging Detail Displayed |
During the
remaining daylight hours we spent our time testing systems, otherwise known as
sea trialing. Both the main and wing
engines got a good workout, as did the two diesel generators, air conditioning
system, water maker, galley appliances, plumbing, pumps, and of course all the
nav/comm gear.
This was a
fabulous opportunity for us to get to know the boat a bit better. While a Nordhavn 60 bears some resemblance to
our N47, it is in other ways a very different vessel – Relish is both bigger and more complex, and also has very different
nav/comm equipment….mainly Furuno NavNet 3D augmented by Nobeltec TimeZero. The
primary differences and complexities that stand out are the generator
auto-start system, modifications made to accommodate European shore power
differences (50 HZ AC power vs. 60 HZ), as well as an extensive Maretron
monitoring system (which is very sexy.)
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| Two Radars Active at Different Ranges Plus the Chartplotter |
During daylight
hours everyone took informal turns at the wheel. After the crew enjoyed a good dinner of
stuffed peppers together in the pilot house just before nightfall, we then split
up into our overnight shifts. Gary manned the helm until 2200, then Rick &
Michelle took the next watch from 2200 to 0200, followed by James & Scott
until 0600. At about that time we
experienced a battery charger issue that required attention (later rectified by
replacing a 100 amp fuse), although a backup unit was still functional.
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| Plus the Maretron Screen....One of Many Available |
Sea conditions
tended towards the sloppy side much of the night and following day; with the
wind cranking around 20K from the NE, seas built to 4 feet at short intervals,
with the occasional 5 foot hole in the water. But overall the hobby-horse ride
wasn’t too bad. Rick and Michelle got to
experience sleeping in a forward state room in lumpy seas: doable when you have a good mattress &
pillow (we did), don’t mind dozing in a constantly moving rocking chair (we
didn’t), and ignore the occasional air between your back and the mattress (that
took some practice.)
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| N50-21 Get Away Punching Thru the Waves |
We had a buddy
boat in trail for most of our journey. The
Get Away is a Nordhavn 50 recently
purchased by Greg and Michelle Dreiling, and our trip to Nassau turned out to
be a good sea trial opportunity for them as well, following a couple months of
refit work performed by James’ Yacht Tech yard in Palm Beach. Get
Away performed beautifully, and she looks as good as she runs. It’s a 15 year old boat that looks and runs
like new. For a video of Get Away taken from Relish Click Here.
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| Michelle Filming Get Away Getting Spray Over the Bow |
Silvio was
eagerly waiting for us when we arrived at Nassau Yacht Haven shortly after
1700, and he was very happy to be reunited with his beautiful boat. He treated us all to a great dinner at the
marina’s restaurant (The Poop Deck), and we all crashed into our bunks shortly
after that for some much needed shut eye.
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| The inReach's Trip Summary |
We were all up
early the next morning and used the time to troubleshoot some of the minor
issues that had cropped up….everyone’s circadian rhythm was whacky anyway. We also in-processed through Bahamian Customs
(they had already shut down the previous evening) before scrambling to the
airport to catch a flight home – probably setting some kind of record for the
shortest time between in-and-outprocessing through customs and immigration.
We have a short
break now – until 11-May – before we fly back to Nassau to make final preps for
the ocean crossing. So more to come,
stay tuned. If you have time click over to the NAP Blog site to see the latest there.
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| That's James Bracing himself in Relish's Pilot House Door Taking Pics of Get Away as She Came Alongside Enroute to Nassau. Notice the Bow Up (Pitch) Angle of Relish at That Moment. |
