[title subtitle=”WORDS Elizabeth King
IMAGES courtesy Sourthern Charm”][/title]
On October 27, 2020, Kevin and Elizabeth King set sail with friends to move their sailing vessel Southern Charm from South Carolina to St Thomas, Virgin Islands. What follows is a day-by-day log of their incredible adventure.
*Click each image to enlarge and view
DAY ZERO
Departure day was bittersweet. While it was so good to get off the dock, Charleston has been really really good to us. We could not have picked a better place to wait out hurricane season, but boats aren’t made to be tied to a dock forever and our time has come to move on.
Considering the impressive currents in Charleston, Southern Charm needed to take advantage of the best possible departure conditions. Slack tide was right before noon and our planned time to cast off.
We spent the morning doing last minute checks. Weather, routing, fuel, water, mechanical systems. A last load of laundry, a quick grocery run for fresh veggies and fruit, and emptying all the trash.
The last big pre-departure job was a crew meeting. The skipper went through emergency procedures and gave us all assignments for who does what. We covered offshore rules and watch schedules and expectations.
And just like that, it was noon and time to go. We said our last good bye’s to Steven’s wife Jill, unplugged the shore power, and began slipping lines. Standing on the sugar school, Kevin and I took one last selfing with the Ravenel Bridge in the background and watched the Charleston Harbor Marina fade in the distance.
DAY ONE
As Southern Charm left Charleston Harbor, she and her crew were greeted rolly conditions that worsened throughout the afternoon and evening. Thankfully, all the crew have blue water experience in one way or another and while we were all uncomfortable, a few were beginning to feel sea sick, but nobody was worried about the conditions.
To make matters worse, there was virtually no wind, so we are running engines. We carry a total of 243 gallons of fuel (plus 4 emergency jerry cans totaling 20 additional gallons) This passage to St Thomas is approximately 1400 miles and we burn around a gallon an hour, depending on the RPM’s, when motoring. We were able to raise up the Code Zero head sail for a few hours today allowing the engine to be cut back to 800 RPM’s. Huge fuel savings. The forecast not much wind until Thursday, but it should fill in well after that. There is nothing better than the sound when you turn off the engines and all you can hear is wind filling the sails and water slapping the hull.
The seas had been pretty flat since late last night. Most everybody got a good amount of sleep. Even the Captain, who stayed up on deck with each watch group make sure they underst
ood how to operate all the instrument and were comfortable with it all.
We entered the Gulf Stream around 10:45 this morning during my watch. Nothing noticeable at first but before long we were getting thrown around pretty good. Huge rollers were tossing us (and lunch) all over the galley. By 4:45, we were making our way back out of the Gulf Stream. My first GS crossing! It has a bad reputation for being rough, and I can understand that now, if you are one not care for “fair winds and following seas” I am thankful for this tank of a boat. I would not have wanted to cross in anything smaller.
We have 4 watch groups. Basically, the way we are set up is to have 3 groups cover the daily watches, and the 4th group, prepares lunch and dinner and does clean-up. It is essentially a day off, other than that. We do our watches I pairs. So, if one person needs a break, they can be relieved, and not disturb anybody else who may be resting. The shifts rotate each day as well, so you never have the same schedule from day to day. Helpful when you know doing midnight to 0400, is just one night and not every night.
We had a visitor today. It is funny how the smallest things to break the monotony, distract and give a nice break to the crew. It is not unusual to see large sea going birds this far out. However, to see a tiny little bird is unusual. Someone noticed this little guy flying around the cockpit and then he actually did a fly through the boa
t! We keep all the doors and hatches open when conditions allow. This little bird literally flew all the way from from back. The next thing we knew, he was back on the cockpit walking around the back. We knew he was tired and just need a break and we just sat there watching him. He then made himself at home and flew into the galley and perched in the window sill just resting. Poor little thing. Eventually, we caught him and placed him on the floor of the dingy. Next time we checked on him, he was gone. Hope he found his way back home!
DAY TWO
Day 2 began for me around 5am. Steven was doing the 0400-0800 watch. We are doing our best to help him out with his watches since he is doing them alone. Not that he can’t handle it, but the night watches get lonely when nobody else is up with you. And if I am going to be honest here, the the 0400 watch is my very favorite. Generally, the boat is quiet with nobody else awake. I can sit at the helm drink coffee and watch the sun slowly peek around and paint the sky. It is truly a magical time.
Our passage crew is pretty eclectic. Of course, we already knew the Pruitts. We grew up with Clay and Susan and they have have sailed with us from the beginning. The next couple found us through the YouTube channel Sailing SV OliLuki. Andy and Maki got their boat the same time we got ours and so we ended up becoming fast friends. They have a great YouTube channel and posted some footage of OliLuki and Southern Charm sailing together. They mentioned that we would be chartering this season. One of their followers tracked us down and called. They are in the market for a catamaran, but wanted to know what a passage felt like, not necessarily do a traditional charter. We were able to make it work, and Kirk and Carol Ann joined our little group. The final watch group, was our Charleston friend Steven. We met him while he and his sweet wife Jill were Air B&Bing on a boat next to us in the marina. Kevin has never met a stranger, so they began talking and discovered that Steven and my brother served on the same Destroyer during their Navy days. They are wanting to follow the same path we are on and we invited them back for a visit. One visit turned in many and we now consider them GREAT FRIENDS. We originally had the couple that we crossed the Atlantic with last year, to help us, but it ended up they couldn’t make it. One night about a week before we were scheduled to leave, we were saying our goodbye’s to Steven and Jill and I asked him without ever even talking to Kevin about it, if wanted to come with us. They were shocked but worked it out so that he could come along. HUGE sacrifice for Jill. It is hard for husbands to be gone for several weeks at a time. Managing work, home and kids on your own. Jill is a HERO in my book!
We have yet to catch a fish. We are cruising with two lines and teasers running off the hand line. Last night both lines went off at nearly the same time. We had turned on our under water blue lights. Clay and Kevin each took a line and began working it. They both lost whatever was on, but said they could feel the line getting hit over and over. Whatever was on Kevin’s rod finally took the lure and the entire spool of line. Maybe those blue lights stirred up some school of large fish from the deep deep. I am dying to know what it was, but then again, maybe it is better to not know. Yikes! We are back at it again today. Determined to catch something. STAY TUNED!
DAY THREE
Day three began with Kevin and I taking the midnight – 0400 watch. The least popular amongst the crew. Very uneventful night. Saw a blinking light that we couldn’t find on our charts. Assuming it was some type of weather station. The wind is still not cooperating. Right on the nose. Downloaded the weather and it looks lie it will be filling in later this morning. It can’t happen fast enough for us.
Kevin sat up around 7am and said it felt like we had wind. He dressed quickly and before I could get on deck, he was raising the Main and unfurling then Genoa. Those engines finally get a break. And, ladies and gentlemen, we are FINALLY a sailboat. It looks like we will be able to make up some lost time. Feels like we are flying at 8knots with 18 knots of wind.
A few hours later, 18 knots of wind turned into 20 and then 25 knots. It happened pretty quickly. This was not in the forecast. The seas were building as well. Our planned lunch quickly turned into nothing more than a charcuterie board, as that was all the we could safely put together. Life on the lean! The rest of the day, the crew mostly just rested and covered watches.
FISH UPDATE: Still no fish, not for the lack of trying, though. Changing out lures to see if that helps.
DAY FOUR
Day four had a rough beginning. We are beating so hard that we have to close the hatches. So, no breeze makes an uncomfortable stateroom and galley. At one point, all 7 crew were in the cockpit either on watch or trying to cool off and get some sleep.
Kevin and I had the 0400-0800 watch. Normally on this watch you get plenty of sleep prior, but with the sea state being what it is (seeing 8-10 foot seas and wind blowing 25 knots steady and gusting to 30 knots), the Captain needs to be available to the watch crew. So he is not sleeping much. I don’t think either of us slept more than a couple of hours last night. Conditions are supposed to improve later today. Will be nice to have a real meal again. We have been doing bare minimums for food. Glad we are stocked up on peanut butter!
Late afternoon, the seas began to take a little mercy on us. And not too long after that the wind followed suite. Everyone was beginning to settle down and prepare for evening watches. Clay and Susan were at the helm, Kevin and I were laying down, as was Steven, when we heard the fishing line begin to scream. Finally FISH ON! Everyone scrambled aft and began watching Kirk reel in a beautiful Mahi Mahi.
The guys got it in the boat and begin cleaning it. We were already planning what we were going to make for dinner with it. Still under full sail with no motor. Life was good! About that time Kirk stepped down the sugar scoop, to hose off the blood from the fish cleaning. As he did, we took a swell on the stern and Kevin and I stood there watching Kirk fall backwards off the boat. Not believing what we just saw, we both started screaming, “MAN OVERBOARD” Clay and Susan immediately pushed the MOB button which marked our position on the electronic Ray Marine charts. Kevin raced to the helm to get the head sail furled and to get turned around. I told Kirk’s wife, Carol Ann, she was to put her eyes on him and do not look away AT ALL. In the meantime, we are throwing all kinds of things overboard to help visually identify the spot. The life ring, the man overboard pole, pillows from the cockpit. Just anything we could get our hands on! To complicate matters, the port engine was not starting, so Kevin was having to maneuver the boat with the main sail still up and only one engine. The rest of the crew were all on deck either keeping eyes on Kirk or preparing to grab him. Susan took the life sling out of the bag and handed it to Clay. Since we only had one engine and a partial sail up, it was tricky for Kevin to get close enough to Kirk to toss the sling, yet far enough away to not slam the boat on him. As the bow of the boat got close enough, Clay threw the sling and Kirk was able to grab it and hold on. Clay then walked him down the starboard side of the boat. Our swim ladder is on the port side of the boat. Clay ran to the port sugar scoop and Steven helped keep Kirk stay attached to the boat until he was close enough to grab. From that point, we all were able to breathe. Kirk was able to pull himself up on the ladder. He was fine. Worn out, but fine.
After that first rescue mission, we went on two more. We were able to recover the life ring and the man overboard pole. The pillows were gone. Kevin says we had too many anyways. HA! We were so fortunate. If that MOB would have happened an hour later, it would have been dark. It was VERY DIFFICULTY to find him in the light, I cannot imagine being successful at night. We have been able to sit back and talk about it in hindsight. We did some things right. We did some things wrong. The crew were all thankful for the departure briefing on emergency procedures. Everyone was calm and knew what to do. I was thankful I had just completed the safety at sea class. I felt a lot more confident with the situation.
What a day! We were all worn out. After quickly putting together (fresh caught!) Mahi taco’s for dinner, we all crashed pretty early.
DAY FIVE
Happy Halloween! It was a cloudy, sunless day. We were not getting the charge we needed from our solar panels, so Kevin decided to fire up the generator. We carry 8 solar panels that generate over 2000 watts of electricity. Most days it is more than enough, but when we are at sea, running the auto helm and radar, we deplete the batteries pretty fast. On those sunless days, we occasionally will fire up the generator to make up for the lack of solar. Kevin went to the panel to turn it on and it started right up, but immediately died as soon as the glow plug was released. After several hours of working on it, changing out relays and making sure that no wires had come loose in all the beating we had done, we called our stateside tech support as well as our good buddy, Mike Hart (an engine genius, in case you didn’t know that about him) We tried all the suggestions given by both. Still not working.
Kevin thinks it is the fuel lift pump. Literally THE ONLY spare we are not carrying. Of course. So for now, while we have cloudy days, we are being exceptionally conservative with what systems that we are running. Running the motor would also top off the batteries, but we are finally sailing. Our fuel situation is concerning. We only have 45% in the port engine and 42% in the starboard engine. So, turning on engines is not an option we have right now.
FISH ON!!! Clay reeled in another gorgeous Mahi Mahi. He fillet that fish up and we got it stowed away in the freezer right away. We may need it if this passage continues to take this long.
We have been “Easting” pretty exclusively this entire time. We are finally to the point where we need to change our heading and begin “Southing.” Southern Charm’s noon position is 29º 03.082N, 66º 54.006W. The goal was to make it to I-65, or 65º longitude before “Southing”, but our wind is not cooperating. Hopefully we can get a little more east before the tradewinds really take over and make “Easting” very hard on the crew and the boat.
We were approaching evening. Running the main sail with one reef in and had the code zero up. The code zero headsail is meant for light upwind sailing. The sunset brought squalls which generally brings unpredictable wind. The decision was made to furl the code zero and replace it with the Genoa, which can handle much higher winds. We are fortunate that our boat is rigged to handle most sail changes from the helm. The only sail that we must go forward for is the code zero. Steven was on watch and turned the boat into the wind to help take pressure off the canvas to furl. Kevin and I put on our life vests and clipped into the jack lines. He doesn’t need me to do this and normally. I drive while he is dealing with the sail, but since we had help and were a little shook up from the MOB, I went forward to keep my eyes on him. Everything went super smooth until the last 20% of the code zero was wrapped. The wind created a bubble in the top and no matter how much Kevin pulled on that line, it wouldn’t furl properly. He was being stubborn, insisting he didn’t need help. I got tired of watching the sail have its way with him.
Wind was picking up. It was dark. I went and woke up Clay. Clay grabbed his vest and clipped into the boat. They both were on the bow wrestling the wind and sail.
If you know these guys, neither are small. The decision was made after several attempts to furl, that the only option now was to drop the sail completely to the deck and sort it out later. It was crazy watching them get thrown around the bow, but within a few minutes they had it completely down and were able to secure the lines and sail. We will wait until we have had some rest and fair winds to get the head sail back out.
As my watch began, I began thinking about the power of the wind and the water. It is hard to appreciate its strength until you are out here. We are safe. The boat is a tank, and I am grateful for that.
DAY SIX
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise! Everyone was up early and ready to tackle that code zero. Kevin had been formulating a plan on how to unwrap the canvas and lines and then re-wrap it properly. Not an easy job on a 50 foot boat and approximately 60 feet of sail plus lines. The wind was blowing less than 16 knots, well within the code zero capabilities, so we decided to go for it. A quick crew meeting on what our assignments were and then we got our life vests on and headed out for attempt number two.
We had all hands on deck. One driving, five working. We were to spread out from the bow down the weather deck, each holding a portion of the sail. Kevin instructed Steven to turn the boat into irons. When we were ready, Steven then turned the boat again to a port tack. The idea was to position the boat where the wind would begin to fill the sail as we held it while Kevin pulled the head of the sail back up, until it was full enough for us to let go. We had to be careful not to allow it to get caught in the shroud or the spreaders. It was tricky, but SUCCESS! So now the sail needed to be furled properly. The wind had grown and while we were successful getting it up, the wind speed was too high to get it furled. We had to drop the whole thing back the the deck again.
Crew moral has been pretty good. We have had good meals. We pass our time listening to music, fishing, napping, reading, and just visiting. What we DON’T DO, is drink. We are a dry boat when at sea. We went over all of the exceptions before we left Charleston. However, the Captain mentioned the possibility of a half way celebratory sundowner. We have already passed the half way point, but conditions made that sundowner not appropriate. The Captain decided that today was the day, so we each made our selection and we cheered making it half-way!
There goes that reel again. Kevin reeled in another Mahi. Always such a great distraction. He cleaned it and stowed it in the freezer. Thinking I will make some Mahi ceviche. Oh, and Kirk stayed on board this time!
We got a text that our beloved Razorbacks lost this evening to Texas A&M. BOOO. We have proudly flown the Arkansas state flag and a Razorback flag since we boarded Southern Charm. Those flags are getting pretty beat up, may need to retire them soon.
DAY SEVEN
Our original weather routing had us arriving today, however we will not be making that. It is looking more like late Wednesday/early Thursday. The Pruitts have a morning flight out on Thursday. Not looking hopeful for making that. We are still about 350 miles from St Thomas. Several factors have contributed to this delay. First and largest contributor is the multiple days of little to no wind. The second would be like today, wind coming from directly where we want and need to sail.
The third is that we fouled our code zero (light wind sail, which typically gives us and extra 2 knots of boat speed) and can’t use it at all.
We are running very low on fuel. We have had to motor and motor sail a lot more than expected. We are all reaching back to geometry class, trying to run scenario’s of what if we run one engine at 2000 RPM’s compared to 2 engines at 1600 RPM’s.
And should we just tack and use what little wind we have even though it will take us off coarse and cause us to travel extra miles – all for the sake of an extra knot or two of wind generated boat speed. The jury is still out on that.
Caught yet another Mahi this morning. Biggest one yet. Our freezer is full of FISH!
Got a text from our friends on sailing vessel “OV” this morning. They are about 100 miles southwest of us. They had their own emergency last night. They were taking on water through an emergency hatch. Have it band-aided for now. And of course it happened around midnight. Scary stuff. We may be intersecting with them in the next 24 hours. Would be nice to buddy boat the rest of the way.
While good wind is always desired, when we hit 10 knots today, Clay mentioned that this would be a good time to give the code zero one more try. It took 6 of us, 1 driving and 5 unwrapping the sail on the weather deck and raising the head of the sail while letting the wind catch it and fill it while not getting caught in the spreaders. 3rd time was a charm! This should help us get an extra knot or two and hopefully ready St Thomas faster.
Kevin’s original plan was solid and worked beautifully. We were just trying to do it in winds that were not appropriate for furling it. We are still trying to figure out the BEST procedure for just the two of us to manage it. Mine time at the rod. We were all sitting in the cockpit talking about the code zero success and I noticed something red floating in the water. Steven said “I bet there are some Mahi under there” and not 5 seconds later that reel starting running. I ran over and took my turn. After 30 seconds of reeling, that Mahi jumped high out of the water and shook the lure.
Time for our 1600-2000 watch. More tomorrow.
DAY EIGHT
Oh day eight. You were not kind to us. The Pruitts were doing the hated midnight – 0400 watch. Sometime during that shift, Susan heard something that sounded wrong. Possibly the mainsheet or the traveller. It was still dark. At sunrise, Kevin inspected the boom and traveller both. The traveller is a car like device that allows the boom to “travel” along a track to help make sail trim and adjustment more precise. We had received a factory advisory that identified there was an issue, but a factory solution has not been implemented at this time. Knowing it was a possible failure, we reinforced the traveller with two soft shackles. In fact, our youngest child, Caroline had made both soft shackles. So, we felt pretty good about it. Sure enough, part of the traveller had indeed failed. But with those soft shackles in place, we knew even if the rest of it failed, Caroline’s soft shackles should prevent the boom from swinging freely and causing more damage. The soft shackles are made from dyneema. Which is a high tensile strength line. This particular line has a 20,000 pound test. We were using multiple soft shackles.
Kevin checked it out pretty closely, but felt it would be fine.
We used the rest of the morning to text family and friends about what was going on with the election. While it was a blessing to me missing the drama, part of me missed watching it. I have a love/hate relationship with politics. I genuinely enjoy and respect the process. It is all so interesting. But I hate what it has become.
From what I am hearing it will all still be going on when we make landfall.
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. Kevin and I had lunch and dinner duty. Which meant no watch. We had done the 0400-0800 watch and decided to lay down until it was time to start making lunch, when we hear a bunch of commotion on deck. We ran up and by golly if the rest of the traveller failed. The boom was now only attached to the boat by the soft shackles only. We had full sail out. The main and the Genoa. It was another all hands on deck situation.
Kevin and Clay quickly put on their life vests and ran to the fly bridge, securing the boom with additional line. Susan and I then took over the boom and did our best to keep it from swinging too much. Kevin and Clay had another problem. The Genoa sheets had been released and were tangling each other and other line on the deck.
It was a mess. I sent Steven to the helm to take over. Kevin and Clay then wrestled the lines for 10-15 minutes. I would give anything to have that on video! I have never seen such a massive ball of tangled line in my life. The Captain has a hidden talent of untangling knots. Like for real. I laughed to myself thinking if anybody can undo that mess, it would be him. And he did. Then was able to get all the sails down. At the end of the ordeal, we discovered a massive bruise that covered his entire bicep and I found part of the toenail that I lost in the shuffle.
Lunch was late. All we could manage was a baked potato bar. We were worn smooth out.
We are waiting on the wind now. The trades are forecasted to fill in soon. I certainly hope so. We are down to 14% fuel in the port engine and 15% in starboard.
DAY NINE
Fuel is critically low. While we are a sail boat and can definitely get there by wind power only, we are all really ready to go ashore. At noon, Kevin put the last 10 gallons of fuel in the starboard engine. We are now at 13% and 15%, which is 15.8 and 18.6 gallons respectively. With approximately 170 miles to go. Keeping in mind that a certain percentage of that fuel is unusable, but are not sure what that number is yet. We should be fine, but you never know what is going to be thrown at you out here.
Just had another fish on. Since my last attempt was not successful, the guys let me have one more shot at it. I grabbed the line and strapped a fishing belt on. This fish was not behaving like the last one. I reeled and reeled and reeled. This fish was a fighter. More reeling. And reeling. And yet, again, I lost it. He was swimming toward me and I was not getting the slack in fast enough, so I am told. Ha!
Someday I will get it. Not sure what it was, but after looking at video of it, we think it was a Wahoo.
We did our routine wether check. The technology is really quite impressive. We use a satellite phone connection to download grab files of weather. We tend to do this 3-4 times a day. The service is affordable and really gives quite a lot of useful information amazingly. For this to be available to average people at a price that is affordable is extraordinary. We can take the grib files and plot the course we should attempt. This is our primary source of weather information.
Our secondary source is a subscription to a weather routing expert. Before we left Charleston, we emailed him and got specifics of what to expect and his recommendations. Weather more than 5 days old is not reliable. So, thankfully, we haver at the ability to call our him as needed on the sat phone. It is a huge advantage. A second opinion. An expect second opinion. We will take all we can get. Especially this year. It looks like 2020 is going to break all kinds of named storm records. All predictions for this portion of the trip look like smooth sailing the last 170 miles.
Kevin and I are on watch from 2000-midnight. Today has been rolly. I mean like exceptionally uncomfortable. As in all you can do is sit or lay down. We all crab walk holding on for dear life! Knowing this should be our last night watch, helps get me mentally prepared for a late night.
Steven is on watch right before us. We start seeing squalls on the radar , so Kevin goes and sits with Steven at the helm. Winds build and they decide to reef the Genoa (the only sail we are able to fly) More and more wind. They see 34 knots.
Squalls are troublesome. Yes, they can get the seas and wind stirred up to an uncomfortable state. An even scary state. But, the worst part of squalls is what it does to the wind. A squall will take a reliable wind speed and wind direction and change both. Generally, after the storm displays it impressive force, it will suck all the wind out for a time. This is not an optimal position for us to be in now, considering our fuel issues. In addition, we have to be really watching the wind speed. Flying the Genoa only, we will need to reduce sail when we see 25 knots and again at 30 knots, etc. Kevin and Steven reduced sail several times.
I take over for Steven at 2000. He is glad to be done. I can’t say that I blame him. Pulling up the radar, we prepare for what is going to be a very long night. We have squalls popping all around us. The winds build and we reduce sail, the wind dies back out and we shake out the reefs that we have put in. As we sit there for several hours, we do this an additional 5-6 times. It was exhausting. We saw as high as 39 knots. When our shift was over, I was able to go lay down, but the Captain had to stay up and help the next watch crew. Nobody got much sleep that night. It was a rough ride. Not scary, just rough. The Captain did not get to lay down until nearly 0800. The only thing getting us through, is knowing how close we are.
DAY TEN
We finally both get some sleep. The seas began to lay down. Looking back, Kevin said he had to make 8 sail changes through the night. I think this was the hardest night on all of us. 1100 – LAND HO!!! We are approximately 25 miles out from St Thomas. 1800 – We pull into Honeymoon Beach off St Thomas and pick up a mooring ball. After we are secured, we lower the dingy and head to shore. Dinner on the Captain.
Final trip miles – 1375!
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Follow the Kings’ next adventure and discover charter details at WhatTheKingsDidNext.com and follow on Facebook and Instagram!
Southern Charm is a 50-foot-long sailboat catamaran, spending summer and winter in the Virgin Islands. It features three cabins and accommodates six guests as well as four different social gathering areas. Guests enjoy the ability to sit with friends and family. All cabins feature oversized queen beds, have their own private bathroom with walk-in shower and include a closet and drawers for storage.
