Denny, Archie & Jack

It’s Christmas time, so excuse me if I get a bit sentimental. Archie’s big adventure onboard Betty Ann would not have been possible the last ten years without his friends.

Margie and Church

Fortunately, Archie and his late wife Betty Ann always had a talent for friendship. As children, our parents were never at home on weekend nights. And we still can’t keep up with Dad socially.

I’m not sure his friends imagined that they would spend their later years crewing on a sailboat. But crewed they have. And partied in Newport, Nantucket, Block Island, Manhattan, Charleston, Miami and Key West. Archie has never been all about work. You gotta have fun.

Bill, Rob, Mike, Archie, Rick & Alison

Each trip south to Sarasota or north back to Point Judith typically requires ten or so crew (3 or 4 crew for each of 3 weeklong legs). Archie has been joined by friends from all stages of his life. He and Bob G. hunted as teenage boys and nearly 70 years later sailed through a storm off New Jersey. Long time friends Ron, Jack O., Church and Margie, Jack H. and Larry have all spent time aboard. Lots of new friends have become regular crew aboard Betty Ann.

A frequent name on the log of Betty Ann is Denny. Characteristically, Denny was also the first friend to contribute a story to this blog. He described Betty Ann’s maiden voyage ten years ago:

I think we set sail the end of March 2004. We left Bradenton heading for Key West and only made it to the north end of Longboat Key and Moore’s Stone Crab for dinner.

The problem was with the auto pilot. The maintenance crew from Island Packet company came down and repaired it (moved satellite receiver from deck to railing).

Interesting note, that night, anchored in Sarasota Bay, we heard a ticking noise in the bilge or the bottom of the boat. Not knowing what it was the next morning we asked the Island Packet guys and they said it was the shrimp eating the algae off the bottom of the Betty Ann. One of many mysteries solved.

The joy in adventure and discovery (e.g., Denny’s bottom-feeding shrimp) is less in the doing and more in the sharing with others. As the adventure writer Tim Cahill said best,

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.

In which case, Betty Ann has sailed very far indeed.

If you don’t have time this holiday season for Robert Redford’s sailing disaster movie All Is Lost, check out this short film clip of Betty Ann. Jim G. filmed this clip off Florida in the hours before the gale hit described in the previous post. One gets a sense of a building sea. For those prone to seasickness, you may want to take some dramamine before viewing!

If someone reported to a social service agency that an 86 year old man was covered with bruises from being thrown around violently and stuck out in the wind and rain through a gale, they would immediately suspect the family of elder abuse. But that would assume that the family had any control over the scallywag.

Even before buying the Betty Ann, as a trial run at sailing offshore, Archie crewed aboard a Swan sailing from Newport to Annapolis in bad seas. He described the trip as three days in a cement mixer, tossed from side to side. He loved it.

In the ten years since then, Archie and the Betty Ann have had their share of rough weather at sea. Archie keeps an eye on weather systems and is cautious about subjecting his crews to storms. But it is pretty hard to get from Florida to New England each spring and then back again during the Fall hurricane season without sailing through some unpleasant weather.

The sailing trip this Fall was no exception. In early November 2013, Archie with frequent crew Jim G., Terry and Ray left Jacksonville bound for Fort Pierce, Florida. Two days later, his family and some friends received this terse email:

Bimini top, torn by a wave

Ft. Pierce — No. Miami — Yes. Arrived at 2:00 a.m. Got caught in gale storm off Cape Canaveral. 13 ft. waves. Never saw less than 20 knot winds for 36 hours. Fast ride. Big wave took out some canvas per attached. All safe.

Hmmm. Attached to the email was this photo of the canvas bimini, which normally provides shelter to the cockpit, in tatters. It must have been quite a wave. Many hours after this worrying email, we received this follow up with a bit more information:

Hi All: Some more details especially for sailors. Why were we out there? We had sailed Saturday from Port Royal to Fernandina Beach in winds of 15 to 25 knots and it was fine. On Monday, the forecast was 15 to 25 from the Northeast shifting to East Tuesday. Waves 7 to 9 feet likely on Saturday. On Monday afternoon, they changed the forecast to Gale Warnings. There was no place to go into so we had to keep going. The Betty Ann sailed like a charm. We had up the main reefed to a third and the stay sail. There was no pressure on the rudder showing on autopilot. Track went off a very few times and when it did the sails were so balanced we just kept sailing on the same course. The water was warm so we were not cold. Wet but warm. Jim and I did 3 hours on and 3 off. We were hooked on and seated in the lee corner. The boat was tipped some but not too much. Below it was fairly comfortable. The lack of canvas did let wind and water in but we had good foul weather gear. Main concern was worrying about boat gear breaking, some one slipping or lines falling over and fouling propeller. [Note: Bill W-R waggishly noted in an email response that it was unclear in this sentence whether Archie’s concern was someone going overboard or that, in doing so, they might foul the propeller.] Actually we were not using the engine because we were going so fast it did not help. We were going against the Gulf Stream but we were making 8 to 9 knots. The wind was between 27 and 35 knots most of the time. I saw below 20 on Tuesday a couple of times. They had forecasted Tuesday evening would calm down to 15 to 25 but it never happened. It was still in the 28 to 35 range all the way to Miami. It was a bumpy ride coming into the inlet as the tide was going out against the wind but the boat just chugged right thru it. The boat was fantastic!!!! I don’t think I have overstated conditions too much. I thought I would summarize my recollections while they were still fresh. CJS

The CJS signoff on his email, by the way, stands for Captain Jack Sparrow, Archie’s alter ego and inspiration when aboard the Betty Ann. Archie brings the same sense of humor and adventure as does the Johnny Depp character in Pirates of the Caribbean.

The unexpected gale that hit Archie and his crew created havoc among other boats offshore that week. The Coast Guard responded to five other sailboats in distress during the gale, including one vessel that had lost its mast and another needing airlifting of the crew. Archie, on the other hand, appeared to have had a “fantastic!!!!” time.

Sunrise over calmer seas