Free Energy is about 300nm from Newport heading north along Cape May about 40nm off the coast. We’re moving along at about 7.5kts. That is a good clip for Free Energy but we are missing the 3-4kts boost we had been getting from the Gulf Stream since we passed by Cape Hatteras earlier today. So we’ll be going somewhat slower than we have been for the rest of the journey.
The current sea state is waves of about 5ft. That somewhat rough and uncomfortable sea state, but not unsafe. I’ve included a brief video of what the sea state looks like from Free Energy’s cockpit. One thing I’ve learned however is that photos&video just don’t do a good job of conveying how it feels to be in a rough sea. The worse sea state I’ve ever been in was in the Greek Isles, but when I look at the photos that were taken they look fairly tame to me even though I was there an I know they were not.
After passing Cape Hatteras today we decided to take a slightly curved path to Newport along the east coast, rather than continue to head directly to Newport. The down side to this is it will extend our travel time to Newport by roughly 1/2 day, the upside is it gives us options to stop alone the east coast if the weather and sea state get bad. We are likely to take advantage of that upside tomorrow even and stop in a protected anchorage for the evening and let some bad weather pass that night before continuing on the next day.
Our sister ship, another Outbound 46 we had been traveling with named Stella Blue, opted to head directly to Newport from Hatteras. Stella Blue will likely get to Newport about a day ahead of Free Energy (assuming we anchor overnight tomorrow), but Free Energy will likely have a more comfortable passage. Both options are quite safe, and well within the abilities of both boats it’s just a matter of preference to choose a faster or more comfortable route.
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