1700 | Friday, February 11th, 2022
The call came in around 1700 that Friday evening. It was a good friend of mine in desperate need of assistance making good on a promise he had made to a client of his – relocating a recent Rolex Cup winner – a Swan 100’ Sailing Yacht. It would prove to be anything but easy, especially considering the potential weather rolling in and the fact we hadn’t even begun provisioning for the 1245 nautical mile voyage, let alone seen the vessel.
After having swung by a rapid Covid testing center in White Plains to satisfy entry requirements for the West Indies, test in hand I headed to LGA the following day. Once landed and having rendezvous with a few of our locally sourced crew, we provisioned and turned in for an early start.
Now, for anyone who’s ever been enlisted to delivery someone else’s vessel from point A to B, you know that the vessel soundness and weather are always the ultimate deciding factors of a successful trip The latter of which was working against us and from experience, is always the one that keeps you on edge. Considering that we’d be navigating the open Atlantic and at any given time, at least 200 nautical miles from anything resembling land, one must make immediate peace with their environment – over the years, it’s humbled me and taught me an invaluable lesson – we are only able to control what’s in our little boat.
Seven days later, the following seas and 20 knots of beam reach took us the rest of the seventy-seven nautical mile shot, from Grand Bahama to the Palm Beach inlet. However, I’d be remis if I didn’t mention that during her 1245 nautical mile voyage, we had the pleasure of experiencing freshly caught Mahi, walls of sporadic rain showers, whales and dolphins, 15-foot seas, more whales and dolphins, new comradery and other personal memories that every voyage like this boasts.
In the end, these vessel deliveries always teach us something that we never expected to learn – for me, it always comes down to how can I do it better for the next client.
For more photos of this trip and more, please visit – Google Business Photos