Safely Home

An unexpected storm tests boat and crew to their limits.

- John Jones

Last August, my wife, Lily, and I took ownership of our 2011 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409, Summer wind, in St Martin, and set sail toward her new home in Stuart, Florida. After lengthy stopovers in St Croix and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic—the latter to wait out Hurricane Otto—I was joined by my close friend Rolf, who wanted to sail the remaining 950 miles with me.

Early on the morning of Monday, December 5, we headed out with the weather deteriorating around Punta Cana, but forecast to improve north toward Samana and Puerta Plata. Passing through a fast-moving squall with sustained 36-knot winds and 13ft seas, we motored north, tracking the Dominican coast. A couple of hours north of Punta Cana, the weather cleared and we hoisted our sails. This was the start of more than four days of incredible sailing, making 6 to 8 knots as we followed the Dominican coast, passed above Haiti and crossed the Windward Passage toward Cuba.

Conditions continued this way through Friday afternoon, with humpback whales breaching, and dolphins playing in our bow wave. At one point, we went a full 24 hours without seeing another boat. We had a DeLorme InReach, so friends and family could monitor our position. It also proved invaluable in that it allowed an experienced sailor friend to provide frequent NOAA weather updates for us.

After a day of near perfect sailing, it looked like conditions were going to deteriorate overnight Friday into Saturday as we turned north, along a section of the banks known as Hurricane Flats. Late on Friday afternoon I tucked a reef in the main and almost immediately the wind increased to 24 knots. Not wanting to be forced to make sail changes in the dark, we furled the head sail and took the main down to the second reef.