Student-Led Passage!
Location: Underway to CIV
Today’s the day. Vela departs on her final passage of the summer.
A few short weeks ago, a 24-hour passage might have seemed a daunting prospect. A few short weeks ago, most of Vela’s current crew hadn’t lived on a boat before, hadn’t raised sails, hadn’t stood on watch through lightning storms, hadn’t traveled thousands of miles from land, and hadn’t cooked meals for twenty while your ingredients and utensils slide around the galley.
Things have changed a little over the past few weeks, enough that control of the final passage to Rome has been handed over entirely to the shipmates. After the speeches and elections of a few days ago, this morning’s final preparations were conducted under the guidance and leadership of Joey ‘Safehands’ Schmidt (Skipper), Lucie ‘La Goose’ Beaujault (Chief Mate), Will ‘The Fridge’ Swanson (Engineer) and Johnathon (Jonno) Howard (Navigator).
Everyone knows the checks and preparations that need to happen before setting off once again, and deck operations ran smoothly with sail covers off, halyards attached, propane secured, and running lights checked, among myriad other things that all need to be signed off by the skipper of the day. We’ve been at double anchor in a protected anchorage to stay safe from the thunderstorms of the last few days. With Joey at the helm and Lucie leading her anchor raise team, we slowly ventured out of the bay and onto the course, diligently prepared for us by Johnathan, and headed towards mainland Italy.
While Joey expertly took us on a safe course around the heavy boat traffic of these popular islands, a very sweaty Will emerged from the engine room where he’d been working with the engine, the generator, and the hydraulics to get our anchors up and Vela motoring along. Once everyone was gathered back on deck, Joey (the People’s Skipper) announced full sail raises. Lucie assigned roles, and in no time, Will had the engine off, and we cruised along at a steady 6 knots with our five sails at a close reach sail.
After a good afternoon of sailing, we had enchiladas for dinner. By 20:00, we were only managing 1.3 knots after the winds died down, and with all hands on deck, we got all sails down and flaked, ready to motor the remainder of the way. We watched a final stunning sunset underway, and as we entered the evening watches, we threaded Vela through a winding storm avoidance track surrounded by epic lightning storms. When we wake up in the morning, we’ll be within sight of Civitavecchia!