The call for all sailors to attend a special weather briefing felt ominous. Soulemate and more than 100 other boats and their crews were gathered at Bluewater Yachting Center in Hampton, Virginia, to start the Salty Dawg Sailing Association (SDSA) rally to the Caribbean and Bahamas. We were scheduled to leave in two days, on November 1, 2022, and everyone had been anxiously watching the unsettled weather in the North Atlantic.
Chris Parker, founder of Marine Weather Center and the rally’s weather router, started using words like “anomalous” and “unprecedented” in his daily forecast to describe the situation. We all knew the start date was tentative and were prepared to wait a few days—one previous rally had been delayed a week. How late could it get? We would soon find out.
My husband, David, and I had spent almost a year planning this passage south for our Outbound 46, Soulemate. This was our one and only chance for at least the next two years to sail to the Caribbean. He teaches at a Virginia university and had finally arranged to have the spring semester off. He couldn’t sail down with us because school was still in session, so he would fly to Antigua and join the boat later. Getting crew was critical, but relatively easy.
Our oldest daughter, Kate Soule, a superb celestial navigator and experienced ocean racer, had a flexible work schedule and was ready to go anytime. My sister, Kathy Tokos, an oceanographer with decades of sailing and research experience, was equally set. But neither they nor I had sufficient bluewater miles to satisfy our insurance carrier. So we hired a friend from our yacht club in Deltaville, Virginia, to serve as skipper. Dave Tabor, a 100-ton captain, and his wife, Carol Vaughn, our fifth crew member, had many thousands of ocean miles between them. The insurance broker said, “I like your risk profile.” I thought we were all set.
Husband David spent months readying the boat. From purchasing a storm jib, drogue, and heavier anchor to updating charts, refurbishing our autopilot (which would later prove critical), and chasing stray electrical currents, he worked nonstop. Captain Dave spliced a new, third reefing line (again, this would become important), built a helm seat, and helped install new electronics. Carol and Kathy cooked and froze numerous
