Freddy, and me, and the west wind

A few years ago, Melanie Coronetz, a friend from the Menantic Yacht Club, kept after me to join her, Ken Pysher, Paul Mobius and Freddy Zorovich aboard Freddy’s boat, Zora, for the Wednesday night races out of Greenport. 

I did and had a great time and got to know Freddy.

This past week, Freddy asked me to help him sail his new boat (as yet unnamed) to Shelter Island from Point Judith Yacht Club in Rhode Island. George Zinger had helped him sail the boat to Point Judith, but had commitments and couldn’t sail the rest of the way. The boat is built by Saffieryachts of the Netherlands — a beauty at 27 feet, sleek and fast but low to the water. 

Freddy did mention bringing a good set of foul weather gear.

The weather and wind conditions were forecast to be perfect for a reach all the way to Fishers Island, where we were planning to spend the first night, and then sailing on to Shelter Island on Thursday.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Freddy’s wife Karin drove us across the North Ferry to Orient Point, where we caught the Cross Sound Ferry to New London, and took an Uber to Point Judith, a 45-minute car ride.

By the time we reached Point Judith YC, it had stopped raining and there wasn’t a soul around. We climbed aboard Freddy’s boat and prepared to spend the night. The waves slapping against the hull lulled me to sleep.

At 5 a.m. Thursday, with the sun already up, we could tell that the wind had picked up as well. A check of the weather apps showed that the wind, which had been forecast to blow from the south only a day earlier, was now forecast to blow from the west all day.

That meant we’d be heading straight into the wind, which would take a lot of necessary tacking.

Nonetheless, we were ready to go and cast off after eating muffins supplied by Karin for breakfast.

We were on our way out of the harbor, in between the red and green buoys, when we ran aground — not a promising start. After freeing ourselves using the engine along with the main for an extra push, we sailed out of the harbor with me at the wheel, only to realize that the wind had really picked up and the swells were in the 6-foot and higher range.

At 27 feet, with an electric engine that is only good for about three hours, we both looked at each other and did the unthinkable. We admitted that the conditions were unsafe and decided to turn back, which meant waiting a while to find a swell small enough to turn around safely.

We then returned to port, tied up at the dock, took an Uber and two ferries, and reached Shelter Island in time for lunch, missing only … the boat.