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To Texas and Back
Chesapeake Bristol Club member David Lawson returned triumphantly to Annapolis on May 28 after a seven-month solo sailing adventure aboard Acadia, his Bristol 43.3. Sailing single-handed to Kemah, Texas, and back to Annapolis, David covered approximately 4,700 miles with both legs of the journey taking about seven weeks.
Prior to this adventure, the longest distance David had sailed in a single day was 55 nautical miles. That benchmark was dramatically surpassed on Day 17, when he departed Charleston, SC and completed a nonstop 344-mile passage to Fort Pierce, FL. His longest offshore leg was 410 miles from St. Augustine, FL to Morehead City, NC on his return trip. Two other trips were over 300 miles.
To safely manage life at sea while sailing alone, David developed a watch system that proved effective throughout the voyage. He set an alarm every 45 minutes for a visual inspection of the surrounding waters, allowing for approximately 20-minute naps between checks. His radar alarm was set for eight nautical miles and his AIS (Automatic Identification System) alarm for twelve nautical miles, providing ample warning of nearby vessels. Like all sailors who navigate at night, however, he remained mindful of hazards that cannot be electronically detected, such as floating logs, shipping containers, and unlit fishing boats.
Modern technology has greatly improved safety for offshore sailors. A Starlink system aboard Acadia provided David with continuous access to weather forecasts, communications, and internet connectivity. AIS allowed him to monitor nearby vessels, including their speed and direction, while radar served not only as a navigation aid but also as a valuable tool for tracking and avoiding severe weather. Trip planning was David’s primary way to avoid storms, but his radar helped him avoid encounters with three thunderstorms cells during the voyage.
Early in the trip, David just used Windy, Accuweather, and the NOAA site to determine weather conditions for trip planning. Along the way he became much more sophisticated. For the return trip, he used the PredictWind Offshore app for departure planning and verified it with Windy. Accuweather gave him quick access to weather radar nearby and provided a high-level overview of the weather. Windy would provide anticipated wind, current, waves, CAPE, and gusts. While PredictWind departure planning would tie everything together into four snapshots of different departure times for a specific route. It would then provide “scores” for the wind, waves, and chance of convective weather. David’s updated planning tools were more complex but also more accurate.
Acadia is equipped with Furuno electronics, including the TimeZero iBoat navigation app. With it, David could create and edit routes on his iPad, and the updates appeared immediately on the chart plotter. He did encounter one issue: extending an active route on the iPad created a new route and deleted the original. As soon as he saved the revised route, the autopilot reported that it no longer had a waypoint. David quickly learned to resolve the problem.
As with any extended cruise aboard an older vessel, even one as robustly built as a Bristol, mechanical issues are almost inevitable. Whether sailing on the Chesapeake Bay or crossing half the country by water, equipment failures are simply part of the experience. Overall, Acadia performed admirably, though a handful of problems caused delays along the way. These included failure of the hydraulic backstay system, a broken ball joint at the base of the davits, a runaway dinghy, and a refrigeration unit that ultimately required replacement while in Texas.
While in Punta Gorda, David learned a valuable lesson about dinghy tying and the need to replace old lines. The 30-year-old polypropylene line holding the dinghy finally gave up and David saw his dinghy drifting away. He had the forethought to empty his pockets, put on a life vest, and make sure the boarding ladder was down before jumping in and swimming after the dinghy. He got some unexpected help from a local cruise ship that saw what was going on and intercepted the dinghy and held it while he caught up to it. After giving sincere thanks, David climbed aboard and motored back to Acadia, a little wiser.
David's knowledge of heavy-weather sailing techniques proved invaluable when he needed to assess damage to the davits while underway on his first day out on his return trip. By heaving-to in 2–3-foot seas and 25-30 knot winds from the N/NE, he was able to safely inspect the problem and determine a course of action, which was to return to Kemah to fix the problem. The decision was based on there being very little cruiser friendly space along the Louisiana coast, this along with the fact the run back to Galveston Bay was going to be with following seas and a nice beam reach. While returning was disappointing and added an additional 320 nm to his trip, it was a great sail, albeit in the wrong direction.
For added peace of mind, David carried unlimited towing coverage throughout the voyage which he used when he ran his starboard tank dry while in the Alligator-Pungo canal. Up until then David had been religiously checking the fuel gauges, but on that day, he did not recheck after lunch and the tank ran dry. The engine now needed bleeding, something David had not done before. He was towed to Belhaven where a diesel mechanic showed him how to bleed his engine, and he was back underway the following day.
When preparing for his long overnight trips, David would make a pot of chili that would make six meals that he could reheat while underway. Rice was also cooked and kept in the fridge. Fried rice with fresh or canned vegetables finished off the meal. Cereal with protein granola and coffee were his go-to in the morning.
While David initially envisioned a leisurely cruise focused on enjoying the journey, the realities of the schedule soon shifted his priorities. His primary objective became reaching his destination as efficiently as possible, turning the trip into more of a passage-making voyage than a sightseeing cruise. Stops were generally limited to weather delays, repairs, and reprovisioning. Even so, the journey provided ample opportunities to enjoy the natural world. Along the way, David encountered numerous dolphins, a wide variety of shore birds, several alligators, and even a black bear.
David estimates that only about 10% of the trip was completed under sail power alone. Many miles were covered while motor sailing, with approximately 50% completed entirely under power alone. By the end of the voyage, he had added roughly 650 hours to the engine. Diesel prices varied throughout his trip from a low of $2.25 going south to a high of $5.60 going north.
David departed Port Annapolis on November 1 and arrived in Kemah on December 17. After spending the winter in Texas, he began his return voyage on April 4 and completed his journey back to Annapolis on May 28. His journey resulted in many more ocean miles than intracoastal. After traveling down the Bay, David took the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) down to Charleston, SC. From there he headed into the ocean, not stopping until Fort Pierce, FL, to rest and for reprovisioning. His next stop was the Florida Keys where he anchored for the night after crossing into the Gulf under the 65’ bridge at Islamorada. He then headed up the west coast of Florida into Punta Gorda where he stayed for a few days, initially to rest but longer due to the wind direction. He left Punta Gorda on December 3rd and headed offshore to Panama City for an overnight rest before heading on to Pensacola. Here, again weather related, David traveled “inside” along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) stopping at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL for a couple of nights to rest and reprovision.
In the GIWW heading through Louisiana, David had his first experience going through deep locks with commercial traffic. He mastered it well. Weather conditions meant that David traveled the rest of the way to Kemah on the GIWW. Unfortunately, one evening high winds caused low tides which prevented Acadia from being able to reach the marina where David had planned an overnight. This meant that David had to keep traveling along the GIWW into the night as there was nowhere to anchor. Unlike ocean travel, his watch system would not work through these channels, so he had to ply himself with caffeine, set multiple alarms, and just keep going. It was after this long night of travel that David experienced the coldest weather of his trip south. While washing his anchor down after a few hours rest in Lake Charles, the water in his deck washdown hose froze, nothing serious that a bit of sunshine couldn’t thaw. Two days later, David arrived at his marina in Kemah for the winter, just before 3:00 pm on December 17th. He had traveled over 2,200 miles in 47 days.
David first started his journey north on April 4th, but a broken davit and poorly functioning refrigeration caused him to return to Kemah. Repairs were successfully undertaken but a progressive dock party with drinks and appetizers kept David in port for another couple of days. His second departure was on April 12th. His return trip followed almost the same journey with weather again keeping him in the GIWW rather than out in the Gulf until he reached Pensacola. David did day-travel along the GIWW with many long days. Unlike his south trip, there were no issues with shallow water and as the route had been traveled once before, David had a more relaxed journey passing 6-pack barges and going through the locks and drawbridges. He spent four days at the marina in Orange Beach, AL waiting for a weather window to head to Pensacola, FL and then across to St. Petersburg. The 311nm trip took just under 52 hours. In St. Pete’s, family, a funky alternator, and weather kept him at the marina for eight nights. After an early start on May 4th, David had another delay anchoring off Sanibel Island to wait out a big storm cell. Once underway again, he kept going until Islamorada for the night. It was then another overnight to Fort Pierce, FL for rest and reprovisioning. After two nights it was back into the ocean headed for St. Augustine. Weather did keep David in St. Augustine for six nights, so he did manage to see some of the historic sites in this beautiful old city.
Plans to head all the way around Hatteras from St. Augustine were shortened as David had to stop for fuel. He had anticipated getting further on his full fuel tanks but both a lack of wind and problems finding the Gulf Stream for extra speed resulted in greater fuel usage. He headed into Morehead City only to discover he had a failed hydraulic backstay adjuster. He was delayed for six days in Morehead City but enjoyed family visits. Underway again, he traveled to the Alligator Pongo Canal to anchor for the night. The next day, he traveled all the way to Atlantic Yacht Basin, a 100-mile journey tying up at 10:00 pm. He spent a full day there then set off at 9:30 pm though Norfolk and Portsmouth and north into the Bay anchoring in Mill Creek, Solomons. After 55 days, he arrived at Port Annapolis on Thursday, May 28th.
Looking back, David credits the success of the voyage not to any single piece of equipment but to preparation, adaptability, and the willingness to solve any single problem at a time. From chasing a runaway dinghy to repairing equipment hundreds of miles from home, the journey reinforced a lesson familiar to long-distant sailors, offshore is rarely about perfect conditions, it is about making good decisions when conditions are less than perfect.
Now living aboard and back on the Chesapeake for the summer, David plans to enjoy more relaxed sailing closer to home, reflecting on an adventure that tested both sailor and vessel while demonstrating the rewards of careful preparation, perseverance, and self-reliance. He has a list of retrofits to do before he sets off on his next adventure. Stay tuned!
Submitted by Lynne Hoot
Chesapeake Bristol Club member David Lawson returned triumphantly to Annapolis on May 28 after a seven-month solo sailing adventure aboard Acadia, his Bristol 43.3. Sailing single-handed to Kemah, Texas, and back to Annapolis, David covered approximately 4,700 miles with both legs of the journey taking about seven weeks.
Prior to this adventure, the longest distance David had sailed in a single day was 55 nautical miles. That benchmark was dramatically surpassed on Day 17, when he departed Charleston, SC and completed a nonstop 344-mile passage to Fort Pierce, FL. His longest offshore leg was 410 miles from St. Augustine, FL to Morehead City, NC on his return trip. Two other trips were over 300 miles.
To safely manage life at sea while sailing alone, David developed a watch system that proved effective throughout the voyage. He set an alarm every 45 minutes for a visual inspection of the surrounding waters, allowing for approximately 20-minute naps between checks. His radar alarm was set for eight nautical miles and his AIS (Automatic Identification System) alarm for twelve nautical miles, providing ample warning of nearby vessels. Like all sailors who navigate at night, however, he remained mindful of hazards that cannot be electronically detected, such as floating logs, shipping containers, and unlit fishing boats.
Modern technology has greatly improved safety for offshore sailors. A Starlink system aboard Acadia provided David with continuous access to weather forecasts, communications, and internet connectivity. AIS allowed him to monitor nearby vessels, including their speed and direction, while radar served not only as a navigation aid but also as a valuable tool for tracking and avoiding severe weather. Trip planning was David’s primary way to avoid storms, but his radar helped him avoid encounters with three thunderstorms cells during the voyage.
Early in the trip, David just used Windy, Accuweather, and the NOAA site to determine weather conditions for trip planning. Along the way he became much more sophisticated. For the return trip, he used the PredictWind Offshore app for departure planning and verified it with Windy. Accuweather gave him quick access to weather radar nearby and provided a high-level overview of the weather. Windy would provide anticipated wind, current, waves, CAPE, and gusts. While PredictWind departure planning would tie everything together into four snapshots of different departure times for a specific route. It would then provide “scores” for the wind, waves, and chance of convective weather. David’s updated planning tools were more complex but also more accurate.
Acadia is equipped with Furuno electronics, including the TimeZero iBoat navigation app. With it, David could create and edit routes on his iPad, and the updates appeared immediately on the chart plotter. He did encounter one issue: extending an active route on the iPad created a new route and deleted the original. As soon as he saved the revised route, the autopilot reported that it no longer had a waypoint. David quickly learned to resolve the problem.
As with any extended cruise aboard an older vessel, even one as robustly built as a Bristol, mechanical issues are almost inevitable. Whether sailing on the Chesapeake Bay or crossing half the country by water, equipment failures are simply part of the experience. Overall, Acadia performed admirably, though a handful of problems caused delays along the way. These included failure of the hydraulic backstay system, a broken ball joint at the base of the davits, a runaway dinghy, and a refrigeration unit that ultimately required replacement while in Texas.
While in Punta Gorda, David learned a valuable lesson about dinghy tying and the need to replace old lines. The 30-year-old polypropylene line holding the dinghy finally gave up and David saw his dinghy drifting away. He had the forethought to empty his pockets, put on a life vest, and make sure the boarding ladder was down before jumping in and swimming after the dinghy. He got some unexpected help from a local cruise ship that saw what was going on and intercepted the dinghy and held it while he caught up to it. After giving sincere thanks, David climbed aboard and motored back to Acadia, a little wiser.
David's knowledge of heavy-weather sailing techniques proved invaluable when he needed to assess damage to the davits while underway on his first day out on his return trip. By heaving-to in 2–3-foot seas and 25-30 knot winds from the N/NE, he was able to safely inspect the problem and determine a course of action, which was to return to Kemah to fix the problem. The decision was based on there being very little cruiser friendly space along the Louisiana coast, this along with the fact the run back to Galveston Bay was going to be with following seas and a nice beam reach. While returning was disappointing and added an additional 320 nm to his trip, it was a great sail, albeit in the wrong direction.
For added peace of mind, David carried unlimited towing coverage throughout the voyage which he used when he ran his starboard tank dry while in the Alligator-Pungo canal. Up until then David had been religiously checking the fuel gauges, but on that day, he did not recheck after lunch and the tank ran dry. The engine now needed bleeding, something David had not done before. He was towed to Belhaven where a diesel mechanic showed him how to bleed his engine, and he was back underway the following day.
When preparing for his long overnight trips, David would make a pot of chili that would make six meals that he could reheat while underway. Rice was also cooked and kept in the fridge. Fried rice with fresh or canned vegetables finished off the meal. Cereal with protein granola and coffee were his go-to in the morning.
While David initially envisioned a leisurely cruise focused on enjoying the journey, the realities of the schedule soon shifted his priorities. His primary objective became reaching his destination as efficiently as possible, turning the trip into more of a passage-making voyage than a sightseeing cruise. Stops were generally limited to weather delays, repairs, and reprovisioning. Even so, the journey provided ample opportunities to enjoy the natural world. Along the way, David encountered numerous dolphins, a wide variety of shore birds, several alligators, and even a black bear.
David estimates that only about 10% of the trip was completed under sail power alone. Many miles were covered while motor sailing, with approximately 50% completed entirely under power alone. By the end of the voyage, he had added roughly 650 hours to the engine. Diesel prices varied throughout his trip from a low of $2.25 going south to a high of $5.60 going north.
David departed Port Annapolis on November 1 and arrived in Kemah on December 17. After spending the winter in Texas, he began his return voyage on April 4 and completed his journey back to Annapolis on May 28. His journey resulted in many more ocean miles than intracoastal. After traveling down the Bay, David took the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) down to Charleston, SC. From there he headed into the ocean, not stopping until Fort Pierce, FL, to rest and for reprovisioning. His next stop was the Florida Keys where he anchored for the night after crossing into the Gulf under the 65’ bridge at Islamorada. He then headed up the west coast of Florida into Punta Gorda where he stayed for a few days, initially to rest but longer due to the wind direction. He left Punta Gorda on December 3rd and headed offshore to Panama City for an overnight rest before heading on to Pensacola. Here, again weather related, David traveled “inside” along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) stopping at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL for a couple of nights to rest and reprovision.
In the GIWW heading through Louisiana, David had his first experience going through deep locks with commercial traffic. He mastered it well. Weather conditions meant that David traveled the rest of the way to Kemah on the GIWW. Unfortunately, one evening high winds caused low tides which prevented Acadia from being able to reach the marina where David had planned an overnight. This meant that David had to keep traveling along the GIWW into the night as there was nowhere to anchor. Unlike ocean travel, his watch system would not work through these channels, so he had to ply himself with caffeine, set multiple alarms, and just keep going. It was after this long night of travel that David experienced the coldest weather of his trip south. While washing his anchor down after a few hours rest in Lake Charles, the water in his deck washdown hose froze, nothing serious that a bit of sunshine couldn’t thaw. Two days later, David arrived at his marina in Kemah for the winter, just before 3:00 pm on December 17th. He had traveled over 2,200 miles in 47 days.
David first started his journey north on April 4th, but a broken davit and poorly functioning refrigeration caused him to return to Kemah. Repairs were successfully undertaken but a progressive dock party with drinks and appetizers kept David in port for another couple of days. His second departure was on April 12th. His return trip followed almost the same journey with weather again keeping him in the GIWW rather than out in the Gulf until he reached Pensacola. David did day-travel along the GIWW with many long days. Unlike his south trip, there were no issues with shallow water and as the route had been traveled once before, David had a more relaxed journey passing 6-pack barges and going through the locks and drawbridges. He spent four days at the marina in Orange Beach, AL waiting for a weather window to head to Pensacola, FL and then across to St. Petersburg. The 311nm trip took just under 52 hours. In St. Pete’s, family, a funky alternator, and weather kept him at the marina for eight nights. After an early start on May 4th, David had another delay anchoring off Sanibel Island to wait out a big storm cell. Once underway again, he kept going until Islamorada for the night. It was then another overnight to Fort Pierce, FL for rest and reprovisioning. After two nights it was back into the ocean headed for St. Augustine. Weather did keep David in St. Augustine for six nights, so he did manage to see some of the historic sites in this beautiful old city.
Plans to head all the way around Hatteras from St. Augustine were shortened as David had to stop for fuel. He had anticipated getting further on his full fuel tanks but both a lack of wind and problems finding the Gulf Stream for extra speed resulted in greater fuel usage. He headed into Morehead City only to discover he had a failed hydraulic backstay adjuster. He was delayed for six days in Morehead City but enjoyed family visits. Underway again, he traveled to the Alligator Pongo Canal to anchor for the night. The next day, he traveled all the way to Atlantic Yacht Basin, a 100-mile journey tying up at 10:00 pm. He spent a full day there then set off at 9:30 pm though Norfolk and Portsmouth and north into the Bay anchoring in Mill Creek, Solomons. After 55 days, he arrived at Port Annapolis on Thursday, May 28th.
Looking back, David credits the success of the voyage not to any single piece of equipment but to preparation, adaptability, and the willingness to solve any single problem at a time. From chasing a runaway dinghy to repairing equipment hundreds of miles from home, the journey reinforced a lesson familiar to long-distant sailors, offshore is rarely about perfect conditions, it is about making good decisions when conditions are less than perfect.
Now living aboard and back on the Chesapeake for the summer, David plans to enjoy more relaxed sailing closer to home, reflecting on an adventure that tested both sailor and vessel while demonstrating the rewards of careful preparation, perseverance, and self-reliance. He has a list of retrofits to do before he sets off on his next adventure. Stay tuned!
Submitted by Lynne Hoot
