Vegan from Virginia to Provincetown

After the whirlwind getting Moment off the dock and on our way to Provincetown, all we needed was the weather to cooperate. The ever-evolving plan was to sail from Deltaville, Virginia to maybe South Hampton then Block Island, Newport, and finally end in Provincetown right around Memorial Day weekend.

Provisioning for trips like these is always interesting because you have dietary needs along with weather concerns. If it’s going to be super calm sailing than you want meals to be more elaborate (so you have something to focus on and do), but if it’s crazy, you go down to survival mode kind of concoctions. An added twist this go ’round was one crew member was vegan. The executive decision was to simply plan all meals vegan so there was no question along the way. And added bonus – the rest of us would maybe feel a little healthier or more cultured along the way. To get the job done we went to none other than Capt. Chris’s mother, who loves to experiment in the kitchen and has had some bouts without meat herself. Her planning was fantastic and the home made frozen options were perfect to throw in the shiny new oven when we were rolling around offshore and still holding to the diet.

Departure
It was Saturday Morning, May 20th and the wind was blowing strong from the North East, which was great for sailing the 35 miles down the Chesapeake Bay, but terrible when we wanted to turn left and head toward New England. So the game was to watch the weather, head down to the protected stop over in Langley, Virginia and then monitor the weather for the best time to leave so that when the wind did clock back around to prevailing southwest, we were ready to ride our way up to Ptown. Hummus wraps and an apple snack for lunch as we screamed down the bay at 8.5kts was the way to go.

Langley Virginia
We arrived to Langley and dropped anchor around 3PM and took naps. It was just the right thing to do to decompress after all the stress of getting the boat ready. That night we had spinach lasagna and more importantly vegan carrot cake – the award winning favorite for the whole trip! It looked like the following morning around 9AM was the best bet to weigh anchor and head out to the Atlantic Ocean, so that’s what we did.

Atlantic City
Unfortunately the wind and seas were really hesitant to follow the weather report and cooperate with us so we were bucking wind and waves until about midnight that night when it was safe to turn the engine off and set sail. With all the rolling, we decided that the hearty squash and black bean chili was the perfect dinner choice. However by this point, one crew member had repeatedly gotten ill, which is neither fun nor safe for anyone on-board. After determining that there would be an easy out at Atlantic City and ‘phoning-a-friend’ we did a crew swap and a refuel in Atlantic City in about 3 hours time–speedy like Nascar.

Entering Atlantic City was a torrential downpour and fog–just what you prefer when entering a harbor. Prior to arriving at Atlantic City, we noticed water where it shouldn’t be in the galley. After further inspection, it turned out to be that stuffing box that was just repacked and had been dripping way more than it was supposed to. Additionally, we had really stirred up the forward diesel tank and clogged up our Racor primary fuel filters to a point of concern. This pit-stop was becoming a really beneficial time to regroup mechanically as well. While at a courtesy dock, the Racors were changed and with quite a struggle, the stuffing box was tightened up.

One interesting thing we realized as we pulled out of Atlantic city… We were now three meat eaters with a boat load of Vegan chow and it was now on us to carry the torch all the way to Provincetown. We were up for the challenge. To stay focused, we went with the veggie meatball stir fry – a choice that tricked our senses and was the best ‘meatball’ stirfry we had all every had.

New York City
On our way again, the wind had shut down and it was a motor. Instead of gunning outside Long Island for Hamptons or Block, the decision was made to go through New York City up the East River. The result was some amazing photography of sunrise.

Thimble Islands
We dropped the one crew member that hopped on for less than 24 hours at a dock in City Island and then continued on to the Thimble Islands in Connecticut. This is a really beautiful spot that resembles the islands of Maine and worked out perfectly for us to spend a night. The falafel pitas were our go-to meal for this chill anchorage.

Block Island
The following day (oddly enough as planned) hit Block island on the same day that we originally scheduled to be there. This doesn’t typically happen in the sailing world. Block Island was great to see again and walk around to favorite spots like the Oar and Atlantic Inn. Just when we thought we had become full-blown vegans, Block Island happened and we couldn’t resist breaking the vegan streak at two of the restaurants in town with delicious lobsters and local seafood options. There was now no turning back and no regrets for what we had done! The sunset was sweet and it was an early bed time for us that night.

Newport
The next morning it was raining and the wind was whipping. What a day to head over to Newport. We went anyway and fought seas, wind, and current almost the whole way there, but we made it.

Cape Cod Canal
That morning the one crew member that stuck with us the whole trip departed for a race boat that she was crewing on out of Newport and it was a solo trip to Provincetown. Timing the Cape Cod Canal tides is essential to get the trip completed in about 11 hours.

Provincetown
By 10:30 on Friday night still stocked with some remaining vegan provisions, Moment was back in Provincetown and ready for her fourth season of fun. We surprised ourselves with unexpected turns and stops, but held to our end destination arrival day all the healthier.

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