Setting Sail: Trilogy, meet the open ocean

With our first crew blog entry coming in the next day or two, we wanted to give you a little first-hand insight into the incredible feat that is an ocean crossing! Here to give us his pro-level peek inside is Denver Coon, who has personally Captained an impressive 12+ ocean crossings - each totaling a thousand miles or more - and has over 30,000 nautical miles of blue water sailing experience under his adventure belt.

Crossing Log:

Captain Denver Coon, 9/25/18

Sleepless nights, thousands of miles of Open Ocean, squalls, and weeks without sight of land are not how people would describe sailing aboard Trilogy Excursions’ catamarans.  However, these are only a few of many of the challenges our crew will face when they deliver Trilogy’s new 65ft Gold Coast catamaran from St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands, to Maui, Hawaii this October. 

The crew consists of many of Trilogy’s most experienced captains and crew.  This includes, Captain Kai, Captain Katie,  Captain Nick, Captain Raquel, and Galley Officer Lowell Reed.  For many of them, this will likely be the longest delivery any of them has ever done, or WILL do in their lives.  For others, this will be their first long distance blue water sailing experience, and a chance to apply the knowledge they have gained from the many years they have spent sailing the waters of Hawaii.  

The journey will begin in St. Croix, where Trilogy IV is currently receiving its finishing touches.  Captain James Whipple, an experienced delivery captain, will be in charge of the first leg of the trip, which will take the crew from St. Croix and through the Panama Canal.  I myself will be joining the crew on the Pacific side of the canal, and will be leading the crew on the five thousand mile sail from Panama to Hawaii. 

Each leg of the crossing will present its own unique set of challenges.  On the Caribbean side of the canal, the crew will have to remain constantly on the lookout for shipping traffic, lightning, and anything on the boat that will need repair prior to sailing across the Pacific.  The second leg will be a test of endurance.  The nonstop sail from Panama to Hawaii will likely take several weeks or more, and this means that the crew will need to extra take care in maintaining both their bodies and minds, as the day after day of poor sleep and feeling of nausea can make life difficult.   

We currently estimate that the entire delivery will take 4 to 6 weeks. However, with hurricanes and tropical storms currently capable of forming in both the Atlantic and Pacific, plans may need to modify to ensure the safety of both vessel and crew.

In 1972, the Coon family sailed the original Trilogy across the Pacific to start a new life in the Hawaiian islands.  Over forty-five years later, the Trilogy crew are excited to retrace many of the same miles and share their experience from start to finish.  We hope that you will follow their journey in the coming days and enjoy reading firsthand all the work that goes into bringing a new boat into the Trilogy fleet.

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Stay tuned for our next blog entry coming (very!) soon from Galley Officer Lowell!

Intro by: Cyndie Ellis