Once Vanish was safely in her berth in Georgia at the end of September, we kept a close eye on marinetraffic.com to see how other vessel captains dealt with the rapidly changing weather conditions due to Hurricane Joaquin. We'd left Cape Lookout (which is south of Cape Hatteras) on Saturday 27th September. A sub tropical low had formed off the Outer Banks in our area which explained our consistent 30 to 45 kn wind readings. Each morning for a week I asked Maynard whether the National Hurricane Center were forecasting a hurricane as the atmosphere felt heavy, warm and humid reminding me so much of our experience at Cape Lookout in the weeks before Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Virtually no cruisers were transiting the East Coast of the USA at this time due to the rough seas and high winds. On Sunday, a tropical depression developed north of the Bahamas and was predicted to move WNW before turning N. We watched this system carefully during our two day sea passage on Saturday and Sunday and were extremely happy when we tied up to our dock Sunday evening 28th September. Finally we felt relatively safe from any risk from a developing weather system, however, we kept a close eye on every report.

On Tuesday, the system was declared a tropical storm and given the name Joaquin. The next day, Wednesday, it became a Category 3 hurricane with wind speeds of over 150 mph and seas in excess of 50 feet. The Wednesday 4 pm cone model showed that the hurricane would most likely cross the Outer Banks at the end of the week right where we'd anchored just a few days before. We kept monitoring Marinetraffic.com and saw many yachts departing the Beaufort, SC marinas on sunset after that particular update . Weighing up whether to put to sea, tie the vessel to a dock or move inland if possible is a decision which weighs heavily on all captains. None of us want to be anywhere near a hurricane. Avoiding a hurricane is an art in itself taking into account weather reports, sea states, captain and crew experience and the capabilities of the vessel.

Joaquin did not behave like a normal hurricane. Most move at a fairly fast rate, however Joaquin sat in virtually the same area pummelling The Bahamian islands of Long Island and Crooked Island for 3 days. Further north on the Outer Banks and up to the Chesapeake Bay area and north to New York, mariners could not safely move south. The seas were large and the winds were relentless. Day after day, wind speeds at Cape Lookout were consistently 30 to 50 knots with torrential rain. Yachts were finding berths at docks and just waiting for the storm to pass. Larger ships were spreading out in their attempt to avoid the hurricane. On Tuesday night an 800 ft RORO (roll on roll off) vessel named El Faro departed Jacksonville, Florida with its cargo of vehicles and 28 US and 5 Polish crew bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The hurricane was expected to move to the N but instead it drifted slowly SW at a rate of 5 mph. El Faro was in the NW quadrant of the hurricane. With the hurricane unexpectedly stationary, the seas and winds were increasing as the hurricane intensified. Could the Captain outrun the hurricane by staying north or should he stay south hoping the hurricane would move north as forecast? El Faro was being sucked into the eye of the storm running downwind with following seas. A crewmember wrote in an email to her mother, "We are heading straight into it, Category 3, last we checked, winds are super bad. Love to everyone." A vessel of any size is at great risk when it is broadside to waves. It is an extremely hard decision to turn around before it is impossible to do so.

On Wednesday night with the hurricane at Category 3, the Captain contacted the Coast Guard stating he was listing 15 degrees and had experienced a loss of propulsion and was taking on water. Perhaps his cargo had moved or holed his vessel. On Thursday morning with Hurricane Joaquin at Category 4 around 7.30 am the Captain reported the water ingress was under control. We can only speculate on what happened next. Our hearts go out to all families involved in this tragic event as the ship rolled over and sunk with all lives lost. We are members of the maritime community. Every sailor, whether they are in a canoe or a bulk carrier are our family. Sometimes things don't work out. We all do our best to make the right decisions to keep our crews and land based families safe. We may never know the entire story but one thing is for sure, unknown events overcame the safety of the ship on Thursday. Judgement calls are well and good in hindsight, but often difficult to recognize under extreme duress. I pray that in time, peace will come to those left behind.

Hurricane Joaquin was one of the longest lived hurricanes in the history of the Atlantic. It has been 149 years since the Bahamas have experienced a Category 4 hurricane in the month of October, the last one being in the early 1800s during another global warming event. Hurricane Joaquin actually did not cross the coast of the US but brought about floods and fatalities in the Carolinas and extensive damage to parts of the Bahamas. The Acklin Islands in the Bahamas were reported to be completely under water. 5 ft of floodwaters submerged 70% of Crooked Island and Long Island was subject to an 18 ft storm surge that flooded homes with up to 12 ft of water. Joaquin was one of the strongest known hurricanes to impact the Bahamas and was comparable to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. We spend a great deal of time studying the weather with various weather forecasting programs and apps. So far we've dodged many bullets and I'm glad we were nowhere near this one.

We feel fortunate to have had another good year on Vanish enjoying the hospitality of everyone we encountered. Unlike our experience in 2012, we were not hassled at all by Coast Guard boardings, Harbor Master interrogations or any other authorities. This was in stark contrast to feeling so unwelcome by the authorities on our previous cruise in the USA. Other cruisers also remarked how enjoyable the cruising has become.

So now we say goodbye to the 2015 cruising season and hope you've enjoyed another year with us on board our little piece of paradise, Vanish. Until next time, this is Vanish....Out.