Passage to Eleuthera
Sunset From Good Karma Near Egg Island
Up at 5 a.m.! Predawn departure in a stiff 20 knot wind to begin our passage to Eleuthera. To get here we have to cross the New Providence channel which is basically the open Atlantic. We had a pretty good North wind to begin with that kind of faded over the day. It was almost directly behind us and that made it a bit difficult to keep from jibing (pronounced “jy-bing”), which is when the wind rapidly pushes your mainsail from one side to the other, slamming the boom and potentially damaging the mast/boom. Not something you want to have happen.
We were getting up to what I estimate were 6-foot rolling swells that changed the boat orientation to the wind as it rode up and down the wave. That change in orientation kind of dictates how far off the wind you can sail (or, how far behind you the wind direction can blow and not get to a jibe angle). The waves were not quite behind us, angling in a bit, so we had a lateral roll all the way here. Not as bad as would have been if they were coming at our beam (broadside), but still it was tiresome after many hours.
We arrived at our anchorage in falling daylight about 12 hours after we left. Unfortunately we had to motor-sail the entire route to get the speed we needed to arrive in daylight. It’s not that bad really but the engine droning gets annoying after a while. Shelly would rather have pure sailing but I say whatever works to get us there.
Had a bit of wind last night and tomorrow is supposed to bring high winds for a day or so, our plan is to go hang out in a marina in nearby Spanish Wells. We will top off our fuel and refill our water before heading south again.
Posted in Sailing by Mark with comments disabled.