Two days ago we completed our longest passage yet, 1000 Nautical Miles diagonally across the Caribbean Sea. We had our friend from Perth, Steve with us which made the crossing much more manageable as he shared the watches and made the 6 day voyage fun! The crossing gave us confidence in the boat as we contended with some pretty rough seas off the Colombian coast. Despite the near gale force winds on Day 4 we were reefed down with a handkerchief for a jib and made 210 miles in the day. Other days averaged 150-160 miles.
It was great to have our HF radio working well and making radio contact with the cruisers networks as well as other yachts. Our Australian friends sailing on Remi-De were just behind us and threatening to catch and overtake us but our 210 mile day kept us in front (not that we were racing!), Remi-De is a lot bigger and faster than us and they actually left the US Virgin Islands after us and did the passage in 4 1/2 days!
The kids handled the journey very well. Kara usually gets sick on passages and certainly didn't feel great for the first 3 days but after that she found her sea legs, bounced back and learnt a new craft - she got into sewing! She learnt how to sew flags into small bags, made her own K flag, and even sewed up Beau's shorts for 1 USD! Travis listened to lots of Harry Potter and music and Beau played games on his iPad between reading books. They all wrote in their journals. It was fantastic to have Steve's expertise in sail shape to gain that extra knot and he was also great in the galley and the engine room when we burst a heater hose! We continued the Happy Hour tradition that Elizabeth introduced, which kept the adults sane with some adult time in the evenings while the kids watched a movie.
At its worst (or best?) we were surfing 5 metre waves from crest to trough and on one occasion we recorded 17.2 knots going down a wave.... that's pretty fast since we usually consider 10 knots very fast. Our average speed for the whole trip was a little under 7 knots. The most disconcerting was the buffeting/pounding/slapping of the waves on the side of the hulls and under the bridge deck. These sounds were loud and the whole boat would shudder. If a wave hit directly under the main cabin everything on the saloon table would jump and become airborne!
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| This is the rhumb line from USVI to San Blas, Panama |
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| We needed to stay north of the rhumb line to avoid a notoriously messy sea and gale force winds |
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| Kara concentrating on her sewing |
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| Travis and Beau sharing an earbud to listen to Harry Potter |
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| We saw nothing but endless seas, sunrises, sunsets, moonrises and moonsets for 6 days... oh, and 3 passing ships |
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| On day 5 we had more relaxing conditions |
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| Sonia and Steve kept the good food on the table - here we are abut to enjoy a roast dinner as the swells bear down on us |
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| Kara trying her hand at helming in 25 knots and 3 metre following seas |
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| Daily journal writing... the kids are still on school holidays so no formal school work to do yet |
