End of Day 9 - Beaufort NC towards Antigua

These Blog entries are edited versions of the messages we sent back as we completed the passage. They were sent by radio using a laptop that controls a modem and the HF/SSB radio, using the SailMail system. We sent the messages daily to Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members.

2359hrs (AST, 4 hrs behind GMT) 7 Dec 2018

Dear All,

Sailing again but with a big change – we are on port tack!

Well, it was a gentle start to the trade wind belt but for most of the day we have had a consistent 11-12 knot easterly wind.  By dusk that was up to 13-14 knots which accelerated BV to over 7 knots, so overall we have been making good progress south.  The weather forecast shows a diurnal variation; lighter winds overnight but with them building to peak of around 20 knots in the middle of the day. We haven't really seen that today but perhaps we will tomorrow when we are further into the belt.  A steady 15 knots would suit us just fine.  The Trade Winds have also brought lots of cumulus clouds so from now on we will need to keep an eye on those in case they turn into rain squalls. [Yes, some did and we were hit by several squalls at night when it has hard to see them coming.]

Our latest rigging trick: we set up the spinnaker jockey pole on the mast to hold the preventer off the genoa sheet to stop the 2 ropes chafing through

Crossing the Sargasso Sea

At our 4 am watch change Nicky found our first flying fish on deck; we suspect the first of many.  Plus, we are also seeing more Sargasso weed, sometimes in quite large clumps.  Generally it's passing us by but some has clogged the DuoGen so we're checking the battery charging rate every hour when we complete the log to see if we need to unclog the DuoGen's propeller.

We've decided that we'll sail down the east side of Antigua; we both feel that it's just too shallow and there are too many odd rocks for a night transit of the western side of the island to be comfortable. We are definitely aiming to do our check in at English Harbour, on the south side of the island, but may consider anchoring overnight off Falmouth, the next bay west, which is better lit for a night approach, rather than holding off out at sea for daylight.  Hopefully we'll sail fast enough over the next 36 hrs to arrive before sunset.

It's all quite exciting because Antigua is starting to feel quite close now.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 7 Dec: N22 32 W61 38
Position at midnight 7 Dec: N21 17 W61 36
Midday to midday distance: 155 nautical miles
Midnight to midnight distance: 163 nautical miles
Total miles covered:  1303 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (direct line): 264 nautical miles  (253nm to new waypoint east of Antigua plus about 11nm to English Harbour)

End of Day 9 Beaufort in North Carolina to Antigua