End of Day 9 Beaufort NC to 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, GMT-4) 27 Nov 2019

Dear All,

The first 2 watches this morning did not go well because the light winds brought our speed right down.  The lowest hourly run was just 1.4 miles and there were several hours of around 3 miles run.  Our issue is that we don't have enough fuel to motor all the way to Antigua and, if the forecast is to be believed, then we will have 2-3 days of no wind at the end of the week.  There are islands and shallows to dodge at that stage of the passage so we have decided to save our fuel for then.  But we still need to get within fuel range.

The upshot of that is that we wanted to sail as far as we could today to try to get within our fuel range of Antigua even if it did mean progress of just 1.4 miles in an hour.  Bizarrely, the best sailing between midnight and dawn was when we were hit by squalls or sailed under dark clouds; normally a time to be concerned.

At 0750hrs we were going nowhere and the sails were just slatting about with the roll from the waves which was driving us mad.  So we took down the sails and decided to wait for the wind which was forecast to come by lunchtime.  I was just thinking of getting some trunks on and going for a swim when the wind did actually build to 10 knots from the north.  We had had the sails down for just 25 minutes!!!

Wind from the north was not expected but it was wind so we hoisted the sails rapidly and poled out the genoa to get us going.  Over the course of the day the wind came around to the east and built to 18-20 knots. Fabulous! BV was in her element and bowled along with all sails flying at 7-8 knots.  It was some of the best sailing of the passage so far, and all the sweeter for knowing that a really good run today might stop us from having to sit in the doldrums for 2 days waiting for the wind.

A short video:

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 27 Nov: N24 00 W63 18

Position at midnight 27 Nov: N22 32 W62 59

Midday to midday distance: 122 nautical miles

Midnight to midnight distance: 155 nautical miles

Total miles covered:  1231 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (direct line): 339 nautical miles

End of Day 9 - Beaufort North Carolina to Antigua