BVIs towards the Cayman Islands End of Day 4

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 my daughter Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members.

2359hrs (AST, GMT-4) 18 Jan 2020

Dear All,

[Nicky writes] When I came on watch at midnight the wind had started getting up 'properly'.  Though BV was generally tracking towards our waypoint, about 10nm south of the islands off the southern tip of the Dominican Republic, when she was hit by a gust and/or a wave from just the wrong direction, which was happening increasingly frequently, the course over ground (COG) vector on the chart plotter indicated that she would likely be needing wheels or crampons in a few hours' time.  Not wanting to be the most recent victim on what must be a very wreck-strewn coast, I spent the majority of my watch up on deck, partly hand steering ie letting Georgina, the windvane steering system, do most of the work but moving the wheel a bit to help her out in the gusts and as waves passed us by.  In that way we stayed nicely on track and passed our waypoint within about half a mile at 0400hrs this morning.  That all makes it sound very relaxed and for a lot of the time it was, despite a consistent 28-34kts of wind, mostly above 30kts, with gusts somewhat higher.  Having eased the mainsail out a bit, BV and Georgina generally handled the wind nicely, even the gusts, with a triple-reefed main and the staysail but no genoa up.  The problem lay more with the waves - and, at times, they were impressively large.  For the most part the waves came from almost directly behind us but every now and then, just when I thought it might be safe to relinquish the helm to Georgina in toto, a train of 2 or 3 would come rushing in from the starboard quarter, causing BV to screw up to windward and trying to negate all my hard won work keeping us tracking safely just north of west.  And then there were the ones that sounded like an express train rushing up behind us (worse when the express train and his/her followers came from the starboard quarter).  These ones would pick up BV and point her 'downhill' as if she were on a ski-jump ramp and pretty much all I could do was try to steer straight down.......or just hang on and hope!  On most of these we logged a SOG (speed over the ground) of about 12knots.  One, the loudest, steepest and most breaking waves, had BV set a new speed record of 15.3kts.  Not something I really wish to repeat, particularly not in the almost pitch darkness before the moon has risen.

BV (highlighted by the red arrow) between 2 large cargo ships, when Nicky came on watch

We reached the waypoint at 0400hrs, just as Reg came back on watch, but he didn't have it all easy.  As we started up the southwest coast of Hispaniola, towards the DR's border with Haiti, we ended up as the small boat filling in a sandwich of 4 large commercial vessels.  So Reg too spent a fair proportion of his watch hand-steering, keeping a slightly more consistent course than Georgina can, and as I came back on watch again we were passing between 2 of the goliaths, one going in the same direction as us, a mile to our port side, the other in the opposite direction, a mile out to our starboard.  It's all go around here!

Mountains in Haiti around 35 miles away

A little later in my morning watch I thought that I saw the mountains of Haiti but I wasn't sure.  The clouds were low and the terrain blended into them and, at 50nm from the coastline with the terrain seeming to stand half a finger's width above the horizon, I wondered if I were imagining things.  By lunchtime, though, the mountains were clear, standing the same half a finger's width above the horizon.  Even from "only" 35nm out that's some impressive terrain!

Much more civilised size and consistent wave direction seas than overnight

Lunch –
note the high quality, unbreakable crockery!

[Reg continues]  We tried the generator again and it fired up but only ran for 5 minutes before running down.  Tracing what I think is a loose electrical connection in the engine control system is a job we'll leave until we are in port as there are too many fiddly bits to take apart and drop with BV moving around as she is, even though the sea is a lot calmer than it was overnight.

Lunch was the last of Nicky's carrot and cumin soup which, to create that special offshore sailing experience, was again served in plastic measuring jugs.  But I copied her idea with the croutons in a bid to make the meal a bit more 'lunch at the Ritz' rather than 'lunch at the soup kitchen'.

Sun sights

Before turning in off watch, Nicky took another set of sun shots with the sextant.  Hopefully tonight's sailing will be a little calmer so that she can work through the tables and see how accurate her calculated position for midday is.

A beautiful sailing day

All in all the day sailing today was great.  Heading up the southwest coastline of the Dominican Republic and Haiti we had a much more consistent wave direction so Georgina kept us on a steady course.  The sun was out, the skies were blue and the wind had moderated to around 20 knots; pretty good Trade Wind sailing conditions.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 18 Jan: N17 36 W72 34

Position at midnight 18 Jan: N17 47 W73 56

Midday to midday distance: 184 nautical miles (Average 7.7 knots)

Midnight to midnight distance: 177 nautical miles (Average 7.4 knots)

Total miles covered:  594 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (direct line to Cayman Brac): 349 nautical miles

BVIs towards the Cayman Islands, End of Day 4