Jamaica towards the Bay Islands Honduras End of Day 2

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 (EST, GMT-4) 02 Feb 2020

Dear All,

The wind did drop off to less than 5 knots last night and so at midnight we switched on the engine and motor-sailed for 5 hours until the wind had built enough to sail again.  During the morning we had between 8 and 10 knots of wind which, at its strongest, was enough to get BV sailing at 7 knots in pretty much perfect smooth sea conditions.  Sadly the wind was more often closer to 8 knots which dropped our average speed down considerably. But the forecast for the afternoon had winds building to 20 knots so we hoped that we wouldn't be trickling along too slowly for too long.

There is the odd tanker or 2 to avoid
but largely it is uneventful sailing

On cue at midday the wind started to build quickly and by 1215hrs we were reducing the sail area.  With the apparent wind on the beam we decided on 2 reefs in the main and the staysail, no genoa.  If we'd had the genoa, or some of it, up, we'd have had at least another knot of speed but then Georgina, the wind vane, would also have needed to be tended more closely to stop her from wandering too far off track as waves and variations in windspeed impacted on the steering.  These factors are far more apparent when beam reaching, as opposed to sailing downwind, and can make using the windvane steering quite frustrating on that point of sail.  We could have gone for more sail and used the electric autopilot but the autopilot's quite noisy and, anyway, under the small sailplan BV still moseyed along happily with a gentle motion which makes life easy, particularly for the person trying to get some sleep.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 02 Feb: N18 51 W78 32

Position at 2359EST 02 Feb: N18 58 W80 01

Midday to midday distance: 142 nautical miles (Average 5.9 knots)

Midnight to midnight distance: 160 nautical miles (Average 6.7 knots)

Total miles covered:  239 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (route distance to Bonacca, Guanaja ): 382 nautical miles

End of Day 2, Jamaica towards the Bay Islands, Honduras