Jamaica towards the Bay Islands Honduras End of Day 3

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-5) 03 Feb 2020

Dear All,

The overnight sail went very smoothly, initially with a 15-20 knot wind from the northeast which then increased to 20-25 knots.  BV was able to average well over 7 knots in that wind and so at 0100hrs this morning we arrived at our first turning point which was 60 miles east-south-east of Grand Cayman.  We have now turned onto a more westerly heading to route us north of the Swan Islands.  From there we will route directly towards Guanaja.  We have deliberately put this dog leg into our route to keep us well clear of the Nicaraguan Banks which are known area of piratical activity.

Just after dawn on Day 3 of the passage

The early hours of the morning were very dark with no moon and often enough cloud cover to hide the stars. So, after our turn, we left rigging the spinnaker pole until dawn.  It's much easier dancing about on a pitching foredeck when you can see everything and there is someone in the cockpit to pull all of the relevant ropes.

Spinnaker pole now rigged – we sailed on this gybe until mid afternoon

Throughout the day we made good progress.  The wind veered to become more easterly pushing us north of our desired track.  So the big decision was when to gybe.  In the end we gybed at 1515hrs because the veering wind was pushing us well off track and it also helped us to get a better crossing angle on an approaching ship.  Nicky woke up to help and once the gybe was completed we were able to head directly towards our waypoint again.

Chris Parker's weather forecast, which we listen to on the HF/SSB radio every morning, has strong winds starting about 12 hours before we arrive at Guanaja and increasing rapidly, so that overnight our first night on the island we are likely to experience winds of 30 knots gusting to 40.  Consequently, we want to arrive and be safely anchored before the worst of that hits, which also means completing the check-in paperwork pretty sharpish so that we can then move to a sheltered anchorage.  The faster that we get to Guanaja the better, but not so fast that we arrive at night because we'll have to negotiate some narrow gaps in the reef with shallows inside it for which we will need daylight.

Crossing the surprisingly busy shipping lane southwest of Grand Cayman

The ship we gybed for, so that we crossed its path well ahead of it

Aside from the debate over timing the gybe, it was pretty routine sailing today.  We ran the generator and watermaker for 3 hours during the afternoon so we have full water tanks again.  Other than that, it's just looking out for ships to dodge and watching the miles count down to our next turning point.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at midday  03 Feb: N18 42 W81 23

Position at 2359EST 03 Feb: N18 18 W82 41

Midday to midday distance: 182 nautical miles (Average 7.6 knots)

Midnight to midnight distance: 170 nautical miles (Average 7.1 knots)

Total miles covered:  409 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (route distance to Bonacca, Guanaja ): 211 nautical miles

End of day 3, Jamaica towards the Bay Islands, Honduras