Isla Mujeres towards Fort Lauderdale 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 (CDT, GMT -5) 16 May 2020

Dear All,

Motoring along at dawn

At midnight last night we switched to engine power.  The wind had gradually dropped to less than we really needed to sail and the Gulf Stream was pushing us towards a rather unpleasant dark cloud complete with frequent flashes of lightning.  With the engine running we could steer directly to our waypoint off the Florida Keys and avoid the storm clouds.

Glassy seas

Sadly, except for a brief 35 minute period just now, the engine has been running ever since.  It was to be expected from the forecast but perhaps not that there is absolutely no wind at all.  The sea became glassy as we made our way around the southern tip of Florida and there has barely been a breath of wind as we have motored north towards Fort Lauderdale.  We still have 50 miles to run and so, assuming all continues as it is, we should be arriving at around 0530hrs later today.  That's before dawn so we'll probably slow up bit or wait outside until daylight to enter harbour.

Squalls at sunset; fortunately, a long way off

The other great excitement came first thing this morning when we switched time zones. So, we are now running on Florida time, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which is the same as Atlantic Standard Time.  We split the loss of the hour over a quick breakfast between our watches so we only lost half an hour's sleep each.  We'll need to get used to that procedure as we head east across the Atlantic but at least we can safely say that we won't end up jet-lagged!

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 16 May: N24 15 W81 20
Position at midnight 16 May: N25 18 W80 03
Midday to midday distance (23 hours because of the time change): 139 nautical miles (average 6 knots)
Midnight to midnight distance (23 hours because of the time change): 148 nautical miles (average 6.4 knots)
Total miles covered:  510 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Fort Lauderdale): 50 nautical miles

End of Day 4  Isla Mujeres, Mexico, towards Fort Lauderdale, USA

Isla Mujeres towards Fort Lauderdale 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 (CDT, GMT -5) 15 May 2020

Dear All,

Much smoother seas today – nice!

BV sailing between 2 large rain squalls

We had much more comfortable sailing today because the seas had reduced slightly but we are still having to beat into wind to make headway east through the Florida Straits; it's a frustrating bit of water to sail through!  The wind remains directly from where we want to get to and the Gulf Stream isn't helping as much as we hoped it would.  But at least we are sailing.  Yachts that set off after us have been advised that the wind will drop and that they will need to motor through pretty much the whole of the straits.  It's slow progress east for us tacking backwards and forwards but being further north we should be able to sail for longer.  That said, at some stage soon we will need to switch the engine on and will likely need to motor the rest of the way to Fort Lauderdale.

We are still managing to dodge the odd rain squall or 2 and it's not completely clear yet what is going on with the potential tropical low forming over Cuba, so we'll need to monitor that closely as best we can.  SSB communications were not great today.

Aside from that, here's not a lot to report; slow progress roughly in the right direction sums the day up.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 15 May: N23 59 W83 57
Position at midnight 15 May: N23 42 W82 44
Midday to midday distance: 157 nautical miles (average 6.5 knots)
Midnight to midnight distance: 151 nautical miles (average 6.3 knots)
Total miles covered: 362  nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Fort Lauderdale): 230 nautical miles

End of Day 3  Isla Mujeres, Mexico, towards Fort Lauderdale, USA

Isla Mujeres towards Fort Lauderdale 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 (CDT, GMT -5) 14 May 2020

Dear All,

We stayed on Nicky's northerly tack through the night and all of today, Thursday 14 May.  And a combination of the north-flowing Gulf Stream and the wind veering a little more to the east-southeast, meant that we pretty much reached the recommended 23 30N 85 15W waypoint.  The question thereafter being how best to play the wind and the current to beat east towards Key West/Miami/Fort Lauderdale.

In the end we decided to continue to ride the Gulf Stream up to the northeast and to tack somewhere around latitude 24 30N. Somewhere in and around here the Gulf Stream turns to flow southeast, before later flowing due east.  We're not exactly sure what heading or track we will achieve when we tack but if we're lucky we'll be able to ride the stream back down to where it turns east and at that point we will either try short tacking along the stream or, if there are too many big ships in the fastest part of the stream, will short tack eastwards on its northern side.  And then, of course, there's the question of whether or not the wind will veer more northerly as currently forecast or run out entirely (as forecast for late Sat or Sun).

The other 'interesting' weather situation developing at the moment is a rotating low pressure region, likely to become the first tropical low of the season.  It's currently developing over Varadero in Cuba and is forecast to move northeast to the northern Bahamas over the weekend before heading northeast out into the Atlantic.  Not that the northern Bahamas really need to see another tropical rotating storm just yet, after the destruction and deaths wreaked by Dorian last September.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 14 May: N23 08 W85 33
Position at midnight 14 May: N24 18 W85 56
1415hrs to midday distance: 133 nautical miles (average 6.1 knots)
Midnight to midnight distance: 153 nautical miles (average 6.4 knots)
Total miles covered:  218 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Fort Lauderdale): 336 nautical miles

End of Day 2  Isla Mujeres, Mexico, towards Fort Lauderdale, USA

Isla Mujeres towards Fort Lauderdale End of Day 1

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 (CDT, GMT -5) 13 May 2020

Dear All,

Day 1 of the passage from Isla Mujeres in Mexico was a very long day.  We checked the GRiB files and listened to the weather forecast at 0800 the wind would be south of east at somewhere between 15 and 20kts but there would be squalls coming off Cuba.  On balance though, it seemed right to us to make the move onwards.  We'd be beating for most of the time and the seas might be rather large and unpleasant in the Gulf Stream when it curved to the run east, but if we left it another day, or worse two, we'd be motoring the whole way.  As it was, we thought we'd be doing a fair amount of motoring.

Nicky took Carla from Moody Mistress into the Port Captain's dock at about 0930, to complete the exit paperwork from him prior to the appointment with Immigration at the palapa at the root of the dock.  They anticipated a relatively quick turn-around, but no.  The Port Captain informed them that they hadn't actually completed the check-in the previous day, just the Health and Immigration processes.  So there followed a two and a half hour form filling and waiting exercise as the Port Captain cleared both vessels in and out at the same time.  Happily, the officer they dealt with did not insist on the originals and FIVE copies of all the documents (passport, boat registration, zarpe from last port etc) for checking in and a further TWO sets of the same documents for check out.  However, he did insist on a written statement from each of them as to why the yachts had arrived in Isla Mujeres rather than Key West in contravention of the zarpe (exit paperwork) issued by Roatan.  Then they needed to pay the Port Captain's clearance in and out, necessitating a walk to the bank (the wrong bank to start with) where there was the faff of paying in US Dollars and getting change in Pesos.  Followed by a walk back to the Port Captain to pick up the now completed paperwork before returning to Immigration (conveniently located next to the bank!) for stamps in passports etc.  But they got the job done, and more efficiently in terms of use of time than if we had properly completed our check in the previous day.

Old engine oil in the bildge – a clean up job
we could do without!

Meanwhile, I prepared BV for sea, only to discover a bilge full of oil.  Nightmare!!  Further investigation proved that the engine had not blown up, as I had immediately assumed was the issue, rather one of the bottles of used engine oil left over from when we completed the oil change in West End Roatan (there was no suitable waste oil dump, so we kept the oil on board) had sprung a leak.  I did a reasonable clean-up job but there's plenty more to go, including a fair quantity still in the bilge, sloshing around with Bilgex now.

Leaving Isla Mujeres

Leaving Isla Mujeres

The day's curve-ball dealt with, I completed most of the rest of the pre-departure tasks but there were still a few that only Nicky could deal with and by this stage we both also needed to eat some lunch, so we didn't actually get underway until about 1415, a good couple of hours later than we had hoped.

BV final sailing nicely.  But there were some towering cumulus clouds to keep an eye on because there would be squalls underneath them

The Gulf Stream gave us a big push up the coast
and at one stage our speed over the ground was 9 Knots!!

The first 3 hours of the passage were under motor in virtually nil-wind conditions but then the wind filled in from the south-southeast at about 15kts so with a reef in the main, the staysail and full genoa, we headed off as close to the wind as we could.  In an ideal world we knew we should head for about 23 30N 85 15W as the Gulf Stream runs north to about that point and then east from there.  Routing via that point would give us maximum help from the current.  But with the wind forecast to go easterly, Key West and Fort Lauderdale are both located well upwind of Isla Mujeres.  So rather than sail off wind a bit and then have to make up an additional 100nm beating, even with the benefit of the current, we reckoned we would be better to head up and point almost directly on the as the crow flies track.

It's a moot point really, as within a couple of hours the wind had backed and we couldn't lay the 23 30N 85 15W waypoint let alone our waypoint in the Florida Keys.  But we had a good shove from the Gulf Stream and so were making about 7.5kts over the ground for a boatspeed of around 6kts.

Towering cumulus clouds, the tops picked out by the setting sun

We had dinner in daylight.  We haven't done that underway for a while, which was definitely a benefit of the time change in Mexico, and then Nicky got her head down.  She'd only been asleep for about 90mins when I needed to wake her.  A huge thunder cell was looming over us and I needed help to reduce sail and then, when the torrential rain hit, to make sense of the instruments which I could hardly see through my fogged up glasses.  With the radar going we could see the extent of the cell and decided that tacking onto a southeast heading would help us clear it sooner; we really didn't want to go underneath it if as all possible!  The north-flowing Gulf Stream reduced our speed over the ground a bit but gave us a good easterly course and eventually, about 3hrs after I called Nicky up, we cleared the storm and I had the opportunity to dry off and get some sleep.  Meanwhile, Nicky tacked us back onto a more northerly course as the easterly course was aiming us directly at another big storm.  We stayed on that tack through the rest of the night.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:
Position at 1415hrs 13 May: Isla Mujeres
Position at midnight 13 May: N21 53 W86 08
Midday to midday distance: n/a nautical miles (average n/a knots)1415hrs to midnight distance: 59 nautical miles (average 6.0 knots)Total miles covered:  59 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Fort Lauderdale): 448 nautical miles

End of Day 1  Isla Mujeres, Mexico, towards Fort Lauderdale, USA

Isla Mujeres Mexico

Our Hydrovane steering system with the bolt that was
slightly loose circled in red.  The equivalent one on the
starboard side was also a tiny bit loose

We dropped our anchor at 1235hrs on 8 May in the main harbour at Isla Mujeres.  The space for yachts is known as ‘The Drag Strip’ because it has a reputation for poor holding on sea grass so, given the forecast strong winds, it seemed sensible to snorkel out to check the anchor.  Our Rocna anchor was nicely dug in with just the hoop showing which was reassuring.  The anchorage is 4 metres deep where we are, and we laid out 50metres of chain which should avoid any shock loading on the anchor and reduced the potential for dragging in the gusts.  With the anchor checked, we turned to jobs.  I tightened up the 2 loose bolts on the Hydrovane, which we had eventually spotted on the passage north. For some time now, we’ve noticed a small movement in the main Hydrovane shaft; very rarely, but we had both seen it.  Typically, when we had investigated nothing had moved!  However, on the last passage I was actually looking at the frame when it moved so I now knew exactly where to check.  I tightened up the offending bolt (and checked all the others just to be sure) and almost as soon as I was out of the water, Gavin from Jump came out to say hello and let us know about how things were working here and the morning VHF net on Ch67.  He and Katherine both know Robert and Carla on Moody Mistress and so we were able to let them know that Moody Mistress would be arriving in a couple of hours’ time.

The last of our fresh tuna from Roatan – it’ll be time to get our fishing rod out again on the next passage!

When we had called the Port Captain shortly before entering the harbour, he had been quite clear that we were not allowed ashore because he would be unable to formally check us into Mexico immediately (had we gone to a marina rather than to the anchorage, an agent would have been able to fulfil all the requirements but, doubtless, at great cost) .  In these Covid-19 pandemic times, check in is a somewhat more complex procedure than previously and, critically, involves international health as well as immigration.  Consequently, the Harbour Master advised us that the earliest we would be able to check in would be Monday.  That was not an issue for us and we were quite happy to keep the yellow Q flag flying over the weekend.  Mexico has a high incidence of Covid 19 and the last thing we want to do is mix with anyone who might have the virus prior to our setting off on an international passage.  So, after our 2 nights at sea we decided to treat ourselves to sundowners with the last of the fresh tuna that we had bought in Roatan from our friendly fisherman, Red. Perfect with some soy sauce, wasabi paste and a splash or 2 of white wine.

Sunset over the Yucatan Peninsula

Our first attempt at arepas

The sunset was a spectacular one, thoroughly deserving of Red’s excellent tuna.  Then, with dusk becoming dark, we retreated below to have a go at making arepas for dinner, following the guidance we’d received from Karl and Conner on Contigo.  Accompanied with stir fried chicken and vegetables they were a big success.

Saturday 9 May, Liberation Day back at home, was a tech and admin day for us.  I listened to the local VHF radio net first thing whilst Nicky listened to Chris Parker’s weather forecast on the SSB radio.  The weather forecast suggested that mid-week might be the first time we could sensibly move on, whilst the local VHF net gave us an idea of who else was in the anchorage and informed new arrivals like us that, if we wanted to check-in, Tue would now be the first opportunity for that.  It seems that there are a lot of yachts that have been waiting here for a while looking to move on towards Florida.  We think Wed might be a serious option for us to take; perhaps we’ll be one of many?

Jury rigged reinforcement of the stainless frame on the binnacle – we’d spotted cracks in 2 of the welds en route up to Isla Mujeres

Tech wise we did lots of jobs; one of the advantages of being confined to the yacht. First up was to put some Creeping Crack sealant around the chart table window, the forward heads window and the forepeak hatch to try to stop some leaks; quite minor ones around the two windows but a more significant leak from the forepeak hatch.  Then we ran the watermaker and filled up the tanks.  Whilst that was going on, I took the steering compass to pieces to replace the port compass light bulb, but actually it turned out that the starboard bulb was just about to blow as well, so I replaced both.  As ever, it was a bit of a job but at least we’ll be able to clearly see the compass at night now.  On a slightly more complicated and large scale, I cut some plywood pads and fitted them with jubilee clips (pipe clamps) to reinforce the binnacle.  Whilst on passage up here I had realised that the stainless steel frame on the binnacle had felt slightly loose.  On closer examination I spotted that some cracks had appeared in the welds; not good as the frame is both a grab handle and supports the steering position’s chart plotter.  Taking the plotter and all the wiring apart is a big job and with the pandemic restrictions I’m not sure that we could get the frame rewelded easily or quickly, so we’ll tackle the proper fix later.  For now though, the plywood and jubilee clips ‘bodge’ has made it all rigid again so hopefully that will hold it secure until we can find a friendly stainless steel welder.  To finish of the tech work, I replaced a couple of wooden plugs in the cockpit teak to keep that sealed against the imminent rain.

Admin-wise, Nicky worked on communications and on setting up some tracking and monitoring ready for when we set off across the Atlantic.  The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA), primary callsign KPK, has set up a tracking and monitoring service for yachts heading offshore and across the Atlantic, so Nicky registered us on their system by filing a US Coast Guard float plan with them.  We also think it highly likely that we will bounce through Florida before setting off across the Atlantic so she sent emails to friends there letting them know that we might be inbound and finding out about the current state of play for arriving yachts.  Finally, she checked on the OCC Atlantic West to East SSB Net.  She had been a Net Controller but, being so far west, we’ve not been able to hear many of the en route yachts well.  So one of the other yachts has taken on her Net Control duties for the time being but Nicky still follows progress via the Net Controller’s reports.  Happily our friends are all doing well so far: Zwailer has reached the Azores and is soon to depart for the UK and Innamorata II and Balou who set off a couple of weeks ago are both making progress back towards England.

Acapulco after she had re-anchored

Overnight Saturday into Sunday it was very windy and rainy, just as forecast and exactly why we had arrived here!  A particularly vicious squall very early on drove us out of the bunk to check on things outside.  And we’re very glad that we got up too!  We spotted Acapulco was dragging her anchor and drifting rapidly onto us.  We shouted; lots of nearby crews shouted and Nicky fired up the motor whilst I tried to get the foghorn going.  They hurtled by, missing us only because Nicky had steered BV out of the way.  We are so lucky that we’d popped up on deck at just that moment or it might have been a big collision.  We saw a couple of other yachts drag and later heard that Moody Mistress had dragged in the night and had needed to reset their anchor.  The anchorage is living up to its ‘Drag Alley’ nickname!

The morning weather forecasts suggested that Wed or possibly even Tue, was looking like the first viable opportunity to leave.  It also confirmed that the Florida Strait, between Key West and Cuba, was experiencing the predicted line of violent tropical squalls with torrential rain, lightening and gust up to 50 knots.

I didn’t want to get my camera wet so I took these photos after the rain had eased considerably.  At the worst of the rain showers we could barely see the closest yachts to us

In the safety of the harbour, we experienced the edge of the instability that was triggering the more violent squalls out to sea.  At times the rain was so heavy that we could barely see the yachts anchored close to us (they were just 50 metres away), the wind came from all directions and it was strong enough to pull out 2 yachts’ anchors.

Removing the old Sikaflex sealant from around the hatch and the hole in the deck

Our forehatch leak, which we had discovered when waves had come over the deck during our passage here, was a concern but fixing it properly was a big job and we didn’t have the correct sealant on board.  However, Moody Mistress announced on the radio that they had needed to seal a leak at their staysail attachment point and so had opened and partly used a tube of Sikaflex, which was now available to anyone who wanted it.  So we took them up on the offer and spent the rest of the day working on the forehatch.  The most difficult part of the job was getting the hatch off, a tricky job made even more difficult because of the heavy rain showers.  Getting a scraper in under the hatch edge at the forward side of the hatch was quite straightforward and here it seemed quite easy to break the seal between the hatch and the deck (a clue perhaps?!).  But getting under the hatch surrounds along the sides and, in particular, along the aft edge was almost impossible and, inevitably, here the old sealant was still in good condition and not keen to give up its grip on the hatch.  Eventually, I succeeded by gradually prising up the hatch with wedges made from old wooden clothes pegs and then cutting slowly away at the sealant using a loose Stanley knife blade, flat in the gutter around the hatch, which I slid slowly back and forth with my bare fingers.  It was a very long, very slow process and not one I wish to repeat.  Eventually, after 4 or 5 hours of work the last of the old sealant popped and we could remove the hatch.  And, much to our relief, it looks as if the old sealant had failed near the forward port corner and in a couple of other small places.  At least we hadn’t done all that work for nothing!

Nicky masking up the area ready for applying the Sikaflex; it’s awful stuff to work with and gets everywhere!

So then we had to clean up the deck and the hatch, scraping off the old sealant and using plenty of acetone to remove the final traces, before re-bedding the hatch back in position.  Happily, the showers let up for a while and, with the new Sikaflex gunge cleaned up and the masking tape removed, we put the forepeak tent back up over the hatch to keep our work dry whilst the sealant set.

And after a day of stress, heavy rain and strong winds suddenly, just before sunset, it went calm.  It was another beautiful sunset.

The following morning, Monday 11 May, we studied the weather forecasts minutely.  Tuesday was looking like a possible departure day but Wednesday was looking much more likely as was Thursday.  By Friday it seemed likely that there would be no wind!  So, last minute jobs were the priority.  Nicky covered the admin: KPK wanted us to set up our InReach to send messages direct to their automated yacht reporting database so there was work to be done with the InReach as well as with our HF/SSB Sailmail account.  But the system, tested out okay so we have 2 means of reporting in that all is well on board.  Nicky also sent off paperwork to the duty Maritime Officer in Bermuda and health officials in case we divert there and she contacted Richie and Susan Goldstein, friends in Fort Lauderdale, to see if we could meet up with them should we stop in there.  I changed the filters for the watermaker, checked the main engine and generator oil levels, refitted the trim around the forehatch to finish that job, and then quickly gave BV’s bottom a clean (it didn’t really need it) so that we sail as fast as we can.  We also met Andre from a Swedish yacht Chibiderra who might be setting off at about the same time as us.

Overnight into Tuesday 12 May we had a disturbed night with strong winds and rain and the anchor alarm going off a couple of times as the boat swung around her anchor with the wind changing direction.  Keen as we were to move on, it was not really a viable option.  The wind was forecast to be too northeasterly and very strong (25kt).  Wednesday’s GriBs looked much better but the wind would still be very strong in the Florida Straits.  The weatherman recommended a departure on Friday but if we leave too late in the week there will be absolutely no wind and we’ll be motoring not sailing.  In harbour, however, the weather was much improved on previous days with sunshine and more blue skies.

At around 1000hrs we got a message that the Port Captain wanted us to go ashore to check-in.  Neither we nor Moody Mistress were keen to go ashore: one Covid-19 patient was evacuated from the island on the Monday and having come from an island with no infection we were keen to minimise the risk of exposure to it, particularly just before potentially setting off on a transatlantic passage.  However, not unreasonably, the Port Captain insisted that we go ashore to do the paperwork, so we took Robert and Carla from Moody Mistresswith us to have a temperature check, fill out the Customs and Immigration paperwork, and to pay our fees (US$37pp).  We also booked a check-out for Wed morning.

Back aboard Nicky redid the sealant around the galley sink – one of those final, final jobs that has been on the list for far longer than it should have.  And we pored over recipe ideas for passage food (aka ‘how to jazz up rice and beans’), drank tea and wrote up this blog entry.  Only the whole of our time in Roatan to catch up now…….  If all goes well, the final, final, final chores for tomorrow will be a weather check followed by Customs and Immigration and them packing the dinghy away.

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Roatan towards Key West 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.

1235hrs (CST, GMT -6) 8 May 2020

Dear All,

Well, the headline is that we have stopped at Isla Mujeres.  The wind pretty much made the decision for us by backing so that for most of last night sailing hard on the wind we pointed directly at Isla Mujeres (and for a good few hours before that the best we could make was somewhat south of Cozumel – very bad!).  It was fast going, though, with a 2-knot boost from the Gulf Stream so we actually arrived here and anchored at 1235hrs.

Top: Approaching Isla Mujeres.  Bottom:  working our way up the inside passage to the harbour entrance was like being back in the Bahamas with the beautiful turquoise sea

But going back one step, moving north at 9-10knots made it very tempting to think that we would make up time and perhaps might be able to continue on to Key West.  However, at 0700hrs this morning we checked in with Chris Parker, the weatherman, and he continued to predict an unacceptable risk of our being thwacked by heavy squalls, thunder and lightning and gusts of up to 50 knots (from all directions!) if we pressed on.  So that sealed the deal; we were diverting to Isla Mujeres.

Entering the harbour after we had permission to anchor from the Port Captain

The only question was would we be allowed into the harbour at Isla Mujeres?  Fortunately, when we called up the Port Captain’s Office as we approached the entrance to the harbour, we were cleared to come in and drop anchor.  We would need to stay on BV until Monday morning when they could set up a proper reception for us to check-in with medical checks if we needed to do that.  Ideally, we’d just like to stay on BV at anchor and not check in at all.  Not sure that they’ll permit us to do that though.  Our main aim is to take the earliest weather window to move on but that’s not likely to arrive until Wed 13 or Thu 14 May…….  ‘Plenty of time to do some work on the blog then’, I hear you cry!

The views from BV at anchor at Isla Mujeres

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 8 May: N21 14 W86 45
Position at 1235hrs 8 May: N21 15 W86 45
Midday to midday distance: 171 nautical miles (average 7.1 knots)
Midnight to 1235hrs distance: 88 nautical miles (average 7.0knots)
Total miles covered: 343 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Key West): ~350 nautical miles

End of Day 3 Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands, towards Key West, USA

Roatan towards Key West 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 (CST, GMT -6) 7 May 2020

Dear All,

Ironically, very soon after pressing ‘send’ on yesterday’s missive, Blue Velvet entered an area of strong adverse current.  It was a swirl down off (I think) the Equatorial Current from where it splits with a part feeding northwest up into the Gulf Stream a bit south of Cozumel and a part (our adverse current) feeding down into the corner where Belize, Honduras and Guatemala all meet, before turning north along Yucatan Peninsula. Our adverse current was quite a lot stronger than we had anticipated and we spent most of the night juggling BV’s sailing angle to the wind with speed over the ground (SOG) but failed to make anything more than 5kts SOG, and mostly less, despite a good speed through the water.

We listened to the morning weather forecast with a certain amount of doom and gloom and the mood was not lightened.  It seemed increasingly likely that we would need to divert from our plan and this was pretty much hammered home when the wind turned northeasterly and we couldn’t even lay a course direct for the south tip of Cozumel, let alone Isla Mujeres at the top of the Yucatan Peninsula.  In the late afternoon, Chris Parker was back on the HF radio to give updates to subscribing traffic.  Robert on Moody Mistress called in.  He and Carla were still about 30nm due west of us, presumably in the Gulf Stream (unlike us), but having been hit by a number of strong squalls and not making great progress to windward.  Chris confirmed that the forecast showed few squalls and certainly none of the strength Robert described and then went on to give his view of the progress of the Gulf’s developing low.  Basically, he said that if we could get into Key West by Saturday night then we would be ahead of all the nastiness associated with the low.  The nastiness was described as numerous areas of severe squalls and thunderstorms associated with winds of up to 50kts.  Not nice at all!  On the positive side it is most likely that these will stay north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas but the forecasting models do not all agree and there is no guarantee that will be the case.

So, short of a pretty impressive miracle manifesting itself in the next forecast, it looks like we’ll be going to Isla Mujeres and seeing if we can stop there for 3 days whilst the weather goes through.  It may be that we cannot check in, so we’ll be confined to the boat, but we can cope with that.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 7 May: N18 32 W85 56
Position at midnight 7 May: N19 47 W86 19
Midday to midday distance: 162 nautical miles (average 6.8 knots)
Midnight to midnight distance: 167 nautical miles (average 6.9 knots)
Total miles covered:  255 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Key West): 386 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Isla Mujeres): 82 nautical miles

End of Day 2 Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands, towards Key West, USA

Roatan towards Key West End of Day 1

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 (CST, GMT -6) 6 May 2020


Dear All,

Suzie Too and Flyin’ Low of Poole leaving the West End mooring field first thing to move into a marina.  We’d be setting off further afield just a few hours later

So here we are off and running again.  The hurricane season is coming and whilst that isn’t an immediate threat, we need to get BV moving to be out of the hurricane belt in time.  The restrictions brought in by the Honduran Government as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have kept us in lockdown on a mooring off West End, Roatan, in the Honduras Bay Islands for the past 51 days, albeit our remaining in Honduras was voluntary.  However, for most of that lockdown period, if we had decided to move, we wouldn’t have been allowed to arrive in any nearby countries.  To a degree that is still the case, so our plan is to transit north without stopping until we get to Key West in the USA.  Our original cruising plans pre Covid-19 had included cruising up the Belize coastline but that is just not viable at the moment; we’ll just have to come back to this part of the world to get the full experience.

Roatan slipping away behind us

For various reasons, particularly the uncertainty around the longer term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have decided to make a west to east transatlantic crossing back to Guernsey, so that we can spend some time at home before setting off cruising again.  The worst-case plan was to sail directly from Roatan to Guernsey as one passage, a distance of nearly 5000nm.  BV is all set up for that but the complication has been in finding a weather window for sailing up from Roatan, then turning east between Cuba and Florida before continuing north up the Gulf Stream, east of the Florida panhandle, to the top of the Bahamas.  Having the right conditions for that bit of the passage and then immediately continuing on across the Atlantic passing north of the Bahamas was proving to be a very rare occurrence, hence our intention now to stop at Key West.

Moody Mistress sailing out on our port quarter

Even getting going on this passage to Florida has not been easy to work.  Originally 4 yachts planned to set off together from Roatan but, after delaying a day to get more clarity of a potential Tropical Low in the Gulf of Mexico in a few days’ time, just 2 yachts have set off today: us and Robert and Carla on Moody Mistress.  We are both sailing north, hard on the wind, looking to get up to and past the Yucatan Strait before the effects of the low pressure area (now unlikely to become a Tropical Low) make themselves felt too much.  If this weather window works out for us, having repositioned in Florida, we will have a lot more options to find a suitable weather window to set off across the Atlantic for home.

As I write this, we have already lost sight of Moody Mistress but we have arranged a radio net so we’ll keep talking to and looking after each other.  The game now for both of us is to sail as fast as we can hard on the wind, getting as far east as we can, so that we are better positioned to transit the Yucatan Strait.  The wind is forecast t become a little more northerly for a while before we get there, hence the desire to make as much easting as possible, as we have no desire to slow our progress too much by tacking into wind more than absolutely necessary.  The slower we go, the more likely it is that we meet the strong winds preceding the low pressure system generating in the Gulf of Mexico.  Needless to say, we are going to be studying the weather forecasts very carefully over the next few days.

Trying to take a good picture of the moon on a
moving platform was never going to work well!
You’d normally need a tripod on terra firma
to get a detailed image – but it was a good full moon

On a lighter note, we have a full moon tonight and it’s a special one, a Super Moon – the biggest and brightest of the year.  And, the clouds that had started to cover the shy are now clearing a bit so we should get plenty of benefit the moonlight tonight, which will be nice.

Love to all,

Reg and Nicky 

Passage statistics:

Position at 1030hrs 6 May: N16 18 W86 36

Position at midnight 6 May: N17 27 W86 17

1040hrs to midday distance: 7 nautical miles (average x.x knots)

Midnight to midnight distance: n/a nautical miles (average x.xknots)

Total miles covered:  86 nautical miles

Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Key West): 520 nautical miles

End of Day 1 Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands, towards Key West, USA