Monday, January 17, 2011

Exit from the Caribbean sea

We left from the fuel dock in Carenage in Fort de France almost at noon
sharp on the 15th. At first, it looked liike we were going to have a
nice wind on the starboard hind quarter, but this hope was short lived.
It took us the best part of one full day to extricate ourselves from the
wind shadow of Martinique. And in the first 24 hours, we only covered
126 miles through the water (137 over the ground). But fortunately, once
clear of the land, the wind came as promised and in the last 24 hours we
have covered 159 miles through the water and 167 over the ground, thanks
to a nice half knot current.
The only problem is that I have had to change my plans and instead of
exiting the Caribbean sea through the Mona passage, I will exit east of
Porto Rico around Virgin Gorda as the forecast promises us more wind
that way. But the overall distance between Martinique and Lucaya becomes
1304 miles instead of 1240. And we are watching our estimated time of
arrival very closely since Olivier has to fly from Freeport to Miami on
the 28 at 14:00.
If the forecast is correct, we should keep a little bit of wind until we
reach Puerto Plata. At that point, we will be within range, in terms of
fuel, of Highborne cay in the Exumas, where we could refuel if necessary.
To get to Lucaya on time for the flight, we only need 3.7 knots average,
and Papy Jovial has never been that slow, so I am not too worried about
catching that flight. But I would prefer to arrive around the 25 and
that only requires 5 knots average, which is doable.
Time will tell. In the meantime, having some wind means also having some
seas and being back, in a small way, in the shaker. After one month
cruising in Martinique, we had almost forgotten, but it will come back
quickly.

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