Pos: N23deg06.22min /W074deg56.93min. We left Man of War Bay in NE winds 20-25 and it was a wet ride across the Crooked Island Passage to Castle Island, which is at the south end of Acklins Island. Leaving the island to starboard, we went through the Mira Por Vos Passage where things got a bit ugly for a bit. The waves were square and stopped us dead in our tracks. From 6-7 knots to zero with a huge bash; all the while one of us was trying to get some sleep below...right. Also, the current is moving SW, so we ended up 20 degrees south of our rhumbline off Castle Island. However, as we shouldered through those seas and slowly increased the distance away from Acklins, the current wrapped around and began to go NW, lifting our heading and actually tracking us 10 degrees NE of our layline to Long Island. Now, that was a very good thing indeed. We didn't have to adjust the autopilot until 8 miles outside Clarence Town, when the wind came too much from the north to allow us to continue our 330T heading, so the engine went on and we motor-sailed the rest of the way in. Piloting skills have to be top notch here as the rollers going over the adjacent reefs are impressive. We found the C-Map 93 charts and the Navionics in agreement, and, of course, we rely on the Explorer Chartbooks as our primary source of reference. The anchor went down in 8.5' sand 24 hours after departure. Average speed 6.42 knots; distance sailed 154 nm; sails: 2nd reef in the main, staysail, 1/2-2/3 yankee. All's well aboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment