Seven Days at Sea

Last Thursday, April 24th, we listened to Chris Parker’s weather forecast which indicated a gradual increase in wind speed.  This came as welcome news since the trades had been too quiet for sailing for the past few days.  Unfortunately, there was also a growing north swell predicted which was expected to reach 8 to 10 feet sometime Sunday.  The swell could be a bit uncomfortable but we decided that by leaving right away we should arrive south of Turks and Caicos and gain protection from the north waves by the islands and banks just about when the swells were predicted to arrive.   We weighed anchor near Gilligann’s Island in south west Puerto Rico about 7:00 am and sailed to Cabo Rojo on the west coast where we quickly fueled up.  By 3:00 pm we were ready to go and headed into the Mona passage.

Initially we had intended to stop in Georgetown Bahamas to see two catamarans and then continue on to Florida.  Arriving near Georgetown we unable to confirm the boats were there and, given the cost to clear into the Bahamas is $300, we decided to keep on going.  Here is a chart of our 1,000 mile journey.

Downwind sailing

Most of our time was spent reading or resting but we did find various other tasks to pass the time. We made way under sail as much as possible and put the spinnaker up several times. The trip was great downwind sailing, such a treat after the “thorny path” route we’ve been on for ever. We did have to run our engine occasionally when the winds were just too light, but only a total of 50 hours for the duration. It was great to use the spinnaker too, it finally earned it’s keep on board. We had not flown it since the summer of 2012 back on Lake St. Clair.

We had great weather with never a drop of rain, we did see squalls in the distance several times but were never hit with one. I had planned meals that would require little prep in case it was too rough to spend much time below but conditions were so comfortable I was able to do some baking during the trip. We were certainly never in jeopardy of starving in any case. We also never saw much of a north swell but did get tossed around quite a bit last night in the Northwest Providence Channel just off Grand Bahama, it was a bit “lumpy” as the Brits would say.

Some highlights:

~ The coast guard had reported an overturned sailboat adrift off the Dominican Republic and gave GPS coordinates. As we neared the area Jeff kept watch on the foredeck when we were in the area, fortunately we never saw it.

~ We usually drag a fishing lure but one day said he didn’t really want to catch a fish. My response, “don’t worry, we just fish we don’t catch”. I felt kind on bad as he worked for almost an hour to bring in a big Mahi Mahi in then he had to gut and clean it. Though he did appear to enjoy the fresh Mahi dinner about two hours after hooking it.

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~ Three small dolphins played alongside the boat one evening as the sun was setting, don’t think I’ll ever tire of that sight.

~ We saw little boat traffic and no land sightings for several days. We also saw beautiful sun rises and sunsets along with star filled night skies each night.

Passage Sunset

Keeping Beribari at bay requires vitamin C

It is very civilized aboard Echo, even out at sea. Thanks to our water maker we don’t have to be too conservative with water usage, we’re able to take hot showers daily. No problem with keeping our various electronic gadgets all charged up thanks in most part to the solar panels, the generator also helps top off our battery bank when necessary. We ate very well during the trip and even baked a pineapple cake with some whipped cream from the Cream Machine, beer bread with dill and mozzarella, Johnny cake, made pancakes and made a pan of lasagna. Oh, there was that fresh Mahi too. We could have watched a movie if we had wanted but we were both engrossed in our John Steinbeck novels on our kindles, Mary with “East of Eden” and Jeff with “Grapes of Wrath”. We were able to cool off our forward cabin with a 12 volt air conditioning system that Jeff installed last summer. Not a bad way to travel!

Early on we had decided to try a three hour on, three hour off watch schedule for this passage. Mary works every 12 to 3 and 6 to 9.  Jeff works every 9 to 12 and 3 to 6.  This worked pretty well for covering the watches 24 hours each day, but even as the days went on and we became used to the schedule it was tough to get in sync and fully rested.   We plan to take a few days ashore to get some solid sleep and get the boat organized. We have our nephew Scott’s wedding here in Florida on May 10 and will be around the area till just after that.

This morning, Thursday May 1st, we pulled into Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce Florida after our 1000 mile journey. In the past 7 days we retraced ground that we had taken the past 16 months to journey and explore.  The trip out was all into the wind and weather and each mile gained was a challenge.   The return downwind was a delight.

We are pretty exhausted but feel a sense of accomplishment having such a long journey at sea under our belt. Even though it was optimal conditions it did serve to build our confidence as we talk about future passages.

After the wedding we will move further north to find a place to dock Echo for a bit while we get her ready to sell. At this point we just know we will be north of the Florida/Georgia border since our insurance specifies that for hurricane coverage. Right now it’s just hard to believe we’ll be able to set foot on land soon, and that land will be in the USA.

~Jeff and Mary