Hurry Up and Wait

This passage- Miami Beach to Antigua- has thus far been one of extremes. Since the prevailing wind in the Bahamas is east and rather strong at this time of year, we’ve had to be patient. Changes to the wind’s direction occur when fronts pass………..creating momentary opportunities to move the boat southeast towards our destination. While the change in wind direction in these situations is welcome, the accompanying conditions are less so.

After leaving Black Point in the Exumas, we sailed in very strong seas and wind  to Rum Cay (90 miles)………….slept for 5 hours at anchor………and then sailed for Mayaguana (135 miles). This was the better part of two straight days of heavy weather sailing. While it represented great progress , the seas were 10 ft, the wind 23-33 knots and we anchored here  totally exhausted.

 

Upon our arrival in Mayaguana on Saturday, the east wind returned and has intensified to 27-35 knots. We have been at anchor in a coral head minefield roughly two miles from shore. The conditions are far too rough to contemplate launching our dinghy and braving wind and whitecaps to get to land.

So we wait, and we wait, and we wait. We might get out of here tonight - Wed - if the wind moderates but right now squall after squall is pounding us. It’s not all bad. We’re getting a lot of reading done. We have plenty of food and booze. And we are playing backgammon and watching movies at night. We’ve met several older, male solo sailors on this trip who have small, simple boats. I’m almost ashamed to admit that L’ORIENT is ours…………kind of a luxury condo compared to the others. On a small sailboat, these conditions are truly no fun.

Anyway, next stop is Turks and Caicos………..only 60 miles away but impossible to attempt until we get a break in the weather.