winlink 30 March 1600

The sailing is so good I don't want to stop. I am going to bypass Mayaguana, and sail for Clarence Town, Long Island. ETA Sat afternoon.
Bill

winlink 30 March 1000

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos,
to
Mayaguana, The Bahamas.

6.5 knots right up the line in a calm sea, 8 knots of apparent wind.
This....is....glorious....sailing.
Bill

Kiteboarding Turks & Caicos

Kiteboarding Turks & Caicos

winlink March 12 2012 "Cruising is"

Cruising is doing boat maintenance in exotic locations

after

before

Dispatch 5 March 0800

"Anchor Down, Sapodilla Bay, Providenciales (Provo), Turks&Caicos
Weather forecast: Wind 20-30 knots for the next week.

winlink 4 March 1728

"Bruce VanSant was right in spades. I left Mayanaugua about 1600 and am happily chugging along at 1400 RPM making a comfortable 4.0 kts. Yesterday I was at 2000 RPM making 2.0 kts. Awhile ago I went below to eat some crackers. I was sitting at the settee with the crackers and a cup of water on the table. The cup just sat there!  It never tried to turn over or jump off the table. This is the way to go...
  I had a really good day today. Even took a nap. I feel fine. I am cleaned up, the boat is in order, and I am hoping for an uneventful passage. 44 more miles. At this rate I will get there at 04:00. I had planned t slow down so as to not get there until daylight. It is a great wide entrance onto the banks, so I may slip in far enough to be out of the ocean and anchor, sleep some, before going in. I have about 10 miles over the banks to get to Sapodilla Bay, and where I plan to anchor.
  This is working well,"

winlink 4 March

I am much refreshed. I did stuff, like clean the bilge, yesterday, stuff that wasn't much fun, because nothing would have been fun yesterday. It was a hard night the night before. But this morning I am back to having fun. Donno what quite yet.
  Abraham's Bay is about 2 miles wide x 5 miles long, and separated from the ocean on two sides by a reef just below the surface. (I am sure you can see it on Spot.) which means there is always residual ocean wave surge. The south-east wind comes across the reef, then starts building wind chop across the 2 mile width. So the best anchorage is just behind the reef close to the ocean, two miles from land. Can't see the reef, so the effect is that I am anchored in the ocean, without the waves. Or rather a light chop and small swells. This a good harbour of refuge. The entrance is wide and deep and can anchor almost anywhere in sand.
  Wind tonight seems to be 8 to 16 kts. I have 48nm to the Caicos banks. I want it to be an easy passage. Bashing I can make 4.5 kts. I am going to plan on 3.5 average kts and hope I don't have to bash to get it. The last 10 miles getting here... whenever it was...yesterday morning, I was bashing, and only going 2.0-2.5 kts. I guess that is what 20kts on the nose does. maybe not dangerous, or even uncomfortable, just can not make progress. You just stay in one place and bash.
  Think I will read Rite I, then mend-n-make.

dispatch 3 March 0845

Anchor down, engine off.

dispatch 3 March 0400

Running lights on my beam, 0.65 nm off. The AIS identifies it as a 210' sailing vessel with a 36' beam. It is as wide as I am long! And the running lights indicate that it is under sail alone. And it is dark. All I see is the lights. I would love to see a 210' boat sailing.
  No 20 knot winds yet. 11 nm from Mayaguana. Daylight in about an hour. Motoring into the wind.
Bill Doar

dispatch 3 mMarch 0000

Mayaguana 30 nm. Motoring hard into the wind. Wind about 12 knots, still forecasted to be 20 knots at sunrise.
Bill Doar

dispatch 2 March 2200

So far the ride is rather comfortable, or maybe I have just goten used to it. There really is a lot of movement. I have to hang on very tightly any time I move around. But the sea is not very rough. Or maybe I have gotten used to it. Advent sticks her bow into about every third wave, sending sheets of water down the deck and arond the dodger. When I stand up in the cockpit to look around I get a face full of salt water. We are 46 nm from Mayaguana. At 3.0 knots the eta is 11:15. We went 4.1 nm in the last hour. Everything is fine.
Except it is very difficult to type with the boat pitching and bobbing around.
Bill Doar

dispatch 2 March 1600

There may be a further change of plan. I am forecasted to get 20 knots on the nose, starting around midnight. We'll see how she performs.
  Only 62 nm to go. That is the same distance as it is from Chocowinity Bay to Ocracoke. A piece of cake!  Yea, I keep telling myself that.
  It may knock the speed down some, but there is no reason it shouild give me any problem. And it will be in the morning, so the entrance will be  with the sun high.
Bill Doar

dispatch 2 March 0800

When I furled the genoa and turned into the wind my speed dropped from 5 kts down to about 3.5 kts, so I will not sleep in Atwood Harbour tonight. But that's OK because there has been a change in plan.
  You are getting a powerful cold front in the next day or so. That cold front will go all the way down to Cuba, Hispanolia, etc. and will bring me very bad weather, from the north. Atwood is open to the north so it is not a good choice. There is an anchorage in Mayaguana which has excellent protection from the north. Instead of stopping in Acklin I will plan to keep going to Mayaguana. I have been there before, and I did not like it because it is open to the south west, but for my needs I look forward to it now.
  It is 90 nm there. If I can maintain 3.0 kts I can do it in 30 hours, and put me there about  noon Sat. The front is expected Sunday, and may gale force wind many days, maybe a week. I got wind of it (hee hee) yesterday morning and that is one reason I made the hasty departure.
  To be honest, the boat is very uncomfortable. I am going straight into the wind so the trisail would not stabilize the boat any. It is bouncing wildly. The engine is at max cruising RPM, loud. Between waves the boat picks up speed to maybe 4.5 kts, then hits a series of waves and comes almost to a stop, maybe 1.5 kts, with lots of splashing, pitching and wallowing. But all I have to do is hang on and hope things like the engine and autopilot hold up. The wind is only about 12 kts, so I think that this is still the right weather window to grab, but, zounds! the sea is bumpy.  I am glad I filled with fuel yesterday. And in a few days I look forward to being glad I also filled with ice.
  By noon I will know how my progress is. I'll try to give an update then.
Bill Doar

dispatch 2 March 0400

I am moving well, but 20 degrees off the line. At some point I am going to have to furl the sail and turn into the wind. I am hoping the wind will drop at sunrise.I would rather use the sail when the wind is up. 59 miles to go.
Bill Doar

dispatch 2 March 0000

Atwood Harbour 80 nm. The wind is veering just enough that I can not steer straight to Atwood Hbr. I will have to follow the wind around and sometime later furl the sail and motor snto the wind. That wiill slow me a lot. Other than that, it is a beautiful night. Bright moon over the ocean.
Bill Doar

dispatch 1 March 2000

Cape Santa Maria. This is the third stop Columbus made on his first voyage of discovery. The first landing on the New World was at San Salvador, about 60 nm east of here. The second stop was at Rum Cay, about 30 nm east. The third stop was when he stopped on Cape Santa Maria, literally. Ran aground. His ship Santa Maria ran aground on this cape. He was asleep at the time.
  I have left the Exuma Sound and are now in the Atlantic Ocean, still motoring hard, trying to get to Atwood Harbour, Acklins Island tomorrow while the sun is still up. It is 98 nm, and I now have an opposing current slowing me down. I made a turn when I got past Cape Santa Maria, and now I have the genoa out. I picked up about 0.3 knots. If I go as fast as I can I might be able to make it.
  Be sure to look at the web page Adventtwo.blogspot.com    and look at the Spot location map.
  Bill Doar
  This is going to be a long night

dispatch 1 March

Normandie is coming to Turks & Caicos on 16 March. Our plans have been that it would take me a week to get there, and there will still be a week of contingency, or for me to learn about the place so I will know what is going on when she gets there. I will go past, or stop at islands on the way down. First is Long Island, then Crooked Island, Acklins, Mayaguana, and then Caicos. My problem is that the islands string out in a south east directon, dirctly into the prevailing wind and current. Conventional wisdom has it that one should wait until the wind is fronm the north, or very little wind, then go as fast and as far as you can before the "normal" winds return.
  I did my kiteboarding thing, and was going back for more today when the wind died, and the wind is supposed to stay calm tomorrow too. I was aground at Rolleville so I had to wait for high tide to leave. Just after noon I got off the ground and recovered my anchors, then went about five miles to a fancy upscale marina to fill up with fuel. There will probably be no sailing on this part of the trip. I got away about 14:30 and headed for the north end of Long Island, motoring hard. The sea is calm and I am making good time. I wonder how long that will last. I plan to go down the length of Long Island, then Crooked Island, and I hope I can get to the east end of Acklins. There is an anchorage there I have stopped at before which is very protected in the wind. It is a long way. Depending on the wind and sea state I may not make it. If I have to stop before I get there it will add a day to how long it takes to get to T&C.
  That's all for now.
Bill Doar

winlink 1540

Up anchor, unstuck as planned at high tide. Went 5 mi south to a fancy marina to fuel, ice, dump trash, and departed at 14:30 for the Thorny Path. First non-stop is the north end of Long Island, 35 nm away. ETA 23:00. Then down the length of Long Island, about 60 nm. My goal is Crooked Island, 40 more miles. 35+60+40=135. We'll see how the weather is.