Wednesday 20 January - Comfort

Wednesday 20 January - Comfort
I may not be going fast, but it sure is comfortable. This is definitely the calmest the ocean has been for this entire trip. Other times we had calms, but the ocean never did settle down. We were constantly being tossed around by the waves. This ocean, however, is really calm. Even with enough wind to sail at 5 knots the waves have not formed. The surface is rippled and there is a very large, widely spaced swell, but no waves. The swell is fun. We go uuuuuup, then doooown. This is the kind of sailing I wish I could share.
Plan: Exactly between here and Turks & Caicos are some reefs and shoals. The chart shows that some of them are above the water surface. I am going to go north of the reefs and sail west into the Turks Islands. If I am running late or if bad weather is threatening I will stop at Hawks Nest anchorage at the southern tip of Grand Turk. But what I want to do, if time and weather permit is to sail through the Turks Islands and go on 25 miles across the Turks Island Passage to Caicos, then 40 miles across the Caicos Bank. That is very ambitious and will only be possible if the wind picks up so I can get there at dawn Saturday. Right now I am going 3.7 knots. Come-on wind!
The ocean is smooth but the wind is, well maybe the wind is smooth too, but it is constantly changing. It never stays at the same speed or direction for more than about an hour. Awhile ago the wind veered from a close reach to a broad reach. I use a pole to hold the genoa out when on a broad reach, and rigging the pole is a bother. I said out loud,"The wind is either going to stay like this awhile, or it is going to change." I deployed the pole. In short, I stay busy all day, main up, main down, drifter on a pole, genoa no pole, wind dropped drifter no pole. But it is easy working on deck, no waves!
You might want to look at my position. I send my position every four hours, and there is a link to the DeLorme inReach site on adventtwo.blogspot.com. And you can see the wind forecast at PassageWeather.
The wind is coming from 135 degrees relative and at that relative angle the mainsail blankets the genoa. It may be time to take down the main.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II