1:48am: We actually had quite a nice run up the coast of Martinique under gennaker and single-reefed main. At times we were going 9+ knots which felt unusually smooth since the ocean swell was being blocked by the island. As we cleared the north end of the island we lost all our wind and picked up the ocean swell :-( This wind lull is due to Mt.Pelée as it is directly upwind from us. The general rule of thumb is that a vertical object blocking the wind will create a disturbance downwind of 50 times its height. Since Mt.Pelée is over two miles tall it will have effects 100 miles downstream. I remember sailing past here (way off the coast - 50 miles?) to Grenada from the BVI's four years ago and being a bit incredulous that islands so far off could be causing the wind disturbance.
Currently we are motoring northward to find the wind in relatively small ocean swells.
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