At rest

The boat is now tied up safe and sound behind a house on a canal in Ft Lauderdale. Pam Wall helped me find this and the people that live there are super nice. I met Pam a few years ago at a John Kretschmer class at the prestigious JK University :-) Sometimes things just fall together.

Gulf Stream

Here's a picture of the chart plotter as I crossed the Gulf Stream. The current is very strong so while the boat was pointed the the southwest, the direction of travel was almost due west.

Off track

My track shows me turning into the wind to drop the main before entering the port of Ft Lauderdale. It was dark and a wild ride turning into the wind. Looks quite unexciting from this view though.
Before I turned into the wind, the steep swells were pushing us along nicely at about 7-8 knots and the wind felt about like 15 knots from directly behind. Pretty nice. But doing a 180 and going bow-first into the wind plus a couple knots to maintain steerageway and the wind suddenly jumped to an apparent 25 knots - that's windy. And the bows were plowing directly into about every third wave as it was quite choppy. Lots of spray went flying each time that happened. But I got the mainsail secured and promptly did another 180 and immediately relative calmness returned.
(FYI; most of the purple blobs are the radar return overlay)

a wet sendoff

I'm headed toward Fort Lauderdale and am now preparing to cross the Gulf stream. I've been cleaning up the boat today but it looks like mother nature thinks the decks need a freshwater rinse.

Enzo

Enzo finally passed me just now. For the last hour they gained extremely slowly then when they were parallel with me, suddenly accelerated past me quite quickly even though they were in my wind shadow.
I'm not sayin' they switched their engine on... I'm just sayin...

Hourglass (part 2)

Just noticed that anything it type after inserting a picture in an email doesn't get posted...
Hourglass post continued: Basically, one half is wound one direction and the wind has wound the other half in the opposite direction. My weight made very little impact on trying to pull it loose and the wind was whipping it around with abandon to make it worse. It took about 45 minutes to finally coax it free. My hands and arms were exhausted. Felt great to get it resolved.
This happened to me one other time on the way across the Atlantic on one of my middle of the night watches. I managed to resolve it eventually then so I had some reason for confidence that I would get it worked out eventually. Altering course to have the mainsail blanket the wind helped a bunch.
Today I've had a big sloop, "Enzo", a 70 foot yacht on my tail most of the afternoon. Initially they were 6 miles behind, but they chewed that down to 3 while I was struggling with the gennaker. They're certainly a much faster boat overall but I've felt good to be holding them off so long.
I'm glad I was spared the embarrassment of them blowing by me with my sail looking like tangled laundry :-)

Hourglass'd gennaker

Well I had an exciting event this afternoon, probably by my earlier gloating about successfully hoisting the gennaker. After a beautiful downwind run I needed to furl the gennaker for a few hours while I close reached northward before taking a turn to the west. The first part of the furling went fine but there was quite a bit of tension on the furling line for the last half of the furling process.
When I tried to deploy it again after making the westward turn it hourglasses on me. I didn't take pictures as I was too exasperated/exhausted with trying to resolve it. Here's what an hourglasses gennaker looks like:

Fair winds and following seas

After several days of somewhat punishing weather a beautiful one was sent my way. Wave heights have diminished and I finally have a downwind day. I had anxiety for this day as I knew I would want to use the gennaker and had halyard twist problems the last time I used the code zero (same halyard as the gennaker).
The last time it was a whole crew effort to get the failed hoist attempt back down. With "minimal" crew this time I knew this could be a struggle as those that have been with me can attest. So I started by hoisting a line instead of a sail and working out the halyard twist. Then as I was about to hoist the gennaker, I added a downhaul line above the swivel that attaches to the head of the sail. I hoisted the sail and voila!
No issues!!!

morning routine

Before I start my sleep cycle each night, I make sure the boat is in good condition, hatches are closed, sufficient battery charge to last through the night (have to have an autopilot to sleep at all, he needs electricity), and review any course changes required through the night. I know I won't be 100% mentally functional so I try to keep everything easy.
Then I set my alarm for 20 minutes, do a horizon scan looking for any boat lights that are not displayed on the chart plotter (nav display). If all is quiet , and it usually is, I try to go asleep quickly. I can do the scan in a little over 30 seconds so 19 minutes later my alarm goes off and I do another scan. This continues until morning or some other issue comes up. Last night a Carnival cruise ship decided to turn around by me at 2am. For awhile he was headed directly toward me from about 3 miles away. That's very close considering the speed they travel, 20 knots, and I was going 9 knots so we had a closing speed of 29knots. Not much time to do anything. Also I didn't know his intentions. Just as I was about to call on the radio he started turning. Once he passed me I went back to sleep.
When I wake up each morning around dawn I first do a horizon check, then adjust the sails as I sail more conservatively at night. Next I brush my teeth, yes, the boat gremlins returned my toothbrush. (They left it outside behind a cushion), and start a weather download while I eat my favorite breakfast (lately). Super simple and easy cleanup :-)

The turn

We just made the turn at Northeast Point of Acklins Island to put us on a course of 316M. This tack let's the boat take advantage of these big following (4m) seas by surfing down them, albeit at an angle of about 45 degrees. We had some of these the last couple of days of the crossing where a 15 foot breaking wave would overtake the boat from behind and the buoyancy of the stern of the boat would lift the boat in time with the wave and we would gently surf down the wave as it rolled underneath us. 

FYI: It's amazingly difficult to take a picture of waves that make them look any different than what you see at your local lake. 

the turn

We just made the turn at Northeast Point of Acklins Island to put us on a course of 316M. This tack let's the boat take advantage of these big following (4m) seas by surfing down them, albeit at an angle of about 45 degrees. We had some of these the last couple of days of the crossing where a 15 foot breaking wave would overtake the boat from behind and the buoyancy of the stern of the boat would lift the boat in time with the wave and we would gently surf down the wave as it rolled underneath us.
FYI: It's amazingly difficult to take a picture of waves that make them look any different than what you see at your local lake.

protection?

I'm currently about 10 miles south of Mayaguana Island. Since the Atlantic Ocean waves are coming directly at the islands north shore, one would think the waves would be much smaller behind the island. In reality, while the waves are likely much smaller very close to shore, due to refraction, I'm seeing bigger waves where I am. I've have several come over the side of the boat and flood the cockpit. Fortunately I was inside with the door closed when that happened.
No rest for the weary/wicked as they say ;-)

a wild ride

7am and all is well.
Had a bit of a wild Saturday night, but not what you're thinking :-)
27 knots of wind, sizable waves, and some heavy downpours but still going on double reefed main and triple reefed genny making 8-9knots. Daylight helps put a better perspective on things so dawn was very welcome this morning.
This heavy wind is supposed to dissipate around noon, it should taper back to 20 knots for the rest of the day.
I just received a message from Carlos; he said he lit some candles for me so no worries :-)

red night

Here's a picture from my weather software. Red indicates 25 knots of wind. The little symbols that look like the letter "F"', indicate which way the wind will blow as well as the strength. Each full length flag on the F indicates 10 knots of wind; a half length flag indicates 5 knots. The red coloring is redundant but makes it easier to read at a glance. I'm currently located where the green marker is. The colored, dotted paths that diverge are different recommended paths based on 4 different weather models. I'll take a modified path based on other navigational concerns.
To sum it up it's going to be a windy night.
But not as windy as many years ago when my parents were hunkered down in FLA waiting on an impending hurricane; my dad's quote that I remember to this day:
"It's so windy I'm playing gospel music"

dusk

Not much of a sunset tonight due to clouds. The cargo ship continues to parallel my course 10 miles to my port so I can't see him other than "electronically". The horizon is 3 miles away if your eye is 6 ft above the water. Tall ships, like a cruise ship, can be seen almost 10 miles away, but of course, you can really only see the upper decks as the lower portion is obscured due to the earth's curvature.

waves

The swells have built to 2 meters today. On my current course they are coming from just aft of abeam, i.e. If the bow is zero degrees, the waves are coming from about 110 degrees. The ride is quite smooth and the boat speed hardly surges at all, mostly a steady 9.2 knots at the moment.
Tomorrow the waves are supposed to build to 4 meters so time will tell how that goes.

Blue Hole

Im just south of the Caicos Bank now. The last time I flew over I noticed a perfectly round blue circle in the middle of a patch of shallow water and wondered what it could be? I took a picture of it.
You can google "middle Caicos blue hole" to get some detail but it's a 250ft deep hole in an area of generally knee-deep water. This is caused by a collapse of limestone underneath the earth.

wind shift

Had a beautiful afternoon sailing to windward. We averaged 9 knots for the last 5 hours. The wind eventually picked up enough (20+ knots) that I reefed the main down to the first reef (my repair of the clew on the main many months ago is still going strong). A while later I grew concerned about the jib so I reefed that down one also. Shortly thereafter, the wind slacked and shifted aft. This is the first time on this trip I've had true wind aft of the beam!
I shook out the reefs and trimmed the sails accordingly and we're back to 8.5 to 9.5 knots with the apparent wind directly off the starboard beam (boat speed pushes the apparent wind forward). This also helps smooth out the ride a little bit.
I've been racing a 40m (small) cargo ship, the Signet Titan, all afternoon that is just over the horizon to port on the same course as me. Feels great to keep pace with a ship.
I'm currently 43NM due south of Grand Turk.

that's a reach

I finally have wind from the right direction and a good strength. Currently making 8.5 knots on a course of 308M.
Let's see how long this lasts...
I've only see one boat in the last two days, a southeast bound 17m sloop,Qing, with black carbon fiber sails. But nothing since then. I see on my AIS that another boat is behind me about 10 miles but can't see any other data until they're a little closer.

rainbow

I've got a dark cloud sneaking up on me from starboard aft and a half rainbow to port.
I'm currently about 5 miles to the south of Silver Bank, which is a broad area of shallows amidst 1000m+ deep water. I've included a picture I took flying over this general area to give a bit of a feel for what it would look like but there's no land protruding on Silver Bank. And I'm just far enough off that I can't see the drastic color difference.

7am

It's 7am and all is well. We pounded waves upwind since yesterday so didn't make a ton of progress to the northwest but this morning I was able to change course a bit and now have a heading of 312M and making 6-7knots. Of course this is still upwind but it feels better making more substantial progress.
Overnight the boat gremlins stole my electric toothbrush. I haven't been able to find it anywhere. The odds are really good that it's somewhere within 20 feet of me for the life of me I can't find it. Fortunately I brought a manual backup.
The search continues...

wind

I finally found some wind this afternoon but it's still coming from the direction I'm trying to go more or less. I've tacked north to go around Navidad bank to the east but once I clear that I will tack back to the west again. The weather reports I should have favorable wind then. Currently I'm pounding directly into a 1.5m swell so it's not a pleasant ride at the moment but it should get a little better on the next tack about five hours from now.

onward

I sailed eastward yesterday about 30 miles off the north coast of Puerto Rico. I'm now 38 miles off of Bavaria, Dominican Republic and 48 miles from the Navidad bank, the first of the shallow banks that lead up to the Bahamas.
Yesterday I sailed over the Puerto Rico trench which is the second deepest spot on earth. I believe this is deeper than Mount Everest is tall. I know I saw depths on my chart of over 8150 m.
I lost the bit of wind that I did have at 3am. Went to start an engine and it wouldn't start; same problem as before so I had to hotwire it. Fortunately I anticipated this problem. The contact the boat owner put me in touch with from Dream Yacht Charters in Martinique was a real skeptic about the MDI device from Volvo. He explained that the Volvo engineers he's worked with have yet to identify the root cause and told me to be prepared for further problems. Today I'll assemble the switch & wire I purchased in Martinique up to the helm so it's easier to start without going into the engine compartment.
The sun is up now and the day looks nice so far but I'm pretty tired. Sleeping in 20 minute chunks doesn't leave you refreshed the next morning.
Heavy weather is headed my way tomorrow. The weather forecast shows 30 knots of wind and 3.5 meter swells. Fortunately the wind is supposed to be a little more easterly instead of the north wind I've had. I'm looking forward to that.

boat in distress

The US Coast Guard out of Puerto Rico has been on the VHF radio regularly with pan,pan,pan calls regarding a 20ft boat that made a distress call earlier but did not provide their position. Eventually they started requesting people that heard the original distress call to report their position when they heard it. I assume they were going to try to triangulate the position that way.
It's 10pm and to the south of me I'm now seeing the lights of a plane flying what I assume is a search pattern. There is also another boat around with flashing lights that is prepared to tow the distressed boat if it can be located. It's quite the light show for what was previously a very subdued ocean.

Back onboard

Upon my return to Tortola, I found the boat in the exact same condition I left it with the exception of lots of growth on the bottom of the hull. I hopped in the dinghy and motored over to a dock near a grocery store and grabbed a few provisions I cast off from Roadtown at 12:15 after paying BVI Yacht Charters $500 for the slip for the month. I made it to Soper's Hole by 2:00 to clear out with Customs and immigration. I noticed along the way the boat was slow due to all the growth so I stopped at White Bay and had a painkiller before spending two hours scrubbing the bottom. Hopefully the added speed over the next few weeks will more than make up for the time spent.
There was very little wind as I departed the BVis to the northwest of Jost Van Dyke.
Shortly after darkness fell a full moon came up behind some heavy clouds and just an odd shaped orange brilliance showed through. I couldn't even figure out what it was at first. A bit later that cloud Bank overtook me and brought a wind shift, rain downpour & lightning. Another cloud front is behind me again, this time backlit by the moon in white.

Coming back to the islands

I flew in St Thomas yesterday but arrived too late to catch the ferry to Tortola so I stayed in a hotel overnight. I just boarded the 8:30 Fast Ferry to Road Town.