Day 9: Confused Seas and Sqawls

Buoy 'N Sea
Phil and Trish Littman
Wed 28 Nov 2007 16:53
21:11.85N, 64:44.44W
 
Wednesday, November 28th
 
The winds came around for us, from East to ENE, to NE. This put us on beam reach late yesterday to a broad reach (downwind) today. This is the first time we've sailed downwind the entire trip.
 
Last night around 11PM, a squall hit us, bringing rain and 30kts of wind. We quickly put a second reef in the main. Soon after we had to alter our course 20 degrees to slip around back of another squall. After that, it was squall, squall, squall. All night. At one point we "heaved to" doing what Steve calls a "fisherman's reef" waiting for one bigger one to pass. The genny was brought in to about half. We consistently saw 20-24kt winds all night (30-35 in the squalls), and despite the stopping and maneuvering, managed to keep good speed. This is typical for the tropics.
 
Once day break came, the skies cleared. The forecast call for more squalls, lighter wind, and high seas through the end of the trip. We're also getting "confused seas" -- this is where waves come from different directions.
 
All this is nothing to be concerned about, we're managing quite well and drying out after a soggy night. Due to the change in winds and our speed, we may be making landfall sometime Friday, but lighter winds over the next two days may negate that.