Position 21º 52.345N; 60º 12.064 W

Around the Atlantic: ✔ Next stop: Circumnavigation
Ron Noordhoek
Fri 1 Jun 2012 09:46

Position 21: 52.345N 60:12.064 W

We left Ange de Colombier, St Barth around 20:30. We took off with a very nice breeze, around 16 kts, and had a wonderful sail! We were doing over 7 kts most of the time, except for the time we were dragging a fishing line with a couple of buoys. Luckily I could cut the line quite easy.

The night went smooth and fine. I decided to work with the 4 on 4 off watch system to start with, so that there would be 2 on deck all the time. We all felt more confident since it's a new boat for the Eline, Arie and Frits.

The sailing so far is very close to perfect!! Nice breeze, sunny with some occasionally clouds, running close reach at NE course and we all enjoyed it very very much!!

The sail became perfect when a pack of dolphins came by and played around the bow for 15 minutes or so. Eline and Arie tried to take pictures.. only Frits got a whole dolphin and not just a tail or splash. But then again he was smart enough to film them ha!

We had dinner a bit too late. On the crossing to the Carib it was dark around 6 pm which was a good reference. Now it's not getting dark before 7:30 meaning we eat around 8 pm which is already during the sleeping time of the second watch :-* So starting today we'll eat a bit earlier

The night went very well and with full main, genoa and staysail TC sails really great and perfectly balanced.

Early in the morning we had a bleep on the Sea-me. It took a while before we could actually see the vessel. It was a weird boat, no freighter or fishing vessel. If we had been around Venezuela I would have expect it to be pirates. They gave us right of way but there was no one on deck nor did they tried to contact us. Hmm, they didn't seemed anxious to be contacted either so we just waved and sailed on. Leaving Eline a bit disappointed cause she'd love to meet up with Johnny Depp.

I installed the shower on the swimming platform, after 3 days we all could use a bit of washing :-) Also it's a nice way to cool off a bit. It's getting real warm. When we sailed to the Caribbean we went from east to west, meaning that in the afternoon the sun was behind the main sail. Now we sail NE and the sun is shining directly in the cockpit all day. So whatever we need to do, we do in the morning before it gets too hot. This morning Eline and I cleaned the fridge while Frits and Arie were hacking the coleslaw... hmm next time … :-)

 

 

 


Virusvrij. www.avg.com