Off to the Bahamas - Day 1
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Thu 6 Dec 2012 19:53
Whilst we left at about 9am from Charleston, our fellow cruisers, Pat & Stuart on Brizo, were about 2 hours behind us as they had to purchase a new VHF radio and have that fitted in Charleston. We agreed to talk by long range radio, (SSB), at 10am and 6pm each day to keep in touch as we went along.
The forecast we had said that we needed to cross the Gulf Stream as soon as possible, and so we motored along - the Gulf Stream is a continually moving target but there are ways to tell if you are there or not, one of which is the water temperature. When we left Charleston the sea temperature was about 12 degrees but it climbed to nearly 26 degrees when we hit the Gulf Stream, also we had a huge current with us and were surfing at about 10 knots at times! By 3am this morning we were good and clear of it and settling into our passage south east.
By about 9am, the wind had picked up to a reasonable 10-12 knots and we started to sail. Making way at about 7-7.5 knots, all good so far, so much so we might have to slow down a bit to ensure that we arrive in daylight at Cat Island - the Bahamian anchorages are definitely NOT to be attempted at night!