Riding along on the crest of a wave

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Mon 7 May 2012 13:30
27:53.20N 70:12.44W

Monday 7th May

Sunday remained pretty flat all day, with a light breeze from the west or
north west and an almost silky flat sea. Had to motor all day and half the
night, although as the day pressed on, the wind did gradually fill in and we
were at least able to motor-sail and save precious fuel. By the early hours
of this morning we were able to turn of the engine and under our full cutter
rig were sailing at 8 knots through a confused but fairly amiable sea. The
problem with the sea conditions is simply that there is a fairly standard
Atlantic swell running from the north and a 'wind chop' of waves coming from
the west.

No wildlife to report although we did see two ships (on the AIS) during the
day, but the closest either of them came to us was a distant 12 miles.

Sarah spent a good part of the day cooking and preparing meals, as the last
forecast indicated that such activities might be a lot less practical over
the next few days! We will get a new 5 day forecast this evening (our time,
which is 5 hours behind the UK) and we are waiting to hear whether things
are likely to be better or worse.

Current plan sees us crossing the Gulf Stream (our entry point is 33.50N
75.16W) on Friday morning and hopefully seeking to enter the inlet to the
Chesapeake at low tide on Sunday morning. That is Plan A......

Having a really great sail this morning and still doing around 8 knots
through the water, but have picked up a counter current which is restricting
our speed over the ground to just 5 knots or so. But fun all the same and we
did not get the 30 knot gusts predicted last night which was a bonus.