St. Helena to Grenada - Day 15
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 27 Jan 2013 15:49
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04:00.116N 40:31.992W
January 27, 2013
It wasn't a 200 mile day.
No, it wasn't. But it was a 199 mile day.
Big smiles from the captain when reporting our daily progress
today. Ah yes, this kind of speed makes the seasickness pill and extra
four hours of sleep (only some of the crew required) that much more
worthwhile. The rain showers left us, but the gray gloom remains - if only
hanging on by a thread as the near-equatorial sun tries its best to burn
through. The northeast wind has moderated from the higher
than forecast 22-30 knots to a more reasonable (but still slightly above
forecast) 16-23 knots. The seas have quieted down some so the bounces
between deep leftward-leans are less vigorous, enabling stomachs to regain
equilibrium. All good.
So, about the speed.
Harmonie loves a beam or broad reach, and that is what we have
(and what we expected once the northeast trades arrived). With positive
current kicking in on occasion, we easily clear 8 knots and hover closer to
9. At the moment, the positive current has turned negative, which pushes
us closer to 8 knots - a situation we hope will not linger. However, even
at 8 knots, we should arrive in our chosen Caribbean destination (Grenada) seven
days from now (next Sunday, 2/3), beating our original passage timing
estimate by one day (22 vs. 23). Yes, it's a little early to make such
predictions, but the trades are so consistent in these parts, confidence is
running high.
Why Grenada?
It's a little closer than St. Lucia, and we're planning to
store Harmonie on the hard there over the upcoming hurricane season
(May-December), so would like to check out Grenada Marine's boatyard before
paying the necessary deposit for hardstand storage. Also, we've never been
to Grenada, and have heard marvelous things about it from Jackie and Michael,
who based Lady Kay there for several seasons before joining the World ARC
in 2008. Lastly, there is a renowned (on a very small scale) chocolate
factory there, said to produce the very best. We can't think of a
better reason to visit a place, can you?
2,401 miles down, 1,349 hopefully very fast miles to
go.
Anne
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