This is yesterdays blog entry that was not sent due to an
approaching squall. We have since arrived safely in Bonaire
after a fast and comfortable sail.
A picture of Laura typing the blog entry is also attached. More
tomorrow.
Feb 7, 2007. 18:00 AST: position North 12 degrees, 22 minutes;
West 66 degrees. 24, minutes; course: 279 degrees magnetic;
current speed 7.8 knots.
It’s nearly sunset now – on our 2nd day of our 2.5 day trip from
Union Island to Bonaire. What’s it like to sail for 2.5 days
non-stop? Well, actually, it has been very nice so far. Not
scary – not particularly uncomfortable – although the boat is
rolling a fair amount from side to side in the swells. Before
doing night sails I am typically very scared and nervous, but
have found, at least on this voyage so far, that once I am out
in the cock-pit at night, with the beautiful stars and the
moon-lit seas, it is very nice. The days are short in the
Caribbean – it is pretty much dark for 12 hours a day, but out
on the boat it doesn’t really seem dark. First the stars light
up the sky, then the moon rises and everything becomes crystal
clear – you can see colors on the sails – and then you see some
phosphorescence on the water. The sun rises at 6:00 am, and
doesn’t get hot til about 9:00. We have taken turns taking lots
of naps – sometimes for an hour, sometimes for as long as 3.5
hours. All in all we end up getting 8 or 9 hours of sleep
during a 24 hour period – although it is pretty broken up sleep.
The sailing conditions were really great for most of the past
two days. For a few hours we were sailing between 9 and 11 knots
– that is a really great speed for us. We have two big
headsails set on poles ( see photo), one of which is our
ballooner which is red, white and blue. The other is the big
jib which Rick and Leon helped us set up when they were here.
They are very beautiful when set out together. They also make
for very easy downwind sailing – which is what we are doing now,
as we head almost due West. We are sailing about 30-50 miles
north of a whole string of Venezuelan Islands that we would love
to see, but don’t have time to stop at. Right now we are about
300 miles away from Union and have another 130 or so to get to
Bonaire. It will be good to arrive – but right now we are
enjoying the sea and the air. We have only seen two boats on
route – both large oil tankers – nicely lit up in our radar –
and also very visible to the naked eye. It is interesting to
pass another boat in the dark- almost easier to see them at
night than during the day. We have been listening to a lot of
music on our Ipod Nano’s and eating good meals – stuff we
prepared before leaving Union. Amazing how good everything
tastes when you are at sea.
L.