Caribbean Sea
14.49.223N
67.58.561W


We gave our hugs and kisses to Gerry & Nicky, choked back the lumps in our throats and dropped our mooring ball at 4pm. We unfurled our main to the first reefing point, as the wind was pretty gusty even in the bay and motor sailed to the end of Bonaire in incredibly deep water. We rounded to the north, unfurled the jib and set our course to Boqueron, Puerto Rico.

The wind was blowing 20-25 kts but was forecast to moderate back to the normal 15-20 kts range by Mon. The seas were supposed to be 5-6’ with a 6 second interval. I swear that more of them were in the 6-8’ range, as we were taking green water over the bow and occasionally over the cockpit. When we started seeing 26-29 kts being registered, we put a reef in the jib and continued on.

The sunset was particularly beautiful (no green flash) but once gone, conditions that had been challenging during the day became nerve racking after dark. Only the ¾ moon gave us any type of reprieve. At the 11pm watch change, we added another reef to the jib. Dale lost his favorite hat when he climbed out of the cockpit to check on the lines; there was no question that we wouldn’t be going back to retrieve it. During my 11-2 watch, I eased my grip on the jackline holding my tether and me in place, and looked back to identify the Southern Cross for the last time on our voyage. At the 2am watch change we added another reef to the main and discussed the option of turning around and heading back. Cooking was out of the question. Even hove to, I could only microwave something quickly; I’m glad I picked up that bucket of chicken. Sleeping was confined to the cockpit in case of emergency and the fact that Dale was starting to feel the effects of the nasty conditions. Going below for any reason was a challenge that we saved for the watch changes. Our bicycles that have never shifted before, were now a jumble on the forward cabin sole along with everything else that had been packed around them. Dale reasoned that if the conditions moderated as they were predicted, we would have lost 12 hours by turning back. We weren’t in any danger, the boat was handling well, it just wasn’t very comfortable. We sallied forth.

The skies lightened with the approaching dawn and with it, our trepidation. Slowly throughout the day, the winds died back to the 20-25kt range. By afternoon, the seas also seemed to be decreasing so we shook out one of the reefs in the jib and grabbed a couple of books to read. I spotted a few bright purple man-o-war jellyfish heading west during the day but didn’t want to jeopardize my camera in the boisterous conditions.

With the nightfall, we saw a line of clouds that lay directly over our path, so we put the reef back in and hoped that we wouldn’t encounter any squalls during the night. (In case you’re not keeping track, we’re back to 2 reefs in each sail.)