The conversation at Rum Cay had mostly revolved around our
next course and destination. From here the passages got bigger/longer which is
I guess why George Town is referred to as “chicken harbour”.
The conventional route from here heads to Mayaguana Island
(still in the Bahamas), then across the sand banks of Turks and Caicos before
heading south for Luperon, Dominican Republic. From Luperon cruisers head along
the north shore of the DR and through the dreaded Mona Passage (the waters
between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) and then do day hops along the
south shore of Puerto Rico to eventually come around to the northeast corner of
Puerto Rico (most skipping Fajardo) to jump off from either Culebra or Vieques
(the Spanish Virgins) to the sailboat Mecca – the US and British Virgin
Islands.
As you would guess, the conventional route takes a
considerable amount of time. No one likes Luperon but it’s the only port along
the north coast of the Dominican Republic and we weren’t impressed by what we’d
heard about the expense of the Turks and Caicos...so with the weather gurus
talking about 3 fronts coming through one after another and holding the
easterly trade winds off, Doug suggested a straight run to Puerto Rico. If this
weather pattern held it seemed the perfect opportunity to head out around Turks
and Caicos and head straight for Fajardo – a short cut – a totally
unconventional route...but this was an unconventional weather window. The big
question was...would the window “close”.
We discussed it, rechecked the wind and weather charts and
decided it was an opportunity not to be missed...even if we were the only ones
willing to exploit it. We shared our plan with the rest of our ‘gang’ and in
the end two of the other three boats decided to come along. All seemed to be in
agreement...if the weather forecast came true it was doable. After you’ve left
the Turks and Caicos behind there were no more bail outs. Best case we figured
was a 6 day passage if the wind and weather held...if the trades came back
around to the east we could be looking at a 14 day passage as we tacked back
and forth (travelling 10 miles to advance 4 miles – like switchbacks on a
mountain).
So bright and early Thursday morning we were off – as soon
as the tide was high enough for us all to make it back over “the hump”.
This was our first “long” passage – that is a trip from port
to port that took more than 72 hours. In the grand scheme of things a 6 day
passage isn’t really long, but I figured this was a make-or-break passage for
me. If I hated it...if I never wanted to be put through that again...our
horizons would become limited to the Caribbean. Once we made it to Puerto Rico,
the Caribbean islands were all accessible by short-ish island hops...and I
suppose we’d be able to do some Central and South American coastal cruising.
But anything beyond (like the South Pacific or the Mediterranean), assuming
we chose to venture that far, would be out of the question as these
include some passages that require weeks (yes that is plural) at sea. So for me
at least, this passage held great importance. This is where I’d find out if I’d
hit my limit as a “sailor” (a term I still hesitate to use when referring to
myself) or whether I was just hanging around the start line...a sort of
qualifying passage of sorts...get past this and the world was my oyster...or
something like that.
Disclosed much later, Doug’s greatest concern was that the
east trade winds would return sooner than predicted and we’d be out there for
weeks. So his plan was to get as much ‘easting’ as possible for as long as
possible and keep north (rather than fall prey to the temptation of following
the magenta rhumb line to Fajardo) so that if the wind did come back to the east
we would be on a reach when we turned south to Fajardo.
The wisest thing I did to prepare for the passage was to
precook some dinner ingredients: pasta, meat, potatoes, carrots, etc so I could
quickly throw together in one pot a pasta dinner or a filling chicken
soup/stew. We tend to eat lightly during the day but sailing is hard work and
at least one hearty meal a day makes a world of difference...that and at least
one 6 hour block of sleep each 24 hour period.
It is said that it takes a couple of days to get into the
rhythm of a passage. We were taking turns on 4 hour shifts on watch during the
day and 6 hour shifts at night. This means I go to bed at about 7 PM and at 1
AM take over the helm while Doug sleeps ...and then we both catch naps as we
can when we are off watch. And as foretold, after a couple of days it did get
easier.
The winds were pretty consistent around 25 to 30 knots, we
only really got caught in one nasty, but short lived, squall...and spent a lot
of time ‘playing’ with different sail configurations to see how the boat would
reacted. We even practiced a ‘heave to’ which came in handy on the last night
when we ‘hove to’ 15nm off Puerto Rico
to wait for first light before coming into port.
6 days, 2 hours and 14 minutes we pulled into a marina slip
in Fajardo, tired and thrilled at the same time. I’m happy to report that the
passage was pretty much what I expected...no better...but more importantly no
worse. I know I still have so, so much to learn, but I think I can do this.
Now...could someone please point me in the direction of the
showers!
