Wednesday, March 6, 2013
I hadn't slept since we left. Between the heavy rocking of the boat, the engine noise, and people walking up and down the salon with flashlights, I could not get a decent chunk of sleep. I had a shift from 12am - 3am last night and was in REALLY rough shape for it. Luckily, Minnie noticed this and took on the first 2 hours of my shift for me, which I spent sleeping in the cockpit. I got 20 minutes here and there, but nothing too solid. Gary then came up at 2am and took my last hour. At this point I just crashed, went back to sleeping in the salon and passed right out for a near-solid 4 hour sleep. I could slept in the back of a garbage truck at that point, I was so tired. I feel great now though (7:30am)!
We are still heading to just north of Cayman Islands to wait out that passing northerly. Gary is trying to get an updated weather report on the SSB to confirm that the storm is coming and that we indeed have to waste a day or two waiting.
The sun is shining and swells aren't too bad, so it should be a decent day!
We have decided not to hide out in the Cayman Islands, and just fight the storm to Panama. There has been a pattern in this part of the sea the last few weeks, where a new strong northerly develops on a weekly basis and shifts south to oppose the Gulf Stream and create rough seas. If we were to duck out in Cayman for now, we'd only be facing the exact same situation a week later.
It is now 1:00 and we are just starting to notice the increased winds. Winds are now reaching 18 knots (from 8-12 knots before), and our boat is hitting over 8 knots in speed. We hit 9 knots, but we decided to reef the sails as the hull speed of this boat is 8.3 knots. We've stowed all dangerous objects (fishing lures, big fishing hook, etc.) and have prepared the boat and ourselves for some rough weather tonight and over the next few days (rigged staysail, made drogue easily accessible, got out foulies and extra safety gear, activated transom bilge pump, made some extra food, etc.)
Let's see what you got Poseidon!
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