We left the northern Caribbean island of Puerto Rico on Saturday, April 11, at 08:00. The weather window was perfect for a 400 mile sail south; the winds were east to 15 knots, the seas 3-5’, the skies were clear. All that was between us and Bonaire was the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
We headed around the eastern end of Puerto Rico, then set a course for 214 degrees. This southerly course kept us on a reach/broad reach for the next 48 hours, until we saw the island of Bonaire at around 05:30 Monday morning.
Some highlights of our sail south included a few wayward stowaways, i.e. flying fish, that found themselves on our decks Easter morning. Also, we hoisted the big screecher on Saturday afternoon as the winds lightened up. This lasted for about 4 hours until the tack blew. We rolled out the jib and continued our route, averaging 8.5 knots for the first 24 hours.
Easter Sunday brought us a beautiful sunrise and more wind. The winds picked up to around 17 knots, and with the screecher repaired, we continued our southerly sail and saw speeds of 16 knots. As night fell, we enjoyed pupus at sunset, reflecting on just how fortunate we were to be able to sail Sea Child with just the two of us on this 2 day crossing. At sunset on Easter, we were visited by a sperm whale, who popped up just on the starboard side, about 5 feet from the boat. She blew, turned 180 degrees, and continued swimming to the east, behind us. It was a joy to be so close to such a magnificent creature!
Around midnight, we decided to furl the screecher, since the winds were now steady at 18 knots true wind, on a broad reach. With just the two of us on board, we set the autopilot on a course of around 250, downwind, to take the pressure off the big sail and enable us to roll her in.Within a few minutes, though, we realized that the sail did not roll uniformly, so we had to take the entire sail down and stow it away. The moon lit the waters around us, and with us tied to Sea Child by way of harness, we were able to ease down the big sail, coil sheets, and stow away in around 25 minutes.
We rolled out the jib and sailed an average again of 10 knots. Our concern, if there was one, was that we would average 12 knots of boat speed and arrive at Bonaire before sunrise. A daylight arrival is easier to navigate unknown waters; we averaged 10 knots and witnessed another beautiful sunrise. This time, Bonaire was is our sights and just a few miles away.
Our watch system worked well for us, 3 hours on 3 hours off. But instead of the 3 days we expected, we picked up a mooring in Kralendijk, Bonaire at 09:00 Monday, April 13. The crossing had taken us 48 hours.
The meals on board were amazing! Saturday night we had Salmon with Quinoa Salad, Easter dinner was Grilled Chicken with Squash & roasted Sweet Potato. And what an atmosphere! We look forward to more sailing adventures, as we head west towards San Blas, Panama.
Aboard Sea Child, Kralendijk, Bonaire, Dutch Antilles. 12 degrees, 9 minutes N Latitude; 68 degrees, 17 minutes W Longitude
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