3K Party
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We passed a couple of big milestones today, leading to another impromptu dance party, which Amy definitely won, though she cheated. First we passed 4,500nm sailed in total on Starry Horizons, and then a little over an hour later, 9nm to be exact, we passed 3,000nm on this passage.
Here are a few stats for you:
Average Speed Over Ground: 6.76
Average SOG excluding time spent stopped to make water: 6.91 Average Miles Covered Each Day: 162
Average True Winds Speed: 18-25
Overall, we’ve been sailing extremely conservatively and have typically reef the mainsail more than is called for in the Fountaine Pajot sail handling guide. But given that we’re a short handed crew, I would rather sacrifice a bit of speed for knowing we have a greater safety margin when a strong squall hits. And there have been a lot of squalls over the last week or so.
As for wind, we’ve been pretty fortunate so far to have pretty consistent winds with only a couple of days where they dropped down a bit. Our luck looks like it’s about to change though as it appears there is some pretty funky weather near the Bahamas with extremely light winds in the 5-10 knot range, and coming from the west. Not very favorable for where we’re trying to go.
The current topic of discussion on board is whether or not we should try to head straight to Miami or make a quick pit-stop in the Bahamas. We had originally planned on making a pit-stop, but we’re now leaning towards the straight shot. That would increase our planned passage distance by a bit over 400nm and would likely put us over 4,000 nm and, at our current pace, about 26 days at sea!
It is very possible that we could sail around the rest of the world and not have another passage that would be this long. I guess there is something to be said for getting the hardest part out of the way at the start!
We are excited to have you back on this side of the earth. I would take the safe route. PS How can you cheat in a dance contest? ?
Great time! Our Helia, Big Papa Lulu, is behind you about 1k a and currently at 22°42’10” N, 42°23’36” W on its way to St. Thomas where we will meet her in a couple of weeks. Love your blog and hope to pick your brain on your downwind sails. Fair winds, Allen & Linda Dobbs
Thanks Allen! Hopefully we’ll get a chance to meet up with you and Big Papa Lulu in the Caribbean somewhere.
Do what you want! You are in such a unique situation that you are not in a rush to do something. Take advantage of it!
Quite an accomplishment! There’s only a tiny percentage of the human population who could claim either of those deeds.
Sounds just like getting out of the state of Texas. Smooth sailing my friends!
Thanks Maria! Glad to hear from you!
You are lucky you might go to Miami or the Bahamas.:)
You’ll get to go someday!