Day 14 - Passage to the Caribbean
Misterx
Mon 14 Apr 2025 23:46
14/04/25
8:30 pm
Day 14
South Atlantic Ocean
DTD : 2,394 NM (50NM)
Since we entered the doldrums yesterday afternoon, it is just as predicted... bloody unpredictable!!
Our attempt to escape the squall , was a complete failure, and we ended up right in the middle of a huge squall lasting about 3 hours with rain and loads of wind shift. Ant the furler getting jammed put us out of our stride... we had to scramble plan b sharpish ... all worked out with thankfully no damage to anyone or anything, but we were exhausted, and dripping wet by the time the squall went away at dusk... So we decided to bob along until daylight, keeping watch, we have seen ships around the previous nights and we would be sitting duck, so all the alarms are set. We just drifted, all night, waiting for daylight to change from the working jib to the big genoa.
At 4am, heard some jumping and blowing outside, went on deck to watch or rather hear the dolphins in the dark, I could just about make out the shape of their dorsal fins against the darker water and some white foam when they breach water... impossible to know how many of them are swimming around and they do not stay for long, places to be, people to see! It is nice to have them around, always soothing to know they are watching over us.
Daylight finally came, around 6am, we'd only drifted less than 5nm from the point where we stopped or rather the point where we actively stopped trying to make our way forward. And these 5 miles where mainly Eastwards, and a big loop going South West and we needed to be going north... we hadn't given too much ground away which was pleasing.
Unfortunately with daylight came a squall, I could see it approaching from our back, we barely had time to get the wings back inside, we'd left them out to dry in the cockpit, before it hit us. We still had the working jib up so we kind of went where the wind took us for the next 2 hours, not very fast nor very far. We had a leisurely breakfast watching the rain drumming on the saloon hatch. By 9 am the squall has passed, the rain has stopped and we can even spot some blue sky around. We set to work to replace the working jib by the big genoa. So much easier to do when the waves are relatively small and without the rain and the wind howling... we have the whole thing done in less than an hour, sail all packed away down below, inner forestay put away, and the big genoa in place, going in and out beautifully... the roller furler system has not been damaged by our little escapade!
All we need to do now is get the boat moving, and with the little amount of wind we have to play with, as little as 5 knots and as much as 9, we do need the help of the engine. We motor sail most of the day, barely making 5 knots of boat speed.
It turned out beautiful, loads of clouds formations but huge stretches of 50 shades of blue all around us. We can identify the nasty clouds by their towering white fluffy shapes and the white/grey rain underneath them... fascinating to watch them morph, getting taller, mushrooming wider, all out of thin air and drops of moisture. Only one of them becoming a threat that we are intent to avoid at all cost... we'll not repeat yesterday's performance! We'll not get caught in the maelstrom of shifting winds and driving rain today! So we take evasive action, going totally in the wrong direction for an hour or so, until we can go around. And as we go around it we realise how big it is, we would have been in it for hours!
Still flush from our success in avoiding this very unpleasant looking cloud, we spotted some action in the water, a pod of what we think are pilot whales has appeared from nowhere and are surrounding us, playing in our wake, jostling with each other, spouting water. There must be a good 15 of them. I can't resist, best place to see them in from the bow, that's where the view is the best as they plunge in and out of the water. To my surprise, the pilot whales are not the only one having fun in our bow wave, there are dolphins too... looking so small in comparison. What a privilege! They stay with us for good half hour before they disappear. We were also treated to a fabulous sunset, the pinks and oranges and reds were illuminating the skies.
Starting my shift, with no moon light tonight, too much clouds, but there is enough of a glow to see the outline of all the cloud banks around... sitting there wondering which one is coming to get us... the shape of things to come for the next few days until we are out of the doldrums...
M