Lat: 22 04.304′ N
Lon: 70 20.572′ W

For some reason, Lauren and I were really dreading this passage before leaving. Maybe it was because we got so many full nights of sleep in the Caribbean, or maybe it was not having a new, exciting destination to sail to next. As it turns out, it’s been really pleasant so far, and we were into the passage less than a day before we were both glad to be out here and enjoying our final days at sea. Passagemaking is incredibly stress-free and relaxing as long as the weather is nice and there are no major boat hassles to sort out. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I can’t count on getting to sea on a regular basis to chill out.

Every passage is different, and so far this one has been unique for the amount of motoring we’re doing. We got lucky and were able to sail for about the first 12 hours, but since then we probably haven’t had the engines off for more than 30-60 minutes at a time and have been running one for nearly all of the last two and a half days. We took on fuel before leaving the BVI’s, but we were hoping to sail at least half the time, so we’re seriously having to consider making a fuel stop in San Salvador if we don’t find more wind. I really thought that the fuel I bought in Brazil would be the last, but keeping to a schedule in the Caribbean and light winds have combined to cause us to go through quite a bit of it.

We’ve had a pretty large northerly swell most of the time, which has been interesting with so litle wind. Swell can mean a number of things, but in this case I’m referring to waves that have most likely travelled hundreds or thousands of miles to get here. Since they’re "old" waves, their period has lengthened, making them long, slow rollers. Even though they’re 6 feet or more and coming right toward us, we just glide up and over them instead of crashing into them. There’s been virtually no wind at times, causing the surface of the ocean to take on an oily, surreal sheen in which you can see the clouds reflected. It’s sort of unique for us to have that ocean surface look combined with large swells. It looks sort of like big jelly mirrors oozing and sliding around us.

DSC_0397Being surrounded by this is a really surreal experience DSC_0408 Superposition patterns from the wakes from our hulls

DSC_0411 A cloud reflecting off the water.  When it was hazy it was hard to make out the line of the horizon.

At this point just starting to sail past the Turks and Caicos, about 50 miles off to port. We saw the glow from Puerto Rico the first two nights we were out, but I’m guessing we’re not going to see much from the Turks and Caicos. The air is definitely getting cooler as we sail farther north, and the combination of fair skies and cool breeze reminded me of a nice spring day back in the Midwest.

As for the crew, we’re definitely preoccupied with thoughts of our imminent return to the US. As one South African we met in Tortola said when he heard about our trip, "I’m in eempreessed, but what ah ya going to do neext?"