Well, we’re off. Currently we are “motor slogging” towards the Gulf Stream with light winds almost behind us. Hopefully the wind will pick up a bit over night. Motor sailing is about my least favorite way to travel, especially down wind because the wind serves to ensure that your engine exhaust stays right with you.
We were off a bit later than we hoped this morning, finally getting under way around 10:45 or so. Last night when doing final engine checks after changing the oil and fuel filters I noticed that the raw water pump was leaking water. We couldn’t set off with a problem like this so I dug down into the spares and did a late night pump replacement. It took a few hours and kept us up later and also left me with a few irritating boat bites to deal with.
This morning was sunny and breezy and we said our goodbyes to my parents as we pulled out of the slip and went to full the tanks with diesel. After the fuel dock pit stop it was off to the Caribbean!
Initially we had great wind and current and we went flying out of the harbor under sail. An hour or two later the wind started to drop and became variable while the chop and the roll from previous wind was still around. The net of this is that you end up sailing slowly while the sails keep drooping, filling, slamming and banging things around as you roll. We few the spinnaker for a bit but it wasn’t enough when the wind dropped to 6-7 knots.
So this evening we are motor sailing. Around us some of the other rally boats seem to be doing the same thing though a couple of sailing…slowly, and not quite in the right direction. We might try that too, the sea motion is better and we wouldn’t be using any fuel.
Let’s hope for a little more breeze tomorrow!
