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| Arriving Curacao |
We owe you, our readers, the story of our passage from Grenada to Key West, Florida which began October 10, 2018 with arrival in Key West on November 11. I was waiting for it to be published online (publishing rules ask that you not publish something that has been posted on a blog). It was published in the February 2020 issue of Southwinds Magazine.
By Linda (and Chris)
Google "Sailing the south coast of Cuba" and you will
get a number of hits pertaining to "cruising Cuba's south coast" as
well as a few hits for Cuba cruising guides.
But if you wanted to sail south of Cuba to Florida without
stopping you won't find many suggested guidelines, routes, or even blogs from
people who've written about their experience.
Chris and I sailed the eastern Caribbean islands to Grenada in
2012. Flash forward six years and we were ready to sail home to the United
States: specifically, Key West.
The "when do we go?" was easy - after hurricane
season - and a Thanksgiving family reunion became our “target” date.
The "which way do we go?" was a little trickier. We
chose to go west, because we had already sailed the eastern Caribbean. The
tricky part was determining which way around that big island getting in the way
of a direct route from Curacao: Cuba.
Most people when they leave Grenada either go back north
through the eastern Caribbean islands or go west to the ABC's with plans to
eventually transit the Panama Canal.
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| Goodbye, Grenada. |
The not-so common route
Our plan was to go west to Bonaire and Curacao, make a rest
stop in Jamaica, then transit through the Windward Passage around Cuba and NW
to Key West.
With downwind long distance sailing experience during a two
week delivery of a new 38 foot Beneteau from Tortola to Belize in December
2017, we were confident in our route planning. Many have sailed Grenada to
Bonaire, although usually beginning in Martinique to stock up on wines and
delicacies, and to stay well off the coast of Venezuela and it’s out islands.
We had no plans to go that far north for this transit (about
160 miles) so we began in Grenada and sailed 30 miles north to Union Island to
stage for our passage. Forecasts called for light winds and low seas which resonated
with how we planned to make our passage. Unlike our trip south to Grenada where
we meandered and enjoyed the many Caribbean islands, on this trip we planned to
stay in marinas long enough to rest, sight-see and re-provision (food, water,
fuel), and if needed take care of repairs.
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| Actual route. |
Weather considerations
Some sailors might like strong winds for their trips to
conserve fuel, however, Troubadour’s 120 gallon fuel capacity made this
trip manageable even if we had to power or motor sail each leg. When it came to
weather planning we followed our guidelines that we set eight years ago when we
left Florida for the Caribbean: add 5-10 kts to every wind forecast and 3 ft to
every wave forecast. What surprised us
more than anything on this trip was the remarkable accuracy of the forecasts
from all our sources: Marine Weather Center (Chris Parker), NHC Offshore Waters
Forecasts, Windy, Windfinder, and Garmin's inReach® which allowed us to receive
marine weather forecasts directly on the device when we needed.
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| Friend, Tim, joins us for the first part of the passage. |
Crew and watches
Although friends were hoping to join us as crew, the realities
of their lives combined with the uncertainty of sailing passage times, got in
the way for many. But, friend and sailor, Tim, was able to join us for the
first leg of our trip, Grenada to Bonaire. After we said goodbye to him in Bonaire, we
were on our own for the remainder of the passages.
Night watches are easier on the crew when there are more people
to share. Chris and I do best taking naps during the day if needed and having four
hour shifts at night - 8 pm to midnight - Chris, midnight to 4am - Linda, and
4am to 8am-Chris.
With an AIS transponder aboard, monitoring ship traffic day and
night was easier, especially the few times when we needed to contact ships to
confirm intentions or ask for course adjustments.
While sailing downwind on a beam or broad reach is very
enjoyable, it can be hard on the boat, especially in light winds as the sails
luff and slap and the boom bounces and bangs even with a preventer. At times
the noise concerned us enough that we chose to power and have a slightly less
smooth ride instead of motor sail.
Be Ever Vigilant
My motto from previous (especially downwind) sailing
experiences is “Be Ever Vigilant” - meaning that although the passage may seem
pleasant and calm as your music is playing and you’re enjoying reading a novel
– something slightly sinister might be happening with your sails or rigging,
below decks, or even at the bow. Therefore, just being attentive to sounds that
are new or different from all other sounds of sailing, is a good practice to
get into because these sounds usually mean something needs to be checked.
As long as the weather remained calm a daily inspection of
rigging, lines, shackles, tie downs, anchors, sails, stack pack, lazy jacks,
reefing lines, etc. on decks, as well as dinghy tie davits and dinghy pressure
to ensure the tie down straps remained tight, helped to ease any concerns about
potential problems and gave us opportunities to do any repairs or adjustments
before nightfall.
Our passages from Grenada to Key West (All distances
are in nautical miles.)
Grenada to Bonaire
It’s usually a day sail from Grenada to Carriacou. On
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, we slipped our mooring in Mount Hartman Bay, topped
off diesel, gas and water at Secret Harbour Marina and opted to sail as far as
Moliniere Point (8.6 nm) on Grenada’s southwest coast where we stayed for the
night to enjoy snorkeling and the views of St. George’s. Leaving early the next
morning we had a nice sail along Grenada’s leeward coast into Tyrell Bay,
Carriacou (34 nm). We cleared customs and immigration the next morning and had
gentle motor passage to Chatham Bay, Union Island (9.6 nm) where we raised the
yellow flag to stage for our passage to Bonaire the next day.
Weather was calling for light winds backing NE to SE as well as
light seas, so we began reaching northwest until we could jibe over on a rhumb
line for Bonaire. We arrived in three days, 443.4 miles, and averaged 6 kts in
calm seas.
We docked at Harbour Village Marina for our week-long stay in
Bonaire where we rented dive tanks from Wanna Dive, an easy dinghy ride from
the marina, and dined at various restaurants - our favorite being Yanni’s
Arepas at Coco Beach.
Harbour Village Marina had nice enough amenities, including onsite
fuel, but we opted to wait to get fuel in Curacao, our next stop. The marina
did not have on site laundry, but they did have a service that would pick up
and return in two days. Again, we opted to wait understanding at the time that
these services would be available at Curacao Marine. To clear in and out with customs
and immigration was efficient. We walked for about ½ hour along the shore walkway
with pretty views of crystal clear water, Klein Bonaire, moored boats,
storefronts, homes and restaurants.
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| The best part of Curacao was meeting our dear friends, Patricia & Ricardo, of S/V Blues, whom we met in Grenada. |
Bonaire to Curacao
Next stop a downwind motor sail in very calm conditions to
Curacao Marine - eight hours, 44.9 miles. We planned a few days at Curacao Marine
to do laundry and fill water and fuel tanks. Upon arrival we learned that contrary
to the advertisement in a sailing magazine, Curacao Marine did not have fuel on
site. Nor, did they have on site laundry. Just as in Bonaire, the marina offered
a drop off service with return in 1-2 days. A nice benefit of this marina is
that they have cars to rent or will arrange a rental for you. If we would have
known about the fuel we could have topped our diesel in Bonaire. On our departure we backtracked about 6 miles
to Curacao Yacht Club at Spanish Waters to top off our fuel.
As we learned from other sailors, finding and getting to
customs and immigration in Curacao is a lesson in patience, as well as good
exercise. Each location is across the St. Anna Bay inlet from the other: customs
in Punda and immigration in Otrabanda, thus requiring, if walking, a picturesque
trek across the floating Queen Emma Bridge. Two stops, nice officials. Slow
process.
Curacao to Jamaica
To or surprise the passage to Jamaica proved to be faster than
we expected at four days and 590.3 miles to Errol Flynn Marina at Port Antonio
on the island’s northeast coast. We sailed on a beam to broad reach under sunny
skies; average speed 6.2 kts, winds 10 – 12 kts, with 2-4 ft ocean swells. Port
Antonio is located in a calm protected bay; the marina staff is helpful and
friendly. We chose this location due to previous experience there and
outstanding customer service. Quarantine, customs, immigration and police all
came to the boat to clear us in. We were asked to remain on our boat until then.
When we were ready to check out we were required to give 24-hour notice to the
marina office so they could make arrangements for our clearance to leave the
country.
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| Arriving to Port Antonio, Jamaica, after 4 days. |
Fuel is at the boatyard dock nearby. While in Jamaica we toured
Craighton Estate, one of the Blue Mountain coffee plantations, and indulged in
a river raft cruise at the Rafter's Rest (Rio Grande Rafting).
Jamaica to Key West south of Cuba
Originally when looking at the forecasts we expected to beat
upwind through the Windward Passage before falling off to the northwest to sail
along the coast of Cuba to Key West. Strong contrary winds and a closing weather
window in Florida due to a strong northerly in the forecast forced a change in
that route. We fell off immediately upon leaving Port Antonio, choosing to sail
past the Cayman Islands on Cuba’s south side. The conditions for the first
three days of the trip varied from light winds and seas that called for motor
sailing to reaching in 8-10 of wind with lightly rolling seas.
Once we reached Cape San Antonio, the cape which forms the
western extremity of the Guanahacabibes Peninsula as well as the western
extremity of Cuba, we entered the shipping lane and transited on the shoulder
of the traffic separation scheme or TSS. (A Traffic Separation Scheme is an
area in the sea where navigation of ships is regulated. It is meant to create
lanes in the water and ships in a specific lane are all going in (roughly) the
same direction.) AIS proved to be quite helpful here as we did hail a ship to
query his route and intentions at night.
After rounding the western cape we began a 36 hour beat to
windward. This was the only windward sailing of our trip and we motored
throughout. The winds were 14 -18 kts on the bow and the seas were made up of
rolling ocean swells 3-5 feet, sometimes more. Thankfully, the seas calmed once
we closed Key West, however the pounding overnight passage didn’t allow for
much sleep.
Despite those conditions we arrived at Boca Chica Marina at the
Naval Air Station Key West, on the morning of Sunday, November 11 - 793.5 miles
and 5 days from Jamaica.
Boca Chica will be our new home for the foreseeable
future.
In total we travelled 1,924.3 miles. We spent 4 ½ weeks traveling from
when we left Grenada; and, with stops, 14 days total were at sea.
