We left San Salvador on Monday January 6th at 11:00 PM. We spent the morning in town saying thank you and good bye to the many wonderful people who had helped us during our 10 days of anchorage there off of Cockburn Town. We stocked up on groceries, diesel, and cash!
11:00 PM (11/6) -5:30 PM (11/7).....We motored SW to the point off San Salvador then turned ESE. The waves were 4 to 6 feet and the wind was 15 knots, and we were heading straight into them. We were going that way to take advantage of the winds that were to change to NE during the early morning hours.
5:30 PM (11/7) -10:00 AM (11/8)....Finally the NE winds at 15 to 20 knots arrive. Just as we put up the main and jib sails, the engine stalls. No worries, we are sailing now in 6 foot seas making 6 knots. At midnight the winds died down to 10 knots. This made it difficult for us to stay on our line as we were facing an adverse current. At 5:30 AM Will cleared the fuel line and started the engine. The winds increased at this time, and we needed to motor sail to make our direction,
10:00 AM (11/8) - 10:30 AM (11/8).....The engine stalls again, but Will was able to change the fuel filter and prime the fuel lines, successfully.
10:30 AM (11/8 - 1:00 PM (11/8)..... Motored sailed in 20 - 25 knot winds and up to 10 foot seas.
Anchor set by 1:30 PM at northwest corner of Mayaguana, and we all draw a sigh of relief.
38 hours and 143 nautical miles.
We all shared turns on watch with the auto helm on, but Will did most of the watching! We ate very little food, mostly saltine crackers and granola bars. We drank lots of water. Sometimes it felt like the insides of our bodies were jiggling like jello and our bodies were sore from bouncing around in the cockpit. It was hard to be below as the boat swayed side to side with the waves.
However, sailing vessel Varua handled the winds and the waves like a true sailboat should. Our friend Morris would be extremely proud that Captain Will and crew mate Jamie wore their life preservers and secured their life lines every time they worked with the sails.
Admiral Bentley made it through this ordeal with flying colors. He snuggled with anyone trying to get some sleep. He rocked side to side as we did when in the cockpit, and did his bodily functions on the deck with his life preserve on and secured with a leash.
3:00 PM (11/10)......96 hours (4 days) later anchored in Abraham Bay, Mayaguana Bentley finally makes it to shore!
You guys are doing great. Keep on a commin'. I remember that NW corner of Mayaguana. very rocky. We moved around to Abraham Bay at first light then left that evening nonstop to T&C. Beautiful full moon sail with winds NE at 20 knots. Hope you have the same. We are still in Trini and will head north in a couple of weeks. Hope we run into you, Rod
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