We departed Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas with more than a little bit of trepidation. Jimmy Cornell of "World Cruising Routes" strongly advises against making this passage in January or early February due to strong easterly trade wings and high seas. We did experience 25 knot winds and 10 to 12 foot seas but Reboot handled them without a care. Reboot tends to "pick up her skirts" in a following sea. The seas roll under her giving a pleasant hobby horse motion. A heavier boat might have been pooped.
We ran the 9 day 6 hour transit with only the jib. Average boat speed was 5.4 knots. Surfing the waves the SOG would vary between 3 and 9 knots every 10 seconds or so. The most the jib was ever unfurled was about 50%. We ran a good portion of the time at 35%. Once we left Charlotte Amalie and turned southwest we only gybed 4 times! That includes lining up for the harbor entrance. We did run a little North of the Columbia coast as the weather is usually stronger within 100 miles of the coast.
We arrived in Colon at 10 pm est. After sailing! through the harbor entrance we attempted to find the marina. We turned back when we discovered a sunken wreck. We motored to the small boat anchorage and spent the night on the hook. In the morning we motored to Shelter Bay.
Fair winds and following seas :)
Cruising my 1995 Catalina 42 MK II sailboat with my cat XO, the good, the bad, and the ugly of the open ocean world cruising life.
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