It’s mid day Sunday and we are south of the Gulf Stream and moving along at a good clip, generally at about 7-9kts.
Over the last few hours, we have been hit by a few squalls to near 30kts but with just a single reef in the main and on a broad reach, Pandora is handling it well.
Our first 24 hours was about 185 miles, a respectable showing and while we did run the engine a fair amount, it was not because we had no wind, but to keep up our speed and keep in front of a nasty front exiting the coast later today.
As of now, I think that we will be ahead of the worst of it.
The weather files we have been downloading and the information from Chris Parker continues to suggest that this should be a fairly fast run, perhaps as little as nine or ten days, on the outside, and involve a good amount of sailing.
The biggest issue will be how far south and east we get when the easterly trades kick in. If we are able to get far enough east before they fill in, we will have really fast sailing for the second half of the trip. With a little luck, I will be able to sail in trade winds for longer than any prior run.
Tonite should get pretty sporty with wind in the mid 20s, but from a favorable angle.
So, I guess it’s safe to say that we are doing well and I am cautiously optimistic.
Fingers crossed but so far, so good.
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