It’s hard to believe that we are into our 9th day at sea and are still 640 miles from Antigua. Think going from NY to Chicago at 6kts. That’s a long way.
The good news is that we are inches, feet, miles, a degree of latitude, well, at least some distance from the trade winds. The wind was VERY light overnight but now it is beginning to fill in from the NE. According to Chris Parker, our weather router, and the most recent GRIB files, we should begin to see sailable wind from the east within the next 40-80 miles, hopefully sooner.
As soon as we have wind on the beam (perpendicular to our course) of around 10kts, we should be able to sail. That would be great as I will admit that I am a bit sick of listening to the drone of the engine. Having said that, I am SO pleased to have enough fuel to handle all of the light wind.
Have I mentioned that we have been motoring a lot? “Yes, Bob, you beat that drum FOREVER, on every passage.”
It is now becoming pretty, sort of, fairly, a little bit clear that we will be arriving either late on Monday or sometime overnight Monday/Tuesday. Who knows, “we will be there when we are there”, as my Dad used to say.
Of course, what is a post at sea without a photo of the sunrise? Another very pretty one.
Zoom out and it looks a lot different. “Bob, Bob, it’s the same photo. Gimme a break!”
No, it’s not…
To prove that we were there. Pandora in the frame… Work with me on this…
And, as we motor along, really calm.
Other than that, not a lot to report.
I have been spending a lot of time refining the details of our arrival events for Antigua and while much of the schedule was in place months ago, there have been some shifting and additional events. In some cases, frustration for some as plans change. However, we get so much support from those who host our events in Antigua, I cannot complain and am grateful to everyone for helping to make the fleet feel welcome.
Oh yeah, Starlink has been working but is not flawless. It sometimes takes forever to boot up and tends to drop the signal regularly. However, having it, boogers and all, is so much better than any prior method of staying in touch.
The simple solution would be to purchase their high-performance antenna but it is twice the size of what we already have and draws more than 2x the power. I have heard that there will soon be a new HP dish out and that it is about the same size as what we currently have. It is worth it to me to wait and endure less than perfect connectivity for now. Poor connectivity or not, it is AMAZING to have such technology aboard Pandora.
Sure, we are still a long way to Antigua but the wind should soon be with us and it will be great to turn off the motor and enjoy the last distance to our destination.
So, we will continue to plod along and Antigua is still a long way off. However, it does feel like we are on the home stretch… well almost.
2 responses to “The home stretch, almost…”