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American Spirit II - Day 469; We're Half Way to Key West and Have a Great Motor Sailing Day Along the North Coast of Haiti and then Cuba; Monday, April 20, 2015



One year ago today:



"Day 107; Tough Morning at Anchorage, Easter Sunday Services, Lauren and Brian Visit & Chef Stephen Strikes Again; Sunday, April 20, 2014. As the morning sun approached it got cloudy, windy and started to rain. Unlike other cloud meeting mountain situations, the clouds and associated rain and wind were from a 'larger' system. The wind began to howl in the bay, and the boat swung back and forth as the wind swirled down the mountain passes. The wind increased in gusts to over 30, probably some over 40. The anchor chain, instead of lying limp and weighty at the bow, was stretched out to its maximum. Its times like this that your sole thought is, is the anchor going to hold? Since the bottom is mud, we should be OK. We're parked closer than we should to land, with a coral reef 100 yards towards the mouth of the bay behind us with the southern wind. One of my guide books says that when the winds roar down the mountain passes from the south, as what was happening now, the winds can get so high as to be very problematic for boats at anchor in Cook's Bay. In hindsight, we should have anchored in the middle of the bay, not 50 yards from the Bali Hai Hotel. The anchor holds. The only good thing about winds like these is that the wind turbine supplies enough electricity to power the boat that we can delay starting Sthe generator to charge up the batteries."



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Joel rolled up the jib at 3:00 AM and we started motor sailing at 1,600 RPM with a full mainsail out.



Up at 6:00 AM and relieved Darlene.



At 6:07 AM the wind is 6 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land.



The sun rose at 6:27 AM. A dirty, red orb sunrise. Too much mist on the horizon to see a green flash. The humidity must be 100%. At 6:45 AM the sun is 10 degrees above the horizon and it pokes out from a cloud, emitting one of the greenest hues I've ever seen on a sunrise. Half green, half yellow. Amazing.



At 6:59 AM the wind is 5 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 7.0 knots over the land.



I'm reading a John Kretschmer book called 'Sailing a Serious Ocean...'; where he says that the typical circumnavigation has a ratio of sailing to not sailing days of 1:10. The ratio on our trip is more like 3.5:10; or 3 1/2 times faster than what Kretschmer calls a typical circumnavigation. I'm not sure if he's right, but I can confirm that our 'trip' is a fast one.



At 8:13 AM the wind is 6 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.5 knots thru the water and 6.8 knots over the land.



I'm going to write a book when I get home about our trip, and in a possible 'forward' where I describe who the book is for, it goes like this: "This book is primarily for 2 audiences - those who will never sail around the world, but who want to vicariously 'feel' what it is like, day by day, hour by hour, to do so. To experience the highs and lows without expending the money, time and risk to do so. AND. For those sailors who dream, want, who might or who will, sail around the world one day. This book will be your guide as to how to equip your boat, where and when to go, what to see and what not to miss." I hope to have the book finished by the end of the year.



At 8:30 AM I jibe the mainsail from starboard to port tack. Its very, very hot. I'm covered in sweat. Its the warmest day we've had in 6-9 months. Since we left Darwin. I had to go forward of the cockpit to retrieve the preventer, which was stuck on 2 hatch covers, not one. I harness myself to one of the jack lines before going forward. Its a boat rule that no one go forward when no one else is up in the cockpit, but every now and then we break the rule. Its not like its rough out with 5 knots of wind.



At 8:55 AM the wind is 5 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.6 knots over the land.



At 10:03 AM the wind is 4 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.2 knots over the land. A 472 foot tanker called the Kowiz, going to San Juan, Puerto Rico, is 10.6 miles away to our south and going east.



At 10:30 AM we're 23 miles north of Ile de la Tortue, an island off Haiti's north coast.



At 11:00 AM the wind is 5 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.2 knots over the land.



From 11:30 AM to 2:45 PM I take a nap. I think I have a cold so I'm more tired than normal. Its the longest nap I've had in months.



Our noon position is 20 degrees, 29 minutes North; 72 degrees, 53 minutes West; and we're 550 miles from Key West. We've traveled 152 miles since noon yesterday at an average speed of 6.3 knots.



At 2:57 PM the wind is 4 knots and we're motor sailing with mainsail only at 5.8 knots thru the water and 7.0 knots over the land. Great Iguana Island, Bahamas, is 24 miles to our north. A large thunder head is building over it. The far western tip of Haiti is south of us, 43 miles away. We're entering the Windward Passage between Haiti and Cuba. We're in 11/12,000 feet of water and the ocean is almost totally calm. The mainsail is pulled in tight so that it doesn't bang around too much. There is no jib out. Joel put two fishing lines out during my nap, saying he did so 'for some excitement.'



Darlene naps at 2:45 PM; and Joel follows at 3:00 PM.



Dinner at 6:05 PM consists of blackened chicken cooked on the grill by chef Joel; baked potato, micro waved; corn-on-the-cob cooked on the grill; and 5 bean mix.



Joel sees a Carnival cruise ship on AIS 54 miles away bound for Ocho Rios, Jamaica; then disappear again; at 6:30 PM. It will be sailing thru the Windward Passage and then rounding Cuba and heading southwest Jamaica to get there.



At 6:38 PM we see a sailboat with a lateen sail to our starboard a few miles away. We suspect its a fishing boat from the Bahamas. At this time we also hear a broadcast from the US Coast Guard Key West, 507 miles away. Cool.



At 7:01 PM the wind is 5 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.7 knots thru the water and 6.7 knots over the land.



The sun sets at 7:08 PM into a cloud bank. I see a 'cloud green flash,' but those don't count as far as being considered a 'real' green flash sunset. At 7:13 PM the sun sets again into another cloud bank after popping out of the first cloud bank. Its a red, dirty orb. No green flash.



At 8:03 PM we reach the half way point to Key West, 530 miles away.



At 8:41 PM a 653 foot cargo ship called the Texas Highway is approaching from our right and may collide with us. They have right away, as they're the boat on the right and we're motoring. If we were sailing we'd have the right away. At any rate, Joel slows our boat down from 1,600 RPM to 1,400 RPM so the cargo ship will pass in front of us 1.5 miles when it passes. I relieve Joel and call the ship on VHF channel 16 and confirm that they have us on AIS and that they will pass in front of us by 1.5 miles.



At 9:14 PM the wind is 6 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.9 knots thru the water and 6.9 knots over the land. A sliver of a moon just set on our starboard bow.



At 9:23 PM the US Coast Guard calls a sail boat in our vicinity, by stating 'sail boat at...certain coordinates.' We're not at those coordinates, but we're close. So I call the USCG and ask if we're the vessel they want and they say no.



At 10:01 PM the wind is 8 knots and we're motor sailing at 5.90 knots thru the water and 6.9 knots over the land.



At 11:25 PM the wind is 8 knots and we're motor sailing at 6.0 knots thru the water and 7.3 knots over the land.



Joel relieves me at midnight.



Brian Fox


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