Position: N 13 39.624 W 81 14.394
We're starting day three of our passage. We've just got the weather from our SSB radio weather guy, have downloaded the latest GRIB (wind and wave forecast model) files, and it looks like we'll have great weather to make Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
Our first day we had winds on the nose and boisterous seas, 5 - 8 feet, causing us to be a little uncomfortable. But we made good progress and after the first 60 or so miles, we were on a nice, fast close reach.
Our first night we got to see the Big Dipper pointing at Polaris, the North Star, off our bow, the Southern Cross off our stern, and a full moon above us. A fantastic display of three of our favorite stellar bodies. While we are sad to be leaving one of our favorite cruising grounds, and happy to be on our way back to family and friends in the US, we are also excited - this will be our longest passage to date on Rachel.
We've seen lots of big ship traffic heading toward and away from the Panama Canal, making watch keeping a bit exciting at times. The wind shifted a little more east and the seas died down to only 3-6 feet making us more comfortable. We made 140 miles in our first 24 hours, good for us.
The winds and seas held through our 2nd day, this is always the hardest day as we could both use a bit more sleep, but sleep is coming easier as we get into the rhythms of making passage. The ship traffic was less today, lovely sunny skies and we saw 3 dolphins.
Through the night we again had great starlit sky and the full moon, just past, rose at 8:30 pm to help us through the night. We got more sleep so we're feeling a bit more human and the seas have died down to 3-5 ft. We made another 150 miles today, awesome.
All is well as we start on Day 3, we're happy and healthy, and are just passing Providencia, feeling nostalgic for the times we spent there over Christmas. Rachel is cranking along on a beam reach at over 6 knots in light winds. It doesn't get much better than this. The constant movement, the rush of Rachel's movement through the waves, the wind in the cockpit, the sounds of friends on the radios all begin to keep us awake less and less as we acclimate to being on passage.
Oops - it's 7:44 in the morning! Time for bed for one of us!
