14-16 Dec, Passage to Columbia, days 5-7: As the wind finally died to non-sailing conditions, our wonderful downwind sleigh-ride came to an end at 00:00 Wednesday Dec 14th. It had taken us 660nm south, to bring us level with Cape Canaveral (430nm east of) and comfortably out of the path of the next weather system that will roll off the coast tomorrow, Thursday. Phew! We made it out of the Atlantic storm zone. And we are perfectly on track to pass the Windward Passage through the Greater Antilles archipelago ready for our plough across the Caribbean Sea to Colombia.
But for now, we have to motor in almost windless conditions for the next 24 hours until we reach south enough to start picking up on the easterly trade winds. We have the Gori propeller set in overdrive, which gives us 7.5kts speed @1400RPM.

And while the motor is on, it’s time for the last big go-nogo test. Running the watermaker. Since we last used it in May’22 I had rebuilt the high-pressure pump (and its hundreds of little parts) and replaced all the high-pressure hoses which, like the interior hydraulic hoses, had started to disintegrate. So it was fingers-crossed as I switched on the system using the alternator and combi-inverter as power source. First the feed pump – check for leaks, then the HP pump – check for leaks, then pressure up the system to 55bar and start producing RO water.
No leaks! It all worked swimmingly well, filling one of our two 450litre freshwater tanks in 4 hours. Only one slight hitch: when I switched it off, the back-flush solenoids didn’t activate. Took me a while to figure this out, but after a system reset it sprang into life and flushed the membranes normally (expelling seawater and replacing with fresh RO water). It’s essential not to leave the membranes soaking in seawater. So the back flush system is vital.

Outside, we are motoring across a becalmed sea with huge (3m) swell from the north. But it’s the classic Atlantic swell with enormous wave lengths, so we don’t really feel the swell height. It’s a bit like being on a sea of gently rolling hills that all move along. If the sea was green, you could even imagine a few sheep or cattle grazing in the valleys as they pass us by! A sort of wizard-of-Oz dreamy landscape!

On the sight of sargassum seaweed, Ray had the fishing line out and we hoped for a fish dinner. Flying fish hide under these rafts of weed that come across from Africa, and yummy fish like the Mahi-Mahi or other so-called sports fish, are here chasing them. But nothing biting today. Psss, I was quietly happy to see that Ray was just as good as me catching seaweed instead of fish!
By mid-evening a bright moon rose into a starry sky, lighting up the sea and the sails. If we could only turn off the engine it would be wonderful.
Later, on Wednesday evening, whispers of trade wind breeze started to come in and by early hours on Thursday we could sail again. Yay! Just a slow tranquil sail in 6-8kts at 55deg off port bow. Now we are in the trades, it will all be “plain-sailing” as they say.

Thursday afternoon, with Ray napping, I decided to put the fishing line out. I caught one lump of weed and a couple of bird’s nests on the reel and was about to give up when bzzzzzzz, the line reeled out. Ray was out the cabin like a shot! And he reeled in a beautiful wahoo fish. Not sure the weight, but length confirmed at 36” (almost a meter). We were like 2 excited boys!
As I gutted it, I proudly managed to get the severed head and all the guts in one piece. But then, instead of throwing them clean over the transom, they somehow hit the davit and rebounded to land on the lifelines … yucky! I then addressed the body and cut into big thick steaks, two of which we had for dinner. Delicious!
Oh, and a lot of messy deck cleaning.

By late afternoon the wind had increased to 10-12 kts putting Cloudy Bay back up to hull speed. That is, until we ran into a squall line just before sunset. A classic weather phenomenon of the trade winds. Dark rain clouds on the horizon.
Studying the radar there was no avoiding them. Thankfully no lightening though. Only rain, squally winds and a choppy sea. Nice to get the salt washed off the boat but as we approached each cell they played hell with the wind, backing and veering one way then the other. And annoyingly leaving us motoring into a headwind for at least an hour before the trade winds re-established. And when they did, they were too light to sail. Hence engine remained on. Not a problem other than my slight concern with how much fuel we have left. We have big tanks, but Cloudy’s Volvo eats 6.5ltr per how. We are already about 1/2 way through our 1000ltr supply, and we are sure we will still have to motor 2 days through the Antilles. Last thing I want to do is call into Dominican or heaven forbid Haiti just to get diesel.

With this in mind, when I came up from an evening nap, we decided to try sailing in just 6-8kts of wind at 45deg. Normally I could not hope to get Cloudy that close to the wind and keep course. But we cranked in the sails like we were a racing boat, pulled the main track up to windward and what-do-you know we are sailing at 6knts @33degee apparent wind AND maintaining course.
This delighted both of us and we sailed gently into the night heeling at 15 degrees and speeding along in the warm light breeze … and moon.

Champagne sailing and this is how we sailed into the first Bahamas islands Friday 16th morning.