Tough passage

Tough passage to San Blas

The 4-7 day passage from Curacao to San Blas has a reputation for being ‘the roughest passage we did the whole trip’.  Strong winds and big seas at the bottom end of the Caribbean combine to make challenging conditions even for experienced cruisers.  Without a doubt it was the hardest passage we have done. 

Having read everything we could get our hands on about this passage, we knew the key to it was picking the weather window around the Columbia corner.  We spent the weeks prior to departure watching the weather patterns and monitoring a point 13⁰00’N and 75⁰00’W. This was a little above the area of most wind and wave intensity around the Columbia corner, so we we wanted to sail around that area, not through it.  We actually sailed to a waypoint further north of that point so that we were even further outside of the corner hoping this would be a safer route given that we were sailing double handed.  We picked a weather window where we would expect the wind to be around 25 knots plus gusts and 2.2m waves, but in the final days before we left the grib files indicated that while the wind would be the same, the waves had increased to around 3.2m.  This window was better than any around it and the best for the next 10 days, so we took the opportunity.  Our friends Pelizeno would be sailing from Bonaire on the same day, so we would be sailing in company, to some extent.

We left Curacao around lunchtime and had a wonderful sail down the west coast of Curacao.  We sailed passed the north-western most point of Curacao, Noordpunt, as the skies began to colour with the setting sun.  No sooner had we left the protection of the island, the seas picked up and eating the risotto prepared for dinner became a challenge.  As night fell, Dave and I went onto 3 hour watches starting at 8pm.  The breeze was steady, but only around 20 knots at this stage and with the current we had excellent speed, pushing 9-10 knots even with one reef, but oh, it was rough!

Stable side position

The seas became less confused once we got off the continental shelf and the water depth increased to around 4000m, but the swell gradually got bigger, as predicted.  The wind also steadily increased and we had around 30 knots and gusting to 33knots so we took another reef in the main and reduced the jib. We were still making excellent speed, around 9-11 knots depending on whether we were surfing down one of the waves.

We gybed in about 30 knots at about 14⁰21’N 75⁰02’W, somewhere between day 2 and day 3 and started heading south toward San Blas.  The wind seemed to ease a little (28-30 knots) during the late morning on the 3^rd day.  Having rounded the corner, we thought we might get lucky and be through the worst of it.  This was not to be, and from the late afternoon to evening the wind began to build again to around 35 knots and peaked at 38 knots. The seas built to 4 metres.  We put a third reef in the main, not a graceful manoeuvre in the dark, screaming to hear each other over the wind and waves, and reduced the jib further.  The boat responded immediately and became steadier, which meant a slightly easier job for Jerry (the autopilot) and a more comfortable ride for us, with little drop in speed.

Three reefs in the main and a quarter jib

The 4^th day the wind dropped back down to around 30 knots and the swell dropped a little too, making it more comfortable for all on board and enticing us to consume something other than 2 minute noodles.  The kids even managed to get out of the stable side position on the couch and take a walk around the boat!

Sunrise

On Sunday morning as dawn broke the wind had dropped below 20 knots and the seas were relatively calm.  We all came up on deck to see who could spot land first – difficult when the highest point on the islands are the coconut trees at about 6m above sea level!  As we approached East Hollandes Cays we were welcomed by the island’s unofficial welcoming committee, a large pod of dolphins, such a treat after a hard 5 days sailing.  Then we heard Pelizeno on the VHF and saw them coming in behind us.  They had left Bonaire 4 hours after us and we had kept in email contact every day.  It had been comforting to have someone to share the experience with.

Welcome to San Blas

We dropped anchor behind Banedup Island to get out of the breeze a little.  As soon as we had dropped anchor we all jumped in the water to celebrate having made it to such a beautiful location.  San Blas was everything we thought it would be and more.  The Pelizeno Pirates soon swam over and joined us with beers to share around.  We made it!

Anchor down (photo credit: Pelizeno)

We made it (photo credit: Pelizeno)