Sunday/Monday, 6 & 7 November, 2005
Seahorse, with Penny, I and one other crew, departed Sheraton Marina in  New
Bern at 1235  UTC on Sunday. At 1930 UTC, we passed the Beaufort  sea buoy.
Wind NE 12 knots and seas 5-6' on the port bow. Steering  140M, we skirted the
shoals of Cape Lookout  before turning east. Running at our usual 1800 RPM, and
with paravanes stowed,  we entered the Stream at 0030 UTC on Monday. At 2000
we exited, having been on  the right side of a huge clockwise eddy, which kept
our speed as high as 9 knots  at times. 190 miles made good (exclusive of 42
miles: New Bern – Beaufort) this  day at an average SOG of 7.9 knots.
Tuesday/Wednesday
NE 18 knots and 7' seas on the port bow caused us to deployed the paravanes
at 1430 UTC and increase the  engine RPM by 50 in order to maintain a SOG of
just fewer than 7 knots. Having  got some easting, we now altered course to
165M. Our original plan had been to  get further east before heading to a waypoint
at 25N62W, but this change would  prove to be the right choice as the wx
developed later in the week. 163 miles  made good today - average 6.8 knots.
Wednesday/Thursday
NE 15 knots and 6' seas on the port bow
We secured the M.E. for 5 minutes to check L.O. at 1100 UTC. 163 miles  made
good today - average 6.8 knots.
Thursday/Friday
Calm winds and seas today
168 miles made good today - average 7.0 knots.
Friday/Saturday
ENE 18 knots and seas 7-9’ on the beam. 156 miles made good today -  average
6.5 knots.
Saturday/Sunday
ENE 20 knots and seas 8-10’ on the beam. 152 miles made good today -  average
6.3 knots.
Sunday/Monday, 14 November
ENE 15 knots
Slowed to 5 knots; 1500 RPM at 0000 on Monday so as to arrive in  daylight.
At 0650 UTC, we altered course to 120M. At 1000 UTC, we retrieved the
paravanes and anchored in Simpson Bay at 1100 UTC (0800 local time). 114  miles made
good today.
Total miles: 1311
Total time: 7.95 days – 191 hours
Average miles made good: 165 N miles per day
Average speed: 6.86 knots
F.O. aboard start/finish: 1075/542G (capacity is 1685, but as the current
price in Trinidad is US$0.93/G I didn’t want to  top off prior to departure.)
F.O. used: 533G
Av. F.O. cons: 2.45 GPH
Potable water aboard start/finish 510/270G (capacity is 600)
Potable water used: 240G
For weather, we used a combination of Weatherfax 2000, and our Thrane  &
Thrane TT-3022D Capsat Fisheries (Inmarsat C) unit to receive Navtext and  other
warnings. We also checked in with Herb (Southbound II) daily, listening
especially for other boats in our vicinity (none).
After crossing the Stream, we encountered a total of 4 ships, all of  which
changed course, without regard to right-of-way, in order to achieve a CPA  of 2
or more miles. This was done when they were 10 or so miles off, and was
quite different from my experience seven years before on the same passage in the
sailboat, when we had difficulty being seen.
Sint Maarten is not a favorite, nor are the other touristy Leewards north  of
Guadeloupe, and so we shall be heading south soon. Current plans call for
arrival in Chaguaramas, Trinidad, on 15  December, where we will likely spend
the winter upgrading Seahorse as well  as our sailboat, Truelove.
Regards,
John
“Seahorse”

Interesting post, but what kind of boat is this?

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John:  Great log and update.  Many of us are
travelling vicariously with you, and we all wish you
blue skies, calm winds and smooth seas.  Keep up the
good work.  Stay in touch.

Mike Meeker
Tampa Bay

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