BVI to Ft Lauderdale - Day 6

Welcome to the Bahamas, Mon! Most of yesterday we were working our way up the Atlantic side of the south eastern islands and cays of the Bahamas. Just now we made the turn around Eleuthera Island and into the Northeast Providence Channel. The Providence Channel is a large body of deep water that runs generally East-West and separates the Abacos and Grand Bahama to the North from the rest of the Bahamas to the South. We can see Eleuthera Island to our port and it’s nice to be in sight of land for a little while after 5 days at sea. Jen and I wish we had time to make landfall here and enjoy a few weeks in the Bahamas, but we just don’t have the time. Between the haul-out in Ft Lauderdale for new bottom paint and the need to get north of the hurricane box we need to give it a pass this time around. If we return to the Caribbean next year I expect we’ll be sure to leave enough time in the schedule for several weeks in the Bahamas on the way back north.

We have been motoring for the past 24 hours as the winds have been under 10 knots directly on the stern, giving us only a few knots of useful wind. Normally we motor on only one engine to conserve fuel, but about 14 hours ago fuel became a secondary concern. I downloaded a weather update using our satellite phone and discovered that the winds are expected to pick up from the North mid Friday and continue blowing from the N-NE through Sunday. North winds will make the Gulf Stream crossing lumpy and uncomfortable, so Jen made the call: “light the fires and kick the tires, honey” and since then we’ve been making our best speed towards Ft Lauderdale. We have sufficient fuel to motor the whole way, but I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.

Those of you paying attention might notice that we are motoring on both engines. The problem with the port engine overheating has not reoccurred. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and a close eye on the exhaust water stream and with a little luck we won’t run into that again on this passage. As a precaution we’re running that engine at 2200-2300 RPM instead of our usual 2400-2500 RPM cruising range. Once in Ft Lauderdale I’ll go over the entire cooling system very carefully and if I don’t find anything I’ll replace the coolant temperature sensor. I’ve always wished for engine temperature gauges on Mirasol instead of lights that give you no warning that something is starting to go wrong (my Dad calls these “idiot lights”), so installing gauges might become a summer project.

We currently have about 185 nm to go so we are hoping for a Thursday landfall in Ft Lauderdale. All arrival times subject to change without notice!