After the storms had passed, we were greeted in the morning by a rolly, uncomfortable amount of swell and absolutely no wind. Not a breath of it. Mark clamored up the bimini to reattach the ScanStrut mount to the bimini, assess any additional damage and ensure Ceol Mor had weathered the storm successfully.
Despite the uncomfortable amount of swell, we managed to eat which was a very good thing as the last 24 hours had introduced a mild case of seasickness to both Mark and myself. That was a first as generally I don’t suffer from sea sickness but a return to terrafirma usually includes a day or two of nausea for me. Another merit badge achieved!
We had a friend who is a very experienced sailor and weather router helping us with routing who recommended that we head to the South to avoid the worst of the Gulf gyre and put ourselves into position for a SE wind to push us eastward. With no wind, we fired up Perky the engine and began motoring South. From time to time, the wind would pick up enough to fly our drifter and we were able to tick off miles in a southerly direction, but any and all attempts to sail east were stymied by wind and current.
We attempted to make good use of the lull in the weather. We tidied the boat. I hoisted Mark up the forestay in the bosun’s chair in order to create a double helix wrap with a spare halyard around our tattered jib in order to prevent the tattered edges from flogging. I We had a charcuterie picnic in the cockpit and even enjoyed a tiny sip of wine while we waited for wind…and waited…We did not even see a far off blip on the AIS for 3 days. We were utterly and completely alone in the middle of an expansive Gulf. We decided that despite being very aware that Ceol Mor does not carry vast amounts of diesel, motoring was the only viable option and so we motored for 6 hours in an ESE direction.
Throughout the next 3 days, as the wind would hint at picking up, we would launch the drifter and sail making as much of an easting as we possible could while heeding the advice from our router to head South where we would find a favorable current and a shift in the winds from their relentless East direction. As soon as the wind would pipe up to 13 knots, we would douse the drifter and sail as best we could under main sail alone. We repeated this drill so many times I lost count.
On Wed, November 30 the day started with lumpy seas and no wind. During another few hours of absolutely no wind, Mark climbed/ was hoisted up the mast to unjam halyards that had decided to be the center of the days drama. The seas began to build and later in the day, the winds shifted to an ESE direction at a speed of 10-12 knots. This was good news as we could now fly the drifter, make some progress and begin heading East as opposed to South.
Or so we thought.
On Thursday, December 1 we found ourselves having to decide on a new course of action. Every attempt to sail eastward was stymied by wind and now, by a truly adverse current. We had gone far too South with the prevalent winds, the loss of our headsail and the strong currents to sail to the east. It was now decision time. We were approximately 200 miles from Isla Mujeres which would be a tough sail against the current, but we should have enough diesel left to cut across the current and make port. This was Option A. Option B was to continue to try everything as we had been doing with no success for the last 3.5 days to head the 330 miles East to Key West. For us, there seemed no other option than to head for Isla Mujeres to repair, reprovision and regroup and then head to Key West once we were able to find a suitable weather window and utilize the Yucatan current to our advantage.
Here is where I feel it necessary to remind you- dear reader, that armchair quarterbacking is very easy to indulge in from the comfort of your own cozy home. My sailing friends who have actually done blue water sailing will understand how and why we made the decisions we did. They won’t blame our routing for sending us too far south, they will realize that information on currents and winds given from afar lacks context. The information we were given was solid, had our boat not been caught in an uncharted current and without a headsail. It was lacking context of our current situation. Sometimes, context is everything. So as you read the next portion of the story of our passage, remember that I am retelling this story from the safety of land as I watch Ceol Mor safely tied in her slip so apparently, we did something right…
(To Be Continued)
No, the sky did not actually look like this. This is image manipulation magic which seems appropriate
as it represents this part of the passage- sometimes fantasy is much better than reality!