8. In the Dark

St. Martin is about 80 miles away, which means sailing through the night across the Anegada passage. It’s going to be rough – the wind will be almost dead against me, and so will the waves, which could be big. This will be my first single-handed overnight crossing and I’m excited, but also a little anxious.  It’s going to be unpleasant, scary even, but I know the boat can take it. It should take me 16 hours, but will probably take much longer. I will set off late morning, with a reefed in main and jib. If it’s rough, and maybe when it’s get dark, I will probably go jib only. Hopefully I can at least get near, and if I have to, motor sail the last bit.

As well as my Garmin chart plotter, I have a cheap GPS antenna that plugs into my MacBook Air, and I downloaded GPSNavx from the App store as back up. Yesterday I bought provisions: bread (for sandwiches), coffee and lots of chocolate. I will set off in the morning; I want to arrive before 8.30am the next day, so I can be in time for the opening of the bridge into Simpson’s Lagoon, but I don’t want to arrive while it’s still dark.

I keep checking wind guru.

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=58

Some friends who are also going to St. Martin told me Chris Parker recommended they set off Tuesday. I will do the same.