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| Gale & Brian discuss details of our bet over a cocktail on the 1st day. |
.0025% or twenty-five ten
thousandths of a difference. 25/10,000
That's the amount of time it took to
lose a long running bet.
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| Our route in Midnight Sun II, 555 miles |
After crossing the Gulf of Mexico last
week for 300 miles from Tampa to Pensacola, FL in 53 hours averaging 5.6
nautical miles per hour I had made a small wager with fellow crew member Gale
Aaroe that it would take more than 100 hours for us to sail the 555 miles to
Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
He disagreed.
We both figured we would sail more on Midnight Sun II than we had on my S/V Serendipity 36’ which we did, sail that is. Nearly two thirds the way south the motor was off on the way to Mexico, which is the opposite of our earlier trip. We only needed to average 5.55 nmph and the bigger 42' Hunter should be able to do this but it would really depend on favorable winds.
Oh my, did we have favorable winds.
Just as East winds pushed us west the week before on Serendipity, this
time Northerly winds pushed us South for four days and nights straight.
Of course we delayed our departure until just the right moment when a
cold front moved through and we were very lucky too!
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| Sunrise at Fort McCree |
We left Neil and Janet's canal on Tuesday afternoon, May 3rd 2016. Topped off the tank with 70 gallons of diesel (plus 10 gal in Jerry cans) and anchored overnight at Fort McCree to let a cold front blow through with rain and thunderstorms. We left just after dawn on Wednesday morning, 7am central time to be exact.
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| Pensacola Lighthouse viewed from Fort McCree |
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| Sunset 2nd Day |
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| Sunset 3rd day |
The seas were mostly calm running
2-4-6 ft. and behind us again. The autopilot worked to near perfection
allowing time for many sunset photos.
Sunny and partly cloudy skies blessed us with a wonderful offshore passage.
Neil & Janet needed crew and
Gale and I were up to the task. Sharing four hour shifts throughout the
nights.
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| Janet on bow taking sunset photos |
The new (absence of a) moon allowed
for beautiful star gazing, especially of the Milky Way and the Aquarid Meteor
shower nearly every night. Sleeping when the berths were rolling 20
degrees each direction like a corkscrew took some getting used to....
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| "Wind Dancer" |
A good omen when we left was that the last sailboat we saw in a marina
on the ICWW was named “Wind Dancer” which is also the name of the sailboat I
had for 7 years on Lake Lanier. That is
where I met Neil and Janet, our P Dock and next door slip neighbors.
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| Neil & Brian enjoy drinks while watching the helm. |
On this trip Janet cooked wonderful meals in
a bouncing galley of Shepherd’s Pie, hamburgers, burritos and margaritas on
Cinco de Mayo, and even scrambled eggs. We drank painkillers and gin & tonics for happy hours.
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| 6 Dolphin swim ahead of Brian's knee just off the bow |
We enjoyed racing with dolphins
again with a pod of twenty spending over an hour with us!
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| Barn Swallow |
We treated and buried two more barn
swallows that died aboard making a total of three in a week. Gale’s hypothesis is that when we pass a
freighter, the barn swallows that had been nesting on it fly away to find
passage back home but are so tired from their journey from lack of food and
water that they just give out. Gale
provided lots of bird watching information.
The third and fourth night took all
our concentration as we dodged freighters and cruise ships. At one point
6 ships were within 15 miles of us going across our tracks at 14-18 nmph.
It was like a surreal video game when looking at the AIS display and the
chart plotter glowing in the night yet real and physical when peering into the
blackness and seeing blinking lights on the horizon then hailing and altering course
to get out of their way. (Even sailboats
under sail should steer clear of huge freighters) It was climaxed by a Carnival Triumph cruise
ship passing within a mile of us lit up like the 4th of July...what a sight to
see after so many boring sleepy shifts....
Soon we saw the glow of Cancun from
40 miles away and slowed down to arrive after dawn...
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| Crew of Midnight Sun II - Neil, Janet, Brian & Gale |
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| Brian at Sea |
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| Captain Neil happy at the helm |
It was a joy to see the Contoy
lighthouse more than 15 miles away in the darkness and then later on Sunday
morning after sunrise.
Gale conceded his loss inaccurately
several times whenever we slowed below 5 nmph even offering his hand which I
refused. We had a 36 hour run of plus 6-7 knots using the asymmetrical
UPS code zero sail alone and I knew it would be close…but not this close.
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| La Playa Norte of Isla Mujeres, Mexico |
The beautiful turquoise water of
Isla Mujeres was crystal clear as we navigated around the northern point in the
daylight into the lagoon and marina.
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| Captain Brian finally enjoys a Bohemia beer |
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