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Monday, January 20, 2025

Sainte-Anne, 2225NM WSW of Mindelo

The windy conditions continued, and waves kept building up. We kept sailing on, tending to the windvane whenever one of the breakers pushed us off course.

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This was the worst sea state we’ve ever had, wave height over 3m, cross seas, and lots of breakers. We got a few good ones into the cockpit as well. But on the other hand, we managed a respectable 143NM in 24h.

Just before dinner, a shout: “land ho!” The hills of Martinique started appearing from below the horizon, later followed by St. Lucia. We knew we wouldn’t make it to the anchorage before dark, but slowing the boat down wasn’t appealing in these conditions. Better to seek the lee of the land and then see what we do.

As it happens, the Sainte-Anne anchorage area is huge. We carefully motored into a position well removed from all other vessels, dodging some lobster pots while doing it. Then anchor out of the locker, and down into the bottom. Now we can enjoy a well-earned proper night’s sleep, and seek an anchoring spot closer to the dinghy dock tomorrow at daylight.

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So that’s it, after 2.2k nautical miles, the Atlantic Ocean is now behind us and we can start looking forward to the Caribbean adventures.

From the logbook

Time Position Course Speed Log Weather Remarks
20.01. 0:00 Z 14°1'46"N 58°30'24"W 271° 5.9kt 10629.9NM wind 24.8kt 36° clouds 8/8 baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 0:09 Z 14°1'28"N 58°31'7"W 232° 4.5kt 10630.7NM wind 19kt 78° clouds 4/8 baro 1015 hPa Rain is over
20.01. 0:48 Z 14°1'31"N 58°35'5"W 276° 6.5kt 10634.6NM wind 20.9kt 54° baro 1015 hPa Cargo ship Carlos Fischer (636011561) passing red to red. Vessel 8
20.01. 1:00 Z 14°1'41"N 58°36'22"W 294° 5.4kt 10635.9NM wind 23.3kt 54° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 1:03 Z 14°1'43"N 58°36'41"W 290° 6.6kt 10636.2NM wind 18.7kt 76° baro 1015 hPa First Martinique Securité MSI heard (poorly)
20.01. 2:00 Z 14°2'18"N 58°42'42"W 269° 6.4kt 10642.1NM wind 21.8kt 69° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 3:00 Z 14°2'52"N 58°49'6"W 260° 7.1kt 10648.4NM wind 21.2kt 61° baro 1015 hPa Suski on watch
20.01. 4:00 Z 14°3'58"N 58°55'42"W 284° 5.7kt 10655NM wind 16.7kt 73° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 5:00 Z 14°4'36"N 59°2'22"W 268° 4.9kt 10661.6NM wind 18.3kt 84° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 5:16 Z 14°4'50"N 59°4'6"W 252° 9.6kt 10663.3NM wind 24.7kt 76° baro 1015 hPa Green light behind us headingfor Barbados. No corresponding AIS target available. Vessel 9.
20.01. 5:49 Z 14°5'8"N 59°7'42"W 279° 6.2kt 10666.9NM wind 20.4kt 66° baro 1015 hPa Got wet.
20.01. 6:00 Z 14°5'20"N 59°8'45"W 280° 7.1kt 10667.9NM wind 22.4kt 53° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 6:10 Z 14°5'31"N 59°9'47"W 283° 5.9kt 10668.9NM wind 26.2kt 56° baro 1015 hPa First sliver of Martinique on the chartplotter
20.01. 6:40 Z 14°6'17"N 59°12'40"W 253° 5.5kt 10671.9NM wind 15.5kt 86° baro 1015 hPa Sailboat behind us is now under engine.
20.01. 7:00 Z 14°6'45"N 59°14'42"W 258° 5.9kt 10673.9NM wind 22.6kt 71° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 7:48 Z 14°8'24"N 59°19'13"W 259° 4.5kt 10678.8NM wind 14.5kt 83° baro 1015 hPa Got absolutely soaked. Heavy rain lasted for 30 min or so.
20.01. 8:00 Z 14°8'26"N 59°20'14"W 269° 6.5kt 10679.8NM wind 19.6kt 107° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 8:26 Z 14°8'48"N 59°22'25"W 302° 5kt 10682NM wind 16.1kt 55° baro 1015 hPa Double digits! 99 to go!
20.01. 9:00 Z 14°8'44"N 59°25'34"W 266° 4.4kt 10685.1NM wind 18.2kt 56° baro 1015 hPa Bergie on watch
20.01. 10:00 Z 14°9'26"N 59°31'34"W 271° 4.9kt 10691.1NM wind 17.9kt 80° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 11:00 Z 14°10'50"N 59°37'7"W 279° 5kt 10696.8NM wind 24.5kt 62° sea state 5/10 clouds 6/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 12:00 Z 14°11'48"N 59°43'24"W 291° 7.8kt 10703NM wind 28.2kt 75° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 13:00 Z 14°12'27"N 59°49'45"W 243° 4.3kt 10709.4NM wind 21.6kt 84° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 14:00 Z 14°12'24"N 59°56'4"W 272° 6kt 10715.6NM wind 21.1kt 81° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 15:00 Z 14°13'29"N 60°2'15"W 303° 7kt 10721.9NM wind 17.9kt 92° sea state 5/10 clouds 4/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Suski on watch
20.01. 16:00 Z 14°14'27"N 60°8'0"W 284° 3.9kt 10727.6NM wind 19.8kt 59° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 17:00 Z 14°15'5"N 60°14'1"W 254° 5.8kt 10733.6NM wind 18.5kt 87° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 17:38 Z 14°15'21"N 60°18'4"W 270° 8.8kt 10737.6NM wind 20.9kt 76° baro 1015 hPa So many frigatebirds and boobies!
20.01. 18:00 Z 14°15'42"N 60°20'28"W 275° 4.9kt 10739.9NM wind 20.1kt 76° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 18:06 Z 14°15'50"N 60°21'6"W 296° 3.8kt 10740.6NM wind 18.5kt 58° baro 1015 hPa Got absolute sloshed by a wave hitting us on the starboard aft. Pflooosh, a lot of water in cockpit. Me wet from waist down.
20.01. 19:00 Z 14°16'17"N 60°26'57"W 262° 7.4kt 10746.3NM wind 25kt 72° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 20:00 Z 14°16'58"N 60°33'21"W 277° 5.1kt 10752.7NM wind 16.1kt 64° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 20:35 Z 14°17'26"N 60°36'52"W 289° 4.8kt 10756.2NM wind 19kt 59° baro 1015 hPa Land!
20.01. 21:00 Z 14°17'56"N 60°39'20"W 295° 4.7kt 10758.7NM wind 24.9kt 61° baro 1015 hPa Bergie on watch
20.01. 21:02 Z 14°17'59"N 60°39'32"W 275° 7.2kt 10758.9NM wind 21.8kt 88° baro 1015 hPa French waters
20.01. 21:55 Z 14°18'36"N 60°44'48"W 248° 6.5kt 10764.1NM wind 18.2kt 86° sea state 5/10 clouds 2/8 visibility 7/10 baro 1015 hPa Sunset
20.01. 22:00 Z 14°18'41"N 60°45'16"W 289° 4.7kt 10764.6NM wind 22kt 59° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 23:00 Z 14°20'44"N 60°51'15"W 301° 5.4kt 10770.8NM wind 24.3kt 64° baro 1015 hPa Hourly position log
20.01. 23:14 Z 14°21'26"N 60°52'37"W 304° 8.5kt 10772.4NM wind 24.9kt 60° baro 1015 hPa Hand steering