Bequia Easter Regatta 2008 - Caribbean Compass

ONE
Since 1984
would think that after a yacht
has sailed to the Caribbean from
North America or Europe, and
has spent at least one winter cruising up and down the
islands, insurance underwriters would see little risk of
having to pay any claims for such a well-tried vessel’s
subsequent trip back to the States or Europe, or
onward to Panama.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Boats leaving
the Caribbean for Panama, North America and
Europe cost underwriters large sums each year, in
heavy-weather damage claims, groundings and abandonment/total
losses. Almost invariably these losses
are due to leaving the Caribbean at the wrong time
of year.
Timing is Important
Skippers heading westward to Panama are often
over-confident. They think this passage will be a nice,
easy 900-mile downhill slide. But if they look at the US
weather charts, they will note that for the period from
December to the end of March, and for another period
in July, there is a big red circle east of Panama denoting
expected wave heights of 12 feet or more. During
the rest of the year, although the waves may not be
expected to reach these heights, you’re still likely to
encounter rough conditions near the end of the trip
where there is a counter-current of up to one knot
running against 15 to 25-knot tradewinds.
Boats leaving the Caribbean for Florida often find
themselves in trouble if they leave before mid-April.
They run into a “norther” — a northwest wind, dead on
the nose. This wind then clocks to the north and then
northeast, making the Silver Bank and the Bahamas a
dead lee (deadly) shore! Boats heading farther north
up the US East Coast also frequently run into trouble
with a late-season northwesterly, blasting them with
high winds and a severe temperature drop. But by late
April, the northers that force their way down to Florida
are not too strong.
Boats heading northwest to Charleston, Morehead/
Beaufort, or the Chesapeake should wait till mid- or
late May, as they are traversing an area where subtropical
hurricanes can crop up through April and
possibly later. These small, intense subtropical hurricanes
were only spotted in recent years when weather
information was gathered from satellites. Prior to this,
since they were small and in an area where big ships
seldom go, there were not enough reports of these
storms to show up on the weather charts.
Heading to Panama
Heading west to Panama, you can island-hop or
cruise coastally (check www.safetyandsecuritynet.com
for any current crime hotspots) or stay offshore.
If heading to Panama direct, rig for down wind. Hoist
two headsails on the roller-furling headstay. If the luff
lengths are not the same, add a pennant to the shorter
headsail. The windward headsail’s sheet goes through
the end of the spinnaker pole. The leeward headsail is
trimmed through a block on the end of the main boom,
forward to another block, thence back to a winch.
If the wind is on the quarter, the main can be left up,
vanged down hard and held forward by a foreguy (preventer)
led from the end of the boom to the stemhead.
If the main is blanketing the lee headsail, douse the
main but leave the boom out to act as an outrigger to
correctly trim the lee headsail.
As you progress westward, the wind and sea will
both increase. Keep your boat speed down to l.2 or l.3
times the square root of the waterline length. If speed
gets above this, slow down by starting to roll up the
headsails one on top of the other.
The seas around Cabo de Vela are always rough;
SAILING DIRECTIONS BY DON STREET
stay well offshore when passing it. Also, the outflow at
the mouth of the Rio Magdalena creates a really bad
sea and, at certain times of the year, a tremendous
amount of logs, trees and other flotsam comes pouring
out of the river.
Approaching Panama
Approaching Panama for the last 200 or 300 miles,
you can expect to meet a counter-current and a hard
blow. The increasing wind velocity combined with the
bad sea conditions mean that the autopilot or windvane
should be disconnected and you should hand
steer. The electronic autopilot will only steer according
to the compass; it will not take into account the wind
and sea conditions. A windvane will only help steer in
relation to the wind, so when you surf down a wave
and the apparent wind goes forward, the windvane will
cause the boat to bear off and possibly broach.
Moreover, a modern light-displacement yacht with a
fin keel really will get up and surf. Surfing down the
face of a wave at 12 or 13 knots in a 45-foot boat is
thrilling but dangerous, as you are traveling at almost
the same speed as the wave. Because there is little or
no water flowing over the rudder, you have no steerage
and are therefore on the edge of disaster. A broach in
these conditions is all too possible.
For passages such as this, where you may have heavy
weather while running dead down wind, I feel that a
worthwhile investment is a drogue. This, once streamed,
will tend to keep the stern square to the waves and
thus minimize or eliminate the chances of broaching.
Whenever running down wind, rig an anti-gybe preventer
on the main boom.
Finally, make sure of a daylight arrival! If necessary,
slow down and wait for sunrise. The San Blas Islands
are low-lying and surrounded by reefs, and you’ll want
good light for eyeball navigation if you make landfall
there. The Panama Canal’s entrance is well buoyed
and well lit, but the many lights ashore can be very
confusing. More than one boat has missed the channel
at night and ended up high and dry on the beach, or
worse yet, on the breakwater.
The relevant Imray-Iolaire charts show the location
and capacity of all hauling facilities in Venezuela and
the ABC islands. Colombian HO charts are excellent,
but only available in Cartagena. However CMap and
possibly other electronic chart manufacturers do cover
the Colombian coast using the Colombian HO office
info. If using electronic charts, ascertain if they are
Leaving the Caribbean
Part One: To Panama or the East Coast
using US or BA info, as only the electronic charts
based on the Colombian HO info will give detailed info
on yacht anchorages. Zydler’s The Panama Guide is
also excellent.
The Traditional Route to Florida
The traditional route to the Miami or Fort Lauderdale
area departs from St. Thomas or Puerto Rico, taking a
course of roughly northwest, skirting the northern
edge of Muchoir and Silver Banks and the northeastern
edge of the Bahamas, until you reach the northeast
Providence Channel. Then swing west, through
the northeast/north/west Providence Channel and on
to Florida. On this route you should be broad reaching,
or sailing dead downwind before the Trades. [See
downwind rig described above.]
This trip should be duck soup, but unfortunately it
has proven to be a great problem for insurance underwriters.
I think the reason such a great number of
boats are lost off the Bahamas is that they are coming
from an area of high islands with, in most cases, deep
water right up to the shore, then transiting an area of
low islands with off-lying reefs and shoals extending
two, three or even four miles offshore. I always say, “If
you see a Bahamian island, you are two miles too
close!” The only things you should see when sailing
from the Eastern Caribbean to Miami are the tops of
the lighthouses on San Salvador and at the northern
end of Eleuthera, and the top of the light marking the
south end of the northwest Providence Channel.
It is useful to carry a guidebook to the Bahamas. If
you have a breakdown and must stop there, with aid of
a guidebook you can find your way into a harbor of
refuge — entering in daylight only, of course. (Twice it
has been necessary for me to do this on delivery trips.)
When crossing the Gulf Stream to Florida, lay your
course well to the south of your landfall, as the Stream
(which can run as strong as three knots) will carry
you northwards.
—Continued on next page
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APRIL 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 35