The World Cruise of Veleda IV

A Heavy Sail!
Cuba to Cat Cay- January  1999 


In preparing to leave Cuba for the Bahamas, we carefully checked the weather with Bill, on board HoBo, who had a weather fax system hooked up to his single side band radio. In checking it out the night before, 20 knot easterly winds and 10 foot seas in the Gulf stream were indicated for the next 36 hours with a stationary high over the northern Bahamas. We could handle that and besides, the weather was unlikely to improve until after it had gotten worse, with the front moving off. So we decided to go, intending to leave the slip before 0700 to clear customs and the Garda before 0800. As indicated in the previous log, we did not get clear until 0945. 

Off Havana ,when we called Moro Signal Station, the winds were blowing over 25 knots and the seas were 6 feet. We had already reefed our genoa and still had the single reef in our main from the trip across to Cuba from the Dry Tortugas. Judy was not feeling well. We were sailing into it, trying to make good a course of 052, at over 6 knots, as we had the Gulf stream with us. By mid afternoon, the winds were up to a steady 30 knots, the waves at least 12 feet, and we were still doing better than 6 knots. The wind was steady at 30 to 40 knots throughout the night, and the waves increased to about 15 feet as we came across the open passage where the Gulf Stream joins the Florida Straits north of Cuba, giving a fetch of several hundred miles. However, as the wind was steady, we recalled from our Dutton's and Chapman's that the size of waves are limited by the speed of the wind and the fetch, and we felt we were at maximum wave height for 35 knot winds and the fetch could not be longer. Of course the waves were aggravated a bit more, as we had an easterly wind going against a 2 knot northeasterly Gulf Stream current. So much for the forecast of 20 knot winds and 10 foot seas. It was not a storm, just heavy, steady winds at gale force strength, but Veleda was handling the situation quite well. 

Veleda rode the waves coming on the starboard bow, with the occasional heavy slap that heaved spray all over. Only a few times did she bury her bow to have a breaking wave wash down the foredeck, but she recovered quite well. The self steering was handling it quite well too. However, she was taking a heavy pounding - going through 15 foot waves at a hull speed of over 6 knots, and a speed over ground of 7.5 knots due to the Gulf Stream. Her bow rode the waves well, but her stern was also pounding up and down as she rode the waves. Our dinghy tow (description) was bobbing Sprite up almost to the vertical as Veleda reached the top of a wave but the dinghy had not surmounted it yet, only to be pounded down as Veleda rose suddenly up to meet the next wave. This kind of crashing put too much strain on it and on our stern. At 0150 we went through such a horrendous series of close steep waves that Sprite broke free of the starboard dinghy tow arm, swung crazily to port and broke free from the port arm as well. We thought we had lost her, but the painter we keep secured as a safety line held. Then we noticed that the bracing arm supporting our wind generator had shifted and the generator was slanted back at a 45 degree angle. I thought it was going to be torn off or dragged through the water. As I tried to adjust the self steering to change course a bit to take the waves at a more oblique angle, I was aware it was not responding properly, and I had to turn it off and hand steer. To help keep better control, I started the engine and called Judy up. Judy was still not feeling well. Just as she came into the cockpit, the engine died! All four of these situations developed within a ten minute period, at maximum wind strength and wave height, at two o'clock in the morning.

I had Judy steer and gave up on the engine. Sprite was still attached by her painter which was hooked on our toe rail by a caribiner. I wrapped the line around a stern cleat to lead it through the fairlead, and tried wrapping a rag around it to reduce chafing, hoping the line would not break. I then had to pull in and tie off the dinghy tow arms, which were flailing madly about as we rode up and down the waves. The wind generator was not in the water yet but hanging over at a precarious angle. I could not pull it into a more erect angle and so threw a lashing around it to the stern pulpit to keep it from tilting over any more. The wrapping on the dinghy painter came off, and I couldn't reduce the tension on it to wrap something else around it. So I tied a second line to it with a rolling hitch outside the fairlead, leading it to another cleat so if the first line broke, the second one could take the strain until I got another lashing on it. A quick inspection of the self steering system indicated nothing was jamming it, but it would not respond to any port helm whatever. So we carried on hand steering until daybreak, hoping the dinghy would stay attached and that the wind generator lashing would hold. 

At dawn we hove to in order to relax a bit and to check everything out. The autopilot still would not respond to port helm. The lashings on the dinghy line and the wind generator were holding O.K. The engine seemed to have an airlock and we noticed a lot of sediment in the bottom of our first filter. We bled the first two bleed points and were then able to start the engine. However, all the pounding had apparently stirred up the sediment in our fuel tank that had been accumulating over the years and clogged the filter, even though it was a new filter purchased only a week ago. We then continued under sail. The winds were dropping to 25 knots from east south east, and the seas were back to about 10 feet. We got the sails properly balanced and were able to lock the wheel with a bit of starboard helm to counteract the weather helm. Veleda steered herself quite well for hours on end without us having to touch the wheel, albeit we were 15 degrees off our desired course.

The winds continued at 20 knots throughout the day, easing to 15 knots by late afternoon. Judy was still feeling sick. At 1625 the winds had dropped to 15 knots and we started up the engine and motor sailed, tacking to starboard to get closer to our original course line. We had been up to ten miles to port of our track in order to sail. We did not motor sail to gain more starboard heading as the engine had a difficult time going to starboard in 20 knot plus winds. This is one of the few disadvantages I have found with the Ontario 32. The prop shaft is 15 degrees off centre to starboard, and only 2 feet below the surface. When heeled to port in heavy weather, the props come very close to the surface and tend to cavitate loudly.

We tacked back past our original course line, then came about, still having to sail and motor sail 15 degrees beyond our desired course of 052. As we came abreast of our waypoint at Gun Cay at about 2330 (but 12 miles west of it), we found we were in a situation where "you can't get there from here"! When we tacked to starboard, we had to steer well south of the waypoint in order to even go close hauled. This course then put us in opposition to the Gulf Stream going north at 2.5 knots, effectively giving us a ground speed of about 1.5 knots in the wrong (southerly instead of easterly) direction. With only 12 miles to go, it would have taken us another 9 hours! NO WAY! So we dropped the sails and motored straight into it, approaching Gun Cay at about 0200 ( the second day out ). We went to the north to Honeymoon Harbour, but could not see the opening in the dark, and so tried the anchorage on the west side of Gun Cay. When approaching it, I found it fantastically rolley as the current was northward but the wind was eastward creating uncomfortable swells. I chose to take another try at Honeymoon Harbour. I ignored the GPS and used my "Mark I eyeball" to safely make my entry. We anchored shortly after our entry at 0240, after a horrendous voyage of 41 hours and 250 nautical miles.

We were a bit concerned when we entered the "harbour" as it was not enclosed by land, but had an opening to the west, and shoals on the east which were supposed to reduce the swells. They didn't. We awoke at 0630 rolling fantastically, and hearing the all-chain anchor rode groaning. The wind was back up to 35 knots from the open east and the tide was ebbing with a strong current. We weighed anchor and motored out at 0650 down to Cat Cay, arriving there at 0745, 46 hours after having left Marina Hemingway in Cuba.

This was not our longest sail, but it seemed like it. However, we were both safe, although Judy was seasick for most of that time. The dinghy was still attached as was the wind generator. Both of these systems were fixed up. We are still working on the auto-pilot as we have to replace several transistors in the control unit. We had the fuel tank cleaned out when we got to Nassau. We got replacement hooks for the dinghy tow. Oh yes, our genoa was tearing along the foot and the leach, so we took it in to a sail maker to have it re-stitched. In the meantime we are using a smaller genoa which we have on board. The dinghy painter was attached in three places with D-rings secured to the inflatable hull, one on each of the port and starboard bow, and one right at the bow. The bow D-ring was torn off, but the other two held. We will get it repaired later. All in all, it was an extremely heavy voyage. The wind kept up for three more days. We were recording 35 to 40 knot winds in Cat Key while alongside. Judy's birthday was February 1, and for a present, we decided not to go across the Great Bahama Bank that day in 35 knot winds. Happy Birthday Judy!

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