Day 6

We had a rough start last night with a large NNW swell coming. It though diminshed and though a residual remains making the ride bumpy it is mostly pretty tolerable. We are sailing at about 5 knots in decent winds out of the NE. We have only 170 miles left to Panama, so we expect to arrive very early Monday morning at this stage.

Position 11.32 N 76.56 W

The Crew of Nikita

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Day 5

This morning after about 24 hours of motoring, though we had a nice four hour sail last night, we said motor off spinnaker up. We had a slow day, so slow even we stopped to swim for an hour. Everyone had a nice time and cooled off. We now have a bit more wind and are moving at a little over 5 knots. We expect a little more wind through the evening.

We had a great pod of dolphins (20 or 50 who knows they were everywhere) join us just at sunset last night. One danced on its tail and another flipped his tail to splash the boat getting the decks wet. Alot of fun.

Position 12.29 N 74.37 W

The Crew of Nikita

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Day 4

After a night of off and on sailing we have had a day of nearly no wind at all. Seas are very calm. We have been motoring along, hoping for wind to come up as we get along west of a cold front coming down from the Gulf of Mexico tonight. Will need some wind some time because we will run out of fuel if we have to motor the rest of the way.

Two fish on today, the first threw the hook, the second took every last bit of line and the hook - we got spooled.... no more fishing.

Saw a few more ships today, but none would answer our radio call, wanted to get some more diesel and fishing line!

Position 14.35 N 72.40 W

The Fishless Crew of Nikita

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Day 3

Position 15.54 N, 70.26 W
Sailing under spinnaker but slow.... what a difference a day makes, winds have all but died away and seas our down to 2-3 feet and declining. We had a short visit from a pod of dolphins. We also found a nut on the deck of the boat.... after a search including a trip to the top of the mast. Yes it swings around alot! up there in a sea way, we found the lone bolt on the lower attachment of the spinnaker and all was saved. It took Bruce (winch man) and Dave (bosun guy) a few hours to recover from the mast trip.

The Crew of Nikita

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Day 2

This SUCKS!!!

We picked up a SE to S to SW wind today bringing us close hauled on our course and seas 5-7 feet. Not down wind sailing in the tropics to say the least. Isabelle gave over to seasickness but the rest of the crew held out. Jake had a blast spending several hours hanging on the steering module and calling the ever bigger waves getting ready to splash into Nikita and shower us with salt water.

Position 16.55 N 68.26 W sailing 260 at 4 knots.

The salt encrusted crew of Nikita.

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Day 1

Position 17.48N, 65.51W
Winds about 10 knots out of the ESE
Seas 3-5 feet, mostly comfortable but occasionally bumpy.

Averaging about 6 knots flying spinnaker and full main. Fish tally is one barracuda, half eaten by the time we got it reeled in..... shark?!?

Overall a great start. Will continue to update once per day position via Yotreps and if conditions permit send a quick email.

The Crew of Nikita

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T - 12 hours

We are ready with the last provisions being put on board. We have moved into the Crown Bay marina to receive our crew who arrives late tonight. We will clear customs and head out early Monday morning. We will try to update the blog and position daily.... seasickness and ssb propagation permitting.

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Two Steps Forward and At Least a Handful Backwards

We have been furiously getting ready for our trip to Panama. Monday the 22nd looks like a go, with weather predictions favorable for at least most of the trip. We are very excited but also quite nervous. We expect the trip to take 7-10 days.

We have been rearranging alot of items on the boat, basically getting everything that we will not use stowed and tied down and getting out several of the items that we may need. In particular safety equipment needs to be tested and refreshed, alternative sails out and readied. We have also been provisioning food for the 10 day trip, which is no easy task. As well given the lesser alternatives for provisioning beyond Panama we have been adding a few months to the non-perishable stores, both food and non-food.

As we were finalizing the last items today our water maker and wind generator both failed. Not great timing! The water maker is an ongoing issue and I think we have it sufficiently resolved. The wind generator is not as easy so we will limp with this one to Panama. We have a couple of other ways of generating electricity so we should be ok. We will also take some emergency water stored in jerry jugs for the trip.

Just challenges......... right.

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A Close Shave

While anchored off Water Island in St. Thomas we swung close to a couple of boats that were on moorings, one of these happened to be a rather large, dirty, steel dive boat. At about midnight, I was aroused from a deep sleep by a shuddering collision. Rae Ann, who was still up, darted up the companion way while I stuck my head out the forward hatch to see our port bow resting on the stern dive platform. Rae Ann let out a couple of loud "wholly s**t" waking a few of the near by cruisers.

We pushed ourselves off, only to drift right back down, so anchors up and we found a new spot. The next day I rubbed off the grease mark from the collision.

We have been quiet on the cruising front, laying low in the Virgin Islands. However, we have been busy preparing for the next part of our adventure. We have decided to sail to Panama from the Virgin Islands, which is about a 10 day sail. This will be by 8 days our longest continuous sail, so we approach it with excitement and uncertainty.

Rae Ann has been busy stocking food supplies for the trip and laying out additional storage places for the fresh food as she does not expect floating grocery stores in route. I have been updating boat maintenance and miscellaneous projects completed like adding securing straps for certain boat equipment.

We have decided to take on one additional crew, a friend and experienced sailor. Many of the cruisers we met and most with families were taking the route of using a third crew member, allowing for everyone to get at least one 6 hour stretch of sleep during the night. It also frees Rae Ann from watch keeping during the day where she can assist the kids.

We are now looking at possible weather windows, but hoping to be off soon.

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