Team Island Spirit, along with Bob and Cat of IP370 Sea Lyon, will make a three-day ocean run from Puerto Rico to the Bahamas starting Thursday at 0630. Over the next three days, we will be sailing (hopefully) on a broad reach of some 450 miles. Winds are forecasted to be 13-18 knots gusting 20. Of course, there will be squalls which will be 30+ knots and these usually arrive at night. We plan to sail under the B&G autopilot set to hold a 150-degree wind angle. We will double reef the main at night and shake it out in the morning. We hope to be sailing nearby our buddy boat, at least within sight of each other. It is a big ocean and at night, it is great to see a light out there of another boat going your same way. Here are the sailing ladies of Island Spirit and Sea Lyon:
Watch Schedule
It is just the two of us on Island Spirit, Radeen and Hayden, and our watch schedule will be 6 hours during the day and 3 hours at night.
- Hayden: 0600 to 1200
- Radeen 1200 to 1800
- Hayden 1800 to 2100
- Radeen 2100 to 2400
- Hayden 0000 to 0300
- Radeen 0300 to 0600
The great aspect of this schedule is that meals are eaten together at shift changes.
Meals
- Breakfast 0600
- Lunch 1200
- Dinner 1800
The challenge is to get your sleep when off watch. Keep rested. Stay alert when you are on watch. Be safe. JOB #1, do not hot anything. Job #2 call for help if any sail changes are needed: reefing, squalls, ships.
Here is a photo of the course, three days.
Life onboard
We try to have normal days at sea, such as reading, fishing, sailing, cooking, sleeping, showers, and planning. Yes, we have a nice bathroom below with a nice shower seat and space. We heat the hot water tank by running the engine 20 minutes. Then we have hot water for showers below deck in the head. YES, we shower EVERY DAY, just like at home. We are amazed at how showering on sailboats is a big deal. So many cruisers make this a big deal and always refer to how they wish they could take a shower. Well, on Island Spirit, we take hot showers daily, usually at night before going to bed. Even when sailing offshore!
Follow our LIVE track
Whenever Island Spirit moves, she has a live tacker that places a pin on a map. This creates an archive map of where we have sailed. It also is a valuable safety item as our land safety team of Jeff and Sharon (dear friends) and Tom and Rita (MDschool.com) monitor our progress. They are the stand-by team that makes sure we arrive safely. We remain in communication, usually with Jeff and Sharon 24/7 and this helps to make us feel a bit safer. Please follow our live track here:
https://share.garmin.com/islandspirit
The fun aspect of this link is if you click the VIEW ALL button, and then zoom back, you will see all the courses we have run. Very cool to see.
Buddy Boat IP370 SEA LYON
Lucky for us, we have good friends BOB and CAT sailing along with us. They just sailed up from Trinidad, and are also heading for the USA like us. They arrived a few days ago and lunch for us, we now have a buddy boat. We plan to be making the same run all the way to the USA. Here is their tracker as well. Hopefully, they will be in sight of us.
https://share.garmin.com/sealyon
Thanks again for sailing along with us. Hayden and Radeen
Following your return with interest and prayers. You make it look easy and fun! Love you Hay and Ray
Hope you have a wonderful trip. Love the new canvas job! Love following along!
What I like most following you and Radeen is that all systems are up to snuff, monitored within a scheduled timeframe, and legs well planned with the projected sea state. Also all safety aspects are perfectly planned from watches to 24/7 ground monitoring.
Enjoy your next shower