On Thursday, June 19, 2025, we spent the morning getting ready to go to sea. Johnny came to Kosmos to say goodbye and pick up his car. We untied at about noon and headed south.
Given that it was a Thursday, the ICW was surprisingly busy, especially around Peanut Island, and the ride was a bit rocky from all the wakes. The current was about 1.5 knots against us, which made the autopilot sometimes struggle to stay on course. Making the trek through the ICW a little stressful in the tight quarters.
The sunrise on Monday, May 12 was blocked by low atmospheric clouds.
And the rest of the sky turned an odd violet-ish color.
We’d decided to move around the corner, where it was more protected from the wind/wind chop (the blue dot on the map that we’d posted upon arrival at Highbourne Cay). We had to bring in the flopper stopper no matter what, as they weren’t meant for use in motion. Even though it was a short ride, we decided it was best to bring up the dinghy, too.
On Friday, March 14, starting at 0100 and lasting until 0500, there had been a full moon eclipse. Had we stayed up and the clouds cooperated, we probably could have seen it from here. But chose not to. When we awoke, the eclipse was fully over and the moon was shining like a spotlight.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 — We were up again early to get the boat ready to go to sea. A storm was coming in the next few days. As much as we liked this place, we’d had to make a decision between staying here longer than planned or leaving sooner than planned. We opted for sooner. We picked an anchorage ten hours away so we could do a day run.
We quickly got the dinghy up and all the loose things stowed. As soon as dawn broke (shortly before 0700), Eric turned on the engine. The stabilizers didn’t turn on. Eric troubleshooted and determined that the servo controller (main computer) was getting power.
Our new friends also decided to move on for the storm. Here they were leaving the anchorage as the sun rose.
Monday, March 10, continued – Daylight savings time began yesterday, so now in this part of the world the sun doesn’t rise until well after 0700. When we’d entered Matthew Town this morning at about 0845, the sun was still low in the sky and the water looked dark blue. When we exited the harbor at around 1030, the sun was higher and the water was stunning. In the shallows near the harbor it was a gorgeous turquoise, with a distinct line of dark blue where the water got deeper.
Sea conditions were the same as last reported: swells were about 2 – 3-feet at 6-seconds with 1 – 2 foot wind chop waves at rapid intervals. The wind was still hovering at 10-knots. On the passage from Jamaica to Matthew Town, we’d been heading northeast directly into the wind and waves. Now we were headed northwest, so the waves were coming from the rear corner of the boat instead of the front. And where the waves hit made all the difference in the world: it was actually a pretty comfortable ride now!
During the day, it was sunny with scattered clouds. Here was the sunset.
