JOURNEY TO JAMAICA'S SOUTHERN COAST: Part III

Isla Beata, DR to Port Morant, Jamaica  (approximately 157 nm)

There is a rocky cay just west of Isla Beata called Cayo de Frailes.  As we approached it, forceful winds whipped around Exit Strategy in every which way.  It was quite an eye opener the first thing in the morning, but we finally made our way safely around the cay and sailed on holding a steadier course toward Jamaica’s southeastern coast. 

That night just after midnight, the windspeed dropped drastically. (I bet you are wondering why so many things happen on Exit Strategy “after midnight”.  I am, too!)  At the change of watch duty, the Captain was filling me in on course adjustments, the winds, and vessels in our path and we heard something hit the deck that sounded like metal.  NOW WHAT???  Using the beam of our flashlight, we discovered that the clip holding the starboard side lazy jack lines had popped free from the mast.  The main was raised at the time, and we knew that it would be a mess to deal with when we took the sail down at daybreak.  We hadn’t flaked (tidied) a mainsail on the boom since we took sailing lessons!

The motor propelled us for the last eighteen hours to Port Morant, our first Jamaican anchorage.  We cut the engine once during that time to listen to the morning Weather Net on the SSB radio.  Then when Danny tried to restart the engine, it stalled repeatedly.  He checked items that those who are familiar with the mechanics of motors know to check and found that the starter battery wasn’t holding a charge.  So he used the house batteries to jump start the engine and that got us on our way again.

It happened to be Ash Wednesday when we arrived in Jamaica and learned that it is a National Holiday.  We expected to be charged an overtime fee when clearing in.  An official from Quarantine (Health) came to inspect the boat and interview us about health issues.  Fortunately for us, the officials from Customs and Immigration chose to keep their holiday free from work and arrived the next day to clear us in without charge. 

Dan fixing the clip to hold up the Lazy Jack lines.