North By Northeast Passage

Perhaps this religious grotto on the rugged north coast of
 El Grand Roque blessed our journey as we said "Good Bye."

Seasoned cruisers know that if they are in the vicinity of the ABC Islands or Los Roques Islands and intend to make their way north to Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, it is one of those “You-Can't-Get-There-From-Here” easily routes.  Oh, it is possible, but to do so one must traverse the first 60 nautical miles through a strong westerly current and westerly fetching seas and then make your way northward through the remaining 340 or so miles in moderate westerly currents and seas. So the wise crew must work to get as much ‘easting’ in as possible early on in the journey or end up motoring east dead into the wind and waves later.  With this in mind, the good captain set a course for Exit Strategy towards Frederiksted on St. Croix’s western coast and hoped that we’d make land fall no further west than Salinas, Puerto Rico.

A prime weather window for making this passage began on Thanksgiving Day. During the first twenty-four hour period we were blessed with east-southeasterly winds of 12-17 knots and seas of 4’-7’.  Once underway, the Captain was able to adjust our course farther east to take advantage of the winds and get some of that much needed ‘easting’ in early. The main was reefed and the vessel glided effortlessly and quietly through the water. We gratefully enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal of roasted chicken and freshly made potato salad. All was well on board.


Sailing conditions were perfect under sunny skies and starry nights.

On the second day, the east-southeasterly winds continued, but were reduced to 8-14 knots accompanied by seas of 3’-4’. We gladly shook the reef out of the main and once again, were able to move our course farther east.  This time we aimed for the EAST coast of St. Croix, fully expecting to ultimately be blown toward Frederiksted.  We were ecstatic to have been sailing northward comfortably for two solid days, averaging about 7 nm/hr. And I was so relieved to be able to sleep soundly when not on watch at night.

On the morning of the third day, the wind and seas were even more subdued. We were anxious to arrive in St. Croix before nightfall, so we adjusted the sails and fired up the engine to motor sail the final 60 miles.   By midday, St. Croix was visible at the horizon over a relatively flat sea.  We began to pass huge mats of sargasso seaweed floating on the surface of the water and we knew it was the perfect time to hook some mahi mahi, as they like to rest under any flotsam. Within a short time, we had hooked three mahi mahi! We hauled them aboard with the gaff, cut off each head, and cut them into slabs small enough to stow in the refrigerator to be cleaned hours later when at anchor.


Sargasso Seaweed

Our crossing from El Grand Roque to Buck Island near St. Croix's northeastern coast was 385 nm long and took us two and a half days. Each morning we listened to the SSB radio Weather Net at 7am and then checked into the 8am Coconut Telegraph Net.  We had heard that friends of ours set sail for the USVI a day before we did and arrived a day afterward.  The main difference was that they left from Bonaire and we left from Los Roques, putting us 93+ nautical miles farther east from the start.  So getting our easting in early really paid off!