Crossing The Atlanic To St. Croix

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I never quite got the I-65 route,

So what's the benefit?

Now if starting from farther north the I-65 route makes more sense to me.

Am I missing something here?

.

Yes! The point you are missing is that if it doesn't work for me its not allowed to work for ANYONE!




This is a screenshot of my track from Key West to St Martin a few years ago.
Its a bit scrappy so you need to look hard (I didn't have the electricity in them days to keep the computer on the whole time)

I came through New Providence Channel (solid line) till the fuel ran out. Then you will see I tried to go further out but when I was knocked I decided to turn south. But from the 20th to the 22nd I didn't get too far and was tight on the nose against the current.
So I needed to head out which I did on the 22nd and turned South on the 23rd. It was fine for a while but notice the curving route line (I added while at sea to make it easier to connect the track dots) started going adversely and I started heading towards Puerto Rico. You can see where I finally get the wind in more my favor.
SEE how far I went between the 23rd and 24th??? About the same as the previous 4 days!

If I had stayed on the first Southerly track I would have ended up in the Dominican Republic.

The further west you are the more adverse current.

So I should have refueled in the Bahamas but I didn't want to pay the $300 clearing fee for a tank of fuel... and I know those damn Bahamas Patrol Boats are everywhere. So I gambled and didn't work out.

What I should have done was use less fuel in the Florida Straits (remember I left from Key West. But hey, we all make mistakes

So what I should have done was sail up the coast of the USA and refueled as close to New Providence Channel as I could. Then I would have had a better motoring range to get closer to I65.

Yes, you are right its easier to get to I65 from further north. But note my line at the top Beaufort Rote. That would still have been too far west.

This sort of nav solution makes ocean passages fun, but considering I was working to windward the whole bloody time, including some short takes of only 1 nm between 20th and 22nd, it was a tough trip.

Make it easier by going out further

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The point you are missing is that if it doesn't work for me its not allowed to work for ANYONE!

See, now I thought that was self-evident!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

This is a screenshot of my track from Key West to St Martin a few years ago.

I came through New Providence Channel (solid line) till the fuel ran out. Then you will see I tried to go further out but when I was knocked I decided to turn south. But from the 20th to the 22nd I didn't get too far and was tight on the nose against the current.
So I needed to head out which I did on the 22nd and turned South on the 23rd. It was fine for a while but notice the curving route line (I added while at sea to make it easier to connect the track dots) started going adversely and I started heading towards Puerto Rico. You can see where I finally get the wind in more my favor.
SEE how far I went between the 23rd and 24th??? About the same as the previous 4 days!

If I had stayed on the first Southerly track I would have ended up in the Dominican Republic.

The further west you are the more adverse current.

So I should have refueled in the Bahamas but I didn't want to pay the $300 clearing fee for a tank of fuel... and I know those damn Bahamas Patrol Boats are everywhere. So I gambled and didn't work out.

What I should have done was use less fuel in the Florida Straits (remember I left from Key West. But hey, we all make mistakes

So what I should have done was sail up the coast of the USA and refueled as close to New Providence Channel as I could. Then I would have had a better motoring range to get closer to I65.

Yes, you are right its easier to get to I65 from further north. But note my line at the top Beaufort Rote. That would still have been too far west.

This sort of nav solution makes ocean passages fun, but considering I was working to windward the whole bloody time, including some short takes of only 1 nm between 20th and 22nd, it was a tough trip.

Make it easier by going out further

Did you find the adverse current that much different further out. According to the pilot charts, once you are through the NE Providence channel and offshore the eastern side of the Bahamas the currents look about the same until you are much further east like closer to 60W and even better if further north.

Then only time I went that was was heading west so didn't worry about the current except to look for a little more.