I had this all written and ready to post via the IridiumGo, but saw I was picking up service from the Morton Salt Company on the island!! So, I get to post normally with better quality pictures. 

Turks and Caicos 🇹🇨 to Cuba 🇨🇺 
2 days down, 2 to go!! 

Day 1: We woke up to an empty marina. All of the boats who were stuck there waiting out the weather went their separate ways. Our first leg was only a few hours, so we had a relaxing breakfast and left late morning. We had a beautiful sail to West Caicos and picked up a mooring ball in the late afternoon.
 
Day 2: We woke up at 3:00am and departed in the pitch black darkness; there was not a star to been seen or even the slightest glow from the moon. It’s almost like being in a cave and your eyes play tricks on you when it’s that dark. The only light we could see was a faint glow on the horizon, from Provo which was over 30 miles away.  

Our sail today is to Great Inagua Island, Bahamas, about 85 miles or 14 hours away. We left before 4am, so we would get there while there is still enough light to anchor. 

The forecast was for 15-20 knot winds and 1.5 meter (4.5 feet) waves, decreasing to 1.2 meters (4 feet) through out the day.

The day started out as originally forecast, but as the sun came up the winds and swells picked up. There was a beautiful red sunrise and I even said, “Red in the Morning, Sailors warning!!”

Around 5:30am the winds and seas increased, we encountered continuous 25+ knot gusty winds and seas over 3 meters (9 feet), for most of the day. There were probably even a couple 11+ foot waves. It was also raining on and off with the occasional storm thrown in just to keep us on our toes. 

We had all 3 reefs in our main sail and the jib reefed as much as possible, but we were still gliding along at more than 6 knots. 
It was a sporty ride, but not uncomfortable because we had following seas. I managed to bake cookies for the guys and even cooked Tyler’s favorite lunch, steak burritos. 

We caught a small Yellowfin Tuna shortly before we anchored, so  I guess it will be fresh sashimi for dinner!! 

Even better I don’t have cook!!! Just filet and eat. Yum!


But, I do have to admit, it is very nice to be safely anchored for the night at Great Inagua Island, Bahamas. We’ll get some rest before sailing through the Windward Passage, between Haiti and Cuba tomorrow. 

This is just a quick overnight stop to rest a few hours before moving on, so we put the Yellow Quarantine Flag up and won’t check into the Bahama’s, this time….

Tomorrow will be our longest leg. We will wake up at 3:00am again to depart by 4:00am for a 180 mile, ~ 30 hour sail to our final destination, Santiago de Cuba!!! 

The forecast for tomorrow is for the winds to be 15-20 knots in the morning decreasing throughout our sail to almost no winds by Sunday night when we turn West along Cuba’s Southern Coast. 

The seas are forecast to start around 1.3 meters (4 feet) in the morning and then decreasing to less than 1/2 a meter (1-2 feet) by the time we turn West on Sunday night. 

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To follow along on our journey subscribe to our YouTube channel:
www.YouTube.com/user/SailonSailPending

All videos from Cuba will be uploaded as soon as we have access to wifi. 

Comments? Questions? 

While we are in Cuba please contact us at: Sail.SailPending@gmail.com

We will not be able to respond to any questions or comments on Facebook, our Blog, or YouTube. 

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