A MORE COMFORTABLE PASSAGE

0600 hours April 16th, 2015, Puerto Real, Puerto Rico: We maneuvered through the tight entry to Puerto Real. The entry buoys into the bay are unlighted and very small. I would have liked to have left earlier but was afraid to do so until we could see the entrance buoys which marked three turns in the narrow channel, even though I had the electronic "bread crumbs" from our path in. Fortunately we had about 3 more hours of daylight than we had on our December trip south, to offset our late start. 

The first 8 hours, as Chris Parker had predicted, were relatively flat as the swell was from the east and we were in the lee of Puerto Rico. Reversing our trip south, once we passed the small Island Lsla Desechero we set a course just missing the southern edge of the Silver and Mouchoir Banks. As the day went into evening the seas increased to 5 ft. and moved from east to north east. About midnight they begin subsiding and by daybreak they were in the 3 ft. range. The west bound passage was clearly more comfortable than the east bound passage had been. 

We had made our passage at 10 nmph and by the time we had turned north at the western edge of the Mouchoir Bank and crossed the Bank at the southern end of Great Sand Cay it was just after noon. We ventured over to the anchorage on the west side of the Cay with the idea of stopping for a while to explore, and see the Iguanas and curly-tailed lizards that reportedly roam the Cay. By this time the swell had moved north. Although only 3 ft, it rolled in the anchorage and broke on the beach, which would have made landing challenging. Without enough time to make it across Caicos Bank before dark we headed to Cockburn Harbour, where we had good protection from the north swell, for a calm night. 

The next morning we headed around the north side of Caicos to Blue Haven Marina and Resort where we planed to spend a few days. It took us most of the day to make it around the north side. As we neared the entrance in the reef to Blue Haven we saw the A anchored in the very narrow area between the edge of the bank, which dropped off several thousand feet, and the reef just inside the edge. The A is 390 ft. and owner by Russian Andrey Melnichenko. Although the A has the same fortress stern as Steve Job's boat Venus and Leslie Wexner's boat, Limitless, the rest of its unique look follows function. The reverse wave piercing bow incorporates the latest thinking in fast and comfortable passage making and the smaller topsides reflect that this huge boat is designed to accommodate only a few people. The anchors set aft of the bow, reduces weight in the bow minimizing pitching. The stacked garages toward the stern on the port and starboard sides house A's several dinghies which we saw coming in and out of the Marina while we were their. The A is better architecture in my book, than either Venus or Limitless. 

                                            Sunrise After A Long Night

                                       

                                           390 Ft. A

                                           390 Ft. A