Sailing Vessel Beruta Ship's Log
Acklins - Crooked Island
24 April 2012
I woke up at a quater after six. One of two boats that left on the anchorage since yesterday, was rumbling with the chain weighing the anchor and motoring out of the harbor. I had prepaired to do the same last night. Everything was ready: the outboard was on the pushpit, the tent was folded, the main's sail cover removed and the halyard attached. Hatches closed. All I needed to do was to hank the genoa, start the engine and lift the anchor. Oh, and made the picture of the beautiful sunrise where the last boat that stayed on the anchorage was the same one that I had seen in Sapodilla Bay on Provo. It looked like everybody had been following more or less the same route.
Turned on the autopilot and hoisted the main and genoa while going out against the wind in a narrow passage between the reefs on both sides. Casted away to the course of 310° M, stalled the engine and sailed closed haul to Pittstown on Crooked Island, 35 miles west from Attwood harbor on Lady Slippers Cay near Acklins.
The north-west wind 10-15 knots by 9 o'clock dropped to 5-10. The speed was around 2 knots due to the west current of about 1 knot. Autopilot didn't work properly with the speed of a turtle, so I tried to steer manually for sometime but then gave up, turned on the key of my diesel-mizzen and generated apparent wind of 10-12 knots motorsailing at 5.5-6. Ok, after that I could make some tea.
At 13:30 local time I dropped the anchor near Pittstown. An hour later the French boat that had left on Acklins also arrived here.
All pictures from Crooked Island are on Google Photo.