Before quitting my job I was a Blackberry addict.  Now I am a weather junkie.  It’s strange to think that as fluky as a forecast can be I am planning on crossing the gulf based on one.  It adds a little more weight to this decision than say whether or not I should take a raincoat with me today.  Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing.  The honest truth is that I don’t know.  It seems I make the decision of what I am doing any given day over coffee that morning.

Today, I am tightening nuts, bolts, and screws, securing some lose wiring, cleaning out my dock locker, filling the water tanks, and putting the finishing touches on a boat that is heading out to sea.  I’ll make the call tomorrow morning on starting the crossing.  I’ll never announce a date for a crossing again so long as I am on this trip.  It’s too easy for others to latch onto that date and assume it’s as rigidly set in stone as a dentist appointment.  It’s gotten late enough in the season that is becoming more and more difficult to get south and east.  Turns out I don’t have any say really in when I go.  I just get the boat ready and when wind and wave allow me, I’ll make my departure.  Maybe tomorrow, maybe a month from now.

There is still a small front that will march down to the Texas coast before stalling and moving off to the north and east.  It should still give me almost 24 hours of light winds out of the north and east.  Using those winds and the strong outgoing tide I should be able to get south of the rigs in a day.  As long as the north and east winds hold out I’ll keep moving south until I get to at least  27 40.00 N latitude.  As soon as the winds turn SE or S enough that I can no longer make any southing I’ll tack and start holding a course due east for as long as possible or until I hit 90 00.00 west longitude.  From there I’ll tack south and work my way down to the easterlies that are predicted to be blowing north of the Yucatan. 

It’s a long route to get down there, but I’ll be close reaching and beam reaching as much as is possible given the wind directions.  Or, I might wait another week and look for a better forecast.  Who knows?

Lee Winters
Phone: (281) 336-0855
Satellite Phone: 8816-316-59853

Web: www.SailingForSOS.com
Email: Lee.Winters@SailingForSOS.com