5/6/2011: left Puerto Morelos1015 after waiting for port capt. to deliver internat'l zarpe, & for fuel truck to deliver diesel. Winds<15 kt. but seas were very turbulent w/ 4'-6' waves @ 4 sec.rolling from 2 different directions. Made 1st 100 mi. very barfy but was worse along shore. Yucatan Channel = rough water even when calm.
5/7: conditions eased & a fair current gave us 170 mi.of motorsailng during our 1st 24-hr. period. Fair amt. of commercial vessel traffic but we're the only sailboat. Breeze increased to N then ENE 15-18 during p.m. & we ran into foul current as we approached NW end of Cuba. Stayed a minimum of 20 mi. offshore, then tacked N overnight to get out of foul current.
5/8: Wind has turned E w/ the rising sun & winds are <11 kt so we can motorsail almost due E – which we need to do for the next 235 mi. We've found a fair current again & we're making 5.5+ kt. SOG w/ only 2000rpm on Yanmar.
All's well – m
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