US East Coast to the Caribbean - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 170

Charleston to Mayaguana: Six Days / 801 NM
Months of preparations and worry about this passage eventually climaxed in…well, an an-
ticlimax, because the thirty-mile Gulf Stream crossing proved to be a non-event. Namani
motored over smooth seas marked only by a few stray clumps of Sargasso weed, acceler-
ated at times by a favorable eddy, then suddenly fighting a different offshoot of the Gulf
Stream. According to the forecast, the real challenge would come a few days later, with
southeasterly winds and an increasing swell that made it critical to make our easting now.
The first two days at sea were our slowest, with modest gains of about 120 miles each day
and some hours of fiddling with the sails before resorting back to the engine for a better up-
wind course. By day three, we shut off the engine for good, moving nicely under sail but
still fighting to maintain course against the east-southeast wind. Undeterred by pesky de-
tails of heading or speed made good, Nicky marveled in the clear night sky; he even insis-
ted on sleeping in the cockpit rather than his pilot berth. Markus and I took turns standing
three-hour night watches, clipped in beside Nicky with a watchful eye on the compass. The
steering was left to our Hydrovane, our trusty fourth hand that faithfully maintained the
best course to windward - a meager 175°.
Namani was making a strong six knots, but wind on the nose and a sloppy leftover swell on
the beam made her motion very uncomfortable for the next three days. Our world was one
of heaving, splashing, and the occasional bashing as the hull fell into troughs between
waves. This had the unfortunate side effect of swamping the bilge, since we hadn't sealed
the hawse pipe properly: a foolish oversight that cost us time at the pump and a good
drenching on the bow.