Madrone is on the move again!
After almost a week in our cozy anchorage behind Rat Cay in the Berry Islands group of the Bahamas, the strong northeast wind started to subside. We took advantage of the remaining wind to sail about 90nm to West End, where we anchored for one more night.
We waited for the wind to swing fully to the east so that there wouldn’t be any north component flowing against the Gulf Stream current, and around 4pm we finally sailed away from the Bahamas and northwest towards the US.
We’re very happy to be moving again, and Madrone seemed to enjoy it also, romping along at 8 knots on a beam reach in 15 knots of breeze. We reached the Gulf Stream in a couple of hours and enjoyed a boost of a couple of knots from the current as we sailed northwards under bright moonlight.
The only detriment to our near perfect conditions were the leftover swell from Tropical Storm Ana, the first storm of the season, running down from above Bermuda.
Our goal is to make landfall in Charleston, SC – we’re looking forward to arriving back to the US.
Day Eight
173nm
29 23.2N 79 50.7W
