Day 50, Year 1: Heat Wave
Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Weather: Winds SE, Sudden Rise in Air Temperature
Air Temperature: 87 degrees F
Latitude: N 26 degrees 47.03 minutes
Longitude: W 63 degrees 57.83 minutes
Location: Passage from Norfolk to St. Martin, Day 10

We are once again motoring as the winds persist in coming at us from the southeast, precisely the direction in which we need to sail. We are hopeful that by tomorrow evening we will reach the trade winds and have fair sailing to St. Martin. But of course, that is our hope. We shall see what really develops. One thing that has definitely happened in the last 24 hours is that the air temperature has increased. We needed no polar fleece vests last night on watch and today we had to take out most of the panels in our plastic cockpit enclosure. That enclosure has been a life saver for us in the past month and half, but it did feel good to be able to roll it up and prepare for warmer weather.

We are starting to plan for our arrival in St. Martin by making lists of all the things we need to do once at an anchorage. We are also carefully reading the Caribbean cruising guides to plan other stops on our way to St. Lucia. We will not be stopping at many of the islands as we hope to be in St. Lucia by December 19 to greet our kids who are flying in for Christmas. But once we reach St. Lucia, we can slow down a bit and enjoy just being there.

051206 Day 50 Passage to Caribbean–Change in the Weather