We be in Jamaica mon!

After getting the anchor secured we bid farewell to Great Inagua and the Bahamas. When I climbed back aboard I muttered that I hoped the anchor issue was a good omen because we just had our bad luck but there was more to come. Inagua is 50 miles from Cuba and Haiti situated just north of the Windward Passage. We came in to the Bahamas in mid-November in the far northwest corner and were leaving from the southernmost island in the chain. We enjoyed the Bahamas but were very ready to move on.

The Matthew Town light in the early morning light as we left the Bahamas behind.

The wind was light when we started which was a good thing when we were dealing with the anchor issue but it stayed down for a couple hours. It finally came up and we were able to broad reach toward our first waypoint. The route was very simple. Sail at about 195 degrees true for about 60 miles to a point below the tip of Cuba and the traffic separation zone east of the southern tip of Cuba and then turn west to about 240 degrees true for 180 miles to the entrance to Port Antonio. Wind was forecasted to be mostly 15-20 with some 20-25 northeasterly which put it almost dead behind us.

The mountains of southeast Cuba as we passed by their coast.

The first leg of the trip was uneventful averaging over 7 knots in winds that averaged just over 15 kts. When we turned toward our second waypoint the wind was almost dead behind us so we brought in the main and went only on the jib. That really slowed us down and to keep any angle on the wind sent us way off course. All would add distance and time.

So after a short while we discussed the options and when we needed to get to Jamaica. Unfortunately, Skipp our crew member had a flight Thursday morning so it clearly meant we needed to make Jamaica and be cleared in Wednesday afternoon but the only way we could do that was to motor sail. Against my better wishes we turned on the engine and used the main instead of the jib because in heavy wind it would be easier to furl than the jib and we got our speed back up over 8 kts.

All was fine and we were knocking out the miles as our chart plotter was projecting an early afternoon ETA. Then about midnight on my watch the autopilot crash gybed the boat in response to a big wave. I made the decision earlier to forego a preventer because with the engine on the apparent wind angle was in the 150 range so I thought we would be fine but when the autopilot took the boom back before I could sheet it in the gooseneck toggle broke and the boom fell to the deck.

The broken toggle.

The noise woke Skipp and Linda who came up to see the damage. The main sail was flat out and on the shrouds. The topping lift was keeping the end of the boom up and actually kept pretty good angle on the sail. The wind had come up and was about 30 kts so the challenge became how to untangle the mess, get in the sail and secure the boom so it didn't do any further damage. In addition to the toggle breaking the tang on the bottom of the boom that connected the boom vang was bent and since it's a quarter inch of stainless steel was not getting bent back easily. After considering a couple options we took our spare halyard and attached it around the toggle pin in the boom and used it to hoist up the boom. We also wrapped a dock line around the boom to keep it from flopping when we lifted it.

The Jamaican coast.

There was a huge full moon all night which provided lots of light for us and while we were on the deck it seemed to be very smooth. I know we were rocking so I put my tools in behind the liferaft but at one point I laid down a pair of vice grips on the deck and they instantly flew off into the water. We found out later that the entire time the boat was moving double digit speed and even hitting 14kts because Linda had brought the boat a bit higher on the wind to help with a better wind angle to avoid any other gybes. 14 kts is a record for us eclipsing the 12.5 going down the East River in New York.

So with our jury rig we were able to hoist the boom about 75% of the way up as the vang kept it from going higher and furl in the sail rather easily slowing us down and relieving the stress. We used the dockline to secure the boom from swaying and went the rest of the way to Port Antonio like that.

Errol Flynn Marina in Port Antonio, our new home.

Amekaya sporting the Jamaican courtesy flag.

We arrived at the dock in Port Antonio about 1600 on Wednesday and the authorities agreed to clear us in. What might normally take a few hours we did in about an hour as everyone was in a hurry to go home for the evening. Friday started a 4 day weekend celebration for Easter and everyone was busy getting ready so we got there at a good time.

Skipp arranged a ride to the airport departing at 0430 so we cleaned up and went out to dinner at Marribelle's on the dock at the marina for a cold Red Stripe to celebrate our arrival having already finished the champagne.

The happy crew celebrating arrival in Jamaica.

On Thursday our first order of business was to get some fresh food having missed the boats since we flew back from Chicago. In Port Antonio we found all the fresh fruit and lots of fresh veggies we were looking for. There were some things missing but no worries mon. We be good.

Street scenes in downtown Port Antonio.

We met Michael and Tammy Hetzer on Aria for happy hour and began to plan our Jamaican visit. Just from first blush Jamaica is totally different than the Bahamas. It's like a real place with water, electricity, trees, hills and real stores. I think we'll like it here.