Departure

• The Sailing Yacht SeaLife departed from from Treasure Cay Marina, Abaco, Bahamas on May 4, 1999
• Treasure Cay Airport has many daily flights from and to Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.
• Besides the major airlines, there are several island commuter airlines, such as Island Express, Air Sunshine.

• Cruising Guides: See "Charts and Cruising Guides". In the Bahamas Harry Kline's Yachtman's Cruising Guide to the Bahamas.
• GPS Routes and Nav Software: Nobletech
• We are chosing the "downwind" route: Going mostly south in the Exumas in close reaches and motor sails.
• Then S and SSW in the Jumentos Cays to Ragged Island, all in protected waters and daytime sails.
• The night time passage to Nuevitas is a pleasant reach, but the port did not allow clearance.
• Foreign boats must clear in at an "international marina". With permission of the boarder guard we sailed 3 days West.
• The first "international marina" was Guillermo. We had to motor in the morning and had fast downwind runs in the afternoon.
• Sailing along the North Coast of Cuba is the same routine every day: Morning calms to noon, then the afternoon breeze quickly accelerates to a brisk 15 to 20 knots. At 5 pm one can see the storms brewing up on land, from 6 to 7 heavy rain and thunderstorms with strong gusts; then the pleasant night lee, with light winds, makes a good night sail.
• We will rush through the Exumas, but make three stops there.
• Closest distance between Cuba and the Florida Cays is from Veradero to Marathon. We crossed from Havanna to Marathon.
• Here the golfstream runs NE partly against the SE trade winds of 15 to 20 knots, causing uncomfortable waves.
• Our speed against waves can be 5 to 5.5 kn, in close reaches 5.5 to 6.5. For planning we use 5.5 kn for the direct route. Fastest is 7.2kn.
• Tacking would increase the distance and time by up to 50 %, but chosing the right tacks and some motorsailing will let us make 5 kn.
• The fuel tank holds about 100 gall, plus 5 gall spare tank. Fuel usage is 3 g p.h. at max RPM. Motorsailing at 20 RPM: 1.7 gph.
• Range at speed of 5.5 kn, into heavy seas, 33 hours = 172 NM.
• There are small airports everywhere. The bigger airport hubs are mentioned in bold.
• Delays can be caused by weather or repairs. But major delays are unlikely on this route, except in the hurricane season.
• The trade winds increase and decrease in 2-week cycles. Cold fronts can cause delays in the North, but rarely in Cuba.
• Repairs have delayed us about once a month by 1 up to 5 days in a port, about once per month.
• Delays can also be caused by staying at certain islands longer than expected, or taking longer, but enjoyable tacks.
• The following schedule is the actual schedule. Actual delays were caused by some errors in installations of electrics and the raw water pump.