Love reading your posts!!! Sorry for the rip on the main. I can totally recall the drama of needing to go in reverse. We have the same challenges with Songster and we found that the best technique when we have to exit on reverse it is indeed to use a bow spring and turn around 😃😃👏🏽👏🏽  

The beauty of sailing is that you always governed by nature. Especially when choosing your time of departure. For example if it’s too windy you might have to wait a day, if the tide is in the wrong direction you might have to leave 6hours later! Our reason for leaving at 2am was to ensured we arrived in Aruba in the light! On our travels we’ve found it easier to leave somewhere you know in the dark and as a result arrive somewhere new in the light. It helps with navigations and getting an understanding of the land. Using our memory from arrival and our night vision, we hauled up the anchor and head out of Spaanse Waters, Curaçao. 

The sea state as predicted was large and inconsistent. As we had rip our main sail, we only had our jib to carry us to Aruba. Although a little more rolly, it was all we need for the passage. With the wind set to be 25-30knts we steamed down wind with just the jib. 

We took it in turns to have cat naps on deck whilst the other steered and negotiated the waves. It was not long before the sun was up and we had lost sight of land. Dave made an incredible breakfast, considering the roll of the boat. This was much needed to settle our stomachs. 

Eventually, we got our first sight of Aruba, all be it a bit industrial. To check into this island you need to go to the customs pontoon. This is within a reef and has a shallow shoal right next to it making the approach challenging. With the wind speed still high, we managed to navigate around the shoal and safely onto the pontoon. 

We were told by immigration the only way off the pontoon was back the way we came in. This is a challenge for Penny as she weighs 18tons and doesn’t like to be reversed!! So after checking in, we made a plan of how best to get off the pontoon. We were being blown off on to the shoal so one wrong move could mean we end up aground. We however used the wind to our advantage and allowed the stern of the boat to be blown round and whilst we took up on a bow spring (a line from the bow to a cleat in the middle of the dock) This worked like a dream and within no time Penny had done a 180degree turn and was headed back out to find a space to anchor. 

Curaçao to Aruba

Crew

Crew Logs

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