Sailing Bahamas to Jamaica - Hallberg Rassy 54 Cloudy Bay - Feb'20. Season20 Episode13

On passage from Bahamas to Jamaica, flying the Parasailor and passing the notorious windward passage at the eastern end of Cuba.

After several days in George Town, Bahamas, we found a narrow weather wind to start our 700nm passage to the Cayman Islands, via the Windward Passage to the east of Cuba. A northerly cold front was approaching which would stop the easterly trade winds and give us a solid following wind to go south. The first short leg, heading NE to round the tip of Long Island, was very tranquil. A good time to remind ourselves how to fly the Parasailor spinnaker.
As we entered the Atlantic and turned SE down the eastern side of Long Island, the wind increased and we sailed into the first night at sea, reaching the southern end of Long island by midnight. Next morning, we again had the Parasailor up, this time in a 15kt wind on a magical 2-sail broad reach. But late afternoon, the dark clouds representing the cold front approached us fast from behind. We dropped the spinnaker just in time for the first of several 25-30kts squalls which powered us to the Windward Passage by midnight.
Once in the lee of Cuba, we gybed and headed along the south coast in gradually reducing winds. By the following midday we were motor-sailing in very hot and airless conditions, when we made a sudden decision to divert 80nm south, to Jamaica, with the plan to cruise its north coast prior to continuing to Cayman. The subsequent direction change allowed us to sail again and we had another thrilling ride to the Jamaican lee shore, arriving rather dramatically into Port Antonio in the early hours of the following day. 21-24 Feb 2020