Tuesday February 13, 2018 - Hawksbill Cay to Pipe Cay

Now I know why sailing close hauled into the wind is called "beating".  Because that's what I got today.  I figured being just 2 or 3 miles off the west side of the Exumas in 20 knot winds couldn't be too difficult.  The wind was more like 20 to 25 with a few gusts to 30.  I had two reefs in the main and the genoa furled to about 30%.  The wind was 25 degrees off my port bow.  The chain makes a turn to the east (when heading south) at the Warderick Wells area and when I approached that area, the seas went from a choppy 2 to 3 feet to a choppy 2 to 4 feet.  A few times I took water over the top of the coach roof. And several times, boat speed dipped under 2 knots (as I'd hit big waves).  And there's the POUNDING that I just love.  I ended up tacking over closer to the windward shore in order to reduce the fetch  and the wave size.  I've been in conditions that rough before but I don't think I have on this trip.  Fortunately, the boat did great - engine ran well when I needed it and I used the sails alone for at least 3/4 of the trip.  Below is a screen print of my track.  The high angle tacks are under sail alone (she doesn't point well when double reefed and in big waves).

I told the cruisers I left at Hawkbill that I'd radio them
with a report on conditions.  My report was "doable".