Day 8: Bermuda or not?
It is Sunday onboard Polar Seal, and on our 8th day at sea, we have a choice to make.
After a rough week onboard in spite of perfect sailing conditions, the wind and the waves finally shifted behind us, and I am now able to type this update from the chart table without getting nauseous.
We had a little party in the cockpit to celebrate getting our energy and spirits back, and took advantage of the boat being stable to do a bit of cleaning.
This morning, for the first time since we departed from Bonaire, we shook a reef off the mainsail and are now cruising along at 6 to 7 knots in 9 to 14 knots of breeze on a perfectly flat sea. And even though the temperature drops so much at night that I now need to wear a jacket in the morning, sailing in these conditions is an absolute dream.
But something has been on our mind for the last 3 days, and we need to make a decision fairly soon. Tomorrow evening, we should approach Bermuda, and the question is: should we take a break or should we continue our passage straight to the Azores?
We never intended on stopping in Bermuda in the first place, but after it took us so long to get in a good rhythm, we are wondering if the break wouldn't be welcomed. The two major weather forecast models, the GFS and the ECMWF disagreed on the predictions passed Bermuda, which for us, was a major red flag, granted the forecasts were still quite far ahead.
Staying on Bermuda would have some major advantages. For one, we could rest, fill up the water tank, do some laundry, and take care of some minor repairs in our bimini and sprayhood. And we could wait for a good weather window while relaxing. Bermuda is said to be a beautiful place that would be really fun to check out and so we're asking ourselves: Will we pass by Bermuda ever again?
But stopping would also mean having to go through the process of getting into our offshore rythm again. It would make the passage longer (depending on how long we wait for a weather window) and potentially too long for our favorite crew, Anett, to continue with us (although we would prefer to keep her onboard forever, she has a life outside of sailing with us).
When I downloaded the forecasts this morning, the conditions seemed to look really good for us to continue East in the coming days, but who knows. Between this morning and Tuesday, it can change again. We will gather today to make a decision that we will communicate to you, via this very medium, as soon as we know!