Afternoon Chatter

I don’t really have anything new to report about KiwiBird’s progress. She’ll probably be pretty busy, since much, if not most, of today’s passage is “outside,” and the 10-15 knot east winds should make for engaging sailing. Contact might not come until she camps for the night.

One thing I didn’t relate this morning is that KB’s still somewhat hot about yesterday’s “yachtie” encounter—that is, an expletive slipped out this morning. Turns out she was under sail at the time, which makes her normally very maneuverable Sisson Arctic Raider somewhat less agile.

Concerning her targets for the evening, the distance to Wiggins Pass (46 miles) is not a stretch, and Marco Island (63 miles) is doable by someone as fit as KB, as long as good sailing conditions hold. The determining factor will likely be planning to approach CP2 on a rising tide, which makes for favorable currents. High tides come at Chokoloskee at 11:49 and 23:39 tomorrow. Of course, the farther she goes south, the more she turns into that east wind.

NOAA’s long-term forecast looks mostly favorable for continuing good progress. The easterly winds are expected to continue through Monday, moving to the south toward mid-week. If so, the leg from Cape Romano to CP2 will be an upwind slog, but after that, things should turn more favorable for the final days toward Key Largo.--Floatsome