The Christmas Winds Are Blowing

If you are in the Caribbean this winter or bound there for a charter vacation or holiday, then you should know about the Christmas Winds. Every year without fail, from the middle of December through the end of January, the trade winds that keep you cool in the tropical Caribbean heat also will be blowing your hats off and forcing you to tie in a reef in the mainsail. It is normal in the winter months for the trades to blow between 20 and 30 knots for days on end. You can call these “augmented trade winds” or you can call them the devil himself, but you can’t do much about them. For those in the BVI, which offers a lot of sheltered sailing and secure anchorages, the Christmas Winds do not create much of an issue for charterers and cruisers. It’s just a “bit of breeze” as the old salts like to say. But, if you head south to St. Vincent, the Grenadines and Grenada, it’s a different story. The Christmas Winds there really challenge your sailing and anchoring skills. Between St. Vincent and Bequia or between Cariacou and Grenada –by Kick’m Jenny—the trade winds funnel and increase to sometimes 40 knots, while the waves can build to 10 feet or more.  In the anchorages throughout the Grenadines, you will find your boat often snubbing up on the anchor chain in severe gusts and the boat’s bow can dance back and forth like a tethered stallion. So, if you are headed to the Caribbean in the first half of the winter, be sure to have a third reef to tie into your mainsail, a smaller jib to hank on to the roller furling and a piece of string to keep your hat from going for an unscheduled swim.