Waiting on the weather...

"Scattered showers and clusters of isolated thunderstorms
are in the moist sector of the Caribbean while the remainder
 of the Caribbean is under fair conditions this morning"

…to improve!! There are very few certainties about cruising, but one inevitability is that you are always at the whims of the weather. Always!! Even when we aren’t actively waiting for a good weather window in which to cruise, we are always watching the weather, whether to ensure that our anchorage is adequately protected from the prevailing winds or from a forecast of unsettled weather, or simply hoping for plenty of sunshine and visibility in which to dive. Sunshine in the Caribbean is a given most times – as is the heat – but there are times when winds or storms change plans. Right now, there’s this big low pressure trough over the Leewards that is persistent to say the least. No sunshine, no diving, but at least seas are somewhat calm for the moment….but we are tired of the gloomy gray that is permeating the days. Solid cloud cover, periods of relentless rain…good thing we enjoyed the sunshine while we had it a few days ago!

Boreas, the north wind

Here is the National Weather Service's Atlantic tropical weather discussion for the Caribbean and the Leewards; of course, we are in the “moist sector”, referred to above! 

"ANOTHER AREA OF POSSIBLE ISOLATED SHOWERS IS OVER THE NW CARIBBEAN FROM 18N-20N BETWEEN 79W-87W. FARTHER EAST, THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING IS PROVIDING AMPLE MIDDLE TO UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE GENERATING AN AREA OF WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED TSTMS WITHIN 150 NM EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 11N67W TO 18N62W...INCLUDING THE LEEWARD ISLANDS. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN WILL BE SLOW TO MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS EASTWARD SO FAIR WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE BASIN... WHILE CONTINUED INCREASED CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION WILL LINGER OVER EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE BASIN THROUGH THURSDAY."


I didn't know that "troughing" was a word, but it seems fairly descriptive of the gloomy weather we are experiencing! Never fear...another certainty of cruising is that we'll just take the weather with us and make the best of it!