Christmas Winds

Over the past 8 seasons we have enjoyed sailing in the Caribbean enjoying the Islands between Grenada and Antigua.  Several times over the past several years we have run into people who have stayed in one spot for the entire season due to "Christmas Winds".

Chris Doyle defines these winds as "When the isobars get tight, the wind increases and is sometimes very fresh (25-30 knots). We call these Christmas winds. This high pressure is offset by cold fronts that come down from the northwest. They almost never make it as far as the Windwards, but as they approach, we often get very calm and sunny weather followed by wind and rain, as their tail ends affect our area".
 
Our experience over this time period has been the same - the winds will pipe up for a few days and then fall off as cold fronts spill of the US and enter the Atlantic. 

Several days ago we had another of these encounters - this time with a Canadian woman who was on a large Cat sitting in the Rodney Bay Marina.  She complained that they were unable to move last year because of the "Christmas Winds".  No amount of discussion would convince this woman that there are opportune times to move all season as long as you pay attention to the weather.

So we have been watching the weather and we are heading to Antigua from here with stops along the way at St Pierre, Portsmouth, and Deshaies. 

Happy holidays.