We're making preparations to travel. We intend to get fuel, propane, and other necessities on Monday, check out Monday or Tuesday, spend a few last hours on a beach here, and then start down the chain. Of course, I also must work on my wind generator mast that flew off its mount during the trip from St. Barths. I think I can fix it quickly, but I need a flat anchorage and some extra hands to catch parts. Today is a light day, with only laundry and lounging.
Our route is down through Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, Monseratt, and Guadeloupe; connecting with Jeanne and Doug there on February 7th. I'm studying the books to determine where we'll stop and what we'll pass by. Saba, for instance, requires perfect weather and a calm sea state; Monseratt requires a quiet volcano; we'd rather not jump around too many ports and customs offices when time will not allow significant exploration. Jeanne and Doug will fly out of St. Lucia, so they will be
onboard to help move the boat from Island to Island. I have my meds ready for them!
We are trying to coordinate our trip with Madness and crew, who are doing many of the same islands over a circular tour, but they will start today, while we'll leave Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll catch up with them with a morning scheduled chat on SSB, and try to meet them down island. The winds are down, but the seastate is up, with 8 foot waves on an 8 second frequency. Here at Orient Bay, the waves crash on the outside reef, roar through, and create a 1-2 knot current under our boat and around
Green Cay to the far opening. Likely the same current causes the monster waves we saw yesterday at the mouth of the Bay. Waves against current cause some spectacular breakers.
We're not unhappy to miss the departure with Madness, expecting the sea state to improve over time. Well, back to the books.
Laurie
