Sunday, February 20th
Good thing we went to bed good and early. The trip is being made in the morning because the winds are predicted to drop dramatically by lunch and will shift to mostly north by then as well. We are heading directly north, so any miles we put on before the wind shift will be a bonus!
You can see by the gps that we're underway. Note the time on the clock above it.
After an egg sandwich, the anchor comes up and the second cup of coffee is served underway. Laurie has on long sleeves as it was a cool morning outside in the breeze.
Checking with a flashlight to see if the sails are set properly.
You can see the deck covered with dew. The temperatures this season have been much cooler than normal making dew overnight.
After hearing a funny engine noise, Laurie goes down below to "take a peek". All is well, so we continue on our way.
You can see that we're along our way at this point with Guadeloupe in the south and Antigua to the north, a trip of about 45 nautical miles, or about 9 hours because of the light winds. You notice that we are heading a bit easterly of the rhumb line due to the predicted change in direction of the wind as well as current coming from the east.
After I had a little snooze, it was Laurie's turn. He takes about 30 seconds to fall asleep!
I watched the sun rise while Laurie slept. It's always nice to have total daylight again.
Once Laurie woke up, it was time to do his morning Ham Radio Nets. Here he is talking to Don Demeza in Ontario along with other land based radio operators and Canadian cruisers. He especially enjoys hearing how the weather at home is misbehaving!
In the background, you can see Antigua, but if you look carefully enough, you can see a whale pod. We watched them continuously until we were almost up to them. Laurie finally gave his foot a stamp in the cockpit and they took off like lightening. I was disappointed to have missed the shot of the whale's fluke as he took off.
We get anchored in English Harbour and Laurie jumps in the dinghy to visit and pay the Customs and Immigration officers before they will allow me ashore. The British are a bit fussier about rules and protocol than the French islands!!
We're awaiting Ron and Judy's visit later in the week when they will become our 'guest bloggers'! Meanwhile, we are hiking as usual and eating out a bit more than ever!
