Wow just wow what a glorious sail out the cut of the Eustasia sound with breaking reef on either side. I believe Savannah took photo and video of this..  Flat as butter then BOOM 3-6 on the nose. Awesome! We were head to wind coming out of the cut and as soon as we had some good depth margins we raised the main, unfurled the jib headed down about 90 degrees and enjoyed some of the Caribbean’s finest sailing conditions! We broad reached over to Necker Island and skirted all of the beautiful reefs. Visibility and air quality are incredible after being socked in with Sahara dust for a week. We counted 10 boats sailing over to and from Anegada.

We rounded monkey point within a boat length and played with the puffs coming off of Virgin Gorda peak. Some of them would blast down at over 25kts apparent. We had a nice reach to Spanish town where we would make our first fuel and water stop after 7 days with plenty left in the tanks but it’s always good to top off if you have the opportunity.

On our quick stop I had my docking and departure skills tested. Winds were quartering to the dock with obstructions both ahead and behind so angles were my friend today as well has my new good friend Mrs. I LOVE YOU Fender on my quarter stern.. earning a place on Huntress! Once tied up, we left Savannah with fueling and watering chores while Jim and I headed over to Poet Warrior to get some items her owners Sarah and Paul asked us kindly to retrieve. Their beloved boat was in pretty bad shape so I gave her my blessing and all of the other boats in this yard who didn’t have a chance in hell of riding out Irma.  It was heartbreaking recognizing many boats we have sailed or raced with in past years.

After a little bit of a stressful departure… like when you’re trying to back out and the dock dude doesn’t let go of your bow line and it swings you back in. Mama got a little excited.. so I asked him to please LET GO OF THE F”ING LINE.. well not like that but that is what was going through my mind haha So he did and we slid out just fine.. and why did my boat not come with a bow thruster?? Oh because i’m such a stellar driver! :))

We picked up a mooring just outside of Spanish town to have a nice lunch (grill cheese on sweet Hawaiian bread with chicken,green beans and avocado… yum!) before Jim and Savannah would dinghy back in to Spanish town and walk to a marine parts store to buy the fitting to fix the generator primer pump. Meanwhile I tidied and snuck in a nap in the cockpit.

The day was gorgeous so we put full sails up and did a fly-by through the famous and beautiful Baths. Even in peak season I don’t think I had ever seen so many boats and dinghies! So we decided to bypass the baths and enjoy a sail to Peter Island. With our tack over to Fallen Jerusalem island (it’s very much like the Baths geographically speaking) we made a good decision to make a pit stop and explore a little.

Gorgeous island!.. and the boulders and rock formations were GRAND. There were some territorial seagulls that gave us a few squeals as they would swoop down inches from our heads. We snorkeled after dinghying around. Pretty, but water visibly was fair so we made it quickie, but not with out playing with some swim throughs! Amazing how quickly you can get your breath holding back when you don’t have much choice! We found one that is on the bucket list next trip over when the current is not ripping.

Our sail to Norman island was exquisite. Calm, breezy and clear. The sun casted a warm hue on the islands and lit them up in a glorious manner. Passing Ginger, Cooper, Salt and then after passing Dead Chest Island (where Blackbeard marooned a number of his crew back in the day as punishment) we ducked into Dead Man Bay off Peter thinking we might stay the night and hike the next morning, but to our disappointment there was an obnoxious sign advising that the resort was closed and passage was prohibited and no trespassing. Excellent hill running here!!! We were planning to do a family power walk of about 12 miles… so gybe Ho!

The next cove on Peter is Great Harbor. This protected cove is the home to the new Willy T (floating bar that for a zillion years lived in the bight of Norman Island). Also for you history buffs.. it is where HMS RHONE first set her anchor to ride out the hurricane that eventually sunk her when the captain decided to cut the anchors after the eye of the storm went by thinking it was over and headed to Salt Island where she sank. Had the captain stayed put he would have saved his ship and his crew! He apparently went down while holding a mug of rum. Great Scuba dive location! We all agreed to keep on sailing on and head to Norman Island. One of our favorites.

During our evening cruise under full sail we fired up the Volvo 75 hp diesel and ran her at an increased RPM (meaning high idle so we stay under full sail power only) such to energize the inverter and AC outlets so Mama could start some rice in the rice maker, while we also charged the houes batteries so we would not have to do so on the mooring and have peace and quiet with out listening to the motor. There were patches between islands that would get a little rolly and Savannah worked on her human gimballing skills to keep the rice maker from sliding off the counter or spilling over! We like the rice maker on these trips and we don’t use all our propane to cook a brown rice which takes longer and it doesn’t stick like it can cooking over the fire, which makes for easy clean up while conserving water.  I also took out some left over coconut chicken from 2 nights ago and the pork tenderloin I cooked the day we caught the bugs (I had pulled out a pork tenderloin to grill, not knowing we’d be eating lobster!) So I tossed the rice in with the pork and chicken, broccoli, stewed tomatoes, mushrooms, rosemary, nuts and seasoning and put on a low flame on the gimballed stove. Dinner done while underway.. my favorite!

Jim and I enjoyed our 2 allotment adult beverage ration on the tail end of the sail with the sun low and it was just wonderful.  Especially knowing dinner was done!

We picked up one of our favorite moorings as there were only a handful of boats in the “Bight” and enjoyed the rest of our evening. Wonderful day of sailing!