Reflections

Well, maybe time for a bit of philosophizing –don’t hang up!!! – and reflection as we sit here in Jolly Harbour, Antigua (in the rain right now at 7 AM on a Saturday morning), West Indies, Caribbean. For those of you not into “deep thoughts”, tune to Channel 7 – they play rock and roll!!!

First of all, this (“Mystic”) journey is proving to be, one way or another, one of the most exciting, demanding, enjoyable, frustrating and memorable experiences we as a couple and each of us as individuals has ever taken. A couple of people have asked how hard it is to live 24/7 in another person’s face, with not much chance to separate and knowing that this will continue for an unspecified period of time. My (GT) thoughts: it has been a wonderful chance, which I think we have taken advantage of, to learn about each other and to grow in this relationship. Funnily enough, I think a real positive for me is it will and does also help me live in other relationships with family, friends and even strangers. I am learning that it is okay to be wrong, it is okay to ask for help, it is okay to not know everything. There are times, and there have been all along, where old habits and fears kick in and old voices speak to me from the conference table in my mind. The result is I respond in old ways and speak before my mind is in gear. I would like to think – no, I know - this is changing for the better and in the meantime, I try to let Cheryl know ASAP that it is not about her and I apologize ASAP. I know this is not the ideal but it is growth and change. Ask my kids!!! Again from my viewpoint, Cheryl has been a rock and a comfort and a support and I cannot honestly think of any things I would ask of her other than be who she is.

Individually, speaking of exciting, demanding etc etc, the trip or my mind, is starting to come together. I have said before that the image of what was to be was a mixture of reality and wishful thinking. The reality was the trip would not be a cover for Yachting World. The wishful thinking was it would be a cover for Yachting World! The reality part is at the end of most of the legs of the trip, I don’t sit down, relax, have a cup of tea and we then dive off the side of the boat into the sea. The reality is there is inevitably something that needs tended to fairly quickly - in fact this often happens during the trip, although less frequently now. One of the big differences between here and home is here I don’t figure out what is wrong, hop in the car, drive to the hardware store and get the parts I need. Here I search through the few parts that the previous owner left or that I guessed we might need and pre-purchased and if I can’t find what I need, I fake it. So far it has worked but so far I haven’t reached the nirvana of having confidence enough it will always work to give me instant peace of mind. After all we spend most of our time a considerable distance from the sea bed, a condition I want to continue. As I said, though, this is a process of growth and learning and one I likely wouldn’t change if I could (well, actually, I wouldn’t mind a totally trouble free trip but hey, I would come back the same person I was when we left!!).

The other and overwhelmingly positive side of the story – even the bad times are good. When we left Montserrat with the intention of coming around the north side of the island, turning south and heading for Guadeloupe and we subsequently ran into conditions that made it more difficult than we wanted, we had the freedom to change our course and pick one we liked. We were able to take what was being offered to us and choose what worked best for us. I remarked to Cheryl yesterday what a tremendous difference there was in the way we were sailing and more importantly how we were experiencing the sailing. Where before the Montserrat change and the seas and conditions that precipitated it would have been scary and frustrating, this time it was kind of exhilarating and empowering (my least favourite word but most appropriate this time). It was almost peaceful to be driving through 6-9 ft seas with the boat responding to the helm because we are learning how to work with the boat and the elements.

Another reality that is tremendous, especially when we choose to see it, is all the different kinds of beauty that exists out here in each of the places we stop. No, it is not all 14 mile pink beaches like we saw in Barbuda on our trip with Julie and Graham but that is just another reason for gratitude.

MONTSERRAT

The bustling busyness of Simpson Bay Lagoon, the stark harshness of Montserrat, the beauty of the fireworks display seen over water at St Kitts – I could go on and on but the main point is, when we accept what is there and embrace it, we are able to see the wonder of what we are experiencing.

ST. KITTS

ST. MAARTEN

I told you I was going to wax philosophical! I could go on and may at some other time about the people we have met and the people we have encountered (there is a difference) but I think that this is enough for now. Sufficient to say, we are blessed!

Griff asked me to add a bit to this blog. Interestingly enough I was also thinking about doing a blog along the same general lines - Sort of how I was feeling about everything so far. Yes there have been times when I have questioned whether we have made the right decision, but those are becoming fewer. I am feeling more confident about my abilities and am learning more about what we are capable of doing. Getting out on the deck while we are sailing to do something that needs attending to, such as shortening the rope on the dinghy or making sure the sail is folding properly when we are dropping the mainsail, are becoming second nature now - as long as I have my life jacket on and am tethered to the boat. The only thing that is still consistently presenting me with a challenge is the dinghy!!!!! I have great difficulty getting into and out of it gracefully and the one time I tried driving it I ended up going towards shore and hitting the prop on some rocks. That was one time I knew for sure Griff’s frustration was because of me. Other times I know he finds bothersome is when I jump in to do things I feel he needs help with rather than waiting until he asks for help. That is the nurse or mother in me wanting to make things easier for the people around me. Griff calls it managing rather than helping. I am trying really hard to change this.

Like Griff I too am changing personally. I am finding it less difficult to let Griff know what I am feeling or what my opinion is about what is happening. He makes it easy to do because I feel he wants to know. It still does not make it any easier to write down my thoughts and feelings so bear with me.

The sailing is becoming exhilarating rather than scary. Julie asked me what was most frightening about the night crossing to St. Maarten. I told her that I don’t really remember being frightened so much as being physically uncomfortable – cold, wet, tired and nauseated. I remarked to Griff that sailing in the rough seas and strong winds is a little like looking after toddlers. When you are sailing and the conditions gradually change is like having a child and learning what they are like as they grow rather than just being thrown into a situation, like looking after someone else’s three-year old for the first time. It is much easier and less scary when things happen gradually. You adapt and learn and discover that there really isn’t anything to be frightened of. That’s not to say that you become complacent and careless, just less afraid.

The other cruisers we have met have been quite friendly and helpful. We have dinghied over to other boats to introduce ourselves, usually because they are flying the Canadian flag. As well, we have had other people dinghy to our boat or in one case swim over. They are all willing to share tips about where to go and what to avoid and give advice in response to our questions. As Griff said we will tell more about the people met and encountered in a different blog.

A Surprise for the Perrys

Hi all - well, although we made it out of Montsarrat, once we rounded the north corner of the island, we realized that the wind and seas weren't as forecast and we had some pretty big swells working against us and that the wind was not coming from the direction promised. Consequently we would have gotten to Guadaloupe sometime in the middle of the night so we decided to go with the wind Gods and we headed for Antigua. So here we are, with some recent pictures of Artemo for the Perry family to ooh and aah over. It looks great guys.

The trip here was good, winds about 20 kts and seas varying between 2 and 10 ft but from our port side and somewhat to front. We sailed close reach pretty well all the way, meaning the wind was from as far to the front as possible and still allow us to make headway. confusing sentence but there you are.

This is a short blog because we wanted to get the news out of our change in plans. A longer one is coming with maybe some video (don't hold me to that but we will try).

By the way, for the folks that said they liked having the map - kudos to Jason - his brilliant idea and his work to put it thereand also for the instructions on how to keep it up.

Nevis

We stayed at St. Kitts until the Saturday after Good Friday. By then the chance of hitting some of the big swells from the north was gone. As it was we were fortunate that we stayed. When we went in to town on Friday we were able to see some of the festival clowns that St. Kitts is noted for. There was a group of them dancing in the square by the cruise ship dock. Of course we hadn’t brought a camera with us. Then Friday night we were sitting on the boat reading and Griff said it sounds like fireworks. Sure enough we went up on deck and enjoyed a spectacular fireworks display. We oooh’d and aaah’d appropriately. The reason for the fireworks was St. Kitts is hosting the Carifta Games (track and field) for the first time and Friday was the opening ceremonies.

Saturday morning we headed out to Nevis. Almost ideal sailing weather – the wind was from the ENE at 12 – 20 knots most of the morning, some gusts to 26 knots, and the seas were from the ENE and less than 1 meter in height. The only thing that could have been better was that there could have been more sunshine. There was cloud cover most of the way. We managed to sail the 11 nautical miles in a little under 3 hours.

In Nevis we didn’t have to worry about setting our anchor. They have a veritable field of mooring balls. Mooring balls are in permanent positions attached to or weighted to the bottom. You come up to them, using your boat hook, grab the rope with ring attached and attach a dock line from each side of your bow and cleat them off. Because the mooring balls are all in a set location there is no danger of hitting another boat when you swing with the breeze or swells and of course you don’t have to worry about your anchor slipping because you did not set it properly. That makes for an easier nights sleep.

For Julie and Millie - this mooring looks out on 4 miles of beach.

We went in to Charleston, the capitol, to check in and check out the town. There was a market on so we purchased a lot of fresh vegetables. The market was neat. Most of the stands were ‘manned’ by older women. They seemed to share scales between stands, and kept the change underneath the cloth the produce was lying on. I asked one of the ladies for a yam because I had found some recipes for yams that I wanted to try. It took a while to convince her and the lady beside her that yes I wanted a yam and not a sweet potato. Yams here are more like our white potatoes rather than sweet potatoes. I finally got a yam and we had it cooked with onion last night for supper. It is actually quite a starchy, bland vegetable, but tasted good with the onions. Again no camera with us so no pictures of the market.

Today we went in to the beach to wash the dinghy. While there we found out that even this anchorage felt the effects of the 5 meter swells. We could see how high the swells had come up onto the beach – about another 20 feet from where they were today. I’m glad we stayed in St. Kitts as long as we did.

St Kitts - the Friendly Island

Well, we are still at St Kitts - both because it is a beautiful place and probably the best island we have been to yet, but also because of the weather going on elsewhere. Just in case anyone was wondering how we check weather to find out what is going on, there are a few ways we can do that. We of course listen to the weather on the VHF radio. The down side of that is the only one that we get at this time is the one from Puerto Rico. It is relayed from there through the various island repeaters such as the one on Sint Maarten. As I said, the downside is it is Puerto Rico but they do report the weather out to the Atlantic although not too far south of Sint Maarten. At this time of year though, the weather south is nearly always the result of weather up north.

Another way we check is using the internet - one of the best sites and definitely the easiest to read is http://www.windguru.com/. It is actually a windsurfers site but it gives winds, waves, directions and just about anything else we might need to know and you can ask for specific regions which is great. There are a couple of other sites also - caribwx is one and the NOAA site is another. Finally, of course, there are a number of SSB channels but we don't have the times all figured out yet as to which ones broadcast reports when.

How this all relates to us staying here is as follows. Due to a late winter storm up north (south to you guys) swells anywhere from 10 - 25 feet (depending on who reports them) are expected to come down from the north Tuesday to Friday so we tucked ourselves into an anchorage at Port Zante which is at Basseterre, the capital of St Kitts, on the southwest coast of the island.

About the island - as I said, it is the best we have been to so far. The people are polite and more than willing to offer help and suggestions. Something we didn't know was that there are apparently a lot of Canadians here and in fact, a lot of the island development is funded through Canadian banks and with Canadian talent. There is even an RBC bank in Basseterre as well as a Scotia Bank (Scotia banks are on a lot of the islands). During our tour yesterday, a local nursing student went along for the ride and told us that 80% of the people that attend Ross University, a school of veterinary medicine are Canadian and there is even a Windsor University, a medical school that is somehow affiliated with the Canadian medical community. The nursing school trains nurses at the diploma and BSN levels. They do their theory work here for 1-2 years and then go to the States to do a year practical work.

The island itself is lush and green. The upper portions are actually a rainforest while the lower parts grow lots of sugar cane. Sugar used to be a major industry here but the cane is used now mostly for making rum. You can also see lots of goats,donkeys, and chickens and we actually saw 3 or 4 groups (we couldn't call them herds, coming from Alberta) of cattle, something we hadn't seen on any of the other islands.








Monkeys also thrive on the island and people keep them as pets.








There are no roads on the middle of the island due to the mountainous terrain (and the rain forest vegetation) and the biggest mountain on the north of the island was actually volcanically active until about 400 years ago. That seems like a long time ago but you can see by the land the results of what went on then. The Black Rock pictures really illustrate this well.







During our tour of the island we stopped at Brimstone Hill - an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an old English fortress on top of an upthrusting of lava. The view from the fort is amazing.




We spent Tuesday on the tour and after we got back, we just vegged on the boat. Wednesday in the morning I (Griff) did a little work on one of the bilge pumps and on the man overboard pole while Cheryl was trying out our battery operated sewing machine (it works great for what she was doing so far) making some dish towels, modifying the St Kitts courtesy flag we bought and working on cushion covers.

In the afternoon we went into town and wandered around checking the out of the way places. We also got some laundry done and when we got back we went for a swim and then did the sun shower thing. All in all a totally relaxing day. The wind has been up today, likely due to the weather patterns coming down but our anchorage is snug and we are hardly moving at all.

Tomorrow we may try to get to the north side to see if we can get a glimpse of the big swells. I would love to see some 25 ft swells - not sail in them of course - but the ocean is awesome and to see things like that sometimes puts our place on earth in perspective

Sint Maarten/St. Bart's

After our overnight sail we decided that rather than anchoring in Simpson Bay which was quite rolly we would go into Simpson Bay Lagoon for our stay in Sint Maarten. In order to enter the lagoon we had to wait until the drawbridge was raised. This happens three times during the day for outgoing and then for incoming traffic. The day we arrived happened to be the final day of the Heineken Regatta. The lagoon was filled with boats. Griff said it was like pulling your RV into a WalMart parking lot to stay. The shore of the lagoon had stores and restaurants around it and little else. We decided to stay in the lagoon while we did a few more repairs on the boat because it was easier to access the stores we needed there.

After finishing most of the things that needed doing to the boat we moved out of the lagoon to Big Bay which is where Phillipsburg, the capital, is situated. Sint Maarten is certainly the place to buy boat parts but not overly small yacht friendly, Phillipsburg was interesting. We did some shopping in the open air market and a lot of walking around the shopping district. There was a big sandy beach, but when the cruise ships were in it was pretty full. We were able to swim around the boat.

When we cleared customs in Simpson Bay there was a sign saying that the authorities were being strict about lifejackets and all around white lights for dinghies. When we cleared out in Phillipsburg we found out how strict they were. One fellow was telling us how he got stopped one evening because he didn’t have the white light in his dinghy. He was fined $250, the dinghy was hauled out and put on a hoist and he was a guest in the jail for the night. I am absolutely positive if it had been a tender from one of the many, many, many mega-yachts in the harbour, it would not have happened. We were lucky then because we spent a lot of time in our dinghy while in the lagoon and did not have any lifejackets or light with us. Mind you we did not use the dinghy after dark there.

From Sint Maartens we had planned on going to Saba which is another island in the Netherland Antilles, but changed our minds and went to St. Bart’s, a French island. We stayed there for one night and then headed for St. Kitts which is where we are as I am writing this. St Barts is apparently where lots of big-wigs and movie stars go but we didn’t find the people particularly friendly. Again, this is a mega-yacht island .









The sail from St.Barts to St Kitts was absolutely fabulous – just like you imagine sailing should be. We had the wind on a broad reach – for the non-sailors that is a wind that is coming from behind. Probably 90% of our sailing since we got here we have had the wind on our port bow, just enough of a direction that it was a constant battle to keep the wind working for us. Today the swells were helping the wind and we were able to use all three sails. GREAT!!! The colour of the water was amazing - I hope the picture does it justice. The blue was vibrant!!


Cheryl handled the only off moment like a seasoned salt. There was a squall that passed in front of us and we had thought we lucked in. Well, although the rain was gone, we were suddenly sailing in 25-28 knot winds nearly off our beam. As I said, Cheryl took it all in stride.
In St. Bart’s we met up with a couple from Toronto who we had talked with in Virgin Gorda and they are also here in St. Kitts. As well, we met another couple from Toronto who are anchored next to us. Tomorrow the six of us are going to go on a tour of the island. From what we saw of the island sailing down the west side, it is the prettiest one we have seen so far – all green with sugar cane and rain forest. We are looking forward to the tour tomorrow.

News from Moose

Hi everyone. I decided since Griff and Cheryl are relaxing after their trip from BVI and doing a few more repairs on the boat, I would escape from my prison in the hammock and go on deck and talk to you about what goes on up there when we are sailing.

First they undo the sail cradle - this is in place to protect the sail from the sun when we are not sailing. The halyard (rope) is attached to the top of the sail and it is ready to be raised.

Next the anchor must be raised. To do this Griff stands at the gypsy windlass and steps on the round black switch on deck which raises the anchor. While he is doing this Cheryl is at the helm moving the boat slowly forward. They do not want the boat pulled forward by the windlass.

Now we need to get the sails up. To raise the mainsail we must be headed directly into the wind so that the sail goes straight up and does not get caught on the lazy-jacks (a system of ropes that lie on either side of the sails and make it easier to drop the sail straight down when it is lowered). It is Cheryl's responsibility to keep the boat headed into the wind and Griff's to pull on the halyard. Today I pretended to do this.

When the sail is part way up it becomes too heavy to just use 'manpower' to raise it so a winch and winch handle are used.

We have a foresail (genoa/jib) and a stay sail (situated between the foresail and mainsail). Both of these are furled sails, that is, they are wrapped around the stays when not in use. When needed they are pulled out and cleated off in the cockpit. Griff and Cheryl both do this depending on who is at the helm when these sails are needed or when the sails need to be shifted to the other side of the boat (tacking).

I thought I'd take a few pictures of what else is on deck.

Liferaft

Solar panels

Wind generator

Sunshower

Instruments for navigation

So long for now.

Our First Overnight Sail

The first leg of our journey ‘down island’ is to sail from British Virgin Islands to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin (the dual name is because half of the island belongs to the Netherlands and the other half to France). This is a distance of approximately 75 nautical miles. Since our speed at best is 5 knots (nautical miles per hour) that is a trip of approximately 14 hours – that is if the wind and seas are with you. Unfortunately the winds and seas in that area are normally from the east and since that is the direction in which we had to go we were looking at 16 – 18 hours for the trip.

We left the north end of Virgin Gorda at 4:30 pm and started sailing. Our last site of the lights of Virgin Gorda came sometime between 7 and 8 pm. About 10 o’clock Griff checked our course and realized that the wind and waves were pushing us south of our projected course and we weren’t making much way over ground. The wind was such that the only way to correct this was to begin a series of tacks and since this would likely add enough time to our trip to being us to our destination at night rather than day and mean a 24-30 hour trip, we started to motor/sail. That is we had the motor on and the main sail up with one reef (3/4 of the sail raised) and the foresail out. The combination would not necessarily give us better speed but it enabled us to keep to a course that would more directly take us where we wanted to go.

Throughout the night the winds were from the north/north-east at 16-24 knots and the swells were about 8 -10 feet. The waves were breaking over the port bow and would rush back along the deck, sometimes splashing into the cockpit. Every 1 ½ to 2 hours we rotated at the helm. When not at the helm we would try to get some rest. This was difficult for both of us. We were quite nauseated by the motion of the waves (Griff says he was okay until he ate a banana – go figure!) and going below decks where it was noisy and hot was out of the question so we ‘cat-napped’ on deck. At one point Griff asked me what I thought of night sailing and all I could say was that at least I didn’t have to worry about running into land.

Essentially we were alone in our boat somewhere in the Anegada Passage between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. During the first half of the trip we could see a cruise ship on the horizon, about 2 miles away. Later on we could see two more and then they all disappeared. Two sailboats took their places for a while, but they too were soon lost from sight. We passed another sailboat going in the opposite direction once and that was it for other boats we saw. (Griff here for a moment) – It really is a strange sensation, or at least it was for us, to be in an environment that was at the same time so exciting, scary and isolating. We could look out into the blackness and see only the white spray and foam from the wave crests as well as where our bow was thrusting through the swells. Yet at the same time we could look up and see a gazillion stars, none of which seemed to help in lighting our way. And we had no headlights to see by or streetlights to guide us! I must say also there was no time between say 10 PM and 5 AM when we would have used the word fun to describe this part of our journey.

Finally, about 5:30 AM the sky to the east started to lighten and by 6:30 AM I could say to Griff - “LAND HO”. With the rising sun we could now see what the waves were really like. I’m not sure if that was better or not. As the sun rose higher the seas did settle down somewhat and some of the rocking and rolling subsided, but not the nausea.

We motored the last hour so that we could arrive in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten (the Dutch side) in time for the bridge to lift (11:30). There is a very large Lagoon that has access from Simpson Bay on the Dutch side and Marigot on the French side. Entry is through a channel that has a lift bridge which only allows inbound or outbound at certain times. We decided that we wanted seas as smooth as possible to anchor in after our trip so we opted for the Lagoon. We anchored, went to check into customs, picked up some takeout food for lunch and then back to the boat to rest. We’re always amazed at how rocky the land is when we get off the boat. This time the sensation was unusually severe and I was actually glad to get back on the boat because the motion didn’t seem as bad.

One thing that happened on the trip that we hadn’t planned was WE CAUGHT OUR FIRST FISH!. When Griff got into the dinghy to go to customs, there was a flying fish lying in the bottom of the dinghy. Not quite the catch we had envisioned, but a fish none the less. Griff says he is not really as scared of the fish as it looks like in the picture – he just wanted to show the whole thing to the camera lens – riiiiight!

Virgin Gorda and the Baths

Since I don’t have access to our blog right now I am not exactly sure where we left off but I am going to assume you knew we had arrived at Virgin Gorda after a great sail from Norman Island, during which the pictures of our boat “on the high seas” were taken. Anyway, we anchored on arrival in Thomas Bay, which is outside the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour (VGYH). Water was clear and warm and although we were anchored in 20’ of water, it looked to be about 5’ deep (thankfully it wasn’t – our keel is 6’). We dinghied into the harbour to check it out but since it was Sunday it was fairly quiet. We did find out that Monday was a holiday so that helped in our planning since we wanted to find someone to go up our mast (I would have gone – honest – but we don’t have a bosun ‘s chair yet!!!) Our anchor light had stopped working and we also needed our steaming and spreader lights checked.

The anchorage was quiet although a bit rolly at times. We stopped over at a Canadian boat from Toronto during our time there. Nice people who come down during non-hurricane season and sail the Caribbean. They say they have been doing that for 4 years and still have lots to see so have no intention at this time in going elsewhere.

Tuesday we moved into the marina and made arrangements to have the work done. The marina is one of the nicest we have seen in our short time on the briny. It had grass fields and lawns bordered by well-kept rail fences. The prices were much better than Nanny Cay and making arrangements for work was a dream in comparison. There was one person we went to who would arrange anything you wanted, whether it was work done by the boatyard or from outside workers. We also decided to have all of our engine fluids changed by someone. I could have done this myself but since it was first time, I would likely have had to have the manuals open beside me and besides which there are always tricks to learn about easier ways to do these things. And yes – I can spell rationalization!! Come on, I’m retired!

So, by Thursday, all was shipshape and we decided we would go to The Baths on Friday. We had been doing some local sightseeing by going for walks and exploring the countryside but The Baths are something that we couldn’t leave without seeing. So bright and early – well, later and glowing – we took an open-back truck/taxi to The Baths.

In order to get down from where we were dropped off, we had to walk a 350 yard path that was really quite attractive. It meandered through boulders, some as high as 3-4 stories but had lots of vegetation and interestingly shaped smaller rocks.

On reaching the bottom, the choice was to go to Devil’s Bay through the Caves or go directly to the Baths. The Baths, by the way, turned out to be an area of the coastline where there were lots of huge boulders rising out of the seabed causing the waves to break around them and creating lots of foam and water patterns.

We chose Devil’s Bay as our first destination and off we went. The sign at the beginning says be prepared for crawling, climbing ladders, walking with the aid of ropes fastened to the walls and wading through water to get to Devil’s Bay. It also said just follow the small cairns of rocks you will see as you go. Well, they were right about all of it except the small cairns of rocks. We only got lost twice until we ran into a man and his 10/11 year old son. They too were confused – well, I should say the father was confused because he had been leading them. He let his son lead and we all followed him directly to the Bay. It was actually a fascinating trail, around, over and sometimes under huge boulders lining the shore and through grottos. And it was much easier and seemed shorter coming back. Devil’s Bay was beautiful and swimming in and around the boulders in the turbulence produced by the waves was great fun.

After leaving Devil’s Bay we went to the Baths but it was a little disappointing. Whether because the seas were down that day or perhaps the advertising was “overdone” the “bath” effect of lots of foam and bubbling water was missing. It was still a nice beach to relax on and read for a while between dips in the sea. We left about 4:30 and went back to the boat.

After lazing around for a while, we called it a day with the intention of getting lots of rest since we expected to be up all of Saturday night. Of course we had not taken into account that it was Friday night, we were close to the Bath and Turtle (the marina outdoor bar) and the bar outside the marina but directly across the road had their BIG night on a Friday night, outdoor speakers and all. Add to that the Baptist Revival tents that were set up not far from the other bar, also with outdoor speakers on indirect competition with the bar and as you can imagine, not much sleep was gotten until after 2 in the morning. Not looking good for being well-rested for the overnighter!!!

Just to finish – the revival meetings had been going on all week and although they were loud and the solo singers were a bit tone deaf, the minister really got going on his sermons and at least they were normally done by about 9 PM!!

Saturday morning was last minute prep time – grocery buying, custom clearing, paying the marina, get fuel etc etc, but we were out of there by 13:30 and WE’RE OFF.