Fort de France to the BVI
Monday May 13
- Grant
scrubbing
- Going
through lists
- Provisions
- John
helping with chandlery - I buy a 100 metre nylon hawser, just in case we
have to be towed
- Boat
in at around 2
- Motoring
to docks with Bernard
- Running
for parts
- John
and Doug assembling and repairing
- Water
tank leaks, and we remove it, running on water pumps only
- Efforts
made to understand radio, refrigeration manuals, etc.
- Quiet
night in Marina
- Heat
is still oppressive - would love to stay until we were acclimatized
Tuesday, May 14
- Bernard
arrives with papers, propane, sails, info.
- More
provisioning
- More
chandlery
- Leaving
for Fort de France
- Beautiful
daytime sail
- Arriving
after dark to a busy harbour
- GPS
and keen eyes keep us out of trouble. It helps that John has been here
before
- Drinks
ashore - Grant wants a celebration
Wednesday May 15
Mad
dash through streets of Fort de France - last chance to provision- John
looking for computer connector
- John
guides us to grocery store for provisioning and wine
- More
wine – prices are good
- Away
at 12:30 bound for BVI
- Grant
gets sick
- Laurie
sick late in day
- Grant
sleeps in cockpit
- Large
waves
- Banging,
thrashing, noises like train wrecks, as waves are smashed against and
between hulls and under salon
- We
are on a broad reach at speeds of 9, 10 even 11 knots
- Early
in morning, Grant and Laurie put in 1 reef.
The boat seems stable enough, but the violence is unnerving
- Laurie
has put out fishing line – 100 metres – Its lure trails way back, but at
surface – a blur to a fish.
Thursday, May 16
- Middle
of Caribbean Sea, with Dead Chest near our far waypoint
- Grant
still very ill
- Laurie
not feeling good, but keeping it down
- The
boat lurches violently, and the banging under the table is incredible
- The
feeling of speed is grand
- Grant
calls the hulls “skis” as if we were an out-of-control sled careening
down a mountainside
- Grant
and Laurie put in another reef, but it seems not to affect the speed for
violence
- John
remarks, “How will we stop when we get there?”
- Our
watches are not organized…lack of leadership? It comes together with volunteerism and without effort
– Grant still “self-banished” to cockpit.
- Rain,
sun, heat, violence, lack of sleep…Laurie not well, not adjusting quickly
enough
- Reel
in fishing line – barb is gone
Friday,
May 17
- Lights
from Tortola dead ahead and obvious a couple of hours before first light
- We
pass to east of Dead Chest, and enjoy the relative calmness of Sir Francis
Drake Channel, and
sail well into Road Town Harbour
- Clearing
customs
- Attempting
to contact Alfred, our propane and refrigeration man
- Cheeseburgers
and even more provisioning
- Sail
on jib to Nanny Key
- Laurie
navigating in close quarters – good job, all surprised – 2 engines –
easy…
- Would
it be so easy on one engine?
- More
chandlery, 2 diesel tanks, 1 water tank, propane tank
- Nice
meal and drinks at Peg Legs
- To
bed early
