We're On Our Way!

Mike: We cast off the dock lines at 3pm yesterday and sailed west along the south shore of Tortola and deaked through Thatch Cut to our starting waypoint. Winds were from the south east at about 10 knots with seas 1 foot or less giving us a smooth ride. The 3/4 moon set just before 2am leaving an inky blackness that was punctuated by countless stars in the sky and phosphorescence in our wake.

Everything on the boat is operating smoothly. The engine purrs. The rigging is sturdy. The boat is sound. We've downloaded the weather forecasts and GRIB weather overlays for the chartplotter via our sat link and what we see is pretty much what we'll have for the coming days.

Today we flew the new spinnaker for several hours. This was after about an hour of setting it up. Darn if I didn't get the various lines all interfering with each other. Thank goodness for Bill and Brian who helped and showed the error of my ways. It was great, just set it and forget it. Our current position as of 6pm today is N19°27.18, W066°41.30, about 60nm north of the eastern end Puerto Rico.

• Note the flag... Haarrr!!!

This evening Bill fixed up a chicken and rice dish on the barby that just couldn't be beat. Does life get any better?

Bill: Brian and I stood the 12am to 3am and 3am to 6am watches respectively. Our only sighting all night was a cruise ship going by off on the horizon in the middle of the night. During the day, the only ship we saw was a container ship. We'll now be starting our second day at sea and have travelled 120 nautical miles and still have about 300 to go to the Turks. Winds are 10-15kts, seas are running about 8ft. We are certainly having too much fun. I for sure want to sail my boat down here. Was there ever any doubt?