It’s been more than a week since Brenda and I left St Lucia, and returned to Antigua and we will be flying out on Sunday.

Normally, I would stay behind and wait for crew to arrive but this year I decided to make the trip back to the US to help Brenda prepare for the remodeling of our kitchen, a job that is expected to take several months.  However, it’s not looking great for a timely start for the job as our tile guy just bowed out of the job due to some sort of family issue.  That’s a real setback so it’s doubly important for me to spend a few weeks trying to get things back on track.

One of the reasons that we hustled back to Antigua was with the hope that I’d be able to get aboard Columbia a reproduction of a classic fishing schooner for the Classic Yacht Regatta, an event that brings beautiful yachts from all over.  There are plenty of great boats that would be racing but she was the one that I wanted to be aboard.

My friend Franklyn had spent a lot of time aboard Columbia and put in a good word for me with the captain, Seth.   At first it didn’t seem too promising but when I showed up on the first day of racing as directed by the Captain, he waved me aboard.    After we all went below and signed in and were issued shirts, we assembled on deck for a briefing.

Captain Seth is very focused on safety and while he wants to win and expects a lot from his crew, he made a point that we were supposed to have fun and, of course, stay aboard Columbia.   At the end of his daily briefing, he led the crew in a rousing chant of “hail Columbia”, a great way to begin a day of racing.  It was awesome to be aboard such a spectacular yacht for three days of racing.   The wind was forecast to be breezy and that’s exactly what we got.  

Even getting her underway from the dock is a sight to behold. Each day we had different colored shirts, including those donated by Carib beer.  I love that brand and to have a bright yellow shirt and hat to match was great fun. What a thrill to be aboard and underway.  The “crew” from Carib beer.The crew thought nothing of climbing, no make that scampering, up the mast to untangle whatever.  To sail on Columbia in “sporty” conditions is nothing short of spectacular!  Blasting along in 25-30kts of wind made for a pretty wet ride.  At the end of this short video, watch someone be swept down the deck by a boarding wave. My primary job was to tail the port foremast runner.   Split second timing was needed to secure the line during a tack.  It took three of us to manage the lines.   The next three images compliments of Ed Gifford, a great guy, who was onboard as one of the photographers. This is what happens if you get the timing off, heading to the leeward rail too early.  When we were preparing to tack, the three of us would get into position just before the tack.  The captain would bear off a bit to gain speed and nd blue water piled up over the rail.  I was swept off of my feet once before I learned better.  Sometimes, it wasn’t possible to stay out of the maelstrom.One of the other visiting crew was swept down the side of the boat and while he stayed aboard, his pants came down, underwear and all, to his ankles.  Good thing that he was able to keep them from being swept over the side.   I doubt that he had a spare pair of shorts handy.  “Excuse me, do you have a spare pair of drawers? Mine went over the side.  I’d really rather you didn’t stare, or laugh, thankyou very much.”

The amount of water that swept aboard was remarkable.  What a view of Ashanti IV, a 110′ schooner that we were racing against.  When I saw these waves sweep the decks, I could only imagine what it must have been like to be in the North Atlantic in the winter fishing for cod when boats like Columbia were the norm.   These waves were pretty big and it was just a lovely day for sailing.   Imagine a storm…

Captain Seth was recognized by the race committee with the overall prize of a beautiful new Locman watch from Italy.  They were an official sponsor of the race.  With my birthday coming up soon, Brenda insisted that I get one too.   This photo is probably the coolest that I will ever look.   As much as I try, I am just not a particularly cool guy.  It is a really spectacular piece. The regatta was put on by the Antigua Yacht Club.  They are very supportive of the Salty Dawg Rally and are the center of the sailing community in Antigua.
Of course, where there is Carib beer, there are Carib girls.And a lot of spectacular yachts including Aquijo.   She is huge, at nearly 300′ long and billed as the world’s largest performance sailing yacht.   Check out her specs and photos.   To get a feel for her scale, notice the kayak on the water just behind the forward mast.Columbia is less than half of her length and is still a really huge yacht herself.  Yes, I realize it’s tough to see so here’s a closeup. Everything about her is enormous.  Note the size of the main boom with a member of the crew walking along the topAnd, she is as shiny as she is huge. Of course, what would a visit to Antigua be without spending time with our friends at the Antigua and Barbuda Royal Naval Tot Club, and we did just that. Of course, we had some “Tots” on the lawn in Nelson’s Dockyard.  And even a Tot aboard the lovely 110′ schooner Aschanti IV. Members of the Tot Club, including the owner of Ashanti IV, can fly the official burgee of the club, the White Pennant.  I have been saying for years that Antigua is the best place to begin and end the cruising season and being back here, our last stop before I begin running Pandora north and home.   We decided to treat ourselves to a few days on the docks in Nelson’s Dockyard, a wonderful end to a great season of sailing in the Caribbean.So, here I am, finishing up on what is likely my last post before heading home to the US until I return in a few weeks to begin my run home.

It’s been a wonderful season, and a lot different than we expected back in the fall when Covid was raging around the world.

All I can say is “Hail Columbia”, and Antigua.  It’s been a great season and I can’t wait until next fall to come back again.

Brenda and I did an overnight run from St Lucia to Antigua, arriving here yesterday, Tuesday.  We had a very fast passage, making the nearly 200 miles in just over 24 hours at a speed of just under 8kts, respectable by any measure for a fully loaded cruising boat in wind under 20kts.

After leaving St Lucia we passed Martinique, then Dominica and finally, Guadeloupe, a passage that took a single day after spending two months heading the other way.  Not a lot to show from the passage except that it was nice to see the islands as we sailed by.As Pandora cuts through the waves, we scare up a lot of flying fish and the seabirds have learned to fly over the waves just in front of our bow to catch the fish that jump out of the water, as they scurry out of our way.  This is a brown booby, an impressive bird that lives just about all of it’s life offshore, only going to land to lay eggs.  This may be another shot of a booby but I am not sure.  I could not find a photo that matched but I think it’s another species. We also passed a large school of very enthusiastic dolphins that leapt from the water, but they are notoriously difficult to photograph.  Sorry, no images.

I’ve mentioned that I am upgrading our house battery bank to lithium in May when I take Pandora to a boatyard in Deltaville VA.  At that time I am also going to have an attachment point welded to the radar arch so that I can add a wind generator, something that I have wanted to do for years as a way to boost our charging options.

While our solar array works great on a sunny day, the sun doesn’t shine at night and the batteries take a big hit from the large refrigeration load along with all the instruments when we are on passage.  With a wind generator, we can take advantage of stronger winds that happen at night and also on cloudy, less settled days to help boost the batteries.

I am also told that lithium batteries also take a charge faster than more traditional lead-acid batteries so details to come on that front.

It’s nice to be back in Antigua after being away for a few months.  Yesterday afternoon, when I went to check in with customs and immigration, I saw several folks that stopped to say hi.  It is nice to feel welcome.

I’ll be focused on setting up events for the arrival of the Salty Dawg Rally fleet next fall and hope to have all of the events scheduled before I leave the island for the season.

Later this week one of the biggest events of the season, the Classic Yacht Regatta, begins here in Antigua, with several days of racing that brings out out a large selection of classic sailing yachts of all sizes.

My favorite of all is Columbia, a reproduction of a classic fishing boat.  Columbia was built a few years ago in FL.  I was fortunate to get aboard for a tour a few years ago and wrote about her in this post.

I have been focused on getting aboard her for some racing for the last few years and today I was introduced to her captain by my friend Franklyn, the commodore of the Antigua Yacht Club.  Seth, the captain, was very nice but said that he wouldn’t know for sure until later tomorrow if there is a slot for me.  Fingers crossed.  it would be awesome to be aboard for three days of racing on such a spectacular yacht. And, speaking of schooners.  Ashanti, at over 100′ long, is a beauty and I was aboard her as well back in 2018 for a Tot club event which I wrote about in this post.   The owner is a Tot Club member and has offered to again host the group for a Tot on Saturday and Brenda and I are planning to attend, totally!  We are also going to the Tot this evening and it will be fun to reconnect with my Tot Club friends.  It is rare to see so many wonderful boats in one place and the Classics is one that draws them.  I walked the docks today for a gander.

The schooner on the left is one that I have toured and written about in the past.  Her name is Mary Rose, the last schooner built by the great designer and yacht builder, Nat Herreshoff, known as the “wizard of Bristol”. The yachts that pack the marina are certainly not all classics and there are quite a few that are so huge that they dwarf even the biggest sailboats.    One of the largest is the Mayan Queen at 306′ long.  Her “beach club”, as the sunning area on the stern of yachts is referred to, gives a good feel for her scale.  Imagine how large the interior space is?It is fitting that this one is called Alpha Nero, as the is “alpha” in every way and no slouch at 270′.  She is reported to belong to a Russian.  Not surprisingly, nearly all of the yachts owned by Russians have fled the area as of weeks ago as sanctions have been levied on many of them in reprisal for the invasion of Ukraine.  An anchor and chain is a huge weight on a boat and one way to address this is to store your yacht’s anchor on a tender.  This boat is designed to carry the anchor for a maxi race boat.   They deploy the anchor and pass the chain to the “mother ship”.  And, they won’t have to wait long for the anchor to be delivered with over 1,000 hp.   Yup, another Russian owns this boat.  The boat that they tender is Scorpios, a 125′ racing yacht, one of the fastest in the world, launched in 2021.  Impressive graphics.And, speaking of tenders, how about Garson, a 21o’ long yacht designed to carry around “toys” that you don’t want cluttering up your “mother ship”.   I’ve seen her before. And, any yacht worth it’s station in life needs to have a proper tender.  This sort is referred to as a “limousine tender” for good reason. She belongs to Limitless, which is what your bank account would need to look like if you owned a yacht like this.   She is 315′ long, again, huge.   Her owner is Leslie Wexner, the founder of The Limited.  He acquired a number of other iconic brands including Abercrombie and Fitch and Victoria’s Secret.   Note the open area on the starboard quarter.  That is the “garage” for the tender pictured above. A huge amount of work goes into keeping a yacht in, well, “yachting trim”.  These guys were washing the side of a huge sailing yacht today.   This tender carries it’s own water supply, kept full from the dock by a large hose. I guess that by carrying their own water they can have an adequate supply even if the pressure from shore isn’t enough to spray high on the hull.  Why didn’t I think of that?And, with a large yacht, you need large fenders, and lots of them.  Notice the ones laying sideways on the dock.  A rigger is working on one of their forestays and roller furler that is really, really long.  Most of the yachts here have been built fairly recently but not this beauty, Talitha, 271′ long, built in 1930 for the founder of Packard Cars.   She is currently owned Mark Getty, the son of JP Getty.   Interestingly, Mark Getty founded Getty Images, a clearinghouse for professional photographs used worldwide. It is clear that Mark has fabulous taste.   Boy, would I love to get aboard her for a tour. Ok, one more photo of a sailing yacht that is a big contrast to all the ladies that are in town for the Classic Yacht Regatta.  She is the maxi racer named “Controlling The Animal, L4”, a mouthful of a name, launched in 2021.  She is one of the fastest racing yachts in the world and she really looks the part. It’s great to be back in Antigua again, where I made landfall back in November.  There is no shortage of magnificent yachts to look at, that’s for sure.
Tonight Brenda and I will be attending a meeting of the Tot Club and it will be fun to reconnect with friends.  Perhaps I can get a replacement membership card to put in my new wallet, when I finally get it.  Remember that lost wallet, the one I lost when I was in Martinique?  So far, nobody has tried to use any of the credit cards that I lost.   Fingers crossed that they won’t…

Over the last few months we have been to some amazing places and it’s hard to believe that our time in the Caribbean this season is just about over.  One thing for sure is that the Classic Yacht Regatta will be great fun and it’s good to be back in Antigua again, our Caribbean “home” away from home.

Well, after sending two weeks in Marigot, St Lucia, it was time to begin our run north to Antigua.   It was a real treat to spend time at the lovely resort attached to the marina and to enjoy the views of Pandora with the ocean in the distance.  I took this phot from the bow of Che, the huge cat that I have mentioned in past posts.  It was wonderful to watch the fiery sunsets every evening.  And see the colors change with the minutes.  It’s amazing how quickly it gets dark every night. Yesterday, Brenda and I sailed less than ten miles north from Marigot to Rodney Bay where we went into yet another marina to spend two days with our friends Bill and Maureen of Kalunamoo, marking the beginning of our run north and the beginning of the end of our season in the Caribbean.  The marina staff was nice enough to put us next to each other on the dock. You may recall that Bill and Maureen were our mentors back in 2012 when we made our first trip down the ICW on our way to the Bahamas.   They proceeded us in the Caribbean by a few years, but ultimately we followed them again, so here we are.

We will begin our near 200 mile run north on Monday with  an overnight to Antigua beginning tomorrow morning, Monday.As the wind is nearly always from the east, we have spent the entire season as we have headed south on a port tack and now that we are turning to the north, we will be on a starboard tack.  This will also be the case for the 200 mile from Antigua to the USVI where I will join the Homeward Bound Rally in May.

I expect that we will continue on a starboard tack much of the way until Pandora is north of the Bahamas on our passage to the US.  As Pandora moves farther north we will encounter the SW prevailing winds on the US East Coast that are dominant.

We’d prefer to move to Antigua doing short 70 or so mile jumps over a three or four day period, but the wind will shift back to a more NE direction on Tuesday and we really want to avoid being hard on the wind for the nearly 200 mile run to Antigua.  Sure, we could wait but that means being here for perhaps another week and that’s too long.

This time of year the trades begin to shift to a slightly more ESE direction so it’s generally easier to head north than south, unlike earlier in the season when ENE was the norm, favoring southbound runs.

The wind won’t be particularly strong, at about 15kts with gusts to 20, so we should have a decent run and I am guessing that it will take about 26-31 hours to go the 185 miles.  Along the way we will pass Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe so if we decide that we want to stop, there are plenty of options.

I will, as always, have my tracker transmitting our position so feel free to follow along.  See the link “where in the world is Pandora” on the top of this page.

We really enjoyed our time at the Marigot Bay Resort and I am looking forward to organizing a rendezvous next March with the Dawgs as spending a week or two there is a nice way to break up the season.

In addition to the lovely pool that is the centerpiece of the resort, there is a very nice spa where Brenda spent some time.   The entrance to the spa area is, I guess, best described as Zen with a plunge pool near the entrance.  I did wonder if anyone had ever sat in the two white chairs.  If you prefer a small plunge pool with a water feature, this is for you.They also have a steam room so you can get all hot and then jump into the nearby pool.  And, all of this is available to folks on the docks and moorings.  Such a deal.

The day before we headed out to Rodney Bay, we rented a car with Stephanie and Jim to tour the island.  To say that driving on the left on those narrow and winding roads was challenging, doesn’t begin to do justice to driving in St Lucia.  It’s a bit hair-raising.

Along with a number of the other islands in the eastern Caribbean, St Lucia has an active volcano.  Most of the evidence of what’s happening down deep in the earth is the presence of hot springs and steam vents.   This spot looks really nasty and nothing can grow.   The smell is a strong odor of sulfur.  Not a place I’d want to have a picnic. I understand that the venting steam is a near permanent fixture of the area. The island has been volcanically active for millions of years.  In past millenniums, violently so as evidenced by the pitons, the cones of long extinct volcanos.  These formations are all that is left after the softer outer parts of the structure weathered away and left the hard igneous rock.  This view from an overlook along the winding, switchback road.  Of course, what’s an overlook without a couples photo?We visited a chocolate factory and store.  What a variety, including chocolate infused gin.  And Brenda, being a gin girl, had to get a bottle. The product displays were in very cleverly modified steel shipping containers.    Below, in their restaurant, we had coffee and a snack. Later, we had lunch at Ladera, a spot overlooking the Pitons.  It is perhaps the best view of any place we have ever had a meal.    A lovely open air spot, high above the water. The view of the few yachts on moorings, in more than 100′ of water, far below.  Zoom in on the one big yacht and you can see that it is Excellence, owned by an American, Herb Chambers.  He owns a slew of automobile dealerships in the North East, US.  She is a spectacular yacht, one of two that he owns.  This one was built in Germany a few years ago.  She can be yours for a week for about $100k.

Of course, if you split the charter with another couple, like the group in this video, it’s half price, a mere $50k plus expenses and tip.   I can tell you, if I had the coin, this boat would be on my list. The owner lives on the CT River not far from our club in Essex.  However, this boat never comes up the river, spending it’s time in the Caribbean and likely the Med in the summer.  His smaller one, a mere 150′ long, is also named Excellence.  Not bad Herb. Well done.

After lunch we visited one of the many beautiful waterfalls on the island.  This one, diamond falls, is not far from the sulphur vents so the water spilling over the falls is warm and mineral laden.   The water stained the rocks and was a dark grey.   We were told that the color of the water changes day to day as the leaching of water from the vents evolves.
Brenda and Stephanie enjoy each other’s company.  Just down stream from the falls are a series of mineral bath pools.  We all donned bathing suits and enjoyed time soaking.  It was nice to be there alone as the crowds in past visits were pretty large.  Interestingly, the water in the pool was clear during this visit and last time, a coco brown.  So ends the southbound journey of Pandora for this season.   Even though we are thousands of miles from home, it still feels like the end.

Perhaps I’ll close with a photo of Pandora, under sail, taken for us by a friend.  Of course, you know that we were sailing south, because we were on a port tack. So much for that, it’s starboard tack from now on.  Well, mostly…

Oh yea, a special thanks to my friend Maureen, yes that Maureen, to point out that I really messed up the whole port and starboard tack thing.  I fixed it…I think…

Yes, I know that there are still a few typos.    Such is life…

Over the years we have been cruising, especially the last ten years when we spent much of each winter afloat, we have increasingly been focused on having Internet connectivity where ever we are.

Back before I retired in 2012 we spent several time in Maine most summers and as cell coverage in much of Maine was and still is terrible so we were always trying to find Wi-Fi that we could tap into.

Early on, we put a Wi-Fi booster aboard with the hope of tapping into routers that were too far away but we only had limited success on that front, as more and more routers required a password.  And to get that code, we needed to visit, eat a meal or pay for time in an Internet Cafe.

When we were in Cuba in 2016 this problem was particularly acute as there was no way for us to “phone home” and the only way to communicate with family during the two months that we were there was by purchasing scratch off paper passes for computer time in a Cuban government hotel.  These “passes” had a scratch off area that revealed a code to be into a browser on a computer terminal.   It was supremely frustrating and the speed,  really slow.  Think AOL dial-up speeds.  Just doing a blog post, assuming that all the text was written prior to logging on, often took 90 minutes and three “passes”.  And, getting these passes was often very difficult as they were in limited supply and many users were hording them, just in case.

So years later, as we expanded our cruising horizons to the Bahamas and now the Caribbean, the quest for connectivity continues to be a focus and while access is a lot better, our expectations have increased faster than the connectivity available will allow.

Most recently we purchased a new phone and installed a simcard for Digicel a local carrier that is supposed to give us data coverage in most of the islands of the Caribbean.   It worked perfectly for about 6 weeks but after that I was having trouble getting it “topped up” as the instructions were all in French and while I tried to get things resolved, it finally shut down for lack of payment.  However, today I see that my card was charged for the monthly fee so perhaps things will get better.  Details to come on that front but I am not all that confident…

The point in all of this is that while connectivity is better than ever, well, it’s not that simple and requires jumping through some pretty amazing hoops to keep the information flowing while we move from island to island.  Some of our friends just purchase simcards for each island and swap them out as they move around.

For the last two weeks we have had the luxury of being on a dock here at Marigot Bay Resort, enjoying visits to the pool, meals out and time with friends that are staying here too.   And, best of all, or at least nice, is excellent wifi, assuming that I am willing to come ashore where the signal is strongest.

Along with all the other amazing things that he is involved in, Elon Musk is well on the way toward establishing satellite based wifi that he is planning to make available anywhere on the planet through his burgeoning Starlink internet program.  It is a very ambitious plan but those who have bet against him in the past have regretted it.

Delivering internet access through fiber optic cables or cellular service has always seemed like a very complicated way to handle things and Starlinks plan of using low orbit satellites just makes sense.

All of this is very confusing and hugely complicated to put into service but the promise of the technology will transform how we stay connected.   I found this video that describes, in very clear terms, why this approach may very well be vastly better than what is available now and the probable impact it will have on marine communications.

The commentary is focused on the megayacht community but it isn’t much of a leap to imagine that there will be applications for smaller yachts in a few years.

Check out this fascinating description of the future.When I think about how things have changed over the last few years, I can only imagine what the future will bring.  I just hope that I will be out on the boat when things really get going.

In the meantime, all I can say is that, all I can say is HELP!  I NEED TO CONNECT!

Elon!  Elon!  Are you listening?  It seems he is…

 

 

It’s hard to believe that our winter of cruising the Caribbean is almost over.   I will admit that Brenda has a somewhat different view of this than I do and is a lot more excited about our flight to the US on April 10th from Antigua.

I like to begin a post with an image that is sort of reflective of what’s going on so here you go.  It’s been hard…chillin.We are spending about two weeks here at the Marigot Bay Resort, tied up at the dock, AC cranking away while we waste water with, sort of, long showers aboard.  Actually, compared to folks on shore, our normal water consumption aboard Pandora is about 15 gallons per day and now on the dock a whopping 30 gallons per day, I’d guess.

Anyway, it’s a nice cushy change of pace. The view from our cockpit is, well, tropical.And while we are spending about $70/day on the dock, the visitors in the hotel are paying about $500/night.   Such a deal! To be able to enjoy the pool while paying about the same cost as a mooring in Martha’s Vineyard is pretty appealing.   Brenda has actually been doing a bit of weaving poolside. Not a bad spot to spend an afternoon. We have met some really interesting folks here including the crew of a nearby mega yacht, a huge catamaran, the third largest in the world.  We have enjoyed some fun evenings aboard Pandora and their digs. How about a singalong?  Her cockpit is wider than Pandora is long.  Big frigging boat. Other “local color” includes a little bird that visits us most days for a snack of banana.  Brenda tells me he/she is a Lesser Antillean Bull Finch.Just to prove that the visitor is really aboard Pandora with our dink “HOPE” in the background, a sort of “proof of life” shot. No wait, this is even better.  He made himself at home in our cabin.  Brenda wasn’t happy about that.  Alas, gone pre-poop.   GO AWAY! This is just so BULLFINCH. The harbor is a very popular spot for party boats to tour.  They come in with music blaring and well lubricated passengers.  I wonder if they have enough life jackets aboard.  Hmm…In the interest of full reporting, chill though I may be, life aboard Pandora here isn’t without it’s mishaps.  The most recent “insult” was compliments of some sloppy docking by a 40′ Sunsail charter boat that tied up near us for one night.  He did a pretty good job of coming in but his inexperience showed when he left and clipped one of my stanchions with his grill.    Fortunately, the damage was limited to the single one.  I was able to bend it, sort of, back in place but it’s clear I’ll need to source a new one when I get home as the top is a full 2″ out of plumb.  And, it should be fun to find a part that was sourced in Finland in 2006 or so.

I have the contact info from the skipper, from the UK who says he will pay for a new one.   I know what you are thinking.  “Good luck with that Bob!”   Yup, we will see how that goes.  At least he didn’t scratch the paint.  No wait, that’s already been done by someone else.    Oh, the bliss of the cruising life and yet another reason to love the charter set.   At least we aren’t in the BVI where they are EVERYWHERE!When I return home I will only be there for about three weeks before I head back to Antigua with my friend Craig.  We will spend about ten days working our way north to the USVI and then will join the Salty Dawg Homeward Bound rally to the US and make landfall in VA where she will receive her lithium battery., house bank, upgrade.

I have mentioned in past posts that one of her three fuel tanks has a leak so I will be down about 1/3 of her fuel for the run home.  With that in mind, I am considering purchasing a collapsible fuel bladder that holds 52 gallons.   This will more than make up for the missing fuel from the leaking tank and when empty, it rolls up into a small package.  It isn’t cheap but being able to avoid another half dozen yellow 5 gallon jugs that sit in the locker empty much of the time, taking up lots of space, is very appealing.

Additionally, once I have that leaking tank back in service again, the bladder will give me additional capacity to make long runs without worrying so much about running out of fuel.   It is larger than it looks but full of fuel it will fit it into one of my vented cockpit lockers.  I can also strap it on the deck under the dink if I choose.   I was told about the use of bladders by the captain of a megayacht who told me that big yachts use this approach to carry more fuel when they have to make long runs that go beyond their fuel limit. One issue, if I put it in the cockpit locker, is how I will transfer the fuel, up hill, into my fuel tanks.  If it’s on deck, gravity will do the trick but below I will need a pump.  After checking a number of sources, this lithium powered pump seems like a good option.  It’s not very expensive, pumps 15 gallons a minute and the battery will last about a half hour between charges.   I am also going to look into a 110v option as that might make the most sense so I won’t have to worry about recharging or the battery going flat between uses.

I always worry about running out of fuel on a l0ng run as it seems that the wind is often light and from an unfavorable direction.   With 25% more fuel I can, in theory, run the engine faster and still have enough fuel to get there in less time.

And finally, in keeping with my “hey, join us for some fun” attitude, I have organized a happy hour at one of the local watering holes for tonight and invited everyone in the marina, cruisers and the crews of some mega-yachts to join us.

It will be fun with a nice mix of folks to meet.   I guess that’s all for now.  So, as our season cruising in the Caribbean moves to a close, coming to you from St Lucia, just chillin.