At 07:00 Tuesday, today, we left Annapolis to resume our trip south to the Bahamas. The weather for the last few days has not been particularly cooperative with very cool temperatures along with off and on rain. Today was no different. When I got up this AM it was plenty dark and the cabin was in the mid 50s. Brrrr!!! Rain was falling and I have to admit that being out on the water didn’t sound appealing to me at all. Needless to say, Brenda wasn’t too keen on a day of sailing in the rain either. However, when the wind blows from behind, you go and take advantage of favorable conditions. Me, I’d rather have rain and good wind than sun and wind on the nose. I expect that most sailors feel the same way. No, probably all of them.
Happily, the rain mostly stopped by the time we got underway and while it remains totally overcast, the wind is in our favor and we continue to make good time. For a while the wind was quite gusty with some speeds peaking in the mid 20s, a bit much wind for the amount of sail that I had up. Happily, it’s moderated into the mid teens and will likely drop more as the day progresses. Actually, this isn’t quite enough wind as we are now on a dead run with the sails set wing and wing. It’s hard to get a shot of this without hanging out over the dink, something that I wasn’t willing to do, so you will have to use your imagination. It’s great fun to watch the autopilot click off the miles without my touching anything for hour after hour. 
While it’s still overcast, the sky has brightened a good deal and it’s now warmer. It’s 14:00 and I am still not sure where we will end up tonight as it really depends on how well the wind keeps up. There are a few options so we will just have to see how far we get before I have to bail out and head in before it gets dark.
While it’s not raining any longer, I have kept the cockpit enclosure in place, including the netting in the back, as it keeps the wind out and it’s a lot more pleasant on a cold dreary day. 
It’s hard to take interesting shots when there isn’t anything around but grey water. This shot does give a good feel for how level our track is. The wind isn’t that strong, with less than 10-15 kts apparent, but we are clicking along at around 6-7 kts and even a bit better over the bottom as the tide is with us. 
The days are really short right now with sunset at 18:30 today so we will have to make a decision soon about where we are going to spend the night. Happily, the winds are supposed to be from the north (a good thing) for the next few days so we should be able to make miles in the next few days.
Having a flexible schedule is terrific as we can pick our days to be out. I pick today!!!