I’ve been too busy enjoying myself to write about it! Bravo—with Tom, Galen Todd and Paul Rogers—departed Camden on October 31, and endured big sloppy seas, 25-30 knots of wind on the nose, and as Tom wrote in the log, “free showers in the cockpit.” No dinner was attempted. The next day they had lumpy seas and light winds, so motorsailed for eight hours. On November 3 they entered the Gulf Stream, encountering very lumpy confused seas and winds 20-30 and higher. Two jib sheets blew out (see the picture in the photo gallery of the remnants), and the wind was “variable in direction and velocity—especially in squalls (20-30 with gusts to 40).” Again, no dinner. They motored all day on the 4th, and decided they’d better stop in Bermuda to refuel. Arriving St. George’s the next morning at 1000 hours, they had “a long but friendly (even funny) interview with Bermuda Radio,” then cleared customs, then to the fuel dock for 31 gallons of $7 diesel and water at 25¢ per gallon. Then back to customs to check out, but there were 2 or 3 boats ahead of them in line, and the office closed for lunch hour. While circling in waiting, Bermuda Radio called them and asked that they tow a disabled sailboat into customs. Bravo came up alongside the Jeanneau 41 and rafted, then motored the two boats to the customs dock, without a scratch.

The next few days, November 6-9, were mostly motoring and making fuel calculations, as the wind remained very light. Some days there were ripples; other days the sea was like glass. On the 9th the wind picked up, allowing them to sail, and on the 10th the wind was 20-25 with some periods of 30+, with rough seas. Double-reefed main and number 3 jib. November 11 was great nighttime sailing, with Tom on the 0400 to 0600 watch, “cracking along at 8+ knots, ETA is 0600, sunrise 0610. Perfect. Coming in Jane and Sue are waving wildly from the dock at the villa—nice!”

Sue Todd and I had a good trip to Antigua on November 8. We’d rented it through Totally Tropical Villas in Jolly Harbour, and Melissa of ttvillas was waiting there to greet us and give us a complete orientation. The friends who’d recommended ttvillas, Maggie Salter and Al Hickey, had arrived on the 7th, and had us for dinner, which was a huge help as we hadn’t yet provisioned. Nice evening catching up with them. Our golf cart was delivered the next morning, and we were off and running—to the excellent grocery store and then the beach. Our villa neighbors were delightful people and very helpful, and once Bravo arrived and tied up right in front, it was a perfect arrangement. Easy to switch the boat from offshore mode to cruising mode, with showers, comfortable beds, and good WiFi making it rather luxurious. We treated everyone to dinner out Saturday evening—a great crew deserved it—and had Maggie and Al for cocktails Sunday; we said farewell to Paul on Monday. He was a terrific crew member.

A few more days spent in Jolly Harbour, buying new jib sheets, swimming at the magnificent long white beach, and taking a bus to St. John’s one day and to English Harbour the next day, which requires taking a bus into St. John’s then transferring to another bus to English Harbour. We explored Nelson’s Dockyard, which has been turned into a national park (complete with entry fee) since we were here with our girls in 1989–very spruced up. We had a nice lunch overlooking the dock where boats were cleaning up from their offshore passages. Deciding that taking the two-bus route back wasn’t satisfactory, we set off in search of a taxi, and found one a short walk away in Falmouth Harbour. He drove us a circuitous route, first going to someone’s home to pick up a gas jug, then to a gas station to fill the jug, then to someone else’s house to drop off the gas jug…which, incidentally, had no cap and made the trip on the floor next to Tom, who had to hold it steady. Up and over the mountains, through a bit of rain forest, stopping at a roadside stand selling Antigua’s little black pineapples, billed as the sweetest in the world. They’re not black, and we failed to discern any significant difference in taste from regular pineapples at 1/8th the price.

On November 16 we left Jolly Harbour—finally cruising!—and proceeded to drop anchor in Carlisle Bay…and then raise it and move on to Falmouth Harbour, because Carlisle was too rolly. The next day we motored into a stiff headwind to Deshaies, Guadeloupe. Customs checking was done at a shop called La Pelican, on a dedicated computer terminal. A bit tedious, but for 4€ we were official. Dinner ashore that night to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.

More to follow.