April 28, 2014 The next stage

Well, here we are motoring west along the south coast of Puerto Rico. What! You say…well, here’s how it happened.

We worked like dogs on Ocean Jedi for the rest of last week, and finally on Friday she was launched and we moved around to a slip on the north side of the marina. Mark and his friends are on island, and so will be coming on board later tonight. After a week in the dirty, dusty boatyard, with multiple crews doing fiberglass work we have A LOT of cleaning to do both inside and outside. The next two days were a little hairy, with a few remaining boat problems to clean up…hatches, rigging the new screecher, and some crew shakeups, then finally yesterday (after a last, early am sea trial) we were on our way from Puerto Del Rey. Because we got a later start than we had hoped we decided to head into Palmas Del Mar, 3 hours away. A little time in the pool makes everything alright

So today we are up and out in the predawn light clearing the harbor and heading for Gilligan’s island, Guanica Bay…the winds are light, light, and although we originally had main and jib up, inside of an hour we were running bare poles before about 6.2 knots of breeze.

Passage making is very different than chartering, or cruising and takes a special toll on the crew. Not to mention that you have to do many things while moving like cleaning, cooking, eating and sleeping and it takes a little time to get everyone into the rhythm. We’re working it out step by step.