Well, that sucked! The forecast for winds today were forecast to lay down by noon, so expecting a lumpy ride to begin but then taper off, we departed around 0900. We got what we expected, winds around 15 kts and choppy 2' - 3'waves once we made it to the open bay, which was rough, but do-able. After slogging along for three hours and making a little better than 12 nm, it became apparent we were not going to see any relief in either wind or wave action. Not wanting to pay for real estate twice, I decided to press on for the last 28 nm and get it over with. As luck would have it, the winds actually increased and sustained at 20 - 25 kts, gusting to over 30 kts at times, and the waves built to 5'-6', with the occasional 8 footer that would bury the bow sprit deep in the wave and lift the stern to the point the propeller and rudder were out of the water. When that happens, all forward progress stops and then forward momentum needs to build again; usually just in time for the next series of big waves. There were a couple of times that David had to go down below to use the head and I don't know how he managed to stay on his feet, but he did. At one point it finally got to him and he felt a bit queezy. He was able to hang in there though and never did any chumming. It was a miserable ride and we pulled into the anchorage at Deltaville a little before 1700, totally exhausted, and in dire need of some rest.

We have a reservation to haul Kristinly out of the water tomorrow at 0900, and then we will be done with the trip.