Yesterday Feb 2 was the first time I had ever taken Mile High Dream out on my own. No one else there, just me, the boat, the sea, and the weather.
We rented a car and Linda and I toured Antigua before going to the airport for her to catch a 3:30 flight back to Maine. i drove back to Falmouth Harbor dropped the car off and took the dingy back to the boat. It would have been really easy to just sit there until Feb 5 when my new crew mate arrives, but I truly needed to know that this was my boat and I could use it all by my lonesome if I wanted to, so off I went. The wind was very light so I left the harbor and headed out into the Atlantic. My goal was only 10 miles away on the eastern side of Antigua. A place called Green island was my destination. There is a very large anchorage just north of the island that is protected behind a long reef. I wanted a lot of room to anchor for my first solo attempt. The seas in the Atlantic were high but overall pretty calm and I reached my destination around 5:30. I set the anchor with no problem and then opened up a beer. I jumped off the boat to cool off and check out my surroundings. The waster was a little cloudy but it still felt great. I climbed back on the boat and promptly tipped my beer over and spilled 3/4 of it in the cockpit. I guess everything can’t go right on the first try and I have more beer.
This morning I awoke to calm seas and a sea turtle swimming by. I will spend the day cleaning the boat, snorkeling, Stand Up Paddle boarding and just enjoying the day.
I soloed and did just fine. The only down part is no one to celebrated with, but then it would not have been doing it solo. Funny how that works.