The ~34 n. mile passage from Nevis to Montserrat ended up being closer to 41 n. miles because we had to make a couple of tacks en route. Even though we were reefed, it wasn’t a particularly comfortable trip due to the lumpy seas generated by the stiff breeze. However, we did have the company of a Goldstar 50, ‘Calypso’ who happened to leave Nevis about 5 minutes before us… Read More
Well, we departed our mooring in the lee of Nevis Peak on Sunday morning with reefed mainsail and reefed genoa but as we started to clear the end of the island, it became obvious that we would be struggling to make Montserrat in one tack and we saw wind up to 27 knots so we decided not to put both ourselves and the boat through unnecessary stress and instead turned.. Read More
When a rather large motor-yacht, which played extremely loud music, anchored close to us in what had been a very quiet and unspoiled Whitehouse Bay in St Kitts, we decided it was time for us to move on. The wind had picked up so we ended up rolling out just the genoa and then reefing it for the short (7 n. mile) passage on a beam reach between the islands.. Read More
Having confirmed with Chris Parker that the best opportunity for heading to St Kitts wthin the next week or so was on Monday, we left Penns Landing, after an errand in Road Town, and headed straight to Virgin Gorda, checked out at Gun Creek and then departed around 4pm for Saint Kitts. So, we rounded Prickly Pear Island, passed between Necker and Eustacia Islands, then having rounded the north end of.. Read More
We are pleased to report that the part for our generator arrived, has been installed and one or two other issues with the generator hopefully resolved by our wonderful mechanic, Sebastian. So, we are now free to start exploring more Caribbean islands, yea! We are hoping to set off for Saint Kitts tomorrow as we think the weather window is favorable with the wind slightly north of east and so.. Read More
It’s hard to believe that we have been in North Sound for almost a week already. Time has flown by so I guess we must be having fun…. it certainly has felt good to be able to relax a little and take life at a nice slow pace for a few days. We have had one or two cloudy, even rainy, days but that has been just fine because it.. Read More
The past week and a half has been busy, a little emotional at times but with some fun times as well. Second Wind was the focus of our attention, prepping her for launch on the 16th, bringing her to Penns Landing Marina from Nanny Cay, bending the sails, cleaning and polishing her in preparation for the sea trial on the 22nd. She behaved well on the sea trial, so with.. Read More
Looks like some progress has been made …. and it’s lunchtime!
The last day and a half of the passage in the mostly Easterly Tradewinds went by fast, though we did alter course once or twice to avoid rain squalls, just in case they were the ones that Chris Parker described as isolated squalls with wind up to 30 knots. We didn’t see anything above 20 knots. However, based on Chris’s forecast we expected the wind to be a bit north.. Read More
The past couple of days have seen some great sailing but with a fair bit of motoring as well. The wind clocked steadily from Southwest to West when it was in the mid to upper teens to Northwest to North when it dropped to under 10 knots. Since our heading was Southsoutheast, boat speed dropped too much at that point so we resorted to the “iron genny” again. We felt.. Read More