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 of east whereas we actually experienced a period where the wind was distinctly south of east.  At that point we decided to motor-sail for a while to make up for the 11 nautical miles that we were off track.  Fortunately the wind slowly swung back to a bit north of east again so we sailed close-hauled in a lovely 10-15 knot breeze to our way-point just off St. Thomas.

This was the first time we have approached the eastern end of St Thomas from the north and indeed we found it to be rather interesting, first passing Little Tobago Island (UK) to port, then passing between Grass Cay (pronounced “key”) and Thatch Cay in Middle Passage where we were in a bit of a wind shadow from Grass Cay and there was quite a current flowing.  Having confirmed with US Customs and Immigration in St John that there was no need for us to check in (because we had not made any stops since leaving the US) we decided to take a slip in American Yacht Harbor Marina in Red Hook.  We arrived around 1335 local time, 8 days, 10 hours and 5 minutes after departing Hampton which makes itv our fastest and least troublesome trip south to date.

Our primary annoyances along the way were that the generator, which had just been repaired at some expense, decided not to start again and the starboard electric genny winch decided to freeze, the first day out. Neither the winch handle nor the electric button would make it function. The winch, which had been serviced prior to the trip, was serviced again this morning while on the dock in Red Hook. Nothing seemed amiss and once reasaembled it seems to be fine. While on passage the drum still rotated so we took two turns around it and then fed the sheet to the manual cabin-top winch, in order to set the genny when on port tack. So, the overall reckoning is that this was the most benign trip south that we have done so far, as well as the fastest.

After washing the boat down from the amazing amount of salt that accumulated during the passage and generally tidying up, all we could manage yesterday was to have a shower followed by a most enjoyable dinner ashore (thank you, Morris), and a celebratory Pain Killer before crashing out. Michael, on the other hand, was all set to find out what Red Hook had to offer and managed to stay out until the wee hours of the morning, having found a few bars, played pool and enjoyed some decent karaoke singers.

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Today we waved good-bye to both our crew who took a taxi at noon for the airport.  We meanwhile took advantage of the launderette so now have clean clothing, bedding and towels, what luxury!  We departed Red Hook around 1:30 this afternoon for Francis Bay on St John, one of our favorite spots as it is so tranquil and picturesque. A swim and another Pain Killer later, we are all refreshed and ready to head to the BVI in the morning so we can prep Second Wind for a sea trial next Tuesday.