Well, our stay in the U.S. Virgin Islands didn't last very long; 24 hours !!
Our last "major" hurdle is the Anegada Passage; the body of water between the east end of the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla which is at the north end of the Leeward Islands chain (Anguilla, St Martin, Neves, St. Kitts, Antigua etc.).
We had every intention of spending the week between St. John and the BVIs and then begin working our way south. I spoke via radio to our weather forecaster/router (Chris Parker) this AM and he said there was a GREAT weather window today to cross the Anegada Passage. The trades usually blow from the southeast at between 15-20 knots all day, all night; with a large ocean swell to match. Of course, the route between the BVIs and the Leewards is directly southeast; or directly into winds and seas....read: A SLOW, WET, MISERABLE 80 MILE SLOG !! No thanks....!!
BUT, a low formed off the east coast of the US, and was suppressing the trades, and the winds for the next 24 hours were forecast to be light from the south//southwest. That means a pleasant sail directly to St. Maarten...let's go !!
It took us about an hour to get the motor off the dinghy, the dinghy up on deck, and the boat squared away for an overnight ocean sail. We went into Redhook, St. Thomas, fueled up, took on water, and "hit the road". So here we are doing another overnight in the Atlantic (actually the Caribbean Sea).
We are bound for St. Maarten (Dutch side of St. Martin) and should arrive around daybreak. All is well aboard, and we've had a nice sail so far....
Our position at 19:50 is 18 13.05 N 064 10.38 W SOG is 6.2 @ 110mag
Later, THE CREW
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