We made it

We headed off the dock at Port Louis just after 0600 Sunday morning after a nice night at a Greek place near the University with a couple of new cruiser friends (John on [boat name] and George on Rio), both of them round-the-world sailors.  We chatted a little among the three of us about the big differences in life and sailing choices between them and us - George has been "out here" for 14 years.

Conditions were indeed sporty Sunday morning; Chris had said it was still good to go, with little change from the prediction that Sunday would be salty but things would settle down Monday into Tuesday with re-building trades by Tuesday night.

The short story is that we sailed into Pillsbury Sound between St. Thomas and St. John around 0030 Wednesday morning, and managed to put the hook down in Frank Bay, south of Cruz Bay, by around 0200.  It was a bit of a hassle to clear on Wednesday, as the CBP Roam app works in theory (on line) but not in practice (IRL) for reasons attributed to "COVID".  We could then get the nice National Park Service discount for the mooring we had taken in Caneel, where we had a nice swim and a meal (the stuffed peppers and pumpkin soup) before a welcomed night's sleep.

The long(er) story is that when we were about four hours out of Grenada, the bar that stabilizes the davits and therefore the dinghy jumped out on one side and then (of course) the other, and Susan and JP spent the better part of four hours and many, many anxious moments to get it onto the foredeck.  I'm sure they can tell the detailed story of each sub-step in that process, but let's say it was a minor miracle that we still had the captain, the first mate and the dinghy at the end.

The weather did not really ever settle down, and we were reminded that a boat that is heeling on starboard tack in a broad reach is uncomfortable, period.  Next to impossible to cook, even to re-heat prepared foods.  Difficult to sleep, even in short intervals.  Variously wet, cold and verrrry windy, except for a few hours of no wind, contributing another couple of hours delay to the already-lost hours from the dinghy adventure.

AND.  We are here in the USVI.  Raconteur is intact though in need of a couple of repairs.  We are giving serious thought to what's next, but we have the time and resources to do that between now and the start of hurricane season.

The first photo is from a sunrise Monday morning the 21st.  This one below is from the anchorage at Frank Bay on Wednesday morning the 23rd.