Friday, 9 Dec 2011
Well today is another beautiful day in paradise – as we get closer to the Caribbean both the temperature and humidity continue to rise. Today is our first mates (Ben) 27th birthday. I know we have a cake for him – and Tarryn will be making one of his favorite Italian dishes. Yesterday’s noon meal was good old fashioned (American) hamburgers – both Tom and I agreed you forget very quickly how much you miss them.
We started the day yesterday with some great winds, and later they dropped, so of course – out came the kite. That really got Glass Slipper moving through the surf. When we went online to check the daily weather reports, and see if we had any personal e-mails we were surprised to see the number of boats turning on their engines due to the “doldrums”. As the day went on it became more difficult to keep the kite up due to diminishing winds – we finally threw in the towel and started the engine. Bruce has to leave on the 15th in order to back to work. Except for his 10 years in the navy he’s never had such a long break – matter of fact this is the first time in 34 years he’s taken more than two weeks in a row. Guy has been lecturing him how at his age and position he should be taking more time off.
We tried some more fishing yesterday – and for the second time Tom lost one of his favorite lures to a shark. We feel that’s the case since the steel leader was cleanly cut. I’m glad that none of the crew even contemplated an afternoon dip off the swim platform. Tarryn is excited about seeing her first Caribbean beach – we believe she’s more excited about the beaches than the sailing. Also potentially some good news – Ben received an e-mail that a young couple is taking delivery of a new boat shortly after the beginning of the new year and they are looking for an experienced captain to help them learn more about the boat and help them sail it from Europe to US waters. Ben’s interested because they have young children and that he and Tarryn could be a good fit. Tom, Bruce and Guy immediately told him that they will definitely be good references.
Well the engine is running – we averaged over 8 knots last night – got through the squalls without a problem – hopefully we will be in St Lucia late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
Ciao