2009 Caribbean Cruise 2/20
Ian, the captain of Extraordinary, is from Cornwall, England and he taught me a brand new expression today when he said, "Man it's blowing dogs off chains!" I laughed until my sides hurt. But he was right, we had a full on Force 8 Gale with sustained wind of 35 knots and gusts to 40. Ian broke out the storm staysail that he had never used and we put a third reef in the main and ventured out on our 60 mile sail back to St. Lucia. Airplane schedules and sailing never mix very well and if we weren't leaving from St. Lucia, prudence might have won the day and we would have stayed in Bequia. Nonetheless, off we went. We stayed in the wind shadow of Bequia for as long as we could, but then we were in it. Breaking seas built to 10-12 feet as we picked our way through the troughs. Lale and Nicki stayed dry under the cockpit dodger while Ian and I traded 20 minute shifts at the helm - - that's all we could take before the saltwater in our eyes had to be rinsed out with fresh water. Now I know it may not sound fun but it was - - I loved it - - with just the small handkerchief headsail and a triple-reefed main we were hitting 9.8-10.5 knots of boat speed and we had a 1 knot current with us (against the wind which is what piled up the waves) so our speed over ground was near 11 knots most of the trip. We started out on a beam reach, but as we cleared the cut between St. Vincent and St. Lucia the wind clocked around putting us close hauled at 10-11 knots. Until we finally hit the wind shadow from the Pitons. We had planned on anchoring at the Pitons, but remember I told you the north swell predominates and it was blowing dogs off chains in the anchorage, so we kept on sailing up to Marigot Bay about 12 miles further. Marigot Bay is a great hurricane hole and we went on dock at the Discovery Resort Marina - - great facility by the way, highly recommended. They had moorings available, but with Force 8 winds I knew we would sleep better on dock. Sure enough in the middle of the night, one of the boats on anchor dragged into another boat - - it was far away from us so we didn't hear the commotion, but heard about it in the morning. Another reason for going on to Marigot Bay was that Ian's sister, Sarah, had just completed an Atlantic crossing with her boyfriend Richard Bentley on a Rival 34 called EUGE, and they were waiting for us at Marigot Bay. We celebrated their crossing with champagne and supper at the Discovery Bay Resort. This is the only 5-star rating we gave out of all the restaurants we sampled. The staff was alert and responsive, beautiful setting, and the food excellent and well presented.
Randy White
President SailAngle.com