Hi from Clare, Thursday 14th November 2013
Today is day 9 of our 11 day sail from Hampton on the east coast of the America to the BVIs in the East Caribbean. It is a sparkling day with 30 degree air temperature and 28 degree water temperature. We are presently motoring as the wind has dropped out and it is not due to return until this afternoon. It is quite nice to have a bit of respite and Andrew stopped the boat earlier so he and Deb could have a quick dip in the sea out the back of the boat. I was waiting for a loaf of bread to come out of the oven so I missed out this time.
For the last five days we have sailed with the wind forward of the beam and so have been heeled over; nice to be level again. When the wind comes back this afternoon it will be behind us making the next few days of sailing easy going. We are having a good trip, two more fronts have passed over but we have been far enough south to miss the strongest winds and torrential rain. We did have one decent rainfall but we were glad to get a free boat wash.
The boats further north have taken a bit of a hammering. Three boats (all Catalina's a 37' a 42' and a 47') have lost their rudders. While the 37' boat was being towed to safety by the Coast Guard we heard that the people had been taken off and the boat abandoned. There is one other Catalina in the fleet; guess they are feeling a bit anxious.
Our half way mark was celebrated on the only other day when we had little wind and so we sat in the cockpit and had cheese and biscuits and a glass of coke. We are looking forward to arriving at our destination, the island of Virgin Gorda. We will then be able to add some rum to the next coke.
We caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi which we will finish tonight. There is nothing better than a freshly caught Mahi Mahi and we had been longing for one for some time. We will put the fishing line out again this afternoon.
Love Candy and Deb xxx
At 11:02 AM14/11/2013 (utc) our position was 23°10.71'N 064°45.21'W
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