Ali Briggs Carvalho

Our propeller is not working well so we emphasized sailing as much as possible and it went well! We were super slow on the down wind legs but meh. On the way out of mustique we saw 2 small fishing boats. One guy waved. We waved back. The other guy waved. I waved both hands and shook my body. He replied in kind. Only after did we realize we missed an opportunity for a dance off.

Great sail! We started out by getting fuel and the fruit man was there selling herbs (including ganja, had we heard of it?) — got some mint, green onion, and bananas and were on our way. Little ding on the stern, whoops! Engine test, seems to be working! Surfed some waves and felt so nice, helped Captain Gu feel nice. Beam reach, wow! So fast, so smooth. Is that cargo ship moving towards us? Is this a collision course? Why yes! Do we have right of way, why yes! With a collision imminent in a few minutes, VHFed the cargo ship to ask their intentions and they asked us to divert to their stern. Success! It was so smooth we took turns hanging out on the bow with the Pitons in sight. La di da! But wait, where is our second folding chair? Did it get stolen at the marina? Go overboard? 🥺 Close to the Pitons saw a man in an inflatable ale dinghy waving us in. We’ve seen this before in Dominica. Followed this man in and as we got close to the ball noticed 1. He’s in an AB RIB (very expensive even for us) and 2. He’s just in boxer briefs. Odd, but we paid him the 50 ECD for the ball. Thanks Gregory! An hour later, parks department comes by to collect the mooring fee. Boo Gregory! So calm, lovely anchorage. Until 30 knot gusts continuously overnight spinning us around the ball like a figure skater.

Smooth sailing with islands in sight at all times, just dreamy!

We had an AWA of 60 with 12 knots from the NE and 2 foot waves. Champagne sailing on a close reach. We decided to sail overnight to Les Saintes rather than stopping for a rest in Montserrat. If we go back north we’d sail closer to Montserrat to better see the volcano. Sunset bass guitar lesson and weed. Bangars and mash for dinner. Hit the wind shadow leeward of Guadeloupe and motored and ran the water maker. Felt a little dicey once we were near shore at 4:30am because of lights in distance - had to trust the radar. Saw our first lighthouse and it was lit, for us!! Float officers Diane and Vitor. So beautiful and cute once we got here!