Livnat Wilcox

Motor up to Jolly Harbor to leave the boat while we return to the US for a bit. Rainy and not really any wind.

Tight to the wind sail with a decent wind angle for Les Saintes which was the plan. Winds out of 70 degT. Rough sail with wind 17-20kt gusts to 28kts and seas at 8’ seas (much more in places). Made slow progress since we needed to stay reefed up for gusts but slow progress otherwise. Bailed and turned to Desahies since it was going to be a late arrival into the Saintes. Took a left turn and motored about 35nm

Epic shakedown sail :)

Nice sail, light winds 10-12 kts most of the way. Had the typical wind shadow plus catabatic blasts along the coats of Grenada. Last sail with Vic, Emma and Brent this trip and last real sail for Aeoli (H54) until the fall.

Another great night sail. Started slow but then settled into the usual patterns of wind shadow in StL and StV but otherwise 15-25kts. We remove the failing rudder sensor on the way to StL and autopilot was working ok but found that it needed some dynamism to really steer; in flat waters it was lost. Had a lovely run from StV to Canouan hitting 9+ kts. Clear skies, beautiful sailing. Also, learned I could heave the boat to using only the “2 number” reef in the main and no headsail, as we killed time in Charleston waiting for the marina to open up. Cool.

Beautiful clear night with good sailing. Typical wind shadows behind Dominica and Martinique but otherwise very nice. Winds were a little more out of the south than I expected until we got into the south end of Martinique. The channel between there and St Lucia was a blast and we held 8+ kts in 18-25kts pretty much to Marigot Bay (barnacles and all!).

Overnight to Isles Des Saints, taking a mooring ball in Bourges des Saintes in Terre de Haut. Nice sail, a little overcast. This area is lovely and super easy to stop in. Cleared in and out and paid for the mooring ball all in one swoop at Les Saintes Multiservices. Boat is still very slow. Snorkeled on during a quick stop after we left JH and it was covered in barnacles. Costing us 1-2 kts from what I can tell.

One of the most frustrating nights of sailing to date. Winds were in a worse direction than predicted, directly from Antigua, and there was lightning in the area. Resulted in a lot of motoring slowly into the wind and waves just to get there. Had planned for English Harbor but rerouted to Jolly Harbor to get in before customs closed. Glad to have that one behind us. Had Livnat, Sarah and Chartrands on board.

Left around 5:30pm to mild wind. Picked up ok after Antigua and rode a nice broad reach in ~10kts apparent most f the night once that settled in. Wind direction was forcing us into St Barts though and given the option to do a bunch of jibes, take the long way around east St Barts or motor, I took the latter. Did a slow cruise in to make the 9:30 bridge opening. Marina here is not as great as it seemed on the web.

Light winds mostly on our nose for a while, unlike the broad reach forecasted. Martinique coast was just a weird mess of light wind and changing directions. Gap between Martinique and Dominica was nice close reach with a squall or two. Dominica had no wind and the Dominica Guadaloupe gap was light too according to Jay and Livnat. Some motoring. Motored through most of Guadeloupe wind shadow and then the sailing was wonderful once we reached the north part of the island all the way to Antigua. Not the forecasted broad reach but a nice beam reach in 10-18kts made for good fast sailing.