Independence Cruising Log - November 2009

Independence is back on her mooring in Red Hook and we are very glad to be home. We have always thought she was a special boat and after our fairly boisterous passage from Bermuda we remain convinced. Our weather wizard promised us 15 to 20 foot seas and winds from 20 to 30 knots for the first few days of our 850 mile passage to St. Thomas, but he also said it would get better the closer we got to home and that the conditions around Bermuda were NOT going to get better for a while. He was right on the money, the first few days were fast and furious, a whole new kind of rock and roll and lots of water on deck and a few (ok, more then a few!!) drops found their way below. Our comfy bunk in the aft cabin stayed dry and nothing broke so we just held on and enjoyed the ride.

Right about at the half way mark it started getting easier, a little less wind and sea and even some sunshine. Day four started with a visit from a whole bunch of dolphins, they swam and danced around the bow for about half an hour. They really made us feel like they were welcoming us back to the tropics. Day five was even better, we had a nice broad reach and our wind vane was steering. The engine was off so it was very peaceful - seas very mellow - and I even baked a loaf of bread. We discovered that our new satellite radio worked off shore, and we listened to a little news and some music. We still aren't sure if that is a good thing or not, being off shore is the ultimate get-away-from-it-all situation and having access to the outside world interferes a bit. We forgot to try it in Bermuda but I am sure we will enjoy it when we stop in the Windward Islands next summer.

The wind kept dropping in strength so our last night was all under power - jib rolled up and mainsail just for steadying - but it was nice to have the power so we could keep the radar on. We saw 2 ships and then, finally, the outline of Anegada, always the first island that appears. It is very flat with miles of surrounding reef so it is very good to have it pin pointed. Tortola was the next island to pop up and then Jost Van Dyke - remember we are only going about 6 miles an hour so our arrival took hours. By the time we were in the lee between the islands it was starting to get light and we could turn off the radar and chart plotter and come home on local knowledge. It was calm enough to make a whole pot of coffee and we enjoyed it while picking out all our favourite anchorages on St. John and Lovango Cay, Whistling Cay and Congo and then - home again - Red Hook. We tied up at American Yacht Harbour at about 6:30 a.m., well under six days and very pleased with our time and especially with our boat.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of scrubbing and cleaning and getting cruising gear off and charter gear on Independence. We are almost ready and will be accepting bookings starting on November 1st. She looks great! First Mate Ray is very ready to put down his construction tools and get back aboard and I can't wait to get sailing again, it's been almost a week!! So, come on down and ...

Let's go sailing!
Captains Pat and Pieter