Feast or famine

20:30UTC 26/11/08 21'24N 065'31W

After days of lots of wind, we now have none. It is sunny, warm, calm, lovely except for the incessant sound of the engine getting us steadily closer to the Virgin Islands. There's no wind in the forecast either, so this is probably it for the sailing and on we go. put.put.put.put

We did take a half hour to stop and have our customary swim in three mile deep water, it was beautiful as ever and all the crew went in for a dip. We've also taken advantage of the calm weather to sand a lot of the exterior teakwork and prepare for some varnish, one of the tasks we'd set for our time in the islands. It's certainly better to use the time for this now than be doing it whilst looking at an inviting beach. We should get a coat of base varnish on this afternoon so it will look very good. In all we need three coats of base and three of gloss so it's an ongoing task....

We also, in order to reach more of the woodwork, took the dinghy down from it's "ocean" position, lashed on the pilothouse roof, and inflated it and hung it behind in the davits. It's safe to do this now the weather is settled, it let's us do more of the varnishing and it saves time when we get there, so all worth doing. I also snorkeled around the boat when we were swimming and dove down to clear barnacles away from the little speed sensor, so that works properly again. The boat is remarkably clear of growing stuff - all that expensive antifouling we so labouriously put on in St Maarten has actually worked, thankfully. The only stuff growing is on things lie the propeller shaft support and through hull fittings where the antifouling wears off very fast. So I'm pleased with our choice back then in March.

Yesterday evening was one of the most beautiful evenings I've ever had at sea. The sun set about 5:30, boat time, and left a moonless, starlit sky. With a nice breeze, the boat was heeling over slightly and moving at full speed so we put some of my favourite loud music on the stereo. I stood up on deck, leaning back against the mainsheet watching the stars and shooting stars whilst singing along to the music (which explains why I was alone on deck). It was a fabulous hour, able to be lost in my thoughts and the beauty of the moment.

So we head south, enjoying our days, chatting about all manner of things and getting some productive stuff done too. All's well. N.

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