Location: Underway to Antigua
The day’s main activity was departing Nevis, and did we accomplish that one! We decided to sail off our mooring, which was very fun. We raised the three boom sails and scooted out on a broad reach. Once we were clear of the mooring field, we popped up a jib and sailed off at a steady 6 knots with the breeze coming around to a close haul. In the first part of the passage, we decided to practice a few tacks under sail power alone. The first try went hilariously wrong. I was standing next to our helm, calling out “tacking!” but after I threw the helm to port to initiate the tack (bringing the bow of the boat through the wind), I found myself face first in the cockpit, legs up in the air. If only there was video proof because I can not make this up, but the helm caught my PFD (so much for safety) and threw me in a semi-circle over the helm so that I face-planted on the other side. Other than a hilarious story and a bruised ego, we got through our tack in one piece and continued our sail around Nevis, tacking to and fro.
I always talk about the same things in my blog, whether it is a 20-day or 90-day voyage. The Seamester experience is more than the pancakes we wake up at 5 am to make. It is more than the marine plastic we free-dive in the morning for. It, and I don’t say this one lightly, is more than shackle time. It is about the people you see every waking minute. The ones you know so closely will put baby powder wherever you need it. Maybe don’t ask about that one. It is about the absolute blissful moment you can ask someone to do a task, and instead of them looking at you like you have five heads, they turn around and march straight to the foresail sheet. So whether we all band together to get the sails up or we are having a moment in the middle of the night sailing through a sea of bioluminescent, not a single soul on board would rather have a more serene Thursday night under the stars. Hopefully, this final sail to Antigua will not soon be forgotten.