Location: Underway to St. Lucia
The day started at the usual time with a hardy breakfast of granola, yogurt, and fruit salad. Then, the organized chaos began to take away. Our goal was to get the boat ready and sail up by 10 am, and it was 8 am by the time we had finished eating. The lines need to be coiled and capsized, the hatches dogged, and the engine room checks completed on top of a long list of other tasks. The crew worked hard to get all this done by 9:15 am. We mustered in the cockpit for the briefing when Ben told us we would be trying something new today. We were going to try and get all the sails up and out of the bay without turning on the engine. Up went the mainsail first, then the foresail. Next, we had to lift the anchor and get the staysail up, and then we were underway. The wind could not make up its mind on how it wanted to blow for most of the day, but for a big part of it, we were living life at 25 degrees. Life at 25 degrees can be tough – the cooking crew was down there preparing lunch while trying to stand up straight, and even sleeping can be a challenge. Some people rolled out of their beds while others were pushed down to the bottom of theirs. The sea was choppy for part of it as we saw a couple of 10-foot swells that got the bow watch team soaked. By 10 pm, we had the sails down just as easy as they came up, and we tied onto a mooring ball. With tired eyes and salty skin, everyone headed to bed, anticipating what St. Lucia would bring us in the morning.