Arrival in Caribbean

Arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, West Indies, at 1:00 pm after 2848 nautical miles and 24 days at sea.  The trip was becoming an endurance contest the end.  We were rotating shifts with regular monotomy.  3 hours on, 5-6 hours off, 2 hours on, then maybe 4 hours off. It was a complex schedule designed for 3 people. Some nights one got 6 hours sleep straight then others broken into 3 hours segments. All of our biological clocks we were totally out of any normal sinc.  Wind was very strong and the boat rocking was relentless. Waves were high but not dangerous.  We just rode them out. Two arc boats passed us in the early hours of 24th  dec and we saw them disappear in the distance.Then on the dawn of the 24th day we could see the outline of land under and thru the clouds. The feeling was such a relief. But we still had 4-6 hours of sailing. Finally we passed between the island of Martineque to the north and we turned south to approach the Rodney Bay very near.  Entering Rodney bay were saw life again. Boats all over the bay and many tall ships elegantly standing at anchor to greet us. We found our way to the marina. Dropped anchor. Inflated the dinghy, rowed to shore and actually stood on solid ground again. It was weird to not have to anticipate rocking and lean into the roll.   We staggered to the marina office to check in. Crowds of ARC Ralley participants who set off 4 days after us but arrived before us. It seems they mostly took a better route with better winds than us.  We ventured too far south before turning west and missed some more favorable winds. But we could not care now that we have completed our personal challenge.  After immigration and customs formalities we three mariners were toasting ourselves in the popular pub among the other happy crowd of trans atlantic veterans.  We have now joined an elite club of adventurers.  

For me personally Sharon and I have been together since leaving Riga on 13 June and we have gone over 7000 nautical miles thru the Baltic , Biscay, Mediterranean, Atlantic and now the Caribbean.   I hope you friends have enjoyed the armchair ride with me.  My journey will continue but my Blog will not.  Anything further will be anti-climatic. (may add a few journal entries if something of real interest occurs.) I expect to meander thru the Caribbean (Christmas with family in Antigua) and then cross to Florida and tuck into a warm place in Georgia or South Carolina until the Spring comes and I can venture to Virginia thru the intercoastal water ways in the longer days with lots of sunshine.  Need then to sort out my life and decide on my next endeavor. Enjoy the phots of the whales we saw and other photos.

Dennis