We are back. Actually we sailed in from Bermuda on Election Day so got to watch the results on late night television! We have been very busy getting Independence out of cruising mode which means taking off the wind steering vane, radar reflectors, safety lines and harnesses and electronic navigation gear and getting back into day sailing mode. That means a good scrub to get rid of
all the salt we accumulate after six days of offshore sailing and then putting all the extra life jackets, snorkel gear, floats and the back bench with cushions and awning as well as the galley equipment we need to serve our guests and keep them safe. That is all done and last week we signed on
Andy Roberts as first mate for the season and we have just finished our first week of charters. He did a great job and I am looking forward to working with him, there are so many little things that go into making a day sail work well and he is a quick study.
We spent over three weeks in Bermuda this time. We had planned a shorter stay but Tropical Storm Rafael delayed us a week and then just as we thought we were good to go along came Hurricane Sandy. She was just too big and troublesome to ignore so we hunkered down on our storm mooring in St. Georges all ready for the worst and we got lucky. There were quite a few boats waiting with us and the highest gust anybody recorded was about 40 knots and we were so land locked that we did not get any of the wave action. We were horrified to hear of all the damage in the Northeast, it's hard to imagine New York under water and now they are dealing with the aftermath of the Nor'easter and it is COLD up there. We have been in hurricane recovery mode in St. Thomas a couple of times so understand the hardship but cannot imagine doing it in freezing temperatures so we hope the power comes on for everyone soon and we will also keep our fingers crossed for a mild winter.
Sandy affected us more as we headed out to sea on Halloween Day with absolutely enormous seas, the wind was down and we motorsailed for the first 24 hours but it was not comfortable and neither Pieter or I had much appetite and I certainly didn't feel like cooking! Fortunately, the second day saw seas laying down and a little wind came in and life at sea got a lot better. Four boats left on the same day all bound for Red Hook so we formed the Red Hook Regatta and had regular radio check ins which helped to pass the time. One boat had engine problems so there was a pool of technical expertise for them to pull from and it only took a day for them to get things sorted out. We had a small visitor, a little yellow and brown bird, maybe blown out to sea by Sandy, he stayed with us for about a day and seemed to enjoy the sail not to mention the bananas and fresh water we put out for him!
We were the last to leave Bermuda but made good time and managed to be first in to St. Thomas, bragging rights until next year! Now we are very happy to be home and looking forward to a great season. If you are coming to the Virgin Islands either to stay a few days or on a ship we hope you will think of a day or a half day sail with us on Independence.
