We had a plan; a fabulous plan concocted two nights before departing. Turns out @leadingtheescapade were planning to set off the same day for the Bahamas. When two sailboats are going in the same direction… race on! Shit was talked, wagers were made. We were to meet at the point at 1100… but our autopilot had other plans. Our autopilot went out on our passage from PR and we had been troubleshooting it. We thought we resolve the issue (power connection problems) but seems we had not. End up spending an hour testing the power supply line and tracing the circuit back to the panel. Found the wire was loose at the panel! With the autopilot working again and supplies restocked, we set off trying to make up time. Alas, the light winds did not treat Grace well and Escapade was flying their ballooner. The light winds made for a peaceful start to the four day passage. When we came across a pod of bottlenose whales we had to stop and investigate! While stopped, why not go for a swim! The wind and seas picked up over the days to the point Grace’s saloon island wasn’t able to stay upright! We had to lash it down to prevent anymore damage. Once the hook was dropped, we all had some much needed rest. Then it was off to check in, grab a few drinks, and eat; not necessarily in that order. We had to end the day by going for a wonder and some sundowners at Chat ‘N Chill.
A two night passage from PR to Samana. Sadly no fish (we won’t talk about the one that spooled us), but we did make arrival pancakes after some much needed rest. It was a bit sporty the last few miles with squalls and rough seas. Oh, did I mention that our autopilot went out and we had to hand steer the last 12 hrs?
Day sail from St Thomas to Puerto Rico to kick off the trek back to the states. Arrived late but was still able to make a run for provisions.
but not before visiting Soggy Dollar! Had a few drinks and some grub. Turns out others had the same plan to recover at Soggy Dollar.
Morale was at all time lows this morning, completely due to the choices made at Willy T last night. Hangovers were in rare form but we all pulled through it and got underway. Nice downwind sail to Jost to end the regatta off right at Foxy’s.
Great day on the water with a few stowaways onboard.
First leg done! Dropped lines and wondering around until the start. We had a great start! There were shenanigans along the way.
