Are we there yet?

I can't believe, we are finally on our last leg of this journey to get out of the hurricane zone. We left Martinique around noon and figure we will arrive sometime in the morning after sunrise. Looks like it will be a straight shot and we should be able to sail the whole way on a reach. Oh what a blessing that would be. After all we do have a sail boat. But we have been beating into the wind and motoring since we left Key Biscayne only 11 weeks ago. Somehow it feels like we've been gone 6 months. Not in a bad way, mind you. It just feels like we've been doing a lot of waiting on weather, which we have. Also, we have seen so much and so many beautiful places, it's hard to believe we've done it in only 11 weeks.

Martinique

Well we said goodbye for now to Martinique and started our journey south. I've gotten such great pleasure from the wildlife that surrounds our boat all the time. Shortly after leaving Martinique I saw something up ahead in the water. I little water spout of some sort. After looking and studying the horizon, I realized it was a whale. Unfortunately we weren't able to get close enough to it to capture a good photo, but it was amazing regardless. We've also been visited several times by birds called Boobies. In Guam, we had Blue Footed Boobies, and whenever we saw these, there were sure to be Mahi close by. Unfortunately, these Boobies haven't led us to any Mahi. Instead, they fly with the boat, drafting off the sails and looking for food as the boat glides through the water, forcing flying fish to suddenly move out of the way. This goes on for hours and hours. Today we started with 2 Boobies. They were feasting. Before we knew it, there were maybe 20 birds, all swooping around the sails and dive bombing fish.

We passed by Saint Lucia around sunset and it was spectacular. Another beautiful island in a chain of Gods wonder. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to see and appreciate the beauty in

this world. And as if on cue, dolphins from all direction converge at the front of the boat, giving us the proper send off.

Shortly before leaving the south of the island, I noticed dark clouds and rain coming from the east part of the island, heading west. Ugh! A squall! I watched to see how fast it was moving so I could make my plans for it's arrival. It was going to be close, but I'm not sure if we can get far enough south before it reaches us. I asked Mike for help getting the boat buttoned up for the impending downpour while I monitored the squall and prepared the sails. We watched and waited as we inched farther and farther south, while it inched closer and closer to us. Who would win?

Turns out it wasn't us. Winds blazed up to 28 knots very quickly and the skies dumped what felt like a million gallons of rain in a matter of minutes. But we were ready. With the Genoa furled and the mainsail completely depowered, we still were traveling at 10 knots. Luckily we were on the edge of it so the pummeling didn't last too long. There wasn't supposed to be too much squall activity, so with any luck that would be it for the night.

Mike took the first night watch, from 2100 to 0300, so off to sleep I went. When I woke, I found that Mike had a very windy night and had to put 2 reefs in the mainsail. The wind funnels between the islands and it can get pretty nasty. Thank goodness he was able to get the sails reefed without difficulty.

We were making good time. At our current speed of around 6 knots we should be into Grenada around 0900. We have been able to sail the entire way. This is what salt life is all about!