passage

passage

we went to St Croix for the weekend

it was an easy passage from St John

the longest sail I’ve taken yet

but in wind and waters so calm

it didn’t feel like anything

out of the ordinary

we motor sailed

doing 6 knots on the engines alone

7½ with the sails added

it took us 5 hours to go 35 miles

and for most of that

the ocean floor was 14,000 feet below us!

we set a course straight south

and then sat at the helm and watched

as St Croix got slowly bigger

and St John slowly smaller

there was sunshine and a breeze

a bit of roll in the waves

time for talk and lunch

reading and a nap

and watching…

scanned the horizon

saw lots of water

and only one other boat all day

Dave kept asking me

how it felt to make my first long sail like that

but all my anxieties about passages

got hoodwinked

by an extra easy weather window

the sail was hardly more stressful

than the drive from Taos to Denver!

so maybe it’s time I let him take me to St. Maarten…

(though that’s an overnight sail)

wednesday 22 february

after epiphany 2017
Francis Bay