Day 9, November 23, 2009
18 30.8 N latitude 61 51.9W longitude
99 miles to Falmouth Harbour, Antigua

Hello Everybody,

We don’t dare make any statements that might jinx us, but it appears likely that Peter will be able to fly out on Wednesday. The wind is holding at about 18 or 19 knots and we’re posting SOGs in the 7′s with occasional 8′s and 9′s! We’re looking forward to sailing around Antigua and into the harbor (directly to the fuel dock) around mid day tomorrow. With any luck that will give us the afternoon to wash away the salt, put away the offshore gear, get into vacation mode and put the beer on ice!

Finally today we had three fish hit Jake’s line: 2 sailfish and a Mahi Mahi. The first sailfish, reported to be a beautiful big fellow, got away with the lure. The Mahi Mahi was given a little slack in the line and got away. Leo got the second sailfish to the boat. He was just beautiful, with a wonderful long bill and tail. As Chris was reaching to grab him he shook the lure loose and swam away. We had planned to release him anyway. When Peter checked his lines he found that his lures were gone–no wonder he hadn’t had any strikes. So the score is now Jake and Leo 2, Peter and Chris 0, fish 2.

No movie tonight. The crew was actually a bit tired today after staying up to watch the movie last night and then standing watches. Tonight everyone not on watch is in bed. We got the cribbage board out, though. Kim and Jake taught Chris the rudiments of the game. Kim played her cards very well and beat the boys handily. Jake is teaching Leo navigation, so this afternoon Leo was entering daily positions from the log book on a paper chart. Apparently the next lesson will be figuring average speeds. We want to set Leo up with a new chart, so he can record all six of his trips on Avalanche. That will certainly give him some practice!

All the best from the crew of Avalanche, looking forward to walking on solid ground, anticipating a cold beer, and sorry to see our trip come to an end.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 8:31 pm and is filed under 2009 Trip South. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.