So we decided to sail to Nevis today in hopes of arriving in time to see the cricket game. We left at 6:30 am with the wind at our stern to head southwest to Nevis. We had an awesome sail with the boat sailing at 12.2 knots, our fastest speeds yet. It was a beautiful day and not as rough as the sail from Antigua to Barbuda. We all felt much better today.
We had a few issues, though. First, we discovered that the "heading" on the navigation station plotter and the compass heading at the helm are not the same (one is magnetic and one is true north). So, when mom told dad to head 224 degrees, that actually headed us toward Redonda, so we ended up a few nautical miles southeast of our target. Lucky for us, Lindsay has been doing her homework so when she spotted land off the starboard bow (front right) we realized that was Nevis and had to adjust our course.
We were in heavy seas (10 feet waves) coming from our stern the whole way. When we took down the main sail and tried to furl the jib, the roller furling was stuck and the jib wouldn't roll in (our 2nd issue). We finally got it, but the lines were so tight we were worried they would actually snap with such windy conditions and rough waves.
It was a little stressful, but we made it to Charlestown, Nevis just in time for a beautiful sunset...but no cricket match. We moored right off the volcano which was covered under a bed of clouds, which totally freaked Lindsay out because she thought the volcano would erupt at any minute (it has been dormant for a very long time, so shouldnt be an issue, we hope). Customs has closed already for the night, so we are staying on board for dinner and everyone is going to crash early tonight!
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