Day 18 : 14.09N 60.26W

Elixir - Ovni
Richard Merrick
Thu 10 Dec 2009 10:44
With only a matter of miles to go and the wonderful green mountains of St Lucia now well and truely in sight we have each had a quick reflection on our trip as the distance to finish went from thousands to hundreds to tens of miles. The last day has been an exciting one with numerous sail changes and those on the bow had got used to hanging onto angry Spinaker Halyards, sheets and downhauls, skimming accross the foredeck towards a choppy atlantic sea was a regular fact of life at sea. Each time you have to hope your feet come into contact with something that keeps you on the boat. That will be missed, but not a lot.
 
I can assure you that we will all sleep well when the celebrations stop and we get used to not being thrown around. I'm also sure that if anyone were to mention Spinaker Gybe to me at 3am I'd probably jump out of bed and run upstairs ready for action with a look of absolute desparation, we're all equally fragile about the words storm, rain, squall, reef, whales and G&T.
 
Today we raced triumphantly past three yachts on our approach and we are incredibly proud of Elixir's excellent performance and endurance throughout the trip with no real war scars. However our plans for a graceful Spinaker run into Rodney Bay may be scupered by the storm we are in at the moment.Hopefully we get a good photo opportunity.
 
Elixir has done a superb job of looking after us.