Position: 15:37.704N 61:48.86W

It’s 4:40 am. I’ve got a hat and coat on. Jeans. No socks, no shoes. The Cap sleeps on the cockpit bench, a pink blanket covering him. It’s a Caribbean cold. Quest is far enough out into the Caribbean Sea that the Windward islands are lit up like single lightbulbs. St. Vincent just glows and St. Lucia even further away, lower wattage. 

Strange things afoot here too. Every time its my night watch, we speed up and every time it’s Jack’s, we slow down again. I keep waking him up, saying we need to reef our genoa. Then I lie down on the bench, fall asleep and somewhere though my dreams, I hear the sound of the winch sigh out the rest of the sail. We’re working two hour watches. It’s enough time to stare into absolute darkness and listen to the foaming cut of Quest before your eyes go crossed and you forget where you are. 

Planes, trains and automobiles! And now after the last weeks, now our high-maintainence sailing girl. We returned to Quest to find the bilges filled by water tank no. 4. The Cap returned to his fave position with his head upside down inside the bilges. A new hot water pipe fitting later and we were ready to go. And tonight? Out in the middle of the open sea? The toilet pump stayed in constant pumping mode. Combined with Delphine leaving a non-LED light on (classic sailing newbie error, Dudu!), the gennie was needed at 4am. Gennie turned on. And turned itself off. We turned it on again and held our breath. Stayed on this time. Thank you, Quest. Gritted teeth smile. 

So Quest gets used to us again and we the same with her. Meanwhile, one of the many benefits of going home is that Delph and Lu are enjoying advent calendars which, for the first time, are somehow not chocolate-based. Barbie accessories and nail polish. And Jack’s new Trinidadian fishing rod has its first non-Barracuda success! Poor tuna. And it’s raining in Guadeloupe. All the while, I keep going below and banging into walls like I’m deliberately trying to break my own nose. Antigua, here we come. 

Love from a moving Quest and her crew xx