14 12 N  60 44 W

Final chapter in the making: about 2 hours ago we caught our first glimpses of the cliffs/mountains of St Lucia on our port bow and now, as we are getting closer, the lower lying land mass of Martinique is coming into sight on our starboard bow. Currently under wind power with 20 knots right on our stern…and we are making 8 – 9 kts in what continues, incessantly, to be very lumpy, confused seas that keep us rockin and rollin….we are thankful that Sea Mist is over  32 tonnes and has an overall length of 17.1 m (56 feet) and a waterline length of 15.2 m (50 feet).  If we had done this passage in a lighter, shorter boat we would now be in tough shape, I expect. As unrelenting as the seas have been, I am now convinced that a longer duration, more southerly, route for the passage would not have been better for us… because… here we are in the south…..and these miserable seas are still with us. Under 14 days for a Canaries > Caribbean passage is a big accomplishment for Sea Mist and her entire crew……and all of us are now ready to say,…”Glad its OVER!!!”

For perspective, we never got to see the final 2008 ARC results, but the way it looked on their website the last time we did view it, there could not have been more than 2 or 3 boats out of the 211 boats in the ARC that would have made it to St Lucia from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in 14 days. For most all of the ARC fleet, the passage was much LONGER AND SLOWER… by a country mile….or something like that. And when Cheryl and I made the ARC crossing in 2004, we were 18.5 days enroute with a crew of 7 on-board that yacht named Inspiration….and on that crossing, over 100 of the participating yachts came in later than we arrived.

We will keep the blog active for the foreseeable future as we wonder this side of the Atlantic and then head out across the Pacific through the Panama Canal in early 2010.  However, those of you who visit the site should not expect new content everyday as we leisurely explore these islands on an itinerary not yet conceived. We will certainly provide regular updates covering shore and cruising highlights but just not necessarily “daily”.

A huge THANK YOU to all blog readers who have sent us emails during the passage; receiving your encouragement, gossip, updates and “tales of winter” in some far off lands….have meant a lot to us!!

A final blog entry will be posted after we are settled in Rodney Bay, St Lucia later today…either anchored in the lagoon or tied up at Rodney Bay Marina. Won’t know that until we make it happen once we are there.

DTG 17 nm