Last night before arrival in Grenada. We need to be picking our way through the reefs to our anchorage with the sun behind us so ideally before midday (Local Time) so we are cracking on with plenty of sail up....but with double watches in case we need to shorten sail fast in a squall. Lots to do tomorrow morning....need to get the twin poles down, get the rib pumped up and off the foredeck and onto the davits, put up the courtesy and Q flag, tidy up a fair bit and work out who is doing what on the way in. Mixed emotions....excitement yes....a chance to properly catch up with family and friends, and a chance to stretch our legs, get clean and move about the boat with ease; but a strange sadness that this time away from the world where time has literally stopped is soon to be over for a bit. We will find out who won the world cup; we will know what has been happening in Ukraine, and we will no doubt get to know what else has happened of significance. And then there are the WhatsApp messages and emails to deal with.....argh!
Had to call up a cargo vessel earlier this afternoon and remind him that power gives way to sail (second time since leaving Falmouth) AIS had him within 0.3nm in 20 mins...I explained that with twin poles up we had limited maneuverability and whoever answered very politely agreed to pass us with over a mile of searoom. It was good practice for the guys though.... First time they had used a hand bearing compass and I am now a little more confident they will be able to give me accurate magnetic bearings on the way in. 15° variation from magnetic to true.... I had better get it the right way round when plotting our position!! Might be the last Blog update for a while....Out.
