St. Helena to Grenada - Day 20

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 1 Feb 2013 15:01
09:12.940N  53:35.010W
 
February 1, 2013
 
Arrival thoughts.
A little less than three days to go and antsy-ness has officially set in.  We are thinking about arrival while still leaning heavily to port in seas churned up more than they should be in 20 knots of wind.  What can only be the equatorial countercurrent has come back to haunt us, slowing our progress by 1-2 knots and creating surface chop as it flows against the wind.  We'll still arrive on Monday, but only after a bumpier ride than we were hoping for unless the countercurrent gives way to the more favorable Guiana Current which runs northwest along the South American coast (the plan was to pick up the Guiana Current several days ago, but it never happened).  On the bright side, after nine days of gray gloom, the sun has returned.  Last night we saw the moon for the first time in ages, and even the Big Dipper and Southern Cross came out to say hi (or good-bye in the Southern Cross's case).
 
About our arrival.
Ahhhh....three days from now we will no longer have to plan every hand and foot placement in advance when moving about the cabin.  Nor will excursions outside the cockpit be so adventurous (or salty).  Boiling water on the stove will not be a death defying feat, brushing teeth will not be interrupted by an unplanned fall onto the toilet seat, drinking coffee will not result in constant dribbles down shirtfronts, and pulling on shorts after a nap will not result in backward tumbles across the stern cabin bed into the port-side wall.  The humongous towering pile of laundry will not tip over and spread itself throughout the rest of the cabin, toweling-off after a shower will no longer qualify as high adventure, there will no longer be a need to wedge oneself into the helm seat to prevent sideways slips, and a very large glass of wine (served in a real glass) can be placed on the counter without fear.  Blogs will no longer need to be written daily, logbooks filled in hourly, or battery chargers run day and night.  Sleep will entail more than three hours and won't involve being pressed hard up against the leeboard.  Showers won't require the three-point stance (feet placed wide apart, body bent with butt firmly pressed into the nearest wall), and neither will cooking (feet placed wide apart, body bent with butt firmly pressed into the nearest counter, left hand griping the nearest hand-hold while right hand stirs dinner).  There will be no concern for the wind or weather (or very little), and interest in the outside world will re-emerge.  Personal hygiene will improve by way of haircuts and more daily showers, clean clothes and towels.  Hair will be combed more often and t-shirts scrubbed in Sri Lanka until holes formed will not be worn.
 
I'd like to see a bevy of dock hands waiting for us upon arrival in Prickly Bay Marina - each carrying a gift basket filled with all the things we've been deprived of (tomatoes free of black sores, fresh pineapple, chilled champagne, pedicure gift certificate, and a big vat of top quality ice cream).  Don would prefer a barber waiting on the dock with #2 clippers in hand, a freezer-guy next to him equipped with all the tools necessary to crank up the freezer (to make ice for a nice vodka and tonic), and a bevy of Heineken girls with buckets of ice cold beer.  We don't ask for much.  Certainly after 23 days at sea we deserve no less?
 
Day 20 progress - 160 miles
510 miles to go.
Anne