Heading towards St Barthelemy (AKA St Barts) 17:40N 062:09W

Ticketeeboo
Sue & Alan
Thu 1 May 2014 14:30
Early start this morning and underway just after first light, before 06:00. Hence making ZZZ's by 9 previous night! Blessed with very favourable conditions, which means we're broad reaching on full mainsl and single reef genoa averaging almost 8kn. With 68'ishNM to cover over ground we're making good speed to be St Barts before nightfall.
Said our areevadirchies to David & Trudi s/y Persephone by SSB on Coconut net this morning, with possibility we could see them again when they head our way and before we skip-off towards Bermuda in couple weeks time. We're about 900NM from Bermuda and will continue to close gradually as we head through the Leeward Islands then BVI over next couple of weeks. This means first part of our ocean passage towards Bermuda is getting shorter every daysail! Maybe down to just 800NM eventually (a doddle of a sail - we wish)? The good thing about these daysails at the start means Annie & Mike are getting used to Ticketeeboo (and me) before we go ocean crossing. Even 68NM daysail is not be be sneezed at.
Getting daily email from My Lover, who is indulging in lots of tennis (2 matches a week) and Grandkiddies entertaining. Today Sue is expecting all four Grandkiddies at once and looking forward to juggling their needs and entertainments. I believe they now have their own classroom chairs? Less than 7 weeks to our next honeymoon!
Yesterday Annie & Mike took RIB ashore whilst I serviced and fitted new 'trial' seawater pump kit on generator. A fiddly job, which now means access to our generator workings is even more difficult. Whoever made the decision to put the generator in suck a small 'ole, making it very inaccessible deserves the job to do maintenance on it........... and get their arms and fingers cut & bruised. Anyway job is done and kit is now on test for next few months, fingers crossed impellers will now last much longer than before? Annie & Mike said they had great time ashore, walking round the beach as far as the SE coast, which they said is not a patch on the beach by wwhere we dropped hook, Cocoa Bay, SW coast. They had a little problem re-launching the RIB because the wake was pushing them back up the beach. Some others made themselves helpful and assisted their efforts so that they could re-join me on Ticketeeboo. First thing needed when on board was to change their soggy clothing! At 28ºC wate
r temperature they did not get cold though. Mike is amused to be going to bed before 9pm although I've told them I'm listening for their first mast rattling!
We're now getting a decent swell running, which is keeping our autopilot busy. From time to time we get an unusually big swell coming through our stbd qtr and it's 'rock & roll' all over again.
Have a great afternoon with the Grandkiddies, My Lover xxxx
Ticketeeboo MMSI 235071989 Callsign 2CED3, Ham callsign = m0hng
At 01/05/2014 14:08 UT our position was 17°41.89'N 062°13.02'W
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