So, we have finally arrived! The last 2 days of the voyage were relatively benign, with lots more fantastic downwind sailing, with some spinnaker flying during the day and a poled out headsail during the night.

 

Our major drama was the complete failure of all our instruments. These give you information such as wind strength, direction, boat speed, and depth. The major issue was that we were running dead down wind at night, and with the moon not getting up till near the end of the night, we struggled to work out where the wind was coming from.....and hence to avoid a disastrous gybe....but as with everything, we made it through. The only issue is that as you can imagine, the service agents here are chocker block, and I do not suppose that we will have instruments for the next month or so....which with a 10 foot draft will make things interesting on the anchorage front!

 

On the very last day we got soaked by an exceedingly large squall. We thought initially that it may pass us by, but very soon realised that we would get clobbered. I was looking forward to having some proper wind to give Trippy one final blast, but Jennifer, the boats concience, suggested that it may be prudent to take it down.....as is always the case  she was right (not sure that this should be admitted in writing!), and less than a minute after taking the spinnaker down we got hit by a very large wind...no wind instruments but I would estimate it at a good 35 knots. So, a quick couple of reefs later (we were all already up, so it could not be classifed on the boxer short drama scale), and we were screaming down waves at more 14 knots (according to the GPS)...to give Jennifer credit, she never said 'I told you so'!

 

Once the squall was over, we put the spinnaker back up and powered around the headland and into Rodney bay, where a quick spinnaker drop and a harden up into wind later and we crossed the finishing line after a remarkably quick 15 days.

It is fantastic to be here, and given the journey that we have been on, was surprisingly emotional at the finish. You can see the pictures: http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/boatgalleryarticle.aspx?page=SEP633958666500851540&ArchiveID=3&CategoryID=72&ItemID=13752&src=

 

On arrival we were greeted by the local marina presenting us with a couple of bottles of rum punch and beer. Now the serious stuff had started. Given that we have only been drinking in moderation for the last 15 days, and we were very excited to be here lots of rum punch, beer and champagne was always going to knock us a bit flat. In the next 4 hours were were to do more injuries to ourselves than we have done since leaving Gran Canaria.....I have cut knees and elbows (piggy back racing), Dom has hurt his hand (piggy back racing), and Charlie has broken his toe (unidentified drinking injury)!

 

So, the plan is to finish fixing as much as we can - particularly the kicker, ideally the instruments, and a host of smaller things, clean and sort the boat, and head out of Rodney Bay so that Charlie can at least get a bit of a Carribbean flavour before he leaves on Friday.