May Your Boat Sink in Warm and Shallow Waters

Those were the parting words from my good friend William when I made my 6:30 AM departure from Little Harbour yesterday. He, Kim and Rachel paddleboarded over to wish me safe passage. Ben cast off my shore lines. I weighed anchor (pulled up the anchor) and was off!

They all had their conch trumpets with them and as I sailed off, they and my harbormates and friends gave me a rousing chorus of conch blows (I have a video of a sunset conch blows I will post when back home).

I had a lovely 3 or 4 mile sail across the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Road Harbour and Road Town. It was nice to shake-out the sails and running rigging prior to our departure. In Road Town I topped off Hazel’s diesel tanks, filled her empty propane tank (she carries two tanks) and bought $150 of fresh food for the passage.

When Go & Lan departed the morning before I departed, my final words to them were, “See you tomorrow or in the Mediterranean.” Lancelot replied, “Why not both?” We’ve satisfied half that bargain as I found them in Road Harbour and anchored next to them.

I’m having trouble finding the right words for how I’m feeling. I could call it “ambivalence”, but when I look-up the definition, “…the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.” That’s not it. It’s more gratitude for the past three months and experiences had and friendships made, combined with excitement and anticipation with the near-term future (getting home) and long-term future (other voyages to be planned).

In a few hours I will weigh anchor in Road Harbour, set sail 6 miles to the town/harbor of West End (one of the few open BVI customs/immigration ports), clear-out of the country and start my passage home…to my back yard.

Fair winds and following seas.