Yesterday we enjoyed checking out the Cape Santa Maria resort in Calabash Bay on the northern tip of Long island. Check it out for your next vacation – the beach and water colour are wonderful. Every room is beachfront, and maximum occupancy is only 130 people.
Today was of our best sailing days so far. 44 miles in about 7 hours at a steady 6.5 knots. The wind was 14-18 knots just behind the beam with seas 3-4 feet, occasionally 5 feet. Today was more comfortable offshore than the nearly 8ft waves we had coming from Conception to Long Island a few days ago. Also, today’s downwind sailing meant the wind gusts conveniently sped us up, instead of other situations where they tend to cause the boat to heel over more. Once we made it inside the “Bight” on the south end of Cat there were 1.5 hrs of sailing left, now upwind with reefed sails. Tina was steering and Amel was making a steady 6 knots against 18 knots winds gusting 25, just 45 degrees off the nose. Not bad! (Though the gusts did get us leaning over a bit more than usual!) We watched another boat not doing as well upwind that had to finish their day motoring the last leg into the anchorage. We were able to arrive under sail, setting the anchor with a minimum of engine run – success!
Perhaps a bigger success were two smiling kids. We had no seasickness today and enjoyed some Roald Dahl books on tape while underway. Tina crowned the day with fresh baked bread as a dessert which she began kneading before the other three even had the anchor down.
Fun Afloat 