After another hefty breakfast, Wolfgang and I proceed to set sail in boisterous conditions today, with over 3 reefs in the main and 2 reefs in the genoa. Winds were 20+ knots for most of the day and made good speed tacking upwind past Île Tintamarre and then heading for the distant Île Fourchue on a single tack in heavy Atlantic seas. Despite having just a bit of sail out, we did 7-8 knots and weren’t heeled over excessively and Wolfgang did a great job of steering us to our destination, giving “Otto” the autopilot a deserved rest.
Even though I say so myself, Wolfgang and I did a good job picking up the difficult French mooring ball (with no pennant) the first go, with Wolfgang at the helm; a job made more satisfying than otherwise since we had a crowd watching us. The anchorage at Île Fourchue is protected but we had some swell and significant gusts of wind blast us from above so after our trip ashore we opted to continue on to Anse Colombier on St. Barths. We arrived there after a short but fast sail and once again managed to pick up the mooring ball on the first go without any undue shouting or other antics, this time the crowd was even bigger.
The sunset was a wonder to behold and shortly thereafter we set about making steak BBQ with sour cream, butter bread, baked potatoes and a reduced onion/red wine sauce that was very tasty indeed.
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