Morning
Today I wanted to begin my passage to Antigua early. But I had to start the day with some work-work and conference calls, which meant that I would not be able to clear out until after 10 at the earliest
Clearing Out
I wasn’t until about 10:30 that I’d disconnected the umbilical cords (power and water) and gone to the marina office to check out there, then to the neighbouring Customs, Immigration and Port Authority office to clear out. That was quick and painless, from the I went to Zanshin and had help in casting off the lines and making a last pit stop at the fuel dock to fill up on diesel.
Sailing
The weather forecast showed winds of less than 10 knots, but it was pretty windy in the marina and once I got outside I set a reef in both mainsail and genoa and headed towards Pigeon Island and the north. As soon as I had “clean air” Zanshin picked up speed and the winds were a good 10-15 knots from a perfect direction.
For the first 4 hours I don’t think I ever went under 8 knots, sometimes doing 10 or more! I think that I was helped with a strong current, but nonetheless it was a very fast trip until about halfway up Martinique’s coastline.
Anchoring
I was a bit tired after the first sail and if conditions like this were to continue I’d be in Antigua very quickly. Thus I decided to spend the night in Saint-Pierre and the main anchoring areas looked quite crowded. I opted to anchor in 50 feet of water outside of town and behind a handful of other boats. I put out over 200 feet of my brand-new chain and was securely fastened to the bottom. A celebratory beer later I took a swim around the boat. Then came the difficult decision as to what to make for dinner.