Despite earplugs I only slept fitfully, the boat rolled quite a bit but that was acceptable; there is a very annoying creaking sound somewhere in my cabin when the boat rolls which I haven’t been able to locate as it seems to come from different places but it is so loud that despite earplugs I could hear it and finally the waves bashing into the back of the boat and making it shudder was the pièce de resistance making sleep difficult. So got up at sunrise and by 07:00 was underway. I was going to see what the wind and waves were like offshore before deciding whether to make the long run to Antigua (about 90nm) or a shorter one to Nevis for an overnight stay and thence to Antigua but when I got out of the lee of St. Barths I found 10-13 knots of wind and despite the 3 meter long swell I could make a straight run for the southwest corner of Antigua with the wind at 40° apparent and about 90° true and initially in gusty winds I was doing over 8 knots; this settled a bit over the next hours but only once, for a period of about 30 minutes, did the wind die down. During this period I motorsailed in order to the charge the batteries and make some water (plus propel the boat) and until I reached the corner of Antigua I averaged around 8 knots – my fastest passage to date. After rounding the southern part of the island I had to motorsail in order to keep up enough speed so that I could enter the Falmouth anchorage with a bit of light left and my first anchoring attempt put me into the channel, the second anchoring attempt at a different location put my keel in only 2 feet of water and I didn’t have enough scope put out but my third attempt in yet another spot in the anchorage let me put out sufficient chain and left me just short of poking into the main navigation channel.
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