Today was the big day for my friends – we embarked on our first passage between islands and planned on an overnight stay. They brought enough luggage and items along to fill up the dinghy but despite all of that we managed it in one trip to Zanshin, although we didn’t travel very fast and I was happy that there were no waves to swamp us. After everything was stowed away we got going and soon had 3 reefs in the mainsail and two in the genoa and were hard on the wind up the Anguilla channel. After only 3 tacks (one of which was necessitated due to some closely spaced fish traps in our way) we were headed directly for the entrance at Île Fourchue and in a total of 4 hours sailing we’d gotten the perfect mooring ball, close to shore but not close enough to have me worry about banging on the bottom.
After the obligatory swim, paddle-board and baguette snack three of us went on a research expedition to the top of the island while Alyssa remained aboard to read her book and stand watch. We not only made it to the summit of Île Fourchue but left our mark with a small stack of stones that might stand the test of time due to our superior architectural skills.
Since I was making the BBQ burger dinner it took quite a while before we had our food, but the burgers all disappeared in short order as did the garlic baguette and corn on the cobs; albeit the green peppers and onions remained on the table after we finished.
We gazed at the stars for a bit but by 22:00 they were safely in their respective cabins and I sat on the back of the boat a bit looking at the stars before also retiring for the evening.
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