I’m heading south today, although I didn’t get going until about 14:30. I said goodbye to Long Overdue who left hours before I did. I set sail within a couple of hundred yards of raising the anchor and arrived at Île Fourchue 3 hours later. The sailing was nice but I could feel that the seas were more organized than in days past and I’m now safely moored inside the anchorage but the waves are rolling around the headland and Zanshin is doing a very good job of stirring the marinating steak in the kitchen, and I’m glad that I’ve got anti-slip padding underneath the computer monitor! I don’t know how well I’ll sleep tonight, but I’ll certainly be heading to Anse Colombier on the morrow.
My VHF Radio sounded off during the passage with a loud BLARING sound, and when I checked the display there was a active MAYDAY call via DSC. I checked the details with my logbook in hand (it is always best to note events like that in writing in the log) but when I got to the coordinates I realized something was wrong, the location of the distress at 15:35 was 69°49’S and 116°199’E, which was a little out of my range (I’m was at 18°5′;N 63°0’W). After I’d cleared the message from the VHF and went back topsides I saw that my chart plotter was echoing the message as well.
I stayed up top for a while, eating my steak & potato dinner and reading while listening to the creaking and slapping on the boat as it rolled around in the waves. Walking is a bit difficult, due not to the glass of red wine I had but to the boat’s movement. There’s no question about it – I’m out of here tomorrow!
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