After my first somewhat restless night aboard, I woke up relatively late and didn’t get underway until 11AM, bolstered by several cups of coffee. I left with a downwind/crosswinds destination of Jost van Dyke in mind, but the conditions looked nice for some sailing with winds of about 10 knots and hardly a noticeable wave pattern in the Sir Francis Drake channel, so I changed my mind and decided to sail to the North Sound of Virgin Gorda instead. At first I had full sails out and was cruising along at 8 knots, but then the winds stiffened somewhat and I put reefs in both sails and still comfortably sailed up the channel at about 7-8 knots. This was a great start to the 2016 sailing season and it was exhilarating indeed. I saw numerous boats, both monohulls and catamarans, motoring rather than sailing and couldn’t understand it; particularly as I was doing better speeds than they were while “just” under sail.
I anchored in my favorite spot close to Prickly Pear island in the early afternoon and once I was firmly attached to the ground I started cooking some slow-cooked chili sauce with some of the provisions I’d purchased. The main ingredient that will deliver some “punch” are some of the Scotch peppers I purchased at Riteway in Roadtown. Since I’m not sure how spicy they are I’ll let myself be surprised once the sauce has been bubbling away for an hour or two and will taste my concoction.
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