Blue Summit - Halfway to the BVI

It was just two weeks and 900 miles ago that we departed from Deltaville for our circumnavigation. Currently, we are on the sixth day (and over halfway) on the leg from Norfolk to Tortola in the BVI. We headed out of the Chesapeake Bay 5 days ago, past Cape Hatteras and southeastward toward a spot south of Bermuda on the 65W line of longitude. This is known as the I-65 route to the Caribbean and although an open ocean route, and the quickest way to get there, there is less upwind sailing than on the infamous Thorny Path through the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. We have now turned south and are sailing along on a bumpy beam reach at 9 knots with about 20 knots of wind.

"New" is the operative word on this passage for us. Our ten year boat needed "some" refits and updates after last winter's shakedown cruise in the Bahamas. So far we have been really happy with the new sails, hardware, and systems we installed. All seem to be working well though we're still tinkering with them, and probably will continue to do so, for months. We also are getting used to the creaks and groans the boat gives off as we bounce along and we have noticed a few leaking hatches and ports now that they are getting some serious spray. Nothing serious, just more projects to be added to the punch list when we make landfall….

We are notoriously awful at fishing as any of our friends we cruised with in the Bahamas will attest to- after three months of trying last winter, we caught one fish then promptly lost the pole overboard when the pole's holder slipped on a passage across the Exuma Sound. An unhappy end to our Bahamian fishing career. Armed with two new fishing poles this year, we pulled one out during a lull in the wind on Saturday and caught a 2 ½ ft mahi in less than one minute. No joke. A real highlight for us.

All is well, our tummies are full of mahi, and we are looking forward to landfall in a few days.

Steve & Kate