It was a brutal 15 day passage - the first 12 days we had really big winds/waves - last 3 days we had better wind/waves but we were fighting a current that goes North/West - we were trying to go South/East. All of this was upwind so lots of pounding.....not fun! Our boat doesn't point all that well - and we "knew" that when we bought it - but when you actually experience it, it is excruciationg. Luckily we should have little upwind sailing on the rally. We saw several waterspouts (tornadoes on the water) but thankfully not close to the boat. We had beautiful sunsets and amazingly starry nights away from civilization's lights, and of course had dolphins and maybe porpoises? swimming in the bow wake several times.
So we made it here - we're all checked in for the rally. The girls have met the other little girls doing the rally and they are loving having friends to play with! We attended the going away party last night where I think all had a good time. So - after being in St. Lucia for just about 48 hours we're heading off to Panama - the start is at noon. We're doing the last minute fixes and provisioning now. We are looking forward to having a bit more down time when we get to the San Blas islands (the girls and I really want to go to the beach - and Lee would like a few nights of real sleep) - we should have 10 days or so to relax before we start preparing for the Panama Canal crossing.
Happy 2012 !