Lots to Catch Up On

Since our last post there have been several adventures.  Here's a sampling:

Invasion  We have had absolutely no problem with mosquitoes this trip, and have become somewhat lax about screens.  One evening, David left the screen on the main entryway open when he went to bed.  Mistake.  A bird (or maybe more than one) came into the boat during the night, and apparently stayed for quite a while.  When we woke in the morning, there was bird poop everywhere.  Hard to deal with before you've even had a cup of coffee.

Mustique Blues Festival  This is the seventeenth annual festival, and we sailed there in order to go to a couple of concerts.  Mustique is one of the Grenadines, a perfect tropical island.  It is privately owned, and the development company has made it a destination for the rich and famous.  Homeowners over the years have included Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger, and Raquel Welch, among many other familiar names.  Apparently we missed Prince William and Kate by only a couple of days.  This wasn't all bad, because we heard that security made much of the island inaccessible to tourists.

The concerts were a lot of fun.  As usual, as "mature" adults, we ended up going to bed before the really good acts came on stage.  But we're used to that.

Sailing  Since we have a commitment to be on Antigua by the middle of February, we've been doing a lot more sailing this year than last.  It has been very enjoyable.  Yesterday, for example, we had some of the best sailing we've ever experienced in the Caribbean.  The winds were strong (20+ knots, Beaufort 6) and from a favorable direction, the waves big but well separated.  We sailed at 8.5 knots (even touching 9 knots a few times) much of the way, and arrived in St. Lucia 3-4 hours before we had planned.  This was a 55 nautical mile trip, and we made it in under 8 hours, including time for raising the anchor and setting/dousing the sails.  Exhilarating and magical.