True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

What’s that saying about the “best laid plans of mice and men?”

This morning came with blustery weather and a swell we have never seen the likes of in this harbor. Still, Dale went to check on the status of the inverter with the idea that we were leaving by 5pm. It wouldn’t be delivered to the store until noon.

When he came back, we discussed the merits of crossing in weather such as this. With wave heights of 7-9 feet on the beam and wind speeds of 20-25kts, it was at the border of our comfort level. The wind never did shift around. We were already leaning toward the “no go” side of the equation when our buddy boat Take Time radioed and said that it was a definitely a no go for them (they’re a power boat.) That pushed us over the edge and the anxiety levels dropped off immediately.

Later, when Dale went back to get the inverter and was told that it couldn’t be delivered to us until after 2, it wasn’t a problem. He had laid hands on the box, checked that it was the right part and was whistling Dixie on the way back to the boat. When it was delivered at 2:30, he had it installed by 3, the batteries were charged by 4 and a whoop of satisfaction could be heard throughout the harbor. We were up at the pool by 4:15.

We joined the crews of Wayfinder, Indigo Moon, and Take Time standing at the railing watching about half of the boats that had wanted to leave, take off. The rest of us decided to wait for the next window. We radioed Moon Goddess when she was about 3 miles out for a weather report. They were taking water over the decks on a regular basis and were traveling with a double reefed main and several rolls in the jib. When we saw lightening on the horizon later in the evening, we said a quick prayer that everyone made it without incident.