Location: Galleons Beach, Antigua
Today we woke up at around 7:30, and had a cereal breakfast prepared by our chefs Im Im and Juni. We were quick to get our sails up and leave Nevis to start on our passage to Antigua, and our first watch team of the day, Drake, Ellery, Juni, and Mia, got us out of the harbor and sailing upwind. Soon enough, the active volcano island of Monserrat was dead ahead, and Walker tacked to get us out of the way. We were joined by a flock of birds that followed us the rest of the day, catching our draft and chasing schools of flying fish. Evan and I were also at the helm as we moved on, and we cooked some grilled cheeses for lunch underway. After my watch team’s shift ended, Tati and JJ took over. Just about this time, our engine started making some interesting noises.
Because we were heeled over and low on fuel, not enough gas could get into the engine. The engine still ran a little when we were on a starboard tack, but since the anchorage in Antigua had a pretty tight entrance, we decided to save our fuel for then. Running on sail power alone is beautiful and quiet, but also very slow in a 52-foot boat. Still, we kept going and had some chili for dinner (surprisingly few bowls were dropped). We tethered onto the boat as the sun went down and the stars came out, and most of us drifted to sleep with the lights of Antigua on the horizon. As the night wore on, our skippers, Matty P and Sela, did more of the work than they should have since we were all sleeping tight. At 1:00, we finally put our anchor down in Antigua and went to bed properly. It was a very long but also very rewarding kind of day, and these passages are what make the journey just as interesting as the destinations. All told, the trip took about 16 hours. We were all very happy to wake up this morning in Antigua and are very thankful for everything that has happened so far in the past ten days. Time is really flying here.
-Jackson M.