Royal Island Harbour

In summary, today was a lovely sail. Some detail: The total trip was 52 miles. We were very close to the wind on the longest leg, 24 miles. We put out all canvas except a single reef in the mizzen to balance the helm. Even so, such a tight reach with frequent gusts seemed to consternate our autopilot. Myron hand steered for a bit to see if there was much load on the helm. There was not. But we did not want to hand steer for the next four hours…it would have been cool to have a helicopter drop in Auto Paul for today's sail! Ultimately the wind eased and the auto pilot stepped up to the task. We had a little concern over an eight mile leg because the forecast showed us heading into the wind and big northerly swells just outside the Fleming Channel. In another blessing from God, the swells were almost non-existent, the winds died completely, and we motor-sailed that eight mile leg on flat seas. The wind freshened on the nose for our last seven miles, but we were on the banks and all was well.

We are anchored inside this harbor at Royal Island and look forward to some sound sleep. We will be watching for a weather window to sail north to the Abacos. Hopefully in the next few days we will get east winds with very little northerly component.

It was a very early start this morning for our 3 pm arrival here. Time for a nap!

Love to all,
Dena

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{GMST}25|30.947|N|076|50.444|W|Anchored|{GEND}