30 Jul Position Update: Quarantine Anchorage – St. George’s, Grenada

Current Position: 12 2.581 N 61 45.413 W

Miles Sailed: 392.1

Average Speed: 7.5 knots

Min/Max Wind Speed: 4-38 knots (5-44 mph)

We made it safely from USVI to Grenada, despite catching the front end of what was to become TS Isaias (Invest92 or Depression 9 or whatever they want to call it.) We knew the storm was coming and it was time to get out of dodge, but ALL of the models were wrong. It moved much faster and much more of a westward course rather than NW.

The first 24 hours of the sail was great. Sunny, 18 knots of breeze from the ENE. All was smooth, except seeing some unexplained lights near Isla Aves (Venezuelan Island in the Caribbean Sea). Possibly 2-3 three small fishing boats, maybe fish traps, maybe ocean data buoys, but we could not see them on the radar. Lights were intermittent, did not have a steady flash period, and were white/amber, gaining in intensity and maintaining bearing. Whatever they were, they were closer than I liked, and I didn’t want to find out. Thankfully a squall came through, we went into stealth mode, and we no longer saw them afterward. We could still see the lighthouse light from Aves.

The rest of the night was uneventful other than a few wind clouds to make things exciting. We downloaded more weather reports via the sat phone. Everything was good. More fast reaching sailing and the storm predicted to maintain north of us. Kate and Roxy were re-adjusting well to the ocean motion!

As we went into the evening we could see clouds building. I was nervous as the wind had been shifting northerly more than forecasted. A telltale we were closer to the storm. The pressure was also dropping and become in line only if I sped up and shifted the models. Nervous, we tried to gather more weather data. Should have looked in more detail at the GEOS Satellite Images rather than rely on written forecasts, discussions, and gribs. According to the experts, the storm was still above us and lacked the rotation to make it a TS. I think they were wrong, both about the storm’s location but also about the wind direction/velocity.

As night fell on day two, lightening was picking up to our west. This was big. We could go faster with the spinnaker up and try to outrun, this was thought about, but it would have only lasted a few hours and gained us only a few miles before the wind increased too much.

Just about 80 miles west of St. Lucia we put in 2 reefs in the main, and two in the jib. We had plenty of room to run off. The lightning increased so much, we decided to wrap a few backup navigation devices in foil. Our big carbon rig was the only thing sticking up for 80 miles in any direction. Thankfully it wasn’t hit, despite seeing bolts hit the water around us.

I have never seen a radar screen with so much red. The storm had that freight train sound just before it hit. The radar coincided perfectly.

Max wind speed in the storm was 38.4 knots. It dumped buckets of rain. Pre-trimmed the sails and waited it out down below, put the hatch boards in, steering via autopilot remote control and instruments. We hit over 10 knots surfing waves like this, it was kind of fun in an adrenaline junky way.

After the storm, there was little wind and lots of leftover waves. Thinking we could be in a loose eye, we fired the engine up to continue to motor sail south as fast as possible, fearing being hit again by the backside and worst of the storm. This was probably a good idea.

As we moved south through the morning the wind continued to shift and build, until it was 20 knots out of the south. Head on in the direction we needed to go. We motor sailed the rest of the way in.

Check in to Grenada was easy and stress-free. Super nice people and officials. Easy and protected check-in dock. The took our temperature and presented us with a temporary check-in card for 10 days quarantine. We have to stay on the boat, we can swim, but no socializing. We are used to that by now. Anchor holding here is sketchy, but for now, it’s fine, unless there are storm conditions. It is not rolling as some suggested.

They are very well organized here. You can order just about anything you need online during Q. Pay via CC and they deliver it to the dock and you pick it up in your dinghy. In short, a great experience here so far.

Oh, and the best part, no nasal swab Covid-19 test. Just a finger prick test, similar to a blood sugar test, with instant results. This is excellent, as I am not a fan, to say the least, of someone jabbing a stick in my brain!

We hope to be productive during and catch up on a few videos before we get out and can explore the island. Please share with your friends, as we enjoy sharing this experience with others. More pics on FB.