Waiting on the weather.......

As of today, the boat is basically ready to go.  The new electronics are installed, the dinghy is patched and loaded, the engine is serviced, the lockers are full of food, and the rigger and surveyor have given the rig a good bill of health.  Only one problem...... The weather has been bad. Rain squalls and 15-25 knots of wind every day for the last week, and forecast to continue for the next week.  Oh, and did I mention that the wind is right on the nose too of course.  Now I'm not afraid of a little weather, and I wouldn't be concerned at all if I was caught out in these conditions, but bucking into this type of weather for two or three days on route to my first stop, is not really my idea of a good time.  The purpose of this trip is after all to have fun.  Hopefully, after this wave passes, we will get a few days of calmer, more settled weather and I'll be off.  Heading east, which is the direction I need to go, is dead into the wind 95% of the time in this part of the world.  I'd rather do this leg in calm weather, even if I need to use the engine to get there.  I always hear horror stories about crossing the Anegada Passage, but I've been fortunate on the two trips I've done on other vessels to have reasonably good weather.  Once I arrive in the leeward islands, the rest of the ride to Trinidad should be on a reach.

 

Above is a photo of Valkyrie waiting at her slip in Red Hook.  I'll post some more photos soon.

First blog from the boat!

Its been a bit like Christmas this last week with lots of packages arriving.  Most notably my new laptop, which I can really use since I am now officially unemployed and don't have a comfy office with a computer and high-speed internet connection. I ordered a HP from BestBuy for $289, which included free shipping, even to the VI which is pretty rare.

I also received my new Garmin 441 chartplotter and g2 chip for the southeastern Caribbean.  The screen is a little smaller than I thought, but I like the overall functionality of the unit, and it should interface with the VHF/AIS unit I have on order, which will allow me to see and track shipping traffic while offshore, which is pretty cool. 

Most importantly, I received my documentation from the Coast Guard, so now I am legal, and free to roam the world.