10-Jan-2009 Noon Update

Atlantic Crossing Day #17 and FINAL!!
13'26.4N/58'13.9W
North Atlantic Ocean

• 106 nm last 24 hours
  
• 1937 nm from Cape Verde
  
• 81 nm to Barbados
  
• Winds E 10-15 Knots
  
• Seas NE 3-4 feet
  
• 474 Nautical Miles from Cap'n Chris on the S/V Christa
  

The champagne is chillin' and we can almost smell the rum!! Last noon fix with 81 miles to go until we are no longer rolling side to side, secure in an anchorage after 17 days at sea off white sand beaches .

We had to put on the brakes a bit yesterday by dropping the staysail to slow down so we did not arrive off Barbados in the middle of the night tonight. So we have just a hanky piece of jib out, giving us an average of 4 knots. There is a full moon tonight which will give us a very bright sky. So if we approach land too early in the morning then we should have no worries.

We are planning on making landfall on the north end of Barbados by first light. Then once we round the north end we still have to go 20 miles south in the lee of the island to the anchorage off Bridgetown. This is the Capitol of Barbados and is where customs and immigration is located there,  along with the Barbados Yacht Club that has our mail and more importantly hot showers.

The reason we picked Barbados as our first port in the Caribbean is that it is the most windward of all the islands by 90 miles, and is the closest to us. Most other boats, including the Atlantic Crossing Rally, skip Barbados and instead clear in at St Lucia. Because Barbados is 90 miles upwind from all the other islands very few boats make it out here. Usually they only get boats coming across the Atlantic, like us. Otherwise, boats would have to beat straight upwind against the Trades to get here. So we are hoping to be one of the few boats in the anchorage and have the place to ourselves.

I have added on our header "Miles from S/V Christa" as Sandpiper & Christa have not seen each other since being side tied together under the Golden Gate Bridge at the Presido Yacht Club years ago when we were both active duty Coast Guard. We are looking forward to meeting up and maybe Buddy Boating thru the Caribbean. Check S/V Christa out under 'Friends of Sandpiper'.

Since we are now on this side of the pond we are getting connected with Sailmail's stations in the Caribbean and we are getting great connections. If you have been holding on to an email for us because we said that Sailmail was not working, then please send away!! If you don't hear from us it is because we are sucking down rum punches and eating some flying fish sandwiches while listening to steel drums on the beach.

More When Anchored,
Tom and Amy