Getting Ready for a 5 Day Passage

We have been in Turks & Caicos for almost a week now and are only allowed to stay here for 7 days.  Our 7 day mark is up tomorrow, which was the day we were planning to leave, only we had a major problem come up on our way to South Caicos 2 days ago.  Our front sail or Jib has a built in cover around the outside edge to protect it when it is rolled up and it has started coming apart at the seam.  We rolled it in immediately after we noticed it ripping and our plan is to take it down and try to repair it with my sewing machine.  If we can't fix it ourselves our plans may have to change.  The only problem is that we can't take it down with any wind and the wind has been blowing at 20 knots here the last 2 days.  The wind is supposed to die down a little tomorrow and progressively more until Wednesday.  We are hoping the customs officials will be lenient with us and allow us to stay a few extra days.  We have taken advantage of the time on the boat the last few days and worked on some boat projects, did the laundry, and made Christmas brunch.  I was unsure if we would have a decent grocery store between last week and Christmas so I took advantage and bought my Christmas brunch ingredients and made it today!  We technically celebrated Christmas 10 days early, but on a boat time doesn't' seem to change so it made no difference to us.  I suppose we will also get a head start on our new year next week!

After our 12 hour crossing when we left at midnight and got pounded by the Atlantic we stayed in a marina for 2 days.  The guy that built the marina started 20 years ago and has finally got everything up and running.  He was the most generous and trusting guy we have met yet.  We had about 7 gallons of gas left in our tank and all of our jerry cans were empty so we needed to fuel up and that is how we found this gem of a marina.  South Side Marina and Bob, the owner, was just what we needed after the frightening night on the sea.  After staying 2 nights, recharging our batteries, washing the boat, filling the water tank, filling the propane, having Bob drive and pick us up from the store, and filled the fuel tank with $620 worth of gas Bob told us to come back later tonight and we would settle up.  He had another boat waiting to get fuel and knew we were planning on anchoring fairly close and coming in to the weekly cruisers BBQ at his bar that night.  We could have easily sailed away and stuck him with the $1000 bill and never looked back, but we didn't.  We took the dinghy in that night to the BBQ and told Bob goodbye.  We are now fully stocked with fuel, groceries, and water.  Ready for a few days at sea.  The next pass should take about 5 days.  With our luck it will probably take 7 days!!!  We will keep the delorme going every hour so you can watch our progress, and will update with messages if anything significant happens.

Thanks Stray Cat for our hats

Fueled up and ready for a crossing!

For Sale.  Who would want to live here?

Preston decorated our boat for Christmas!