Dragging a large green fishing net under our boat we first spotted the lights of Antigua around midnight and progressed towards the island agonizingly slowly.  We arrived at the entrance to Falmouth Harbour at 3:00 am, but as squalls and swells were battering us from all sides at that moment, we made the wise decision to wait until dawn to enter.  So we zigged and we zagged outside the entrance for 3 hours and when the sun came up, we made our grand entrance.

Savvy sailors will be impressed to hear that we entered the channel under sail as we were afraid that the net might get caught in our propellor.  We also managed to drop the anchor while under sail and Patrice immediately put on his mask to investigate below.  Well friends and neighbors, wouldn't you know that all that zigging and zagging must've paid off because that pesky net was gone!  Free to start the engine, we wasted no time in zooming into the marina where Shelagh and a surprise--my parents!--were waiting on the dock with balloons and banners and ice-cold champagne!  Oh happy day!

I will post a proper update and some photos of our trip sometime in the next few days, but first a celebration is in order and some much needed and well-deserved SLEEP!   

Antigua approche! were the opening words of Michels daily weather satellite transmission to us this morning and indeed, with less than 83 nautical miles to go, Antigua is drawing near.  Our current ETA is 9:00 pm today which means that we will be arriving in the dark, but thankfully there will be a half moon to light our way.

We have a beautiful sunny day with a few clouds, but not much wind so we are motor sailing.  Its not ideal, but we've had it at this point and will do what it takes to make landfall ASAP.  Considering we've been under sail for more than 90% of the trip, I think we've done quite well.

The mood onboard Taka Trois is expectant, excited and EXUBERANT!  We were all on deck this morning singing a rousing chorus of the Beatles Here Comes the Sun as we watched the sun rise for the last time over this passage.

Gourmets to the bitter end, our last meals onboard will include first an extravagant brunch with homemade bread, omelettes, bacon and baked beans and dinner will be more of my boeuf bourguignon which is always even betterthe second day, served with olive oil and garlic mashed potatoes.  Sadly the champagne and the Bordeaux will have to wait until we make landfall yes, friends and neighbours, you may find it hard to believe, but aside from the odd dash of angostura bitters to liven up our daily virgin cocktails, this crew has been dry for two weeks!

Well spend our last hours onboard tidying up the boat a bit, writing down our last impressions in our journals and enjoying the moment.  Its hard to digest how far we've actually come and strangely its even a bit hard to take in that this journey is almost at an end.

There is no need to vote for a delight of the day, but we all agree that the unsung hero of this boat is OTTO, our trusty autopilot without whom we would've had a much more stressful and strenuous journey.  Before
I end this last satellite transmission,  I must give thanks to God to whom
 we are eternally grateful for His protection and guidance and for making 
this all possible.  He is our greatest Delight today and always.

P.S. Breaking News!

Just before sending this message, we suddenly noticed an unmistakable decrease in speed.   Glancing over the back of the boat, we could see a bit of something trailing along with us just under the surface of the water.  Our valiant skipper put on his snorkel mask, tied himself to the boat and went in to have a look.  He saw that we had picked up a large fishing net, which had wrapped itself snugly around our keel and quite impossible to dislodge safely in our current position.   URRRGGGHH!!!!!

Thankfully it had not wrapped itself around the propeller, but just to be sure, we have stopped the engine and are now sailing painfully slowly to Falmouth Harbour, where we plan to drop anchor and hopefully sort out the problem in calm shallow waters before proceeding to the marina.  Our ETA is
 now sometime in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  To say we can't wait 
is an understatement.

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                    1910
Remaining to Antigua:        199

Weather:  Sunny and warm—30°
Wind:   10-15 knots, E/NE

Seas:  1-2 M

Sailing:  Fairly good progress today with full main and headsail.  Decrease in wind and a shift in direction this afternoon has us motor-sailing at the moment.

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Impatient!

Lunch:          Homemade Chorizo Pizza
Dinner:         Boeuf Bourguignon and Banoffee Pie

Of Special Interest:
•       The VHF radio came to life today after being silent for almost two weeks.  Another French yacht on its way to Guadeloupe spotted us on their AIS and called to chat.  Obviously they are just as bored as we are…
•       Saw the legendary ‘green flash’ on the horizon as the sun set last night.
•       Caught a brief glimpse of another Orca whale which came briefly alongside the boat this afternoon.  This one was even more shy than the last one.

‘Delight of the Day:’ The Sun!   We are so very grateful to have had so many lovely sunny days.

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                           1764
Remaining to Antigua:        345

Weather:  Sunny and warm—30°--heavenly!

Wind:   5-20 knots, E then NE

Seas:  1-2 M

Sailing:   A lost shackle on the genoa early last night meant using the slower jib during the night.  When the wind died completely during the night, we abandoned attempts to sail until morning and put the engine on.  Thankfully we were able to replace the shackle this morning and when the wind picked up just after dawn and changed direction to NE,  we were able to put up both the main sail and the genoa on a ‘beam reach,’ the most comfortable point of sail (less rock and roll)--the first time we’ve enjoyed it on this trip.

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Upbeat despite delays.  Really enjoying the sailing today.

Lunch:           Burgers and cole slaw
Dinner:         Hummus with carrot sticks; leftover roast

Of Special Interest:
•       We changed time again and we’re now on island time (GMT-4) without a lick of jet lag.
•       Latest ETA (estimated time of arrival) is now late Wednesday/early Thursday due to the time lost last night.  Disappointing, but ‘it is what it is.’

‘Delight of the Day:’  We’ve all been delightful today ☺

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                    1635
Remaining to Antigua:        474

Weather:  Sunny and warm—30°

Wind:   16-25 knots, E

Seas:  1-3 M Swell (more like ‘awfuls’ today actually, they’re driving me mad and have given me a headache!)

Sailing:   Wind still coming from behind and rocking our world, but not in a good way…

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Quiet.  More than ready for landfall.

Lunch:          Leftover curry and Patrice’s hand made fresh bread
Dinner:         Roast pork with root vegetables and chocolate cake

Of Special Interest:
•       The rising full moon last night was an divine sight and lit up the ocean with spectacular sparkles
•       Shelagh, Alan’s wife is making her way to Antigua today—hope she doesn’t have to wait too long for us…
•       I made a chocolate cake during my early morning watch as a surprise for Patrice and Alan and hid it on the top shelf of the bookcase.  This afternoon, one particularly large swell tipped us over so far the cake went flying through the main cabin—a surprise indeed!

‘Delight of the Day:’  Alan for taking over some of my kitchen duties, giving a bread-making lesson and repairing an errant shackle

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                    1490
Remaining to Antigua:        619

Weather:  Sunny and warm—30°

Wind:   12-22 knots, E

Seas:  1-2 M Swells

Sailing:   Wind coming from behind, just using the headsail

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Good.  Calm, relaxed atmosphere on board; reading, playing scrabble, solitaire and suduko and counting down the days hoping to arrive sometime Wednesday.

Lunch:          Sandwiches
Dinner:         Chicken Tikka Masala with basmati rice and naan bread

Of Special Interest:  Nothing to report; no boats, no fish, no birds, no whales, no mermaids, just endless miles of ocean.

‘Delight of the Day:’  Patrice and Alan insist on giving it to me as I cleaned out the debris and scum (a combination of spilled Worcester sauce, coconut milk and slime) accumulated at the bottom of the fridge this morning.  Not delightful at all, more like disgusting.

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                                        1360
Remaining to Antigua:     749

Weather:  Sunny and warm—30°

Wind:   10-16 knots, E/NE

Seas:  1-2 M Swells—a pleasant relief.  The water is now a beautiful shade of crystal blue.

Sailing:   Less wind and coming from behind so we’re going slower

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Better.  Yesterday we had a series of minor incidents—desalinator stopped working,  problem with the oven, kindle breaking down, etc. which made some of us a bit... errr...'cranky' shall we say.  Thankfully everything has now been repaired.

Lunch:          Sandwiches on homemade bread and apple cake
Dinner:         Leftovers

Of Special Interest:
•       Patrice and Alan have been abducted by mermaids…..just seeing if you’re paying attention ☺
•       Seriously, nothing to report other than it’s been a lovely relaxing day despite our slower progress.

‘Delight of the Day:’  We agree that we have all been equally delightful today.

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                    1253
Remaining to Antigua:        856

Weather:  Variable

Wind:   14-28 knots, E/NE

Seas:  1-4 m Swells

Sailing:   A wind shift has put the wind directly behind us making things difficult.

Crew Well-being and Morale:  OK

Lunch:          Smorgasborg
Dinner:         Cottage Pie

Of Special Interest:
•       Changed time again to GMT –3

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                           1110
Remaining to Antigua:        999!!!

Weather:  Blue skies with puffy white clouds

Wind:   15-22 knots, N/NE

Seas:  1-2.5 M Swells

Sailing:   Lovely

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Excellent

Lunch:          Tomato, ham and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread
Dinner:         Creative leftovers and pear crumble

Of Special Interest:
•       Happy Birthday Mom!
•       At  10:00 am (GMT-2) we reached the halfway point!!!!  Hallelujah!
and….(drum roll please)
•       WE MET AN ORCA WHALE!!!!  What an incredible experience!

‘Delight of the Day’:  Jonah, our beautifull, 5-6 meter, Orca whale, who entertained us by surfing under the waves alongside Taka Trois for more than an hour this afternoon—simply spectacular!  Just wish he hadn't been so camera shy.

Miles  (Distances calculated on a straight line by GPS)
Covered to date:                            941
Remaining to Antigua:     1168

Weather:  A blustery day with squalls and intermittent sunshine
Wind:   15-25 knots, N/NE

Seas:  Very very rolly, 1-2 m Swells

Sailing:   Even with reduced sails, we’re zooming!  She went as fast as 12.5 knots at one point –

Crew Well-being and Morale:  Very good—gelling well as a team and keeping our sense of humor.

Lunch:          BLT (bacon lettuce and tomato) sandwiches
Dinner:         Chicken al pesto on a bed of mushroom risotto

Of Special Interest:
•       We are now closer to South America than to Africa
•       We enjoyed silvery moonlight and shooting stars last night and a rainbow on the horizon this morning
•       The occasional showers are actually very welcome to wash down the boat.

‘Delight of the Day’:  Our skipper for remaining calm under pressure while untangling the furling line at the bow during a squall and getting totally soaked by several waves in the process.  Thankfully, he said that the water is warm—a balmy 26°!  It might be time to go for a swim…just kidding.