It was a short season, Charlie Brown

Let's see: a year ago we were moving Horizons out of Greece to
Italy and then to Malta, Tunisia and Spain, then further to France,
so that when we got there in autumn there would be time to fix
some basic seaworthiness problems over the winter, so that in
turn we and Horizons would be ready to cross The Pond in April
to St Thomas USVI.
Yes, St Thomas USVI, to which we crossed successfully in April
of this year, and where we spent nearly a month fixing additional
seaworthiness problems, only to create even more of them in our
southward journey as we wandered into that dark alley known as
the Anegada Passage one night, and got beat up by the weather-thugs
resident there, us and the boat and its equipment.
We have kept pushing south—driving the bus, we call it—and what
with one thing and another we have made it to Trinidad, arriving
midday Friday 29 May 2009. 
We are no longer doing a yacht delivery. Instead, we are now
moving into general contractor mode, because while the boat is
laid up for hurricane season it will receive new plumbing, a
new set of sails and extensive cosmetic work. Saturday is a
national holiday here, so Monday we will get started with the
various trades here. Work, work, work, as the saying goes.
But a funny thing happened on the way to boatyard: after beating
our way through the Leewards with the wind in our nose, we jogged
to the right just as we entered the Windwards at Martinique,
and episodes of pleasant sailing erupted.
"Ease that mainsheet not quite a foot and a half, Mothah," says
the man in the helm seat (who after all has lived in New England
for 34 of his 64 years and is entitled to say such things when
the mood strikes), "t'will make for a smoothah ride." She obliges
and the boat responds, straightening out from heeled over to
a more vertical position, picking up a quarter-knot of velocity
from the adjustment to sail trim. Then it is all fresh breezes
and sunshine, with occasional visits from the bottle-nosed dolphins.
We have had extended periods of such fast beam-reach sailing
on quiet seas during five or six days the past two weeks. We
are reminded on such days why it was such a good idea to go cruising.
We need these episodes every few years or so to keep us in the
game.
Since our daughter assures us that no one believes our stories
of how hard we work and since that is what we will be doing until
we leave, this is the last sea story till December.

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