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Start of June 12th 2020

June 12th 2020

Position: 07° 23.5740' N 053° 23.0924' W

Boat: Alls well with the boat and she is sailing well but the selector on the gearbox is giving some troubles so the propeller doesnt engage in forward when you put it into gear but reverse works so we may have to reverse into the anchorage in Grenada just like i had to in Panama

wind Last night Was was very strong and we sailed very fast even though we had reefed both the main sail and the genoa down to two reefs
At times in the squalls we were sailing at 12 knots and averaged for the whole day over 7 knots which is really good for a boat this size

People: we are both ok
Boat Speed: 7 to 12 KTS under sails
Wind: 18 kts from North
Distance 194 miles in 24 hours miles sailed with a total of 1456 miles sailed so far and approximately 574 miles of the 2030 miles to go until we arrive in St Georges Grenada for quarantine
We are expecting an ETA of June 15
Course: true ,Directly to Grenada
Conditions: Swells are 1.6 m and the big ones every now and again go to around 2.5 m and those ones really throw the boat around

Comments:
Yesterday the boat picked up speed and was sailing most of the day at over 8 knots speed and John and i having started speculating our distance each morning before i measure the accurate distance well this am John was at 220 and I was at 214 miles so neither of us was right with 194 but for a monohull of this length to sail that distance is good going and has moved us back ahead of schedule for arrival in Grenada
Before we left Brazil Brian arranged that we get certificates showing we are Covid free and we have those on email so we are hoping that with that in hand the quarantine we are exposed to may be relaxed and instead of 14 days we may get away with 7 days

Our Air tickets to leave Grenada are still up in the air and its really difficult being in touch with the travel agents in Brazil because of limited access to internet and language and Catholic holidays in Brazil
We hope to have it resolved today but man its a pain and John is getting very frustrated with not knowing what the arrangements are because we have had to change them so many times and sailed all this was back to make sure he can get back to Bev as soon as he can. He has friends in Miami whom he would like to see so we are trying to arrange a stopover there for a few days on our way to LAX but we are not sure if its possible yet
Alistaire and Ingrid have said they will keep an eye over Crazy Sophia for us while she is stuck in Grenada waiting for us to return and resume the delivery

When one of your family members dies while you are at sea and there is absolutely nothing you can do to console your mom and others who held them dearly its then you know the choices you made to be at sea as a lifestyle and you also know that from those choices there is a big chance that there are people you will never see again because of my choices. This year has been particularly hard in that sense
So the choices have their challenges so having said that my condolences go out to my family on the passing of Carrol and at least now she can be perfectly happy with Edward and the rest of her family. I met Carrol the same day Edward didn't the session and would never have dreamed in those days of us two jolling (having fun) that Edward would later marry her and they would live their days out together and even though technically Ed did because he died first Carrol did too because she lived with his memory and missed him terribly after he passed
I will be in Grenada when her funeral takes place so i will hold a moments silence when Nicholas lets me know its happening.


John and I have been discussing choices of Islands we will visit in the Toumatu Group and he and Bev are still deciding but I haven even started thinking of particular islands yet but i do know I am going that way until November then I will come back to the Marquases islands so that i can park Opela safely while I come back to Grenada and finish this job. While I am in SA after delivering Crazy Sophia i need to get a new passport a new UK visa and a driving licence and also see Mom and the rest of my brothers and sisters if possible

Have a wonderful day all of you

Kevin

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