Hand-stitched sail repair on the solent jib in St. Lucia.

Hand-stitched sail repair to the solent jib, St. Lucia

Reading from my favorite watch keeping spot offshore, St. Lucia to St. Croix

Kevin's arrival in St. Croix. We dropped off Dan and Marcia there, and picked up Kevin and Tom for Leg 2 to the Abacos.

Downtown St. Croix. It was a sleepy place.

The VLA satellite dish in St. Croix, one of only a handful in the world, searching for aliens.

Point Udall, the easternmost point in the USA. I made it there on my bike ride.

Which way does the sun rise? In the east!

Which way does it set? In the west!

The local 'color' in St. Croix.

Pretty sweet old Swan in the boatyard at St. Croix Marine.

Kevin's first encounter with Sojourner. He likes the solent rig (so do I)

You know, St. Croix used to be Danish. Ja!

The seaplane terminal was right behind our berth at Jones Maritime in town. They came and went several times a day, using the harbor as a runway.

Nice!

Jones Maritime dock where we tied up for our St. Croix stay.

Safety gear and sleeping gear down below.

There's my favorite spot again. Contemplating the universe apparently while on watch offshore.

Tom Herrington, one of the best crew I've yet to sail with.

Dad, your iPhone doesn't work offshore!

Tom down below on a particularly calm day (we had lots of them - it was awesome sailing!).

Hove-to for a swim! St. Croix to the Bahamas leg.

Even hove-to, Sojourner made 1.5 knots through the water, which made for a nice workout getting to the ladder.

Hove-to. Had we done this in heavy weather, we would have been much more conscious of chafe. In this case, it only lasted a few minutes.

Setting the spin pole. Don't go offshore without one!

Wing-on-wing and checking sail trim with the small A sail.

Tom's looking very pleased with himself.

And Andy is looking rather pleased with himself too! Downwind sailing at its best!

Going out on the pole to re-lead a sheet before gybing the A sail.

I wore the GoPro while Kevin photographed me with his Nikon.

Kind of a cool perch out there offshore!

Re-leading the spin sheet before gybing at the end of the pole.

Tom helping to re-lead the spin sheet at the bow.

Dad discovering the clogged intake line on the head. We'd sucked up a bunch of pine needles at the dock in St. Croix.

Not so much fun cleaning it out.

Sunrise. These are the moments that make the trip. This is life.

A calm day for some aerial photography at the masthead while under full sail.

Pretty nice view, eh?

Yes, I was having fun with this. Boy, the earth looks big from here (so does the boat!).

Tom was usually smiling! He ought to have been with the weather we had!

Running the reef break at Little Harbor in the Abacos. Note the modern (iPad) nav, and the old school chart nav.

Dad and Tom having a chat in the cockpit. We wore lifejackets and harnesses at night and whenever someone was alone on deck.

Fun with celestial navigation!

Kevin practicing a sun sight with the sextant.

...And working out the sight reduction forms in the cockpit. Where are we Kevin?

Watching for Wilson the Whale at the bow.

Where's Wilson?

There he is! Wilson the minke whale spouts just next to the boat.

The captain and the chef! Brekky onboard. Looks like omelets.

Navigating at the nav station (where it's meant to be done!).

Cell phones don't work out here...but satellite phones do. Calling the family back home.

The photographer. Kevin, who is usually behind the camera, was about to reef the mainsail before making landfall.

Tom helping reef the main before running the reef.

Hmm, where are we dad? You sure that reef break is wide enough?

Always looking at the sail trim...'When doubt, let it out!'

Once through the reef we lifted the beer prohibition for the crew.

Happy faces and blue water now inside the reef in the Abacos.

Tied to the dock after 6 days offshore.

The crew at Curly Tails Bar for the first meal ashore in a week.

Pretty little squall in Marsh Harbor.

Show and tell time with Dad and Tom, explaining where we went on our Bahamas trip in 1993/94.

Pete's Pub in Little Harbor. We rented a car for the 20 mile drive south.

The pub and gallery are quite a famous place. Check out the book 'Artist on His Island'...

Back in 1952 Randolph Johnston uprooted his family and sailed south to Little Harbor to escape civilization and live as artists.

The Johnston family lived in caves across the way while they built their houses ashore.

Meanwhile, I harvested coconuts!

This was only about ¼ of my take for the day! I was giving them away to other people at the bar!

My trusty Myerchin rigging knife helped me open them.

And boy are they tasty! Nothing beats fresh coconut water.

One of the many bronze statues outside the gallery and scattered around the property.

Boobs!

Pretty sweet statue there, huh Dad?

Grouper that was selling for something like $12,000.

An old Seagull outboard!

Hiking to the abandoned lighthouse at the cut where we ran the reef break two days earlier.

Inside the old abandoned lighthouse (that's Tom). The reef break is visible through the windows on the left.

That's more like it...coconut water in the rum.

Potcake!

That's what they call the local stray dogs. This one was a friendly guy.