I did it! Albeit with a little help. My friend Aaron had mercy on me and gave me company. And he really enjoyed it. After working so hard on JACE all summer, he certainly earned it.

In the morning I finish a few loose ends while waiting for Tevin to finally replace the fridge thermostat. Once that is done I pick up Aaron at his house and by 2p we set off.

It it quite windy with almost 20kn of wind and some ominous clouds in the distance. I am glad I am not doing this first sail all by myself. Aaron used to live aboard for six years and is a very experienced sailor. He’s been through three cat 5 hurricanes and even suffered a dismasting! So I am in good hands.

It ends sup being a really sweet sail, downwind and around the southwest cape of Grenada and then tacking upwind towards the anchorage just outside St. Georges. As we come around the point, there is a big squall coming through and we can see the rain just in front of us casting a nice bright rainbow.

But we luck out and the weather moves off before we get to St. Georges and we stay dry the entire time. In lee of the island the wind gets lighter and the sailing is real smooth.

As we try to furl in the sails we discover that one of the two big electric winches has stopped working. Thankfully, in Aaron I have just the right guy onboard and after we successfully anchor and enjoy a quick sundowner, we go below, take down half the ceiling and the master heads to get access to the winch and – thanks to Aaron – we even get it to work again. We never really figure out what was wrong, but it is working again. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Once JACE is all settled and secured, we head to town by dinghy and enjoy a nice dinner together. First sail was a success and I feel much better prepared for tomorrow’s day sail up to Carriacou.