Regatta time

 Hi everyone,

First, a little bit about the harbor here in Georgetown. This is apparently one of the largest harbors in the Caribbean, according to a recent environmental and development study. And it is a natural harbor with no dredging having been done on the entrances. It is several miles long and roughly a mile wide, with numerous islands and additional bays contained within it. At the moment there are roughly 350 cruising boats at anchor here and it is by no means full. It is rather shallow overall but I can enter much of it with a five and a half foot draft, and much more at high tide. It is easy to see why folks end up here, become comfortable, and don't pull their anchor for months. After using marginal anchorages for so long this place is paradise.

I did sign up for the big boat races at registration this morning. A brain scan should probably be ordered up because the in the harbor race, on Saturday, will be a veritable sh*t show! At least it is scheduled for high tide. It involves at least 25 boats racing around the harbor, trying not to collide with each other, and trying not to hit any of the remaining 225 boats sitting at anchor. Like I said, I should have my noggin examined. I had planned to do it single handed, but I may enlist my friends Roger and Susan as crew. Then there is the around the island race which is scheduled for next Monday. That takes sailors thru the harbor and out the western entrance, followed by a beat to windward, a passage thru the eastern entrance, and return to the area of the start. It's about 20 miles, half on the ocean and half in the harbor. It will have it's challenges but at least the tacking portion will be on the ocean where there is plenty of room. I'll report in after the race!

Best, Charlie