At first light we raised the anchor and motored through the narrow channel to start our 43 Nm trip to the mainland. The seas were like glass, but the coolness in the air meant something was about to change. We didn’t have long to wait. We had set our course around the south coast of the island, and had put out our fishing line, to see if we could catch dinner.

The predicted wind for today called for 12-15knots with a 2ft. sea. The actual conditions …..19- 25knts with 4ft seas with the 10 footer. After an hour in these conditions Mistress slowed down to 3.5knots, caused by the wind right on the nose.

We radioed Jacasso and agreed to change our destination to Boquerón, which was 4 miles closer than our original harbour of Mayaguez. It meant  that we would shave 1 hour off our running time. We were hoping to arrive before darkness fell. To report into the country we would have to take a taxi, which was at our original destination.

The wind increased to 20, gusting over 25, we decided to reef main sail. Once it was done and I returned to take the wheel from Muriel who was starting to turn green, there was a strong gust and we heard the horrible sound of sails ripping. All 4 reef points were torn about 10 inches straight down.. I was able to reduce sail further.

The wind and the swells continued to toss us around for about 8 hours, till we were about 10 miles from land. Muriel was unable to take the wheel due to seasickness. Just goes to show that everyone is susceptible. I felt so sorry for her, all the time we have spent on the boat and this is the happens with land in sight. Our Voyager wind vane and myself kept the us on course.

When the sea and wind calmed to a comfortable 15 knots, we could see the harbour, but in front of it was a huge black wall of rain coming towards us.   I quickly put down the sails, and just in time before it hit us. Almost immediately we lost sight of Jacasso, who we were following, being pelted by torrential rain. We turned towards the wind and came to an idle. The rain lasted for about twenty minutes, just enough time for the sun to disappear.

We entered Boquerón anchorage in the dark. All our friends who were already here greeted us on the radio. All of them, flashed their lights so we could see where they were anchored. Ebin, from Neccesse came out in his dinghy to guide us in.

We’re here , we’ve made it to Puerto Rico. We have completed the longest, toughest passage so far.