Oasis passage notes - Atlantic Crossing

Update: 19th December, 2000 Location: Prickly Bay, Grenada Position: 11° 59' N, 61° 45' W
	We left Puerto Calero on 16th November, making an overnight passage to Puerto Rico, where we met up with Pablo, who is looking fantastically well, and is very happy (even if his hair is somewhat short, i.e. rather non-existant!). Unfortunately I was hit by food poisoning and spent the next 5 days struggling to find something that would alleviate the symptoms. The local doctor put me on antibiotics. At least we were able to spend some extra time with Pablo, and also through a serendipitous meeting, to purchase some solar panels and get them fitted.
We finally departed Gran Canaria on Sunday 26th November, heading South West on passage across the Atlantic Ocean to our destination in the Caribbean some 2700 miles distant. In the interest of getting this update uploaded while we have the opportunity to access the internet, I'll spare you much of the details of the passage here, but there are a few photos below to give a flavour. More information will follow when we get the chance to write it up in full (I kept a daily diary, and there's plenty to tell you). We had an excellent passage, making an average of over 125 miles a day, and arriving at Prickly Bay Grenada after only 22 days sailing. Right: Oasis at anchor in Prickly Bay
				Throughout the passage we kept in daily contact over SSB radio with Peter Craig-Wood (Island Moon) who was sailing aboard Overstreet. On arrival in Grenada, we called up on VHF and met for a welcome shore-side beer at the Boatyard Grill & Tiki Bar at Spice Island Marine. In the next day or two we will be moving around to Hog Island where we will be in the company of friends aboard Island Moon, Overstreet, Dreamcatcher, and A Bientot, among others. We are looking forward to a very enjoyable Christmas! The weather here is very pleasant - hot and sunny with a cooling breeze and the occasional rain shower. The turquoise waters of the bay are very inviting and the water is comfortably warm - yes, it really was worth all the effort to get here! Left: Von, Pete & B enjoying beers and sailors' tales
We would like to wish you all a very wonderful and happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. We will be thinking of you as we toast both events with a glass of bubbly, and wish you could be here! We are looking forward to visits by Max in January and then after we move on to Trinidad & Tobago we will welcome Arnold & Brenda aboard for Carnival. Anybody else? Right: approaching Prickly Bay, Grenada

PICTURE GALLERY 1
Below Left: G at the helm as we depart Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria Below Right: We celebrate our first 1000 miles with a freshly baked loaf of bread and a flask of margarita

Below: The Raytheon autopilot attached to the Monitor windvane, which did some of the steering for us

Below Left: Atlantic sunrise, with one of our wind generators and the CSAT aerial in silhouette Below Right: Atlantic sunset, looking like molten lava disappearing over the horizon

Below: the nav station, with chart of the Atlantic on the table and chart of Grenada on the monitor screen

PICTURE GALLERY 2
With only two of us onboard, and keeping four hour watches, one or other of us seemed to be asleep a lot of the time! Below Left: G in his bunk with lee cloth up Below Right: B is in here somewhere!

Below: What a joy to be visited by dolphins. These three were part of a large pod that came by one morning to keep us company

More weather Left: an approaching squall Right: rainbow

Below: Another glorious sunrise, with typical tradewind clouds