Around noon two days ago, I got a call that my Dad who lives in Florida had been rushed to the hospital in a coma.  The gardener had just spoken with him an hour before so finding him was some kind of divine intervention - thank you God.  My sister hopped on a plane from Pheonix and arrived yesterday at 3pm.  By the time she got to the hospital, Dad was conscious and talking.  That was a blessing.  But the doctors concluded from the MRI that he had a 2 brain tumors that caused the seizures.  He is doing better but more tests to  come.  Please pray for him.

Yesterday  broad reached  from the East end of St. Johns back to Charlotte Amalie.  We were in 20 to 25 knot trades with 7' swells when one of the previous repairs in a steering cable let go.  Luckily, Fred (the Pintita's trusted autohelm) is a direct drive to the steering quadrant so that we were able to limp back into port.  Of course, this was after some quick action by skipper and crew, we rounded up, started the engine, and tacked to a hove to position.  On a starboard tack, we motor sailed the 15 miles back to port where we dropped and anchor and re-attached the steering cable. This morning, Captain Phil purchased a couple more clamps that should hold the remainder of the trip. 

Today, it's onto Culebra at the east end of PR.