Yep, we’re in Antigua, Jolly Harbor to be exact. After a few days at Grande Case, St. Martin; we motored around (it’s only 5 nm) to Orient Bay were the action was happening. This is described as the “French Riviera” of the Caribbean and indeed if I can imagine the Riviera since I haven’t been there; it was. Besides the lack of clothing on the beach there were things happening all around. Over 10 jet ski’s at any one time, two boats pulling the parasailers, wind surfers sailing by, snorkelers mosying by, and of course beach restaurants all along the shore.  We hung there for a day and thought the anchorage wouldn’t be too bad for the evening. We were farther out than we would have liked but the new motor on the dinghy made trips ashore much easier for

Wendy's New Ride

W/. Once all the boats and jet ski’s stopped the anchorage actually got worse. Waves broke over the reef on one side and curled in the channel on the other and the net result was more roll and less pitch. With the evening wind slacking we ended up with some slightly uncomfortable roll (not St. Thomas like ).

The following day we were to sail to St. Barts and hang out at a park then that evening head out to Antigua. The prior evening when I had risen about midnight the winds had shifted slightly N or NE. Great, the following evening should that happen we might actually get to sail some to Antigua. What a treat that would be.

Leaving Orient Bay we unrolled the Jib and floated along at about 3.5 kts.  Not fast but hey! We’re not motoring. However the sail wasn’t to last for long. When we slowed to around 2 kts (slower then a stroll on land) we rolled the jib in and started the Iron Genny (the engine). We motored the last 8 nm to St. Barts and picked up a free mooring at the park. The time waiting we watched the boats come and go, watched hikers climb the hills in the park, watched the charterers cruise around 10 to a dinghy, took a nap, and readied ourselves to leave soon after midnight.

Midnight arrived sooner then we would have wished. We set up the boat for leaving and slowly motored out of the harbor and then turned S for rounding St. Barts. Again we tried to sail, tried motor sailing and eventually rolled up the sail.  We kept hoping for the breeze that the gribs said would be and for the winds that the evening before we had but obviously Mother Nature just chose to not read the weather reports! We were cursed with burning more fossil fuels. On goes the engine and forward towards Antigua we traverse.

We motored slowly at first mostly 4-5 kts attempting to keep the spray down and because it was still dark. The current didn’t help and although the data shows the current at only .4 kts against us I think there was more. As daylight approached we added speed to the boat and cruised the rest of the way between 5 - 6 kts.

Still not fun. Although we didn’t take on much water; hardly any, we kept up a  steady misting of salt water. So in essence we were building up a layer of salt on the decks. The mist would hit the boat and instead of taking the salt and running off it would evaporate and leave a salty surface behind that was actually as rough as the non skid. Fortunately we hid behind the dodger for most of the trip (except for fishing).

I’m tired of motoring and I’m tired of reading and I’m tired of doing Sudoku. So I hang out a couple of lures. Two hours later I’m watching as one pole looks to bend then it stands right up. Damn, I check the line and it’s flying free. Damn. I discover I had way too much drag on it and the line broke at my knot on the swivel. DAMN! Ok, there goes 10 bucks. Get another lure out, another swivel, tie it on better ( I hope) and let her go. This time I check the drag and make sure it will drag.

About 5 hours later we’re coming up on the banks and have watched Antigua grow off the horizon. I’m getting ready to pull the lines in because mostly on the banks the fish that one can catch ain’t the fish I want. About 60 seconds before I summon the energy to move my behind from the seat aft the dodger the new lure I put out goes ZING!  Wendy rushes to slow the boat and I rush to the  line that now has a fish. As the boat slows she hauls in the other line (we don’t really want two fish at a time again) and I notice that what we’ve caught is a Barracuda. DAMN!  We don’t eat those because of the potential for Ciguatera. So we haul it aboard, using a pliers and leather gloves I take the hook out and then slide him / her over the side for the ocean to do with it what it will. It will either survive or be a meal for a larger fish. Out of the three parties; us, the fish, or the fishes main course, one will be happy. But now the Barracuda has torn up another skirt on another lure. Not a good day fishing.

Easy Clearance

Clearing in in Jolly Harbor Antigua was sweet. Although the guide said that the officials were there till 1700 we had arrived too late. We made the dock by 1630 and were informed that Customs had already left but we could stay tied here and it would be ok if we ate ashore. W/ was happy. We tied up, cleaned up, and then Jim and Cheryl arrived on Orion. They were Antigua regulars and had just arrived from Guadaloupe and needed to clear in too. So they tied on the other side of the finger pier and we shared some stories w/ them as well as bored them with ours.

The following am we cleared in with Customs, Immigration and the Port Captain. We’re now good to go. So out to a mooring we motored to finish getting the boat ready for Antigua. Mike and Jenny (from Annopolis) are down on a chartering / diving vacation so we’ll see them on their return.
Good times; Soon come.

Fair Winds

We’ve been blasting along. First day 24 hour run was 160+ nm and the second day was 150+ nm.  With that we’ve been pleased. However; W/ still isn’t up to snuff. She’s taking Stergeron @ 15mg twice per day and still not feeling like she can eat or function down below.  On the advise of Persephone she tried a bowl of Oatmeal, on the advice of Lison Life she opted out of the can of beer. Funny Germans!  However of our good fishing / cruising companions Don and Terry - Don too recommends beer to settle the ills of sea sickness. I couldn’t talk her into any beer.

So with her feeling slight we ambled along towards warmer climates, clear water, and NO MUD on the bottom.  But as dawn alighted we heard a clinking sound somewhere up our mast. When you’re on a boat, in the middle of the ocean (we’re now 300 miles from the nearest land) your senses are hyper  alert to any different sounds. And this sound was different; much like someone at the top of our mast taking a spoon and randomly taping a nonsensical tune.  Out come the binoculars and I begin to scan up the mast and finding what I can’t believe.  I was just up the mast a few weeks ago and every time I go up I look things over.  I NEVER noticed anything wrong with the spreader lift; but indeed it was the upper stbd spreader lift that let go. It was swinging around pinging on the mast and the spreader, once in awhile it would tap the head of the sail (we had our main reefed to the first reef) then wrap up on something for a few minutes and off it would sail again swinging to and fro bouncing off any object it came in contact with.

We reported our situation  on the am net and said we were considering sending me up the mast to tend it but haven’t decided yet. Well;  at sea we need to consider how critical the issue is and how much a possible accident of our body is worth so in this case we had decided that all that was going to happen was cosmetic and there was no potential mast failure from it. The spreader was siezed to the shroud anyway so we decided to leave it (much to our peril as we later found out). Eventually the spreader lift found a home wrapped up around the stbd shroud and stuck in our one baggy wrinkle we have on that side. It stayed there for about 4 days. Lucky us.

After the net we went to run our generator. This powers the boat by recharging the batteries and pulling down the cold plates in the refrigeration / freezer. Damn and double Damn. About 1/2 way though the charge the compressor shut down and the generator was running hot. I shut it down as W/ checked the water flow (none) and then pondered (really cursed quite vociferously) then finally sat down and looked at our options.  We can get by without the power as we have a large frame alternator on the main engine that we can run for a couple of hours a day to charge everything up; but then all our frozen goods and any perishables will need to be thrown overboard. I didn’t want to do that. We have this boat because it’s comfortable and to drink warm water, and eat canned food isn’t what I wanted. So to the drawing table I went and then I spent most of the morning rerouting water lines  so the generator would get the cooling water it needed and take care of it’s job. (Some may remember that we too have 12v refrigeration/freezing capacity but when we’re traveling over 4 kts it won’t work - the pump won’t draw water in faster than the boat wants to pull it away).

Impellor on Genset

Now to run down this problem it wasn’t going to be easy. While we made sure when we installled all systems that we could get to EVERYTHING; that did not mean that while on a boat offshore going up waves, down waves, twisting around waves anything would be easy. First I had to check the hardest piece; is the impellor still 100%.  To do that I took off the cover plate and to avoid twisting with a mirror held just right I took a picture of it (I love digital cameras)! Luckily the picture showed that the impellor was 100% intact and I could then make sure that water was getting to the generator and air wasn’t coming in from any other avenue. So I cut the line to the 12v water cooled compressor, eliminated the salt water pump in the galley . Moved the intake higher up the food chain or lower in the water chain and then try it. Fortunately after about 4 hours of work we did get it running with cooling water and were able to charge the batteries and the refrigeration / freezer. Whew!

Night Watch

As the evening wore on we again settled in the life of a cruiser offshore. W/ still feeling under the weather and I exhausted from being a plumber in a cramped space while on a Disneyland ride. But; and this is a big but!  We’re in warmer waters; we’re heading in the right direction and with any lucky we’ll be there before Thanksgiving.  As a note: this pic I think was taken in the next couple of days while motoring. The seas actually this evening were running 2-3 meters, in the pic they’re less then 1 m.

Fair Winds

We spent some time in St. Michael’s. It is a local cruisers hot spot and in some respects it was. But; in the respect of a full time cruiser it’s not!

St. Michael's

The place had a weird vibe to it.  First we tied the dinghy up to the dinghy dock at the Maritime Museum. There we were  told that to tie the dinghy up would cost $10 PLUS we both had to buy tickets to the Museum for a day!  Another $32!  $42 to tie the dinghy up!  And at a Museum that is to focus on people using the water. Oh, we could have gotten a family membership for about $100 bucks; total cost, and then tied the dingy up each day for the 5 days we were there. YUCK! Although they’re said to be one of the best museums on the Chesapeake, because of their atttitude and support of boaters we just didn’t go there. The watermans Museums we’ve enjoyed most have been in Beaufort and Solomens.

Saturday Mike and Jenny showed up on Namida; we rafted up and  had a great time with them. We walked the town and found the back side entrance to St. Michaels. It wasn’t as crowded but entailed a 1/2 km dinghy ride to get to the dock and I know W/ would not want to row that too much. On the way there we discovered the laundry. The laundry is another important find for full time cruisers. The laundry is closed, as in out of business. There is no place in town for laundry except if you take a marina slip at St Michael’s Marina for; get this, $3.50 / foot  on the weekends. That means to dock our boat and do the laundry we would be paying $147 / night.  Now get this; they had a restaurant and if you wanted to eat at the restaurant and bring your boat you had to pay $10 / hour for the privilege of eating their food.  They did have a washer and dryer. W/ asked if we could use them and the snooty dock master said “Maybe” if they’re not crowded during the week. Oh’ they’re so special. NOT! Obviously we didn’t eat there or dock there.

But there was a silver lining, Justines. They had listed on their menu  that the Shakes and Malts were the Best in the Chesapeake. And indeed they were. I had one every day. Fortunately; we didn’t stay long enough so I won’t be in need of my Red Suit come Xmas.

Fair Winds

Yeah; though we’ve (I’ve) been quiet on the blog, things have been getting crossed off the list. The roller furling is completed and the sail back up. New sheets (5/8″) are installed. The 1/2″ seemed a little light pulling this boat. The mainsail is back on. The dodger is on and there are only a couple of things Canvas Creations needs to fix. One additional cost from them will be adjusting the mainsail cover so it doesn’t drag on the dodger.  Three of the four pieces of metal fabrication we had made are installed. We’ve still a page of stuff left to do; but things are getting done. Right now while I work so hard typing W/’s washing the boat. In case you think I really am so mean (yeah right) she loves to do that, she hates the dirt on the boat and constantly boats get dirty. More so when you’re tied to land as you can’t really leave all the dirt in the dinghy. Just so you know it’s by her choice to wash the boat.

Elysium in Green Turtle, Abaco

As you’ve no doubt seen I’ve made a little change in the blog. Sid on Antares drew the pic one afternoon (Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas) before sundowners. We liked the sketch so I digitized it and use it on the masthead of the blog. Such a natural artist, and an all round great guy (not as great as his mate Janet however; ) The last blog page was to generic and this one is closer to what I want. However; it looks like to get what I really want I’m going to have to code it myself. I hate doing that since I’m more of a hacker in CSS but to get what I want I’ll have to dig into the bowels of  WordPress more.

Til then, I’ll stumble along with what other programmers have provided out there. And all the while we’ll be trying to get the boat back to sailing shape. We’re almost there. Once we leave here we’ll look for a yard to haul out in. We have three projects to have the yard do, and then we’ll wax the hull (I need my brother in-law here ) flip the prop lock (I somehow managed to get it on backwards) and enjoy the place we end up. Right now it’s looking a little like a yard (Campbell’s) in Oxford, MD on the Eastern Shore. We’ve never been there and are thinking that it might be nice. We’ve also had two really good recommendations for it. Also on the short list is Zahniser’s in Solomons and then another yard in Deltaville. We’ll see. First though is going to Oxford; see the town and check out the yard.

In the mean time we’re enjoying time with some old and new sailing friends. Dave and Lisa from Hullabaloo brought the family by for a cookout; Jenny and Mike  (on another Westsail) swung by trying to make me feel bad for having another B-day.  My goal is to collect more B-Day’s than anyone else.

While some may be pondering my new found optimism anyone can find us (Thanks to Dirk pushing me) on the web using W/s ham call sign KI4ZVB. Dirk you may remember is the less then noble half of Lison Life . He kept pushing me to get the dot on the web and now I’m sure he’ll push  us to get it moving. :)  So if you’re bored and want to see a real type A check out their blog. If you want to see a Type ZZZZ, just stay tuned to ours. LOL

Till next time;
Fair Winds

A few years ago W/ made a resolution to get to 2 cultural events a year. Of course when she said that was her resolution it included me. Well; culture in the islands isn’t about going to the “Theater” or the “Opera”. Culture is what ever special event the island has, in this case, it’s called a Junkanoo. So she MADE me go. And although I dragged my feet…. a little; remember I have to live with her and compared to living on land in the states it is a rather smallish area - a boat; so eventually I too got into the dinghy and went to observe, eat, and imbibe.

I will say I was impressed, the costumes were classy, the beat although rather simple in nature had a primal quality to it that spoke to ones soul and the drinks were welcomed. I missed recording of the event and should I happen upon another I think I’ll do my best to get one. But I did manage a few pics and so to help you waste your time you too can see what culture is in the islands.

I awoke this morning to a calm. I slept well and actually rose at around 7 am. Checking the boat over I looked over the stern for our dinghys and saw only one. “Wendy, our inflatable is GONE! I yelled. Immediately I hopped into our hard dinghy and rowed over to a fellow cruisers boat. I noticed his companionway had been opened up so I told him; Bill, our quandry and he threw some clothes on and we went looking, and looking, and looking.

The good thing about Marsh Harbor is that it is basically land locked. Anything floating free and being blown by the wind will arrive at a shore. In this case it should be the western shore.

Bill and I went along the western shore for about a mile and a half. We went dead down wind a little on both sides of where we think she went. No luck. ]

I can’t believe our Abaco Cruise will be over this early. I’m not staying in the Bahamas without a good diving platform and I’m not coming back to the Bahamas if I have to go to the state and buy a new one.

We get back to the boat just in time for the Abaco Cruisers Net. We break into the net - after all it is about Cruisers helping cruisers and describe the situation. Immediately after I hop back into Bill’s dinghy to go to Rainbow Boat Rentals. I was going to rent a 20′ boat to go up the coast to find the dinghy. As I’m traveling across the Bay; Peter on Grace yells out “They found your dinghy”. A tow reported seeing it up on the shore just past the little Cays.

So I hop into Peter’s inflatable and we run out to where it is to be. Can’t find it. Look on both sides of the bay by where we thought it was to be. Back to the boat.

There we again break into the net to try to contact the tug boat captain and find out where he saw it. Success in contacting him but where he says he saw it we found an old dinghy (not ours on the shore). About this time Kevin from Puffin comes by in a hard bottom dinghy that has more range. So we take off again.

We travel up the coast about as far as I could imagine it would be; in waves about 60 cm, and then veer in towards shore. As we close I see a Bahamian standing on the shore and as we get closer it looks like an inflatable with grey chaps by him. We found the dinghy but no engine.:(

We talk to him. As Kevin begins to ask him questions I go and look into his truck parked near by. No engine. He hasn’t seen any engine. He was just trying to move the dinghy up on the beach for protection. (The two front floor boards are removed and water is sloshing around in the dinghy.) If you ask me he was trying to take it apart to haul it off.

So now we have a dinghy and no engine. Remember the dinghy was new and the engine I had just purchased 3 weeks earlier in Green Turtle. We look nearby in the woods. It can’t have gone far if we just timed it right.

We found it was in a newly developing park and one of the restrooms was locked w/ no one in it. We checked the other rest room and the engine wasn’t there. The window was partly opened so we were able to reach in and open it some more thinking it would be in there for safe keeping for someone to pick it up later. No engine.

I look around more in the woods and an individual from Ace Hardware drives up and immediately begins to turn around and leave. I hail him and we talk to him. No; he hasn’t seen anyone with an engine but he would watch for someone. There is nothing in his truck for delivery and there is nothing there for him to pick up; unless the engine is still around.

About 10 minutes later a man on a bicycle appears. We ask him about the engine and he said “I hid it in the woods so no one would theft it”. He showed me where and in I go while Kevin engages him in conversation. I can’t find it. I’m getting a little agitated. I come out and Leroy comes in to show us where. The engine and the fuel tank is sitting about 150′ back into the woods. We carry it out and set it by the dinghy.

I tell Leroy how grateful I am that he was honest and I want to reward that honesty but I don’t have any money. We discuss where to meet so I can reward him and agree by the Union dock (Public Dock) in the town in a couple of hours.

We put the engine in Kevins boat, tie a bridle to my dinghy and tow it to the Jib Room ( a great cruisers marina in Marsh Harbor).

On the way we call Patty at the Blue Dolphin head of the Cruisers Net and she calls the Police to inform them of the recovery.

They met us by the Jib room and take a statement advising me not to give the guy any reward till after they confirm what was going on. They ask me to help and I agree.

Wendy and I went to meet the engine-finding Bahamian at the Union Dock. The Constable advised us to call him when the “guy” was there and he would come by. He said not to pay him anything but to stall. A fellow cruiser took a picture of “Leroy” and I shaking hands. (Yes I now know his name). Wendy went into Rainbow Boat Rentals to supposedly get change so I could give him some money. She called the Constable.

When the Constable arrived he confirmed that this was one of the three gentleman that had shown up gave him some statement about his rights. After talking to him for a few minutes he loaded his bicycle into the trunk and took the Leroy away.

We now have everything back. The dinghy has a hole in it. We’ll need to patch it. We’ll get a lock. We’re quite saddened that stealing has too been an export of the US. We’d cruised 25 years ago all thoughout this area and no one had really heard anything of any stealing. In the last 4 years it is being discussed all to frequently.

And to Jack and anyone else; no, we’re not giving up cruising because of something like this. But we’ll be much more cautious in Paradise. Remember; the difference between adventure and adversity is attitude.

Fair Winds

I think it’s the law. Every website / blog about boats has the pic from the top of the mast. So here is ours, and it’s a large pic if you want the full size!

Wendy returned home and we’re back to preparing the boat again. One of our cards was the running backstays. They’re now on. We used Amsteel (which is a light line that is as strong as and has as little streatch as SS rigging wire). So if we get wacked in the head with it, the thimble will hurt and line wont.

While up there I discovered a rivet pulling out of the upper spreader lift. YUCK! So I hollor down and W yells up and we get cracking on repairing it. She gathers the drill, drill bit, rivet and rivet gun and up they come in a canvas bucket. I’m hanging on w/ one leg wrapped around the upper shroud an arm around the same shroud and slowly drilling out the rivet. Of course I made sure W and Al (friend who we asked to stop by and help) were not standing under me as dropping the drill on someone would have shortened their existence on Earth!

But; we finished and luckily nothing fell to Earth, including me. They lowered me successfully and the stick is in good shape.

Tomorrow we start counting days left of gainful employment again, we’ve been on 19 and holding.

Fair Winds

Yep, we went out fishing with the “supposed” lobster and fishing King, Don. I say supposed because in his log book (he always hints that he has one) he identifies himself as being the true top of the lobster food chain. Well…… now he’s into deep sea fishing and so to prove how good he is we all went for a trip. He even had these “fantastic” lures Black Bart that the fish would jump right out of the water into the boat to get.

We started out the morning early (he said not early enough) and caught some saltwater minnows near the pier by Jupiter, Florida. We had Black Barts and live bait - we would eat fish tonight. We dragged those damn lures around the Gulf Stream for 50 miles and caught one 12″ Barracuda that we gave back to Neptune. After 50 miles and no fish we found ourselves 1/2 way to the Bahamas and made a run back to the mainland in an effort to bet the weather; which we did.

On the way back we unloaded the live bait we had left and then almost the minute we released them to freedom found the holy grail of dolphin fishing - a floating log still in the Gulf Stream. As we motored by we could see the Dolphin swimming below and all hell broke lose. We chummed the water w/ our last bit of dead fish, we cut bait and cast about. And the Dolphin must have loved the lunch and show for they were having nothing to do w/ anything that had a hook in it.

In the end we (Don - the fake lobster king; Britt the up and coming fishing King and myself) jumped in the water w/ snorkeling gear to see what we could see. They claimed to see the Dolphin up close but not I, although there were quite a few fishes hanging around the log.

So back we went and dinner was comprised of ….. you guessed it….. Beef!

Fair Winds

Parties; particularily those you create, can be sureal experiences. 90 plus people showed up, W or I knew them all and with about 3 to 4 hours scheduled for the event; talking to everone was next to impossible. About 2 minutes each. Yuk.

We began early Sat am. putting our guest to work. Hauling stuff down, setting up the sailing dinghy, blowing up the kayak and cleaning up. We went to pick up the keg of beer and make sure all was right with the world. After about 3 hours work for 5 people we were ready. Our caterer was getting food prepared and had been also working all morning. Now we had a 2 hour rest before the masses arrived.

W and I decided that I would hang out on the boat and W would be by the food. And for the first part we had it backwards. After about an hour I went and changed with her and I was on the boat. I estimate that at one point we had about 20 people on the boat. (Good thing the coasties weren’t around as I don’t think we’ve that many life preservers!).

At about 4:30 we re christened the boat. I said a few words and cracked the champagne bottle on the bow. We were smart enough to enclose the bottle in a leg of hosiery but I wasn’t smart enough to hang on to all the broken glass encased in the hose. Upon the rupture of the bottle and Neptune claiming his due, the glass in the hosiery flew out of my hand ending at the bottom of the water. I attempted an early retrival, another Dave attempted again to get it back, and finally Jack was responsible for connecting with the hosiery and recovering the broken glass.

As all events have a close what we had left was what we had started with. Jack, Terri, Don, W, and I began the arduous task of breaking stuff back down and putting it all away.

It’s amazing that with a boat we should seem to have less of everything but sometimes (and now is one of them) we seem to have more.

Fair Winds

We pulled out the original hawse pipes. I actually thought there would be a couple good enough I could sell them to Westsailors that didn’t want to change them all. Was I wrong. The originals are all (in all the earlier boats) spun brass or bronze and to get them out I had to tear them all up. Nothing was salvagable. Damn.