The past few days may have the most difficult I have ever known. Yesterday I was near complete despair. But such big challenges, even self inflicted challenges presents an opportunity to demonstrate will and determination. Something that I failed to tell in my "Endurance" post was the fact I made it through a difficult passage left me with a satisfaction that is difficult to explain. In no way do I want to have a re-do. Well I had another re-do, yesterday but just a little different. To explain.

I left my anchorage in Monte Cristi at about midnight just the other night in company with two other boats. We were bound for an anchorage about 30 or miles east. We wanted to take advantage of the infamous "night lee" that calms the trade winds. As the tropical sun sets, the mountainous island gives up its heat rapidly which serves to calm the winds right along the coast. So the wind had dropped considerably relative to the daytime velocity, but sloppy wave action was left over. Anyway the trip went pretty well and I pulled into Point Isabella anchorage and anchored right off the first European settlement. Founded by Columbus himself in 1493 and sustained a population of 5,000. Anyway I was tired, as usual but feeling pretty good. Then.....I looked inside the engine room and transmission fluid was weeping out of the rear seal. In fact all the fluid in the transmission leaked out. This is a disaster I thought and it was. Of course it occurs when your dead tired and unable to think properly. I'll spare all the details but in short I was overwhelmed. The north coast of Dominican Republic can be very inhospitable. The anchorage is great in the normal easterly winds but north winds would become a death trap. So wouldn't you know it, Friday night is north winds and a large north swell were scheduled to arrive in the DR. I had given up, called all the appropriate people and told them I'm done and coming home. My sat phone had turned out to be very critical for me. I was able to speak with a Yanmar mechanic and a couple of other knowledgeable technical types. They told me as long as the transmission has fluid to lube the gears you can make it work.

So after a day of obsessing and making calls, talking on the radio with other cruisers briefing them on my situation followed another evening of no sleep. I left Isabella anchorage at 3am to try and make Luperon 10 miles away. Luperon is huge deep bay, sheltered from wind with everything a cruiser needs. So I had the engine hatch removed, which means I had to straddle the engine so I could monitor the transmission and keep filling the sump as necessary. Of course the weather didn't cooperate. It took me almost 6 hours to cover the 10 miles, tacking back in forth, slamming into waves, filling the transmission with fluid and navigating. Amazingly I made it. My saving grace was the fact that when the engine was in gear, the pressure with in the transmission limited the amount leaking out. As soon as I slipped it out of gear all the fluid just came pouring out. But no damage was done to the transmission.

Once inside the bay in Luperon the wind died and before me was two huge anchorages jammed with all cruisers many I have met along the thorny path. I was met by the Adamo welcoming committee at the entrance, Mike jumped aboard to help me out. After I was tied up to the mooring a series of people came up to me in the dink to help out, express concern and encouragement. I had heard over and over again prior to leaving about how tight the cruising community is. It has turned out to be completely true in spades. It is wonderful.....and I really hesitate to give up and roll north.

Over lunch today I dined with several other cruisers and all the people who made the crossing with me sustained damage and had as hair raising experiences. So I have felt as if I am the only one struggling, but no. Here is a couple of quick tales. SV Loon with a wonderful British couple, ended up in Haiti. In fact, they were unable to reach across the waves and make Manzanillo, just like I had feared. They spent a very frightening night in the harbor with UN helicopters buzzing around, strange boats full of men just staring at Loon and Ian's very blonde and very pretty wife. He really feared for their life. Not only that, they took on so much water during the crossing, all three of their bilge pumps failed and they had to bail the boat out with buckets in the horrid conditions. They had an equally frightening time with Haitian customs. The following seas were large enough where Adamo had sea water jammed up into the exhaust and salt water ended up in the cylinders. Pure luck they didn't seize the engine. They had generator failure also. So pretty much no way to make electricity to run navigation gear, radios ect. My fellow cruisers point out being that the difficulty is quickly coming to an end as we all move toward the Virgins. Also they astutely pointed out that if I head back into the Bahamas I will then have to deal with the strong cold fronts that sweep through and of course we all know that my anchors don't like to stick in the Bahamas. They also pointed out my contention of bad choices while tired and that I was making a choice while tired and therefore it very well could be a bad choice. What can I say to that? So I am going to hang out here in Luperon for a period, not sure how long and figure out what is the best course. I really appreciate all the encouragement I have been receiving. If I keep having days like I did today in Luperon my attitude will snap back to positive town quickly. Love this place. The beauty of the mountainous terrain, the anchorage is great and the town, while really poor has everything I need. I will write tomorrow about Luperon, but wanted to pass on I had Roberto, a French mechanic aboard today. The seal should be replaced by Monday. More on that later.

Capt Chris

Comments [12]

Adamo and I left the morning of the 20th at sunrise from Sapodilla Bay, T&C to move east across the Caicos Bank. We pretty much encountered every type of weather system save a blizzard. Recall we are still clawing our way east to get to the the Caribbean so we don't have to do anymore clawing. We started with a chop that put spray over Christa's bow. Pretty much a ripple puts spray over Christa's bow. Now Adamo at 48 ft long and coming in at a smooth 60,000 pounds was not bothered. We had to cross a coral patches in areas that are simply not surveyed on the chart. So overhead light is critical. Suddenly the wind completely died and we just cruised right along. Then squalls engulfed us with rain and 20 plus knots of wind on the nose. After nearly 44 miles of motoring we came to the eastern edge of the Caicos Bank. Descion time. The forecast was decent, with winds from 13 to 22 knots from the east and easing as we approach Hispaniola. Seas were forecast at 5 to 6 feet. I could murder the forecasters. I am not a meteorologist, but the forecast was so far out of whack I think the forecast compared to real conditions...... just inexcusable.

As we departed the Caicos Bank and headed into deeper water and turned south as the sun began to set. Throughout the night the wind and seas began to build. Adamo with her long waterline quickly pulled ahead of me but I was able to stay in VHF contact with them all night and into the early morning hours. By midnight Christa and I were deeply reefed with a staysail set and barely maintaining the heading we needed to make Luperon which had been our goal for awhile. By 3am the wind was a sustained 25-27 knots gusting into the 30's. Seas were now 8 to 10 feet and continuing to build. Throughout the night Christa sailed very well with the windvane steering keeping Christa tracking. I was able to get small snatches of sleep as we moved at 4.5 knots. By day break the wind was still cranking and moving slightly to the SE. I had to keep turning with the wind toward Haiti as the seas built. I decided at Daybreak to head for Manzanillo DR which is the furthest port to the west which sits smack on the border with Haiti. I made a couple of tactical errors in a situation that called for no errors. I should have steered toward Manzanillo much earlier because now I was facing entering in the dark. I also hesitated to make for an anchorage (the anchorage I am now in) because the guide argued against pulling in during the darkness. I could have made it before dark with no errors or issues. I simply could not risk it as I had to pass through a reef and round a Cape named Punta De La Granja. Large Capes can increase the wind speed by as much as 50 percent. People who sail the Golden Gate or round Point Conception in California know what I am talking about. Now after rounding Punta De La Granja and entering the reef this morning, I could have done it and saved myself from the following. How was I to know?

Now that I eased the sheets a bit and headed for Manzanillo it was critical that I make best speed. The 10 to 12 foot and now occasionally breaking seas were on the quarter and the steering vane was being overwhelmed and we kept rounding up. I now had to hand steer. Hand steering a 22,000 LBS boat with a tiller is brutal, especially in the large following sea. More importantly it took away my ability to navigate properly and review back up plans or eat for that matter. Crunch time came at 3:30pm yesterday when I arrived at my waypoint at Monte Cristi shoal. I prayed that the shoal would serve to knock down the seas as I rounded it. No joy. The leg from Monte Cristi shoal into Manzanillo Bay was 17 brutal miles. I simply was not certain I could do it. That is reach across 10 to 12 footers and 30 knots and probably gusting higher. My only bailout options was just slightly easier and much less desirable and that was to pull into Fort Libre Haiti. I caught a small break after trying to raise someone on the radio already in Manzanillo. I spoke with S/V Prudence, a Southern Cross 35 that I met while in the T&C. In fact they are the couple I directed to the Napa Auto Parts for a strong wi- fi. They had rounded the shoal and made it in the Bay an hour prior to me. It could be done. I made the turn to the SE and headed for Manzanillo Bay. It was brutal no doubt, but I immediately concluded I could make it and have the hook down just after sunset. That is what I did. Once I set the anchor I literally passed out. Slept about 11 hours and awoke to the infamous morning calm. I did get separated from Team Adamo but hope to be reunited with them in Luperon by Friday. I was most excited to see familiar faces aboard Prudence in Manzanillo. You would be very surprised how uplifting a voice on the radio can be when struggling. So this morning, at 830am I lifted anchor with Prudence and a unknown Catamaran and motor sailed 15 miles or so to my current anchorage.

Some thoughts: I am the weakest link in the chain. Christa, a Westsail32 is well known for being a very strong boat. She no doubt showed her true colors. Although I will say that if the Westsail design had better windward and overall better sailing performance it can be argued that I would not have been in the situation I was in. A strong argument and one I can't disagree with. A strong rig and a strong engine are critical. The forces that are developed are off the chart strong and I was really nervous about gear failure. A failure of any part of the rig yesterday would have been a disaster. I just think back to the tough week of bowsprit replacement in Fort Pierce and all effort their paid off...again and again. I also have all new sails and standing rigging. The ability to flatten the sails while reefed down was pretty important. Folks I fully admit I have had serious doubts about my ability to continue on. Fatigue is enemy #1 and it seems to be almost impossible thus far to avoid. The Coast Guard gave me plenty of training in this area and I fully realize what a problem it can be. Bad choices are made while tired. Only way to avoid it is to avoid fatigue in the first place. So with that said, If I had not been able to make it to Manzanillo, I would have turned around and sailed the 110nm to Great Iguana Bahamas. I had the trackline all layed out. Then it would have been back to Florida. I severely underestimated the difficulty of sailing to windward in a boat that may be the worst performing boat to windward and doing it alone. I simply cannot take another day like I had yesterday. This is not supposed to be an Endurance contest. Sometimes it feels like that, other times not. Here is the good news. Most of my preparations as far as Christa goes was pretty good. Knock on wood. More importantly I am in the 7th inning in terms of getting to the Virgin Islands, where the amount of windward work is severely curtailed. I need to transit the north coast of The Dominican Republic which may be tough. But due to the size of the island the wind, normally dies totally at night. Then the tactic is to motor in calm conditions in small steps to each safe harbor. Then it is a 90 mile jump across the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico. A very serious patch of water that I will wait for perfect conditions to cross. Then the south coast of PR is transited using the same tactics one uses while transiting the north coast of DR. Then onto the Virgin Island, BVI's and then southward down the Leewards and Windwards. I do reserve the right to call a halt to the trip at anytime and return to Florida and re- group. Once I get to Luperon, hopefully by the end of the week, I plan on resting for awhile and doing some traveling inland. So at the moment, I'm in a windy but protected bay in the Dominican Republic, bruised and battered but optimistic better days are ahead. I will tell you all later about the Dominican "Comandancia" who paid a visit to Christa with a blizzard of paperwork. They left with all smiles as they ripped out an 8 inch piece of Christa's caprail with their boat. What can you do?



Capt Chris

Comments [10]

I have written before about how shocked I have been about the effort it takes to keep the boat moving. Well here I am again blathering on said topic. In conjunction with the Jansen's on Adamo, we rented a car and set out to re-stock. We found the Budget Rental can place and rented a tiny little European looking car with tires like donuts. We looked ridiculous in the "tic tack" and we were just rolling over the little car. In fact a bunch of other cruisers were jetting around the island in these tiny cars, each laughing at each other. I have pics of course.

Anyway I very happy to be out of the Bahamas and back into a more modern society. It took a little while for us to get our bearings and figure out what was which and which was what. Turns out that Napa Auto Parts was a very productive spot for us. First off, when we pulled up in the tic tack I casually fired up the laptop just to see if a wi-fi signal was dancing about. Bam, the fastest wi-fi I have ever encountered was located in the parking lot. That was how I was able to load some pictures of the crossing and the sunset shot. Also inside, Mike was able to get an alternator belt as they fried one on the crossing. I was able to buy a new bilge pump and float switch as a spare. Then Mike was able to fill up his water juggs with the hose Napa uses to water the landscaping. This may not sound exciting but just about everywhere we have been, including Florida, you must pay top dollar for water. Later in the day we bumped into Team Prudence, a couple on a Southern Cross 35. They were searching for a wi-fi signal. They were all smiles later in the day after a stop at Napa Auto.

One bummer so far has been the lack of fueling depots. So we all have been forced to get fuel in the Jerry juggs. What a pain, especially since we all gulped alot of juice on the run from Rum Cay. We thought the tic tack axle may split with all weight. Anyway all the required logistics, including re-fueling and food shopping took just about two full days. It is surprising it takes this long but it just does. So you would think that sailing around the world would involve all kinds of touring and sight seeing, but truth be told we all spend most of the time shopping. We did get a chance to skulk around a bit.

I'll try and write some more impressions of the T&C later on. Tomorrow at sunrise Adamo and I and several other boats are going to move 45 nm east across the Caicos Bank. Caicos Bank is just like the Bahamas Bank but with alot more coral. We hope to make it to Long Cay just south of South Caicos Island and anchor up. This is a staging point to make the 100 nm jump to the Dominican Republic. Gotta go and collect up some weather. Later.

Capt Chris

Comments [3]

How about this lovely shot of Christa at anchor.

Comments [3]

This great shot was taken by Mike from Adamo the morning we departed Rum Cay. We I speak about bashing my way to windward this is the stuff I am talking about. As the day progressed the conditions became better and better, dare I say smooth.

One really fun event that took place during our crossing to the Turks & Caicos took place at sunset. Team Adamo fire up the hibachi and cooked up some steaks for the poor souls aboard Christa. We came alongside and received our T-Bones. MMMM GOOD. Take out at sea, who would of thought!

Capt Chris

Comments [2]