Adventures with David & Gail

Vessel Name: Wildest Dream
Vessel Make/Model: Caliber 47 LRC
Hailing Port: Dallas, Texas
Crew: David & Gail Dodgen
Home Page: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/wildestdream47
15 June 2013 | Dinner Key Marina, Miami, FL
20 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas Nat'l Park, Florida
18 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas, Florida
14 May 2013 | Puerto Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, Mexico
10 May 2013 | Lighthouse Reef, Belize
05 May 2013 | Guatemala
01 May 2013 | Ram Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
26 April 2013 | Livingston, Guatemala
23 April 2013 | French Harbor, Roatan, Honduras
20 April 2013 | Le Bight, Guanaja, Honduras
18 April 2013 | Vivorillo Cays, Honduras
10 April 2013 | Providencia, Colombia
01 April 2013 | Providencia, Colombia
23 March 2013 | San Andres
22 March 2013 | Off Nene's Marina, San Andres, Colombia
12 March 2013 | Red Frog Marina. Bastimentos
10 March 2013 | Boquete, Chiriqui, Panama
10 March 2013 | Cruiser Casa, Panama City
10 February 2013 | Panama City, Panama
02 February 2013 | Red Frog Marina, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Recent Blog Posts
15 June 2013 | Dinner Key Marina, Miami, FL

My how time flies!

My how time flies! – Well, I must confess to being a little overwhelmed and getting mixed up into the real world pace again faster than expected. Here it is mid-June, we have been back in Miami for almost 3 weeks, back in our house for almost a week, and I have not updated the blog. My sincere apologies! [...]

20 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas Nat'l Park, Florida

Back in the US, kinda!

Back in the US, kinda! - We are on US soil! There is no immigration or customs office out here so there is no way to clear into the US. So we are kinda' illegal aliens! But we are flying our Q flag and no one seems to care. Or maybe they don't know what it means. Anyway, we are getting closer to [...]

18 May 2013 | Dry Tortugas, Florida

Isla and beyond!

Isla and beyond! - We stopped in Isla Mujeres to officially clear into Mexico, wait out some weather and do some provisioning. Actually US immigration really doesn't care about where we started from to reenter the US, and they don't ask for a Zarpe so we could have gone on to Florida without stopping [...]

14 May 2013 | Puerto Isla Mujeres, Q. Roo, Mexico

The last flag!

The last flag! - Having skirted along the outer cays and atolls of Belize, we headed north to Mexico. I went to the flag bag that we have been using for the whole trip to store our courtesy flags for each country and it only had one flag left. It was the Mexico flag. All the others had been used and [...]

10 May 2013 | Lighthouse Reef, Belize

Belize it or not!

Belize it or not! - Sorry. I could not resist! We planned an 18 month trip and we are now into the 18th month so it is time to head home. We have about 800 miles to go with Belize and Mexico yet on the itinerary. We could go nonstop or we could take our time. Or we could stop a few places as we [...]

05 May 2013 | Guatemala

Guate!

Guate! - The ride into Guatemala City, or Guate for short as the locals call it, takes you along the Rio Montagua river valley as it winds is way up to the mountains. The Rio Dulce is at sea level and Guate is at about 6000 ft. so the climb is steep at times. Plus it's mostly a rural two land road [...]

Finally east to Anguilla!

05 May 2012 | Road Bay, Anguilla
David
Finally east to Anguilla! – After a day tour of Virgin Gorda, we asked ourselves if there was anything else we wanted to do or see in the BVIs. We have been here 5 times before since 1985 and have spent over two weeks here this time with the Jeanneau group and on our own. The answer was no and it was time to head east again.

We had been waiting for days at Leverick Bay to get a good weather window. The winds were forecast to drop to less than 5 kts and the seas to under 5 ft. in a few days. But the lower winds would result in the worse sailing, so we were looking for a compromise and it seemed to be for Wednesday afternoon, May 2. The only problem with the forecast was the wind direction. It was of course was forecasted to be from directly where we wanted to go. But we were optimistic and estimated the 75 miles could be done in about 16 hours and the seas conditions were to be at least reasonable. Let’s go for it!

We filled up at Leverick with “free” water (as a special bonus included in the mooring fee), topped of the diesel (at $6.10 per gallon) and cast off at about 4:30 pm. Wow! The initial conditions were worse than expected but we persevered. Just out of North Sound, we were passed by a boat we recognized from Anegada going back to Virgin Gorda. That seemed an ominous sign but we still persevered. I should mention that we were snug and dry in our enclosure so we were still in our shorts, while they were in their full rain gear! We took water over the bow and sailed on. It was going to take longer than planned. Sure enough the winds did come down and the waves settled some so the night was not terrible. But it wasn’t good.

By sunup (about 14 hours into the trip) we were still only about half way. Ugh! Gail did some watch times to let me close my eyes for a while. I really couldn’t sleep because of the bouncing. We were motor tacking on 5 mile legs across the rhumb line (which is the straight line to the destination). But we were only making about 3-4 kts to the good. Finally, we sighted Dog Island which is the outer island of Anquilla and only had about 10 more miles to go. And by 5:30, we were anchored in Road Bay.

I didn’t mention the rain! Oh, yea. We had three squalls on the way. (Check the photo gallery) Not a lot of wind but some pretty heavy rain. But our enclosure kept us dry! Then as we were preparing to enter Road Bay, we got hit with the biggest downpour. Luckily it wasn’t dark because we could barely see where to go and if there were boats already in the bay with the little sun light left. Gail bravely put on her foul weather jacket and went out on the bow to set the anchor. We had made it. 25 hours and 120 miles traveled to make the 75 mile crossing. We had a quick light dinner and crashed by about 7 pm.

So that’s it for the crossing. And hopefully the last time we have to buck into the Thorny Path. Our sailing now should be less into the wind and more off the wind as we begin to head more south. We plan to relax and enjoy a few days on Anguilla before crossing to St. Martin (which you can see from Anquilla about 7 miles away). That’s more like it!
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