06 October 2016 | Jolly Harbor
26 March 2016 | Des Haies, Guadeloupe
02 March 2016 | Simpson Lagoon, St Martin
16 February 2016 | St John, USVI
24 January 2016 | Puerto Del Rey Marina, Fajardo, PR
26 February 2015 | Puerto Rico
25 February 2015 | South coast P.R.
25 February 2015 | Puerto Real, Puerto Rico
31 January 2015 | Puerto Rico
26 January 2015 | Boca Chica, Dominican Republic
26 January 2015 | Boca Chica, Dominican Republic
16 March 2014 | Dominican Republic
15 March 2014 | Dominican Republic
14 March 2014 | Dominican Republic
09 March 2014 | Ile a Vache, Haiti
05 March 2014 | Mathew Town, Great Inagua
13 February 2014 | Exumas
31 January 2014 | Great Guana Cay, Exumas
Antigua
06 October 2016 | Jolly Harbor
RD
This is an email post, the first of two tests to see if I can update the blog this way. I really hate the UI to post using their website. Anyway, Iâm here in Antigua w/ Claudette, and Sean is arriving Sat. The boat is getting launched on Monday. Sean & I are planning to take the boat back to the Bahamas, or Marathon. Which ever we reach before the holidays. Hopefully it will be a cake walk w/ a couple of long night runs (Anegada & Mona).
Our route will be more or less up to St Martin, across to BVI or St John direct, then thru the spanish virgins to PR. South of PR then north through Mona Passage. Not sure yet whether we bite it and do the long haul to Turks, or stop in the DR on the way. Weâll decide when sitting on the west side of PR.
Iâll get a pick of the boat in the yard and post tomorrow.
Happy Trails,
RD
St Martin, Antigua, & Guadeloupe
26 March 2016 | Des Haies, Guadeloupe
R&S
3/25/16
St. Martin - Antigua - Guadeloupe
To recap:
We hit coral. Went to St Martin to fix. We stayed at a very tiny, well run marina (Bobby’s Marina). We were able to fix the damage w/ in 2 days. We stayed another day on the Dutch side before heading out, in order to provision and clear customs.
We took off at 11am from St. Martin and headed to Guadeloupe. Seas were 4-8ft, wind was around 15kts. Unfortunately for us the wind and seas were almost right on the nose. We made a decision about 3 or 4 hours into the trip that we should go to Antigua instead. That allowed us to motor sail and minimize the rough ride.
We arrived at Jolly Harbor Antigua around 4:30am the following day. We putted around until first light, and went in and set the hook!
The water in Jolly Harbor is a beautiful turquoise blue, however it is cloudy due the the fine silt in the bay. It’s a tiny little community, and we cleaned up the boat from the 17hours of bouncing, had a bit to eat and set off for Customs/Immigration.
C/I was simple, although a bit slow. You go from door to door for Customs, Immigration, and Port Authority, back and forth till all the paperwork is printed, signed and money paid. Thirty minutes later we walked the marina docks and got a couple of well deserved drinks.
On our way back to the boat we ran into Wright from Raven. We’ve run into this guy 3 times now. Once in Georgetown in the bahamas, once in Puerto Rico, and now here in Antigua. Go figure. I’ve quoted him to many people as the guy that told us to bypass Hispaniola from the Bahamas… “ Just head east till you hit I-65, then head south. You’ll hit Puerto Rico or St Thomas depending on currents & wind…” He’s a nice guy on a 45 Bristol I think, travels w/ his dog.
We got back to the boat, studied the Active Captains database and decided Falmouth was a better anchorage. It was only a couple of hours away, and we had plenty of time, so off we went.
A little less than 3 hours later, we arrived in Falmouth. The seas had picked up noticeably since our arrival at Jolly Harbor. At one point (Sheri at the helm) the boat came almost completely out of the water going over a steep 8-10 footer. Slamming down on the backside. We adjusted course after that one and took the waves more on the quarter. Anyway, we grabbed a mooring ball and awaited the sunset.
We spent 3 days in Antigua. It’s a beautiful island. Although really not much to do there as the water is not that clear, or accessible by us. We did run into a couple of couples traveling on a 43ft Fountaine Pajot catamaran. We said we were going to head back up to Jolly Harbor on the bus to clear out to go to Guadeloupe the next day. They said they were sailing up there to meet friends and invited us for the trip.
We gladly accepted as Sheri & I wanted to experience a different catamaran then before. We had helped someone move a 42’ Privilege from Puerto Rico to Ft Lauderdale last Oct. and neither one of us liked that boat. The difference in the boats was significant. The seas were bigger, however the ride was much smoother. The boat was handling the waves easily. I attribute this to a higher bridge deck (distance from the water to the bottom of the main cabin). The inside was a completely different layout and feel. It was ergonomic, and spacious. Everything seemed to fit well. The big question (answered YES), was did Sheri like it.
Ok. Now we want a catamaran! hahaha. Not sure we’ll ever be able to get one. But one can dream :-)
Our voyage to Guadeloupe the next day was fantastic. We left about 7am. The wind was a bit forward of abeam (side), and the waves the same. It was blowing a steady 15-18kts, waves were 4-10. Sometimes when a 10 footer would come it was a bit nerve racking as they were steep. We kept a good eye so as not to get pooped (wave into/over boat). We sailed all through the day. It was awesome. We dropped the hook in Des Haies bay, on Guadeloupe at about 2:30pm
We’ve been here for 3 days now. It’s a nice protected anchorage, all though the wind howls down the mountain into the bay. The water is about 25-30 feet deep where we are sitting and crystal clear. There are turtles that surface every once and a while. We snorkeled yesterday, and it was ok. Not many fish, but interesting underwater geology & coral.
We look forward to going to Pigeon Island a couple of hours south of here. Pigeon Island is supposedly one of Jacque Cousteau’s favorite dive locales.
The highlight of our stay in Guadeloupe so far was the gorgeous Jardin Botanique (botanical gardens). The variety of plants, trees, flowers, and orchids was amazing. Highly recommend to anyone that visits this Island.
As always, pics will follow.
R&S
Des Haies Guadeloupe
St Barts, Rocks, and Lifevests
14 March 2016 | St Barts
R&S
St Barts 3/14/16
We’ve been stuck here for almost a week due to high winds and seas. It’s been really rolly and Sheri is not having it. We finally get a break in the weather and decide to go to St Kitts on our way to Dominica.
We took off very early as we wanted to get checked in at St Kitts, and then move to a supposedly ‘flat’ anchorage in the south of the island. It looked like we would sail all day so as Sheri helmed the boat out of the Gustavia bay, I got the sails ready.
As I was unzipping the sail bag for the final touches. The boat suddenly stopped dead in its tracks and lunged upward. I caught myself and looked at Sheri who had a very surprised look on her face. I jumped into the cockpit, looked over the side and saw a nasty rock (reef) rearing its head up out of the water.
My worst fears were 1. We are sinking. 2. Crap we just lost the boat 3. My sailing days are over. 4. Hope we can get a rescue here :-) After pulling all the floor boards and making sure we not taking on water...
We got off the rock and headed back to the bay. Grabbed somebody’s private ball and over the side of the boat I went w/ mask, snorkel, & fins to assess our predicament.
I found several nasty scratches, and one golf ball sized penetration on the stem of the keel. It looked definitely as if it was taking in water. I dove several times and checked the boat (both sides) fore to aft. 90 % of the damage was surface level, some chunks from the bottom of the rudder skeg, and rudder, almost exclusively on the starboard side (right).
I looked up on line possible repair techniques for underwater. Finally decided on one. I made a roughly 5 inch square of duct tape, and placed a piece of fiberglass in the middle, then I put a large wad of 3m 5200 sealant in the middle. With Sheri’s help I quickly dove back under the boat and pressed the patch kit in place on the golf ball size dent. I went up and down several times pressing as well as I could against the boat.
The duct tape didn’t last long, but the sealant seemed to bond. Up on the boat again, we checked for water, structure, anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed to be bad, phew.
We waited another hour, and I dove the boat again to see if the 5200 was setting. It was. Ok, our immediate problem was solved. We weren’t going to sink, nor lose the boat. After we both calmed down, we discussed our options. Head to St Kitts 42 miles south, or back to St Martin 14 miles north. As much as we didn’t want to retrace our steps. We decided going to St Martin was the most prudent decision.
We quickly got the boat ready and headed to St Martin. The weather sucked. Rained the whole way. Seas were small and washboard (no real direction). About 3/4 thru the voyage I went below to turn on the running lights as visibillity was getting down to about 1/2 mile. As I came back up to the cockpit I heard a loud tearing shearing sound. I looked at Sheri and she had a WTF look on her face. We both thought, crap we just broke something else, or what did we hit, or shit the boat is coming apart!
Turned out it was one of the life vests had inflated! Really! We don’t know how or why, but the vest just decided it had enough of the days issues, and inflated… We both started laughing, kind of a stress relief, adrenal laugh.
We got to St Martin and dropped the hook in Simpsons Bay. After a bit of searching I located a haul out facility in the Lagoon. Bobby’s Marina. I spoke to the guy and he gave us directions on where to anchor, and that he would pull us out the next morning.
After getting settled again in the Lagoon (beers popped), we reviewed the day together and learned what we did wrong, and how to avoid it from happening again. As usual w/ these sort of things it was a combination of lack of communication, and situational awareness. We vowed to review our exit strategies before heading out or into any anchorages.
On another note: We liked St Barts. Really good food, nice clean Island. Beautiful beeches. We got bored w/ it after a while though and were glad to keep going. Sheri and I have a really short span for staying in any one place. So far we are thinking that unless Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique really wow us, we are going to head back to the Bahamas next season.
More to come on the exploits of fiberglass repair and moving on to our next destination - Guadeloupe.
R&S swinging on the hook in the lagoon in St. Martin.
As always pics will follow when we get a WIFI hook up.
St Martin
02 March 2016 | Simpson Lagoon, St Martin
R&S
3/1/16 St Martin Leeward Islands
Another long stretch w/ out internet to update the blog. Becoming a theme. Lets see, last we updated we were in Francis Bay, St John.
Sean spent 4+weeks on the boat w/ us, and unfortunately for him 3 of them were doing work on the boat. Space was limited, it was hot, and working all day makes for tired irritable people. It definitely was not fun.
We had another week w/ Sean, and sailed around from St. Thomas to Jost van Dyke, and Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, back to St. John, and finally dropped Sean off at RedHook St. Thomas for a taxi ride to the airport and back to the states.
The next day Sheri and I left for the top of the BVI as there was a really good weather window opening in 2 days for the jump across the Anegada Passage (known as the Oh-My-God-A-Passage), not as bad a rep as the Mona Passage but definitely up there in bad stories. We sailed for more than half the day, and finally cranked up the engine as we wanted to get 'on the hook' by 4pm in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda (jump point). All in all a fantastic day of sailing and views.
We spent a couple of days in North Sound (leaving at 4pm on the second day), we went to the Bitter End, and Saba Rock for meals, drinks, and wifi for checking weather. It was a relaxing couple of days, getting the boat all tidy for the trip across.
We left Virgin Gorda at 4pm for a 14-16 hour overnight thru the passage to St. Martin. As predicted we had nothing but very light winds 5-10kts, and seas less than 5 ft. We motored the whole way, w/ the exception of an hour or so of motor sailing when the wind shifted to our advantage for a bit.
We arrived at St Martin before day break and had to slow down to time our arrival. We never approach a new place at night. It is always better to stand off shore and wait for the light.
We anchored in Simpson Bay on the Dutch side. We rested for about an hour or so, then dinghied into the Customs & Immigration for clearance. Turns out we came in the wrong side, as we wanted to anchor in the north side of the Lagoon which is french. We ended up going thru the two bridges, anchoring on the french side, then dinghy ride back to the dutch side to clear-out, then clear in on the french side. All the while looking for a place to get a SIM card so we could let the world know we had made it! After more than half the day gone by we finally made it back to the boat, had a small snack and went to sleep pretty early. We were exhausted.
We met the boat next door (David & Nancy) and got all the skinny on where to go for what, eats, and partying :). We got our SIM card the next day and visited a couple of chandlery stores. We ate french food (oh my god its good), and had a very lazy day. We are stuck here for a week waiting on parts for the dinghy outboard. So we are going to take it easy here for a couple of days and watch the Heineken Regatta which is starting tomorrow!
More to come, and hopefully I can finally upload a lot of pics as the wifi at the restaurants is very good.
R&S
Simpson Lagoon, St Martin
PS pics coming...
Francis Bay, St John, USVI
16 February 2016 | St John, USVI
R&S
Francis Bay, St John 2/15/16
We had a slow time getting the boat ready for departure. Lots of new rigging, electronics, and holding tank (and all sanitation plumbing). It took another 2 weeks! Sean (my brother) helped out when/where he could. It gets very frustrating on a boat when you are stuck somewhere and working all the daylight hours getting ready.
Basically it sucked. This happens at the beginning of every season. Sometimes we wonder what the hell we are doing :-)
But, after saying our good byes to Jim & Ali, who made our stay so much easier, we shoved off the dock and headed to Culebra. The strong trades were due in about 2 days, so our plan was to get to St Thomas in 2 days, so that we would be in the lee of St John when the weather hit.
Of course as usual the wind and swell was right on the nose for the whole trip to Culebra. It made for a very bumpy wet ride. The boat weathered the weather better than we did. We do have a slight diesel leak seeping from the fuel lines for number 2&3 cylinder right at the fuel pump. Not sure what to do about but keep an eye on it, and get it fixed when we get down island. It took roughly 5 hours to get to the mooring in Dakity cove off of Ensenada Harbor in Culebra. Overcast skies, and a light breeze. It feels so much better when the breeze flows thru the boat then the stifling heat at the dock!
We set off right after coffee the next morning for the slog to St Thomas. It was not nearly as bad as the trip to Culebra, and we made really good time. Our new paint job and propeller refurbish is paying off in almost a full knot of speed increase. So we went from a swift 5 to an average blazing speed of 6 knots! Anyway we decided to go into Christmas Cove off the south east of St Thomas because the pizza boat was there! Sheri was looking forward to a hot pie. When we arrived all the mooring balls were taken. No problem, we'll just anchor. Oh crap, the anchor windlass remote control wouldn't work. I took it apart and tested the battery. 1.2 volts, and the label reads 12v. hmmmm. Only choice is to manually lower and then later raise the anchor. I sure as shit wasn't going to do that if not absolutely necessary, and I was feeling a tad guilty about having Sean do it. So, we decided to push on to St John and one of our favorite anchorages, Francis Bay.
We arrived at Francis about 40 minutes later, grabbed a ball near where we like, and settled in. I looked over, and the boat right next to us is Nike. Friends from last year! Fred & Linda. They invited us over for drinks at 5:30, and we accepted. Drinks on Nike w/ light snacks. We were rewarded for our efforts over the last weeks with a fantastic sunset. In the next couple of days we'll take the ferry over to St Thomas to pick up some supplies, and hunt down our old sailing buddies Eric & Jean.
I checked weather, and it turns out we are going to have lots of rain, and strong breezes for this coming week. So we'll stick here and get some little odd jobs done, and start to relax and plan our adventures.
R&S
Francis Bay, St John
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
24 January 2016 | Puerto Del Rey Marina, Fajardo, PR
R&S
1/24/16 Puerto Del Rey Marina Puerto Rico
Last year we had so much work, and problems getting going (my excuse), I fell behind on the blog and disappointed quite a few people (who I didn’t know were following). My mother threatened bodily harm if I didn’t keep it up this year. So here is our first post of the season…
We arrived on Jan. 12th this year. Rented a car and spent the night in San Juan because it was a late arrival and we didn’t want to have to rummage around at night to find a spot to sleep.
We left San Juan after a nice sleep and breakfast arriving in Fajardo by 11am. Signed in at the office and received our boat yard pass that allowed access to the boat. We spent the first day just getting acquainted w/ our old girl and making a spot to sleep. This is not that easy a thing to do as everything that is usually on deck (sails, fenders, cushions, equipment, etc.) is now inside. Once that was done we sat down and made a list (very long list) of things we wanted to accomplish to get the boat splashed. This included bottom side painting, and replacing the speed/depth/temp thru-hull transducer, and getting the propeller checked for repair/replacement. Pretty much all the stuff you would have a real problem doing when the boat is in the water.
The propeller guy asked us where we were going to stay, and we of course said on the boat. He informed us that there was new management and that he thought they didn’t allow it. Whatever I thought. We spent the night, and sure enough got in trouble w/ security the next day, and were sent to the administrators office. We were then informed that you no longer could stay on the boat on the hard anymore. Wonderful, now we had to find a cheap place to stay for a week!
So, we found a place up in the mountains near by, beyond a town called Ceiba. It was quaint w/ cereal and fruit breakfast thrown in. Nothing to speak of other than a beautiful view and clean rooms. Sheri and I found something we differ on. The coqui frogs in the rain forest, along w/ birds and insects make for a symphony of noise at night. People buy this type of sound as a ‘new age’ sleep or rest CD. I found it peaceful and fell asleep easily. Sheri on the other hand found it to be one of the most annoying sounds she’s ever encountered. She subsequently found ear plugs for the rest of our stay here. Although she could still hear them thru the plugs. They are incredible loud.
We paid one of the yard outfits to sand and clean the bottoms (very reasonable), and remembering Sheri ended up in the hospital w/ a pulled back last time, this was a good expenditure. We finished the painting and thru-hull in a couple of days, and were waiting on the propeller guy.
Well we arrive at the boat in the morning w/ a bunch of guys at the boat. They had broken our propeller shaft while trying to remove the propeller. A bit to much heat and banging. He felt really bad about it and said he’d make it right. I walked away… :-) Later when I was a bit calmer I went to him and asked what this was going to cost me. He said nothing, he felt really bad. A new shaft and installation on our boat is roughly about a thousand, so I was very surprised. He showed me the core of the shaft, and that it was aged, and not very solid. He kept his word and replaced our shaft w/ a slightly used one, refurbished our prop, and flex coupler to the transmission, and had the whole job done by the end of the day! If you’ve ever had work done in a boat yard, you would know how amazing that was. I felt bad about the fact he had 3 to 4 guys work all day long to get the job done. So I approached him the next day and asked what his cost was (he is a really nice honest guy), and gave him that plus 30%. I thought it was reasonable considering that the prop shaft could have failed on us out in the deep blue.
So we splashed the next day on Jan 19th, one week after arrival, a new record for us. Docking went smoothly, with only a slight bit of current and wind. Sheri does a wonderful job as helmsman, considering the back seat advice I give her the entire time :-)
We’ve been at the slip arranging for all sorts of above the water line work, and hope to be sailing in a couple of weeks. Sean (my bro) is arriving on the 25th to hang out for a while and we’re looking forward to seeing him again.
We also met some old acquaintances at the dock. Jim & Ali of Kindred Spirit, and John & Kathy of Whisper. They are very nice people w/ all sorts of useful knowledge of the local area and destinations beyond. They’ve been cruisers for over a decade or more.
Not to be bored to death w/ our stories of working at the slip… we had two incidents of note for excitement:
First, a brand spanking new 73 foot custom built sport fisher being delivered from Miami to Trinidad stopped here for fuel and rest. They left for Trinidad for a calm sea over nighter. At 25 plus knots they hit the reef just around the corner of the marina, and holed the boat in many places, including destroying the running gear (props, shaft, and potentially transmissions). I met the company representative while in the boat yard. He was on the boat. I got the whole story from him, about the almost sinking of the 6 million dollar boat, and that in 20 years they had gone w/ out an incident. He said he knew they were due, but never thought it would be him. I heard from someone else that he was one of the owners of the company (although that could be just here-say).
Second, and not to be missed, a boat was smoldering 2 docks over. It was about a 45 foot sport boat. You have to realize how big this marina is. from one end of the dock to the other width wise is about 1/2 mile. There are 7 fingers split down the middle by a thorough fare. So 14 fingers. We are on the north side on finger 10, slip 94. The boat smoldering was on finger 11 down around slip 5. You can google the marina, they have a great picture for reference.
Anyway one of the dock helpers noticed the smoldering and called management, security, and the fire dept. Sea-Tow the on water rescue company, cut the lines and started pulling the boat out of the marina. by this time the boat was almost fully engulfed in flames! They towed it at high speed out of the marina and sling-shoted it into the bay onto the shoal. It burned all the way to the water line, w/ small explosions as things aboard caught. It was quite a spectacle. Other than a sad phone call for some owner, no one was injured and no damage, other than a small contribution to the global warming effort. The boat was a total loss.
more to come...