Sailing the Caribbees

CATCHING UP…

11.2.13 - 12.7.13
(Jeff)
After a relatively short prep of about 3 weeks doing various maintenance projects and provisioning, cooking (by Mege) and packing, MERIDIAN departed the New Bedford Yacht Club dock at around 8am on Saturday November the 2nd. The crew consisted of me (Jeff) as captain along with my boyhood friend, Josh Fairfax, a college friend of Josh’s, Parker Nichols, rounded out with another Vermonter – a friend of a friend, Jeff Finkelstein. Our crew worked seamlessly – everyone pitching in whenever and wherever needed and all in great spirits the entire trip (with the exception of a few brief grumpy moments by the captain). We left in the wake of a southerly gale that blew itself out and left a light wind and rolly sea in which we motor-sailed for about a day before the NW wind filled in to push us along. From then on, we enjoyed strong to very strong favorable winds occasionally gusting over 40 knots with seas 11 – 14 feet occasionally reaching near 20 feet. The boat performed exceptionally well and sped us to Bermuda in exactly 3 ½ days! After a couple of days of boat maintenance and a little sight seeing, we left Bermuda for the Virgin Islands and had a relatively uneventful passage south to Virgin Gorda averaging about 170 miles per day, making the trip in 4 days, 18 hours. The crew and I enjoyed a couple days of exploring and snorkeling the Baths on Virgin Gorda; Trellis Bay, Tortola; Monkey Point, Guana Island; White Bay, Jost Van Dyke; and finally Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas where the crew flew home and Mege and the kids arrived!

(Mege)
The kids and I arrived on Saturday, November the 16th and were immediately whisked away to the quiet anchorage of Great St John away from the hustle and bustle of St. Thomas. Next day off to Trellis Bay to provision with Aragorn from his organic farm atop Tortola and give Jeff a chance to climb some coconut trees. The next days began with coconut passion fruit and freshly squeezed orange juice with a little hot pepper thrown in.

Our days have started taking on a natural rhythm. Orly and Asa generally start their days reading and I find I have to tear them away from their books to get the day started. Unless we have other plans “lessons” get started right after breakfast. O and A are impressively self directed and motivated. They have also been practicing their instruments daily and are currently working on some Christmas duets together along with their individual pieces. We have met a number of sailing families and they all seem to have the same kind of morning school time. Some sort of message gets sent out when schoolwork is done and then it is open season for fun! We have in mind to make a “fun flag” to fly off the boat to alert any kids close by. We spent about a week in the same harbors as the Smith’s on REBECCA of Vineyard Haven, which was good fun for the kids and adults alike. Annice and I took an epic hike on Virgin Gorda, the kids swung off the boats spinnaker pole and we all used the SUP for both transport, exercise and pure fun.
While anchored in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda we met a lovely family from Brooklyn living on their boat Catherine. They had been displaced by Hurricane Sandy and decided to go for it and buy a boat to live on. Christel and Jared are musicians as well as their 12-year-old daughter Arden (whom Orly became fast friends with) and their budding rock star 3-year old daughter, Riley. We decided it would be a lot of fun to all get together for a music jam aboard ROVH (REBECCA). All counted we had three violins, 1 cello, 3 ukuleles, 1 flute, and our fearless leader Jared on the accordion. It was great fun and hopefully we will all reunite as a band later on in the season.

Although the Gorda (North) sound still holds its same contours much has changed since the days of my youth. Eustatia has sold for an astounding number of dollars to Larry Paige of Google and I suspect is now off limits for a walk down memory lane. There is a new Mega Yacht dock just west of Biras Creek. The Bitter End has expanded a bit as well and of course Saba Rock, which was once truly a rock is now a manicured island housing a bar/restaurant. Happily some things have not changed, Gordon and Nathalie Overing are back running the Bitter End and Mary Joe is still here as well. Nick Trotter was here this week on business and of course many of the locals are still here still so it feels like a reunion of sorts for me.

(Jeff)
Another family from Rhode Island arrived here early this week. Mike and Conley Zani and their boys, Wyatt and Wake arrived on their recently purchased Fontaine Pajot catamaran. Chris Museler, a mutual friend, introduced us to Mike sometime over the past couple years. Mike purchased the boat in Europe and sailed it across from the Canary Islands in November. The kids have had fun snorkeling, swimming and playing games together and we plan to try to do some cruising together in the days ahead.