[Click here to find journals for other years of our travels]

Wednesday, January 1, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor, Lat 19 deg 54 mins N, Long 070 deg, 57.2 mins W

          Discussed weather window with Kandu --they're thinking of leaving Friday. Ralph arrives on Monday, if all works out we'll leave Monday night and go straight to Boqueron, stopping at Escondido for a rest. Decided to skip Samana, unless weather turns bad. Small catamaran (Dona Tania) ahead of us broke loose and drifted into the mangroves. Hailed Mike (SeaComber) who came over with Boston Whaler and pulled her back out while we reanchored her. Ground tackle in poor condition. Scrubbed more cockpit teak, it is coming along nicely.

 

Thursday, January 2, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Called Signature Finish (Tom Fabiola), he'll ship some more Honey Teak supplies to the Marina at Salinas, to await our arrival. Hopefully it'll arrive by the time we do. The stuff we ordered in July has never arrived here in Luperón. Made final todo list of stuff to get done so we can leave Monday. Got response from Power Boats in Trinidad regarding making reservation for haulout in August.

 

Friday, January 3, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Ran engine for usual hour to charge batteries and run the frig. Did the weekly transmission check--we have no reverse. What a downer! Mike (Sea Comber) came over to see if there was any quick adjustment needed, no such luck. Looks like it's in the gearbox. He'll haul it out on Monday and take to Santo Domingo to Mercantile Antilles to get it rebuilt on Tuesday. We rigged the Monitor windvane, refuelled the dinghy gasoline, took laundry in, collected the small propane tank.Kandu is leaving tomorrow night, along with Ragamuffin and Wingin' It. They're going to Rio San Juan, then Escondido, then across the Mona and oging as far as they can get along the south coast of PR on this weather window. Looks like a good one, and looks like we'll have to miss it. What a bummer.

 

Saturday, January 4, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Look on the bright side--better find the transmission problem now and rectify it, rather than when we really need engine power. Cleaned the plexiglass of the dodger with Blue Magic, looks great.

 

Sunday, January 5, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Elaine Marie's dinghy broke loose as they were getting ready to go to town and clear out. Good wind so that by the time they called us and we got there it was high and dry in the mangrove mud. Too shallow for our dinghy motor, so I got out and waded through the shallows to pull both dinghies into deep enough water for Bill to drop and run our motor. Took it back to them--nice to be able to pay Peter back for all the help he's been to us through our dinghy motor travails. Put extra grommets in the old awning so it can fit under the boom--definitely helps reduce the heat in the main cabin.

 

Monday, January 6, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Mike arrived at 9am and with Bill's help hoisted up the engine, after disconnecting from shaft, so he could pull the transmission. He secured the engine back to the exhaust so we can run it each day for an hour to charge batteries and run the 'frig. One of bolts on bracket holding engine to mount was missing, another very loose. Our diligence in checking engine mounts is good, but for future we'll check brackets too. Always new things to learn! Probably related to cause of sheared drive saver a year ago. Underscores the importance of maintaining engine in exact alignment. After transmission rebuilt (will take about a week Mike thinks) and reinstalled, Mike will run for a couple of hours, then we should check alignment and bolts after 10 hours, and then after every long run. Thank goodness for Sea Comber and Mike's training as a diesel mechanic. There are no services in Luperón, and Mercantile Antilles is the only place in the DR that can do this type of work. Mistral had similar problem, were very satisfied with the work.

          Ralph arrived, we met him at Codetel. Disappointment over transmission problem and resulting delay. Roger (Hanoah) brought over their sailing dinghy for us to use for a few days.

 

Thursday, January 9, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Sailing dinghy is great fun. Also took Ralph to the beach for a swim on Tuesday. Rained all day yesterday. Today we went (by guagua and bus) to Santiago, Ralph go a new pair of glasses. Port water tank ran dry at dinner time, and in switching to starboard tank found bilges full (23"). Automatic bilge pump switch again in the middle "off" position. Pumped out OK using automatic bilge pump and the manual pump in the cabin, then checking for leaks. No leaks. Must be related to the engine. Agreed that at anchor we'll check engine oil every Monday, when we usually do the transmission check. That whoever takes off the padlock to secure the companionway will check the auto bilge pump is in the "on" position, and that we'll check the amount in the bilge after the engine is finished running. We check the bilges routinely every hour on passage, but are not regular when at anchor. Bad habit!

 

Friday, January 10, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Found the leak--radiator clamps to hose from the engine to the muffler were broken (both of them). Despite being religious about quarterly checking all radiator clamps, these got missed because there is a wooden box built around the muffler--box had to be disassembled to get at them. When Mike reinstalls the transmission we'll go over the engine with him to make sure we've got all the radiator clamps on the list to be checked. Details, details! Cockpit bilge pump is not drawing, needs to be serviced. Bought new clip for attachment for fuel hose to red outboard external fuel tank. Gasket worn on the old clip was worn, this is probably where we got all that water in the fuel 10 days ago with all that rain.

 

Monday, January 13, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Prepared another final todo list for leaving, assuming transmission repair works satisfactorily. Possibly a weather window opening up at the end of the week. Glad we signed up to be a sponsoring vessel with David Jones and the Caribbean Weather Center. Nice to hear some other boats we've met checking in (today - Northstand (met them in Provo) and Significant Other (from the NE600 Rally). Bill installed new solenoid on frig compressor--it has been a bit erratic about starting. Didn't work. Seems like it doesn't have a ground. Reinstalled the old one, which had a screw loose. He tightened it--that may have been the cause of the intermittent problem. So much to learn!

          All the issues with Solar Host re the website are resolved, so the website was updated yesterday. Craig sent e-mail to our list to let them know, and also that site now has an Update Log to check for what's new.

 

Thursday, January 16, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Per Mike (Sea Comber), Felix at Mercantile Antilles is checking to see where he can get parts for our transmission, then he'll break it down. Mike will call him tomorrow morning and if necessary give him the phone number of Yanmar's Caribbean distributor in Florida who can ship parts express. Looks like we'll be here a couple more weeks. NWS Offshore Report this morning didn't match David Jones forecast at all--nor Herb's which we listened to in the afternoon. Offshore Report had some errors/typos--we collect it every morning around 0515 by e-mail from Winlink. Ralph is going to take the bus (Transporte de Cibao) from Luperón to Santo Domingo today and catch the ferry tonight to Mayaguez. He'll come back once we're mobile. Mike came over to check on engine, since we're running it daily. Pointed out that when replacing radiator clamps on hoses, the second one should go on the opposite way round from the first one. On this morning's Safety and Security Net (8104 at 8:15am) announcement of partially submerged catamaran drifting off St. Lucia. We're enjoying sailing around the harbor in Hanoah's sailing dinghy. Unpleasant odor has been periodically surfacing in the main cabin, so far haven't been able to track it down. Put some Simple Green into the bilges.

 

Thursday, January 23, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          No further word on progress on the transmission. Practicing patience. Discovered source of odor. The small tank (sump) that was originally intended to catch water from the shower, is now used to store things like extra coffee, olive oil, lemon juice, etc. We had a big bag of mung beans, for sprouting, in it. When the bilges filled up, this tank did too. Bean bag burst, beans started fermenting. Very nasty job to clean up, but odor all gone. Only beans bit the dust, everything else is ok. Using time while waiting on transmission to update website. Writing up our SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures) for the website has meant a useful review of these, and as a result made a few changes. Modified the Deck Log a bit. Rained for a couple of days earlier this week. Mast leak at partners needs attention.

 

Friday, January 31, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          A frustrating week. Last Friday, Mike called Felix at Mercantile Antilles, who told him our transmission needs new clutch plate, shift fork, shift plates, and one gear. Will now try to find parts. Arranged for Mike to call back Monday--he did and Felix not there. Mike spoke to him Tuesday morning, transmission also needs bearings, Felix said he would FAX list of parts and for Mike to call back at 3pm. No Fax, Felix not there at 3--call back in 1/2 hour. Called back, Felix out of the city. Finally FAX arrived this morning, and Mike told Felix to order parts today. Felix said transmission would be ready about Feb 11--almost a month after his initial estimate. In the meantime a rare weather window is passing us by this weekend.

          "Ladies Lunch" at Bahia Luperón restaurant last Thursday, Pat met some new boaters. Saw Belted Kingfisher on pole near the muelle (public dock). Pre-frontal conditions last Friday, gradually deteriorated as big front slid east and became stationary over us. Windy, squally, and downpours Tueday, Tuesday night, Wednesday. A phenomenal amount of stuff in the harbour, palm trees, coconuts, trash, and the water is still all brown and muddy with all kinds of things floating in it--ocean is brown off shore for a good 1/2 mile beyond the entrance. Camanguista left Tuesday but turned round and came back, very nasty off shore. Big northerly swells. Several boats in the main harbour dragged that afternoon in a particularly nasty squall. Glad we're in the more sheltered Cano Escondido--we're a sitting duck with no transmission.

          Sylvia and Auggie from Violet came over on Monday for supper, and we picked their brains about anchorages in Puerto Rico, the Virgins, and the island chain (they've lived on St. John for 20 years.) Spent quite a bit of time this week helping Joe (Resolute) resolve his Sailmail issues. NWS offshore forecasts lately are of diminishing quality--typos, missing forecast, missing reference points, vague descriptions, etc. They don't seem to be in much agreement with forecasts given by David Jones (8104.0 at 8:30am) or Herb Hildenberg (12359.0 at 4:00pm). After all that rain, we were motivated to make a rain catcher--we'll test it Tuesday when more rain expected. Redid the caulk on the V-berth and main cabin hatches, cleaned engine intake and frig intake strainers.

Saturday, February 1, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          About 8 boats left for Puerto Rico yesterday on a 3-day weather window. Off Sosua, Gringo got the inner tube of a truck tire wrapped around it's prop and stuck in the shaft, and had to turn back, eventually drifting haplessly as the evening calms set in. Even though they were several miles offshore, the downpour had washed the tube out to sea. We gave assistance to the rescue effort by acting as radio base (SSB and VHF) to Gringo and the rescue team, and providing handheld GPS, spotlight, flashlight batteries, cookies and water to Mike (Sea Comber) with Mike (Wind Shadow) who left at 2224 hours in Do It II's Boston Whaler to tow Gringo in, from about 6 miles out. Current was taking Gringo off to the northwest at about 1 knot. New moon, so no moonlight, had to make do with starlight. The two boats connected at 2350pm and started the tow in to the harbour. At 0200 this morning we went out in the dinghy to the harbour entrance with flashlights to point the way in. Gringo safely anchored at 0300. Lesson Learned: Don't do a coastal passage in the Caribbean in the aftermath of heavy rains--even if there is a weather window.

 

Sunday, February 9, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Felix told Mike transmission parts were supposed to be in customs last Wednesday, but as a result of riots in Santo Domingo everywhere was closed so they haven't made it to Mercantile Antilles. No further word. Went to Santiago on Monday for a provisioning day. Both of us had a 24-hr 'flu (Bill on Wednesday, Pat yesterday). This week we spent some time getting to know some more boaters. Nice thing about boating, the "drop in" spirit (by dinghy) is alive an well still. Sam (77) and Donna on their 32' Prout catamaran Gertrude P. Abernathy III circumnavigated the Atlantic, went through the Panama Canal, and spent 63 days enroute to Hawaii, then northeast to Seattle and through the Northwest Passage to Alaska. We also got to know Deb and Barb who are enjoying a 9-month sabatical from their jobs in Madison, WI, on Tao a Southern Cross 31. They started out last November heading east then south from Beaufort, NC, to St. Thomas but suffered a knock-down and re-routed through the Bahamas.

          Bought heavy-duty black nylon mosquito netting in Santiago and cut it into 24"x18" squares. Glued velcro strips (used SuperGlue and Goop when SuperGlue ran out) along top and bottom of netting, and glued matching strips of velcro to the bottom of the shelves at the sides of the V-berth and the Quarter-berth, and below these shelves on the hull at the edge of the berth mattresses. The netting panels fit on the velcro strips to make pseudo lockers under the shelves. Now we can store blankets, linens, spare toilet paper, clothing, in these new storage spaces. Works great!

          Lot of activity on the Caribbean Safety and Security Net this week. Dinghy motor, and dinghy, thefts are a recurring problem in many places. Some boardings and breakins also on some of the islands. We learn from these and take preventive measures in high-risk locations. Lock dinghy motor to dinghy; lock dinghy to mother boat and dinghy dock in doubtful locations; use wire ties to secure fuel cable to dinghy outboard fuel tank; lock or secure hatches before going to bed at night in doubtful locations; keep air horn, VHF, flares, and bear spray handy below at night and make noise if anyone attempts to board the boat. Most places are very safe, but some have same problems as inner cities in the US. On another sad note, Laurie on Camanguista was lost overboard in the Bahamas en route back to the US. We feel good about our SOPs that we use at all times to ensure our safety. We have discovered that many cruisers are very casual--even uninformed--about important safety practices on a boat.

 

Sunday, February 16, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          When Mercantile Antilles reported on Tuesday that the parts still hadn't been collected from customs, we put into effect Plan B. Bill and Mike drove to Santo Domingo on Thursday and retrieved the disassembled transmission, and bought tickets for Bill to fly to Florida today and take tranny tomorrow to Mastry Marine in St. Petersburg who think they can do it in a day if they have parts in stock, or a few days if not. Lesson Learned: if a shop is taking more than twice the time they originally said they would need to complete a repair, don't wait any longer--execute Plan B. Prepared transmission and Bill for their trip, including clearing transmission transit with customs. Reserved a rental car for less than half the price available through Rental Car company web sites.

          We got up-close-and-personal with a pair of yellow-crowned night herons stalking among the mangrove roots on Monday--didn't have the camera with us, unfortunately. Saw a rare (for here) osprey fishing in the harbor on the same day. Replaced the gasket in the porthole above the nav station. Finished reprogramming the SSB channels and made a new reference sheet. Learning to use this radio has been a challenge, but it is now programmed--finally--to suit all our needs. Made to-do list in readiness for departure on the first weather window after transmission returns next week. Figured out the formula and made a reference sheet for obtaining True Wind (speed and direction) from boat speed and Apparent Wind. Sheet to be used when completing weather section of the Deck Log. Raised the sails and checked them--disturbed a pair of white-collared swifts that were building a nest in the yankee. Attended pot-luck supper at Puerto Blanco marina on Monday. Smidgeon (Kenny and Brycie, Southern Cross 31') came over one evening. Played cribbage on the other evenings. Completed the Weather and Radio sections of the web site. Read a lot.

 

Sunday, February 23, 2003
anchored in Luperón harbor

          Bill flew to Florida last Sunday with the transmission and took it Monday morning to Mastry Marine in St. Petersbpurg. Wrapped the transmission in animal feed bags, and packed it inside one of our (invaluable) LLBean zipper canvas bags for transportation. A few parts were not on hand and had to be ordered from Yanmar, who were closed Monday for President's day. Some of the parts identified by Mercantile Antilles as being needed were incorrect--confirmed that our decision to remove the work from them was a good one. Mastry completed the rebuild and testing of the transmission on Thursday morning. Bill returned with the repaired transmission on Friday. Due to lost e-mail, Pat went to meet him on Thursday, after reprovisioning at El Tropical supermercado in Puerto Plata. So she went back to the airport again on Friday and met him. Mike on SeaComber reinstalled the transmission Saturday morning, and did preliminary testing. While Bill was away, Pat began wrestling with a new dinghy outboard motor problem. Fuel is going into the crankcase, probably a hole in the fuel pump diaphragm. Doug on Silent Running loned us his spare outboard. Learned that many cruisers carry a spare--ie, have two of everything.

          A very windy week, strong high pressure in southern North Atlantic has reinforced the winter trade winds. Several boats dragged in the harbor on Wednesday afternoon and it's been blowing like stink ever since. Noticed an inflatable dinghy in the edge of the mangroves on Friday, rescued it, found distraught owner, and returned it to him. Low pressure with trailing cold front moving east off US coast this weekend, creating a potential weather window for a Monday night departure--maybe the front will stall west of here and lengthen the window so we can still catch it on the tail end. We need to get dinghy motor issue resolved, and test the engine and transmission thoroughly (about 10hrs under load) before we leave. Not much hope of getting to St. Thomas to meet Al and Vicki Adams on March 7th. John and Lisa on Islay (Tayana 37, hull #476) stopped by to visit this morning, they're on their way to St. Thomas.

 

Friday, March 1, 2003
Lat 19 degrees 17.1 mins North, 069 degrees, 19.7 mins West,
anchored off beach at Escondido, DR.

          A busy time. Sunday, Steve (Tangara) cleaned boat bottom, prop, shaft and dinghy bottom. Monday we went to Santiago in hope of finding a small outboard to have for backup, but were unsuccessful. Bill changed engine fuel filters, checked raw water strainers, and worked on dinghy motor (replaced spark plug, dismantled and reassembled fuel pump, cleaned carburetor, blew compressed air into valves, changed the oil). Tuesday, upped anchor at 09:20 hrs, drove around Luperón harbor to check transmission then went motor sailing offshore for a couple of hours with the main up, 1 reef. Very lumpy--we went about 6 miles into the offing and back. Anchored at 11:50 hrs in the Pinzon anchorage at the mouth of the harbor. Dinghied into town and cleared customs-a 3 hour process. Ate supper on Gertrude P Abernathy III, Sam and Donna, which had also come out to this anchorage in preparation for carreening GPA III to do some bottom work. Wednesday, we hauled anchor at 07:55 hrs and headed towards Puerto Plata, again motor sailing as the previous day. Stayed about 1-2 miles offshore, returning and dropping hook in Luperón harbor near the muelle (town dock) at 14:25 hrs. Conditions were calmer. Anchor didn't set (in 18' water over 4' mud), so sat on 100' of chain near Smidgeon--but no likelihood of wind overnight. Takes 3-4 days for anchors to set on this type of bottom. Mike came over and checked transmission and engine bolts, all well. Bill changed transmission fluid and checked engine oil. This problem has cost us nearly 2 months delay.

          Thursday morning, checked NWS Offshore report by Winlink at 05:20 hours, then checked with David Jones on 8104 KHz at 08:30 hours regarding forecast for crossing the Mona. Looked OK. Since gas station rumored to be open, went into harbor early to refill gasoline (for outboard) jerry can --shortage of gasoline in DR due to Venezuela crisis is causing havoc. Returned Silent Running's outboard motor, hoisted the dinghy, deflated and stowed it, and completed deck and below stowage for departure. Reviewed departure checklist. Upped anchor at 11:00 hours, said a final goodbye to sweet Luperón--home for the last 9 months. Left the harbor mouth (grounding on a low spot on the way out) and motorsailed towards Sosua, following the coast about 1 mile off, tacking in and out a bit as required by the wind. Conditions built as the sea breeze reinforced the trades, and we slogged along into wind (15-20 knots) and seas (3-5') during the afternoon. Slow going. Considered dropping hook at Sosua around 18:00 hrs, and waiting for night lee to set in, but decided to keep on going round Cabo Macoris. Night lee set in around 22:00 hours and things calmed down a bit. Friday morning we headed to shore and at 10:15 hours, dropped hook in 22' over sand off the beach here for a break. 111.5 nautical miles, average boat speed 4.7 knots, speed-made-good 4.5 knots. Escondido is a lovely not-to-be-missed spot, with a palm tree-lined beach surrounded by cliffs, leading to densely forrested mountains. Beautiful, beautiful place, we were the only vessel anchored. A bunch of yolas (small open fishing boats) were on the beach. Watched one boat fishing, great entertainment. Rested, ate dinner, went to bed early, rising again at 23:00 hours ready for midnight departure.

 

Sunday, March 3, 2003
Latitude 18 degrees, 1.4 minutes North, Longitude 067 degrees, 10.7 minutes West,
anchored in Bahia Boqueron, Puerto Rico

          Upped anchor yesterday 12 minutes past midnight, and headed out to round Cabo Cabron. Radar essential to find way out in the dark. Hoped to see some whales in early morning between mouth of Bahia Samana and Navidad Bank but had to settle for one boat astern going whale watching. Pleasant motor sailing until the seas and winds built in late morning, and then as before simply slogging onward into the trades. No wonder this leg is cast as the most challenging of all on the thorny path from Florida to the Caribbean island chain. Conditions rough during the night as we began crossing the Mona Passage at its north end. Stayed north of the Hourglass Shoal. Tried 1,000 ft depth contour, too rough. Tacked northeast again to stay beyond 3,000 ft. depth contour and slowed down to reduce pounding. Port anchor and one jerry can came loose, had to be retied. Made southeast-ward turn and headed for Isla Desecheo at 04:00 hours (today). Conditions improved somewhat once we entered the Mona Passage true, and gained a bit of shelter (lee) from Puerto Rico. Still beating most of the way, but seas down somewhat. Easier ride as we passed Desecheo to port. Trusty autopilot decided it had enough abreast of Desecheo and said "uncle" (meaning we have to sit at helm and steer for the remainder of the trip). Will reset it in Boqueron. But it did an impressive job thus far in sometimes difficult conditions. Headed for buoy marking north edge of Tourmaline reef, and continued southeast towards Boqueron. Wind on the nose, choppy through the shallows towards the Bahia, so dropped main and motored (slowly) for 3 hours, arriving at Green Bouy #1 marking entrance to Bahia Boqueron through the reef. Headed for anchorage and dropped hook at 14:27 hrs in 18' over sand, 120' of chain out, with snubber on--this anchorage is windy as the trades come up each morning. Nice to anchor perfectly in 20 knots of wind with other boat eyes watching! 188.8 miles by the log, average boat speetd 4.9 knots, speed made good 3.9 knots. Washed winches, blocks, windlass, bow pulpit, and forward stanchions in fresh water (with a bit of Joy--pun intended) to remove salt encrustment. One small flying fish dead on deck. Love Callipygia, what a great boat she is. Ate big dinner (Taco salad) and went to sleep at 1900 hours. Slept like babies/logs. Total Trip: 260.5 nautical miles by rhumb line, 300.3 nautical miles by log, average boat speed 4.8 knots, speed made good 4.2 knots. We did watches of, for the most part, 2-3 hours--albeit with 10-minute snoozes (using timer) when dreaded drowsies hit person on watch. Crew held up well, Callipygia "no hay problema", what a peach she is. Autopilot indispensible. Radar also indispensible for range (distance off) of land, identification of coastal landmarks, exits in the dark, and range and bearing of traffic--of which there was not much.

 

Saturday, March 8, 2003
Latitude 17 degrees, 57.0 minutes North, Longitude 066 degrees, 52.9 minutes West,
anchored just of Punta Jacinto, on the south coast of Puerto Rico

          Last Monday morning, Mallard, Down East 38' (Arnie and Skip) gave us a ride to the dinghy dock at Boqueron. After checking in with customs by phone (787-742-3531), and munching on a couple of yummy empanadillas, we went in Raoul's (787-972-8811) van with Mallard, Duchess (Bill and Sharon) and Diva (Cathy and Richard) to Mayaguez to clear in with immigration. Feels a lot like Florida. Stopped at Mayaguez Mall on way back, did a small provisioning and disappointed to find the Mall's only bookstore closed. Tuesday, up at our usual 5:15am to collect e-mail and offshore forecast. Checked in on the radio with Sea Comber, Smidgeon, and Tao re our safe arrival in Boqueron after crossing the Mona from Luperón. Learned that Patrick, owner/chef at Bahia Luperón, fell off his motorbike and has a broken leg and 2 broken ribs. Ouch! Launched dinghy and tested outboard--working fine. Other boats in harbor from Luperón going east were Islay another Tayana 37' (Lisa and John), motor-sailing ketchTop Kat (Will and Charlene), Kalik (Bill, Nini and Mika) and Land's End. The Canadian Everden (Geoff and Bunkey) arrived that afternoon. Wind blowing like stink in this wide open harbor, not much shelter. Wednesday, Diva, lovely yawl, left at midnight for St. Thomas to participate in the classic yacht regatta. Kalik headed out to stage at Cabo Rojo for transit of the south coast Puerto Rico. Decided we would wait until winds and seas come down, per forecast, and leave on Saturday morning early to make short early morning hops towards Salinas. This is the only comfortable way to transit east along the south coast, otherwise you take a beating from the strong trades and big Caribbean swells.

          While in Boqueron we spent some time getting to know Mallard and Islay. Listened to BBC news each evening to find out latest in the Bush administration's unrelenting drive to wage war on Iraq. We retied the secondary (35lb CQR) bow anchor on the deck, took it off the bow roller. Need to strengthen the way that bow roller is set up. Refuelled by making two dinghy trips to shore and filling jerry jugs at the gas station. 45 gallons of diesel added to the tank. With assistance of Boqueron Travel Agency (787-851-4571) reserved car and hotel for meeting Al and Vicki Adams in San Juan next Wednesday. Listened to weather forecast each day, checked in with David Jones on Friday to confirm weekend prognosis for lighter conditions. Bill changed engine oil and checked transmission and engine bolts. Made unsuccessful attempt to reset the autopilot.

          Hauled up the anchor at 04:45 hours this morning and, in company of Top Kat and Land's End, headed out of Boqueron Bay. Rounded Cabo Rojo fairly close in shore at dawn to head east. 4-6' swells. Motor sailed, with a few tacks to keep some drive in the reefed main as we headed east, south of the Margarita Reef, watching closely for fish pots and fishing boats. At Red "2" buoy at the entrance to the channel to Guanica, altered courst to northeast, making 6.25 knots on the beat to the entrance of the cut in the reef to get Punta Jacinto. Sped through the narrow cut on a beam reach, dropped the sail, and anchored off Punta Jacinto at 1030 hours. 30.8 nautical miles by the log, average boat speed 5.4 knots, speed made good 4.75 knots. Hand steered all the way. Top Kat, Everden, and Land's End were also anchored here. After a nap and some lunch, Bill went to work on the autopilot and, after in depth review of the manual, successfully reset the dockside settings so it is now working. Reviewed navigation requirements for next step. Decided not to try exiting through the narrow reef cut in the dark, but to take a detour west along the shore towards Punta Mesete and then out through the Guanica ship channel. Adds about 1.5 miles, but decided the shortcut was not worth it. Both Bruce Van Sant and Steve Pavlides in their Cruising Guides recommend avoiding the reef in the dark. No sense in taking unneccesary risk. Lesson Learned: Don't try to go through a reef cut in the dark if you have any other options.

 

Sunday, March 9, 2003
Latitude 17 degrees, 53.2 minutes North, Longitude 066 degrees, 31.8 minutes West,
anchored off the beach at the south end of Isle Caja de Muertes, Puerto Rico

          Upped anchor at 04:30 hrs and headed back to the Guanica ship channel and then outside the reef, having decided it was too risky to try to make that narrow cut through the reef in the dark. Raised the main. We prefer to keep the main up when motoring, since it definitely improves stability in the swells, and so long as we can keep some wind in it we get a bit of additional speed. Headed on an easterly course for the Green "1" buoy marking the entrance to the Ponce channel. Passed this waypoint at 08:15 hours and altered course towards Isle Caja de Muertes. Great to have the autopilot back. Anchored in 12' of sand in the lee of the island at 09:50 hours, where we found Duchess. Later, Mallard and Kalik came in to anchor nearby. 25.3 nautical miles by the log, average boat speed 4.75 knots, speed made good 4.5 knots. Hitched a ride ashore with Duchess and walked around this gorgeous spot. Saw Kalik snorkeling off their dinghy by a nearby rocky islet. Wish we had sufficient space to carry our dinghy inflated--it takes about 40 minutes to inflate/deflate, launch/hoist aboard, and install the motor, not something we do lightly. Ate a big lunch, napped, and reviewed navigation requirements for tomorrow.

 

Monday, March 10, 2003
Latitude 17 degrees, 57.4 minutes North, Longitude 066 degrees, 17.6 minutes West,
anchored in Salinas harbor, Puerto Rico

          Upped anchor (nicely cleaned of its muddy coat by the sand) at 04:40 hours and headed north to round the island, watching on radar for large anchor buoy about half way along it's length. Motored this leg, didn't raise sail for short trip right into any wind. Rounded the northeast corner of the island and headed east-southeast across the shallows to leave treacherous Cayo Berberia well to the north. When due south of Punta Petrona and Cayos Cabezezos and their fringing reefs altered course to east northeast to pass between the Cayo Alfenique and Media Lune reefs into the Bahia Rincon. Continued the same heading and made the south end of the mangrove cay, Cayo Mata, marking the entrance to the Salinas harbor at 07:10 hours, dropping anchor at 07:30 hours. 16.6 nautical miles by the log, boat speed 5.8 knots, speed made good 5.0 knots. Trip from Boqueron to Salinas, after 3-day wait for weather: 3 days in transit, 72.7 miles by the log. Average boat speed 5.2 knots, speed made good 4.7 knots. Hailed Chinook on the VHF, and they came to get us in their dinghy and we went ashore and ate breakfast together. Great to see Brian and Debbie again. Top Kat, Everden, Lands End and Mallard arrived behind us and also anchored in this lovely harbor. Returned after breakfast to find boats turned round as wind rose and clocked--we are too close to one, will reanchor tomorrow after going into the Marina de Salinas to refuel and rewater. Inflated and launched dinghy, stopped in Playa Marine, well stocked chandlery, bought electric pump to extract oil from engine at oil-changing time. Ate lunch (good but more expensive than we like) at restaurant overlooking Bahia Rincon. Impressed by flock (at least 30) Magnificent Frigatebirds wheeling above their rookery in a small mangrove cay. They certainly earned their adjective. Took longish walk into town of Salinas, and bought some produce. Came home, had a small happy hour, played cribbage and beat the sun to bed.

 

Sunday, March 16, 2003
Latitude 17 degrees, 57.4 minutes North, Longitude 066 degrees, 17.6 minutes West,
Anchored in Salinas harbor, Puerto Rico

          Tuesday morning, at 0700 hours went in dinghy to sound way into fuel dock and make sure there's enough depth for us to tie up alongside to refuel. There was, but another boat beat us to the punch and tied up while we were sounding. Very tight space, essential to get in before the wind gets up (so far around 0900 hours), and prevailing wind will pin bow to the dock. Decided to jerry jug water and fuel in the dinghy. Reanchored Callipygia further away from neighboring boat. Pat did 2 loads of laundry while Bill jugged 50 gallons of water from the dock to Callipygia to fill water tanks and jerry cans. Ate supper on Chinook. Wednesday morning, Paul from July Indian, a 42 foot Niagra sloop, came by looking for sailing directions from Cape Canaveral inlet on the Florida coast to Titusville Municipal Marina on the Inter-Coastal Waterway. Paul is 77. After 12 years cruising, he and Corinne are returning to Florida to sell their boat and begin life ashore. Dug through charts and guides to give Paul needed directions. On leaving, Paul missed his dinghy and landed in the drink. We helped him back inboard, realizing that there will come a point, too, when we'll be too old to continue. Hope we can see it coming. Collected rental car from Payless. Began cleaning boat in preparation for guests. Washed salt off deck metal, winches, blocks etc. Cleaned/scrubbed cockpit. Cleaned head, galley, main cabin. Finished putting everything away from the passage from Luperón.

          Wednesday morning, drove to San Juan airport. Allowed 2 hours for the 75-mile drive. Took Interstate 52 north through the mountains. Numerous tolls. Signs to airport sporadic, made one wrong turn, but arrived in plenty time. Airport security doesn't permit non-passengers into most of the terminal so had a frustrating time trying to watch all the doors for Al and Vicki to exit the terminal building. When 45 minutes after their flight we still hadn't found them, they found us. They'd caught an earlier flight and had been standing at the drive-by area looking for us. Drove to El Canario by the Sea hotel in the Condado area of San Juan. Very nice small traditional, mid-price hotel, well appointed. Registered, deposited luggage and car. Took bus #B21 to old San Juan and walked around for the rest of the day. Very nice, not-to-be missed--reminiscent of Quebec city. Fuerte San Felipe del Morro quite wonderful. Most enjoyable time. Back to Condado to hotel for luxuriously lengthy (not to say wasteful) hot shower, then out into the neighborhood for supper, with carnival-related parade passing by our outdoor dinner table. Spectacular. Thursday, took early-morning walk on beach--newly "groomed" by tractors--then drove to El Yunque National Forest. Had difficult time getting map to agree with roads. Lots of one-ways, lack of signs, etc. Finally decided to go into El Yunque from the south rather than fight our way back through San Juan traffic and roads. Discovered the road no longer goes through the forest, closed due to rock/land slides. So parked and walked in the beautiful tropical rainforest for a few miles. While we missed seeing the visitor's center, we didn't miss the crowds--we had it to ourselves. Returned to Salinas following the "Ruta Panoramica", a collection of roads that twists and turns over and around Puerto Rico's impressive mountain backbone. Delightful, if tummy-wrenching.

          Friday, we went to the hot springs at Coamo, sat in the naturally thermal spring water, and returned home by way of Ponce. Again frustrating to find road numbers on maps don't agree with road signs. Spent quite a while getting lost. Found the Ponce boardwalk--deserted--beside the anchorage, and walked on the beach for a bit. Yesterday, up at dawn and returned Al and Vicki to the airport for their flight home. Afterwards, we went back to Ponce and explored the downtown area and visited the magnificent art musem--it lived up to its reputation as the best art museum in the Caribbean. Returned to boat and began going through mail brought by Al and Vicki, including some more books, and our new Celesticomp navigational calculator. Look forward to using the Celesticomp to reduce hassle of celestial navigation calculations on our way to Trinidad. Today we went to the Mall of the Caribbean at Ponce, typical American shopping mall. Ate lunch there, and very happy to leave after walking around looking at stores without making any purchases.

 

Thursday, March 20, 2003
Latitude 18 degrees, 9.5 minutes North, longitude 065 degrees, 44.2 minutes West,
anchored in the lee of Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico

          Monday's weather forecast indicated light pressure gradient (ie light wind and diminished seas) for later in the week so decided to start next leg east on Thursday. Decided to head for St. Thomas, USVI, by way of Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands and stop there for a week or so to tackle our list of boat projects. Began preparing passage directions, and after reading further and examining the charts reconsidered. Instead we'll go to Marina Del Ray, near Fajardo, on the northeast corner of PR to do the boat projects. Necessary services are available at this huge marina) and its fees for dockage are quite reasonable. Once we've completed the boat projects, we won't feel guilty about simply enjoying our trip through the Virgins.

          Tuesday, Joe Lilly (787-532-3431) cleaned Callipygia's bottom in preparation for the trip--nearly 4 weeks since last cleaning. Not too many barnacles or green growth, paint holding up reasonably well. Completed the passage directions to Marina Del Ray and loaded waypoints into both GPS's. Weather forecast holding for unusually light conditions Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with wind backing to NE on Friday and beginning of northerly swell. Went to Internet cafe in Salinas, had terrible time with slowness of connection. Couldn't access and update our website. Did final provisioning and returned the rental car to Payless. Made reservation for week's dockage at Marina Del Ray. Invited Chinook for dinner and compared notes about passage plans. Ran into Keith on Nomad, last seen in Luperón in September. Dinghy motor seems to be leaking fuel. Tonight, the moon is full.

          Wednesday, it poured for about 4 hours in the middle of the generally windless day. Scrubbed the deck with Joy in the downpour. We readied the boat for transit. Hoisted, deflated, and packed the dinghy. Stored the dinghy motor on the transom rail. Rigged jacklines, tied down jerry cans, and stowed everything below. Went to bed early. Up at 01:00 hours this morning to find moon not obscured by clouds, and ok to leave. Hauled anchor at 01:20 hours and, under power, slowly picked our way out through Salinas' harbour using moonlight, depthsounder, and radar. Little wind and gentle swell. Hoisted mainsail at 02:20 hours once past the Media Luna reef and headed east. Having the sail up definitely improves comfort by reducing swell-induced rolling, not to say adding about 1/3 knot to ourspeed--sailing in our own boat-induced wind. Rounded Punta Tuna at 06:56 hours to head up Puerto Rico's east coast. At about 08:25 hours, in 35' of water, while headed towards our intended anchorage in the lee of Cayo Santiago, a high-pitched noise developed near the cockpit. Determined it to be one of the engine alarms--oh shit, overheating. Looking forward to adding dials to our array of three alarm lights in the engine display when we haul out in Trinidad. Alarm lights only tell us we've got a problem, but give no indication when one is developing. Water still coming out the exhaust, however. Reduced engine RPMs to idle, dropped the main, hauled out the roller-furling jib for easy sail control, and prepare to anchor in the open if necessary--thankfully an option due to the very light conditions. After some anxious moments, determined that the alternator belt had broken. Turned off the engine at 09:09 hours, replaced the belt, and restarted the engine at 09:21 hours. Phew. Motored the remaining couple of miles and anchored in 10' of sand and eelgrass just west of the beach at Cayo Santiago at 09:50 hours. 46.5 miles by the log, average boat speed 5.47 knots, speed made good 5.25 knot.

          This island is supposedly inhabited only by monkeys, installed there as part of a primate research project. Disappointed not to see any. Only primates in sight were human--a couple of men on the island, presumably working on the project, and a young couple who swam over from mainland PR to snorkel. Hats off to them, more than a mile each way--they trailed a styrofoam board, presumably in case they needed to rest. A lovely spot, no other boats in sight. Discovered 'frig had not charged during the trip as expected--so restarted the engine and jumped the solenoid, and charged it for an hour. Ate early lunch and took nap. Considered going for a swim but too lazy, so passed the afternoon reading, and taking another nap. After delicious and hearty supper of stew, cabbage, and mashed potatoes, turned in early. Southerly swell made for a rolly night. Thought about rigging a swell bridle, but decided it wasn't too bad after all. This wouldn't be a good anchorage in stronger conditions, unless the wind is north of east.

 

Friday, March 21, 2003
Lat 18 deg, 17 mins N, Long 065 deg, 37 mins W.
Docked in Marina Puerto Del Ray, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

          Upped anchor at 04:30 hours, and headed out to round the south end of Cayo Santiago to go east, under power, so as to pass just west of the Escolio de Arena (shoal) off the northwest corner of Isla de Vieques. Calm sea, no wind and little swell. Just off the tip of the shoal, turned northeast to follow buoys near Roosevelt Roads Naval Base. Near dawn, saw cruiseship (trailing cloud of smoke) heading west towards San Juan. Charged the 'frig--started right away. Conditions ideal (calm and windless) to complete resetting "Sinbad", our (Simrad) autopilot. While functioning adequately since Bill redid the dockside settings at Punta Jacinto, Sinbad yaws the boat substantially. Bill rid the "sea trial" part of the reset (reset to zero, compass adjustment, and automatic boat-sensing adjustment.) Good instruction manual. After doing the sea-trial reset, Sinbad performed perfectly. Gorgeous sunrise, see Isla de Culebra off to the east. Water like glass. Slowed down so as not to arrive at Marina too early, ending up having to kill about 20 minutes before the dockmaster arrived to give us our slip assignment. 10 months since we've been in a marina. Docked at 0815 hours. 19 miles by the log, average boat speed 5.1 knots. We made almost 6 knots much of the way, then had to slow down until the dockmaster arrived at the marina. Checked in at the marina office, found breakfast, checked out the general store and marine store nearby, and took a nap. Then showers--oh what a luxury it is to have unending running hot water! On way to his shower, Bill watched a neighboring boater give a fresh-water drink from his hose to a manatee swimming beside his slip! Went for a walk, then settled down to go over list of boat projects, decide who's going to what, in in what priority order. Time to work--but not 'til tomorrow!

 

Sunday, March 29, 2003
Lat 18 deg, 17 mins N, Long 065 deg, 37 mins W.
Docked in Marina Puerto Del Ray, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

          Much has been accomplished towards our list of boat projects with a lot of hard work, the usual frustrations, and some swearing. But, much still to do. Difficult living with boat in an uproar while projects underway and things torn apart. Have to move 3 (or 4 or 5?) things every time we want to get at something. Pay back time for all we have put off to enjoy ourselves. Thus far: dinghy motor--choke cable replaced, fuel switch repaired, 6-month maintenance done. Monitor windvane derusted, cleaned, and polished--handy to be able to use marina's small floating dock to work from. [TIP: used 3M Heavy Duty green Scotch Brite pads to rub rust off, where that insufficient used Colonite 850, and finally added layer of car wax.] Updated and reconciled financial records/statements for last quarter. Prepared tax package and mailed it to the son who files our returns. Recruited Antiguan Bernard Jackson (AKA Robin, 787-636-0740) to help with deck teak. Excellent and painstaking worker. Deck teak and swim ladder stripped, cleaned, sanded, and varnished with 3 coats of Honey Teak and 2 coats of Clear Enamel, except decided to leave swim ladder unvarnished. Ground tackle evaluated, replacement bow roller and new support for secondary anchor (CQR) identified and ordered, installation to be done by Willie of Wilco Welding (787-860-4471). Supplies to remove rust and regalvanize anchors obtained and primary anchor (Delta) prepared ready for regalvanizing after wire brushing off accumulated rust. [TIP: used West Marine's Rust-Lock Metal Prep, ready to spray with CRC Instant Galvanize.] Components for ground tackle for dinghy (small Danforth and chain/line rode) purchased and made up. (Pat's first unassisted thimble eye-splice was a bit less than perfect, though, even on third try.) Chafing gear (2 layer of hoses) to protect side bobstays (do they have a special name?) from the anchors replaced. Drinking water filter replaced, and new plumbing parts installed for it. Checked, and replaced as appropriate, all radiator clamps on this boat's numerous hoses. Salt water hose to galley sink broke at fitting as radiator clamp being checked--oops, quick close the intake before the boat floods. Fitting replaced and piece of hose removed. Much running around, phone calling, and other gofering--plenty of exercise navigating this huge marina complex. Couldn't arrange to get assorted supplies (Honey Teak, canned meat, replacement cockpit cusions) mailed here--cost prohibitive in time available. Defer until Trinidad. Rented car for 2 days (Thrifty has office on Marina grounds) and made multiple shopping trips to West Marine and 2 other chandleries in Fajardo. Also went to Internet cafe, 2 WalMarts, Home Depot and 4 other hardware stores, Walgreens, GNC, supermarket, post office, clinic, Border's Bookstore, and hair cuttery in Fajardo and Carolina, suburb of San Juan. Met a few other boaters, ate dinner at a Mexican Restaurant with two couples who live on trawlers. One pair, just younger than us, had to have rides on golf cart to get to and from their slip because they were unable to walk the distance, suffering constant muscle and joint pain. Good reminder of the importance of our daily exercise regimen--which has slipped a bit since we left Luperón.

          To follow the Iraq war, we bought the English version of the San Juan Star each morning, and listened to news reports from various countries on the SSB radio each evening. For some reason we've been unable to collect our e-mail by radio this week. The 40 meter (7MHz) ham frequencies used by the Winlink PMBOs are very noisy here in the early morning, so haven't been able to retrieve e-mail, including the text version of the offshore forecast. On the other hand, some ham frequencies in the 40 meter band are fine for voice at that same time of day. Learned from KR4JV (Dan on La Brisa) also in the marina, that the the forest of masts, stays, fishing rods, etc around us make Winlink connection problematic. So instead, listened on 6501 KHz to the 05:30 hours Ocean Prediction Center's voice forecast for the Caribbean/SouthWest North Atlantic. There seem to be frequent mistakes/omissions in this product, with forecast for the Caribbean often being incomplete and parts of it skipped. Quite disconcerting. Better luck with George (7241.0 KHz, LSB, at 07:15hrs, and 7086.0, also LSB, at 07:30hrs) who gives a great forecast for this area from St. John.

 

Sunday, April 6, 2003
Lat 18 deg, 17 mins N, Long 065 deg, 37 mins W.
Docked in Marina Puerto Del Ray, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

          Sweltered under some really hot sun in a couple of windless days ahead of a cold front that arrived, with a small bang, on Wednesday night--and then stayed stationary for 2 more days before emptying itself on us all day yesterday and through last night. George (7241.0 KHz at 07:15 hours) reported 50 knot gusts in Coral Bay, St. John, Wednesday night. Yesterday's rain kept us below, writing this lengthy entry for the Ship's Log describing the minutae of boat life, and boning up on charts and cruising guides in eager anticipation of spending about a month cruising around the Virgin Islands when we leave here.

          The past week was our second week of chores--and we're nearly finished. Received mail, including CD from the SSCA containing the last 7 years of Bulletins, and a great search engine. A fabulous $30 worth, mining the experiences of sailors all over the world. Every cruising sailboat should buy this. Began by reading about cruising Ireland and Scotland. Great stuff. Sent away for info package for the ARC Europe (Atlantic Rally to Europe). Leaves this year on May 8 from Antigua, and goes to Bermuda, the Azores, and Portsmouth. Decided we may do it next year, so as to make the Atlantic crossing in company. Looked at list of about 20 boats that have registered for this rally so far--we're right in the middle size-wise. Riding this wave of enthusiasm, spent spare time reading The Cruising Association's 2002-2003 Almanac, and The Yachtsman's Guide to the Isle of Mull and Adjacent Coasts. Beginning to believe we may actually fulfill Pat's long-held dream of sailing back to Oban, Scotland. Identified sources for charts and cruising guides/publications. Began trying to figure out the costs of preparing and spending a year or two cruising the UK. We're taking applications for crew since we we'll need 1 or 2 additional hands for each of the 3 legs of the ocean crossing. [Does this sound like chores?]

          Weeded out 30 inches of books and donated them to marina library (in the laundry) in return for some goodies we found there. Rethought our approach to books--for which we have allocated 20 feet of shelf space. Decided that we'll keep 3 categories permanently, and recycle everything else. (1) Boat-related books: how-to, reference, navigation, and a constantly expanding number of cruising guides. (2) General reference books, including the Bible and our complete Shakespeare. (3) Poetry. Everything else we'll recycle--what better way to influence (and be influenced) than to pick up free used books on topics related to the human predicament. Also reorganized some of our food and boat supply stowage to make it more convenient, tossing some 'nice-to-have' items to make available some badly needed space for essential supplies. Weeded and reorganized clothes--the "netting" lockers under bookshelves are ideal for storing these. In completing this project discovered that Sticky Back Velcro from Walmart works great for holding the nylon netting to the woodwork, much better than using tube glue. Duhh. Dear Callipygia is now FULL, though we've managed to keep the quarter berth cleared for the occasional (?rare) visitor--of whom we'd welcome more. The shower stall serves as "garage" for awkward shaped large items, dinghy accoutrements, storm anchor, buckets, etc.

          Derusted and prepped the CQR (secondary) anchor for regalvanizing. Prepared to regalvanize both bow anchors only to discover spray can had no spray head. Rented car and returned to West Marine to exchange the can (of CRC Instant Galvanize) and pick up new URM-1 bow roller, made by Windline. Installation of bow roller to be completed tomorrow by Willie (Wilco Welding, Fabrication & Machine, 787-860-4471). While we had car, provisioned, and visited Office Max to replenish our office supplies. By e-mail, requested quote on purchase and shipment of SARCA Sand and Reef Combination Anchor from Austrialia, in anticipation of cruising the British Isles. Cleaned and polished bow pulpit and stanchions. Checked and tightened all deck fitting nuts and screws--amazing how they loosen up over time. Added more caulk around mast boot where it still leaks--and it still leaks, so preparing to tape over the caulk. Installed new chafing gear over starboard bobstay, to protect it from the Delta anchor. Reconciled financial statements that came in the mail and filed the paperwork. Printed more boat cards. Listened to the Safety and Security Net each morning (8104.0 KHz at 08:15hrs) to keep track of security incidents and useful navigation information for the Caribbean. Listened to offshore forecast at 05:45 hours on 6501.0 KHz. Continued errors and ommissions--heard phone number to call with comments (1-800-742-8519). Called with complaint, learned that it's the Coast Guard, Chesapeake, which does these broadcasts. That agency is really messing up the careful work of the National Weather Service which prepares the forecasts. Did laundry. Began touch up of Honey Teak on the caprail, which we varnished almost a year ago. Sanded down worn spots and scuffed up the rest--waiting to finish the varnish part once the rain quits. The Honey Teak has held up pretty well over the last year, looks like the trick is to add another coat of Clear Enamel every 6 months or so--we let it go a bit too long this time. Played cribbage and read a bit. Enjoyed a few snorts of brandy (Bill) and rum (Pat, in lieu of scotch) in the security of this marina. In many/most anchorages we tend to refrain so as to have wits about us just in case....

          Spent some time getting to know Astrid and Robert, on Canigo, from Basel, Switzerland. Their Northwind 47' is berthed across from us while they await repairs after colliding with a freighter in the Mona Passage about a month ago. Mast is cracked, bow pulpit, primary anchor, and roller furling destroyed. They cruised from Malta through the West Coast of Scotland to the Faeroes, then Iceland and Greenland to Newfoundland last summer before coming south, mostly offshore, to Florida and then here by way of Cuba. Delightful and gutsy young (or are mid-40's middle aged?) couple. After reviewing their northern Atlantic crossing, and the Pilot Charts, we plugged in this route as our dream way to return from the UK in 200x. Looks like short hops, and reasonable conditions during the summer months--main problem is ice--amidst fabulous and untouched scenery. Time to re-read about St. Brendan's passage along this route to Greenland in the 9th century.

 

Thursday, April 10, 2003
Docked in Marina Puerto Del Ray, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

          Rain quit so that we were able to begin applying Honey Teak to the caprail on Monday, one more coat of Honey and 3 coats of clear enamel. Sanded down the forward portion of the bowsprit and Honey Teaked that. This varnish project has been a big job, and since we'd let it go too long, our spot sanding approach yielded a less than perfect finish--nonetheless it looks pretty good. We promised each other to do a better job of keeping up with it, by adding a coat of Clear Enamel every 6 months. Callipygia looks gorgeous with her beautiful woodwork, but it's a helluva lot of work. New bow roller installed on Monday, both anchors regalvanized Tuesday, and put back on the bowrollers on Wednesday, with new shackle on the CQR. Wednesday, between rain showers, cleaned everything up and put everything away--a major undertaking. Secured everything on the deck and below, and reviewed the charts, cruising guides, and made list of waypoints for the trip to Culebra, and did some preliminary planning for our cruise through the USVIs and BVIs. Wednesday afternoon, we checked out of the marina intending to leave early Thursday morning. Forecast for 15 knot winds from the south, seas 4-6'. Did some final provisioning/shopping in anticipation of departure--however, on rising this morning we realized how tired we were from all our hard work and decided to take a "crash" day in the marina so that we'd be primed to enjoy the trip to Culebra, and energized when we got there rather than "fair puggled" --as Pat's mother used to say when she was exhausted. Tomorrow's forecast is for seas and wind down a bit.

          We spent some time with Anita and Guy on Mallard Col Vert, Corbin 39', from Ottawa, docked 2 slips away from us. They have cruised the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and gave us much advice in regard to electrical issues (220 volts vs. 110 volts), gas (butane cf. propane), customs and immigration, insurance issues, charts and cruising guides, weather, and security.

 

Friday, April 11, 2003
Latitude 18 deg, 18.3 mins North, Longitude 065 deg, 17.9 mins West,
anchored off the town of Dewey in Ensenada Honda, Isla de Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands

          Definitely not one of our better days. We left the dock at Marina Puerto Del Rey at 06:30 hours anticipating a quick run to Culebra, arriving around lunch time. Big mistake. We dropped anchor here at 15:45 hours, in 20 feet, with 125 feet of chain out. A nasty, uncomfortable trip -- hey, at least it was warm, and what a great boat we have. Callipygia is such a peach, she took it all in stride despite her (on this trip) crappy crew. We motor sailed all the way (reefed main), tacking all morning into a 15-20 knot e-se wind and a big e-se chop (4-6', then 5-7, some breaking, every 3-4 seconds). Several squalls came our way--which flattened the seas a bit and gave us some much appreciated lift on the wind. Initially, we headed north of our rhumb line hoping to find some lee from Culebra. Worng! All that did was put us too close to the Barilles Reef, which we didn't notice 'til we saw the whites of its eyeballs at 10:50 hrs. Very bad oooops. Turned south away from the reef and then, finally, at 12:30 hours just east of Cayo Luis Pena the wind and seas went down to nothing, and we picked up speed for a bit. Then as we headed for Punta Soldedo, the wind and seas picked up a bit, but from the south and we made a spanking 5.5 knots until we dropped the main at the entrance to Ensenada Honda. Four inches in the bilge from rain and spray. Because it was so bumpy, Sinbad the autopilot was having a hard time so we hand steered pretty much all the way. 31.8 miles by the log, 22.6 miles by the rhumb line. 3.4 knots boat speed, 2.4 knots made good.

          So what mistakes did we make? Muchos. We thought this "little" trip was going to be a no-brainer so didn't properly prepare or pay enough attention to weather conditions. (1) Failed to take Bonine as usual after we've been stationery for a while--result, one of us was quite seasick. (2) Failed to do a proper passage plan other than putting the waypoints in the GPS and listing them in the Navigators Notebook. This should have included making danger bearings for the reefs on the north. (3) Failed to pay proper attention to weather forecast, didn't get one the morning we left even though David Jones had indicated on Thursday that these were very unusual conditions--and we didn't properly anticipate the effects of the ocean swell in the shallow Sound of Vieques. (4) Failed to log and plot our position every hour and when changing course, as is our usual practice, because it was so uncomfortable and one of us was sick and the other hand steering. (5) Didn't bother to rig the jack lines--which meant the person raising and dropping main had to inconveniently tether on to various other handholds. (6) Didn't bother to prepare food for the trip because we thought we'd arrive in Culebra by lunchtime--consequently the non-sick helmsperson didn't have enough to eat. (7) We didn't bother to have the bottom cleaned of its 3 weeks of marina growth--the knot wheel finally broke loose after we'd been underway 40 minutes, but the growth must have slowed us down a bit. Lesson Learned: Don't ever assume any trip is going to be a no brainer. Always think through the "what if's" and plan accordingly. Don't be careless! We withdrew quite a few points from the black box on this trip--we'll need to get busy replenishing it.

          The upside of this was that we found Chinook holed up in this anchorage waiting for weather to go to St. Thomas, while we fools were fighting our way here. Great to catch up with them--and just lovely to have Brian and Debbie come over in their dinghy to greet us and, later, give us a ride to shore where we all had a big fish and chip supper together. And, we're very happy to be back "on the hook" again--not that we didn't appreciate the marina's unending hot shower and easy access to services.

 

Monday, April 14, 2003
Anchored off the town of Dewey in Ensenada Honda, I
Isla de Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands

          Saturday was dedicated to giving Callipygia a sponge bath, 2 buckets of fresh water with a little Joy on her metal and blocks, etc. Used a 3-M sponge with scuff pad on one side, which removed the little bits of emerging rust. Washed off the plastic windows in the dodger. Put everything away below. Pumped up and launched the dinghy, attached motor, and went ashore to explore th e little town of Dewey. Ate lunch at Mamacita's, sitting at the side of the canal which goes through to the ferry dock on the west side of the island. Walked through to the west side, around town, and then took a dinghy drive through the canal. Brian and Deb came over for happy hour. Brian brought crab fritters and we made chopped salad.

          Sunday morning we waved goodbye to Chinook, then went into town and ate a big breakfast buffet at Mamacita's. After breakfast, we walked 2.5 miles past the little airport to Flamenco Beach on the north coast--what a beautiful spot, but a bit crowded on the weekend with people from the "mainland" (ie Puerto Rico) who come by ferry, then publico (taxi) to camp in the campground near the beach. From there we walked another mile and a half to check out the beaches on each side of Punta Tamarindo Grande, on the west coast. The beach on the north of the point was lovely with few people, and good shelter from the wind. Hung out there for a couple of hours, reading and snorkeling--many amazing fish in and among the coral near the shore. Some with gorgeous colors--one little chap had a fluorescent purple back and a most flamboyant yellow belly. Walked back to Flamenco Beach, washed off with fresh water, and then hiked back to the dinghy. Glad to get our weary legs back on board and eat an early supper.

          Today went into Dewey for assorted errands, and then dinghied down the bay for a couple of miles to explore the anchorage inside Dakity reef. Hung on a mooring ball and looked through our glass-bottomed bucket. Not much reef, mostly eel grass and sand -- with numerous big fat (12" long) brown sea slugs. Outboard motor running very rough, not sure what the problem is--used up all its oil on this hour-long trip. Spent some time preparing passage plan to get to St. Thomas. A low key day, feeling odd not knowing any boats in the harbour--until Top Kat showed up mid afternoon and anchored nearby. There was a Tayana 37' here when we arrived, and another came in this morning.

 

Thursday, April 17, 2003
Lat 18 deg, 19.7 mins N, Long 64 deg, 57.0 Min W,
anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          Whiled away a few days in Culebra in some peculiar weather--squally, and rolly. A trough sat over our area, butting into a ridge from the Atlantic High. The dinghy motor has developed a serious fuel leak problem--need calmer waters to take apart and diagnose. We'll be boat bound until it is fixed. The weather forecast of increasing seas and winds led us to decide to head for St. Thomas sooner rather than later, which we did early this morning. We spent yesterday getting ready (deflating and stowing dinghy, stowing dinghy motor, passage planning, etc.) The only Internet cafe in Dewey lost its connection on Tuesday so we resorted to our on-board but sometimes difficult-to-read weather fax to confirm the NWS sea state predictions. Everything looked doable, and if we didn't go today then we'd have to wait 'til Monday.

          Upped anchor at 06:30 hrs this morning and headed round Culebra to the east, staying inside the Culebrita reef, and exiting between the Island of Culebrita and Cayo Norte into the Virgin Passage. Winds about 10-15 from the southeast, gave us a nice comfortable motor sail under reefed main for this 7-mile leg. Entered the Passage at 07:45 hours, and encountered a confused swell, mostly southeast, of about 3-4 feet. A bit lumpy but not too uncomfortable, and able to keep the main filled as we headed into the wind towards Sail Rock. Made reasonable progress into the wind and seas, watching a squall develop over St. Thomas. Entered East Gregerie Channel about 10:30 hrs and considered anchoring in Drief Bay, but the boats already there were rolling dreadfully. Headed up the channel and dropped the hook in 25' of water among anchored and moored boats just near Caroline Point. Pretty crowded area. Found Duchess nearby, and learned by VHF that Chinook and Gringo are still here, anchored on the other side of Hassel Island near the cruise ship dock. 25.9 nautical miles by the log, 22.7 by the rhumb line. Average boat speed 5.7 knots, speed made good 5.0 knots. Tremendous downpour began just after we anchored, and it rained for the remainder of the afternoon, with the occasional thunderstorm thrown in just for good measure. Since God gave Callipygia her after-trip bath, we didn't have to. Ate a big lunch of corned beef and cabbage stew, and took long naps. A bit rolly here, and much too crowded. At 18:06 hours we moved a hundred yards or so and reanchored in a spot where we weren't quite so crowded. On starting the engine to do the maneuver, we noticed that there was a lot of uncombusted fuel in the water at the exhaust--oh dear, more mechanical woes.

 

Sunday, April 20, 2003
Anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          Friday morning, Bill disassembled the outboard motor and discovered a cracked plate at the fuel pump. Bill from Duchess came over to consult, bringing moral support and a wealth of outboard experience. We started the diesel while he was here and were delighted to note that its exhaust was perfectly clean. Concluded that last night's slick was not from the diesel, but from the outboard (which was mounted on the taffrail directly above the diesel exhaust) as it puked out it's last bit of fuel. What a relief. After making inquiries by radio as to the location of an outboard motor shop, a nearby boater came by and pointed out the Yamaha dealership, conveniently placed directly across on the other side of West Gregerie Channel. It was closed for the Easter weekend, but we'll take the motor in on Monday. In the meantime Duchess offered to lend us their 3hp 2-stroke Mercury outboard motor, which they keep as spare. This reinforced what we have learned as cruisers: there is a tremendous amount of collegiality and support among the boating community--we earnestly endeavor to pass on to others the good deeds that people do for us. We inflated and launched the dinghy, and powered by Duchess' spare motor, went across the Channel to the dinghy dock at Crown Bay Marina and spent a few hours exploring downtown Charlotte Amalie--finding mostly tourist shops geared towards cruiseship patrons.

          Friday evening at about 20:00 hours we spent an anxious hour in the cockpit watching the passing of a very nasty squall. Winds to 35 knots from the west with much thunder and lightning, and truly torrential rain, caused a fair bit of havoc and dragging anchors in the area. Ours held nicely, but Cavu, which had anchored near us in the afternoon, dragged and bounced off two other boats downwind of us before regaining control of herself. Cavu came back around and reanchored next to Duchess, then bumped into her late in the night once the winds died down. At 23:00 hours, Duchess moved to get out of Cavu's way. We made our first attempt to catch rain during this lengthy squall but the wind blew the water out of the piece of awning we'd rigged as catcher. Evidently 5-6 inches fell during this rolly night, and we made numerous trips to the cockpit to check on the status of our, and other boats', anchors.

          Saturday we went to Crown Bay, a well-equipped dinghy-friendly marina, did 2 loads of laundry, used the Internet cafe, and reconnected briefly with Chinook, which is back in Drief Bay waiting for favorable weather to head to St. Martin. Bill and Sharon (Duchess) came to visit for happy hour. We enjoyed getting to know them, and picking the brains of these experienced cruisers. Last night was much quieter, although the heavy traffic up and down the channel keeps us in constant motion. The container terminal next to Crown Bay is busy 24 hours a day loading and unloading freighters and barges. This morning we went ashore early and walked over to Frenchtown Marina bordering Haulover Cut, the narrow channel separating St. Thomas from Hassel Island. Islay is docked there while John and Lisa work for a while to replenish their cruising kitty. It was good to see them again and catch up, against a splendid background of landing and taking off floatplanes. After a good/inexpensive breakfast at the Frenchtown Deli, we walked through the interesting old Frenchtown residential neighborhood to Crown Bay and treated ourselves to a special Easter shower--$5 apiece. Back on the boat, more heavy showers led to our first successful rain catching experience. We used the method first suggested to us back in Luperón by Doug (Silent Running) and reinforced last night by Sharon and Bill. KISS! After enough rain has fallen to clean off the deck, open the fill to the water tank, put a rolled towel or sandbag downhill from the fill and just let it pour in! Works like a charm--we'll see how it tastes. The afternoon was marred by more anchoring blues--in the calms and shifting current we drifted too close to neighboring boat, had to power up and gently rearrange the anchor rode to give more space. This anchorage is uncomfortably crowded, and often rolly. However, it is very convenient for its access to shore.

 

Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          Yesterday, early, we took the ailing outboard over to Offshore Marine, the Yamaha dealer--conveniently located with a dinghy dock on the edge of the Channel. Determined that it needs a new fuel pump, not in stock, but thankfully it is still under warranty. May be repaired by the end of the week. Headed into Charlotte Amalie (by way of the $1 bus) and purchased a few supplies at Budget Marine, and spent some play money at Dockside Books. In the afternoon, Joe and Michelle of Peregrine, a Wauquiez 38', whom we'd met in Luperón, came by to give us some hands-on training about how to clean our own bottom. They use a Brownie Third Lung (otherwise known as a Hookah), to provide a stream of air through 100' of hose while underwater. Between that and snorkel gear, the chore went quickly--though if truth be told, Joe and Michelle did most of the work. But we learned a lot. Over a few beers afterwards we picked their brains about anchorages and good snorkeling sites in St. John and the BVI. Collected more rain during a late night squall--requiring continued anchor watching. Even tighter than ever with the arrival of a couple more sailboats earlier.

          Early today, two cruise ships came in to the overflow dock across from the anchorage--wouldn't want to have to maneuver one of those collossi in this tight space. A lot of traffic in and out of the container ship terminal too. Never a dull moment, could be busy rubber-necking all day. Went ashore early to do some banking chores, then got thoroughly drenched walking to/from the Post Office. What kind of sailors go ashore in the face of a pending rain shower without rain gear? Wet ones. Stopped in at the Dive Shop and found out costs of equipment and training to dive and clean our own bottom. A lot of $$ which we don't have in the budget. For now, we'll have to keep on hiring others to do it. We had intended to purchase a spare 2-stroke, 2-hp little Yamaha from Offshore Marine, but we were so wet we headed back to Callipygia to wait for the rain to end--which it did finally did but not 'til 5pm. Whiled away the afternoon reading The SHIP and the STORM, about the loss of the Fantome with all hands in Hurricane Mitch, not to mention the terrible devastation Mitch caused in the Honduras. Windjammer Cruises, owner of Fantome was clearly more interested in trying to save their vessel than its crew. Excellent information about the hurricane tracking and forecasting process--and reliability thereof.

 

Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Lat: 18 deg 18.5 mins North; Long: 064 deg 50.0 mins West;
anchored in Christmas Cove, Great James Island, US Virgin Islands

          Over early morning coffee, we fabricated a tow system for the dinghy out of 90' of 3/8" yellow 3-strand polypropylene line thusly. First, we made a small loop at each end. We did this (after much research, then trial and error) by doubling the line and tying an overhand knot, then whipping the two lines together above and below the knot. We attached carabiniers to the loop made by each knot. (For good measure until this very slippery line is properly trained, we also duct-taped the knots themselves.) Then, we tied the two pieces of line together with another overhand knot, about 3 feet from the clips. Again, we whipped the two lines together above and below this knot, and taped the knot. The carabiniers were attached to the two D-rings on the front of the dinghy. The remaining 80' feet loop of line was used double (a 40'line), with the end loop duct-taped again to mark the end of the doubled line. This double line was then run through an aft fairlead and fastened at a cleat. Result--a complete bridle and adjustable tow-line, all of easy-to-see, bouyant line, doubled for increased security. No more propellor wraps, we hope. Since we won't be towing the dinghy for long trips or in big seas, we don't think lack of stretch in polypropylene line to absorb shock will be a problem. Afterwards, we went ashore and bought the little 2hp 2-stroke Yamaha (9lbs weight) from Offshore Marine, so now we have a spare. Then we readied ourselves for departure, and upped anchor at 11:10am, towing the dinghy (having removed loose contents, motor and oars). Motored round the top of Water Island, down West Gregerie Channel and along the south coast of St. Thomas, heading east. No wind, minimal swell, beautiful sunshine--all round lovely day (for motoring). Dropped anchor on the south side of Fish Cay in Christmas Cove near Duchess at 12:40 hrs in 24' feet. 7.9 nautical miles by the log, average boat speed 5.3 knots. A few other boats here, including Top Cat, 36' Nauticat, and Faith catamaran with family of 5, were also here. Swam off the boat to view the anchor--nicely set in sand with a little grass. Then hopped in the dinghy and snorkeled over a reef near the shore. The underwater world is always a new amazement. Had happy hour on Duchess after returning their outboard and installing our new spare 2hp Yamaha in our dinghy. Also met BB, singlehanding Sea Fever, Tartan 37'.

 

Friday, April 25, 2003
Lat: 18 deg 20.7 mins North; Long: 064 deg 47.6 mins West;
on a mooring ball in Caneel Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands

          Spent yesterday swimming, practicing our snorkeling skills, and generally just enjoying the peace and beauty of Christmas Cove. A popular spot, with about a dozen boats anchored overnight. This morning, on the Safety and Security Net (08:15 hrs, 8104.0 kHz) it was reported that among the trees, weed mats, and other debris washed off the south side of Puerto Rico by the recent torrential rains, were 3 floating refrigerators. Emphasizes the need to avoid passing near high islands after lengthy heavy rains. For breakfast, we had coffee and scones on Duchess and used their cell phone to find out if the outboard motor is ready. It's not. Offshore Marine is still waiting for arrival of new fuel pump. Decided to come to St. John for the weekend, for the chance to walk around and find out more about that island, of which more than half is National Park. The National Park Service maintains moorings in many of the bays, and in some anchoring is prohibited. We upped anchor at 10:05 hours and motored through Current Cut into Plymouth Sound, towing the dinghy. The current in the cut was about 3 knots (in our direction) and gave us 100 yards or so of very rough water. Plymouth Sound, was a little choppy--we understand it can be every bit as nasty as the Sound of Vieques, although it is much shorter. A few vacant moorings were available at the east end of Caneel Bay, and we picked one up at 10:40 hours. About 40 boats were moored here. 3.5 nautical miles by the log, average boat speed 6.0 knots. After mooring, we kept the engine running for about 15 minutes to finish charging the refrigerator. While doing so, twice, the transmission kicked into forward--need to find out what this is about, hope nothing serious. Went ashore and hauled the dinghy onto Salomon Beach, and walked along the park trail about a mile into the town of Cruz Bay. Explored a little, ate lunch, provisioned, walked back and returned home to Callipygia to enjoy the late afternoon sun. This Bay is very busy and rolly with frequent ferry traffic and numerous other boat comings and goings.

 

Sunday, April 27, 2003
Lat: 18 deg 20.7 mins North; Long: 064 deg 47.6 mins West
On a mooring ball in Caneel Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands

          Yesterday morning's boat chores included adjustment of the transmission linkage, after which we ran the engine for an hour and all seems to be well. Greased the hinges/wing nuts on all portholes, repaired one of the hooks for storing docklines in the engine room, glued a loose strip on one of the companionway doors, and continued reading/reviewing guides and charts as a precursor to planning the passage south. Then we went ashore to the "dinghy dock" at the Caneel Bay Resort. Dinghies are permitted to tie up to the side of the ferry dock, albeit with a stern anchor (required). To access the dock, we had to climb up its side and clamber through the steel dock rails. On stepping foot on the dock we were given a brochure for "Day Visitors" (ie yachties) and learned the following. Day Visitors may access the beaches but may not use the resort chairs or beach equipment, must wear Resort attire when on the Resort property, may use the Resort's dining facilities ($25 breakfast, $40 dinners, etc.), may not use the bus or ferry from the Resort to Cruz Bay, and cannot deposit their trash or purchase ice at the Resort. Day Visitors are prohibited from visiting the Resort's Self Centre, a secluded spot for meditation and reflection. While the view from the Resort of sailboats moored/sailing adds to the Resort ambience, the people who live on those boats do not--the Resort requests that moored boats not hang laundry on deck. It seemed to us that the Caneel Bay Resort (a non-profit entity) is barely distinguishable from the Plantation that preceded it. So we left this place where the wealthy vacation to de-stress from the rigors of the money-making life, and dinghied over to the edge of Honeymoon Beach. We hauled the dinghy up on the sand, and walked the delightful upper Park trail back to Cruz Bay. The upper trail offers a stunning hilltop view of the Bay. We ate an outstanding and modestly priced lunch at Cap's Place--West Indian food--bar and billiard area bubbling with people who live and work on St. John. Noted a lot more smiles and laughter among the real people than were evident among the make-believe people. We were reminded of Bernard Shaw's quotation "As for living, our servants can do that for us."

          After lunch we checked out the ferry dock in Cruz Bay, and after a bit of a wait got on the somewhat ramshackle $1 bus which goes every 2 hours from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay and then Salt Pond Bay. We bought return tickets, which we deem the best value on St. John. A not-to-be-missed white-knucklin', bone-shakin' eye-poppin' trip. Spectacular scenery from the tops and bottoms of St. John's many hills/mountains and bays. After our hike back to the dinghy, and a bit of a fight to launch it through the surf that had come up, we were wearily glad to be shome for supper. We also met and spent some time talking yesterday to Steve, another yachtie moored here, who is singlehanding his Shannon ketch Nonesuch to Venezuela.

          This bay offered a good lesson on land effects on wind. Boats moored along the west curving beach, faced northeast; those along the north curve, southeast. The wind that blew down onto the bay from between a couple of tall hills seemed to split into two forks, blowing along the shore. We were moored between the two forks and sometimes seemed to point every which way.

 

Monday, April 28, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 19.8 mins North, Long: 064 deg, 56.9 mins West,
anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          Dropped the pendant on the mooring at 06:57 hours and motor sailed (yankee only) back across Plymouth Sound, through Current Cut, along the south coast of St. Thomas, and through the Gregerie Channel to our previous anchorage. Nice to come into a familiar harbor for once. Picked a spot slightly more northeast than before, where the sand ledge was wider, giving us more room in the event of a dragging anchor. Dropped (laid) the hook at 08:40 hours. 10.7 nautical miles by the log, average boat speed 5.9 knots. Happy to have some favorable wind for a change, though gave us a rolly ride for a bit as the seas, though following, were up. Checked on the status of the outboard motor--not ready, two parts are in but still waiting on a third. This anchorage has some strange characteristics also--current through the channel, combined with wind funnelling (or blocked) by surrounding hills causes frequent boat shifts. Once more, we reanchored at 19:21 hours after we came too close to one of our neighbors. Because of the cramped quarters, couldn't set the anchor under power for the wind direction. Will check it visually and/or reset it in the morning, after another anchor-watch night in this noisy rolly place. A day for existential questioning--what are we doing, and why are we doing it? This life is hard. Of the legions who dream of it, and the fewer who choose it, many quit. Days like today, we can see why.

 

Sunday, May 4, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 19.8 mins North, Long: 064 deg, 56.9 mins West,
Anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          Tuesday, we checked to make sure the anchor was set (it was) by hauling in 50' of chain and backing down on the remaining 75', then letting out the extra 50' again. Later, the one who was having existential issues put its head in a bucket and took the day off to recover, by sleeping, dozing, and a little light reading. This one keeps itself on watch to exhaustion occasionally--a stupid but habitual behaviour. The other one installed a cockpit shower, to replace our sunshower and/or bucket bath--so long as we have plenty of water, from rain we hope. A significant improvement in daily living. Wednesday, we checked again on the outboard motor--the part is still not in. We took the $1 bus into Charlotte Amalie and did some shopping at K-Mart and Budget Marine. Found a Roti Shop near the cruise ship dock, and ate roti for lunch. Bought the Complete Living Language set for learning French (CD's, lessons, and dictionary) in preparation for possible arrival in a French island (St. Martin, Guadeloupe, or Martinique.) Now we can be confused in French as well as Spanish (not to mention English). At an Internet Cafe, we did the usual end-of-the-month money stuff--checking and paying credit card balances, and reviewing how much money we don't have in the bank. Carnival is ending in St. Thomas, with a blast. Loud, loud music and drum beats all night long kept us awake for most of it. Thursday, changed the oil, oil filter, and secondary fuel filters. Used new electric pump to remove the oil--took only 10 minutes, compared to 90 minutes using the old manual vacuum pump. Also did a detailed review of charts, guides, pilots, etc., and figured out necessary weather conditions so we can make Grenada (450 nmiles) under sail--a close reach we'd like. Best with e-ne wind. Hope we don't have to beat/tack with motor much. Reviewed hazards between here and Grenada (traffic, currents, shoals/sea mounts, volcano ash, whales, etc.,) and examined harbour details for preferred and backup clearing-in anchorages on each major island all the way down if we decide to shorten the trip. Estimated the time to get to each one, under sail, at varying speeds. We'll wait in St. Thomas until conditions improve a bit--winds and seas are forecast to be higher than we'd like in the southern 2/3 of our route.

          Friday, changed the primary fuel filter in preparation for departure. Went ashore for breakfast at the Frenchtown Deli--has become our favorite spot. Then called Offshore Marine only to discover that the fuel pump for the outboard motor has to be reordered--the 3rd part can't be provided separately. Maybe it'll be in by Tuesday. More waiting. Did some provisioning--found a bag boy to push the shopping cart from the supermarket to the dinghy dock at the marina, and then return the cart. On returning to Callipygia, found Sandcastle, large Irwin ketch (48'?), on the nearby mooring--would be fine if it were a small boat, but this one is way bigger than us and we're too close. Let out another 20' of chain to provide more distance. Still closer than we'd like, but for now acceptable. Periodic anchor watch during the night. During this exercise, noticed that for our primary anchor rode the 175' of line is joined to the 150' of chain with just an eye splice to the connecting shackle--no thimble. Needs to be corrected. Only once so far (West Caicos) have we needed to use so much rode that we ran out all the chain and used some of the line. Made a pre-departure checklist, and a departure day checklist so we'll be ready to leave as soon as outboard is ready and weather cooperates. Port water tank emptied today, switched to starboard. Previously, one 50-gallon tank lasted us between 11-12 days; this time it lasted 21 days--raincatching works! Saturday, made a revision to the Deck Log in readiness for departure. Did quarterly check of all radiator clamps and worked each seacock--aft cockpit drain seacock is partially frozen. 2 radiator clamps replaced.

          Plenty of activity in/along the channel. Dredger working near the container ship dock, constantly moving from place to place. 4-masted schooner cruiseship, Legacy, back again tied up at dock across from us. Oops--binocular inspection reveals that its two rear mast are chimneys--what kind of a boat is this? Tugs in and out all the time, sometimes with huge container-laden barges. Many ferries shuttling back and forth during this Carnival time. The usual container ship comings and goings--often in the middle of the night. Float planes landing and taking off just through Haulover Cut. Planes taking off from the busy airport (a mile away). An endless stream of recreational vessels, and continual dinghy crossings. Better than TV to keep us entertained in this crowded, rolly, and noisy anchorage. We stay here because our little 2hp dinghy motor has all it can handle to get back and forth to the marina dinghy dock from this, the closest available spot.

 

Saturday, May 10, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 19.8 mins North, Long: 064 deg, 56.9 mins West,
Anchored off Water Island, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

          This week we made arrangements for our annual home visits during the upcoming summer/fall, using Frequent Flyer miles where possible. Quite a puzzle to fit in all the pieces to make sure we have good quality time with our kids and grandkids who are spread out from Alaska to Toronto and Maine, and our friends scattered from DC to Nova Scotia. Looks like we'll leave Callipygia for about 3 months--during which time work will get done as necessary to ready her for next year's planned Atlantic crossing. We've made a reservation at Power Boats in Trinidad for that to happen. Also made arrangements for 15-yr old grandson, Nick, to come stay with us for a month after school gets out--words can't express how delighted/excited we are about the prospect of his visit. We are lonely for our family.

          On Tuesday we learned that the new fuel pump for the dinghy motor had arrived--but it was broken and would have to be reordered, and these parts are on back order. Probably be another 2 weeks before it would come in. Discussed options with the very helpful staff of Offshore Marine. (1) They would return the motor to us, show us how to install the fuel pump, and forward it to us once it comes in. (2) We could trade in the 4hp 4-stroke on a new 8hp 2-stroke--even though they do not normally handle small 4-strokes, they would make an exception for us. Given all the problems we've had with the 4-stroke, and our preference anyway for bit more horsepower, we decided on option 2. Offshore also took back the 2hp 2-stroke backup we bought from them, for what we paid for it. Since we bought the 2hp a couple of weeks ago as a backup and in anticipation of continued problems with the 4-stroke, the need for it has evaporated (we hope). We traded motors on Wednesday and began breaking in our new 8hp--are definitely going to enjoy the increased power. We continued work on passage planning for the trip south and determined that we'd leave on Friday. However, on Thursday, the outlook worsened--the sustained high pressure over the Atlantic has brought big seas to the area we'd be crossing. Also heard on the Caribbean Maritime Mobile (ham) Net from a boat near Aves Island, where we'd pass, that the weather was very rough. Did some rethinking. Rather than waiting for the next northeast wind to make a straight shot at Grenada from here, decided to make more easting in the meantime by going to the British Virgin Islands, and then wait there for lighter seas--even if there's no north in the wind. Then we'll cross the Anegada Passage and go behind Saba Island, and Montserrat. This leg will be (yet again) motor-sailing (slogging) into the wind, but we have time to wait for gentler seas, we hope. After passing Montserrat, we should have a nice long reach for the sail south to Grenada, where we'll meet Nick. We did the passage planning for this revised route. Seems that anchorage in Road Town, Tortola, BVI not optimal, so made reservation for marina so we can clear in there.

          Did final provisioning, and stowed everything on deck and below. Deflated and stowed the dinghy--and motor--on deck, in anticipation of refuelling and re-watering at Crown Bay Marina tomorrow morning prior to departure. This week, also, we spoke a few times to Rik and Ann on Sandcastle, the big ketch on the nearby mooring. This delightful couple cruised the South Pacific for half a dozen years before starting to take people (2 couples at a time) cruising around the VI on their boat as a way to make a living. Contact them on 340-774-5630 to cruise with them.

 

Sunday, May 11, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 19.0 mins North. Long: 064 deg, 43.4 mins West.
On a mooring ball in Great Lameshur Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands

          Upped anchor at 07:53 hours and crossed West Gregerie Channel to the fuel dock at Crown Bay Marina, where we filled up diesel and water tanks. Headed round Water Island and down East Gregerie Channel then east along the south coast of St. Thomas. Kept fairly close into shore, then out to round Dog Island and cross the mouth of Pillsbury Sound to the south coast of St. John. The knot wheel must have a barnacle on it, instruments not registering log or speed. Readings taken from the GPS instead--how much easier navigation is since the availability of this toy. Another slow and lumpy ride, motor sailing with just the mainsail up, slogging close to the 10-15 knot wind in short seas, building to 4'-6'. Can't wait until we can turn the motor off! Found Great Lameshur Bay with only one other boat there--and 13 unoccupied mooring balls, maintainted by the National Park Service to attempt to maintain the coral bottom. Georgeous, isolated, and protected spot, cliffs and rocks, sandy beach, surrounded by steep green volcanic hills. No indications of human habitation, aside from the other boat, but saw several green turtles, pelicans, boobies and ever-present laughting gulls. 12.8 nautical miles over the ground, average boat speed 3.9 knots, speed made good 3.3 knots

 

Monday, May 12, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 25.4 mins North. Long: 064 deg, 37.1 mins West.
Docked at Village Cay Marina, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

          Dropped mooring ball at 06:25am and left beautiful deserted secluded Lameshur Bay. Not much wind but found 6-7' seas once we got clear of the bay's protection and again motor-sailed into the seas. Another slow and lumpy slog. Took 45 minutes to get well round Ram's Head, but once there we were able to fall off the wind into a very close reach and actually sail (albeit under power). Much more comfortable angle on the seas, and we picked up speed as we crossed the mouth of Coral Bay, passing between the east end of St. John and Flanagan Island, and then into Drake Channel towards Road Harbour. A little squall brought a nice quick 5-minute downpour to help wash the salt off in mid-Channel. Found our way into Road Harbour, and after getting instructions on the VHF from the marina, berthed at the dock at 09:25hours. 12.8 nautical miles over the ground. Average boat speed 4.3 knots, speed made good 4.2 knots. Went ashore to clear customs and immigration, then ate an early lunch at the Roti Palace--excellent roti, though not very cheap. Went for a refreshing dip in the pool at the Marina, and crashed. Went exploring Road Town later.

 

Sunday, May 18, 2003
Lat: 18 deg, 25.4 mins North. Long: 064 deg, 37.1 mins West.
Docked at Village Cay Marina, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

          We face two constraints as we island hop from here on. (1) We need to clear customs each time before we can leave, and (2) to do that by dinghy means inflating and deflating it. Wish (not for the first time) that we could store the dinghy on deck. Would have loved to explore Lameshur Bay by dinghy last Sunday afternoon, but were not up to inflating and deflating the dinghy for only a couple of hours of use. Possibly could have towed it from St. Thomas, but it sure would have slowed us down in those short lumpy seas. Also, if you have a problem with a towed dinghy in difficult conditions, it can be hard/dangerous to resolve, and many a dinghy has had to be cut loose and lost. Have to learn to live with it. Dinghy constraint is one reason we came into this marina, which by the way is very nice, and has a most pleasant swimming pool. But it does cost--although mooring balls in the BVI also cost ($25/nite).

          As the week progressed, the weather looked good for a Friday departure to cross the Anegada, so we decided to stay here in the marina 'til then because we don't need the dinghy to clear customs, which is a short walk away. Also, decided to exit into the Caribbean through Round Rock Passage rather than going to Virgin Gorda and exiting through Necker Island Passage. Primary reason is that as you exit Necker Island you have to go directly east into the seas from the open Atlantic, whereas at Round Rock, even though you give up some easting, the exit is southeast and much shorter to get into open water. We cleared customs and checked out of the marina on Thursday in readiness. But... on Friday morning, after listening to the Offshore Forecast and then George Cline (7104.0 LSB at 07:15, 7086.0 LSB at 07:30) it seemed that the outlook had changed--we could anticipate 20 knot e-se winds and 7' seas in the Anegada, not very pleasant. The revised forecast indicated this could improve to 10-15 knots e-ne and 3-4' seas by Monday--as near perfect as we could ask for. Decided to stay in the marina and wait. This morning's forecast for tomorrow is not quite so favorable, but still pretty fair. Once we get out there, we'll see whether it will be possible be able to make Grenada in a straight shot, going west of Saba bank and Montserrat. Otherwise we'll cross the Anegada and hop down the islands. Will we finally find favorable winds?

          A rather quiet week, but pleasant. We visited the Caribbean Weather Center here in Tortola on Tuesday, and found David Jones in the office where he had come briefly. He is clearly sick, and went back into the hospital Wednesday for more tests. We, and the other Caribbean cruisers, sorely miss his morning weather net. Wandered round to the Moorings (charter boat) marina on the other side of the harbor to locate the fuel dock, and ran into a South African who had just delivered a boat there and was trying to sell his excess fuel. For a very low price we bought three 20 litre jugs from him, which he dinghied over to Callipygia and we put in our tank through the Baja filter. Noticed that the Moorings marina was chock full of boats, means the charter season is over. Also found Serendipity, a great little bookstore, and went over budget on another batch of books. Did the usual boat chores and preparation for departure, including cleaning terminals at masthead light, rewiring the shore power cable plug, checking condition of nuts on shroud chainplates, cleaning bow pulpit of incipient rust, etc. Plugged the tracks in the mast again--frequent showers indicated no more leaks! Became acquainted with Tony and Susan on Escapade, 42' Island Packet, docked next to us. They are from near London, came across with the ARC a year or two ago, and left for Bermuda then Maine on Thursday. On the morning ham net (7104.0 LSB at 07:00 hrs) followed the progress of our friends Sam and Donna on Gertrude P. Abernathy III as they went from Salinas, PR, to Cartagena, Colombia. They're moving fast, but having some very rough weather on this 700-mile trip. Yesterday we played tourist, took the Smith's ferry to Virgin Gorda and visited "The Baths", an area of huge volcanic boulders on the shore, where the water fills in and out. Great snorkeling, and an amazing 20-minute walk through boulder-made tunnels and caves to Devil's beach. Ate lunch overlooking Fischer's Cove. A thoroughly satisfactory trip--rounded off with bottled water (from the Miami municipal water supply, reverse osmosis'd, irradiated, and ozonified no less) and a cool fresh-water dip in the marina pool when we got home. Today, spent getting ready (yet again) for expected departure tomorrow, but found time to walk to and explore the BVI Botanic Gardens, a small sweet oasis at the northern edge of Road Town.

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Lat: 17 deg 00.3 mins N; Long: 061 deg 45.7 mins W.
Anchored in Freeman Bay, English Harbour, Antigua

          On rising Monday morning, confirmed the weather outlook is still favorable and completed departure checks, including all safety equipment. Left the dock at Village Cay at 10:23 hours and headed out of Road Town harbour. Raised the main with its usual 1 reef for motor sailing into the wind, and attempted to haul out the yankee to assist--dangnabit, furling gear is jammed. The one thing we didn't check, it's been so reliable. Raised the trusty staysail (hank on) instead and crossed Drake Passage to Round Rock, at the south end of Virgin Gorda, and exited into the Caribbean Sea. Gentle wind, around 10 knots, easterly, with gentle (spaced out) 3-5' swells. Headed north of Barracuda Shoal, then southeast towards Saba making good progress (5+ knots) in quite comfortable conditions. Saw three other sailboats going in the same direction, though different tack. Passed north of Saba at 03:00 hours yesterday and altered course to the east (as more southerly crept into what wind there was.) Beautiful night, moonlit after 23:00 hrs with the seas down to 2-4' and light contrary wind 5-10 knots. Ring around the moon (cirrostratus). At dawn, decided not to stop at St. Martin, but to take advantage of these benign conditions and and head for Antigua. We will then have "turned the corner" and be all done with going against the trade winds--we sincerely hope. Altered course again to southeast (wind back north of east) as we passed St. Martin, then St. Barthelemy to port and then steep mountainous Saba rising into the clouds to starboard. At 14:00 hrs, east of Eustatius, altered course to the east--wind gone round to the southeast--and headed towards Barbuda until 19:00 hours, when we altered course to the south (wind back round to east) as St. Kitts and Nevis faded into the distance. Some distant traffic during the day (2 cruise ships, 1 container ship, 2 small freighters.) As darkness crept in with few clouds, we were between two guideposts in the sky, the Southern Cross ahead, and the pole star astern. Altered course to the southeast again at 23:00 hours, just ahead of moonrise to pass northeast of Montserrat. Thought about Libelle which had collided with another sailboat at 09:00 hours on Sunday night just about here. Poor Libelle suffered serious damage, eventually limping into Deshaies (Guadaloupe) on Tuesday. Reminded us how difficult it is to ascertain distance and direction of lights in the dark, one reason we always put the radar on at night. Benign conditions continued through the night as we rounded the southwestern corner of Antigua, seeing lights high up on the north end of Montsarrat, at 03:30 hours today. Must be strange living on an island whose other end is the very active volcano Soufriere which erupted in 1995 and blew away the island's capital. Lowered the sails and motored into English Harbour, dropping the hook at 07:20 hours this morning. 231.1 nmiles by the GPS odometer (knot wheel still jammed by a barnacle), 198.0 miles by the rhumb line. 5.1 knots average boat speed, 4.4 speed made good.

          All in all a comfortable motor sail. Many thanks to Callipygia, her iron genny (Yanmar) which purred away steadily for 45 hours, Sinbad the autopilot who drove most of the way, and of course the main and staysail which added speed and gave stability to this pleasant trip. And of course to the GPS, a great navigational assist. After filling out the Deck Log we plotted our course this trip with china markers on the plastic covers of the very convenient CYC chart kits. Thanks also to our little digital timer, which gives the on-watch person a nudge every 8 minutes to check the radar screen, do a 360 degrees lookout and check our course and sail trim during the night, when things can get drowsy. Now we're nicely positioned to head due south sailing for the rest of the season, and look forward to using the engine purely as an auxilliary for a while.

          Put on the anchor snubber and sail covers, and cleaned up the cockpit. Ate a hearty breakfast, pumped up the dinghy, launched it, hoisted the outboard motor down onto it, and found our way to the dinghy dock, then customs to clear in. Back on board to finish putting everything away and take some well-deserved naps. Then gave the deck metal and rigging parts a sponge bath with fresh water and Joy, cleaned off the smudge marks round the engine exhaust from Callipygia's heine, and called it a day.

 

Sunday, May 25, 2003
Lat: 17 deg 00.3 mins N; Long: 061 deg 45.7 mins W.
Anchored in Freeman Bay, English Harbour, Antigua

          Thursday morning we took a closer look at the jib furling gear and--after figuring out we didn't know how to make it work--got Paul of Tend Aloft Rigging aboard to diagnose and fix it, and review all the rigging at the same time. Furling (ProFurl) drum has 2 screws that hold the drum to the extrusion (rod with sail track). Screws had come loose and the extrusion had slipped down onto the turnbuckle of the forestay. Turned out to be an easy fix. Added these screws to the list of things to check periodically. Rigging passed inspection, a few minor items to take care of in Trinidad, nothing major except for a few signs of metal fatigue (cracks) on the upper rail of bow pulpit (which we had noticed), and Paul advised that we begin thinking about replacement within next year or two. Did some exploring and walked round to Falmouth harbour. We like the anchorage we're in a lot, though wouldn't like to be here during the busy season when apparently English and adjacent Falmouth harbours are inundated with upscale/big boats with moneyed occupants.

          Friday, Cap Greene of Signal Locker installed the new connection for the Datamarine at the masthead. He had to rework the pins since those in the new plug are a different size from the pins in the old one. Cap did a nice careful delicate soldering job, and then recalibrated the electronic readout. Took him 4 hours altogether--a long sit at the masthead in somewhat breezy and rolly we