Exploring Anguilla - Flat island ... yeah right!

 

May 31, 2013

Today was a day for exercise.  We loaded our two fold-up bikes into our dinghy and headed ashore.  Our goal was to ride to a place called The Valley.  Doesn’t that sound nice and quaint?  Just over the one small hill that surrounds the bay and we’d be entering the low valley of Anguilla.  From there, it was to be a flat, enjoyable ride.

Anguilla is known as a flat island.  Sure, try telling my legs and lungs that!  We started out around the large salt pond that sits just off the beach area of Sandy Ground (the bay where we are anchored).  Within about a 5-minute ride, there it was … that ‘small’ HILL!!!  I downshifted and tried my hardest to pedal but my legs ached.  I couldn’t catch my breath.  Before I knew it, I was stopped.  We got off the bikes and walked the remainder of the way up the hill.

The view from the top was amazing but I was too exhausted to think to take a picture.  Sorry … I’m not going back just to get one!

The one good thing about hills is … there’s almost always a downhill after the strenuous hike up.  It was a joy to my aching body.  We got back on the bikes and did the wonderful coasting downwards.  About halfway down, there was a grocery store we had wanted to stop at.  Damn … an interruption to our pleasant downhill ride!  Oh well.  We pulled in, locked the bikes and got to enjoy the air-conditioned interior as we looked about.  It was a pretty decent store.  Had a little of everything (small appliances, toys, gardening stuff, etc) along with your typical small grocery store.  We will stop on our way back to the anchorage to pick up a couple of necessities.

A little further down the hill (yes, another interruption in our free ride) was a tire repair shop.  Did you notice, not a thing on the uphill climb for us to rest and recover but downhill and this is our second stop!  We pulled in there and had them put air in our bicycle tires.  Wow … what a difference!

We were told that was the only hill on the island and the remainder would be a nice enjoyable ride.  Yes, in a car, that might seem like the only uphill climb.  But when you’re pedaling your ass as hard as you can, those gradual inclines can be a killer.

It was hot … about 90°.  When there was a breeze, it howled … about 25-30 knots …hampering our progress.  We stopped often for a refreshing cold beer.  We searched for a place for lunch.  The one restaurant we went into had a sign on their window that said, ‘Chicken Wings, Burgers, Sandwiches, and more’.  The only thing available was some nasty looking prepared foods in warming trays that looked like they’d been there for days.  YUCK!!!  I guess that was the ‘more’ from the sign?  But no chicken wings, burgers or sandwiches available!  Another restaurant had a blackboard out front and on it were written the daily specials.  It listed about 20 things.  Some sounded pretty decent.  We went inside and the place was barren.  The only thing available was some curried chicken dish.  Nope, we’ll pass on that … thank you.

I was truly beginning to believe we were going to starve to death, right there on the spot.  God, was I hungry!

 We decided to head back towards the anchorage.  If nothing else, we knew there was food either at one of the beach bars or even back onboard Soulmatie.  Wow … that would be a long wait!

Luckily, I get tired easily when I’m riding.  I’m not in shape yet.  This caused us to stop a couple of times on the return trip.  More beer and finally, I found a restaurant.  The parking lot was quite full and as we entered, we noticed a lot of people inside.  Success?  Yep, they had a decent menu, at reasonable prices.  Larry got a hamburger ($6.00), I got a cheeseburger ($7.00).  They came with a small salad and a nice portion of fresh, hot French fries.  YUMM!!!  I got a water … I was dying of thirst, and Larry got a Presidente beer.  Total bill was $18.00 US.  In Anguilla, they use the Eastern Caribbean dollar.  One US$ equals about 3 EC.  All places we found accepted the US $.

After a very filling, enjoyable meal, I was ready to handle the climb back up the hill.  Oops … a little bit further and wouldn’t you know it … an ice cream parlor.  This is the first one I’ve seen in forever!  The only ice cream I’ve been able to find are the novelty type bars, etc in the store coolers.  This was actually ice cream … sundaes and all!  I was still overly full from lunch but I just couldn’t refuse.  I got Amaretto Almond .. it was yummy!  Larry got a chocolate chip cookie since he can’t eat ice cream.

I had strength for the remainder of the trip.  We stopped at the small grocery store and picked up a dozen eggs, (2) onions and a bag of Fritos Scoops.  The total was $10.00 (the chips alone were almost $6.00).

We got back to the boat at 5pm.  We were both tired from the long day of exercise.  We’ve spent far too much time sitting on the boat in a vegetative state.  It was nice to get out and do something for a change.  We’re hoping this is just the beginning of our ACTIVE period … more fun and less sitting around.  We’re out here to explore so let’s do it!

Happy Anguilla Day! Road Bay, Anguilla

Happy Anguilla Day! 

Today is a holiday for the nation of Anguilla.  Not sure exactly what Anguilla Day is but it was cause for celebration.  Each year, on this day, they have a Round The Island Boat Race.  Hope the pictures turned out because these boats were awesome.  There were 13 boats in the race.  Once boat lost his mast and had to be towed back in to shore before the race even started.  A second boat had trouble at the start and only did a donut in the bay before heading back to shore.  Not sure what their problem was but they dropped out of the race.  The other 11 boats sailed off and disappeared around the corner of the bay.  Now we wait for their return.

 

We figured it’d be several hours before they returned so we decided to snorkel the coastline.  The shoreline is very rocky but not sure if there will be coral (like at the last rocky shoreline in the BVI) or if it will just be rocks.

The water wasn’t as clear as BVI.  There were small patches of coral but for the most part it was just rocks.  We saw a 3ft barracuda as soon as we got in the water.  If you looked real closely at the rocks, there were actually a lot of reef fish swimming about … some were less than an inch in length but vibrant blue and yellow coloring to them.  Others were larger and easier to spot.  A little disappointing but still a nice snorkel day.  It was good just to be in the water again.   

Once we finished snorkeling at this spot, we went across the bay to where there were two freighter-type ships wrecked on shore.  We were hoping they would attract more fishes.  Unfortunately, when we got over there, it turned out, they were really washed on-shore … hard aground.  Nothing was in the water except maybe up to a foot in depth.  Didn’t make for good snorkeling at all.  But Larry snorkeled around some nearby rocks anyways.  It’s hard to keep him out of the water.  He saw an eel and took some close-up pictures of the wreck so it wasn’t a total write-off. 

Back on Soulmatie, we showered and got ready to go ashore.  The beach had become crowded with locals.  The music was loud and it was a party!

Just as we got in the dinghy to head ashore, we saw the racing boats returning.  We went over to the finish line and waited with the other onlookers.  We were right there when the first two boats fought their way across the finish line.  They were within seconds of each other.  The boat that was slightly behind the first boat actually smashed into it as they tried to take the lead.  It was very exciting to watch so up close, right there where the action was happening! 

Onshore, we watched the rest of the boats return.  It turned out; the weather was too bad to do a circumnavigation of the island.  Not sure exactly where they went in the 3-ish hours they were gone but it was still an exciting race.  People were saying that this year the officials were extra cautious.  They almost cancelled the race completely because of the weather but they thought it would be bad for moral if they didn’t allow some type of race.  Last year they actually lost 3 boats because of bad weather and it was devastating to the community.   They didn’t want a repeat.  The weather on the windward side of the island can get VERY rough and unpredictable.  I’m sure they made a wise decision to keep the race leeward of the weather.

The beach was crowded.  There was music from several different sources.  We got a couple of beer ($2.00 each) and walked the beach and through the small (very small) town that’s here at the shoreline.  There are maybe a dozen restaurants (some weren’t even open … surprisingly for the # of people here that they wouldn’t open today).  There was a small mini-mart.  It reminded me of the supermarkets back in many of the Bahamas islands.  It had a few shelves on the walls and one row of shelves down the middle but almost everything was bare.  The products were spread out wide along the shelves to try to fill the space and make it seem like they actually had stock.  It probably would have all fit onto one shelf.  At least they had a beer cooler.  We got another couple of beers (Elephant Beer $3.00 and Presidente $2.00) … nice and cold.

We had planned on eating ashore.  We’d hoped there would be more booths for food, etc but there really wasn’t much.  The restaurants were crowded and expensive.  A burger was $16.00 …nachos were $13.00 … ouch!  We decided to head back to Soulmatie for a dinner from our supplies.

I made a yummy pizza and we had our homemade wine and enjoyed the music and view from afar.  By about 8pm, the music died and the beach cleared out … not the wild nightlife I would have expected for a national holiday.  I guess they all have to work tomorrow … too bad!

This blog will now start to include images we hope you enjoy

Safe Arrival

Arrived safely in Road Bay, Anguillas after 23 hour roller coaster ride.  Will write more when I send next update.

At Sea – BVI to Anguilla (N18°12.135/W63.05.620)

A roller coaster ride thru hell

 May 28, 2013 – May 29, 2013

11:15 am, Larry motioned the ‘anchor up’ signal from the bow of Soulmatie and I turned hard to starboard, circled around and headed for the channel.  Our journey had begun.  What the next 16-20 hours would hold for us was an unknown.  My anxiety level was at a peak and I said a silent prayer for a safe voyage.  

Offshore weather forecast for the next 24 hours … winds from the E at 15-25 knots, seas 5-7 feet with a 6-8 second wave period.  Once we get off the island banks and into the actual ocean waters, there should be a nice roll to the waves and although we are heading directly into them, we will adjust our speed and try to attain a nice ride … gently up one side of the wave and down the other in the 6-8 seconds between swells.

For about the first 2 hours, we were still in the shallows of the coastal waters.  When the ocean waves hit the shallows, they get broken up and choppy.  These seas were very choppy.  We knew we could not judge the ‘real’ ocean conditions until we were off the banks.  It was a long couple of hours.

We started out doing about 5 knots (into the wind).  We assumed our speed would drop some once we hit the deeper waters.  We did not anticipate this …

Out in the open seas, it was a mess.  There was no rhythm to the seas.  They remained choppy.  Have you ever lifted the lid to your washing machine during the wash cycle?  See how that center thingy swishes the clothes to the left, then back to the right … continually back and forth.  Well toss a little toy sailboat into that and there you have it … that was us.  We’d be tossed to starboard then back towards port before Soulmatie even had time to right herself.  Then it would be nose into a huge wave.  At those times, it was hard to tell exactly what would happen.  It would depend completely on our position as the wave hit.  Sometimes, Soulmatie was thrust skyward and as she crested the wave, she would fall back down with a huge THUD!  Sometimes, she would remain level as the wave passed and gently slid down the other side (those were rare occurrences) and sometimes, we would dive bow down under the wave as a torrent of water came smashing against the windshield of the cockpit.  Then it was back and forth, up and down … in that gyrating motion.  This went on hour after hour.

We kept a log of our journey.  Each hour, we would write down time, position, bearing to our destination, distance from our destination, and average speed for that hour. 

Our total trip was 77.2 miles.  If we could have maintained a 5 knot average, it would have taken us less than 16 hours.  If our average drops to 4 knots, it was going to take about 19 hours.  Dropping to 3 knots, it would take about 26 hours.  But … when our average speed hit 2 knots for 2 consecutive hours, we knew we were in trouble.  At that speed, the trip would take about 38 hours!  We had to do something!

At about 7pm, Larry turned 10 degrees off course.  We took the wave slightly over the port bow instead of dead on the nose.  Our sail was able to stay almost full instead of flopping erratically like it had been heading dead into the wind.  It was not comfortable but it was 1000 times better. 

As the hours progressed, this change in direction caused us to slip off course.  We watched as our track took us from only a few feet off route, to 1 mile, then 2 miles, then 3 miles.  When it hit 3.8 miles, Larry decided he had to change routes again.  He gradually brought us back to within 1.8 miles while I tried to get some rest.  Heading back towards the line for our route was a rough passage.

We were motoring.  We had the mainsail up for whatever stability it could provide but it was providing minimal forward thrust.

  Actual weather once in open seas, 30-35 knot winds with gusts exceeding well into the 40’s (head on the nose).  Wave height, difficult to determine since the seas were in such disarray … waves came at us from many directions … some small and choppy, some large and breaking.  There was no actual ‘wave period’ between waves.  The seas were a mess.  In addition, we were fighting a 1 - 2 knot current against us.

We took shifts being on-watch, typically switching off every 3-4 hours.  Larry took longer watches during the day while I tried to rest.  I took longer watches at night while Larry tried to sleep.  He’s much more successful at sleeping underway than I am.  At least he got a little sleep.  I don’t know if I got any.  How can you sleep when your body is being tossed in every direction?  I’d even secure myself with pillows tucked under my back and front to stop me from rolling but it didn’t help.  It was useless.

Just as the sun peaked over the horizon, Larry called me on-deck.  We could see that the top of the sail was shredded.  I remained on careful watch as he went out on deck to drop the sail.  I hate him on deck in those messy seas but at least he’s tethered to the jack lines.  (These are continuous line run down each side of the boat from bow to stern.  You attach a tether from your safety harness to the jack line for safety when you’re out on deck.  We use this any time the seas are rough and ALWAYS at night.)  For the remainder of the trip, we would be tossed even more violently … not having the sail to steady us anymore.  Damn!

Finally, about 8:30 am, we passed from the deep ocean waters onto the shallower Anguilla Banks.  The water went from thousands of feet deep, back to less than 100 ft.  The seas calmed slightly and as we progressed, we were finally able to reach 5 knots.  The last couple of hours to shore were bearable.

We dropped the hook exactly 23 hours after raising it in the BVI.  Our 16-20 hour trip had been extended by 3 – 7 hours.  Now remember that wasn’t 3 – 7 hours of sitting around lounging on the beach … it was 3-7 MORE hours of being tossed violently at sea.  It made for a VERY long trip.

We anchored in the northeast corner of the bay, in 7 feet of water.  We’re close to shore.  There are a lot of other boats here but we seem to be the only ‘cruising boat’.  Most of the other sailboats are marked with Anguilla as their home-port.  Wonder how far we will have to go to actually meet other cruisers who might be headed south … or have we missed the window completely?

 After a brief nap, Larry went ashore to clear customs.  Nice … it only cost $19.00 US for us to stay thru Monday.  We’re not sure how long we’ll be here before moving on to St. Martin but I’m sure Monday will be easily sufficient.

Now here’s a story …

First let me tell you … anchoring is easy … especially if there is minimal wind and no current.  The procedure is simple.  I pick a spot where I want to anchor.  I slowly maneuver the boat a little ahead of where I want the boat to settle.  Once the GPS shows that I have stopped, I put the engine into reverse, every so slightly, so we just begin to slip backwards and I signal for Larry to drop the anchor.  He lets out chain and watches the best he can to make sure the anchor is going to lay properly on the bottom (flukes digging into the sand).  As we’re drifting back, he continues letting out chain.  He puts out about 5 times more length of chain than the depth we are in (a 5:1 scope).  Then we sit and wait for that comforting ‘tug’ as the wind pulls us tight on our chain.  If it’s set good, you get that ‘tug’.  If it isn’t set properly, you continue to drag backwards.  Once you feel that ‘tug’, I increase the RPM’s slightly in reverse.  I watch the GPS to make sure that as I’m increasing the RPM, the speed is sitting at zero.  We are going nowhere … our anchor is set.  It usually takes one attempt, less than 5 minutes.  

As we sat at anchor tonight, we watched the boats come and go in the bay, a few SunSail Charter boats came in (probably from St. Martin).  Wow, was it ever comical.  It was our entertainment for the evening.  The one boat tried for well over an hour to get his anchor to set.  They were in about 11 ft of water.  They would move slowly forward into a clearing and while they were still moving forward, the captain would tell the girl on the bow to drop the anchor.  The blond bimbo would let out maybe 10-15 feet of chain.  Sometimes, you could tell it hit bottom, sometimes, it didn’t even make it that far.  The captain would continue going another 100 ft or so forward (dragging the anchor) and then reverse.  In reverse, he would just sail through the anchorage, not letting any more chain out.  He couldn’t understand why the anchor wasn’t holding.  After about his 5^th attempt, he had become the center of attention.  All eyes in the anchorage were on him.  He tried and tried again.  At one point, he gave up and moved to a different location to try.  He didn’t even raise the anchor out of the water when he maneuvered to his next spot.  He just dragged it along.  The anchor chain rubbed hard against the hull as it was being dragged thru the water.  Obviously this was not his own boat or he never would have treated it like that.  After well over an hour of this, someone from a nearby boat (who had a vested interest in making sure the anchor was well set and NOT going to drag into his boat in the middle of the night) swam over and assisted.  He snorkeled down and set the anchor by hand and then told the blond bimbo on the bow to let out line.  She’d let out about 5 feet.  He’d say … more line, let out a lot more line.  Another 5 feet would drop.  Finally the guy says something like, come on … drop a bunch of line will ya?  The girl’s reply is, I’m not a sailor but I sailed with my dad a lot and he never let out this much line.  DUH!!!  You need at least a 5:1 scope.  If you are in 10 feet of water, you want at least 50 feet of line out to ensure the right scope (angle of the anchor in the water).  But with the help of the stranger, they were finally set.  Entertainment was over for the evening.

On towards the Lewards

May 28, 2013

Today is the day.  We checked the weather and everything seems like a go.  It’s not ideal.  The winds are 20-25 knots (which usually means when we get out there, it will be more like 30-35 knots) and the seas are 5-7 feet.  We are headed smack dab into that mess.  I would love calmer seas but for the next 10 days, it’s only supposed to get worse from here.  If we’re going to go, we just have to bite the bullet and take the leap!

We hope to be in either Anguilla or Sint Maarten tomorrow morning. Will write again when I get internet.  

Prickly Pear Island, BVI

We like this anchorage.  There is no need to move.  It is fairly close to the channel so if the weather holds and we can leave tomorrow, it will be an easy exit.  Today, I spent the morning catching up on this log.  Larry spent the time making sure everything is ship-shape for our open water journey.  Lucky for us, he took this time.  It turns out, sometime (no idea when), the attachment that holds the mizzen boom to the mizzen mast broke.  He found one of the pieces on the deck.  Being the genius that he is … he found a way to put it back together, even though pieces were missing.  Had he not found this problem, I’m sure we would have had major issues in the seas we’ll experience the next couple of days.  Larry did a detailed overall check of all deckside stuff (standing rigging, solar panel mounts, dinghy mounts, lifeline mounts, bimini mounts, how the dockbox is attached to our rear cabin, mainsail and headsail attachments, etc).  No other issues were detected.

We spent the remainder of the day cleaning, tidying, doing a few things off the ‘to-do’ list.  It wasn’t fun but we really needed a work on the boat day.  She’s small and can get in disarray so easily.  I need to work harder on keeping her ship-shape!

In the evening, a horrible storm blew thru the anchorage.  The winds were 35-40 knots and even in the protected bay, the waters got rough.  The rain was so heavy, visibility dropped to about 50 ft at times.  We were anchored about 100 ft off the beach and the winds were blowing us into the shore.  We watched our anchor point to make sure we didn’t drag any closer.  All I could think about was, will it storm like this tomorrow night when we’re out in the open seas?  I hope not!

After about 2-hours, the storm passed and the weather calmed.  We played Kings Cribbage (a board game on the principle of cribbage itself) to pass the time.  It was fun … maybe because I won 2 of the 3 games.  This is unusual … Larry usually kicks my butt in anything related to Cribbage!

Prickly Pear Island, BVI

 Deep Bay was a very nice anchorage.  I should have slept like a baby.  But I didn’t.  After we arrived yesterday, Larry snorkeled the anchor to make sure it was set nicely.  He then went over near the mangrove shore and snorkeled for about ½ hour.  He came back with some huge conch.  Now, normally, this would excite me.  Unfortunately, we did not have a fishing license for the BVI and it is illegal to take anything from the water without a fishing license.  This didn’t seem to bother Larry but I convinced him to leave them in the water (he tied them off to our swim ladder) until dark so that the people at the resort (we sat just outside their swim area) couldn’t see him.  Well, we got watching Lord of the Rings and he forgot about the conch.  It wasn’t until about 1am when we went to bed, we remembered.  He said he’d take care of it in the morning.

Well, all night, my imagination was at work.  I could envision strangers in the night (the marine patrol) coming to see if we were ‘legal’ with our paperwork and all (having cleared customs, etc).  We were the only boat in this beautiful anchorage and it seemed kind of like we were hiding from something.  They’d discover the conch.  They would arrest us and confiscate the boat.  Our dreams would be over.  Were two conch worth the risk?  I didn’t sleep.

Perhaps it was my lack of sleep, I don’t know.  But when we got up this morning, I felt very anxious … you know, the kind of anxiousness you feel right before you’re about to do something that could be dangerous and it’s somewhat out of your control.  If you know what I’m talking about, you also know how hard it is to shake that uneasiness.  Hmmm … you don’t know that feeling?  If not, you need to get out and experience life.  It’s a little scary feeling this way but it lets you know you’re alive.   

Each day we watch the weather.  We are waiting for a ‘good’ (not perfect) day to do the 80-mile crossing between Virgin Gorda, BVI and the Leeward Islands.  We will head for Anguilla but it is almost due east, fighting wind and waves.  If our progress is too slow or uncomfortable heading directly into the winds, we will veer off slightly and head for Sint Maartin, the Dutch side of the island of St. Martin.  Well, the weather hasn’t looked too favorable.  Right now, Tuesday seems like our best bet.  We will leave early afternoon, in hopes to arrive at our destination early morning (probably between 8am and noon).  Our average speed is impossible to judge over that amount of distance and sea conditions.  The winds are forecasted between 15-25 knots but head on the nose.  The seas should be 5-6 feet (if they calm some).  If we were headed in a direction where we could sail, this wouldn’t be so awful … but dead into wind and waves for maybe 20 hours is NOT something I’m looking forward to … AND … so the reason for anxiety!

Me being anxious made Larry anxious.  He wanted to help me feel better.  He wanted so much to relieve something that was really out of his control.  We went for a small dinghy ride around the bay and wanted to go to the beach and walk across the narrow part of the island to the other side.  Unfortunately, the entire inner bay was marked off with buoys that said NO BOATS.  Even so, we skirted alone the mangrove edge towards the beach.  I didn’t feel comfortable pulling the dinghy up onto the beach.  It was a private resort and the signs clearly said no boats.  I’m not usually this insecure but I really just don’t want anything to happen.  We headed back to Soulmatie.

We decided we would leave this bay and head back towards the more populated area of Bitter End.  We motored the mile or so, past an adorable tiny island called Saba Rock and into the sound.  Just off the mainland is Prickly Pear Island.  We found a very comfortable anchorage off the beach.  There were only 3 other boats in this entire area so it was still quite remote.  But it is the off-season and even Bitter End was surprisingly sparse of boats.  Only a dozen or so mooring balls were taken (about 1/10th of what could have been).

The waters here were amazing … turquoise and clear.  We took the dinghy to the far side of the island and found an awesome place to snorkel.  Amongst the boulders and reef were staghorn and brain corals, colorful tropical fishes and large crevices and valleys to swim through.  It was the best snorkeling we’ve done … maybe ever!  It was AWESOME!  

Back on Soulmatie for the evening and another session of Lord of the Rings.  Whether from exhaustion or the melatonin that I took, I was able to have a somewhat restful night.

Finally, Another Nation! (Virgin Gorda, USVI)

 Although it was really nice in Francis Bay, we have an agenda.  We really need to get through the Virgin Islands and heading south, out of the hurricane zone.  We decided to head to the BVI where we are closer to our jumping off point and wait for weather.  If any of you have ever sailed in the BVI, you know there are a thousand beautiful anchorages … some near resorts and nightlife, some more remote and alone.  But, because of our time schedule, we blew past some amazing locations and settled on Virgin Gorda, the furthest east of the BVI.

As soon as you leave Francis Bay, you exit through a small channel between St.John and Whistling Cay and into a place called the Narrows.  It is a section of water that flows between St. John and Tortola.  The border between the USVI and the BVI runs somewhere near the middle of this cut.  It’s another one of those places they say can be very unpredictable, with high winds, high seas and wicked currents.  The guidebook says this area is off-limit to most charter boats and that local captains usually avoid the area altogether, choosing to sail towards Jost Van Dyke and around the cut.  Hmmm … does that stop us?  Nope, we plow right through.  Again, we had 30 knot winds but the waves and current were minor.  We had planned, if it was too rough of a crossing, we would abort and head back or simply let the currents/winds take us north of the cut.  We made it over to Soper’s Hole in western Tortola by 8:30am … a nice uneventful trip!

We took a mooring ball (free if you’re just clearing customs), lowered the dinghy and Larry went ashore.  Our guidebook said this customs office was only open Monday – Friday so we were taking a gamble and praying it would be open on Saturday.  After Larry was ashore for about 20 minutes, he radioed me on the VHF and told me he had success.  He was just waiting the final documentation and we were free to move on!  YEAH!!! If there are going to be mistakes in our guidebook … this was a good one to find!

From where we were in Tortola to where we wanted to go in Virgin Gorda, it was about 20 miles.  Not bad considering we had all day to do it in.  But … the winds were high … the seas were building … and we had to cross some open waters that could really slow us down, if not stop us.  Someone at the customs office told Larry it was a rather ambitious goal for today but what can I say … we’re ambitious people!

We had to motor the entire way because we were headed directly into the 30-knot winds but even with that … it was a beautiful day!  The route along Tortola, past several of the surrounding islands and then over to Virgin Gorda was amazing.  The scenery was picture perfect!

We got to the North Sound area of Virgin Gorda about 2pm and maneuvered our way through the channel and past the reefs into the sound.  We went further east to a place called Deep Bay.  In our guidebook it doesn’t reference this place at all as an anchorage point but it looked very appealing to us.  The North Sound is where The Bitter End Yacht Club and many of other marinas and charter boat facilities are.  It is crowded with charter boats and is mostly moorings ($25-$35/night).  We were on a quest to find a quieter spot to anchor.

Deep Bay, Virgin Gorda, BVI turned out to be a very peaceful spot. 

Breaking the chains that tied us to St. Thomas ... St. John, USVI

So … is today the day?  The weather forecast is only slightly better than yesterday.  But hey, better of any type is still BETTER!  We decided to just go for it.  Our options were open.  If we got out there and it was simply too rough, we would head back to port.  The winds and waves would carry us back to port very comfortably.  There were a couple of places we could stop within the first couple of hours if it was unbearable.  OR … we could make it through the cut and to the north coast of St. John where we planned on spending the night. 

Once we got out of the channel and into open waters, the seas grew.  We had a little protection from one of the out-islands but I think that only broke up the waves and made them ‘choppier’, rather than nice rolling seas.  But we persevered.  It was rough. Every few waves, there would be a ‘knock us on our ass’ kind of wave that would heel the boat right over on her side.  We’d right ourselves, check below for any damages and continue.  We approached the northerly turn into Current Hole channel that ran between St. Thomas and Great St. James Island and tried to make the turn.  The 6-7 foot waves were completely on our starboard side and sending us violently tossing about.  It actually knocked me off my seat at one point when I wasn’t prepared.  Shit … I learned my lesson!  We decided to abort the turn and head to the sheltered waters of Great St. James Island.

This was a wise choice.  As we approached the shallows off of Great St. James Island, the waters calmed.  Okay, maybe “calmed’ is a relative term after the last hour or so but it was enough to allow us to head north through the cut. 

We were a little apprehensive.  All the documentation on this cut warned of higher than normal winds, unstable sea conditions and currents up to 4-knots.  Considering we’d been doing less than 4-knots for some of today, head into the wind all morning, this was a little unsettling.  Would we be slipping backwards?  But, we pushed through.  It was awesome.  The winds howled through the cut at about 35-40 knots but it was almost slack tide.  There was a slight current (in our favor) and we managed to maintain our 4-knots through the cut and to the protected waters of the north side.  YIPPIE!!!

Traveling this coast was so much nicer than the south coast of St. Thomas.  It was sheltered from the trade winds and considerably calmer seas.  Before long, we pulled into Francis Bay, St. John, USVI and took a park mooring ball.  The water here is deep (over 50 feet deep right up to the protected swimming area) so a mooring is really your only option. 

Once settled, we lowered the dinghy and went ashore.  First, stop … to pay the $15 mooring fee for the night.  $15 isn’t too bad.  Most moorings cost between $25-$50/night … sometimes even higher.  We gladly paid the $15 for a nice protected harbor.  It was funny.  In the middle of the bay is a floating platform, much like a floating swim platform that you see in so many lakes up north.  But this was owned by the National Park and housed the little box and forms to pay your mooring fee.  We stopped there and took care of business before heading ashore.

Once ashore, our plan was to take the nice walk, passed the salt pond and to some plantation ruins.  It started out a beautiful walk along a really nicely maintained boardwalk.  The path that was cut through the trees made it seem almost mystical.  Birds chirped and serenaded us.  Thousands of tiny red crabs scurried into holes as we passed.  Lizards would perch alertly, observing our every move and scampering out of our path if we got too close.  It was awesome.  AND … I didn’t see one spider (my biggest fear!).  But about 10 minutes into the walk, it happened.  OUCH!  I got a bite.  A few seconds later … smack! … I got another bite.  Soon Larry was swatting himself frantically too.  Those DAMN mosquitoes!!!  We scurried the short distance to where the path met up again with the cove, before it turned and took you to the ruins.  Hike was over.  We ran and submerged ourselves in the salt water in an attempt to free ourselves from those nasty buggers!

The walk back along the beautiful, white sandy beach was horrible.  It’s like a swarm of mosquitoes found a smorgasbord and weren’t about to leave.  We got back to the dinghy as quickly as possible.  Even as we left shore, I could see at least 10 of those determined little biters all over Larry’s t-shirt.  He accelerated the dinghy until finally, they were left behind.  Now, we just hope we are far enough off-shore that they won’t feast on us tonight!

Back on Soulmatie, we decided to clean the boat bottom.  We just had the bottom job done before we left but already little barnacles had attached themselves everywhere.  I don’t know if it’s the bottom paint we used or if it was poorly applied but whatever the case, it was horrible.  Personally, I like ‘hard’ bottom paint.  The paint goes on and dries to the touch and seems to last a long time.  When we bought Soulmatie, she had an ablative paint.  This means it is supposed to come off to the touch.  Theoretically, stuff doesn’t really stick to the paint and therefore easier to remove.  I think it’s a marketing scheme to make you have to get bottom jobs done more frequently.  When we originally had her hauled, our bottom was covered with crap.  We’d cleaned it several times since we had Soulmatie and you could see bottom paint missing from where we attempted to get all the growth removed.  I really wanted to go with a ‘hard’ paint but at the haul-out yard, they said once you have an ablative paint, you have to continue with this type (unless you want to pay several thousands of dollars to have the hull completely cleaned down to the bare fiberglass and start over).  We went with an ablative paint again.

It’s crap.  Every time we brush against the hull, we get green paint on us.  My fin has green paint all over it from where I kicked the rudder trying to get lower on the boat to clean further down.  And every place we scraped the barnacles off, you can see a definite difference in how much paint seems to be there.  Personally, I don’t think they did a very good job applying the paint.  It wasn’t thick enough.  I don’t think this paint will get us very far at all … let alone, around the world!

We had a quiet evening and enjoyed the calm of not being in St. Thomas … and luckily, it was mosquito free!

St. Thomas, USVI

This morning, our first priority was to check the weather.  Is today Day 19 or can we escape this place?  Damn, forecasted 30-35 knot winds with 7-8 foot seas.  Day 19 it is then L

What can we do to make today productive?  Hmmm … we haven’t done laundry in a very long time.  Things like sheets, towels and heavier weight clothes, we don’t wash in our little washing machine.  Guess that will be our chore for the day … laundry … yeah!

We loaded all the dirty ‘stuff’ into laundry bags and into the dinghy.  Ashore, we used the dock cart to transport the bags to the local Laundromat. It was near the small Kmart that we’d visited several times.

Not too bad … washers were $2.50 and it was $0.25 for 7 minutes of dry time.  I did laundry when the boat was being hauled out back in Florida and I think it cost more there.  We used 3 washers and about $3.00 to dry.

So … I said I would try to make these write-ups more exciting.  Now how exciting was that story?  I know, you’re saying you can’t wait to experience something like that for yourself … right?

Catch up easily

This entire blog, from its March 2013 beginning in Florida  (actually from our prior  December 2012 shake-down trip), up through St Thomas US Virgin Islands in May 2013, can be read in date order, in book form, with photographs included, at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CRKRH1Q

So instead of reading backwards, from bottom to top, you can catch up with us easier by borrowing above book (or even by buying it) and then reading our newer posts as they appear HERE in the blog.

Enjoy!

Tracy Lambert
About Me

St. Thomas, USVI

Do you believe this?  When we ordered our packages/etc and asked Carl to send our mail, we thought maybe a week … 10 days at the most … before we’d receive them and be able to continue our adventure.  It is now Day 18 and we are still here … it is one setback after another! 

Since we didn’t go to bed until about 4am, we slept until 10am.  When we woke, it was a miserable day.  The winds were strong and gusty.  The sky was dark with thick, heavy clouds.  Rain and possibly thunderstorms, were inevitable.  We had hoped we’d be able to head out today but with one look outside, we both decided … better wait.

We did a few chores on the boat and then headed to town.  We wanted to see if Chris was at his bar and if he’d brought that newspaper article about his rescue at sea.  It’s something we’re really interested in.  Chris was there serving drinks to the masses of cruise ship passengers (never saw his bar this busy before) but unfortunately, he didn’t have his article with him.  Oh well, since we’re here … might as well sit and have a drink!

We had a good time.  We met up with Greg (referred to as ‘drunk guy’ in past email because I couldn’t remember his name).  Denver was there also.  He’s a really nice guy and makes custom jewelry from sea glass.  He gave me a pendant as a farewell gift … very nice of him.  We also met a couple that was staying over in St. John (I think they said).  They were having a drink waiting for the water taxi.   They were very interested in our story.  We are living a dream he would love to fulfill.  She on the other hand, had her doubts.  We gave them our info and they said they’d follow our blog.  He’s hoping our stories will convince her to live the dream.  Guess I’m gonna have to make these more interesting if they could be life altering events!  Oh … if we could only escape St. Thomas that just might be possible!

 

Permanent Resident or Cruiser?

We are still here … 17 days after arrival.  We thought for sure the day after we received our package/mail from the US, we would be on our way.  Even if it were just a short jump to another anchorage, we would escape this place.  Mail arrived yesterday yet here we are.  If all mail was good mail our escape could have been possible.  But if you recall from our last update, Larry had received some rather disturbing mail from the Department of Motor Vehicles in Florida.  It said he needed to take a driver improvement course (due to a rolling stop he did back in Boca Raton before we left for this adventure).  He had until June to get it done or his license would be suspended.  Ever since he opened that piece of mail, his frustration level has grown.  He has tried contacting them, without any luck.  Their “hold” system sucks.  It plays a hold message twice and then disconnects you.  URGH!!!

Well, today was another attempt to contact them.  We want this resolved before we end up in some islands without good internet and his deadline comes and goes.  We went to The Tavern (restaurant/bar) for our “free” internet.  There is a $5 minimum purchase per internet connection for this “free” service.  Typical, nothing is ever FREE anymore!  We each had 2 Bud Light ($2.50/each) to make up our $10 required purchase.  Larry tried and tried to contact DMV but was still unsuccessful.

He did research it online while he was waiting for them to answer.  It turns out, making a rolling stop, when making a right hand turn on red is the same as just whizzing straight through the intersection on a red light.  It’s considered careless driving or something.  So, even though he paid the fine, he is still required to take a driver improvement course.  Luckily, he can do this online.

Back to Lindberg Bay we go in hopes of being able to connect long enough (and strong enough) for Larry to complete the 4-hour course.

We arrived at Lindberg Bay about 3pm and by 4pm, Larry had tested the new WIFI Booster we’d received in our mail package (luckily it seems to be bringing in the signal much better than without the device) and he was ready to start.  Between 4 and 8-ish, he took the course.  It was very easy except that it is a timed course.  No matter how quickly you complete a section, you must wait out the clock until the time for that session has ended.  Then you can move onto the next session.  There were times when Larry was finished the 1-hour session in about 15 minutes and had to wait 45 minutes for the countdown timer to hit zero before he could proceed.  The annoying thing is, randomly, it would ask you security questions (that you answered at the beginning of the course).  When one of these popped up, you had 2-minutes to answer the question before it would lock you out of the system.  It wants to make sure YOU are the one doing the course and that YOU are there for the full 4-hours.  ANNOYING!!!  There were videos for him to watch but for the most part, the connection was too slow and never did completely stream the video feed.  Oh well, he aced it without video.  By 8:30, he had completed the test … and PASSED with flying colors!!!  He only lost connection a few times but luckily, when it reconnected, he was back at the spot where he’d left off and his work was saved.  He didn’t loose any of it.  So … that is one annoying task behind us.

The anchorage was nice and calm (as it usually is when we start out our day in Lindberg Bay).  However, as the evening progressed, it got rolly.  We hoped the winds would settle as night drew on but it only got worse.  We tried to sleep but we were tossing and rolling so much, neither of us slept at all.  We debated about heading back to town.  It was a difficult decision to make because it meant going through that narrow cut in the darkness of night.  About 3am, after zero sleep, we decided to bite the bullet and just go for it.  We had done the cut maybe a dozen times by now (but always in the daylight where we could see the shoals).  But, we had our GPS and the tracks took us straight up the middle.  If the GPS doesn’t fail us … we will be fine.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed and holding our breath as we approach the cut.

Well wouldn’t you know it … we are just making the bend to head through the cut when Mother Nature decides to test our patience and skill-level.  It rained and visibility dropped dramatically.  We were both exhausted and frustrated but before we knew it, we were safely past the shoals and headed towards the mass of boats in the harbor.

Anchoring in town can be a challenge even in the daylight hours because of the numerous boats you have to avoid.  In the darkness, it was interesting to say the least.  Larry went out on deck with a spotlight and helped guide me through the maze of boats.  Our plan was to head back to the same spot where we had anchored for the past couple of weeks.  It is relatively shallow, close to shore and fairly un-crowded … except … this time, BAM!!! There was another boat anchored almost exactly where we wanted to drop the hook.  So, now came the challenge of finding an alternate spot … in the dark. 

We’d rather not anchor in water deeper than 20-25 feet if we can help it (you have to put out too much anchor rode to get the proper scope and that makes your swing radius very large).  Tonight it looks like we didn’t have a choice.  We found a spot in between several boats.  The water was 32 feet deep.  We dropped the anchor and by about 4am, we were settled and resting comfortably … much better than Lindberg Bay.

Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI

Attempt #3 for mail.  Will today be our lucky day?  According to the USPS tracking website, the status is still ‘cleared thru Puerto Rico’.  Shit … doesn’t look good.

We did a few boat chores this morning.  It was a mess.  We’ve spent every moment lately glued to the computers so our boat has quickly become a pigsty.  Dirty laundry is everywhere.  Projects we bought but haven’t had time to work on are strewn around the boat.  Dirty dishes are cluttering the sink and the dish rack is overloaded with clean dishes.  Haven’t even taken the time to put dishes away … shame on me! We did an overall cleanup of Soulmatie.

Once our poor little boat was a little more ‘livable’, we now felt better at returning to the projects at hand.  We went ashore to the small kiosk near the marina to get an internet connection again.  I did banking, updated our financial spreadsheets, etc with the last several days of spending.  Larry got weather, checked our mail, etc.  They were quick projects. 

Around 2pm, we checked the tracking of our package again.  Yippie!!! It says it has arrived.  The St. Thomas Post Office has scanned our package.  It is in their building.  Now, will they be able to find it?  We immediately gathered our belongings and headed to find out.

Not too bad … the clerk only searched for the package for about 5 minutes before she brought joy to our eyes.  There it was … that simple cardboard box brought long awaited smiles to our faces.  We didn’t even wait to leave the post office before we tore it open.  Did it include all our ‘crap’ … YES!!!  Thank you Carl for your huge role in collecting/sending us our stuff.  We will be forever in your debt … or at least for a while.  Better cash in while you can J

Back at our favorite little kiosk, I went through our mail.  Most of it was junk.  If we want to max our out credit to replenish our funds, there were about 4 credit card advance offers.  Nope, we are trying to do this ‘debt-free’ for as long as we can!  There were a few very important documents in our mail.  One is that annoying thing we get from our mortgage company a couple of times a year.  It says their records show we don’t have sufficient coverage for our condo.  This ALWAYS happens.  The way the condo policy is structured, it always confuses the mortgage company.  We always have to jump through hoops to get them the documents they need to PROVE we are fine.  Back home it was a pain … out here, it is complete hell!

Another piece of mail that was rather disturbing and ruined our entire day was from the Department of Motor Vehicles.  The day before we left Boca Raton to begin our adventure, Larry was running around town doing errands.  In making a right turn on red (where it was legal), he ‘supposedly’ did a rolling stop.  Yep … a cop was there to tell him so.  Since we didn’t have time to argue or fight the ticket, he just went ahead and bit the bullet.  We sent them a check for $264 … damn that hurt.  Well, today, in our mail, there is a letter saying he has been found guilty and needs to go to traffic school or his license will be suspended.  CRAP!!!  That’s not what the ticket said.  He had 3 choices … Option 1, pay the ticket.  Option 2, plead not guilty and ask for a court date.  Option 3, take a 4 hour online driving course.  He opted for Option 1 … we paid the ticket.  How then can he be found guilty and sentenced to traffic school?  We’re desperately trying to find out.  We spent most of the remaining afternoon TRYING to get in touch with the Department of Motor Vehicles.  We called them using our MagicJack.  It would go directly to an automated message with the typical ‘our call volume is large but your call will be taken in the order in which it was received’.  The message played twice and then disconnected him.  This happened at least a dozen times.  Damn … Larry was frustrated … and rightfully so!  We finally had to give up and we will try again tomorrow.  So much for heading out for more adventure … there is always something!

The locals are starting to get to know us by name.  We are now well past the 2 week point in one spot.  When we first dropped the hook back on May 5^th, we anticipated maybe a week at the most.  We’ve tried to make this time as productive as possible … and we have made some amazing strides.  But we’re out here to cruise … not work!  Crap … something needs to change!   

Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI

No mail today.  We’re sure of that.  The Post Office is closed.

You know we’ve been working long and hard to get our blog up-to-date.  I haven’t read a lot of blogs in my time but the ones I have read annoy me (just like mine is when I have to re-read through it).  The concept is to put the most current date at the top so you can read the most recent entry first.  You know … what are they doing now?  But what about when you have several days of reading to catch up on … or like with us, we post several days/weeks at once?  You are continually flipping back and forth thru the blog to get to the next day.  To me, it’s frustrating.  So … we’ve decided we are going to publish our updates into book format also.  Much like our 2006 trip (Bahamas Bound and Back Again) where we put everything in chronological order and added photos, we will be doing the same thing with these logs.  Larry has spent the last couple of days inserting the appropriate photos, formatting, etc.  Our plan is as follows:  Year 1 – Boca Raton to California will be the first series of books.  It will be broken down into smaller “books” and we will get them posted as soon as we have compiled enough log entries to justify posting.  Book 1 will be everything to date, thru the USVI.  Book 2 will be the Leeward and Windward islands.  Book 3 will be Venezuela and it’s Out-Islands to the Panama Canal.  Book 4 will be Panama to California.  These are our current thoughts anyways.  It will depend a lot on how quickly we blow past things … or how much we linger to enjoy ourselves as to what will actually make up a ‘book’.

We are trying desperately to get Book 1 ready to update BEFORE we sail away.  Thank you USPS … you are making this possible with your delay in service!

While Larry continued working on ‘tweaking’ Book One of our sailing adventure, I have started working on my second fiction book … follow-up to Betrayal of the Heart.  Way back in 2006, when we were cruising in the Bahamas, I had started a book but never seemed to find time back home to finish it.  It takes a lot of initiative to be in a ‘creative’ mood and after 12 hours of accounting … I just couldn’t motivate myself.  Now that we’re out cruising again, the creative juices are flowing.  I am spending a lot of my day either writing updates to family/friends or FINALLY, working on my work-in-progress from 2006.  Yeah!!!  That is how we spent the day/evening/into the wee morning hours again!  We are tired!