Update Cayman Islands
I did some emailing to local marine environmental groups and learned "Studly" our frisky dolphin friend, is well-known in the area as "Stinky." He is a lone dolphin, which is unusual, who has interacted with boaters and divers for over 3 years. Lara, a dolphin trainer at Dolphin Cove, wrote me that his behavior (maturbating on our anchor chain) is not uncommon for adolescent or mature male dolphins. Her team watched the videos we posted and told Ben and Rachel, who dinghied to Dolphin Cove on an general explore, that dolphin vocalizations and jaw-snapping are aggressive behavior. So, we were perhaps lucky, and surely dumb, to swim with him, mistakenly thinking he was encouraging and enjoying our company. Perhaps he was feeling possessive about Act III's goddess bow and wanted her all to himself. It was still a thrilling interaction.
Backing up in time: our first stop after leaving Key West was Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of KW. There are no services there, just a small quiet anchorage surrounded by a spectacularly beautiful bird sanctuary that made us feel like we were in The Birds movie, and an uncompleted fort. When the US bought Florida from Spain, they thought Dry Tortugas--so named because there is no fresh water source-- would be a perfect location for a fort to control the lucrative shipping (pillaging) between Mexico and Central America and Europe. They started but never finished a huge fort, after laying over 16 million bricks. We enjoyed spectacular snorkeling and Ben fished, of course,
Too bad Ben wasn't wearing his Go-Pro camera when he made a Highlight-reel cast one evening from the inflatable. He caught a smallish snapper and while reeling it in, a large barracuda spun up and clamped the side of the the snapper in its jaws. Now Ben reeled carefully, hoping to salvage both his lure and the two fish. He got his catch up to the dinghy, just about to lean over and get his lure back, when from under the dinghy shot a hammer-head shark who gulped both the fish in a flash. Jeesh!
We could only stay one night before weather pushed us on to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, off the coast of Cancun. We had to motor much of the way around the west coast of Cuba, but at least conditions were calm. Isla Mujeres is a great mix of Mexico and Caribbean Islands, friendly and charming, after jumping through the typical Mexican hoops to check in. We were scolded for not having fumigation papers, and they could have forced us to get Mexcan fumigation with muy harsh chemicals, but we were pardoned with much warning. We stayed at Puerto Isla Mujeres, a posh resort/marina but quite inexpensive, and treated ourselves to some pool and swim up bar, laundry and divine outdoor massages (Rachel and Heidi only; the men claim massages hurt).
We left Mexico after 5 days, but heading due south was out of the question. We made some good easting, however, and when weather for SW Caribbean was reported "truly horrendous" we stopped here at Cayman Islands to wait things out. Ben took this time to return to Montana to complete a boat engine install he had started last fall, and our sailing weather wasn't due to get much better for a week, so Bill, Heidi and Rachel toughed it out alone in the clear warm water, off the shore of Rum Point Club, which puts out a decent wifi signal.
Ben returned 5 days ago, and we checked out to leave on Friday, but then heard an updated weather that would have us in 25-30 kt winds on the nose for 2-3 days. Act III could do it, but in the interest of saving the crew, we waited two more days. We just checked out again, and we hope our next post is from Bocas del Toro, Panama. Wish us luck this time...we're getting nervous about hurricanes.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Cayman Islands, 0600 hours, June 13:
Bill, Heidi and Rachel aboard; Ben had to fly to Montana for a week to finish a boat engine install. I'll catch up with other news later, but this astounding event requires immediate posting:
A dolphin has been playing with Act III for over 13 hours now. We are anchored and when Rachel, working in the hammock on the bow, first saw him, he was slowly moving up and down our anchor chain to the bottom where it maybe stirred up food; he slinked up and down the chain, back and forth to the surface, misting us with his exhales as he reached the surface. How do we know it's a "He", you ask? We know for sure because after a half-hour of anchor-sliding, he hovered near the surface beside the chain, sidled over, rolled belly-up under the chain, and began to rub his large, extended bright-pink penis across the chain. Over and over again he repeated this series of moves, pausing after each session to take frequent breaths (and have a smoke?) At one point, he hooked his penis on the chain and pulled the bow of Act III about 4 feet to starboard. Don't even think about trying this at home, guys!
This went on for over an hour, then when Studly (our name for him) ) had enough self-satisfaction he began to splash, frolic, and race toward us, making high-pitched noises and dolphin clicks, then turning on his side to stare at our reaction. We got in the dinghy (no motor so we wouldn't hurt him with the propeller) and floated up to the bow. Studly was thrilled and surfaced over and over to us, allowing Rachel several pets on his head. Careful pets, because he was making those big jaw-snapping clicks that we do not think are aggressive, but induce caution, nonetheless. Next he began diving under the dinghy and bumping us heavily. We came back aboard when it got too dark to see much anymore (and we had some fresh Cayman Rum cake to test), and we heard Studly continue to blow around the bow; I came out to check on him when it got quiet and he breeched with a huge splash. We figured he'd get bored soon enough. or at least go sleep or eat but....
He squeaked, bumped and slapped Act III at the bow all night, so vigorously that poor Rachel barely got any sleep in the V-berth. Before Studly's appearance, we had thought to mosey around North Sound, Grand Cayman today to a new anchor spot, but we cannot bring ourselves to leave him. So we're pinned here until the dolphin lets us go. Rachel just went out in the dinghy again and Studly's so excited he spun bubbles around her, then leaped out of the water.
...At 0800 we donned masks and snorkels and went swimming with Studly, who mugged, jaw-snapped, clicked and squeaked for the camera. We got out of the water about 30 minutes later; and our new friend, pleased with himself for calling us into the water, and clearly unimpressed with our aquatic skills, made a few more lazy circles around Act III and departed, after 15 hours.
It's the most amazing thing in nature we've ever experienced.
Check the Videos (and poke around my YouTube channel to watch some great music performed by Polly Lorien)
Bill, Heidi and Rachel aboard; Ben had to fly to Montana for a week to finish a boat engine install. I'll catch up with other news later, but this astounding event requires immediate posting:
A dolphin has been playing with Act III for over 13 hours now. We are anchored and when Rachel, working in the hammock on the bow, first saw him, he was slowly moving up and down our anchor chain to the bottom where it maybe stirred up food; he slinked up and down the chain, back and forth to the surface, misting us with his exhales as he reached the surface. How do we know it's a "He", you ask? We know for sure because after a half-hour of anchor-sliding, he hovered near the surface beside the chain, sidled over, rolled belly-up under the chain, and began to rub his large, extended bright-pink penis across the chain. Over and over again he repeated this series of moves, pausing after each session to take frequent breaths (and have a smoke?) At one point, he hooked his penis on the chain and pulled the bow of Act III about 4 feet to starboard. Don't even think about trying this at home, guys!
This went on for over an hour, then when Studly (our name for him) ) had enough self-satisfaction he began to splash, frolic, and race toward us, making high-pitched noises and dolphin clicks, then turning on his side to stare at our reaction. We got in the dinghy (no motor so we wouldn't hurt him with the propeller) and floated up to the bow. Studly was thrilled and surfaced over and over to us, allowing Rachel several pets on his head. Careful pets, because he was making those big jaw-snapping clicks that we do not think are aggressive, but induce caution, nonetheless. Next he began diving under the dinghy and bumping us heavily. We came back aboard when it got too dark to see much anymore (and we had some fresh Cayman Rum cake to test), and we heard Studly continue to blow around the bow; I came out to check on him when it got quiet and he breeched with a huge splash. We figured he'd get bored soon enough. or at least go sleep or eat but....
He squeaked, bumped and slapped Act III at the bow all night, so vigorously that poor Rachel barely got any sleep in the V-berth. Before Studly's appearance, we had thought to mosey around North Sound, Grand Cayman today to a new anchor spot, but we cannot bring ourselves to leave him. So we're pinned here until the dolphin lets us go. Rachel just went out in the dinghy again and Studly's so excited he spun bubbles around her, then leaped out of the water.
...At 0800 we donned masks and snorkels and went swimming with Studly, who mugged, jaw-snapped, clicked and squeaked for the camera. We got out of the water about 30 minutes later; and our new friend, pleased with himself for calling us into the water, and clearly unimpressed with our aquatic skills, made a few more lazy circles around Act III and departed, after 15 hours.
It's the most amazing thing in nature we've ever experienced.
Check the Videos (and poke around my YouTube channel to watch some great music performed by Polly Lorien)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Conch Republic (Key West)
For those of you persistent souls who haven't given up on us: We Love You!
When the nice folks at the KW City Marina Mooring field called today to ask if we were still here, we were startled to realize we've been in town for a month. Before Bill's long overdue haircut last week, he looked like a real Conch (Key West native) only healthier and with more teeth. (Note: I started this post last month. We've now been here 2 months!)
We had already cast off from the dock when I pushed "send" on our last post from Oriental, NC. The Intracoastal is not much to write about--long days of motoring interrupted by interesting people and a couple of coast guard inspections (we passed with flying colors), with many lovely, quiet anchorages in the evenings. We couldn't dally, however, because Mate-extraordinare Ira and Deck-Babe Evelyn had plane tickets to meet us in Fort Lauderdale on March 8, 21 days away, meaning we had to keep moving. Our logbook from 2010 showed we had made the same trip in 20 days, so we couldn't afford any technical or weather delays.
We were stalled a night when arriving in Charleston, a tug and barge had gone aground cross-ways at low tide just before the last opening bridge into the bay and Act III's draft didn't allow us to go around. We returned 5 miles upstream to anchor, and arrived at the Megadock Charleston City Marina the next day in high southerly winds (Bill's docking was masterful.) Fortunately, the weather turned and we made great time with a long run offshore from Charleston to St. Augustine, Fl. The exciting part of that trip was having the main sheet part (we KNEW it needed replacing) during my night watch as we approached St. Augustine. Bill wrestled the boom under control, discovered out our new lifelines work well as he was thrown against them, and we continued uneventfully in light winds, reaching St. Augustine at dawn before the wind shifted back to southerly.
The Southerly wind continued and forced us to stay in the ICW until we finally got a break for the final day from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale. We stretched out our bodies and sails and relaxed into sailing outside along the beaches, staying out of the north-bound Gulf Stream which came as close as 1 mile offshore. Had we continued down the ICW, we would have faced 20 (!) bridges to hail, wait for time and navigate on that short stretch. We settled into our slip at Las Olas Marina with 4 days to spare before Ira and Ev arrived, and put the time to good use as we availed ourselves of the myriad marine supplies and services that Ft. Lauderdale offers in a rental car. The new main sheet (New England Ropes Regatta Braid) feels divine in our hands. My Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Bill picked us up in Calliope and hosted us for a fabulous home-cooked meal, and we lunched with Bill's newly-widowed sister Edie. Frank was sorely missed.
We sailed from F.L. to Miami (No Name Harbor) with Ira and Evelyn, then wandered south in Biscayne Bay to a sweet anchorage off Pumpkin Key (W of Key Largo) whre we relaxed and swam for a couple of days before returning north to South Beach Sunset Harbor Yacht Club (very nice) to drop our crew ashore to get their flight home from Fort Lauderdale. Taking the City Bus to Haulover State Park Beach (c/o) turned into a bit of adventure with excellent people-watching. South Beach is known for being funky, and lived up to its reputation. We were sad to wave goodbye to Ira & Ev...they are outstanding company and competent crew, and it was especially sweet to have friends from "home."
3/18/2012: Bill and I provisioned and were lucky to have a steady 15-20 kt E wind for the next half-week as we made out way down the Florida Keys, stopping to anchor each evening. It was a beautiful trip down the Hawk Channel, a deep-ish channel outside of the Keys. The Gulf Stream and the reef on the outer boundary of the channel keep the seas down even when the wind has blown for days, so we traveled fast and smooth. But, damn, it's shallow around here; there were only a few good protected spots for Act III to settle into at night, and fortunately spaced perfectly for our three 8 hour days to Key West.
3/21/2012: Conch Republic of Key West. Two days after taking a mooring at the Key West City Marina just east of Fleming Key, we participated in the Wrecker's Cup Race, a one-way dash to Sand Key, 7 miles southeast, reenacting the old Key West tradition of salvaging wrecks (and possibly saving some souls). It was our first race, albeit casual. Rule 1: No protests. Rule 2: see Rule 1, Rule 3: See Rules 1&2. We were proud to come in 5th in our division on a day with scarce wind. Great time meeting new people and beating our stiffest competition by minutes.
4/20-27/2012: Paula and Larry arrive from Montana and we laughed for a week straight. It was Larry's first time on a sailboat, and he took to it right away. Bill and Larry had a highly successful tarpon fishing trip with a local guide-extraordinaire, Tony Skinner which, of course, required celebration with oyster shooters at Turtle Kraal's. We toured the Mel Fisher sunken treasure museum (and Pirate museum - Anne Bonny rocks) and Ernest Hemingway's house (plentiful 6-toed cats), para-sailed, and ate fabulous food. Did a little day-sailing.
4/20-25/2012: Cousin Jim and Kylea come for a break from their busy, productive lives in Santa Cruz. Much divine wine is drunk and great conversation. We feel inferior.
5/1- present: Ben and Rachael are aboard, and will crew with us to Panama-ish location, yet to be determined. We hoped to be gone from Key West by now, but had a couple of critical equipment failures of SSB Radio and Watermaker and we had to send and receive parts. B&R had flown from Montana to Antigua to have a 3-month trial as captain and mate on a 60' catamaran, but within 24 hours of arriving they discovered the wife part of the owners was impossible to work for. Too bad for them, but a great delight to have them with us. Ben has been suffering the delay remarkably well by going out fishing every night or dawn from our deflatable dinghy...he's caught numerous huge tarpon and a prized permit on his lightweight fly rod and is the envy of all the fisherpeople in their fancy boats with guides on the flats. The passage to the SW Caribbean will be great experience for Rachael, who has confidently and capably taken over the galley. I haven't cooked a meal in weeks :) and we're eating like kings.
We will leave in a few hours (5/23) and stop at Dry Torgugas for a few hours of play, then approximately 10 days to Bocas del Toro, Panama. We don't have the best weather, but nothing bad, either. Act III is in capable hands and great shape (uh, except for the brightwork, as usual.) Our new hard dodger, the one Bill built that delayed our departure from NH, is da bomb! I did make Sunbrella shades for the windows here, so it hasn't been ALL play.
We miss you all!
For those of you persistent souls who haven't given up on us: We Love You!
When the nice folks at the KW City Marina Mooring field called today to ask if we were still here, we were startled to realize we've been in town for a month. Before Bill's long overdue haircut last week, he looked like a real Conch (Key West native) only healthier and with more teeth. (Note: I started this post last month. We've now been here 2 months!)
We had already cast off from the dock when I pushed "send" on our last post from Oriental, NC. The Intracoastal is not much to write about--long days of motoring interrupted by interesting people and a couple of coast guard inspections (we passed with flying colors), with many lovely, quiet anchorages in the evenings. We couldn't dally, however, because Mate-extraordinare Ira and Deck-Babe Evelyn had plane tickets to meet us in Fort Lauderdale on March 8, 21 days away, meaning we had to keep moving. Our logbook from 2010 showed we had made the same trip in 20 days, so we couldn't afford any technical or weather delays.
We were stalled a night when arriving in Charleston, a tug and barge had gone aground cross-ways at low tide just before the last opening bridge into the bay and Act III's draft didn't allow us to go around. We returned 5 miles upstream to anchor, and arrived at the Megadock Charleston City Marina the next day in high southerly winds (Bill's docking was masterful.) Fortunately, the weather turned and we made great time with a long run offshore from Charleston to St. Augustine, Fl. The exciting part of that trip was having the main sheet part (we KNEW it needed replacing) during my night watch as we approached St. Augustine. Bill wrestled the boom under control, discovered out our new lifelines work well as he was thrown against them, and we continued uneventfully in light winds, reaching St. Augustine at dawn before the wind shifted back to southerly.
The Southerly wind continued and forced us to stay in the ICW until we finally got a break for the final day from Lake Worth to Ft. Lauderdale. We stretched out our bodies and sails and relaxed into sailing outside along the beaches, staying out of the north-bound Gulf Stream which came as close as 1 mile offshore. Had we continued down the ICW, we would have faced 20 (!) bridges to hail, wait for time and navigate on that short stretch. We settled into our slip at Las Olas Marina with 4 days to spare before Ira and Ev arrived, and put the time to good use as we availed ourselves of the myriad marine supplies and services that Ft. Lauderdale offers in a rental car. The new main sheet (New England Ropes Regatta Braid) feels divine in our hands. My Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Bill picked us up in Calliope and hosted us for a fabulous home-cooked meal, and we lunched with Bill's newly-widowed sister Edie. Frank was sorely missed.
We sailed from F.L. to Miami (No Name Harbor) with Ira and Evelyn, then wandered south in Biscayne Bay to a sweet anchorage off Pumpkin Key (W of Key Largo) whre we relaxed and swam for a couple of days before returning north to South Beach Sunset Harbor Yacht Club (very nice) to drop our crew ashore to get their flight home from Fort Lauderdale. Taking the City Bus to Haulover State Park Beach (c/o) turned into a bit of adventure with excellent people-watching. South Beach is known for being funky, and lived up to its reputation. We were sad to wave goodbye to Ira & Ev...they are outstanding company and competent crew, and it was especially sweet to have friends from "home."
3/18/2012: Bill and I provisioned and were lucky to have a steady 15-20 kt E wind for the next half-week as we made out way down the Florida Keys, stopping to anchor each evening. It was a beautiful trip down the Hawk Channel, a deep-ish channel outside of the Keys. The Gulf Stream and the reef on the outer boundary of the channel keep the seas down even when the wind has blown for days, so we traveled fast and smooth. But, damn, it's shallow around here; there were only a few good protected spots for Act III to settle into at night, and fortunately spaced perfectly for our three 8 hour days to Key West.
3/21/2012: Conch Republic of Key West. Two days after taking a mooring at the Key West City Marina just east of Fleming Key, we participated in the Wrecker's Cup Race, a one-way dash to Sand Key, 7 miles southeast, reenacting the old Key West tradition of salvaging wrecks (and possibly saving some souls). It was our first race, albeit casual. Rule 1: No protests. Rule 2: see Rule 1, Rule 3: See Rules 1&2. We were proud to come in 5th in our division on a day with scarce wind. Great time meeting new people and beating our stiffest competition by minutes.
4/20-27/2012: Paula and Larry arrive from Montana and we laughed for a week straight. It was Larry's first time on a sailboat, and he took to it right away. Bill and Larry had a highly successful tarpon fishing trip with a local guide-extraordinaire, Tony Skinner which, of course, required celebration with oyster shooters at Turtle Kraal's. We toured the Mel Fisher sunken treasure museum (and Pirate museum - Anne Bonny rocks) and Ernest Hemingway's house (plentiful 6-toed cats), para-sailed, and ate fabulous food. Did a little day-sailing.
4/20-25/2012: Cousin Jim and Kylea come for a break from their busy, productive lives in Santa Cruz. Much divine wine is drunk and great conversation. We feel inferior.
5/1- present: Ben and Rachael are aboard, and will crew with us to Panama-ish location, yet to be determined. We hoped to be gone from Key West by now, but had a couple of critical equipment failures of SSB Radio and Watermaker and we had to send and receive parts. B&R had flown from Montana to Antigua to have a 3-month trial as captain and mate on a 60' catamaran, but within 24 hours of arriving they discovered the wife part of the owners was impossible to work for. Too bad for them, but a great delight to have them with us. Ben has been suffering the delay remarkably well by going out fishing every night or dawn from our deflatable dinghy...he's caught numerous huge tarpon and a prized permit on his lightweight fly rod and is the envy of all the fisherpeople in their fancy boats with guides on the flats. The passage to the SW Caribbean will be great experience for Rachael, who has confidently and capably taken over the galley. I haven't cooked a meal in weeks :) and we're eating like kings.
We will leave in a few hours (5/23) and stop at Dry Torgugas for a few hours of play, then approximately 10 days to Bocas del Toro, Panama. We don't have the best weather, but nothing bad, either. Act III is in capable hands and great shape (uh, except for the brightwork, as usual.) Our new hard dodger, the one Bill built that delayed our departure from NH, is da bomb! I did make Sunbrella shades for the windows here, so it hasn't been ALL play.
We miss you all!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Oriental
We pulled into Sailcraft Services yard just after New Years, expecting to be out on the hard for a couple of weeks. We're finally leaving this morning, Feb. 15. Naturally, one thing leads to another when you're working on a boat, and we were sometimes delayed waiting for parts, but we shouldn't have to haul out for some long while now.
Projects accomplished include (but not limited to) new SSB radio and modem so we can send/receive email and FAX while offshore; second wind generator (Your boat's energy requirements always increase to slightly exceed your ability to produce it.) and mounting pole; hard-wired remote VHF with AIS in the cockpit; some fiberglass and gel coat repair; fresh bottom paint; 2 coats of wax on topsides; some, but nowhere near all, finish work on hard dodger; repacked rudder stuffing box; new dripless shaft seal; new inner and outer cutlass bearings; inspection, improvements and touch-up paint on mast when it was unstepped; new main and spinnaker halyards; and a zillion little things that improve our floating home.
We most enjoyed meeting and sharing time and stories with Jess and Duncan, a young couple from England who bought a neglected Passport sailboat here and plan to voyage to Australia after they get her more seaworthy. We are very sad to leave them.
Captain is calling...gotta post before we leave the dock.
Projects accomplished include (but not limited to) new SSB radio and modem so we can send/receive email and FAX while offshore; second wind generator (Your boat's energy requirements always increase to slightly exceed your ability to produce it.) and mounting pole; hard-wired remote VHF with AIS in the cockpit; some fiberglass and gel coat repair; fresh bottom paint; 2 coats of wax on topsides; some, but nowhere near all, finish work on hard dodger; repacked rudder stuffing box; new dripless shaft seal; new inner and outer cutlass bearings; inspection, improvements and touch-up paint on mast when it was unstepped; new main and spinnaker halyards; and a zillion little things that improve our floating home.
We most enjoyed meeting and sharing time and stories with Jess and Duncan, a young couple from England who bought a neglected Passport sailboat here and plan to voyage to Australia after they get her more seaworthy. We are very sad to leave them.
Captain is calling...gotta post before we leave the dock.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Portsmouth NH to Oxford MD
Chesapeake Bay, Oxford, MD.
We left Little Harbor on Dec. 10, dressed in 5 layers, and made a couple of day trips, stopping at night in Gloucester, Onset (Cape Cod), and Newport RI. Because of the cold, we expected we would have to continue day-tripping through Long Island Sound and New York before coming to the part I had nightmares about: the overnight winter passage down the open NJ coast to Cape May. As it turned out, we had a good weather window so went directly from Newport to Cape May--32 hours. Cold but calm enough with easy NW winds--a most excellent sail and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we dropped the anchor in Cape May at 1900 hrs, affter making our way into the harbor after dark past giant, halogen-lit tugs, tows and construction vessels that hid the normal aids to navigation.
When we left Cape May the next morning to go up Delaware Bay, it was blowing hard in our faces and the water was very lumpy. We smiled, however, as a sweet little whale surfaced right beside Act III. We anchored at the top of the bay before heading through the C&D Canal into the Chesapeake the next morning. Weather continued cold, but sunny and calm enough to make it easy going.
Three more nights at anchor (in the beautiful Sassafras River, outside not-as-deep-as-charted-oops Rock Harbor, and in Eastern Bay, then we pulled into a marina in Oxford MD for some respite. Power allowed us to run our electric space heater at will and catch up on internet, and let some wind and rain go by.
When we came down the Intracoastal two years ago, we met Dave and Bicki Howell on Nellie D, a head-turning Lord Nelson Victory Tug. They live nearby in Cambridge, MD, in a spectacular home on the Little Choptank River they've been building for 11 years. The best part of this stop was visiting with them and they spoiled us rotten with dinners at their home (fresh oysters from their stash in the river!), lending us their car for 2 days and many other kindnesses. We can't thank them enough for their graciousness and excellent conversation (not to mention washer and DRYER).
Today, freshly provisioned, we'll make our way across the bay to Solomon's Island, We expect to be in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area in 3 days, then the dull grind down the Intracoastal to Sailcraft Services in Oriental, NC, where we'll haul and unstep the mast for some maintenance.
We think it's holiday season, and our hearts are with you all.
We left Little Harbor on Dec. 10, dressed in 5 layers, and made a couple of day trips, stopping at night in Gloucester, Onset (Cape Cod), and Newport RI. Because of the cold, we expected we would have to continue day-tripping through Long Island Sound and New York before coming to the part I had nightmares about: the overnight winter passage down the open NJ coast to Cape May. As it turned out, we had a good weather window so went directly from Newport to Cape May--32 hours. Cold but calm enough with easy NW winds--a most excellent sail and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we dropped the anchor in Cape May at 1900 hrs, affter making our way into the harbor after dark past giant, halogen-lit tugs, tows and construction vessels that hid the normal aids to navigation.
When we left Cape May the next morning to go up Delaware Bay, it was blowing hard in our faces and the water was very lumpy. We smiled, however, as a sweet little whale surfaced right beside Act III. We anchored at the top of the bay before heading through the C&D Canal into the Chesapeake the next morning. Weather continued cold, but sunny and calm enough to make it easy going.
Three more nights at anchor (in the beautiful Sassafras River, outside not-as-deep-as-charted-oops Rock Harbor, and in Eastern Bay, then we pulled into a marina in Oxford MD for some respite. Power allowed us to run our electric space heater at will and catch up on internet, and let some wind and rain go by.
When we came down the Intracoastal two years ago, we met Dave and Bicki Howell on Nellie D, a head-turning Lord Nelson Victory Tug. They live nearby in Cambridge, MD, in a spectacular home on the Little Choptank River they've been building for 11 years. The best part of this stop was visiting with them and they spoiled us rotten with dinners at their home (fresh oysters from their stash in the river!), lending us their car for 2 days and many other kindnesses. We can't thank them enough for their graciousness and excellent conversation (not to mention washer and DRYER).
Today, freshly provisioned, we'll make our way across the bay to Solomon's Island, We expect to be in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area in 3 days, then the dull grind down the Intracoastal to Sailcraft Services in Oriental, NC, where we'll haul and unstep the mast for some maintenance.
We think it's holiday season, and our hearts are with you all.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Season 3
Dear Friends,
We're provisioning to leave NH again, so will rightly wonder how we got back here. I had to refer to the blog to remember where we left off...
We left St. Marten after 2 months of work and play, and sailed for Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands where, for the first time we felt we were in familiar territory--before that every port was new.
When in St. Marten, our Swedish friend Nils introduced us to Rob and Natalie on s/v Wilhelm because both vessels were ultimately planning to sail to New England, but we hadn't been in touch with them for a couple of months. We were now delighted to learn they were just a half-day sail away, and our schedules for heading north were in synch. We met in Christmas Cove, St. John, waited for appropriate weather to avoid the problem we were hearing on the SSB that current cruisers were having to stand off several hundred miles for a week or so before approaching Bemuda because of high wind and seas. For the first time we used our SSB radio to chat with another boat--not just listen to weather broadcasts--and arranged a daily radio schedule with Wilhelm. They departed a day ahead of us on May 14, and reported little or no wind.
We left in light wind, but the second day began a lovely sailing breeze. Then Bill celebrated the night of his birthday with thunderstorms -- the most horrific lightning he'd ever seen -- continuous many fingered bolts surrounding us making it like four hours of daylight, and thunder that never stopped. Fortunately, I slept through most of it--hey, it wasn't my watch! Bill tried to sail around the worst of the squalls, visible and clear on radar, but it was impossible to get away from it. In the morning, Wilhem reported they had turned south for the night hoping to avoid the weather, but still got slammed. Fortunately, neither boat was struck. The fine weather returned in the morning and the rest of the 6-day passage was lovely and uneventful. Half-way to Bermuda we passed Wilhelm and took the opportunity to take photos of each other under full sail and spinnakers at daybreak. We arrived in St. George's Harbor a day ahead of Wilhelm, thanking Act III once again for her swiftness.
Bermuda has the most outstanding navigation and radio system we've ever seen; Bermuda Radio contacted us when we were still 100 nm out. We previously had notified them online that we were expecting to arrive, and check-in was a breeze. The Port official even helped us with dock lines. The island is gorgeous, the people most welcoming, and the eponymous onions and shorts were a treat to see. It's not an island where cruisers happen upon by chance, so the harbor was full of serious boaters with wonderful stories--many waiting for weather to head for the Azores and Europe. Natalie and Rob had a time obligation so left ahead of us when conditions were less than ideal; we had no constaints so stayed to enjoy the last snorkeling and swimming we expected for awhile. (The water was a freezing cold 76 degrees! We are so spoiled!)
We buddy-boated to Newport, RI with a wonderful Dutch couple, Caspar and Gjerte, on s/v Abel, and maintained the same 2/daily radio sched we had with Wilhelm. It's a great comfort to hear a friendly voice when you're spending so many days alone on the water, with no other vessels in sight. It's also valuable to share information about what is/was happening with weather and seas.
Our foreign friends have to jump through hoops to get cruising permits, including face-to-face visits to the American embassy. The one thing we were were sure of was that we'd have no problems coming into the States. We are Americans, after all. We picked up a mooring in Newport, RI at 2 a.m., fell fast asleep and called the harbormaster and customs first thing in the morning to arrange our check-in. The customs officer immediately gave us an official warning for not contacting customs by telephone when were were 100 nm. offshore. But we checked all the websites and there was no mention of that, we protested. And we have no working telephone. Yeah, well, you just have to know these things and now that you're in the system as "officially warned" the next time you make a mistake you'll be fined. We were embarrassed about the great USA when Abel arrived late that next night and Caspar and Gjerte stood in a deserted parking lot at 3 a.m. holding a flashlight, filling out their entry papers on the hood of the official's car.
Newport has an unrivaled sailing reputation and we were impressed. Bill also noted that in most of the Caribbean we've seen charter boats who raise their sails just for show while they motor their customers around. The Newport captains deftly sail their large classic boats right through the anchorage.
We dawdled a bit in Newport to allow time for our granddaughter, Fionna (7), to meet us in Onset (near the Cape Cod Canal), for the last leg home. She was a trouper for the 4 days aboard, and absolutely ate up Provincetown, literally and figuratively. You should have seen her put away a plate of mussels in butter and garlic, then steer our dinghy around the mooring field without help.
We arrived at our mooring in Little Harbor at dawn, in the fog, surrounded by the rich scent of the North Atlantic, and happy to be home. It felt strange to return to living on land after nearly 2 years, but Josh has done a great job taking care of the house and we settled in quickly to lots of company. Granddaughters Fionna and Sare (1) spent 3 weeks; Lorenzo (3) was here for a couple of weeks, on and off from NJ (yes, their mom's were around, but they already know us: we needed to connect with the kids who barely remember us.)
In August we flew to Montana for 3 weeks to see our sons: Ben with his new awesome lady Rachel, and Jake and Allie (4). (Allie confided to her Aunt Polly that "I'm the cutest girl in the world but I can only tell my family." We agree, but are clearly prejudiced. Allie is also the reigning Mutton Busting Champion among the 4-7 year olds at the Missoula State Fair and has a belt-buckle as big as her head to show for it.) We floated, fly-fished, sailed, harvested wheat, and played and played and played. Polly and MIles came from NC to overlap our last week, so we achieved our goal of seeing all our kids and grandkids. It was divine.
Bill played a little tennis and drums; I sang some warmups with Sounds of the Seacoast. We sorely miss our friends as well. It was terrific to play with you this summer as well.
In between playing and entertaining the kids, Bill built a hard dodger for Act III this summer/fall. It's a big, complicated project and looking fabulous, but took longer than expected. Then he took a couple of weeks to upgrade the engine. We're now facing a slow trip south in the colder weather, but we're much safer and more protected.
We'll stop in Oriental, NC to haul out for a short time, unstep the mast and install some electronics, then proceed to Key West, the Western Caribbean, and, ultimately, Panama. The current plan is to leave the boat in Panama next hurricane season (summer) and come home to play with the kids again.
Come back here later for pictures from the summer!
We're provisioning to leave NH again, so will rightly wonder how we got back here. I had to refer to the blog to remember where we left off...
We left St. Marten after 2 months of work and play, and sailed for Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands where, for the first time we felt we were in familiar territory--before that every port was new.
When in St. Marten, our Swedish friend Nils introduced us to Rob and Natalie on s/v Wilhelm because both vessels were ultimately planning to sail to New England, but we hadn't been in touch with them for a couple of months. We were now delighted to learn they were just a half-day sail away, and our schedules for heading north were in synch. We met in Christmas Cove, St. John, waited for appropriate weather to avoid the problem we were hearing on the SSB that current cruisers were having to stand off several hundred miles for a week or so before approaching Bemuda because of high wind and seas. For the first time we used our SSB radio to chat with another boat--not just listen to weather broadcasts--and arranged a daily radio schedule with Wilhelm. They departed a day ahead of us on May 14, and reported little or no wind.
We left in light wind, but the second day began a lovely sailing breeze. Then Bill celebrated the night of his birthday with thunderstorms -- the most horrific lightning he'd ever seen -- continuous many fingered bolts surrounding us making it like four hours of daylight, and thunder that never stopped. Fortunately, I slept through most of it--hey, it wasn't my watch! Bill tried to sail around the worst of the squalls, visible and clear on radar, but it was impossible to get away from it. In the morning, Wilhem reported they had turned south for the night hoping to avoid the weather, but still got slammed. Fortunately, neither boat was struck. The fine weather returned in the morning and the rest of the 6-day passage was lovely and uneventful. Half-way to Bermuda we passed Wilhelm and took the opportunity to take photos of each other under full sail and spinnakers at daybreak. We arrived in St. George's Harbor a day ahead of Wilhelm, thanking Act III once again for her swiftness.
Bermuda has the most outstanding navigation and radio system we've ever seen; Bermuda Radio contacted us when we were still 100 nm out. We previously had notified them online that we were expecting to arrive, and check-in was a breeze. The Port official even helped us with dock lines. The island is gorgeous, the people most welcoming, and the eponymous onions and shorts were a treat to see. It's not an island where cruisers happen upon by chance, so the harbor was full of serious boaters with wonderful stories--many waiting for weather to head for the Azores and Europe. Natalie and Rob had a time obligation so left ahead of us when conditions were less than ideal; we had no constaints so stayed to enjoy the last snorkeling and swimming we expected for awhile. (The water was a freezing cold 76 degrees! We are so spoiled!)
We buddy-boated to Newport, RI with a wonderful Dutch couple, Caspar and Gjerte, on s/v Abel, and maintained the same 2/daily radio sched we had with Wilhelm. It's a great comfort to hear a friendly voice when you're spending so many days alone on the water, with no other vessels in sight. It's also valuable to share information about what is/was happening with weather and seas.
Our foreign friends have to jump through hoops to get cruising permits, including face-to-face visits to the American embassy. The one thing we were were sure of was that we'd have no problems coming into the States. We are Americans, after all. We picked up a mooring in Newport, RI at 2 a.m., fell fast asleep and called the harbormaster and customs first thing in the morning to arrange our check-in. The customs officer immediately gave us an official warning for not contacting customs by telephone when were were 100 nm. offshore. But we checked all the websites and there was no mention of that, we protested. And we have no working telephone. Yeah, well, you just have to know these things and now that you're in the system as "officially warned" the next time you make a mistake you'll be fined. We were embarrassed about the great USA when Abel arrived late that next night and Caspar and Gjerte stood in a deserted parking lot at 3 a.m. holding a flashlight, filling out their entry papers on the hood of the official's car.
Newport has an unrivaled sailing reputation and we were impressed. Bill also noted that in most of the Caribbean we've seen charter boats who raise their sails just for show while they motor their customers around. The Newport captains deftly sail their large classic boats right through the anchorage.
We dawdled a bit in Newport to allow time for our granddaughter, Fionna (7), to meet us in Onset (near the Cape Cod Canal), for the last leg home. She was a trouper for the 4 days aboard, and absolutely ate up Provincetown, literally and figuratively. You should have seen her put away a plate of mussels in butter and garlic, then steer our dinghy around the mooring field without help.
We arrived at our mooring in Little Harbor at dawn, in the fog, surrounded by the rich scent of the North Atlantic, and happy to be home. It felt strange to return to living on land after nearly 2 years, but Josh has done a great job taking care of the house and we settled in quickly to lots of company. Granddaughters Fionna and Sare (1) spent 3 weeks; Lorenzo (3) was here for a couple of weeks, on and off from NJ (yes, their mom's were around, but they already know us: we needed to connect with the kids who barely remember us.)
In August we flew to Montana for 3 weeks to see our sons: Ben with his new awesome lady Rachel, and Jake and Allie (4). (Allie confided to her Aunt Polly that "I'm the cutest girl in the world but I can only tell my family." We agree, but are clearly prejudiced. Allie is also the reigning Mutton Busting Champion among the 4-7 year olds at the Missoula State Fair and has a belt-buckle as big as her head to show for it.) We floated, fly-fished, sailed, harvested wheat, and played and played and played. Polly and MIles came from NC to overlap our last week, so we achieved our goal of seeing all our kids and grandkids. It was divine.
Bill played a little tennis and drums; I sang some warmups with Sounds of the Seacoast. We sorely miss our friends as well. It was terrific to play with you this summer as well.
In between playing and entertaining the kids, Bill built a hard dodger for Act III this summer/fall. It's a big, complicated project and looking fabulous, but took longer than expected. Then he took a couple of weeks to upgrade the engine. We're now facing a slow trip south in the colder weather, but we're much safer and more protected.
We'll stop in Oriental, NC to haul out for a short time, unstep the mast and install some electronics, then proceed to Key West, the Western Caribbean, and, ultimately, Panama. The current plan is to leave the boat in Panama next hurricane season (summer) and come home to play with the kids again.
Come back here later for pictures from the summer!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
St. Marten Vortex
We have no idea of time, except that it's not hurricane season, so I guess we're officially cruisers. I have a sense that it's been too long since we've posted to this blog, and I don't recall what or from where we posted. We've missed holidays and birthdays--Allie, our granddaugter, and Ben, our son--and hope they know we think, thank and talk of them on their special days.
We've been in St. Marten for something like 6 weeks. We've passed the official date of our papers, but won't bother to correct them. The French islands are very relaxed about paperwork--a good thing since we arrived without checking out of Antigua; it was too difficult to get to the office in Barbuda.
We ran out of beer in Barbuda, so finally had to sail to St. Marten, where every kind of boat product and service is available at duty-free prices. We had a long list of wants and needs. We hauled Act III for bottom cleaning and repainting. We bought a new gasoline generator, a 2,000 watt Honda, that fully satisfies our power needs--for the moment. Bill made several trips up the mast to repair wiring and replace anchor lights, and to begin troubleshooting the windicator that had stopped working over 6 months ago. It's not essential, but nice to have the wind speed and angle working together electronically with our autopilot so we can automatically steer by wind angle. He brought the unit down to start testing with his various meters, including his beloved multi-meter/oscilloscope that he keeps safely beside him when he sleeps. The Nexus windicator is an unusual make and model, and Bill expected he would have to send the unit to the Canadian manufacturer for rebuilding--the electronics were whacked.
We awoke insanely early on a Saturday morning to sell our old 1,000 watt generator at the monthly boat jumble. It was gone within an hour, but not before I had recognized our very same windicator offered for $12 at the table across from us. Aha! Someone had torn it off th their mast mount, but perhaps the circuit board could be installed in our old mount. After more days of testing and mast climbing and soldering, the new one went into place. It seemed to work, but showed the wind from the opposite side...more mast climbing to turn the circuit board around. Point is, it's easy to spend a lot of time on one island when you're insanely busy. (yeah, right.) Windicator now seems almost perfect: maybe one or two bizarre gremlins still at work in its microprossessing circuits.
We made a long weekend trip to Saba, a Dutch island about 20 miles east of St. Marten, with spectacular scuba diving. Saba is the tip of a mountain coming straight out of the ocean...no harbors or beaches, only some sketchy moorings off the concrete pier on the leeward coast. We left Act III safely in the St. Marten lagoon and took the fast ferry to Saba, because NE swells can make mooring "untenable"--a word we shudder to hear. Sea Saba dive center greeted us and stowed our gear aboard one of their boats, and we taxied to our lodge at the top of the island. The road, entirely built by hand, is a feat of engineering designed by a local who took a correspondence course in civil engineering, after a Dutch engineer came for a look and deemed a road impossible. It winds about 2000' up to the EcoLodge. (One may hike another 1,000' to the summit--the tallest point in the kingdom of the Netherlands.) The lodge consists of 10-12 uniquely painted cabins, separate and hidden from each other, and is largely self-sufficient. They collect rainwater, shower water is solar-heated, and the hottub of rainwater on our small porch took only 20 minutes to heat with an efficient propane heater. The dining room at the reception cabin is lit by candles only, and the owner/chef is a world-class chef. He grows many of the vegetables and all of the herbs they use. He and his friends took five years to build it, primarily because all the cisterns had to be dug with pick and shovel (not possible to get a back-hoe in without destroying the ecology). Each morning we hiked 5 minutes to the main road, took a taxi back down to the waterfront, and were pampered by the divemasters. In thirty minutes we went from 2000 feet above sea level to 100 feet below. The diving was indeed fabulous; we swam with sharks, barracuda and endangered hawksbill turtles. We made 5 dives over the course of 3 days and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation from ACT III. (We know friends, some of you might think that a "vacation" from a lovely boat anchored in paradise is not quite fair. Sorry.)
We finally provisioned and left St. Marten. First we backtracked a bit to Tintamarre, a small island off the NE coast of St. Martin, where we picked up a mooring and found ourselves at a small clothing optional beach where day-charters bring boatloads of naked folks to enjoy swimming and snorkeling for the day. Pretty funny. We planned to stay a day or two before heading to the BVI's, but we so enjoyed the beautiful island and having turtles and dolphins swimming around our boat that we lingered a few more days. Then the wind died completely and we lingered a few more days. After 10 days, winds picked up a bit and we pulled back into Marigot Bay and the lagoon--we had good friends to see again.
We're still here in St Martin, anchored in the lagoon right next to our good friend Nils, waiting for fair weather, so we can try to leave again. Hearing Nils' tale of international romance involving several countries, the internet, an Italian actress, story-book villas, and high adventure makes our stay here fun. See "Swedish Meatballs" post for details. (follows this post.) Pictures
We've been in St. Marten for something like 6 weeks. We've passed the official date of our papers, but won't bother to correct them. The French islands are very relaxed about paperwork--a good thing since we arrived without checking out of Antigua; it was too difficult to get to the office in Barbuda.
We ran out of beer in Barbuda, so finally had to sail to St. Marten, where every kind of boat product and service is available at duty-free prices. We had a long list of wants and needs. We hauled Act III for bottom cleaning and repainting. We bought a new gasoline generator, a 2,000 watt Honda, that fully satisfies our power needs--for the moment. Bill made several trips up the mast to repair wiring and replace anchor lights, and to begin troubleshooting the windicator that had stopped working over 6 months ago. It's not essential, but nice to have the wind speed and angle working together electronically with our autopilot so we can automatically steer by wind angle. He brought the unit down to start testing with his various meters, including his beloved multi-meter/oscilloscope that he keeps safely beside him when he sleeps. The Nexus windicator is an unusual make and model, and Bill expected he would have to send the unit to the Canadian manufacturer for rebuilding--the electronics were whacked.
We awoke insanely early on a Saturday morning to sell our old 1,000 watt generator at the monthly boat jumble. It was gone within an hour, but not before I had recognized our very same windicator offered for $12 at the table across from us. Aha! Someone had torn it off th their mast mount, but perhaps the circuit board could be installed in our old mount. After more days of testing and mast climbing and soldering, the new one went into place. It seemed to work, but showed the wind from the opposite side...more mast climbing to turn the circuit board around. Point is, it's easy to spend a lot of time on one island when you're insanely busy. (yeah, right.) Windicator now seems almost perfect: maybe one or two bizarre gremlins still at work in its microprossessing circuits.
We made a long weekend trip to Saba, a Dutch island about 20 miles east of St. Marten, with spectacular scuba diving. Saba is the tip of a mountain coming straight out of the ocean...no harbors or beaches, only some sketchy moorings off the concrete pier on the leeward coast. We left Act III safely in the St. Marten lagoon and took the fast ferry to Saba, because NE swells can make mooring "untenable"--a word we shudder to hear. Sea Saba dive center greeted us and stowed our gear aboard one of their boats, and we taxied to our lodge at the top of the island. The road, entirely built by hand, is a feat of engineering designed by a local who took a correspondence course in civil engineering, after a Dutch engineer came for a look and deemed a road impossible. It winds about 2000' up to the EcoLodge. (One may hike another 1,000' to the summit--the tallest point in the kingdom of the Netherlands.) The lodge consists of 10-12 uniquely painted cabins, separate and hidden from each other, and is largely self-sufficient. They collect rainwater, shower water is solar-heated, and the hottub of rainwater on our small porch took only 20 minutes to heat with an efficient propane heater. The dining room at the reception cabin is lit by candles only, and the owner/chef is a world-class chef. He grows many of the vegetables and all of the herbs they use. He and his friends took five years to build it, primarily because all the cisterns had to be dug with pick and shovel (not possible to get a back-hoe in without destroying the ecology). Each morning we hiked 5 minutes to the main road, took a taxi back down to the waterfront, and were pampered by the divemasters. In thirty minutes we went from 2000 feet above sea level to 100 feet below. The diving was indeed fabulous; we swam with sharks, barracuda and endangered hawksbill turtles. We made 5 dives over the course of 3 days and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation from ACT III. (We know friends, some of you might think that a "vacation" from a lovely boat anchored in paradise is not quite fair. Sorry.)
We finally provisioned and left St. Marten. First we backtracked a bit to Tintamarre, a small island off the NE coast of St. Martin, where we picked up a mooring and found ourselves at a small clothing optional beach where day-charters bring boatloads of naked folks to enjoy swimming and snorkeling for the day. Pretty funny. We planned to stay a day or two before heading to the BVI's, but we so enjoyed the beautiful island and having turtles and dolphins swimming around our boat that we lingered a few more days. Then the wind died completely and we lingered a few more days. After 10 days, winds picked up a bit and we pulled back into Marigot Bay and the lagoon--we had good friends to see again.
We're still here in St Martin, anchored in the lagoon right next to our good friend Nils, waiting for fair weather, so we can try to leave again. Hearing Nils' tale of international romance involving several countries, the internet, an Italian actress, story-book villas, and high adventure makes our stay here fun. See "Swedish Meatballs" post for details. (follows this post.) Pictures
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