Portsmith, Dominica, Caribbean Islands
April 29, 2014
Hand Steering
Of the last 15,000 miles of sailing, We have hand steered for about 500 miles. A bit embarrassing i suppose to admit, but our good friend Otto VonPilot has done the majority of the helm work for us. Otto decided to take a bit of a vacation-or broke down! It will be an easy repair once we get parts (a fitting in one of the drive arms has worn and the now enlarged opening causes a clunk sound each time the helm is turned by the autopilot). In the interim however, we are hand steering.
I was able to rig a fix for the auto pilot (so don't stress mother-the autopilot is actually working normally if we need it) but until we get replacement parts - it is good practice for us to get a better knowledge of hand steering. Shawn and I take 30 minute "watches" and trade turns as we sail between the islands - and yesterday was a dream sail, sailing from The Saints to the north end of Dominica (20 miles). Not surprisingly, I look a forward to my turn at the helm and focus on our sailing as opposed to a book. The timing is indeed perfect as I am honing my skills prior to an upcoming race in France (Outremer Cup which May 8-11) and great practice for Shawn who has less helm time. In addition, the sailing is now getting more enjoyable with the wind at between 50-60 degrees apparent. The further we go down the island chain, the more this wind angle opens up and we will get faster more forgiving sailing runs between islands-assuming normal trade winds continue.
We are both very happy to be in Dominica. Portsmith harbor is very well protected, has a wonderful cross breeze to keep the heat down, and great holding for our anchor. Translation - Windy (the wind turbine) in conjunction with Sonny (the solar panels) can make all the power we need and our good friend Dick Cheney (the anchor and chain) is keeping us in one place! Dominica has a wonderful slow Caribbean feel with great swimming, local produce, yet few amenities (no loud music all night long). Shawn and I went out to dinner last night to the only open restaurant - again, Chinese. The medical school has closed for the semester and with it most of the restaurants. This morning we enjoyed our usual yogurt and coffee hour with the local Caribbean news on the radio-a fun way to listen to all the problems in the world.
Today we are off to the market to load up on local produce and prepare for our random day of thanksgiving. Turkey dinner tonight while we enjoy all we have to be thankful for - after a good swim which will include a half hour of scrubbing the growth from the bottom of the boat.
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