Turning this ship around

Amaris sails the world

Pond Bay - Virgin Gorda, BVI

April 13, 2014

Turning this ship around

After nearly 3 weeks in the British Virgin Islands, It is nearing the time for us to return to the Leeward Islands and thus end our northerly progression through the Caribbean Island chain.  It is likely silly to say, but Shawn and I are both looking forward to returning to the "more Caribbean" islands of the windwards (Southern half of the Caribbean).  I think we both have our favorites, and honestly i shouldn't complain about the BVI or our current location in Pond Bay.  

Cruising in the British Virgin Islands has felt like we were intruding on people's vacations.  The majority of the harbors have been packed with people eager to "get their drink on."  There has been great "outdoor cinema" watching as people who sail one week a year have the chance to prove their skill in front of 75-100 watchful pair of eyes in a boat that is - well, quite big and difficult to control.  That said, the BVI are packed for good reason.  The crystal clear water, the amazing snorkeling and diving, the glorious beaches, the abounding beach bars and restaurants with never ending views make the Virgin Island a great destination.  

I think we were somewhat lucky to find our current location in Pond Bay.  It is behind a reef with a narrow entrance - and thus off limits for most of the charter fleet.  We have a glorious beach and amazing snorkeling to share with two other boats.  Last night was date night (delayed by a few days this week), and we hiked up to Giorgio's Table, a restaurant that looks over the bay and the majority of the Virgin Island Archipelago.  After tying up to a rather dilapidated dock and hiking up to the restaurant - we found the restaurant entrance overgrown with weeds and brumble - and nary a light on inside.   I suppose this should be expected when you find the one glorious spots without tourists...

Tomorrow we will head up to Anegada - the northern most part of our trip and our departure spot from the BVI.

Bite Every Apple Twice

Amaris Sails the World

Great Bay - Peter Island, British Virgin Islands

3/29/2014

Bite Every Apple Twice

As a kid, my mother would often advise me to try every apple twice.  It seems i may have needed motivation after biting directly into the bruise of an apple to try the other side - where hopefully there wasn't another bruise.  9 times out of ten if i didn't like an apple on the first bite, it suffered of "water core" and my opinion would stay- bad apple.  That said, my mother is a bit sneaky sometimes, and this could have been a good ploy the stretch the fruit and veg - especially into a kid that just wanted bologna sandwiches on white bread with extra mayo (which coincidentally i still love).  Nonetheless, there was the 10% chance that I would like the second bit and finish the apple.

Oddly, I carried this bit of advice into life - often in conflict with the "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" proverb.  Somehow this was particularly true with dating.  I had to go through a few bad apples in my time - and most of them were given a second chance.

The British Virgin Islands seemed to need a second chance as well.  Originally, i was going to write a blog on how i disliked the BVI.  As it seems to be one of the world's charter havens, there are a lot of people who don't know how to use their boats.  I understand if I were plunked down on a boat (and often these are big cats) that i hadn't operated before there may be a little confusion.  But honestly some of the things i have witnessed...  for example, when pulling up to a dock in a relatively new boat - wouldn't you think that fenders might be a good option?  When anchoring, consider you need to drop the anchor not where you want to end up - but where you want to end up PLUS the scope you need for the anchor.  In addition, and likely of a larger pet peeve, we don't need to disco into a drunken stupor all night long (and then begin again the next day at noon).

So, with my second "bite of the apple" i have focused on the positive aspects of the BVI.  Great snorkeling, great weather (as the Brits say - it is quite "lovely"), and the continuation of the steady trade winds which do make for some great sailing.  In addition, because the inner islands and waterways are protected from the swell - the anchorages are quite protected and the sailing can be both spirited and-well dry!  I think we will just need to learn to find places that are not listed as a "must do" in all the guidebooks - There certainly are more than 7 anchorages here.

You say goodbye, I say hello

You say goodbye, I say hello

Amaris sails the world

St Martin/St Marteen

March 16, 2014

We have now been hanging out in St Martin for the last 6-7 weeks with friends and family flying in and out.  The island has been great with one of the Caribbean's major airports and even a dingy dock where we have been able to pick up and drop off travelers at the airport.  We have found the best restaurants (and know specials - ie, Fish and chips night at Lagoonies on Fridays - Shawn just has the chips, not exactly a balanced meal).

While here we have participated in the daily "net" and have met people that live "on" the island and others that are just traveling through.  Living on the island is a bit of a misnomer, as most of the people that we know that live "on" the island - live at anchor on the island.  As there are only a few months left in the cruising season - a lot of us are realizing the need to move on and explore new islands.  Moving on obviously means saying good bye to many of the friends we have met.  

Many of our friends are heading off to the BVI and we may be shortly following them...  or catching them as we do have an addiction for speed. Two of our friends Tom and Sabrina have been looking the island over for popcorn and left only successful as I gave them 1/2 our stash.  Secretly, this will help us find them Hasel and Gretel style.  Many others are staying behind to continue on with repairs or look for opportunities to make a few more bucks to refill the cruising kitty.  Of course we hope they catch up soon.

We have yet to determine where we are off to next.  If we take a right, we end up at Barbuda - a remote island with beautiful beaches and colonies of birds that can be seen no where else.  We would likely have anchorages to ourselves.  We could then continue exploring in Antigua - another island that would be fun to explore with resources to restock the stores after exploring Barbuda.  Alternatively we may take a left to follow our fiends and make new ones in the BVI.  There is something a little enticing about a palm tree, a nice book, and a few pain killers.  

I suppose where ever we go - we will make new friends.  Either those that slur from the painkillers and tell stories with no point - or those that quack and speak "Frigate."  

lesson learned - Kayak upwind first -return down wind

Amaris sails the world

Anguilla - Road Bay

February 25, 2014

lesson learned - Kayak upwind first -return down wind

Shawn and I had a wonderful down wind kayak to Mead's bay this morning followed by the predictable over priced (under performed) lunch at a beach restaurant.  Kayaking down wind is, well, quite leisurely.  Shortly after leaving the comfort of Roads bay, we were surfing down 2 foot waves watching gorgeous beaches pass us along the shoreline.  After about 45 minutes we turned behind a sandy point into a beautiful bay - Mead bay!

Mead bay is stunning.  Crystal clear water, empty beaches, and a sandy bottom where you can see the rays fluttering about.  Stunning.  Perhaps we will include it on the tour with the parents when they come visit in two weeks.  Perhaps.  Only later were we recommended Blanchard's Beach Shack - which apparently has better food at a more realistic price.  Again, the opportunity is there now for a return visit.

The trip home however...  I don't plan on moving tomorrow.  Shawn and I paddled our hearts out, nearly flagging down a boat for help, as we bashed our way through those waves that were so fun to surf a few hours earlier.  I know that i will be sore tomorrow...  Heck, i am sore now and I just finished the kayak trip a few hours ago.  Fortunately, I can alleviate the pain with a good gin and tonic (or perhaps two).

Tomorrow i plan on kayaking again.  I think we can go downwind to Sandy Island (where there is one restaurant that we know is both awful and overpriced...  no lunch for us there) do some snorkeling...  and catch a water taxi back (with our without our kayaks).

 

 

 

 

photo is of the beach at Mead's bay.

finding the perfect hurricane hole...

Amaris Sails the planet

Marigot Bay - St Marteen (French side)

February 24, 2014

finding the perfect hurricane hole...

Although it is only February, we have started looking for our hurricane hole for the summer.  Hurricane season begins June 1st and lasts through October.  June and July have less likelihood of hurricanes - so we feel as long we watch the weather closely and have defined "hurricane holes" in mind, we could cheat our way through June...  That is, if we haven't settled into the perfect hurricane hole by then.

Hurricane holes are spots that offer natural protection from hurricanes.  One example is Marigot bay on St Lucia.  This particular harbor is surrounded by hills on 3 sides and is open only to the west (typically hurricanes blow from the east).  The bay is also surrounded by mangroves where boats can tie extra lines to their exposed roots.  It is said that during the last hurricane that came through St Lucia, the peak winds in Marigot bay were 30 knots (33 miles per hour) with virtually no waves.  Many islands have such safe harbors.  

Other islands are outside the defined typical hurricane path (Aruba or Grenada for example) and could be sailed to within 24 hours if a hurricane is predicted.  (The joy of a fast boat...)  We have friends on an Outremer 55 that have stayed in St Martin in previous years knowing that they could sail to Grenada in 30-36 hours-thus using a defensive strategy of just "getting out of the way" and having the beautiful islands to themselves during the down season.

Shawn and I have been discussing our season's hurricane hole.  Priorities include...  in no particular order;  1-Safe from the hurricanes!(and other weather...  ie lightening - we do have a pretty significant lightening rod)  2-Spanish speaking (we both want to enroll in an intensive Spanish class) 3-Interesting culture to explore, which may put us near a larger city? 4-close to a major airport.  We plan on flying up to Seattle for the month of September and down to Peru to explore Machu Piccu for a month as well.  5-good security for the boat while we are gone.  6-good exploring by boat when there is no threat of hurricanes.  

Enter our current choice for hurricane hole...  Rio Dulce Guatamala!  Plenty or exploring both by boat and on land.  Good safe marinas.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_River_(Guatemala)

Turn up the power

Amaris sails the planet

Feb  22, 2014

St Martin, Caribbean

Turn up the power

Power management is always a concern when yachting.  Although we have a generator, I dislike running it daily to keep the operations of the boat with power.  Not only is it noisy, but it burns diesel, which i would rather not do.  Many cruisers need to run their engine once or even twice a day to recharge their batteries.  It seems an abomination to me to sit in a beautiful anchorage, mother nature's beauty all around, perhaps a few other souls drifting by in kayaks and needing to run a generator.  UGH!  

When we took delivery of our boat, I doubled the solar panels to help with our energy generation.  To put things into perspective for you - my dear reader...  I will simply things by saying we use an average of 400 amps/day (when we are on board using all the gadgets-opening the fridge all the time, turning on lights, etc...).  Our solar panels make between 250-300 amps/day.  Recall that it is winter right now...  so this number should improve in the summer.  This configuration left us needing to run an engine or the generator daily for just under an hour - or (perhaps the better solution) going out to eat so we didn't use the water pump, lights, radio, etc.  

We were about 100 amps short of being energy independent.  Introduce wind generator!  Although let it be said, i think "wind generator" is a misnomer.  It doesn't generate wind...  it generates power from wind.  Shouldn't they be called "power from wind generators?"  After literally days of research - I chose a wind generator made by silent winds.  For my cruising friends, this generator was chosen with priorities to 1-power generation, 2-weight (6.8kg as opposed to the second highest producing generator the d400 which weighs in at 17kg), 3-integration with current systems, 4-sound production, and 5-cost.  The silent winds is a top energy producer, one of the lightest models, and true to it's name - is quiet thanks to its carbon fiber ultra rigid/strong/light blades.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the help of my friend Maas (actually he did most of the work), we were able to get the new generator up in a couple of days.  I believe if we were to re-do the instillation now we could do it in 5-6 hours.  And of similar importance, should something go wrong with the unit, I could swap it out in about an hour (even without my friend Maas).  But i suppose 1/2 the fun of an instillation such as this one is the engineering and design.

Fortunately, here in the Caribbean we are exposed to the trade winds - which have kept that generator humming!  I believe we are making better than the 100 amps that we needed to bridge the gap to energy independence.  We will need to run the generator for hot water-cause someone in this household (boathold?) needs to have hot showers once in a while!  That said, once summer comes, I think we will have enough power to run a load of laundry or run the water maker for an hour each day!  How cool will that be!  And - at that point we will want COLD showers!  

Long time no blog...

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I wish I could say I have a good excuse – but I don't.


We had a busy last few months - several trips back to the states (Holidays, work, and the loss of Shawn's Grandmother to Alzheimers), our first charter, some good sailing, and a lot of maintenance/repairs to Amaris. All that said- I think the biggest factor in my lack of blogging is that we are settling into “cruising life.”


Like it or not, we are now getting up with regularity for the local “cruiser's net.” Although we have made suggestions to move the daily net from 7:30 to 8:30, these suggestions are sadly unanswered – so we get up and have the first cup of coffee at the early hour of 7:30. The net is basically a daily conference call that happens over our vhf radios. Discussions begin with weather, security issues (mostly theft), announcements (usually people offering to do some type of trade to stock their cruising kitties... we tried offering tax prep with little luck), barter or trade (where we were able to lighten our boat by giving away a printer, some cruising guides (that were all in French), and our old stereo.


We have also started developing friendships with other local cruisers – which begins to occupy our time as some of the “group leaders” put together activities such as hiking, happy hours, pot lucks, etc. Shawn and I recently participated in a hike that started at top of a local “mountain” and was to end up near where we all left our dinghies. This seemed like such a great idea – a nice walk down a hill right? Well, because all of us are basically “in transit” the knowledge is sometimes... a little suspect. The first trail was wrong and ended up hiking UP to the top of another hill. Great views, but we were certainly going the wrong way from our dinghy. The second trail seemed to go in the right direction, but after 3 miles of down hill hiking we ended up at an old plantation. Not the right hill. The group of 20-30 hikers then had to head back up a very steep hill to hopefully find the right trail. Shawn and I gave up and had a wonderful lunch at the plantation and took a cab back to the dinghy. Glad we didn't lead that trip! We also decided not to have all the hikers over to our boat for happy hour – lots of sweaty stinky dirty people!

After nearly a month here in St Martin, we are getting itchy feet and hope to be exploring some new cruising areas for the next week or so (while we wait for more parts to come in... for more repairs! Joy. We still haven't determined where we are going... I suppose we will see what the wind is doing this afternoon...