Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
18.19.985N
64.55.545W

First thing this morning Dale called the store where he ordered the batteries and learned that they should be delivered to the store later today and out for delivery to us tomorrow.  We can live with that.  Now, what to do with the rest of the day. 

We elected to grab up our bags, lowered the dinks, dinghied to the marina dock, walked to the Pueblo parking lot where the taxi’s hang out, negotiated a price for a taxi to take the guys to Home Depot, drop Nicki and I off at Cost U Less (kind of like a Sam’s) about a block away from Home Depot, wait for us while we shopped, and then take us all back to the marina.  (With the island in lock down, the taxies are suffering, so this was negotiated for a pretty good price, we thought.)  The guys walked over once they had finished and helped us finish our shopping; apparently, we never pick up enough rum.  The taxi driver returned us right to the walkway that led to the dinghy dock; what a prince!  We had loaded up probably more than we would have wanted to carry even a block. 

After we put away all of our groceries, Dale and Gerry left a dinghy for Nicki and I and took the other into Offshore Marine to see if they could pick up a replacement rebuild kit for our raw water pump (to replace the one they used earlier).  As we have two engines, it’s probably best if we always have a spare rebuild kit on hand.  Unfortunately, Offshore Marine had a sign on their door indicating “closed indefinitely”.  They tried Island Marine next, who checked their catalogs to see if they could order the part but had no joy.  On their way back, they spotted a boat by the name of Griffin who we had heard earlier on the Single Side Band (SSB) radio that the Seven Seas Cruising Association organizes for disseminating information among their sailing members.  We had heard that boats were being turned away in Puerto Rico and that if you planned long term anchoring in the USVI, you had to get special permission.  Since there seemed to be conflicting information circulating about both of those topics, they decided to go straight to the horse’s mouth, so to speak, to see if they could clear up some of the discrepancies.  Unfortunately, Griffin referred them back to the noonsite website.  So, it’s still a call ahead, speak with either the Coast Guard or the Customs & Borders Protection directly to get the latest information, as things seem to be changing on a daily basis type of situation.  As far as long term anchorage here, we learned that as long as you keep moving back and forth among the USVI, the term resets.  So, don’t sit for more than a month in any one place.  Not a problem, we like to hit the grocery store more often than that.   We’ll do fine as long as they don’t stop interisland movement within the USVI. 

In the meantime, while they were running around, Nicky was dropped off at our boat and we went over some of the Ancestry information she had gathered in trying to locate Gerry’s father’s family.  It’s another story of adoption but what she had found out was that yes, his father was adopted BUT, he was adopted within the mother’s family.  So now she trying to locate the father through DNA.  She’s been able to find the family but narrowing down the father has been a struggle.  Ancestry can be both fascinating and frustrating and she has been doing this a lot longer than I have. 

Later, Gerry and Nicky joined us on our boat for sundowners and nibbles.  I had made potstickers and an Asian inspired slaw that everyone said they liked.  Unfortunately, I used a ginger dressing that most likely can’t be replaced in the islands.  I’ll keep looking. 

Tomorrow is Gerry’s birthday so we’ll be having dinner on Opal.  I have a surprise that I brought all the way from Florida for it.  I think he saw that I picked up some chocolate cupcakes for the event but has no idea what else is in store. 

Monday, March 30, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
18.19.985N
64.55.545W

Yesterday, as planned, we dropped our mooring ball at 10am, motored out of the anchorage, hoisted sails and sailed, yes I said sailed, back to St. Thomas.  We dropped anchor almost exactly 3 hours later.  There was a moment or two when we saw speeds of 7 kts but generally, it was 5.5-6 kts most of the way.  It was the second day of never dropping the dinghy, so on the whole, nothing much to write about.  A beautiful day and a delightful sail.  We did see Rum Truffle heading out of Charlotte Amalie just as we were entering and learned that they were on their way to Cruz Bay in St. John.  We said that we’d try to catch up with them in a couple of days. 

Today, Dale and Gerry started the day by detaching our mutual propane tanks and took off across the harbor to have them filled.  Our’s were at less than half full but not nearly empty yet.  However, as we have no idea as to what the future holds for us at this time, its best to be as ready as possible.  As you can see, they were greeted by one of the locals who showed a great deal of interest in them. 

Dale called the chandlery to ascertain whether our batteries had arrived and learned that although they had arrived on Saturday, they had not been released from customs as yet but were expected to be delivered to the store tomorrow afternoon. 

We did lower the dinghy today and headed into the nearest grocery store to pick up milk, bread and the essentials of life, like potato chips while Dale headed straight for the post office to pick up his meds.  However, as we passed by the marina that houses all the mega yachts, Dale called their office (as they are social distancing) and asked if we could use their fuel dock to load the batteries onto the boat.  They agreed and said to let them know when. 

Later, while putting the groceries away, Gerry consulted the internet to see if we could go to one of the local restaurants this evening for take-out and downloaded the limited menu they’re using so that we could place check marks on our selections.  Apparently they haven’t updated their website this week.  When we walked to their location to hand in our selections, they were closed.  OK, next choice.  Wendy’s is on the corner so we were happy to see that they’ve fixed the problem of only having take out at the drive up window and were granted entrance into the inner sanctum to order.  We asked the manager how things were going and he was happy to say that he’s only lost about 20% of his business but was concerned that he was informed today that things are to remain the same until the end of April.  Whoa!  That’s the first we’ve heard of this.  We were half expecting another couple of weeks but certainly not another month. 

We gathered our bags of sandwiches and found a picnic table at the marina to discuss our options.  We know of a couple of islands that are open in the direction that we need to travel.  However, that means that we’d have to skip several in the hopes that we can “Q” flag it though.  That entails traveling island to island without ever getting off the boat and anticipating that they would allow us to anchor for the night before moving on.  Nicky and I are of the same belief that if we are going to be stranded somewhere, this is the place to be as we are within walking distance of a grocery store, a laundry, a couple of take out places, the hardware store is just a “safari” ride away and there is a hospital in case of emergency.  As Opal is Australian flagged, Gerry is adamant that he has paperwork detailing their check out as well as their check in, so that he can prove where he’s been and for how long, if ever questioned.  Dale just wants to go to Foxy’s one more time.  None of us wanted to crush him by saying Foxy’s probably isn’t open now. 

We ended the day on Opal with a sundowner making plans to shop at Home Depot tomorrow and possibly hitting another Sams/Cosco type of store on the way back. 

No one knows what the future holds, certainly not us, but hurricane season is just around the corner, so we’re going to have to do something and rather quickly. 

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
18.21.859N
64.44.875W

I’d say that today was a lazy day as we never lowered the dinghy into the water but that wouldn’t be true. 

Our morning started about the same time but at a much slower pace.  Gerry popped by to pick up some seizing wire, as he’s been having a problem with his shackle pin trying to back out of his anchor.  As he lost an anchor during our original cruise back in 2006, he’s pretty cautious about making sure his anchor stays where it’s supposed to be.  Dale had a larger size seizing wire that he was going to try.  As he was here and his dinghy was already in the water, I asked for a quick ride to the opposite side of the harbor to take a photo (that I used in yesterday’s blog) of the little house. 

Dale spent the better part of the morning trying to figure out why the float switch he had just replaced had suddenly stopped working.  He eventually found that the source wires that run from the electrical panel in the salon to the bilge were corroding and he had to strip the wires back to find “clean” wire before wiring the replacement switch back in.  Once done, it worked perfectly.  Now, we wonder if that might have been the problem with the original switch that he threw away as he doesn’t remember testing it separately once he took it off. 

We made water for a couple of hours.  I got a lesson on how to run the water maker in case I ever need to and Dale’s not around. 

Dale dug out the tax information again.  I had to download his Navy retirement info but in doing so, had to put in a new password.  Of course, you put in the information you think is accurate a couple of times until you finally give up; create a new password, only to find that it expires in a few months.  At least now I know that I didn’t forget the password, it just expired.  Then, once again, I excused myself to read below until he yelled down for bank information (which is a cue that he’s finally ready to file them).  Wahoo!  We get a refund this year.  Not enough to even pay off the credit card but every little bit helps. 

In preparation for tomorrow’s departure back to St. Thomas, we rolled up and secured the sun shades we had extended around the cockpit to keep it cool in the sun and Dale did his usual precheck on the engines.

Then this evening, we all gathered on Texas Crewed for sundowners and nibbles.  Gerry and Nicky picked us up as their dinghy was still in the water and we wouldn’t have to deploy ours.  Renee made a delicious home made pizza (she really has a talent for bread making).  They will be staying here and moving around to Leinster Bay in a day or two where we’ll meet up with them a in few days.  Opal has elected to return to St. Thomas with us for one last shopping trip (we hope).  Rum Truffle, who we thought would join us, was having starter problems and never left St. Thomas, so we’re not sure when they’ll be able to join us but we’ll follow up with them when we get back. 

So, as I started, not really a lazy day but then it was at a much slower pace.  Tomorrow, we’ll hoist sails and head back. 

Friday, March 27, 2020

Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
18.21.859N
64.44.875W

It was another quiet night and although we woke early, I laid in bed daydreaming while Dale fixed his morning coffee.  I heard Gerry approach in his dinghy and start telling Dale that noonsite, a website for cruisers by cruisers, was saying that the USVIs were starting to limit interisland travel.  This was exactly what I was afraid of when we left St. Thomas but Dale was much more calm about the news.  Needless to say, I was up and dressed in a heart beat.

Today was the day that we intended to scrub Opal and the waterline of Texas Crewed.  So we lowered the dink, loaded it up with the hooka, our dive gear and the various brushes and scrappers and crossed over to Texas Crewed to spread the message.  Gene was even less willing to accept the information as they had previously learned that not all things on that particular site are always true.  OK, obviously this needs further investigation.  We dinked over to Opal and started to transfer all of the equipment to their boat.  By this time, Gerry had actually contacted the Department of Resources on St. Thomas to verify the information and had been told:  no, it was not true.  So back to our original schedule of cleaning the 2 remaining boats and staying until Sunday before heading back to pick up our batteries, which are supposed to be delivered on Monday and check the post office to see if our mail has arrived. 

Gerry had cleaned the bottom of his boat about a month ago and Texas Crewed had scrubbed their waterline only 2 weeks ago.  Embarrassingly, both of the boats were completed in less time that it took to do just our boat.  Dale said Gypsy Palace won the dirtiest bottom, Opal came in a distant second but that Texas Crewed didn’t have enough to even be in the competition.  Sorry guys.  Once those were done, we returned to our respective boats and back to our regularly scheduled days of reading, blogging, napping, catching up on e-mails, or just internet surfing, etc.  Certainly not like the first time we made this trip when, like junkies, we were constantly looking to find a WiFi connection. 

Dale started getting antsy about 3pm, so we grabbed our garbage, sent quick messages to the other boats to tell them of our run to the garbage cans on the beach and then dinked over to each of them to pick up their bags.  Once deposited, we took a slow circuit around the anchorage to see the shoreline, stopping (or I should say slowing) to look at an old building on one of the smaller islands that had obviously been there for years that was still standing.  Dale wasn’t going to beach our dinghy on the rocky shore for a closer look.  Once back on the boat, he located our night lights for the dinghy and made sure they were in operating order so that we could start using them after dark.  We’ve only used the dink after dark a couple of times but sitting the cockpit and watching others, we decided it would be better if we did, as we do have the capability. 

This evening we gathered on Opal for our evening sundowners.  Nicky had outdone herself, serving shrimp, a cheese plate and pub mix.  I offered a couple of different varieties of quesadillas and Renee brought a selection of crackers with a homemade cheeseball.  None of us went home hungry.  Once again, as Nicky would say, we put the world to rights, laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves before heading home with our dinghy light shining for all to see.   

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
18.21.859N
64.44.875W

Wow!  What a great night.  I think I had the best night sleep in a long time.  No wind, rain, surge, dinghies zinging by. Not too hot or too cold.  No worrying about whether our anchor would hold or not.  The only time I woke was to a little knock once in awhile which I thought was possibly a filter rolling around underneath the bunk.  When we woke this morning, we learned that it was the mooring ball.  As there had been no wind, boats were pointed in every direction and we had actually moved up on the mooring ball so that it was hitting the side of the boat when we drifted in its direction. 

Gerry came by about 9am with his largest rivets and crawled up on the hard top with Dale to reattach the pulley that had snapped out yesterday.  Then he returned to Opal until 10am when Gene and Renee and the Tinker Twins all started the boat bottom cleaning party.  I don’t think they realized how bad our boat was until they got into it.  Dale and Gerry both took a look at the boot around the sail drive to make sure it was securely attached; it was.  Then about noon, Dale said that everyone was done.  Although he was wearing his dive suit, he was shivering cold; he has absolutely no fat on him.  I had elected to attack the rust stains again and added polishing the bright work to the mix.  I’ve got a lot more to do.  Tomorrow, they all move to Opal’s 6.5’ full keel draft.  Gerry says he’s the poor one as he only has one hull (Texas Crewed is a catamaran too).  I’d bet square footage wise, he’s got more than the rest. 

We all went our separate ways until 5:30 when I had invited everyone back to our boat for nibbles and sundowner drinks.  Of course that meant that we had to give the inside and topside of the Palace a good scrub before company arrived.  Dale took the cockpit and I attacked the salon and bathrooms.  When he was done, Dale told me I could no longer brush my hair on the boat.  I told him that I wasn’t sure where our dog, Nelson was hiding but he was definitely on the boat somewhere due to all of the hair I found.  It couldn’t possibly be all mine.  I’ll have to check that hair salon I found the other day to see if they’re open yet.  I’ll cut a few inches off and see if that helps any. 

At 5:30 Gerry, Nicky, Gene and Renee came over and we enjoyed food, drink, jokes, politics, and the world at large.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and hope everyone else did as well. 

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Francis Bay, St. John, USVI
18.21.859N
64.44.875W

Look at this!  We’re in St. John this evening. 

Anchored in St. John 

looking towards St Thomas

As the winds had died down, life in Charlotte Amalie was moving at a crawl, and we’re in a holding pattern until our batteries and mail arrive next week, we took the opportunity to move over to St. John for a change of scenery and to clean the bottom of our boats. 

Dale had started getting ready to get underway about 8am when he came in and said that the kellet line was gone.  That means that the kellet itself has either fallen off completely or is at the bottom of the anchor chain.  (Remember I said that he was exhausted when we first arrived?  I suspect that although he wrapped the line around the cleat, he didn’t secure it with a finishing tie—although he did remember closing the kellet lever around the anchor chain.)  Nothing to do about it now, we just have to wait to see what comes up with the anchor.  We send a message to Opal to let them know that we’ll be starting a little early because of the issue but no need to hurry on their part. 

About 8:45 we start the engines and slowly start moving up on the anchor.  Thankfully, the kellet was still attached to the chain but the rope that was supposed to hold it to the boat was twisted miserably around the kellet itself which had settled about 12’ from the anchor, which is exactly where it should have been.  Dale cleared as much as possible and then ended up cutting the last foot off to clear the kellet from the chain.  Dale tells me to move slowly as we have a hunk of mud attached to the anchor itself that needs to be washed off.  Not a problem; idle speed it is!

In the meantime, Gerry and Nicky start their preps to get underway about 9am.  Just about the time our anchor detaches, they radio that they’ve dropped their bridle in the drink (it acts as a snubber between the boat and the anchor chain and takes the load off the anchor windless (the winch that hoists/drops the anchor)).  Gerry now needs to don his dive gear to reach the bridle in 30’ of water.  I guide us to the unused cruise ship area and start doing slow circles.  Dale takes the opportunity to secure all of our stuff and by the time he’s done, Gerry has located the runaway bridle and they continue to up anchor. 

We make our way out of the harbor and turn east toward St. John.  We had hoped to sail but once again, the wind is on the nose and since we would have to head to St. Croix to get a good angle for the cut to St. John, we elect to just continue motoring.  We turn north toward Christmas Island and see Texas Crewed anchored there.  A quick radio communication tells us they will be joining us in Francis Bay later in the day. 

We navigate the narrow cut north and turn to hoist sails.  We turn back to our course and cut engines.  We’ve got 18 kts and expect to start flying but we don’t!  In fact, we have to put so much rudder in, that we end up turning the engines back on to keep our course.  We can’t believe the current through here.  Later, just as we turn towards where our anchorage lies, we get behind the island the speed picks up and the boom makes a loud popping sound.  Dale is on the helm, so I climb out to take a look.  One of the pullies that he and Gerry had to remove to run the main sheet through, has popped its rivets.  I’m afraid that it might fall off but Dale is confident that the way the pully is arranged on the line, it can’t.  We drop sails in any event and finish our journey into the anchorage under power.  Dale and Gerry both have rivets (that they picked up in their Home Depot run) so that it is not going to be an issue. 

We finally make it to Francis Bay and choose our mooring ball.  Gerry is on the next one over to our left and about 30 minutes later, Texas Crewed picks up the mooring ball to the left of Opal.  We all managed to pick up our moorings like we knew what we were doing although, I have to admit, Texas Crewed had a different method but one that certainly worked.  We all settle in making sure our mooring bridles are secure and evenly tied to keep from swinging madly. 

Dale starts forward to pull the hooka (a kind of dive apparatus) out of the lazarette and in doing so, finds a wet compartment.  When we first purchased this boat about 6 years ago, I had replaced the rubber gaskets on all of the front lazarettes as they were old and flat.  These appear to be in good condition but obviously they aren’t doing the job any longer.  At that time, 6 years ago, we also found another void underneath the lazarette that had a 9” access hole.  Opening the hole, Dale had found it full of water.  To make a long story short, we ended up having to purchase a special submersible pump that could be lowered to the depth necessary to pump it dry.  Today, we found the same thing.  Thank heavens we still had that pump and had it with us. 

Dale emptied out the lazarette and I spread everything out to dry.  Then he crawled back in and dropped the pump into the void.  I started it back up and held the hose for the next 30-40 minutes pumping out 75-100 gallons.  I’m surprised the boat could even move with that kind of weight in it.  I’m definitely going to make a trip to Home Depot with him when we get back.  I’ve lived with Dale long enough to know that if you have to replace one, you might as well replace them all and I think that they need to be replaced; and maybe some duck tape put over the lazarette opening; maybe we should just seal the entire hatch every time we get underway.  I don’t know.  It’s either that or dig everything out every time we get water over the bow to check that void. 

Needless to say, Dale was tired, so we sent messages to the others that we were going to shelter in place tonight and would catch up with everyone tomorrow. 

What can I say:  its all or nothing on a boat. 

One final bit of good news.  The little trickle of water that Dale was chasing yesterday, was stemmed with a small dab of (of all things) Flex Seal around what appears to be a leaking drain pipe between the engine base and the space where the sail drive comes up.  He’ll check the boot on the sail drive tomorrow when he dives down to clean the bottom.  For now, no water is coming inside of the boat. 

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

I can’t say that today is going to be one of those newsworthy posts.  We had intended to hoist anchor and move to Francis Bay as a change of scenery but the winds were howling at 20 kts when we first got up.  Gerry said that he was willing to sit another day until the winds died down if we were.  Since Dale was in the detective mode trying to track down a little trickle of water coming from under the port engine, he was content to sit another day as well. 

Well sort of, Dale actually called the Social Security office to (once again) fix a problem and ended up waiting for almost 2 hours until he got a live voice who told him that it was actually a problem with whoever had cancelled his account and that until we are back on the mainland and can physically go into a Social Security Office, there is nothing that can be done over the phone.  The joys of cruising for any length of time; we have no idea when we might be back on the mainland.  Next, we called the local post office here to get the correct mailing instructions to have our mail forwarded to us; always exciting.  Then finally, he asked me to collect all of our tax information as he was going to do the taxes.   I gathered it up, helped him download the tax software and then grabbed a book, went below to read and stay far, far, away. 

Other than that, we didn’t even get off the boat today.  Just one of those days. 

Monday, March 23, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

No Safari on Sunday

Well I guess the Corona virus is finally starting to have an effect on us.  Yesterday, we thought we’d take the “safari bus” to Home Depot and spend the day over in that direction but after standing for 30 minutes waiting for one, we finally gave up the effort. 

I have a weakness for sailors

Nicky and I tried to pick up a sailor we found loitering on the wharf.  We didn’t have much success.  He was the strong, silent type.  He wouldn’t even buy us a drink. 

Nicky likes sailors too!

We eventually walked over to a Chinese restaurant the guys found for lunch and were able to sit inside but several other restaurants were only open for take out.  We saw a bunch of cruisers setting up their own lawn chairs in the parking lot to wait.  Wonder how that works in the scheme of things. 

Today, all restaurant business is completely take out.  Dale and Gerry had taken a taxi over to the UPS store to return the faulty water maker (which Dale said was surprisingly easy,) finally made it to Home Depot before returning on the “safari bus” and walked over to McDonalds while Nicky and I were doing laundry but had to stand in the drive through lane to order.  This threw every order off as there was no way for them to order through the vehicle activated radio and instead just walked up to the pick up window.  They got their food but it showed that there were others trying to order take out that the restaurants weren’t addressing. 

As I mentioned, Nicky and I had gathered our laundry today and walked a couple of blocks to the launderette to complete the task.  Talk about taking a day to do one thing, this was another example.  We had first dinghied in to the sail loft to see if I could order the replacement foam for our sling seat.  We had no sooner opened the door when the woman sitting inside said “that’s about 6 foot,” she could have said “reach for the sky” in the tone she used.  Once it was determined that they didn’t have any in stock and she made it sound as if it would be a huge imposition and gamble to order some prepaid, we left. 

There happened to be a hair salon in the same complex, I called to Nicky as we walked out the door that I was going to see if I could get my bangs cut.  A woman at the other end of the hallway said that all businesses were closed.  So much for my (hairdresser) niece’s comment that women would still get their hair done regardless of what was going on in the world.  Maybe she meant that we would want to get our hair done. 

Dinghy Madness

Of course, all of this moving around required getting on and off at the dinghy dock.  Today must have been the day when every boat in the anchorage went stir crazy and had to get off their respective boats as dinghies were 2 and 3 deep at the dock.  At one point Nicky and I were trapped inside so I put the engine in reverse, revved up the engine a bit, and then the two of us pushed and shoved our way out.  Obviously, we made it but . . . dang!

Tonight, we’ve decided to shelter in place; or in other words, we have to use up our left overs. 

The plan now is to hoist anchor tomorrow, if we can get it out of the mud, and move over to Francis Bay so that the guys can clean the bottom of the boats.  We may or may not see Texas Crewed and Rum Truffel as they were going to move in the same direction yesterday or today.  Not really sure what kind of WiFi I’ll find, so it may be a couple of days before you hear from us again.  Don’t worry, none of us has a sniffle or cough and no one has been partying hard enough for anyone to be thrown in jail.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.  The wind started howling again, the boat started swinging and I started getting up to make sure we weren’t going anywhere.  Although I didn’t turn on the wind instruments, I’m sure that there were a couple of 30 kt gusts.  Later in the day, Gerry said that he did see 27kts once. 

At one point I had sat straight up in bed realizing that I was getting wet.  In my effort to close the hatch, I had to undo the screen and ended up slapping myself in the face with it and by the time I got the hatch closed, I was drenching wet.  I sat there thinking about whether it was worth the effort to get up and towel off or just lay back down.  I elected to lay back down.  Into a puddle.  There is a tiny hatch over, yet behind our pillows that usually isn’t affected by rain as its at the end of the boat and straight up and down so rain is usually blown past it.  Not this time.  Now my pillow is wet.  Dale managed to sleep through it all.  Nicky said that she was considering putting a bar of soap next to the bed for such occasions.  I think she may be on to something there. 

Then it was up and down; up and down; making sure we weren’t moving.  Once morning arrived, Dale sent me back down to get some sleep and he started some maintenance on the water maker by cleaning the salt water strainer, etc.  Gerry came over a bit later with his wowie-zowie battery tester (as opposed to Dale’s basic one) and the Tinker Twins were at it again.  However, they did find that our port side starter battery was dead with a capital D.  Since the house batteries and the starter batteries are all connected together, the dead battery was draining the house batteries (the ones we just ordered new ones to replace).  Dale called around found a good price on a replacement starter battery (that was in stock), so the Twins were off.  They dinked over to pick it up and also found a couple of gallons of oil to change the oil in both engines.  They brought back the battery, installed it, discussed the ins and outs of all things battery related before Gerry headed back to his boat.   

After lunch, Dale changed oil in both engines with enough left over for another complete oil change in the future.  

In the meantime, Nicky was on her boat making crepes for dinner and I made another fruit pizza for dessert.  We all shared our dinner on Opal and discussed our situation, i.e we are somewhat stuck in the USVI for at least 2 weeks. 

We were informed that our replacement house batteries ordered and paid for won’t be arriving on the Monday in 2 days but the following Monday.  However, we still need to return the original water maker to the manufacturer via UPS, who isn’t open over the weekend and visit a sail loft in search of some foam to replace the sling seat interior.  (The foam I used a couple of years ago, although it drains water immediately and is used specifically for outdoor use, doesn’t hold up in the sun more than a couple of years.) Therefore, we’ve decided that we can get those last items completed either tomorrow or on Monday and then head over to St. John (still in the USVI) for a couple of days to scrub the bottom of our boats (and a change of scenery) before having to come back here to pick up the house batteries.  Gene on Texas Crewed said that they might be interested in joining our bottom cleaning venture. 

So, we’ve got a plan.  Let’s see how well we stick to it. 

Friday, March 20, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

I know for those who are reading this and have never lived aboard a boat, its hard to imagine that doing some grocery shopping would take an entire day; but it does. 

We had our list, assembled our bags (2 Sam’s insulated bags each and a backpack each), made sure we had singles for the “safari bus,” lowered the dink, bounced across the harbor, nosed our way into the dinghy dock, walked a couple of  blocks to the bus stop and then climbed aboard.  Gerry and Nicky had sussed out this information previously, so there was no angst in making sure we were on the right bus and going in the right direction.  Once there, we all crossed the street, walked down the hill about a block and a half and while Nicky and I went towards the store, Dale and Gerry had to check out the Auto Zone along the way. 

When we arrived at the front door, Nicky and I were rather surprised to see a long waiting line to get in.  We suspected that this was due to the virus situation, so we grabbed our carts and got in line.  Within 10 minutes, we were surprised to see the police come in and move everyone back, I think they were trying to put 6’ between each person but were only able to get a cart length and a bit between each of us.  Everyone was accommodating and I didn’t hear any real complaining.  During this time Dale and Gerry caught back up to us (which was good as Gerry had the membership card to get us in.) Then we were held in line and only allowed in as people exited.  So there must have been a limit as to how many people could actually be in the store at one time.  Once we entered, our carts were sprayed with Lysol and off we went.  There were store workers who would only allow so many people in a particular aisle.  I went through as quickly as possible but still managed to load up my cart to the point where, first Dale, then Nicky and then Gerry all made a point to tell me that I still had to carry it all back in our bags.  So, I put back some Diet Coke; but the rest of it was going dang it! The fact that I found Dale’s favorite cereal was worth all of the aggravation.  Then we got in another line, with lines taped out on the floor to govern distance between each cart to check out.  Once we checked out, we moved outside where I divided up our purchases into the various bags trying to balance the weight among them.  Believe it or not, it all fit and no one bag was too heavy to carry.  We trudged back up the hill, caught the returning “safari bus” to the anchorage, back to the dinghies to load everything, pushed and shoved our way out of the dinghy dock, bounced back to the boat and put everything away. 

Now mind you, this was the bulk store.  We took time to grab a quick bite for lunch, then it was time to go to the regular store for smaller items like milk and bread, so once again, back in the dink, bounce across the harbor, nose our way into the dinghy dock, walk a couple of blocks to the Pueblo (which is actually right across the street from the original bus stop) for the smaller items on our mutual lists.  Gerry and Nicky finished first and sent Dale to see where I had gotten lost at.  I finished up, paid, loaded up the bags again, then hiked back to the dinghy dock, loaded everything into the dinghy, pushed and shoved our way back out, located a place to buy a bag of ice, dinghied to it (around many multimillion dollar yachts) to the fuel dock for them, to beg like Oliver Twist from sea level to a very high dock, please sir, may I have a bag of ice? Then bounce back across the harbor to the boat, unload and put everything away. 

It is now 3:30pm.  I’m hosting the BBQ this evening, so start making preps.  We have a pleasant evening, although I was disappointed to find out I didn’t have a copy of the movie Mauna (only the music CD) which I had promised to show Nicky as she had never seen it but we were able to show her another movie she hadn’t seen called Passengers.  About being stranded on a ship in space and not the trip you signed up for.  Just as unforgiving when things go wrong but with the right mindset, can be a life worthwhile.  Rather apropos I’d say. 

And that’s how you can spend an entire day, just grocery shopping. 

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

Another day where what should have taken only a couple of hours, ended up being a full day’s project. 

Once again, I started the day removing rust stains on the boat, basically picking up where I had left off yesterday.  Gerry came over earlier and dropped Nicky off while he went in search of an impeller for his generator.  Dale had already replaced the fuel valve that had been “weeping” and was in the process of rebuilding the raw water pump that was leaking both oil and water and had spread tools, pieces and parts all over the cockpit. 

Tinkering Consultant and Tweaker in Chief

Once the rain started, I took Nicky back over to her boat to close the hatches and then we both returned to the Palace just as Gerry returned and then settled in to watch the magic happen. 

They had diagrams with circles and arrows (and a paragraph on the back of each one to be used as evidence against them), hammers, screwdrivers, sockets, wrenches, calipers; you name it, they had it and were using everything to tear the pump apart and put it back together again.  It was classic!  The Tweaker in Chief and his Tinkering Consultant were in hog heaven as they had oil up to their elbows, dirt under their fingernails and made lots of noise hammering and tinkering. 

Where the problem began was when they tried to put it back together again.  Apparently, the parts that had come out, suddenly didn’t fit going back in.  I was asked to put one part in the freezer to assist.  Of course!  Not a problem!  I understand physics.  Just wrap that nasty thing in a clean paper towel before I mix it in with our food. 

It Takes Two

Then the impeller for the pump didn’t fit over the shaft it had originally come off of.  They eventually had to file some piece quite a bit to make everything go back in place.  They were dumbfounded as to how a piece of steel could be warped to the extent that it had.  (Nicky suspected that it might have had something to do with all of the hammering to get everything apart.)  By 3:30pm, they had everything back together, the pump back in place, the engine started, water was flowing, with only a drip every 30 seconds or so.  I gather that it was an improvement.  I don’t know.  They’re happy.  The dang thing works, I’m happy. 

Although Nicky and I had planned on having another barbeque on our boat, Dale was exhausted and didn’t want to have to contend with getting the grill started and since it appears that grilling is in his realm solely, I wasn’t asked and certainly didn’t object when the guys decided that we were going out tonight.  Nicky and I located an Italian restaurant called Virgilio’s within walking distance, confirmed that they were open and serving dinner and then we all dashed for showers before heading out for a wonderful dinner.  I had lasagna, Dale had chicken parmesan, Gerry had fettuccine carbonara and Nicky had raw meat.  It was marinated and had a fancy name (carpaccio) but it was still raw meat. 

After returning to the Palace this evening, Dale saw where the State Department has issued a Level 4 advisory (usually only issued during times of war) advising all American citizens to return to the US as they may not be able to enter at a later date.   Really?  Just exactly how are we supposed to do that?  Abandon our property and fly home?  I thought all foreign flights had been cancelled already.  Hoist sails and head straight there?  It would take at least a month and by that time, I thought the powers that be presumed the restrictions would be lifted by then.  This is beyond madness. 

In any event, we’re going shopping tomorrow and yes, I am buying toilet paper as I haven’t bought any since leaving the US back in November.  I think we’re due some.  So now I need to make a list of what we should get before heading off to bed.  Stay sane folks, it’s a crazy world out there. 

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

Another productive day!

While Dale studied the boom and the how and where to run the main sheet, I lowered the dink and started cleaning the rust stains on the starboard side and worked my way down the side until the rain forced me to stop.  By that time, I was tired anyway. 

Gerry and Nicky came over shortly after that, so that the guys could replace the main sheet.  Although Dale had reviewed Utube videos from the maker of the boom and eventually called the installer of the boom, it became evident that this was not going to be a simple job.  It took them the better part of the day and they finally resolved the problem of not being able to run the line without jamming until they removed the pullies at both ends of the boom (one being riveted in place) and used every tool on both boats (including my straightened out clothes hanger with a hook at the end and Gerry’s shop vac) to complete the job.  Once done, I rewarded them both with ice water and chocolate chip cookies.  When completed, they had just enough time for Dale to catch 40 winks and Gerry to take a shower before Dale and I went over to Opal (Gerry and Nicky’s boat) for dinner. 

In the meantime, I ordered Dale’s prescriptions via a mobile app (that only works in the US; mainland or territories) and tried once again to clear up the issue of having an Experian app to lock our credit report while out of the country.  The long and short of it, I had to unlock the app for a week so that Dale can straighten out his Social Security/Medicare issues.)

While the guys were working on the boom earlier in the day, Nicky and I had divided the tasks and had formulated a dinner of chicken kabobs, sausages, Hasselback potatoes, salad and chocolate chip cookies. However, when Dale and I arrived, Gerry was elbow deep in his cockpit transom, trying to figure out why his generator had suddenly stopped.  The Tinker Twins were on it again!  Together they attacked the problem of non existent water cooling and by the time dinner was ready they had figured out the problem and corrected it (something to do with an impeller). 

It was a great dinner and one that was devoured with relish (for some reason, fresh air and sunshine makes you ravenous).  When Dale and I first left the Palace for Opal we had noticed smoke on the shore but really didn’t think too much about it.  By the end of the evening, there were a multitude of fire engines being police escorted from what looked like the airport to the ship terminal directly in front of us.  Not sure what was ablaze but it was becoming the talk of our evening. 

Gerry and Nicky caught up with Abigail, their daughter back in Australia, and apparently, things are just as crazy there as they are here.  Nothing on the shelves, people getting in fights over toilet paper and hand sanitizer and again, the world on edge and going crazy rather quickly.  We decided that being on boats, not within easy swimming distance, was probably the safest place to be during these times of stress and uncertainty.

Tomorrow, we’re hoping to either get our batteries that Dale ordered yesterday or go shopping for groceries (if any are to be found).  In either event, neither task will be an easy undertaking.  As always, wish us luck. 

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today was not only busy but also productive.  Gerry and Nicky came over about 9 am and then the boys took off for marine chandleries while Nicky and I caught up some more.  Also, I was tasked with contacting the marina we had intended to stay at during hurricane season as neither one of our boats had heard back from our original correspondences.  I was able to call the marina we had chosen, but I was directed to once again use the website to complete the reservation paperwork.  I sent an e-mail to them as I was directed.  Then, just to make sure we were covered, I contacted a second marina to have a Plan B, but this time, I was told that Trinidad was closed to any non-nationals until further notice.  The first marina had never mentioned that little tidbit.  Now what?  Since, there was nothing more I could do in that direction, I put it aside hoping that things will sort itself out by June.  I’ll keep sending e-mails. 

In the meantime, I could tell where the guys were by the pinging on my telephone detailing each purchase where our credit card had been used.  At about 11am, we thought we heard the guys returning but instead we were being hailed by Gene and Renee off Texas Crewed who are in the next harbor over with Rum Truffel. It was great to introduce some of our oldest friends to our newest friends.  Once the guys did return, we all decided to head into town for Roti’s.  Dale had a hankering for Roti’s the way I had for pinchos.  Roti’s are an East Indian street fare.  Sort of like curried chicken and potatoes in a burrito type of wrap.  They were delicious.  Then we all crossed the street to the tea shop to have tea for the ladies and beer for the guys.  Mine was a blend of green tea, white tea, mint and jasmine teas.  It was delicious and needed no sweetner.  I might have to go back there again. 

After that, we waddled back to our dinks and back to our boats.  Dale and Gerry ran the new line for the jib halyard but had a hard time trying to figure out the main sheet as it had to run through the bottom of the roller furling boom.  Apparently, the fish tape would only go so far before it would jam up.  So that task got put aside as well. 

Dale was able to order new batteries for the boat.  He had considered purchasing them before we left but I dragged my feet on it thinking that they hadn’t been used that much regardless of how old they were.  I was proven wrong and before they really go into the dumper, he wanted them replaced while we can at a reasonable price. 

The next task came about because Gerry and Nicky had seen a line coming from the bottom of our boat when they originally approached us in the morning, so once they returned to their boat, Dale grabbed a knife and jumped in to see what he could do to cut it loose.  He was able to get the majority of it off but there was a portion tightly wound around the shaft of the propeller that he couldn’t cut off no matter which direction he chose to attack it from.  As the prop was turning freely, he elected to leave the last bit on.  We’ll see what happens next on that decision.  Hopefully it will wear off and disappear.  If not, we’ll try a different approach when we have the boat hauled for bottom paint. 

We ended the day heading into the cruise dock terminal where we had dinner at a sports bar.  There are no cruise ships, so we might as well take advantage of it.  As it was pub fare and placed in to-go bags, we figured this was how they were getting around the “no more than 10, 25, 50” (depending upon which news you listened to) people in a gathering.  They couldn’t help it if we all decided to sit and eat at their tables.  We did notice that the police did come and speak with the bar tender but no action was taken with regard to moving us all along. 

Tomorrow will be more of the same, trying to check off as many items of our to do list as possible.  Until then . . .

Monday, March 16, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

Look at where we are!  Let’s see; where to start this saga.  How about a quick lesson in sailing tactics? 

We knew that north winds were predicted for the next 3-4 days once we arrived in Boqueron.  This fit our plans to head to Ponce on the south side of the Puerto Rican island.  With the island between us and the howling north wind, as long as we stayed within a couple of miles of the shoreline, we would be protected and have relatively flat seas in which to motor sail.

Cabo Roja, PR

When we hoisted anchor at 6:30 am on Sunday morning, we intended to motor sail in these calm conditions to Ponce.  At any other time, this would have been rather an aggressive undertaking but in these conditions, it was perfect.  In fact, instead of arriving in the mid to late afternoon, we arrived just after 1pm. 

Dale tried several times on different channels to hail Ponce Yacht Club to request permission to enter and obtain fuel and a slip for the night.  This was met with no response.  As there were many boats out and about in the area, we took the chance and simply pulled into the marina and up to the fuel pier.  We saw a couple of men standing by the fueling pumps, so we maintained our approach.  Then just as we arrived, one went into the building and returned, gloved up and wearing a mask!  We were able to refuel but were refused a slip as they were no longer taking any new transients who had been in the country for less than 2 weeks.  We were informed that no marina on the entire island would be accepting newcomers.  We paid for our fuel and a bag of ice and decided that with the great conditions, we would continue on to Rosey Roads to see if they were still open to retired military personnel. 

About an hour and a half later, while Dale was monitoring the water maker, an alarm went off at the helm station that sounded for all it was worth like an Amber Alert back home—only longer—and what seemed like much louder.  It was a startling noise and one I couldn’t make sense of.  I checked the chart plotter, all of the helm instruments, yelled down to Dale to come look but he hadn’t even heard the noise, which was now silent.  No clues as to what the alarm was indicating. 

About an hour after that, we got a text from Gerry and Nicky that Puerto Rico had, for all intents and purposes, been closed.  It said:

To all cruisers sailors and maritime industry partners in Puerto Rico:  CBP is open and ports are open to private vessels for the time being.  The only entity allowed to shut down entrance to a port is the US Coast Guard.  The local government has shut down certain docks to prevent entrance of cruise ships and some commercial vessels.  Private vessels are still allowed entrance at the discretion of Customs and Border Patrol which continues to operate at regular hours.

However, please be aware that there is a lockdown and only essential service personnel is allowed to be in the streets after 9PM.  Restaurants, bars, tourism attractions and all other non essential businesses will be closed as of today at 6PM until March 30, 2020.  During the day, you are only allowed on the streets if you are going to the grocery store, doctor’s, pharmacy or picking up food from a carry out/delivery restaurant.  Cruise ships are not allowed to come into Puerto Rico.  I urge you to call into the marina or port well before your entry to confirm any new changes or restrictions.  The situation is changing rapidly.  Be safe. 

When I picked up my phone to read this, I saw that the alarm I had previously been startled by, was in fact, an Emergency Notice, stating that the governor of Puerto Rico had enacted this curfew. 

I guess you can say that this is the closest that I ever want to get to martial law.  Dale and I made the immediate decision that with the favorable conditions, to continue through the night to St. Thomas and regroup with Gerry and Nicky to take on the world. 

Remember the last time I posted, I had climbed on my soap box and shouted for all to hear that I thought this was a lot of hype!  Fate, Karma, or God’s sense of humor, has a way of putting you in your place from time to time.  Consider me properly chastised. 

With the decision made, it was only a matter of placing a few more waypoints into the chart plotter and then aiming for the second star to the right and continuing on until morning. 

Eye in the Sky

Most of the afternoon and the late evening were perfect.  However, once we came out from the protection of Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra or Culebrita, the wind would howl, the sails would strain, the auto pilot would be over taxed, the boat would start pounding and the last 5 hours of our trip were just down right miserable.  In fact, about 10 pm, our mail sheet gave way, so we turned into the wind, lowered our sails so that Dale could climb on the hard top to secure the boom from swinging.  We had already noticed that our jib halyard was starting to stretch to the point where the clutch couldn’t hold it tight once it was raised, so we added it and the broken main sheet to our growing list of things to be addressed once we landed somewhere. 

South Coast of PR

About 10 am Monday morning, we began our way into the entrance of Charlotte Amalie.  Gerry and Nicky hailed us on the radio saying that they could see us entering but that they were in fact, just leaving to go refuel.  Whoa!  We’re too close for you to get out of our sight now.  Although Dale was exhausted, I managed to talk him into topping off our tank as well.  I liken this to being prepared for hurricanes well before they arrive on your doorstep.  If we’re already fueled, we don’t have to get in line in case we have to move quickly for whatever reason. 

After that, we followed them back to the anchorage, circled around until we found just the right spot, dropped our anchor in 26’ of water and settled in.  Again, I talked an exhausted Dale into adding the kellet to the anchor arrangement as we had to use a rather short scope in this very crowded anchorage.  As the winds are piping up this evening, I feel better that we have a bit more weight to hold us in place. 

Gerry and Nicky appeared shortly thereafter with sodas and beer to welcome us to the neighborhood and a quick catch up before making a courteous retreat so that we could dive below for hot showers and a couple of hours rest. 

So now you know why we are in St. Thomas instead of Puerto Rico.  Dale and Gerry have already started making plans for repairs, purchasing parts, mailing parts back to the US, and basically, all of the things we were going to do in Puerto Rico, which we will now do here.  Gerry and Nicky are very well acquainted with this area as they have been here going on 2 months, cooling their jets waiting for us to finally show up, so now they are our guides to all places wonderful:  like Price Smart, Home Depot, marine chandleries and all of the best and least expensive places to eat. 

What can I say?  We’re alive, well, and all of our plans going forward, are firmly entrenched in jello.  Daily we’re hearing of more and more islands, limiting or out right closing their borders to cruisers.  I really don’t know where that will leave us but among the 4 of us, we should be able to tackle anything that we might encounter.   As always, wish us luck.