At Sea

N 12.34.126

W 62.03.742

2021.01.26 

We awoke at our normal times and ate a quick breakfast before securing the remaining items we had left for the last minute.  Dale hung a trash bag for me to put plastics in for the trip while I put our salon pillows in pillow cases for the transit. 

Gerry came over for a last goodbye and chit chatted until it was time for us to leave.  I think Nicky stayed back having a hard time saying goodbye as I certainly knew I was; either that or she was done with us already and moving on!  A quick hug and kiss goodbye before I started the engines at 9am and gave our neighbor resting over our anchor a wave to let him know we were moving.   By 9:15 our anchor was lifted and stowed and we moved cautiously out of the anchorage, waving goodbye to Gerry/Nicky and Chris/Helen who had dinghied over for the farewells.  We turned into the wind at the end of most of the anchored boats to hoist our main sail and then motored sailed out of the harbor, down the southside of Grenada and rounded north to hoist our jib.  By 9:30, Dale took over and we turned off the engine and sailed along the west side of Grenada.  Until the mountains blocked our wind and he had to turn the engines back on.  It took another couple of hours and 3 more starts and stops of the engine until we were finally clear of Grenada and really started sailing. 

It was pretty sporty for the first 4 hours but by 3pm things finally settled into something manageable and we continued on seeing speeds up to 8.2 kts but generally in the 7 knot range. 

Ouch!

By 4pm Dale started worrying that we were traveling too fast; we already had one reef in and he was considering putting a second one in as well.  I reminded him that it takes us 3.5-4 days to get to St. Thomas and that our weather report had suggested we might be motor sailing the last day due to light winds.  As the Palace seemed to be doing well, we decided to keep our speed up so that we could make adjustments at the end of the passage if needed.  If the winds die too soon, we could get caught in the low pressure system that we expect in on Friday night. 

Twice during our departure, we noted planes flying low as if to see who we were but nothing else was noted; except some balloons bobbing in the water.  We made sure not to go anywhere close to them.  Hopefully they were just fishing markers and nothing sinister. 

My current situation is that I’ve done something to my hand.  The first that I noticed it was when it started itching.  I don’t remember smacking it on anything but when the boat is rocking and rolling there’s a lot of bumping into things and not noticing right away.  Obviously, it’s going to be a beute of a bruise! 

 

 

At Sea

N 14.44.125

W 63.03.376

2021.01.27

            Last evening as the sun set, the wind and waves built to an uncomfortable level.  At one point I heard something hit the hard top. At change of watch, I clipped into the jackline and ventured out onto the deck.  I climbed the step to the hardtop and swept the top with a flashlight but couldn’t see anything obvious.  It would have to wait until daybreak to do further investigation.  We still had one reef in and had a full moon so we could at least see when the larger than normal waves were coming towards us.  On one of my shifts during the night, I saw what appeared to be a wave higher than the lifelines getting ready to break.  However, we rose to meet it and it drifted below us without incident.  It definitely caught my attention.  During the day, the wind and waves seemed to be more manageable to my thinking, but Dale had developed sea sickness by this time and he disagreed that anything had settled down

Stow away

I was delighted to see a pod of little black dolphins playing on our bow during one of my shifts.  I tried to wake Dale but he was out to the world.  When it was his turn in the seat of power and glory, I pointed out a tanker that was slowly drifting from west to east, well in front of us.  He did find what we figure made all the racket last evening; we figure the flying fish hit the hardtop then bounced forward on to the deck.  They were the only items of interest for the remainder of the day.  

By afternoon the winds had calmed and we shook the reef out to keep our speed in the 6 kt range.  Again, we were thankful for the full moon during the night.  In case you’re wondering, the knot on my hand has begun to color the entire hand but at least the only part that is painful is the place where I must have hit it. 

 

 

At Sea

N 16.50.500

W 63.59.173

2021.01.28

            A little after midnight we put the reef back when the wind started creeping back into the 20 knot range.  Within a couple of hours, Dale saw 28 kts and I saw a 26.  Dale is still not feeling well but he’s been a trouper and stands each of his watches without fail.  On one of them, I let him sleep an extra half hour as he clearly needed the rest. 

Today’s excitement was when I “broke” the chart plotter.  We have a “hybrid” model that is not only touch screen but has buttons too.  I had noticed that after it was in the chart mode for a good length of time, the touch screen would no longer respond and you had to go to the buttons to try to clear it.  Thinking that I had accidently hit the screen lock function, I tried to unlock it by touching it again.  Nope, this time, I actually did lock it.  So back and forth between the buttons and the screen trying to free it up had no response.  The further out of the chart I went in an effort to clear it, the further out I managed to lock myself out of.  I dove down into the starboard hull to locate the instruction manual I had printed out to help resolve the problem (I’m old school; I want a hard copy for this very reason.  You lock yourself out of the software, you can’t access the digital version!!!)  Still no joy.  Now the buttons weren’t responding.  I finally woke Dale up and explained how I needed to be able to use the AIS on the touch screen but that I preferred using the dial to increase/decrease the chart size.  He was able to get us back one step in the process before everything froze.  I was terrified to turn the whole thing off for fear that it wouldn’t start again, but Dale shut it down without blinking an eye.  Giving it about 30 seconds we turned it back on and thankfully, it had rebooted itself to where we could access the chartplotter once again. 

Dale laid back down and, most likely, had just drifted off again, when it froze up again.  I may or may not have been messing with it.  This time when he got up he cautioned me: “Lorie I love the fact that you explore all of the functions on this but 2 days from our destination is not the time to figure out how things work.  Stop pushing the buttons!”  I promised.  We cleared it, and he returned to his rest period.  When it was his watch, the first thing out of his mouth was “you touched the buttons!”  This startled me!  I didn’t!  I didn’t touch the buttons; I may have touched the screen; once.  I felt like a 5 year old.  You told me not to touch the candy; I didn’t, I ate a cookie.  It was now my rest period.  As I closed my eyes, I saw him touch a button.   

By evening, the wind had fallen drastically, so we were back to motor sailing.  Dale was feeling well enough to try sleeping inside the salon area for a few hours.  By midnight, when he came back on watch, we could see the lights on St. Croix but not as many as you would expect for a well known vacation island. As we rounded the eastern edge and turned slightly toward St. Thomas, we gave what was supposed to be 3 lights marking the reef on that side a wide berth.  Basically because, the chart showed that there were supposed to be 3 lights but we never saw a one.  What we did see were two lights in the distance that ended up being lights on St. Johns.  We kept a watchful eye on them nonetheless. 

 

St. Thomas, USVI

N 18.20.016

W 64.55.469

2021.01.29

            The sun came up with us motoring more than sailing with flat calm seas making our way to St. Thomas.  We skirted Frenchman’s cap, dodged Buck Island, before finally turning into Charlotte Amalie Harbor.  It was mid morning but things appeared to be fairly quiet.  We radioed ahead and requested fuel from Yacht Haven Marina as they had a more direct passage to the fuel dock than Crown Bay.  Although we felt fairly rested, after 3.5 days, we might not be in the best form.  They granted us permission, then directed that we go to the inside of the fuel pier; so much for the direct route.  This meant tippy toeing around the giant (almost cruise ship sized) yachts berthed along the outside and weave our way to the inside amongst all of the yachts poking their very pointy bows into the channel to the fuel dock before pivoting into place.  We managed to do this without drama and our lines were caught by a young lady from Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  Of course, I had to tell her that I was from Pottsville and we found it humorous that 2 farm girls were out here on the high seas. 

            We only took 20 gallons of diesel but 60 gallons of water.  This surprised both Dale and I as we thought we were being extremely conservative in our water usage.  When we were refueled, we traced our way back out, into the anchorage, and anchoring pretty much back to where we had spent a couple of months last year.  We laid out 160’ of chain, backing down on it at the 120’, 140’ and 160’ marks just to make sure we weren’t going anywhere before turning off the engines, taking a couple of much needed showers and heading to bed.  Dale fell asleep right away; I just laid there resting. 

            We were back up by late afternoon and I tried to use my CBP Roam app to check us in.  It needed to be updated, which I did, but then the newer version indicated that due to CoVid, private travel was considered nonessential and to check with the local CBP office.  That would require putting the dink in the water and, to be quite frank, we’re just not up to that yet.  We’ll check in tomorrow.  We had a light dinner and then back to bed rather early for me.  This time, I had no problem falling asleep.  

 

 

St. Thomas, USVI

N 18.20.016

W 64.55.469

2021.01.30 

            I eased into the morning, listening to Dale checking the weather forecast on the single side band and then downloading the weather information from the satellite telephone.  Once all of the beeping and tones indicating that the download was complete had quieted, I joined him in the salon to see how long we’d be sitting here.  When we left Grenada, we were hoping to catch a window due in on Monday.  Now that we’re here, its not looking good that we’ll get out of here before Friday. 

            Since we’re going to be here awhile, Dale detangled the dinghy from the spiderweb he concocts for our transits and lowered it to make a hasty trip to the phone store for the new SIM card we’ll need to connect to the internet.  On his return, he tells me that it was one of the easiest phone transactions that he had done to date.  That is until he went to use it.  Yes, he can use his telephone to connect to the internet but he cannot use his computer to connect to the internet via the hotspot on his telephone as he had intended and professes that he explained to the customer service rep when he made the purchase.  After more than an hour on the phone to the help line, he ends up buying more (and apparently different) data, so now we can use the very expensive SIM card for a week or so.  

            Our next task; checking us in.  We head into the dinghy dock at Yacht Haven Marina and go to the CBP office we went to when we checked out of St. Thomas last year, only to find that the doors are locked.  Being a Saturday, we check with the office next door to see if they know their neighbor’s operating hours, to learn that they only see people by appointment these days and only those who are registered with Yacht Haven Marina.  Since we’re just grotty yachties in the anchorage, we need to go to the commercial seaport at the opposite end of the harbor about 3 miles away.  Got it. 

Since we’re here, lets get some grocery shopping done!  We really didn’t use that much on the trip but since we can’t let a possible trip to the grocery store go to waste, we fill our cart with as much Fresca and Black Cherry Rum as we can carry.  I think we did throw a couple of cans of soup in the cart as well but as we now have all of the essentials, we can head back.  Dale commented a couple of times that it was amazing how our perspectives have changed over the course of the trip.  We had become accustomed to the Grenadian grocery stores, so now the St. Thomas grocery store looks abundant in available selections. 

The front we had been anticipating finally started making its way through and it began the rain, wind and rocking waves only those who’ve spent time in Prickly Bay can appreciate.  We spend most of the remainder of the day, reading and trying to stay dry.  There may have been a covert trip to the Tap and Still for quick hamburger but I’m not telling.  I’ll only say that its amazing how good a burger tastes when you haven’t truly had really great one in 8 months. 

 

 

St. Thomas, USVI

N 18.20.016

W 64.55.469

2021.01.31

            Today is still very windy and rainy but Dale managed to replace the gaskets on the emergency rudder access panels (leaking water into the bilge) and clean the rust stains we develop during a transit on the bow, stern and basically anywhere there is stainless coming into contact with salt water.  He managed to clean the port side during one lull, the starboard side during another lull and finally putting the dink in the water to get under the trampoline before being forced back onto the boat by rain.  Not quite complete but almost.  

            We finished the day with Tennessee caviar.  Neither Dale nor I know why he loves this particular dip so much but considering its not difficult to make, definitely one I’d call a boat recipe, and one he’s willing to eat as a meal—you got it!

 

 

St. Thomas, USVI

N 18.20.016

W 64.55.469

2021.02.01

            Dale kept with his normal routine of listening to the SSB weather before downloading the satellite weather information.  SSB information indicated that no useful window was going to open for transit prior to Friday.  Satellite information showed a glimmer of hope for Thursday but that a second wave was coming in quicker than the SSB weather had indicted.  We could be here for a while.  We’ll just have to keep watching. 

A very quiet Charlotte Amalie.

Check in: part II.  This morning we began with a telephone call to the CBP to set up an appointment for check in.  The man answering the phone was very patient asking pertinent questions but basically telling me I had the wrong number.  He was CBP at the airport, I needed CBP at the seaport.  He graciously provided the telephone number for the right port which I promptly misdialed twice with my fat fingers, still swollen but useable.    When I finally got through to the right number, at the right facility, the gentlemen answering the phone there asked where I was located and why I wasn’t using the CBP Roam app.  I explained what I had gone through previously and he assured me that if I tried again, it might work.  Well, it did.  I filed my application, they called me back for the follow-up interview, he passed me to the Agriculture officer who cautioned me not to throw our wet trash away on shore without properly bagging and stashing it in an approved disposal unit and that was the end of it.  We’re checked in.