Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

The knock on the hull early this morning was Tom telling us that he didn’t trust the car to make it all the way to San Juan so our trip to the exchange at Ft. Buchanan is off. Rats! I was really looking forward to the day out and about.

So I changed my plans and rode up to the bowling alley to continue trying to upload my posts to the internet while Dale stayed behind to try and track down stray electrical currents. Apparently our zinks are deteriorating quicker than he thinks is proper and he wants to make sure all of the 110 connections are properly grounded. Tom dropped by later and told him that when he dropped off some work to be done at the aluminum shop, our outboard motor hoist had been repaired and was waiting for pick up. He and Dale doubled back and by the time they got there, Tom’s repair had been completed too. Wow! Talk about service.

While waiting for my photos to upload into the blogspot (which is why it takes so long), I was able to ‘chat’ with Gerry & Nicky via Skype today. They are still in Georgetown and anticipate leaving on Saturday if the weather holds. They’ve been having a tough time with the weather lately and Nicky sounded anxious to find better sailing and swimming conditions. I remember the feeling and tried to assure her that once they made it this far south, things would improve tremendously.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dale dug out our bicycles and pumped up the tires so that we could ride up to the bowling alley to upload these posts to the blogspot. I had forgotten how slow the internet connection was here but its FREE!! So I won’t complain too much.

Tom (off St. Christopher) was already there trying out his new Skype software. He told us that a neighbor of his on their dock offered the use of their car while they are in the States for the holidays. He and Jordan want to make a trip over to the exchange at Ft. Buchanan tomorrow and invited us to go along. Wonderful, another day of shopping!

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

Today was a big day. We rented a car and went shopping!

After picking up the car, we dropped by Puerto del Rey to drop off our outboard motor hoist at the aluminum fabricators to see it they could repair it. They said that they could but were uncertain if they could get it back to us before the Christmas holidays. They are one of the services that plan on being on vacation from this coming Friday until the 6th of January, after Three Kings Day.

Next we traveled to Farjardo to drop off our jib and dinghy cover for leather repair at the local sail loft. They too were planning on closing Friday afternoon but planned on being back after the New Year. Perfect! We left everything with them. While we were there, we checked across the street at one of the local chandleries to see if they had a hot water tank like ours. They didn’t but they could order one and gave us a quote.

Next we stopped by West Marine to pick up a new spinnaker halyard and, of course, to check out their end of the year sale. Next was Walmart where we picked up copies of the latest Harry Potter movie and the DaVinci code. Then we swung by the grocery store to pick up a few fresh vegetables before heading back to the boat.

After checking things out a bit, we found that it was to our benefit to order the hot water tank via the catalog. We received an e-mail from Gerry and Nicky today that they had made it to Georgetown in the Bahamas, so we’re going to be here for a couple more weeks; the 10 day back order wasn’t going to be a problem.

We ended the day with another quick trip to Farjardo to the local Pizza Hut. It’s been a long time since we had a Pizza Hut pizza and it tasted really good. We took our time coming back enjoying the Christmas lights of Farjardo and Ceiba along the way. Last year we had been caught in weather in Mayaguana where we weren’t anywhere near a town or the holiday decorations. This year I’m soaking it all in.

Photo: Our home at Roosevelt Roads between 1991 - 1994.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

This morning, we gingerly worked our way through the maze that our boat has become with the salon torn to pieces to check on the hot water tank. The second repair is still not holding. Somehow I already knew what the prognosis was going to be. I’m not sure I would have trusted it even if it had worked. So I dug out all of our mail order catalogs and started researching cost and shipping expenditures. We’ll rent a car tomorrow to do some leg work at the local chandleries as well. (His trip to West Marine yesterday wasn’t very fruitful. They had a hot water tank but from a different vender which would require re-plumbing all of the hoses.)

Since we’re going shopping, we might as well get everything else while we’re out and about. So I hoisted Dale up the mast to check on rigging the spinnaker halyard that broke. First we needed to locate the current one and then see if something had cut it while the cruising chute was deployed. Normally this is something that I would do since Dale’s not one for looking down from high places. But after convincing him that no matter what I found, he was ultimately the one who would have to tell me how to go about doing what ever had to be done, he agreed that this time he would go up. He did great! He even fixed the wind index that would hang up every once in a while since our transit from Martinique. He took a camera up with him to take pictures of everything so now we’ll both know just exactly what the other is talking about in the future. Jordan came by just in time to help tail the line when I let him back down again.

What we learned was that the spinnaker halyard looked to have simply worn out; there didn’t appear to be anything that would cut it. (Good thing it wore out on the chute instead of one of us). So we’ll add a new halyard to our shopping list. We also know that there is nothing we can do to add a pulley at the top of the mast that would made a difference with the cruising chute (an option that we had discussed). Dale fixed the wind index, so we’ve taken that off our list.

Since the boat looks like a bomb has gone off inside it anyway, I took the opportunity to dig out our “up and over” Christmas lights and rearrange one of our storage lockers in the back.
By night fall, we were decked out for the holidays. There are lights going up the roller furling and down the back. We have bells on the bow, a tree on the back deck, as well as another in the salon on the only clear space available. We’re the only Christmas lights for miles. The boat’s a mess but I’m happy.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

First thing this morning before anyone else had the same idea, I finished the laundry that I had started last evening.

We dug out the cruising chute (asymmetrical sail) and laid it across the lawn to rinse the salt water off it and waited the better part of the day for it to dry. Later in the afternoon, I was able to repair a tear in the sock that I can only assume occurred on a sharp piece of metal when it took flight.

We also unfurled and let down the jib so that we can take it in to have the clew corner repaired. The leather chafe guard has completely been worn off.

In the meantime, Dale tore the salon apart to get to the hot water heater. We moved the table up and out of the way, then he had to cut the seat to allow access to the hot water tank. He unscrewed the housing and used a mirror to look all the way around the hot water tank looking for any sign of a leak. We found two spots on the underbelly of the tank at appear to be faulty weld points but no leaking water.

He removed the front section of the settee and was able to expose the hose connections and found where the leak appeared to be coming from. However, after he trimmed the hoses and made sure that the new connections were solid, the leak continued. It seems that its not the hose connections but the metal to metal connection that the hoses connect to that is leaking.
Next, he used a special epoxy to try to make the repair but by evening, there was still a little leak. He added more epoxy so we’ll have to until tomorrow morning to see if repair holds.
It was a long day so we ended it with a game of Cribbage in which Dale won soundly. Since I’ve ‘skunked’ him the last couple of days, he feels vindicated at last.

Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W

As quietly as we could, we hoisted our anchor at 6:50 am and motored out of Charlotte Amalie through Haulover Cut by Hassel Island. We ghosted along West Gregorie Channel between St. Thomas and Water Island, past the airport, past Porpoise Rocks, Saba Island and finally past Sail Rock. We were in familiar waters heading back to Roosey Roads.

Once again we had light winds directly behind us. After we determined that the few showers left in the area were more than likely going to miss us, we rolled in the jib, rigged the asymmetrical, then hoisted the giant colorful sail. Boy does it make a difference! It’s a little trickier to use but we were flying along with up to 8.5 kts over the ground in breezes rarely above 12 kts. We were in the process of leaving Culebrita behind us when Snap!! The giant sail above us was suddenly laid out perfectly in the water beside us.

Dale ran forward while I tried to keep us pointed in any direction that would keep the sail to the side of us and not beneath us to foul on the keel, rudder, prop, or anything else below the waterline. We decided the best course of action was to open the forward hatch over the head and stuff the sail down into the boat and figure things out later. This, of course, was easier said than done. It took a bit of heave-ho on Dale’s part but he finally was able to pull the monster out of the water and stuff the last of the sail, lines and dousing sock (which had turned itself inside out during the process) down the hatch. A check later on showed that the halyard had severed about a foot from the top.

We unfurled the jib once again, turned a bit off straight down wind (we’d had enough excitement for one day) and continued our trip to Roosey.

About an hour out of Ensenada Honda, the official name of the harbor at Roosey, we called ahead for a float plan number to relay to the Coast Guard in requesting permission to enter. A half hour after that, we were granted permission to enter and weaved our way through the empty mooring field up to the fuel dock. We were in our slip by 4:00pm.

Tom & Jordan on the catamaran St. Christopher, whom we had met the first time we came through Roosey, came out to greet us. They had decided to stay in Grenada during the hurricane season and had made it back before us.

While Dale rinsed off the Palace and plugged us into electricity, I grabbed a couple of loads of laundry and started cleaning from a different point of attack. As I’ve said many times before, this is our home away from home. We feel very comfortable here and know that all of our pieces and parts can be repaired or replaced here. We’ll have no problems keeping busy until Gerry & Nicky get to Puerto Rico.

Charlotte Amalie
St. Thomas, USVI
18.20.243N
64.55.870W

Leinster Bay is one of my favorite anchorages. Not only because you can snorkel to Waterlemon Cay from your boat but also because it is so well protected. Not a ripple during the night. That, of course, meant a great night of sleep, finally!

The morning dawned a rainy grey and after we dropped our mooring at 8:45, we motored out into Sir Francis Drake’s Passage to find it rather blustery. The wind was against us the entire leg up to Road Town. The 4-5’ waves were choppy and made it a moist transit from the rain and the waves over the bow. At one point, we had to come to a complete stop in this mess when Dale noticed that our outboard motor hoist on the back arch was taking more of a beating than we had anticipated. We have a tendency to use it as another support for the dinghy on transits; snugging the dinghy closer to the arch. As luck would have it, this time the hoist bent in all of the pounding into the sea.

When we turned to enter into Road Harbor, we watched the (apparent) wind register 30 knots as a passing rain shower breezed by. There were two cruise ships in the harbor as well as what appeared to be the entire Moorings charter fleet. We anchored outside of the cruise ships amongst some other boats and Dale lowered the dinghy to go in search of the store that held the replacement sat phone we came to exchange. I babysat the boat to make sure it didn’t go anywhere in the high winds and to fend off in case other boats got too close to us or us to them. Thankfully, nothing like that was needed and Dale was back in a flash with the new sat phone. They had powered it up in the store and made sure it locked onto the satellite before Dale left, so we figure we’re good to go.

It was a down hill sleigh ride back the way we had come along Drake’s Passage, through the Narrows around St. John into the Windward Passage, along Pillsbury Sound , through Current Cut between St. James and St. Thomas and down the leeward side of St. Thomas. We arrived in Charlotte Amalie about 4:00 pm just as the first of the 3 cruise ships berthed there figured it was time to leave. Of course, we were right behind him at the time and had to turn on the engine and scurry out of the channel. We continued on into the Charlotte Amalie anchorage, circled a few times in front of the Coast Guard pier like the tired dogs we were, and found just the right spot to drop our anchor in about 17 feet of water.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we’ll hoist anchor again and head for our Puerto Rican home of Roosevelt Roads.

Leinster Bay
St. John, USVI
18.21.883N
64.43.321W

Good Grief! Now we know why there weren’t very many boats in this anchorage. We rocked all night long. Normally the cruising guides warn you about conditions like that but they must have missed that part for Buck Island.

We awoke to a beautiful morning and hoisted anchor by 7:15 am. We eased our way out of the anchorage, rounded north along the protective reef, then unfurled our sails and romped between 6 - 7.5kts across the passage to St. John, arriving on the south side of St. John by noon. That has to be a record! We tightened our sails to negotiate the cut into Pillsbury Sound and then pinched really, really high to ease by Blunder Rocks. Dale did a really super job squeezing every inch we made windward in order to stay on the same tack and not add to the hull tally for these notorious rocks.

We continued on towards Jost Van Dyke and by 2:30pm made our first tack in front of Sandy Cay to head back towards Leinster Bay on the north side of St. John. A passing rain shower ruined our chances of negotiating Thatch Cut on this leg but it also provided the double rainbow we spotted as we headed back across. Instead of tacking two more times, we turned on the engine and arrived at Leinster Bay by 3:30 pm.

The same National Park Service volunteers that were here back in February are here again and recognized our boat. We put the dinghy back together again and went by to say hello before heading into shore to pay our fees. Regretfully, we didn’t have enough time to snorkel Waterlemon Cay as I had hoped we might, but once Gerry & Nicky get here maybe I’ll have another opportunity.

Tomorrow we want to slip into Road Town to pick up our sat phone before heading west to St. Thomas for the night. After that, we’re back to Roosey for the last days before it closes.

Buck Island
St. Crouix, USVI
17.47.151N
64.37.763W

We left the marina about 8 am this morning in order to drop by the National Park Service to pick up our anchor permit for Buck Island and then continued on to the center of the island to return our rental car. The young lady who drove us back was really a sweet kid. When we started talking about Hurricane Hugo devastating St. Croix back in the late 80’s, I realized that she might not have been born yet. She was kind enough to say that she had been born by that time but that she was still a baby.

We checked out of the marina, which took us a lot longer than we expected, then waited for a rain shower to pass before we left the dock at about 10:30 am. We retraced our rather tortuous route back out of the harbor and made our way to Buck Island. The entire island is protected by the National Park Service and in 2001, it was expanded to preserve “one of the finest marine gardens in the Caribbean sea.”

We anchored at the west end of the island and dinghied to the east end where we jumped in and found the underwater trail we’d heard about. The snorkel trail meanders through coral grottoes out to the reef protecting the island and has signs directing you through the grottos or indicating the types of fish that are usually located in the area. Dale had to dive down to clean off most of the signs as they were covered with quite a bit of silt. The elkhorn coral in this area was so thick that it formed its own patch reefs. Sadly, most of the coral we saw was either dying or just bouncing back from being damaged in the various storms. It seems the soft corals bounce back quicker than the hard corals.

We saw lots of blue tang and several different varieties of parrotfish along the way. Dale said that it looked like I had been trapped when we got to the end of the trail and 3 barracuda blocked my way from either continuing forward or scooting to the side to get back to the dinghy. I took the route with only 1 barracuda to contend with. None of them were over 2.5’ long but still, I don’t want them to think I’m threatening by invading their space.

We returned to the Palace and secured the dinghy for an open water transit by taking the outboard off and putting it in on its perch on the back of the boat, then hoisting and snugging the dinghy itself as tight as we can to the transom and davits. Apparently, we’ve been doing a pretty good job of tightening it down since the area where the ropes go have worn right through the canvass cover we purchased a few months ago. Once we get to Puerto Rico, I’ll have to remedy the situation.

There are only 2 other boats in the anchorage with us tonight, so hopefully we won’t disturb anyone when we leave bright and early tomorrow morning for St. John.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

We had hoped to get an early start touring the island today but since we needed to get a car rental agency that would pick us up and drop us off when we were done, we were at their mercy. We found one but by the time we actually got the car, it was after 10 am.

We began our tour of the island at the Whim Estate Museum. Whim is a restored sugar plantation from the mid-1700’s. I was particularly interested in the antique furniture and furnishings of the great house which were from the same time period though not the original furnishings. Regrettably, they didn’t allow photographs of the interior. I was able to snap a few of the outside, the windmill and the animal mill.

We next ventured to the top of St. Croix’s semi (as in it doesn’t get the full 200” to qualify) rain forest to where wood workers collect trees that have naturally fallen to carve their pieces. I was a little disappointed in this stop because it ended up being just a big barn. Although I have to admit, the wood carvings within the barn were pretty cool.

Our next stop was the Carambola Golf Course to pick up a couple of souvenir golf balls. After that we stopped for a quick lunch and then headed to the Cruzan Rum Factory. Now, I admit that every island has it’s own brand of rum but if you don’t stop and tour each and every one of them (sampling a taste or two) how will you know which is the best?

I wanted to continue with St. George’s Botanical Gardens but Dale said no; that he’d seen enough botanical gardens to last him for awhile. We also missed the beer swilling pigs and the crab races but we’ll have something to see if we ever make it back.

We made a mad dash back to downtown Christensted so that we could obtain the blessings of the National Park Service before they closed in order to spend the night at Buck Island tomorrow. We made it, but then were told that they wanted copies of our boat papers which we hadn’t brought with us. They were very helpful in saying that we only needed to copy them, fill out the request form and drop them in the door tomorrow morning when we dropped the car back off.

Back at the marina we learned that our mail had arrived. We took the next hour sorting through it before heading out to dinner at a little place Bruce (the outboard repair guy) told us about. Although the outside of a pub called “No Bones” wouldn’t have enticed us in, the recommendation for a good steak house was a good one.

Now that we’re getting ready to leave, we both agree that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, although we rocked quite a bit at the dock. Still, the people at the marina, the restaurant, the repair facility and everyone we’ve met, have been wonderful and made our visit very pleasant. In fact, we’d like to come back and check out the marina at Green Cay. Hopefully, it’s a bit more protected and doesn’t suffer from the constant rocking.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

We started our day with brunch in the marina restaurant but because of sporadic rain showers all day, we pretty much spent our time reading on the boat. Between raindrops we’d check on our computer connection but still no luck, so we’d have to splish splash our way up to the marina store and check for e-mail.

During all of this ‘quiet’ time on the boat, we heard the water pump cycle periodically. Normally, the only time we hear it is when a faucet is on or if we’re making ice. After making sure neither of those were the case, we realized that we had a leak somewhere in the system. We both grabbed flashlights and started checking all of the waterline connections. Dale found what he thinks is the culprit.

Beneath the L-shaped settee in the salon, the hot water tank is stored. The area around it is slightly damp. Unfortunately, Dale can’t get to it to figure out what the problem is because the settee was obviously installed after the water tank was. Due to other systems that needed to be accessed beneath the settee, Dale had cut the seat in a couple of places and installed a piano hinge so that he could get to the fresh water pump and one of the air conditioners. Unfortunately, that remedy was literally cut short of where he needs to get this time. It appears that he will have to do the same thing in order to access the hot water tank, so we’ve decided to wait until we can get to Roosey to effect that particular repair. Since the water appears to be coming from the bottom of the tank instead of the connections, I’m afraid that its one more thing we’re going to have to replace.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

Nothing much new for today; we’re still waiting for our mail to arrive. We still can’t connect to the internet unless we’re sitting in, or in front of, the marina store. Dale busied himself putting our old fin stabilizers on the new outboard. He had to drill a few holes to do it so he had wait until his drill batteries charged up.

After that, we tore the boat apart so that he could run the lines for the SSB radio. I mentioned before that Jim on Chez Freddie had suggested them to aide in transmitting. Dale had lots of wire on board and cut them to length as directed for the project but then we had to figure out a way to lay them out so that there were no turns in them (apparently this is important). Easier said than done. We eventually started them in the lazarette where the antenna tuner is mounted and then fed them through to the master stateroom underneath the bed and along one of the bulkheads. Like I said, we tore the boat to pieces to do it. I hope its worth it but I’m not sure how we’ll know for sure.

By the time we got the Palace back in order, we were able to sit and watch the St. Croix equivalent of Jacksonville’s Parade of Lights from our transom. They had about 20 boats decorated with Christmas lights that lined up for the parade right behind us, then convoyed to Ft. Christensted, rounded around Protestant Cay to complete their circle before doing it all one more time for good measure. There were some really extravagant decorations as well as a few more humble ones that either were having technical difficulty with their lights or just wanted to be in the parade and put a string around the hull to qualify. Afterwards we had fireworks to the east of us. One of the advantages to living on a boat is that we were lucky in having center seats for the whole show. I really enjoyed the beautiful evening.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

Right when you think things are going smoothly, something jumps up and bites Dale in the butt. Like the fact that every time I’ve tried to log into the internet, there’s been no problem. However, the first time he tries to log into the internet, it won’t connect and its refused to connect since then regardless of who’s trying to make the connection.

Ah ha! A new project. He tracks down a telephone number to see if the internet company is having a problem but they won’t talk with him unless he has the computer in front of him but he has no phone unless he‘s at the marina store. So he beats feet back to the boat and collects the laptop and heads back.

Strangely, the laptop will connect in the store but the second he leaves the store, it drops the signal. Back and forth he goes all day long. Trying one antenna, then another, first one computer, then another. The long and short of it? Unless you’re sitting in the store, we can’t get a signal. That’s the whole reason we bought the connection in the first place. The whole reason we bought the long range antenna. He’s frustrated.

My concern is that I bought a month of this connection as it was supposed to work not only in St. Croix but also in St. Thomas and St. John. I know that I can walk up to the store to do what needs to be done but what about when we leave? I guess we’re back to running around looking for a hot spot. That’s probably what has him all up in arms!

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

Today, Dale stripped the old outboard of anything useful and brought back all of the pieces and parts in various ziplock bags. Then he brought the new outboard home to rest on its perch on the back deck. I immediately switched the new cover for the old one and except for the shiny shaft and propeller, which I hope will lose its paint quickly, it looks just like the old one.

Apparently Bruce was impressed with Dale’s strip job because when we walked by the shop later, the outboard carcass was in the dumpster. Normally, Bruce gives the locals the broken outboards for stripping but Dale had done such an outstanding job already, there was nothing left to take off. Dale hasn’t said anything yet but I know he’s itching to play with his new toy.

We finished the day up at the marina restaurant where they had a local band playing. None of the members were younger that 50 but we enjoyed every song they played. Some tunes were from our toddler years but when you grow up in homes where music is played on a regular basis, you remember all of those tunes even though they’re not from your generation. At one point, Dale said that they made him feel old but I noticed it didn’t slow him down any; he was having a real good time. His only complaint . . . They didn’t know ‘A Long Black Veil’.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

While I caught up on my blog posts, Dale joined Bruce in tearing the outboard apart to see what the problem was. They immediately discovered that the impeller was pretty worn and needed replacing. By lunchtime, when Dale came back to the boat they had pretty much concluded that one of the two head gaskets was probably the culprit which, of course, means really tearing into it.

Yesterday when we had checked into the marina, we had walked through the chandlery and spotted a brandy new 15 HP Mercury outboard just like ours. Today, Dale checked to see how much it would cost; it was several hundred less than we had estimated the day before. We discussed the pros and cons of buying a new one and decided that if all of our spares that we had purchased for our trip fit the new one, we might be better off biting the bullet and being certain of reliable transportation considering we were heading to even more remote destinations on the western side of the Caribbean before heading back home.

By the end of the day, after discussing the various options with Bruce, (who told us that the new one was just like the old one except that it didn’t have rust and worked) we decided to buy the new outboard and strip the old one of anything that could possibly be used on the new one, including the old cover. I prefer that it look pretty beat up, particularly now that its brand new.

Gallows Bay,
Christiansted,
St. Croix, USVI
17.44.911N
64.41.908W

The wind remained constant during Dale’s watch and had started moving from astern of us to abeam of us. When I came on watch at 2am, the seas had moderated to a comfortable level and the wind was holding steady at 10-13 kts abeam to slightly astern. Feeling lucky, I unfurled the main sail and away we went. I’ve made up my mind that our boat sails much faster and more comfortably than it motors. At one point after the winds rose more, I saw 7.8 on the knot meter. Wahoo, we were making up for lost time!!

By the end of Dale’s watch at 8 am, St. Croix was well within sight and in spite of the conditions of our transit, we were right on time. I took over at 8am and brought the Palace around Udall Point, the eastern most point of the U.S. and then around between St. Croix and Buck Island. A couple of dolphins welcomed us to the area. by playing on our bow wake.

Dale came up early and we rolled in the sails to enter into Gallows Bay in Christiansted, St. Croix. Dale insists that I look up at the wind index instead of the wind gauges when we’re turning into the wind to bring in the sails and it was when I had done a 90 degree turn that we realized the wind index was stuck. I guess all of those high winds took their toll. I brought the Palace back until the sails started flapping and figured we were close enough. I noticed a little later that the arrow had straightened itself out so maybe its just a little bent and gets stuck in certain directions.

We wiggled our way through the reefs protecting the island and tied up at St. Croix Marine around 11:30am. This is not a place you would want to enter after dark; talk about switch back and hairpin turns.

Dale is still not happy with the outboard, so as soon as we cleared customs, we immediately started looking for a Mercury repair shop to haul the outboard to for servicing. We found one about two doors down (probably why Dale wanted to come here) and made arrangements to meet with Bruce, the service guy, tomorrow to watch over his shoulder so that Dale can fix it in the future.

We signed up for internet service and sent out a couple of e-mails telling those who were following us that we had arrived safely. We also requested that our regular mail be forwarded to us as we haven’t checked it since leaving Trinidad. We straightened up the Palace then fell into bed for naps and ended the evening with dinner in the marina restaurant.
We plan on staying here for a few days waiting for our mail and renting a car to tour the island. Although we were stationed in Puerto Rico for three years, we never took the opportunity to visit St. Croix in all of that time. We hope to make up for that now.

Caribbean Sea

Dale had no sooner taken over watch from me in the wee hours of the morning when he turned on the engine. I assumed that it was because the winds were coming further and further astern of us and progressively lighter in strength as the evening wore on. Lying in my bunk, I was trying to find a way to sleep and hang on at the same time; the swells were making our ride really uncomfortable. Within minutes, I heard the wind pick up and intensify to the point where they were howling, the Palace picked up speed but would list dramatically then round up. I hung on tighter. I didn’t release my purchase on the mattress until I heard what sounded like a bucket of water landing on the salon floor.

I stepped out of the stateroom onto a wet floor. A glance up told me the companionway door was still closed. A flashlight that was normally stored in the well by the nav table was lying at my feet. A further search showed that one of the small hatches on the overhead was wide open and clearly we had taken a wave over the top. I turned on a light. Pillows, books and papers were on the floor but where had they come from? The salon looked as secure as when I had left it. A potato rolled by. I keep potatoes in a bin all the way forward in another stateroom.

I opened the companionway to check on Dale. One look told me all I needed to know. He was hand steering and trying to adjust one of the sails at the same time. I grabbed my lifejacket and harness and gingerly worked my way up the stairs, hanging onto the rails for dear life, trying not to slip on the saltwater that covered everything.

He told me that he had seen the straight line that the leading edge of clouds sometimes take that contain high winds. The radar had not shown rain but he turned on the engine just in case. Sure enough the wind went from 8kts to over 25 kts.

We had rigged a preventer to the boom to keep it stationary in the light winds from astern and rolling seas. When the high winds hit, the jib sheet let go (we really don’t know how that happened) and the preventer rig wrapped itself around it. While Dale controlled the boat, I grabbed the jib sheet (we keep the end tied off inside the cockpit) and wrapped it back around the winch to bring the jib back under control. The problem now was that part of the jib sheet and the preventer line were tangled in a giant knot outside of the cockpit. We couldn’t bring in either sail the way things stood and the wind wasn’t going to die down for a while. Dale did a great job keeping the boat under control with full sails in winds averaging 25 kts and in confused seas.

A while later the winds fell below 20 kts and I was able to crawl out onto the deck to untangle the knot. During my watch, it was Dale’s turn to hook on and make his way to the bow to untangle the roller furling line that had slipped between the spokes on the roller furling drum and refused to straighten when I tried to bring the sail in. While he was out on a pitching deck, lightening would flash blinding both of us and the jib would flap over his head when the Palace would round up. Each of us met the challenges presented but it was not fun.

The sun rose to another day but unfortunately, the conditions didn’t improve so we continued to motor. I was glad that Dale had decided to fill up in St. Lucia because we eventually motored over 24 hours; I like to sail everywhere but today it was one of those rides where you can only hang on as best as you can.

With daylight I was able to see that the forward stateroom bunk had started to slip and everything wedged on or around it gave with it. Even the bicycles that have always been secure before, started to slide off. The forward head where we keep our wet gear, hammocks, sunshades, etc, looked like it had been tipped upside down.

By evening the swells and waves started to lie down but unlike last night, the moon was obscured by thick clouds. Once the wind rose over 10 kts and remained consistent, I let out the jib and turned off the engine hoping Dale could sleep better. We were once again sailing at 4-5 kts but the ride felt better. I turned on the radar about once every hour to make sure I wasn’t sending us into showers but other than that, just tried to aim between the clouds that held lightening.

Caribbean Sea
15.12.687N
61.52.173W
9:50PM

Our big transit started today. It looked to be a great day for a sail. The skies were only slightly cloudy and the winds were hardly more than a breeze but we were still being protected by the harbor in St. Anne, Martinique.

We stored and secured everything as we have done in all of our other transits, laid out the jacklines, brought up the lifejackets and harnesses and the proceeded to unfurl our main sail and hoist the anchor. We were a bit surprised when we had to slide ourselves between two boats on either side of our anchor. With the wind changing everyone’s direction, boats coming and going, and us letting out enough scope to withstand the substantial winds that were associated with the rains that passed through, the new boats were closer to our anchor than we had previously thought. No problem really, we usually lift our anchor slowly; we just had to edge a little closer to them than we normally like to do and keep going as soon as the anchor was off the bottom.

By 8:45 am, the anchor was secured in its locker and we pointed our bow in the direction of St. Croix. As I mentioned before, the winds were light as we were on the lee side of Martinique and since the island is relatively large, we were in the lee the remainder of the day. This also protected us from the 10’ sea swell that we knew was out beyond the protection of the island. Unfortunately, it was almost noon when we were able to cut the engine, unfurl our jib to sail unaided, even if it was only at 4-4.5 kts. Mentally, I was already recalculating how long it was going to take us to cross. As long as we arrived in daylight, I didn’t care how many days it was going to take.

We continued at the 4-4.5 kts for the remainder of the day. The 10’ swells gradually made their appearance out of the northeast but with a good 10 seconds between each, they were only noticeable when we were in a trough looking up at one of them. They silently lifted us up, moved along their path beneath us and then gently lowered us back. If they had been the only swells, they would have been disregarded. However, there was another set of swells about half their size coming in from the southeast. At first we thought that these were waves wrapping around the island but the farther away from Martinique the more it became obvious that they were probably the result of the tropical wave that was supposed to have dissipated farther to the south of us. So in addition to the up and down, we now had a rock, rock thrown in for good measure. As the day progressed into the evening, this motion became more and more severe as the southeast swells grew in intensity.

With the nightfall came the full moon we considered ourselves blessed to have for a long transit. However, nightfall also revealed the lightening in the clouds around us we had previously been unaware of.

St. Anne, Martinique
14.26.186N
60.53.141W

The forecast is still good for a departure on Monday, so we made our way in to Le Marin where Dale picked up the o-ring gasket that he had previously ordered for the outboard and replaced the one that Oliver had fashioned for a temporary fix. Then we walked over to a chandlery to see if we could replace our broken dinghy seat. We were lucky and found a used one for a reasonable price. We dinghied over to another dock and walked to the grocery store for our last minute provisions. Then headed back to the Palace.

The rest of the day I baked brownies since we’ve been invited over to Summer Breeze for dinner and I finished the book I was reading. In fact, I’ve been reading a book a day for the last few days. What else can you do when its raining all of the time . . . That you can write about?
Tomorrow when we make our trip in, I’ll drag along my computer and try to get all of these posts uploaded before we check out.

St. Anne, Martinique
14.26.186N
60.53.141W

Today was another wet and windy day but the forecast is still looking good for a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday transit from here to St. Croix and . . . We’ll have a full moon.

Since we had promised to meet up with Chez Freddie, Dream Weaver & Rainbowrider for lunch in Le Marin, we braved the rain and 2-3’ choppy waves to make our way into Le Marin. In fact, we were bouncing so much over the waves, one of the seats broke in the dinghy. It took a great deal longer than we had hoped but we finally made it in and joined the others for lunch at Ti Toques. The food was very French, very pretty and very tasty. Freddie, a French teacher in her previous life, translated everything for us. Just about everyone had something different; Dale had a marinated marlin and I had stewed pork but it was all good.

As we all waddled back to the dock, we ran into John off Panacia. John was right across from us in Trini. When he first saw us and then everyone else, he commented that it was like old home week from Trini. We chatted until the next rain shower broke up the reunion.

We dropped by Chez Freddie on our way back to the Palace and checked out the ‘radials’ he told us about. They were simply wires but he gave us the formula to calculate how long to make them and he and Dale discussed how to attach them and how they were supposed to help in transmitting. Dale definitely has wire, so I’m sure he’ll be adding that little task to his list when the boat stops bobbing and weaving in the winds.

Once again, we spent the rest of the day curled up with a book, computer or simply napped waiting for the weather to clear up.