Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Happy Birthday Kyle! You know you’re getting older when you can only burn the midnight oil until 9 o’clock; we thank you and Veronica every day for making us grandparents.
What luck! Today when we picked up our rental car, they were all out of compact ones and were forced to give us a Ford Freestyle. We’d never even heard of this model before. In case you haven’t, it’s like a cross between an SUV and a minivan. Great for loading up the back end with provisions or hauling around 5 or 6 of your favorite people.
Today, we were mostly interested in finding affordable internet access. Again our luck held. One of the marina secretaries told us that McDonalds’ had internet. Sure enough! Not only did they have WiFi, it was FREE, FAST and conveniently located to power outlets!!! Wahoo, we’re cooking with gas now!
Dale and I tagged teamed the poor computer. We caught up with friends and family and updated our blogspot with a new look for the new year. Most of our cruising buddies that we left in Martinique have now made their way here and hopefully, we’ll be able to meet up with some of them again as they either pass through or head back down again.
Dale made side trips to the hardware store; Westmarine was in the same complex and WalMart was right across the street. By the time I was done, so was he. We were also lucky when we went into the grocery store we’d been shopping at lately, as it was the last day that they were open. Apparently, they have been sold to another chain and will be closed for an indefinite period of time. No signs; nothing; at least nothing that we could translate.
We hurried back to the boat and put things away and had just enough time to make appetizers for our gathering on St. Christopher with Tom & Jordan and Bill & Sharon for a night of dominos. We passed the word that McDonalds was a great find and tomorrow we’ll head back with Tom & Jordan in tow.
Sadly, today we also learned of Roger Wolfert’s death on the 6th of January. For those of you who have followed this site since its inception, you know that Roger & Elaine on DocNoMore were mentioned almost daily from November 2005, when we met them in the Exumas until June 2006, when they returned home for hurricane season. We were all eager to continue sailing together on their return to Trini in October, when Roger was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. DocNoMore was sold by November and both Roger and Elaine have been sorely missed in the cruising community since then; particularly by us. They will always hold a special place in our hearts and will be fondly remembered each time we blow the conch horn or play Mexican Train Dominos. We hope to see Elaine in the near future.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Today was laundry day. The missing dryer and the inoperable one next to it were replaced with two that worked. With one washer and 2 dryers, my task was completed rather quickly.
Dale polished a couple more isinglass sections before the rain chased him back in. The wind has been rather brisk lately which leads us to believe that outside our protected harbor, things must be rather nasty. We rarely feel the effects of the wind inside so when we’re tugging at our lines and rocking back and forth, it’s got to be awful beyond its boundaries. It’s a good thing Gerry & Nicky decided to wait for another window, this is heading in their direction.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Today was laundry day. The missing dryer and the inoperable one next to it were replaced with two that worked. With one washer and 2 dryers, my task was completed rather quickly.
Dale polished a couple more isinglass sections before the rain chased him back in. The wind has been rather brisk lately which leads us to believe that outside our protected harbor, things must be rather nasty. We rarely feel the effects of the wind inside so when we’re tugging at our lines and rocking back and forth, it’s got to be awful beyond its boundaries. It’s a good thing Gerry & Nicky decided to wait for another window, this is heading in their direction.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Dale is trying to keep busy so today he decided to clean and polish our isinglass. In the past this has been on my list of things to do but I certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, particularly when he’s starting to get bored with reading everyday. We have 10 sections of isinglass and he started with the 3 in front to space out the work. Also, it does take a bit of elbow grease and a little shade. When he brought each one back, if they needed their zippers re-sewn, I’d do it before they were put back up. We had a nice little assembly line going. In the meantime, I dusted, swept, mopped and shook out all of the rugs. Its amazing how dusty this boat gets so quickly.
We heard from Gerry & Nicky this afternoon. The window they had been hoping to catch, “fizzled” and the next possible one doesn’t appear until late next week. If you remember when we were caught in Luperon, its definitely best to wait for a 3 day window so you don’t get beat to death. We started out in an iffy one and ended up having to return and wait another couple of weeks. As it was, even when you do get a window, rounding the capes of Hispaniola can get a little exciting.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Dale is trying to keep busy so today he decided to clean and polish our isinglass. In the past this has been on my list of things to do but I certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, particularly when he’s starting to get bored with reading everyday. We have 10 sections of isinglass and he started with the 3 in front to space out the work. Also, it does take a bit of elbow grease and a little shade. When he brought each one back, if they needed their zippers re-sewn, I’d do it before they were put back up. We had a nice little assembly line going. In the meantime, I dusted, swept, mopped and shook out all of the rugs. Its amazing how dusty this boat gets so quickly.
We heard from Gerry & Nicky this afternoon. The window they had been hoping to catch, “fizzled” and the next possible one doesn’t appear until late next week. If you remember when we were caught in Luperon, its definitely best to wait for a 3 day window so you don’t get beat to death. We started out in an iffy one and ended up having to return and wait another couple of weeks. As it was, even when you do get a window, rounding the capes of Hispaniola can get a little exciting.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
While Dale continued his washing and waxing at the transom of the boat, I tried another tactic to access the internet.. This time by telephone dial up at the marina office. Still no joy. Apparently they have analogue telephone lines; I can’t win for losing but I did learn that most of the MacDonalds restaurants in Puerto Rico have internet cafés. That certainly gives me another option. Guess I better rent a car.
I tried a new appetizer recipe which was well received when we went over to Tom & Jordan’s tonight. Bill, who we met at a previous dinner on St. Christopher, brought his catamaran over from Puerto del Rey earlier and we were meeting his wife, Sharon, who had just arrived. They will be sailing the Caribbean for the winter season.
In discussing current events at dinner this evening, Tom saw where the local Pizza Hut advertised WiFi. You know, its really sad when 6 adults sit around and the most important things in their lives are where we can access the internet and what happened to the dryer in the laundry; it just disappeared.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
While Dale continued his washing and waxing at the transom of the boat, I tried another tactic to access the internet.. This time by telephone dial up at the marina office. Still no joy. Apparently they have analogue telephone lines; I can’t win for losing but I did learn that most of the MacDonalds restaurants in Puerto Rico have internet cafés. That certainly gives me another option. Guess I better rent a car.
I tried a new appetizer recipe which was well received when we went over to Tom & Jordan’s tonight. Bill, who we met at a previous dinner on St. Christopher, brought his catamaran over from Puerto del Rey earlier and we were meeting his wife, Sharon, who had just arrived. They will be sailing the Caribbean for the winter season.
In discussing current events at dinner this evening, Tom saw where the local Pizza Hut advertised WiFi. You know, its really sad when 6 adults sit around and the most important things in their lives are where we can access the internet and what happened to the dryer in the laundry; it just disappeared.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
For our chores today, Dale washed and waxed the starboard side of the boat. I dug out my sewing machine and started re-stitching some of the enclosure pieces where the thread was disintegrating away from the zippers. Then we picked up our books and read for the remainder of the day. I’m afraid that doesn’t make for a good blog post.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
For our chores today, Dale washed and waxed the starboard side of the boat. I dug out my sewing machine and started re-stitching some of the enclosure pieces where the thread was disintegrating away from the zippers. Then we picked up our books and read for the remainder of the day. I’m afraid that doesn’t make for a good blog post.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
In search of exercise and new surroundings, we took the bikes out for a ride today to get off the boat. Since the bowling alley has been closed, we haven’t been doing much of that recently. We rode in the opposite direction toward what had been known as All Hands Beach.
As we rode past the current headquarters of the base, we turned right (by the post office) and rode down and out onto the old fuel pier that is now being used as a fishing pier. We reminisced about the ships that were once proudly docked there and the welcoming parties we attended in their honor. We doubled back and continued on towards the beach.
We were disappointed to see that the old enlisted club appeared to have been vandalized or least the front door had been pried off and left standing slightly ajar.
Street lights with three feet of concrete still attached to their bases were uprooted and left hanging half on/half off rusty flat bed trailers to the side of the club; abandoned I guess.
As we passed by All Hands Beach, there were some boy/cub scouts shooting off parachute rockets in the parking lot now filled with weeds and its beach littered knee deep with dead sea grass. The hidden beach where my daughter and I went barely a year ago had its road blocked off to traffic and was hardly recognizable with the growth that had already taken place. I was really disappointed as it had been the last of the beaches we had enjoyed as a family that we had been able to gain access to when we were here in February 2006. The hillside leading to the beach that had once been lush with palm trees and undergrowth was bulldozed and apparently being used as a landfill.
It really broke my heart to see the base dying this way. Pretty soon they’ll have to take a bush hog to run ways where jets and helicopters once landed daily. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still mowing the common areas and trimming the bushes but the longer the grounds are unused, the more the termites, vines, and weeds encroach into the area.
Although the base commander gave us permission to ride our bikes into the housing area where we once lived, we haven’t ventured in that direction. I’m not sure I’d even have the heart to now.
We returned to the Palace and picked up new books to read and later this evening we finished watching the A&E Hornblower series that Tom & Jordan loaned to us. We enjoyed each one and were actually disappointed when the story was over.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
In search of exercise and new surroundings, we took the bikes out for a ride today to get off the boat. Since the bowling alley has been closed, we haven’t been doing much of that recently. We rode in the opposite direction toward what had been known as All Hands Beach.
As we rode past the current headquarters of the base, we turned right (by the post office) and rode down and out onto the old fuel pier that is now being used as a fishing pier. We reminisced about the ships that were once proudly docked there and the welcoming parties we attended in their honor. We doubled back and continued on towards the beach.
We were disappointed to see that the old enlisted club appeared to have been vandalized or least the front door had been pried off and left standing slightly ajar.
Street lights with three feet of concrete still attached to their bases were uprooted and left hanging half on/half off rusty flat bed trailers to the side of the club; abandoned I guess.
As we passed by All Hands Beach, there were some boy/cub scouts shooting off parachute rockets in the parking lot now filled with weeds and its beach littered knee deep with dead sea grass. The hidden beach where my daughter and I went barely a year ago had its road blocked off to traffic and was hardly recognizable with the growth that had already taken place. I was really disappointed as it had been the last of the beaches we had enjoyed as a family that we had been able to gain access to when we were here in February 2006. The hillside leading to the beach that had once been lush with palm trees and undergrowth was bulldozed and apparently being used as a landfill.
It really broke my heart to see the base dying this way. Pretty soon they’ll have to take a bush hog to run ways where jets and helicopters once landed daily. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still mowing the common areas and trimming the bushes but the longer the grounds are unused, the more the termites, vines, and weeds encroach into the area.
Although the base commander gave us permission to ride our bikes into the housing area where we once lived, we haven’t ventured in that direction. I’m not sure I’d even have the heart to now.
We returned to the Palace and picked up new books to read and later this evening we finished watching the A&E Hornblower series that Tom & Jordan loaned to us. We enjoyed each one and were actually disappointed when the story was over.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
I’ve admired Ellen MacArthur for some time now and having finished reading her autobiography today, I am more in awe than ever before. She is an amazing young athlete and competitive sailor.
While I finished my literary pursuits, Dale went up to the marina store and bought more rum. There was no limit today but I reminded him that the limits of our boat have just about been met. We do need to leave room for groceries in case we want some crackers to go with our rum.
When the rain moved in, we turned our attention back to the Hornblower series and watched a couple more of the movies; we’ve really been enjoying those.
In case you’re wondering, our modifications to the back awning were doing quite nicely in the wind and rain.
Although we haven’t heard from Gerry & Nicky, a review of the weather in their area would indicate that they might be waiting another week should the small window that might appear early next week close before they can get out or doesn’t allow enough time to even get out. If that’s the case, we’re contemplating moving on to St. Thomas to wait for them with the base closing more and more of its amenities. We’re disparately in need of an internet connection and will start looking for one that we can ride our bikes to - although it will be a very long ride.
We finished our day by meeting up with Tom & Jordan and their friends Jack & MeiLing, a naturally blonde Puerto Rico with a Chinese name (her description, not mine). We ate Tex-Mex food and played Mexican Dominoes. At the end of the evening, I had the highest score. For those of you who don’t know the game, that means I didn’t win.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
I’ve admired Ellen MacArthur for some time now and having finished reading her autobiography today, I am more in awe than ever before. She is an amazing young athlete and competitive sailor.
While I finished my literary pursuits, Dale went up to the marina store and bought more rum. There was no limit today but I reminded him that the limits of our boat have just about been met. We do need to leave room for groceries in case we want some crackers to go with our rum.
When the rain moved in, we turned our attention back to the Hornblower series and watched a couple more of the movies; we’ve really been enjoying those.
In case you’re wondering, our modifications to the back awning were doing quite nicely in the wind and rain.
Although we haven’t heard from Gerry & Nicky, a review of the weather in their area would indicate that they might be waiting another week should the small window that might appear early next week close before they can get out or doesn’t allow enough time to even get out. If that’s the case, we’re contemplating moving on to St. Thomas to wait for them with the base closing more and more of its amenities. We’re disparately in need of an internet connection and will start looking for one that we can ride our bikes to - although it will be a very long ride.
We finished our day by meeting up with Tom & Jordan and their friends Jack & MeiLing, a naturally blonde Puerto Rico with a Chinese name (her description, not mine). We ate Tex-Mex food and played Mexican Dominoes. At the end of the evening, I had the highest score. For those of you who don’t know the game, that means I didn’t win.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We were one of the first people in line with Tom & Jordan this morning when the marina mini-mart had it’s sale. We used all of our allotted liquor purchase power; regrettably, there were no Cheetos to be found.
Once again we dug into the bag of books and movies that Tom & Jordan loaned us. I started reading Ellen MacArthur’s autobiography “Taking On The World” and am thoroughly entranced. Dale grabbed a James Paterson book we didn’t have in our collection. At night, we’ve started watching the A&E Hornblower series taken from C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books. Although I’d heard of the books, I had not heard of the movie series. They’re along the lines of the Master and Commander movie but the lead character is younger, a lot nicer and more handsome. So far, the first ones are pretty good.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We were one of the first people in line with Tom & Jordan this morning when the marina mini-mart had it’s sale. We used all of our allotted liquor purchase power; regrettably, there were no Cheetos to be found.
Once again we dug into the bag of books and movies that Tom & Jordan loaned us. I started reading Ellen MacArthur’s autobiography “Taking On The World” and am thoroughly entranced. Dale grabbed a James Paterson book we didn’t have in our collection. At night, we’ve started watching the A&E Hornblower series taken from C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower books. Although I’d heard of the books, I had not heard of the movie series. They’re along the lines of the Master and Commander movie but the lead character is younger, a lot nicer and more handsome. So far, the first ones are pretty good.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We’ve heard from 2 very reliable sources that AAFES is definitely taking over the marina; possibly by the end of the week. BRAC is the official owner of the base itself and it will remain a military operation until October of this year. To add a little more confirmation to the rumor that AAFES is taking over the marina, there’s going to be a sale at the marina mini mart. Everything must go. Cash only. Limited to 6 bottles of liquor per card holder. I’m not even sure they have 6 bottles of coconut rum but if they do, they’re mine. Plus all of the Cheetos - I didn’t see any limits on the food items. Too bad I don’t have a reliable freezer; they have ice cream up there too.
Today Dale is running another grounding wire from the wind generator to another control panel. He’s emptied out the back lazarette to do so and soon enough was inside wanting me to tear the back cushions and bed out so that he could feed the wire through. Apparently, his original grounding wire was to the autopilot motor casing and he’s since thought better of the arrangement so decided to ground it to main grounding terminal. It certainly sounds like a better arrangement. In the event of a lightening strike, I sure would hate to lose the autopilot motor.
Jordan created a monster the other night when we had dinner on her boat and she suggested that we exchange books and movies while we’re here. Dale and I devour books after our chores and watch movies once the sun goes down. That bag of books and DVDs is going to keep us busy while we’re here.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We’ve heard from 2 very reliable sources that AAFES is definitely taking over the marina; possibly by the end of the week. BRAC is the official owner of the base itself and it will remain a military operation until October of this year. To add a little more confirmation to the rumor that AAFES is taking over the marina, there’s going to be a sale at the marina mini mart. Everything must go. Cash only. Limited to 6 bottles of liquor per card holder. I’m not even sure they have 6 bottles of coconut rum but if they do, they’re mine. Plus all of the Cheetos - I didn’t see any limits on the food items. Too bad I don’t have a reliable freezer; they have ice cream up there too.
Today Dale is running another grounding wire from the wind generator to another control panel. He’s emptied out the back lazarette to do so and soon enough was inside wanting me to tear the back cushions and bed out so that he could feed the wire through. Apparently, his original grounding wire was to the autopilot motor casing and he’s since thought better of the arrangement so decided to ground it to main grounding terminal. It certainly sounds like a better arrangement. In the event of a lightening strike, I sure would hate to lose the autopilot motor.
Jordan created a monster the other night when we had dinner on her boat and she suggested that we exchange books and movies while we’re here. Dale and I devour books after our chores and watch movies once the sun goes down. That bag of books and DVDs is going to keep us busy while we’re here.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Dale and I modified the back awning this morning. We had been having a problem with rain water collecting on it and causing it to mildew. I already have a rain catcher, so I didn’t need another. I borrowed part of someone else’s idea and purchased ½” PVC pipe to feed through the end hem securing it to the two sides of the back arch thus creating a taller arch. I wanted the awning arch to be high enough to allow the motion activated light to still work and for Dale to be able to walk underneath it without ducking all of the time but still out of the way of the wind generator and not cause a shadow on the solar panels. Dale added another grommet to it so that we could secure the arching portion aft and right now it’s looking pretty good. Only time will tell whether it’s a good design for wind and rain.
Our next project was to see if we could hook into another internet connection up at the office. With the base officially closed, we’ve been living in a type of limbo here. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be here with only water, electricity and laundry than a couple of miles down the road with everything else at twice the cost and half the security.
Regrettably, we were unsuccessful in our attempt to use the marina office’s internet lines. It appears that some type of guard has been placed on the internet access in the marina office as the connections there were originally designed as government work stations. Those in the bowling alley were specifically designed to be unlimited internet connections. Even using our computer, we were unable to connect, so we’ll have to collect these posts and find another way to upload them the next time we have access to a car.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Dale and I modified the back awning this morning. We had been having a problem with rain water collecting on it and causing it to mildew. I already have a rain catcher, so I didn’t need another. I borrowed part of someone else’s idea and purchased ½” PVC pipe to feed through the end hem securing it to the two sides of the back arch thus creating a taller arch. I wanted the awning arch to be high enough to allow the motion activated light to still work and for Dale to be able to walk underneath it without ducking all of the time but still out of the way of the wind generator and not cause a shadow on the solar panels. Dale added another grommet to it so that we could secure the arching portion aft and right now it’s looking pretty good. Only time will tell whether it’s a good design for wind and rain.
Our next project was to see if we could hook into another internet connection up at the office. With the base officially closed, we’ve been living in a type of limbo here. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be here with only water, electricity and laundry than a couple of miles down the road with everything else at twice the cost and half the security.
Regrettably, we were unsuccessful in our attempt to use the marina office’s internet lines. It appears that some type of guard has been placed on the internet access in the marina office as the connections there were originally designed as government work stations. Those in the bowling alley were specifically designed to be unlimited internet connections. Even using our computer, we were unable to connect, so we’ll have to collect these posts and find another way to upload them the next time we have access to a car.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We returned the rental car this morning and set about hanging the front sun awning. Dale replaced the hinges on the cooler that were broken and greased the snaps and zippers to the isinglass and screens.
Mac, Dale’s fellow physician from Roosey’s Naval Hospital, dropped by to say hi and to discuss the fate of the marina. He keeps his boat in the dry storage here. We enjoyed his visit however brief.
We ended with dinner on St. Christopher where we met Mike’s wife Monica and another Air Force retireee by the name of Bill. His boat is on the hard at Puerto del Rey but he’d like to move it over here once he gets it back in the water. The more the merrier we all agreed.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We returned the rental car this morning and set about hanging the front sun awning. Dale replaced the hinges on the cooler that were broken and greased the snaps and zippers to the isinglass and screens.
Mac, Dale’s fellow physician from Roosey’s Naval Hospital, dropped by to say hi and to discuss the fate of the marina. He keeps his boat in the dry storage here. We enjoyed his visit however brief.
We ended with dinner on St. Christopher where we met Mike’s wife Monica and another Air Force retireee by the name of Bill. His boat is on the hard at Puerto del Rey but he’d like to move it over here once he gets it back in the water. The more the merrier we all agreed.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Bright and early this morning before the wind picked up, we dropped the jib and cleared the halyard that had caught yesterday. We hoisted the jib back up the roller furling, rolled it back in and headed for our rental car.
We went into town to a hardware store for some narrow PVC pipe for the back awning. Dale and I had kicked around a couple of ideas to improve our set up. We dropped by West Marine for some hardware for a broken hinge on our cooler/line locker and where I was specifically forbidden from buying any more Christmas ornaments.
When we returned to the marina, the possibility before we left, had become a strong belief that AAFES was taking over the marina; hopefully by the end of the week. However they were not taking over the bowling alley. This part was not good for those of us who need our internet connection. Until someone takes over, there is no internet, mini-mart or diesel services available. At least the power and water is still on which also means we still have laundry facilities.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
Bright and early this morning before the wind picked up, we dropped the jib and cleared the halyard that had caught yesterday. We hoisted the jib back up the roller furling, rolled it back in and headed for our rental car.
We went into town to a hardware store for some narrow PVC pipe for the back awning. Dale and I had kicked around a couple of ideas to improve our set up. We dropped by West Marine for some hardware for a broken hinge on our cooler/line locker and where I was specifically forbidden from buying any more Christmas ornaments.
When we returned to the marina, the possibility before we left, had become a strong belief that AAFES was taking over the marina; hopefully by the end of the week. However they were not taking over the bowling alley. This part was not good for those of us who need our internet connection. Until someone takes over, there is no internet, mini-mart or diesel services available. At least the power and water is still on which also means we still have laundry facilities.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
This morning the weather looked good, so we decided to climb to the top of the mast again. Dale had rigged another type of weight that would fit into the allotted spaced and found a spool of a heavier gauge of line (about the size of a clothes line, if you remember those) to use as a leader line. I donned the appropriate gear and up I went. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but part of the gear that we use is a set of headphones. It keeps the shouting to a minimum and the communication much more clear.
At first, everything went according to plan. The weight and line fitted where it needed to go and dropped without incident. Sort of. Then, just like the last time, it appeared to be dropping but not getting anywhere. This time we decided that we were going to pull it back out, measure it, then drop it again to see if we were being impatient or if it was hanging up someplace. Except that it when I started to pull it back out, suddenly it seemed to fall and Dale was able to see it and retrieve it out of the exit hole it needed to come out of. Great!! We’re cooking with gas now; the slight hang up was forgotten. He cut off the weight at his end and started pulling so that I could attach the rope that was going to be our new halyard at my end on top.
He had given me two types of tape to use to connect the two lines. One was blue masking tape the other was duck tape, just in case. Piss poor planning on my part, I overlapped about 20” of the two pieces of rope and started connecting them together without taking into consideration the fact that I was near the end of the blue masking tape. Sure enough, about half way from the end of my 20” overlap-line-tape splice, I ran out. That’s why I had duck tape, right? Have you ever tried to use duck tape at 65’ in the air?
Now mind you, I’ve got a great perch on the world that high up. I’m sandwiched among 2 lengths of standing rigging holding the mast upright on either side. The foresail roller furling cable leads forward to the bow and the topping lift to the boom leads aft to the back of the boat. I’ve been hoisted up to a point in the midst of all of these points and I’ve secured myself to the top with a safety tether that leads around the mast, over the top and back to me. I’m not going anywhere and I can work with both hands. However, I needed 2 hands to keep the tape straight, another 2 to hold the lines together and still another to use the miniature knife scissors I’d brought , since ripping it with my teeth produced unreliable results.
The first 12” section I unrolled, immediately stuck to itself before I even had a chance to cut it. The next two 6 and 9” sections had at least waited until I cut them to plaster themselves together. I was developing a rather impressive list of salty sailor phrases when Dale used his doctor voice trying to convince me to relax and not get frustrated; we had all the time in the world to finish our project. Remember the headsets; clear communication without shouting. I smiled; the shoe was on the other foot today.
Then I had the brilliant idea that I would cut a little 3” piece to connect the end of my splice together and send it down since most of my splice was already taped. That accomplished, I gave the signal and Dale started tugging, I fed the splice through the rollers on top and down it went. Sort of.
We’d fed quite a bit through when it seemed to hang up again. We came up with a system of you tug, then I’ll tug, to try to force it through. Sometimes it would clear and continue down, but at one point, it just jammed in tight. Using my body weight to try and force it back the way it had come, it finally cleared so I pulled it back up and saw what I was afraid might have happened, the section of splice not taped had doubled up on itself and formed a bow between the two pieces of splice that were taped. I was able to dig the splice out of the top of the mast and using the ace bandage approach to taping, I secured a small section of duck tape around the splice then with a couple of inches at a time, would unroll it and wrap it around the splice. It wasn’t pretty but it wasn’t going to slide up either. Back down it went.
This time when it jammed, no amount of tugging, body weight or salty sailor phrases at either end of the line would clear it. Now what?
I asked Dale if he was up for some exercise and after securing the remaining rope at the top of the mast, asked him to lower me down to the various inspection points on the mast. The rope had cleared the first point I had come to on the mast but at the second one I couldn’t tell. So I asked for additional implements of destruction; a small flashlight and a wire hanger. By way of the dangling rope, Dale sent up my requests and the biggest screwdriver I had ever seen. I used all three in fishing out what appeared to be our leader line with a huge ‘nest’ of string attached to it. Do you remember our original attempt in St. Thomas at running the halyard using a spool of string I had sent down the mast? We had wondered where all of that string had gone. Well now we know. Once I was able to clear the nest out of the tiny hole, I went about cutting it off our leader line and was finally able to fish our rope out to that point. However, whether I liked it or not, there were about 10 pieces of string I couldn’t clear out. Since there was no reasonable choice left for me, I pulled them out as much as I could, then cut them. Back up to the top I went. Dale was definitely getting his workout for the day.
This time the line moved when we pulled on it and we were able to finish leading the halyard the remaining distance to the bottom of the mast. Sort of. Now when we ran into a hang up, the nest was found at Dale’s end of the line. The other 10 lines and about twice the nest I had found came out at his end. He had just as much fun, cleaning the nest off his end as I had at mine before finally being able to lead the rope out. He was dutifully impressed with my ‘wrap’ job. I reminded him that we had put a lot of tension on that wrap job and it held through the entire ordeal. We secured the halyard on deck and once again, Dale lowered me down the length of the mast.
The only thing left to do was hoist up the jib up on the foresail roller furling and roll it in. Thankfully, this was accomplished without a hitch. Sort of. Once we had secured everything, Dale noticed that the new halyard we had just run was pinched between the halyard for the jib and the top portion of the roller furling. At the top of the mast, of course. That meant dropping the jib again to clear the line and then running the jib back up. We figured that we’d save that for tomorrow.
We took a break and while sitting in the cockpit wondered where the original weight and leader wire that it was attached to went? We still haven’t found it. I surmised that at the worst possible moment, probably in a raging storm, we’ll figure it out and where it went and we won’t like it a bit.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
This morning the weather looked good, so we decided to climb to the top of the mast again. Dale had rigged another type of weight that would fit into the allotted spaced and found a spool of a heavier gauge of line (about the size of a clothes line, if you remember those) to use as a leader line. I donned the appropriate gear and up I went. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but part of the gear that we use is a set of headphones. It keeps the shouting to a minimum and the communication much more clear.
At first, everything went according to plan. The weight and line fitted where it needed to go and dropped without incident. Sort of. Then, just like the last time, it appeared to be dropping but not getting anywhere. This time we decided that we were going to pull it back out, measure it, then drop it again to see if we were being impatient or if it was hanging up someplace. Except that it when I started to pull it back out, suddenly it seemed to fall and Dale was able to see it and retrieve it out of the exit hole it needed to come out of. Great!! We’re cooking with gas now; the slight hang up was forgotten. He cut off the weight at his end and started pulling so that I could attach the rope that was going to be our new halyard at my end on top.
He had given me two types of tape to use to connect the two lines. One was blue masking tape the other was duck tape, just in case. Piss poor planning on my part, I overlapped about 20” of the two pieces of rope and started connecting them together without taking into consideration the fact that I was near the end of the blue masking tape. Sure enough, about half way from the end of my 20” overlap-line-tape splice, I ran out. That’s why I had duck tape, right? Have you ever tried to use duck tape at 65’ in the air?
Now mind you, I’ve got a great perch on the world that high up. I’m sandwiched among 2 lengths of standing rigging holding the mast upright on either side. The foresail roller furling cable leads forward to the bow and the topping lift to the boom leads aft to the back of the boat. I’ve been hoisted up to a point in the midst of all of these points and I’ve secured myself to the top with a safety tether that leads around the mast, over the top and back to me. I’m not going anywhere and I can work with both hands. However, I needed 2 hands to keep the tape straight, another 2 to hold the lines together and still another to use the miniature knife scissors I’d brought , since ripping it with my teeth produced unreliable results.
The first 12” section I unrolled, immediately stuck to itself before I even had a chance to cut it. The next two 6 and 9” sections had at least waited until I cut them to plaster themselves together. I was developing a rather impressive list of salty sailor phrases when Dale used his doctor voice trying to convince me to relax and not get frustrated; we had all the time in the world to finish our project. Remember the headsets; clear communication without shouting. I smiled; the shoe was on the other foot today.
Then I had the brilliant idea that I would cut a little 3” piece to connect the end of my splice together and send it down since most of my splice was already taped. That accomplished, I gave the signal and Dale started tugging, I fed the splice through the rollers on top and down it went. Sort of.
We’d fed quite a bit through when it seemed to hang up again. We came up with a system of you tug, then I’ll tug, to try to force it through. Sometimes it would clear and continue down, but at one point, it just jammed in tight. Using my body weight to try and force it back the way it had come, it finally cleared so I pulled it back up and saw what I was afraid might have happened, the section of splice not taped had doubled up on itself and formed a bow between the two pieces of splice that were taped. I was able to dig the splice out of the top of the mast and using the ace bandage approach to taping, I secured a small section of duck tape around the splice then with a couple of inches at a time, would unroll it and wrap it around the splice. It wasn’t pretty but it wasn’t going to slide up either. Back down it went.
This time when it jammed, no amount of tugging, body weight or salty sailor phrases at either end of the line would clear it. Now what?
I asked Dale if he was up for some exercise and after securing the remaining rope at the top of the mast, asked him to lower me down to the various inspection points on the mast. The rope had cleared the first point I had come to on the mast but at the second one I couldn’t tell. So I asked for additional implements of destruction; a small flashlight and a wire hanger. By way of the dangling rope, Dale sent up my requests and the biggest screwdriver I had ever seen. I used all three in fishing out what appeared to be our leader line with a huge ‘nest’ of string attached to it. Do you remember our original attempt in St. Thomas at running the halyard using a spool of string I had sent down the mast? We had wondered where all of that string had gone. Well now we know. Once I was able to clear the nest out of the tiny hole, I went about cutting it off our leader line and was finally able to fish our rope out to that point. However, whether I liked it or not, there were about 10 pieces of string I couldn’t clear out. Since there was no reasonable choice left for me, I pulled them out as much as I could, then cut them. Back up to the top I went. Dale was definitely getting his workout for the day.
This time the line moved when we pulled on it and we were able to finish leading the halyard the remaining distance to the bottom of the mast. Sort of. Now when we ran into a hang up, the nest was found at Dale’s end of the line. The other 10 lines and about twice the nest I had found came out at his end. He had just as much fun, cleaning the nest off his end as I had at mine before finally being able to lead the rope out. He was dutifully impressed with my ‘wrap’ job. I reminded him that we had put a lot of tension on that wrap job and it held through the entire ordeal. We secured the halyard on deck and once again, Dale lowered me down the length of the mast.
The only thing left to do was hoist up the jib up on the foresail roller furling and roll it in. Thankfully, this was accomplished without a hitch. Sort of. Once we had secured everything, Dale noticed that the new halyard we had just run was pinched between the halyard for the jib and the top portion of the roller furling. At the top of the mast, of course. That meant dropping the jib again to clear the line and then running the jib back up. We figured that we’d save that for tomorrow.
We took a break and while sitting in the cockpit wondered where the original weight and leader wire that it was attached to went? We still haven’t found it. I surmised that at the worst possible moment, probably in a raging storm, we’ll figure it out and where it went and we won’t like it a bit.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
As I remarked before, when we returned to Roosey, the hot water tank was waiting for us and has been sitting in our cockpit patiently until the stars and moon were properly a lined for a quick and painless replacement procedure. Today was the day we had been waiting for. We were well rested, well fed and ready to attack the task at hand. We also had a car nearby in case we needed additional pieces and parts.
Dale prepped the area by first clearing all pillows, cushions, charts and cameras from sight. We both decided that this would be a good day for me to do laundry, so I cleared all clothing, towels and rugs from the general area as well. (Having just discovered one of my hand towels covered in grease and being used as chafe gear in the dinghy, I left him with a roll of paper towels.)
The laundry room is in the building just in front of where our boat is slipped, so I opted for the back and forth between loads method of washing instead of the taking a book and camping out routine. On my first trip back to the Palace, I saw that most of the flooring and one side of the tank had been opened up. Green cooling fluids once contained somewhere within the tank had been drained and were being stored in 2 liter Diet Coke bottles around what remained of the salon floor. I positioned myself on the far side of the salon and watched silently. Soon enough I was pressed into service.
As Dale balanced the front of the tank on his toes, he drained water from the far side where the water was fed into the tank. The area where he could tip the tank with his toes and still reach to hold the vessel catching the water only allowed a plastic cup to fit. He’d pour water into the cup then dump it into a water bottle with a funnel attached. I was commissioned to dump the reclaimed water. The tank holds 11 gallons. Watching his hands shake as he very carefully, poured the water from the little plastic cup through the funnel into the 1 liter water bottle that he had balanced precisely on the very tank he was emptying, I calculated it out with my new math skills and grabbed a big bowl. The chances of the water spilling or his toes being crushed were astronomical.
He used this method to empty enough water out to where he could lift the tank and then dumped some more into the bilge. (I’m still not convinced that all of the holes in the bottom of the boat lead to the bilge that has the pump. It seemed he dumped quite a bit of water into the bilge but I never heard the bilge pump come on.) Finally, he determined that enough had been removed so that we could lift it up and out of the boat. I was directed to go top side and grab one side of the tank while he climbed the stairs holding the other side. I was directed not to tip the tank. Considering the angles involved, I just laughed. Believe it or not, we got the tank up the stairs, off the boat, onto the dock and finally onto a nearby dockbox where he could remove the remaining pieces and parts that were required to connect the new tank without any noticeable spills. This was a good time to switch the laundry.
The next time I descended the stairs, the new tank was out of its box and being positioned into the space. There was a fair amount of salty dog sailor speak coaxing the tank into place but soon enough he was tinkering with various wrenches, screwdrivers and scooping up mounds of wet paper towels.
Next we had an Easter Egg Hunt for the cup of screws he had stowed away. Back when he first disassembled the settee, he dutifully saved each and every one of the screws in a little cup. When we decided to go sailing with MTNest, he secured them in a very safe place where they wouldn’t fall and where we would never be able to find them again. After much searching, they were finally located in a small cupboard I use for canned butter and packaged milk. Don’t ask; it’s just where they were.
After that, it was just a matter of replacing the floor boards, rebuilding the settee and replacing the cushions. By the time he was done with his task, I was done with mine and it only took us most of the day to accomplish them.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
As I remarked before, when we returned to Roosey, the hot water tank was waiting for us and has been sitting in our cockpit patiently until the stars and moon were properly a lined for a quick and painless replacement procedure. Today was the day we had been waiting for. We were well rested, well fed and ready to attack the task at hand. We also had a car nearby in case we needed additional pieces and parts.
Dale prepped the area by first clearing all pillows, cushions, charts and cameras from sight. We both decided that this would be a good day for me to do laundry, so I cleared all clothing, towels and rugs from the general area as well. (Having just discovered one of my hand towels covered in grease and being used as chafe gear in the dinghy, I left him with a roll of paper towels.)
The laundry room is in the building just in front of where our boat is slipped, so I opted for the back and forth between loads method of washing instead of the taking a book and camping out routine. On my first trip back to the Palace, I saw that most of the flooring and one side of the tank had been opened up. Green cooling fluids once contained somewhere within the tank had been drained and were being stored in 2 liter Diet Coke bottles around what remained of the salon floor. I positioned myself on the far side of the salon and watched silently. Soon enough I was pressed into service.
As Dale balanced the front of the tank on his toes, he drained water from the far side where the water was fed into the tank. The area where he could tip the tank with his toes and still reach to hold the vessel catching the water only allowed a plastic cup to fit. He’d pour water into the cup then dump it into a water bottle with a funnel attached. I was commissioned to dump the reclaimed water. The tank holds 11 gallons. Watching his hands shake as he very carefully, poured the water from the little plastic cup through the funnel into the 1 liter water bottle that he had balanced precisely on the very tank he was emptying, I calculated it out with my new math skills and grabbed a big bowl. The chances of the water spilling or his toes being crushed were astronomical.
He used this method to empty enough water out to where he could lift the tank and then dumped some more into the bilge. (I’m still not convinced that all of the holes in the bottom of the boat lead to the bilge that has the pump. It seemed he dumped quite a bit of water into the bilge but I never heard the bilge pump come on.) Finally, he determined that enough had been removed so that we could lift it up and out of the boat. I was directed to go top side and grab one side of the tank while he climbed the stairs holding the other side. I was directed not to tip the tank. Considering the angles involved, I just laughed. Believe it or not, we got the tank up the stairs, off the boat, onto the dock and finally onto a nearby dockbox where he could remove the remaining pieces and parts that were required to connect the new tank without any noticeable spills. This was a good time to switch the laundry.
The next time I descended the stairs, the new tank was out of its box and being positioned into the space. There was a fair amount of salty dog sailor speak coaxing the tank into place but soon enough he was tinkering with various wrenches, screwdrivers and scooping up mounds of wet paper towels.
Next we had an Easter Egg Hunt for the cup of screws he had stowed away. Back when he first disassembled the settee, he dutifully saved each and every one of the screws in a little cup. When we decided to go sailing with MTNest, he secured them in a very safe place where they wouldn’t fall and where we would never be able to find them again. After much searching, they were finally located in a small cupboard I use for canned butter and packaged milk. Don’t ask; it’s just where they were.
After that, it was just a matter of replacing the floor boards, rebuilding the settee and replacing the cushions. By the time he was done with his task, I was done with mine and it only took us most of the day to accomplish them.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Roosevelt Roads
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We picked up a car and started our errands for the week. We picked up the jib and dinghy cover from the sail loft. Dale sent off a FedEx package. We dropped by OfficeMax to replace a cardboard box with a plastic one and made the mistake of picking up a computer game. We headed to WalMart to look for a replacement bicycle pump (ours was liberated while we were gone) and Dale wanted a couple more barbeque brushes. We did a little grocery shopping to replace our fresh veggies and Diet Coke, then started looking for an optical shop to replace a broken frame on a pair of glasses of mine. After a couple of stops, we finally found one that selected a smaller set of frames and then reground the lens to fit. At least now I have a another set in case of emergency. While we were waiting for the glasses, we killed some time by going through a video rental store. They were having a sale on all of their previously seen movies, so we picked up a couple. We watched one this evening. I’m glad we didn’t pay more than a couple of bucks for it. It was so bad, I’m embarrassed to tell you the name of it.
Later I dug out the computer game and started playing. I should have known that it was a mistake to buy it. I didn’t go to bed until 1:30am; my math skills are a little better though.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
We picked up a car and started our errands for the week. We picked up the jib and dinghy cover from the sail loft. Dale sent off a FedEx package. We dropped by OfficeMax to replace a cardboard box with a plastic one and made the mistake of picking up a computer game. We headed to WalMart to look for a replacement bicycle pump (ours was liberated while we were gone) and Dale wanted a couple more barbeque brushes. We did a little grocery shopping to replace our fresh veggies and Diet Coke, then started looking for an optical shop to replace a broken frame on a pair of glasses of mine. After a couple of stops, we finally found one that selected a smaller set of frames and then reground the lens to fit. At least now I have a another set in case of emergency. While we were waiting for the glasses, we killed some time by going through a video rental store. They were having a sale on all of their previously seen movies, so we picked up a couple. We watched one this evening. I’m glad we didn’t pay more than a couple of bucks for it. It was so bad, I’m embarrassed to tell you the name of it.
Later I dug out the computer game and started playing. I should have known that it was a mistake to buy it. I didn’t go to bed until 1:30am; my math skills are a little better though.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Roosevelt Roads 
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
While the moon was still high in the sky, we retrieved our anchor and headed away from St. Thomas about 6:25 am. The Queen Mary II was resting just outside of the entrance to St. Thomas harbor as she appeared to be too large to negotiate the channel. Four other cruise ships were vying for position in the line up to enter in and take their place along the dock.
It was a pretty straight forward motor on our return to Puerto Rico and we called ahead to file our float plan to enter Ensenada Honda at Roosevelt Roads. We tied up and checked in with the office and learned that our hot water tank had finally arrived. We also learned that officially the bowling alley had closed on the 31st of December as had everything else, including the gym, marina mini-mart and gas station. Unofficially, they are still waiting to find out if they would open up again in a week or two. The marina itself is in a quasi-closed operation. We had paid a month in advance and had no problem in returning. However the new procedures are to report to the base security office in person to file your float plan to secure access to the marina. We spoke to Hector, the marina manager and he gave us permission to use the marina’s internet connection since we have our own computer and only need the line.
We washed off the boat, connected the electricty and water then collapsed into bed for a nap. We were both exhausted. Regardless of how uneventful the sail was, it still took the better part of the day to return and as I’ve said many times before, fresh air will kill you.
Puerto Rico
18.14.018N
65.37.582W
While the moon was still high in the sky, we retrieved our anchor and headed away from St. Thomas about 6:25 am. The Queen Mary II was resting just outside of the entrance to St. Thomas harbor as she appeared to be too large to negotiate the channel. Four other cruise ships were vying for position in the line up to enter in and take their place along the dock.
It was a pretty straight forward motor on our return to Puerto Rico and we called ahead to file our float plan to enter Ensenada Honda at Roosevelt Roads. We tied up and checked in with the office and learned that our hot water tank had finally arrived. We also learned that officially the bowling alley had closed on the 31st of December as had everything else, including the gym, marina mini-mart and gas station. Unofficially, they are still waiting to find out if they would open up again in a week or two. The marina itself is in a quasi-closed operation. We had paid a month in advance and had no problem in returning. However the new procedures are to report to the base security office in person to file your float plan to secure access to the marina. We spoke to Hector, the marina manager and he gave us permission to use the marina’s internet connection since we have our own computer and only need the line.
We washed off the boat, connected the electricty and water then collapsed into bed for a nap. We were both exhausted. Regardless of how uneventful the sail was, it still took the better part of the day to return and as I’ve said many times before, fresh air will kill you.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
18.20.257N
64.55.694W
Today, while the crew of MTNest went on a tour of the island, Dale and I tried to run a new spinnaker halyard. He hoisted me up the mast armed with the new halyard, a thin leader line with a lead weight, knife, scissors, masking tape, duck tape (you never know), and a wire cover (the last time he went up, he saw where one was needed). Everything went well on the trip up, except that once I made it to the top. . . the lead weight was too big to fit through the opening. The only place big enough to shove it through was where the wires were coming out at the top, an inch or two from where it needed to be threaded through. I figured I could thread the halyard itself from there then tie the two together.
Sorry to say though, the angle was wrong and no matter what I did, the lead weight and leader line would tangle with the wires part way down the mast and have to be retrieved. After about a hour and a half of dropping it in, bringing it back out, dropping it back down, bringing it back out, dark clouds started to appear coming over the mountains protecting the harbor, so we called it quits. However this time, the line wouldn’t come back out when I tried to retrieve it. Eventually, I pulled as much as I could get to out and cut the rest. You know that at some point, probably on a quiet night, that weight will finally free itself and fall to the deck and scare us half to death.
The rain started just as I was applying the wire cover and by the time I finally made it down the mast, Dale had his own wet t-shirt exhibition slip-sliding towards him.
We decided to wait until we got back to Roosey to try to do it again; next time with some other type of weight and a larger leader line that wouldn’t twirl around the wires already in place.
We caught up with Mike, Terri and the girls later and exchanged stories of how we spent our day. They had a great time exploring various beaches and telling us about a coral garden that was available at one of them while Dale and I had finished our day by exploring various sailing and pirate shops along the wharf.
We said our good-byes to them and promised to catch up again down island in a couple of months. If not, Minnesota here we come!
18.20.257N
64.55.694W
Today, while the crew of MTNest went on a tour of the island, Dale and I tried to run a new spinnaker halyard. He hoisted me up the mast armed with the new halyard, a thin leader line with a lead weight, knife, scissors, masking tape, duck tape (you never know), and a wire cover (the last time he went up, he saw where one was needed). Everything went well on the trip up, except that once I made it to the top. . . the lead weight was too big to fit through the opening. The only place big enough to shove it through was where the wires were coming out at the top, an inch or two from where it needed to be threaded through. I figured I could thread the halyard itself from there then tie the two together.
Sorry to say though, the angle was wrong and no matter what I did, the lead weight and leader line would tangle with the wires part way down the mast and have to be retrieved. After about a hour and a half of dropping it in, bringing it back out, dropping it back down, bringing it back out, dark clouds started to appear coming over the mountains protecting the harbor, so we called it quits. However this time, the line wouldn’t come back out when I tried to retrieve it. Eventually, I pulled as much as I could get to out and cut the rest. You know that at some point, probably on a quiet night, that weight will finally free itself and fall to the deck and scare us half to death.
The rain started just as I was applying the wire cover and by the time I finally made it down the mast, Dale had his own wet t-shirt exhibition slip-sliding towards him.
We decided to wait until we got back to Roosey to try to do it again; next time with some other type of weight and a larger leader line that wouldn’t twirl around the wires already in place.
We caught up with Mike, Terri and the girls later and exchanged stories of how we spent our day. They had a great time exploring various beaches and telling us about a coral garden that was available at one of them while Dale and I had finished our day by exploring various sailing and pirate shops along the wharf.
We said our good-byes to them and promised to catch up again down island in a couple of months. If not, Minnesota here we come!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 
18.20.257N
64.55.694W
In spite of our 6:30 am attempt to leave Culebrita with the calmer seas, we had to collect the stern anchor. If you remember the last time we threw out a stern anchor, it took 4 dinghies to help dislodge the sucker. This time it was just us.
Once again, it wasn’t going to come out easily. When Dale told me that he was going to dig it out manually, I suggested dropping the mooring ball and using the windless to hoist it up . . . But no, he figured it was buried too deep and took a small hatchet (I don’t know, it’s just what he grabbed) and spent the next hour and a half diving down, digging, then coming up to get air. By the time he started to really show his exhaustion, he swam back to the boat to tell me that every time he dug the rope out, he’d come up for air and the wave action would bury it again. Then he got the bright idea that if we dropped the mooring ball, we’d could use the big boat to hold what he dug out from being buried again. Surprisingly enough, once I dropped the mooring ball and started to pull up on the anchor line, the anchor popped right out. He might be smarter than the average bear but he’s just as stubborn at times.
Two hours after MTNest left, we were able to follow them over to St. Thomas. The seas that we suspected would calm during the night did so while they crossed but were beginning to build again as we made our way across. Still, it wasn’t a bad crossing just a little more boisterous heading directly into it.
We met up with Mike, Terri and the girls for lunch at the Green House, a local restaurant then broke off to do our separate shopping. Dale and I headed back to Liberty Jewelers (my favorite) and the crew of MTNest headed to their favorite jeweler. I picked up a couple of pair of earrings and then turned our attention to searching out an underwater camera. Mona, at Liberty, told us of a place to check and sure enough, after doing a little comparison shopping, we ended up where she had directed us and got a good deal. I can’t wait to try it out.
We met on MTNest for appetizers later in the evening then called it a day. We were all exhausted; particularly Yogi.
18.20.257N
64.55.694W
In spite of our 6:30 am attempt to leave Culebrita with the calmer seas, we had to collect the stern anchor. If you remember the last time we threw out a stern anchor, it took 4 dinghies to help dislodge the sucker. This time it was just us.
Once again, it wasn’t going to come out easily. When Dale told me that he was going to dig it out manually, I suggested dropping the mooring ball and using the windless to hoist it up . . . But no, he figured it was buried too deep and took a small hatchet (I don’t know, it’s just what he grabbed) and spent the next hour and a half diving down, digging, then coming up to get air. By the time he started to really show his exhaustion, he swam back to the boat to tell me that every time he dug the rope out, he’d come up for air and the wave action would bury it again. Then he got the bright idea that if we dropped the mooring ball, we’d could use the big boat to hold what he dug out from being buried again. Surprisingly enough, once I dropped the mooring ball and started to pull up on the anchor line, the anchor popped right out. He might be smarter than the average bear but he’s just as stubborn at times.
Two hours after MTNest left, we were able to follow them over to St. Thomas. The seas that we suspected would calm during the night did so while they crossed but were beginning to build again as we made our way across. Still, it wasn’t a bad crossing just a little more boisterous heading directly into it.
We met up with Mike, Terri and the girls for lunch at the Green House, a local restaurant then broke off to do our separate shopping. Dale and I headed back to Liberty Jewelers (my favorite) and the crew of MTNest headed to their favorite jeweler. I picked up a couple of pair of earrings and then turned our attention to searching out an underwater camera. Mona, at Liberty, told us of a place to check and sure enough, after doing a little comparison shopping, we ended up where she had directed us and got a good deal. I can’t wait to try it out.
We met on MTNest for appetizers later in the evening then called it a day. We were all exhausted; particularly Yogi.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Culebrita
18.19.160N
65.13.624W
The New Year dawned brightly and by 9 am, we were hoisting our anchor to make our way from Culebra to Culebrita, a smaller, uninhabited island further to the north. On our transit we stayed behind the reefs and scooted between the two islands but once we rounded to the north on the western side of Culebrita, we were bucking into a 6-8’ swell with short intervals. Very uncomfortable and not what we were expecting.
We had to be very careful making our approach to Culebrita’s bay as we needed to turn broadside to the waves and enter between two opposing reefs into shallower water. We watched as a power boat went zinging past us into a surprisingly empty harbor . We thought for sure he’d pile up on the western reef but he powered his way through without hitting a thing. If you recall our previous visit here, we watched a dinghy pulling a water skiier hit that side of the reef, ruining their whole day.
It takes a while to make your way through the mangrove trees that line the water and across the rocks and boulders to where the tidal pools or “baths” are. We caught up with Mike, Terri & the girls as they were leaving, so we ended up having the pools to ourselves for a couple of hours. We hadn’t taken our snorkel gear, so we didn’t get to get a good look at all of the fish that are in the nurseries but we could clearly see that the pools were protecting tiny fish and a few good sized ones.
18.19.160N
65.13.624W
The New Year dawned brightly and by 9 am, we were hoisting our anchor to make our way from Culebra to Culebrita, a smaller, uninhabited island further to the north. On our transit we stayed behind the reefs and scooted between the two islands but once we rounded to the north on the western side of Culebrita, we were bucking into a 6-8’ swell with short intervals. Very uncomfortable and not what we were expecting.
We had to be very careful making our approach to Culebrita’s bay as we needed to turn broadside to the waves and enter between two opposing reefs into shallower water. We watched as a power boat went zinging past us into a surprisingly empty harbor . We thought for sure he’d pile up on the western reef but he powered his way through without hitting a thing. If you recall our previous visit here, we watched a dinghy pulling a water skiier hit that side of the reef, ruining their whole day.
Once entered, the reefs cut the waves down considerably but a nasty swell wrapped around them and made its way inside. We and MTNest took the most protected mooring balls available and set about settling the boats and prepared to go hiking over to the north-eastern side to Culebrita’s version of ‘the baths.’ As we were sitting, Dale decided to keep the rocking to a minimum by putting out a stern anchor to keep us into the swell. In such shallow waters though, we elected to go stern to the swell, accepting the fact that we’d have a slap on our hull, instead of bow to which would position our keel in extremely shallow water. A sizable wave could have us bouncing off the bottom; not something we wanted to chance.
We waved to Mike, Terri & the girls as they headed over to ‘the baths’ while we threw out the anchor and winched ourselves into position. All the while, more and more power boats were coming in and, like us, wanted as much protection from the swell as possible. Of course, this was in the same corner as we were in. As we left the Palace to go swimming, we saw a steady line of them coming in and hoped none would snag on our anchor line as they squeezed more and more into the same space.
It takes a while to make your way through the mangrove trees that line the water and across the rocks and boulders to where the tidal pools or “baths” are. We caught up with Mike, Terri & the girls as they were leaving, so we ended up having the pools to ourselves for a couple of hours. We hadn’t taken our snorkel gear, so we didn’t get to get a good look at all of the fish that are in the nurseries but we could clearly see that the pools were protecting tiny fish and a few good sized ones. We joined Mike, Terri & the girls for dinner and a few rounds of Mexican dominos later in the evening and agreed to leave early in the morning when the weather is usually calmest. According to our weather information, the wind and waves are not expected to subside before Friday when Ally has to catch a plane out of St. Thomas, so we might as well go ahead and leave now.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Dewey, Culebra
18.18.330N
65.17.883W
We checked with MTNest to see what their plans were for the day, then hopped into the dinghy and went in for the “cruisers breakfast” at The Dinghy Dock. It might be “famous” and written up in the cruising guides but personally, I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.
After the breakfast dishes were cleared away, we jumped back into the dinghy and went exploring. We motored into the channel leading from the anchorage to the main part of town by first passing beneath the “famous” lift bridge. As we understand the story of the bridge, Culebra was transferred to the U.S. in 1898. In 1903, Roosevelt gave control to the Navy, who decided that the town of Pueblo Viejo on Culebra and all of its inhabitants at the time needed to be closer to the water. So they moved it, lock, stock and barrel, built them a new town and changed the name to Dewey. However, there were a couple of fishermen who didn’t want to wiggle through the reefs and around the peninsula to get to town, so the military built a lift bridge for the two fishing boats. As you can see, it’s quite the construction project for two boats. As you can imagine, the boats are no longer in existence and the bridge is longer being lifted for water traffic.
We passed by a couple of restaurants on the water, a gas station and small haul out before exiting at the ferry dock in town. The harbor between Dewey and Luis Pena was like a pond, so we took the opportunity to cross over to the little island and then walk across the nature preserve to the other side.
When we were stationed here in the early 90’s, the little harbor at Luis Pena was a favorite overnight stop to drop our anchor on our way to the Virgin Islands. Now there are a couple of free mooring balls in the harbor and several more on the western side. We beached the dinghy and checked out the boat washed up on the shore. Dale suspected that it had been a towed target for the military in a previous life as it clearly had “Navy” printed on its side.
I left my leather shoes in the dinghy so when we decided to walk across the island, I scavenged for a new pair. It only took me a minute or two before we were off on another adventure. Tromping across the little island, we surprised a couple of goats and they startled us darting out of the bushes. Other than that, we saw no other signs of animal life on the island. The huge mountain of harvested conch shells that had once dominated one side of the harbor were now gone (thankfully) and only those shells that washed up on the beach were to be seen. Dale saw that the winds were starting to pick up, so we headed back the way we had come and made a slower, wetter crossing to Culebra, through the channel and back to the Palace for a quiet afternoon.
Mike, Terri and the girls told us hey where heading to Flamingo Beach for the day so we hoped they weren’t getting too wet in the passing afternoon showers. In the meantime, another catamaran behind us came by to borrow Dale’s pop rivet gun to attach their radar mount. I guess we looked well equipped as they pretty much made a bee-line towards us from their boat.
We met on MTNest for a pot luck dinner and a glass of champagne before heading into town for the New Year’s Eve festivities. We told them about channel to the other side and suggested that it was the quickest and, most likely, safest way of getting to and from the celebration.
We needn’t had worried though as the party in town was more of a family night than the wild craziness of Foxy’s we had come to expect in the islands at the end of the year. It was an enjoyable night of dancing and fireworks but the only food, drink or a place to sit was what you brought yourself to the party. It was a nice way to bring in the New Year and even the passing rain didn’t dampen the spirits.
18.18.330N
65.17.883W
We checked with MTNest to see what their plans were for the day, then hopped into the dinghy and went in for the “cruisers breakfast” at The Dinghy Dock. It might be “famous” and written up in the cruising guides but personally, I didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.
After the breakfast dishes were cleared away, we jumped back into the dinghy and went exploring. We motored into the channel leading from the anchorage to the main part of town by first passing beneath the “famous” lift bridge. As we understand the story of the bridge, Culebra was transferred to the U.S. in 1898. In 1903, Roosevelt gave control to the Navy, who decided that the town of Pueblo Viejo on Culebra and all of its inhabitants at the time needed to be closer to the water. So they moved it, lock, stock and barrel, built them a new town and changed the name to Dewey. However, there were a couple of fishermen who didn’t want to wiggle through the reefs and around the peninsula to get to town, so the military built a lift bridge for the two fishing boats. As you can see, it’s quite the construction project for two boats. As you can imagine, the boats are no longer in existence and the bridge is longer being lifted for water traffic.We passed by a couple of restaurants on the water, a gas station and small haul out before exiting at the ferry dock in town. The harbor between Dewey and Luis Pena was like a pond, so we took the opportunity to cross over to the little island and then walk across the nature preserve to the other side.
When we were stationed here in the early 90’s, the little harbor at Luis Pena was a favorite overnight stop to drop our anchor on our way to the Virgin Islands. Now there are a couple of free mooring balls in the harbor and several more on the western side. We beached the dinghy and checked out the boat washed up on the shore. Dale suspected that it had been a towed target for the military in a previous life as it clearly had “Navy” printed on its side.
I left my leather shoes in the dinghy so when we decided to walk across the island, I scavenged for a new pair. It only took me a minute or two before we were off on another adventure. Tromping across the little island, we surprised a couple of goats and they startled us darting out of the bushes. Other than that, we saw no other signs of animal life on the island. The huge mountain of harvested conch shells that had once dominated one side of the harbor were now gone (thankfully) and only those shells that washed up on the beach were to be seen. Dale saw that the winds were starting to pick up, so we headed back the way we had come and made a slower, wetter crossing to Culebra, through the channel and back to the Palace for a quiet afternoon.Mike, Terri and the girls told us hey where heading to Flamingo Beach for the day so we hoped they weren’t getting too wet in the passing afternoon showers. In the meantime, another catamaran behind us came by to borrow Dale’s pop rivet gun to attach their radar mount. I guess we looked well equipped as they pretty much made a bee-line towards us from their boat.
We met on MTNest for a pot luck dinner and a glass of champagne before heading into town for the New Year’s Eve festivities. We told them about channel to the other side and suggested that it was the quickest and, most likely, safest way of getting to and from the celebration.
We needn’t had worried though as the party in town was more of a family night than the wild craziness of Foxy’s we had come to expect in the islands at the end of the year. It was an enjoyable night of dancing and fireworks but the only food, drink or a place to sit was what you brought yourself to the party. It was a nice way to bring in the New Year and even the passing rain didn’t dampen the spirits.
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