Sun, Sand, Snorkelling and Stars

Sun, Sand, Snorkelling and Stars

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

This morning, we decided to inflate the new hard-bottom dinghy.  Okay, lets lug this 100 pound boat up the stairs and onto the deck, then pull everything out of the bag for the first time.  Uh, oh, something's missing!  There are two pumps--a foot pump and a two-way hand pump.  However, neither comes with the attachments needed to fill the dinghy. Aaarrrrggghhhh!  We tried this and that, but nothing was satisfactory.  We even went to the chandlery here to see if they sold the attachments.  

 Finally, Jose, from 'Smoke and Mirrors' loaned us his pump, with attachments. It worked great.  Jose's been a great source for information and help.  Really nice guy.  He sailed in the Caribbean 1500, too, but we hadn't met him before.  

It rained off and on all day today, but it's a warm rain, so we usually just kept working.  

Sometimes, I think Nanny Cay is a boomerang port. Every time we think we're ready to leave, it holds on tight and we boomerang back.  By the time we got the dinghy sorted out, it was 3:00 and too late to leave.  We went for a swim in the pool instead.  Oh, well, there's always tomorrow.  

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Today, it's finally time to leave Nanny Cay. We stopped at the fuel dock to get filled up with diesel.  While we were there, Arthur, from Nordic Light, came over to chat.  He was in the Caribbean 1500, but we hadn't met him before. Really nice guy.  His boat is a Mason 54. Beautiful. He is a retired Delta airline pilot.  

We went to Norman Island, just south of Tortola with the intention of anchoring in The Bight.  However, it was littered with mooring balls and boats.  Really no good place to anchor and pretty busy for our taste.  So, we went to Benures Bay on the north side of the island and anchored around 2:30 in a quiet, secluded spot.  It's just beautiful, surrounded by treed hills and Caribbean teal water.  Time for a swim and a cocktail.  Ahhhh, we have finally arrived.  

 BENURES BAY

It's been so rainy and overcast lately, that we have to close the hatches before going to bed. We can't hear the rain in our back cabin during the night, and we don't want the rain to come in.  That means that the only air flow is through our cabin fans.  It's sweltering!  These are the times when we really wish we had air conditioning. 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

In the morning, I cleaned all of the plastic windows on our enclosure. They were covered with salt.  So nice to get them clean. Then, we took them all off so we only have the roof up for sun protection.  We have a beautiful breeze here, so it's lovely in the shade. 

While I cleaned the windows, Carey put Tef-Gel on all of the lifeline turnbuckles, nuts, and bolts to control the rust. The salt water and sea air is terrible for promoting rust on everything, including stainless steel. It's a full time job, just trying to control it. Our poor boat is already showing signs of rust, and the barbecue is covered in rust. Not pretty. 

It's so hot inside the boat (nope, no air conditioning) that I decided we should have a hot lunch and a cold (or at least a simpler) supper.  That will give us time to cool off the boat after having the stove on.  For lunch, we had beef and gravy (out of a can) over egg noodles.  Amazingly delicious. 

So far, I'm not too thrilled about our cell service.  I usually can't download emails or use the Internet, but every once in awhile the phone boings to let me know something has come in.  It's very spotty. I guess I'll just have to compose emails and press send, and wait for it to go in its own good time.  

In the afternoon, we swam and relaxed.  I read my book and Carey puddled around trying to figure out how best to store things (e.g., the enclosure windows we just took off).  Everything needs a spot, but we have limited space.  Time to get creative!  Hmmmm, how about under our mattress?  Worth a try....tomorrow.  

Friday, November 25, 2016

This morning's job was snorkelling.  Yup, it's a tough life.  After, breakfast we got out our snorkelling gear and I suited up, ready to go in five minutes.  A half hour later, I was still sitting here, in full gear, waiting for Carey to get his new gear just right.  LOL. Finally, I jumped in without him and he eventually followed. There are big fish (about 2 and a half feet long) right below our boat. Carey thinks they might be tarpon.  A little nearer to shore, we saw many colourful coral fish--blue, yellow, orange, peach, silver, striped.  Some are shaped like angel fish, while others are tiny and slim. So pretty and peaceful. On the way back to the boat, Carey followed a large sea turtle for awhile. Once I got Carey in the water, he didn't want to get out!

When we got back on board, Carey resumed his organizing while I updated the blog notes and made lunch. I won't actually be able to send the blog update until we have better cell service or free wifi. 

Tomorrow, the plan is to go to explore the Caves past Treasure Point and then go to an anchorage on Peter's Island, but right now it's time for lunch. 

We swam a lot today, and then watched the wildlife--tarpon leaping two feet in the air, pelicans diving for supper, etc.  Cool.  

Saturday, November 26, 2026

After a light breakfast, we left Benures Bay and headed for The Caves, which is just around the bend on this island. We saw a sea turtle swimming near us on the way there.  Picking up a mooring ball for the first time in high winds was a treat, but we finally managed it.  I'm sure our skills will improve with practice.  Once settled, we donned our snorkelling gear and jumped in the beautiful water. It's so refreshing, but not cold at all.  Just a comfortable temperature, even when we're in it for long periods.  We swam over to The Caves and saw lots of pretty coral and colourful fish.  Afterward, while back onboard and eating an early light lunch, friends dinghied up for a visit.  Then, two more friends swam up to the boat.  So fun.  It's a different life here, when people can swim over to drop in.  We hadn't seen them in over a week, so it was nice to catch up.  

Later, we went to anchor in Little Harbour, on Peters Island.  It's a very pretty spot, and of course we went snorkelling immediately.  We swam over the anchor to check that it was secure.  We snorkel every day and swim several times a day.  It's so hot that we need to swim to cool off frequently. No air conditioning on this boat!  

Around 2:00, we enjoyed some appetizers and had a barbecued steak dinner around 7:00. We usually eat dinner in the dark, because the sun sets so early, but it's beautiful in the evenings. No bugs (even with our table lamp), light breeze, tons of stars, and anchor lights.  From this harbour, we can see the lights of Tortola.  So pretty.  After cleaning up the dinner dishes, we usually read for a while, and then go to bed early.  We tend to wake up with the sun, so it works out well.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

At 10:00, we lifted anchor and raised the sails, heading for Soper's Hole at the west end of Tortola. We need to get rid of our trash and do laundry, and this is a place with all of the facilities--restaurants, laundry, trash, shops, and a market. 

We were sailing downwind in about 10-13 knots of wind. Just a lovely relaxing sail.  

We arrived at Soper's Hole, at the west end of Tortola, at 12:45. We picked up a mooring, which was much easier this time. Hallelujah, we're learning!  

The next jobs are to put the dinghy in the water, have lunch, do the laundry, empty the trash, and update the blog, in no particular order.  

When we were coming into the mooring field here, another Canadian boat came in at the same time. Carey called hello to them and chatted a bit across the way.  It was a young couple, who had taken a sabbatical, with their two young kids.  A short time later, around 2.00, they drove up in their dinghy.  The kids immediately climbed aboard and we invited the adults onboard, too.  They are Frances, Matt, Piper, and Digory Vantol, from Surrey, BC.  (I made a game of guessing the kids' names and amazed them when I guessed Digory's name with only a 'G' and a 'D' as clues.  Carey just rolls his eyes, but I love guessing games.). We had a great visit with them and never ran out of conversation during their four hour visit.  They are living the dream that most people only talk about, and giving their kids some awesome life experiences.  They are a really nice couple.  Their kids were so well-behaved and a joy to have aboard.  I got my kid fix!  Woohoo!  

Well, we didn't get anything done on our list, so I guess we'll have to be tasky tomorrow.  (Matt and Frances did take our trash with them, since they were going that way.  So nice of them, and one thing off our 'to do' list.)

Monday, November 28, 2016

It rained off and on all night and throughout the morning.  We had a good breakfast and did some cleaning around the boat while we waited for the rain to stop. The plan was to take the laundry into shore and to buy a few provisions, and maybe even go out for lunch.  And use the free wifi, of course.  What a treat!   Hmmmm, great plans.  

When it was time to lift the dinghy off the bow, it was blowing quite hard.  That makes it a little dangerous to be standing on deck with a large inflatable crazily blowing in the wind.  Since we didn't want Carey getting knocked overboard, we held off on launching the dinghy. That meant that we were boat-stranded for the moment.  We haven't stepped on land since last Wednesday morning.  We don't mind that, but I'd like to get a few things done.  It's rainy, so I can't even do the laundry onboard and hang it out.  Hopefully, the wind will quiet down in a bit and we can go ashore.  We can't even swim here, because some boats don't use their holding tanks--when they flush their toilets it goes right into the bay.  Uck, we are not swimming in that.  

Land Ho!

Thursday, November 17 - Monday, November 21, 2016

Wow, how can I explain the last few days. Amazing!  Yup, that's the word.

On Wednesday morning, we could finally see land. Land ho!  Immediately, we started calculating how long it would take to get there if we sailed (against the wind) or motored.  When we were about 55 miles north of Tortola, we decided to 'just get there'. We were that close to the finish line!  Woohoo!  We could be at Nanny Cay by mid-afternoon.  So, we turned on the engine and motored. Unfortunately, the winds were right on the nose (of course), and we were pounding straight into the waves. Thump, thump, thump, crash!  Thump, thump, thump, crash!   And repeat. That can't be good for the boat and we both cringed every time we crashed hard into a wave. The waves and the wind were making us go much slower than we wanted, too, so that it seemed every time I calculated our time of arrival, it was later!  Not good.  If we kept going like that we were going to use up all of our fuel quickly and arrive in the dark anyway and that's not good in an unknown marina. Eventually we deemed Mother Nature the winner (again) and decided to work with her instead of against her. We turned off the engine, put up both sails (reefed), and planned on tacking back and forth all night until sunrise and then we could reassess the situation. It turned out to be the best decision.  I stayed up almost all night by myself and had the most beautiful Zen-like sail.  The wind was just right, the moon was bright and making the water glimmer, and the air felt like a warm caress against my skin. Ahhhhh, we were sailing in the Caribbean.  No rush to reach the finish line now.  We had already arrived where we wanted to be.  Just enjoy the moment. BE in the moment. Whenever I needed to tack, Carey would get up to help, then go back to bed. (Yes, we can both tack by ourselves, but we had decided from the first that we would always do any sail or direction changes with the other person. Tacking in the dark is a little trickier because you can't see your sails or sheet lines as well, so it's just safer to take your time and work together.).

At one point, we had the option of taking a shortcut near Jost Van Dyke around the other side of Tortola instead of going for the finish line. We decided to do it right, though, even though it meant sailing another night. So glad we did.  (The boat just ahead of us did that.  They got in a day ahead of us, but they were disqualified from the prizes.). Jean, from Caffe Latte, thought we must have been out of fuel so he was thinking about getting a group together to bring some out to us!  Haha. No one could understand why we weren't rushing in!

On Thursday morning, we were a bit closer, but we still didn't turn on the engine until we had tacked into Sir Francis Drake Channel and around to the south side of the island of Tortola.  There are sailboats everywhere. This is charter heaven, because it's such an easy area to sail.  Here, you can use eyeball navigation--you can see your next destination in the distance.  After seeing none for the past 11 days, it was a little odd to see other boats in all directions.

By 9 am, we were on our last tack before turning up the channel. The formal finish line is between Scrub Island and The Dogs Islands.  We had a beautiful sail coming in and crossed the finish line at 12:25 pm.  We arrived at the marina around 2:00. Before we had even navigated the entrance buoys we could here hooting and yelling, and saw the ARC team running along the beach and waving their arms.  What a happy welcome. When we radioed in to get our slip assignment, we had been told that we would be docked beside Yankee Lady. Great!  That was the young family that we had watched swinging on their rigging at an anchorage up in Oxford on the Chesapeake.

When we got to our slip, the dock was full of our rally friends. Wow, what a reception!  Everyone was clapping, hooting, and smiling.  We couldn't have had a more exuberant welcome. A rum punch was thrust into our hands before we had even turned off the engine, and many people came up to
offer hugs and handshakes. I can't explain how special it was. We were just thrilled to be here. We had another wonderful surprise when we docked here at Nanny Cay Marina--John Kretschmer (author and sailing legend) was docked right beside us in Quetzal!  So nice to see him when he was the one to help prepare us for this adventure. (We had sailed with John on Quetzal in January.). Such a coincidence.

After lunch at Peg Legs, we returned to our boat to find a congratulatory gift from Dale and Helen--a bottle of champagne and a bottle of Caribbean Rum. What a thoughtful surprise!  Thanks, Dale and Helen!

 This is Little Peg Leg.  

I still hadn't slept yet, but I was so pumped from the arrival, that I just kept going. We had a
Hollywood shower (ahhhhhhhhh) and wandered over to the Happy Hour with the ARC Rally gang at Gulligan's.  We didn't stay long; just long enough to make an appearance and chat with a few people.

Finally, it was time for bed. Ten hours of oblivion. Felt great.

On Friday, we had to go to Customs and Immigration. Boy, are they grouchy!  They mumble, they roll their eyes, they don't make eye contact, they yawn, they walk away without giving you a clue what they're doing or if they'll be back. Sheesh!  We had been warned, so we came with lots of patience and polite smiles. In the end, we won. We got in AND Carey even made one guy laugh.  Woohoo!  He was all friendly after that.

The Awards Banquet was on Friday night.  They award all of the racers, and then they acknowledge any other boats that were outstanding in any way. We won Most Enthusiastic Sailors.  They were so impressed that double-handers (only 2 crew) didn't rush to get in. They were tracking us and could see we were still tacking back and forth out there even when we were that close.  We won two beautiful hand-made pottery mugs.

During the ceremony, they told us that this is the first time that all boats made it to the destination; previous years, boats have had to divert to Bermuda or the Bahamas or turn back due to mechanical issues. Several sailors indicated that this was one of the most challenging passages you can do because of the uncertainty of the weather at this time of year.  (It is still hurricane season until November 30.). Apparently, we had much rougher conditions than many were expecting. Just as well we didn't know all that. We just assumed this was normal for ocean passages. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. LOL. After experiencing what was considered a tough passage, we feel pretty good about being able to handle other passages.  No, we're not planning any right now, but it's always an option for the way home.

At the dinner, we sat at an all-Canadian table. Jean and Yolene from Montreal, Merrill, Maryse, and Jean from Montreal, Kathleen and Matthew from Ottawa and us. We had a great time!

On Saturday, Cameron McColl, owner of Nanny Cay Marina, invited us on a private tour of his motor yacht, Jura, and his new marina development.  We had met Cameron in Portsmouth and the three of us really hit it off.  Both his boat and the new marina development are very impressive.  Cameron is extremely knowledgeable and interesting so we had a really nice time.  We talked and toured for two hours!  Jura is quite luxurious.  We told him we'd be happy to crew for him if he was doing other passages.  Haha.

Many of our new friends are leaving to go out cruising the Caribbean. We bid farewell to Yarona, Kinship, and Ambition. Sad to see them go, but I'm sure we'll bump into them along the way.

Now, we're transitioning from passage making to cruising.  So much reorganizing to do!  We worked for the rest of the day on Saturday and all day Sunday, installing the new anchor, cleaning and stowing, doing laundry, cleaning the fridge--again, etc.   It's so hot here that we have to keep taking breaks to jump in the pool!  (I know, that's rough. Haha.). We're almost there. Today, Monday, we're going into Road Town for provisions and a cell phone plan, and then we'll inflate the dinghy.  I think we'll be ready to go out cruising tomorrow. Yippee!

Alberto, from One Mart, came to pick us up at 10:00. It's a free shuttle service he offers at his grocery store.  What a great guy!  He dropped us off downtown, so we could go to all three mobile phone service stores to compare plans.  Later, after we chose Digicel, he picked us up and took us to One Mart.  Whoa!!!  Sticker shock. We were prepared for high prices, but eleven dollars for a pound of bacon?!  Hmmm, no bacon for us for the next few months.  Actually, we may become vegetarians.  Oh, no, that's right, the produce is not really very good (unless we can find fresh markets wherever we go).  We learned that we have to be there the day the boat comes in with fresh food or it gets picked over very quickly.  I'm so glad I stocked up on canned food and paper products before we left.  It'll take a while, but we'll get used to what we can get and we'll work around it.

Tonight, we've been invited over to Caffe Latte (with Jean and Yolene) for pre-dinner drinks. Looking forward to it!

R C Wings' Ocean Photo Op

As promised, here are some photos from our ocean passage.

Just before we left Portsmouth.  

Heading out.

A very windy start!

Just heeling a little. LOL. 

Carey at the helm.  

Just rolling along. 

Here I am cooking along the way, and holding on for dear life!  LOL

This is us on the Atlantic Ocean!  Proof!

These are the jacklines that we put in the cockpit.  Whenever we were in rough weather or alone in the cockpit, we always clipped our harnesses to the jacklines to keep us from falling overboard. 

We made a sea berth to sleep in, which helped us from falling out of bed when the boat heeled---which was always!

There were some beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

 Can you see how blue this water is?  Just beautiful!  

Mom likes to see the sails up.  Us, too! 

 Carey's first-ever Movember attempt.  It's picky!  Shave it off!

Getting close.  Last night out. 

A flying fish caught us.  It jumped on board! Fins like wings. Funny fish.

Trust the Boat, Trust the Boat...

Sunday, November 13

The ocean is over a thousand feet deep here. Yet, tonight I looked at the depth gauge and it flashed 13 feet. Then, it flashed 19 feet. What could be under our boat? A pod of whales, sharks, dolphins, a big green octopus? The possibilities are endless.

Mom wanted to know if any of the other boats get close to us while we are sailing, and if we can see them on radar or in the distance. Yes, Mom, usually we have been able to see at least one boat a day on our chartplotter through AIS, and sometimes can eyeball them if they are within a mile or so. Strangely, it's usually at night that we get close enough to see them, and then we can pick up their navigation lights. Today we passed a cruise ship, close enough for us to see, but never a danger to us. Tonight, we are following another boat in the rally. We can see them on AIS, but we haven't picked up their lights yet. They are about 8.5 miles ahead. I would love to be able to catch them, but they seem to be doing exactly the same speed. (They say that whenever there's more than one sailboat, it's a race. Haha. So true,)

We have now gone over a thousand ocean miles on this trip. Every once in a while I look at the chartplotter and see our boat on the Atlantic Ocean and I think, 'Wow, kind of cool!'

We had a good night, although we didn't sleep as much as we would like. We were trying out a new sail so thought we needed to babysit it a bit. Carey is having fun sailing with the Code Zero. During his night watch, he figured out how to get the most out of it. At first light, the wind freshened and we needed to switch head sails--from the Code Zero to the jib. The Code Zero is always a little tricky to furl, so that was a fun morning. Not.

We use the auto pilot 98% of the time in wide open waters. We hand steer in more narrow areas like the Erie Canal or rivers, or if we're just out for a day sail and somebody wants to steer.

The sea temperature is 84 degrees, and the sun is really hot here. Thank goodness for our canvas enclosure. We've got the windows wide open, but still lots of shade from the sun. And tons of breeze. Our boat has a complete canvas enclosure over the cockpit. It has been fabulous! One of the ARC Rally organizers called his a Canadian camper top. It's like a tent sitting on your boat, keeping you nice and cozy and out of the elements. It is temperature controlled (we can open and close windows as needed, and we get a greenhouse effect in the cold, sunny weather, so we keep warm), it has screens to keep out the bugs, and it keeps out the bad weather. Many racers and cruisers don't have them, but we wouldn't go anywhere without ours. We love it. It works really well for our type of boat, because we can do almost all of our "sail stuff" right from the cockpit. Nobody has to risk life and limb to go out on deck in nasty weather.

Carey saw a few flying fish today. Funny fish. People frequently report them jumping/flying onto their decks. None on ours so far. If so, I'd inspect it closely! We shouldn't see any pirates, except the drunk kind. There are a few areas in the Caribbean that have reported pirate attacks, but mostly around Trinidad and Tobago. We aren't going anywhere near there.

For communications we use Iridium Go! Not fast (it is satellite, after all), but still does the job. It's like a wifi hotspot in our boat and we can just connect our iPhone and iPads to it. It's pretty amazing. I love being able to communicate with family and friends, and this does the trick admirably.

In Annapolis, we bought a set of passage dishes. They have a rubber ring on the bottom which is designed to grab onto the surface, and not allow the plate or dish to slip right off the table. This is really handy on a sailboat that heels over quite often and quite a bit. Now, they have to design a plate that holds the food on it. Yesterday, Carey's ribs kept trying to slide right off the plate every time the boat heeled. Not a happy camper. Never mess with his ribs!


Monday, November 14

We had a fast and furious sail over night. The winds were blowing a steady 15 knots on the beam with gusts up to 20 knots. That was the fast part; the 'furious' part was the confused seas. We had waves hitting us from three sides at very short intervals, which causes the boat to shimmy, shake, shudder, roll and pitch. Not a comfortable ride, unless you like riding angry camels.

We have had beautiful sunsets and sunrises. It was quite overcast the first part of ocean passage (not good for our power creation), and partly cloudy lately, which makes some awesome shots when the sun shines through at dawn or dusk. Beautiful. I'll post some when I can.

Mark and Becky from Forget-Me-Knot, a catamaran, just called on the VHF radio. Just to chat. So nice to hear another voice out there. We've been close to them for the past two days. We can see them on the AIS (but not visually), so we knew they were there, but they can't see us. I was surprised when they called. They must have been checking the daily positioning reports to see who was close. They are dealing with some of the same issues as us (fuel shortage, power consumption, downwind sailing, double-handing, etc.), but they have had to overcome some bigger challenges. Stuff has broken, of course, but also they were pouring a jerry can of diesel into their tanks (like our act) and he dropped the syphon hose into the tank! Yikes! Shortly after, the engine wouldn't start. They've solved the issue short-term, so they're okay for the moment. I'll send more details when I get them. We have planned to meet up in the BVIs and cruise a bit together. We'll have lots of storie
s to share. Looking forward to sharing a rhum punch with them.

When we get to Tortola, we have reservations at the Nanny Cay Marina for the first two nights. After that, we hope to start cruising and anchor out for the most part.

We are actually sailing in a straight line to our destination. Hallelujah! No motoring. We have very strong winds so we can make good time, even with deeply reefed main and jib. At six knots of speed, we can cover approximately 150 nautical miles per 24 hour period. We still have about 260 miles to go, so at this speed we should get there some time tomorrow night. It's always tricky going into an unknown marina (on an unknown island, in an unknown sea) in the dark, but they say it's well lit. We'll see. Don't care. We'll be happy to be there.

Best laid plans. We were getting clobbered by the waves on our beam, so around 5:00, we had to turn south west, because the swells were knocking us right over. Twice we got slapped with a wave broadside and water poured into the cockpit and all over us and the cockpit cushions. (You know that commercial with actors pretending they're in the high seas, and then they get doused with a pail of water in the face? That was us! It would have been funny, if it hadn't been so maddening.). Worse yet, it really shoved the boat and could damage the bimini. Aaaarrrggghhh! So frustrating when we're this close! Mother Nature wins again. This will definitely delay our arrival in Tortola.

After we turned, we were still rolling wildly, but at least we aren't getting slapped. I took a shower (heaven, even with the six new bruises), and then made supper in my pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is great for days like this when it would be too dangerous to cook anything on the stove. This way, it's all enclosed with a locked lid, so if it did fall off the stove, it would be contained and not splash on the cook! Ahem, I mean 'chef'.

We turned on the engine at 6:10 to recharge the batteries, and ran it until 8:00.

At 9:00, I could hear the wind start to howl. The gauge read 29 knots! Luckily, it was right on our stern. The winds were not forecast to be this high. Grrrrrr.

Carey had gone to bed at 8:00, but he kept jumping up every time there was a wild roll, or if he heard the wind picking up, or if the jib flapped, or if the boat crashed down on a wave. You get the picture. Finally, around 11:00, after watching our boat on the chartplotter get further and further away from our destination, we decided to bite the bullet, turn back on line, and suffer the huge swells on the beam. Carey went back to bed, since he'd barely slept, and I sat up and watched the swells as they rolled toward us. Some rolled right underneath us, some hit the bow, some slapped the sides, and most tipped us this way and that way, and released us to spring back up. While anxiously watching this act, I had a moment of clarity--our boat can handle this. No problem. In all of the seminars they talk about trusting your boat. If you have a good boat (and I believe we do), then it will get through almost anything and keep on sailing. It can handle more than we can! From
that moment on, I was relaxed and free from anxiety. I let Carey sleep until 2:30. Then, I explained the reason for my Zen state, and he embraced it, too. My new mantra in rough conditions is 'Trust the boat.'

Just Enjoying The Adventure!

Just Enjoying The Adventure!

I came on watch at 11 pm (on Friday, the 11th). The water is glassy. Still with some swells--always with the swells--but, smoother than we've seen. Better yet, the wind and the swells are working to our benefit for once--north winds that we can ride east, and swells pushing us east. Win-win. (Just as I wrote this, the main started to go limp and then began jerking hard with each puff of wind. Very noisy, which woke up Carey. It happens when the winds are too light and tonight we have varying wind speeds. Nothing can be too easy. Mother Nature reminds us constantly that she's the boss.).


Saturday, November 12

We've been sailing for a full week now. Boy, time flies. The longer we go, the more comfortable we get with everything. It's getting easier every day. I mentioned in our last blog that we are frustrated that we can't sail in a straighter line. Jeanie says we shouldn't be in a rush to get to the BVIs. "Just enjoy the adventure!" She is so right!

By 1:00 am the wind has died down to only 6 knots. So much for making progress in the right direction. Oh, well, it gives us more time to just enjoy the adventure. Right, Jeanie?

Otto, the autopilot, squeals like a stuck pig all the time. It's like he wants our attention, like a spoiled brat. Carey tried to lube him up with WD40, but he's still squealing--day and night. However, I love Otto. Without him we would have to hand steer for 1500 miles. Yikes! Otto must be exhausted. I guess that gives him the right to squeal. (Later, we realized that it only happens in really big seas. He has to work too hard!)

While at sea, we don't sleep in our regular bed. Because it's so rough, we have to sleep in a sea berth, which is a bed in the salon that is very narrow and won't allow us to fall out of bed. In a regular bed, you are constantly bracing yourself as the boat rolls. In a sea berth, you can wedge yourself against one side and just relax. Works great. I'll add a pic when we get to land.

At 1:30 am, the wind died down to 2 knots and the sails were flapping around aimlessly, making lots of noise, but not doing anything. I tried to awaken Carey to help furl the sheets, but he wouldn't wake up. He's a tired boy! So, I furled them myself, then turned on the engine. I hesitate to use the fuel, but the batteries always need to be charged, and we will just be bobbing with no forward propulsion if I didn't use the engine. I turned south and will monitor the wind. Fingers crossed that it picks up soon. The engine is running at 1900 RPMs which is giving us a speed over ground of around 6 knots. Not bad.

Carey woke up at 3:00 and we did the switch. He ran the engine for another half hour and then continued with lowered RPMs at 1500. At 6:30, he raised the sails again (only 7 knots of wind) and turned off the engine. With all of the noise of deploying the sails, I was up out of bed. We switched and it was his turn for a nap. It is getting warmer now. We can do all of our day and night watches in just shorts and a tee shirt. No shoes or socks or pants or jackets required.

My sister, Jeanie, has a million questions. I love it. It really helps me to know what to explain further in my blog. I will try to address some of her questions as we go along.

We just saw a bird! We are about 320 nm from land! He is the size of a sparrow or a wren, brown back and wings, a flash of yellow on his sides, with a white breast. He is resting on the boat, fluttering from stay wire, to lifeline, to jib sheet. When he sits on the jib sheet it rocks back and forth like a hammock. He almost flew into the cockpit area, but turned back at the last minute. Then, he flew right into the screened back window. Poor thing. I think he's exhausted from doing an ocean passage. LOL. Woohoo! We must be getting closer to land!

This morning, we took Jeanie's advice: just enjoy the adventure. No wind, so we furled the jib and main and just bobbed, while we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of omelettes and toast. Toast is such a luxury on a boat; but it was worth the effort. We even had coffee!

Later, we decided that it was calm enough to add one jerry can of fuel to the tank. 'Calm' on the ocean is like a very rolly anchorage in Lake Huron. Imagine two adults, standing on a trampoline, with an 80 pound jug of carcinogenic fluid, trying to pour it into a small hole while contorting their bodies around steering wheels and handholds AND trying not to fall overboard. All this while a six year old is bouncing merrily on the trampoline. It was kind of funny, actually. Well, I thought it was funny. Best news is that we did it without spilling a drop. Yup, sometimes, we rock! LOL

Okay, back to sailing. Our next plan was to put up the Code Zero sail. It's a bigger sail designed for sailing in light winds. Let's hope it works, because we have REALLY light winds--only 5 knots.

By 2:22, we had the Code Zero flying and the engine off. SOG 6.3; 10 knots wind true; COG 148. Battery monitor is at 100% for the first time in many days. Finally! Life is good.

I did a bit of laundry and hung it out to dry. Should be quick, because the sun is hot, and a good breeze is blowing.

It's shower time! Yahoo! We don't get to shower every day, so it's a real treat when we can. We need a day when the seas aren't too rough, and it's a bonus if we've run the engine and have hot water. Today, we meet the criteria. We're heeled over, but in the vee berth head, that means we can have a safe sit shower with our backs to the wall. Ahhhhh, it feels so good to be clean.

The ocean is the most amazing colour of blue. Deep blue, like a newborn's dark blue eyes. So beautiful. Tonight the sky is baby blue with baby pink clouds, and we have almost a full moon. It's amazing how much you can see with a full moon. This will come in handy with our Code Zero being up tonight. We haven't used this sail much, and never at night, so we want to keep a close eye on it.

On our blog page, our friend, Lori, asked: Why did you have to sell your dinghy? No room on the boat to store it? Read that you were thinking of shipping it home at first.

Good question, Lor! Our old dinghy had a soft inflatable bottom. It needed a lot of power to propel it through the water--just too much drag. We needed a hard bottomed boat. One of the reasons is that our dinghy motor is electric. It is very efficient and we don't have to carry gasoline for it. We can just recharge it by plugging it in. However, it doesn't have a ton of propulsion power, so needs a dinghy with less drag, i.e., hard-bottomed. Our new dinghy is a hard bottomed inflatable. It's called a F-RIB--foldable (really important for us to store inside the boat when needed), rigid, inflatable boat. This is the first foldable RIB we've found, so we jumped on it.

Ziggin' and Zaggin' and Rockin' and Rollin'

Ziggin' and Zaggin' and Rockin' and Rollin'

Wednesday, November 9.

Happy Birthday, Gail!

I did the whole night watch last night, but was hoping that I could totally relax along the way. No such luck. I was up all night with light and variable winds. Sooooo frustrating! No matter what I tried, the jib would herk and jerk, and the main would clang back and forth. Carey got up a couple times because of the noise, and I took advantage of those times to gybe or furl or unfurl. I didn't get a rest all night, because as soon as I would try to settle down, something else would start to bang around. Grrrrrr.

Carey got up around 6:00. We turned on the engine, because the winds had completely died down. I'm nervous because I want to have some fuel left for each day to charge the batteries. However, the other option is to just sit here because there is absolutely no wind (less than 5 knots).

Carey had raisin loaf for breakfast, while I took a nap. I was up in an hour, but felt refreshed. Carey cleaned up the messes in the boat, while I did the log book, picked up the weather forecast, and plotted our course. We discussed strategy for using the forecasted winds to our benefit in the next couple days. We'll head southeast, south, or east, whatever the wind gives us.

Around 10:30, I made macaroni and cheese (with leftovers for tomorrow) and we had an early lunch. Later, I cleaned the dishes and went down for another one hour nap. When I came up into the cockpit, Carey tried to take a nap. (See what the focus of our days is?)

At about 12:30, dolphins came to play. Fairly small black ones. So pretty. Love to see something other than the blue out here!

The forecast is for us to get some of the winds from one of the gales going through the Atlantic. We're in for some high winds and higher gusts, with big swells again. So, today I made up some food in preparation. I made chilled oatmeal, cut up veggies and cheese, made extra mac and cheese, and extra rice. Plus, I'll cook extra pork tenderloin for dinner. Hopefully that will hold us over until I can cook again.

We finally had a real dinner--pork tenderloin, rice, and salad. Delicious! No leftover pork. It was so tasty we ate it all

Tonight we are doing 6 hour watches. Carey did the first 6, from 6 to 12, and I'm doing the second one from 12 to 6 am. It's a long shift, but it gives each of us a better chance to get a good sleep. We'll see how it goes.

The water is so calm tonight. First time we've seen this since leaving Portsmouth. I better enjoy it while I can because the forecast is for a gale to go through in a nearby area, which may bring high winds and big seas in our location.

Gail sent a screenshot of the YB Tracker. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how big the file was until I had already accepted it Now, it's clogging up our incoming mail pipe and nothing else can come in. That means no weather forecast. Not good when we're out here. My job tonight is to get this file in. It will take all night, but it seems to compress files a bit each time I hit the send/receive button. That doesn't seem to be working with this one. Aaaarrrrggghhhh!


Thursday, November 10

By midnight tonight, when I started my night watch, we were just starting to get a bit of wind, at 10-15 knots.

When I'm on night watch I'm more attuned to my senses. That's when I really notice the smell of the sea. It smells like the dorado fish we caught on John Kretschmer's boat in the Caribbean last January. Or most likely, the fish smells like the sea. It's not a fishy smell. It's something different, a smell all its own.

It's overcast tonight so I can't check out the constellations or count the stars.

We're definitely moving south. It's getting warmer. Tonight I don't even need a jacket!

At 3:30 I woke up Carey to help me reef the sails. The wind had freshened suddenly to 20 knots. We furled the jib right in and put three reefs in the main. Later, we put a little bit of jib out to balance the boat.

It's 5:30 am and I'm still trying to unclog our email. No luck. Just more emails adding to the clog.

By 6:00 I was seeing 25 knot gusts on the gauge and the swells were building rapidly.

When you look toward the horizon at sunrise, it looks like some waves are trying to leap out of the ocean. Like a whale, they rise well above the surface then sink gracefully back into the sea.



At 10:00, we hit our first ocean squall. Wow, pretty gnarly! The wind gauge showed 42 knots at one time. We reduced sail as much as possible--just a handkerchief on the jib. Carey knocked the autopilot off and hand steered so that we could run with the waves, instead of having them in our beam. That kept the boat much more stable. It lasted about 20 minutes and then it quieted down a bit. The swells never calmed much, though. We are constantly rolling.

Most of this trip has been downwind sailing. Unfortunately, our boat is Speedy Gonzalez fast upwind sailing but it's not set up for downwind. Most of the other boats have spinnakers or big genoas that help them sail downwind. We don't, so we have to tack back and forth when we don't have the right wind. That makes us way slower than most other boats in the rally. We're sailing more miles! My recommendation for anyone thinking about doing this trip is to invest in a good downwind sail. Preferably one you can set from the cockpit. You wouldn't want to be on deck in these nasty seas. (More on this later.)

I fixed the email issue today, so we can receive emails again. Phew! I'm glad that is resolved.

Today, we are celebrating having travelled over 2000 nautical miles since leaving home. We are also more than halfway to the BVIs. Yippee! We have travelled 750 nautical miles since leaving Portsmouth on Saturday, and have less than 700 left. That's if we can sail in a straight line. Haha. We can travel a long way when we keep going all night.

Even though we were rocking madly, I made supper on our gimballed stove, just like an old salty. And, I have pictures to prove it! More on that later.


Friday, November 11

Last night, I did the watch from 8:00 to about 2:30. At first, Carey tried to sleep in the cockpit, but he was up several times--every time the sail flapped or a particularly big roller just about tipped him onto the floor. Eventually, he went below and got some sleep there. We switched around 2:30 and I got to sleep until after 7 am. We haven't had a coffee or an alcoholic drink since a couple days before we left Portsmouth. Not sure which I'll have first. Oh, yes I do--a rum runner would be fabulous to celebrate our arrival in the BVIs. (The Book Club Ladies know what I'm talking about!)

Lots of zigging and zagging for us. We are moving along, but not nearly as fast as we could be if we had a good downwind sail. A downwind sail would allow us to go on a straighter line right to our destination. Instead, we have to zig and zag, because almost every day we've had winds right on our stern. Any other point of sail we'd be fine, but not downwind. Carey's kicking himself, but really, we didn't have the time or the money to invest in a new sail and learn how to use it. Especially when this ocean passage might be a one time thing. Who knows? Unfortunately, I have to remind Carey of this several times a day. He hates being one of the slowest in the rally. He's never had that issue in his life. Oh, well, we'll get there eventually.

We turned on the engine at 10:40 to charge the batteries. They were at 46% and they're not supposed to go below 50%! Not good. It's sunny today, so I'm hoping the solar panels will kick in soon to do their job.

You would think this would be boring--day in, day out, doing nothing but sitting in a boat on an ocean--but it's not in the least. We are constantly navigating, discussing strategy, adjusting the sails and basically trying to survive. Everything takes more time and energy than when you're on firm, stable land. Getting a meal put together is no mean feat when the ship is a'rollin' and a'rockin'! I've got a photo of me cooking up supper using my gimballed stove. You can see that I am firmly holding on with one hand, while stirring the pot which is on the swinging stove. My feet are braced wide apart and I like to have a hip braced against a wall or counter if possible. Using the bathroom is the same kind of gymnastics. You can imagine. The worse thing is that my legs feel shakey and wobbly all the time (like when you're ill, and I don't like that). Luckily, I'm perfectly healthy with sturdy legs--it's the boat that's shakey and wobbly! I'm pretty sure we'll be walking l
ike the sailor version of John Wayne when we hit the shore. LOL.

(I can't send pics very well via satellite so I'll do a blog with just pics when we get to land.)

High Winds, Whirlwinds, and Following Winds

Tuesday, November 1 to Sunday, November 6, 2016

We have had a whirlwind week! We have attended many informative seminars, worked frantically to get our boat ready for the ocean passage, met many new people, attended lots of socials, and shared lots of ideas and strategies with the other ARC sailors. You've heard about the book called 'Eat, Pray, Love'? Well, this week it was more like 'Learn, Work, Play' for us.

On Tuesday, we had seminars in the morning--weather forecasting and route planning, the Gulf Stream, and diesel maintenance. Lots of interesting information. For instance, common knowledge says that you should never cross the Gulf Stream in a north wind, because it makes the ride too lumpy. However, that's not true along most of the US east coast(excluding Florida). For most of the States, the Gulf Stream runs from the southwest to the northeast (see screenshot below) Therefore, we want a NW or N wind. (Crossing from Florida to the Bahamas is different. The Gulf Stream runs to the north there, so we don't want a north wind when crossing there. Otherwise, it's too rough and choppy.). Also, we didn't know that there are a bunch of other strong currents that we'll be going through, and we can use these to our advantage if we know where they are. You can go to the Ocean Prediction Center to see chart of the currents. The scale on the right shows how fast the current is--
up to 3 knots in some places! We definitely want to be running with these currents, not against them.

When we got back to the boat, we continued checking off items on our to do list, including ordering more spare engine parts. It's endless!

On Wednesday, we finally had a day all to ourselves, so we started tackling some of the jobs on our list. Carey secured the anchor on the bow and the new dinghy in the vee berth. I made some food for the trip: Jeanie's Busy Day Soup, Mom's Date Loaf and Mom's Raisin Loaf. I may not feel like cooking anything for the first couple days, so I'm trying to be prepared for light pre-made meals.

In the evening, we all went to the Commodore Theatre to see the movie with Ben Affleck, called 'The Accountant'. It's a cool theatre that serves food and drinks. We sat a small table for two for dinner and the movie. The movie was good, too!


The seminars on Thursday's schedule are Offshore Yacht Rigging Tips & Tricks, Hands-On Sail Repair, Cooking & Galley Tips for Ocean Sailing, and Cruising the Bahamas. These were all good seminars, but they would have been more helpful earlier in the week when we could have put some of their advice into effect. We just don't have time to add more to our list!

Unfortunately, we were too busy to go to the Rally Quiz Night. Late in the afternoon we finally got our insurance fixed up. Thank goodness! In the evening, we changed the V belt and the fuel filter, and bled the fuel/water separator. We finished around 8:00 and had dinner. We had to eat in the cockpit in the dark because it smelled like diesel down below. We aired it out and it was fine by bedtime.

During the Friday morning seminars we were told that we are leaving the next day--Saturday. Yikes! We're not ready yet!

THE HEAT IS ON!

Of course, everyone else was scrambling like crazy, too, so we didn't feel alone in our stress. There were some seminars and demonstrations that we really wanted to see, so we got as much done between those as possible. We changed the oil and oil filter, filled the water tanks and the potable water jugs, bought more spare parts for our Diesel engine, paid the marina bill, and best of all--WE SOLD OUR DINGHY! Yippee! An old guy, Robert, from a neighbouring boat in the Marina was interested, but he wanted us to blow it up so he could see what kind of shape it was in. Aaarrrgghhh! We just didn't have the time to do that, but we said we would try. He came back later and said that a young man from the marina would help him inflate it if we would give him the pump. Perfect! We gathered up the stuff, handed it over, and didn't think anything more of it. Apparently, Robert had gone into the office, unrolled the dinghy, taken a quick look and realized it was like new, and sa
id he would take it. We brought the oars and he paid us US dollars. Woohoo! Good deal for everyone. We were going to have to pay $100-$200 dollars to send it home, plus all of the hassle, so we were happy.

After a demonstration about deploying life rafts, flares, EPIRBs, and US Coast Guard support, we went to the Skippers' Briefing and the Bon Voyage Party. No drinks for us, since we were leaving the next day and still had to finish straightening up the boat and putting everything in a secure place.


It's Saturday, November 5, 2016! Departure Day!

"We cannot reach new horizons if we fear to leave the shore."

Well, we're leaving the shore! Today's the day. We got up around 7:00 and had breakfast, then got ready to go after saying goodbye to Barry and Kath on Yarona. They've been great. Hugs and handshakes all around. (No, Carey didn't hug anyone. LOL)

And we're off! We left at 8:35 and are the seventh boat to leave the dock. Nice calm winds to leave the dock, so that was a nice start. Once we got out of the River and into the open, we had much stronger winds and lumpy seas. Good sailing weather! However, when we turned south the wind was directly astern and getting lighter. Unfortunately, we had to turn on the engine.

Overnight, it's really hard to see the other boats. Ships could be coming right toward us, but without AIS we wouldn't have any idea what direction they were heading. Thank goodness we have AIS! It was really cold on the night watch. I watch the horizon, write, check the AIS on the chartplotter, listen to my audiobook, check the horizon, and so it continues.

Carey was on watch when we crossed into the Gulf Stream. We reached our entry waypoint at about 4:45, but he said the water didn't start to warm up for about another hour after that. By 7:30 the water was 84 degrees. (It had been 71 degrees.) Definitely warmer! The water depth is over 10,000 feet here. Wow!

I woke up to dolphins jumping around our bow! So cool!

These are definitely ocean swells. Wide and high, but gentle rolling. Constant rolling. It's like a crazy carnival ride--up, down, side to side, roll to the left, roll to the right, and do it all again.

All is well on RC Wings.

Information for Friends & Family - Follow the Fleet

Information for Friends & Family - Follow the Fleet

You will be able to follow our progress while at sea!   Here's some information about how you can follow the rally online.

Visit the website

ARC Caribbean 1500 website: www.worldcruising.com/Carib1500

On the website, you will find a lot of links on the left hand side.

● Entry list: see a list of all boats in the fleet, including the owner, type of boat and where they are from.

● Fleet Viewer: All boats will be fitted with a GPS tracker - this is where you can follow their progress south. The fleet viewer will be activated sometime around Friday - Saturday November 4- 5.

● News: rally news will be updated regularly, both in port and at sea.

● Gallery: Check out some fun photos from the event

● Logs: Read the blogs from the boats during their preparations and under way.

● Weather: Read the same weather as the boats will get sent to them while at sea. 

'YB races' app for smartphones

If you have a smartphone, you can download the 'YB Races' app and follow the fleet south via their GPS tracker. The app itself is free, but to buy the "ARC Caribbean 1500 race", you have to spend a few dollars. You can download the app already today, but the actual event will be available a few days before the start for purchase. Be sure to specify the 2016 race, not last year's.  

Follow the rallies on Facebook

Facebook will be updated regularly with pictures and stories, the same facebook page for both events - make sure you 'like' us to get the latest updates! Like, share and tag photos if you like. The more photos you like, the more photos will be visible on your news feed! facebook.com/ carib1500 

The weather is looking good for a Sunday departure. Yippee!

Everyone Has a Story

Saturday, October 29

Today's the day!  We are heading over to the Ocean Yacht Marina this morning to join the World Cruising Club group.  Just before lifting anchor, Off Duty II did a drive by as they were leaving the Marina and came by to wave goodbye.  Dave and Nicki are on the way.  Bittersweet to see them go, but I'm sure they'll have a fabulous trip.  We will definitely keep in touch.  Now, it's our turn.

We left the Tidewater anchorage at 12:30 and arrived at Ocean Yacht Marina about 15 minutes later. By 1:45, we had topped up our fuel tank, pumped out both holding tanks, docked in our new slip (A11), and had given our new neighbours (Patrick and Bob on Exit Strategy) a tour of our boat. Then, it was time to check in with the rally organizers. Isabelle (a Canadian from Montreal), the coordinator, went through all of the paperwork with us and outlined all of the events for the week.  Phew, we are going to be busy!  

After getting somewhat settled, we went to Still Restaurant where we would meet the rest of the rally participants at a Happy Hour event.  On the way there we saw a huge mob of costumed kids and parents lining the street for blocks.  When we asked the police about it, they said it was 'Safe Trick-or-Treating', all in one location for the kids instead of going house to house.  Great idea.

When we got to the restaurant, we each got two drink tickets when we arrived.  Almost immediately, Merrill and Maryse, from Ambition gestured us over to their table.  They are from Montreal and sail a Hylas 46.  Jean is their crew member for the passage, and he is extremely knowledgeable about sailing.  All three are very friendly and we chatted all evening.  

Sunday, October 30

Today is our safety inspection day!  We woke up at 5:00 (yes, that's AM) and started talking about what we needed to get done before our inspector arrived.  By 6:00, we decided to get up and get started.  We weren't going to get any more sleep anyway.  After breakfast, Carey ran the jacklines down both sides of the boat.  These are so that we'll have something to clip onto if we have to go out on deck for anything in high seas.  I laid out our life jackets, ditch bag, medical kits (yes, I have multiple kits) and flares for inspection.  Peter, our safety inspector, arrived at 9:15.  He looked over the rigging first, asking us lots of questions.  Then, he sat in the cockpit and we reviewed the liferaft and the man over board equipment (Danbuoy, Lifesling, throw bag, etc.).  Finally, we went below to inspect the ditch bag, medical kit, documents, insurance, etc., and to check that all heavy items are stowed and tied down properly.  

The inspection went very well. Peter gave us a few things to consider and a few things that we need to do to pass the inspection. All minor stuff except our insurance. When I had arranged our insurance in the spring, I had sent all of our itinerary information out and asked them for a quote.  We found a good plan and we signed up for it.  When the insurance documents arrived, I didn't have time to go over it in detail, but I felt good that we were covered. Bad mistake--I should have checked every word and expected ineptness in the broker. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!  Now, we're under the gun to get proper coverage.  Another Plan had given us a good quote at the time, but now they don't like to insure boats that go offshore with only two people.  Double-aaarrrrggghhhh!  The search is on.  I have until Saturday to find some insurance coverage. No pressure; no stress. 

When we arrived here, they gave us an ARC Caribbean 1500 rally flag to put on our boat. See anything odd about our neighbour's flag?  

Haha.  When I mentioned it to the boat's owner, he said he was very tired when he put it up and hadn't even noticed that it was upside down.  He changed it immediately.   

Later, Maryse, from Ambition, came over to invite me along on a shopping trip on Monday. So awesome!  Once again, we are finding people are so friendly and generous.  There is a shuttle planned for later in the week, but I would love to get some of the bigger items (canned goods, water, etc.) out of the way earlier if possible. 

The social event today was held right at the marina under the tent.  Everyone came over for wine, beer, and sailing talk.  We met Edmund who is from Sweden, Skip whose ARC flag was upside down, and also chatted with Jean, Kathleen, Matthew, Yolene, and another Jean.  LOTS of people here from Montreal and a very bilingual group.  

Monday, October 31

Happy Hallowe'en!  And congratulations to Carlie and Jason on their new baby boy, Carson Patrick!  Grammy Burns is over the moon. 

It has been blowing like crazy all night and this morning.  

The wind doesn't stop sailors from any of the planned events, though.  This morning, Andy Schell, one of the coordinators who routinely crosses oceans, did a talk about setting up our boat for ocean sailing. About 20 of us stood on the windy, wobbly, floating dock while he talked about messenger lines and preventers, and he also demonstrated how he would deploy the whisker pole on his boat. It was quite interesting, but a little chilly.  

Later, I met up with Maryse and Jean to go to Walmart for provisions.  I bought a bunch of canned goods for the trip that will last us a few months, because food is quite expensive in the Caribbean. Almost everything has to be imported there....except for rum, of course.  I didn't bother buying any rum here.  

By the time I got back, there was just enough time for a quick shower before our Halloween Costume Party at Griff's Restaurant downtown.  Carey and I went as sailors. Haha.  Nope, we're not big on costumes. Others, though, got right into the spirit of the event.  

While we were there, we met Cameron and Rob and had a really interesting conversation with them.  Cameron, who is Scottish,  turned out to be the owner of Nanny Cay Marina in Tortola, BVIs!  This is the marina that will be our first destination in the Caribbean. Rob, who is from Owen Sound, is his crew member for the trip.  Cameron and Rob are taking Cameron's 56 foot power yacht, Jura, on this passage to the BVIs. Beautiful big boat.  

After that, we met Ned on Yankee Lady.  Ned will be sailing the Caribbean with his wife, Kelly, and their four daughters.  It is such a small world. This is the family that we had videotaped in Oxford, Maryland when we were at an anchorage.  His daughters were swinging around the boat on a halyard like a trapeze.  

Another new face was Peter (who will be sailing with his wife, Kristen) on a Swan 40 called Upper Wing. 

Everyone has a story...and they're all interesting.