Visit Home

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Snorkelling here in Lameshure Bay is awesome.  We saw many different types of colourful, tropical fish--puffer fish, trumpet fish, angel fish, Gobies--and many types of coral.

Later, we dinghied over to S/V Nomad for a drink and some appetizers. We had a really nice time.  Interesting people.  They used to do wilderness canoeing and were quite proficient at it, it sounds. While we were there, Tom mentioned that we might be able to get a better deal at VI Yacht Charters to keep our boat while we are away.  He gave me the name and contact information for the guy, so I'll look into it tomorrow.

We dinghied back in the dark and Carey barbecued steak for dinner.


Friday, December 9, 2016

There is always lots of maintenance to do on a boat.  Today, we cleaned the water pump screen as well as all of the screens on the taps.  Sounds easy, right?  Haha, of course there was a struggle, but we got it done.

Next, Carey wanted to set up the new 600 Watt converter, which will recharge stuff much more efficiently than our smaller 150 Watt one.  Unfortunately, we found that the new one doesn't work that great, because my laptop draws too much.  It actually shuts down the autopilot and chartplotter!  Yikes!  I guess we can only charge up the laptop when we're on shore power.  Hmmmm, two strikes today.

Then, we needed to look into storing our boat at USVI while we are in Canada.  I called VI Yacht Charters to see about a slip while we are away.  He said he had a back slip at a marina south of Red Hook in a very protected bay.  They are definitely cheaper than Nanny Cay, so we went over there today to check it out.  If we liked it, I would need to cancel Nanny Cay's Reservation, plus cancel the hotel we booked for December 22nd in Charlotte Amalie.  This will mean that we don't have to go back to BVI, check in to extend our cruising permit, check out individually, take the ferry back and forth to Charlotte Amalie, or pay for a hotel for the night we return.  It really simplifies things.  We were hoping it would work out!

We left at 12:30.  We tried to sail, but the waves and wind weren't cooperating, so we furled the sails and motored the last part. When we got to the marina it was full of old and decaying boats.  Some were half underwater, and many had people living on them. Not much better than a cardboard box in some cases.  It didn't inspire confidence in the security here, plus it was very shallow, so we passed. Three strikes.  Back to the original plan of going to Nanny Cay.

We needed a spot to anchor for the night, so we headed for Great Bay and the Ritz.  We are very familiar with this Bay, because we rented Hobie Cats, windsurfers and snorkel gear here when we were staying at a nearby resort a couple years ago.  Best of both worlds, without the hefty price tag.



We went to the Ritz for dinner. We had to dinghy in and we didn't have reservations so we hoped they would feed us!  We ate here a couple of years ago and it was delicious so we're trying it again.  We had a delicious dinner and a good time at the Ritz. I had pan seared grouper with potato fingerlings and asparagus. Yum. Carey had braised beef ribs with pasta.  We talked to the waitress and hostess who both thought it was amazing that we had sailed there from Canada. That does sound like a long way!

Saturday, December 10, 2016

This was a very rolly anchorage, but still nice.

This morning we're going to Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI to clear out with Customs, then moving on to Great Harbour, on Jost Van Dyke to clear into the BVIs.  We left Great Bay around 10:00 and arrived at Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI at 10:40.  We found out that we didn't have to clear out of the USVI. Good to know!  That'll save us some time next time.

We sailed to Jost Van Dyke on a close reach in 10 knot winds.  Really good sail. We arrived, checked in the boat, and found out that we didn't need to check in because we were already checked in until the 17th the previous time we filled out the paperwork. We had lunch at Foxy's (delicious burgers) and stopped in to see Tony at the grocery store.  Tony convinced us that he had the best prices in the island, so we bought some rum from him. We left there around 3:50 and motored around the point to White Bay.  We had to go inside the coral reef to find a spot to anchor. Looked good, so we anchored in 9 feet of water.  This is where they have the Soggy Dollar Bar, so named because people used to have to swim in to get to the bar.  You can either dinghy or swim in now.  I don't think we'll be swimming or dinghying in there tonight. Instead, we took down the Code Zero sail and put the dinghy up on deck in preparation for leaving the boat on the 12th.  It was really starting to blow by the time we put the dinghy up and our anchor chain was making a lot of noise as it dragged over the rocks. I hope it holds tonight!


Sunday, December 11, 2016

We were awake a lot last night.  There were very strong gusts of wind, and we seemed to be dragging our anchor.  Not good. I got up at 2:30 to check and I woke Carey up because I was sure that we had dragged closer to the red channel marker.  Our options were not good--lift anchor and reset it in the dark in a narrow  unknown harbour, OR lift anchor and go to a different anchorage in the dark, OR lift anchor and pick up a mooring ball in this crowded mooring field, OR shorten the anchor rode and put a watch on all night.

We pulled in our snubber, which gave us about 15 more feet, which meant we didn't have to lift the anchor and reset it.  We were both up until 4:30 and then Carey volunteered to stay up for the first hour as a watch.  As it turned out, he took the second hour, too, and I got up at 6:30.  His first words were, "The ARC Rally flag flew off in the night."  What?!?!

Luckily I spotted it on the bottom not far from our boat, and we were only in about ten feet of water. Guess who went diving first thing in the morning.  Yup, me. I wanted that flag back.  I put my snorkelling mask and flippers on and dove down.  Grabbed it in one attempt, but it hurt my ears. I hope I don't get an ear infection, especially when we'll be flying tomorrow.  No matter, I'm happy to have our Rally flag back.

We lifted anchor just after ten o'clock, but it was a little hairy. The wind grabbed the bow and I couldn't make the turn through the narrow channel markers.  I had to turn and do a u-turn around another boat and then we were able to make it out.

We pounded our way all the way back to Nanny Cay against 20 knot winds and lumpy, confused seas.  Lots of salt spray coming over the bow, so we were salt-encrusted by the time we reached Nanny Cay.  They put us in the new marina here.  It was tricky getting in, because the waves were hitting us on the beam and trying to shove us out of the narrow channel. What is it with us and narrow channels?!  Carey maneuvered us in and onto the end of a tee dock.  We were supposed to be in a different dock, but they didn't think it was safe to do that with the high winds.  (A boat had come in earlier and scraped along a large yacht docked near the entrance.  That's not good.) They are calling this a "temporary" slip, so I'm hoping the wind dies down tomorrow before we leave so that we can move it into a better spot.

Nope, the wind didn't die down and is supposed to continue for the next two weeks.  We packed (both warm clothes for Canada--brrrrrrr--and summer clothes for Florida), prepared the boat for our departure. went for dinner, had showers, read for a bit, and went to bed,


Monday, December 12, 2016

Another night of broken sleep.  The wind was howling (30 knots sustained, Arthur on S/V Nordik Light told us), it poured, and we were being shoved against the dock.  We had put out six fenders, so it should be well cushioned, but that was a lot of wind.  We got up at 3:15 am and removed part of the canvas, because it was flapping madly and making the Bimini frame clatter.

We got up at 7:00 to start this long day of travel. We took our bags to the hotel reception and asked them to call a taxi for 8:45.  Then, we went for breakfast.  When we got back we talked to Brendan, the Dockmaster, to ask him to keep an eye on our boat, and asked if they would be able to move our boat to our assigned slip, M9, where it would be hammered less by the wind.  He suggested asking Anne and Miles Poore, as they offer management services.  Anne came in and we gave her our boat key and a boat card and said we would email with details about the closed engine through-hull and about starting procedures, in case they could move the boat.

George, the taxi driver, arrived and we left for the ferry in Roadtown. We caught the 10:00 nonstop Roadtown Fast Ferry to Charlotte Amalie.  We had to waste five hours in Charlotte Amalie, so we walked to Pizza Whole for a looooong, delicious lunch, then cabbed it to the Emerald Beach Resort and had a drink at the beach bar.  From there, we walked up the beach, crossed the road, and got to the airport by 3:30 to catch a 5:30 AA flight to Miami and on to Detroit.  We got in after 11:30 pm and Norma picked us up.  We were home, traipsed through our snowy driveway, and in our own bed by 2:30 am.

We'll be home for a week, and then go to Fort Myers to visit Jo and Craig for three days, and then back to the boat on the 22nd.  Looking forward to seeing everyone this week!

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Our first morning back in Canada included shovelling the driveway, delayed showers while the hot water heater warmed up, and a dead car battery. Welcome home!  LOL. We're happy to be here anyway.