Blog Timeline Modification to Help You Follow the Caribbean Blog

5/25 - Blogs normally display the latest entry first.  That makes viewing our Caribbean journey somewhat awkward after the fact.

To help you follow the journey chronologically, I've reversed the entry dates so it can be displayed in order.

Please ignore the dates posted above the title of each post. They are inaccurate. There should be a better way to do this but you use the work-a-round that gets you what you want.

Hope this helps.

Paul

Opportunity of a Lifetime - Island Hopping in the Caribbean

3/20 - I've been looking for a dinghy so I haunt Craig's List both in Charlotte and Eastern NC as well as Oriental's own TownDock.net.  Early in March I ran across this ad and had to give it a shot. 

I emailed the boat's owner and made my pitch for a crew position.

Richard,
I'm interested in learning more about the proposed trip from Virgin Gorda to St. Lucia.
I saw your ad in the TownDock from Oriental.  I have a 29 Ericson docked at Sea Harbour Yacht Club in Oriental and live outside of Charlotte.
Like you, I'm in my late sixties with time on my hands.  I lived in the Ft. Lauderdale area for 25 years and was a power boater, fisherman, scuba diver.  I took up sailing about 4 years ago when I bought and restored a 19' O'Day Mariner, sold that for a more gunk hole friendly Sanibel 18, then last year bought the Ericson 29 in Oriental.  I'm still learning the ropes and would love to gain the experience of a voyage like you have planned.
If you're still looking for crew, I'd appreciate your consideration and would like to learn more about your plans.

Paul Dale

Well, it turns out that Richard, who now lives in Florida, once was a member of Sea Harbour Yacht Club and that's why he chose to put an ad in TownDock.net.   We exchanged a few emails and a couple of phone calls and I was in.

Lakota is a 2012 Dufour 433 and Richard has it in a charter fleet in Tortola.  He gets to use it 9 weeks a year and the charter company, MarineMax, takes care of the rest.  She's a beautiful boat with 3 cabins and 3 heads, so everyone has their own space.  She has her own water maker, 2 helms and a transom that folds down to a dive platform.

The third member is Rick Floyd from Raleigh, he has a 40' sailboat in Oriental and holds a 100 ton Captain's License.  Richard has over 900 hours on Lakota and more than 20,000 hours as a captain of a sail or powerboat.  This will be a great opportunity to learn.

The plan, weather permitting, is to sail offshore from Tortola to St. Lucia which is nearly 400 miles. That should take perhaps 4 days and nights of sailing.  After enjoying St. Lucia we will island hop our way back up to the BVI.  We depart on April 26th and return May 18th.  Can't wait.

Chomping at the Bit

4/20 - At last, I've reached the final countdown for my departure for Tortola and three weeks aboard Lakota in the Caribbean.  My bag has been packed and repacked several times over the last two weeks.  I guess you could say that I'm really looking forward to this trip. Friday can't come soon enough.

For logistical reasons, I've decided to go with just a carry-on bag and my backpack. I've booked a direct flight from Charlotte to St. Thomas, USVI - only 3 1/2 hours.  That beats changing planes in Miami and San Juan, PR.  The catch is, it's two taxis and a 50 min. Fast Ferry ride from there to Hodges Creek Marina on Tortola.  USAir has only a 69% ontime arrival average for this flight and Friday's weather calls for storms so I'm hoping that I'll get there in time to catch the last ferry from Charlotte Amalie.

I managed to get down to Oriental for only a few days earlier this month. Six Knot Grin had more than her share of condensation below decks.  I spent a whole day just drying her out before tackling the addition of a newly acquired control head for an Autohelm 4000 autopilot.

 She already had the wheel mechanism but the control head was missing when I bought her.  Sea Harbour neighbor, Joe Valinoti, generously donated a working control head (the brain).  After some considerable difficulty involving inline fuses, I finally got it installed and working correctly.  It'll be a welcome addition.

Unfortunately, I left Oriental on a sour note.  After having the foresight to have the impeller replaced and the engine descaled early last month,  I ended up having my engine overheat on the test run for the autopilot.  It was working beautifully, pumping more water from the exhaust than ever before, then a stray hunk of scale must have broken loose and blocked the water flow in the engine.  I placed a personal cell phone call to John Deaton (we're close buddies after 3 tows and a month in his boatyard last year ;-) and had TowBoatUS tow me into Sea Harbour.  That problem has to be addressed when I return.

I bought new bronze plexiglass to replace the hatch covers and two solar fans to install in them. Many things to do when I return.

I also need to apologize to all the members of Sea Harbour Yatch Club for missing the Spring Workday this coming Saturday but I'm sure you'll all understand.

I'll keep ya'll posted as the availability of WiFi permits.

Arrival in Tortola

4/25 - Thanks to USAir's anything-but-on-time arrival, I missed the last fast ferry from Charlotte Amalie to Tortola.  Rather than spend the night in St. Thomas I opted to take Air Sunshine, a 15-minute $150 flight.

I still managed to arrive at the boat ahead of Richard & Rick.

Richard has a long list of things he wants attended to before we head offshore for four days to St. Lucia and since everything here runs on island time, it looks like it will be Monday before we shove off. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Leaving The BVI

4/28 - Departure day arrived and I nearly ruined the trip for everyone.

Lakota was backed into her slip, requiring a generous step to reach the dock.  I stepped off the stern early Monday morning and the next thing I remember I was lying face down on the concrete dock - Richard was asking me if I was OK and offering me a cold compress for my face.

I wandered around in a daze for the next several minutes, trying to recall what had happened.  I obviously misstepped and landed on my face, scraping up my cheek and nose and blacking out for a few seconds.  I don't remember anything about the fall. Luckily, I was not seriously injured and we were still good to go. It could have easily had a different outcome.  I'm grateful that it didn't.

After finally completing all of the maintenance items that Richard wanted to be performed, we cast off and headed for Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda to clear customs and begin our journey.

It would be four days and 4 nights before we were to see land again.

4 Days and Nights I'd Rather Not Repeat

Our route took us 900 miles over 3 weeks

5/2 - I was occupied with feeding the fish for the first 3 days and standing my 4 hour watch every 12 hours.  I stayed above decks 24/7, assuming a horizontal position whenever possible.  The lowside is preferable in strong winds, you don't get dumped onto the deck.  It was impossible to go below and make coffee, so add caffeine withdrawal headaches to the mal de mer and it's a delightful combo.  On day 4, I was beginning to come out of it.

After 4 days pinching into moderate to strong headwinds we were 50 miles downwind and West of St Lucia, making no headway due to winds and the current.  Rather than tack further to the South and prolong an already uncomfortable journey, we opted to change course to Martinique some 75 miles to our North East.

About 5 pm on Friday we arrived in the small seaside town of St Pierre, some 4 hours after the island finally appeared on the horizon.

It was a welcome sight.  Check out our approach on video

Martinique

St Pierre, on the NW coast, had little to offer other than the welcome feel of solid land under our feet.   Unable to find a wireless connection, I paid a restaurant owner to let me use his computer to send June an email telling her our location.

The following morning we motored 2 hours down the coast to the capital city, Fort du France.

On the mend

Video of Fort du France

                            St. Louis Cathedral, in Fort du France, built in 1895

5/3 to 5/6 -  The city is surprisingly large and modern.  It even has a new 2-story shopping mall amidst blocks of small shops.

After clearing customs and exploring the downtown area we motored across the bay to an anchorage in a beautiful little bay named Anse a l'Ane, renowned for its beach and excellent, casual, beachside French restaurants.  We stayed for 2 days.

 

On Monday, we sailed back across the bay to Fort du France and Richard generously treated the crew to dinner at a beautiful modern hotel with views of the bay.

Dominica

We set sail for Dominica on Tuesday morning, passing St. Pierre again as we headed North.

5/6 to 5/8  - As we approached the Dominican capital, Roseau, an insistent boat boy approached our boat and attempted to lead us to one of his mooring balls.  The water right offshore was quite deep but Richard felt more comfortable using our anchor, so we waved him off. 

The anchor held securely in strong winds for more than 5 hours before we turned in for the night.  I awoke around 11 pm because something didn't feel right.  I went up on deck and discovered that we had slipped our anchor, drifted past several moored boats, and were nearly a 1/2 mile offshore.  Rather than attempt to re-anchor in the dark, we decided to motor on up the coast to Portsmouth on Prince Rupert Bay.  We arrived a little after dawn.

Fort Shirley in the background protected Prince Rupert Bay.

            Rick and I explored Fort Shirley, which has been recently restored.  It was quite impressive.

           The three of us took a guided row boat trip up the Indian River with a local named Michael Edison.

 He was very entertaining and showed us the sights as we made our way up the river to a small bar in the bush, where I sampled the local brew - Kubili.

                                        

                      Despite appearances, Capt. Richard didn't need to be carried back to the boat.

             The highlight of the river tour was Jack Sparrow's witch's hut from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Les Saintes

 5/9 to 5/11 - On Friday the 9th, we weighed anchor, departed Portsmouth and Prince Rupert Bay and set sail for Les Saintes

The 30 mile journey was uneventful until unnoticed, our bow line came untied and fell overboard during our entrance into the harbor.  As we tried to maneuver in the anchorage at Terre de Haut, it became entangled in the prop and we were dead in the water.  Luckily we were able to grab a mooring ball and Rick went over the side.   Thanks to Rick and a little help from the winch, we managed to pull it free.

The island of Terre de Haut, or 'Highland' in French, is a busy tourist destination, jammed with motor scooters and interesting shops and restaurants.  We spent three nights here because Richard ran into an old college friend that was working his way South to Guyana on his sailboat. 

Guadeloupe and The Big Blow

5/12 - We left on Monday morning and entered Les Saintes Passage bound for Guadeloupe.  Carrying one reef in the mainsail and a full genoa we were sailing in 25-30 mph winds and rushing headlong toward the Southwestern corner of the island.

We were carrying too much sail but holding our own as we approached what we expected to be the lee of the island and shelter from the wind.  As we rounded the headland we got a major shock.  Rather than sheltering us from the winds, the island collected and magnified it.  We were hit with gusts of 50-60 mph.

Rick fought the wheel to keep Lakota from heading up into the gale-force winds and yelled for us to depower the sails. As Richard and I struggled to furl the genoa, the lid of the BBQ grill flew off and smashed Rick in the head.  Despite the injury, Rick kept Lakota from heading up into the wind and we regained control.  Thankfully he was the one at the helm when the wind struck.  He was the only one with the strength to fight the wind and a head hard enough to withstand the blow from the grill lid.

The winds had ripped the sail free from the top 3 sail slides.  Richard reattached them as best he could but from that point on, we sailed with 2 reefs in the main to lessen the stress on them.  We also reefed the genny every time we approached a valley.  It was incredible how the winds would collect and gain strength coming thru the passes.

We sailed on up the coast to the town of Deshaies at the northern end of Guadeloupe where we spent the night at anchor and cleared customs the next morning, bound for Sainte Maarten.

Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts

5/13 - Deshaies, Guadeloupe was far more upscale than we expected.  It was more modern and had several nice restaurants.

We weighed anchor the following morning and began our 50 mile run up past volcano ravaged Montserrat, then the island of Nevis and on to St. Kitts.

Check out the video clip of the passage from Guadeloupe to Nevis

We enjoyed favorable winds as we crossed to Montserrat and I donned my inflatable life vest to show June that I had worn it at least once.

Richard finally had a strike on his worn out spinning rig.  A good sized fish hit the bait but broke the line when Richard tightened the drag.  No fish for dinner.

The top of Montserrat's volcano was shrouded in clouds and as we passed we could see where the lava flows had devastated parts of the south end of the island, including the capital city of Plymouth.

We sailed on to St. Kitts. In Basseterre, near where we achored for evening, we saw the Tropic Tide loading containers in the port.  A few lifetimes ago, I sold Tropical Shipping a couple million dollars worth of refrigerated containers.

Sainte Maarten/St. Martin

5/14 - Our original plan had been to go from St. Kitts to Antigua then Sainte Maarten but we were running out of time so we scratched Antigua off our itinerary and headed directly for Phillipsburg on the Dutch side of Sainte Maarten.

The passage was uneventful except for a couple of minor showers and we made good time.  You can check out a video here.

Both the Dutch and French sides of the island are duty free ports and Phillipsburg is teaming with shops. There are probably more jewelry shops on the main bayside drag than there are in all of North Carolina. When we arrived the merchants were six deep waiting for customers that were few and far between.  That all changed the next morning when the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas, disgorged its horde.

We spent one evening at anchor in the harbor and had a delicious meal at The Greenhouse on the waterfront.

June and I spent a week on the island back in 1978 compliments of Fruehauf"s President's Club.  I still find it too much commerce and not enough paradise.