Vieques and Puerto Rico - And Turtle Rescue!

After checking out of the BVI, we  made a short hop to Christmas Island where we anchored before setting off on the next leg of our trip - starting the trek home! It was a nice feeling.......while we love the BVI, it feels good to be getting back to "real cruising" rather than the morning rush for mooring balls at the better bars and playing "dodgem" with the Credit Card Captains - which for the record, seem to be getting worse!....I can't believe some of the charter companies entrust boats to people that:  can't dock the boat; raise sails correctly; and anchor with running lights and every other light know to man turned on!.......but they obviously do!  OMG we saw some near disasters - especially with boats attempting to dock at Leverick Bay on a breezy day.  It was very eye-opening.  Now I am not knocking credit card captains - having been there myself  (well maybe I am) - just seems the charter companies are keen for business and letting the standards of seamanship needed suffer.

But back to the trip.  We had excellent pizza from the famous "Pizza Pi" in Christmas Cove.  I am not sure how they make such great pizza on a boat - but hats off to them, it was excellent!  https://www.pizza-pi.com/

Ensenada Sun Bay

The next morning we headed out to Vieques.  A short 30-35 mile sail, but the winds died and we ended up motor-sailing.  Still it was a nice easy passage.  We anchored in a nice wide bay with 2 other boats in Ensenada Sun Bay.  The bottom was grassy but we held well.  One boat next to us drug anchor.....but it turned out they had hardly any chain out.  This seemed to be in a state park area, but being Sunday most things seemed closed, so we stayed on the boat.

Turtle Rescue

On the way, we were able to help a turtle in distress.   I have some video of the adventure and will try to put it together and insert - it was a very satisfying little addition to the trip to help out one of these wonderful sea creatures.

Puerto Patillas - sleepy seaside town on Monday

Puerto Rico

The next morning we had a brisk sail to Puerto Rico - winds 18-25, with pretty healthy swells  made for a fast sail.  We again anchored for the night at Puerto Patillas and this time we checked in using the CBP Roam app, which made immigration and customs clearance a breeze.......but I am still not sure why you need to check in from the USVI to the US Puerto Rico?  Even the government weren't sure if we needed to!

The following day - light wind, so we motor-sailed to Ponce going though the mangrove islands at Boca del Inferno, with a stop at the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club.  This turned out to be a nice place, but we could only get an overnight spot on the fuel dock.......which was a bit rolly due to swell.

We then moved on to Ponce - where, yes!  there's a Walmart....back to , oh no, US "civilization" - or not!

Then on to Gilligan's Island - a wonderful anchorage, that we thoroughly enjoyed........but it gets better, we then moved on to Puerto Real and found what has to be one o the most friendly towns and marinas we have visited so far.  Marina Pescaria has to be the best!!  Quaint fishing town marina, friendly staff, helpful CBP personnel......and a great bar.  What more could you ask for?

Waiting in the BVI

We are currently waiting in the BVI on a couple of warranty parts and minor issues on the boat to be fixed.  We have decided (for a variety of reasons) to return with the boat to the US.  Our plan is to hopefully leave next week.  The most critical item we were waiting on is a replacement AIS unit - and that was replaced yesterday!  Apparently, the factory installation wired it incorrectly (input and output switched), and while we thought it was working correctly.......it was not.  We could see ships and vessels at close range, but we were not being seen.  Similarly, our VHF was not working at full range.  We believe the splitter and AIS have been damaged as a result of incorrect wiring......not exactly ideal for crossing the Atlantic, but fortunately, there is not a lot of shipping in that area.

Anyway, that aside and a few other remaining items, we are hoping to be on our way east next week.  our plan is to head towards Puerto Rico, possibly the DR or Turks and Caicos, then up into the Bahamas and back to Florida.  So its time to start route planning and weather watching!

While it sucks to be delayed and waiting on parts.........there are worse places in the world to be stuck!

Time in the BVI

After arriving in the BVI and the usual check-in process, we decided to stay at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor for a night.  We had been in contact with Dream Yacht Charters, our brokers for the boat and soon to be yacht management company.  In fact, we have been in very regular contact with them since leaving France, trying to get "punchlist" items resolved.  We fully expected that they would be ready for us, and ably to quickly resolve things for us.  However, this does not seem to be the case.  i will reserve further comment on this issue until we have some resolution. 

So while we wait, we have taken a couple of days to re-visit some of our favorite BVI haunts and see how they look "post-Irma".

Leverick Bay

We spent a night on the dock at Leverick bay in some quite "blustery conditions" - definitely not the ideal place to be.  However, things around the dock were pretty much back to normal and up and running.  Michael Bean is still doing his pirate show at the beach bar etc.  and it was fun to join his ever-corny Pirate jokes and songs.

The r0um was flowing and the crowd had a good time.

Capt. Ron blows the Conch

Our very own Captain Ron was called upon to blow the Conch and his years of trumpet-playing paid off with an impressive and long note.

The  next morning we moved on, being glad to get off the dock.  We decided to take a trip around the area of the Bitter End and Saba Rock.  OMG - the landscape has changed.  I thought I had taken pictures, but there was really nothing to see!   The Bitter end resort area is gone - really gone.  I guess they have moved ,pst rubble and remains, because it has simply gone.  Saba rock had a crane on a barge working on recovery.  There were some shells of the structures, but that was about it.  As we left, we came across a couple of familiar boats anchred in the Bay.  New friends on "One Life" that recently completed the ARC, adn we also saw S/V Distant Shores III - famed by the TV sailing/travel program called Distant Shores.

Scrub Island

We headed back to Scrub Island - the base location for DYC and spent the night on their dock.  Unfortunately, and despite scheduling time to see them, they were "too busy" to  do anything but visually look at our punchlist issues.  As I stated previously, I will reserve further comment until later.  The next morning, we headed over to Jost Van Dyke, staying in Little Harbor.

We had head that Sydney's Peace and Love would not be re-opening, but are very happy to report that both Sydneys and Harris's are back up and running, with Strawberry (owner of Sydney's) and Cynthia (owner of Harris's), both in full spirit and seemingly doing well.  This was just great to see and I am sure it has taken them a lot of effort to get back to this stage.

Cynthia and the crew

USVI - Christmas Bay

Entering USVI

We have just made a quick trip to the USVI - Christmas Bay for a crew transfer.  We met new friends Joe and Mandy on SV Kuma Too out of Dunedin, Fl.  They were looking for crew to take their boat home with them, adn Austin volunteered.  This will be a great experience for him to sail a different boat (47 ft Leopard) and work with other sailors.  So last night we made the transfer, being sad to see him leave us, but happy that he gets a new experience.  I am sure he is ready to spend some time with people closer to his age.  See you soon Autin - miss you already!

Arrival in the British Virgin Islands (BVI)

We left St. Maarten after dinner about 9 pm headed for the BVI on February 24, 2019.  it hada been somewhat sad to see the condition of St. Maarten in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, but also good to see that the slow rebuilding progress was occurring.

BVI in sight

Headed out on what might be our last overnight trip for a while was both a happy/sense of almost accomplishment feeling and yet somewhat sad - we would be going home soon and also handing the boat over to Dream Yacht Charters for a while.  Still, we were almost there.

We saw a lot of marine traffic in the night - perhaps one of the busier noths we had seen.  A few commercial ships; a few sail boats and several cruise ships. 

Ginger Island

As morning broke, the islands of the BVI were in sight - Tortola, Ginger Island and Virgin Gorda all visible.  I decided to enter the island area (Frances Drake Channel) via Round Rock Passage.

We pulled in to the channel and headed up the inside of Virgin Gorda to Spanish Town, the closest Port of Entry to the BVI.  We were able to get a slip at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, which is currently well on the way to recovery after the Hurricanes.  Although the docks are fixed/concrete, they have been nicely finished with wood fascias.  There was only one restaurant open - the Bath ans Turtle, formerly Chez Bamboo.  i don't know why they changed the name, but the food was good and service excellent!.

Today (Feb 26) we moved on to Leverick Bay.  We can see work ongoing at Saba Rock, but the Bitter End seems to have been just cleared.  We will investigate a little more tomorrow.  Until then - time to chill out a little!

Antigua and St. Maarten

We spent 4 well deserved, relaxing days at the St. James Club in Antigua.  This is an all-inclusive resort with space for a few boats.  Until our last night, we were the only boat in there.  The resort was nice, and at $1.25/ft, quite reasonable.  This include use of pools and watersports (hobbies, kayaks etc).   The entrance in was quite straightforward and it was well protected at the dock.  Food and drinks could be purchased separately at the restaurants and bars.  Food was pricey and average.  The alternative was an all-inclusive pass for $125/person/day.  We elected the former, and many times, the bars forgot to charge us for drinks.

Start of RORC 600

The island was real nice – we rented a car for a day (which broke down and  just added to the adventure), and we watched the start of the RORC 600 – a 600 mile sailing race around the islands.  I think our favorite sights were the race start and a visit to Devil’s Bridge – a natural rock bridge formation spanning the crashing waves.  The people of Antigua were super friendly and the local history was very interesting with many remnants of British forts, Nelson’s dockyard, English Harbor

etc.

When we left, we cleared out and sailed up the coast maybe 10 miles finding a nice secluded beach anchorage in Fryes Bay.  We stayed the night before heading off to St. Kitts

Devil's Bridge, Antigua

St. Kitts

We had planned to stop at St. Kitts but could get no response from the marina on email or phone.  We finally raised them on the sat phone from a few miles away, but were told they had no space available – maybe tomorrow.  So we elected to continue on to St. Marten.

St. Maarten

Sailing Yacht A, Simpson Bay - $450M monstrocity!

Our passage was good, but we did have a few squalls overnight puffing up to 32 kts.  We arrived in St. Marten at about 11 pm and dropped the hook in Simpson Bay.

The next day, we went through the drawbridge into the lagoon and got a slip for 2 nights at /Simpson Bay Marina.  While in port, we rented a car to do some sightseeing.  St. Marten was hit badly by hurricane Irma (18 months ago), and while Simpson Bay is on the way to recovery, most other parts of the island are clearly not there yet.  Oyster Pond is the location where most of the charter boats were operated out of.  I have chartered from there in the past and it was a bustling area of bars, restaurants and boaters.  Sadly it was devastated and at the time of our visit the marina area was a sad sight.

Mega Yachts - Simpson Bay Marina

Marigot

We visited the French side of the Island – Marigot Bay and drove the coastline around to Phillipsburg.  Lots of damage, but slow and encouraging signs of recovery.

Atlantic Crossing - 14 Days, 19 hours

Leaving Mindelo

What's the best thing about cruising??

One of the best aspects of cruising is the comradery between cruisers in port.  We had the great pleasure of meeting a fantastic group of people.  We met a family from California on “Lola”, a group of friends and hitchhikers on “Fat Susan”.  Boat names I don’t remember:  Deiter, Claudia, Charlie, (baby), and dog Rocky from Hamburg, Germany; three Irish guys on a boat; some English and South Africans; and an amazing character called Craig Wood or “Woody” from England.  Now I have to say a few words about Craig and strongly recommend you Google this amazing guy or search for him on Facebook.  Please do this – his story is amazing.  I will not try to tell it here as I can’t do justice to it.  But Craig is a British veteran in his 20s that lost both legs, an arm, and sustained other injuries while on active duty in Afghanistan.  He is  know sailing around the world on his Beneteau 45 as an inspiration to other veterans.  [post note: Deiter’s boat name is Whitebird]

Beach at Mindelo

Feb 1/2 – Day 1

We departed from Mindelo, Cape Verde at 3pm local time.  One cruiser we met said that this town should be called “Windelo”  He was right.  It has blown pretty hard since we arrived and as we were leaving, we measured steady winds at 33 kts.  However, we were convinced that this was a funneling effect between the islands with peaks rearing up to around 3-4,000 ft.  Sure enough, this was the case.  We sailed on jib only for a few hours and then were in the wind shadow of the adjacent island, Ilha De Santo Antao.  Then suddenly the wind died to just a a few knots.  We were about 7 miles behind the island.  We switched to the Code Zero and tried to sail, but an hour later there was no wind.  Reluctantly we motor-sailed as we were definitely in fuel saving mode, but drifting towards land.  Two hours later BAM….back to 27 kts! And a quick sail change needed back to jib.  The seas built and winds stayed in the low 20s all night.  The next day, we were still in the 20s and seas 8-12 ft, so we stayed on jib only for most of the day.  When the waves became more organized we decided to raise the main and picked up some speed as we moved into our second day.  Miles made towards mark – 125.  Not bad

Feb 2/3 - Day 2

Winds have lightened a little.  Now 18-20 and almost behind us.  We have steered up a little to maintain speed.  We have been on starboard tack since leaving. (winds from NE).  We have lost track of the two boats we left with “Lola and Fat Susan”.  But we kind of expected that would happen.  We have all agreed to try radio contact at 8am and 8pm, so will continue that.  So far we have seen 2 ships – and that’s about all!  Miles made towards the mark – 160 miles.  A good day

Feb 3/4 – , Day 3 ( we have decided our running days go 3pm to 3pm, based on our departure date)

Last night we had light winds.  One ship seen that I think was a fishing boat around 100 ft long.  He was not showing on AIS, and would not respond on VHF.  We got far too close for comfort.  His decks were lit up making it difficult to determine his direction.  We approached him fast and he still would not respond.  As we got close I saw his green light (starboard side).  Normally a higher  white light at the stern would determine his direction, but with flood lights on deck it was uncertain.  I aimed for the highest white light (stern).  We had to gybe and control sails making this a more difficult maneuver (code zero was up).  Still unsure whether he was underway or drifting, I started engines and put some distance between us before I crossed his path and resumed course.  Amazing how you can have a close call like this in the middle of nowhere!  In the morning, winds filled in.  Distance made towards mark – 137 miles.

Feb 4/5 – Day 4

Last night winds popped up to mid 20s.  Boat was making 11kts, but I was concerned about Code zero, so we switched to main and jib.  Needless to say we slowed down and the wind also dropped, but we decided to stay with the conservative sail plan until daylight.  In the morning we switched sails back to Code Zero and main to keep up sped in lighter winds.  Due to wind direction we are now steering high of the mark by anything from 10-30 degrees, putting us about 50 miles north of the rhumb line.  We tried jibing for a few hours, but our VMG went way down, so we are now back on starboard tack, with NE winds at about 14 kts.  Not expecting today to be a spectacular VMG day.  Miles made towards the mark – 137 miles, again.

Feb 5/6 – Day 5

Weather and conditions are about the same today.  We are making good progress.  Wind piped up a little at night (seems to be a pattern), so we switched from Code zero to jib, then back again this morning.  Passed one ship at night headed for Brazil.  Miles made towards the mark – 149 miles

Feb 6/7 – Day 6

162 miles  winds were fresh!  Our best mileage day so far on this leg

Feb 7/8 – Day 7

143 miles, winds lightened, and seas flattened, but otherwise similar conditions.  During the early evening, we passed the halfway point and also the “less than 1,000 miles to go”.  Since it as after dinner, we decided our celebration dinner would be tomorrow.

Feb 8/9 – Day 8

133 miles*  We are continuing to veer north of our mark (originally set as St. Lucia).  To get south, we need to either jibe or go dead downwind and lose speed.  We have decided to revise our planned landfall to Antigua, rather than try to get south.  In terms of distance to the mark, this moves our waypoint about 16 miles farther west.  Our celebration dinner for passing halfway and less than 1,000 miles to go was steak, baked potatoes, English garden peas, and  green beans.  I think that’s the last of the potatoes!

Feb 9/10 – Day 9

As the sun comes up, winds have again gone light, but with stronger winds forecast for tonight.  To be honest, that is a pattern we have been seeing – winds lighter during the day, particularly early morning; then building after dark (of course!), typically between 8-10 pm.  Miles today – 132

Feb 10/11 – Day 10

Another beautiful day on the Atlantic.  So far today, winds have been in the pattern we have become used to – picking up a little overnight into the low 20s, and backing off to about 73-78 degrees true (making for good speed and direction), then as the son comes up, dropping to low to mid-teens, and clocking into the 80s true.  Probably the least clouds we have seen so far today.  Miles today – 135

Feb 11/12 – Day 11

The  night was a little squirly with winds up and down from 8 kts, to  22 kts and a couple of rain showers thrown in the mix.  This morning we saw a couple of thunder heads pass us and now we have another blue-sky day with scattered cumulus clouds.  Just a note about our mileage – although it seems our daily mileage is reducing, it really is not.  The trade winds are moving in direction from about 75 degrees to 110 degrees – while generally from the east, sometimes ENE and ESE.this makes moving east slow when dead downwind.  So our distances reported are all “distance made towards the mark”.  Our sailed  Miles today - 132

miles is always greater than this.

Feb 12-14 - Days 12, 13

Very similar conditions; 140 miles and 143 miles....but nearing our destination!

Feb 14/15 - Day 14

the night was probably the squirliest night of the trio with wind shifts and squalls up to 34 kts.  However, the worst one only lasted 30-45 minutes.....Run with it and hope there's nothing in front of us!  The boat performed great. 150 miles

Arrival!

We arrived at sun up on the 15th - 14 days, 19 hours and made out way into Mamora Bay for a say at St. James Club resort - a little advertised marina at an all-inclusive resort.  Not really geared up for cruisers, but definitely geared up for R&R!  We plan to stay 4 nights to recoup.

2,075 Miles as the crow flies....sailing miles, about 2,200

Off to Cape Verde

After completing our boat projects with the new  parts in hand and some plumbing for the watermaker, we set out for Cape Verde, leaving around 2pm on January 22.  Although the forecast was for 20 kts of wind, it was flat calm -  we were in the wind shadow of Gran Canaria.  This extended almost 50 miles offshore, when quite suddenly the winds filled in.  We were now indeed in 20 kts of wind and 10-12 ft waves.  The boat was moving and handling well we put a reef in the main – cautiously optimistic that we may have solved our reef line chafe issue.

After 2 days of sailing, the wind calmed and the seas subsided.  Darn – seems like all or nothing out here.  After struggling to sail for several hours, we started motorsailing.

We were visited by 6 sea turtles and a few dophins – which is always a great sight that I never tire of.  But at night we had what I think will be one of the most spectacular and memorable experiences of the trip.  It was pitch black dark before the moon came up.  Stars were amazing and Venus came up over the horizon.  Then we were joined by about 10-12 dolphins.  Being so dark, we thought we would not see them – but the efflorescence caused by their turbulence in the water gave them a spectacular glowing white outline that made them clearly visible up to 100 yds away and maybe 10 ft deep.  I had never seen a sight like this before – amazing, spectacular night show from our dolphin friends!  I just can’t explain how amazing this was.  We lay on the trampoline on the bow of the boat and the dolphins swam just feet below us.  We made clicking noises and they clicked back to us.  They rolled sideways to make eye contact, then dove below the boat, came around the side and under the pontoons to again swim below us.  This lasted about 30 minutes, before one by one they peeled off and left us.  What an amazing interaction.  The night-time efflorescence was what made it truly special – very surreal! - sorry, pics did not work out!

January 27, 2019

We are now approximately 160 miles from Cape Verde.  The winds never came back to the strength forecast so we have been intermittently sailing and motor sailing.  Nice conditions but we are burning fuel and I would really like to arrive with enough reserve to safely be able to maneuver and get in.  Its not that we have no wind – we have light wind directly on out tail – so that of course gives a dilemma – peel off a little and get better speed, but 30 degrees or so off the mark; motor sail closer to course and use boat speed to pull up the apparent wind; or try to sail dead downwind (slow).  For the most part, we have been doing a combination of motorsailing and as the wind builds or clock around a little, taking advantage and sailing.  So far it seems to have worked well, but its about to put us in another strategic dilemma.  If we keep motorsailing, we will make our destination (Mindelo) in daylight; whereas if we sail at a lower VMG (velocity made good), we will probably arrive after sunset.  Hmm….do we have enough fuel?...yes, we are in range  but let’s see how the day goes.  After all, we are a sailboat and we will only have very limited motoring ability on the next leg – so we need to get used to that idea.

Cape Verde
January 3

Marina Mindelo

0, 2019

We have now been in Cape Verde for a couple of nights.  We arrived mid afternoon on the 28^th, staying at the marina in Mindelo, Sao Vincente.  To our knowledge, this is the only marina in the Cape verde islands.  There are a fw anchorages scattered around.

The island terrain seems very arid, rugged and bleak, although I am told that Mt Verde has green vegetation at higher altitudes.  WE may try to take a trip up there if time allows.  I would describe the0 town of Midelo as semi-third world, meaning there is some poverty apparent.  I suspect there is little work, except for the hotels, bars and restaurants and the local port. Police and military presence  is visible, with most stores having security guards.  But I must say, the locals are very friendly and helpful.   For anyone that has been, I would describe this as a larger version of Georgetown, Exumas in terms of culture and facilities.  We feel comfortable going around town, but many of the  younger men will ask for money.  We have discovered a very well stocked open market and there are a number of small to mid sized supermarkets (Fragata).  So far, we have seen little in terms of boating supplies.  I did find a small fishing store/chandlery and bought their last length of 12mm needed for another replacement to our reef line – no we have not quite solved the chafe issue so far!

We got a weather forecast yesterday from WRI, our weather routers, asking for advice on a Jan 31 departure.  Although they said it was viable, they advised to delay a day to allow near gale-force winds to dissipate in the area of Cape Verde.  So we certainly will do that as we are feeling those winds at the dock right now.  I will try to get internet with my computer today to post this and a few previous updates.