September 19th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic,The Caribbean,vids
Well we have finally made it. We are safely in Tortola, in a marina called Nanny Cay. We thought we would be handing the boat over today, but no such luck. It will be inspected tomorrow, and we will be handing it over then.
(click on the image above for an 8 minute video)
I have been putting a video together over the course of our journey across the Atlantic Ocean, and the end result can be seen by clicking on the image above.
So, the plan for me from here is…it’s kind of compicated.
First, I will fly with Skipper Steve and First Mate Ellie to Bermuda, and then help with the delivery of a mono hull yacht back here to Tortola. It is a job that just came up for Steve and Ellie, and they asked if I would like to come aboard as crew. Reliance Yacht Management are playing for my flights once again, so there is no cost to me to help out. I agreed, as this will give me some more sailing experience and will prolong my time here in the Carribbean.
Basially, I am going to try to spend about two months here in the Caribbean, because it really is far too hot to skateboard in this heat. I can only imagine that it would be worse through states in the US such as Arizona and Texas. So I hope to start skateboarding in earnest towards the middle of November. By then I figure things should have cooled down a bit.
This extra time will also allow me to apply for an extended tourist visa for the US in Barbados. I will island hop on private yachts down to there. I want to enter the US by private yacht, so I need a US visa in advance. The visa waiver program only works if you’re arriving by plane.
So you can expect some more sailing and sea type posts in the near future. The trip from the Bahamas to Tortola will take about 12 days, a distance of about 1,000 Nautical Miles (the trans-Atlantic trip was 3,000 Nautical Miles). There will be many more small islands to pop into on the way this time, so I hope to see some more of this fascinating part of the world.
September 17th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic,The Caribbean
We made a late afternoon departure out of St. Martin, and we are now heading towards Tortola, the biggest island in the British Virgin Islands. We hope to arrive tomorrow morning at around 9am.
Today consisted only of cleaning and prepping the boat for handover in Tortola. Washing the decks, cleaning cabins…
September 16th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic,The Caribbean
Total distance sailed: 2769 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 18.03 W063.00
Wind: Variable
Sea state: Calm
Well, I didn’t think we’d make it on the diesel we had left, but due to some crafty diesel saving plans by Skipper Steve, we made it. We arrived at Captain Oliver’s Marina on St. Martin Island at 9:10am this morning with light winds and a clear blue sky. St. Martin was clear ahead of us, the air clean and crisp.
First stop was the fuel dock, where we moored up. With another time change, we arrived at 7:10am local time, so we had to wait for two hours before we could fuel up. Steve and Ellie, being rather fond of their alcholic beverages, made a beeline for the marina’s bar after the 22 days at sea; Steve runs a ‘dry’ ship, so this was their first opportunity in as many days to have a drink. I had a small beer and then left them to it. I was itching to go for a skate around the island to see what there was to see.
This is the first of many Carribbean Islands that I am sure I will end up seeing before I get to the US, but what an interesting place it is. It has a real island feel, with locals any more laid back they’d fall over, rusting vehicles (on the road and off), run down shacks on the beach, derelict beachfront hotels…
I was happily skating along the road when I head behind me a pre-adolescent Bob Marley like voice call out ‘Ey mon, wha’ chu doin’ dat for?’. Turning around, I saw two boys running after me. I stopped and had a chat, the boys eager to have a go on my skateboard. They dragged me back to their house, and I spent a god 15 minutes chatting to their father on the front steps. The population of St. Martin is around 20,000, the main industry for locals being construction. There are many different nationalities represented here; French, Dutch, Jamacan, Dominican, Cuban…
It was a short skate back to the marina, and during lunch at the bar, we met some more locals there. One of them, called Fernando, took me for a drive down to the Latin quater of the island, where he lives. Houses here tend to be much more run down, as is the infrastructure. No foot paths, rough gravel driveways. Fernando introduced me to his friends, all gathered around an old wooden cable drum that acted as a table for playing dominoes. Four men sat around the drum on dirty plastic charis, slapping the dominoes down with seemingly excesive force, as if to demonstrate just how impressive their move was.
As soon as I arrived there was a flurry of activity whereby I was promptly sat down as one of the players. I knew the basic rules of the game well enough, but there was obviously some fairly serious strategy going into their moves. I could hardly understand a word I was being told as they explained with great care how I was to make the most of the dominoes in my hand. The thick Carribbean accents, coupled with speed of delivery and some slurring induced by missing teeth made it hard work.
Patrick, an middle aged fellow with skin darker than most other folks, was especially helpful in making sure I knew what I was doing. The kindly old fellow wore a tattered baseball hat on his head, that was obviously there only because he couldn’t find anywhere better to put it. His dark sunglasses hid slightly bloodshot eyes that shifted from one player to the next around the table as he occassionally glanced at his hand of dominoes. He was missing most of his front teeth – top and bottom – with ones either side of the gaping hole looking to also be on their last legs. He had a simple walking stick made of some form of coarse grained wood. His belly hung over the elastic of his shin length shorts, dusty leathery feet slipped into some basic PVC slip-on shoes. He laughed often, a deep resonant laugh, and enjoyed pointing out the errors and downfalls of his opponents’ domino skills. When things didn’t go his way in the game, he grinned ear to ear, as if to cover for his own lapses in domino genius.
I was taken aback by everyone’s apparent familiarity with a stranger just appearing in their midst. There was no ice to break, just an instant acceptance of me. Fernando later took me for a drive along with some other friends around the island, even going to far as to taking me out to dinner.
So with such a wonderful first impression of Carribbean people, I have decided to island hop for a bit here in the Carribbean. I will try to hitch rides on yachts moving between islands, and go as far as Barbados, getting my US visa while I am there. Once I have my US visa, I will island hop back up the Carribbean islands up to Florida. No use in rushing over to the US too soon – it’ll be too hot to skate there anyway!
September 15th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:118 NM
Total distance sailed: 2658 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 18.16 W062.15
Wind: E Wind Force 1-3
Sea state: Slight
Generator hours: 17.1hr
We are short on diesel. With only 40 miles to go to St. Martin Island, it is touch and go as to whether we will make it there just on motoring alone. We have a very light breeze of eight knots which is helping to some extent, so we will make it there eventually. Time will tell. If we can keep our current pace up (five knots) then we will arrive in St. Martin mid morning tomorrow.
September 14th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:134 NM
Total distance sailed: 2520 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 18.54 W060.15
Wind: E Wind Force 3-4
Sea state: Slight
Generator hours: 20.2hr
The boat cleaning has begun in earnest today in anticipation for arrival in Tortola in a few days time. We are delivering a new boat to it’s proud owner, so it needs to be in new boat shape.
We will be making one stop before arriving in Tortola however. We need to refuel, so we will be stopping in St. Martin island for sure. Just a quick pit stop, before heading on to Tortola ahead of Tropical Storm Ingrid who is chasing us down.
Definitely becoming more Carribean in terms of the weather now. Squalls are becoming much more frequent; bursts of strong winds and heavy rain.
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WEATHER FAXES FOR TODAY
The possible tropical cyclone that has been tailing us has been upgraded to a named storm; Tropical Storm Ingrid. It is about 300 miles away from us, so we are making a beeline for St. Martin and then straight on to Tortola from there.
September 13th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:113 NM
Total distance sailed: 2386 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 19.40 W057.46
Wind: E Wind Force 2-4
Sea state: Slight
Generator hours: 7.3hr
When I awoke at midnight to begin my four hour graveyard watch, it was smooth sailing. I was taking over from Steve. “Very nice sailing so far, Rob. Thirteen to fifteen knots steady on our tail, barometer is steady, should be a nice watch for you,” he said as he wandered down to bed.
Fifteen minutes later, by 12:15am, the wind was getting up to 27 knots. By the end of my watch I had experienced wind speeds of 8 to 27 knots, wind shifts of up to 40 degrees either way, and some light rain. After I handed over to Ellie for her watch at 4am, the weather settled down and she had a nice settled watch. I guess it was just my lucky four hours.
At times like that, it’s Skipper Steve who has the toughest time. He’s the one ultimately responsible for the boat and crew, so naturally he has a vested interest to ensure that I am on top of things. This means that he was up for at least half of my watch, ensuring that the weather conditions were handled correctly. Which means that he got much less sleep that the rest of us.
As for the low pressure system that we have been watching today, the possible tropical cyclone has been made Tropical Storm number 8 according to today’s weather fax.
Our present position is marked as a big red ‘x’. You’ll notice that it is almost inside the big grey area that indicates a possible affected area by Tropical Storm 8. This weather map however is a 48 hour forecast. In 48 hours, we will be 300 miles west of our present position, therefore we should be able to keep just in front of the storm.
We still have about 400 miles to go until we get to our ultimate destination, which is Tortola, on the British Virgin Islands. However Steve has decided to keep well clear of the tropical storm, and we are now heading for St. Micheal Island, some 100 miles closer to us than the British Virgin Islands. It is the closest island to us of the Lesser Antillies. According to our calculations, we have just enough fuel left to motor all the way to St. Micheal island, so at least we do not have to rely on wind in order to escape the storm. We will motor all the way to St. Micheal island and refuel there before reasessing out options for getting the rest of the way to Tortola, keeping in mind the approaching storm.
Steve refueling the boat using cans of diesel.
September 12th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:103 NM
Total distance sailed: 2263 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 20.11 W055.39
Wind: NE Wind Force 1-3
Sea state: Slight
Generator hours: 9.9hr
Such was the laziness of the daylight hours today, that I didn’t take even one photograph today. It was another hot day, but we did have some wind, so that helped keep the oppressiveness of the heat down.
It was the early evening that produced the most excitement, whether welcome or not. At around 5:30pm, we saw the tell tale signs of a squall approaching. The horizon came nearer and nearer, until we could see the mist of heavy rain approaching like a sheet cutting through the air. The wind increased almost instantly from a pleasant 14 knots to 30 knots.
Steve was well on top of the situation however, and before the squal even got to us we already had the genoa sail away, and were in the process of getting the main sail down. It was half way through getting the main sail down when the rain hit hard and fast. It was so warm that none of us on board even thought about putting rain jackets on. The fresh rain was welcome, Steve grabbing a bottle of shampoo and lathering up there on the deck of the boat, thrusting the bottle towards me and encouraging me to do the same.
“Make the most of it while you can!” he called out over the noise of the heavy rain drops hitting the deck.
By now the wind had died down, but the rain still fell, flattening the sea dramatically, the entire surface of the ocean prickling with heavy rain drops. I lathered up, the rain only just lasting long enough to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Then it was over as quickly as it had started. Our first squal of the trip.
Shortly after, however, we received the following weather fax.
It indicates a tropical cyclone with sutained winds of 60 knots situated 600 miles due east south east of us (indicated by red line). The 120 hour forecast indicates that it will be in out present position by then. We do hope however that by then we will safely in Tortola. If not, then we will have to head north to avoid getting caught up in it. We have 500 miles to go until Tortola, so we hope to be there in five days time at the very most. We have approximately three days worth of diesel left, so we still have to do at least two days worth of pure sailing in order to be in the clear. It looks as though it will come down to the wire…
September 11th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:148 NM
Total distance sailed: 2140 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 20.29 W053.47
Wind: NE Wind Force 1-3
Sea state: Calm
Generator hours: 20.8hr
I must admit I am feeling some apprehension about our arrival in the British Virgin Islands. Once there, I still have 1,000 miles to go before I am on mainland USA. I hope to do that by yacht also. I will have to get across to the US Virgin Islands by passenger ferry first however, in order to enter the US on the visa waiver programme. To enter by sea by private vessel you need a visa obtained beforehand. I am sure everything will work out for the best in the end.
In less consequential news, I made a showerhead for our waterpump today.
Made from a plastic tablet tube, it fits neatly into the hose that is connected to the bilge pump we are using as a makeshift deck pump.
And now for part three of the four part how to sail series, MOORING LINES 101. Steve went over with me the terminology and tricks and hints for mooring a boat up on a dock.
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WEATHER FAXES FOR TODAY
There is a possible tropical cyclone forming due east south east of us. It is over 600 miles away, and only a possibility, but Steve is keeping his eye on how it develops.
September 10th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:148 NM
Total distance sailed: 1992 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 20.47 W051.09
Wind: Variable Wind Force 1-2
Sea state: Calm/Flat
Generator hours: 22.40hr
Positively Carribbean. That’s all I can say for the weather today. 29 degrees celcius in the shade. Not a day greatly condusive to cleaning a boat. But certainly a good day for tryng to get as much breeze as possible. No better place than at the top of a mast.
The mast had a fairly large amount of red dust still on it from being moored up in Tenerife for six months.
Now, part two of the four part sailing tutorial; SAILS 101, by Steve Dewhurst.
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WEATHER FAXES FOR TODAY
By the looks of things, we won’t be getting a great amount of wind any time soon.
September 9th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,The Atlantic
Distance sailed today:148 NM
Total distance sailed: 1844 NM
Midnight GPS position: N 21.06 W048.33
Wind: Variable Wind Force 1-2
Sea state: Calm/Flat
Generator hours: 24hr
Smooth motoring on a smooth Sunday on the Atlantic Ocean today. We broke through the 1,000 miles remaining mark. Not far to go now before we make landfall on Virgin Gouda in the British Virgin Islands.
But all was not 100% well today. The bit of rope that we knew was wrapped around the port side propeller shaft was making noises. It was time to remove it. Steve was happy to do it himself, but I volunteered to have a hack at it.
Easily one of the scariest experiences of my travels to date.
The water here in the middle of the Atlantic is crystal clear. The trick, like when up high, is not to look down. I looked down. My little inconsequential legs hanging like in thin air. Below, more than 2,000 metres of water. Somehow that was not a comforting thought as I took a great breath of air and poked around under a 40 tonne boat.
It was calm enough, and with the motors switched off I had nothing to fear from the propeller. But, it was so big and menacing. Normally I am not claustrophobic, but under the boat was like a confined space.
It took three separate goes to get the rope cut off the propeller shaft. First go I ducked under and took one look at the rudder and propeller and rope and hull and 2,000 metres of suffocating water below me…OK, I saw mostly only the 2,000 metres of suffocating water below me…and came back up for air.
I composed myself and went in for the kill. The second dive I managed to cut through the rope. Whether that was the bit of rope that I needed to cut in order to free it from the propeller or not, I didn’t really care. Just cut something, I thought. Take a hack and something’s sure to come loose.
The rope didn’t come loose, so I had to brace myself for another go. By this time snot and water and salt and stinging salty water is somewhere encroaching upon my nasal cavaties. I blow my nose into my hand and tell myself to get over it.
Plunging back into the bottomless void, I came face to face again with the grey prop. The black rope, my nemisis, hung there, taunting me. I took my time this time. Well, a token extra nano-second. I eyed the piece of rope I needed to cut. I lashed out and hacked.
I surfaced holding a great swath of mangled twisted black fishing net rope. My trophy. My prize. Then I got out of the water really quickly, as if I was seconds away from being devoured from some faceless carnivorous sea creature. I spent the next few minutes lying on the deck recovering.
Steve just stared at me and muttered something along the lines of “You should have just let me do it.”
I was too busy trying to prevent the stinging sea water from burning my face off from the inside to hear. And I was happy. Happy that I had chosen to have a go despite my loathing of deep water.
Later on today it was my turn to cook dinner. Today was also Sunday, meaning that it was Sunday roast day. I made stuffed chicken leg/thighs, roasted with spuds, stuffing balls, and peas. Ellie made Yorkshire pudding. Gravy was a thickened chicken soup. Rather delicious if I do say so myself.
The stuffing consisted of fresh garlic, onions, mushrooms, fresh capsicum (sweet red pepper), camembear cheese, bread crumbs, a sloshing of olive oil, and salt and pepper. I wrapped the boneless chook around the stuffing and secured it with toothpicks, and seasoned the outside with oregano for Steve and Ellie, and ground hot chilli peppers for me.
Today begins a four part sailing tutorial by Skipper Steve Dewhurst. He kindly took the time today to go over some terms used in sailing. First up is MECHANICS OF SAILING 101.
It is fairly obvious, but you can’t sail a sail boat directly into the wind. So for 45 to 60 degrees either side of the direction the wind is coming from, you can’t sail in that direction. The most efficient position to have the wind is on a beam reach. That is, coming straight on to the side of the boat. Wind screams past the sails, creating high air pressure on the rear side of the sail. This pressure is higher than that of the front of the sail, therefore the sails pull the boat forward. This is called ‘lift’. Very similar to an airplane wing, except that lift on a sailboat pulls the boat forward. Tomorrow I will be going over the SAILS 101 tutorial.
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WEATHER FAXES FOR TODAY
Still all clear. A little too clear perhaps. There is no wind about, perhaps being sucked away by hurricane Gabrielle.
