Overnight to St. Barth's

Posted by Liz

Hope that Spring feels like it's coming around the bend for you - but for us, the notion of spring means that our journey is starting to come to an end.... boo-hoo in a big way!

We're currently in St. Barth's, where we honeymooned 10 years ago (!). We did a 12 hour sail, which meant six hours of night sailing (we left at Midnight) - from Antigua, where I had did my first night watch, alone! I've been on watch through the night previously when I sailed from Bermuda to Boston back in 2003, but this time, I was on my own. I was a bit nervous, mostly about ship traffic - but there were only four boats - one big cruise ship, a couple of sailboats and a fishing boat. Ed thought that was a lot of traffic, but it seemed OK to me - he said sometimes they can go for days without seeing a boat, but this is a busy route.

As it turns out, I had nothing to be nervous about. It was very light wind from behind us, so we motored the whole way and I didn't have sail changes or tweaking to contend with. Also, I could read the ships lights (red light on port/left, green light on starboard/right and white running lights or stern lights) and could see them on our radar screen at the helm, so I was able to detect which direction they were moving and how far away they were from us. If it would appear that there would be a close call, I would have had to radio them on Channel 16 of the VHF radio and let them know of our position and make sure we had a plan on how to pass each other. We actually did this procedure with the big cruise ship, which was pretty interesting.

It was pretty exhilarating, actually, because the moon was just about full and lit the way for us - so it wasn't so inky black out (although the beauty of that would be the star-gazing and shooting stars!). It was very energizing, and even Chippy was totally psyched and energized - - he has never been "allowed" to stay out all night and play, so this was a new adventure for him and he was like a little kid - so excited that he couldn't sleep - and the poor thing was just such a tired lump after hours of being awake, that reluctantly he fell asleep in our arms while we were still underway in the late morning hours.

When we got to St. Barth's, we anchored in Gustavia harbor, thinking that we'd spend some time doing a gastronomic tour of the town - fabulous restaurants - however, it was SO lumpy and bouncy because of the wind and the big sea swells coming in. Very uncomfortable - you almost felt sea sick while at anchor!

Also, with the US dollar being what it is compared to the Euro, St. Barth's is more expensive than ever. One night, we went out to a casual place called Le Bistro, on the harbor, and had salads, pizza and iced teas - - $100 US. Yikes - that certainly doesn't fit into our sailor's budget!

Five Islands, Antigua

Posted by Liz

We made our way yesterday from Falmouth Antigua to Five Islands (3 hours) on the west coast - for a straight shot out and good jump off point, as we head out to St. Barth's. We plan to leave tonight at midnight, under the light of the glorious full moon. It's 75 miles, so it should take us about 12 hours, getting us into Gustavia Harbor around Noon on Tuesday.

Five Islands is absolutely gorgeous - serene and the water is the bluest of blue - turquoise. We're anchored in Hermitage Bay, with the exclusive Hermitage Bay resort on shore. (about 30 villas, very private and quiet).

Today, they provided us a very generous service. We needed to get to shore and get around to Jolly Harbor to check out with customs, and also do some provisioning at the excellent "Epicurean" supermarket. However, the northerly swells, causing a surge onto the beach, made pulling our dinghy ashore a bit "tenuous" (at best) and we were wondering what to do.

Yesterday afternoon, I had seen a large tender depart from the hotel anchorage, and I was wondering if perhaps they might meet us at our boat and take us over to Jolly. I called up and asked, and said of course, we would compensate them for their service - and within 5 minutes, out came a super personable lad named Michael. He not only took us over there (giving us a fun little joyride as well) but he waited while Ed went to customs and I did the shopping. Lovely person - and very generous of the hotel to lend us his services - so we'd like to recommend that if you ever are in need of a romantic get-away, to please contact the Hermitage Hotel. (268)562-5500.

As for our overnight sail tonight...It won't be my first (I sailed back from Bermuda to Boston - five days - after the Marion to Bermuda Race one year), but it WILL be my first night sail where I'm on watch alone.... EEK. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit nervous. But Ed will be down below and if I need him, I know where to find him!

Cheers for now!

Back in Antigua

Posted by Liz

After being detained by volcanic eruptions, our friends John and Fawn from Boston finally met up with us in Les Saintes, through "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" (and ferries, and dinghy rides from strangers).

We spent a few days in the Saintes -with our Iguana Hunt hike and a day snorkeling and swimming at Baie de Pompiere...all of our physical efforts supplemented by Pain Au Chocolate, Croissants, Baguettes and some FRESH Dorado (Mahi Mahi) that I purchased from the local fisherman one morning.

From Les Saintes, we motored up to Deshaies, Guadeloupe because of very light air. Walked through the town, spent the night, and then, on Friday, had a delightful 6 hour sail from Deshaies up to Falmouth Antigua. Sunny, nice breeze (10-12 knots) from an easterly direction, so we were sailing along doing about 6-6.5....not setting any speed records, but exceptionally comfortable. All four of us enjoyed naps throughout that afternoon, and we saw a WHALE! Just one whale stealthily floating along the surface, with his spout blowing every few seconds, until he dipped below.

We've spent the last couple of days here in Falmouth and English Harbor, doing the tour of Nelsons Dockyard in English, swimming/snorkeling at Pigeon Beach, and having wonderful meals out. Tonight we'll head up to Shirley Heights for the regular Sunday night "jump up" with steel drum bands, cookouts, drinks, dancing - overlooking English and Falmouth Harbours and watching the sunset.

Volcano - Part II

Posted by Liz

Friday, February 12, 2010
Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe

It "snowed" all night.

When we got out of our bunks around 7:00am this morning, there were “drifts” of ash in all the corners of the teak cockpit near the companionway.

Starting at 7:30am and we swabbed the decks, main cover, stanchions, bimini, dodger - everything - with buckets and buckets of sea water - which is so gross and polluted we dared not to make water with it for the past few days - sadly, it’s now the cleanest substance available.

A bunch of salty icky sea water came down the cowl vent in the aft cabin…I'm now sobbing.

If you could see the boat - and after we worked our tails off the last three full days scrubbing, waxing and polishing/cleaning the stainless (even had the toothbrush out), and now it seemed, all for naught.

Looks like the fallout of war...very eerie and grey with haze still blanketing the skies.

At 3pm – the top decks are relatively clean. Ed scrubbed the teak a few times. We took the bimini off and cleaned it with fresh water as best we could. Polished all of the stainless (again!) on the boat. It almost feels a bit futile, because the ash is still coated on thick on everything above our reach – all over the shrouds, rigging, spreaders – and is sure to blow off and down all over everything. We’ll probably be cleaning non-stop for the next few months as a result of this.

As we were hoisting buckets of water today, feeling sad that we and our sea home had been put upon by this event, Ed was the good one. He said: “As much as we feel put out, we’re just a speck; think of others who maybe live on the island of Montserrat who were really affected, or think of the poor people in Haiti who recently have lost not only their homes, livelihoods, but friends and family.”

He put things in perspective for me. This is not insurmountable.

We spent the whole day cleaning decks and polishing stainless – we used all 40 gallons of the new water we just put in the port tank yesterday – gone in a heartbeat. Went back to the marina to refill the water gopher bladder – and when we got back to the boat, grit and ash all over. The wind is just blowing it everywhere.

There’s no escaping it. It’s coated thick and 65 feet over our heads on all of the rigging and spreaders – areas we obviously cannot reach with our human hands.

We were also able to finally obtain reports of this event, and the effects of this eruption are widespread geographically - - the ash fallout goes as far south as 14N (Martinique, two islands south of us) and up to 20N (north of the Virgin Islands!)… but where we sit, we got it bad because of the weird wind direction (NW) which was unusual and took all the ash SE (towards us in Guadeloupe). When the dome collapsed, it sent ash up 6-9 miles into the sky (various reports) and spread out over many of the islands.

The winds have finally (and thankfully) shifted East today, but the breeze is light (only about 7 knots) and too light to blow any of the mess away. But at least it’s blowing it west, which means it should be clearing out of this region. We need more breeze from the East, and we are praying for rain to clean the boat… but that is not forecasted.

Sailing life is tough enough – keeping the boat safe, choosing our weather windows, physical labor on a regular basis…but add in this sort of unexpected act of Mother Nature – and you feel a bit helpless. We’ll manage, and we’re just going to be living in a dusty environment, probably for the next several months. I guess this is all part of the “adventure"!

It's "Snowing" in the Islands

Posted by Liz

Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Thursday, February 11, 2010

Friends John and Fawn were supposed to arrive tonight - so we had spent the previous few days on anchor getting Gypsea all spiffed up. One day was spent waxing the fiberglass, another day polishing stainless, and on Thursday, we spent most of the day down below cleaning heads, woodwork, galley – and then went to the Marina with our trusty “water gopher” to fill that bladder with 40 gallons of fresh water to put in the port tank (42 gallons), as the water here in Pointe a’ Pitre does not meet our standards for running the watermaker.

As we prepared to leave the boat and head to the marina, we noticed the sky, and what looked to be a very ominous storm brewing. The skies were a deep purple, yet oddly, no major cumulus. We were perplexed by that alone.

After our stop at the marina, we hustled back to fill the water tank, and in record time, took down the boom tent and wind scoop – both which act like sails with wind gusts (found in storms).

The other odd thing about the weather in the sky, is that it looked like it was moving from the East to the NW.

Well, we got a storm allright, but not one we expected with wind and rain... not one that we’d ever imagined…

About the time that we pulled everything down, our friend John called from San Juan. Their flight was scheduled to arrive late Thursday night, however, all flights cancelled going into Pointe-a-Pitre due to the volcanic ash from the island of Montserrat (northwest of where we sat) – where the dome had caved in around 1pm and dust was carried east by the unusual windflow (from the NW) – towards us! There is limited visibility for the planes, but moreover, getting all that soot into engines could shut them down, and as such, posed a huge safety hazard.

We were a bit “wowed” by that news…we had no clue about that eruption. When we hung up the phone, Ed touched our teak deck – which had been perfectly clean and smooth, and now, felt like a fine, gritty dust all over.

We start feeling everywhere on the boat – same thing – VOLCANIC ASH. There’s not a rainstorm as we expected – those purple skies were volcanic ash!

We closed the hatches and ports, shutting them tight. We turned off the fans down below to cease the air/ash circulation inside the boat. For hours, we dismally watched the ash fall like a fresh snowfall. The ash fell all night long. It smelled like a fireplace. Despite closing all hatches, the ash still enters via the cowl vents. We had a constant tickle in our throats and eye irritation.

Slept that night with no fans on (didn't want to stir the dust), and all ports closed. Talk about stifling. Decide there's nothing we can do - just wait until tomorrow and see what's next.

Back in Les Saintes!

Posted by Liz

The weather window finally came for us to depart Sainte Anne, Martinique on Monday, February 1st. Even though we observed "Red Sky in Morning" (sailors take warning) we didn't care - we just needed and wanted to get a move on. The wind had finally calmed down and we blasted off around 6:30am. Sailed up to the northern end of the island, to Saint Pierre. Attempted to get Customs that day - but lo and behold, on Monday's, they are closed! (Typical French!)

It's kind of a joke there anyway - - you check in/out of customs at a local restaurant, called "L'escapade". You type in all of your documentation info into a computer there, print out the form, and the owner of the restaurant just rubber stamps it without even looking at anything! Have to love the French "laissez faire" attitude!

Spent the next day in Saint Pierre getting our customs stuff done, doing a little provisioning and relaxing, then took off on Wednesday, February 3rd, headed for Roseau, Dominica - where we can do some major provisioning and get our LPG tank refilled. Yucky sail inter-island - - seas were pretty high for my liking (10 ft) and a bit confused or sloppy. Even Ed felt a wee bit queasy. We were fine, just a bit uncomfortable.

Still had some high winds (hence, the higher seas), but coming from a favorable direction (east) so we actually sailed most of the way with only the jib. Probably should have put up the main for more stability, but oh well... Made it to Roseau in good time - by 1:30 - and called upon our Boat Man, Pancho, to help us out with our "chores". Ed and I agree that when you need to get things done, pay and go to a local. Pancho organized everything for us - had his wife and two adorable kids take us up to customs north of the city to check in/out, get us to the Propane factory, and also take us grocery shopping. In two hours, we were done!

Sleepless night because of the very rolly anchorage....at 7am on Thursday, February 4, we departed Roseau and sailed straight to the Saintes - - DELIGHTFUL sail!! High 6's and 7's the whole way with one reef in the main and the jib rolled out. Couldn't have been better. We had smiles on our faces the whole time, enjoying the experience, and knowing we would be warmly greeted by Les Saintes.

Got here, put the anchor down, and God, we're glad to be back! We ran into a nice French couple this morning, Marie and Jean-Paul from "Vamoose", who we met in Marin, Martinque, while waiting for the bus. We all reemarked that Isles des Saintes feels like home to us - - it just "feels good".

Had the best night's sleep last night that we've had in a long time. This morning, we took the dinghy to town to get fresh "pain au chocolate" and a baguette, and while there, the fishermen had just come in with their fresh catch! So, I bought some Wahoo and marinated it this morning in a wonderful Barefoot Contessa recipe for Indonesian fish marinade (soy sauce, ginger, olive oil, lemon zest/juice, garlic, dijon mustard). We'll cook that up on the grill tonight.

We're psyched to have Wifi/Internet again on the boat - hence, are able to make SKYPE calls to family and update our blog and get our emails. Heading into town now to Customs and to do a little hike...OH, and also, to make a stop at the Ice Cream place in town! LOVING LIFE in the Saintes.

Full Moon Rising - and Setting!

Posted by Liz

One of the best things about living on the boat is constantly being enveloped by our natural world. Sea, stars, lush green landscapes, fish, sun, rain. We have the luxury of Time - and most times, Ed and I can sit in the cockpit, sometimes for hours, just staring with wonder at our environment.

While we were in Sainte Anne, Martinique, there was a full moon, which we enjoyed observing it's rising for a few nights, each night one hour later. Ed remarked that when we're at home, many times we'll notice a full moon for a minute or so while driving or getting out of the car....but how often do we get to watch it rise higher and higher in the sky, until the moonglow is so bright and shining upon us? That alone is a wonder.

But one of the most awesome things we saw... was a FULL MOON SETTING. We were both up around 6am one morning, and sitting in the cockpit. Dawn was just breaking, and looking over to the Northwest, toward Diamond Rock, we saw the full moon setting behind the landscape. We were both awestruck and mesmerized, and remarked that if we hadn't been up at this time, how this event would have come and gone without us being a part of it.

Another observance we've both experienced, finally, for the FIRST TIME ever - is the infamous "Green Flash" that supposedly occurs at sunset, while the sun is setting over the water in the western horizon. Many of our other sailor friends have seen it, but we had not. Even with all of Ed's 70,000+ ocean miles under his belt. But twice, we've seen it now!

Our general observation is that it happens on evenings when there is little to no cloud coverage - a perfectly clear sky. As the sun sets, and is close to the horizon, you'll see it take on a green hue, and then BHAM, when it goes down, the green spreads out across the horizon. It's easier to see when you look through binoculars or probably a high powered camera.

We were psyched to observe this phenomenon - as well as the full moon setting - and thank God for the opportunity we have now to enjoy and be a part of His natural wonders and creations.