Vagrant returns

We left Bermuda as planned on Friday afternoon. Owen arrived at 1530 and we were finished at the fuel dock and gone at 1700. Not much sightseeing for him. The forecast for either northeast winds or no wind. And that is what we got. Northeast, the direction we were heading, for the first day and a half and then nothing for two. By that time though we were in the gulf stream and motoring through the water at six knots and being pushed over the bottom at ten knots. We were secure alongside at DYC at 1215 yesterday(Thursday). Thanks to Jim, Peter, and Owen for helping with the delivery.

Now that the trip is over, it's back to reality. A few days to clean up the boat, get into racing mode for the summer and then I guess I have to find a (gulp) job. Thanks for following along. I still have some pictures to post once I get them all from various cameras and that should happen in a week or two.

Cheers.

The last leg

We arrived here in Bermuda early on Wednesday morning. The trip from Tortolla was just under 6 days. Wind and weather were good. Only one day of really light breeze when we had to motor. Yesterday was a work day and we are leaving this afternoon for Halifax. Hopefully the trip will go as smoothly. The only things left to do are take of fuel and pick up a few groceries. Next stop, home.

One more sleep

Peter arrives this afternoon. The boat is fueled and watered and I will be putting the last of the groceries aboard later today. I have to climb the mast in the morning and then we should be off. Hope to be away by noon or one. Looks like good weather all the way to Bermuda although it may be light for a few days as the Bermuda high has really settled in. Next update will be from St. Georges.

Anguilla and then BVIs

In a previous post I mentioned that we sailed to Anguilla after leaving St. Maarten. We only had a couple of hours there so we had a few drinks at a beach bar and then supper at a beachfront restaurant before heading out. I think this is a place that I would like to come back to.

We motorsailed overnight to Virgin Gorda and cleared customs as Spanish Town. As always, this was followed by a trip to a beach bar, or in this case a marina waterfront bar. The picture is blurry, but that's the bartender's fault and not because we had too much to drink.

Here is a picture I got at sunset in the anchorage.

Next day Stuart and I had a great sail from Virgin Gorda all the way to Jost Van Dyke. Downwind all the way with about four gybes along the way. Mark managed to sleep the entire way. We tried to spend some time at Foxy's but since it was Good Friday, no liquor was being served until 6:30. Mental note for next time.

Saturday was a Soggy Dollar Painkiller day. Rum in the sun. Nothing like it. We finished the tour with a night in the bight on Norman's Island and a day in Sopers Hole back on Tortolla.

Where we have been

The last two posts were kind of quick so here is a bit more detail on what has been going on for the past few weeks.

Stuart and Mark arrived as planned and we spend a few days hanging out in St. Maarten. Did the usual touristy stuff like a visit to Philipsburg and a trip to the Sunset Bar and Grill. Nobody should vist St. Maarten without doing those two things at least.

Before we left I arranged to have the boat hauled at Bobby's boatyard to clean the bottom

Check out the pictures. No wonder we were so slow through the water. Amercoat is great bottom paint in Nova Scotia, but it does nothing to inhibit growth in the warm water down here. Bobby's charged me $230 to haul and clean the boat. And the cleaning was down by their staff. Pretty reasonable.

Back in the BVIs

Currently in the BVIs with Mark and Stuart. Having a blast. Spent a night in Spanish Town after crossing from Anguilla, then a night in Great Bay, home of Foxy's followed by a day at the Soggy Dollar, home of the Painkiller. Painkillers are good. Last night we took a mooring here in Sopers Hole and likely will head to Norman's Island today.

Next week (Wednesday I think) the boys home and on Tuesday Max arrives for a couple of weeks. Looking forward to that.

I'll try to post more when I have a few minutes and am not paying for the internet time.

Leaving today

We will be leaving St. Maarten at the 11:00 bridge today. The plan is to sail up to Anguilla and have a quick look around and then sail to the BVIs tonight.

Still looking for crew to help sail the boat home to Halifax so if you are interested or know anybody who might me, feel free to e-mail.

Getting caught up

It's been a while since I posted and update. Sorry about that. On Sunday I left Statia and sailed to St. Maarten. Actually "sailed" is probably not the right word. I left the mooring at 0700 and motor sailed from under the lee of Statia and then shut down the engine. Sailing was good for about 2 hours with autohelm working perfectly on a beam reach. Then the wind dropped and dropped and finally died almost completely. That left six hours of motoring to St. Maarten. I arrived in Simpsons Bay around 4:30 and entered the lagoon at the 5:30 bridge opening.

On Wednesday I flew home to Canada for a short visit. Due to some issues in the flights I didn't get in until mid afternoon on Thursday. Now it is April 1 and I am sitting in JFK airport waiting for my next connection on the way back to St. Maarten.

This weekend Stuart and Mark arrive from Halifax. We will hang out in St. Maarten for a few days and then do an overnight passage to the BVIs.

Pics from the Quill

This a rock crab. How these guys get themselves and their shells 1200 feet above sea level I don't know but I saw at least six of them on the way up.










These two are pictures of the crater at the top. The photos do not do it justice but I was sitting about 1900 feet up, looking across the top of the crater that was probably 200 to 300 feet deep. All along the inside walls and across the bottom is a micro rainforest.

Statia and The Quill

Yesterday I sailed from Nevis to Statia. It's about 33 miles. Started off as a broad reach in light air in the lee of St. Kitt's and ended up as a screaming beam reach as I cross the 10 miles of open water between St. Kitt's and Statia. I have already written about Statia so I won't repeat any of that.

This morning I hiked The Quill. The Quill is an extinct volcano with the cone still fully intact. It is just over 1900 feet high and the hike to the crater edge and back took three and a half hours. I originally planned to hike down into the crater but the trip up made me realize what an out of shape fat boy I have become and decided to save it for another time. Once I get my computer online I will post a few pictures.

The most amazing thing were the rock crabs. There are crabs that live in shells about the size of a child's fist all the way up the mountain. They live there and move around through the underbrush. I did not know that crabs lived on mountains.

Nevis

Nevis has to be the most beautiful place I have visited so far. It's too bad that it took me this long to get here and I have such a short time to spend. The sail from Antigua took about 8 hours. I was off the mooring in Jolly Harbour at 0630 and secure here at 1630. It was downwind all the way with five gybes (should have been three) with the breeze steady at 15 knots and 2 to 3 meter swells.

(Nevis from the east)

Check in with customs and immigration was a breeze even though I had to talk to three different people in three different places.

Charlestown is a small city and the only city on the island. By 1100 this morning I had been to the beach, shopped at an open fruit and vegetable market, and been to a Jamaican bakery. Since my day was pretty much done, a beach walk was in order for the afternoon. Accompanied by an obligatory Carib beer or two...it was St. Pat's day afterall. Pinneys Beach runs for about 3 miles. It looks like it was once fabulous but hurricane Omar has taken down most of the palm trees that used to line it and for the time being, shut down the Four Seasons resort. No matter, with the ancient volcano to the east, and the ocean to the west, it is simply perfect.

I plan to spend one more day here then head to Statia to deal with some unfinished business. There is an extinct volcano there that needs to be hiked.

Nevis it is

Leaving for Nevis at first light tomorrow. The weather looks good for a great downwind romp with two and a half meter following seas. Despite all my earlier plans, this will be the first trip of any distance that I have done on my own.

Travel plans

Checked the latest forecast on Windguru.com and it says northeast wind and swells for at least the next five days. Once again, plans may be foiled by weather. There is no safe anchorage in Montserrat in swells from any direction that starts with north. I'll be checking it every day but unless something changes Montserrat may be out of the picture, just like Barbuda was. Oh well, just another reason to come back. If I don't get there it will be off to Nevis on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Heineken Regatta

The Heineken Regatta was a very last second decision. When I packed up a spare pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt I did not think to take my camera, so sorry, no pics. I left Antigua not sure if I had a boat to sail on or a place to stay so I was really not sure what to expect. Sadly I arrived on Friday afternoon to find that Sandy, Mark, Max et al had been involved in a collision and were out of the regatta.

The weather was very unusual with 20 to 30 knots out of the north. I spent 2 months in St. Maarten and never saw wind straight from the north. There were two dismastings on the first day and at least one more on the second.

Max and I met and english guy named Steve on the dock on Friday morning looking for crew. We weren't looking for a boat to sail on a that time but the opportunity came up and who am I to say no to something fun. Three minutes later we were in a tender heading to his chartered Sunsail 39. Tubby little boat with not much keep. We were DFL on the first day, partly because the course was not clear and we sailed an extra couple of miles to a windward mark we did not have to round. Middle of the fleet on the last day.

The hightlight of the regatta was being on the beach Sunday night watching the Wailers (yes those Wailers) play until two in the morning and playing in the surf.

Many thanks to Tamara of Ric's for giving up some space on her couch.

Changes and more changes

The plans to sail to Montserrat at the end of February got interupted by some good old fashioned fun. I rescheduled everything for last Thursday. Then I got the weather forecast. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday showed winds from the north with speeds as much at 22 knots and swells from the north as high at 4 metres. Sadly Montserrat, Nevis, and Statia have no really decent anchorages and none at all when the swell rolls from the north. So, rather than hang out in Antigua by myself, I took a cab to the airport, jumped on a plane, and flew to St. Maarten to see Max again and race in the Heineken Regatta. Ended up sailing on a 39 foot charter boat with a crew from pretty much every corner of the world. Very fun.

On to Montserrat

The boat is back in Jolly Harbour once again and I am alone. I have a couple of small jobs to get done (and a few more Wadadlis to drink), then I'll pick up some groceries and head to Montserrat. It's about a 20 mile sail. When there is no haze, you can see the island and it's three mountains from here. Montserrat still has an active volcano so there should be some cool pictures in a week or so.

Cartwheels and green flashes

After three days of bars and sights we left English Harbour. We had a great sail along the south coast, inside the reef, and up the west coast of the island. The plan was to overnight back in Deep Bay and then head for Barbuda (second attempt). But just like before, that night at anchor, the wind build and swung north.

Instead of Barbuda we decided to stay put. Around noon we decided to visit the next beach over and check out the bar a the Galley Bay resort. There was a bit of swell rolling into Galley Bay but it didn't look too bad on the beach. Wrong. When we were only 20 feet off the beach I looked behind to make sure I had timed the surf right and the wave I was expecting to be a gentle swell had built in size and was cresting. Being down low in the Zodiac it looked about six feet high but was probably only three or four, however it was big enough to pick us and the Zod up and cartwheel us, literally, onto the beach...right in front of a restaurant full with the resort's lunch crowd. Great laughs as we gathered all of our stuff and headed down the beach.

Oh, and that night I saw my first green flash of the trip. I'm told that some people spent their lives down here and never see one. Very cool. It's a phenomena with the light rays that only lasts a second, just as the sun sets. You see a green flash (more like a bright glow than a flash) just after the sun disappears below the sea.

English Harbour

Since the conditions did not allow for Barbuda we sailed south and around the corner to English Harbour. I only spent 26 hours there before and did not sleep the night before so I didn't see much. It is a natural harbour used by the english in the 1700s. Now it is a historic site called Nelson's Dockyard. The harbour itself is very busy this year for some reason. All of these boats are at anchor. Vagrant is in there somewhere.

The other day we took a hike, starting at the fort above English Harbour going over the mountain to the south. This is the fort.

Lots of cool plants and trees along the way. These cacti were huge. The only animals we saw were lizards, goats, and a few birds.

The view from the top was kind of cool too.

And at the end, we found a beach. This is Pigeon Beach. Sadly for us the beach bar was closed when we got there.

Back in English Harbour

Looks like the plans to visit Barbuda are on hold for a while. Two nights ago the wind went north and is just now starting so shift. That means northerly swells for the next couple of days. There are no good anchorages in Barbuda in either a northerly breeze or swell. The boat is back in English Harbour right now. I was only here for 24 hours before I flew home a couple of weeks ago so now I have a chance to look around and see what is here.

Some nice boats in port. St. Maarten is big power boats, English and Falmouth Harbours are all about sailboats. Maltese Falcon is here plus a bunch that are much larger. Hope to have some pictures soon.

Tale of two bays

After a couple of days in Jolly Harbour it was time to move on. First stop was Deep Bay. About a one hour sail. I know, not ambitious at all but a nice change from the big full service marina we were staying in.

Deep bay is a small harbour that we shared with 11 other boats. At one end of the half mile beach is the Royal Antiguan hotel.

The other end is a high hill (where the beach picture was taken) with the ruins of an old fort. Tough climb up. The trip down was a lot easier after we found the path. Mike and Stuart will be able to relate to this from our St. Pierre experience.

This morning was another arduous sail. About 90 minutes in 5 knots of wind to the next bay. This one is Dickenson. The complete oppostite to Deep. In the middle is a Sandals resort and at each end are beach bars, watersport rentals, and lots and lots of people.

Tomorrow we head out early to Barbuda. Very off the beaten trail. I should have lots to write about from there.

Bandwidth at last

Presidente, the Caribbean beer.

Presidente

I don't seem to have the bandwidth here to load pictures. Too bad because I had a great one of a Presidente. Oh yeah, Jolly Harbour, Antigua was in the background. Maybe tomorrow. Yep, back in the Caribbean. Left YHZ at 0800 on the 12th, arrived at the airport here at 1900 and at the marina around 2000. Good to be back in the warm air.

Almost forgot, happy Valentines Day.

Crew wanted

As much as I hate to think about it already, it is time to start working on getting the boat back home in May. To do that, I am going to need crew. The plan is to have the boat in the BVIs for the last three weeks of April travelling from island to island, checking out the beaches and the beach bars. In the first week of May we sail for Bermuda. After four or five days there for sightseeing, restocking, and R&R, we sail for Halifax. That would be sometime around the 18th, weather dependent, with plans to arrive back at DYC around May 24.



I am looking for a couple of people to do either or both legs of the trip. Anybody meeting the boat in BVIs would be welcome to come down a week or so early and enjoy the sunshine and rum.

Catching up

I finally have access to time, computer, internet, and camera all at once. If you are checking in for the first time in a while, go make some popcorn, scroll down to the "January 29, leaving St. Maarten" entry and enjoy. In the meantime I am back in Halifax enjoying the weather where it is about 35 degrees (celcius) colder than it was 36 hours ago.

Off to Antigua

We planned to leave early on Monday. But before we could go I needed to settle up with the marina and check out at customs. The crusing guide says customs opens at 0600. When I showed up at 0720 I was told that nobody would be there until 0800. Such is life down here. The dockmaster arrived early and I paid him, then went back to customs. At 0830 we were free to go. Just as we were preparing to slip the lines an english guy with red hair and a beard showed up on the dock asking if we were heading to Antigua and if so, could he catch a lift. He is travelling around the world trying to visit every country in a single year to raise money and awareness for the lack of available drinking water worldwide. He is also doing a documentary on his travels. More about his quest at www.theodysseyexpedition.com. We took him on a crew and set off.

Antigua is about 40 miles from Basseterre but first you have to travel down the west coast of St. Kitts to the Narrows, then northeast for another 6 miles before you can head southeast. This makes the trip more like 60 miles. All of it upwind. We cleared the narrows just before noon and set out on a lively romp in 20 knot winds and 1 to 2 metre seas. With the third reef and a partially furled jib we were making 6 knots. It was a wet, lumpy, sunny, wonderful sail. I saw the best sunset of the trip later in the day. At 0300 we were outside English Harbour but the moon had set and there was not enough light to navigate the reef and the dozens of boats at anchor so we stayed off until sunrise.

Just as it was getting light we were hit by a wicked squall. 30 knots of wind and heavy, heavy rain. It only lasted 15 minutes and when it was done we had the most specatular rainbow I have ever seen. You could see both ends and it had a high sharp arc, not like what you normally see.

Gotta move

Time is running out. I need to get to Guadeloupe to catch my flight home on Thursday. The plan now is to head to Antigua and I will leave the boat with Jim and Freda and catch a local flight to Pointe a Pitre to make my connection to Halifax.

St. Kitts

After Statia, the next stop was St. Kitts. It was supposed to be Nevis but the wind was on the nose and progress was slow. I will see Nevis on the way back north. Basseterre is the capital at the southern end of the island and we decided to get a marina slip there in order to top up the water tanks and charge the batteries. This is the first time Vagrant has been tied alongside since Road Town in the BVIs in November.

Saturday arrival in St. Kitts means that unless there is a cruise ship at the dock (just missed it), you have to go all the way to the airport to get passports stamped. Customs and port authority can be dealt with in one building, but not immigration. Saturday arrival also means that the next day is Sunday and absolutely nothing happens in Basseterre on Sunday. The town is completely and totally shut and empty. I spent the day doing some long neglected boat chores while Jim and Freda went exploriing. Met a boat called Spirited Lady at customs. I hope to cross paths with them again as I think there is an interesting story there.

Statia

We arrived in Statia (St. Eustatius properly) at 3:30 in the afternoon and anchored below the town and the volcano that formed the island. Customs and immigration was the easiest it has been to date and I was back at the boat, all cleared in and out before 4:30. I like this place.


Statia was a huge Dutch trading centre in the 1700s. It was a free port so any country could do business here. That meant that even in times of war, conflicting nations could carry on trade in Statia. I read one stat that said in a particular year Statia produced 600,000 tons of sugar but exported 20,000,000 tons.

That all came to a halt in 1776 when a American flagged vessel sailed into port and received a 9 gun saluted (perhaps by accident) from the governor, thus making Statia the first country to recognize the newly created United States of America. Lots of plaques around the town boasting of this. This of course didn't sit well with the British who started taxing goods from Statia. The French followed suit and Statia's status as a trading nation ended. Now it is one large marine reserve and an internation scuba diving destination. The park extends to the 30 metre depth contour all the way around the island. I will be back here before I head home.

Daily squalls

Almost every day in the Caribbean it rains. It only rains for 10 or 15 minutes at a time as a squall passes through and then it is clear and sunny again. Sometimes it is a light rain and sometimes a downpour. On the way to Statia we got caught in one of those squalls. The wind went light and the clouds moved in. Then the wind picked up and the rain started. Since it was 27 degrees Jim decided the best way to deal with it was strip down to his bathing suit and keep on driving.

January 29, leaving St. Maarten

Today Vagrant finally left St. Maarten. I think we arrived here on the 23rd of November. Met a lot of great people and have had a lot of fun, but it feels good to be finally moving on. Next stop, Statia.

This is a typical morning exodus from Simpson's Bay Lagoon. We were in line with a catamaran, a sport fishing boat, four medium sized (60 to 100 feet), and one mega yacht.

When the bridge opens everyone files out into the bay and heads off in their own direction. Our heading was about 150 magnetic. It turned out to be a close reach so we rolled out the jib and off we went.

Been travelling

Currently in Antigua after short visits to Statia and St. Kitts. Will post more in a day or two when my camera, computer, and internet connection are all in one place. In the meantime I have to find out what is going on in Guadeloupe right now and find out if I can still fly through there later this week. Yikes.

Finally mobile

The transmission arrived on Monday and we installed it that afternoon. It didn't work. Yesterday morning I got to messing about with it and suddenly I had both forward and reverse gears. How cool is that.

The plan now is to leave at 0900 tomorrow for Statia. If you are following along on a calendar at home, you know that I will miss my 1700hrs flight out of Guadeloupe tomorrow. I have rebooked for February 5. That means I have to cram 3 weeks of visits into 6 days when I finally get to Halifax. After checking the Environment Canada website, that may not be such a bad thing.

Safe arrivals

Jim and Freda arrived here in St. Maarten on Tuesday evening. Not their original plan, but they are not shovelling snow. Yesterday we borrowed a car and did a tour (circumnavigation) of the island.

Today my repaired transmission arrived in Boston. The plan is to get it out of there and on the way to me by Fedex today. That means it will likely be installed on Monday and we will leave for Antigua on Tuesday afternoon. It's about 90 miles so it will be an overnight trip. Wasn't planning on one of those for quite a while. That will put us in Antigua on Wednesday and I fly home from Guadaloupe on Thursday evening. Thank you Uncle Visa. I think Jim is happy to be spending two weeks in Antigua and I can sort everything else out when I get back in late February.

More adventure?

If you have been following the Vendee Globe, you will know that Derek Hatfield on Spirit of Canada was knocked down in a storm and and broke two spreaders. He is out of the race. That is the boat that I helped sail from France to Canada this past spring. The boat is in Hobart right now with the mast out and repairs are being undertaken. Here is the big part.....I have been asked to crew the boat from Australia back to Canada. How cool is that? Trying now to figure out if I can do it. Rounding Cape Horn has been on my list of things to do in life for a long time.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Yep, still in St. Maarten. The latest is my transmission was to be shipped from ZF in Florida to Foley in Boston on Tuesday. ZF will not ship directly to me, nor will they ship via air to Boston. That means I could have the gearbox as early as Monday. Foley will ship via air. I have changed my travel plans and am not flying home on the 22nd but waiting until the 29th.

Jim and Freda arrive in Antigua on the 20th, I think that is next Tuesday. I have suggested that they come straight here and we will head further south later in the week once the boat is fixed.

In the meantime, I will be racing again this weekend on the 50 footer that I sailed on in December. As always, it will be good to get out on the water.

Sandy Island

This week I made it to Anguilla. Ian, the owner of the first boat that I raced on runs a day charter business here. I bumped into him at the yacht club bar the other night and he asked me if I could help him out with a trip. Of course I said yes. No way I was going to pass on a day of sailing and free lunch.

We left St. Maarten and sailed around the north side of Anguilla to this place.

It's called Sandy Island. It is about 100 yards long and 30 yards wide and is a mile and a half off shore. There is a reef around it and a few mooring balls. We grabbed a mooring and I took the guests ashore in the tender. In the middle is a thatched roof beach bar. When we first arrived we were the only people there. Very cool. That's what I came down here for.

After lunch on the boat we sailed to the south of Anguilla and picked up a mooring at Cap Juluca. Cap Juluca has been voted best resort in the Caribbean at least once. Room rates start at $1000.00 per night and the villas go for up to $10,000.00 nightly. We just drove the tender up on the beach and jumped out.

All is quiet on.....

Okay, first the race. The fast 25 footer turned out to be an Open 750. 7.5 metres of carbon fiber fun. It is really a scaled down Open 60 with a massive sail plan and a retractable articulating sprit for the kite. Here is a link to their site if you want to check it out.

http://www.finot.com/bateaux/batproduction/amco/open7_5/750openanglais.htm

And here are a couple of pictures I stole from it. Picture a 25 foot Climax with twin rudders, a masthead kite and a fat head main.

The day went something like this. Get to bed on New Years Eve around 0200. Set alarm for 0530. Get up, pack gear, tender ashore and get picked up at the yacht club here at 0615. Drive to Philipsburg, meet the crew, rig the boat and sail to St. Barth's. Got there around 1100. Race start at 1200 and we sailed around the island. Upwind we were faster than some pretty big boats (think Swan 80). Close reaching they passed us again but down wind, despite the number of gybes we did, will stayed with them. Finished the race at 1400 and cracked some champagne. Sailed back to St. Maarten and had the boat put away by 1730.

New Years Eve itself was pretty quiet. Had drinks with Kevin and Renee at a beach bar and then went for Chinese food. Quick watch of the fireworks at midnight and the off to bed.

New Years Day was another beach day. Had lunch at the Sunset Bar and Grill again at Maho Bay. This time I managed to catch a picture of a plane landing. There is literally ocean, beach, road, runway.

This is Mullet Bay beach. This is where I spent the rest of the day. It is the nicest beach on this side of the island. Oh yeah, very sorry to hear about the latest blizzard.