Greetings from in the fog

Morning in Block Island, RI, in the fog and rain.

As Jim pointed out in the comments about our last posts, this is quite a change from St Croix. In the course of 2 weeks we've gone from hot, sunny days, warm turquois waters and balmy nights under the stars, to cold, wet, foggy and "Have you seen my gloves?" As we came north from Bermuda, adding layer upon layer of clothing, I kept asking Steve "Whose idea was this anyway?" He was always very quick to point out that it was mine. Hmmmm.

We decided (back on one of those balmy warm nights, when we couldn't even imagine cold) to sail north, in one chunk, as far as we're going to get this year and then work our way south along the east coast before putting the boat up and driving around the country, bothering our relatives along the way. We almost made it. We're just south of our final destination of Amesbury MA and the home of friends Alex and Gary and their mooring on the Merrimac River. We ducked into Block Island to avoid yet another cold front and it's accompanying storms. Beautiful, but the mooring rates have gone up 50% since last we were here, it's now $45 a night. We'll be leaving ASAP.

The entrance to Salt Pond, looking north.

We had a nice trip up from the USVI. I won't use the 'b' word again, but it was nicely uneventful. Just a couple of days of sloppy seas, good wind most of the way and another 1500 miles under the keel. We didn't plan a stop in Bermuda, but the weather decided for us. It was a wonderful surprise and has been added to the list of places to go back to. I have loads of pictures and will do a separate post on Bermuda soon.

Last of the Salty Dawgs

May 31st:

It's getting a little lonely out here as most the bigger, newer, faster boats in the rally continue to make port. Several made it this morning, a few more will reach port tonight. We on the other hand expect to be in sometime Sunday so we'll be the last on the Salty Dawg net for this Spring Rally

Meanwhile it remains pretty much like we like it....not too eventful. Today we are seeing wind and that will continue to pick up through the remainder of our trip. Right now we are crossing the Gulf Stream several hundred miles south of Block Island. Rolly and a few squalls, confused seas like the stream does but we have ~15 more miles to where we expect the north bound. We'll be through it by day and expect the sea to settle, and a bit better point to the west. Winds forecast 15-18kts or so for the night and tomorrow..should be good sailing. We are looking forward to being on land again.

Position
Time: 2013/05/31 20:10:40 (GMT)
Latitude: 37-12.68N
Longitude: 070-33.85W
Speed: 6.0

Steve & Lynn


May 30th:

Another day at sea and all is well. We have decided not to go around the Cape this trip but to go inside. On going around the cape. We are going inside. Wind is forecast to be pretty strong from the west and WSW (25-35) while we would be outside...then followed by another cold front on Monday eve/Tuesday. Right now going west far enough to make it an easier reach when the wind picks up.  We should be somewhere in Buzzards bay, most likely Cuttyhunk or Woods Hole by Sunday afternoon.  Would have loved to have made it one shot but not to be this trip. No desire on this boat to be in weather already forecast to be bad if we can avoid it.

Boat chores: put one of the backup anchors on the bow this AM while the weather is good and seas settled. A little vegetable oil in the evacuation pump for the holding tank and working through another John Scalzi novel
.
Position:
Time: 2013/05/30 15:14:29 (GMT)
Latitude: 35-02.71N
Longitude: 068-46.19W

Steve & Lynn

In Bermuda!

My apologies for not posting anything up until this point but they are safe and sound in Bermuda.  Here is the most recent report:

Sitting St Georges Harbor, Bermuda. We resigned ourselves to a couple things two days ago. First that we would have to stop in Bermuda or be subjected to forecasted 35kt winds with squalls up to 50kts as we crossed the gulf stream. Second that we couldn't reach Bermuda by tonight so would have to wait off shore to enter.

After two days of spectacular sailing we are just 5 miles out and will be in before dark. Not sure how it worked but the seas stayed flat and the good ship Celebration ran steady across them making between 6.5 to 7.5 knots over the 48 hours. One point this morning we slowed to 4, then after sever hours it picked up again. TO insure the extra speed I experimented with flying the storm jib on it's sta in the foretriangle. Love it, extra 25 feet of leading edge with no impact on the genny, more speed and yes I took some pics for posting later...double headsails with Bermuda in the background.

Maintenance: One water-maker membrane is good, the other bad. The bad one is now plumbed out of the system; we're down to making just 20 gallons/hr. Hot showers and a cold drink tonight once we're settled.

Time: 2013/05/23 22:50:54
Latitude: 32-22.43N
Longitude: 064-40.53W
St Georges Harbor, Bermuda

Buck Island, St Ctoix

The day started with the palest of sunrises, a barely-grey morning that slowly went silver, then yellow. We sat in the cockpit sipping coffee, watching the pelicans and frigate birds shake off the night and begin their breakfast dance. The pelicans and gulls diving and fishing, the frigate birds stealing from any and all.
We were anchored just off the beach of Buck Island in St Croix. Buck Island is a park, run by the US Park Service that's just a mile or so off the coast of STX. It's uninhabited and boats need a permit to stay overnight. During the middle of the day, the place is crowded with day snorkelers and beach walkers, but at evenings and in the early morning, it's just us boaters and there were only 5 of us.

It was a pale, gentle start to the day.

View from the beach, MrMac is centered and Celebration is on the right.

 

We had sailed out to BI to meet our best buds and sometime buddyboaters, Chris and Anne on MrMac. They had just arrived from the marine shopping mecca of St Martin and were in need of distraction. The weather was perfect: the clouds were almost too white, the sky was almost too blue, there were almost too many shades of turquois in the water to count. We did our best to appreciate it all. We snorkeled and hiked and  sundownered until way past dark.

 



 

I love that last line. With all our stopping and picture taking and gazing at the views and lizard watching, it took us much longer than 1 hour. We saw no other hikers even though the beach was busy.

 

 

The top of a Turks Head cactus, tiny pink flowers and bright pink seeds.

 

 

The bromeliads and air plants were everywhere.

 

Buck Island is an interesting combination of cacti and succulents and tropical plants. It's very dry most of the year and very, very wet the rest of the time. Average rainfall is about 40 inches, most of it coming from August to November.

The reef on the north side of Buck Island, from the viewing platform 300 feet up the hill. We sat here a long time.

 

 

Updates

I'm back from my 3 week trip up north. I've actually been back for 2 weeks now, but the sun is so sunny and the water so blue, I've had a hard time staying inside to write about it. I headed back to Minneapolis (where it was 3. Three shouldn't even be a number when it comes to temperature.) to do wedding dress shopping with Hannah, who is getting married in August, and MOH dress shopping with Amanda, who is her MOH. It was a grand time, lots of family and laughter, some tears. My little girls are all grown up.

After Mpls I headed to Phoenix to thaw and see more family, and do a side trip to Mexico to stay in my sisters lovely condo on the Sea of  Cortez. I flew back to St Thomas and we immediately sailed south. We made it back to St Croix just in time for St Paddy's day. 

 

For some unknown reason, St Pat's day is a HUGE here.  Personally, I think it's because it falls right in the middle of Lent and it's a great opportunity to let loose for a day. Whatever the reasons, the partying starts early in the morning and goes late into the night, or in this case, until 4am.

 

We watched a 3 hour parade where the spectators were just as much fun to watch as the floats and bands. Everyone was in green. Green hair, green skin, green glasses, hats, shoes, socks. Water fights were had, drinks were lifted, we all had a wonderful time under the bright, hot sun.



 

 

 

Love his sideburns.

There were girls twirling flaming hula-hoops...

                                                          ...and leprechauns

                                            and a bartender on every float.

                                        Green was the color of the day. These guys had wet-paint hands
                        and were trying to put handprints on various parts of the women in the crowd.

                                               Love her smile, even her bike was green.

 

It was hot, but the bands played on

You're going to do what???

The RaftUp this month asks these questions:

How did you get the idea to go cruising? Was it you, your partner, a friend that put the idea in your head? How long was it between when you first decided to go -- buying the boat -- actually setting sail? When you first starting telling friends and family that you were going to do this, how did they respond? Has it affected relationships on land? What was the hardest part of the transition from land to sea (this can be mental or physical)? Was it easier or harder to get going than you thought it would be? How long have you been out? Do you keep a place on land (house, storage...)? Why? Is your boat now your home or do you dream of having a normal land-life again?

Endless horizons, endless options.

 

The first time I set foot on a sailboat was the day we moved aboard, 10 years ago. I know it sounds like it was a lark of sorts, but anyone who has ever met Steve knows  he doesn't have much 'lark' in his genetic makeup. There was actually a lot of thought and planning involved. At the same time, we'd already done 12 moves in 20 years and we knew very well that nothing was forever. We could choose to move on at any time.

I grew up in North Dakota (AKA: Almost Canada). It's not a region known for water sports. What water we had was generally frozen, we ice skated and played ice hockey. Sailing was as foreign and exotic as fresh pineapple and coconuts. I first saw a real sailboat in Duluth MN when I was 18. It looked so easy and romantic. 
Fast forward 20 or so years. The girls are both in college. We're in Albuquerque NM with a pending Air Force assignment to Tampa FL. We start looking at houses there.  We have MAJOR sticker shock at the housing prices there. This is 2003 when even a tiny ranch house there was selling for $500K. I joke about just buying a boat and living on it. We laugh. We look at more houses.  Just for the heck of it, we check out some boat listings online.  Boats are much more affordable. They look so spacious. The water is so pretty. I'm sold.

Steve does weeks of homework and research and sees dozens of boats with the broker. We know nothing of brands or reputation. We buy a 1977 Hallberg-Rassy 41'. It doesn't have anything we were looking for: air conditioning for living aboard in Florida, refrigeration ( it had an ice box), electronics. But she's a SOLID, blue water cruiser. So, we move aboard and then take sailing lessons. I am the Sargent Schultz of sailing, I know nothing.

We start the first of many Project lists. The first biggie: new engine mounts. The engine is literally falling into the bilge. We replace the wiring, the plumbing, add holding tanks, recaulk the teak deck, re rig, remove davits and add a stern rail, add all the electronics and in mast wiring. It was all learning on the job. Steve did ALL the work himself, he knows our boat inside and out and upside down. This was about a 6 year project. We were both still working full time. After Steve retired, he took a year to add a new engine and water maker and refrigeration compressors and 100 other things that have to be taken care of before we leave to go cruising.

We've been out cruising full time for almost 4 years now. The transition from land to sea wasn't very hard for us. We're used to having to find our way around new cities/countries every couple of years, finding the good local restaurants, the grocery stores, the shortcuts. We tend to make friends easily. We accept local customs and don't want everything to be the same way it was 'at home'. The hardest part for us as family with grown children is not having that Family Home for everyone to meet at for holidays and vacations. It's much harder to make advance plans and to accommodate the girls work schedules. The work of day to day life on the boat is also much harder than I ever expected. Going to get groceries can be an all day chore. Ditto for laundry. And sometimes the logistics of planning food for a group for a few days puts me in a panic.

We accumulated a lot of art works and interesting furniture pieces from our travels and we do have a 10 x 10 storage unit in Albuquerque. It's been 10 years since I've seen most of what we have in there. So I'd have to caution anyone to think reaaalllyyyy hard about what you want to put into storage. We've probably spent $8000 in 10 years on that storage unit.

Our boat is our home. We plan to be there for many more years, but I do have to admit that after more than 25 years of continuous moving, I'm thinking more and more about having a permanent home. I'd like to paint a wall a color that I like, and plant a new bonsai tree or two.
 

Dingy??

        We live on a boat, some folks who read this do, or have too. Ours isn’t a big boat by many cruiser’s standards but too big to take to the dock all the time and stay within our budget. So we also have a small boat, a “dingy”, to get to-from shore with stuff and us of course. You know laundry, groceries, rum, boat parts, walks and all those kind of things. And there are “dingy” docks, some owned by cities, some marinas, restaurants etc.

    Generally cruisers spend enough $$$ locally that it makes good sense to have a “dingy” dock. Generally at busy “dingy” docks, folks use long painters so everyone can maneuver in and out regardless if the “dingy” is double/triple parked. Generally if you have a big boat you either hire/pay for a slip or get a “dingy” to get to and from shore. And there is my rub.




Dingy to the left (blue/graythird row)
is our 8 1/2 footer for comparison
We DO have a Tiller extension though!

    At what size is it no longer a “dingy”? Perspective perhaps…if the mother-ship is 36 feet a big “dingy” might be a six or eight footer. But if the mother-ship is say 100 feet will a 12 footer suffice?  It doesn’t seem to.

    We’re in the USVI’s right now and even for this 24+ year US Air Force veteran who’ has witnessed a few big “dingy” contests, it’s a bit overwhelming. I mean damn, some of these really qualify as mother-ships. Every day there are a ½ dozen plus rigid and RIB boats with outboards exceeding 40 horsepower, several in the 14-18 foot, 100-140 hp range, electric start, integral navigation lights and GPS/chart plotters. Is that a “dingy”?  This more rigid platform, convenience, and additional size could be an offset for the effects of age and lost dexterity allowing people to do things they love much later in life. (Pfizer analogy SO tempting here) Mostly though it seems they are young crews, owners, and guests of very large and quite expensive yachts.  So it’s probably big and fully outfitted just because it can be.

     While there are rarely hard rules there are conventions, like the long painter I talked about. It’s just being considerate of others so most people do it. But not everyone, so sometimes there actually are rules. Annapolis for example has a rule for their “dingy” dock limiting size to (hope I remember this correctly) 14 feet. Oh that’s right, there are rules here too. Limit is 12 feet, no locking, and no overnight. Hmm.

    Options: the “dingy” dock could get bigger; “dingys” could get smaller; or maybe those non-“dingy” i.e. pseudo mother-ships could hire slips. Meanwhile our painter keeps getting longer and the off-loading more challenging as we climb over and through the “dingy” mass/mess.  Good news—Lynn has only gone in once. Not here.

Moko Jumbies

I know, I know, moko jumbies sounds like a good rum drink. They are, however, stilt dancers. Towering god/ghosts who watch over their villages and who can see evil coming from their lofty height. The origin of moko jumbies depends on whether you read Wikipedia the St Croix Visitors Info. They came from Africa, added in some Caribbean voodoo and some European religions and are now unique. However they came about, they're a blast to watch as they dance down the street or on the beach. The troop here preformed at the Jump Up last Friday night. I apologise for the dark photos, there were too many bright lights against a really dark sky. It was too much for my limited photo skills.

The top of an SUV is just the right height for strapping on the stilts.

                                            Next, getting into costume.

                                                             Dressed and ready to go.

                                                                  Chillin' with friends.

                          More waiting. Their eyes are kind of unnerving when you get close.

                                                             Taking a bow after the dance.

Street Scenes

Some different scenes from around the VI's. You never know what will be painted on the sides of buildings. It's one of the things I like here, it's not just the generic gangbanger f*** stuff.

I think this was an ad for something, I just couldn't figure out what.

An interesting trash barrel.

Chalk on a wall.

An abandoned building.

...and we know what you're thinking.

Highway signpost.



Thru fair weather or foul

     In seasickness or health,
     showers or not,
     from sunburn to dusk,
     and saltwater to fresh...

I think maybe cruising couples should take vows before they leave the dock. Go though a little pre-cruising counselling, perhaps?  How many of us really know what we're heading into when we 'go cruising'? The strains it can put on a relationship? The fear and the doubts? Can we be prepared for it? (OK, just so I don't scare our girls, this isn't one of those stories about how we fell apart because of cruising. We're still married and we still like each other!)

Funny thing: as I'm sitting here trying to write about relationships on a boat, Steve, who is taking the auto helm motor apart said "I could use a little whack with the hammer", so I picked up the hammer and gave him a little whack. So easy to be cooperative and get along on a boat.

We had no idea what we were getting into with the boat or in terms of 'us'. I had never been on a sailboat until the day we moved aboard, 10 years ago. It was a steep learning curve. When we left to go cruising 4 years ago, Steve had just retired after 24 years in the Air Force. He had traveled A LOT. Our girls were both out on their own.  So there I was, a career military wife: independent, capable, resourceful. I was used to spending my off work time however I wanted. Suddenly, (and it really was sudden: we went from living at a dock and having a car, to neither, overnight). So it really did seem sudden to me. Suddenly we were doing laundry together and shopping together and walking together and eating every meal together, going everywhere together. It was too much togetherness for me. After 6 months, I was taking the cat and leaving. We obviously weren't working well together.

It can be a really hard thing, this learning to ignore each other nicely in a small space and not get your feelings hurt. To understand when your partner needs some mental space and let them have it ( and I don't mean with a hammer). To be generous in forgiving small things. To take and to give. To remember to laugh with each other when things really suck, instead of placing blame. It's been 10 years since we set out on this particular journey and we've learned more about each other in these 10 years than in the 20 before that. We keep learning because we keep changing and we keep changing because we keep learning, about the world and about ourselves.

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