Soon To Be Homeless

A very nice couple from Florida has signed a contract to purchase C-Time, and we should close the sale in the next three weeks.  We would like to thank everyone who followed our adventure, especially those who commented on the blog or sent emails.  We would love to read of others' adventures, so please share with us at svctime@blogspot.com.

In the meantime, we're in the process of changing careers.  Daniel has decided to pursue one of his childhood dreams of becoming an over-the-road truck driver, while Carla is enjoying spending time with our two grandchildren and searching for her next career. We look forward to crossing paths with our many friends, both new and existing.

Until then,

Daniel & Carla

Asking Price REDUCED $10,000!

The 2014-2015 cruising season is quickly approaching.  If you're looking for a proven Caribbean cruiser that's ready to board and go, here's your chance.  C-Time offers nearly every comfort feature you could want.  Just check out all the improvements, additions, and included items on the "For Sale" page.

Journey's End

Yep, she's for sale.  The boat, that is.  For all the pertinent information, please click on the "C-Time For Sale" tab above.

Nassau, Bahamas to Fort Pierce, Florida, USA

We spent another night in Nassau and even took D-Time to shore looking for a grocery store.  We were out of a few items and it was good to just get out and walk.  It was after a hard rain and the streets were wet and it was humid and hot.  Maybe walking a mile to the grocery store wasn’t such a good idea after all.  We made it back with our few purchases and then left the next day to head towards the USA. 

We were going to do 3, 8 hour days, spending 2 nights on the banks (shallow area in the middle of the ocean) but we were making such good time, we decided to make it in 2, 14 hour days.  It is always a weird feeling to me to stop in the middle of the ocean and put out an anchor but we did.  We were in about 15 feet of water, and when the sun set, we just stopped and dropped the anchor.  We rocked and rolled a little throughout the night, but it wasn’t bad.  There were no other boats around except for some occasional fishing boats off in the distance.  We got up early the next morning and continued to the U.S. 

We hit the gulf stream in the middle of the day and boy were we flying across it.  We usually do 6 to 7 knots and we were doing 9 knots.  We were practically speeding!  We had the jib out and were motoring, there wasn’t much wind, but we flew to the U.S.  We arrived in West Palm Beach late and left early the next morning heading towards Fort Pierce.  Our friend, Marshall, from our Charleston marina, was heading to the Bahamas and had some engine trouble and he pulled into a marina to get a part fixed.  We pulled into the same marina last night and enjoyed seeing Marshall standing on the dock to greet us.  It is always wonderful to see a smiling face you know and get a hug – he didn’t even care we were dripping in sweat.  J

In addition to catching up with Marshall, another added bonus of coming in the marina - plugging into electricity and running the air conditioners for a night!  What a treat!  Also, Marshall coaxed us into this marina with the promise of a West Marine and a Publix within walking distance.  We weren’t disappointed.  Daniel made it to West Marine and I made it to Publix this morning and I was a like a kid in a toy store.  Walking through the produce section, being about to recognize what the produce was, and the lower prices, it was wonderful.  I stared at the produce for so long, a guy said, do you need some help?  I explained I had been out of the country for 6 months and well, everything just looked so wonderful at Publix!  Then I said, “is that a vidalia onion”?  I pushed him aside and started filling up my cart.  Welcome Home!  (We are making our way up the east coast looking for a marina for C-Time to spend hurricane season.)

Picture Time!

Dolphins!

Dolphins showing off

Cave at one of the islands

PIGS in the water!

Feeding time

Carla's version of enjoying the pigs - I am NOT getting out of this boat!

one of our "private" islands in the Bahamas

Carla's are the only footprints on this island :-)
Bahamas

Hawksbill Cay, Bahamas to Nassau, Bahamas

June 9-10, 2014

We left the pigs and sharks for a more docile surrounding in Hawksbill Cay.  It is a gorgeous island with an amazing beach.  The trip to Hawksbill didn’t take long, a couple of hours, but with no wind we had to motor most of the way.  When we anchored in Hawksbill Cay it was warm, to say the least, and Daniel put up the sunshade for us.  It really cooled things off on the boat.  He relaxed in his hammock for the afternoon underneath the sunshade and I took D-Time to shore.  I enjoy walking beaches and looking for shells and this was a really nice white sandy beach to walk.  I walked the mile long beach and didn’t find a single shell.  I also didn’t find another human being, so it was worth the walk.  I really enjoyed putting my footprints on the pristine beach.  We had planned to walk the island the next morning, I had found a trail, but the weather forecast was calling for “squalls” and so we took off to towards Nassau to get ahead of them towards. 

 

We made the 7 hours of the 8 hour trip avoiding the squalls and then one caught up with us.  Daniel said the winds were coming at us at 20-25 knots and we had a lot of lightening and rain.  We slowed down and let the storm pass us.  We pulled into the harbor at Nassau in a light rain and dropped anchor, right across from Paradise Island and the Atlantis Resort.  Right in front of us, less than a ½ mile away sat 4 huge cruise ships in port for the day.  Nice views!

Pigs and Sharks

We left Rudder Cay and headed towards Staniel Cay and the pigs.  We missed the pigs on the way down the island chain and honestly, I think Daniel was tired of hearing me say “I want to see the pigs” so he made it a stop on our way back.  We were not disappointed.  We dropped anchor right in front of the island with the wilds pigs.  There were loads of people already on shore “visiting” the pigs so we decided to watch and then go make our visit to them first thing in the morning. 

We took a few treats with us to feed them and made our way to shore in D-Time.  Actually, we stopped short of shore to see if they would swim out to us and this HUGE pig did.  I mean HUGE.  His snout was like a foot long – and he must have weighed 400 pounds or more - this was one big pig.  Daniel gave him a few of our treats and then we pushed on towards shore and Mr. Big Pig followed us.  About a dozen small to medium pigs came out to meet us.  Daniel hopped out of D-Time and went ashore and started feeding them.  I’m a city girl – the pigs are supposed to be in cages or something – ain’t no way I’m getting out of D-Time to get close to them, I can see them just fine from D-Time.  Daniel petted them and fed them but when Mr. Big Pig pushed and made squealing noises at the little pigs, I felt like I made the right decision to stay in my safety zone, D-Time. 

So now, we can add wild pigs to our list of animals we’ve seen on a beach in the Bahamas or the Caribbean, along with donkeys, horses, cows, goats and chickens.  It’s sounds a bit like a farm, doesn’t it?  (I have pictures of the pigs to share, but have to wait until I have better wifi to post them.)

We left the pigs and made it back to D-Time and decided to swim a little at the boat (the pigs didn’t swim out that far).  We swam for a bit and then I went aboard first and started drying off.  Daniel was still in the water and he came up to the side of the boat and said “did you see the shark”?  Oh. My. Gosh!  Shark?  He said it was as big as D-Time (which is 11 feet).  No, I didn’t see the shark, but I would not be getting back in the water to look for him either.  Daniel likes the sharks, he wanted to swim with them.  The man is crazy.  He said they were “nurse” sharks and they didn’t like to eat humans.  I decided to not chance it.  We had quite a few sharks that ended up swimming next to and under our boat.  It was neat to watch them, from the deck of the boat. 

George Town, Bahamas to Rudder Cay, Bahamas

June 6, 2014

We cleared customs and immigration in George Town and then made our way to a local yacht club for a nice lunch out.  Fried conch fritters and blue cheese burgers were delicious!  It was also really nice, for me, because there was no cooking or dishes to be washed – made my day.  After lunch Daniel had to refuel our jerry cans with diesel (there aren’t any marinas where you can dock and get fuel in George Town, you have to carry your jerry cans to the local gas station and do it yourself), and I made my way to the local grocery store.  It had been a little while since we were at a grocery store and we were out of our “staples” (milk, cereal, bread and eggs).   We stocked back up, loaded D-Time with the diesel and groceries and made our way back to C-Time.  We spent the night in the harbor at George Town and left the next morning for Rudder Cay.

The water in George Town harbor runs 7-13 feet which means, I spent a lot of the morning we left on the bow of the boat watching for coral and rocks.  We made it out of the harbor and Daniel put the sails up.  We were only going about 3 or 4 knots, but we really weren’t in a hurry, so I just settled down with a book and Daniel took his iPhone music to the bow and we relaxed through a lazy sail to Rudder Cay.  Once we found the anchorage, we took D-Time to explore.  We basically have the place to ourselves again, which is really nice.  We took D-Time and was able to go inside a couple of caves with it and look around.  Then we made it to a place at the end of a cove (in about 15-20 feet of water) where it is rumored David Copperfield had a statue of a piano with a mermaid playing the piano, dropped in the water.  It was awesome to see.  It was almost the size of a real piano and the mermaid was big too.  It was kind of strange to see it, just in the water there at the entrance to this cove.  We swam around it and took some pictures. 

This morning we took D-Time to another close by island that, at low tide, is joined to another island by a sandy beach.  I looked for shells while Daniel went snorkeling.  I walked both islands and enjoyed the beach walks.   It is always nice to “stretch your legs” on solid ground.   

A Close Call and a Close Encounter

June 3, 2014 - Long Island, Bahamas

Sailing offshore has its ups and downs (get it?).  We had made passages with 6-8 foot seas, and we’d sailed downwind with 15-20 knot winds gusting to 25 knots, so when I took another look at the 2-day old wind and sea forecast, I was confident we would have a comfortable sail.  After we were well underway, I listened to the Bahamas weather guru and all I heard was “a few squalls with locally increased winds associated with the squalls”.  The day started with a gently rolling 6-foot NE swell and not enough wind to sail, so we furled the sails and motored, expecting winds to pick up later in the morning.  Before the winds picked up, the swell increased to 8’ and more turbulent wind waves developed.  Carla became seasick quickly and started dosing up on the Dramamine, while I literally “stood” watch.  The squalls set in mid-morning and were relentless for the next 4 hours.  Being the good watch-keeper, I would take quick restroom breaks and return to the wet cockpit, hanging on with both hands.  While scanning the rain-obscured horizon, I started hearing a strange noise, thinking that the engine was vibrating a different portion of the boat.  As I continued my scan, I could barely make out a ghostly image of a ship off our starboard bow.  I leapt toward the steering pedestal and looked at the chartplotter to find an AIS target on a collision course with us.  By that time, the ship was readily visible and about 500 yards off our starboard bow, blowing his fog horn to get our attention.  I abruptly changed course so the ship would know that I had seen them, and to allow them to pass in front of us.  We were very fortunate that I had taken a restroom break about 5 minutes earlier, otherwise we would have seen the ship VERY close.

Tired, sick, and wet, we surfed into Little Harbour, not believing how quickly the surf settled.  As soon as we had dropped anchor, two dolphins appeared next to the boat, one of them holding its head above the water to see what we were doing.  I donned the snorkeling gear and got in the water.  It was the most awesome experience, as the youngest of the two came up to me and gazed in my eyes, tilting his head in wonderment, then rolling over on his back as if to invite me to scratch his belly.  The two of us swam side-by-side for a minute, then the momma came to check on us.  She was about 7 feet long and probably weighed twice as much as me.  Although she seemed indifferent toward playing with us, she still swam along with us and allowed me to get close.  This rare experience almost made me forget the previous 9 hours of difficult travelling. 

Sand Cay, Turks & Caicos to Atwood Harbor, Bahamas

May 30, 2014

Sand Cay to French Cay, Turks & Caicos

We left beautiful Sand Cay at 5:30 this morning, knowing we had a long day sail to French Cay today.  I sure hated to say good bye to Sand Cay.  As we started on our way we saw a couple of ships, one of which was the Carnival Breeze.  It’s neat to see them when they are out to sea like we are. 

Today was going to be “interesting” because we had to cross the Turks Banks – a huge area that is really shallow.  It took us about 5 hours to cross it.  It ran between 12 and 15 feet deep which is really strange, considering we are in the middle of the ocean.  As soon as we got off the banks, we were in 2,000+ feet of water.   You can see the “line” in the water that marks the shallow to the deep water.  Daniel drove most of the way across the banks and saw some rocks and coral near the surface.  I was a little nervous too but I offered to drive a little bit so he could have a rest.  As soon as he went below, I had a dolphin come up next to the boat.  Made me smile.  I waved at him and the next thing you know he went and brought some more of his friends to visit me.  I ran for my camera and then went to the bow of the boat to watch them jump and dive and swim all around us.  Yes, I was supposed to be driving so I only stayed on the bow for a couple of minutes.  It was really great to see the dolphins – made my nerves settle down.  We made it to French Cay at about 5 this afternoon.  Again, we are the only boat here – it feels kind of weird, but kind of nice too.  We snorkeled a bit, to check on the anchor and now we are settling down for the night.  We have an early day tomorrow – heading to the Bahamas!

May 31, 2014

French Cay to Mayaguana, Bahamas

It was a long day today.  We left at about 5 a.m. and pulled into our anchorage just about 7 p.m.  It was another good day for sailing, it was just a long one. 

June 1, 2014

Mayaguana, Bahamas to Atwood Harbor, Bahamas

We left at about 6 a.m. with only 50 miles to travel today.  Again, the winds were favorable for us to sail most of the way.  We pulled in and anchored in Atwood Harbor at about 3 p.m.  We immediately went for a swim and a snorkel.  We’ve seen quite a few starfish on the bottom but didn’t see any fish.  We are again, the only ones in the anchorage. 

Puerto Rico to Turks & Caicos

May 28, 2014

We left Puerto Rico yesterday morning at about 7:30 a.m., starting our long journey to Turks & Caicos.  We were able to sail most of the way yesterday and last night until the wind died down at about 4 a.m. and we had to start the engine.  We had a lot of wave action but nothing we haven’t seen before.  What we did have was quite a few rain showers.  They mostly appeared on Daniel’s watch.  We try to alternate our watches so each other gets plenty of rest but we aren’t on a set 4 hours on, 4 hours off.  That just doesn’t work for us.  We are more like, sleep an hour or two and then get up and check on the other person.  If they look sleepy, swap places with them.  We did that off and on throughout the night.  Daniel is really good about “if you need anything, just come wake me up”.  So at one point he had been asleep about 30 minutes when we had a radar alarm go off so I had to go get him.  There was a container ship on our path, but they were at least 4 miles away.  We passed in front of them and never came close to them.  The alarm also alerts you to bad weather and since we had off and on showers last night, the alarm just kept going off.

I was able to comfortably maintain my watch time because I was able to see the Dominican Republic off in the distance.  There is just something about knowing there is land, just right over there, if you need it.  We passed the end of the island of the Dominican Republic at about 7 this morning and we chose to keep going.  We could have pulled into a little cove and slept a little, but really, the conditions were very favorable to us just continuing on, so we are.  After listening to the weather and having breakfast, I laid down for the first of what I’m sure will be many naps.  Just another 24 hours and we should be in Turks & Caicos. 

May 29, 2014

Lots of naps, for both of us, throughout the day and another all nighter.  The winds stayed at about 15-20 knots most of the night so we were able to sail.  The waves were about 4-5 feet during the daytime and died down to maybe 3-4 feet throughout the night.  The winds finally died down so much we started the engine, but only for a couple of hours.  Mostly we just sailed.  We covered 300 miles in 50 hours and made a land stop at Sand Cay, about 70 miles shy of Turks & Caicos. 

Sand Cay was a beautiful 1 ½ mile long island, in the middle of the ocean, it was paradise to see!  No one else was there, the island was all ours.  We anchored close enough to shore that it wasn’t a bad swim to shore.  Once we arrived, the birds welcomed us and followed us along as we explored their island.  The white sandy beach was the one you see in all the magazine ads that say “come to the Caribbean” – it was that pretty.  We walked most of the beach and went “in land” which wasn’t far until you got to the other side, a 2 minute walk maybe, and checked out the view on the other side.  A lot of “sea trash” was on the shore.  Nets, cups, plastic containers, that kind of “trash”.  After we finished our discovery of the island, we swam back to C-Time and relaxed a little.  Daniel threw in a movie for us to watch but I don’t think either of us made it past the first 30 minutes of the movie.  Two “all nighters” had taken their toll and we slept soundly the rest of the night.

Ensenada Honda to Ponce, Puerto Rico

Another full day of sailing helped us arrive at Ponce, Puerto Rico where we filled up on our diesel and anchored for the night.  The last time we stayed at this anchorage, it was lit up with a lot of lights - we just aren't used to staying "in the city".  So in addition to the lights there was also a band at a local restaurant that played until the wee hours of the morning.  It was loud.  Daniel and I put movies on to watch, popped some popcorn and settled in to watch the movies. 

We left Ponce at about 6:00 a.m. on another 8-10 hour sail heading down the Puerto Rico coastline and as we came to the southwest corner of Puerto Rico we saw this beautiful lighthouse. 



Lighthouse

Benures Bay, BVI to Ensenada Honda, Spanish Virgin Islands, USA

May 24-25, 2014

Before we left Benures Bay we brought out our diving equipment for the first time and did our first dive.  It is so much different from snorkeling - to be able to stay underwater as long as you want and to see the coral up close.  It was a nice first dive.  I did lose one of the weight pouches that help to keep me under water and we spent an hour or more snorkeling trying to find it (never did).  Other than that, it was a good time.

 

We left Benures Bay and went to Cruz Bay on St. John, USVI to check in with customs and immigration.  The immigration officers said, "Welcome home".  I love it!  After a quick stop at the local grocery store, we had to make a stop in Red Hook, St. Thomas to pick up a part for our washing machine.  We had it shipped to a friend in St. Thomas from the U.S. (thanks, Matt!).  Hopefully, clean clothes are in our future.  After lunch and ice cream on shore, we headed back to C-Time. 

 

Next we set out for our anchorage for the night, Magen's Bay.  We didn't get to visit Magen's Bay last time we were in the USVI because of a northern ocean swell but this time, conditions were perfect.  We anchored and took D-Time to shore for a walk.  We walked the whole beach, probably a mile long.  We talked with a couple from North Carolina who where at Magen's Bay on vacation.  They thought D-Time looked like a lot of fun.  Daniel explained that D-Time was our family car. 

 

The anchorage was beautiful, as was the beach. 

 

The next day we left to continue on towards our next stop, Ensenada Honda in the Spanish Virgin Islands.  It probably took us about 8 hours, mostly sailing, to reach Ensenada Honda.  There was only one other sailboat in the anchorage.  After it got dark, we went up on deck to see the phosphorous that was glowing in the water - it was really awesome to see.  Kind of like lightening bugs back home, just under the water.  Really nice anchorage.

Getting Tired of Endless Vacation In Paradise (NOT!)

Carla has written quite a bit on our day-to-day activities, so I thought I would add a few of my observations.  What’s it like spending day after day basking in tropical paradise.  As Tim put it, it’s just “Surreal”.  The last four months has seemed like a year, not because we weren’t having fun, but because of the numerous sites and experiences, and because we’ve been able to just sit and do nothing for hours.  As someone else said, paradise isn’t a location, it’s a frame of mind, but the location sure helps to set the frame of mind.

Our decision to turn back at Guadeloupe was a tough one.  We’ve spent a lot of time and money preparing to go to South America, but neither of us were looking forward to spending a couple days at sea.  As I watched weather forecasts for all of the Caribbean, high winds and rough seas were the norm for the area we would have to transit.  Although the threat of pirates off the Venezuelan coast was a real one, several cruisers merely advised us to remain a good distance off the coast and travel with a “buddy boat”.  In the end, the plan just didn’t suit our style of cruising:  moderate winds, calm seas, cool nights, piracy-free waters, and a worthwhile destination. 

When we hit the British Virgin Islands previously, we were between weather windows and felt like we only had about three days.  We made a whirlwind pass at all the touristy destinations, and thus weren’t really impressed.  After reading a magazine article about secluded beaches, magnificent snorkeling, and picturesque settings, we just had to give the BVI’s another opportunity to impress.  Impressing it is.  While we were in the Leewards, a much-needed rain fell on most of the islands, and now the vegetation has regained its visual appeal.  We’ve learned how to anchor stern-to, meaning that we drop the anchor from the bow, back toward the shore, and tie a long line from the back of the boat to the shore.  Now we’re nestled with the cockpit just 200’ feet from a steep tree-covered hill in 10’ of clear water over a sandy bottom, and within snorkeling distance of beautiful corral on both sides of the boat.  We were the only boat in Long Bay, Virgin Gorda, and the white sand beach was ours alone.  Today, we’re the only boat in this lovely bay.  I think we’re liking the BVI’s.

In the Caribbean, one of our favorite pastimes is watching goats.  It seemed like they were following us from island to island.  Carla feels sorry for them, as when they “Bahhhh”, they sound like a kid (baby goat) that’s been left behind or is stuck on a rock ledge.  While we were anchored in the Lagoon at St. Martin, I watched as several goats traversed what appeared to be sheer vertical cliffs of a rock called “Witches Tit”.  It was obvious that they didn’t need anyone’s help.  We were snorkeling in Colombier Bay, St. Barts when I heard a muffled “Bahhhh”.  When I raised my ears out of the water, my suspicion was confirmed.  Those goats had followed us to yet another island.  They’ve pretty much followed us to every island.  I think I’m beginning to hear them in my sleep.

St. Martin was a very interesting place.  We chose to stay in the Lagoon due to forecasted heavy winds and seas, and slept peacefully for several nights as a result of that decision.  Being in the Lagoon places one within an easy dinghy ride of numerous restaurants, high-end shops, and numerous marine service and supply companies.  You boat owners out there, imagine what it would be like to be a 5-minute dinghy ride from two marine stores larger than West Marine, a sail loft, a full-service stainless fabricator, a custom mattress manufacturer, and navigational and communications electronics experts, all with their own dinghy docks.  And there are even more restaurants on the water that also have their own dinghy docks.  Although the water isn’t very clear or clean in the lagoon, I saw a couple cruisers diving under their boats, and kids in the sailing school were in the water.  It probably isn’t much worse than some of the harbors on the east coast of the U.S.  There were several derelict boats in the Lagoon, but there were scores more nice cruising boats and many mega-yachts.  Oh, and did Carla mention that she took the luxury of paying someone else to do the laundry?

Speaking of sailing schools, Carla was laughing out loud when one of the small sailboats “tumped over” and the two boys were trying to upright it.  I didn’t feel sorry for them because they were having the time of their life.  I saw one boat with four local boys go over several times.  Each time they were laughing and cutting up, having a blast in that Lagoon full of “nasty” water.  We’ve also been in the midst of sailboat races, sometimes while on a mooring or at anchor, and one time when we accidentally cruised through one.  In my defense, I thought they had finished racing and were heading in to the harbor.  How did we fare?  As well as a cruising Hunter 410 could, I guess.

We brought brand new dive equipment that hadn’t even gotten wet until today.  There has been such great snorkeling right off the boat that we just haven’t had the desire to anchor or moor at one of the rolly dive locations and wrestle with the gear.  Since there is excellent snorkeling AND diving right off the back of the boat here, we thought this would be a good opportunity to break out the gear.  Here's a short video of a rare sighting.  By the way, Carla was ALMOST able to climb back into D-Time by herself yesterday.  That’s a major step toward REALLY being independent. 

So far we’ve really been fortunate to have good weather for our long passages.  Being a weather forecaster in the Caribbean would be easy:  Sunny with a high of 87 and a low of 77 and a 20 percent chance of isolated showers.  When I left my job, a co-worker wished us fair winds and calm seas.  Well, a sailor really wants 10-15 knots of wind off the beam, or side, of the boat.  Our passage back to the BVI’s from St. Martin started out with favorable winds, but then went to almost directly behind us.  Even in 3’-5’ seas C-Time does a lot of rolling with a wind off the stern, so we jibed (same as tacking except the wind is to your back) as long as the wind held up.  There’s nothing quite like going in a direction for an hour that doesn’t get you any closer to your destination.  Interestingly we haven’t experienced the “doldrums” yet (no wind).  You know, when you were on the cruise ship and you looked down at the perfectly calm water and said, “We could sail in that”.  I’ll never forget the time we were on the Bahamas Bank and I unfurled both sails for the first time since we left Miami.  We were cruising along nicely at about 7 knots with about 15 degrees of heel.  Carla was hanging on for dear life and said, “I don’t like this!”  EXCUSE ME?  We just embarked on the beginning of a cruising lifestyle aboard our own sailing yacht and you don’t like SAILING?

Probably one of the most disappointing parts of the trip so far has been the lack of interaction with other cruisers.  We’ve made some good friends so far and have really enjoyed our time with them, but it sometimes seems like the only way to meet others is to go to one of the local hangouts.  Since we’re on a tight budget, and because it’s expensive to hang out at a bar or restaurant, we miss out on that social scene.  I was watching a guy in the water off the back of his boat wresting with his steering windvane and figured he could use some help, so I grabbed a hammer, jumped into D-Time, and headed over to their boat.  He was grateful for the help, even though I really didn’t contribute much, and invited us over later.  The next day, they were headed one way and we were headed the other, but hopefully we’ll run into them again.  The French seem to enjoy the company of other Frenchies, and the Canadians (there are a LOT of them) look to meet other Canadians.  Maybe as we get back in the VI’s and Bahamas we’ll have more opportunity to socialize.  We’re looking forward to meeting up with Marshall and Ann in the Bahamas.  Marshall has followed our every move and has made numerous useful suggestions through the blog.

One of my friends at work commented that we should go back to St. Barts because “it’s fantastic”.   Colombier Bay is at St. Barts, and we took advantage of their free moorings for several nights.  This is another one of those places where you have clear water, good snorkeling all around, a sandy beach, and hiking trails, all at one location.   That kind of place is a bit difficult to find, and you want to stay there as long as it takes to get tired of it.  The shopping, you know all the high-end clothing lines, wasn’t for me, but the airplanes nearly clipping the ridge and dropping to the runway below made my day.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the lack of insects and the comfortable temperatures.  As mentioned above, we’ve had a breeze blowing almost constantly.  We’ve kept all the hatches open for most all the time and have kept cool.  We haven’t used hatch screens and the screen enclosure has stayed in its storage closet.  Wet swim suits and towels dry quickly in the wind and sun, and it’s easy to get burned from the sun when you don’t feel hot.  Now that we’re into the “off season” for the Caribbean, we’ll probably start feeling more of the sun’s energy and less wind.  For that reason, I made some sun shades that will help keep the afternoon sun out of the cockpit.

Boredom fighting is a great problem to solve.  There are probably a lot of people who wish they could experience it for just a few moments.  I thought we would have a difficult time dealing with the sudden change in tempo, but the extra time we have to just sit still is welcome.  Before siesta, I’ll sit in the cockpit and watch clouds pass overhead, boats sailing at anchor, dinghies going hither and yon, and waves crashing on shore.  After siesta, I’ll sit in the cockpit and watch clouds pass overhead, boats sailing at anchor, dinghies going yon and hither, and waves crashing on shore.  Though this might sound boring to some, I love that quiet time recognized as “siesta”.  Some of the islands close most businesses from about noon to 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon.  Ahhhh, siesta.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention binoculars.  They are great for bringing the action, or lack of action, up close.  Did you know it can take nearly a half hour to scan one hillside for goats?  We use them so much that they stay in the cockpit, for looking at boat names and how boats are rigged, watching sea turtles poke their heads out of the water like a submarine’s periscope, and watching sailboat races.

It’s now time to take my bowl of cereal to the cockpit to watch the goats climb the treacherous rocks.  Can you tell from the picture that one of them is a “kid”?  It’s bahhhhing its head off.  I have to convince Carla that I don’t need to take D-Time to shore and help the little fella.  So much time and so little to do.  Yep, I like this endless vacation in paradise.

Great Harbour, Peter Island, BVI to Benures Bay, Norman Island, BVI

May 20, 2014

Well, our second time through the British Virgin Islands has been so much better than our first time through.  The first time we stopped at all the key spots you're supposed to stop at and I'm glad we did but this time, Daniel had read an article about some places you "must see" and has taken us to those spots.  Two of them are Great Harbour on Peter Island and Benures Bay on Norman Island. 

 

On Great Harbour they had some nice hiking trails, which Daniel tried out.  One was 6 miles long and was to the other side of the island with an amazing view.  It even had chairs set up for people to sit in and watch the sunset.  The swimming was nice, as we were on a mooring ball, so there was no snorkeling close to the boat but the location was just beautiful.

 

Then we arrived at Benures Bay and, wow!  We anchored the boat and tied a stern line to keep us close to shore and away from coral.  The water was smooth all night.  Again, another really nice hiking trail for Daniel, about 3 miles.  He said he came across a big open meadow on a ridge with a view of the ocean swell on one side and Benures Bay on the other.  It was a gorgeous view.


 

 

Me and my still recovering knee waited on the boat for his return.  Once Daniel made it back to C-Time we took off snorkeling.  This is the most amazing snorkeling place we have come to as of yet.  There is so much and so many different kinds of coral to see.  The fish are plentiful and beautiful!  Tiny, tiny fish to really large fish.  There was a school of 3 really large fish Daniel and I both saw.  The largest we've seen in snorkeling areas.  I would guess they were about 4 to 5 feet long but that could just be my bad eye sight.  Just suffice it to say, they were big.  

St. Martin to British Virgin Islands

May 17, 2014

We cleared customs yesterday and left the nasty lagoon at St. Martin and went into the bay.  It was a lot more rolly, but it was definitely clean water!  We were getting positioned to leave early in the morning for the British Virgin Islands (BVIs).  Daniel worked on scrubbing and cleaning the yukky sledge and filth off of C-Time from the week we stayed in the lagoon.  I did some cooking, getting ready for the upcoming voyage.

We left at 2:00 a.m. this morning from St. Martin and had about 15 knot winds with 2-3 foot waves.  Not bad, not bad at all!  We had the sails up for 11 hours straight, until the winds died down to 5-10 knots.  We ended up motoring the rest of the way to the BVIs.  It’s taken us about 16 hours to get here.  We are tired, going to drop the anchor and get some rest. 

St. Martin - still here...

May 15, 2014

You would think being in “paradise” you wouldn’t get bored but sitting on the boat in the same anchorage for going on a week, is getting long - especially if you can’t swim or snorkel.  I cannot tell you how disgusting the water is in the lagoon but it is.  Most days you can’t see the bottom and we are only in about 10 feet of water.  Yellow chunks of some type of matter floats by all the time.  Daniel won’t make water here in the lagoon because the water is that bad.  With that said, it is a very nice anchorage (if you can get past the water part).  It is protecting us from the waves and swells that make it difficult for you to keep your lunch down.  So the protection is awesome.  The water is smooth in here, even with the high winds we feel, the water stays very calm.  Like I said before, we are right next to the pretty Simpson Bay Bridge (which I walked yesterday) that lights up at night.  The pretty mountains of St. Martin are right in front of us.  If we get too bored, usually an airplane will take off and that will wake you up because we are really, really close to the runway and the planes are really, really loud. 

We have taken D-Time to shore numerous times but there is only so long you can sit in a restaurant and use their free wifi J.  We walk around but since we live on a boat, there really isn’t anything to shop for.  We’ve been here before – rented a car and drove the island.  So we come up with projects.  Daniel has been working on sunshades for the cockpit and they have turned out wonderful.  I’ve cleaned and reorganized my clothing storage. 

We are still in St. Martin because of the wind and wave action I mentioned above.  Once they settle down enough to make the 16-18 hour voyage to the British Virgin Islands we will be leaving.  We hope that will only be another 2 days.  In the meantime, I guess I can go rearrange some more storage.

Decision Time

For those of you who have been following us since we left Charleston, SC back in January, you know that our goal was South America (to see our two sons).  Life, as you know, is constantly changing and the two sons that have been in South America for a while (one 3 years and the other almost a year) have decided it is time for them to leave South America.  One is heading back to the states and the other is heading to China to teach English.   That along with just about every cruiser we’ve spoken with having said it is not really wise to be near Venezuela and some other concerns.  Our native Colombian daughter-in-law called me one day and said, “Carla, you cannot go to Venezuela – they hate Americans.  It is too dangerous.”  So you will now realize from the blog entries that we are now heading back towards the Bahamas/US area (still undecided).  It was decision time – spend hurricane season in Grenada or Bahamas.  We picked the Bahamas and are heading that way. 

St. Martin

May 11, 2014

Happy Mother’s Day!  I had a very nice Mother’s Day with Daniel taking me into town (to the Dutch side) first thing this morning for an “American” breakfast - eggs, bacon, toast and coffee.  The best part, I didn’t have to cook it or clean up!  Nice!  We also accessed some free wifi and both were able to talk with our mothers.  Double nice!  After breakfast we walked across the street to a French pastry shop where Daniel picked up a pastry and I got a yummy delicious brownie.  We sat by the water and ate them both.  After breakfast we walked a bit and then made our way back to C-Time.  Before you knew it, it was lunchtime.  This time we went to the French side for an awesome lunch.  I had French onion soup – the best I have ever had – and a ribeye steak.  Daniel went with calamari (which he said was delicious) and Red Snapper.  Again, free wifi and this time, I was able to talk with all of our kids.  It doesn’t take much to make Mom happy.  After that huge lunch, D-Time took everything it had to pull us both back to the boat.  We rolled out of D-Time and fell into an after-lunchtime coma.  A wonderful day – thanks, honey!

Being close to the Simpson Bay Bridge makes us close to the “path” the local party boat takes.  About 10 last night a boat filled with people, with music blaring, came within about 20 feet of where we are anchored.  And the boat moved SLOWLY.  The music blared for about 10 minutes.  A very weird feeling.  The night was so quiet and serene and then all of a sudden - loud music comes in through the hatches.  That will wake you up!

 

St. Barths to St. Martin

May 10, 2014

We had had rain off and on most of the night and as soon as we had a break in the weather this morning, we took off for the 17 mile trip to St. Martin.  Again, another nice sailing day – the winds were about 15 knots most of the way.  We timed it just right to make the 3:00 p.m. opening of the bridge on the Dutch side and then immediately after, the Simpson Bay Bridge opening into the Lagoon at Marigot Bay.  We have stayed here before, very good protection from swells.  We found a spot to drop anchor right next to the Simpson Bay Bridge, which I really like.  At night  the bridge basically puts on a light show.  The bridge is not tall but it is long and at night the lights are blue, green, red, orange, blue again…constantly changing.  Really pretty to watch from the bow of the boat. 

St. Kitts to St. Barths

May 9, 2014

We left St. Kitts fairly early in the day and headed towards St. Barths.  It was a nice sailing day as we we left St. Kitts.  We went around the island and enjoyed the view of St. Kitts for hours.  As we got closer to St. Barths, the winds and rain were picking up so we were glad to get into an anchorage on St. Barths for the night. 

Guadeloupe to Montserrat to St. Kitts

May 8, 2014

We left beautiful Guadeloupe, with the clearest water we’ve seen yet, heading towards Montserrat first thing this morning.  We sailed the entire 40 miles – nice, nice weather.  Montserrat has an active volcano on it and there is an “exclusion zone” where we cannot anchor, just in case the volcano decides to become active.  It was the first active volcano we’ve seen.  We saw one on Guadeloupe but it was a long way away from us and we didn’t see anything other than just a mountain.  Well the volcano on Montserrat still has pockets of steam coming out of it and it is located very close to the shore so we were able to sail very close to land and see the destruction it has caused in the past.  We saw the town that had to be evacuated and deserted.  Most of the structures looked fine but with the binoculars you could see the roofs only of some houses and churches, buried in ash. 

We are in a nice anchorage, just at the border of the “exclusion zone” and very close to the beach.  We are also downwind of the sulfur smell coming out of the volcano.  We had lunch and decided the smell would not be fun for an overnight stay so we raised the anchor and continued on to St. Kitts.  Fortunately, we had stayed at the St. Kitts anchorage and knew it well – since we wouldn’t be arriving until well after dark.  We dropped the anchor at about midnight and was ready to go to bed.

PICTURE TIME!

Antigua - heading to clear in at customs & immigration

 

Race week in Antigua - notice the boat "Girls for Sail" - love the name
 



Nelson's Boatyard in Antigua
 

 

Helicopter flying over our anchorage taking pictures of a boat

 

 

 

Mamora Bay, Antigua - one of our anchorages

 

 

 

 

 

Coming into our anchorage at Guadeloupe

 

 

 

 

C-Time is in the middle.  Our anchorage, Deshaies, Guadeloupe

 

 

 

 

Two waterfalls in National Park, Guadeloupe

 

 

Our first stop in the National Park - I can read "Zoo" and "Parking".  French!

 

 

National Park, Guadeloupe

 

National Park, Guadeloupe - if you look at the top of the waterfall, you'll see Daniel

 

 

Thanks, Justin, for telling me about the app "CamMe".  We set the camera up and took this.

 

 

 

Volcano on Guadeloupe - it's still active

Guadeloupe

May 6, 2014

What a day!  What. A. Day!

I took Daniel and his bike to town this morning at about 6 a.m.  The rental car we have reserved for today is 3 miles away.  He is going to bike to the rental car place and then come pick me up for a day of touring Guadeloupe.  Guadeloupe is a mountainous island with an active volcano on it.  Really cool, unless you're the one riding a bike up and down the mountains to get to the rental car company.  He made it and picked me up and we were on our way by 7 a.m.

Our first stop was the National Park of Guadeloupe.  To get there, I had to ride with Mario Andretti (a/k/a Daniel) driving like he was in a Grand Prix race.  The roads were really narrow and lots of mountains.  Up and down, hairpin turns and did I mention we got a 5-speed little car to drive around in?  I was holding on for dear life and laughing my head off.  Daniel did a great job navigating the roads and keeping us alive.  People were passing us on the 2 lane roads, if we slowed down just a little to see something.  I believe all those years of Daniel growing up driving the back country roads of Alabama equipped him for today.  Great job, honey!

We stopped in the middle of the park and went to see "Cascade aux Ecreevisses".  We figured this meant some type of waterfall.  It was a small waterfall on a really nice paved trailed.  It was only a 5 minute walk on a paved path.  Easy.  Then we stopped at a very nice picnic area with a beautiful stream running next to it.  It really reminded us of the Smokey Mountains.  We drove around a bit more and headed towards Pointe-a Pitre (the largest city) and quickly decided we wanted to be back in the wild so we head out of town and along the coast.

It was 10:15 a.m. and since we had an early, early start - I was ready for lunch.  Daniel found a nice roadside stop and I was sure they wouldn't be serving anything yet but the guy prepared us some delicious sandwiches for $3 Euros each.  We then stopped at another large parking area in the National Park and made it to the information building.  We had come across the place where you can see 2 very large waterfalls, one you can actually see from the ocean - it's that large and that high.  We were told we could walk to the first one, it was only 30 minutes away but it was too late in the day (11 a.m.) for us to do the second one - it was 3 hours away.  So we took off for the first one.  I made it about half way and my knee wouldn't hear anymore of it so Daniel went on without me.  Brought me back gorgeous pictures.  The park ranger lady also suggested that we go swimming at a swimming hole, not far from where we parked the car.  So we changed and decided to go looking for it.  It was straight downhill to get to it and I sucked it up and made it.  So glad I did.  There was a beautiful smaller waterfall and we could swim in the pool around it.  People were jumping off rocks (yes, Daniel jumped - no, I didn't).  The water was so nice and cool.  It was a wonderful stop and worth the effort to get to it.

After a couple more stops in the National Park, we continued on towards Deshaies, along the coast road.  Did you know that they grow cocoa beans on Guadeloupe?  Well, they do.  We stopped at La Maison du Cacao and bought 1 small (about the size of a Hersey bar) chocolate bar.  It cost 6 Euros, but tasted delicious!  Daniel said, I guess you know  you just ate a $9 candy bar.  I almost choked.  I'm not good with conversion rates.  I didn't think 6 was too bad - but that was Euros!  Eek!

We made it back to Deshaies and Daniel let me out.  He drove the rental car back and biked the 3 miles (up and down hills) back to me.  Before he left me though, he said, dress up for dinner so I was so excited.  Put on a dress and everything!  I went back to meet him in town and it was almost 5 p.m.  We thought we'd catch an early dinner.  Not so.  Apparently, the French eat late, really late for us.  They don't start serving until 7 p.m.  Back to C-Time for us but we weren't sad about it.  We had had a FULL wonderful day touring Guadeloupe.