12/30/07

During the spring we cruised slowly north in the Eastern Caribbean islands, to be back in the States in the summer and closer to home for a bit.

• December 25--We pray that you all have a blessed Christmas, and some time off spent with family.  We are at home, with children visiting as they can.  I've never seen so many presents--each kid has a phalanx of people he's getting presents from!  Which is great that so many people love OUR grandkids!

• September 1--We have spent some time catching up with family and seeing all our children and grandchildren.  Time with siblings as well--sure glad they're all in NC!  We had hoped to be able to work in NC, but the military contracting job in Tampa is just the best way to make money.  We have a small apartment about 3 miles from the MacDill AFB front gate, and are thrilled.  We have furnished it with stuff from my Mom's house that I kept, and we bought a beautiful bedroom suite, the Caribbean line.  I am finally getting to decorate a home with a tropical theme!  We love it here, but I have a picture of Columbine on the refrigerator, to keep us focused!

• Thanksgiving--We spent Thanksgiving at our oldest child's house, Kathie, whose husband is stationed at Ft. Rucker, KS.  It was Grandma heaven!  All three children, spouses and grandsons!  Noah is finally at a cute age (5 mo) where he can respond to you and be his own person.  Elijah (4) and Sam (22 mo) get along great, and they all keep me hopping to hold/grab/play with one or the other.  Sigh.  This is worth being off the boat for a while.

• June 15--we are settled in Green Cove Springs, FL for the time being.  We are going to NC to see our siblings, Atlanta to see our new grandson, and then to Tampa to get the doctor to tell us we're just getting old.  We will travel to NC with our daughter Kathie and her family--I get a whole day with our Sam and he can't get away!  We will be catching up with life for the next few weeks, and then settle down to find job(s) or whatever.  Sigh. 

• June 13--NOAH is born!  Teresa was a real champion and did it all naturally.  She's a post-birth nurse, so she knows what she's doing.  Tony, Jr. will be a precious father--we are so excited for their addition to their family.

• June 11--We spent a couple of days in Ft. Pierce, then started up the ICW.  We did one long day, then a couple of hours to anchor off of Cape Canaveral, and watched the Atlantis space shuttle take off on Friday evening, the 8th.  What a sight!  We have put a couple of pictures up, but the video is great.  Of course, the TV had a better picture, but we don't have access to that.

After another couple of looong days on the ICW, going marathon miles and thank you God for a wonderful current going our way most of the time, we are at the Metropolitan Park free dock in Jacksonville.  We gambled late yesterday afternoon with the tide and current coming into the St. John River, and hit speeds this boat has never seen!  We were going a steady 8.8 to 8.9 kts for an hour or better, and we even hit 9.0 kts a couple of times.  WOW!  (We figure travel time with a speed of 5 kts.)

We are going to a marina in Green Cove Springs, to settle down for a while.  We are going to meet our older daughter Kathie and Brian and Sam on Sunday--they have been in Tampa and will be driving home and we are going to hitch a ride with them to NC.  Can't wait to get my hands on that boy!!  We are also going to have another grandson any day now--our son and his wife are counting the contractions!  Soon we will be doing the doctor thing in Tampa and then by next month we will be looking at looking for jobs. 

• June 5--WE MADE IT!!  We are in Harbourtown Marina, Ft. Pierce, FL.  Ten days almost to the hour, and we will not hesitate to do that again.  We had light winds most of the time and had to motor sail or just motor about 2/3 of the trip.  We stopped in the Turks and Caicos for fuel, and ended up spending the night.  That was our only stop.  We had a pretty good storm the 2nd Sat and Sun for almost 24 hours, but we handled it quite well, if I may say so myself!  We ate well, and got our sleep patterns down fairly easily.  We mostly did breakfast separately, as Sandy would take over when she got up, around 7 a.m. and Tony would go back to bed.  During the day we didn't do scheduled watches--Sandy was pretty much always reading in the cockpit, and Tony was up and down, napping, working on the engine, typing in the Log . . . .  Sandy went to bed after making dinner, and slept till midnight, and Tony would wash the dishes.  Tony got up about 5 a.m. for his watch, Sandy would go back to bed, and the day started again.  We checked in with our sailing buddies Providence and Equinox twice a day, at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.  As close as we all were, it was interesting to see how different our weather was. 

We had a little engine trouble, OF COURSE, and Tony was able to figure it out and fix it, OF COURSE! 

We were surprised at how little ship traffic we saw--we went days without seeing another boat, as we were out of sight to the east of the Bahamas Islands.  There were lots of freighters and cruise ships close to Puerto Rico and then again in the North Bahamas, as we went between Nassau and Freeport.  We had them on radar after dark, and lit up the deck when they were a couple of miles away--don't want a repeat of the trip to St. Martin!  (See April 20)

Trip Statistics:

Total Nautical Miles:  1129

Total Travel Time:  241 hours (20 hour layover in South Caicos)

Total Engine Hours: 135

Total Sailing Hours: 86

Fuel Carried on Board to include refueling stop: 140 gallons

Actual Fuel Used: 110    (Columbine burns .64 gallon at 1800 rpm and .76 gallons at 2100 rpms)

Oil used: 1 1/2 gallons

Average speed:  4.68 knots

There is a good current from Mayaguana all the way to the Abacos, but a strong opposing current coming out of the New Providence Channel.  We should have stayed closer in to Eleuthera as we made your turn into the channel, otherwise you will be fighting a 2 knot current for hours.  The Gulf Stream hit us right out of Freeport and affected us to within 12 miles of Ft Pierce.  We should have deviated by 35 degrees instead of 15 degrees.

• May 20--we are in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, after an overnight motor sail.  Quiet and uneventful.  We anchored next to Equinox and Providence, and then had breakfast on Equinox, before they left for Bermuda.  It was good to see them again--last time was Martinique in early Feb. We also see Magic in the anchorage--haven't seen them since we left Trinidad.  We'll spend a day with the shopping

• May 15--All is repaired, and we are preparing to leave St. Martin on May 17.  We will go straight to St. Thomas, spend of few days provisioning and final preparation for a 7-10 day sail, and then head out to the States.  We plan to travel with Rob and Cheryl on Providence.  There should be lots of cruisers headed for home at this time.

• May 5--Still in the marina in St. Martin--two weeks today.  We got the new starter, but need a spacer because the new one isn't QUITE the same size as the old one.  So we ordered it from Tampa, but the new guy sent it to the Virgin Islands, because he cannot apparently understand that we are in a foreign country.  He got the island part right, but we cannot get to the restaurant on St. Croix to pick up our part!  And the dinghy engine parts hadn't come in as of Thursday either. 

Tomorrow is Tony's birthday, and we are going to rent a car and go to the beach for the day.

• April 30--CANNOT believe that it's already the end of April!!!  Where does the time go?!  We are still waiting for engine parts, and now the Dutch side of the island where the FedEx office is closed for Carnival until Thursday.  So we wait.  But we have come into the Fort Louis Marina because since we can't start the engine we need to hook up to electricity.  Also, the dinghy motor is acting up and is in the shop.  So we languish in the marina, which is very nice.  I often wonder who we are and what happened to that nice cruising couple who lived on this boat, anchored on the beach.  But there are lots of people here we know, and we are getting the boat straightened up and ready for the long cruise back to the States.  We have rented a car several days, done some souvenir shopping, spent several days on the beach, and seen the entire island.  Today we saw the big Carnival parade through the middle of Phillipsburg, the capital of the St. Maarten.  Very impressive--see pictures.

• April 20--We have completed a sail to St. Martin from Nevis.  The starter broke, so we decided to sail to here because we knew we could get work done easily.  We left Tuesday afternoon, just before 5:00, hoping to get to St. Martin the next morning--it's only 62 miles.  However, the wind was so light that it took us 42 hours to get here! It was a long trip, but it was actually enjoyable, except when we were drifting backwards or turning circles.  We read and ate and just decided not to worry about it.  I have a story about my watch on the 2nd night, Thursday.

I came on watch just after 11:00, and the winds were practically nothing.  Sometime after midnight I started hearing a quiet engine, and looked around for the source.  As I watched a cruise ship in the far distance, a dark ship came between us, very close, and really surprised me.  Remember—there was no moon, and except where there were lights you couldn’t even see the difference between water and sky.  Suddenly, he lit us up with his spotlight, and kept it on us 20-30 seconds.  I woke Tony up, ‘cause I was really spooked.  He finally turned it off and disappeared again, his engine fading away, and Tony went back to bed.  The shape was like the Coast Guard ship we had seen close to St. Barts the afternoon before, but it took me a bit to remember that.  I was thinking pirates, of course, with 4 islands in sight!  (St. Martin, St. Barts, Stacia, and Saba)

Just before 2:00 I felt a puff of wind, looked up and saw 8 knots (yeah!!) and jumped up to tack the sails to take advantage of this wind.  As I stepped onto the deck to untie the boom preventer, there were fireworks coming from St. Maarten.  It was a sign!  And sure enough, the winds were better for the rest of the night and we began to make some headway. 

Soon after this, I heard another engine and started looking for the Coast Guard guy again.  Then behind me I saw a large ship, which under scrutiny turned out to be a tug pulling a barge.  I could see lights his entire length, and thought that he would pass us on the port.  However, I lit up the sails with a flashlight several times, to ensure that he saw us.  I was considering turning on the deck lights when suddenly the Coast Guard ship was there, and lit us up again, just for a few seconds, then turned the light on the tug.  Then he passed between us and disappeared.  Then the tug lit us up, and started some contortions behind us.  He spent probably half an hour rearranging the barge, changing his heading, and then going off perpendicular to us.  I have to assume that the Coast Guard ship thought that we were on a collision course and decided to intervene.  The next time the CG ship came by me, he put on a red light at his masthead, which I thought was very courteous.  Some excitement for the night!

• April 15--We arrived in Nevis on Wednesday, April 11.  We motored from Antigua, as the winds were nearly nonexistent.  Nevis is small and we are enjoying it very much.  We are anchored close to the lovely beach, just outside town.  We have done a tour, and a hike with a guy from South Carolina.  We had a blast talking with him.  We also hit the  market (see pictures) and got some fresh fruit and vegetables.  Today (Sunday) we went to the local Methodist for church.  It was pretty restrained, which was why we chose the Methodist church.  It lasted 2 hours, although the preacher didn't preach but about 45 minutes--very good sermon.  The rest of the time was spent singing and making announcements.  The announcements took almost as much time as the sermon, and was done AFTER the sermon.  Really broke the mood for us, but to each his own.  The singing was wonderful--most of the songs were familiar to us, even some gospel, but all had a Caribbean beat behind them (from the keyboard) and we moved to the beat!

• April 10--Yesterday we went to the horse races!  We were introduced to a taxi driver--Joseph--whose brother Jeff is the top jockey here, and he picked us up at 1:30 this afternoon.  The races were scheduled to start at 2:00 and end at 5:30, but, hey, we're in the islands, and when do they run on time?  Never!  But we had a good seat in the stands, and there must have finally been perhaps between 2000 and 3000 people there, most standing around, milling, drinking beer, eating from the many food vendors, but only a small percentage in the little bit of stands.  There were 6 races, and Jeff won 4 of them.  It started with the "half-bred," smaller horses who were not thoroughbreds.  Each race was the next higher class of horses, and they got bigger and faster with each race.  It was quite exciting!  The big race was the 5th, where the local thoroughbred (with Jeff riding) and the imported thoroughbred were to face off, and there was a LOT of excitement about that!  But just as the horses were lining up for that race, it was announced that the imported horse would not race due to illness--he just hadn't been on the island long enough to acclimate.  These horses are some locally bred, but some are horses from the States who have done all the racing they are going to do there.  We had a wonderful day, although there was a tragedy at the end.  In the last race 3 horses fell (including the favorite, allowing Jeff to win again).  One jockey was injured, but one horse broke a leg and had to be put down.  Then as we met Jeff, a fellow came by and accused him of not riding fairly and was really going off on him, and that soured the end of the day even further.  So he usually gets a good start--the way they do it here is very relaxed.  The starter waits for the horses to all get going in the same direction, and by the time they pass him they are usually getting to top speed.  If no one has been left too far behind and no one is going in the wrong direction, he waves the flag and it's a good start!  The 7-horse race took more than 5 minutes to start!  Another wonderful experience of local culture! 

Today we are doing the internet, checking out, and will go to Nevis tomorrow, Wednesday.  We met a couple the other day who have gone ahead to Nevis, and are waiting for us to rent  car on Thursday, to see all 21 miles of Nevis.

• April 8--EASTER--Praise the Lord!  And thank Him for His son Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.  Amen.

• April 6--We motored from Pigeon Island to Antigua, about 40 or so miles--no wind to speak of.  We were within about 20 miles of Montserrat, and the volcano is quite obvious even from that distance.  Lots of smoke, and with binoculars we can even see the steam coming from the most recent lava flows.  We anchored in English Harbour, where Lord Nelson was in charge for a while just after the Revolution.  Lots of history, although we ended up not getting to the Fort--we'll save that for next time.  We had not planned to go to Antigua, but it was highly recommended to us, and we decided to spend very little time in St. Bart and St. Martin, so here we are!  We got way back into the inner harbor, and were so still we woke up at night and made sure we weren't aground!  We did have a little trouble with mosquitoes, of course, but nothing like the Manamo River in Venezuela.  We are prepared!

We spent a few nights here, came across Rick & Carey on Memory.  We also spent a morning in St. John, the capital.  We rode the bus from English Harbour, and arrived to find two huge cruise ships at the dock.  We really hate being confused with those people--the locals think we have money!  We did buy a few souvenirs and a chart for our trip home--the Virgin Islands to somewhere on the East Coast.  Then we caught another bus to the local "mall" to do some grocery shopping at the Epicurean.  This place was the best we've seen in the islands--lots of US brands, fresh meat, veggies--WOW!  We bought four of our canvas bags mostly full of stuff, just enough to carry home on the bus, and it was $200 US!  I couldn't believe it!  So, no eating out any time soon!

Today, Good Friday, we are in Jolly Harbour.  We will stay through the weekend, and will find a church to go to celebrate Easter.  Monday there are local horse races, and we have been provided with a taxi driver to get us there and back.  Maybe we can talk someone else into going with us, to share the fun and the cost.  Tuesday is getting ready, and Wednesday, April 11th we will go to Nevis.

• March 28 --We left Isles de Saintes and have motored to Pigeon Island, about halfway up the west side of Guadeloupe.  This is the Jacques Cousteau park, and the snorkeling is beyond anything we have ever seen before.  Virgin coral, perfect; huge fish, so colorful and detailed it cannot be described.  So glad we took the time to stop here!  It's rolly in the anchorage, tho!

• March 26--Isles de Saintes--we had a lovely sail from Dominica on March  and have anchored in Marigot Bay on the island of Terre D'en Haut.  The island is very touristy, but this bay is very quiet, and in a 10-day stay here there were never more than 5 boats and a couple of days we were by ourselves.  It was so nice not to roll, after doing it to some degree for the last 10 days or so.  Casa del Mar and Ticketoo came in for a bit.  We walked up the hill to Fort Napoleon, which was very much intact and very scenic.  We were able to get some good pictures of Columbine in the anchorage below!  We also toured the town and island by foot and by scooter.  It was lots of fun, though we were beat after two days of sightseeing.  We enjoyed very much their large beach--Pompierre--which has everything you could want on a beach--waves, volcanic sand, wonderful sheltered picnic tables on cement foundations, iguanas, goats, chickens . . . but no toilet!  These French--we won't be too unhappy to see the last of them!

We did have another adventure here.  The starter had to be fixed, and Tony surrendered it to a guy on a small cargo boat who took it over to the mainland to get it fixed.  We were a little afraid we weren't going to see it again!  But using our trusty French for Cruisers we picked our way through the maze and got the starter back in only 3 days!

• March 18--Driving through the north part of Dominica was absolute magic!  This island is very green and mountainous, and the people are very natural and close to nature.  They truly live off the land here.  We saw an old sugar mill and the Red Rocks, which is actually red dirt which has been worn by wind and carved so that it looks rocky (see pictures).  The coast here is very rocky, and the sea throws itself violently and beautifully against the shore.  Quite breathtaking!  We also saw the Emerald Pool, which is at the bottom of a lovely waterfall, nice cool water to swim in.  We very much enjoyed the company of Mike and Linda and Kris and Tony as well. 

• March 14--We arrived in Rosseau, Dominica on Saturday.  We checked in on Sunday morning--had to go all the way to the deep water port because it was Sunday, by taxi, and paid an overtime fee.  But we got in!  Rosseau was closed, except the pier where the cruise ship had come in and all the souvenir shops were open.  Lots of guys offering tours as well.  We are waiting to meet Casa del Mar and Ticketoo in Portsmouth before we start sightseeing.  We had lunch at KFC!  Left that afternoon to go to Portsmouth, as it was VERY ROLLY in the anchorage.

Wednesday we did the Indian River tour--it's so lovely and natural (see pictures).  Thursday we will do a driving tour of the north part of the island.  This island is the least developed in the Caribbean, and is taking it very slowly, learning from those who have grown too fast.

• March 6--It appears that we are going to be delayed in Martinique for a few more days due to weather.  We are going tomorrow into Bay of Fort du France with friends.  That way if we are delayed we can move around the Bay and stay in several protected places, or even take a ferry into Fort du France.

• March 4--We are getting ready to move to Dominica, probably Tuesday the 6th.  Monday we will go back into Marin, perhaps even get a slip since they are so cheap, and get water and a few groceries.  There is a big mall that I want to see, and a big grocery store close by that.  I'm not interested in the wine, but I would like to get some cheese and good snack stuff.  So far I have been impressed with only a few French dishes.  A red snapper staring me in the face, baring his teeth at me, is not my idea of dinner!  The quiche is great, tho!

• February 21--Tony moved by himself to St. Anne today.  Anchored and everything.  There were people he could have asked, but, hey, he's a guy!  St. Anne is much more charming than Marin, which is a large cruising/chartering harbor.  He saw the carnival events from here.  We walked about an 8-mile round trip around the beaches on the south side of the island, and had lunch and a swim in the middle.  Lots of resting after that!

• February 7--We sailed today from Rodney Bay to Marin, Martinique.  I sent an email to wish our grandson Sam a happy first birthday, and ended up with a ticket home by the end of the day.  (I couldn't have done it without Kyeta and Equinox--you have our loving gratitude.)  Our son-in-law Michael committed suicide, and was found on Feb. 6th.  Please pray for our daughter Page and Michael's family.  Page is OK; they were in the process of a divorce, but we are all heartbroken.  Michael had depression and several disappointments besides the divorce; we are sure that he was saved and is now at peace after many years of struggling.

So Sandy made a quick trip home to help Page.  Their house had been on the market for several months, and we cleaned it and got everything out.  Then we drove a rental truck to Atlanta, gave some furniture to Michael's sister and her family, and spent the night with our son, Tony, Jr.  We then carried on through snow flurries to Kansas City, where Page has moved.  I dealt with most of the paperwork, and sure missed Tony then!  We had two memorial services--one in New Orleans with Michael's family, and then one in Ft. Myers for his co-workers. 

I was able to spend several days with our daughter Kathie and her husband Brian, who was wounded in Iraq.  His scars are coming along nicely, and if he could just straighten his elbow he'd be perfect!  So far they are giving him no timetable to go back to duty with his unit in Iraq.

I left Tony at anchor in Marin, surrounded by such wonderful friends--Kyeta, Equinox, and Audrey Paige.  We have certainly enjoyed sailing with friends, and catching up at different anchorages!  Tony got to see some of Carnival, and really enjoyed it.  Meanwhile, I was making a whirlwind tour of the SE United States.  Flying to New Orleans and back (I got to see a couple of pre-Mardi Gras parades outside our hotel), driving to Kansas, flying to NC, than back to Florida to fly back to Martinique.  But I got to see all my kids and my grandson (who took his first steps while I was there--YEAH!!), and my sister and two of my three brothers.  Catch you next time, Drew!  I was brain dead by the trip back, and made several stupid mistakes, which are not like organized me!  Nothing to get in real trouble about, but exhausting nonetheless.  I returned on Feb. 28th.

• February 4--We have moved into the Rodney Bay Marina, to change the oil and equalize the new batteries, use lots of water to wash the deck (it's been since Trinidad!), and just enjoy being in a marina.  Looks like we'll be here about a week, as once we get in it's just hard to let loose and go back to the anchorage, where the wind is knocking boats around pretty well this week.  We hope to go to Martinique early next week, and need to spend a night out at the anchorage so that Tony can clean the bottom.  We are growing green slime around the waterline and we can hear the barnacles at night.

We have very much enjoyed St. Lucia.  There are lots of pictures of the touring we have done, especially flowers that are so beautiful here.  Tropical--lovely word, lovely place.  We went to Mamiku Gardens, and that's where the flower pictures come from.  This was an English estate, left during the British/French wars over St. Lucia & the Caribbean, and recently turned into a gorgeous garden.  One of the best we've seen so far.  Since then we have enjoyed being in the marina--restaurants and shops just off the docks, ice cream whenever we want it . . . and I can even find some foodstuffs I've been looking for since Trinidad--Kraft mac & cheese, Del Monte canned vegetables, apples that don't cost $2 US each (well, not quite, anyway), things we take for granted Stateside.

Brian is recuperating slowly, and enjoying being home.  We would still appreciate your prayers.  He will go back and join his unit once he is recovered, to go back into combat flying and come home with his unit in July.  Our grandson Sam's birthday is Feb 7th--he'll be one year old!  I'm so glad his dad can be there, and see him take his first steps.  Although Sam's mom didn't walk till she was 16 mo old . . . .

• January 15--We have arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  We spent a night in Marigot Bay, which was cute, but full of charterers and lots of tourists.  Not our sort of place.  We are going to see more of St. Lucia from Rodney Bay.  We are right now doing things with 4 or 5 other boats (Equinox, Kyeta, Audrey Paige, Memory, and Vagus 5), which is a lot of fun.  Today we checked out the fort, which went from French to British and back and forth about 7 times in 15 years.  So while the island is British, there are a lot of French influences left behind as well.  Tomorrow we are going into Castries, the capital.  There is actually a Home Depot there, and Tony is just champing at the bit with a long list of things to get there!  [This was not a Home Depot as we know it, and after walking all over town we came away pretty much empty-handed.]

• January 10--We have come into Soufriere, St. Lucia, just at the foot of Petite Piton and Gros Piton, the twin mountains that are St. Lucia's pride and joy.  We are anchored literally at the foot of Petite Piton, and it is quite a view.  We have met here our friends Equinox, Kyeta, and Audrey Paige.  We snorkeled yesterday in the marine park and it was just wonderful!  Today we took a tour of the Botanical Gardens and Diamond Falls mineral baths, and the volcano.  The garden was small but beautiful, and we bathed in the mineral baths.  After 30 minutes, we DID feel 10 years younger, as promised.  Anyway, the arthritis was better, and my knees worked pretty well up and down the steps at the next stop.  The volcano was very interesting--we walked into the cauldron, where there was a boiling stream and nasty, stinky sulphuric steam escaping from vents in a moonscape-looking bowl.  Green, red, yellow, orange, purple, depending on which mineral you were looking at.  Really fascinating.  This volcano will reshape the Caribbean in about 100 years.

• January 9--We checked out of St. Vincent in Bequia and motor-sailed up-island to Chateaubelair, St. Vincent.  This anchorage is at the bottom of a beautiful cliff (see Photo Gallery) where we anchored coming down in 2005.  Adonis, one of the "boat boys" took us up out of town to the waterfall, which was a nice hike of about 2 miles.  Lovely area, and Adonis showed us where he continued up the hill to his cannabis farm.  The hills in St. Vincent are covered with them--no roads for the police to follow if they wanted to. 

• January 5--We have spent a week in the Tobago Cays, and loved it!  Several days it was too windy to even get off the boat, but because we are tucked in behind the reef, even though there was nothing between us and Africa, the waves broke over the reef, and we just got a little bit of chop.  Not uncomfortable, but it did get a bit tiresome.  We are here with our friends Casa del Mar, Watermark I, Ticketoo, and Providence.  They left before us to go to Petite Martinique and Petite St. Vincent, but we had already done that and wanted to stay in the Cays.  The water is beyond beautiful and the snorkeling is great when the wind and current aren't so rough.  (see Photo Gallery)