Seabird is Adrift

Before leaving Roque Island we replaced our fuel filters. I have heard many stories of boats getting bounced around in the ocean (after sitting on a dock or on the hard for long periods of time) and, once the boat gets bounced around, the fuel sloshes around in the tank which mixes in all the sediment on the bottom. Then, hours or days later, you are running your engine and your filters are overwhelmed with sediment. Seabird, our lovely 32’ sailboat made in Santa Ana California, has a 75 gallon diesel tank which we have never filled.  She came with a full tank, and heck, we are sailors after all.

Now that we are on our honeymoon trip to Prince Edward Island, we have been crossing the Three Nautical Mile line like a bad habit, whereas in the previous summers we were only Casco Bay sailors, though I should make a point in saying that we lived at Dimillo’s for two years and one might say that our tanks were in constant motion. We change our fuel filters regularly and between filter changes I often will drain the Racor filter to remove whatever sediment has built up. In general, I feel that our fuel system is too big for our needs, causing us to store diesel for too long, which can be bad, as bugs and algae can grow. I mention all of this to you because Seabird had a fuel problem.

As mentioned, we were sailing from a beautiful anchorage in Maine attempting to clear into Canada via the port of Seal Cove, Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick Canada. The wind was southeast which made things harder as we were trying to go almost due East, so we were tacking a lot and dealing with some current in the Bay of Fundy. It caused a few arguments about our course and if we in fact were even heading the right direction. After hours of this it was obvious that our boat was not going to be able to clear into customs before customs closed. With this new information deduced, we opted to sail all the way to Yarmouth, almost 70 miles further, as we could make our landfall during the normal business hours of customs. After shaking hands on the matter it was done.

I took the first 3 hour shift and every now and then I would fire up our 30HP Nanni diesel to get us east when no wind was present. When my shift was up, Sophi, my lovely wife, took the helm as I tried to grab a few winks. While resting, I could hear that she was having as much fun as I was earlier. Occasionally she would be forced to tack, and then she would start the motor then kill it then tack again and so on. I was mostly asleep when the engine started starving for fuel (which is actually how you turn off a compression engine) and Sophi asked “why did it do that?” I hollered back that she needed to pull harder and hold the kill switch longer. Little did I know that she never did touch the lever to turn the fuel off to our little engine that could.

Virgin Islands Vacation Photos

Hi everyone,

Just posting to share a link to my dad’s Picasa Web album that has tons more pictures from the trip. The photos are at https://picasaweb.google.com/alpeaks/CruisingWithSophiAndTravis# and his blog is at http://alpeaks.blogspot.com/2011/03/cruising-with-sophi-and-travis.html. We’re glad to be back, but not looking forward to the snow tomorrow…

Sophi

Jost van Dyke to Culebra via St Thomas

We had planned to leave early in the morning from Jost van Dyke and sail downwind to the Isla De Culebrita. We planned on cashing in our chips  that we had earned while motor sailing 40 miles to windward a week before… one small problem was in the way, because of our previous engine issues Albert lifted a floor hatch to check on his Perkins to see engine blood sprayed all over everywhere. We hadn’t even weighed anchor yet and already had problems. A quick inspection found a broken hose and not enough oil to read on the dipstick.

Suggestions were pouring in from all of us including who needs an engine, it’s all down wind, we could fix it here, it’s not such a bad place, we could treat the wounded hose and cross our fingers that it would be alright.

Albert applied a layer of some tape he bought just incase these exact hoses were to split… that means he knew they were in poor shape,  we were drawing from Vigor’s black box.  Albert taped the hose per the vague directions in the package and we tested by first adding oil then starting the motor, at first we were successful. Then we got a flashlight and saw a little stream of oil soaking through and running into the bilge. After quickly shutting the engine down we added on more layers of the tape and 3 hose clamps… we were ready to circumnavigate!

The first stop on our world tour was to be Culebrita but seeing as how the day was getting short we made a deal with ourselves that we “could,” if we wanted rum, stop and anchor on the lee side of West Cay, St. Thomas. Some world travelers we are! We anchored in 15′ of water on the lee shore right in front of a little beach– we could even see the breakers landing on the other side, sending spray everywhere. We ended up getting some swell sent our way so all night we rolled and listened to the water in Magus’s tanks slosh around. We started a game of hand and foot but Albert was getting sleepy so we let him rest as Sophi and I watched the very large full moon rise in the sky.

Culebra or Bust

We got up bright and early, which to  us meant 8:30 or 9 and to Albert meant 5:30 or 6 and ate breakfast before we looked out to see stronger winds than normal and cloudy skies. After bundling up we hauled up the anchors one at a time and off with the wind we went. Full sail running with 20ish knots makes Magus actually sail. (We knew she had it in her).  We made great time to Culebra and even hit 7.4 knots on the GPS. We would ride up the swells and up the waves then down into the troughs, it seamed that a larger wave would come about every 5 mins and launch us even higher but Magus was a champ, weighing in at a cool 26,000 lbs she ever so gracefully would keep water out of the boat (that’s kind of a big deal).

Not even 3 hours after we started we were rounding the red nuns marking the channel to Ensenada Honda, I held a beam reach just before entering the channel and allowed for drift by keeping the red markers on the first port-side stantchion, I narrowly avoided the first marker but falling off the wind is better than asking the boat to point higher. I was actually aiming for the next marker (secretly hoping not to hit the closer one).

Finally we doused the sails and started the engine to hunt out a good spot to anchor in 21′. We wanted to get out of as much wind as possible so we found a spot closest to shore wich didn’t really help any, but it did make for some wet dinghy rides back from town. On our trip back from Heather’s Pizza, Sophi sat on her knees with a throwable PDF as a shield.

It was hard to leave our boat and Albert but we are also excited to see our friends and animals again too, we said our goodbyes and boarded the ferry to Fajardo.

Sailing Magus (Installment 3)

The following is a post we wrote while in Jost van Dyke, on St. Patrick’s Day. There was no internet available so we have waited til now, in Culebra, to post it.

Erol’s seaside cabin on Jost van Dyke

The caves at Norman Island (BVI)

Norman Island caves

Walking down the “main road,” a sandy strip along the beach

Where we wrote the post, in Foxy’s bar on St. Patricks’ Day

Travis climbs up to show off for the charter boats, and “fix” stuff

17 March 2011 – St. Patty’s Day at Foxy’s on Jost van Dyke

Writing this when there’s no internet, waitress says “it’s off now.” We sailed into Jost van Dyke around lunch time from Peter Island, where we stayed last night on an anchor in Key Bay. We had wanted to stay behind Roger Point, but the wind was from the wrong direction and really was pushing the swell onto the beach there.

Before getting to Peter Island for the night, we stopped at Norman Island around lunch. We hadn’t planned on going there, but did based on a recommendation from the UVa Grads we met at West End, Tortola. What a great side-trip to make! We picked up a mooring for a quick lunch and then dinghied over to the caves, which were really neat openings in the rock with intensely colored “growth” on the rocks – bright green and purple. The water was extremely clear, but we left our snorkel gear on the boat and wish we hadn’t. When we showed up there were lots of tour boats already moored, but we still were able to find a mooring. Went for a refreshing swim after our trip to the caves, and quickly got underway again to go to Peter Island.

Peter Island was our longest snorkel of the trip so far, and our best effort at fishing. Still caught nothing, though we saw tons of reef fish while snorkeling between Magus and the beach. It was neat to be able to see the whole anchor and all the chain in 12 or so feet of water.

The visibility was probably closer to 20′ of water depth, and dad says that it was cloudier than it should have been because of the swell breaking over the sandbar in front of us. He dove this morning to try to free a fouled fish-hook and said the visibility was much better, but it was too early/too cold for us kids to jump in, haha. Also, we had just showered so weren’t anxious to get all salty right away again.

Magus actually sailed today! Downwind from Peter Island right through a tiny channel in Tortola en route to Jost, our tried and true magnetic compass was seemingly stuck on 315 degrees. Along the way we failed to follow regs by making a stand on vessel tack around us, it seemed like every hundred yards or so there was a chartered Beneteau reaching in front of Magus. We had quartering seas all day at about 3′ high and some wakes of big motor yachts really tossed us around. We made good time and got to Great Harbor at 1 pm.

Tonight there seems to be a party happening at Foxy’s, which I’m told is standard any day of the week although tonight is made more colorful due to St. Patrick’s Day. One of the locals was joking with us earlier, saying, “I’m Irish, don’t I look Irish?” It’s clear that the celebration spans all races here, and locals as well as tourists are wearing green and “kiss me” shirts. Just like home? Only here, no one is wearing long sleeves and there aren’t any heaters running! There is a live band playing here, and another probably down at Corsairs, another beach bar, though we haven’t gone exploring.

We met Errol today, mom and dad’s friend who lives on Jost van Dyke in a cottage that Foxy owns. He was very interesting, and had sort of a sad story. He was a well-off man on Montserrat before the volcano erupted in 1995, displacing virtually everybody. All the land he owned (he fixed up and rented out apartments and cottages) was destroyed and no one is permitted to re-enter the town of Plymouth that once existed. Now his plan is to take his 23′ open skiff, with twin 90 HP outboard engines, all the way down to Montserrat to go “home.” The trip is a total of 240 miles. He has lived here for the last 15 years, and has no family left in Montserrat to stay with. It seems crazy, but he is desperate to get out of Jost van Dyke to start a new life for himself, feeling like he is getting too old to wait around any longer. He complains that it is too cold here to stay forever, and was wearing long sweatpants when we talked to him in the 85 degree sun! The one concern he has is that his little boat is too small to take his possessions with him; he owns a tv, a mattress (that he found on the beach), and a few keyboards. Puts life in perspective a little.

Food is expensive here, but rum is cheap! $8.50 for a bottle that would cost $25 or more in the States. Drinks at the bar, however, are not so cheap… and service is pretty slow! Island time, mon.

Here in Great Harbor, 90% of the boats are charter boats. Maybe more! Dinghy’s are over-full and seem to be constantly racing too and from the shore. The dinghy dock was pretty open earlier this afternoon, but tonight tying up was an exercise in bumper-dinghy. Crazy. Music has been playing loudly from the charter boats all afternoon and it seems like the folks are really in a vacation state of mind. There are one or two boats that aren’t charters, and one that is right near us that appears to be abandoned. Dad says it was the same boat that was here when they were here last, two years ago.

Pelicans are continuously dive-bombing the little fish in the warm, shallow water near the shore. They land with a big splash and fill their beak/pouch with water and whichever little fishes get caught. Then the water streams out and they swallow the fish left over. Sometimes three or four take off and land in unison, like a synchronized diving show. Totally ugly birds, but hilarious to see them splash so fast into the water.

Travis has been working the binoculars to their limit here at Jost looking at all the charter boats pumping bass riffs, and has found some time to show off by climbing to the spreaders to do “work” whilst the dinghys motor by and exclaim.

Albert: I’m just adding that the mast steps have been a big hit. I really appreciate Travis going up as soon as he arrived and checking all the hardware and finding a really bad piece that we fixed in Culebra.) Even Sophi went up today and took a nice couple of photos. Today, Travis and I but mostly Travis re-wired the “steaming light” on the mast, although the story could be quite a bit longer. Thanks, Travis. It’s fun to be back in Jost.

Sailing Magus (Installment 2)

Our first view of Magus, in Culebra, PR

Got our passports stamped at West End, BVI (Tortola)

We flew into Culebra since the ferry was sold out.. pretty scenic flight!

Travis climbed up the mast, this is the view back down

Magus, flying a “q” flag in West End, Tortola, first stop in the BVI’s

Tonight, we are in the British Virgin Islands, at West End, Tortola. We are using the internet connection at Pusser’s Restaurant and Pub. We are trying to use the A/C power there to charge dad’s laptop, but the outlet is bad and we keep getting unplugged. The plan was to simply have drinks and upload pictures while charging the computer, but it seems to be less simple now that we are here… Dad rigged a rock and a stick to hold the plug in place — yay, charging!

We have saved our pictures on the computer and hope to upload them from here, but we’ll see how the uploading works out on this connection.

Today we were going to head out to Peter Island for the night, stopping only briefly in Tortola to clear in to the BVI. The little town of West End looked interesting though, so we decided to stay one night, at $25 for a mooring in a very deep, un-anchorable, harbor. Travis and I went ashore to explore and met some other UVa folk, since he was wearing a Virginia Cavaliers t-shirt. They were very nice, and came over for drinks and a quick tour of our boat this afternoon. Mark and Nina went to UVa, class of ’81, and their daughter Diana was 15.

Yesterday we spent the night in Haulover Bay, on St. John Island, just around the corner from Coral Bay. The water was *much* cleaner there, we could see the bottom when the depth meter was reading 50′! Did some snorkeling there and spent a very quiet night on two anchors, one off the stern and one off the bow. It was surprisingly calmer than in the harbor on the other side!

While on anchor there we saw a cool sail-assisted cruise ship, see the photo below. Tonight, that boat and another sailing ship are in this harbor, the other one is all lit up with strings of lights on every boom. Pretty impressive!

There are lots of great boats out here, we’ve enjoyed watching them come and go from this great, busy little harbor. THe customs people were nice, the line was short, so far it has been a great place to stop.

TOmorrow we head out for the rest of our BVI explorations, and will check out and into Culebra by Sunday or so.

Sailing ‘Magus’ (Installment 1)

Using stolen internet in St. John, USVI. We are in Coral Bay.

Will update with some real post information later, but we have already gotten into the fix-it mode! Travis climbed the mast upon our arrival and found a crack in the rigging. We needed a replacement part, but there didn’t seem to be a big shop which would have welders on Culebra. In searing around for a metal shop, we found an old/abandoned wreck of a boat, an empty hull basically, which happened to be a Down East 32, just like Sea Bird! There was a mast laying on the ground nearby that had exactly the part we needed. Who would have guessed! We did some stealthy un-bolting near dusk and Travis climbed up and replaced the part in the morning.

This morning we left at 9:00 am after the fix and some breakfast, and motor-sailed all day to St. John. Along the way, for some reason, the batteries weren’t charging! So now Travis and Daddy are trying to find the problem and have somehow unhooked all our power. We’ll see how it works out….

The pictures won’t upload, bummer! More later!

Love,

Sophi