Waiting On Weather

Anchored Luperon Dominican Republic

 Deciding when to leave is tough for anyone, but for me it really is difficult. I believe part of my endless what ifing derives from my Coast Guard experience. We always thought things through exhaustively and played out each foreseeable situation and then made a go no go call. I've carried this habit forward with me and has likely served me well, but is not quantifiable.

 My penchant for waiting for the best weather situation is still strong. The only downside to this is I have to wait and do alot of what ifing. Some sailors will go with marginal conditions and take some pain along the way. I avoid marginal when I can. My current situation in Luperon is stable and am enjoying the expat and cruiser community and the cheap food. I had planned on leaving this evening for Mayaguana, 186 nm to the north and arrive ahead of the next two cold fronts. But, I would just have to sit and wait several days in Mayaguana to advance further toward Florida. Mayaguana is remote, with few supplies, no bank, 260 people, but from what I understand endless beauty and fantastic fishing. But if I'm going to be stuck somewhere I prefer a place with cheap food and access to other supplies. If I was not alone or cruising with a bunch of other boats, I'd go to Mayaguana prior to the fronts.

So it looks like at least another five days in Luperon. No big deal, but my chances of making it home for Christmas is quickly dwindling. But still possible. With good, steady weather I can make very rapid progress. I also could sail along the north coast of Cuba and be in Key West in five days. But that track has its own set of perils.

So that is that. Please check out the view of Luperon harbor for Chrsta's deck. And don't forget to leave comments. I'd love to know how you like or dislike the videos.

Capt Chris

PS: If anyone is able to get Chris Parker's Bahamas text forecasts and pass it on, that would be great. The east Caribbean is available on his website, the Bahamas is not. And I'm looking for Tide Table for Galliot Cut in the Exumas in the Bahamas if anyone had a resource for that. Sanks.

St Thomas to Luperon Dominican Republic Video

Anchored Luperon Dominican Republic

Enjoy



Capt Chris

Happy Thanksgiving From Dominican Republic

Anchored Luperon Dominican Republic

 

As usual I have much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving. I won't go into all the minutia of my blessings, but you can check out where I was last Thanksgiving where I account for my good fortune. Click here. Don't forget to come back though.

What am I doing? Well the large cruising and expat community is putting on a full on Turkey dinner at the Luperon Yacht Club. The above picture was taken from the Yacht Club, and obviously it is a nice venue. In a day or two I hope to put together a blog entry about my observations of Luperon, where there really exists to communities that mingle comfortably. I have been no other place on earth that is quite like Luperon.

Now the sail to what I had hoped would be Mayaguana, but turned out to be the Dom Rep was fine. I now consider just about anything that is not to windward a "fine trip." First off the weather was thankfully squall free. However on the evening of the first night, I watched magnificient anvil like cumulonimbus clouds come off the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. I was 60 miles away, but the lightening and immensity of the storms were really impressive. As I noted before the wind stayed ESE at about 15 to 20 knots which made the sailing alot of work. So far off the wind it becomes difficult to keep air in the sails as it rocks back and forth back and forth. I poled out the jib with the whisker pole which mitigated some of the snapping of the sails, but not all. Sometimes Christa would roll heavily to one side and with a bang the jib would snap to with air and the whole rig would shake. I don't like putting that kind of shock load on the standing rigging, so I would pinch a little more to windward to keep air in the sails. Of course this points me in a direction I don't want to go. Over about 3 days I had sailed many more miles than I had intended. I was aware of a cold front coming off the east coast before I left and felt comfortable I could arrive in the Bahamas with plenty of time before it's arrival. But since I chewed up more water than intended and armed with the knowledge that these "tweener" seasons can produce strong gales in the Bahamas, I decided to hole up in Luperon.

In the middle of the night day two I was approached by a Canadian Navy Frigate. She never came up on AIS but I had been tracking the vessel for awhile and was becoming distressed at the constant bearing and decreasing range. Just as I was getting ready to call them on the radio, they called me. They asked a bunch of questions and went on their merry way.

 One other funny little story. Each day I would find flying fishing dead on deck. These suckers actually fly through the air, hit the top of a wave and like an Olympic Ski jumper launch. Over the passed 3 days I have been noticing an increasingly terrible smell originating somewhere up in the V- berth. Sometime a critter can cling the anchor chain and when the chain is aboard, in the anchor locker, it can stink a little. I pretty much chalked it up to that. But today was horrible. Upon further investigation I found a dead flying fish rotting between my mattress and the bulk head. Apparently he flew through the open hatch! That is crazy! I disposed of the carcas this morning.

Eat well!

Capt Chris

Luperon Dominican Republic......What the Hell?

On the Hook, Luperon Dominican Republic

 I'll keep this short as my internet connection is choking. But, all is well and Christa and I diverted to Luperon due to a cold front that has come off Florida and is advancing on the Bahamas. A cold front will bring north winds, north swell and possible squalls.


 I'll write some more details on the sail from St Thomas to Luperon later. But generally it was fine, but the wind was east south east and my heading was west north west. I simply cannot sail straight down wind. So I had to gybe the boat back and forth. First I'd sail north north west, then gybe and sail south south east, and so on. This tacked on my more miles and was going to jack up my ETA to Mayaguana. I didn't want to stress about this as it was important that I arrive in Mayaguana with good sun light to thread the reef. So as I was mulling all this over looking at the charts, there was Luperon, only 35 miles south of me. A no brainer, only 35 miles out of the way, not to windward and when leaving Luperon, I'll have a great angle on the wind.

Believe me, no one is more surprised than I to be back in Luperon. Luperon holds many memories for me.

More Later!

Capt Chris

PS: The above shot was taken the morning I departed St. Thomas

Goodbye Carribean Sea Hello Atlantic Ocean

On a Mooring Honey Moon Beach, Water Island, St Thomas USVI

The time has come to roll out of Honey Moon Bay. It's tough, I mean have a look at a typical evening sunset seen from Christa's deck, but I have a weather window to sail north by north west.

My track takes me from St Thomas west by northwest, passed the north coast of Puerto Rico to the southern edge of the Navidad and Silver banks (north of Cabo Samana Dominican Republic), south of Turks & Caicos, where I turn north northwest, pass west of West Caicos to Mayaguana. Total distance is 527 nautical miles. At 5.5 knots should take me about 4 days. Should be a nice run with bale out points of PR, The DR and the Turks & Caicos.

The weather is forecast to be 15 to 20 from the east, with isolated showers and thunderstorms. It would be nice if the wind came around from the east north east to give me a better angle. I may be running very far off the wind. Could give me a chance to try and pole out the jib with my whisker pole, which I've never had the opportunity to use.

So all is well, but a little sad to be leaving behind dear friends. But the future looks great and that cushions the blow. Wish me luck!

Capt Chris

Squalls......I loath Them

On a Mooring, Honey Moon Beach, St Thomas USVI

Not all squalls are created equal, but still I treat each one with heavy skepicism. This is based on my experience. Since I arrived here in Honeymoon about a week and half ago, we have been buffeted by squalls due to a trough of low pressure north of the islands. They have not been continuous, but there unpredictability is unsettling to say the least. The only forecasting silver lining is access to Doppler Radar out of San Juan, which allows us to gauge the motion and possible severity. That is if your up and about and aboard. Each evening the sunsets have been some of the best I've ever witnessed. This is due to the proximity of squalls and an unstable atmosphere. That is the paradox, mother nature is really at her most beautiful when unleashing her power.

Now, Honey Moon anchorage is protected from normal easterly weather.....aka....the trade winds. What has been disconcerting about the past week or so is all the squalls have produced west winds. This turns Honey Moon into a potential death trap. I don't mean death in the literal sense, but that all of us could end up aground on the beach in a big heap in a heart beat.

We have had two severe squalls hit, both at about 2am. It always happens at 2am. What happens is you wake to the sound of thunder and or rain coming through the hatch. The first squall, waves arrived into the anchorage before the actual squall. So this micro-storm was pushing water ahead of it like a bulldozer. Then it hit with wind in the mid 30's to low 40's, lightning and so much rain you can barely make out the boat next door. All hands made it through the squall unscathed.

Now the low that had been creating these conditions had moved and the forecast was for all this squall activity to subside.

So it was quite surprising two nights ago to awake with a doozy of a squall. Very small in terms of coverage, but what a punch. In a flash Christa swung 180 degrees with the bow now pointing into the wind coming in from the west. I don't have an installed wind gauge, only a hand-held wind gauge. I surely had no time to check the wind with the gauge. But I do know the blades on my wind generator are designed to "feather" at 45 knots (with a horrific noise) to prevent the mechanism from exploding. They feathered instantly, so I believe the wind was at 50 to 55knots. I got the engine started and navigation gear up and running in case I broke loose. About this time I hear Kristopher from Wandering Dolphin, right next to me screaming my name. A boat in front of them broke loose, slammed into the WD and had wrapped it's rudder around there mooring line. Those two boats were now attached and slamming into one another in the 50 knots and now 3 to 4 foot waves generated in an instant.

This type of situation always poses a difficult dilema. Do I leave Christa to go over and help WD? The chances of Christa breaking loose were good. However, WD seemed to be in real trouble and at the moment my situation was stable. I put on a shirt (as the temperature dropped and I was shivering) and got in my dingy and headed over. Things were not good. The crunch of  two 20,000lbs boats crashing together is horrible. I came around the stern of WD, trying to power into the waves with my little 4hp Yamaha, I hit a short steep 3 or 4 footer and the brunt of the wind, all the water that had collected in the dink, the fuel can and me, moved to the back of the dink rapidly. End over end we went. I found myself under my dingy, calm and getting my bearings. I took a moment or tow to orient myself and swam out from under the dink and climbed about WD dingy.  Chaos still reined. My dink was floating away upside down with the engine submerged in salt water, I leaped up onto WD to see what I could do. Nothing, no one could do anything until the squall passed. All of us were aware that now two boats were attached to the same mooring, pray the mooring holds or both boats will end up on the beach in a gigantic tangle. Not to mention I'm watching Christa pitching to and fro,  praying that she doesn't break loose as now I have no way to get back even if she does break loose. Like I said, I loath squalls.

What are the lessons? Well probably plenty. One maybe would be to get to an anchorage that has all around protection. Few and far between. But I will say this. I've realized since I left in 2007, this type of experience is just the price of admission. You can't prevent everything. If you can't deal with a 50 knot squall you probably don't belong out cruising amongst the islands. I still find them very frightening and can't stand them. But as Kristopher and I were discussing, it is amazing at how few boats actually end up on the beach or rocks. It's kind of a rarity.

So there is more to the story, but WD is fine, but has damage to the boat; two very nice cruisers in another boat, came over after the storm and spent two hours dismantling the outboard and flushing it out until 4am. We were able to get her running again yesterday. I lost an oar and a hand-held de-watering pump, a lock and much sleep.

So that is that. Right on schedule last-night another squall passed through at 2am, but thankfully was not strong, but we all swung around to the west....again.

Capt Chris

Grenada to St Thomas Across the Caribbean Sea Compilation

On a Mooring Honey Moon Bay, Water Island, St Thomas USVI

I am having great fun putting together these video's and learning about editing. Hope you enjoy. I have some footage of just prior to me leaving Grenada and some other stuff, but mostly sailing Christa north.



Capt Chris

PS: I've been also busy with my Canon G11. Please surf on over and check my pictures out in My Photo Album

Re-United Again on St John, Aboard Sadie Sea

On a Mooring Honey Moon Beach, Water Island, St Thomas USVI

Life is strange. Take the story of Tom & Amy Larson, me, their sailboat Sandpiper, and now their Charter business on St John, Sadie Sea Charters. I'm not even sure where to begin and fear I may not have the writing skills to make all the connections. But here it goes.

My memory can be a little fuzzy with dates and times, but what follows is the gist. Cica 1999, I had owned Christa for about a year and had just transferred from Lake Tahoe CA to the San Francisco Bay Area. I had just arrived to my new slip at the Travis Sailing Center in Sausalito Ca when I bumped into Tom who had berthed Sandpiper at the same marina. Tom and I were instant amigos yapping about boat stuff and sailing and what not. An abnormal period of time had gone by when we both discovered in a conversation that we both were in the Coast Guard and the same rate and rank. Simply never came up in conversation. That was wild. During this time Tom began wooing Amy Sherman (Now Mrs. Larson and First Mate Amy). Tom worked a phat job on the Pacific Strike Team and traveled all the time and I worked in a Command Center, so we didn't see each other all the time. That all changed  in 2003 when Tom transfered to the ship I was stationed on. Not only were we on the same ship, but still the same rate and rank and now Tom was to take over my division and I moved to the Chief of the Navigation division. Weird. Even weirder that we ended up sharing a two man stateroom. True amigos now.

All the while talk of sailing and retirement permeated. Tom & Amy retired in 2005 sailed west around the planet. I was released from active duty in Oct 2007 and retired February 1st 2008. So it was with great anticipation that Christa and Sandpiper shared the same anchorage in St Lucia in March 2009.

Rewind my life to January/February 2008 and you will find me in Luperon Dominican Republic, with low morale after a shelacking between Turks & Caicos and a blown rear seal on the Yanmar. It was both difficult and thrilling to be in the Dom Rep with all the other cruisers. But replacing the rear seal and ensuring it was done correctly was very stressful. Transmission fluid was still slaying after I had hired a Frenchman to replace the seal. Enter Casey from St John, a younger fellow who was delivering a big Cat to St John. What a champ this guy has turned out to be. I tell him my woes and one day he stops by and says lets pull the coupler apart and see what's going on. Within 15 minutes, with the shaft packing gushing water into the boat, while studying the exploded view in the Yanmar Service Manual, Casey says, "this piece is in backward." What? A couple of turns of the wrench later we were shipshape and testing everything out. He refused any form of payment and just said "pay it forward."

Then Casey says when you get to St John look me up and and I'll introduce you to Ben who owns the Sadie Sea, and needs a relief skipper. At the time I fully intended on getting to St John within a month or so, but that all changed when I plunked down the anchor in Salinas Puerto Rico. That is a whole other saga. So a year or so later I showed up in St John and Casey was true to his word. I ended up running the Sadie Sea for a month or so before that fell through. Again another set of sagas.

But while I was doing my Sadie thing, I had been briefing Tom & Amy on Sandpiper, who were in Gibralter waiting to cross the Atlantic. So they had a clue about the Sadie Sea, but not a big clue. They had plans to head to Charleston and seek some employment or buy a business. But then they fell into the St John orbit. It's strong. They had just arrived and were bar side when they bumped into Ben, owner of the Sadie Sea, not long after Casey came saundering in and the circle was rapidly closing. Tom and Amy bought Sadie Sea last July from Ben and now call St John home.

So yesterday, I took the inter island ferry over to St John and there was Tom & Amy waving on the dock, Sadie sitting on her mooring right next to Sandpiper. So Tom & Amy let me Co- Captain for a reef bay run to the south side of St John to pick up National Park Hikers. Back in the saddle, but not with Capt Ben, but now with Amy and Tom. Like I said life is strange.

Capt Chris

Happy Veterans Day To All Vets!

On a Mooring Honey Moon Beach, USVI

I wanted to take a moment to thank all the Veterans who have served and sacrificed greatly. I especially would like to recognize the combat veterans whose service is of the highest and longest lasting difficulty. I am a very lucky vet, I recognize and appreciate what America is giving back to me. I intend to take full advantage.

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

I mean check out the scene in this picture I took last evening.

Capt Chris

Monday Night Movie Night on the Beach

On a Mooring Honey Moon Beach, Water Island, St Thomas USVI

Water Island is a special place. It sits off of the main island and has no stores and is only assessable by ferry. Most of the residence of the island either have retired to the islands or maintain a winter palace here. It is very organized, with a tight community of which they (the residence) embrace the boaters. One of the best things to experience is movie night. People come from near and far; an islander has a roach coach type of scenario and shows up with viddles and beverages. The kids are all kinds of amped up and it is a really fantastic time. Right as the sun is setting the fellow who runs the movie projector puts on some type of documentary, always followed by Cartoons and then then the feature film. The setting could not be better. I attended last nights festivities and forgot how enjoyable it is.

Onward. I put together a slideshow and loaded it into Youtube. Much of the quality was lost and I'm a bit disappointed. Thought it would be in HD, but not sure what the deal is. Still learning about all the technology. But I decided to post it to blog even though it's less than stellar.



Capt Chris