Atlantic Passage

We arrived in BVI and anchored off Spanishtown on the island of Virgin Gorda (fat virgin).

Our arrival was pretty exciting. As we were sailing uptowards the island the Canadian Barkentine Caledonia was approaching the anchorage from the other direction. For us to get in we had to tack and we did so just as Caledonia was motoring past. From where I was on the quarter deck it looked like we were really close to them. The people on Caledonia were all taking pictures as we swung through the wind directly abeam of them.

The island here is marked by very large granite boulders some 50′ or more in diameter all piled up along the waters edge. Apparently they were originally enclosed in a lava flow of some sort and once the softer lava eroded left them lying around on top of each other. We up anchored after clearing in and motored over to the National Park that covered the corner of the island and spent the afternoon climbing and scrambling around these giant balls of rock.

Then we up anchored again and motored back to anchor off Spanishtown again. Got a good workout today

After dinner I went ashore and spent th evening doing Internet stuff and chilling.

More later…

I’m in a little restaurant drinking coffee and waiting for my laundry to finish. We will be heading for Jost Van Dyke around 11:00am this morning and we will be there for 4 days then it’s on to Bermuda which should take 10 days or so.

I’m actually looking forward to another long passage, and this one will be the second last of the whole trip.

These 6 months are nearly over and I have crossed a great ocean and passed through Neptune’s Court and felt the power which is the Sea itself. So much beauty, hard work and fun. The next 20 days will be bitter sweet as we head North back to the cold but also back to the warmth of our loved ones.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

We have arrived in BVI.
This is a continuous post so read down for the latest.

Sunday April 26,09

Our watch was on duty today, which was just as well as I suspect that everything ashore was closed if yesterday is any indication.

First thing after breakfast we shifted the ship into the middle of the bay to give us a bit more swing room as the winds have been variable making the ship swing almost 360 degrees!
Last night the on watch had taken in about 10ft of chain because our stern was only 20′ or so from the rocks!

Surprisingly we had a normal Sunday, ie there was no official ships work, which made for a fairly relaxing day.

I was safety lookout for several of the crew who went snorkeling along the cliffs that surround this little bay we are in. The Sun was bright and there was a really strong wind blowing out in the channel between the islands which brought some swell into the bay. The water is incredibly clear and you can see the bottom from the taffrail.

This evening we had another fancy dress dinner which was fun.

My anchor watch is 1:00am to 2:00am tonight and the plan is to hoist anchor as soon as we can tomorrow morning so we can get cleared out and underwa to the British Virgin Isands which is 250 some miles to the North.

The trip should take 2-3 days.

Odd to think that Jost van Dyke in the BVI is the second last port of call before we get back to Lunenberg and the end of my passage. Lots of sailing to come but the end is less than a month way.

Hmmmm….

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Monday April 27,09

Lynsey and Nicki went ashore this morning and caught a ferry over to Terre de Haut to clear out.

I am on galley today so spent the morning doing the dishes and cleaning out the veggie lockers on the Aloha deck.

Since we will soon be heading North where it is cold(er) we also were told to clean the ship inside thoroughly. This is because as we get into colder climes moisture will condense inside the ship and if the surfaces aren’t pretty clean they can begin to mildew and smell. Lovely…

We got our anchor up and began sailing North around 2:00pm. We have a strong force 5 breeze on our Starboard quarter to move us along North. We are currently sailing briskly towards Guadeloupe wit all sails but the Royals and Flying Jib set. I suspect that once in the lee of Guadeloupe we may need to motor but the consensus on the lower deck is that we will only motor if we really have to. This would be just fine with me I prefer to sail

I went up to loose sail today and helped to loose the Mizzen Staysail as well. My hand is doing much better and it felt good to go aloft again.

My tattoo is doing pretty well, it hasn’t been itchy and the colour hasn’t faded much even though I’ve been in the bright Sun pretty much continuously since I got it. Some of the other people’s tattoos haven’t fared so well. The finer lines have disappeared on some of them and others have faded a bit.

Current guess is that we will reach Jost van Dyke in about 2 days or so.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Tuesday April 28,09

Our night watch was gusty and damp with a couple of big squalls as we passed the islands of Montserrat, Nevis and St Kitts. The wind was gusting up to Force 6-7.

I had first helm and the ship steered beautifully only a few spokes to a full turn needed to keep her on course. We are heading North by West (and 1/4 west to be exact) with topsails, t’gallants, foresail set plus the outer and inner jibs, fore topmast staysail and main topmast staysail.

I hear a rumour that Jost Van Dyke may not have any Internet connectivity so not sure when you will get to read this as the next stop is Bermuda about halfway back to Lunenberg.

More later…

Just got off the afternoon watch which was relatively uneventful. The wind is steady and the skies basically clear and sunny with some high puffy white clouds.

Earlier this afternoon we changed course towards the high volcanic island of Saba and just as we were getting ready to go on watch we entered the lee of this cliff girdled high island. There followed the alarm and the call of “This is a drill man overboard port side”.

These drills are organized chaos but everybody knows pretty well where to be and what to do. Today’s drill was a bit different because we were; A) under sail and B) the wind and sea conditions were gusty and lumpy respectively. The drill went really well, the overboard object was in the rescue boat in 3 minutes! The rescue boat itself was launched in about 1 minute. The requirement is that the recovery be done in 9 minutes.

Once we got all the equipment stowed we headed back on our course to the north now under a reduced sail plan, no t’gallants, so we don’t arrive in the middle of the night.

We should arrive in the BVI tomorrow sometime, rumour has it we will be stopping for groceries at another island in the BVI before going to Jost Van Dyke.

Thanks for reading
KJ

We were supposed to leave for BVI today but when the Captain went ashore to clear out there was nobody around to do it. While we were waiting we worked on several small projects including the Grenada Boat, now known as “Mr Bones”, and getting stuff in the hold lashed down ready for sea.

Just after lunch the Captain came back and announced that we would be shifting over to the largest island in the Saints, Basse Terra, for the weekend then clear out on Monday.

Our watch was off today so David and I went ashore and had a quick look around. This is a very quiet island! The town is very small with only a couple of bar/restaurants and a couple of souvenir shops and a small grocery store. No ATM, or Wifi to be found

Unfortunately in my rush to catch the skiff I forgot my camera so I doon’t have any pictures of this quaint little place.

We arrived jut as a funeral was being conducted so everything was shutdown completely. Just to add to the atmosphere it poured rain, in those huge drops only a tropical rain squall can bring. I tried to shelter under a tree but got soaked anyways, I also forgot my rain coat, blah.

Bill found a small hotel for the night which also had a restaurant so we were able to have a nice dinner, which as an added bonus was pretty cheap.

The anchorage here is a bit dicey so we may have to move the ship in the morning.

Thanks for reading
KJ

Found the site of Tim Wright who was taking pictures at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta.

From his site:
——–
Tim Wright

In 1993 Tim Wright was living on his 34 ft sailing boat in the Caribbean and started to photograph yachts as a means of survival. Today he still spends most of the year afloat in the Caribbean where he is now considered the leading practitioner of marine photography in the region. Over recent years he has become increasingly active at regattas in the UK and the Mediterranean.

Many sailors will instantly recognize his unique style. Where other photographers shoot from larger boats Tim works from a tiny 12 foot inflatable which serves double duty as his yacht tender. This gives him incredible maneuverability, allowing him to get frighteningly close to the action.
——–

There are some amazing pictures there including some of the Picton Castle
Check them out here: http://www.photoaction.com/clas09/clas09.htm

Went ashore on the first skiff run of the day.

After getting some Euros from the Atm David and I went to the hotel where Rick was staying. We then rented some scooters for the day and tore off down the narrow roads to explore the island of Terre De Haut.

Went up to Fort Napoleon which commands the heights above the town and harbour. The fort is pretty well preserved and a good example of French forts from the mid 1800s. The museum there had a good display on the Battle of the Saints between the British fleet under Rodney and the French fleet under Bouganville. They had couple of nice ship models of vessels in the battle.

After the fort we decided to do a beach tour so we picked up a baguette, cheese and a bottle of cheap wine and headed out to see the sands.

The beaches here are really small, with the exception of one they are all only a couple of hundred feet long. But theyy are usually in nice coves so are fairly picturesque.

The weather was hot and sunny but there was a fairly strong Northerly wind blowing which made sitting the shade quite pleasant.

Our watch is on tomorrow but we get Friday off so I think I will do a bunch of Internet and chilling for the day

Thanks for reading…
KJ

Here are some photos from my day ashore.

Monday Apr 20,09

This morning was really busy.

First thing after breakfast we hoisted aboard the dory and skiff. Then we got all the sails ready to set, fired up the engine and hoisted the anchor. A little light exercise to start the day

While we were doing that there were lots of yachts sailing by heading for the start line of the race.

We set our fore lower topsail and outer jib and backed around. Then, once facing the right way, we set all sails and headed out just to leeward of the course. We could see many of the smaller boats racing along to windward of us. There was a collision between two of them and one yacht was completely dismasted! An expensive day for them.

As we approached the “mark” we hove to and watched the fun for 20 minutes or so.

As the big “J”s were coming up we tacked and headed back along the line so we got a really good look at these magnificent thoroughbreds racing with spinnakers set. In fact we set our flying jib just as they were setting their spinnakers The two big schooners were there as well with their spinnakers set a well. Very impressive.

The big French schooner was sailing with a replacement mainsail so they mut have had a spare.

After they passed we tacked again, set all sails and are now heading South(ish) towards Guadalupe and Ile des Saints which is part of Guadalupe.

More later…

Just got off of our afternoon watch.

We sailed close hauled on the port tack towards Guadalupe all afternoon.
As we were sailing Full N Bye my trick at the helm was fun

As we approached Guadalupe it became apparent that we could not weather it and had to tack just after dinner. We are no sailing North back towards Antigua and will tack in the morning some time and try to get around the Eastern side of Guadalupe again.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Tues Apr 21,09

Had a fairly calm night watch.

We wore ship sometime before I came on watch and have been sailing to leeward of Guadalupe. I had second lookout which was just at dawn as we approached the island. The sky slowly brightened and with a thi crescent moon low in the eastern sky it was beautiful to watch.

The Western side of Guadalupe is high, very much like Dominica and has a cap of clouds as well. As we sailed into the lee the wind dropped and we started to take in sail preparatory to motoring when the wind actually picked up again. We reset the foresail and mainsail and we are still ghosting along to the South.

If we end up motoring we should arrive at the Saints this afternoon.

More later…

We motored through the afternoon and got pasted with some really sstrong rain squalls as we passed Guadalupe.

We arrive at the Iles des Saints around 3;00pm anchored in the little harbour and got cleared in without too much fuss. Our watch is off this evening and tomorrow so we went ashore to check out the place. It is like a little chunk of France very neat and tidy and pretty laid back.

I’m going with David and our new doctor Rick to rent some scooters to see the island tomorrow. I’ll fill you all in on how it goes.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Today Nico and I had galley duty and being Donald’s official day off we had to cook.

The key to that is planning, as Bruce and I found out on the crossing

Once we had a plan for what to do for lunch and dinner it was just a matter of coordinating the timing around the vagaries of our old diesel stove. For the record lunch was onion and tomato soup with bread and jam and dinner was “bubble and squeak”, corn beef and cabbage, bacon and corn meal dumplings quite yummy actually.

One advantage of being on galley is that you can stop to watch what’s happening around the ship. Which today meant watching the fleet of beautiful classic yachts parade out of the harbour to get ready for today’s racing. Like watching a parade of very expensive peacocks that.

Just as we were getting dinner ready the big French schooner came in with her mainsail torn in half. What a mess! That one sail probably has almost as much area as all of ours together, or so it seems. Th noise it made when it ripped must have been tremendous and frightening.

Tomorrow we plan to join the fleet for the racing, heh :-), at least until they go upwind then we will head off to Ile de Saints which is an overnight sail apparently.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Had a great day racing on board the Charm III captained by Richard West. We actually beat the one schooner the skipper was most anxious to beat which was the Astor.

I have never been in a sailing race before so this was an interesting day.

The schooner Charm III is a staysail schooner, this means that instead of a gaff rigged foresil she has a staysail on a boom. Above this she carries a Fisherman’s Staysail. The advantage of this rig is that it is essentially self tending in tacks and is supposed to be marginally faster upwind. This schooner was designed and built in 1923 so she is a bit older than the Picton Castle actually. She has the distinction of having the oldest masts still afloat on their original hull

She sails really well and ha a very friendly and fairly laid back crew. Which was good cause I’m not sure I was all that useful a hand. Shackle and Sarah and I were the Picton Castle crew that were aboard for today’s race.

We headed for the starting line about 9:30 this morning. We got the sails and lines sorted and ten tacked back and forth waiting for our class to start.

One of the schooners in our class is called “When and If” I believe. Her owner planned to sail her around the world when and if he had chance. He died before he could do it. His name was George Patton.

We crossed the starting line bang on time which was met with much rejoicing. This is not an easy thing to do apparently.

The race was on a course that had two downwind legs and a couple of up wind slogs, very cool, lots of room for tactical sailing.

On one of the downwind legs we set a massive sail called a “Gollywobbler” that fills the space between the fore and main and is used as a downwind sail like a spinnaker. Setting this monster is quite a process. We first had to douse the Fisherman, un shackle and stow it, then set the Golly and take in the staysail. When we rounded the bouy we had to do the opposite.

During the race the giant “J” Class boats roared by. They sail like giant fish more than boats. They are very impressive and they create quite a wind shadow as they go.

Watching all these classic yachts, gaff riggers, schooners of all sizes all churning along in the beautiful tropical blue seas was wonderful.

The last leg is upwind and here the tactics get tricky. Our skipper elected to do a bunch of short tacks really close to shore and this made all the difference. Although we got very close to shore at one point.

Once the race was done we motored into the dock and stowed away the sails. A couple of Gin and Tonics to celebrate our victory and a nice lamb dinner prepared by one of the crew ended a fabulous day.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

There are some photos of the race here.

Had a very interesting day today.

I went ashore expecting to spend a quiet day surfing annd chilling while everybody else went racing. The first half of the day went exactly like that but just about 11:30 John came by. He had rented a car the day before and driven Spencer to the airport so he could go home. After a bit of Internet surfing we headed out in his car, with blessed AC, and found a local bar for lunch which was wonderful and CHEAP!

Then we headed down to the shore near Rendezvous Bay and watched the all the boats racing. It was a fabulous panorama of great sailing vessels like the “J” class sloops, schooners and ketches all the way down to our brightly coloured brave little dinghy ” Sea Never Dry”.

After the race we went back to the harbour in Falmouth to meet our crewmates who were sailing on some of these vessels.

I have been shanghaied into sailing on a staysail schooner named “Charmed III” which is an Alden designed Malibar 5(?) ship. Deb, Bruce and Charlotte sailed on her today and it appears that I will be sailing on her in the racing tomorrow.

Hmmm…

Should be fun, I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m off to get in on the free food and booze action down on the docks amongst all these expensive yachts.

Wish me luck.

For tonight and tomorrow

Thanks for reading.
KJ

We were on watch today so spent the day doing ship work.

In my case I spent the morning spot painting the breeze way overheads “tropical blue”. This was interesting actually cause the last time I did this was April last year and it was rainy and cold!

I spent this afternoon sanding the starboard quarter deck rail in preparation for it being varnished. The day was sunny and hot so the breeze through the bay was very welcome. While we were working a whole bunch of boats from small dragon class sloops to the giant “J” class racing yachts and several schooners and ketches of various sizes sailed past heading out to sail in the strong alongshore breeze. Our dory with it’s gaily colored gaff sail joined them and made a brave tiny splash of colour far out amongst the giants.

Once we were finished working we went for a sail in the dory, my first, and just as we passed the headland out to sea and had gibed back into the harbour the tiller broke! A mad scramble ensued as we doused the sail and shipped the oars to row back to the ship. An exciting end to the work day that

Dinner tonight was really good. Gunner and Susie were on galley today and they cooked up a great meal of Spaghetti Carbonara, green salad and mango cobbler. To make it special Lynsey ordered the watch to “dress for dinner” so we all put on clean and fancy clothes and ate in the salon accompanied by wine and ice water. The ipod was playing big bang music, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. Lovely.

Currently the watch is hanging on the welldeck listening to reggae and I’m chilling below typing with both hands for the first time

Thanks for reading.
KJ