Atlantic Passage

Spent the day doing lots of different jobs on board the ship.

A short list:
a) Domestics
b) Went ashore with Ben to pick up boxes of oatmeal and ichiban noodles
c) Stored said oatmeal and ichiban noodles in the hold
d) Sanded the varnished rail that runs across the bridge
e) Sorted the enormous pile of cordage stored in various dark reaches of the hold
f) Did the dishes after dinner to help out the galley crew, Susie and Nick SA. (Hi John R )

Whew!

Tomorrow we head out to a small island near the Tobago Cays called Maryeau. It is back South of here almost all the way back to Carriacou.
This island is 1.5 square miles and has a population of 254! Probably no Internet though

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Update Fri Mar 20: Seems we aren’t leaving till tomorrow, Saturday the 21st. Paul discovered some likely looking trees to use for the stems of the schooners so another lumber expedition is currently underway.
Aw shucks! I guess I’ll just have to hang out under those damn palm trees drinking more damned rum and being damned lazy another damn day… Damn

Here are some more pictures from my run ashore. The Royal Clipper came in during the afternoon check it out!

I hope everyone had a happy St Patricks day!

Went ashore in Bequia after we dropped anchor and had agreat afternoon and evening.

Did a bit of Internet stuff and then went and hung out with the crew in two fine beach side establishments singing sailor’s shanties, drinking rum and generally livening up the neighbourhood.

Bequia is a very popular place there must be a hundred yachts at anchor in the bay here. The town surrounds the bay with many most things that a yachty could use

The presence of all these yachts makes it feel more “touristy” than the other islands I’ve been to so far. It’s still really nice though.

I’m going to go and see more of the island today as I also have it off.

More later.
KJ

Here are some pictures from my run ashore in Bequia.

Have had a nice couple of days ashore on Carriacou.

This morning we up anchored and sailed off the hook at Paradise Beach and sailed around the coast to Tyrell Bay on the other side of Carriacou. This anchorage is more sheltered and we will be here till tomorrow morning

We are waiting for some of the crew to return from Grenada where there has been a lumber expedition in progress. They are getting some specific hardwood to be used for a new schooner. They will get the logs shipped on an inter island freighter to Tyrell bay so we could load it on the ship to take back.

Yesterday was pretty relaxing, I spent it on the Internet and hanging out at the Hardwood on Paradise beach.

I’m currently in a great little bar/cafe right on the waterfront which has free WIFI so I’m good for the afternoon

Thanks for reading.
KJ

We sailed off the hook this morning which was a fine bit of coordination IMHO.
The anchorage is surrounded by reefs with a relatively narrow entrance passage. The ship was head to wind nd the wind wa coming in from the NE directly towards the entrance. So we had to spin the ship around iinside/i the anchorage using the sails once the anchor was off the bottom. It went without a hitch and pretty smoothly. I was on the focsle head assisting with catting the anchor as we set all our sails except the gaff topsail.

Very cool!

I understand that we will be doing a tacking exercise which should be very interesting as we have not tacked the ship since I have been aboard. This will get us back into seaman mode in a big way. as you can imagine it’s important to put aside “beachcomber mode” as quickly as possible when we get under way

More later…

The tack went pretty well. Tacking a square rigger is much more complicated than tacking any fore and aft rigged vessels as bringing the wind across the bows will throw the square sails aback which puts a lot of strain on the masts. Also unlike a fore and aft rigged vessel if you “miss stays”, ie stall out going into the wind without enough way on to get across, the ship will start to go backwards which can damage the rudder and steering gear.

The key to a successful tack in a square rigger is timing, all the steps must be done briskly and in the right order to make everything work. My station was on the focsle head to help bringing the jibs across to the other side.

The procedure for doing the tack is fairly simple really but it takes coordination. First the head sail sheets are cast off allowing them to flog, this removes their resistance to the turn. Then the helm is put over and the spanker sheeted to windward to help the ship turn up into the wind. Then the order to “raise tacks and sheets” is given. This means to pull the mainsail halfway up to the yard. Next the order to “mainsail haul” is given and the main mast yards are braced around to the new tack. The timing on this is tricky as it has to be done just as the ship comes across the wind but before all the sails on the mainmast come aback. When done right the order is given just as the windward side comes aback and the leeward side is still blanketed by the sails on the fore mast, this helps the yards come around faster. Apparently if the whole mast goes aback it can be very difficult to swing the yards around. One the main mast yards are set the order to “let go and haul” is given and the yards on the foremast are swung around onto the new tack. Then the head sails are passed and sheeted home on the new tack. The main sail is reset and we are away!

With the whole crew on deck we did it pretty well and had no trouble. We never got close to “missing stays”. Very cool.

Being on the focsle head when the jibs are flogging is a awesome but frightening thing. Each sheet has a block on it that flings around madly, hence the reason they are know as widow makers, plus the sails make a deep low frequency booming that rattles my whole body. It takes a lot of force to pull the sheets across to get them set on the new tack as well.

The whole procedure takes only a few minutes or so when done right but if you miss stays it could be a lot longer process.

I case you’re interested, the alternative to tacking is to “wear ship” which is to turn keeping the wind behind the sails. This is much easier because it is only necessary to brace the yards around as she turns. It takes much more sea room however and puts the ship farther to leeward of where she started the turn so is not a good option if in a narrow channel or where loosing ground to leeward isn’t an option.

We have done that maneuver, wearing, several times while I have been aboard but this was the first tack.

We arrived back at Carriacou around 3:30 or so and anchored off of paradise beach as the anchorage at Hillsborough still had too big a swell running.

My watch mates and I jumped on the first shore going skiff. One of the new trainees and I walked into Hillsburough to get some money and then spent the evening on the beach at a great little bar/restaurant called the Hardwood. They have “dangerously yummy” rum punches there It was a fabulous evening under a bright full moon on a magnificent beach. Ahhhh… Paradise Beach indeed!

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Spent yesterday painting the starboard side of the ship. The last day that she was alongside in Grenada a big swell was coming directly into the harbour making her bump and rub against the big rubber fenders on the dock. In some places these fenders had rubbed the paint right off the ship down to bare metal and had even dented the thinner bulwark plates.

She looked much better by the time we finished.

After we cleaned up we had a brief workshop on knots and I learned two new ways of doing standard knots, clove hitch and bowline, and anew one whose name I don’t remember but which is like a tugboat hitch and can be tied really quickly.

The evening I spent watching The Empire Strikes Back on a PC that was setup on the main hatch. Pretty cool watching that under a full moon with a warm tropical breeze blowing through the rigging

Today I’m off to see the sights ashore, such as they are, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

The plan is to leave here early tomorrow morning to SAIL over to Carriacou for day or so.

More later…

It’s 9:30pm and I just climbed into my bunk after a fabulous day ashore. i went in on the 10:00am skiff and joined up with a bunch my crew mates. We then tried to get some local cash but the two banks were closed. Luckily the grocery store took U$ and Euros so I was able to get some snacks. Then after lunch we hired a water taxi and went across to a nearby island called Petite St. Vincent. This island is officially private but according to the hotel/resort people their business is so slow they don’t mind other people hanging out.

We found a beautiful beach and just hung out for the afternoon and evening.

I fell asleep in hammock I found setup in a thatched shelter far along this deserted beach. It would have been fatally easy to stay there all afternoon but luckily I woke up after half an hour or so.

Rory had managed to rent a boat so we had our own transport back which saved us a bunch of ECDs.

So we are off to Carriacou tomorrow morning. I imagine it will be a lot quieter than last time.

Thanks for reading
KJ
Here are some photos from my run ashore in Petite Martinique and Petite St Vincent.

Yesterday I spent a great day wandering around in town.
Found a great little Cafe at the top of one of the hills here with great coffee and good Internet, they even have power plugs at just about every chair.

One odd thing about St Georges is that all the big churches are missing their roofs and are slowly being rebuilt. From what I can tell this is the legacy of Hurricane Ivan.

Having a good Internet connection is a mixed blessing because it means I’m able to get all my personal stuff done and then I have time to do a bit of random surfing.

Big mistake!

The global economic situation is miserable and back home in Calgary things are not looking good for the oil patch.

So after a great relaxing day of walking around up and down hills in the hot Grenadian Sun I decided to check into the possibility of heading back to Calgary for a brief visit. Primarily to see my wife and family but also to touch base with my employer and to get a read on the prospects for the next couple of months.

That also is a dangerous thing, because once the world ashore gets it’s gaff hooked in a sailor’s gills it’s difficult to wriggle your way back to sea :-/

Oh well, as my fellow trainee WT is fond of saying “it is what it is” and I’ll just have to go and check it out.

Currently I’m scheduled to fly back to Calgary tomorrow, Saturday Feb 28, which will take nearly 24 hours and then fly back to Grenada next Saturday to make sure I’m here when the ship sails out on 8th of March.

In the meantime I have another lovely day to soak up the energy and vibe of this beautiful city with it’s fascinating and incredibly friendly people.

More later maybe…

Thanks for reading.
KJ
There are photos from my day ashore in St Georges here.

I spent the day yesterday ashore on Carriacou which is an island that belongs to Grenada.

It is Carnival here which is like Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
The people are very friendly and the atmosphere of Carriacou is very laid back. We are anchored just off the main pier at the biggest town called Hillsborough.

We hired a taxi and went for a tour of the island. On the opposite side we went to a village called Windward where there is a boatyard that builds traditional wooden boats. Being Carnival they were closed but we saw some nice boats at anchor off the yard.

The reefs on that side of the island really stand out from up on the hills (the highest point of the island is just 20′ short of being officially a mountain apparently). On the reef are three wrecks high and dry. One was tossed up there by hurricane Ivan and though relatively undamaged couldn’t be moved so there she sits.

After the tour we went back and basically hung out in town as the place got wound up for the nights festivities! Carnival here is really something, there are massive speaker banks set up outside on the street just far enough apart that the poiunding muic doen’t interfere with the next one. As it got dark everybody, old and young, came out on to the street and just chilled and danced. There were two steel band orchestras with 20 or more players that pounded out complex Caribbean music. The many little bars and food vendors all were hopping. Carnival is very family oriented with all ages staying out till late. Despite the large amounts of beer and “spiritous liquors” consumed there were no altercations and the police spent their time standing around in their crisp and neat uniforms watching the fun.

Each village on the island puts on a parade through the main street. Each village develops a theme for their presentation and then makes costumes for it. One group last night for example, had the theme of “Flames of Freedom” and they were all wearing T shirts with pictures of President Obama on them. Another had beautiful crimson and gold flashy costumes and a family of stilt walkers the tallest of which was probably over 15′ high. Each group has a truck loaded with huge peakers and a DJ that drives just in front as they drive slowly through the crowds with the group (and the crowd) dancing along behind. They turn off the street side speakers as they pass which is nice.

I stayed ashore till the late skiff run and really had a blast. It’s a good thing there was a lot of dancing or I would have succumbed to the fatal allure of too much rum

This morning it seems pretty quiet ashore however it is the last day, Mardi Gras, so I suspect the evening will be wild again. I have another day ashore so David and I are going to try and find what the cruising guide says is the prettiest beach on the island and chill out with a cold coke and maybe a drop or two of rum

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Photos of my wander around the island are here.

Here I am again in the Yacht Club cafe cooling my heels, surfing the net and drinking coffee.

The weather, specifically the swell and winds, were not good for our passage to Brazil so we have stayed at anchor. The “current” plan is to leave tomorrow morning but who knows.

Yesterday an American submarine came into port and tied up alongside the wharf across from us. This morning a bunch of us went over when we got a shore and brazenly asked if we could get a tour and lo and behold they were happy to give us one! It was really interesting and there was surprisingly enough head room in most of the crew compartments for me. The crew was really friendly and open and we even got to have lunch in their mess, mmmm chicken nuggets and fries

I’ve added some pictures of the sub to the Sao Vincente album linked in the previous post.

More later…

Thanks for reading.
KJ

Went ashore on the first skiff run yesterday and had a good wander around this nice town.

On the way into to the yacht club wharf we passed a defunct Russia hydrofoil that is anchored out in the bay. It looks like something from Buck Rogers. The Soviets donated them to various small islands during the eighties and most are now sitting due to a lack of spare parts.

The town itself was very quiet as it was a national holiday of some sort. This morning (the 23rd) is much noisier and busy with traffic and lots of people about.

Bruce and I wandered around and criss crossed the town just to see what there was to see then I headed back to the Cafe we found (the Yacht Club) that has Internet access and a reasonably priced restaurant.

Today my primary objective is to get stocked up on snacks, pick up my laundry and do this

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been aboard for nearly 2 and half months already and that tomorrow we head out to cross the Atlantic ocean! I’m excited, and a bit anxious to be honest, to finally be doing the “big crossing”. I hope I will get my sea legs back quickly. I should be OK since the anchorage is fairly rough so the ship has been moving a lot which will help.

It is very unlikely that I will be able to do any Internet stuff for the next month or so. Unless the island of Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil has Internet, anything is possible these days I suppose.

The crossing will take anywhere from 10-20 days. We head South from here then angle SW across the equator to get to Fernando de Noronha. Crossing the equator has a lot of rituals associated with it and each ship has it’s own so I have no idea what to expect. One must pay his dues to Neptune that is for sure for it is his realm that we travel in after all.

Wish me luck and send good vibes and I will update you all from the other side of the Big Briny Atlantic Ocean.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

There are pictures of Mindelo here.

Just got back aboard ship after a very nice day ashore on Boa Vista, cape Verde.
John and Spencer and I walked about 3 miles down the magnificent beach here past one of the fanciest resort I have ever seen. The place even has a restaurant shaped like a giant crab.
They also have grumpy looking guards at the gates. It is afterall an all inclusive place so we can’t have any riffraff wandering through can we.

Just past this place was a geocache that John had the coordinates for, one of two on Boa Vista the other was 60km away. The geocache was in the ruins of a pottery factory which looked quite romantic half covered in sand dunes.

We then took a cab back into Sel Rei as the thought of walking back along that beach into the teeth of the force 7 wind blowing across the and dunes.

Once back in town we had a nice lunch at a pizzaria in the town square, that didn’t have pizza even though most of menu was pizzas of various sorts. Then we went to a resort that had wifi, the one I had found before actually, and did all my emailing and blog updates.

The trip back to the ship started with a splash. Just as we were loading up the skiff got turned broadside to the beach and got a wave broadside. We were using an anchor to hold th bow aimed into the waves and it came off the bottom. Once underway the ride back was pretty dry so it looks like the wind may be moderating a bit.

Tomorrow we leave for Sao Vincente and the town of Mindelo. This town is much larger and should have more “amenities”. The passage should take two days.

Thanks for reading.
KJ

There are pictures from my run ashore in Boa Vista here.