Atlantic Passage

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.

We had a 6:15 all hands wakeup this morning and we took on the pilot and were underway by 7:00.

We are currently motoring North towards Carriacou however the anchorage there is apparently unusable due to heavy swell. The alternative is Petit Martinique which would be cool.

I’m suffering a bit from “climatic whiplash” 30c to 10c to 27c in 6 days is tough on the body. But then so is the 17 hours or so flying

I believe I’m on the same 4-8 watch but Mike hasn’t posted the new list yet.

We arrived at Petite Martinique around 3:30 and anchored off the small town here. Looks like a very quiet place. I detect NO wifi signal at all which is odd although there are two locked ones on the island to the North which is actually part of the St Vincent Grenadines.

If I’m on 4-8 I work tomorrow which will be OK, I haven’t rust busted or osfo’d in a whole week after all

Thank for reading.
KJ

After a great week at home in Calgary, I’m on my way back to Grenada to join the ship for the next 2 1/2 months of warm sailing through the islands of the Caribbean.

I should arrive back in Grenada on Saturday evening at 7:00pm. This assumes that all my flights and connection work properly

Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading
KJ

Here are some photos from my trip home

A nice little compendium of scenes from aboard the ship taken by Spenser’s Grandfather Hal while we were at anchor at Mindelo.
I was on galley duty setting up the dishes along the rail as you can see

Check it out here.

Here is a video I took from the Focsle head just before we got to Fernando de Noronha. That’s Marie on lookout and you can briefly see David hanging out at the end of the bowsprit taking pictures. Notice the color of the water!
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Here is a video I took from the bridge looking forward as we romped along in the trade winds towards Grenada.
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This one was taken shortly after from the main deck. It gives a feel for the size of the waves.
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This video was taken back in November on the way to Morocco. Unfortunately I took it in portrait mode so it’s sideways. That was the last time we had to rig the safety nets. We had just passed through those gale force squalls and this was the morning after. You can see how wet the main deck is in a seaway.
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Here is the video rotated. Thanks BIZ!

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On the plus side I have a good Internet connection.

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.

Spenser’s grandfather visited the ship while we were in Mindelo Cape Verde. While it was a nice surprise for Spenser he also went everywhere with a video camera.

He has posted a great video of us getting underway without using our engine. His narration is cool too.

You can check out the video here.

I’ve also added pictures from the last night at Carnival in Carriacou.

Had a great day yesterday ashore on Carriacou for the last day of Carnival.
David and I went for a hike along the shore North towards a large beach called Paradise Beach. Along the way we stopped on a point with a nice sandy beach and hung out for an hour enjoying the sun and sand.

Once we got to Paradise we had fabulous tall rum punches and relaxed in a shore side bar.

A 2.50 ECD cab ride back to town for dinner at the Hotel Laurena and I was good to go for the evening.

The hotel was having an after Carnival party so they began to clear out the restaurant to get setup. I started to pack up my laptop and stuff and they said I could stay so I sat in this big empty room with fabulous Caribbean music pounding at a nice comfy table with a good internet connection and power and enjoyed a nice long computer chat with Jayne

I then headed out to enjoy the last hour of party before the 11:00 skiff run and then went back to the ship and had a great sleep. It’s a good thing that there wasn’t another day of Carnival, it might have done some damage

This morning we up anchored and sailed off the hook and we are currently halfway to Grenada.

We should be there later in the afternoon and since my watch is officially on today I should be able to go ashore tomorrow which will be great.

More later…

It’s later and we are tied up to the pier in the inner harbour at St Georges Grenada. This is just temporary as we will have to move the ship tomorrow morning. The plan is to moor “stern to” that is with two anchors from the bow and two stern lines to the dock.

St Georges looks like a bustling town, very green and built up on the sides of the steep hills that surround the harbour. I’m looking forward to doing some exploring over the next couple of days.

Thanks for reading.
KJ