Last updated 11/23/2009
Nov 22 - Dec 1: A 9 day passage from Beaufort, NC to Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands (BVI) left us tired and happy, awed and humbled, along with a bunch of other superlatives which we will try and use over and over to describe our experiences (forgive us!) Read on or skip this part as it could get lengthy and doesn't have a lot of photos to entice you to continue. We all came away with a few bumps and bruises including some on TabbyCat. We hope the next several months will give us time to heal and discover new things (at least to us!).
Here are some statistics:
TOTAL DISTANCE: 1,385 NM
AVG SPEED: 6.2 KNOTS
MAX SPEED: 15.6 KNOTS
MAX WINDS: 35 KNOTS
TRAVEL TIME: 9 DAYS, 5 HOURS
FISH CAUGHT: 1
Background:
As you may have guessed, part of our reason for wanting to head to the Caribbean was to escape the cold. We may sound old, but it is the COLD that's OLD. Our original plan was to break the 1300+ mile trip to "de islans" into two chunks. The first chunk was to be from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to Bermuda where after some 700 miles we could take a break and look for another Acceptable Weather Window (AWW) to get us to someplace in the Caribbean. This plan failed spectacularly as we could not get an AWW, but could only get a SHUCCs (Still Hunkered Under Cold Conditions). As we reached further into November, the gales forming off the east coast of the US continued apace. We finally thought to move further south to Beaufort, NC and skip Bermuda, heading directly for the BVIs.
Our arrival into Beaufort on Nov 19 was auspicious. Dolphins greeted us near Beaufort and the small anchorage on the north side of Beaufort (Town Creek) was nearly free of boats. Our previous trips had found this anchorage fairly packed, so it was nice to have the ability to anchor here and to perhaps have some time to explore Beaufort. In addition, we were able to top up the fuel tanks to give us a full load for the "hop" to the BVIs. A check on the weather conditions initially gave us pause when we realized the cold was following us down the coast. We then looked at the offshore forecast from a variety of sources and it seemed as though an AWW was materializing. The few boats with us in the anchorage were bound for the Bahamas and planned on leaving on the 20th. Could that be a window for us as well?
No! The window was delayed by two days which gave us a chance to do some last minute provisioning (aka groceries!), plus we went out for a nice tapas dinner in a restaurant called Aqua. Aqua was decorated in a "modern" 1950s style, very chic! We made a final update to our float plan and sent it off to our closest family and friends. Yes, thousands of boats have easily made this trip, but it was still a pioneering trip for the two of us.
On the evening of the 21st, we went to bed with some anxiety and excitement. Will the weather window hold up over the next several hours, days or even up to a week? What haven't we thought of? Even if it holds until the morning, the winds are predicted to be pretty high and the currents getting out of Beaufort can be tricky. If everything and everyone holds up we can be in the BVIs in 6 or 7 days! Paradise beckons and our fantasies can blossom into reality!!
The passage:
November 22 - 23: On the morning of the 22nd, we awoke to frigid conditions. The overnight air temp was in the high teens and the wind had eased to an occasional howl from near constant moaning the day before. Frost was on the deck - it took considerable effort to convince our warm bodies to abandon the equally warm bed to see the frost, but it (the frost) was still waiting for us when we looked out.
We made one last check of the forecast conditions and they were little changed, so we rubbed the sleep from our eyes, made last minute checks of the engines, oil, tranny fluid, tightened the standing rigging for sailing and then we started the engines, raised anchor and headed for the warm climes of the Caribbean.
Our first challenge is to get across the Gulf Stream as soon as possible. The Gulf Stream can not only carry us north and east of our course, but it can be really nasty if we are caught in the Stream during a storm. As we head out of Beaufort, the NWS gives us the air temperature @ 8AM - 22 degrees! The water temperature is 58.
By the afternoon, we are sailing under main and screacher with the wind nearly behind us. The difference in the air temp and the water temp is creating little steamy mists. Land is out of sight, we are surfing down waves and these streams of mist are following us. It looks like a post-apocalyptic world for a moment, only us, the wind, waves and steam. The water temp has risen to 74 and we think we are on the edge of the Stream. Of course, we have to not only cross it, but avoid the eddies (counter-currents) that can dramatically slow our progress.
At our 9PM change of watch, we are sailing under a reefed main and jib; 17 - 20 knot wind has clocked from the NNW to NNE with rolly seas and the water temp has cooled to 72. We are worried about running into an eddy and sure enough, we find one overnight that forces us to head S to SSW and motor. Only after we have gone around the eddy do we realize that we should have altered course to the N to NE. It would have gotten us around the eddy faster. By 6AM, we are finally heading SE again, but still in the Stream and still motoring. During our first 24 hours, we have covered 161 nm (avg = 6.7 kts).
In the afternoon we briefly pick up Herb Hilgenberg on the SSB radio. Herb is a Canadian who provides weather updates to cruisers like us. The wind has picked up enough that we are sailing under the main and screacher. Susan makes lamb for dinner - fabulous!
November 24: We start this day motorsailing with just the main up, NE winds 4 - 10 kts. By 8AM, we have covered another 147 nm for a total of 308 nm. An early morning weather forecast says to get south and east of 31 degrees North latitude and 71 degrees West longitude before 8AM on Nov 25. For those of you without a chart or a desire to go hunt this spot down on Google Earth, this is somewhere in between the Bahamas and Bermuda. There is a low pressure system coming off the east coast of the US with winds up to 50 knots expected - that's a strong gale folks! Popular weather router Chris Parker recommends we get south of 31 degrees latitude, while in the afternoon, Herb Hilgenberg says to get as far south and east as possible. So much for our AWW.
More to come....including the story behind each of these photos...
...and these taken in the BVIs island of Jost Van Dyke...
Jan 25 - Feb 13 - TabbyCat is anchored in St. Martin/Sint Maarten. We have been enjoying the Simpson Bay Lagoon for about three weeks now. Mostly we have been working on little boat projects since St.Martin has lots of boating stores plus good groceries (wonderful French cheeses), bakeries and a good cruisers community.
Our primary reason for stopping here was to pick up our new sail cover, ordered in the BVIs after our passage from the States shredded the original color. By now, you may have figured out that the new sail cover arrived, but didn't fit right, so we had to have another one made and shipped to us here in St. Martin. St. Martin is duty-free, so it makes a lot of sense to get any boat parts sent here.Of course, we also have found time to enjoy the other sights. For example, Carnival is celebrated over lots of weekends here and the outfits are amazing.
Mar 4 - 11: TabbyCat was in St. Kitts. We toured the island by train - the only train in the Eastern Caribbean. According to the tour guide, it is also "de most luxooorious train in de islans". The train was originally used to move sugar cane to a central processing facility near the island's capital, Basse Terre. After suger cane production ended in 2005, they came up with the idea to convert the train to a touristy attraction. It now only runs when a cruise ship comes in (about 3 - 4 days/week). If you can handle frozen dacquires @ 9AM this could be the trip for you.
We
spent most of our time in Basse Terre, but also spent a few nights in
Majors Bay a "protected" anchorage in the SE corner of the island. We
enjoyed a nice walk from Majors Bay over to Mosquito Bay where we
stopped for a beach bar drink or two. 
On the hike back, we decided to
go overland, over hill, over dale, etc. We had some breathtaking views,
or maybe the hiking after drinking made us breathless.
For those who read this and plan on visiting Majors Bay, make sure you set your anchor in a sandy spot or in a spot where the grass/weed is not very thick. Otherwise you may find your anchor will drag. A couple other points are to make sure you anchor away from the ferry dock and the ferry passage along the east side of the bay. Always avoid anchoring here if the wind or waves have any southerly component.
We hoped to also visit Nevis, but the winds and our internal "let's move on" clock prevented us from making the trip. There is no real harbour at Nevis, just an anchorage and mooring field on the west side of the island. If the winds and/or swell have any North to them, the anchorage is rough and extremely uncomfortable. While we were in St. Kitts the winds were all from the NE to N, so we will have to catch Nevis next year.
We have moved on to Antigua. We had a totally rocking sail of 54.7 nm. We averaged nearly 8 knots during the trip, but nearly came to a dead stop when we encountered and snagged a huge ball of seaweed on the starboard hull and daggerboard.
Mar 11 - Apr 7:
Antigua...
The
land of Nelson's Dockyard, Spring Regattas and good protected harbours
(note the Anglicised spelling!). We extended our stay while we
had a few repairs taken care of. One was for the big screacher, our
off-wind performance sail. While sailing at 10 knots under main and
screacher from Jolly Harbour, Antigua to the island of Barbuda, the
stitching for the head of the screacher gave way - BANG!! While
trying to wrestle it down on deck, we noticed a short 18 inch tear -
hmmm...this sail needs a trip to the sailmaker. Fortunately, we were
able to get it over to the North Sails loft before they were totally
consumed with the Spring Regattas.
We also got the bail for the bow roller straightened out at a machine shop. What's a bail? What's a bow roller for that matter, right? Let's just say that they are integrated parts essential to being able to launch and retrieve our anchor and leave it there, OK?
While
we left prior to either of the regattas, we had a great time in Antigua
along with a quick trip to Barbuda (a low lying island to the north of
Antigua that is part of the same country). Barbuda has the largest
population of Magnificent Frigate Birds in the world - some 20,000
birds come here to mate and raise their young before heading off to
other parts of the planet. Our guide for the birds, George, was great -
extremely knowledgeable and entertaining, he also fishes and catches
lobster. The day we arrived in Barbuda, a group of Russian tourists
chartering sailboats for a week bought ALL the lobster on the island,
some 700 pounds.
Antigua was one of the best islands so far - civilized with the ability to sail into harbors unmolested by boat boys, plus you can also go to places that are nearly deserted by humanity, but populated with serene natural beauty (the frigate birds are NOT serene).
We also did a couple of touristy outings - swimming with the manta rays and listening to some pan music (aka steel drums).
Apr 8 - 20: Guadeloupe, including Isles des Saintes. More to come, but the French islands are so, so, French, n'est ce pas?! Again...More to come...
Apr 21 - 26: Dominica:
The cruising guide says Dominica is the only island that Columbus might
still recognize were he to show up there today. Now I don't want want
to get into a whole discussion of time travel and the space-time
continuum, but Dominica is the least developed island we have visited
so far. More to come...
Apr 27 - 29: Martinique: Friend Lee Wolff has dubbed this island Martini-Q, but we blazed through so quickly that we only discovered the good, inexpensive wine in 1 liter boxes. More to come...
Apr 30 - May 14: St. Lucia finds us getting closer to our summer destination of Trinidad and we are here to meet up with our first guests, Susan's sister Fae and her beau, Julious Love (really!). We arrive in Rodney Bay on April 30.
Rodney
Bay is the hub of activity for cruising sailors on St. Lucia. A large
bay with access to a well protected cove that houses the world famous
Rodney Bay Marina, this location has everything that you would want in
an anchorage - protection from the prevailing easterly trade winds
and swells, WiFi from the boat (free!), trash facilities, banks and
pubs. The cove was originally a salt pond with a 
canal
cut through to gain access to the bay. Not surprisingly, this boating
friendly location boasts an excellent grocery store with wide aisles,
fresh milk (imported from the US) and a good deli counter. Certainly
the best grocery since St. Martin. For those of you who have been at
sea too long and miss American-style fast food, there is a Burger King
and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
We arrived in St. Lucia after a whirlwind trip through Martinique. The arrival on the last day in April was dictated by the pending arrival of Susan’s sister Fae and her paramour Julious Love on Sunday, May 3, and because May 1 is a national holiday on St Lucia. Since the local government essentially shuts down for the holiday and the weekend, we wanted to make sure we could clear into the country before they arrived.
Soufriere, St. Lucia May 9: After a gray rainy week, Fae and Julious left at dawn to fly back to the States. 
Appropriately
enough a downpour came through just after Mike dropped them off at the
dock to pick up a taxi to the airport. We hope they were in the taxi by
then. We did our best to play in this tropical setting with snorkeling,
beach bocci ball and “strolling” around historical sites.
We also played Mexican Train Dominoes and the card game
“Golf” while we were waiting out the rain.
Soufriere, St. Lucia May 10: The
boat boys have been like mosquitoes, buzzing around us whenever we
appear in a new harbour and leaving us with mental 
welts that demand
scratching! There are criminals here too - we had our handheld 
VHF
and dinghy light stolen while in Soufriere, clouding the memory of a
great day SCUBA diving near the WORLD FAMOUS(!) Pitons (OOPS! we found the VHF hidden
in the bow locker of our kayak!!). We were accompanied on the dive
trip by a nice gal named Lee Wolff. Lee is traveling around the world
by sailing on other peoples boats (who knew that was possible?), accompanied by a bit of luggage and her bear!
Let’s
focus on the good points of this day. as mentioned, we went SCUBA
diving - a two tank dive where we saw some neat coral, spotted eels, a
huge crab along with an unusual cast of striped Sergeant Majors, gobys,
worms, small magenta jellyfish and anemones.
The first dive was to a place called Fantasy Land. We drift dove to
about 75’ and initially flew along a wall that was steeply angled
down to over 1000’. Our divemaster, Chester Nathoniel did a nice
job revealing the secrets of the deep. Our second dive was very close
to the area where we moored the boat, but we dove to 70' feet and made
our way around 4 underwater pitons/mountains. The dive started with
chester showing us a seahorse with its tail wrapped around a sponge. It
had been tethered in place so long that algae was growing on the
seahorse, but it must be getting plenty to eat because it was huge for
a sea horse. We could have easily missed it.
After diving the three of us went off to a resort bar/restaurant called the Jalousie, dramatically located right between the two Pitons for lunch, drinks and some internet access. The Jalousie also has the best beach in Soufriere, very powdery and white unlike the coarse, dirty sand in nearby Soufriere Town. Unfortunately, the Jalousie's WiFi was down, so after lunch we went back to the dirty beach and the Hummingbird Bar for another drink and internet access. The Hummingbird has a great view, but loses points for the gauntlet of drunks and druggies you have to pass along the beach.
May 11 - 14 - Marigot Bay, St. Lucia :
We decided to move to the relatively hassle-free Marigot Bay, where
there is better access to the internet and a nice, but expensive
grocery store that caters to the Moorings Charter base. Marigot Bay is
a picture post card of what the Caribbean looks like in your fantasies.
The inner lagoon here is very pretty with some very upscale
bars/restaurants/resort locations. We anchored outside the lagoon since
the inner lagoon was all moorings. We were surprised to find a large
number of charter boats tied up at the dock or on a mooring - hope it
is due to this being near the end of the season and not from the poor
economy (but it is probably a bit of both).
Next
year, we may stop here for a bit of pampering. We walked around the Zen
garden and saw where the resort offers massage and relaxation to their
guests.
Looks sweet...
The anchorage was pretty nice and we were in about 10 feet, but we did find a number of boats came in and came surprsingly close to us. One French couple anchored their monohull WAY too close, so we let out some anchor chain for added comfort. We also stopped in a bar/restaurant called Doolittle's for the 2 for 1 happy hour and then a prix fixe meal. 2 for 1 drinking normally means a drink for Susan that we pay for and a beer for Mike that is free - the bartender at Doolittle's didn't see it that way, so we each had two drinks (water for dinner, please!) The food was fair, but not great.
May 29 - May 31: 
Petit
St. Vincent (PSV) and Petite Martinique (PM). In addition to showing
us the difference between the masculine and feminine aspects 
of
the French language, these small, adjacent islands are part of two
countries. PSV is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG)
and Petite Martinique is part of Grenada (the country). PSV
is home to an exclusive resort, has beautiful beaches, a fairly calm
anchorage and a little sandy island that is just picture perfect. We
anchored near PSV and nearly had the beach to ourselves since this is
near the end of the season. We took advantage and relaxed for a bit on
a hammock. We launched the kayak and pedaled over to the island for
some snorkeling. The fish here are incredible, or at least incredibly
small - it was almost like being in a fish nursery with the tiny fish
in and around the knobby coral.
PM
is the place to get groceries and the cruising guide says it has
inexpensive wine. We bought a couple of 1.5 liter bottles for
$20EC each (about $7.50 US). The day we went over to the store,
there was a
little regatta in progress using wooden island-built boats. 
They were
running multiple races with a modified Le Mans start. The crews would
be on the beach and someone would get on the PA
and say, "OK - let's
start a race!" Suddenly, boats were being pushed into the water and the
crews were alternately pushing and trying to get on board before the
water got too deep. We coudn't really see the race course, but the
finish was also on the beach. Now these boats have a keel, but no
ballast except for human ballast that runs out on boards. As a result,
the boats can easily swamp if a gust of wind comes up or the movement
of boards and people do not coincide with the heeling of the boat
during a tack (change of direction).
June 1 - June 9: Tyrrel
Bay, Carriacou, Grenada. You say Grenay-da, I say Grendah-da. We
have moved into the country of Grenada, our last country before 
heading
off to the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The days have been hot and
the nights have been a bit less. We are running the fan at night for
the first time. We are enjoying some quiet time here with other
cruisers in this protected bay on the west side of Carriacou.
What this really means is we haven't done much in the way of
exploring this island, but hope to in the fall. There are some nice
spots to snorkel/dive and we hope to have our own scuba tanks in the
fall, so we can dive with a little less effort (and expense!).
The picture to the left shows one of our cruiser friends, Paul Parnham, who also happens to be a magician. He is performing an
incredible and unbelievable card trick for some of the locals.
The end of the trick is where Paul pulls out the card selected AND
signed by the lady from a hidden compartment in his wallet. The guy
leaning over the rail finally said that he knew how it was done. Susan
took a picture of the card and it was sent wirelessly to a small
printer in Paul's wallet. Paul looked at the guy and said, "Wow, you're
right!"
Both the people and the dogs are friendly here. We went on a walk and were adopted by two dogs which we named "Spot" and "Sandy". The next day, they found us on the beach again and responded to their names (okay maybe they responded to "come!" and "NO!").
with our 
Australian friends, Peter and Nani on Joule,
an Island Packet 40' monohull. Sailing this way is a lot of fun because
you have more to look at than the sea. Also, you can take pictures of
the other boat and exchange them when you get to the anchorage - now we
have pictures of TabbyCat actually sailing in the Caribbean (we have
tons of her sitting at anchor). Along the way Susan caught a
nice sized tuna using our yo-yo reel with a blue and green silicon
squid. Mike was at the helm and had just said, "Fish!" because there
were a bunch of large flying fish out in front of us. All of a sudden
the yo-yo started spinning and jumped off of the winch. In a split
second, we both yelled "FISH!!"
and Susan grabbed the yo-yo before it became a fish fashion
accessory. As she reeled in the line and Mike slowed the boat, the
line went slack
and we thought we
had caught another fresh bunch of seaweed, until the
last 10 feet, then the tuna started fighting. A couple of more pulls
and Susan introduced the tuna to a water-free world, landing it in the
dinghy. Before cutting it up into steaks, Susan got out the tape and
measured the catch at 17.5". Peter and Nani joined us for tuna on the
barbie for dinner - SWEET! More Grenada! 
Grenada has perhaps the friendliest people we have met in the Caribbean. 
They
love their island and are pleased to have the chance to share it with
visitors. The island was devasted by Hurricane Ivan in 2005 nearly
wiping out the nutmeg industry. Grenada had been the world's largest
producer of nutmeg and mace. Mace is a red, lace-like covering on
the outside of the nutmeg nut. Today, there is only one nutmeg
cooperative running part-time (there were six full-time cooperatives
previously). Another industry that was affected was cocoa aka CHOCOLATE!! There
used to be a tour of the chocolate factory, but no longer. We were able
to see a "sorting" facility. The demand is so great that very little
sorting is done today.
Susan's
sister Fae and her friend 
Lynn Webb were able to visit for a few days.
This was a repeat visit to TabbyCat for Lynn who spent time with us in the Bahamas in 2007. While they were here we went on an island tour and also arranged for a snorkeling trip to see some really cool underwater statues. There was also a rumor that we would see monkeys, but alas, we saw none. Had we seen any, we would have discovered that monkeys are great performers (or maybe they are just set in their ways). For example, they love it if you bring them banannas or little hard candies, but they MUST be in a peel or wrap. If properly offered, the peel/wrapping comes off as quickly as their nimble fingers can go. Otherwise, your offering is discarded and the monkeys disgustedly move on to perform for the next person.
The island tour was an ALL-DAY deal run by a nice man named Cutty. Cutty has realized that he can make pretty good (not great), steady money by catering to the cruisers with tours and taxi service during the season. On top of that he really knows his stuff, so the tour is pretty interactive, fun and tasty. We also teamed up with fellow cruisers Jim on "Bees Knees" and Rob from "Changing Spots". In a "small world" demonstration, we had previously met Jim in Oriental, NC. On the tour, we went all over the beautiful island and had some really nasty rum at a distillery where they still make rum the "old fashioned way" - ugh!
The snorkeling trip was a hoot! We talked to a few friends about going via dinghy, then we realized with Fae, Lynn, Mike & Susan, plus all of our stuff, the 2 mile trip would be better on "TabbyCat". The next thing you know, we are getting calls from folks we don't know saying, "I heard...do you have room for two more?" Suddenly we had 14 people onboard and it was more than a quick snorkeling trip, it was a PARTY! A few pics below show a glimpse into a super fun time.
The Statues
