11-02-2010
Grenada to Mustique
We arrived on Grenada after a 93 nautical mile motorsail against wind, waves and current. I attempted sailing at first, but when the current was so strong that I was only able to sail at a whopping 1.5 knots and in a very unfavorable direction, I said "forget it", fired up the iron topsail and set a direct course. We pulled into Prickly Bay shortly after sunrise. I have to admit that it was with a huge sigh of relief that we did so. Sailing against the wind, waves and current in the windiest month is no joke and I'm actually a bit proud to have pulled it off. Now I was in Grenada, ready to do my third, and for the moment, last charter of this Caribbean stay.
I had a few things to take care of before the charter guests arrived. The boat was in a bit of a mess after 2 weeks of relatively hard sailing.
First and foremost I had to celebrate my birthday. The celebration was split in two. On the first day (Sunday), when both Claudia and I were dead tired, we went and saw Avatar. I saw it in 2D and can only imagine what 3D will look like. It was AMAZING. I loved it from beginning to end.
On the following day, which was my actual birthday, we had a nice dinner at "De big fish".
Besides celebrating I had my hands full fixing and buying things for the boat. My top priority was fixing the broken sail. In the end the best option wasn't repairing it, because it was a bit too damaged, so instead I switched all the sail hardware from that sail to my brand new Quantum sail. I'll get the old sail repaired on Bequia, so that I have a back-up sail for the Pacific. I also had my gennakers inspected and repaired, so that they would be ready for down-wind sailing.
In addition I bought a new bridle. For those unsure what a bridle is, it is what you use to distribute the load your anchor chain is holding from your windless (anchor winch) to your boat. It also acts as a shock absorber, because there is stretch in the nylon rope, so it takes away the pulls you get if you're just on anchor chain. I bought a 1" (24mm) 3-strand nylon rope that I will use, together with metal thimbles and new shackles. When I assemble it, you'll be able to lift my boat up by the bridle.
I also installed two inspection hatches underneath the nacelle between the trampolines, because I need to re-attach the trampoline tracks, because they had been screwed in with normal screws instead of bolts with washers. With the track firmly attached I can finally change the trampolines.
Claudia did a great job cleaning up and organizing the interior, so that I could focus on the boat.
Time flew and before I knew it, it was time to meet and greet the new charter guests.
I met my new charter guests: Therese, Elisabeth, John Helmer and Andreas by De Big Fish. After dropping off the luggage onboard we headed straight to the supermarket to provision. It took a few hours and when we were finished, it looked like we had purchsed the entire store. It certainly felt that way when we put all the bags into the dinghy.
Claudia made dinner and then we relaxed onboard, chatting and getting to know each other. It was nice to have charter guests all around my age.
The next morning Andreas and I picked up the mainsails from Turbulence, the sail loft that was helping with my sails. We had to help fit the battens, which turned out to be a Hell of a job, because the batten-pockets were so tight, due to the sail being brand new. We needed to saw all the battens to make them fit, but in the end we were in business. I was VERY happy I tried the battens for the first time at the sail loft and not on the boat.
When we returned to the boat, we immediately headed over to the fuel dock, before we exited Prickly Bay and sailed to Dragon Bay. It was actually pretty cool to be sailing 5 - 6 knots in 12 - 14 knot winds on just the genoa. On the way there I saw that a big Royal Caribbean ship was docked in St. George's and to my surprise it was Serenade of the Seas. I hailed them on the VHF and I was happy to find out that Stig Nilsen (a good friend of my father) was Captain onboard. They were casting off when I got a hold of him, but we agreed to meet up on the 17th, when we will both be in St. Lucia.
In Dragon Bay we anchored close to shore and went snorkeling. John Helmer and I swam around the point and ended up in the largest school of fish I've ever swam in. We were surrounded on all sides by millions of fish. Right before sunset both Andreas and John Helmer helped me mount the new sail ... and it looks magnificent.
When we lifted anchor the next morning we were planning to anchor right off Carriacou, but when we sailed past Sand Island it was too beautiful not to stop there, so we dropped the sails in a hurry and anchored as close to the beach as we dared before we hopped in to enjoy the water. It was a beautiful little sand island with nothing else but ... sand.
The next day we continued our journey and after a nice sail dropped anchor just off Clifton on Union Island, which is the southern clearance port for the group of islands named St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
We went ashore in Clifton, to clear in, buy some more food and to have a look around. Our original plan was to spend the evening ashore, having a nice dinner there followed by a couple of drinks. This did not materialize, because we returned to the boat, ate a little snack, started having a couple of beers and decided to play Munchkin and well ... time flew and before we knew it, we had downed a bunch of beers, a number of Cuba Libres, even a few Vodka Red Bulls and were dancing swing in the cockpit... Ah, good times.
The next morning was a very late and slow one. When we finally got up and got going we hoisted anchor and moved 5 nm to Tobago Keys. Heaven on earth. We went snorkeling and saw many sea turtles, sting rays, as well as tons of different colorful fish. The next morning we hoisted anchor and motored for 30 minutes over to Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau, but after dropping anchor we agreed thatthere was a bit too much surge there, so we were dancing too much around on anchor. I put everyone except for Claudia and myself ashore on the beach, so that they could explore, while we moved the boat to Saline Bay on the other side of the island.
A walk to the top of the island was in order, followed by a sunset drink at Robert Righteous Reggae Bar. After the drink we had a very enjoyable fishmeal at the restaurant at the top of the island, before we retired for the evening.
The next morning we lifted anchor early and sailed to Canuan, where we ate a good lunch onboard before we walked up and down the main street in town. Happy that we'd set our feet ashore, we set sail for Mustique.
Mustique is easily my favorite island in the Grenadines. The pace is slow, the island is beautiful and most importantly, there are no crowds there. It's so nice to walk to a beach and have it to yourself.
We spent the first night on Mustique on anchor, because we got in too late to get a mooring. Instead of going ashore, we sat up late playing Texas Hold 'em and enjoying a beer or two and possible even a Rum and Coke.
The next evening we went exploring the island, before we all put on our nicest and headed in to Basil's Bar to enjoy the grand finale of the Mustique Blues Festival. It was a hopping night and we greatly enjoyed the drinks, the atmosphere, the music and the dancing. In short it was a great evening that made for a late morning the next day.
A lazy morning led into a nice day walking along the beaches on the Western side of Mustique before we relaxed for the remainder of the day.
Tomorrow we'll head to Bequia, before we take off for St. Lucia, where the charter will end on the 16th. Time is flying. It's funny to think that in 3 1/2 weeks I'll be in Panama meeting my brother and the rest of the Pacific crew. Great times are being had right now and I have so much to look forward to as well. I can't complain!
28-01-2010
Sailing through Venezuela
The stay on Las Aves was sensational. It had everything a good anchorage should have: A deserted island with a beautiful beach, nice scenery, stunning sunsets and spectacular snorkling.
We had made a deal with Ian and Westa, so the first evening we enjoyed a fantastic dinner onboard Marsha Claire. The dinner consisted of a thick lentil soup and a Thai curry. Add beers and good company and it made for a great evening.
The following day Claudia and I went exploring, dinghying around the nearby islands, going for a nice walk on one of them and snorkling along the other. In the evening we hosted Ian and Westa for a tasty chicken soup followed by a Rumanian cabbage pork dish. It went down like a house on fire, luckily we had several beers to hose it down.
The next morning we woke up to find that wind hadn't really subsided, wo we were still looking at 24+ knot winds on the nose, for the trip eastwards. We did the only right thing: We waited till it started decreasing as per the forecast. When it dipped below 20, we lifted anchor and set sail. Our intended destination was Isla la Blanquilla, but the wind wanted it otherwise. The wind was simply too strong and too much on the nose for us to make any sensible headway towards it. It was hard sailing in decent sized waves, with true wind peaking around 26 knots and a not of head current, all coming straight from East, which was exactly where we wanted to sail. After sailing for 2 full days and 2 long nights, we abandoned the plan to sail directly to Blanquilla and changed course for Isla la Tortuga, where we anchored off Cayo Herrandura, a tiny island 1 nautical mile northwest of Tortuga. There we enjoyed a calm day of walking on the beach, chatting to neighboring yachts and replenishing ourselves with good food and plenty of rest. In the evening we even squeezed in a movie: Crocodile Dundee. It was perfect.
Our rest was disturbed several times in the course of the night by the chain hook dropping off the chain. I at first thought it was caused by us anchoring in very shallow water (about 2 meter depth) and the chain hook falling off when the bridle hit the sand bottom. After reattaching the hook 3 times, every two hours, it was time to lift anchor at 5 am and set sail for Blanquilla. We left Cayo Herrandura in pitch blackness and set course for Blanquilla, but again the winds wanted otherwise. I tried to fire up an engine to see if it would help our course, but it was evident that it was too much into the wind for us to get there without using a lot of fuel and taking a real beating in doing so. Instead we tacked, turned off the engine and shot southeast towards Isla Margarita on an increasingly improving tack. We enjoyed a great day and night of sailing pulling into Porlamar with the rising sun.
Porlamar is the only safe anchorage on Margarita. Though after speaking to some people on land I question how safe it really is, because people have been robbed at gunpoint on their boats right there in the anchorage. We spent the day relaxing, eating and gathering strength, before we cast off for Los Testigos. My original plan to sail along Penisula de Paria along the Venezuelan coastline and then tacking when I got the wind from a favorable angle, was quickly discarded when I spoke to some seasoned yachties in Porlamar, who strongly advised against it. Basically if I wanted to meet pirates, get robbed or shot up, that was the way to go. They recommended motorsailing straight to Testigos, which was exactly what we did. The trip took just over 11 hours, motorsailing straight into the wind, waves and current. Otto performed like a champion, which he has been doing ever since I fixed him, giving us time to enjoy the trip there.
Los Testigos was exactly what we had hoped: A handful of beautiful islands, with two scattered fishing communities and a coast guard station. We checked in with the coast guard, who gave us 48 hours there, before we will have to push on. Checking in with armed guys who only speak spanish, when you don't is a challenge, but a big smile and a sense of humor is luckily contagious.
After the obligatory rest time and delicious lunch, we went exploring. There was one mountain on the island and we set out to climb it. It proved to be a nice walk to the top, walking through an arid landscape surrounded by cacti, geccos and goats. The view from the top was stunning.
In the evening we ate a delicious pasta meal and watched "Catch me if you can", before we hit he sack. We were thoroughly tired after not only a week of full-on sailing, but also the trek had tired us. Sleep came easy.
The next day we enjoyed a spectacular breakfast, courtesy of Claudia, before we went exploring once again. This time we went over to have a look at some sand dunes and swim in the ocean on the windward side.
After yet another nice and relaxing day it was time to hit the sack early to be ready for the last 90 nautical mile stretch to Grenada. It would be the toughest stretch, but at least we were rested and very motivated to get to Grenada for some proper R&R before the charter starting on Feb 3rd.
21-01-2010
Otto is back
The sun had just dipped under the horizon when Claudia released the mooring lines and I reversed one engine and put the other one forward, spinning us on the spot and turning our aft end to Bonaire.
This was to be the big test to see how things would work. We have a total of 390 nm to go to Grenada, but with several stops on the way. First leg to Las Aves is 35 nm if you go directly, but with the wind, waves and current on the nose, it will be more like 70 - 80nm, due to the tacking up and down to make any headway.
I was nervous to see how the Furuno autopilot would work. I had done everything I could do: Changed the CPU unit and the hydraulics pump and also bled the system properly. In addition I had lengthened and properly aligned the rudder indicator and drilled new holes and properly attached the hydraulic ram.
The wind was forecast to hit a maximum of 24 knots. On the nose that can be quite severe, but it was worse for the following days, so it was worth braving these "milder" conditions to get on the way. What we met was different: We had true winds in the range of 24 - 28 knots with gusts up to 30. The apparent wind hit 34 a few times, which was unpleasant. Waves quickly built and we were soon pushing through 3 meter waves, short in interval. A 1 knot head current didn't make it better. In short, the conditions were unpleasant and on any day they would have been a challenge for an autopilot. That's why it was awesome to see Otto, my trusted autopilot return in form. He slogged through everything and did so unrelenting. It was a huge comfort and I was so happy to have him back on my team again. What was more pleasant was that I went down in pump size and the new pump uses less amps, so not only does it work better, but it uses less amps. A classic win - win situation.
Claudia and I divided the shifts so that one person sat at the helm montioring the situation, while the other slept in the cockpit. It means that you always have the other at hand if something develops. The downside is that it's difficult to get proper rest, because you are somewhat exposed to the elements sleeping in the cockpit.
The wind and waves made for a wet ride and we were both drenched when we finally got to Las Aves after 13.5 hours of pushing through the relatively tough conditions. Having said that we sailed the whole way here and our biggest problem wasn't moving forward, but stopping African Innovation from going too fast. With the big waves hitting in short interval, it really stops you, so if you sail too fast, it puts a lot of strain on the boat. We sailed with a double reefed main and a double reefed genoa, but I still had to work very hard to limit our speed to 7.5 knots by depowering the main and steering a bit too high to the wind.
We were happy when we pulled into the tiny bay between Isla Palmeras and Isla Ramon which is part of a island and reef group known as Aves de Sotavento, which again is part of Las Aves. Ian and Westa, having sailed the day before us, were already there with their boat Marsha Claire. When we put down the sail I noticed that the mainsail had gotten a tear in it, below the second reefing point. It's a shame, because now we'll have to sail with a double reefed main until we can get it fixed on Grenada. We'll do fine though ... African Innovation is fast and I was already contemplating moving the first reef up to the third reefing point, to be able to reduce the main even further. The tear won't have a huge impact on us, because going upwind against the strong tradewinds, waves and current I doubt I will want to sail with a full main.
After we had dropped anchor, Ian dinghied over and welcomed us to Venezuela with a couple of beers. While he was over, the Coast Guard stopped by to get our details. Unlike the Coast Guard visit I endured on Bonaire, this was very friendly and they were all smiles and happy faces, despite them not speaking English and none of us speaking Spanish. We still managed to fill out the paperwork and everything was fine and dandy.
When Ian left we did the only proper thing to do after a night sail: We hit the sack to catch up on some much needed sleep. The trip across had been tough, but it would have been a much more difficult journey if Otto hadn't been back.
20-01-2010
Progress
I enjoyed my last night alone onboard, before the next day started flat out. I had Claudia joining later in the day and had some things to take care of first, because the following day I would leave Curacao with a charter going to Bonaire and the plan was not to return until after I'd been to Grenada.
My charter guests for the trip to Bonaire were Hans and Dayenne (a super nice couple I knew from Aruba), together with his mother, a friend of his mother and Reggie (the man running things for Hans' company on Curacao).
I finished off some work on the boat, before Reggie drove Keld and I to the airport to pick up Claudia. It ended up being a hilarious wait, because Keld shared his view of different boat owners. Halberg Rassy owners coming out in a very unflattering light.
Claudia has been a super help since the second she stepped onboard. The boat has needed a woman's touch for quite some time and things are already looking up.
The rest of the day vanished in various projects, before we went to happy hour with Keld.
The following morning was flat out cleaning the boat and getting ready for the mini-charter. We were just about ready when they got here, but Andy (the dinghy repair man) had not returned my dinghy, so Westa had to assist in ferrying them out to me. I then went with Reggie and checked everyone out of Curacao, before at 2pm we were finally assembled onboard. Andy returned my dinghy and he had done an awesome job. The dinghy is sturdy, light and she looks nice, so I'm very happy. He delivered what promised, so I can warmly recommend Andy Carter "the fiberglass man" on Curacao to anyone.
We set sail around 3 pm and due to darkness falling only made our way to Klein Curacao and spent the night there, before we started early the next day and had an awesome sail to Bonaire.
On Bonaire we enjoyed a meal in the evening at It Rains Fishes. This was my third meal there and it didn't disappoint. Everyone was very happy.
The next day we went exploring the island, looking at the salt flats and hanging out on the windsurfers beach.
They left on the Monday and flew back to Aruba and Curacao after a very nice mini-charter. I hope to see Hans and Dayenne on my deck in the near future.
The next two days were spent fixing the autopilot and fingers crossed it now works. I haven't been able to do proper sea trials, but after buying a new rudder indicator arm and switching out the hydraulic pump and bleeding the system it no longer throws the warning it did before and it was able to hold a course. Hopefully everything is groovy. I was proud to have fixed it without anyone elses help.
I also got a fridge mechanic onboard. He came onboard to just refill gas, but ended up fixing the leak and now my fridge should be 100%. Judging by the amp draw it is doing infinitely better than before. Fixing the hole wasn't as straight forward as you would think and he needed 2 other guys and a welding machine onboard, but in the end everything is good.
We were supposed to sail with Westa and Ian to Las Aves, but we ran out of time and were unable to shop before the stores closed, so we postponed a day, while they sailed there.
Instead we enjoyed a very nice meal in the evening, celebrating a working fridge and a fully operational autopilot. It warranted digging into the wine cellar for a nice bottle of red.
The plan is to cast off at around 6pm tonight, to do a night sail to Las Aves. It's ony about 35 nm over there, but with the wind on the nose it will easily be twice that with the tacking we'll need to do. The plan is to arrive tomorrow morning and enjoy those reefs and islands for a couple of days, before we sail on to La Blanquilla and finally Los Testigos, before we sail to Grenada. The aim is to be there at the end of the month. The next charter is starting on Feb. 3rd, so I have a bit of a buffer.
This is the last update before I get to Grenada, because there is nothing along the islands we sail on ... not even grocery stores, so we need to provision for the whole trip here on Bonaire. You should be able to track where I am by having a look at this site: SpotAdventures.
I gotta run ... paradise is calling.
13-01-2010
Ups and downs
Today is the last day I am alone on board the boat, hopefully for a long time. I'll get back to why later. First I want to look at how my time on Curacao has gone since the last charter was over.
When the family of 5 walked ashore, they gave me a few touching farewell presents. First of all they gave me a few different DVD's with fitting reasons why they were given to me. Then they gave me $100 to invest in fishing equipment, so that I can finally become a proficient fisherman. This should be a good match for me: I love eating fish, so now I can become good at catching them as well. It could also do wonders for my food budget. Lastly they gave me a nearly full 1.5 kg tin of peanuts, that they wished me good luck on finishing ... They had tried to polish it off, but hardly made a dent in it. I needed to provide pictures of not only finishing the peanuts, but also of the first time I fish with my own equipment, my first catch, the first time I gut a fish (something I need to learn) and naturally my first self caught meal.
With the boat to myself I immediately went to work ... Actually I didn't. I enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation, catching up on emails and doing as little as possible.
Then I went to work. My first task was the laundry bag. I had 16 kg of laundry: sheets and towels from the charter and my dirty clothes. I jammed it into my backpack and headed into the laundromat in town. While it is expensive for a laundromat, it's quick and my stuff always smells awesome when I leave there, because the ladies working there don't allow me to pour my own detergent, so they really pour it in and insist on fabric softener.
After laundry I met up with Ian and Westa and enjoyed a terrific cactus soup and fried fish lunch while catching up. They will hopefully come up to Spaanse Water (where I am anchored) before I sail to Bonaire. No matter what I look forward to sail with them to Venezuela.
Back on the boat, I started looking at the things I needed to address:
1. making a new bridle after my old one disintegrated on Klein Curacao
2. Repairing my autopilot
3. Fixing my delaminating dinghy
4. Fixing my fridge
5. Changing out my old trampoline with a brand new one
6. Fixing my broken pulpit seat
7. Sorting out my wind generator
8. Sourcing all the spare parts I need
So how have I done so far? Not too great to be honest. Mostly because all of them needed a bit of research before I could get cracking and you'd be amazed how much time research takes.
Do I have a bridle now? Yes a temporary one, because they didn't have the stainless steel thimbles I needed to make the new bridle chafe proof. They do have them on Bonaire, so the thimbles are waiting for me there, so that I can make the bridle then.
Repairing my autopilot. Wow ... I never thought it would be this difficult. A repairman had looked at it while I was off the boat on St. Thomas and his conclusion was that I needed a new motherboard and a new pump. I paid the Furuno repairman from Radio Holland on Curacao $250 to tell me exactly the same. Then I ordered $2000 in parts, only to find out that the repairman didn't have any idea about the autopilot, because I seriously knew more than him. He was on board for a few inconclusive hours today, spending more time on the phone with other repairmen, so that they could tell him what to do. It was frustrating, made more so by him being so big, that I had to do much of the work in confined places, because he just couldn't fit. In the end he had to throw in the towel and go home to try to figure out off Internet why he couldn't get the autopilot to work ... Needless to say it's frustrating when you get repairmen like that. So as of writing this I have all the parts on board, the new CPU is hooked up, but because he lacked connections he couldn't connect the new hydraulic pump and most importantly I don't have a functioning autopilot.
The one thing I have made proper progress on is my dinghy. I have given it to a specialist. The boatbuilder Andy Carter is stripping it down and taking care of the delamination. He's also strengthening it and if he does half as good a job as he says he will, my dinghy will rock ... it will also cost me dearly, but hey ... all in the spirit of boating, right? ... Having said that, I need a dinghy and the one I have will be restored back to its former awesomeness once Andy is done with it.
I am halfway there on my fridge. I found out that the thermostat wasn't properly connected, so I did that and plugged up the drainage hole in the bottom, hoping that it would be enough to sate the amp hunger, but it still didn't do the trick, because the fridge still drains around 7-8 amps per hour. Tomorrow I'm going to try to get a hold of a fridge mechanic, to see if he can refill it with gas, to see if that will do the trick.
I have all the parts needed to change my trampoline with the new one, except for a thin polyester line, so instead of finding another line, I've procrastinated and not done it, but once I get the polyester line I will do it... really ... I will ... seriously.
Together with Keld, who I'll talk more about soon, I attempted to reattach the pulpit seat. The problem is that two of the bolts can only be reached through a tiny inspection hatch. I can get my arm in, but then I can see in, because my arm fills the whole hatch. The bolt furthest away sits 92 cm away from the hatch. For me to reach it with my hand, I would have to be about 2.5 meters tall, in which case my arm probably wouldn't fit in through the hatch anyway, so I had to do all sorts of gaffataping and hoseclamping on tools to extend them. It didn't eliminate the problem of getting enough torque at that angle and hitting the bolt, screwing it through the deck and into the chair without dropping the bolt into the forward area, where it is impossible to retrieve it. Needless to say that's exactly what I did, so now I've delayed putting the pulpit chair back on again, until I can get a hatch installed that I can actually poke more than just my arm through. The plan is now to install an Armstrong hatch (ironic name all things considering) on Grenada that allows me to get my upper body into the forward area, so that I can attach the damned bolts to the pulpit chair and re-attach it once and for all.
The wind generator saga is long, painful and unproductive. The short of it is that my Airbreeze wind generator is a piece of shit that gives me less amps than possible to imagine, so I've been a "bit" unhappy with it. I am now trying to swap it for a new one and after a new row of emails with Southwest Windpower it looks like I might be allowed to do that. It means that I send the piece of shit back to them and they hopefully send me a piece of working sh.. windgenerator back. We'll see. I'm waiting on that final confirmation from them ... I have to admit that once I figured out how to email the CEO of their company, it really speeded up their response time ;-)
The last thing I've been working on is getting a lot of spare parts and thanks to Suzan at African Cats I'm doing really good in this regards. She has been a wizard in finding what I need, so when I get to Grenada I'm going to have a LOT of spare parts waiting for me. Spare parts that will be vital once I head into the Pacific.
So all in all I'm not doing too great on my list, but I'm getting there.
I have made a great new friend: Keld from the boat aptly named "Freedom". He's from Copenhagen and is a retired UN pilot (used to fly Hercules airplanes into every horrible place they were involved: Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, etc. Pretty much if there has been a war, he has been there. He's been a great help to me and a lot of fun to be around. I'd like to think that the help has been mutual, because I've helped him with some technical software related stuff, but truth be told, between the great meals I've had on his boat and all the help he's given me on mine, I really owe him. Hopefully I'll catch back up with him when I head to Panama.
I've also been working on renewing the Fastcat website together with Kely. When I say I have ... I mean she has, with input from me. It's not ready to be launched yet, but when the new site goes live, you'll know ... and it will be awesome.
Gideon has also been awesome with any questions I've had and we've had daily chats on Skype. I'm very excited about the launch of African eMotion. I've already told him that when I'm ready to upgrade from African Innovation, eMotion is the one I have my eyes on.
All right, this became a long one ... and one without pictures I'm sorry to say ... I need to remind myself to take more pictures. Now it's however time to hit the sack, because tomorrow is a brand new day. I have a new crew member joining me, so that will be fun and exciting. Claudia will be joining me for an undecided length of time, so now I no longer have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel ... well ... I still do, but now I can share the burden with someone else. But now it is bedtime! Good night!
06-01-2010
2nd Charter
The second charter has gone smoothly. After a great little stop on Klein Curacao, we hit Bonaire and ended up staying there for 5 days. My charter guests really enjoyed Bonaire. They rented a car for a couple of days and drove around getting properly familiar with the island. They also went Scuba diving and shopping, not to forget that they sampled different restaurants every night we were there. I joined them for 2 meals: On New Years Eve we enjoyed a very nice meal at an Argentinian steak house and January 2nd we hit up It Rains Fishes (where I ate on Christmas Eve). Both meals were excellent.
On the second to last day on Bonaire, we let go of the mooring and went for a little sail. Though they have been on 2 sail charters before, they haven't really learned how to sail, which was something I set out to change. I gave them a little introduction to sailing and proceeded to explain how it works (which honestly isn't that complex, I mean if I can learn it, anyone can ;-) Then we sailed around Klein Bonaire, hitting speeds up to 10 knots in winds just below 20 knots.
The next day we topped up the water tanks and sailed west to Klein Curacao. The wind was around 18-20 knots again, so we just unfurled the genoa and sailed on that doing 6.5 - 8 knots in a very relaxed way. We saw a few waves hitting well over 2 meters, but to us they were just an opportunity for a small surf. My charter guests enjoyed the remainder of the day on the beach, while I relaxed and read a book onboard.
After a swim and a some snorkeling the next morning, we set off for Curacao in around 16 knots of wind with smaller waves than the days before.
We sailed into Spaanse Water and found a nice anchoring spot in what they call section A in Caracasbaai. They had rented a car, so we jumped into that and headed into town and checked in to Curacao. I also made sure to bring their tickets, so that I could sign them off my crew list. When clearing in and out of countries, basically the only thing I can screw up, besides forgetting to clear in and out, is the crew list. If the crew list is wrong I am responsible for the people that "jumped ship". Needless to say I'm diligent when it comes to this. It's easy when you have a permanent crew, but with charter guests flying in and out, I need to devote a couple of brain cells to it.
Today they are cleaning out the boat and I will dinghy them ashore and I will have the boat to myself again.
I will however, not be idle: I have a long list of things to buy, repair and work on, so there will unfortunately be no rest for the wicked. I'll write more about what I'm working on in my next entry.
04-01-2010
Go West
The decision has been taken. I am not sailing back to Norway ... Not yet anyway ... I take that back. I am still sailing back to Norway, but instead of sailing home in an Easterly direction I'm doing it in a Westerly direction. I'm heading into the Pacific in other words. When I say Pacific I mean South Pacific: Galapagos, Marquesas, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, I think you get the picture.
The plan is to go through the Panama Canal in March and then shoot off for hidden atolls, spectacular beaches, deserted islands and so much more. The plan is to enjoy all the islands we make landfall on and then dodge the typhoon season, by spending the time from November till next April on New Zealand.
Right now we're putting together the team that we want to share the spectacular sailing and these fantastic destinations with. I'm working closely with Martin (my brother) on this, because it's important that the group dynamics for such a trip is excellent, if not conflict can quickly come knocking on the door.
In order to find people we're looking amongst people I know, friends of my brother and I have also posted notices on crewfinder and sorgenfri, to increase our chances of finding a dream team. So far I've received some excellent responses and we're already in a situation where we can pick people we think would add something to the team and be fun to hang our with.
I look forward to presenting the team here. The goal is to select the team within January, so that I can start assembling them after my February charter and head to Panama and enjoy the San Blas islands while we wait for our slot to go through the Panama Canal.
01-01-2010
Happy New Year
Part 1 (Written on the last day of 2009)
The last day of the year is always a day of reflection for me. It is a day I look back and remember the good and the bad times, the people I liked and loved ... and the people I wished would have a well deserved accident. It is also is a day when I get blindingly drunk and instead of waking up to the New Year with life-altering New Years resolutions, that I have no intention of keeping, I tend to wake up with a thundering hang-over. Will tomorrow be the same? Time will tell.
Looking back at 2009, I see a year filled with work, but in a very enabling way. I left my beloved boat in February to work for Royal Caribbean to make some much needed money, so that I could continue sailing afterwards.
Working on the Vision of the Seas was a lot of fun, rewarding on many levels and it gave me an opportunity to meet some truly extraordinary people like Kely (Paco), Wes, Francesca, Alison, Vinicius, Topi, Sebastian, Steve and Vanessa, Jennifer (Faust), Morten, Konstantin, Petar, Dubravko. When preparing to return to Royal Caribbean I enjoyed Ian and Lee’s generous hospitality and Katharina’s friendship on St. Maarten and while getting my C1/D Visa I had the huge Couchsurfing pleasure of meeting Vicky, Steve and Kim on Barbados. I hope I get to meet all of you again real soon.
I was also lucky enough to meet up with some old friends, largely thanks to the globetrotting. It was excellent to catch up with Naomi, Stein, Frode, Torstein, Peri, Helle, Andreas and Silje. It feels great to know that I have friends scattered all over the Globe.
2009 was a busy year when it comes to traveling. When I look at the list of countries I spent time in, it looks like I haven't worked at all, but only traveled: Antigua, Aruba, Barbados, Belgium, Bonaire, Curacao, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, France, Greece, Grenada, Holland, Israel, Malta, Martinique, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, UK and USA. I'm going to attempt to moderate myself next year.
Part 2 (Written on the first day of 2010)
Definitely hung over, but not too bad. The lumberjacks are leaving my head alone, but I feel like my head is occupying a hat 2 sizes too small. Thank God for refreshing swims in the ocean. They don’t cure it, but they make it more bearable. Bonaire put on a good show last night, so I was able to thoroughly enjoy the end of 2009.
How do I feel about the New Year? ... It’s a number thing. I don’t really care or notice a difference. I feel no sense of urgency to accomplish something grand. The only promice I did make, and here we go with New Year’s resolutions, is that I want to put down a 1000 words per day. Hopefully it’s not too ambitious. If it is, I’ll make it a lower number, but my point is to write every day and giving myself a word count goal will hopefully help.
Not a resolution, but a goal I also have is to spend more time with my family. In particular mom, dad and Martin. Hopefully I’ll see more of them than just a few days this year.
A lot of things depend on what I chose to do. Right now I’m supposed to sail back to Norway to return to school, but I’m very tempted to sail into the Pacific instead. Right now I’m 1/3 of the Way around the World and I hate turning back. Galapagos, Marquesas, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, etc. They’re all calling my name. Granted I know it’s a smart idea to return to school and get a proper education, not to mention that I don’t want to sail by myself and I can’t afford sailing around the World right now, but these are obstacles ... If I really want to do it, I know I‘ll find a way. We’ll see. I’ll make up my mind in the coming 2 months. I know that if I don’t do it now, I’ll do it somewhere down the line, but right now I’m so close that I can taste it.
To that end I have started looking for crew and have advertised on crewing sites and have some ideas. Hopefully some of you will have an idea or two as well, or even know someone that might be interested. My chief obstacle now is finding one or two people to do it with. If I find someone I can share the adventure with I’ll be very happy and I know it will push me straight into the Pacific. If I can’t, well then I’ll return home to university and start planning the next circumnavigation :-)
So where am I right now? Well, obviously Bonaire, but in my head? ... I’m in a good place. I’m happy to be where I am. The boat is keeping me very busy, because there’s a lot of things I need to fix and get working properly, but with a few, hopefully not too expensive steps, I should be in business. The boat is a fantastic home, with an unprecedented view and if I don’t like the neighbours, all I have to do is lift anchor and move. I continue meeting fantastic people on sailboats and when I was on Aruba I met and befriended Ian and Westa, a fantastic couple, that I hope to join forces with when I sail to the Venezuelan islands. I also met Greg and Emanuelle on both Bonaire and Curacao and hope to see more of them and their 3 kids if I shoot into the Pacific, like they are doing.
All in all I think 2010 is shaping up to be an exciting year, no matter if I sail home or into the Pacific. There are opportunities to be had, things to be seen, people to meet and places to explore, no matter where I go, so I am very happy.
I hope that you can say the same and that our paths will cross this year.
Now I need to dive into the water and cool down, because the heat is stifling. I received some snow filled pictures from and I can honestly say: I don’t miss it. The only place I’m happy to see ice is in my drinks.
Happy New Year! May 2010 be a real odyssey for all of us.
31-12-2009
Christmas spirit is upon us ... not really ...
After a very relaxing day it was nice to head ashore to our evening reservation at the aptly named, "It rains fishes" restaurant. Though their spelling might be questionable, their food wasn't. My charter guests treated me to an unbelievable Christmas Dinner.
I enjoyed a fantastic Tuna sashimi for appetizer and a stunning tuna steak as my main course. The tuna was so fresh I swear the waitress went fishing after she took our order. I'm not quite sure what I ordered for dessert, owing to Harald ordering a generous 3 bottles of wine for us after our Margarita aperitif ... so we got hammered ... and while I don't remember the dessert, I'm sure it was tasty. After dinner Margrete and Harald went back to the boat, while Torbjørn, Per Ove and I went bar hopping ... between the 2 bars that were open. We succeeded in getting even more animated before we returned to the boat at 3 am. The next day we counted our blessings that we stuck to beer after dinner and didn't delve into the spirit(s) World.
When we recovered the following morning, we sailed back to Klein Curacao and enjoyed a beautiful beach day. Well, some of us enjoyed it more than others. Torbjørn had a close encounter with a flying fish, of the in-your-face variety, so we had to stitch him up when got him back onboard, all bloodied and battle scarred. I have no doubt that he'll be the butt end of flying-fish jokes for the rest of his life.
After missing out on breakfast on Christmas Day, we made up for it, before we sailed to Fuik Baai, to enjoy a last evening there.
It was a night where we chilled out and desperately tried to polish off the remaining booze. It was a bit of a shock when we looked into the cooler and realized that their charter would be over tomorrow and there was still so much that had been left undrunk. It was also a night of creative photography ...
The light you see at the top of the mast is the moon.
The following morning, was spent cleaning the boat and getting ready for disembarking my fantastic first charter guests of this season. I was actually sad to see them go, because I had an excellent time and shared a very memorable Christmas with them. I already look forward to visiting them in Norway. Here are some more pictures taken while they were onboard.
And here is a little video I shot while feeding some dangerous piranhas.
The following shot will no doubt crack up all of us for years to come.
It is a picture of a Coast Guard vessel when we are moored off Bonaire. On the day Harald and I decided to explore the wonderful world of single malt whiskey, the Coast Guard decides to board us to: Practice a bit of White Rascism, treat Norwegians like criminals and tear my boat apart. If I hadn’t been in a stupendously good mood, I might have taken offence to them boarding with one hand on their guns, suggesting that Harald’s passport was fake and in general being bastards. I think they could tell that we had nothing to hide or fear and were too drunk to care, so in the end they just took pictures of our passports and left with big smiles on their faces.
Talking about their time onboard would not be complete without talking about the truly amazing steak dinner Harald made. It blew away every meal I had eaten the last year. Truly memorable.
When they disembarked I had exactly 24 hours to clean all the sheets, towels and linens and make the boat properly presentable, before my New Years Charter guests were due to arrive. This was the classic: so much to do, so little time.
At 3 pm the following day I was ready to welcome: Øivind, Sissel, Henrik, Andreas and Anne onboard ... a family of 5. They were all onboard with their baggage train and supplies just in time for the sun to dip below the horizon. The only minus was that we didn't have any bread or a dinner on board, so Øivind and Henrik went ashore in search of some take-out pizza and a loaf of bread to feed the hungry. They had made a few good calls in their provisioning, the key one being buying 2 cases of cold beer, so we were not left wanting while we waited for dinner.
The next morning Øivind and I shot ashore to check out of Curacao, buy some more food supplies and buy some spare parts. Basically I took advantage of them having a car and even invited Greg from the boat Merlin to enjoy the fact that we had a mode of transport we could load full of things we needed. Stops by Budget Marine and NAPA (after food shopping) ensured that the car was over-loaded when we rolled onto the dock.
Øivind returned the car while Greg and I ferried the supplies back to our respective boats. When Øivind returned we lifted anchor and motored over to Klein Curacao with the wind, waves and current on the nose. We arrived about 2 1/2 hours before sunset, giving them some time to enjoy the beautiful island.
The plan now is to lift anchor early tomorrow and shoot over to Bonaire to get a day there of “rest and recuperation” before we unleash ourselves on New Years.
A note to Harald: "Da hadde det vel vært godt med en kopp kaffe."
24-12-2009
Happy Heathen Holidays
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays
This fine Christmas morning myself and the rest of the charter gang, jumped in to the water for a Christmas picture. Nothing beats a nice morning swim followed by eggs and bacon. Life is Grand.
