Escape from Gustavia

Our departure from the mooring field in Gustavia was fortunately much
less dramatic than our entrance! After 4 days of being pushed around
by north wind and seas, combined with 8 hours a day of jack hammers on
the construction site about 50 yards away we were ready to get out of
town. But we'll miss the bakery!

We're now anchored at Anse de Colombier on the NW corner of St.
Barths. We have beautiful clear water, some good marine life (Fay saw
a manta ray take fight out of the water) and had a nice sunset.
Unfortunately the north seas are wrapping all the way around to the NW
opening to this little bay and we're rolling around quite a bit.

We're out of WiFi range now so no internet and not much email. We'll
catch up with everyone when we get to Antigua next week.

We're expecting to meet some friends here tomorrow afternoon, and a
second boat of friends arrives on Friday. Could be pretty social for
a few days!

Cheeseburger in Paradise?

Le Select is widely known to be the inspiration for Jimmy Buffett's
"Cheeseburger in Paradise", both the song and the chain of burger
joints. We had a burger there today and I'd have to say that Jimmy
took some artistic license. Great bar and a fun place (I was even
greeted by the owner - Marius), but the burger wasn't in the same
league as the ones we had at the Fat Virgin on Virgin Gorda.

More pictures and recipes

If the uploading cooperates, I've added pictures of the BVIs, St. Martin and St. Barths in Where we've been. Fay also added sections on Bermuda and the BVIs to Locavore.

St. Barths

After a short and bumpy passage from St. Martin we arrived in Gustavia
on Wednesday afternoon. We had a thrilling time getting ourselves
settled here in the fore/aft moorings that are fairly tightly packed.
In the process we dumped the dinghy in the water (upside down) and
clipped another boat's pulpit which will cost us a little to repair
But we finally ended up with a great spot, moored at the far end of
the harbor with a short ride to shore and very protected from the NE
wind and seas that we're getting today and tomorrow.

St. Barths seems to be a little piece of the French riviera in the
Caribbean. Excellent food and wind, haut couture shopping, and pretty
expensive. We're pacing ourselves on the food and wine and avoiding
the shopping!

Correction!

It turns out the dinghy was not vandalized. Fay figured out this
morning that the dinghy slipped under the dock and the waves pounded
the engine up into the underside of the dock creating the damage.

This is a relief and we now leave Grand Case with a very positive
feeling.

First vandalism

We were told to expect it, but it's still a surprise. The dinghy was
chained to the dinghy dock in Grand Case while we had a delightful
lunch. Fay's back has been in a lot of pain so we went for a large
lunch and planned to skip dinner. We had a great meal with a
wonderful bottle of Pouilly Fume, then bought some groceries and
returned to the dinghy.

There we found that someone had pounded our little 2hp engine with
rocks, particularly the fuel cap. It's not clear if they stood on the
dock and threw the rocks, or got into the dinghy and pounded on it. A
few rocks were found in the bottom of the dinghy.

The case is now thoroughly scarred and the fuel cap is pretty beat
up. It still ran ok so it seems like they didn't dump anything in the
tank. I guess that's why it's called senseless violence, it makes no
sense.

Gourmet cruising

Since Monday we've been anchored off Grand Case, just a couple miles
northeast of where we were in the marina at Marigot for the first
night of carnival. Grand Case modestly claims to be the gourmet
capital of St. Martin. And in case you didn't get the memo, they have
a web site to confirm that at www.grandcase.com. And on top of that,
they close the main (only?) street every Tuesday night and flood it
with bands and peddlers. Last Tuesday was very nice, packed with
people (mostly local), music, lots of artists and general merriment.
We've eaten two meals in the restaurants here and they were both
excellent. The airport is right behind the town so a few commercial
flights and private planes make a pretty low approach over the
anchorage; the first plane was the largest and a real surprise! We
roll a bit in the anchorage, but it's a nice spot overall. We'll
probably be here a few more days.

Carnival in St. Martin

Carnival started today in St. Martin. A big parade weaved through Marigot with dancers, floats and big trucks with bands in the back, each with the volume set to 11.

Surprisingly, it's only 8:30 and things have quieted down, all we hear now is the roar of a few motorcycles being revved up.

Fay got some nice pictures, like this dancer.

A good baguette!

The ride to St. Martin was fast and a little bumpy. We let go of the
mooring at the Bitter End about 9:30pm and very slowly and carefully
found our way out of the north sound into 20 knots of true wind. We
took it slow and easy around Necker Island (owned by Richard Branson),
then double reefed and took off for St. Martin at 8+. We had 20-25 knots of 
apparent wind on the beam most of the trip, then it moved to about 60
degrees apparent for the last two hours and we punched into very
confused seas as the north wind blew into the prevailing easterly
seas. We arrived in Marigot Bay about 7:30am for an average of a
little over 8 knots.

The med mooring was in Fay's words "like pushing a fat lady into a size 6".  In any case, Fay saved our lifelines with the timely application of a fender to the anchor of the adjacent 60' motor yacht.  Then she promptly found a very nice baguette!

As a cold front moves through it's overcast with 20-30 knots in the slip here at the Marina Ft. Louis so we're catching up on email and chores. Tonight we find a nice bistro or restaurant for dinner.

Sooner not later

To avoid the bigger seas and take full advantage of the winds, we're
departing tonight and should be in St. Martin Wednesday afternoon.

Move down island?

A cold front is coming through today, with a big low up north around
Bermuda. The wind has gotten very light and is predicted to even come
from the west which is unusual where the trades usually blow 20kn from
the east. We may use this opportunity to depart the BVIs and make the
trip to St. Martin tomorrow night. Our current hesitation is that the
big low up north is supposed to build up some very large seas from the
north and Marigot Bay at St. Martin is not well protected from the
north.

Snow Day

Well not exactly, but it was poor weather and cool.

Michelle visited last week and we showed her a whirlwind tour of the
BVIs. Then it was back to Nanny Cay to pick up some parts. Leaving
Nanny Cay we got thoroughly doused with rain (just like the last time
we departed there), but it was only a taste of what was coming.

The forecast was for lots of wind and it held true. We no sooner got
over to our anchorage on Norman Island and got the anchor down than
the sky grew dark, the wind whipped up, and it stayed that way the
rest of the day and night. We're used to squalls coming through, but
it's unusual to see a gray rainy sky for an entire afternoon. It's
still windy this morning, but the sun is around. Time to put the
parts to work with a few repairs and a few improvements.

Friends are visiting next week, bringing us mail and some supplies
from California. Beyond that we're beginning to plan our move south,
looking at where we would go in St. Martin, St. Barts and Antigua/
Barbuda.

The Big Stupid

We have a little 2hp outboard which we use for small trips. It's
light, easy to mount, sips the fuel and is a good alternative to our
15hp which does the long distance trips. One reason that it's so
light is that it has no shifter, it's always in forward gear. As soon
as you start up, it goes forward! This means you want to have it
pointed in the right direction before you pull the cord. So if you
start it up when you're still tied to the dock or boat, you drive
right back into the boat or dock.

Two days ago, on a mooring at the Bitter End I jumped in the dinghy,
cast off the painter, gave the cord a pull... and nothing. I looked
down and the "key", the kill switch key, wasn't there. And since it
was a short, quick trip I also had no oars, or anything else. As I
quickly drifted away from boat I yelled for Fay, who came up from
below and quickly figured out the problem.

I realized that I was drifting fast and would soon be outside the
mooring field and headed for "South Marine", the shore where all the
stuff that comes loose at the Bitter End soon drifts to a new home.
While Fay was getting her suit, fins, mask, and the key, time was
passing. I decided to swim for it. I jumped out of the dinghy and
managed to tow it to a mooring and tied off the painter.

Fay then swam from the boat to the dinghy, with the kill switch key,
and saved me. We motored back to the boat, Fay got off, and I
proceeded to the dinghy dock.

Next time I'll make sure I have the kill switch key before I cast off!

Fixing the boat in paradise

That's the cruiser saying, it's fixing your boat in exotic locations.
That was a lot of our last week. We were 3 days in Nanny Cay while a
refrigeration technician tried to improve the performance of our
freezer. He tried everything, but it doesn't chill any better than
before.

So we got out of Nanny Cay and spent a couple of days anchored off
Norman Island which was much more pleasant. We really enjoy the
anchorage over there with a snorkeling reef right off the back of the
boat. On that small reef we've seen turtles, lots of snapper,
sergeant majors, an assortment of wrasses and reef fish, and for
toppers, Fay saw a 10' nurse shark (friendly kind).

But we moved to the Bitter End yesterday to pick up parts for the
autopilot, and misc other pieces that Lyman Morse sent us. Today I
fixed the autopilot, at least I hope I did. The rudder reference unit
failure was a intermittent, but mostly not working and now it seems to
be working. We'll give it a good test on Tuesday. I also got out the
vice for the first time and twisted and pounded a chain hook back into
shape (I bent it during a midnight anchoring exercise - another story).

I did find out that the old New Morning is on the cover of the
February issue of Sailing magazine. And a picture of us may be on the
Cruising World web site in the next 5-10 days, possibly followed by a
full article in the May issue.

One of these days I need to post some new pictures and update the
systems information, particularly the electrical story now that we're
getting some experience off the grid with the wind generator and solar
panels.

Tomorrow Michelle arrives and we'll circumnavigate the BVIs with her
next week. We'll see the Baths, Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke (and
probably Foxy's), Green Cay and Marina Cay.

It's Superbowl time soon, and Fay is from Pittsburg so it's a big day.

Back to the trailer park

We spent the last week buddy boating with Bob and Kathy Wellen. We
spent time in Benures Bay, Green Cay, Monkey Point and Marina Cay. A
good week of snorkeling, dominoes, bubble pool (on Jost van Dyke), and
watched the inauguration. Fay and Bob also went for a dive and saw
the worlds largest lobster, but couldn't figure out how to get it home
for dinner!

Along the way we broke a few things and a few things decided to quit
working. So we've retreated to Nanny Cay for a good internet
connection, a refrigeration technician and a location where we can
receive some parts from the states. The stop here also let's us catch
up some administrative items.

Inauguration day

The last 10 days have been pretty hectic. We arrived back in BVI on
Saturday and the crew from Lyman Morse arrived on Sunday. Mon-Thurs
they stayed onboard and attended to a long list of maintenance items.
We're thankful for their visit and all the little things that are now
working so much better.

Friday and Saturday we spent cleaning up the boat and then moved off
the dock (with it's unlimited power and water) and out to a mooring.
Saturday and Sunday we also got a chance to get back into the water,
swimming laps around the boat and also attending to a few underwater
maintenance items like cleaning the heat exchangers for the
refrigerators and scrubbing a little grass off the waterline that
accumulated while we were in California.

Then yesterday we took off to finally explore the BVIs, buddy boat
style, with our friends Bob and Kathy Wellen. After a quick stop in
Road Town for some provisioning, we're now anchored off Norman Island.

Fortunately Bob and Kathy have satellite TV so we're getting ready to
watch the inauguration. We're looking forward to the change!

In the words of Leon Russell

Well I hope you understand

I [We] just had to go back to the island

And watch the sun go down

Hear the sea roll in

[We'll] I'll be thinking of you

We've had a great time being home for the last few weeks. Michelle's graduation was perfect and seeing everyone was wonderful (thank you for that great party on the 23rd!). And then there were doctor and dentist visits, financial institutions and all manner of administrative and bureaucratic activities. All intermixed with way too many good meals in fine restaurants, complemented with the odd bottle of wine or two.

But now, as the song says, we just have to go back to the island...

Here we come Vera!

Robert Perry in Sailing magazine

Robert Perry, a renowned yacht designer in his own right, has written a brief review of New Morning in the December issue of Sailing magazine.

New Home page

If you came straight to the blog, check out the new home page. Right up there near the left corner, click Home.

More photos

By popular demand - more photos. First I added a couple new shots that Billy Black took as we were departing Newport. Next are the pictures from our passage from Bermuda to the BVIs. And finally a whole bunch of pictures of New Morning that Billy shot last summer showing various details of the exterior, some really luscious shots of the interior, and a variety of shots while sailing.