Saturday, December 28, 2013

Grenada to Bonaire


Whew, we finally did it.....we left beautiful Grenada. I was beginning to think we never would leave. It is such a great place with so many activities and conveniences. Bittersweet to say goodbye!

In our last blog we expressed hope to spend Christmas in Cartagena. The weather did not cooperate but fingers crossed, we might make it by New Years.  Christmas will be in one of the ABC islands or traveling. We have to make the most of our opportunities as we get them.

Boy, Alibi is looking good these days. We spent about a week in the boat yard in Carriacou doing maintenance. She now has new dodger and bimini, fresh bottom paint, fresh boot stripe. We absolutely loved Carriacou Marine Services - ask us if you want more details. Great place!

Our latest travels included the longest passage for us to date. Bonaire is roughly 400 miles from Grenada and takes 2-3 days to make landfall. We are traveling with Celtic Rover to see the western side of the Caribbean. I have simplified it this way...we have spent the last several months on the French side so now we are going to the Spanish side of the Caribbean - lol.

Roxy turned nine on this trip. She got to see dolphins (which she loves) the afternoon before her birthday. She now has the rabies blood test to get her entry into some of the more restrictive countries. She is great on the boat but prefers smoother passages than this one. 

Only a few minor things broke on this trip. One expects some fallout with a 25 year old boat. She is in great shape but conditions are taking their toll on her hardware. We are excited that the auto pilot is working properly now but finally had a point driven home on this trip!  I remember Dick and Nelda telling me not to transmit on SSB with the autopilot on. NOW I know why!!!!  Last night I was at the helm, steering by hand when Darrell went below to do our regularly set up communications with Celtic Rover. While I was driving, the autopilot tried to take over - I couldn't turn it off so I unplugged the remote controller unit. It STILL tried to steer the boat!  I had to yell at Darrell over engine noise and waves and sea spray to hurry up and turn off the autopilot. Whew - that was an exciting moment!! 

Boy howdy, surfing down 6-9' waves in 15-20 knot + winds has been fun. So far our max speed is 12.7 - that is the fastest 12 knots you will ever do!  With the addition of a westerly flowing current, we make good time on a passage like this.  For those of you who are not familiar with cruising, several descriptions are in order here.  Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) can be quite challenging such as going to the bathroom – a seatbelt would be a bonus, brushing your teeth makes you feel like spider man or woman, and eating presents its own unique set of challenges.  The meal preparation can be downright dangerous – even with a gimbaled stove – one needs to stay away from hot or sharp items.  Taking a shower reminded me of being inside someone’s Christmas present that was being shaken – glad to have a seat in there!!!  And after I completed that, I looked out the window to see and hear just how hard the wind was blowing in the rigging of the boat.  Another piece of information is that most of these tasks are accomplished wearing an additional article of clothing – our lifejackets.  Not the great big and bulky ones but the inflatable type. 

One of us has to stand a watch at all times when we are underway (obviously) and we had hoped that the autopilot would work better than it did.  It does function but with the rough conditions, didn’t work to our satisfaction most of the trip.  Could be just the fact that we are so used to hand steering.  Anyway, a learning curve on that…..  After a while, though, you get into a rhythm with the waves and it reminds me of dancing.  You all know that we both enjoy dancing very much so that is the fun part of driving.  In a rocking boat, sleeping is a challenge – for Ann, not Darrell!  I was finally able to go below and lay in the beanbag chair we bought for Roxy to stop the motion enough to sleep some.  That’s right, I slept in Roxy’s bed!  We take turns and you have about 4-5 hours to sleep and rest at a time.

The phrase that is used frequently to wish fellow sailors a good voyage is:  Fair winds & following seas.  Since my dive boat captaining days, I have never understood the “good” connotation of this phrase.  I never liked having a following sea in them and I still don’t in the sailboat.  I would rather be wished fair winds and CALM seas!

Anyway, we made it to Bonaire around sunrise and got checked in with Customs and Immigrations.  We took a few naps that day and slept very well in the calm anchorage (mooring field) that night.  We have met several new cruisers and even got to go diving on Christmas morning!  We are looking forward to a few days here then move on to Curacao to see Tom and Lilly on S/V Tiger Lilly.

Happy New Year.  May 2014 be healthy, prosperous and joyous for all of you.

Hugs,
Ann, Darrell, and Roxy