Shakedown Cruise to Anguilla

Wow!! What a great weekend we had!! Some wind, some sun, some rain, some relaxation and some drama - what more could we ask for? We were so excited and exhilerated to finally get to take Exodo out of the lagoon and sail over to Anguilla with 'Impala', which is Patrik and Sofia's catamaran. Royce, who is another friend we've made here was kind enough to be our pilot boat to help us navigate the shallow waters of the lagoon channel and take some pictures for us as we were leaving. We had a great sail over to Anguilla which is a low lying British island surrounded by white sand beaches and banks of coral. It's very small, with a population of about 7000, but has a fascinating history that involves battles with neighboring islands trying to take it over.

Our first night in Anguilla, we were treated to an absolutely stunning sunsets and some fresh grilled tuna that Patrik caught on the way over (I had chicken)...and then the rolling started. I've heard of "rolly" anchorages before, but this was something else. Our boat rolled from side to side so drastically all night long that there were times we thought the side rails would touch the water line. Normally, if boats get into bays this rolly, they simply pull up anchor, determine which direction the swells are from and find somewhere out of the swells. In this case, this is the only bay on the island we could anchor in so there really weren't any alternatives. We started thinking that Patrik and Sofia brought us here on purpose as our "initiation" and that if we could survive a couple of nights here, that we just might make it. They still deny it and actually say that not only have they never seen it like that in that particular bay, they're not sure they've ever experienced such a rolly anchorage in their 7 years of living aboard. Of course, they are now in a catamaran, so they didn't experience the lack of sleep that we did. We spent our days on the beach and Olivia was just in heaven with her new sand toys and the flour soft sand to play with. We were perfectly happy to be parked on beach chairs that didn't roll for the day.

Coming home was another adventure. As soon as we started the engine to come home and began moving out of the harbor, the RPM's on the engine dropped down completely, the oil pressure and temp gauges started bouncing all over the place and the engine alarm was going off. We shut down right away and learned that one of the belts on the engine had snapped and we had no spares (Ron is out buying 6 as I type this). Patrik had an adjustable spare that may or may not work, so we put up the sails (after all, isn't that why we're here?) and floated our way back to St. Martin in very light 2-8 knot winds. Without the aid of the engine, it took much longer than we had hoped. The bridge to get back into the lagoon in St. Martin only opens 3 times each day and we missed the 2nd opening by 10 minutes, so we had 3 hours to relax and have a swim before we could get back into the lagoon. This is where the next drama started...

As we were at anchor waiting for the 5:30 bridge opening (like a few other boats), we noticed another boat, a 45 foot sloop not far from us that was not sitting right to the wind and waves like everyone else. It suddenly occurred to us that he wasn't at anchor at all, but rather stuck on top of a reef. Ron jumped in our dingy and another dingy with 3 people arrived at the same time to help as the boat was getting battered on the reef. After 30 minutes of failed attempts of pushing, pulling and even hauling lines from the top of his mast to dislodge the poor boat, 2 more dingies arrived and one of the skippers clearly had some experience in this area and completely took over and assigned everyone their task and 15 more minutes later, the boat limped off the reef much to the relief of the old skipper and his very frightened wife. They got off the reef only about 10 minutes before the bridge opened.

Just as the bridge opened, Patrik and 2 of his friends blasted out to our boat in their zodiac, and once again, we were treated to a private pilot boat to guide us back safely through the channel and to a great anchorage where we now sit safely back inside the lagoon.

All in all, it was a wonderfully eventful, relaxing, and at the same time, exciting weekend. We enjoyed the great company of our Swedish friends, some wonderful sailing in our new boat that we get to know and love a little more each day, beautiful scenery and new places.

Today, we are excited that 2 or our great friends, Louise and Janet are arriving for a 10 day visit and we're really looking forward to sharing some of our adventure with them.

We are the luckiest people in the world...

Just Pictures

 

 

 

 

Every Yacht Needs a Pool...

I think the day before last has been the hottest day since we got here – at least it felt that way. Since every luxury yacht should have a swimming pool, we simply couldn't be outdone by the mega yachts, so we made one of our own.








We spent that morning hoisting the main sail and attaching it to the furling and making other minor sail adjustments and now we have all three sails installed and ready to roll. Ron bought a new halyard for the main yesterday and since we are both too big to go up in the bosun's chair, Porno Joe (yes - there's a story behind the name) from Lindsay's boat yard was kind enough to volunteer.







The afternoon was so humid and the air so still that we decided to forgo the remainder of the day's boat chores and venture off in the dingy to find a good swimming spot. We got clear across the lagoon and out the bridge on the French side but the swells were too big and the surf too strong to get to the beach so we came back in the lagoon and were just about to dingy up to one of the resorts when we heard a big clunk followed by a few smaller clinks from the outboard. Fearing that we had blown a piston ring (doesn't it almost sound like I know what that means?), we slowly limped back across the lagoon to Lindsay's. It was a lovely 40 minute ride at idle speed and at least Olivia and I got to drag our feet in the water and cool down. Lindsay thinks there's something stuck in the impeller, Ron thinks it's more than that, but we won't know until tomorrow when they can take it apart.

It seems each time we get one job done, another presents itself. I guess that's the life of a boater/cruiser. I always knew there would be a constant stream of chores to do...I guess I just really hoped they would be done by the strapping young local men between serving me rounds of fruity blended drinks with little umbrellas in them. I know they're here somewhere...

Yesterday, Ron went to the boatyard to take the outboard apart and Olivia and I decided on a bus ride to town where all the cute shops are and the cruise ships dock. Since there were 3 ships in port, there were plenty of people in the shops so we opted for a few hours of beach fun and what a hit that was! Olivia even met a new friend her age, Anna, and they played quite happily in the sand together for a while. Ron later hopped the bus to town and joined us for a swim and some down time on the beach with the cruise ship passengers. It's really not hard to get used to this life....

Hot Days in St. Martin

I'm almost embarrassed to say that I'm wishing for a cloudy day to get some relief from the heat and the intensity of the sun when you're tied up at the dock. I'm sure it would be much more bearable if all we had to do was sip fruity blender drinks with nice little umbrellas in them, but alas that fate seems to be reserved only for those flying into SXM to their great big mega yachts. Oh well, those poor buggers will never get to know how much fun it is to polish an oxidized hull, or hand pump a clogged head – they have no idea what they're missing.

While Ron hunted down some parts, Olivia and I did get the laundry done and that was zero fun in a hot stuffy laundromat. I opted to hang it on the boat to dry or it would have been an all day affair and twice as much money. We also spent a little more time exploring the far corners of the lagoon to see what else is here and there are a couple of beautiful resort type areas on the other side that look like they could be fun to hang out in for an afternoon. We spent another afternoon at the beach yesterday, mostly because we're feeling bad that Olivia hasn't exactly had the time of her life so far. There haven't been any small kids to play with as of yet and we've had so many little jobs to do that there hasn't been a lot of silly play time. She does love to help us when and where she can and she has decided that her jobs so far are to tie up the dingy, hang up her life jacket, and untie the dingy. She is enjoying doing her crafts and hiding things in her fort under the table and wants to watch more movies, but we are determined not to allow her to be a tv junkie on this trip. DVD's are a treat reserved only for rainy days or days where there are little to no other options. The other day she came squealing from the cockpit into the cabin below that she felt a raindrop on her head and did this mean that she could watch a movie. I guess we still have some work to do here.

The first Saturday of each month is an informal boaters swap meet so we thought that might be a good place to find a few more of the things we need and save a few bucks. It's a set up where people can throw a blanket on the ground and put out whatever they have to sell because surly some cruiser will need it. We picked up a new pair of flip flops for Olivia, a propane tank and an electric polisher for Ron and I found a couple good books and 2 DVD's. All in all, a great outing and great bargains.

Today, we realized that the fan in the fridge wasn't turning and the food was slowly getting warmer, so that is the new project of the day for the captain. We have taken everything out of it and filled the cooler with ice to keep things cool for a while. Ron went up to see the guy at the fridge shop and there is apparently a 3-4 week backlog for someone to come and check it out, so Ron is now learning all about how to fix refrigerators.

We are both getting anxious to get off the dock and out of the lagoon. It's nice to have electricity and access to water right here, but you can't swim in the lagoon and the scenery surely isn't as nice as it is out in the harbour. We are really ready to get out on the hook and feel some wind on our faces. Sometimes it's true that “the water really is bluer on the other side of the bridge”.

Busy Days

Yesterday, Ron and Jorgen, who is the captain of the 40 boat behind us attempted to put on our head sail and something went awry and snapped one of the lines off the furler. Ron ended up spending most of the day looking into how to fix it and Olivia and I took the local bus into Philipsburg and had a great half day shopping for a few more things we needed. After we got back, Ron was ready for a break so we all hopped into the dingy and decided to venture out of the Dutch part of the lagoon over to the French side. What a great outing! We never got out of the dingy, but we could still feel that it really has a completely different culture and atmosphere. Beautiful little seaside cafes and pubs and other shops. We even ventured out of the bridge and couldn't believe how many boats were at anchor in the harbour. How beautiful it was there. We could easily see Anguilla, which will be our first destination whenever we have the boat ready enough to go somewhere. On our way back in through the French bridge, Ron temporarily forgot he was in a no wake waterway and he smoked it right past the harbour cops who quickly gave us a stern warning in French. We have no idea what they were saying, but we got the impression that we shouldn't make the same mistake twice.

We're slowly getting into the unhurried groove of things here. Today, Ron fixed the furling rig while I finished wiping down and oiling every square inch of the interior of the boat and the two of us worked together to put up the head sail and we were really quite proud of it when we were finished. Ron started to work on the main sail while O and I went to the UTS store to get a sim card for the 2nd cell phone we bought. This afternoon, we all got back in the dingy and paid Lindsay a visit to pay the balance for some work his guys did painting the boat bottom, then went to a beach on the french side for a nice swim and cool down. Dinner was at a local Chinese restaurant and we ordered way too much food. Unlike at home, every dish you order seems to come with rice or potatoes and veggies. We ordered 3 dishes when we really could have ordered just one. Olivia and I are currently sharing the master bunk until Ron sets up a lee cloth to keep her from falling out of her bunk – falling 3 feet down to a wooden floor once is enough. Today will be laundry day so slugging a basket full of laundry up the street to a laundromat in 30 degree heat should be a real treat. Today and tomorrow we plan to start buffing the hull and topsides which are quite oxidized and is a job that neither of us is looking forward to, but have to get done. Crap...where's the deck hands when you need em?