|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogWe didn't do much the next morning - Diane worked on the PC and I used an old dock line and made another rope mat. I tried a square one first but then took it apart and made an oval that seemed to work well. We had lunch and then went snorkeling on the opposite side of the island. We went to the west end of Cayo de Agua and crossed the sand bar by stopping, tilting the engine up and walking the dinghy across. We then anchored it a little bit further up the beach. The snorkeling there was OK but the reef itself wasn't very nice with lots of dead coral. However, we did see some good fish; a stingray and some other interesting reef fish. After we finished, we crossed back to the other side, beached the dinghy and relaxed a bit before going back to the boat. Since there was almost no wind all day, we had to run the engine again-oh well. We had some excitement just before dinner though. About 5:30 a boat started coming in through the western entrance. The problem though, is at this time of the evening, it's almost impossible to see the reefs and you can't just come in and head directly for the anchorage. We saw him coming and he obviously didn't know where to go so we tried calling him on the radio. He answered and we tried directing him correctly but unfortunately, he either didn't understand English well enough or it was just too late. In a few minutes, he went aground on one of the reefs. We called back and he said there was no emergency but after we saw he couldn't get off for about 15 minutes, I took the dinghy down and we went out to help. There was no wind but it was obvious he wasn't getting off easily. Another cruising boat, Tesadi, also came out in their dinghy. Once we got to him, it turned out it was a French flagged charter boat with about 8 Germans onboard. Luckily, most spoke English so we told them that the 2 dinghies would push the bow around toward the direction they had to go (further out in the lagoon) and then to try to get off the bottom. They had already put down the anchor to not go any further and they had also sent someone down with a mask and fins so they knew their situation. The snorkeler stayed in the water and as we pushed the bow, and the boat slowly moved (I could heard the coral crunching under the boat's keel) he signaled when to try to power off. It took about 10 minutes of pushing but the boat finally came off and slowly, under full power) moved off the sand and coral. We then told the captain (I think he was just one of the bareboat crew who had taken the wheel) to follow us into the anchorage. Once abeam of Destiny, we turned in toward shore, and told him to anchor anywhere near us or the other boat. Interestingly, there had been only 2 boats left in the anchorage - there were 9 that morning. He anchored between us and Tesadi safely and the rest of the evening was quiet, even the wind picked up a little so it wasn't so hot. The wind picked up overnight, so much so that I had to take down the wind scoop since we were woken up at 3:30am by getting too much breeze in our faces as we slept. We got back to sleep and I got up around 7:30 to make coffee and listen to the morning radio nets. The wind stayed up all day, going up to 20-25 knots, making the wind generator sound like a helicopter sometimes. The only way to take care of that is to feather it, meaning point it away from the wind. Of course, that decreases the output but when it gets windy like this, the generator gets hot and starts to freewheel which drops output to zero anyway. So, I guess something is better than nothing. Well, it was so windy and rough, even inside the anchorage, we didn't get off the boat at all today. I made my morning coffee using the burner I had fixed but the hole reappeared so I'll have to try something else or just leave it until I can get it fixed in PLC or order a new one from the States. I might be able to get one delivered to Bonaire if I can find the part over the Internet. After breakfast, I continued to work on the rope mat and after tying several types, I found a design I liked and made that one - but it took all morning to finish tying and then get it ready to use. Diane occupied herself with cooking and working on the PC. The afternoon was just relaxing, listening to the wind and reading - not too exciting. Thursday the wind was down to about 10-12 knots by morning but it was a little cloudy. We stayed on the boat and while Diane read, I practiced some fancy knotwork. I was trying to make a turk's head knot when some people came over in their dinghy. Tesadi had left but another cruiser had come in the day before yesterday. The introduced themselves, Kurt and Christine from Whitecap. We talked a while and then we agreed to go snorkeling after lunch. We met them about 2 and went to the reef furthest east on the island. Although it was a little overcast, the snorkeling was good and we saw lots of things we had only seen a few times before or only diving at Bonaire, never snorkeling before. We also saw our first Hogfish below the water - the last one we saw was from a fisherman on Tortuga and we ate it. We also saw lots of the Midnight Parrotfish, Rainbow Parrotfish and the 2 Queen Triggerfish we had found earlier in the week. After we finished, they invited us to dinner aboard their boat. We had found out that they had been around the world in their Norsea 27, so it would be very interesting to talk to them. We went over about 6 and Christine had made some fish. We had a very nice dinner and enjoyed talking to them about the places they had been and what was their favorite (Micronesia). I had never been on a Norsea 27 and was actually pretty impressed by the amount of room the boat had available - a small back cabin, fairly large cockpit (where we ate) and a nice main cabin. Of course, there's just so much you can get into 27 feet LOA by 8 feet beam, but it seemed pretty comfortable. Kurt told me he made it from the Galapagos to Fatu Hiva, over 3000 miles, in just 23 days; that's averaging over 160 miles per day! I was glad to do that in our boat when we came down from Bermuda to St. Martin (of course, we had to motor the first 3 days then). Plus, he did that voyage solo, before he had met Christine. Friday we went snorkeling about 10:30, after running the watermaker for about an hour in the early morning (lots of good wind to get the wind generator to power it). Kurt brought Christine out to snorkel since he was doing some repairs and we brought her back. We went to the reef just in front of the boat and it was just OK although we did see a new species, a Comb Grouper, only occasionally found in the southern Caribbean and further south, so it was a good find. Afterward, we brought Christine back to White Cap and we went back to Destiny for lunch. We got back to the boat a little before 1 and while we were having lunch, the people we had met in Merida, Graham and Liz from Ellida, came by. They had just come into the anchorage and wanted to say hello. We chatted a bit and said we would talk to them later. While the watermaker was running again, I finally finished a Turk's Head knot around the leg of the binnacle guard where the cockpit table rested against it - it had only taken me about an hour! I had also taken off the stove burner that still had a hole in it and used some more JB Weld - it was still shooting flames underneath because I had missed a small hole under the top, not that the JB Weld had fallen off or failed from the heat. About 4, we went into the beach to relax and cool off, but while Diane went for a walk along the beach, I put the new rope mat I had made on the aft corner where the dinghy cover chafed again the boat when I hoisted it up or where it would hit a dock. The only problem was that when we motored along or planed, the mat just dragged in the water and caused some spray to fly up in the rear. Somehow, I needed to figure out how to either mount it so didn't drag or a way to flip it around, in or out, so I could use it against the boat or dock but not when underway. About 6, Christine and Kurt came over for dinner and we had a nice time talking to them. We found out a little more about their circumnavigation - they described some places I would certainly like to visit as well. They had also bought some property on an island near Guam, which I hadn't realized was a US territory (or protectorate; something of that kind). Anyway, they had worked for a few years on Guam since it was part of the US and had liked it. Saturday was a slow day. In the morning, I tried using the burner that I had fixed again and it seemed to work just fine, so one less thing to bother about. After breakfast, I started on the second Turk's head knot for the other side of the binnacle guard - amazingly, it took me all morning and I still couldn't get the knot tied correctly. I tried tying it on my fingers and it worked fine but once I tried it on the vertical tubing, I just couldn't seem to get it right. I quit when Diane said she was making lunch and figured I could try it again later (but didn't). After lunch, we went snorkeling on the reef just in front of the reef we usually go to and found it OK but the water was a little murky on the windward side; I'm not sure why. We saw the Comb Grouper again and a new species as well, a Jolthead Porgy, so that was nice. Kurt and Christine joined us and then went to the reef further out near the end of the island afterward. After we finished snorkeling, Diane and I went to the beach and walked around the island a bit before taking another swim to cool off. By the time we got back it was almost 4:30. Kurt and Christine had told us that they somehow lost a tank of water (they only hold a total of 100 liters) so we brought a jerry jug of our water to them along with some DVDs they said they wanted to watch. We then went back to Destiny and just read and relaxed until dinner (some nice steak with a pepper sauce-very good Diane). The wind was up a little overnight to about 12 to 15 knots and the wind generator was going well so the batteries were fully charged in the morning - always something nice to wake up to. Since the wind was good and the batteries full, we made some water Sunday morning before going snorkeling. We went to the reef just in front of the boat and enjoyed it - nothing new but we did see the largest Scrawled Filefish we ever found, probably almost 4 feet. We also saw the school of Rainbow Parrotfish, Blue Parrotfish and some of the Midnight Parrotfish as well. In all, it was a good final trip to the reef. After coming back and eating lunch, we ran the watermaker again so we could give some to White Cap. It really wasn't a problem now with enough power. I also started putting some things away in preparation for leaving for Las Aves tomorrow. We had been at Cayo de Agua for about a week and felt it was time to move. About 3, we saw another sailboat coming in. Unfortunately, they were heading for some shallow reefs so Diane called them on the radio and we guided them in. It was Kindred Spirit and we had met them briefly in PLC. They thanked us and invited us over for some drinks but we had to get ready to leave so had to decline. A little later, we went in to shore for a quick swim to cool off. We stopped by Kindred Spirit and Brad and Gloria invited us onboard so we stopped for a little while. We then dropped off the 6 gallon water jug at White Cap and said we were leaving tomorrow - they were also going to leave and follow us there. We finally got to shore but didn't stay long. We went back to the boat where we got the dinghy engine onto the stern rail and got the rest of the gear off as well. I then got everything put away while Diane made dinner. We finally relaxed a bit. We figured to leave around 7 or 7:30 since I had said I would cover for the net controller on the Safety and security net tomorrow morning, which starts at 8:15. Leaving then would give us a chance to get underway and stable before I started. I got the weather, as I usually do in the evening, and it looked like a good day for going west - wind from the east at 15 knots. We left Cayo de Agua about 7:30 on Monday morning and cleared the entrance a little after. Since I was filling in as net controller for the Safety and Security net, I wanted to make sure we would be settled down by 8:15. We were going downwind in about 10 knots of wind from the east-northeast and so we were rolling, not my favorite motion although I never get seasick. The autopilot doesn't steer well under those conditions so we hand steered. I went below about 8:05 and got ready. I did the net but it was a quick one - nothing to report and only one query about trying to find a buddy boat going from Grenada to Los Testigos, with no response to that either. At least it was quick. Right after, I got a call from Larry on Babylon and we talked for a few minutes until Diane called me to the cockpit. She was having trouble steering so I helmed the boat for a few hours. We had a very unexciting trip and wound up motor sailing since the wind got lighter and we were rolling more. I did see a new bird species, a Royal Tern. There were 3 of the birds flying around the boat and diving for fish so I got a pretty good look at them when they got closer, and they were with us for about 45 minutes. White Cap had also left Cayo de Agua; they were sailing since Kurt had put up his main and poled out his jib - I was just using the jib. I thought about raising the main but decided against it since by that time the wind was down a bit and we were running the engine and making water. We got to Las Aves de Barlovento at about 1:30 and anchored in the third little bay, fairly close to the island, by 2:15 or so. We then put up the sun canvas and relaxed. We were closer to Isla Sur than we had ever been and found that the birds really do make quite a racket. We wanted to go to this spot since a boat last year had said that the reef along the shore was pretty good to snorkel and you could go fairly close but still be in 20 feet of water with excellent holding. I'm sure the birds will quiet down after dusk but they may be up early - too early for us. If so, we'll just move out a bit more tomorrow. The wind when we finally anchored was under 10 knots but slowly increased to about 12 so it became more comfortable. We even ran the watermaker again since the wind generator was going pretty well. After doing the net again Tuesday morning (I guess I'll do it until Melodye on Second Millennium comes off the hard in Carriacou) we got the dinghy engine on and I put the rest of the gear in place (oars, etc.). By the time we finished it was late so we waited until after lunch to go snorkeling. We went out to the reef just near the island, Isla Sur, where we were anchored. The water was murky in places but there was a lot of fish life. We swam to the east all the way to the reef defining this bay and found the water cleared there. Diane had found a mature conch and so we kept it to eat later. I would have to get it out of the shell tomorrow so we put it in a bucket of sea water when we got back to the boat. When we did get back, I cleaned the anchor chain with a brush before getting out of the water. It had been immersed for 3 weeks now and there was already a fair amount of soft growth. I managed to get about 25 feet from where the chain went into the water, about 18 feet down, but couldn't get any more since I was getting tired. After washing up and rinsing off we just relaxed, but Kurt and Christine came by a little later and gave us some of the fish they had caught, 2 Mojarra. We had eaten them last year and they were pretty good. They were gutted already but I filleted and skinned them and Diane decided to make a ceviche for tomorrow. We had already made some water for them and gave them the 5 gallon jug. A nice trade. |