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Practically Sails Itself

~ Kirsten & Mike's Adventures on Gaia

Practically Sails Itself

Category Archives: Favorite Posts

Hogsty Atoll – serious reef shark population

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Bahamas, Favorite Posts

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It’s about 75 nm from Great Inagua to SW Acklins, which would definitely be an overnight sail. Or you can anchor midway. Midway of the passage resides a sudden shallow reef called Hogsty. The horseshoe-shaped reef barely cuts the oceans surface, so you should only spend the night when the seas are calm. We were fortunate enough to catch the passage at 11 knots and decided to go for it. We would anchor for the night completely surrounded by vastly deep ocean in every direction for 40 miles.

The safest way to enter the atoll is more of a westerly direction, too far South and you’ll be dodging large coral heads. With a shift in winds, we found the middle of Hogsty to have confused seas sloshing about but further to the NE where the seas consistently bubbled over the reefs, Gaia bobbed up and down peaceably at anchor. We dropped anchor in 13 feet of sand just east of the Liberty wreck, a freighter that went down in a 1963 hurricane. This is just one of 200 wrecks accounted for since the Columbus’ era of exploration.

We immediately brought the dinghy down and went on a snorkeling adventure. The water in the lee of this ship was murky with iron tainted waters but once we cleared the side, the water was clear and the shallow reefs stretched on and on luring you in to explore. I bravely snorkeled further from the ship peering around coral heads bobbing about and then … I saw IT! My first encounter with a shark and not a nurse shark. It was a reef shark with shark eyes and a shark snout in its shark environment. My first reaction was to reel around and swim as fast as I could to get Mike because Mike would surely protect me… but then I realized flailing around in the water to float next to another body would not eliminate the fact that I was still in the water with a shark. I decided to slowly float on over to Mike. By the time I had informed Mike, the shark was gone. So we continued swimming but I was less adventurous. We swam past the dinghy to the other side of the wreck and a barracuda kept unnervingly close tabs on us. Mike tapped my arm and pointed at another reef shark behind the barracuda. It wound its way around the coral heads, making its way closer to us before continuing on its rounds about the reef. Very conscientious of my heartbeat and limbs I was now a bit unnerved by the new territories of this water. A few minutes of poking about I watched a barracuda sprint away. I tapped Mike’s shoulder to show him. He tapped my shoulder and pointed in the opposite direction. My third reef shark was swimming ever-closer to both of us. That was it. That’s all I could take for one day. I hadn’t felt this defenseless since our crossing to Bermuda. I just wanted to be out of the water. I slowly watched the shark swim around and loop up right at us and I was acutely aware of how slow I was in the water as the sharks path came closer and closer.  Mike was in front of me and began holding out the Hawaiian sling. Thank God, someone had something to stab at the shark. The shark came within 20 feet of Mike and deep inside I was freaking out thinking of all the worst case scenarios and how much all of them would … suck. But externally, I maintained a slow steady breath and kept my movements slow and minimal.

The shark eventually lost interest and we swam straight back to the dinghy. Once we were both out of the water, everything released. We both just began laughing in awe of swimming around sharks and how thankful we both were Mike decided to bring the spear. That was pretty darn cool.

We later learned shark advice from an adventure camera crew:

  1. Once you spot a shark don’t flail – the splashing is similar to that of a fish in distress and acts as a dinner bell to the shark. (check)

2. Don’t panic – maintain your normal breathing. When you jump in the ocean, sharks don’t smell you or hear you, they first feel the electrical pulses of your heart. (check)

3. For most sharks, you don’t look like their habitual meal. A majority of all shark attacks are because the shark mistook the human as food (fish) of some form. A sharks prey tend to dart to the surface. Maintain your buoyancy and try to maintain your lateral swimming position. (almost check)

4. Keep eye contact with the shark. If possible stare into its eye(s) and face the shark don’t turn your back to the shark. (2/3 check)

5. If the shark does dart at you…

a. give up the damn fish. Don’t fight the shark to keep whatever fish you’ve just speared.

b. punch the shark in the nose. (Yeah. About that…) The shark is most sensitive in the nose and, really, at the end of the day most to all sharks don’t want to be harmed and are weary of getting hurt.

The anchorage was amazing. It didn’t just feel like we were alone…. we really were alone and it was beautiful.

entering Hogsty from the SW (too much to the S and you'll be dodging coral heads)
entering Hogsty from the SW (too much to the S and you’ll be dodging coral heads)
Outside of the atoll the water is thousands of feet deep
Outside of the atoll the water is thousands of feet deep
inside the atoll is 13-20 feet deep
inside the atoll is 13-20 feet deep

Liberty ship
Liberty ship
we anchored just South
we anchored just South
Beautiful water
Beautiful water

Mike picked up a few conch
Mike picked up a few conch
and we made conch fritter out of this little critter
and we made conch fritter out of this little critter

Okay, Okay, THIS is our last long passage.

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Bahamas, Favorite Posts

≈ 1 Comment

DSC_0475  The day our dear friends departed, they took ALL of the wind… Our next leg was about 450 nm from Culebra to Great Inagua – The Bahamas (!!!) so we were stuck until wind could fill our sails. Mike took another stab at aligning the prop shaft/V-drive using a new app called Vibration. Using an accelerometer, it charts 3 different frequency waves to measure the vibration of our engine alignment (thanks Nate for suggesting this!).

We kept a watchful eye on passageweather.com and saw a decent weather window that we decided to take. It would be light wind the first few days with building stronger winds the last few days – we were okay with that.

But before we really started the journey we topped off on diesel fuel and water in Fajardo, mainland PR. It was then I noticed our diesel prices throughout the trip.

2015 Oct – VA USA $2.03/g

2015 Dec Bermuda $4.50 /g (and that was greatly subsidized!)

2016 Mar St. Thomas USVI $3.14/g

2016 Apr Fajardo PR $2.45/g (we unfortunately did A LOT of motoring in Mar/Apr)

2016 May Georgetown Exuma $3.72/g

Priciest fuel goes to Bermuda, Cheapest goes to VA

Our passage from PR to Great Inagua Matthews Town took us 4 full days, we arrived in Matthews Town at midnight Friday. We did 4 hours on, 4 hours off for shifts but again, since it was a short(er) passage we were a bit lenient on the shifts. The first day was great sailing. Puerto Rico appeared more mountainous than I imagined and I hope to explore mainland PR one day. The second day, I was feeling a bit under the weather, and I don’t think it was seasickness, it felt different. DSC_0528Mike was amazing and pulled off a 7 hour night shift for me and the next day I began to pull through my ‘funk’.

Also worth mentioning, we passed over/ by the Puerto Rico trench. The trench extends 500 miles long and it’s deepest point is Milwaukee Deep at 28,373 feet, the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean.

It turned out to be gorgeous sunny sailing. A pod of 16-18 porpoises swam alongside Gaia, playing in the bow wake for a while and we both got a kick out of that. Later, while Mike was asleep, the USCG helicopter circled the boat twice before disappearing over the horizon. We suspected they were doing routine checks in the area for drug control. DSC_0504We passed the northern entrance of the Mona Passage effortlessly – the Mona Passage is notorious for being the biggest in-to-the-wind passage for sailors headed toward the Virgin Islands.  Reason # 738 why I’m glad we went to Bermuda then down to Antigua to follow the trade winds back home – one less pain in the butt windward sail for us.
On day 3, the winds picked up to 20-25 knots and we dropped the main in some decently sized waves which made the entire process…. uhm….”sporty”. For my night watch, I pulled my foulies on in preparation for a few looming storm clouds. No moonlit night sailing this time, it was far more stressful for me this time. A cargo ship was approaching at 13 knots but I lost visual of it in a particularly thick squall that passed. I monitored the cargo ships progress via AIS (AIS is a way to track other boats progress through the water on your GPS, ours is receive-only). Once the squall passed I looked behind me where the GPS showed the cargo ship, only to find darkness. The cargo ship was much much closer than what our GPS was reading & on top of that the controls on our GPS were not functioning. I jibed to get further away from the path of the cargo ship. After the jibe, I took another look around and noticed a single tall white light. I starred at it for a few minutes trying to calculate just what the heck the light was. It couldn’t have been a rocky shallows off the coast the DR – maybe it was a buoy, or another sailboat without red/green running lights.  Whatever it was, my current heading could be on close collision course with said mystery light. After a few minutes, I decided it’d be best to jibe and steer clear. I looked over my shoulder to see where that cargo ship was… but another squall had hit. The winds picked up, the rain was slamming down, and I had a mystery light ahead of me and a cargo ship hiding in the squall on my starboard – all with a GPS that was none-too reliable. Earlier, I had looked up the cargo ships AIS data and found the name of the ship so I went down below and hailed the cargo ship on channel 16. “Cargo ship XYZ, cargo ship XYZ, this is the sailing vessel on your port bow” A pregnant pause and then there was a response!!! A complete and utter stranger responded back to me at 2:00 AM in the middle of a squall! I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting a response but my heart was pounding, I was so excited. Since 16 is purely a hailing and distress channel, I was very curt and requested their course over ground / heading. He responded and I said thanks. I looked at the compass and estimated my new course through the water once I jibed & saw I’d be in the clear, close to the cargo ship but in the clear. I made my jibe and about 10 minutes later the squall passed and I saw on my port bow the cargo ship putting along at it’s 13 knots.

DSC_0529

darkness befalls us

The rest of the sail was a breeze and rather dull. We dropped anchor at 11:50 PM on Friday night and we both slept soundly on Gaia in the Bahamas. We were finally here. Only west and north from here until Boston.

Watch Out for Scuba Buddies Who Throw Fire Coral

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

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Again alone on Gaia, we provisioned diesel, dinghy fuel, water, laundry and refilled scuba tanks in Redhook, St. Thomas. We made a quick motor around the bend to Christmas Cove on St. James and partook in the novelty of Pizza Pi, a steel-hulled sailboat that will serve pizza via VHF & dinghy.DSC_0149 A nice and fun treat! We fell in love with Christmas Cove and since the moorings were free… stayed a few nights. We dove on Calf Rock (3/4 mile dinghy ride WSW). It was a fun little dive where beginner divers become certified, actually, where Mike got his very own PADI cert years back. We ended up navigating through some narrow valleys in the rock, which proved to be really fun UNTIL… Mike picked up a broken off piece of coral with a neat little brittle star crawling on it, then dropped it. The shell swirled and swiveled round and round ever so delicately skimming my lower thigh just below where my shortie wetsuit cut off. For such a slight and momentary contact, it felt extremely sharp but I paid no attention to it for the first few minutes. My leg began stinging immensely and the area of contact felt tingly. I’m no expert but I know the words tingly and stinging don’t belong when you’re 40 feet underwater in a rock slit. So I motioned for us to return directly back to the dinghy something was not okay. On our return we followed a turtle, saw a grouper, and Mike even touched a trunkfish!

Back on the boat I cleaned the wound with salt water and vinegar. I had read

DSC_0168somewhere you should use salt water as opposed to fresh and vinegar will reduce the sting. It worked but I had a patch of bumpy irritated skin, which lasted for a few weeks. We ended up identifying the cause of the irritation as fire coral. Fire coral can grown on anything. So watch out!

Once I got over the trauma of my scuba buddy slashing me with fire coral…. We went diving again. We dinghied due south to an extended point of rocks called The Stragglers; hooked onto a mooring and descended next to the rocks. At 25 feet we heard a boat engine. I looked at Mike & tried to decompress my BCD so I’d sink further to the bottom and closer to him. Hearing the motor get closer, I looked behind me and to the surface and I’ll be damned! A medium-sized powerboat went right over our heads! I was more angry than scared that time… We continued onward and sure enough I heard another engine. This time I kept turning in circles to see if I could locate the boat. No sighting of it but I was breathing hard out of fear. I reminded myself we were in 30 feet of water and floating close to the coral heads and continued the dive until I was cold. Those two encounters served as a strong reminder that the safest place to descend and ascend is on your mooring ball line; that and there are a lot of stupid and oblivious boaters out there. (Respect dive flags, and popular snorkeling/dive spots boaters! And don’t be wanker watch where you anchor!)

DSC_0282We eventually left Christmas Cove for Cooper and Salt Island of the Channel Islands, to dive on the famed RMS Rhone. We descended at the stern to 35 feet and descended our way forward to the bow (the bowsprit lay at 90 feet). Within minutes of our descent we encountered a giant green moray eel….. swimming! He swam right between us! I didn’t realize they ever left their little caves… This beast was at least 10 feet long and slithered through the water gracefully, finally diving into a compartment in the back of what was once part of an engine. I thought it exquisite but cute; while its head & body was hidden about 3 feet of its tail was still exposed as it had outgrown its old hiding spots. Mike later said he had the urge to pull on the tail; needless to say I’m glad he suppressed his 10 year old self. We swam back and forth over and under the old engine room and decaying hull. The RMS Rhone broke in two and now rests on its side so you can see old portholes from above and swim into what once was the deck. We saw some enormous lobsters and beautiful angel fish. The amount of coral and fish life was amazingly bountiful and beautiful.divesite_1256_1487 But not so much that it took my mind off the fact that I was now 90 feet underwater and every inch of me was compressed by more than a few atmospheres. It’s a little alarming how long it takes your air bubbles to reach the surface at 90 feet. Feeling a little cold and recognizing I was approaching low air, we both slowly ascended on a mooring line – zero complications. No fire coral to report of.

Background on the RMS Rhone:

RhoneThe RMS Rhone was a 310 ft mail steamer. Powered by sail (2 masts) and steam engine. On October 29 of 1867, Robert F. Wooley captained the ship and was preparing her for the return voyage to England. The end of October generally marks the end of hurricane season, so when a Northerly wind began to blow and barometer began to fall, he dismissed it as a northerly front. At the time it was a beautiful day but the captain directed the ship to Road Town, Tortolla to weather the “storm”. At 11 AM, the barometer fell to 27.9 and the sky darkened quickly. Immense winds blew from the NNW destroying the main sails & rigging. A lull passed over so the captain made a the quick order to anchor. But the shackle of the cable caught in the hawsepipe…. (And translation for all the non-maritime folk… ‘messed up their ability to anchor – real bad’.). They were forced to drop the 3,000 lb. anchor and all 300 ft of anchor chain (trans: ‘seriously not good’). Captain Wooley took the appropriate option of weathering the storm out at sea. It was with full engines running, the RMS Rhone turned out to cross the Sir Francis Drake Channel and pass the Channel Islands. By that time the RMS Rhone had almost navigated its way through the Channel Islands, the SSW winds had started up in full strength and forced the RMS Rhone into the rocks, just off of Salt Island. The boat heeled over and broke in two, sinking instantly. There were crew and passengers onboard; of the survivors, I believe, 18 or so crew & 2 passengers survived the sinking.

DSC_0184Lastly, we visited The Willy T (old pirates ship) on Normans Island. The Willy T is famous for all sorts of scandalous shenanigans but we had a great time dancing and hanging out with friends Megs n Tom. We also bumped into the Captain of Boston schooner, Liberty Star! And to make it an even more surreal visit, we were dinghying through the anchorage and fellow female sailing friend from Boston, Rosemary spotted us on one of her charters she was captaining. Aaaaaand to add to all these serendipitous run-ins, we also saw Constitution Marina neighbor Mark on a beautiful catamaran with family! Seems like Boston just keeps running into us in the VIs.

DSC_0201

Truckin’ on like the sailors we are – St. Martin to VIs

09 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

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It’s that time again. Full tanks, full propane, full water tanks, and laundry is all set. We chipped away at our seemingly endless list of boat chores and found victory in our accomplishments. St. Maarten struck us as a home away from home and we’d love to return to the island paradise but for now, we’ve made arrangements to pick up friends and sail around the VIs.

The Virgin Islands are a cluster of islands with all forms of interesting dives, coves, caves, and anchorages for cruisers. The islands provide wind shadows and great barriers to the wild ocean seas making the Sir Francis Drake Channel a very enjoyable place to sail. It’s no wonder hundreds or sailors flock here each winter.

DSC_0491Our overnight sail was beautiful, we flew the spinnaker for half of the trip and enjoyed a star-studded night. We passed several vessels and I watched a lightning storm pass at a safe distance. En route, I read that the US bought the Dutch portion of the Virgin Islands for $25 million in 1917… nicely done Uncle Sam…. At the time the Virgin Islands were in economic decline from the abolition of slavery. The main export was sugar which had been heavily dependent on slave labor. But far before that ugly period in time; Christopher Columbus discovered the Virgin Islands in 1493 and named the island chain the Virgin Islands after Saint Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. (Virgin Gorda -fat- received it’s name because the island resembled a reclining woman with a protruding belly from the seaside vantage point).DSC_0507

Having never heard of this Saint Ursula or the 11,000 virgins, I did a little research, I mean, 11,000 virgins… that’s a lot of dames. Why 11,000? What happened to them? From what I’ve gathered from a few sources, Saint Ursula lived between 300-600 AD… (she lived 1500 years ago, & they narrowed it down to 300 years, way to go historians). Ursula was betrothed to marry a complete stranger higher in rank. To meet her soon-to-be husband, she boarded a ship with her hand maidens ranging anywhere between 11 to 11,000 in number. Oh, how stories are skewed sometimes. The long and arduous voyage was miraculously completed in a single day. Taking this to be a sign, Ursula declared she would make a panEuropean pilgrimage with all 11 or 11,000 handmaidens before the wedding (sounds like someones stalling to me). Their journey landed them in Cologne Germany, which, unfortunately was invaded by the Hun troops. The handmaidens refused to be with or marry the invading troops so they were tragically beheaded. Ursula was brought to death by the bow and arrow of the Hun soldiers. One of histories tragic tales, and in part, made immortal by Columbus giving respect to St. Ursula by way of the beautiful island chain we now call the Virgin Islands.

Around 9 AM we passed Sir Richard Bransons famous Necker Island, we made our way through the narrow passage by Saba Rock and found a cozy little place to anchor in the lee of Prickly Pear Island – only a skip away from Saba, Bitter End Yacht Club, and Customs.

IMG_7672

When I was a kid my family and our good family friends, the Lainos, chartered a Beneteau throughout the Sir Francis Drake. It was at the beautiful Bitter End, I learned how to swim by myself. So, revisiting this place was one of nostalgia. Mike and I stayed here for a few days to recoup and play around with my brand new scuba setup! Mike had purchased his own scuba gear last year so it was about time I join him in exploring watery deep. In St. Martin we stumbled upon great gear on sale; new BCD, new regulator/octopus, new shorty wetsuits for both of us, and lightly used tank for $ 1,000. I’m sure if we had reliable internet and searched high and low there’s a better deal out there…. but for the ease of walking in and walking out in an hour or so… we were excited. We pulled off two beginner dives, testing our buddy breathing, clearing goggles 30 feet under water, hand signals, and buoyancy. IMG_7682Even on the overcast day, we had a blast and celebrated with cocktails at Saba Rock. We refilled our tanks, grabbed a cocktail and still had time to spare before we bore witness to the famous 5 pm tarpon feeding. It was my first time experiencing tarpon fish, 4 feet in length, duking it out for dinner bites cast out into the water. Tarpon are notorious for not being “tasty”, so for the most part, they appear to be slow and docile monsters. But toss a piece of shredded fish out to the water and they tear after the treat with furious speed and agility.

As always I *really* enjoyed our new anchorage, the Bitter End this time, but we had a beautiful down wind sail to make to meet our friends flying in to St. Thomas the next day.

DSC_0571 DSC_0566

 

Spoiled in St. Martin

26 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

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St. Martin was a short downwind leaping sail from St. Barts. En route we passed a curious island, which was mentioned in the guidebook. The island was once lush with green vegetation coating it from coast to coast. Unfortunately the goat population got out of hand and the goats ate the island barren. When it appeared the goats were beginning to starve, the humans intervened and began transporting them off the island. Now, the island is supposed to show signs of green…. But Mike and I could barely see these ‘signs of green’. We suspect there are some sneaky goats still eating their fill.

Our first landing was on the NW side in Grand Case, which drew us in for the renowned cuisine and carnival Tuesdays. It was a wide but deep harbor and we were both impressed with how flat the anchorage was. From the moment the anchor tugged snugly on the sandy bottom below, I felt at home. Yup, this will do for a week worth of boat work chores. We grabbed ribs and a beer at the closest bar to the dinghy dock (bbq so good it’ll make you cry) and numbered our projects and relaxed, making ourselves at home. We eventually slapped 2 coats of varnish, painted the v-drive, realigned the v-drive, fixed the mizzen boom (again), and genoa sheet block. Carnivale Tuesday finally came our way and the quaint town mainstreet opened up to hundreds of boutiques and food vendors. Music roared from the drum band and whistles while beautiful women wearing elaborate carnival costumes lead the stream of madness. The Heineken Regatta was to take place that week and 20 or so drunken racers made their jovial presence known…. To EVERYONE. We danced to a steeldrum band and drank the local rum punch meeting fellow cruisers left and right. With our fill of Grand Case fun it was time to meet with friends Acedia, Alpha Crucis, & Aggressive in Marigot Bay just 3 miles South.

Grand Case
Grand Case
Marigot meandering
Marigot meandering
Marigot
Marigot

entering Simpson Bay Lagoon
entering Simpson Bay Lagoon
Marigot Bay
Marigot Bay
after a day of work
after a day of work

carnival tuesday
carnival tuesday
heineken regatta kids
heineken regatta kids
steel drum band
steel drum band

Once we put in our hours/days of work and enjoyed our weight of chocolate almond croissants, we decided it was high time go and see St. Martin! There’s a famous lagoon in St. Martin, one side is French the other Dutch. The Dutch side is far more developed (green & red channel markers!!! what? haven’t seen those since Bermuda) and cater to the yachts (both mega and minor).  The French side is shallow and spacious – plenty of room to anchor. On the  NW side of the French lagoon resides a bit of a wayward mess; i.e. there’s a plethora of fixer-upers biding there time or on the slow march to becoming a reef down below.  We really enjoyed happy hour at Lagoonies, a bar on the Dutch side. In our meanderings we “won” a discounted vacation to a timeshare resort. We just had to listen to a pitch and received a free lunch and drinks and $50 to shop with. I got my St. Martin t-shirt and Mike bought his fill in hot sauce. Everyone was happy except for the sales rep.

Finding our way to free cocktails past Great Bay
Finding our way to free cocktails past Great Bay
sat down at the bar for a lunch and this lady was staring me down
sat down at the bar for a lunch and this lady was staring me down
meet Gizmo, wicked cool
meet Gizmo, wicked cool

she soon hoped down from her stool...
she soon hoped down from her stool…
... to take a shower.
… to take a shower.
Maho Beach-yes the boat bar on land is still there
Maho Beach-yes the boat bar on land is still there

DSC_0420
hold onto your hat
hold onto your hat
This 737 flew maybe 12 meters over our head
This 737 flew maybe 12 meters over our head

that's about 40 feet, wouldn't you say? Definitely blown away!
that’s about 40 feet, wouldn’t you say? Definitely blown away!
remnants of the heineken regatta
remnants of the heineken regatta

St. Martin is shared by the Dutch and French, the Dutch side being significantly smaller in land mass. There’s a cute (yet clearly very accurate) story of how the French and Dutch divided the land amicably. One Frenchman and one Dutchman met and both decided to pick a drink of choice and march at opposite sides of the island walking inward. Wherever the two men met would be the border between the two nations. Two men agreed. The Frenchman obviously picked wine and the Dutch took whiskey. Whiskey, being the more potent of the two drinks caused the Dutchman to stagger and take a longer time to progress to the center of the island.

Home is where the anchor catches

23 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

≈ 6 Comments

The fourth time I moved, I was finishing High School and my new home was now Singapore, Singapore down the street from the Indian Embassy. It was by far the most “exotic” of places the Sward family had called home. I attended Singapore American School, a prestigious international school of which I was grateful to let me in. I started the school year a few days late but I remember the first day of my creative writing class. The teacher asked us to write a one page essay with a simple prompt of: ‘Where is home?’ It was such a simple question but then she opened the topic for discussion to the class. There were Americans, Indians, Swedes, Indonesians, Malay, Aussies, Thai, French, Swiss, English, Philipino… all with different stories on how many times they’ve moved and background. The question quickly changed to… ‘what constitutes as a home and why.’IMG_2976

Mike and I have both lived in Boston for over a decade (or just about) and we tell people we’re from Boston…. But truth be told… Mike grew up in California and me… well I’m from New York originally, which I know, makes me a public enemy #2 in the eyes of a true Bostonian (we all know, public enemy #1 is reserved for the entire Yankees team). We travel from harbor to harbor with our hailing port written clearly on our transom under the boats name for all to see. And it’s a happy surprise when you see another American flag and a nearby port. In St. Barts we were dinghying back to the boat when another sailboat hailed us to come over. Two American men said they were from Danvers and Waltham and they saw we were from Boston. They just wanted to say hi. And that is a perfect example of cruising life. If you’re a boat in a port… you are fair game for another boat to come over and say hi. Sometimes it leads to a beer other times it’s a fly-by hello.DSC_0282

With all this traveling and meeting strangers who become friends, I’ve been ruminating the concept of home again. It’s here, right now on Gaia with Mike. And this gives me a great sense of pride and abounding happiness. We made this home happen. Home isn’t a city for us right now. It’s a transom, a bow, a mast, a few sails (and a Mike McLinn). Home is wondering if I put the bilge pump back on after a sail. Home is conserving water and monitoring our batteries. Home is jumping into tropical waters and swimming with fish. But most of all home is definitely where the anchor catches in the sand.

gaia anchorDSC_0315

Salt Shakers & Other Cruiser Issues

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

≈ 4 Comments

Most of my posts have been updates on our general day to day journey. This is a little different.

Recently we laid anchor to some unforgiving harbors where the boat was flung to and fro by northerly swells (Northerly swells brought on by strong storms in the North). Those sleepless nights allowed me to contemplate our cruising life, it’s difficulties, and differences to land life. Here’s my general list of boat life hassles.

  1. Gravity is a pain. Lobbing waves that smack against your hull lifting your entire home at odd angles, suddenly propelling the wine bottle across the table or water jug onto the floor. At anchor, sometimes you get a great big wake at 5 or 6 am and all you can think about is that full glass of water on the counter you left overnight. And you will the glass of water to fight against the urge to topple over splashing to the floor. Sometimes it works other times….. you hear a clamoring of pots and pans that crumble about the drying area. My favorite was when we were sailing, healed far over en route to Gaudeloupe and the latch to our pantry cupboard flew open. In this unforeseen event the BBQ sauce bottle decided to leap out hit the other side of the wall and spray all over the salon (living room).
  1. Cumbersome dinghies- houses have a front door and boats have a transom (theIMG_7407 butt of a boat). Gaia has a flat high transom with two flat latches that provide a “foot hold”. For all you climbers, it’s a V0 move. Dropping your feet onto a moving bouncing target can make grocery runs a little difficult. That said, grocery runs are a 4 part process, complete with balance, water, and squats. 1. Lock the boat climb into dinghy, dinghy to land and lock up dinghy. 2. Walk to the grocery store and grocery shop. 3. Carry groceries into dinghy, unlock dinghy, and dinghy back home. 4. Lift the groceries on deck, secure dinghy unlock the boat and put the food away. Big unsmiley face for dropping a grocery bag or having it tear while hoisting the bag on deck.
  1. Salt. Ah yes, good ole NaCl. On a boat, no matter salthow much rice you put in your salt shaker, the salt always builds up and clumps due to the moisture in the air,
    preventing it from coming out. Every time I go to a restaurant I continually make the same mistake of shaking salt out like it’s not really going to fall out.

 

  1. Cleaning & Chores – If you assume, it’s a small area, not much cleaning required. Think again my severely disillusioned friend. Dust, sand, and dirt coat the floor maddeningly quickly. Moving one or two things out of place seems to clutter the entire boat. Above all, boat chores also consist of filling up the water tanks, refilling propane tanks, topping off diesel for the engine, and filling up gas for the dinghy. Entire days have been dedicated to finding and ferrying laundry back and forth and refilling water. This week in St. Maartin, we plan on scrubbing algae and seaweed from the waterline (because clean bottoms haul @ss), varnishing 2 coats (full 2 day process L), fixing the genoa sheet blocks, painting the V-drive and shaft, and sewing screens and resewing the bimini. Then we can go to Maho beach in St. Martin…
  1. Rolling Anchorages – an exposed anchorage can make or break a location for us. I LOVED Montserrat but couldn’t handle the swells. We spent two sleepless nights in Montserrat and the morning we left, I laid in the Vbirth my entire body being swung from side to side just waiting for the sun to rise so we could leave. In St. Eustatius (Statia), I was feeling a little nauseous from the constant rolling. We put out a stern anchor so our bow would cut through the oncoming waves. Thankfully the swells lessened over the next two nights.
  1. Fear of bugs. Like all homes we fear infestation from cockroaches and ants. They’re damn sneaky and very common. Even in buying toilet paper and carrying it aboard you may be inviting unwanted friends. If anything is wrapped in cardboard, we leave that on land.
  2. Unfamiliar noises. Listening on a boat is really important. It’s often times, the first telltale of some greater issue at hand. Like when I awoke at 5 AM in Deshaies to a light THUD. It wasn’t the low crumbling of anchor chain, and the boat moved oddly. I poked my head up to see a light and a bow of another boat at our beam! We were slowly dancing around and had inevitably bumped into our steal-hull boat neighbor. The wind had died and in a cramped anchorage the boats were dancing around at odd angles. We both jumped up turned the engine on and moved away from the other boat.

c0041039_1621611In a nutshell, the hardships of a boat: At any given moment something will break and consequences can range from life threatening to a simple ‘crud’, you may be sleep deprived from a “rolly” anchorage, your home will be a mess half the time, your food may come flying out of the pantry while under way (sailing) or at anchor, and salt shakers don’t work. BUT for those days and nights where food and water isn’t propelled across the room, when you have full water, propane, fuel, and gas, and the seas are calm and the anchorage flat…. The saltshaker still doesn’t work…. (true) aaaand it’s really heavenly. Lastly, to meet other sailors with their own stories is a real treat.

friends

I stole this from Lisa on fb (the designated national geographic photographer). Hope you don’t mind 😉

We’re Not Lost, We’re on an Island

20 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

≈ Leave a comment

Sailing from White House St. Kitts to Statia was an active sail. St. Kitts’ towering mountains forced the wind to funnel around the harbor at odd angles forcing sail changes every 30 minutes. Once we were in “open” water, the northerly swells hit us but we were still cruising along at 6.7 -7.1 knots.

I had my nose in a book so when I saw Statia (St. Eustatius) it was impressive. Straight from the coastline the island shoots straight up a few hundred feet. A slab of limestone greets you from the Southeast known as the White Wall. DSC_0103

We came to Statia a bit hesitant since the anchorage is rather unprotected and subject to a “bumpy night” if there are sea swells from the North (which there was). Unfortunately, even with a stern anchor out, the rolls could not be ignored and were bothersome. Any trepidation I had for the anchorage left me the second we grabbed a mooring and I looked up at Oranjestad. This place was positively medieval and captured my attention.

welcome gate
welcome gate
DSC_0127
DSC_0128

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Quill volcano
Quill volcano

What makes the island so fascinating (to me at least) is the history. The Dutch islandStatia trade was an integral international trading post (duty free) between the 17-19 centuries.
Hundreds of ships would dock/anchor in the bustling harbor ready to sell, barter, and buy between the Spanish, Dutch, English, and Americans (even during wartime periods). The coast looked very different back then with stone trading posts lining the harbor. “Their defense was their utility.” Even now, there are old stone foundations everywhere on this island.

DSC_0208St. Eustatius was also the first to salute the United States as a sovereign nation (yay!). Back in the day when a ship came into port with it’s colors flying high they would shoot a few cannons to announce their arrival. The receiving port would fire back a friendly fire to welcome the new vessel. The greater number of canon shots the greater the respect for the nation and captain onboard. English hotshot, Admiral Rodney received word of the historic salute, and the British had enough of these “neutral Dutch” providing the enemy Americans with arms and provisions. Admiral Rodney attacked IMG_7587Statia and pilfered the lucrative trading port. It’s said Rodney was suspicious of his “loot” and noticed there was an oddly high amount of burials taking place. He ordered
his men to open up the caskets only to find…. the towns riches being hidden below ground. As if that’s not enough, Rodney ransacked the Jewish quarters and noticed the people were heavily dressed. He sliced the pockets and hems of their coats. The Jewish townsmen had sewn their coins into the inseams of their clothing. Rodney got that too. What. A. Jerk. (Jewish quarter pictured right>)

 

 

The slave path. Steep cobblestone path that lead straight from the docks to the main town center. Terrible history of this road
The slave path. Steep cobblestone path that lead straight from the docks to the main town center. Terrible history of this road
Beautiful Sunday hymns were sang as we arrived
Beautiful Sunday hymns were sang as we arrived
town center
town center

capturing water.
capturing water.
the goat herds were everywhere. loved these guys
the goat herds were everywhere. loved these guys
meet Bueno, our guide for the afternoon. He took us on a walk around the island for about an hour
meet Bueno, our guide for the afternoon. He took us on a walk around the island for about an hour

The Gin House
The Gin House
great refreshing cocktails
great refreshing cocktails
beautiful sunset
beautiful sunset

and we didn't leave for the afternoon
and we didn’t leave for the afternoon
dinghy-ing back to C/I customs and immigration. Welcome to the web of Dutch bureaucracy
dinghy-ing back to C/I customs and immigration. Welcome to the web of Dutch bureaucracy

Hike to the Quill volcano
Hike to the Quill volcano
Quill is Dutch for hole or pit
Quill is Dutch for hole or pit
vista from the tippy top of the cauldera
vista from the tippy top of the cauldera

looking over at Saba
looking over at Saba
we climbed up thin root systems and gravel-dirt for this
we climbed up thin root systems and gravel-dirt for this
looking at the lip of the caldera, which formed 30,000 years ago
looking at the lip of the caldera, which formed 30,000 years ago

bellicose rooster, kicking up dust and throwing boulders down at us
bellicose rooster, kicking up dust and throwing boulders down at us
inside, trees have been growing here for the past 1600 years
inside, trees have been growing here for the past 1600 years
lush rainforrest
lush rainforrest

hermit crabs littered the forest floor
hermit crabs littered the forest floor
hiking where ever we please
hiking where ever we please
folkband statue back in town
folkband statue back in town

 

 

St. Christopher the patron saint of travelers

18 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

≈ Leave a comment

We had a phenomenal sail to St. Kitts… a nice leisurely broad reach with 4-6 foot rollers trailing us. It was neat to see the Kingdom of Redonda’s cliffs come into view. Its an uninhabited micronation. From 1865-1912 there was a lucrative phosphates export business into Britain. As for the history of this steep little tyke…. look it up…. it’s shrouded in mystery. No, seriously. Apparently a trader in Montserrat noticed no other nation lay claim to the neighboring island. So he took it upon himself to claim it for him and his son.

As we neared St. Kitts, Nevis came into view. A green island with a great mountain that disappeared into white clouds, it was just as Christopher Columbus had found Nevis. We entered the customs port of St. Kitts in Basse Terre where large rolling waves tore through the anchorage. This was not going to make for a quiet calm night. So we motored into a marina for some luxury sleep. Yay! We cleared in next to two titanic-looking cruise ships…. I will never trust a cruise ship that large. I just don’t get it.

Mike really dislikes when OttoVonPilot takes over.... or he doesn't like his picture being taken
Mike really dislikes when OttoVonPilot takes over…. or he doesn’t like his picture being taken
Kingdom of Redonda! Looks like a climbers challenge
Kingdom of Redonda! Looks like a climbers challenge

After 2 sleepless nights... how could we say no to this calm marina?
After 2 sleepless nights… how could we say no to this calm marina?
Piccadilly square
Piccadilly square

The next day we met with our friends Tom/Megs & Nils/ Lisa. While figuring transportation to Brimstone Hill Fort, a street food chef came over to us hurriedly said ‘ I have a present for you.’ then puts two kicking lobsters in my hand and walks away to tend to his grill. …uh…. what?!?!. I eventually gave them back and we found a van to the fort. WOW what a fort, it was so picturesque, standing prominently on an enormous monolith of land. Even driving up to it was fun. A guardhouse on one of the hairpin turns held about 6 lounging cats with a sign next to them that said ‘no dogs allowed’. The fort was very well restored and held really great informational stations. The premises were great to explore  and we made the most of it. Especially when we scaled the side of a wall to see the captains quarters….Once we were all “forted-out” we visited an old batik plantation which was immaculate with old trees and lovely gardens.

stranger hands me two lobsters and walks away.
stranger hands me two lobsters and walks away.
Thomas Jeffersons ancestors lay here
Thomas Jeffersons ancestors lay here
Brimstone Hill Fort built in 1700 by slave labor
Brimstone Hill Fort built in 1700 by slave labor

canons of all size and shape
canons of all size and shape
The French lay siege on the fort with 8,000 men compared to the 1,000 Englishmen. The English held the fort for 8 months & allowed to walk out when they surrendered.
The French lay siege on the fort with 8,000 men compared to the 1,000 Englishmen. The English held the fort for 8 months & allowed to walk out when they surrendered.
powder room, slippers were required back in the day
powder room, slippers were required back in the day

IMG_7486
IMG_7491
sneaking around
sneaking around

captains quarters
captains quarters
IMG_7520
plantation
plantation

IMG_7528
Batik they use wax and dyes
Batik they use wax and dyes
plantation look out
plantation look out

lime
lime
IMG_7535

At the end of the day we all ended up in White House Bay to hide from Southeasterly rolling waves for the night. Our friends continued onward to other islands but Mike and I still had some exploring to do in St. Kitts. We explored the bar next to us which was far too posh for us. But it had so many great features, we were suckered into the ambiance and ordered our high-class cocktails. They had a pimped-out dinghy dock with underwater nightlights so you could see the fishes  below. The lounging couches had fine wooden pulley system for decorations, sail pillows & throw cushions for couches under firelight lamps, and my favorite, the hammocks that extended over the water with underwater lights below. We met some rad kids from the bay area at the bar who were a riot. And before we left, we laid in the hammocks. The next day Mike threw his phone in the water but with cat-like reflexes snatched it out of the water. We continued the day with a hike with beautiful views of the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans. When we were trying to hail a taxi to reggae beach who else  showed up but the rad bay area kids on their scooters. They gave us a ride to the beach and showed us where to eat. Sure enough we had some great cocktails (mudslide!!!) and the best roti Mike and I have eaten thus far. In the end people in St. Kitts want to make sure you have a good time. Great place, can’t wait to return.

Star Clipper seems to be chasing us all over the Caribbean
Star Clipper seems to be chasing us all over the Caribbean
Aggressive making their way into White House Bay
Aggressive making their way into White House Bay
Alpha Cruces finding their own nook to anchor
Alpha Cruces finding their own nook to anchor

Salt Plage sail sail pillows made from used sails
Salt Plage sail sail pillows made from used sails
Salt Plage has mahogany seats and hammocks hanging over the water
Salt Plage has mahogany seats and hammocks hanging over the water
Salt Plage has some amazing drinks that are $$$
Salt Plage has some amazing drinks that are $$$

IMG_0840
the hammock
the hammock

IMG_7550 IMG_7551 IMG_7552

The(se) hills are alive – A visit to Montserrat

15 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by Kirsten McLinn in Favorite Posts, Leewards

≈ Leave a comment

Montserrat home to Soufriere Hills volcano, one of the most monitored active volcanos. Quite the following.

We left Antigua and headed Southwest to the Northern tip of Montserrat. A rain shower got in our way so no pictures to parade about this time. But the approach to the island was magnificent. Beautiful dramatic cliffs that plunge straight down into clear waters.

DSC_0841We anchored in the only clearing-in harbor, Little Bay. The anchorage tends to be rolley particularly when Northerly winds prevail. Even in our luck with due East winds, we found the anchorage to be uncomfortable on our ketch. The two masts make our boat more top heavy than sloops or cutter rigs so when a beam side-roller hits the boat we keep rolling back and forth whilst other boats bob like a cork.

Coming in, we knew the “must-do” tour of the volcano runs around $100-130 USD. Yikes! 4 hours and you see the town Plymouth which was covered in 40 feet of ash, Richmond Hill, and the Volcano Observatory. Since we were just two lonesome folks…. we thought that was outrageous. So we decided to take the local buses which will run you $5.00 EC or $1.85 USD. Yay! Prices I like.

DSC_0010We wandered to the bus stop with a few locals helping us along the way. Everyone was laid back and genuinely nice. Throughout the day we spotted hints of the Irish past. McCoy Hill, Pudding & Pies stores, green lucky charms over old pubs called Sullivans. A long time ago the Irish laid claim to the Northeast side of Montserrat. The people of Montserrat celebrate St. Patricks Day but for more reasons than one…. there was a great slave rebellion that is remembered DSC_0002on that day. Our bus driver told us about the island and dropped us off at the observatory. He gave us his story in remembering the ’95 eruption. Thousands of people left the island but more relocated, leaving their homes behind. The observatory had a moving and interesting 20 minute video that we really enjoyed. The ’95 eruption allowed for the largest pyroclastic flows to be recorded on camera. Unbelievably enormous blooms of smoke billowed up into the sky for miles and miles.

main_1200

1995 pyroclastic flows. Image from The Atlantic A/P Kevin West

main_2007

1997 magma flow

DSC_0004 DSC_0005

The town of Plymouth like several other villages is completely covered in ash. Second floors of hotels and buildings vanished and tops of church steeples were all that remain in some areas. The sheer heat of the magma, immensity of the clouds, and pyroclastic flows is terrifying. I kinda want to be a volcanologist now…

We walked back to the main road curious to see if we could get closer but we ended up following our stomachs instead. We had noticed a cute little restaurant and were trying to return to it. In asking for directions from some locals… one of the men offered to give us a ride. So we had our lunch on this cute little porch and had french primrose and sorrel juice (both had hints of cinnamon). One fish sandwich and roti plate later we were undeniably satisfied. Our waitress took good care of us and made sure taxi drivers didn’t try any tricks on us. If DSC_0017you are in Montserrat near the observatory…. go to The Attic (located in Salem). From there the botanical gardens and tourism info desk was around the corner so we wandered over there and witnessed a lizard fight. They were about 8 inches long. Two of these guys flew out of the bushes entangled and nipped at each other until one ran away. We meandered the area a bit more and enjoyed the locals. As the day was DSC_0019coming to a close we were tired and found a taxi to Richmond Hill would costs us $40 USD; despite being only 2 miles away. Tired of the high priced taxis we went home and snorkeled in the crystal clear water – priceless. We met our neighbors on the Bavaria 42. Two really fun couples who had the misfortune of tearing their main. We exchanged contacts and we DSC_0023hope to meet up with them in St.
Martin for the Heineken regatta in early March!  In the end I fell in love with Montserrat but two nights with barely any sleep was wearing on my sanity. So we reluctantly pulled up anchor and made way for St. Kitts where our old friends from Dominica were currently hiding out.

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