Well, after months of planning, Brenda and I shoved off from the USVIs yesterday to begin or long 1,100 mile run to Florida.  Making such a long run was the LAST thing that Brenda ever imagined she would do and yet, when considering all of the options open to us, she decided that it was the “lesser of all evils”.

To have crew fly in was our first choice but that proved to be much more difficult than we had imagined and with that option, Brenda too would have to spend time in an airport and on a plane, during a time of such danger and uncertainty.   And, crew, not knowing if they were infected along the way, would have to hang out with me in the USVIs for a while to be sure that they were healthy enough to make the trip.  And that would make for a very long time away when you consider that it’s a full week to get home once we shoved off.

Knowing how much Brenda did not want to make the run says a lot about how anxious she has been about flying into the US, with so much uncertainty and potential danger.  She just didn’t feel safe at all and was concerned about the dangers of the virus in large public spaces, airports and aboard planes.   We both feel that things are just not being handled very well in the US when compared to other counties.

So, after months of back and forth, we are making the trip together.

Seasickness has plagued Brenda for as long as we have spent time aboard and even that did not deter her when compared with the possibility of contracting the virus on the way home on a plane.

Over the years, she has tried about everything possible to solve her nausea and on this trip, we decided to give a good try to the “patch”, something that she has used off and on over the years and always giving up due to side effects such as a sore throat.

We also hoped that after a few days into a trip that will surely take more than a week, that her nausea would subside, as it does for most.

So, two days before we were to depart, she put a half patch behind her ear.  Fingers crossed.  So far, it’s working and while she doesn’t feel completely ok, she is able to be down below to sleep, wash up and use the washroom, something that has never been possible in the past.

So, we headed out yesterday afternoon, three hours after I headed ashore to get three more jerry cans to carry extra diesel.   I am really anxious about running out before we get to Florida as the wind is expected to be quite light. However, as luck would have it, the credit card machine in the hardware store was down and I only had enough money to buy one single 5 gallon can.  I thought that I would be able to go to a cash machine but we’ve been away from home for so long that my debit card expired and in spite of being on hold with Bank of America for a half hour, I wasn’t able to connect with anyone to try and get my card reactivated.

And, to make matters worse, after schlepping that one lonely can back to the marina to fill with fuel, I discovered that it had a small crack and it immediately began leaking my precious diesel all over the place.  So, back up the hill to the hardware store, dripping diesel all the way, to transfer the fuel into another can.  I was so frustrated and exhausted.  Up hill both ways, as they say.

Finally, I was able to get it resolved and headed back to Pandora to finish all of the last minute details like hoisting the dink on deck and securing everything for the long run to the US.

So, as I write this, into the second day of our voyage, we are nearing the western end of Puerto Rico and will soon be passing the Dominican Republic, both places that we would normally stop at to break up a trip like this.  Unfortunately, both are fully locked down because of the virus, along with every other island in the Caribbean.

It is interesting to note, that we passed the Puerto Rican Trench, the deepest spot in the entire Atlantic Ocean, over 27,000 ft deep.  There is only one place on the planet that is deeper and that’s in the Pacific, the Marianas Trench, I think.   It’s hard to believe that there is so much water beneath us and that to get to the bottom would involve going down as far as Mt Everest goes up.  And, the crushing pressures are far greater than the dangers of being at the summit of the highest mountain on earth.
I’ll admit that it is a bit creepy to think about how deep it is and at the same time, being out of sight of land for days at a time.

So, that’s our story, we are at sea and while the weather is nice, the wind is directly behind us and is barely strong enough to keep us moving.  Yes, it’s not too rough but Pandora is still doing plenty of bucking around with a following sea and you never know, from hour to hour, if there will be enough wind to keep us moving and how often we will have to run the engine and burn our precious fuel.

We do have enough to run the engine for more than 140 hours but that’s not enough to get us the entire way so we have to be very careful.

For now, we are making the best of it and getting into a routine, standing watch, resting, reading and doing what we can to pass the time as we make our way, non-stop, west to Florida where we will leave Pandora for a month while we head home in a rental car for a much anticipated return to CT and home.

I’ll continue to keep my GPS tracker going to don’t forget to follow us on the Garmin shared page under “where is the world is Pandora” and also through the Salty Dawg Flotilla page. I’ve shared that link in prior posts.

A special thanks to Melody, our son Chris’s partner for putting this up for me.

Stay safe and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  We need all the help we can get.

Here we are, with nearly 1,000 miles left to go.  Next stop, Florida, sometime next week, I hope.

It’s been a long journey, getting to a point where we can say “we’re leaving the Caribbean and heading home”.  In a way, it seems like only yesterday when we were in Martinique enjoying the days of Carnival.  So much has changed.

Our plans on departing have changed.  As recently as yesterday Chris Parker, our weather router, suggested that leaving on Tuesday for Florida made the most sense.  However, after speaking to him again today, he has changed his tune and now thinks we should leave on Sunday, the original departure date for the flotilla.

The rub is that I had become focused on a Tuesday departure and am not quite ready.  In particular, I had hoped to purchase a few more diesel cans in town but they won’t be in stock until Monday.  However, fingers crossed, we probably have enough fuel as long as we can sail about half of the distance, so I won’t dwell on that.

However, I do need to fill the jugs that I have on board as I emptied two of them, five gallons each, into one of the tanks today.

So, the fuel dock opens up at 07:30 tomorrow and I’ll head in to fill the cans.  Brenda also wants me to make a last run to the grocery to get some provisions.  A rotisserie chicken will be a good first dinner out.

Next, the dink on board and off we go, hopefully by noon.

However, no post is complete without a picture, or two.  How about some fish?Our son’s partner Melody gave me this great GoPro camera.  I have underwater color correcting filters but they don’t seem to understand the exact color correction needed.  Each filter is coded to depth.  This one was for 5-15’depth.There were some nice modest reefs near where we had our mooring.  I didn’t get the color filter quite right on this one either.  A lovely French angel. I don’t know if these sea urchins are good or bad for the reef, but there are a lot of them. Well, I thought that I needed to put up some photos of fish before we shoved off, my first of the season.

I had hoped to use the camera  lot more this season but somehow I didn’t.  Blame the virus.  Thanks Melody, I hope to use the camera more next season.

Actually, I do wonder when the next season will be.  November?  I have my doubts. 

Anway, we are out of here.  Next stop, Florida.  

I hope to put up some posts, sans photos, along the way but that depends on being able to spend time below if Brenda is doing fairly well.   Hard to tell.

Wish us luck.

Remember, you can track us on “where in the world is Pandora”.  And, on the shared Salty Dawg Flotilla page.

 

After much back and forth about how we will be getting Pandora back to the US, Brenda and I have decided that the best option is just for the two of us to make the run ourselves.

It’s been a tough call as Brenda does not do well when things are rough as she is so prone to motion sickness.  We have found that the Scope patch is sorta, kinda, pretty good for her, even though it gives here a pretty bad sore throat.   For most, seasickness tends to go away after a few days but Brenda’s longest run wasn’t long enough to try that theory out .   For sure, this run will test that hypothesis.  Fingers crossed.

Brenda, and others who have suffered from mal de mer, say that “at first you feel like you are going to die and then fear that you won’t”.   Not her first choice, to be sure.   So, what to do?

We have considered many options for Brenda to allow her to avoid the run to the US, including having crew fly in so she can fly home.   However, as expected during this scary time, my crew didn’t feel comfortable flying down and Brenda also decided that she didn’t feel comfortable flying home herself.

So, the plan is for Brenda to make the run with me, something that would have seen unthinkable only a few short weeks ago.  It’s safe to say that much of what’s going on in the world these days we unthinkable only a few weeks ago.

So, what about the trip?  We spoke with our weather router, Chris Parker a few days ago to see what we can do to make the run the least uncomfortable for Brenda.  As we have been working with him for nearly 8 years, he knows Brenda well and is very sympathetic. His suggestion remains for us to take the southern route via the Old Bahamas Channel to Florida, basically 1,000 due mile west from here.

The problem is that the wind, beginning this weekend, is forecast to be very light, too light for sailing, for much of the route.   However, Chris holds out hope that if we wait a few days longer, perhaps until the middle of next week, that there will be more favorable wind and we will be able to sail more of the run, perhaps much of it.  Having wind is very important as we simply do not have enough fuel to make the entire run under power.  Experience tells me that if I manage things well I should be able to make as much as 3/4 of the 1,100 miles to our destination under power.

As recently as last fall, on my run south to Antigua, winds were quite light and contrary and I was under power for over 100 hours.  I can tell you that the anxiety about running out of fuel was all consuming and I have no interest in going through that again on this trip.

Light wind or not, it’s hard to forecast the weather even one week out.  However, with weather, a week is a long time and it’s highly likely that we will get some wind as long as we choose our departure date carefully.

We do know that Brenda is most uncomfortable when we are off the wind in rough conditions (isn’t just about everyone?) so leaving here when the winds are behind us makes sense.  Having said that, it is also a good idea to plan things so that there won’t be wind of more than 20kts behind us as above those speeds is what causes her the most discomfort.

Ideally, we will want to leave with a good wind forecast to allow us to do well for at least the first few days and allow us to put some miles “in the bank” before we have to rely more on the engine.

The winds south of the Bahamas, our planned route, are nearly always from an easterly direction so it’s not likely that we will be dealing with adverse winds until perhaps as we approach Florida where fronts exiting the US east coast can bring adverse clocking conditions.

One way or the other, it’s just me and Brenda to make the trip so we will just have to work through this, something that we have been doing together for nearly 50 years so I’m sure that we will again muddle our way.

So here we sit, and over the next few days we will just have to hang out and be ready for a quick escape as soon as conditions are right.   I plan on calling Chris again in a day or so to check on his “Brenda forecast”.  While we recieve a general forecast via email each day, speaking to him directly is good for Brenda as it gives her the feeling of Chris’s hand on her shoulder and, to her, it’s like him saying “Brenda, it’s going to be OK.”

That’s it, we are counting on you Chris so give us a good forecast and soon.

For now, we’re here in St Johns, a lovely spot with lovely beaches to walk on and water so clear you can see 40′ down. And sunsets that will take your breath away.
Remember, the Salty Dawg Flotilla has a tracking map compliments of Predict Wind, to help you keep track of where all of the boats are as they leave each week for the US.   Note that the map has a listing of all the boats down the right side of the screen so you can click on Pandora to see where she is and what her speed and course are.

To date, there are over 200 boats signed up to participate in the Salty Dawg Flotilla to the US, a great example of Cruisers helping Cruisers during this difficult time.  I am glad to be a part of this effort and hope that I NEVER have to be involved with something like this again.  Just sayin…

We’d love to be home but here we wait…

Two days ago Brenda and I arrived in St John after a 200 mile run from Antigua.

Clearing in was easy using the ROAM app on my phone.  I tend to be a bit skeptical about any government sites or apps but this one worked remarkably well.  I opened the app, scanned the photo page of our passports, it populated almost everything needed and automatically sent a notice to customs and Immigration.  About 10 minutes later, my phone rang and an officer cleared us in.   It was amazingly easy.

The only thing I had to do after that was to call a second number and submit to a brief Covid-19 health survey.  I was also surprised to learn that by clearing into the USVIs, a territory, that we were cleared into the US, as long as we didn’t stop elsewhere prior to arriving in the US.

We made the run here at an average speed of about 7kts with the wind on a very deep reach.  This made for a very easy run until the wind picked up to 20+kts and the seas rose to a lumpy 4-7′.   The problem with being on that deep a reach is that I was unable to use the jib as a way to more fully stabilize the boat and with the waves nearly directly behind us, we rolled a lot which was quite uncomfortable for Brenda.

Overall, Pandora is fairly stable, even with a following sea, but being sure that we didn’t end up with any sort of unexpected jibe required constant vigilance as having the boom slam over unexpectedly can cause all sorts of mayhem.  Fortunately, between the boom break securing things and a careful eye on the wind, we had no problems.

The biggest issue for us was that Brenda really didn’t feel well and at one point we forgot to dose her on additional Stugeron seasickness pill, so as that wore off, that was the end of her taking anything to keep her comfortable.

As we passed St John on our way to St Thomas to pick up Brenda’s meds that had been shipped here from the US,  the waves got pretty big and we decided to bail from rolly Red Hook harbor and head over to the more protected St John national park and the site of the old Caneel Bay resort, where we now sit on a mooring.

We still have to get her meds so I am thinking that I’ll head over there on a ferry in a day or so to meet the folks that accepted our package.   In spite of the fact that there are more virus cases here, I went to a small market yesterday and felt pretty secure with the safety considerations in place, distancing, sanitizer and my mask in place.   I hope I am right.

There are some pretty inquisitive turtles keeping an eye on us here.   This guy, about 2′ in diameter, would approach us within 10′ of the boat, poke his head up seemingly to say “do I know you?”Most of St John, one of three major islands in the USVIs, is a national park and anchoring is not permitted in park areas.  The primary reason is that anchors and chain will damage coral and tear up the grass that grows on the bottom as the boat boat drifts one way or the other.   The moorings, managed by the National Park Service, are $26/day.    Fortunately, I signed up for a senior discount card for use in any National Park which gives us access to any services at half price “for life”.  I purchased the card 3-4 years ago when Brenda and I were visiting Chris and Melody in San Francisco.  Frankly, I haven’t used the card, even once, since purchasing it and was shocked to find that it was still in my wallet.   Lucky us as this means that we only pay $13 a night.

The water here is remarkably clear, more so than any place that we have visited since being in Cuba and the Bahamas and surely more clear than most places in the Caribbean so far.    I’d guess that the visibility is about 40′, much more than the 6′ of Falmouth Harbor, which was more green from algae than the pure ocean blue here.  We are on the closest mooring toward shore, perhaps the best location of all.   On shore is a resort, the Caneel Bay Resort, closed like all others in the Caribbean these days.  However, I don’t think that they will be emerging from lock-down any time soon as the resort, destroyed in 2017 after being in business since 1956 it has yet to be reopened.  It was an eco-resort, opened by Laurance Rockefeller when he owned nearly the entire island.  Their site suggests that they may open up again soon but I didn’t see any evidence of construction or demolition in evidence.  I guess we will have to wait and see.There are dozens of moorings in the area with only one or two opening up most days.  I recall seeing this very unusual catamaran in Antigua a few weeks ago.   Having one mast on each hull.  Very unusual. I think she was designed by Chris White from RI.  It seems that he is known for some unusual designs, many of them multihulls.  Not sure as I wasn’t able to find her design on his site. However, he seems like a logical choice to have been the designer based on some of the details of other models he’s drawn.

So, here we are in St John and our next step, planned for on or about May 10th, is to head to the US.  However, I’ll admit that I am a bit unclear as to how our plans will play out given how uncomfortable Brenda was for much of the trip here.  And both of us are nervous about making such a long trip without a clear plan for dealing with her sea sickness.  We have been told that nearly everyone gets over nausea after a few days but not always and the idea of single handing back to the US is not sounding particularly appealing to me.

Before we left Antigua we had to go back to St John harbor, an industrial, wholly unattractive and smelly port to clear out.   The one bright spot was seeing the ship, known as “the big lift” that transports yachts from place to place.  There’s a lot to be said for putting a yacht on a ship to avoid the wear and tear of an ocean voyage.  However, to move Pandora to say, Newport, would costs more than $20k, and that would pay for a l0t of repairs.This is a big ship.  Her biggest passenger was the classic J, Topaz, one of the boats that competed in some races in Antigua prior to the arrival of the Covid-19.  Topaz was on the receiving end of a dramatic collision between her and Svea with Svea ultimately found at fault.  Check out this article chronicling the event.   This very brief video shows what happened.  It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to have Svea ride up over her stern.  Amazingly, the mast didn’t come down.  That had to have been some really fancy footwork on the part of the crew of Topaz to secure the missing aft support for the mast.

Another boat to be hoisted aboard was Maiden.  We had seen her in Antigua, most recently in English Harbor.  Maiden, the first round the world race boat to carry an all female crew.   Brenda and I enjoyed a showing of the movie about that race at the Antigua Yacht Club back in early January when we first returned to Antigua after the holidays.  How much has changed in a few short months.  When we met the still all female crew of Maiden, they were planning to sail up the US East Coast this spring to visit many yacht clubs along the way.   Not now…It was interesting to see yachts pull up, one after another to be hoisted aboard.  The crew made pretty fast work of getting the boats prepared. In the slings, and over onto the deck.  I’ll admit that seeing all this happen made me wonder at the simplicity of it all as a way to get Pandora home.

Alas, we headed back to the harbor near St John to spend a final night in Antigua.  Quarantine or not, we did have our friends Mark and Lynn over for a brief visit before we headed out on Thursday morning.

I expect that these two cavorting on their boom were likely more focused on fun than the risk.  Down below, parents holding their breath…So, off we headed the next morning.  Things were very settled for much of the day, mostly with just enough wind to make a decent speed. We passed to windward of Nevis and St Kitts. And into the night as the sun set.  From there, not a sight of land for another 100 miles.  Unfortunately, it became progressively windier and more lumpy.   Brenda wasn’t amused and didn’t feel well at all.  She was only able to stand watch for part of the time.

However, it all worked out even if I didn’t get much sleep.   So, here we sit waiting for our date and a good “window” to head to the US, unsure about exactly when it will be the right time to head out.  Mostly, because we are both fearful that Brenda will not be able to hold up her part of the crew responsibilities.  And, if I don’t get at least some rest, I won’t be able to make good decisions and that will put us both at risk.

We are still considering options and the best approach to use to get Pandora and us back to CT safely but for now we will hang out here and come up with a plan that is safe and workable.

I did talk to Chris Parker yesterday to compare notes on the best options and as the next few weeks unfold, I am sure that we will figure it out.

For now, were’re here but it’s not the “here” that we want, not quite yet, anyway.

As I write this we have moved Pandora to Deep Bay, a small harbor right next door to St John, the main commercial port for Antigua.

We moved here today as St John is the only place where we can clear out of Antigua.  Normally, we would be able to clear in English Harbor, near Falmouth where we have been, or in Jolly Harbor, near here.

However, we called the Antigua Coast Guard and were told that the only place to clear in and out now is St John and that they would arrange for an appointment  for 09:30 on Wednesday morning.

We were going to do some provisioning in Jolly after clearing out before we head to the USVI’s Thursday but we have decided that we have plenty of food to last for our run to the USVIs where we expect to arrive on Friday afternoon so we will just come back here.

So, tomorrow afternoon we will just hoist the dink aboard and prepare for our 200 mile offshore run to the USVIs.  We have been offered the use of a mooring in Red Hook, St Thomas, the same couple that has offered to receive the prescriptions that we had Fedexed to them from the US.

After all the back and forth on getting Brenda’s scrips delivered, we learned that there is a Walgreens pharmacy in St Thomas where we could have had her prescriptions filled.  Live and learn.

I expect that the provisioning in St Thomas will be better than here in Antigua so we have decided to pick up things for our run to FL there instead of trying to determine what we need now, two weeks before we plan on heading out to make our way to Florida.

Before we head out I thought that it would be fun to share some information about a spectacular schooner that is in the marina in Falmouth.

Meet Athos, tied up at the Antigua Yacht Club Marin.  She is the largest schooner in the world at over 200′ long and she cost her owner $30,000,000 when she was launched in 2010.   Her profile is pretty impressive and yet, she doesn’t look all that big against the mega-yacht dock.   No, I take that back, she looks huge.Her interior is very lush with cabins for ten guests.   Brenda would take one look into the cabin and say “I need a nap!”And his and her’s sinks.  Brenda would settle for nothing less, of course.  I’ll bet that these aren’t stinky potties.   It is remarkable how acute Brenda’s sense of smell has become when judging imagined smells aboard Pandora.   Why is that? Not so sure about what she would say about this Pullman berth.  That’s perhaps the only thing that we have in common with Athos.  Aboard Pandora I am always stuck in the “airless corner”, against the wall.  No, wait, it wouldn’t be ANYTHING like Pandora as the AC would be blasting.   This would be a terrific cabin to host a visit from our “grandbaby-twins”, Emme and Rhett. I would enjoy writing blog posts from this office.   Athos features satellite broadband internet, 24/7 at sea or in the harbor,  a service that I am told runs in neighborhood of $5,000/month.   And, I’ll bet that coffee cup doesn’t have mud in the bottom.  “Garcon, please fetch me a cafe late. without mud please.”
And, when it’s time for dinner.  Decisions, decisions, where to eat?  “I don’t like to eat in the cockpit.  It’s way too buggy outside!”   “No problem Madam, we can move you and your guests to the salon.”   Under full canvas, she flies 10,000 feet of sail area.   Just look at the scale of her main boom.  It must be over 5′ wide.    Note that she was black when she was launched.  Now she’s white.   I am told that most mega-yachts are painted every four years.   Pandora, now grey, has been painted three times since she was launched in 2007.    Of course, one of those paint jobs was when she was fresh from the yard.  As an epoxy boat she does not have gelcoat.   Athos has a huge sail plan and a spinnaker that alone is nearly 5,000 square feet.  That single sail has 5x more sail area than Pandora’s main and jib combined. As Brenda and I make plans to run Pandora home ourselves, the owner of Athos doesn’t have to worry about those pesky details.   Nope, just hop on his private jet and fly away.  It’s up to the crew to move her to, well, wherever he says to go.

And Athos has gone to plenty of places, Greenland, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and South Pacific.

Her owner, Geert Pepping, knows a bit about the ocean as he operates one of the largest fleets of refrigerated transport ships in the world.  There must be money in “fridging” as it seems he’s done pretty well for himself.

That’s good to hear as while Athos cost about $30,000,000 to build, that’s just the beginning as it costs at least an additional 10% of that in operating expenses every year.  The rule of thumb, I am told, is that you should not spend more than 10% of your net worth on a yacht.  While estimates put his net worth in excess of $100,000,00o, I’m guessing that the operative phrase must be “in excess of” as it surely takes plenty of coin to support such a magnificent vessel.

Athos is truly a spectacular machine and perhaps her owner is ready for something else as she is currently for sale.  And, for a cool $28,000,000 Euros, she can be yours.   Check out this link to learn more. 

So that’s about if for now.  We have left Falmouth and will leave Antigua on Thursday to head for the USVIs.  And after a brief visit, on to the US, toward home.

Don’t forget to check in as we will be posting our position every four hours on the “where in the world is Pandora” button on this page.  And, as always, you can sign up to receive a notice when I post so you won’t miss even one scintillating rant ever again.

So, there you have it,  we’re on our way and all about Athos, the largest schooner in the world.

Well, we’re outa here!  Wish us luck.