Well, it’s finally here. My departure from Trinidad is in a few days and as I prepare for departure, Pandora is crawling with workers. Just today, a welder, canvas guy, electricians and Amos of Perfect Finish who’s group has done a wonderful job of painting Pandora’s hull.
Yes, there was lot of work done last summer on Pandora but after spending the season aboard, it seemed like a good idea to head back to Trinidad and have some last minute work done to get her in as perfect shape as possible before departing on my run to Horta.
The work that Amos and his gang did aboard Pandora last summer was first rate but with any job that big (check out older posts for a blow by blow as they replaced much of the side decks) I had a few items that needed work and decided to bring her back. After all that, it somehow seemed like a good idea to get the hull painted. I do like a shiny hull.
So now, Pandora is in spectacular shape having been worked over from very bottom of the keel, the hull and up to the top of the hard dodger and that really doesn’t begin to cover all that was done.
And now, she’s really shiny and with brand new graphics. I know that soon someone will come up to visit and their dink will chip the name. It happens every year. I guess that’s the risk of having friends. I’ll take it.
And to keep from getting scratches on her new shiny hull, I sewed soft covers on my new huge fenders. Figuring out how to do the pleats was not all that hard but I did have to do a bit of head scratching to be sure that I had it right before cutting the fabric. All’s well that ends well in spite of the fact that it took 3 yards of fabric that was 72″ wide to get the job done.
If you saw my last post, you know that these fenders are a lot BIGGER than they look.
After more than a decade of use, our anchor was looking a bit worse for wear so I had it tended to as well. The shank was a little bent and it was not even a tiny bit shiny. Now it is, thanks to the welder/metal worker, Mitchell. He does great work.
My crew Ken, who I have been sailing with off and on for decades, will be arriving in two days and will help me move Pandora up the islands to St Maarten where I will join the Homeward Bound Salty Dawg Rally.
Once Ken and I depart Trinidad, our first landfall will be Bequia, an overnight, where we will connect with Bill and Maureen aboard Kalunamoo, our oldest cruising buddies. We plan to stop a number of places as we make our run north to St Maarten where I will connect with the Homeward Bound Salty Dawg Rally, heading to Bermuda to prepare for my departure with the Azores rally, departing on or about June 1st.
Well, it’s 6:30pm and the electrician is still aboard. I have had great luck with all of the vendors except this one. He’s a very nice guy and gets a lot done when he is here but it seems that he’s always running out for something and stays away for hours at a time.All and all, I have had terrific value and great work here in Trinidad and of the “army” that has worked on Pandora, I have been overwhelmingly happy with the outcome.
I just can’t wait till everyone goes home and I can begin to put the boat back together again.
Soon, out to dinner with a fellow Salty Dawg cruising couple.
Pandora splashes at 10:00 tomorrow morning and it will be good to have her ready to go. In particular, having a fridge and freezer working will be awesome.
It’s been six weeks since I left Pandora to fly home and now I’m back. Sadly, it will be another six weeks till I see Brenda again when we meet up in Horta.
Lots still to do but that’s about it for now. Time for dinner.
It’s hard to believe that I will be heading back to Trinidad and Pandora in two weeks. The month that I have been home has gone buy in a blur. I have been working hard to get things in shape at home as once I leave I will not be back until sometime in the first half of August.
Over the years we have developed extensive gardens and I have no idea how I am going to keep them looking nice when we are away for much of the summer. Oh well. While we see ruins in Europe our gardens will become just that…
When I took Pandora back to Trinidad the plan was to do a bit of “mopping up” on a number of small things that needed attention from her refit last summer. However, as is so often the case with me and boats, it morphed into a much larger plan including painting her hull.
The hull, last painted in 2019 was getting a bit dull in spite of yearly touchups and buffing. A big motivator for “do it now” was that with Pandora in the Med, where I am told, work is a LOT more expensive and I doubt that I would be able to justify the expense, dull or not.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but the paintjob in the US, even though it was six years ago, cost more than twice what I am paying in Trinidad. And to add insult to injury, the US job ended up with a crooked boot top which is being straightened out.
If you are thinking of having major work done on your boat I encourage you to consider a run south to get it done. Even if you are a racer and not a cruiser, there are plenty of major races over the winter in the Caribbean. So, consider running your boat to Antigua in the fall and after a few races, run the boat to Trinidad for work. After all that is completed, run her back north in the spring for a summer of cruising. Just Sayin…
From Trinidad, beginning on May 2nd, I head north to St Maarten where I will meet up with Salty Dawg boats to lead a rally heading to Bermuda and then onto the Azores. The rally from St Maarten will also include a number of other Dawg boats participating in the “Homeward Bound Rally” to points north.
And this brings me to the subject of this post.
Some 2,000 miles and around two weeks later, after leaving Bermuda, we plan to arrive in Horta, the most common place to make landfall in the Azores and, I am told, one of the most visited harbors in the world with between 1,000 and1,500 visiting every year. The small marina is in the distance on the right. Anchoring is on the far end with the commercial port in the foreground.
Nearly 900 miles from mainland Europe, this stunning archipelago is a common stopping place for boats heading to northern Europe or the Mediterranean. Most that make landfall tend to stay for a short time and continue on but we plan to spend a month taking in the beauty before I head to Gibraltar and on to Spain, where Pandora will be hauled for the season.
The map shows Horta, our first port of call, and the other islands.
The weather in the Azores by mid June will be mild with typical daytime highs in the mid 70s, dropping to the mid 60s at night. After 9 seasons in the Caribbean, the cooler temperatures will be a delight, especially for Brenda. However, not a lot of swimming will be in our future, as my skin has become very thin from the mid 80s water we are used to.
We are very excited to spend time in the Azores, and many who have visited there say that is perhaps the most beautiful place that they have ever been.
This short video reviews some of the highlights of Horta. The first segment, a few minutes long focuses on the harbor and it looks very charming. Interestingly, I have heard that the cost of slips in the marina is quite low, about half of what you’d expect to pay for a mooring in New England. I like that.
We do not yet know where we will go while we are in the Azores and which parts of our explorations will be by ferry or aboard Pandora verses moving around with Pandora.
At the end of our visit, Brenda’s flight on July 16th will be from Sao Miguel, the capital of the Azores and the largest island. My crew for the run to Spain will meet me there. This short video certainly paints a picture of a lovely place to visit. I can’t wait.
The last month has been a whirlwind of details as I sort through every imaginable detail to prepare for the run. Visiting a travel clinic to get a variety of prescriptions for whatever might come up on the passage and a medical kit that is the size of a piece of carry on luggage plus. I never imagined that I would have a skin stapler on board, that’s for sure. Happily, one of my crew has extensive medical training but let’s hope that keeping all this stuff on board is akin to carrying an umbrella on a sunny day.
One of the iconic scenes from Horta is yachts tying up on the breakwater, where arriving crew paint a spot to memorialize their arrival.
And, in order to be certain that Pandora’s new shiny paint will not be scratched, how about some jumbo fenders? Yes, I will be sewing some soft covers.
Big enough? I sure hope so.
“So, Bob, how will you pump them up without busting a gut?” Thanks for asking. I’ll use this nifty battery powered pump. They go from flat to fully inflated in less than one minute. And, it can be reversed to deflate them for storage.
With all that is going on I have to admit that I am having difficulty in keeping everything straight. All the details are a bit overwhelming.
And, to make matters worse, I am heading to the dentist for a root canal right before I depart. The only thing that would be more fun than that would be to have the problem crop up mid ocean. Well, this one, at least, should be under control by then.
Fingers crossed on that front and sorry, no pictures of dental work, just work on getting Pandora ready for her big adventure.
My dad, now gone for over ten years, would approve of our plans, not the root canal, as he once quipped, “Bob, wouldn’t it be great to take Pandora through the Straights of Gibralter?” Indeed dad, it would.
However, I have to get there first. And, first, the Azores. I’m all about that…
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Holly S**t, it’s been a whirlwind since Brenda headed home from Antigua on March 1st.
In the course of only a few weeks, I helped out on the Caribbean 600 race, greeting boats at the dock upon their return, enjoyed some of the events associated with the SuperYacht Regatta and then took Pandora to Trinidad where she is undergoing a few more tweaks to be sure that she is in top shape to run to the Mediterranean.
Now I am back home in CT until I head back to Trinidad in late April.
On March 10th I headed south from Antigua, bound for Trinidad, some 400 miles distant, to address a few new items that I need completed as well as some “mop up” items from when she was there for her big refit over the summer, a few things that weren’t completed because I needed to be in Antigua by November 10th, done or not and just had to leave…
One major problem with having on a schedule is that sometimes the weather isn’t cooperative and our run south to Trinidad was true to form, in this case, with not enough wind. As a result, a lot of motoring. Sadly, being able to delay a few days would have made for a much more fun passage. When on a tight timeframe it can often be frustrating.
On my way north to Antigua, also on a schedule, we motored a lot as well. Normally, Brenda and I don’t move until conditions are favorable but when there is a deadline, you just gotta go.
When I leave Trinidad in early May, it is a very long way, almost 500 miles, to St Maarten, where I will join in a feeder rally, departing on May 18th, bound for Bermuda, to begin my run to Horta in the Azores. From Bermuda we plan to depart for Horta on or or about June 1st, when I will lead the 9 boats that are participating in the Salty Dawg Azores Rally.
One in Horta Brenda will join me for a month of cruising the Azores before she flies to Scotland and will head, again with crew, for Spain.
My run from Trinidad to Horta will be my longest since I retired in 2012. For the last dozen years, Brenda and I have been spending most winters afloat, beginning with a run down the Intra Costal Waterway, ICW, in 2012, as well as four seasons in the Bahamas, two months cruising Cuba’s south coast and most recently, 8-9 seasons cruising the eastern Caribbean.
This screenshot from my Garmin InReach shows Pandora’s tracks every season from the beginning of the pandemic until this current season. That’s a lot of back and forth. The run to the west from the US Virgins to FL, via the Old Bahama Channel, was our track back to the US when crew was not available.
With bad weather on that run and a very reluctant crew (Brenda), it was surely our most miserable passage ever.
When I return to Pandora in late April, I will begin what will be a marathon run to Spain were I hope to arrive by early August.
The total distance from Trinidad to Almaria Spain, where I will leave Pandora from August until the following spring, is nearly 4,500 miles. That’s a long way and will involve crew on every leg, nearly 10 individuals, my most number of crew in one year, ever.
It is unquestionably a very long way and I will admit that I am struggling to know that when I leave Brenda on April 27th to head to Trinidad, I won’t see her again until mid June. Not to put too fine a point on this but I will be at sea for both our 48th wedding anniversary and my 70th birthday. Not great.
The run…
After last summer I decided that I needed a break from long passages and opted to leave Pandora in Trinidad for some work after a decade of long passages back and forth from New England. It is ironic that after only a break for one season from the long runs, I am now planning on my longest run ever but as they say, “you gotta do what you gotta do”. So much for a shorter commute…
However, after so many years in the Caribbean and going to the same islands, again and again, it’s time for a change of scenery so off we go…
A particularly big negative is that this will take us away from our home for much of this summer, our favorite time of the year to be here. And, that also means that we will be here in the winter, the last place I want to be when it’s freezing.
And speaking of summer, a few days ago we went to a local nursery to get some spring flowers with the full knowledge that after they fade, we won’t be able to plant until sometime in August. Not great but after this season, we will be home for most of the summer following April and May in the Med and a return in the early fall for two more months.
I will surely miss seeing friends and going to our favorite harbors in the Caribbean, especially Antigua but four months a year cruising the Mediterranean with so much history, won’t be so bad. Right?
With crew settled for each leg of the run and Pandora getting last minute items dealt with, I am busy ordering stuff for the passage including spare pumps, medical kits and whatever I can think of to allow us to keep safe and moving if we find ourselves in a fix 1,000 miles from anything.
Whatever spars and parts that I have on board it is likely that something that I don’t have a spare for will break. As they say “everything on a boat is broken. You just don’t know it yet.” Sad but true…
And we won’t even talk about the possibility of an orca biting off my rudder along the way. A few weeks ago I actually ran into a guy on the beach in Falmouth Antigua who had his rudder bitten off near Gibraltar. I suppose when you think about the number of boats sailing around, getting your rudder “removed” isn’t all that likely but it is still common enough to be a real concern.
There is actually a website dedicated to tracking orca sightings and attacks to help boats transiting the area steer clear of harm, or at least try to steer clear of the pods. I have no idea of what the percentage of boats traveling through the area are hit but I’d hate to be one. Check out this site dedicated to sightings and “incidents”.
There are a lot of interactions with orcas in the course of a year. The blue are “we saw”. The red are “they bit”. Looks like a lot to me…
There are many more attacks in the springtime farther south, near Gibraltar. That is why it is not recommended to keep the boat for the winter in southern Portugal with the plan of moving into the Med in early spring as that is when the orcas are most active in the area.
That’s a bummer as I would prefer to keep Pandora in that area for next winter as it is reasonably priced and not all that far from the Azores. But with all the attacks, I will be bypassing that area and heading a few hundred miles farther and into the Med to Almeria, Spain.
Attacks April to June of last year. Lots of them and all over the place.
In summer, July and August when I will be passing the area west of Gibraltar there were not as many interactions but it wasn’t nothing. I am told that they migrate north as the season progresses, following the tuna, their primary food source.
For sure, the risk of being hit by an orca is a concern and I am hopeful that I can avoid the worse of it by consulting the “incident map” and see where the orcas area and going elsewhere.
After transiting the “orca gauntlet”, and making my way into the Med, I’ll head for Almira. Along the way I may very well stop in Gibraltar and Morocco to see some sights with my crew if they can take the time.
And, those plans do depend on my not having to stop along the way to have my rudder repaired.
Gibralter to Almeria.
So, where in the world is Pandora…Going?
From Trinidad to St Maarten, Bermuda, Horta, a month cruising the Azores with Brenda and on to Almeria. After that, in 2026, who knows.
I am looking forward to seeing sights like this castle in Almeria.
I am not looking forward to sights like this…
Orcas aside, here is to an uneventful voyage.
Wish me luck.
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I am in Trinidad and plan on heading home tomorrow for about 6 weeks before returning to bring Pandora north in preparation for the rally to the Azores.
Brenda headed home on March 1st to attend to a number of art shows that she is involved in and I stuck around to be part of the Antigua Super Yacht Regatta. This regatta is designed to attract the really big sailing yachts, some over 200′ long that do not normally race and to do so in a “gentleman sort of way” over a four day series.
To see these huge yachts move around the course, piloted by professional captains and very exprienced crew from around the world is an amazing sight. On the final day or racing I was lucky to be invited out on a photo boat that had been chartered by two professional photographers.
We followed the fleet around the course and to see these monsters pass us by was breathtaking.
The Caribbean 600 is over and the 65+ competitors have returned to the dock. It was a tough race with lots of wind and rough seas so there were quite a few that had to retire without finishing the race. More than normal, I was told.
600 miles in strong trade winds make for a wet race as they wound around 10 islands giving a mix of conditions from ghosting along in the wind shadow of Guadeloupe to beating into 30kts of trades. Not my choice, that’s for sure. A tough course.
A friend and I walked up high on the cliffs overlooking the starting line. Off in the distance was the race committee and lots of others, vying for a good look down the starting line.
And down below us some going for a swim in the surf.
While off in the distance the yachts were getting ready for the start, practicing their tacks and jibes.
As the various classes started, with the smallest ones going first followed by larger boats. Even the smallest weren’t small but compared to the super-maxi…
Rounding the starting mark.
It turned out that we were in the perfect place to observe as each boat came very close to where we were and tacked.
And there was a lot of tacking to gain an advantage, sometimes coming so close to each other that it looked like they would collide.
To see these huge yachts coming at us was an impressive sight. This is Lucky that ultimately won “line honors” being the fastest boat over the course.
This boat, is owned by Roy Disney and is campaigned all over the world.
The boats that are the most sophisticated have a “canting keel” that allows them to move the keel from side to side, up to about 45 degrees. This helps keep the boat more upright in strong wind. When the keel is moved over that much the boat needs to have a long dagger board put down to keep the boat from sliding sideways. This shows the severe angle of the keel.
No shortage of crew on these giants. Every ounce of “rail meat” is needed to keep the boat as level as possible.
To see these powerful machines beating to weather was a sight.
And, to make things even more exciting, there was a helicopter buzzing all around, often hovering very close to the water and banking over us.
More often than not, they passed very close and below us. Not common to see the top of a chopper up close.
One thing that is unique about this race is that every boat, regardless of first, last or retired is greeted at the dock when they arrive. I thought that it would be fun to volunteer and agreed to be on call on Wednesday morning, from 02:00 to 06:00, when the first boats were likely to show up.
All of this was organized by Helen, relentlessly cheerful and yet runs a very tight ship. And, here with her infectious smile and enthusiasm made it all so much fun. In honor of all the volunteers they had two parties for us. it was great fun.
My “crew” of greeters. Note at least one beer at 04:00. Oh, to be young…
The first to be greeted were a few boats that had to retire as they had broken stuff. Torn sails, a track ripped off of the mast, a broken rudder, just to name a few. Even though the arrived dejected from a race that did not turn out as they had hoped, we cheered them with enthusiasm.
We had a banner that they unrolled for the photo and we delivered beer for all on board which was a big hit, as you can imagine.
As my shift was the very first one, less than 48 hours after the start, only the fastest boats were likely to be completing the race by then.
That turned out to be quite something as Lucky, a boat that used to be called Rambler 88, was the first boat to finish, earning “line honors”.
I have to say that being there as they returned to the dock around 05:00 was quite a thrill. As you can imagine, being the first to complete the race was also a reason for press to show up in force so there was quite a crowd on hand.
Check out this video chronicling the win by Lucky. It’s a short piece but full of action. She is a huge white boat. Really impressive.
As she came around the corner from behind a huge motor yacht, it was impressive to see them back into the dock in the dark.
After a hard run, skillfully guided to the dock.
Quite a crowd had been forming to greet them.
Clearly, the Lucky campaign is well run. Even before we had a chance to give them the banner, dozens of hot pizzas arrived. I subsequently learned that a local restaurant opened hours early to prepare food for the crew.
And, there was additional food on the dock in coolers and boxes that was hoisted aboard as the celebration began.
Interestingly, they have a canting keel that can be moved from one side of the boat to the other to provide more righting moment and keep the boat more level, although they still sail on their ear. As the draft with the keel down is something like 20′, they have to cant the keel about 20 degrees to reduce draft in the harbor. However, this means that the boat will heel alarmingly so they hoist three huge water bags on the opposite side of the boat to compensate for the weight of the keel and keep her fairly level at the dock.
This is one sophisticated boat and I can only imagine what it costs to move her around the world for many the many competitions that they participate in.
Only a few weeks ago they received line honors in the RORC transatlantic race from the Canaries islands to Grenada and setting a new record run for the course. This 10 minute wrap-up on the race is worth watching.
All and all, it was a wonderful experience but I can say with confidence, that a 600 mile run, island to island, is not for me. I guess that I don’t like being salty all that much.
However, to volunteer and greet them as they arrived. Great fun.
It’s Sunday February 23rd and those tiny sailboats that have been hanging around Falmouth began their around the world race. First stop Panama and yes, in keeping with the news from Washington about the canal, they will get very special treatment crossing Panama.
Actually, given how small these boats are, less than 20′ long, they will simply be pulled out of the water and put on a truck that will bring them over the mountains where they will be launched into the Pacific Ocean.
And, speaking of the Panama Canal, I am trying to imagine how these boats would handle the line handlers necessary for navigating the canal. Not a lot of room on board, that’s for sure.
All of these boats, here in Antigua, completed a qualifying passage, most leaving from Logos Portugal. Everyone made it here safely.
Perhaps a good place to begin is with a short video of highlights of the qualifying voyage “race” to Antigua.
The start was at the mouth of Falmouth Harbor and began with a parade of all participants out to the starting line. I ran, err walked, up the Goat Trail to the lookout to see the procession.
Even big boats look tiny from up high. But these, well teeny tiny. Not a lot larger than the dinks following them to the start.
By way of contrast, some of the Caribbean 600 race boats were out practicing. Their crew involves more individuals than the entire fleet of minis, by about double.
And, surely this spinnaker on the 100’+ Leopard surely cost more than the entire budget of the mini fleet.
With about 40 minutes to start, I scrambled, and nearly ran, down the trail, jumped into my dink and motored out to the starting line to watch the participants jockey for position.
There was a lot of action and loads of spectator boats trying to stay out of the way. I expect that this is about as close to another participant any of these boats is going to be until they are on the dock in Panama.
Spectator boats are always packed with crew and this one a very capable offshore boat itself.
A few minutes before the 5 minute gun.
Almost to the line.
And they’re off…
So funny to see the jockeying to be the first over the line with so many miles to go.
Heading off toward the horizon.
Almost gone… Next stop, Panama and the end of leg one.
I am really looking forward to following the fleet for the next year. The other night there was a meet and greet at the Sailing Academy where many of the skippers shared their stories and why they were embarking on this remarkable journey.
Some may say that to take on the ocean in such a small boat is foolhardy but having spent time understanding the design and meeting the skippers, many of whom built their own boats, it seems to me that while there is surely risk, these boats and hopefully the skippers that sail them are plenty tough for the trip.
My plan is to follow the fleet and report on what I learn and expect that there will be a continual flow of information and photos in the coming months so stand by.
Of course, you too can follow the boats using the “yellow brick” tracking app. Install it where you get your tablet or phone apps. After you download the app select the “mini-globe race” and select leg one to see where the boats are.
God speed to them all.
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