{"id":11081,"date":"2020-04-26T15:53:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T20:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=11081"},"modified":"2020-04-26T15:53:08","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T20:53:08","slug":"we-are-here-but-not-yet-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=11081","title":{"rendered":"We are here but not yet there."},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days ago Brenda and I arrived in St John after a 200 mile run from Antigua.<\/p>\n

Clearing in was easy using the ROAM app on my phone.\u00a0 I tend to be a bit skeptical about any government sites or apps but this one worked remarkably well.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 About 10 minutes later, my phone rang and an officer cleared us in.\u00a0 \u00a0It was amazingly easy.<\/p>\n

The only thing I had to do after that was to call a second number and submit to a brief Covid-19 health survey.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

We made the run here at an average speed of about 7kts with the wind on a very deep reach.\u00a0 This made for a very easy run until the wind picked up to 20+kts and the seas rose to a lumpy 4-7′.\u00a0 \u00a0The 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Fortunately, between the boom break securing things and a careful eye on the wind, we had no problems.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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,\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 \u00a0In 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.\u00a0 \u00a0I hope I am right.<\/p>\n

There are some pretty inquisitive turtles keeping an eye on us here.\u00a0 \u00a0This 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \u00a0The moorings, managed by the National Park Service, are $26\/day.\u00a0 \u00a0 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”.\u00a0 I purchased the card 3-4 years ago when Brenda and I were visiting Chris and Melody in San Francisco.\u00a0 Frankly, I haven’t used the card, even once, since purchasing it and was shocked to find that it was still in my wallet.\u00a0 \u00a0Lucky us as this means that we only pay $13 a night.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 \u00a0 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.\u00a0 \"\"We are on the closest mooring toward shore, perhaps the best location of all.\u00a0 \u00a0On shore is a resort, the Caneel Bay Resort, closed like all others in the Caribbean these days.\u00a0 \"\"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.\u00a0 It was an eco-resort, opened by Laurance Rockefeller when he owned nearly the entire island.\u00a0 Their site suggests that they may open up again soon but I didn’t see any evidence of construction or demolition in evidence.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I recall seeing this very unusual catamaran in Antigua a few weeks ago.\u00a0 \u00a0Having one mast on each hull.\u00a0 Very unusual.\u00a0\"\"I think she was designed by Chris White from RI<\/a>.\u00a0 It seems that he is known for some unusual designs, many of them multihulls.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

So, here we are in St John and our next step, planned for on or about May 10th, is to head to the US.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And both of us are nervous about making such a long trip without a clear plan for dealing with her sea sickness.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Before we left Antigua we had to go back to St John harbor, an industrial, wholly unattractive and smelly port to clear out.\u00a0 \u00a0The one bright spot was seeing the ship, known as “the big lift” that transports yachts from place to place.\u00a0 There’s a lot to be said for putting a yacht on a ship to avoid the wear and tear of an ocean voyage.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \"\"Topaz was on the receiving end of a dramatic collision between her and Svea with Svea ultimately found at fault.\u00a0 Check out this article chronicling the event<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0This very brief video shows what happened.\u00a0