All posts by David

Bequia, Mayreau, Tobago Cays

Getting There

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Hello again.
In our last episode we planned to site-see in St. Lucia before continuing south, and we did. We did an all day touristy bus-tour of the island, seeing banana Ma'alahiBequiaplantations, fishing villages, rain forests, the famed Pitons and many other breath-taking scenes. We were impressed by the beauty of the country and the friendliness of its people.

From there we had a wonderful day sail to the island of Bequia, just south of and a part of St. Vincent, yet another beautiful tropical island with sparkling waters and friendly people. Here we visited Athneal Olivierre’s whaling museum. Athneal is 78 and with special international permission AthnealOlivierre_Museum_4still hunts whales in open boats with harpoons (he’s allowed 2 per year). He is actually quite famous for killing a 48-foot humpback with a single harpoon thrust several years back; a most interesting man to talk to.

On the 23rd of July we left Bequia and sailed (we’re getting quite accustomed to sailing the boat without running the engine now) to the small island of Mayreau, still part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. SaltWhistleBay_Maalahi_1Another couple of days soaking in the tropical beauty there and we sailed the 4 miles over to the Tobago Cays, arguably the premier spot in the entire Caribbean. Four tiny, uninhabited islands behind the protection of the huge Horseshoe Reef make up this national park. The water is clear, the beaches are white and the snorkeling is superb. We’ll be back!

We left the Tobago Cays this morning after 3 much-too-short days, cleared out of St. Vincent at Union Island and cleared into Grenada at Hillsboro, Carriacou. We’re currently at anchor behind a little spit of sand named, interestingly, Sandy Island. We sail in the morning for the south coast of Grenada, just short of 40 miles away. That will put us safely out of the path of hurricanes. Although we’ve been blessed with an unusually quiet July, as tropical weather is concerned, we are quite relieved, and thankful, to be this far south at this time.

We’ll send another update once we’ve gathered some data in Grenada (that’s kinda poetic, huh, “data in Grenada”?)

David and Claudia

Guadeloupe, Iles des Saintes, Martinique, St. Lucia

Down Island Update

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Sourfriere_Pitons_4bThis greeting comes from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. We arrived today after the best sailing day we’ve ever had, east winds 15-18 knots (our direction of travel just west of south) and 2-4 ft seas under clear blue sky. Sure wish they could all be like that!

I forgot to mention last time that we spotted our first whale the morning of our arrival to St. Martin. We left St. Martin July 3rd when we finally turned the corner and got to start heading south. We anchored overnight at St. Barts without clearing in and left the next morning for an overnight passage to Guadeloupe. We ended up passing by the island of Guadeloupe because the anchorage didn’t look much protected and we continued on another 10 miles to anchor at Iles des Saintes, a small group of tiny islands that are a part of Guadeloupe. This got us far enough south to be within our insurance coverage area, below 16 degrees north. Here we weathered a couple of tropical waves (wind and squalls) before heading out the evening of July 9th for an overnight sail to Martinique.

The next morning our arrival (to our 4th French island in a row) was greeted by a huge pod of dolphins, I mean hundreds of them, leaping way out of the water. A few of them spotted us and must have said something like “hey, there’s a sailboat, let’s go play with it” because they left the herd and raced over to us, swimming at our bow for quite awhile.

At Martinique, we caught back up with our friends Bob and Susan on “Sunrise”. They had been in vacation mode for the past week or so with a large group of their Texas friends who had come down on a group sailboat charter. So many of them brought “care” packages of corn tortillas that “Sunrise” had a lot more than they could use and we now have 3 large packs in the freezer!

We hope to get a little sightseeing done while here in St. Lucia before heading on down to Bequia and The Grenadines. We’re planning on being in Grenada by the end of July and hanging out there for awhile before making for Trinidad.

Hope to hear from you soon.

David and Claudia

Anegada Passage, BVI, St. Martin

Big Ocean, Small World

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Back in the summer of 1986, in the days of bigger house and smaller boat, we sailed our Catalina 27 from Houston to Port Isabelle (South Padre Island area) where we kept it as our floating condo for a year, traveling the 500 one way miles every chance we got; vacation weeks, long weekends, short weekends. We met a couple there that lived on their boat and cruised the islands whenever they got the chance. They were the first people we ever met who actually lived on their boat and, therefore, they quickly developed “hero” status with us and we became fast friends. The next summer when we had decided to sell the boat and the house in order to get a bigger boat and live on it, Doug and LuAnn gave us a wonderful sendoff with a grilled tuna dinner across the dock at their place. The next day when we sailed out of the marina for the brokerage docks back in Houston was the last time we saw them, although we’ve kept in touch over the years by infrequent mail.

While we were in the Virgin Islands, we became a “sponsoring vessel” by subscribing to David Jones’ Caribbean Weather Net based in Tortola. For $100 per year, we can check in with David Jones (the “Caribbean Weather Man”) via SSB radio to get weather information and forecasts for whatever area we happen to be in at the time. Since we’re well into hurricane season, trying to make our way south, we figured it was well worth it for the personal weather routing service.

Randy and Cheryl flew out of St. Thomas last Saturday morning. By noon we were heading back to Virgin Gorda where we would wait for weather to cross the Anegada Passage to St. Martin. We only made it to Peter Island due to the very strong easterly trade winds. The next day we made it on in to Virgin Gorda. I noticed that the alternator bracket that had broken and been welded together back in Apalachicola had broken again. Luckily, our friends Keith and Cindy on “Imua Kai”, who went to work for the shipyard on Virgin Gorda, were able to help me get it re-welded right away. Tuesday, we took the ferry over to Road Town, Tortola, to try to find, or have made, a new alternator bracket (the re-welded one would serve as a backup) and to meet David Jones and visit his Weather Center. We didn’t find a new bracket and the machine shop couldn’t make a new one right away, but we did visit the Weather Center, talked with David Jones and got a good weather window for St. Martin overnight.

We cleared out of the BVI, caught the last ferry back to Virgin Gorda, quickly got the boat ready to sail and had the anchor up by 1800, heading for St. Martin some 85 nautical miles away. David’s forecast of 15-20 knot easterlies and “bumpy” seas was right on. The sky was mostly clear and the full moon made for a delightful, although a little rough, crossing.

The next morning around 0730 and about 35 miles from St. Martin, the radio was calling our name.
“Ma’alahi Ma’alahi, Whisper.”
I glanced at Claudia and grabbed the mike.
“Whisper Whisper, Ma’alahi.”
“Ma’alahi, go to 6224.”
“Switching to 6224.”
“Ma’alahi, this is Whisper. Are you David and Claudia?”
“Are you LuAnn and Doug?”

Luann_DougSure enough, Doug and LuAnn Grant, aboard their recently acquired schooner “Whisper”, had heard us talking to David Jones a couple of days before and thought it might be us. I guaranteed them that we are definitely the only “Ma’alahi” on the high seas. Interestingly, they’ve been at St. Croix, USVI; the only Virgin Island we didn’t visit. But, they’re heading south, too, and we’ll surely meet up with one another somewhere down the line. Can’t wait.

By the way, we made it to Saint Martin. We’re currently anchored at Marigot on the French side. We took a bus over to Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, on the Dutch side of the island today. We survived another passing tropical wave and its associated strong winds and heavy rain last night. The next few days promise settled weather and we’ll leave in the morning (Saturday) for St. Barts. From there we’ll overnight to Guadeloupe where we’ll finally be below 16 degrees latitude and be within the requirements of our insurance once again.

Still lovin’ it,

David and Claudia

Miss Augie, Virgin Gorda

New Crew

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Dear Family and Friends,
We’d like to take this opportunity to announce the return of a former DrakeChannel_Augie_2crew member to “Ma’alahi”, Miss Augie. For those of you that we’ve met since our Texas departure, Miss Augie is Claudia’s 3 lb. Chihuahua who was left behind when we began our cruising life. She has returned to boat life after her 8 month absence by stowing away in our son’s (Randy) and daughter-in-law’s (Cheryl) bags when they came to the Virgin Islands for a visit. Since the hard part of our current journey is behind us and since we’ve met other boats cruising with pets with no problems and since most countries don’t care as long as they stay on the boat and since she quickly adjusted to taking her “walks” on the foredeck (the poop deck might sound more appropriate, but the logistics are better forward so we can just hose it down when she’s done) we decided to reenlist her as permanent crew.

We’re in the 3rd week of our vacation marathon. Our daughter, VirginGorda_TheBaths_Rick_Christina_ClaudiaChristina, and her husband, Rick, came for a week’s visit the first part of June. They got to see many of the hilights of both the US and British Virgin Islands (as much as one can in only one week) and had a really good time. Rick really took to snorkeling and Christina left with a little color in her cheeks (and shoulders, arms and legs). The day after their departure, Randy and Cheryl (and Augie) arrived. Since DrakeChannel_Cheryl_Randythey will be here until June 26, they’re getting the extended tour. In addition to sunny beaches, sparkling, turquoise water and superb snorkeling, they’ve experienced a tropical wave (packing 40 knot winds) and the only squalls we’ve had while under way our entire trip.

We’ve been trolling 2 fishing lines at all times and Randy has caught 3 fish…well, 4 if you count the fish head that was landed without a body attached. Looks like a shark got the best part. Today, Randy and I scuba dived the wreck of the “HMS Rhone”, a British mail steamer that went down here in a hurricane in October, 1867.

Vacationing is much busier and demanding than cruising but I think we will both make it to the finish. We won’t have much time to rest, though. We’ll be looking for weather to get south in a hurry, before one of these tropical waves turns into something much worse. We hope to sail from Virgin Gorda directly to Guadeloupe (215 miles) or Martinique (300 miles) in one hop, but that will, of course, depend on weather. We’ll be far enough south then to satisfy our insurance company but not completely out of the hurricane belt, so we’ll continue from there to St. Vincent, The Grenadines, Grenada and Trinidad where we plan to leave the boat for awhile and fly home for a visit (maybe September or October…no definite plans yet). We’ll write again once we’re on the move.

Take care,

David and Claudia (and Augie)

Virgin Islands

Cruising Update

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Hello, everyone.
StJohn_Rick_ChristinaYes, it has been awhile since our last update message. We’ve been in the Virgin Islands since the first week in May. We’ve gotten some much needed maintenance done while waiting for our daughter Christina and her husband Rick to come for their visit. The StJohn_Claudia_Cheryl_Randy_4day after they left here, our son Randy and his wife Cheryl arrived and are here now (“here” is Virgin Gorda, BVI).

One of the projects that kept us busy while awaiting our vacationers was “fixing” the watermaker. One morning it just stopped water-making. The high pressure pump wouldn’t make high pressure. I called the factory (still under warranty) and the first thing they did to amaze me was to tell me to hang up and call back collect! Then they proceeded to help me troubleshoot the symptoms. They decided that the quickest remedy would be to overnight a new high pressure pump to me. Since this was already a Friday evening and they’re located in Sausalito, CA, and the mail service in St. Thomas didn’t accept FedEx on Saturdays, it didn’t arrive until Monday.

Monday it came in and I proceeded to install it. However, the new pumps use new stainless steel fittings and I didn’t notice that the threads were different until after I stripped them on the high pressure hose. So, I called them and explained what I’d done and they overnighted a new high pressure hose along with new brass fittings like the ones I already had. The hose arrived next day and I finished the install of the new pump…with no results. Actually, I wasn’t surprised. While waiting for the new pump to arrive, I took the old one apart (at their suggestion) to see if there was anything obviously broken. There wasn’t and I discovered what a brilliantly simple design this high pressure pump was and that it probably COULDN’T break.

When I got it back together I was able to coax the watermaker into operation with a great deal of fiddling with it and a lot of luck. After calling the company again with the news that the new pump had no affect, they decided that it had to be the electric feed pump with an intermittent problem so they overnighted a new one. Next day I installed it with the same results…no high pressure. At this point I knew for sure that the problem was somewhere in the lines and not with the watermaker or any of its components (although I’d already cleaned and replaced the strainer and filters and made certain there were no blockages). I also remembered the email I got from you, Raf, about the problem you had with your refrigerator’s water pump, so I put my new theory to the test and determined that this is what had happened: The thru-hull for the watermaker is also used by our refrigerator’s water pump, although it’s an optional pump and we don’t even use it. However, when the strainer got dirty the watermaker pump sucked harder and sucked the water out of the fridge’s water line until it started sucking air. That’s when the watermaker quit.

I replaced the tee fitting with an elbow fitting (thereby disconnecting the fridge’s water pump completely) and we were making water again. I called the factory to let them know what I figured out and they were glad all was solved. They had already had me send back the old high pressure pump (FedEx freight collect) but told me to keep both the electric feed pumps so that I’d have a spare! Even though we wasted over a week messing with this problem, the time was all that it cost us. Obviously, I HIGHLY recommend the Spectra Watermaker to anyone in need of their products. Not only because it’s the best equipment, but you don’t get service like this from ANYONE I’ve ever dealt with before.

Randy and Cheryl will be with us until June 26, and then we’ll be looking to get south ASAP. We are planning to sail from here to Guadalupe in one hop, then on down to Trinidad as weather permits.

Stay tuned,

David and Claudia

Puerto Rico, St. John, Virgin Islands

Update

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Boqueron_Claudia_DJ_2We’ve been in Salinas, P.R. for the past week. We made the passage from Boqueron overnight in one leg. Our friends, Laddie and D.J. were here for the past 4 days and we toured the island in their rented car. We’ll leave here for Culebra in the next day or two, then it’s a short hop to St. Thomas and the USVI.
More later,
David and Claudia
5/5/99 0450 AST

It’s now later and here’s more:
We waited in Salinas for a warranty replacement part for the fridge to get shipped in. It arrived Thursday afternoon so we finished getting the boat ready for departure and upped anchor at 6:30 pm for an overnight motor-sail the 69.1 miles to Culebra. An uneventful (the best kind) passage in the forecasted light ESE winds found us near Isla de Culebra about 7:30 am. In typical Ma’alahian fashion, we discussed the fact that St. Thomas was a mere 20+ miles further east and, heck, a beautiful anchorage at St. John was only about 10 miles beyond that and, hey, it’s only 7:30 in the morning, we can be there by 2 or 3 this afternoon!

So, greetings from Francis Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands!StJohn_CaneelBay_1
On our two previous trips to St. John, we’ve camped at Cinnamon Bay in the national park. We now have a view of that beautiful beach from the other side. Tomorrow, we’ll probably move around Mary’s Point to Leinster Bay and snorkel around Waterlemon Cay before moving to the SE side of the island in Coral Bay where we’ll hang around for several days doing some much needed boat maintenance.

We plan to stay in this area at least through June, cruising the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, revisiting favorite spots and discovering some new ones. With our arrival here, we’ve now logged over 2500 miles under our keel and with an average speed of under 6 knots we’re ready to sit still (sorta) for awhile. The sun set an hour ago, so it’s time for bed.

Later,

David and Claudia

Mona Passage

Hood Ornament

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Yes, indeed, we’ve made it to Boqueron, Puerto Rico. We waited out the strong trade winds for over a week in Luperon and finally got a break. We cleared out of Luperon with “plans” to go to Samana, 120 miles down the coast and could have tucked in there if the light winds didn’t materialize. MonaPassage_SolaFide_2But they did and we had an incredible trip across the Mona Passage which has a reputation for being brutal. We anchored up in Luperon at 0500 Saturday morning and dropped anchor in Boqueron, P.R. at 1140 Monday morning. Saturday was spent beating and tacking into 15-20 knot winds but things did calm down that night into Sunday. The light easterly winds picked up enough Sunday evening to actually sail (without engine) for some of the way. Continuing on the second night was a first for us. Actually, it is easier to get some sleep when you’re off watch the second night, because you’re so tired from the first night.

We’re back in the USA and will take a taxi to Mayaguez Tuesday morning to clear customs and hit the Wal-Mart there! Our next task will be to traverse the southern coast of Puerto Rico, fighting the strong easterly trades all the way. We’ll stop in Salinas for a few days to reprovision and meet up with Laddie and D.J. from Houston, who will be in P.R. on business. Then it’s on to the Virgin Islands. We’re really gonna make it.

Oh, the hood ornament. Sunday evening, in the Mona Passage just before sunset, a large tern made several approaches at our boat attempting to roost on the spreaders of the main mast. We assumed he was tired and was looking for a place to rest up for the night. All attempts at landing were unsuccessful. He made a few attempts at the mizzen with the same results. Finally, exhausted, he perched himself on the rail of our bow pulpit, tucked his head and slept through several headsail adjustments and the rise and fall of bow over waves. Just before 3 AM, we cut the engine and unfurled the genoa. We figured that that either woke him up or he realized that we were taking him back to Puerto Rico and off he flew!

Buenos noches,

David and Claudia

Dominican Republic

Republica Dominicana

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Buenos dias!
We’ve been in Luperon, Dominican Republic, for the past week. We have fallen in love with this place and it’s people and hope to return some day when we can stay and explore por mucho tiempo. We had such a great weather window to leave the Bahamas that we never checked in at Turks and Caicos; just anchored overnight at Provo and headed across the banks next day, anchored at Big Ambergris Cay then on to Luperon. Instead of the normal headwinds, we had flat seas and light ENE winds for a lovely reach all the way to Luperon. Even had to reef sails to slow down to keep from getting there before daylight. We’ve seen our first (and second) green flash at sunset so we know we’re really in the tropics.

Luperon is a small agricultural village with the best small boat Luperon_ChickenShack_2harbor in all of Hispanola (the island that D.R. and Haiti share). The Spanish speaking locals are very poor, but even more, they are happy and friendly. In town, local transportation is motorcycles. In the country, it’s burros and donkeys. We rented a car for a couple of days with “Sunrise” and drove to Puerto Plata and Santiago to buy provisions and see some of the country. This is a very beautiful country with green mountains and palm trees cohabitating quite nicely. On the 2nd day of our jeep rental, I drove and Bob navigated. On the way back to Luperon, we ended up on a gravel road (very large “gravel” … many would say “rocks”) and forded 3 streams to get back to town. The locals along that stretch probably don’t see many turistas. We did a lot of smiling and waving. Imbert_Falls_2Yesterday, we took a guided tour. The hilight of the tour, in fact of our entire trip so far, was climbing the waterfalls outside of Imbert. I cannot begin to describe this experience. Our group consisted of 3 couples, plus a family of 5 (including their 3 sons ages 5 to 12) (yes, they’re cruising on a sailboat, too). Our able guide, Juaquin, led us up the mountain and across many streams. When we got to the falls, it was unbelievable. There was a rock cliff with a large pool at the base. We swam across the pool to get to the first fall which was climbed with the aid of a stick ladder. Then we entered the first of the rock canyons. We waded and swam upstream to the next fall. Juaquin gave us detailed instructions on the hand and foot holds to use for climbing up through the falls and was there to pull us up by hand at the critical points. There were 7 falls in all, each more spectacular that the previous. This was no walk in the park but what an experience. The trip down was much quicker, sliding down the upper 5 falls. The real interesting part was the last 2 (the first two going up, including the one with the ladder). You couldn’t slide down them … you had to jump. It was especially funny to see the 5 year old doing a cannon-ball off the real tall one!

We received a very high compliment from Juaquin on the way to falls in the van. We were talking and laughing with him and he said, in his best English, that we were “happy people, like Dominicans; not like the Germans”. We are now waiting for the trade winds to calm down enough for us to head out along the north coast to at least Samana. The first day we were in Luperon, we found friends from Houston, Mark and Bunny on “Wild Goose”. They had arrived just the day before from Cuba (small world, eh?). They left the next day for Puerto Rico. They got a weather window to make the whole 250 miles in one jump. I talked to them on the radio after they arrived and they said the Mona Passage was “like a lake”. I hope we can get half the weather they got! Hopefully, the next you hear from us will be from Puerto Rico, too.

Adios,

David and Claudia

Bahamas, Conception Island

Tropical Arrival

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We officially made it to the tropics yesterday when we crossed the GeorgeTown_Maalahi_Sailing_2Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees, 30 minutes latitude. We’re currently anchored at Mayaguana, Bahamas, waiting for the 20-25 knot trade winds to subside and/or back enough to allow us to make it on down to Provo, Turks and Caicos, 45 miles to the SE. From there, we’ll cross the Caicos banks and then its only 80 miles to Luperon, Dominican Republic. We spent 12 days in George Town, exploring several different anchorages with our friends from Houston, Mike and Cynthia, who flew down to stay with us for a week. We’ve hooked up with another cruising boat from our marina in Houston, “Sunrise”, with Bob and Susan aboard. They’re heading to the same places we are and with a very similar time table, so we’re traveling together for now. After leaving George Town April 2, we had a nice ConceptionIsland_3motor-sail over to Conception Island, an unbelievably beautiful, uninhabited, travel-brochure-quality island with the requisite deserted, white-powdery-sand beaches, clear, clear turquoise water and great snorkeling reefs. We spent 3 days hanging out there in very settled weather and then decided to move on down 20 miles to Rum Cay. As we neared Rum Cay, the wind and seas were so cooperative that we decided to take full advantage of the light NE winds and continue on to Mayaguana, 142 miles further to the east and south (the direction of the normal wind conditions). During the night the winds picked up just enough to, get this, actually turn off the engine and sail with just the sail-thingies (a very rare event). Along the way, we caught a wahoo, caught and released a barracuda and caught and lost 3 progressively larger dolphins (mahi mahi). The wahoo is big enough for 3 meals (we’re having the first tonight) but it will be time to replenish some fishing tackle when we get to a provisioning port. Claudia is making the required courtesy flags for each of the countries we’re visiting. She got her sewing machine out the other day to start work on Turks and Caicos and discovered that it had been soaked by salt water, probably the day we were beating down to George Town and the forward hatch had been slightly ajar. Anyway, it appears to be a total loss; the motor and mechanisms have turned to solid rust. She finished the T & C flag today sewing it all by hand. We’ll definitely be looking for a replacement machine! For anyone with access to a Ham or SSB radio, we’re checking in on a cruiser’s net at 0830 EDT nearly every morning. The frequency is 8152.0. They cover a very large area from Texas to New England, the Bahamas, NW Caribbean and E Caribbean, making good use of relays, so if you check in there’s a good chance we’ll make contact.

Well, the wahoo is done and so am I.

David and Claudia

Bahamas, Conception Island, Mayaguana

A Fish Tale

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A Fish Tale

Our trip from Conception Island to Mayaguana Island started out successfully enough when I caught and landed a good size Wahoo. I didn’t even bother to measure its length or take a picture, but got him filleted straight away. Next, I caught a very large dolphin. Boy, can these guys fight! It’s especially neat when they jump straight up out of the water trying to shake that hook loose. I was too late in asking Claudia to reel in the other line and the 2nd time he crossed over it he cut it and I lost the lure (green Magnum) on the line he hadn’t bitten. I got him up to the boat and just held him there, admiring his blue, green and gold colors in the deep blue water, trying to figure out how to gaff him while still holding the rod. While trying to transfer rod to Claudia and gaff to me, the line broke and he swam away with a the feather jig lure still in his mouth. The fight was almost worth losing 2 lures, but the biggest disappointment was not having him in the freezer. An hour later I got another, bigger dolphin and this guy REALLY liked to leap out of the water. My 30 lb test didn’t hold long enough to get a gaff in him either and off he went with another feather jig. Enough is enough so I stripped off the 30 lb and put on new 40 lb line. Moments later I landed and released a barracuda (at least the line didn’t break). The next day when we arrived just offshore of Mayaguana the reel went screaming and this one turned out to be the dolphin mother-lode (I was using the larger, red/white Magnum like yours, Gary). I was making no ground on him at all so I just held on and pulled on the rod to try to wear him down. He did finally tire enough to start bringing him in. I swear, I’ve never had a fish this size on the other end of a line. I knew he was worn out when close to the boat he was lying on his side on the surface while I dragged him close in. With his last strength he jumped and shook out the lure. At least the line didn’t break and I kept the Magnum but I was worn out and am wondering if I’ll ever get to grill another Mahi Mahi.

Sure wish you both were here. I know we’d have landed ’em all.

David