Category Archives: BVI

BVI, Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Virgin Gorda, Virgin Islands

Alive and Well Aboard Ma’alahi

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A question for you:

Which of the following excuses is the biggest reason we have not written in such a long time?

a) We’ve been too busy having fun
b) We’ve been too busy with boat projects
c) We’ve settled into such a routine that we just don’t think about it
d) I’m just too lazy
e) The computer has been broken
f) ALL OF THE ABOVE

(in my best gameshow host voice): Well, if you guessed “f, all of the above” then YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!!

Even though we’ve been in the Virgin Islands since mid-December, we’ve moved around a lot … never more than one week at any anchorage at one time. We’ve done two tours of St. Croix, spent lots of time in St. Thomas and explored parts of St. John that we’d missed before. We’ve spent big bucks fixing and replacing broken boat parts, including the transmission, dinghy, autopilot and refrigerator; discovered and hung out in our newest favorite St. John anchorage,P0001894 Hurricane Hole; got visits from friends Randy and Lonie, Mike and Cynthia, and my brother Gary and sister-in-law Vanessa, read lots of books and learned a lot more about the world of amateur radio.

And, yes, the computer was out of commission for awhile when the keyboard finally succumbed to corrosion from the marine environment. But after disabling the notebook’s keyboard and adding an external one, it’s working ALMOST normal again (I just have to choose whether I want to use the mouse or the keyboard). Anyway, this will be an attempt to bring you up-to-date with our goings-on.

P0001921The first thing you should know is that we left the Virgin Islands this past Friday when we sailed over to Isla de Culebra, one of Puerto Rico’s eastern islands. We hope to be here just long enough for a weather window to open up for us to make the 640 nautical mile passage up to San Salvador in the Bahamas. However, there is a very nasty low pressure system and gale centered just north of that location and it’s taking it’s sweet time moving on out. I’m downloading weather faxes and reports frequently looking for a break; hopefully we’ll get to leave here Wednesday morning and are looking forward to the 4 – 5 day passage out into the Atlantic.

Way, way back on the 3rd of March, Randy and Lonie came sailing in P0001867to St. Thomas on a cruise ship. We picked them up and went for a short sail before dropping anchor in Honeymoon Bay on Water Island where we managed to grab a table in the shade on the loveliest beach around just before the day-charter barge KON TIKI showed up, dropping off their 100 or so guests. After a late lunch back onboard Ma’alahi and the strange disappearance of a great number of bottles of beer, we managed to race back to Long Bay and deposit R & L on the cruise ship dock just in time for them to make the gangway before it was stowed.

P0001890A couple of weeks later Mike and Cynthia flew in for a week’s visit. We didn’t waste any time taking them to our newly discovered Hurricane Hole near Coral Bay, St. John. We swam and snorkeled and spotted many birds. Then we thought it would be good to take them to a favorite little funky bar-restaurant, Skinny Legs, for a quiet Sunday late-afternoon cheeseburger. WRONG DAY! We dinghyed over to the sounds of a BIG party going on. There was a live band and people jammed in every corner, both inside and out. I will not EVEN attempt to describe all the bizarre events of that evening but we think we remember that the cheeseburgers were excellent! We made a run to Virgin Gorda, via Peter Island where we enjoyed another exciting episode of “The Charterboat Anchoring Show” which consists of getting to a BVI anchorage that has no moorings early in the afternoon, getting something cold to drink and then watching the show as late-arriving bareboat charterers come in and go through hilarious gyrations in their attempts to set the hook! The next day we sailed on to The Baths at Virgin Gorda. We spent the afternoon with Mike and Cynthia, climbing the giant boulders and making our way to the fabulous Devil’s Bay Beach. Upon returning to the mother ship, we were shocked to discover that in our absence about 30 or more French bareboat charter boats had anchored closely around the frightened Ma’alahi. We quickly made our escape to the overnight anchorage at Spanish Town and next morning fled the BVI. It was a week that went by too fast.

However, two weeks later we swung right back into vacation-mode when Gary and Vanessa arrived for their visit. Things got off to a fast start as we sailed offshore from Water Island heading toward St. John and Gary caught the last two fish in the Virgin Islands. The first was a barracuda who got tossed back after we carefully removed the hooks without losing any fingers. The next one, though, was a definite keeper; a very nice-sized, two-dinners-for-four Wahoo! Actually, there must have been at least a couple more fish in the ocean because Gary almost caught them, too. Problem was, I had just replaced the rusty hooks on a couple of good lures but they turned out to be too puny and these sea monsters bent the hooks straight and slid off! Well, one morning we had an experience that would top any fish story. We were just coming out of the cut in the reef from Cane Garden Bay when Claudia let out a shriek, “Oh my humpback5gosh, it’s a wh-wh-whale!!!” Holy cow! Sure enough, there was a mama humpback and her calf swimming by very close to us and the shore. We turned the boat around and got even closer. Gary was at the bow snapping pictures like crazy and we were all treated to the sight of the adolescent humpback breaching and splashing several times only 150 ft. away! Don’t think we’ll ever top that! I think we came real close to talking G and V into staying with us and helping us sail back to the Bahamas and Florida, but in the end they flew home anyway (sigh).

Claudia has had a good time learning to play the piano. We bought an electronic piano keyboard back in January and she’s teaching herself how with the books we bought with it. It was slow going for awhile but she’s reading music now and readily picking out (guitar term) new songs. I play a little, too, but only by ear. It’s another reason why this email has been so long in coming. Since getting the HAM license I’ve also spent more time with the radio, both on the marine and ham frequencies. It still amazes me that with this little black box and wire antenna and a little power from our batteries that I can talk to so many people in so many far-away places from our little boat in the remotest of anchorages. I talked to a guy in Copenhagen, Denmark one evening, talked with Mary and Rick on TRANQUILITY while they were on passage from Panama to the Galapagos Islands, frequently talk to Andy and Diane on SPIRIT BORNE in Panama’s San Blas Islands, Rosie and Neil on DREAMCATCHER in Columbia and even had a good conversation with Liz on RUMPLETEASER the other night in New York City! I’ve talked to my dad in Texas from his friend’s HAM station a couple of times and have had a couple of really good, long conversations with my friend Elkin, up near Pittsburgh. So, HEY, get a radio and let’s talk!

When the wind and sea conditions finally improve we’ll take off from here and make way to San Salvador. We’ll spend two or three weeks visiting some of the islands in that area before heading over to George Town where our daughter Christina and her family will meet us for a visit before we head on to Florida. We’ll be in touch and start sending position reports along the way via email.

Regards,

David and Claudia
aboard MA’ALAHI

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