Thursday, January 30, 2020

January 2020




2020 started with us at anchor in Marigot bay, St Martin.  Elsie’s health continued to give concern, with occasional upset tummy and fatigue.  On the 1st we had a lazy day; on the second, she was feeling better and we took a bus from the local station over to the Dutch side for another stock-up at the cash and carry; on the third, we were notified that our new sail cover collar was ready so I dinghied the length of the lagoon to collect it, getting a few last minute things from the chandlery while down there; on the way back, I checked out.  The plan was to leave the following morning at 04:00.  Unfortunately, that evening, Elsie was once again ill, with symptoms almost of appendicitis, and we decided to delay 24 hours.  As it happened, she was well again by the morning, but we decided to stay anyway.  Looking at the weather again that evening, it was clear that Sunday was going to have light winds, so we delayed a further 24 hours.  We did get away, as planned, on Monday and had a pleasant downwind sail to Blunder Bay, the first stop in the B.V.I.s, arriving 30 minutes before sunset and anchoring in the lee of Prickly Pear Island.  Tuesday was laundry day and, as we hadn’t done it for 4 weeks there was plenty to be done.  We moved across to Leverick Bay, anchored and dinghied ashore, only to find that there was only one working washing machine.  Fortunately, the only person ahead in the queue was an employee of the resort and she graciously gave way, so we were able to make a start.  It still took over 3 hours to complete but it was a job that needed doing.  We then went over to the fuel dock to take water, then motored round to Long Bay to anchor for the night.  There were already 5 boats, occupying the favoured area so we dropped the hook in 9 metres.  The water was just too cloudy to see the bottom 11 metres below where we settled but we believed that we were over sand. Swimming ahead, I could see that the general area was sandy so we settled for the night.  2 hours later there was a grating sound as we shifted a bit and the chain ran over a rock.  It will just be an isolated one, I thought. Not so.  We spent a fairly restless night with intermittent rumblings and occasional snatches as the anchor chain leapt from rock to rock.  Fortunately, in the morning most of the other boats left so we picked up and moved closer to the beach. 

A prolonged period of strong winds was forecast so, on the 9th, we picked up and sailed downwind under just the genoa, to Roadtown where we picked up one of the free moorings and had a good shop at the local supermarket.  Then off again to the crook of Peter Island, anchoring in White Bay.  We had been here last year so knew that it had good holding, shelter from the prevailing easterly wind and a pleasant beach.  We knew we were here for a while so established a bit of a routine:  up, coffee, morning news, breakfast.   A bit of maintenance, a bit of Spanish practice, a little sunbathing, lunch.  Swim ashore for a walk on the beach (the island is private, so we couldn’t go inland), a bit more Spanish, shower.  Sundowners, radio, dinner, book, bed.  Elsie had another bad episode with her digestion and research showed that, even though she had had her gall bladder removed years before, gall stones could still be a problem.  Since this latest episode definitely followed eating a cake with cream, she decided to cut out dairy completely.  At the time of writing, this seems to be working.
The main focus of maintenance was trying to trace the origin of water in the bilge.  This time it was fresh water.  We had eliminated rain and the forward fresh water tank.  We tried turning the pressure pump off for a couple of days.  Finally, I started lifting floorboards and found a plastic pipe which had sawn itself through rubbing on a little bulkhead.   Hurrah!  And we even had the solution.  Years before, I bought a selection of whale brand fittings for just such an eventuality.  All I had to do was saw the pipe through, clean up the ends and insert a straight fitting.  Unfortunately, I had bought 12mm instead of 15mm fittings.  Fortunately, I discovered this before making the cut, so I was able to just tape up the hole in a temporary fix.  Other little entertainments included replacing the impeller of the bilge pump;  making up a new snubber as the existing one was wearing through on the bow roller;  making up a protecting pipe for the new one; discovering, in the middle of the night, that the solar panel on the bimini had torn itself loose and was in danger of leaving us and trying to ensure that this would not happen again.
Sunset sail

The gale finally blew itself out on the 14th and we headed downwind then back across to Roadtown for provisions.  There was a swell running in and, the mooring buoy not having pick-ups, we gave up trying to use them after a couple of attempts and anchored instead.  We also called in at the chandlery which, happily, had the correct fitting for our water pipes.  We bought a replacement and some spares.  Stocked up, we headed downwind to the U.S. part of the Virgin Islands.  Hoping to avoid physically checking in, we went into the first big bay, Francis, and took one of the obligatory moorings.  Five minutes on the ‘ROAM’ ap and we were in the CBP system with clearance pending.   We were still ‘pending’ the following morning and, eventually, decided to take a walk ashore.  Of course, as soon as we landed, the CBP message came through, instructing us to report to the nearest office ASAP.  We decided to have our walk anyway.  Along the beach, over the hill to the next bay and back encountering, to some surprise, a couple of grazing deer.  Back on board we sailed, under genoa, down towards Cruz Bay.  Our intention was to anchor just to the south but there is a very small area to do this so, spotting a vacant mooring ball just to the north, we had a quick change of plan and picked it up.  As we were doing this, we noticed a cruising yacht being escorted to the next buoy along by a coastguard boat, blue lights flashing.  After lots of backing, filling and shouting, they got tied up and the coastguard departed.  Into the dinghy and round to Cruz Bay.  Checked in and a quick wander round the supermarket.  Back to Ruby for lunch then t her round to Cruz Bay for a top-up of water then motored round to our ‘regular’ anchorage in Rendezvous Bay. 
Deer

We heaved up at 08:15 on the 16th and, with one reef in the main, sailed down to St Croix.  We managed to avoid the showers, which appeared to be being sparked by Virgin Gorda, but still caught some of the gusts including five minutes of 30-35 knots.  We had reefed the genoa when we saw it coming but, with only one reef in the main, hand steering was required until it passed.  We headed into the anchorage to the west of Buck Island and were cheered when the only other boat, a day-tripper, departed at 16:00.  Not so cheered when a fellow cruiser came to share the anchorage at sunset but he, obligingly, departed the following morning leaving us in splendid isolation.  Coffee then dinghied ashore for a walk up the trail to the top if the island and down the other side, managing to do so before the first tourist boat appeared at 09:30.  Many other boats joined us during the day but they all left so we had another night alone.  At least until 9 PM, when we heard a loud horn.  Poking our heads out, there was a coastguard RIB with blue flashing lights.  We had been working on the assumption that the requirement for a permit to visit the island was still in abeyance.  Were we about to be disabused?  No.  there had, apparently, been flares fired earlier – had we seen anything? No.
Local hero, Fredriksted

An early rise again on Saturday.  Starting the outboard, for our trip ashore, I felt discomfort in my lower back.  I have had back problems going back decades, with three crushed lumber vertebrae at the root.   By being careful, I have avoided pain for many years and put this down to early morning stiffness. Lifting the dinghy onto the beach brought a little more pain and I should have given up there but I was looking forward to my exercise and marched to the top of the hill and back, while Elsie opted for a level beach walk.  Going up was fine but on the way down I felt a jarring with every step and, by the time we were back on board, I was in considerable discomfort.  We picked up after breakfast and Elsie sailed us down the coast to Frederiksted under Genoa while I lay down and nursed my back.  On Sunday, things were worse – I could hardly move.  Even the gentle exercises I remembered from previous events were beyond me, so it was a boring day of lying down and taking the tablets.  On Monday, I was a little better and we went ashore for a little wander round the town (Elsie starting the outboard).  There were many people on the streets and when we got to the park we found seating laid out, music playing and stalls set up.  Being from the other side of the Atlantic, we were unaware that it was Martin Luther King Day.  We found ourselves seats in the shade and waited for the parade, which was mostly schools, with a couple of marching bands.  We stayed long enough for anthems: US, Virgin Islands and Black but excused ourselves after the first of about 10 speeches.  Back to Ruby for another day of nursing my back.  On Tuesday, we went for a little tour of the island by getting the public bus to Christiansted and back, using the hour between busses for va walk round the town.
Time for us to leave

We now had a little dilemma.  The anchorage at Frederiksted is good for winds from the Eastern semi-circle, which covers 99% of the time.  On Thursday, however, it was forecast to veer to the south-west and then clock round to the north-west before becoming light and variable for several days.  With my back still playing up, I wasn’t ready for the long walk down to the point, which was one of the things we had been looking forward to when we came here, if we hesitated, we could be stuck for a week.  We had almost decided to leave on Wednesday morning when we spotted a large cruise ship heading our way and that was the final factor.  Up anchor and, expecting the wind to be just east of south, set off initially under just genoa.  It steadied at ESE so we had a change of plan, hoisted the main, and had a great broad reach up to the eastern end of St Thomas.  We went somewhere different, due to the forecast wind, to Redhook Bay.  This is a busy little ferry port and most of the anchorage is taken up with moorings but we managed to find a spot and anchored for the night.  It was not the most comfortable with ferry and other traffic but this died down late at night and we slept well.  On Thursday, we dinghied ashore and caught a ‘safari’ bus into Charlotte Amelie, the main town.  A little wander round here then we tried to get out to the western side.  This wasn’t very successful as the official busses only run 3 times a day and safari busses don’t go there at all.  We weren’t prepared to pay for a taxi to what would probably just be a tourist resort so, 3 busses later, we found ourselves back where we had started.  There was an adequate supermarket, so we stocked up with a few day’s food and returned to Ruby.  The wind was due to box the compass during the night and, as we were anchored close to mooring balls (including one which had been reinstated during the day), we moved further out.  Not only did this put us in deeper water, it also took us out of the no-wake zone and a particularly large wash from a ferry took out Elsie’s sundowner rum before she had even taken a sip. Not a happy bunny.  On Friday, we motored round to Magens Bay, on the north side of St Thomas.  This has a half mile long beach, frequently listed as being in the world’s top ten.  With the odd winds of the past few days there was a bit of a swell running in, but we found a spot in the north east corner where it wasn’t too bad and settled in for a lazy afternoon.  The next couple of days we spent having an early morning trip ashore (we weren’t allowed to beach the dinghy but I could drop Elsie, moor the dinghy on a little buoy and swim ashore to join her) a healthy walk up and down the beach before the hoards arrived, then going back for lazy days. 

We had our final trip ashore on Tuesday morning then picked up and motored the 20 miles to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands, anchoring in the beautifully protected Ensenada Honda.  Ashore to check in at the airport.  The last time we did this, 3 years before, all had gone smoothly.  This time, we were refused entry to the DHS office and told to phone headquarters.  They, in turn, told us to use the ROAM ap.  2 minutes to enter our details; 30 minutes to get a response ‘stand-by for video conference’; a further hour of sitting, watching the screen until I was down to 10% battery.  Time to go back to Ruby.  Now the heavens opened, so we waited another 20 minutes until the rain reduced to a steady drizzle.  Halfway through, Elsie remembered that she had left hatches open so, again, not a happy bunny.  Back at the dinghy dock, the outboard wouldn’t start so a long row back to the mothership.  There, we found that we had a message saying that they were now ready for the video conference but, by the time I responded, they had gone.  We finally managed it at 20:00 only to be told that we had to return to the office that had refused to talk to us 4 ½ hours earlier, to get our passports stamped and cruising licence issued.   On Wednesday morning, I took advantage of the flat calm, and morning cool, conditions to go up the mast to check that all was well (it was).  We then went back to the DHS office.  Elsie was still a little aggravated about the run-around and waited outside, to just pop in and have her fingerprints checked at the appropriate time.  I think our displeasure was apparent as it was a very formal process, they accepting our entry to the USVI’s as being continuous, and dating everything from then, so they didn’t have to face her wrath.  We stocked up on fresh food then picked up and headed the mile or so out to a mooring field protected by a reef.  We entered slowly and I went just outside the moorings, looking for the vacant on.  I glanced down at the depth gauge to see it go from 3.5 to 2.5 metres. Into astern, but not quickly enough to prevent it going to 1.5 and us gently sliding to a halt.  

A quick check on the state of the tide showed that we were just past high water so rapid action was needed.  Going astern wasn’t enough, so we got out our little kedge and I was about to run it out when a neighbouring boat offered assistance so I gratefully handed it to them.  Unfortunately, it didn’t set properly, despite 4 attempts and even them hauling on our halliard to heel us, reducing our draft, wasn’t enough.  A quick underwater inspection showed that we had just grazed the side of a sand bank so I ran out the main anchor to see if we could pull the bow round and go out forwards.  No.  I then assembled our larger, Fortress, kedge and ran that out astern.  It set very well but was still insufficient to pull us off.  We gave up for the day.  The tidal range was only about a foot and conditions were calm so there was no danger.   I decided that the stern anchor could be better positioned so went out in the dinghy to try to move it, only to find it completely buried.   I tried to dig it out just using snorkel gear but failed.  The following morning, I got out my little SCUBA set and managed to dig out the anchor, put a tripping line on it and repositioned it. Our neighbours vacated their buoy and we ran a breast line from our stern to that. We then waited until the tide was back to the height it had been the previous afternoon.   Slack the main anchor; half astern and tension our new breast line and she just slid off.  I slipped our 2 stern lines, we picked up the anchor and tied up to the buoy while I retrieved the Fortress, which came up nicely on the tripping line, then we moved to another buoy for a well-deserved break.  It was flat calm in the afternoon so we went out in the dinghy for a very slow wander round the reef.  Lack of ripples and very clear water meant we could see it perfectly but it was insufficiently interesting for us to stop, anchor and explore further with snorkels.  On  Thursday morning, we let go at 09:00, intending to go about 4 miles to Cayo de Louis Pena but, going round a corner after a mile, we saw a little bay with no boats and 2 mooring balls, so went in there instead.

Monthly stats:

Over Ground  268
Log                 282

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