Aboard Lady

Marina Cay, Trellis Bay, Norman Island

Sunday November 20th, 2009
We left Leverick Bay, North Sound, Virgin Gorda this morning and sailed E about 6 kts for a couple of hours.
We turned S, and had to start motor. Ended up off S shore of Guana Island, at Monkey Point mooring area. Nancy from Destiny had told me before we left Nanny Cay that she'd been here and seen huge tarpon in the snorkeling area. We did NOT pick up a mooring that the BVI Trust wants to charge us large amount for a six month permit. When a couple is here on a charter for a week or two $50 a week doesn't seem so bad especially when it's already included in the charter fee. Anyway we anchored next to the mooring field (hey we're cruisers, anchoring in 49 feet of water with a sandy bottom doesn't bother us with our BIG 66lb 30kg Bruce anchor with 300 chain), and took dinghy in to the dinghy mooring. The snorkeling was the best so far. There's a little cave here that was full of schools of fish. The pelican hanging around the cliff warned us that there was a good stream of minnows. It is so cool to be swimming in a school of minnows. They are all around you, but try to touch one, you can't do it, even though they are just inches away.
After relaxing post swim we headed to Marina Cay, a fondly remembered destination. Well, that was kind of a disappointment. It's now a Pussers Restaurant. They did not have a happy hour (on Friday night!), there was no free popcorn at the bar. The food menu which before had great cheeseburgers now offered only an upscale menu, and we would have spent over $50 for dinner and more for the drinks. And this is for a beach bar! We just had a single drink at the bar, and decided that we need to find some cruisers net for BVI to let us know where real people can go out for dinner. Are the BVI's too upscale for us these days?
Saturday November 21st, 2009
Happy 86th birthday to my mother, Mary Pain on the Isle of Wight, England, UK.
The Marina Cay anchorage was quite rolly, so we moved early in the day over to Trellis Bay, where we picked up a mooring. Nice and quiet with lots of breeze. There were quite a few C1500 boats in the bay. We went ashore, and visited all the little business establishments and were able to find an ATM machine at the airport that had money. It's quite a colorful little place, very low key. After a beer at Da Loose Mongoose, and purchase a few provisions as the Trellis Bay market we dinghied by Brown-Eyed Girl and Ocean Pearl and made plans for dinner ashore at The Last Resort together.
The dinner was quit nice, but more expensive than we expected. There were white table-cloths on the tables - a LOT different from the establishment we remembered as family style buffet dining with entertainment from the host after dinner.
Monday November 22nd, 2009
Charlie and I got in the dinghy and picked up Judy (Brown-Eyed Girl) and Yvonne (Ocean Pearl) and Charlie dropped us off at Da Loose Mongoose's dinghy dock. We women had a lovely walk along the beach, out to the point for about a hour, and then Danny (Ocean Pearl) came and picked us up to take us back to the boats. The dinghy motor failed on the way to Lady, so we got out the oars, and then Charlie towed us over to Brown-Eyed Girl, where Judy and I hopped off, and he took Yvonne and Danny back to Ocean Pearl. I was able to help Joe and Judy with an issue they had with their Sailmail email. After Joe took me back to Lady, we got under way, and had a lovely sail down the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Norman Island, aka Treasure Island where many years ago (pre 1751) Tortolians recovered much of the buried treasure from Nuestra Senora of $450,000, plate, cochineal, indigo and tobacco.
The Bight was FULL of moorings. We looked for a place to anchor, but even with 300 feet of chain, sixty feet is a little too deep. We picked up up a mooring. Apparently, the BVI's have decided to take advantage of every opportunity to separate cruisers from their money. By evening there were 84 boats in the bay, only four that we could identify as being at anchor, each paying $25.00 for the use of a mooring with the only benefit being a free drink at the bar (we didn't want to go ashore with that many charterers and day-trippers in the area). Most other places in the world where we have paid for moorings have also given us privileges such as being able to use the laundry at the marina or getting water.
After lunch, we took the dinghy over to The Caves, where we had a delightful hour snorkeling, although there were catamarans full of day-trippers also there. As we tied up the dinghy, we noticed that the gentleman in the dinghy next to us had a Windycrest MC shirt on. Apparently he had been to Tulsa for the MC Nationals earlier this year. He was from Kansas City.
We explored the anchorage by dinghy when we got back, noting that Summer Love and Shazam, also C1500 participants, were in the area.
There is room for two or three boats to anchor close in to the beach, near the bar, which we will consider for another day.
John and Mary from Shazam joined us for dinner - they arrived using the dinghy oars - must be the day for dinghy motors not to work.

18 19.01N 064 37.18W

North Sound, Virgin Gorda

Thursday November 20th, 2009 18 30.032N 064 23.213W

A heavy rain shower first thing Wednesday morning had us jumping our of bed and running around closing hatches and mopping up.  Charlie spent the morning doing maintenance, particularly using CorrosionX on the stainless and aluminum.  After I got the housework done, I had to keep moving the shade cloths around, as we swung in the light south and westerly zephyrs.

We were amazed to see a cruise ship Sea Dream I, from the Sea Dream Yacht Club line, enter the sound and anchor near us.  Later in the day a second Sea Dream Yacht Club ship came in!  What has happened to North Sound? 

When it got hot, we took a break to swim.

After lunch and a serious nap for Charlie, we dinghied past Saba Rock out to Eustatia Sound, where we found a dinghy mooring, and spent about forty minutes in the water snorkeling on the reef.  The mooring anchor looked like something that would hold HMS Victory, a serious anchor, and we also saw a cannon (compliments of some dive shop we assume).  Lots of pretty fish, but the corals were disappointing.  Charlie commented later that it was good that we came here first about twenty-five years ago with friends Capt. B.O. and Pattycake, and saw the reefs when they were vivid, before so much of the coral died.

Later in the day a mega-yacht came and anchored near us.

Dinner tonight was Charlie's choice - Sirloin steak, mashed potatoes and a salad.  I have a lovely freezer full of meats from USA.  I did some provisioning in Tortola - Bobby's Market has a great service where you can order from their on-line spreadsheet, and they will do FREE delivery to the boat and give a 5% discount if the order is over $100.  However, as you might expect, their prices are about a third to a half more than in the USA.  And of course, getting their spreadsheet downloaded with intermittent Internet service was challenging!

Thursday we did boat chores for a while in the morning - using rubbing compound on the hull to remove stains from vents, and then went out to Eustatia Sound to snorkel again.  This time we found a couple of dinghy moorings at the far eastern end of the sound, and again we spent about forty minutes in the water. 

After lunch we moved Lady a couple of miles and anchored off Leverick Bay Resort, where we went ashore for a drink.  Kiwi friends from the Carib 1500, Yvonne and Danny (Ocean Pearl), came in to North Sound and anchored close by, and after a couple of VHF radio conversations they joined us for dinner, a yummy combination of leftovers from both boats - beef curry from Ocean Pearl with beans and rice from Lady.

Tortola to North Sound, Virgin Gorda

Tuesday November 17th, 2009
(Typepad, the blogging service we use for AboardLady,indicates that I can post from email. So, I'm trying this for the first time. Of course I can't add pictures, use fonts ot hyperlinks. Internet is slow and unreliable at some of these remote areas, so I'll try to post using high seas radio email.)
Previously when we had been in the Caribbean on charter boats, Charlie was firm that we had to be under way by 1000 EVERY DAY. No, we don't need more milk, no you can not visit the gift shop ashore. This time he is definitely in cruising mode. After a WEEK at Nanny Cay Marina, he was finally ready to move on. It wasn't too bad to be at the dock with all the rain on Monday - we heard that there was a tornado in Roadtown that removed roofs and uprooted trees and they closed the school.
Anyway, by 1100 we had filled the water tanks and checked out. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel the light wind was from the south and turning westerly as the day went on - usually the trade winds blow from the east. We motor-sailed past Road Town, where there were two cruise ships at the dock, headed to Fallen Jerusalem for lunch. The awkward wind and swells made us change our minds, so we picked up a mooring at The Baths for half an hour while we ate lunch. Charlie slept as we motored another hour or so and I woke him as we reached Mosquito Rock, where we turned in to Virgin Gorda's North Sound,
We waved at Rick and Julie Palm (Altair) as we passed them. They were part of the Cruising Rally's staff and a tremendous help. Glad to see them enjoying some time off. We anchored close to Saba Rock near the south shore of Prickly Pear Island. It took a while to get dinghy launched - she was still firmly triple-tied and covered for the trip down. Amazingly the Yamaha started first pull. It must like this warm weather, A short ride around the anchorage and then a lovely swim off the stern of Lady in gorgeous turquoise water.

Sunny Days and Rummy Nights

Nanny Cay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands   18 23.90N 64 38.15W 

The first few days we were at Nanny Cay we were busy cleaning and making repairs.  As you can imagine, Lady was covered with salt – coming in to Sopers Hole at 0330 in the morning with the dodger isinglass covered in salt was difficult for Charlie at the helm.  Steve, Jim and I were up on the bow with boathooks and spotlights trying to find an empty mooring.  We were rewarded with the sight of a pair of spotted rays swimming along, and finally found a mooring in the back of the bay.  Shazam, a J/130 with John and Mary Driver aboard were not so lucky and rafted up with us.  We later found that this was against the rules.

Washing the hull, putting stuff away, relocating things that had been moved to handle the 15 degree heel from the seven and three-quarter day trip, changing bed sheets.  The marina Laundromat has a lady working there who did the washing for us.  The marina shower facilities are fantastic – a friend had emailed us from Tulsa that they were splendid – a block of ten full bathrooms with beautiful rounded wooden doors and pretty green slate interior and lots of hot water.  What a treat to fix lunch standing upright!

The Caribbean 1500 Rally sponsored a cocktail party every evening.  Rum punch was the featured beverage.  Most nights we ate aboard, but did try Peg Legs restaurant’s buffet one night.

Kathleen, a Canadian cruiser on Bojangles IV organized a nice ceremony on Wednesday for Remembrance Day.

Charlie, Jim and Steve worked on fixing the things that had broken on the way.  The problem with the chart plotter was that in the excitement of losing the autohelm and coming in to land, someone had pushed a “declutter” button.  The wind instrument was a weak connection, and just needed to have wires jiggled and sprayed.  The autohelm was a bigger issue.  Jim spent most of one day in the lazarette taking the old one apart and finding a hundred beebees/ballbearings running around the bilge.  We had been informed that Cay Electronics in Road Town was a reliable place to get help, so the four or us hopped aboard a jitney and headed to town.  Anna from Portsmouth, UK assisted us there, and the expensive charge for a new autohelm drive went through.  We stopped for lunch at Charlie’s a lovely restaurant at The Moorings charter base.

In the course of investigating the autohelm issue, they identified a problem with rudder bearings and bushings caused by the high lateral stress on the voyage.  Emails to Catalina indicate that it will be at least three weeks before we can get replacement parts.

Friday afternoon was scheduled for the awards presentation.  We put on team shirts and headed over to the beach.  Back in Hampton, the participants had been invited to contribute to VISAR – Virgin Islands Search And Rescue, a volunteer group that trains with the US Coast Guard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and provides local rescue services in the BVIs.  The Caribbean 1500 organization was able to present them with a check for over $1,000 that they plan to use for new radios for some of their rescue vessels. 

Every yacht was awarded a beautiful pewter plate, made by a small foundry in Mexico.  Lady’s was different from most of them – it has First Place inscribed on it – yes after adjusting for handicaps and time under power, we were first in Rally Class 3!  A great pig roast meal followed the rum-tasting cocktail party.

Steve Ormond left Saturday, headed back to Detroit area via St. Thomas, and Jim Culver departed yesterday, going to the Baltimore area.

Many of the boats are leaving Nanny Cay, headed out cruising.  We expect to depart tomorrow.  Today it’s pouring with rain, and I am getting provisions aboard for the next couple of weeks.  Actually, it has rained more in the past few days than these islands typically see all winter.

We plan to be in the Virgins until about the middle of January, and will then head south, visiting as many of the Leeward and Windward Islands as we can between here and Trinidad.

Voyage to Tortola

Nanny Cay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands    18 23.90N 64 38.15W

Since we arrived here, we have been quite busy.  I asked crew-member Steve Ormond if he would like to write about the trip, and his essay follows.  Thanks so much Steve!

JM

Steve Ormond’s contribution to Lady’s blog.

Trying to land a berth as a crewmember on a Tortola bound C1500 vessel is a bit like one of those middle school dances, where the boys and girls try to match up without knowing much about each other, where there is competition for the best partners and where the potential rewards are great.

It was a bit like that in September, when my wife Sue and I traveled from the Detroit area to Hampton, Virginia to attend the Cruising Rally Association’s Ocean Sailing Seminar. As newly boatless sailors, we were looking for a way for me to scratch the sailing itch, and a possible berth on a Tortola bound sailboat seemed like a great way to do that.  Imagine my surprise when, unlike the middle school dances when my success was very limited, I came home with a promised berth on S/V Lady, owned by Charlie and Jenny McNamara!

On October 31, I flew to Newport News with all my gear and joined Lady and her crew, Charlie, Jenny and Jim Culver.  It was cold and wet, with more promised for the departure of the fleet on November 2.  At 12 noon on November 2 we crossed the starting line at Thimble Shoals light, and were off in a flurry of maneuvering and avoiding a Naval carrier task force that departed at the same time.   Eight days later, at 3:20 am, November 9, we crossed the finish line next to Soper’s Hole at Tortola, covering altogether 1294 nautical miles in steady northeasterly breezes of 20-25 knots.  It would take a book to cover everything that happened in between, but here are some highlights:

Charlie and Jenny are a great team at sea and they have made Lady a very comfortable home, even when heeled over in ten foot swells and 25 knot breezes.  Charlie is a good skipper, knowing what to leave in the hands of others and willing to consider options, even if suggested by volunteer crew.  Jenny’s upbringing has made her, in my limited experience, an unusual woman.  She knows how to sail the boat and is not afraid to make decisions regarding Lady’s operations.  This is not a small thing.  When I, Charlie and Jim were all incapacitated from mal de mer during portions of the first and second days, Jenny’s self confidence was a bulwark for the rest of us.

I have a picture in my mind during the first night, with Charlie, Jim and me all huddled in the various nooks and crannies of  Lady’s large cockpit, while stoic Jenny stands at the wheel. In the background is The Bucket.  One by one, we take turns using The Bucket and returning to our spots.  Fortunately, it became unnecessary pretty quickly.

The course took us over the Gulf Stream at its narrowest part, off Cape Hatteras, while northeast winds kicked up large seas by opposing the current.  That was exhilaratingly fast and scary, but Lady handled the conditions like a champ.  We were consistently sailing high nine knots, into ten knots, while rolling up and over large swells.

It is difficult to express the wonder of racing along at nine or ten knots at night in high seas, the wonder that any boat could survive such a crazy thing, and the wonder that a crew can control this experience through sail trim and tactics.  We had only one day when our speed dropped and decided to motor-sail for a short time.  The rest of the trip we managed to keep her moving at over seven knots, mostly eight or more.  Until the very end, our total engine time motor sailing was under eight hours.

Some tips for new ocean sailors:  Don’t try to use the toilets standing up, unless you are well braced and prepared to clean up your misses.  Make sure that your trips below are necessary and rare, because every movement about the boat is a challenge and risks injury.  Hold on to solid structures.

Things break.  In our case, the Gremlins struck, but not with disastrous effects.  The wind speed/direction instrument stopped working, leaving us to use the old fashioned methods of watching the Windex needle and estimating wind speed.  The Autohelm autopilot broke during the night of November 9, when we were about 50 nautical miles from Tortola.  At the same time, the rudder became very difficult to control at the wheels, leaving us to hand steer the last portion with great effort, complicated by the fact that our navigation was limited due to the fact that we had unwittingly “decluttered” the chartplotter and the radar was not working.  This confluence of problems made sure that we were all fully awake as we carefully plotted our course past Jost Van Dyke, across the finish line, motored into Soper’s Hole, found a mooring and headed for the bunks, but not before noticing that Tortola’s roosters were already crowing for the new day.

Finally, no account of a voyage would be complete without comment on the food.  Jenny made it her job to keep us all in sailing trim by creating full lunches and gourmet dinners each day (although we skipped on the first evening due to sea sickness).  She always apologized that they were one-bowl meals, but we ate like kings:  chicken paprika with dumplings; roast beef stew in wine, with biscuits and butter; red beans and rice with sausages; brownies; chicken stew with mushrooms and rice; beef stroganoff; beef chili.  If you have occasion to sail with Charlie and Jenny, you won’t be lacking tasty food.

All in all, a very satisfying experience, with new friends, gut wrenching and challenging sailing, all ending up in paradise.  Thanks for allowing me to come along, Charlie and Jenny!  If this was a middle school dance, I got the best Lady.
  

Arrived Tortola

Tortola BVI

Arrived alive November 10 0320.  Still married. More to follow

We are off today!

Hampton VA     November 2nd, 2009

Our crew is ready to cast off.  WIll post again from Tortola BVI's.  We should be there in nine to ten days.  Follow Lady on Carib1500.

Steve, Jenny, Charlie, Jim

Last Days Before Departure

Hampton    November 1st, 2009

You can see from the Caribbean 1500 website that our days have been filled.

They have a large tent erected in the parking lot where all the events take place.  Thursday morning we handed in all our paperwork, purchased shirts, and attended an orientation for new participants, and learned about the race from start to finish.  We will start close to the Thimble Shoal light at noon on Monday, weather permitting- we know where that is; I took a picture of it when we came in.  We will enter the Gulf Stream the first night, and the water will get warm, and those not on watch will be shedding bed clothes.  We'll get in to a routine of watches, radio reports etc for eight to nine days, and then cross the finish line between Tortola and Great Thatch Island.  Clear in to the BVIs at Sopers Hole, and then go to Nanny Cay for our final events.

We've had updates on provisioning, water and fuel - we may end up motoring over a quarter of the time.  They want us all to get there safely, and have no point in having us wait for wind.

Beckoning..., the other 470 in the Rally arrived that afternoon, and took the slip next to us.  We all went out to dinner, and had a great time that evening.

Friday started with a delicious breakfast at Hampton Yacht Club, followed by talks on Marine Electronics and more workshops on seasickness prevention and treatment from t he fleet surgeon, safety issues (we are more likely to get hurt below decks), engine troubleshooting, sailing strategies. 

After a round-table for ladies where we discussed our personal concerns about the trip ("testosterone poisoning" on vessels), there was a great demonstration of inflating a life raft, and setting off flares.

Yesterday we had talks on BVI cruising - immigration requirements, where to go to dump trash, good places to provision, celestial navigation and another round-table for women.

The organizers brought us a transponder and watched it's installation, so that our position is reported to them every few hours.  That's how you can follow our track on Carib 1500's website.

Our crew arrived yesterday.  Jim Culver, a professional delivery skipper came from Cambridge, Maryland.  His wife, Cheryl, brought him here.  Later in the afternoon Steve Ormond arrived.  Steve's an attorney from Detroit that we met at the Ocean Sailing Seminar last month.

Every night there has been a cocktail party, some nights have dinner too.  Last night it was fun to see the kids that are going in their costumes before they headed out to trick or treat the neighborhood.

A cold front came through last night.  Lots of wind.  Today it's been much colder, and it has been raining this afternoon.  Charlie showed Jim and Steve all the through-hulls, and they discussed Lady's systems.  I did the last load of laundry, and a last run to the grocery store.  We will have a weather and gulf stream update later this afternoon, and another party tonight.

The final weather update will be at 0800 tomorrow.  Then we will unplug the electric lines and hoses, untie the  dock lines, stow the fenders and head out.

Thanks to all who have put good wishes on the comments of the blog, sent us emails, and phoned us with farewells.  Our sons, IV and Mike have our high-seas contact information, and we will try to send them an update via HF radio.