BIG BUGS ON LAND

First we had Japanese scientists knock on our door... very nice chaps who wanted to collect Cicada bugs from our garden. Jin Yoshimura, Ph.D. from the Shizuoka University. Then I caught Blu playing with a Cicada and shot a quick video.



I must admit... I'm not used to all of the bugs after being bug free on a boat for 3 years. But watching our crazy dog amuse himself is a lot of fun.

STUCK IN JACKSONVILLE

We're stuck again... while sailing up from Palm Beach and during the night, the radio was buzzing with other boats caught in storms off the north Florida coast. Fortunately, we only had one squall off Cape Canaveral and tacked back and forth between shallower water and a freighter for an hour or so until it moved out easterly across the ocean. 30 nautical miles to our north east we could see a huge storm constantly flashing with lightning and with so much energy it wasn't going to dissipate in the same way as the smaller squalls. We had lucked out by staying on the western edge of the gulf stream as opposed to the conventional thinking of getting into it to gain the speed of the north flowing currents.

Entering a new and unknown port is always nerve racking, but Jacksonville is several miles up a very wide river with lot's of deep water and well marked channels. We motored up three miles and turned into Clapboard Anchorage. We found it with Google Earth (our new tool to find out where everyone anchors). To our surprise Periplous (a sailboat that we briefly met in Palm Beach) was anchored and we felt confident again. Gordon and Pam live on Periplous and have sailed further than most have dreamed, they are in their 70's and have more life and spirit than many landlubbers we know who are half their age.

There aren't any facilities near the anchorage, but we did find Clapboard Creek Fish Camp just under the bridge and David the manager. It's so nice to be in the real south... David could provide ice and immediately offered to drive us up to the supermarket a few miles away.

The anchorage was lovely... quiet and serene, I can recommend it as a safe, deep and secure place to stop for a day or two.

We have become very good friends with Gordon and Pam aboard Periplous, learn't a lot and when they suggested that we come with them up river to downtown Jacksonville for a few days while we waited for the bad weather to pass. we jumped at the opportunity. We can take on fuel and water and of course food and services are readily available downtown, the kids might actually find something to do and it provides some good shelter.

The bridges are spectacular and we enjoyed a night of calm water and a barrage of questions from the tourists enjoying their time on River Walk.

The forecasted storms and wind arrived this morning, so the once calm dock is now pitching and it's a bit sloppy onboard. It's a mad dash to do laundry and get supplies so that we can move back down river a couple of miles to a small protected anchorage or back to Clapboard Creek to wait until the weekend when the weather is forecast to turn in our favor allowing us to run up to Charleston, South Carolina.

NY seems a long way with over 1000 nautical miles left to go, but the allure of Long Island Sound, the big city and a home for the summer is compelling. Sailing and living aboard in the USA is very different than the Caribbean Islands... far more difficult and lonely with very few cruisers attempting to run the full length of the east coast. Ah... but if it wasn't a challenge then it wouldn't be worth doing.

ST LUCIA DREAM

It really does feel like a dream... 12 months ago we were enjoying life to its fullest sailing amongst the beautiful islands of the windwards. This is the sail from Rodney Bay. St Lucia to the Deux Pitons in the south of the island.

Isabel hooking in to a spanish mackerel. 

This fish gave Isabel a good fight, but in the end he made an excellent fish curry thanks to Devon's cooking skills.

Our first look at the Pitons.

After grabbing a mooring ball. It was all fun and games.

Just beautiful. Captain Allan relaxes. 

A nice shower after our snorkel feels wonderful. 

So lovely. 

The colors. 

I would go again.

HAITI... WHAT CAN YOU SAY

Looking back on our sailing adventure to Haiti and not knowing how to describe this amazing and different place, I find it hard for me to form the correct words to express our love and adoration for these people.

I thought that all hope of me writing a blog about Haiti was lost, because I found myself with no photos to show this unique place. It was too dangerous for us to pull out our cameras and film or photograph our time there. But, I was surprised when I came across a few pictures on one of the cameras memory cards. There were only a few shots that Allan had taken on our first days there and before we were told very firmly that it was not a good idea. I hope that the photos will show you this beautiful small island off the southern coast of Haiti called Isle a Vache.

Isle a Vache in the red circle. This is the only safe place to bring a boat in Haiti. We were accosted by pirates a few days before when we touched the mainland... that's another story. But the bottom line is that any boat, no matter how small, is a floating palace to the local people. They see running water, electricity pulled from the sun and wind, people with sun glasses and diving gear... this is unreal to them and the stuff of legend.

Odessa in Captain Morgan Harbor. Completely protected from weather and surrounded by a small village. This lagoon was the base for the Pirate Morgan and is a jewel compared to the squaller of Les Ceyes a few miles across the water on the mainland.

Fisherman brave the rough seas to provide for their families and villagers. Haitians are the best sailors we've seen... probably the best in the world and their methods haven't change in hundreds of years.

These boats are handmade with skills past down from father to son. We would wake just before sunrise to the sound of men singing to the chopping beat of axes.

Local children sit in hand made fishing boats that are beached on the shore. 

There are no docks or marinas here.

The locals not only craft their own boats, they have to make the planks of wood with no electricity and only rough metal tools. Nothing is shipped to the island, there is no money... just trade. Wood and power tools bought off the shelf is just a dream told to the villagers by those lucky enough to come to the US and go shopping at Home Depot. It all sounds like fantasy to the villagers.

If you look close you can see the the sail powered

 fishing boats, no engine because it is a rare item. 

A mother and father wait as Allan stitches a gash on their young son from an accident. Basic first aid doesn't exist here. We found ourselves becoming the local doctors for small wounds, it was overwhelming and we had to divert many to Sister Flora and her clinic two hours hard hike to the other end of the island.

Ashtun, a fantastic teen fishes under our boat for lunch. The young people are the future of Haiti, it'll take time for them to become powerful enough in their society to make a difference. The most devastating hurdle to the young is the culture of corruption created by the aid cycle and perpetuated by their peers... we hope that they make it.

Ashtun, Colbe and Castro work hard to provide for themselves. School serves a purpose beyond education... it keeps kids busy and out of trouble. We were surprised at the lack of trouble here with so many kids having nothing to do all day. They're ingenious, they have aspirations, and just frustrated with the situation that they're born into.

The relaxed life style here is quickly embraced by Simon. Spot the difference between our US bred kids and the local children. Our youth are a reflection of our society and in general we see more singing, smiling, proactivity and general lust for life from Haitian children then any of their counterparts in the US and 1st world countries.

The last few things I would say about our time in Haiti is that the people are warm and friendly. The locals have a resilience that I have never experienced before. They can make something from nothing and are very tough,.. but on the inside is a heart of kindness when you take the time to open it.

We have met many people who have opinions about Haiti, easy solutions and a complete misunderstanding of life there and the challenges it faces. It's a country that is continually disappointed by their goverment and has becoming a country of welfare and hand outs by other nations that naively want to help. You must remember one thing... you have to live there to understand and never ever let your guard down, keep your street smarts on high alert at all times... it is a very different world.

BACK ON THE GRID... AHHH

Life back in the USA isn't as easy as I thought.

With mounting paper work and government services to deal with... I am truly frustrated.

I went to renew my driver license and thought I had everything that I needed to do it.

But, I was turned down!!! Here's a picture of the paper work that I needed to renew my license, minus one missing item.

7 forms of documents just to renew an existing drivers license.

Now to touch on taxes.

This is a project that has taken us many weeks to just get the papers in order. 

This is a picture of just some of the paper work that I have to have for U.S. taxes. Remember that we live off the grid and don't really have any bills. I will also have to rent out a storage container and hold on to this maze of paper for seven years.

This years tax paper work for one very very small U.S. Business.

Life in the U.S.A. is not fun at the moment.

The "rub" is that living for 2 years off the grid, where most things are done with cash or trade, there is no paperwork, so... the tax rules don't make a lot of sense. I guess that taxes are good when you're "in the system" and using all of the services provided by your tax dollars, but when you're not... it all seems a bit ridiculous really. A flat tax would be nice and simple, but then you'd have thousands of poor attorneys and accountants opening sweet shops or something.

It'll all be over soon and we can get back to living... until next year.

OUR DREAM BOAT

ok... we're very behind on our blog. It's been a wild and crazy ride over the past few months, with unexpected delays, tense moments in Haiti, huge seas in both the Mona Passage and the Cuba Passage and a month with no access to basic food and rationing water. 2000 miles without an auto pilot and getting marooned on a tiny rock 100 miles south of Guantanamo, really makes you stop and smell the roses when you get to a place like the Cayman Islands. We're holding here while we instal a new auto pilot and swim in the clearest water we've ever seen. It's time to take stock and plan out the next few months, catch up on the blog posts. So in the meantime here's a video clip we did of our dream yacht... she was anchored with us under the shadow of Mt. Pelle in Martinique.

JOURNEY TO EDEN

What a difference a couple of months make. Sailing back from the BVI's we could hear a whirring noise coming from the transmission and decided to stop in St Maarten to check it out. Worst case... a week for a quick rebuild and then we'd be back on our adventure.

Well, that week slipped by quickly and after research we found out that when the new engine was installed in Odessa 2 years ago, the transmission was not replaced. That wasn't an issue because I would have probably done the same thing and the transmission was apparently good at that time, it's just become more worn over two years. It was a no brainer... get a new transmission from the US and make everything perfect.

While we were waiting I got awarded a new project, working with my good friend David Kiviat, and I began editing a series of 12 videos for HITS, a new triathlon series in the US. That became a month of solid work and two months flew by very slowly... dock life is convenient, but frustrating when you're ready to sail on to adventure.

The day finally came, but a tropical storm was heading off the Atlantic and directly at St Maarten... we battened down the hatches and held on for yet another week before finally slipping lines. we spent that time wishing "goodbye" to all of the wonderful friends that we'd made, and before we knew it, we were heading for a short motor to St Barth's. Everything worked perfectly and all of the changes we'd made to Odessa made her easier to sail and perform beautifully.

St. Barth's was a quick dead into wind test run on the engine and transmission and brought us further east to get an angle on the wind to sail straight down the island chain. Columbia Bay was beautiful, but we didn't get comfortable just in case we lost focus. There are many adventures down island so, we stayed on Odessa, swam and got ready for a long day's motoring into the wind the next day.

Odessa is surprisingly comfortable, her long waterline makes motoring directly into wind and swell a flat non eventful affair. Doreen cooked our first batch of pizza in her new Eno "Le Chef" top of the line oven and the kids lazed around stuffing their faces and waiting for fish. A great days fishing... Doreen caught two Mahi Mahi and Devon landed a lovely Spanish Mackerel... mmm. He then continued our amazement by making fish curry... it was heavenly.

We motored at 7+ knots and 2200 rpm... a nice speed for cutting into waves and moving along quickly. As we approached Antigua we could see the wide open entrance of Deep Water Harbor with mountains on both sides. We stayed in the capital for a day to do some quick sight seeing, and then went down island to English Harbor, a tranquil place that's hidden from the ocean.

Now this was a place where you could get lulled into staying longer, but Grenada is our destination so we spent a day enjoying the area and working a little... dreaming of the good sailing from this point south.

Setting off from English Harbor around 9am we slipped into calm seas with around 10kts of wind. Odessa was rigger with one reef in the main and full Genoa. We generally sail with some reef in the main sail unless the wind is going to be under 10kts all day... Odessa is a very competitive racer with speeds clocked over 25kts, and ideal for regatta's and point to point competitions... all of this performance and she's a very comfortable cruiser too.

The day was amazing... we had winds of 9 to 14kts on our port beam and with Odessa's speed our apparent wind was reaching (sailing into the wind).. sometimes close hauled (as close as Odessa can sail into wind 30 degrees) as we sped along at a perfect 7 to 10kts (sail boats moving forward make their own wind "stick your head out of a car window" and "true wind" becomes "apparent wind" when you combine the two... this is the actual wind that effects the boat).

We had decided to bypass Guadeloupe and keep going to Dominica during the night. The weather forecast showed some freshening wind and a full moon all night... perfect. As we rounded the north end of Guadeloupe the wind swung a little to the north east and we have nice 14 to 16kts "abaft of the beam". This means that your own generated wind become reduces and you run downwind, and Odessa obliged with great and constant speed 10 to 12kts surfing along the swells nicely. I'm still amazed at how balanced Odessa is... she only needs one finger on the wheel in all of the conditions we've experienced so far, and she has a perfect weather helm (a sail boat should want to steer a little into wind naturally and this is called "weather helm") if wind suddenly gusts to the point of a potential knockdown the boat should simply veer into the wind if the wheel is released, thereby releasing the wind pressure on the sails and slowing the boat.

After a couple of hours we got into the "wind shadow" cast by Guadeloupe and lost our wind. We were several miles off the coast, but I seem to always underestimate the effect the islands have on wind speed and direction, and Guadeloupe has some big mountains. We ran slowly for a while and took the opportunity to have diner and lay about on deck talking, goofing around with the kids and thinking about our first night sail on Odessa.

The sunset was amazing and the moon rise even more so. A brilliant full moon with 98% elimination... we didn't need the radar and could see for miles. We were a little surprised as we left the influence of the island and the wind picked up to 16 - 20kts. This would be the time to shorten sail and add another reef in the main. But with a novice crew and my need for a couple of hours sleep while Doreen ran first watch with the kids rotating every 3 hours, I decided to furl the genoa and continue on just the main sail.

Odessa rose to the challenge and settled at 6 - 8kts with just a reefed main. The mainsail provides power but also balance... usually we use it to control the very powerful foresails, but in this case a slower speed using just the main sail reduces sudden surges and keeps Odessa sailing upright, smoothly cutting through the waves with a very comfortable motion.

It was the perfect night sail and Doreen thoroughly enjoyed managing Odessa.. the kids slept soundly and I took the watch with Devon at 1am. Being a bit more spirited we unfurled the jib (our inner foresail), which is smaller than the huge genoa, and Odessa surged forward to 10kts.

We made such good time in the moonlight that we arrived in Dominica 4 hours early at 4am. Fortunately the anchorage is very very deep, with mooring balls and there are no obstacles when approaching in the dark. We tied off to a mooring ball under the now yellow setting moonlight and went below to get some sleep. 

When we awoke in the morning we got a surprise...