Alannastar

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Union to BVI

Marie and I planned on three days to the BVI, but we ended up averaging almost seven knots on a nice beam reach, and arrived just before midnight. Approach in the dark was a bit stressful, but I know the area well enough to do it. We finally found an open mooring at The Bight, and caught it just before midnight, then celebrated with a bottle of wine! The best part of the trip was when dolphins played in our bow wake as we were sailing on the second day:

Monday, February 23, 2015

Free at Last!

After being the peg-leg pirate, it is time to remove my cast... I have a lot of healing left to do, but it feels good to walk again (very gingerly), and it feels GREAT to swim again!

Gross!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Pirate Night

Aargh!

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Getting Injured on a Remote Island...

I ushered in the new year on a bad note - on the morning of December 31st, I had a kiting accident which resulted in an injury. I won't bore you with the details, but I made a series of mistakes while launching my kite and got lifted off the ground and thrown into a the trunk of a palm tree. I fended off with my legs, and it was immediately apparent that I had injured my left foot or ankle quite severely. So - immobilization, ice, elevation, anti-inflamitories...and, of course, figure out how to get to a facility that can take x-rays. I caught the first available flight to Grenada, which was five days later. I chose Grenada for a few reasons - it is possible to find good medical care there, my dear friend Sherri offered to house me and help me get around to doctors, and if it turned out that I had to fly to the US for surgery, Grenada is a very convenient place from which to do that. Thank you SO much Sherri!!!

After some difficulties getting an x-ray which a specialist was able to read, I finally got treated by an Irish-Grenadian orthopedic surgeon - complete with brogue, picture of the Pope, and a rosary with green beads! He studied the x-rays and did not recommend surgery - phew! The diagnosis was a broken calcaneus (heel bone), and the treatment was a cast for seven weeks. This process took three days in Grenada. Now, to get back to my boat on Union Island - luckily for me, my girlfriend Marie was keeping a good eye on her for me! The planes (puddle jumpers) are all full for the next week, but twice a week a "mail boat" runs from Carriacou to Union Island, and the next trip is only one day away. So, first I take the Osprey (a proper ferry which runs every day) from Grenada to Carriacou, then clear out of the country in Carriacou and wait for the 'mail boat'. And wait, and wait...Is it normal for the crew to spend an hour and a half in the bilge with wrenches before leaving the dock? This is a small, old boat, with a plywood "wheelhouse". It only travels at about five knots, but it stops completely when one of the crew gets a fish on their hand line! But, eventually, we arrive in Union, Marie is there to meet me (and feed me), and I get back to my boat. So, four days after leaving, I am home, sweet home!

The prognosis is good, and hopefully I will be kiting and hiking again in less than three months!

The New Cast

My Little Buddy Tristan Signing It

I did take time to enjoy new and old friends while I was in Grenada!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Bribon II

There is a sailboat here in Clifton Harbor (or what's left of one). It washed up on a reef close to here on July 28th. The mast was broken off, there was plenty of other damage, and no one was aboard. The SVG Coast Guard towed it in, and here it sits:

So, a little bit of internet sleuthing by members of the cruising facebook group quickly turned up the fact that this boat had been abandoned in February, three days out from the Canary Islands, headed for the Carribean. They hit something and lost the rudder. They signaled for a rescue, and were evacuated by helicopter, as you can see in the link below. The boat took five months, but she made it here on her own, and arrived in Union. Since there were no major tropical storms in the area she traveled during that time period, I am assuming that the mast loss was due to an encounter with an outer reef before arriving on Union Island.

Three people lost their dream, and it sits here broken:

http://youtu.be/UBjJpfcN2sQ

Christmas

Marie and I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Night on my boat in Frigate Harbor. It was very nice, very peaceful. The stars on Christmas Eve were amazing!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Dinner, prepared by my French chef - miam!

Papa Noël brought me a great present!

Living Aboard in Clifton Harbor

Well, for one thing, the natural beauty astounds...

Somewhere under the rainbow...

Believe it or not, this picture was taken just a few minuted later, looking in the opposite direction

My new second mate

I am so proud of Marie for making it up the Pinnacle, a jagged steep peak!

Sherri Visits the Genadines!

My good friend Sherri from Grenada and her boyfriend Johannes chartered a boat with another couple and sailed from Carriacou to here and then on to the the Tobago Cays. Marie and I spent an evening with them at Happy Island, and it was great to catch up!

Johannes, Sherri, moi, et Marie

"Vacation"

After I arrive, Marie closes her restaurant for five days, so we can enjoy ourselves before the busy tourist season starts. We head up to the Tobago Cays, and swim with the turtles, of course. Then we spend some time in her favorite bay, Chatam. And finally, we anchor in Frigate Bay and have a beach cookout with some of our local friends.

Marie and Bella onboard

Petite Tabac, Tobago Cays

The Happy couple, reunited

Marie hunting for dinner

Marie and Shani preparing dinner

Trinidad to Union

I spend just four days prepping the Alannastar in the yard, mainly putting on bottom paint. I clear out Wednesday morning so I can splash and go. And I do mean splash and go - the yard crew didn't even tie my lines in the haul slip - after I checked for leaks and started the engine, they released and pulled the straps out from under the boat and said GO!

So, I motor slowly around the bay while I address a few minor maintenance issues that became apparent after I splashed and then get the mainsail up. I put a double reef in the main and leave it in for the entire trip. I clear the Boca at shortly after noon. My first little excitement is crossing paths with the fast ferry to Tobago, the T&T Express. I'm beating on a starboard tack and they are coming from my left. This is a large 200 car ferry with jet propulsion which is traveling at 35 knots, and we appear to be on a collision course. I jog below and hail them on the radio to make sure that they see me, and then I pop back up. By the time they answer, they are way to close for me to mess with the radio. I am getting ready to head up and tack away when I finally detect that they are going to pass in front of me. After that it is smooth sailing for a while, and I make it through the gas fields without any conflict with the exploration ship out there. At about this point, I hit the northern equatorial current - It is running hard, at about three knots, and is putting me down so much that I am now on a course for the southeast coast of Grenada. I make a short tack before dark, but my progress over the bottom is so slow in that direction that I decide to just try to get clear of the current as quickly as possible. Eventually it abates, and I am now lying for Carriacou. I even get into some counter running eddies that push me east, but I pay for the counter current with very choppy seas. I planned the passage for the full moon, and it most certainly makes things easier. Even though there are quite a few clouds, it never gets completely dark. Once I get east of Grenada, the current stops, and by the time I get north of Grenada, it seems to be running the other way (it goes in six hours cycles, with the tide), and it is clear now that I will be able to sail above Carriacou and head straight for Union. The only issue now is the squalls. I get hit by several, and even with the moon, they can be hard to see as they approach. They are just a black smudge, so it is a little harder to judge distance and direction of travel. One of the hits me with forty knot gusts and has me healing a bit uncomfortably for a few minutes. But then it passes and life is good again. As I am sailing up the east coast of Carriacou, I reduce sail to slow down so that I will make Clifton Harbor just after dawn, which I do.

After inflating the dinghy, I go ashore to pick up Marie, who is waiting with a bottle of Champagne!

This rainbow greeted me shortly after I arrived

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Union Island Easter

Every island has their carnival time. The most traditional is just before the beginning of lent, but they are staggered. Union does it at the other end of lent. Easter week is one huge party, and it culminates with J'ouvert on Easter Monday! If you are unfamiliar with J'ouvert, you really should google it - you won't believe what you see!

My friends teased me about how Jesus has returned ;-)

It seems that every year has it's Soca 'anthem', and this year it was Too Real:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=FrMjhf-X2JM

It's awesome! And it's still running through my head. The words are very accessible, but if you don't know what 'wine' means, you should look that up also ;-)

Catching Up

OK, if I still have any followers out there, I apologize for my absence. I have several excuses, including the fact that I haven't been any further north than the Tobago Cays all season, I have been posting more to facebook, etc. But mainly, I was just being lazy!

So, here goes...

A highlight of my season was when my daughter Julia and her boyfriend Zach visited for a week in late February. I picked them up in Grenada, because it is much less expensive to fly there. And, due to time constraints and passenger queasiness, we spent the week there, rather than trying to beat upwind to the Grenadines. We actually found some excellent snorkeling at the marine preserve on the west coast, but we also spent a day in the crazy chaotic market of St Georges (their very white skin made them a mark for the merchants), and we took a tour of the island with Cutty. He gives a great tour, taking you into the woods and showing and explaining all the local foods, crops, spices - it was quite amazing! We also visited the cocoa processing plant, and then went to the Grenada Chocolate Company 'factory', so we saw every aspect of chocolate production, from tree to wrapped bar. The tour also included the local rum mill that still uses traditional processes.

On Grand Anse Beach with my good friends Sherri and Tristan

Julia putting up with her Dad

Classic tourist photo at the fort

I like this one better!

The water wheel which powers the cane crusher at the rum mill

This is definitely not Wisconsin!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Red Dress Hash

I'm back in Grenada, after more than a year, and I had forgotten just how lovely and cruiser friendly it is here. No wonder so many cruisers seem to get stuck and never leave! The day after Valentine's Day was the "red dress hash". (You remember hashing - hard hiking followed by beer drinking, with a liberal dose of British humour.) While yours truly was somewhat stunning in a custom made two tee-shirt skirt with matching red tank top, I was nowhere near as sexy as some of these gentlemen: