Our 1st Passage

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Teresa

Our 1^st passage, the anticipation and energy we all had to be on the move. We had worked hard to get her ready and after training around Chagaramus, Trinidad we started our planning. In order to experience an overnight sail we made plans to head to Tobago to meet up with Robert, from Carnival. The day prior to leaving we studied the weather maps and learned of a storm coming over the Atlantic and approaching Tobago warning of high swells. The trip was to be rough anyway and high swells were not needed for our 1st passage. We decided to head north bound toward Tobago Cays where the waters were turquoise and there were white sandy beaches. How quickly plans change, the beauty of not being on a schedule.

We left on a Thursday, 7^th March, as starting a voyage on a Friday is a no no and as we need all the luck we can get you respect this old superstition. We had a couple of fishing lines out on the passage but didn’t catch anything even with me chumming the waters. Oh no…….not a good feeling. There are all sorts of places to rest up.

After 14 hours we decided to stop in Prickley Bay, Grenada for a new main halyard. We figured we could go faster if the main sail would stay up!

While Brett and I were ashore getting the new main halyard Johan and Marlene surprised us and obtained some crayfish from a local fisherman, which was cooked on the BBQ that evening..

Memories came back of 8 months previously when Brett met Catlyn and her family at the same bay, Prickly Bay.

Prickley Bay, Grenada

With a shiny new German main halyard we left Grenada and continued on towards St. Vincent & the Grenadines with a night in Tyrrel Bay on the northern Grenada island of Carriacou.

Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou Island had so much character.

Birthday Girl

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Teresa

My birthday this year started out at a house party at friends of Margarethas. At the stroke of midnight Margaretha brought out a mini cheese cake with candles and everyone sung Happy Birthday to me. A huge surprise as I only knew a handful of people yet Margarethas friends made us feel very welcome.

Everyone was so friendly and it was great standing outside enjoying the atmostphere and great music until the wee hours of the morning.

In the morning Marlene, Johan, Marco and Brett sang Happy Birthday to me again and I enjoyed yet another cake. What a treat, so spoilt.

After picking up Dennis Jordhoy, a doodlebugger and his partner Phoebe and Margaretha we sailed with the scretcher to Chacachacare Island. On the way we were joined by a pod of dolphins who played in the bow wave of the boat.

We anchored in the bay near the old Leper Colony. Everyone enjoyed the water swimming by the boat, diving off the hard bimini, kayaching and socializing.

Johan and Marlene cooked us a feast of BBQ chicken strips, spicy sausages, baked potatoes & salad followd by Lemon Meringues. (see previous post, 80% social)

Before we knew it we had to head back so we sailed with the sun setting behind us. The end to a perfect day for my birthday an incredible sunset.

80% social

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Teresa

Johan & Marlene tell us regularly that this life is 80% social and 20% physical work. We just need to find balance after working and preparing the boat to launch.

We have met so many great people while in Trinidad to start enjoying that 80% social time. While carnival was on it was 100% social with an amazing atmostphere around Port of Spain with lots of people liming.

The Avenue in Port of Spain has many clubs & bars and great Doubles served on the road side.

We really enjoyed Sails at Power Boats where we enjoyed Lobster with Dennis & Phoebe and Paul from the Seismic Industry, whilst sampling smooth rum and good wine.

Then of course there is Johan and Marlenes local restaurant where they have perfected the art of socializing and serving up tasty meals. Thanks for the lessons in the kitchen and at sea.

Lemon Meringue, delicious.

We look forward to entertaining our friends on board just as they have and enjoying more of the 80% social scene.

Preparing to launch & the big day

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Teresa

There are so many things that are required to prepare your boat to launch something Brett & I were to learn from Johan and Marlene. After recovering from Carnival work started. I started with cleaning the Moroccan tent which had protected the boat while we were away for 7 months from dust, birds and the like. The Moroccan tent kept the boat and us shaded while we worked in the heat of the day! Will be great if we go somewhere for a long period of time and need shelter, something us whities will love!

You name it Marlene and I cleaned it; sheets for the sails, the bimini, the decks, the Brie/ BBQ, outside cushions, the bilges. We scrubbed the teak and reapplied linseed oil, which looked incredible when it was done. It’s amazing the amount of dust that collects sitting in the yard. She was squeaky clean and looking like new when we were done.

Brett meanwhile started working on new rollers for the ranch slider, a task he thought was going to take a few hours but ended up taking a whole day. Patience was needed.

Brett and Johan remove both starters from the diesels that had seized from being on the hard for 7 months (bit of a tight squeeze for Brett) , changed the oil on the saildrives, installed a new sat phone, the EPIRB, a Wi-Fi extended, a 110 inverter (because the boat is 220v, 50hz ) and checked everything was in working order. Brett liked everyone lifting him up the mast as he is so light, not!

Most days whoever was going into Port of Spain (1/2 hour away) would do a diesel run in our very old vehicle (cost C$36/ day) as it was very cheap to get diesel on land (C$0.25c per litre). The shocks were gone and so if it had too many people in the back or too much in the trunk we would bottom out on speed bumps. We needed 840 litres to fill the tanks so quite a few trips were required.

We organized the graphics for the boat, tailoring on the couch covers as the measurements I had for covering them in Calgary were too big and therefore they needed to be taken in (sorry Carey!), new covers for our leather chairs so we’d all be comfortable. We cleaned and renamed all of the safety equipment.

We of course did not do this by ourselves. We used a local to polish the external boat and stainless steel, 2 guys that came to service the engines from Yanmar and someone to sand the old anti fouling off ready for us to put the new on. One of us was not gentle enough with her roller so was not invited back the next day for the 2^nd coat. More of the anti fouling was on me than should have been, oops….next time….

Of course you have to keep up to date with family and friends and so I had to set up my computer on the bed as the nav station was full of tools! Thanks Brett. Oh well sometimes you have to just make do.

All work and no play makes it all very boring. In this heat you needed a Margarita or 2 to keep you going or a nice cold Carib beer, or even perhaps a shooter – Yummy!

Finally Tuesday Feb 26 she was ready and so were we. We just wanted to get on the water!

Trinidad Feb 2013 089a

BINGO, we were in the water and so Johan threw out a fishing line and Brett took us to Scotland Bay for the night.

Marlene missed Cleaning or perhaps one of the boys had dirty hands and she needed to clean up after him….thanks Brett! I relaxed at the front taking the views in and enjoying being on the water at last.

After arriving in Scotland Bay we had our ceremonies to rename the boat to Seismic Wave and as required offered libations as part of the ritual to the sea. Of course the champagne was also enjoyed by us all. Great day.

Trinidad – Carnival 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Teresa

Well we have arrived in Trinidad to our wonderfully clean catamaran who has sat patiently waiting for our return and exciting times ahead! At the boat yard the local bar Zanzibar meets all our needs on our night of arrival.

We planned our return to coincide with Carnival. Wow, what an amazing place to be! With Carnival being on, there are lots of events happening around town!

The Trinidadians’ start planning Carnival 7+ months in advance and you can see the excitement on everyone’s faces. There is a huge amount of work that has been done with fetes (parties) planned all the way up to Carnival and amazing incredible costumes worn by the participants on both day 1 and day 2.

2013 Trinidad carnival 107

There are a lot of events outside of the street parade, which you can participate in and which go all night long! You need to pace yourselves. During the 2 days of Carnival everyone gets involved in the experience with the streets being full of both spectators and participants. It is a busy place! There are a lot of vendors selling food, beer and pop and good friends that pass you a beer or 2 while wandering with their band through Port of Spain streets.

Our friends had organized to participate in Carnival and had an amazing time enjoying the atmosphere.

Margaretha, Nick, Sandra and Marlene all from South Africa

Could not believe we spotted Claire a friend of Margarethas from Jamaica in the crowd

We had a great time wandering the streets and enjoying the atmosphere. It was hot but well worth being there for Carnival. A most enjoyable event to participate in!

A new adventure soon….

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Teresa

Well Brett and I have decided to take a new adventure. For those of you that know Brett he has always had a dream of sailing and so in June he headed down to Grenada to meet a wonderful South African couple and their two sons, who were selling their Maverick 40ft Catamaran. I had already fallen in love with “Catlyn” from pictures online and envied the travelling life Johan & Marlene had. Brett spent four days in and around Grenada sailing with the family, who also showed him a good time in a few local bars.

They were all great and Brett was happy so yes we purchased Catlyn.

In July Brett and I went down to Trinidad to finalize the sale and get Catlyn out of the water and on to the hard. Exciting times!

Thankfully Johan and Marlene were awesome teaching us what we need to do to prepare a boat for the hard.

We left Trinidad with a list of things we need to do, buy and get ourselves ready for the new year and our new adventure! Johan, Marlene and Marco will be joining us to teach us how to prepare the boat to get back in the water and of course sail and maintain Catlyn. We of course are now very busy downsizing and selling things….. its incredible the amount of “stuff” you accumulate and keep!!

Sailing BVI’s

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Teresa

Left Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands for a 2 week sailing trip aboard “Rochelle“ a 54 ft Amel.

Jost Van Dyke

Cleared customs at Great Harbour for the British Virgin Islands. Jost is a small community set along the white sandy beach front. All the sailors come ashore on their dinghies. There are a few restaurants, guesthouses & beach bars the most famous being Foxy’s Bar which opened in the late 60’s by Foxy Callwood and who was there in the morning when we were there.

Jost Van Dyke

Foxy’s is decorated with clothing, flags, money etc and has free wi-fi. Busy and a good atmosphere. All the sailing crowd party in the evenings at Foxy’s and used to be a place you would see Jimmy Buffett or Keith Richards.

Foxy’s Bar

Tortola

We headed toTortola through the Pilsbury Sound past a beautiful island called Sandy Cay, which is popular with the sailors.

Sandy Cay

We stopped at Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, which has some really nice homes set up in the hills and wandered the beach. The water was an incredible green and soooo warm!

There’s some really neat restaurants/ guesthouses/ bars along the waterfront at Cane Garden Bay.

We strolled along Cane Garden Bay beach before stumbling upon Stanley’s bar for a “Painkiller” – a potent rum drink that goes down very smoothly because of the heat! The view as you can see was incredible.

You get to see all sorts even a guy walking his goat.

We hired a car for the day and toured Tortola.

From Carrot Bay down the East side of Tortola

An example of some of the colourful homes in and around Tortola.

Bomba’s Surfside Shack – note the underwear as decorations. Quite the party place in the evenings.

Smugglers Bay – beautiful!

Smugglers Bay Bar, yes they are everywhere….

Frenchmans Cay

Ridge Road goes across the Top of Tortola and has incredible views out to the other islands.

Ridge Road looking down to Road Town.

There is also a National Park called Sage Mnt at the top but its in the Rain Forest and we unfortunately got there and it poured and so they closed it!

Back to the sailing

In Pilsbury Sound you pass a lot of incredible islands that you can moor at and wander the beaches, relax or go snorkelling. We stopped at Guana Island and snorkelled Monkey Point.

Monkey Point through the gap where the Boats are.

Marina Cay is opposite Road Town, Tortola and is very popular as it is sheltered should a storm come through.

There is a open-air restaurant and bar on the waterfront (above photo far right). This is the view down on the beach.

Marina Cay has a bar at the top of the hill “Gunners” which has live bands in the late afternoon & great views. It was very busy!

Virgin Gorda

We headed to North Sound – Leverick Bay which is a large bay protected all around by islands and reefs. Michael Bean is the local entertainer and plays Pirate/ Jimmy Buffett songs (Arrrr!! – yes thats what Michael and I are doing). It’s busy so get there early for a seat and good view. He’s very interactive with the audience.

We hired a car and drove around Virgin Gorda stopping to snorkel at The Baths

The snorkelling was good, but a busy place when the cruise ships come over with people.

Entrance fee is $3 and a 5-10 minute hike from the road. There are large granite boulders and the sea has washed in between them to form caves and pools that you can snorkel around or explore by foot.

There are two beaches at the baths depending on which entry you come down and through.

Before going back to Leverick Bay we stopped at Little Dix Bay and Resort. Nice!

We motored over to the Bitter End Yatch Club, which as it sounds is the very tip of the BVI’s for a Pina Colada.

Our captain Wayne recommended the Pina Coladas here. They were good. but the view was better!

Saba Rock is in the background and is a small island, which we unfortunately missed. Next time!

There are loads of places to snorkel between Virgin Gorda and St John US VI’s. We stopped at Prickly Pear Island, Cooper Island (Cistern Rock), Norman Island (The Blight & The Caves), St John (Salt Pond Bay & Waterlemon Cay) to name a few places. We saw Turtles, sting rays, Porcupine fish, trumpet fish, angelfish, parrotfish etc. The camera struggled to get good shots. (Double click on the photo to see it better)

Everwhere we went a Barracuda would suddenly appear. They are very curious and want to know what you are doing. Scarey looking though especially when they are really close!

The ever curious Baracuda just appears from nowhere

St John

Two thirds of St John is protected by a National Park so there are some incredible walks/ hikes/ snorkelling and beaches. The bus ride from Salt Pond Bay to CruzBay is cheap $1, worth it as it’s a long way but scary because of the size of the bus and the windey roads.

Salt Pond Bay

Salt Pond Hike from Beach (Left) Reef Bay Trail (Right)

San Juan

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Teresa

San Juan is a real history lesson and a beach getaway! We were here for 3 days so stayed pretty central.

Old San Juan - Sentry Box along the wall

Old San Juan is very picturesque enclosed within 3 miles of city walls with an oceanfront esplanade to wander and enjoy the history and the weather, which incidentally is a lot hotter than Calgary. There are 5 huge gates that allow access into the city. Back between the 1500s – 1800s access to the city was controlled via the gates.

Brett at Paseo de la Princesa the start of the esplanade

The ocean esplanade is well maintained and a great walk. Make sure you have good shoes and water because it’s hot out there. There are 2 large fortresses along the city wall, that took over 250 years to build, and were built to protect San Juans harbour.

Kids with their kites in the park. Castillo San Felipe del Morro is in the background

The views from the fortresses and park are incredible, but its windy! Those good old Trade winds to help the sailors out. While we were up at Castillo San Felipe del Morro the school kids were all out flying kites, which apparently is a regular occurence.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

The entry fee into the forts is very reasonable. The condition of the them is incredible and they allow you to walk around inside and on the various structures, which surrprised us. Well worth a visit.

Different areas within the city have different styled balconies and columns which define the year they were built

Within the city walls there are bold coloured houses and shops,which line the narrow cobbled streets.

Cobbled streets lined with beautiful homes; Govt house is at the far end

The area around Govt house (which you can visit) is quieter and has some incredible homes with really nice entrance ways behind the gates. It is a busy place – trust me!

He was a good listener.....

I found a new friend in one of the many plazas around the city.

The locals play dominos and chess in the many parks around the city.

A little sunburnt but maybe the Rum is having an effect too!

While in San Juan you cannot miss the Rum and yes we found a great bartender to help us sample!!

Candado Beach - an interesting walk...

We stayed at a hotel along Condado Beach and walked to Old San Juan. Of course Brett found a cool bar right on the beach which had awesome views (not just of the sunbathers). Its touristy closer to Old San Juan and very busy and is gorgeous all the way down to Ocean Park. You can walk along in front of all the hotels and locals homes.

Brett looking out to the Carribean

LOVED SAN JUAN AND YES WE WOULD RETURN! If only we had had more time to get out of main San Juan.