Tortola to Curacao, June 2009. Part 2

I decided this blog was the best way to share some details of our trip with you. Feel free to comment or spread the blog around if you think it's worth sharing. I'll try to keep it interesting. Just close your browser if it's not.

This is part 2. Part 1 repeats some of the material in my photo email when I had a wonderful internet connection on board at the marina in Tortola. The little things we take for granted sure look good after my internet hell in Curacao.

Here are some photos so you can get an idea of what we’ve been up to. Click on a photo for a larger view.

This is Living The Dream at the dock in Tortola before we had a chance to clean her off at Norman Island. Note the sail blue sail cover, an example of expert craftsmanship on a previous journey and under continual improvement. Saves minutes each time we set sail and at when we reach our destination, in addition to protecting the sail from harmful UV rays when not in use.

While visiting Tortola, it’s always nice to take a cool green dip at the marina after a long day delivering soap.

We picked up this fishiker on the way to Curacao. He was nice and dry by the time we found him. We could have salted him as a snack but I had brought pretzels along.


Every night we were treated to a magnificent sunset. Unfortunately there is no way to photograph the star display from a moving boat and that’s the real celestial treat. Plenty of shooting stars too when the sky is so dark. I didn't see the moon for our entire trip and I was on watch from midnight to 4 am.
















The view from our first anchorage on Curacao. A very nice, quiet place to spend the day. I’ve been reading “Over the Edge, Death in Grand Canyon.” With all the stories of people falling over the edge, dying of heat stroke on a hike or getting sucked into the Colorado river and drowning and the most dangerous airspace in the country being over Grand Canyon, I may just stay out of Arizona altogether. I feel lucky to have been to Grand Canyon and gotten out alive.


They are working on this oil rig near our new anchorage. It is so big we could practically sail under it. At night it is lit up like a giant Christmas tree so the star show is definitely over for us.

I'm not sure what is going on here but we passed a school of fish jumping out of the water. There were birds attracted to this action but the fish were way bigger than the birds so it must have been really frustrating for the poor birds.


Here are two views of Teamo’s house. Joel arranged for Teamo to watch Living The Dream at anchor by his houseboat during hurricane season. Teamo says there is no crime on the water here so he never closes his door. I suspect temperature is also a factor. He pumps his water into a tank on the roof so he has water pressure. He brings his water on board in 5 gallon jugs. Teamo has been living here since the ‘80’s and he is a former math professor. He says he built his boat and sailed it (the boat, not the house) here from Holland. I would take a pass on that trip.

Teamo took us around town with Rocker (cocker spaniel) in his pick-up truck before we had our rental car. When the clerk at the Chinese laundry was about to write up our slip, Teamo slammed his hand down on it and they had a little conversation in Dutch so I suspect we not only missed out on the local’s discount, but we paid for Teamo’s next load of laundry. When you’re hauling your water in by dinghy in 5 gallon jugs, your only electricity is solar only and you’re basically living in a floating box the last thing you need is a washer-dryer so Teamo is a regular customer at the laundry. I may not be a former math professor but I can add up 2 + 2. Update: Joel disagrees with this particular assessment and says Teamo was trying to get us a discount but he did decide to leave Living The Dream at the Marina instead of having Teamo watch it. During a storm, even if our three anchors held firm, another boat could blow into her.


Teamo and Rocker head home after dropping us off at Living The Dream. Rocker is very well behaved and likes to make nice with his tongue. Laurie says anything you put on your skin you may as well eat and Rocker proves my suntan lotion is healthy and tasty too. I’ll bet a little bit of sweat makes it even better.

Imca is delivering the Green Monster to us at the Marina. Joel has actually rented the Green Monster before but now reverse works and the air conditioning was great. However, it has a habit of staling when you accelerate from a stop. This was usually not a problem except for the time we were stopped in the median to make a left into a gas station. It got us as far as into the path of oncoming cars when it stalled. Joel was able to restart it and get us out of the way which was a good thing because the stream of cars barreling toward us (me first in the passenger seat. Should have gotten a picture of that although the scene is permanently etched in my brain cell) did not appear to be slowing down. After that, Joel decided to shut off the air when we accelerated from a stop. The Green Monster is like a Smart car without the smart part.


Our adventures with the Green Monster in Curacao will be continued in the next installment. Don't forget to subscribe to the series above (Follow) so you will be notified when I post another post(?).

Tortola to Curacao, June 2009. Part 1

The best way to share my trip with Joel from Tortola to Curacao is by blog. This post repeats much of the material from my photo email sent from Tortola and a few later emails along the way with a little embellishment so if you're in a hurry and you've seen those emails just go to Part 2. If you're really in a hurry, close your browser and go do something productive. It would be nice if this blog gives you a chuckle. That will make you live longer and you can live vicariously through Joel and I without getting damp and sweaty.


Email sent from boat using good wifi on dock, Thursday, June 18, 6:03 pm

Greetings from Tortola,

We had a very productive day today. We made three soap deliveries and Joel got paid on the spot and took the checks straight to the bank. He is able to cover a lot of expenses by selling boat soap which is very popular here.
We use a siphon (no mouth involved) to transfer product from 5 gallon jugs from the car to the blue barrel at the customer's site. The 5 gallon buckets are easier to handle than 55 gallon barrels.


This customer needed more and we'll be "out of town" so we filled their barrel and filled 5 of their jugs with additional product. They must have some very dirty boats.



This is our view along the way from the boat to town.

We have a few errands for tomorrow morning and plan to leave for Curacao after we fuel up. I will try not to set the boat on fire this time.

Joel has Living The Dream really set up well, technologically. While we're in port with wireless wifi internet, we can watch his tivo from Atlanta through Slingbox with full access to all his saved programs and live TV. He also got a new device, "Magic Jack" which plugs into his USB port and he can make and receive calls on a regular telephone with a 404 (Atlanta) area code. It costs $19.95 per year for unlimited usage in the USA and Canada. People are calling him from their regular phones or cell phones like he is at home. (Is this a good thing?) Of course, when we're at sea, we're off line, back in the stone age, except for multiple GPS navigation devices, air conditioning, water maker, etc. We do have a satellite phone however which can send and receive email, but not for $19.95/year. More like $19.95 for 5 minutes.

We'll try to update you after we leave. Weather has been beautiful.

Regards,

Steve & Joel

PS: You can reply to this email address but I will only be able to receive before we leave the dock or after we arrive in Curacao and I find an internet connection. We will not be at the same marina as last year so I don't know if we will emerge from the stone age.


Email sent Friday, June 19, 10:52am

Fueled up and casting off. Expect to reach Curacao Monday evening - Tuesday morning.

Plan to lunch at anchor at Norman Island.

Will try to update along the way. Looking forward to star filled nights.

Regards,

Steve & Joel
We had some electronics to deal with before we left. We sailed from Tortola at 12:50pm Friday and departed from Norman Island beginning the journey at 5:45pm Friday.


Email sent by satellite phone from sea, Saturday, June 20, 2009 12:12pm

Greetings from the Carribbean,

We were slightly delayed in our departure due to an electronic issue. Certain instruments which support a GPS were not working. We popped 6 fuses before we isolated the culprit, which turned out to be pinched wires shorting out. Now, the two wires were both insulated and they were in a jacket, also insulated, so if you think it was easy to find the short, let me tell you our thinking caps were working overtime. No real problem because this was our backup GPS but true to our motto “Safety Sometimes” we felt better with the problem solved.

As it turned out, our main GPS was also not working, although in port it looked like it was. Not to worry, without a GPS we wouldn’t have gotten far. We do have a compass but that would require constant steering for 3 days and nights so it was never an option. Update: I learned we have a backup autopilot which works independently of either GPS and we always had at least one GPS working, but better to have two than just one.

We thought we had things pretty much under control so we set out (no fire) to Norman Island. I napped along the way, feeling fine, just tired. We had a nice lunch at a calm anchorage, scraped the barnacles off the hull, and began troubleshooting the other GSP and anemometer. A few quick hours later we were ready to set sail with two working GPS systems, a functional anemometer and all systems operational.

As we were ready to go I stopped into my cabin to relieve myself while it was still calm and thought this was a great opportunity to get a shower in too. After I was all soaped up I realized I hadn’t disconnected us from the mooring ball, but thanks to our independent Captain he took care of everything and we were finally under way at 5:45pm.

If you think sh_t happens in a house, get a boat.

Later, Midnight watch:

The star show is pretty good but lights from St. Croix wash it out some. My cell phone could pick up a signal at 9:00pm but couldn’t actually connect. When I came on watch at midnight I could make a call (checked my messages) but nobody wanted to hear from me after midnight.

While I was napping after dinner in preparation for my midnight to 4:00 am watch, Joel saw that we were being tailed by the US Coast Guard in stealth mode. He saw a ship on the radar go completely around us with no lights on, then when they were behind us they turned on their lights and headed away. I wonder how they “screened” us. On past trips they contacted us by radio and asked us to identify ourselves. I’m not quite as perceptive on my watch. I play bridge baron then check the radar and scan the horizon between hands. Or I work on an email update, watch falling stars, snack and listen to podcasts. I’m also very careful not to fall off the back of the boat which would literally be the last thing I would do. The radar also has an alarm if anything enters our “guard zone” like a supertanker, coast guard vessel, giant squid, rain storm or big wave.

Saturday Morning

We are way out in the middle of nowhere. No land, ships, or planes in sight. Lots of deep blue ocean. Seven foot swells pushing us along, and about 17 mph winds from the east. We’re cruising between 6 to 9 knots with the engines off. Interesting plumbing issues in my cabin and it’s warm down below but my favorite position is still horizontal. No seasickness on board but the motion does make you tired. How I can
sleep so well in a warm cabin with the bed rocking and rolling and the seas splashing and banging but a lawn mower on the 16th fairway wakes me up I can’t quite understand.

Flying fish keep coming aboard and if you see them right away you can push them back into the water but unfortunately for them you can’t always catch them in time and they become dried fish food.

Our position as of 11:40 Saturday is: N 16 degrees, 42 minutes, 26.6 seconds, W 65 degrees, 54 minutes, 6.4 seconds,

Regards,

Steve & Joel


Email sent by satellite phone from sea, Sunday, June 11, 2009

Greetings from the Caribbean,

Still sailing along, not much to say. I haven’t seen any other boats along the way but occasionally birds stop by and we’re pretty far from any land so that is kind of surprising. I’m able to read a little and tonight I worked on editing my Dr. dogsh-t video so I can post it soon after I get home. Keyboard acting funny, may be time for a new Mac.

GPS estimates our arrival in Curacao around 4am Monday. We plan to set anchor in a harbor before we proceed to our final destination Tuesday or Wednesday. Food is holding out well, plenty to eat.

Winds have been good. Had a little difficulty eating crackers on the back deck this morning with 20 mph cross winds. Fortunately those winds are with us and bring us to our destination faster and more comfortably. Everyone on board is feeling well. Weather is beautiful, scenery consistent.
The seawater is this blue and very clear. Same view all around.

GPS location as of 1:15 Sunday afternoon: N14 degrees, 2 minutes 27 sceconds, W 67 degrees, 57 minutes, 9 seconds.

Update this afternoon,

We were troubleshooting some wiring issues between a battery and a starter and I was working upside down in a hatch with no ill effects. Joel whipped up a batch of virgin mango daquiris, we’re not taking any chances. We did see a ship pass in front of us in the distance.

Regards,

Steve & Joel

Email sent by satellite phone from Curacao anchorage, Monday, June 22, 2009

We arrived in Curacao around 5:00 am this morning. The star show was very good last night but about 25 miles from the island the lights started to change the sky. Clouds which at sea appear black turn white and fewer stars are visible. This was the right time in the lunar cycle
to make this trip.

Joel brought us in to a beautiful anchorage in the dark with strong winds. I woke up to a tropical setting, so tropical no wifi signals can be picked up, we don’t even get “secured” ones. Unfortunately, with land come flies who found us in short order but are not too annoying yet.

We decided to take the day off today, relaxing at our anchorage.

Regards,

Steve & Joel

Sent from wifi at old marina dock, Tuesday June 23, 2009 6:39:35 PM

Greetings from Curacao

This morning we motored along the south coast of Curacao east to Spanish Waters, the anchorage where Living The Dream will stay for hurricane season. Teamo, a friend of Joel’s who lives in what looks like a trailer on styrofoam floats with a sailboat tied to the side met us and suggested the best place to anchor. He has to carry his water home in 5 gallon jugs and his electricity is solar only. That will make for short showers. I guess he has batteries for light at night. He will be watching the boat. We may have internet access at this location, we have to radio in for a password.

It was an interesting ride up here, we passed downtown and some nice homes. The flies haven’t found us yet. We’ll see what happens when we break out lunch. On the agenda for today, we need to check in with customs and immigration so I can check out Thursday morning.

No internet access today, maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.

We had an interesting afternoon. Teamo came aboard with his cocker spaniel, “Rocker = Rascal” [Rocker means Rascal in Dutch] to give us the lay of the land. He tried to take us to a boat which sells internet access but the owner was in Holland so no good. I didn’t notice any wires running form the boat so I’m not sure how he sells internet and probably won’t find out this trip. The wifi signal I picked up can only be signed up for between 8:00am and noon. We got here around 12:30pm.

Teamo took us in his truck, a pickup with a back seat, with Rocker to a Chinese laundry where they speak Chinese or Dutch but no English. They are doing some laundry for us and if we’re lucky we’ll be able to find the laundry when we have our own car tomorrow. We thought it was pricey but it beats doing it on board. All I have are t-shirts and underwear so how bad can they screw that up?

We made arrangements over Teamo’s cell phone with Imca who rents cars of dubious quality. Last time Joel rented one it had no reverse gear. Sounds like a VW from my past. We specified air conditioning, but that may be windows that open, reminiscent of the same VW. I let Joel ride in front since he is driving tomorrow and the street signs are in Dutch and they only have signs at each end of a street which may be 20 miles long. I rode in back with Rocker who stood on top of a bag of Teamo’s clean laundry. Riding with Rocker was OK because he liked the suntan lotion on my leg. I won’t need to clean that leg in the shower tonight. Luckily Rocker didn’t discover I had the same lotion on my face.

We picked up some groceries just to fill in. Joel is staying here until Saturday. I bought a fly swatter and haven’t seen a fly since. The word must have gotten out.

Supposedly the bay we are in is swimming with turtles but they are underwater most of the time. I haven’t seen one yet but I haven’t been looking. It’s too hot for soup tonight anyway.

Joel used his super wifi antenna and picked up an inconsistent signal so if you are reading this on Tuesday you know I was able to zip it out before we got bounced off. I wish I could send you a picture of Teamo’s pad [see part 2] but I’ll be lucky to get text sent out of here.

The current plan is to check in Wednesday, when we have our own car and have lunch downtown. We still have plenty of food on the boat for dinner tonight. We had Skyline Chili [canned] for lunch at anchor yesterday. I saved the Skyline for a meal at anchor so as not to tempt fate. We’ll be at anchor for the duration and we both made it through without any seasickness.

Regards,

Steve & Joel

PS: Joel was able to sneak into an unsecured network but it kept losing the signal. When I tried to use it to send this email, I was able to get into my email, respond to one from Laurie, then the network became secure so Joel and I dinghied over to his old marina and cajoled the password out of an old friend, and I do mean old. Not that he knew her a long time if you catch my drift.

Now I know that internet is just a 10 minute dinghy ride away.

Sent from purchased but poor quality wifi on boat through PC Wednesday, 6/24/09 Photos would not load onto Comcast website to send even though signal became stronger later. We ultimately lost connection and could not re-connect. Working on PC added to frustration. Email described with photos and intended to be sent Thursday instead became Part 2 of this blog series but due to other distractions was not sent until late Sunday night. Part of the distraction was assembing this Part 1 to post before Part 2.

Outta Here

Packing up.

I wanted to send an email with some pictures, but it is absolutely impossible to do from Curacao, whether it be the PC I am on, or Comcast, or our connection through another sailboat or whatever but I've had enough. Watch your inbox for the last installment on Thursday, sent from my home base (where the telephone does not work, by the way).

All is well except for this damned internet and I leave that behind tomorrow. Hooray! At least at sea you know where you stand.

Glad I have an early flight. Pardon my rant. I'm so relaxed. Those stealth turtles are lucky they didn't get hit in the head with a PC tossed into the water.

Regards,

Steve & Joel

PS: Joel has to stay in internet hell until Saturday