July 5, Sleighride to Columbia

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Easy Sailing

There was a huge bang which woke me and Wings lurched wildly. Items flew around the cabin and a torrent of salt water hit me in the face.

I knew we'd hit something: rocks, a reef, a ship, whatever, it was terrible; the end.

"What was that?" I yelled as my hand gripped the ladder, heading for deck.

"A wave." replied Judy, "I'm soaked."

"Oh, just a wave. God that scared me." I sank back to my bunk. Wings recovered and sailed on.

It was a sleigh ride to Columbia which we were on and this was just one more part of it.

It had started out easy on Wednesday: a little wind, some mediocre waves, and we'd set a jib and main. It was the conservative call. The wind-vane handled it nicely. West bound, heading of 280.

But the wind built and so did the waves. By Thursday we had wind in the high twenties and huge waves, 20-30 feet, breakers.

Wings flew to the West in it and Judy and I just hung on. The vane kept steering, the waves broke around us but didn't board, and the boat kept on surfing, and we made miles toward Columbia.

We reduced sail but it didn't slow us much. I saw 34 knots of wind speed and the boat hit 10.89, almost eleven . Judy saw less on her watches, but still, quite a lot for a couple of oldsters like us.

We were down to no jib and a double reefed mainsail when the wave hit but there was little else we could do to reduce, so we just kept sailing.

By Friday morning, four hours ahead of our plan, we arrived in Santa Marta, Columbia, and found a berth in the marina, five hours after Sooliman, who left 12 hours ahead of us.

A job well done, and now: a new country.

Click here for more sailing shots.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Santa Marta, Columbia.

July 3, 2013-Passing the Point of the Middle Moon, or How my Coffee Cup Became Cracked.

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Tanker Passes

I wake and see the sky is turning from dark blue to cyan. Dawn is coming.

I get up.

Judy and I trade places and I survey our surroundings. Water, water, more water. I turn on the computer and see that the next landmark, the Point of the Middle Moon, is still ahead of us, as it should be. According to my passage plan we will arrive there at 09:00. It is now only 06:00.

I need coffee with which to greet the sunrise but the stove won’t start. Propane must be out. Ah, yes, the log book shows 44 days on this tank. Is that a record? Anyhow, the tank must be empty. I get the adjustable wrench to change the propane tank and crawl aft on the crazily tilting and swaying deck toward the propane lockers. Its hard to hang on. The wrench is rusted, won’t adjust. Down to the workbench forward for some oil, then back for a second attempt.

Wrench fixed, propane changed, coffee cooking, I hear a chirp from the AIS receiver. A ship is drawing near. The computer shows it still an hour away.

I drink my coffee. Now I think of food: a hot bagel with pork and cheese and a cookie. And fresh coffee.

Beans need to be ground, they are Colombian beans, but bought in Antigua. Perhaps soon I will get to buy some a little closer to the source.

Starbuck's Cup

After breakfast I check the ship. Still 30 minutes away. Wash up. I notice the cracked handle of my Starbuck's cup. It happened during a previous wash up when another cup was dropped on it and cracked the handle. Good thing it wasn’t broken; these Starbuck's cups have been halfway around the world with us and a broken one would put a damper on the whole venture. Well, maybe not, I can get another.

On deck I adjust the solar panels for the early sun and find it’s getting hot in the cockpit. Time to put up the awning. I drag up the large awning and set it. The wind and tossing deck make it another struggle but the shade is nice when it is done .

I count 12 flying fish on deck. Judy hasn’t thrown them over so I do. "Back to Neptune," you guys.

The AIS chirps again and now I must watch that ship. The name is "Charmer", a tanker. We are on a collision course. I would turn but his course and speed is erratic. I don't know which way to go. He is the burdened vessel so I reach for the radio to ask him.

“Charmer, Charmer this is Wings.”

He answers, “Vessel calling, come back.”

We switch to 14.

“Charmer, this is Wings. How do we deal with this?”

“I will alter course,” he says.

“Thank you very much Captain.” That was easy.

I watch him pass on our starboard side; a small ship.

With the dishes done, tanker gone and the awning up, I decide I can relax in the shade.

I load some new music on my phone and get a new book.

Just as I settle down Judy is stirring. “What time is it?” she asks.

“Nine O’clock.” I say. It is time for her watch already.

“Where are we?”

I check.

“Just passing the Point of the Middle Moon.”

We trade places again.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, On Passage.

July 2, 2013-Aruba

Aruba

The first day at Aruba made me hate the place.

We anchored by the airport and the wind blew all day and all night. Enough to drive a man crazy.

The boat bucked in the waves and the wind, as we seem to say so often in this part of the world, howled.

God did it howl.

And it was hot. We sweltered. There was too much wind to put up any awnings, we had no shade.

And to top it all off, some of the car stereo crazies ashore here played loud music all day, really loud music, which we could hear all too well all the way out to the boat. Really loud.

Aggravatingly loud. Boom Boom Boom.

God!

On the second day, when we thought about putting the dingy together to go ashore, and we considered the wind and the difficulty of it, plus the waves...

We gave up. We went into the marina.

There we had peace and quiet. The wind didn't reach us in the marina. There were no waves. We had power and we turned on the air conditioner. We put up an awning. Live became good.

Aruba became good.

Click here for more photos.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings. Aruba

June 29, 2013-Santa Kruz Baai, Curacao

We went to Santa Kruz Baai on our way out of Curacao. It was beautiful. We met Henry; he was charming.

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Henry.

We left soon.

Click here for more photos.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Curacao

June 27, 2013-Turning a Corner

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Curacao

Curacao: a hot, dry and windswept island of sun, sand and cactus. To get here you run downwind from the eastern Caribbean Islands for days and in the strong trade winds, like we’ve been having, there is no going back (some rugged sailors have done so; my hat is off to them).

It is a place which seems far away from anywhere. Its sister islands, Aruba, and Bonaire, seem similarly remote from the rest of the Caribbean, out here in the sea by themselves. Maybe Far Tortuga is out here somewhere.

In reality though, the ABC’s aren’t remote and alone. There are other islands nearby, though you can’t see them, and the South America coast, Venezuela, is only 35 miles away. So even though it seems remote and desolate, it isn’t really. And there are people, lots of them, and cars and boats, and houses. Still, maybe it’s just the endless howling of the wind and the often empty streets that make it seem so, but we half expect to see tumbleweeds to come flying across the road.

Other than this feeling of remoteness, I find Curacao interesting for some other reasons. It is heavily populated and there is evidence of money. The houses are big and nice looking, on lots with high walls, and they have double car garages, but the residents themselves remain hidden from view, giving the place the air of a rich ghost town. Where does the money come from I wonder? These homes are retirement homes for people from Holland, I was told, so maybe that’s it.

And the geography is interesting. While so many islands in the Caribbean have no protected ports, Curacao has many. We are anchored in one, Spanish Waters; an inland bay completely protected from the sea, surrounded by nice homes and moored boats. And St. Anna Bay, around which Willemstad, the capital, is built, leads inland like a canal to the Schottegat, the vast natural harbor filled with container terminals, docks, and shipyards. There are other harbors, Fuki Baai, Piscadera Baai, and Santa Martha Lagoon; all accessible from the sea but fully enclosed with deep water inside. What geological conditions produced this place?

The value of these harbors was recognized early on by the Spanish, Dutch, and English, who all fought to own this island. The Dutch won in the end and Willemstad was built by the Dutch 400 years ago and quickly became an important shipping port and the center of the African slave trade as well as a hub for piracy. These activities brought wealth to Curacao. Though the slave trade and the pirates are long gone, Willemstad has remained one of the Caribbean’s important cities. Today it is a world heritage site, richly cosmopolitan and valued for its Dutch colonial architecture and its history as well as the busy port. We have enjoyed walking Willemstad’s narrow streets, having meals in its quaint café’s and relaxing by the waterfront drinking cold Heineken beers.

But for us, Curacao is the end of the Caribbean. When we leave here, or when we leave Aruba, our last Caribbean island stop, we’ll go into to a new world: Latin America.

Chart of the Caribbean.

Click here for an explanation of the chart.

We’ve come westward 500 miles across the Caribbean Sea towards these islands where we are now, well away from the beaten cruiser paths of the eastern Caribbean, and each mile we’ve come has been windier, rougher, and seemingly more remote from one before it, but we are about at the limit. Soon we’ll sail over the top of South America, past one of the windier places in the world, the Peninsula de la Gaujira, and we’ll turn a corner, out of the Caribbean where we’ve spent the last 15 months, and into the Columbia Basin, where the winds will go lighter, the seas calmer, and the culture will be Latin American salsa instead of Caribbean reggae.

We will have turned a corner and turned a page.

We are ready for it.

Click here for more photos.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Curacao

June 23, 2013-Curaçao

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Curaçao.

There are a few sunburned and wizened old single handers here, mostly Dutch.

"The bus driver doesn't like us." Dick said.

"Why?" I asked. We were hanging out on his boat, a catamaran with barnacles creeping up the side. He's been here for nine years.

"Because we're Dutch." His buddy Haus nodded.

"I don't get it, doesn't Holland put heaps of money into this country?"

"Yeah, but we were the slave owners 200 years ago." he answered.

So that's the story of Curaçao:

The Dutch built this place, brought in slaves, and now, 200 years later, there is still resentment over that fact.

Understandable, I guess.

The truth is that the Dutch own this island, support it, and in the background, hold it standing upright, but the coloreds simmer.

They always will.

We've been here only a few days, but the underlying tensions are evident. Never mind that, what about from our perspective?

Well, Curaçao is old, and beautiful. And we love it.

Discovered by the Spanish in 1502, Curaçao had a great harbor, one of the best in the world, still does, and it was a natural hub for shipping trade in the southern Caribbean. The island was occupied by the Dutch in 1634 and the Dutch West India Company made Curaçao a centre for the Atlantic slave trade in 1662. That and piracy flourished here for a few hundred years bringing wealth to Curaçao and Holland. The capitol city of Willemstad, with its attractive Dutch and Latin American architecture, still stands, as does the legacy of Dutch rule over the larger black population.

And that is what Dick was alluding to when we told me that the blacks resent the Dutch.

What we noticed while travelling around Curaçao is that while the Dutch own the place, the blacks and, equally, the Venezuelans, run the place. They give it the feel on the streets and in the shops, and it is they whom you will be dealing with as you travel around the island.

And that part we are OK with. In fact we love the Latin American feel of Curaçao.

We just don't like the sullenness we experience sometimes.

But I guess we can't blame them.

Click here for more photos of Curaçao.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Curaçao

June 19, 2013-Bonaire

Bonaire

Hot, dry, windy.

Sand and cactus and a couple of little towns; sleepy maybe, but nice enough.

We arrived on Sunday and picked up a mooring off the capital, Kralendijk, and checked in. Had to go back to the office on Monday for immigration. They gave us 90 days but we'll be gone before that.

Nice as Bonaire is, we're on the move now.

Then we shifted to the marina. Got power and water and WiFi and rented a motor scooter for a week.

We had wheels.

Kralendijk, Bonaire


Drove south along the shore and found Kite Beach where the kite boarders were holding a championship for closed course racing, the middle and South American Championships.

Got some photos.

Hooked up with Jan Eckmann and Dave on the yacht Baraka. Friends of Taipan and Jan used to work at Bank of America. We knew a lot of people in common. They rented a truck and we drove to the other end of the island, through the national park. Saw lots of Flamingoes in the salt ponds.

Diving is nice here; Bonaire is known for it. We snorkeled a few places and agreed that it was pretty good.

Found a great Dutch supermarket, Van Der Tween, and a Karel's, a good bar for happy hour drinks.

That about does it for Bonaire.

Click here for Bonaire scenes.

Click here for images from Slagbaai Washington Park, including Flamingoes

Click here for images of Kite Board Racing


Fred & Judy, SV Wings, on Passage to Curacao

June 9, 2013-Arrival In Bonaire

Kralendijk, Bonaire.

It took us three days to sail to Bonaire.

Three nice, downwind, easy sailing, days.

Almost boring.

But

Don't get us wrong, we loved it.

And on Sunday, June 9, 2013, we arrived in Bonaire and took a mooring ball in front of the town, Kralendijk. (it's Dutch).

This is a nice place. Very civilized. Quite the change to be in a peaceful little Dutch village after hearing the jungle drums of Dominica for a couple of weeks.

We have some adventuring to do here; we'll report back soon.

Meanwhile, click here for more Dominica images.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Bonaire

June 6, 2013-Leaving Dominca and the Antilles Islands

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Prince Rupert Bay (Portsmouth) Dominca.

We will weigh anchor at 12:00 today and set our course for Bonaire, in the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao), which will put Dominica the entire Antilles Islands behind us once and for all. It is not likely we will come this way again.

We have enjoyed our time in these lovely islands, and we recognize that there is much here in the eastern Caribbean that we did not see or do. Much more than we actually saw or did in fact. We hardly touched the place.

But we can't go everywhere.

This trip to the SW will take about three days, and for the first time since we arrived in Trinidad over a year ago we will be sailing downwind (if you trust the weatherman).

We'll check in after we arrive in Bonaire.

Meanwhile,

Here are more photos of Dominica

and Portsmouth

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Dominca

June 1, 2013-Indian River Trip on Dominica

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Martin Carriere, River Guide

The island of Dominica is known for it's natural beauty. Forests, mountains, and rivers invite cruisers ashore to hike and explore. One trip we took was up the Indian River in one of the nature preserves with our guide, Martin Carriere. You cannot take your own dingy and no motors are allowed, but the guided trip didn't cost much and was really worth it.

Click here for photos of the Indian River trip.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Dominica

May 29, 2013-Sailing to Dominica

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Hurrying Towards Shelter.

On this day Wings departed Antigua bound for Dominica. After a stay in Dominica we'll go to Bonaire, then Columbia and eventually Panama and into the Pacific once again. Southward and westward...ever westward.

It has been an eventful four months in Antigua and we almost began to feel at home there, but it was time to move on. The Pacific has been calling to us.

We set sail from Jolly on a course of due south, intending to overnight to Dominica. With two reefs in the main and the small jib we were looking for an easy sail but instead of easy we got fast. The wind was in the twenties and we flew souther’d hitting mid eights by the B&G but those instruments have been optimistic lately; probably only the high sevens, but fast enough.

At dusk Montserrat was abeam to leeward, just a jagged outline against the setting sun.

By nightfall the wind was higher, the mid twenties, and the waves were big giving us a rolly and wet sail. Time after time throughout the night the bow sliced the tops off of waves and the resulting buckets of salt water blew back onto the dodger at 30 knots, then cascaded down the side decks and filled the cockpit where the lines and sheets sluiced around for a minute or two until the drains finally did their jobs. It was not the easy sail we’d wished for.

After Guadeloupe Island we turned upwind and, if anything, the ride got worse: more heel, more water. Something to be endured not enjoyed. Yet still we hit the high eights and low nines so at least we were getting there.

Dawn found us running through squalls and rain for the shelter of Dominica’s lee and we anchored at 08:00.

In sunshine.

The calm harbor was welcoming.

Click here for a few more photos.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Dominica

January 27, 2013-Back Pain in English Harbor

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English Harbor, Antigua.

After Fort De France we sailed up the coast of Martinique to St. Pierre, a delightful village but located in the risky position of being at the base of the Mt. Pele volcano. (Mt Pele has already destroyed St Pierre once, in 1902, with the loss of the lives of 30,000 inhabitants, but Mt Pele is quiet now.) It is a scenic setting and we enjoyed the town but my back had been bothering me; I wanted to go somewhere that I could rest up for a few days. We needed a bullet proof anchorage and St. Pierre was an open roadstead. The next morning we weighed and headed north. We sailed all day past Dominica and Guadeloupe and pushed through to Antigua and 24 hours later were anchored snuggly in English Harbor, long a goal of mine to visit, but not without some difficulty. Sailing with a bad back isn’t fun and I am sure I made it worse.

We went to the doctor and got some meds and settled down in English Harbor to rest up. Then I was careless handling some heavy lines and the back injury got worse, much worse. Operating a sailboat is tough on the body. Handling dock lines isn’t any better. As a consequence I was flat on my back with excruciating leg and hip pain for five days. This is undoubtedly a pinched nerve in my spine, probably from some sort of lumbar disk problem but it is hard to assess without diagnostics like MRI’s and the such, which we have not had done. You wouldn’t believe how many painkillers I was taking.

But there was a big race going on here, the Antigua Super Yacht Challenge. The smallest boats are over 100 feet and the really big ones, well, they are huge. For two days of this three day event I was in my bunk when they went out racing literally unable to move and I felt like I was missing out on something spectacular. But by the end of day two of the racing, my fifth day flat on my back, I started to feel a little better. I got up and moved around. It didn’t hurt, much. I made a call and got invited to sail on one of the boats as a photographer for day three. Now if my back would hold out…

Judy says I was stupid for even considering it and for sure she was right but I went for a short walk around the harbor looking at all the boats. It was a test and I passed; my back could hold up for a 30 minute walk.

So, on Sunday, I showed up at the yacht Marmara for the docking out at 10:00 with a bag of camera gear and a pocket full of oxycodone. Could I make it hoping around the decks of a super yacht for three hours with a marginal back?

I did, the sailing was great, and I got a lot of good shots. Hang on for a few days and I’ll have the photos posted.

My Back? Well, you know, the next day we made a trip to the supermarket and that was harder.

Click here For more images from St Pierre and Antigua.

Sorry! No photos of the patient.

Hang loose for a few days and we'll post photos of the Antigua super Yacht Challenge

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Antigua

January 14, 2013-Magnificent Sailing to Magnificent Martinique

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Judy Chases Competition

Another magnificent day of sailing and, now, Martinique, another magnificent Caribbean island.

From St Lucia we sailed hard to Martinique, keeping a sharp eye on the other five boats which set out at the same we did. We were racing, unofficially. Maybe the others didn’t know it but I did. The sailing was great: sunshine, nice breeze, warm water, and competition. What more can you ask for? Of the five boats out there, one turned back, one beat us, and we put the other three away. The boat that beat us probably would not have if handicaps were applied but it was hard to tell for sure since he dropped his sails and turned on the motor for the last two miles. We sailed the whole distance. It was good.

Le Marin, Martinique: Nowhere have we seen so many parked sailboats. This place is huge. Judy said she loved the anchorage which means it was calm. Me too; bulletproof, just the way I like it.

Checking in was quick, about three minutes, then we found out we're in France! I thought this was the Caribbean, but no, Martinique is part of France, it is actually a department of France, which sort of explained all the French people and Peugeot cars.

Then we went to the bar and ran into Nacho and Ana. Well, they were happy to see us and tried to be polite, but since France is nearly Spain, and they are Spanish, their phones, Ipads, and pocket calculators were all lit up and they were deeply involved with things electronic. Ana was having a skype chat with her sister and Natcho was working his way through 39 emails, about 15 of which concerned his boat in Palma which was being sold and he dearly wanted to get to the bottom of that. But we came to Martinique to buy good French wine at a great price, so we said "caio" and went to the supermarche. Good Bordeaux wine is about $2.80 a bottle; we bought 41 bottles. Mission accomplished.

Yole Racing in Martinique

Saturday we had a great dinner with Jacques and Edith, who were planning to go roller-blading on Sunday but no way can we keep up with Edith’s high energy, so we photographed a local sailing boat race instead, and Monday we’ll do some more shopping before heading off to the capitol, Fort Du France.

And when I wake up from my nap on the settee trying to remember what country we are in… Oh yeah, France.

Click here for more shots of our sail to Martinique

Click here for more Yole regatta shots

Click here to see Fort De France

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Martinique

January 4, 2013-Seventy Miles to St. Lucia

Update: New Photo Link at Bottom

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St. Lucia.

We sailed out into the St Vincent Channel into a building breeze, the wind hitting the low twenties and the waves had authority. We dropped the traveler down and eased the main sheet and the speed climbed. With the #4 jib just cracked and a full mainsail well out and twisted off the boat charged upwind; the spray was flying. This was a combination which we hadn’t used before in conditions like this and it was working: we were making seven knots and hitting eight at times. Wings reveled in it and I sat on the afterdeck and just enjoyed the day. The other boats out there with us began to fall behind.

This was the sailing we needed to do if we were going to make the seventy miles to St. Lucia before dark.

But the day had started out slowly. We’d been anchored in Bequia and on Wednesday we heard the weather forecast for the weekend. It didn’t sound good: strong wind, big waves, and rain, and for several days.

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Bequia.

Bequia was a good place to wait out weather like that, but we could be pinned down there for a week or more which wasn’t in our plan, so before sun-up the next day, in company with several other boats, we set sail for St. Lucia, seventy miles away.

We put up the small jib and a reefed main, expecting a breeze, but the winds were lighter than we expected. We were hardly moving. We shook out the reef and still we wallowed.

Some of other boats turned on their engines and motored away from us. Others caught some wind and started sailing. We sat still, watching them sail away. It was frustrating and I fumed.

Eventually the wind filled for us too and we started to move. From that point on it was a good sail and in a few hours, when we broke into the St Vincent Channel, leaving the island of St. Vincent and its rain squalls behind, we had the conditions Wings loved: blue skies, blue seas, lots of sun and lots of wind.

We crossed the channel and St Lucia hove into view, the Pitons looking majestic.

As we neared the lee of St. Lucia, if anything, it got windier and rougher. The wind shifted to the North. We would have to beat the rest of the way to Rodney Bay. By then it was getting late in the day and the light started to fade. We were alone; the other boats were behind us or had turned in to ports further down the coast.

We tacked inshore looking for flatter water and beat on into gathering dusk.

By the last few tacks it was dark, windier than ever, and we were tired and anxious to make port.

When we turned into Rodney Bay and set the hook we were thankful to be there.

But we’d done our 70 miles and it was a good sail.

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Wings, safely tucked away in Rodney Bay.

Click here for more photos from Bequia.

Click here for photos from St Lucia.

Click here for more photos of Wings

Fred & Judy, SV Wings

December 25, 2012-Merry Christmas

Pirate's Bay.

As we sit at anchor in Clifton Harbor, Union Island, in the Caribbean, listening to Christmas Carols on our stereo and enjoying this holiday we reflect on the previous year.

Some water has passed under our keel since Christmas 2011, when we celebrated the holiday with friends aboard their yacht in Simon’s Town, South Africa.

In January, with other good friends aboard, we sailed to Namibia and saw the desert.

And then the four of us set out across the South Atlantic, from the cold and foggy Namibian coast to the tropical shores of Brazil, 3200 nautical miles, with a stop at lovely but remote St. Helena Island. What a sail we had!

After a stay in Brazil, struggling with the Portuguese language, we ventured North, across the Equator again, to Trinidad, in the Caribbean, where we stayed for the six months of hurricane season, working on the boat, making friends with other cruisers, and doing a few local races.

Now we are cruising Windward Islands of the Caribbean chain, on our way to Antigua for Sailing Week in April, and other destinations in 2013, probably Cartagena, Columbia for next hurricane season.

Al together we have sailed about 5800 nautical miles since last Christmas.

Back home among the normal folks our family continues to do well.

Our kids are healthy as are all their offspring who are all getting bigger. The oldest grandkids are all turning into fine adults. My, how the family grows.

Brother and sisters talk to us frequently on the phone and send pictures to us of all their grand and great grandchildren and their families are also all growing and thriving.

So it is a good Christmas Season for us, (better if we were there) and we are looking forward to the New Year. We hope all is well with you too.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Union Island