Well, it's official. The Christmas winds are out in full force. Too bad our engine isn't.The engine on Moonshine had been giving us some trouble before we left Nanny Cay on Friday morning. The man from Horizon Yacht Charters assured us that the issue was likely just a short in the engine alarm system, but he asked us to call in at the end of the day if we had any problems. We used our engine a lot yesterday and it got us through some very high, 8-10 foot breaking seas. No problem, mon.After a windy, rocky night at Marina Cay, we woke up this morning intending to sail to our next destination. But before we could put the sails up, we had to motor through the bay and a narrow channel. We left our mooring ball at 10:30 AM.Around 10:45, as we were preparing to turn towards the channel, we lost engine power. Jon finally figured out that he could keep the engine running if he kept the RPMs below 1800. So we fought the wind and the current as we turned back towards Marina Cay.At about 11:30, we were safely tied up to a new ball at Marina Cay. We called the Horizon charter office and relayed the issue. No problem, mon. They would send a guy out to take a look at the engine. At 1:30 PM, we spied a guy coming through the wind and the rain towards "Moonshine." Anil quickly tied up his large, inflatable dinghy, removed his bright orange lifevest, and climbed aboard to save the day.By 3:00, the engine was fixed. I don't really know what the problem was but Anil blew out the gas lines and replaced the fuel filter. And, he fixed the warning alarm system so it would only alert us if there was an actual emergency.By this time, we were starving and it was too late in the day to reach our intended destination. So we motored to another anchorage about a half mile away (with Anil following behind in case there were any problems). We're now actively looking for ways to improve our karma with the sailing gods. Perhaps I start using the term "solstice winds."
Saturday, November 30, 2013
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Friday, November 29, 2013
All I Want For Christmas
Last night, as we were walking back to the boat, I heard Christmas music coming from a shop in Nanny Cay Marina. I think this music was the siren's song for the annual Christmas winds. Each winter (usually in December), the winds pick up in these islands and create some unsettled weather. And they arrived this year, right on cue.
I wish we had a better idea of how strong the winds were blowing today. Unfortunately, the wind indicator on "Moonshine" doesn't seem to work. We were seeing whitecaps all around us and the gauge only showed 12 knots.
Our original idea was to sail all the way to North Sound on Virgin Gorda but it was so unpleasant on the way that we bailed on that plan. Our first backup was Cooper Island. The anchorage there is pretty exposed so it's not usually recommended in high winds. Sure enough, once we got close enough we could see the other boats bouncing around like they were in a rock tumbler.
The next backup plan brought us to Marina Cay, about an hour's ride away. I could lie and say that we sailed the whole way, but we brought the sail down at Cooper and decided just motor for the rest of the day.
When the guys came out this evening to pick up our mooring fee, I asked if they knew how high the winds were today. They were consistently in the 30 knots per hour range - with gusts near 40! The Beaufort scale lists 28 - 33 knots as "Near Gale" and 34 - 40 knots as "Gale" force winds. I think it's perfectly acceptable to use a motor in those conditions.
Oddly, I wasn't really scared. Just very wet and cold. As we were crossing the channel, the occasional wave would break over the bow and spray us with sea water. More expensive boats are built to protect sailors from spray and rain. Not ours. I guess you get what you pay for.
Below is a shot of our new neighbors. I'm guessing they kept warm and dry in today's weather!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Abroad and Aboard
A last-minute, top-secret video project brought me back to the islands sooner than I expected. No - this is not a joke. I flew and ferried to St. John on Sunday, Jon joined me a couple of days later, and the project wrapped last night. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some sailing while we were here, so we chartered a Bavaria yacht for a short, five day trip around the BVIs. Now, instead of spending Thanksgiving with my parents like we intended, we are sitting in the cockpit of this sailboat waiting for a pumpkin pie to be delivered from the local bakery.
Packing and provisioning was a snap for this trip because I took really good notes on the flight home after our last charter. We brought some food with us, had our liquor and baked good delivered, and will do a quick grocery run this evening for our last minute needs. We already had our boat briefing, so we should be able to get underway by 10 AM tomorrow. We have a loose itinerary this time. Our only plan is to go where the wind takes us.
The Bavaria, "Moonshine," is a 33' sailboat. It's significantly smaller than "Tootsie" which was 41' and even smaller than the 37' Island Packet, "Journey's End." It seems like it would be pretty tight for more people, but it seems perfect for a couple. And, it was priced right.
Bavaria's are German-made (hence the name) and it has a nice, warm wood interior. It has two cabins (both are pretty small), one bathroom and an outdoor shower on the transom. We haven't gone anywhere on it yet so I don't know how it sails, but I'll guess that it's pretty rigid based on it's German heritage.
The lovely baker, Julia, just dropped off our order so it's time for our feast!