Apr 26
Now that we have purchased our Tartan 41, we have the issue of getting it home. Currently in Annapolis, we have to bring it back to Lake Champlain. I’ll be posting about that trip very soon, but this post is about emergency beacons, PLB’s and SPOT devices.
I want to get one for the trip, but which one?
Apr 7
On of the most annoying things I find when anchored or moored is when the wind and swell are at ninety degrees to each other. We had this a few times in the BVI. What happens is that the wind causes your boat to lie broad on to the swell and waves and as they come in you end up rolling really badly. The boys liked it down below, with the right timing they could turn themselves into small human projectiles from one side of the 11′ salon to the other.
Not so good for drinking coffee though.
Spoiler alert… there is no best boat….
Over the last couple of months I have exhaustively been looking for a boat. The two best places to do this are the two main web listings for sail boats for sale.
www.yachtworld.com (brokers)
www.sailboatlistings.com (private sales)
I have also posted a few threads on my two favorite sailing forums:
www.sailnet.com
www.cruisersforum.com
In all of this, I have learned a few truths.
The day before we had to check in the boat we wanted to get as close to Red Hook Bay as possible for a short sail in for 10am. We also had to clear in customs in Cruz Bay in St John. We decided to go to Caneel Bay for our last night. We had been there before while land vacationing on St John. It’s home to a very expensive resort and has a couple of restaurants open to the public. We had eaten there before.
Wtf
“Regarded as some as one of the more beautiful anchorages in the BVI, Cane Garden Bay is picture postcard material.”
Diamond Cay was a strange counterpoint to Great Harbor. Both had a Foxy’s. The one in Diamond Cay is called Foxy’s Taboo and supposedly is run by the daughter of the family. Pretty much, the only building in the beach area is Foxy’s Taboo restaurant, there are no other real buildings. It’s quite new and it’s as if there was just an expansion of the franchise but the character got left behind. I suppose there can only be one original.
We took our time leaving Maho Bay, no rush as we only had a short hop across to Jost van Dyke and the BVI. Leaving Maho Bay, we didn’t have much wind, but as we got further into the channel, the wind began to pick up as we made our final tack to Great Harbor, we were on a perfect line to make 7 knots. With the First Mate on the wheel, I trimmed the sails for perfection. If we weren’t towing the dinghy, we would have made 7.5!
Read more
The goal today was to go round St John to the north wide and anchor at Maho Bay. Again, much slower going than hoped, so we had to head directly into the east wind to get round the south end, so, with the battery needing a charge, we motored for an hour to get round. With the sails up, we briskly went round the east end and then as we had the wind behind us, sailed wing on wing as the wind started to die. Halfway to Maho, the wind and current conspired against us and again we turned on the motor.
Read more
Thursday saw us leaving Red Hook. With three kids it took a little time to get everyone fed, life jacketed and checked out with the marina. Only had one mishap when Andrew slipped between the dock and boat and hung onto the lifeline. Fortunately he wasn’t crushed as he had slipped between two fenders that were wider than he. With three kids, it’s just impossible to look on them all. Sometimes I joke that “we have a spare,” but I swear, I’ll be amazed if all three reach adulthood. Note to self, with kids, double how much time you think it will take to get out of a marina.
Read more
Flying out of Boston, we had to get up at 3am. It was going to be a long day, but the rewards were at the end! Travelling with three children is a challenge, we joke that when you have a 3rd child, you are changing from man to man to zone defense. You are a person short to watch after them. As we drove through the New England snow, we contemplated our Painkillers and sun kissed beaches. After a stop in Miami, we were flying into St Thomas. We have found this the place to get the cheapest flights to. You can fly into Tortola which can be more convenient for charters, but its more expensive.
sailingandrew
sailingpeter
sailingsimon1
Sailing Dad
Sailing MomTheme: Linen by The Theme Foundry
