News From Out Of India 15th may 2006
Out Of India
Birgitte and Ray Charmak
Mon 15 May 2006 19:45
this can cause compression problems as we are on satellite communication.
Dear Amigos,
After being on the boat for nearly 7 months I have finally started to write
my own diary to remember those small things that Ray doesn't enter in the
Captain's log, motto, it is never too late. So here goes. I'll start as of
Friday April 28th the actual date for this major improvement without going
into too many tedious details about the weather.
So, on this glorious day of April 28th, we wake up in gorgeous Great
Lameshur Bay on the South coast of St John, The American Virgin Islands. St
John is predominately a national park thanks to Rockefeller who bought up
most of the island back in the good old days. This island is by far my
favourite of all the virgin islands because of its stunning nature combined
with nice town (read restaurant) scene and lack of charter boats! So here we
are in this bay, hardly any boats and we are surrounded by stunning lush
mountains, cactuses in bloom (only every 30 years) turquoise water with
turtles popping their heads up (and a sleeping nurse shark), a true
paradise.
Trying to keep the pounds/kilos off, we set off for morning exercise and
almost kill ourselves
walking up the steepest road I have seen since we climbed Cable mountain. It
is amazing how unfit you get from the boat life despite plenty of swimming
and moving around on the boat. Back collapsing on the boat it is time for
project hair, Ray being today's victim. Think I'm starting to get the hang
of it because he looks rather good. Anyway we are ready for a day of fun. We
met Hugh and Scott from Charleston some nights ago who we bonded with in no
time. They invited us out for dinner the following night and introduced us
to Jean-Pierre and Anita, him originally French, hence the name, but now a
Southerner, and his charming wife who is a true southern belle and the only
American I know who speaks with a French accent. I picked up the party in
our dingy and just made it back to the boat without sinking. Our dingy is
rather small, and Hugh and Scott are close to 2 meter each and good old J-P
is rather on the heavy side, we all held our breath when he had to be hailed
onboard without falling back in the water pulling some of the guys in with
him. Anyway he is all smiles and happy pointing moustache, and proudly
presents us with their contributions. J-P is the largest importer of French
wine on the East Coast and the cool bag was full! So much for healthy start
of the day. Well well. Great sail, great lunch, great company, all very
merry merry. And Hugh and Scott joins us for evening meal as well. I spent a
year in
Charleston 17 yrs ago and haven't met any from Charleston since, and all of
a sudden they pop up like rabbits out of the hat which is great since we are
heading for town next
month. A lot of fun to look forward to. Hugh has invited us to stay in his
house in the historical district downtown, and J-P and Anita lives on a
great farm not far away and are waiting for us for a wine refuel.
Slightly on the delicate side we set of the following morning heading
towards Puerto Rico (PR) and Isla Culebra where the Puerto Rican navy
awaited us late afternoon. We have the feeling that any PR family with
respect for themselves besides having a house, car and TV, are also in
position of a speedboat equipped with fishing rods and loud speakers. They
somehow infest the waters during the holidays and weekend and are real
party, party, party people. Tried to check in in Dewey following morning,
very
strict all this checking in and checking out business, and the forms Ray
has to fill in every time!!!! But the office was closed and we would have
to wait until Ponce. Our conclusion of Dewey is that it is rather
a dump so we set off for Palmas del Mar taking advantage of good weather and
we just wanted to kill distance. Arrived late afternoon and are instantly
invited onboard to next door yacht for drinks (me being strong willed and
stuck to soft drinks) American guys but it's a small world, and everyone
seems to know someone etc etc. Anyway we look forward to catch up with Ray
and John when we arrive in Anneapolis. Great this sailing buddy business,
you meet so many nice people who seems to have a lot in common with each
other and always welcome each other in the nicest ways.
Ray and I are in good discipline when we need to sail long distances, we go
to bed around 9pm and get up at 5am to set of when light breaks to maximise
daylight. So rather than spending the recommended 11 nights to do the
southern coast of PR, we do it in 3. All in all we were not too impressed
about PR, except for the most friendly agricultural inspector for customs in
Ponce
who inquired us about what food we had, and especially if we had any mangos
onboard (they have some sort of bug which spreads very easily across the
borders which they have made illegal to import/export) we said no, he asks
us if we like mangos, we say yes, and he says would we like some? and yes
thank you very much and we leave customs with mangos on the understanding
that we must remember to pitch the peel in the sea before we arrive in
Dominican Republic (DR). Great! Ray unfortunately had a very unwelcome swim
in the pool outside the outlet of the city sewage. When we dropped anchor
and Ray used the bow thruster (extra prop at the bow to make turning easier)
the bow thruster accidentally chopped up the painter to the dingy.... which
of
course drifted off rather quickly. Thanks heaven that Ray managed not to
drink any of the water and seems quite alright!!!! Ps they got some real
cool street scenes in Ponce, totally desolated beaten up streets with half
collapsing houses and all of a sudden these old 70-style American cars will
pull up driving down slowly, giving us the feeling we are in the middle of a
film set. Quite cool dudes.
On May 3rd we crossed the Mona Passage from Bouqeron to DR, known to be a
potential hairy experience, we were so lucky, had great winds across and
did an average of 7 kn and arrived safely on the other side just in time
before it got too late to enter Punta Macao. (And too late for the local
custom commandante to row out to our boat to collect money.) According to
our
next door neighbour Txai, they thought we were rather brave entering at this
hour, but skipper Ray had done his preparations to perfections plotting in
courses he had got from Bruce Van Sant's Passages South and we dropped
anchor without any difficulties. Unfortunately we had a very rolly night
with Northerly swells and me refusing to cook, poor skipper.
Continued our passage along the eastern coast of DR the following morning
leaving at dawn together with Txai. Had a full day of sailing and anchored
in Escondido in late afternoon, where there is apparently a Scots woman who
is haunting this bay crying her eyes out at night. I of course expected to
be awaken by this woman and Ray regretted he had mentioned it to me, but
fortunately I slept sort of through despite another rolly night watched by a
ghost!
The coast line of DR is breathtaking, very lush vegetation and the most
beautiful mountainous scenery. It is very unspoilt and having just finished
The Voyages of Captain Cook (thank you pappa) some of the drawings they did
when they first arrived looked so similar to this setting. Stunning.
We were very happy to arrive in Luperon on May 5th which in some ways
reminds you of a Swiss Lake, totally calm waters, very welcome after two
very roly nights. Quite tricky navigation into the bay, but Txai lead way
and we didn't hit bottom.
We spent 4 more nights in DR, by far the most expensive place for a yacht
fee wise. DR is very much a third world country and the local custom
officers and military are not being paid but from what they make of charging
the yachties. Quite interesting scenario though. First we had to wait on the
boat for El Commandante to inspect us. This fat guy in full uniform
overloaded with gold jewellery steps on board, I very politely explains we
have
a policy about removing shoes on deck, which he refuses. Great start, these
guys are so macho importante. Anyway he fills in a form and Ray pays some
money. Off he goes and we have to report to customs and immigration which in
both cases fills in so it seems the same form as the El Commandante and each
charges us again. We were warned and went with the flow.
Luperon is a bit of a dump (another) but we enjoyed slowing down for a few
days. We rented a car, and on second attempt we actually got a decent one.
The first one from the first company was so beaten up and the thought of
going all the way to Santo Domingo in this wreck somehow did not appeal to
us and we returned it. Got a jeep style car and drove across the country to
the south. If you think the Italians are bad, hey, they are saints in
comparisons to these maniacs. I sat almost with folded hands praying most of
the 4 hour trip and lost my breath on several occasions. But, Raymondo is a
great driver. The best bit was actually when the road had been blocked to
let the government or similar pass by and Ray managed to catch up with the
convoy and then avoided all the built up congestion of it's tail. Super.
Arrived in Santo Domingo at our hotel at 9pm after being lost on a few
occasions,and getting a bash on our car by a local moterist.
Not many speak English and our map was rather basic. Interesting,
but we got there in the end and what a place!!!!!
Santo Domingo was the
first capitol of the Americas and the seat of the Conquistadors who had
great taste! The building we stayed in, dated back to the first Spanish
settlement and had been renovated to the most beautiful hotel with a great
courtyard with overhanging plants and flowers, stunning. We thoroughly
enjoyed a non rolly bed, TV and not the least a bath! Luxury. Great food,
some fantastic restaurants in town and very sophisticated in comparison to
anything else we have seen on our journey (St Barts is high up on the list
though... ) But this was like old Spain with stunning architecture and
atmosphere. We must admit, we do miss the culture Europe offers.
We headed for Turks and Caicos on Wednesday May 10th and after approx 200
miles and two nights non stop we arrived at Conception Island in the
Bahamas. The most beautiful
tranquil spot with the finest and whitest sand I have ever seen, it almost
looks like snow. Stunning.
Had a bit of a shock 2 days ago. We went snorkelling on the reefs nearby. We
went off in separate directions, Ray with flippers, me without. All of a
sudden to my big horror I found myself approx 5 meters away from two huge
sharks...... on top of it, this is the time of the month for me, and I
panicked, which you never should do. But I tell you, these guys were 2 meter
long, fat evil looking things. I turned around and swam as I never have
before constantly looking behind to see if they followed me, I was lucky,
they didn't. Got into the dingy with a racing heart looking for Ray. He
finally came back towards the dingy and I explained the sharky situation and
he goes off to check them out.... macho, macho.... I thought I better get
engine and anchor ready for emergency rescue, and yes, it didn't take long
before Ray was yelling for me to get the dingy over quickly! Got over and he
got into the dingy as fast as I ever seen him. The shark had actually got
very curious (hungry?) and wanted to check Ray out. Ray had to kick the big
guy off on his nose with his flipper and I was told to have an oar ready
just in case of attack. So that was our action for a while. I am totally
cured of swimming anymore in these shark infested waters and are ready to
continue heading north. We realised we are covered one more month on our
insurance policy, and will
not have to be out of hurricane zone until July 1st, meaning we will have to
be in Cape Hatteras by then.
Winds should be in our favour today and the plan is to set of together with
Max Grody II, Eileen and Peter, and stay close. Some very shallow water a
head and good to have extra boat around in case we need help.
That is all for now, Ray is waiting for another hair cut!
Love
R&B
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