17:04.005N 061:53.006W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Wed 13 Mar 2013 19:16
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"An Interim
Adventure"
27th February So what are we doing! We arrived in Antigua, simply to sign in so that we could carry on north and visit Barbuda before coming back down to explore Antigua and to meet up with Dean and his wife Amanda who will be here on here on their Honeymoon. After checking in here on Sunday we went to the bar for a beer and a long cool fruit juice. As we relaxed and chatted about our trip we saw a new cruising friend who owns a Rustler 42, last seen in Deshaies. Somewhat harassed he explained that his crew had just returned home and his new crew had cancelled, so he was busy trying to find someone to crew for him and his wife as they wanted to visit the BVI. Looking at me Noel said "Sandie and I can help out if you like, we have time as we do not need to be back here for two weeks". Crew on a Rustler 42! Did I hear right, was he really willing to take the risk that I might become hooked on this beautiful luxurious spacious Rustler and then dream of exchanging Whisper for a larger big sister? Or is he perhaps convinced that I will find her too big for us to handle alone. We shall see, but with this possibility in mind, I am determined not to mention how heavy or big things are compared to Whisper. This morning we secured Whisper, packed our toothbrushes and were welcomed on board Carrick. As we left the mooring to go to the fuel dock, a puff of wind just took the bow too close to the aft mooring post, the wandering fender saved the hull but the port light on the pulpit was not so fortunate and shattered into the sea. The chandlers is close to the fuel dock and as luck would have it, they had one port light which just happened to be the right make and the correct size. After some sheet metal work to straighten the gleaming stainless steel bracket which was bent on impact, the new light was fitted and tested and Carrick was fit to go to sea. We have anchored in the bay for the night and plan to get up at first light to start our 150 mile passage to the British Virgin Islands. Visiting the BVI was not on our agenda so it is a exciting for us and for me it is a great opportunity to sail on a larger yacht. What fun! 28th February We set off after breakfast at about 7.45. The wind was an easterly force 3-4 with a fairly large confused swell. We motored out of the reef and as we will be undertaking an overnight passage Mary and I quickly prepared our dinner for tonight chopping vegetables and chicken whilst Carrick was fairly stable under engine, once the sails are filled with wind the task might become impossible and although I have my sea legs it does not take much to upset the applecart! Carrick has a much broader beam so is beautifully light and airey, this makes quite a difference to working down below but my toes stilled worked hard at keeping balanced. We completed our task and retired from the galley just in time, the sails were up and with the wind on our quarter the engine switched off and peace descended. Carrick gently moved along in the light winds, her tonnage is almost twice that of Whisper and I found that she feels quite different in her motion. As she is a new boat she has a significant amount of electronic equipment, Allan set the auto pilot and we were all able to enjoy a lazy day in the cockpit, chatting and watching the electronics tell us the continuing varying wind strength and direction. With the wind so light and the swell quite large the wind was continually being knocked out of the sail and eventually we had to stow the jib and turn on the iron topsail (English interpretation 'engine', Czech interpretation 'iron horse'). Unfortunately these conditions continued all day and all night, so the experience of sailing a Rustler 42 is still something to look forward to! Mary and I were allocated a three hour watch from 9pm to mid-night. We were given a tutorial on the basics of the navigation system so that we could use it to interpret the bearing, speed, type of vessel etc should we see any other shipping and shown the auto pilot controls should we need them and as Carrick has a wheel, steering under engine would not be a problem. Allan and Noel retired and the all girl galley team were left at the helm - or were we? The full moon rose from behind us giving us good night vision and we studiously kept our eye on the navigation screen watching the shipping with AIS but more importantly we kept bobbing up and down peering into the darkness for any sign of boats who like Whisper do not have a transmitting AIS, so will only be seen visually. It was nice to have company on watch and two extra eyes and we passed the time chatting and discussing what we were seeing on the screen. Eventually we saw a ship on the screen which we could not see by eye and she was heading towards us on our course. The system showed us her name, size, speed, course, estimated time until she would be at her closest point to us. We kept peering into the darkness and eventually the glow of her lights appeared on the horizon and the system showed us that she was some miles away and should pass us on our starboard side - but how close? As we continued watching the light waiting for it to resolve into individual lights, whilst keeping an eye on the changing information on the screen regarding distances and course etc we were saved from our responsibilities - our skipper appeared on deck. We were not after all alone! 1st March We were still motoring when I awoke, the wind was still too mild to sail. The BVI were visible and our course was for Virgin Gorda where we could check in at Immigration, Customs etc. We enjoyed breakfast on deck gently motoring along arriving at our destination about 2:45pm. We did not know that it was our skippers dream to arrive at the BVI sailing his own boat until we were a mile or two away from the islands, we both feel very happy to have helped to make this dream come true and we shall certainly enjoy being here. Tomorrow we will leave our overnight stop at the Virgin Gouda Yacht Club and start to explore the BVI. We have had a very happy day with our new friends. 2nd March We spent a gentle morning catching up on emails and the inevitable last minute shopping at the supermarket, conveniently located at the end of our pontoon. Once all tasks were accomplished we set sail and I was given the helm whilst the sails were hoisted. The Rustler 42 has the benefit of being able to hoist the sails from the cockpit, so that nobody has to venture on deck as we do on Whisper. The sailing conditions were perfect, a gentle force 3 and no Atantic swell as we were in the shelter of the islands and all their surrounding reefs, compared to all our ocean crossings this was like sailing in our east coast rivers. Allan disappeared below and before long the sounds of "Sailing" echoed from the saloon speakers out to the cockpit. It was an amazing emotional experience, this beautiful music, the sails full, the blue seas, warm sun, other yachts with full sails around us and happiness radiating around. It was a very special moment not to be forgotten. We were heading for Bitter End Yacht Club but decided to take a closer look at Nekker Island, this is owned by Richard Branson and following a fire his house is now under reconstruction. The island was beautiful with turquoise waters covering the reefs surrounding it and the long white sandy beach. We found our way into the Gorda Sound through the buoyed passage and finally picked up a mooring off the Bitter End Yacht Club. There are many boats here and plenty of activity to sit watch and enjoy. Whilst the dinghy was launched as we planned to go ashore, Mary and I prepared dinner for this evening. We suddenly were aware that the men were no longer on board and the dinghy had gone! Dinner preparations complete we sat chatting in the cockpit, thinking that the men had gone to pay the mooring fee and would soon return. We were moored quite a long way from the shore but suddenly two familiar shapes were spied walking up the steps of what looked like a bar! Five minutes later binoculars confirmed the two shapes sitting on the veranda enjoying a beer! We were not impressed but I was highly amused when the dinghy returned and we were immediately invited, as we had been working so hard, to be taken ashore for cocktails! They had evidently been searching for a suitable bar to take us! We went ashore and the cat was then let out of the bag when the charming West Indian waitress told us that she had paid the bill for the men's beer earlier, because they had left their dollars on the boat! The truth will always come out! We had a lovely evening watching the sun go down before returning to Carrick for dinner on board. It has been a smashing day and all is forgiven! 3rd March We ventured ashore this morning to look at the shops, take a stroll and pick up Wifi to communicate with the world. Picking up Wifi is easy enough but communicating can be a very long drawn out procedure as the connection can be so slow, perhaps we should return to using Carrier Pigeons. Writing the note is straight forward and not interrupted by the word processor thinking it knows what you intended to say and making dumb suggestions which if unnoticed, keeps the recipient in hysterics reading the nonsense you have sent! Attaching the note to the caged pigeon and releasing the bird would be well practiced and the note swiftly on its way! We then left our mooring at Bitter End and set off with various places in mind as to where we might stop over night, the sun was shining, a gentle breeze blowing and calm seas, another idyllic day. We 'hove to' for lunch gently bobbing in the sun on a level platform, why didn't our master mariners suggest this whilst we prepared lunch? Mary and I struggled below to make sandwiches on the sloping galley work surface and when I tried to replace containers into the fridge various items quickly slid down from the highest side filling the gap. Overhearing that a tack was imminent, it seemed reasonable to call up 'tack now'. As the boom slid over and the boat righted itself I was able to quickly fill original gap where the containers had been. During happy banter over lunch, the skipper and his mate suggested that the galley team should make a request to 'hove to', before making any food preparations! Sounds like a good idea to me, we will test this suggestion next time! For various reasons our destination changed as 'we had a look', eventually we tucked into a tiny bay off Guana Island, called Monkey Point . There were many pelicans hunting for their dinner along the rocks before finally roosting in the trees above the bay. We took a short swim but the sky was cloudy and the sea quite rough. In the morning we plan to explore the sandy beach around the point with the dinghy. We enjoyed an evening meal of 'leftovers' , Mary's Chinese cooking influence made it a delicious tasty meal. Another lovely happy day! 4th March We were all up fairly early today and after breakfast set off once again. The wind was nonexistent and the sea like a mill pond, so we had to motor. We approached Jost Van Dyke island passing Sandy Cay on the way, it looked beautiful but the anchorage was so crowded. We decided to stop for lunch at White Bay, the water so clear and turquoise and us being so very hot we all took a swim before lunch. Allan had a desire to visit the Soggy Dollar Bar on the left hand side of the beach. He had read that we needed to pick up a mooring here before 11am as it gets so very crowded. Little did we realise just how crowded it gets, we were all completely overawed by the magnitude of boats and people. Several dinghies were pulled up on the beach, we aimed for the same spot dodging people snorkelling, paddle boarding, day boats anchored both fore and aft lined the beach their large engines protruding into the shallow water, large catamarans almost parked on the beach they were so close, people stood in the water with drinks in their hands - it was busy! After carrying the dinghy up the beach, we headed along the beach avoiding the many plastic chairs, some in the water and some on the sand, to the Soggy Dollar. Poor Allan took one look, it was extremely busy, packed out and loud music boomed from the speakers. We all breathed a sigh of relief when he said that he had to go and marched out. We followed in his footsteps at speed, well that is, as fast as the deep soft white sand would allow us. Having walked the length of the beach we turned back and settled down in a fairly quiet bar for a beer, all of us just gazing in disbelief at the hordes of people who seemed to be mainly American. It was a great place to people watch and soon we were entertained by our own commentaries on what was happening on the beach as people gathered their belongings and waded out to their hired boats. We soon returned to the peace and quiet of Carrick moored on the less populated side of the beach and enjoyed a very pleasant evening. 5th March It poured with rain most of the night and continued throughout the day. We managed to sail some of the time, under staysail alone, but otherwise we motored. The guys were particularly wet and decided to cut the days sail short, so we took a mooring in Nanny Cay, on the southern side of Tortolla, also we needed to provision the boat. As it was well past lunch time before we had completed the shopping we were treated to a good lunch at PegLegs. The restaurant over looked the harbour entrance and beach and across Sir Francis Drake Channel (previously named Free Booters Gangway when the pirates ruled the waters here), to the American Virgin Islands, very picturesque but undeniably grey. Mary and I then decided to take the opportunity to visit the launderette. We ended up in hysterics, Mary needed some change for the washing machine. I did not realise that she only had a twenty dollar bill as I pointed out the change machine. She fed in the note and hit the Jackpot, the machine spewed out change all in quarters for what seemed like several minutes. I held out my hands so that she could empty the small trough where the 80 coins were rapidly gathering, before it overflowed and cascaded coins all over the numerous bags stacked below with washing waiting to be returned to its owners. I noticed the lady who was working in the launderette chuckling away to herself, we obviously were not the first to be caught out. We managed to exchange some coins with a young mother who needed some change, I took some as I had a couple of dollar bills and the lady working there exchanged 10 dollars! Having fed the washing machine with sufficient coins we went and wiled away the time over a ginger beer or two and checked out our emails on the free Wifi. The marina here is completely packed with boats, but surprisingly it is very quiet. It has been a nice haven on a rather grey damp wet day and although the staff are pleasant, it lacks atmosphere. Hopefully tomorrow will be a sunny again as we continue on our sailing adventures. 6th March The day started off grey and overcast, we left the Marina late in the morning as coincidentally Allan and I had the need to print documents, sign them, scan them back onto the computer and email them. Fortunately the Marina Office had a workstation for its customers, but as usual nothing is quite the same as one is used to and having been 'away from the office' for some months now, it took a little time. I was able to assist Allan with my newly acquired skills and pass on a tip to the next user before we departed. Gradually the day improved and the sun came out. Allan was finally able to make contact with their friends who are sailing a charter catamaran and a rendezvous was arranged at sea. The catamaran arrived under engine and after greetings were exchanged, the gauntlet was thrown down, the catamaran hoisted its sails, we rolled out the staysail and with all sails now set and the race was on! To my surprise the catamaran pulled away, finally passing to the lee of us and Carrick, able to sail much closer to the wind, gradually closed the gap. Out of the blue, the Catamaran suddenly rounded up as one of their party dived off the boat! A quick call on the VHF to check if they needed assistance revelled that 'the man overboard' was for practice purposes only to retrieve a paperback novel and a hat! A poor excuse for ending the race. We learnt later, that they had actually been motor sailing at the onset of 'the race! It was great fun, we had a cracking good sail, the sun was shining and the seas were gentle and the wind 12 knots, what a contrast to yesterday! We spent the night in The Bight, a large bay in Norman Island, named after a pirate of the same name. Allan and Mary's friends invited us to dinner, as there would be 12 of us in all, Mary produced, rice, cabbage and beautiful marinaded pork ribs to add to their feast. It was a delightful social evening, enjoying the chatter of the young people and humorous tales from the elders! A lovely day in paradise! 7th March A bright sunny windless day. Allan rowed over to his friends after breakfast and came back with a dinghy full of beer and wine as they are returning home tomorrow, what a raid! The bounty was soon stowed in the bilges and the fridge replenished. We left Norman Island and drifted along finally arriving at Manchioneel Bay on Coopers Island, for a brief stop for a long leisurely lunch and eventually deciding to stay here over night. It is a small island with only a hotel, dive shop, boutique and bar and is very quiet even though the anchorage filled up quickly as the sun began to go down the peace remained. A gentle, lazy day. 8th March A somewhat overcast day, we set sail and spent the day enjoying the sailing and going where the wind took us, tacking to and fro across Sir Francis Drake Channel. We finally ended our sail in Gouda Sound picking up a mooring off Bitter End again as we needed a few provisions and communications, so that Noel and I could book our flights back to Antigua next week. After sometime, we finally managed to book our flights, it now looks rather exciting as we need to catch a ferry first to Tortola and then the plane which is going to Antigua via St Maarten and St Kitts so the pilot will be have plenty of practice landing and taking off again. I was reminded of reading Biggles books when I was young as I watched a sea plane land in Gorda Sound and then take off again. A young pelican followed the plane as it took off and made a much better job of it and with far less effort! After we had secured Carrick to a mooring buoy, another brown Pelican flew low over the water towards us finally swooping upwards to land delicately on the pulpit where it sat preening itself until it became fed up with being a camera star and just as easily as it arrived, spread its wings and in a downward motion swopped low over the bay, only to effortlessly glide upwards again to land on the vacant yacht next to us. A few years ago the brown pelican almost became extinct due to the use if DDT. The effect of the chemical was that it was causing the egg shells to be formed too soft and they were not able to be incubated. Fortunately this was discovered and the use of DDT stopped and brown pelicans are thriving once again! 9th March Our skipper was feeling a little out of salts this morning and a lazy day was declared. We all pitched into the dinghy mid morning and set off in search of an ATM machine. This proved to be an impossible task; the Mega Yacht dock obviously had no need for cash; the private resort needed a private tour with no guarantee of an ATM; the hotel at Bitter End did not have an ATM but would do a deal at 10%. As you may imagine a Scotsman, a Welshman, a very shrewd Chinese lady from Hong Kong and myself on board we were not of a mind to pay this exorbitant rate, especially when we had earlier paid $3 for two tomatoes! Penniless we motored around the bay enjoying the scenery and the reefs and enjoyed a swim before the weather deteriorated and it became cloudy, windy and for us a little chilly. As evening fell we went ashore to stretch our legs at the Yacht Club and were once again amazed to see Jim, the ophthalmic surgeon whom we had met at the OCC Rally in Spain, disembarking at the dinghy dock. It was lovely catching up on news as to where our boats were and what we have been doing since we met in August last year. Interestingly we have met up again but neither Jim nor Noel and I are on our own boats, Whisper is deserted in Antigua and Jim's boat is laid up in Gibralter. The world again proves to be very very small. 10th March Today was probably one of the best sailing days we have had, a force 4 had us sailing at 7knots, the sea had quite a swell but turquoise seas do not seem as intimidating as those dark swells of the North Sea. We sailed all the way up to Sopers Bay before turning around and heading to Peters Island where we planned to anchor overnight. The bay we had chosen was full, all the mooring buoys taken and anchoring was not easy because of the steep shelf. We decided to go back to The Bight at Norman Island this is a huge Bay with many moorings and plenty of room to anchor, but today it was completely full, the only area in which to was far too deep. After investigating other possibilities we went back to Peters Island and found a bay, much berated by the guide book. This bay had several yachts all happily at anchor in calm waters and sheltered from the NE wind. We anchored just off the beach, there was no activity as it was nearly 6pm, but we could see several shelters covering sun beds, no sign of a bar or hotel, it really was idyllic spot. It had turned a bit chilly and as the sun was going down, we promised ourselves a swim in the morning when hopefully it will look more inviting. We are certainly close enough to explore the rocks adjacent to the beach. We had a lovely meal on board using up the left overs. Tomorrow is our last day in the BVI as we will fly back to Antigua on Tuesday. 11th March After a peaceful calm night, we watched the sun appear over the island. A large private cruiser had shared the anchorage with us and we somewhat amused to watch two of the crew arrive at the beach in a rib and start to unload various items on to the beach. There were several shelters on the long beach with sun loungers under them. One such shelter in the tucked into the sand dunes was chosen and the sun loungers removed and placed behind the rocks out of sight. Two of their own chairs and various items were then placed under the shelter. Two of their own sun loungers were placed in front facing the sea, covers were carefully placed over the loungers and a folded rolled beach towel was neatly placed on each. Then the brightly coloured orange rake was produced and the sand under the shelter was raked and then the sand down to the sun loungers! Seemingly preparations complete the crew relaxed and waited for 'the owners'. My curiosity as to whom these people could be was not satisfied as it was time to leave, how ever as I was at the helm as we left the bay I had the opportunity to take a closer look at this rather lovely small ship, it was gleaming. The launch which was stowed on the second deck had been launched hydrolicaly, the side of the ship had lowered to create the space for the launch to move sideways before it was lowered into the sea. The aft lower deck sun lounge was completely enclosed in full length glass panels. We had a glorious last days sail on Carrick before heading back to Spanish Town Marina on Virgin Gorda, the sun was bright, the waters so turquoise, white sails were every where to be seen, the wind force 4, one could not have wished for a better last day in the BVI. The entry into the harbour was quite spectacular the first time we entered there. The reef runs parallel to the channel, so the waves are across the beam and cause quite a surge as you motor in to the harbour entrance. The channel is also narrow so it is prudent to enter when nobody is leaving port. Today with a strong northerly swell the waves crashing onto the reef were enormous, surfers were having a wonderful time riding the waves towards us as we entered. The surge into the harbour reminded me of our entry into Littlehampton last year, this was far more dramatic and I was very happy not to be on the helm! 12th March We were up early and caught the 8am ferry to Road Town the main town on Tortolla. Sitting high on the open deck of the ferry we were whistled across the Sir Francis Drake Channel enjoying our birds eye view of the islands we had visited. We then took a taxi ride ride to the airport which at times was somewhat hair raising. It started off in the centre of the brightly coloured shop fronts of Road Town, the streets were clean and smartly dressed pedestrians and school children went about their activities, the highway was dual carriageway, with traffic lights and queues of traffic, this is the closest we have been to city civilisation in a long while. It was not long before we abruptly found ourselves on a very busy narrow single road which wound its way up into the hills. With traffic whizzing towards us, it was alarming that cars behind us saw fit to overtake at the most inappropriate moments. On one occasion if our driver had not reacted quickly there would have been a three car collision! As we came over the top of the hill the view below was spectacular over looking ocean and the quiet anchorage at Beef Island. As we cleared security at the airport having both had our bags searched, we bumped into Jim again! These coincidences never cease to amaze me! Our flight was on time and we enjoyed the views over the islands and spotting the ones we have visited or planned to visit when we leave Antigua. Our route took us via St Kitts and St Maarten so there was the excitement of three take offs and landings, three safety demonstrations and three decontamination sprays! We were delighted to meet up with 'the newly weds', Amanda and Dean, looking very happy, tanned and relaxed. They whisked us off to the beach in their golf buggy to watch the sun go down from the beach with rum punches in our hands. They then took us back to their accommodation for dinner and a viewing of the photographs from their special day and we were presented with a slice of Wedding Cake each! We spent a most enjoyable evening with them and were deposited safely back onto Whisper curtesy of the golf buggy! So how have we found the Rustler 42? She is quite beautiful, below decks is wide, spacious and light with plenty of storage and a good layout makes her very comfortable, her interior is all handcrafted wood and the head and shower being constructed from a white moulding is easily cleanable. On deck is she is solidly stable all halyards are run back to the cockpit so work on the foredeck is limited and she sails to windward well. She has the added bonus of a bow thruster, so picking up a mooring can quite easily be corrected, so long as the helm can see or can hear the directions. Helming is by wheel, so I found steering easy and her many visible electronic instruments are a great aid to keeping on the wind. In the galley, the deep cupboards above the stove are very difficult to reach and if you are of average height or smaller require a very long stretch on tip toes across the stove, a hazardous task when the stove is in use and probably impossible if heeled to starboard. The fridge is wonderfully large but its depth makes it difficult to reach the bottom unless you are very tall or kneel on the saloon berth. The aft double quarter berth was luxurious, good ventilation with a small fan, bright lighting, beautiful spacious wooden cupboards and plenty of standing headroom. Sailing on Carrick has been a very enjoyable and pleasurable experience, but she does need a good strong tall crew. I know that Whisper will seem small by comparison when we go back on board, but we can manage her on our own, even if I do have to stand on tiptoe to reach the head of the mainsail! We have had a wonderful time on board Carrick, thank you Mary and Allan for not only your tremendous hospitality but also for giving us the opportunity to enjoy the BVI with you and to experience the delights of a Rustler 42. Photographs: "Happy Rustler Owners" "Checking the Set of the Anchor" |
