The first week was a vacation, spent cruising all around St Martin and Sin Maartin, we started of in the lagoon on the French side, where JP and Tania picked us up, from there we went to Marigo, Grand Case, Pinel, then to Groot Baai for some shopping.
We sailed out to Aguilla, stayed the night then we whent snorkelling at Prickly Pear, a beautiful reef island, incredible island to visite, especially on the coral side!
After a week of R/R, we dropped off Jackie, Maude and Marc André at the airport, we then made a stop at Island Water World to bring back the dinghy that was only a month old and already had abnormal cracks in the fibreglass transom, after a few emails, pictures and phone calls, they agreed to replace the dinghy, JP decided to upgrade to an aluminium bottom with a full V bottom, what a difference! Hats off to IWW for the excellent after sales service!
At 6:00 PM we are lifting the anchor, it's time to do some real sailing! JP divided the shifts, we all get 4 on, 8 off, I get to do the 8 AM to noon and 8 PM to midnight, JP come on after me then Tania gets to turn on the nav light on her 4 to 8 PM and then off again on AM shift.
The night watch, Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
Sitting in the captains seat, feeling the low rumble of the diesel engines on a moonless night... The Genoa and the main sail are both fully deployed but the sea is calm with only a light wind pushing Raphaella along, the engines are giving the extra "push" to make time on this crossing. We are doing 6 knots as we pass Sint Eustatius on our way from Saint Martin to Grenada, she looms in the darkness on the port side, I make a 360 degree check and leave my post to go out on the deck and watch the islands lights go by. Soon the island passes and we are in the open ocean again, dept: over 1300 feet, I can still see the fading lights on our stern but the rest of the horizon is pitch black, there is no defining lines between water and sky....
Nothing can describe the feeling of navigating on the open ocean at night, there is a sense infinite "smallness" and also and incredible feeling of being on top of the world... I could go on for ever till we fall of the edge of the earth!....
But my shift is up, time go get a few hours of sleep the back for my next quarter in the day time and a whole other dimension... 12:15 AM
The next day, Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Morning comes after 5 and a half hour of sleep, not much by our landlocked standards but I already feel like I over slept, I missed the sunrise and with it the best time to catch the big fish. Sleep was easy to come by, we are still motoring, still looking at a calm sea, the wind did change during the night, JP and Tania took in the genoa and switched the side of the main sail. In the captains chair the engine is a soft hum... In the sleeping quarters it becomes a steady roar, "steady" being the important part because as soon as I touched the pillow I was gone! Tania is still on the clock till 8 so I have an hour hand a half to kill, first thing I do is cast the second line, the first one stayed out all night without a hit, while I'm ringing the new lure, this one aimed at tuna instead of dorado, the first line goes out: "game on!" I drop the second rig and grab the fishing poll, the reel goes out some more, I can feel the tension and the pull on the line... It's big! The fish takes another pull, this time pulling to the starboard side and then... game off, the line goes slack, I reel in the lure and see that the beast did not leave with it, I drop both lines and go make myself a coffee.
6:34, another hit on the starboard side, the reel is screaming like crazy! Grab it again, I let it run, then reel in a bit, back out then in again, this goes on for another 15 minutes till I get an empty lure again, it's just a mater of time until our super goes into the freezer, I even made a point of putting on my bright orange shorts to help lure them in!
8 AM, my 4 hour watch starts, got a 3rd line out but the fish seem to be full this morning, polarized sunglasses are already mandatory, the sun is blazing and the lack of wind make me stay under the the shade of the Bimini, 360 degree spotting reveals no land at all, a quick check on my navigation app reveals that we are 34 nautical miles west of Montserrat, actually pretty close... when on land, in a car...
Flying fish have been traveling with us for the last couple of hours, I'm hoping they will help to attract our diner....
8:30 AM, it's probably close to 30 Celsius already, depth is over 3000 feet, progress is slow, we are motoring at about 6 kts, no wind on the main sail...
Noon, my watch is done, calm seas, head wind, light, motoring at 5 kts, partly cloudy skies... Got 2 good hits on the rods but it won't make supper; 2 bag-fish, first was black and the second white, guess I should call them environmental catches! They actually put up a decent fight :-)
JP and Tania are watching a movie on the laptop, I brought a few movies they had asked for, I'll stay on deck till its done, nothing going on anyways, we did not see any other ship since leaving port yesterday afternoon.
Completely forgot stretching/training routine when I got up, guess I will have to do it in the midday sun.... Hmmmmmm, might not be a good idea.... Did a light version, stayed out of the sun, it boiling hot!
1:30 PM, The pork fillets have been marinating for a day and a half, potatoes, vegetables, this will be better than the usual high sea menu of hard boiled eggs and crackers :-) JP is at the BBQ.
What a great lunch!
It's now 2:30, we are 46 nautical miles west of the coast of Guadeloupe, the head wind is gaining strength, waves are starting to crest and the hull is starting to slam, looks like we might get a bit of a ruff ride after all.... Time for a couple of hours of sleep, hoping it will calm down by 8, when I start my watch...
8:00 PM, 56 nautical miles west of Dominica, it's been complete darkness for over an hour now, a few stars are out but there is partial cloud cover, I'm keeping an eye out for the storm that is west of us, big lightning strikes probably over the island, I just hope that is does not move towards us, probably wont since we are still facing a head wind, looks like we will be motoring all the way. So it's the night watch again, the map gives us about 3000 feet of dept, I can't help but think of our fragility as we float on this tiny little plastic toy.... This toy, is actually bigger than my house! 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, full kitchen and dinning room, it can comfortably accommodate 8 adults, when I first stepped on Raphaella, 2 years ago, I was amazed at how big she is, when she was taken out of the water last year with a crane, and I was standing next to her, I could not believe the size of her.... But now, in the middle of nowhere, hours from land, with not a living soul anywhere on the horizon, she seems small, tiny. In reality she could be 5 times as big and the feeling of isolation would still be the same, the amazement at how brave (or foolish?...) our ancestors where when they first crossed an ocean, or climbed a mountain, flew a plain... Hehe, as I wright this on my IPad, switching between the navigation app that keeps us on track with e integrated GPS, and the notes app that actually corrects most of my spelling mistakes.... Technology as come so fare in our lifetime, I can't help but wonder what comes next for our children's children, being out here reminds me that the one thing that will always prevail is nature, in the end she will always win, you can have the gadgets at your finger tips, all it takes is one rogue wave, a localized storm, and you become a a bottle cap floating down the gutter....
Oh, and we still have the head wind, engines are at 2800 rpm in order to keep a minimum of 6 knots all the way....
The iPod is probably the best invention for night crossings, having over 16 gigs of mp3s to chose from gives me the possibility of traveling to the past, present and future, music is always there to accompany any feeling, occasion or situation, it's like a friend that you can always rely on when you need someone to just be there.
The lightning seems to be moving towards our bow, I see the bolts between our 10 and 11 o'clock, absolutely no horizon in those parts, witch means cloud coverage, although I still have the stars ahead and over us, we should clear it.
May 4th, 2013, 6:15 AM
Just finished my morning stretching routine, did not forget this time. Still facing a head wind, JP slowed the engines, there is still 130 NM to go and only a quarter of a tank of fuel, we might not make it, motoring that is, we can always reach and go with the wind but that might give us a deadline problem, we have a stop to do in Cariacou to see Richard and Diane at the dive shop, that should be tomorrow, then on the 6 it's the haul-out in Grenada, we are now doing 5 kn, that means 26 hours to go, looks like its going to be up to the "diesel God" unless Zeus intervenes and turns the wind around?..
We are passing 50 NM west of Martinique, It's still a beautiful day, calm sea, partial cloud cover, no storm on the horizon, let see what I can make for breakfast.
8 AM, my day shift starts, same old-same old: calm seas, head wind, a crews ship across the horizon behind us, perfect blogging time!
Just got some great footage, some dolphins came swimming with us, around 9 or 10 of them, a great start to the day!
Food: this morning I made myself a grilled egg-tuna-mayo sandwich with an orange and a coffee, can't eat to much because we don't move around much.
Interlude on St Martin and food: in Marigot Bay there is a French bakery called Seraphina, it's a must for anyone passing true, the have the best almond croissant and chocolate-almond croissant I have ever tasted! They also serve great kish, I picked some up for the crossing, actually it was my second stop there this week :-) They also serve a very decent breakfast, contrary to most cafe and restaurants in the bay, they don't offer wifi, people are already lined up waiting for a table around lunch time, imagine if they stick around to email there friends and family! Oh, and also the best place for fresh baguette.
10:40 AM, we took the genoa out and we are making 6 Kts on a tight reach, heading is S-E, we will tack to S-W soon, I took a bearing on the map at 9:30 and again at 10:30 in order to see what our real velocity is. This is where the navigation courses come in handy... I'm counting 4.37 kts, actually not bad, at this pace we reach Carriacou in 26 hours, so, before noon tomorrow, as long as we get there before 5 PM so that we can get some fuel! (Note to self: always have enough fuel for worst case scenarios, then take an extra 50% for extreme worst case!)
5:15 PM, triangulation gives me a 4kn average speed, eta moved to around 1 PM tomorrow. Engine are off, we a sailing on a tight reach, hitting the oncoming waves, Raphaella shakes and creaks all over with every wave that catches her port keel, the side the wind is coming from, after awhile you get used to the sound of the boat breaking in half and collapsing on itself.... (Yes, that's really what it sounds like!) I even managed a 2 and a half hour nap. Now this is what sailing is all about.
9:22 PM, we took a port tack around 8, when I came on, we have a ruff S-W heading but the angle is wrong, we are not reaching tight enough and at this angle we will be going to Saint Vincent instead of Carriacou! I took a reading at 9 and I will take another around 10:30 to check the actual velocity. I'm holding her as close to the wind as I can but I have to be carful, I already lost her twice, the genoa collapsing against the main sail and the wind grabbing it and turning the boat around, setting off the alarm on the auto pilot: correction is easy, put the auto pilot on standby, then wide open throttle on the starboard engine while turning the wheel all the way to port, hold till the genoa fluffs back to the port side then ease back on the throttle down to 1500 rpm, bring the compass to 80 degrees, and engage the auto pilot, once she is stable again, bring the auto pilot starboard to 95 degrees, 5 degrees at a time.... Actually an easy maneuver... In daytime.... But at night, compleat darkness, no moon, taking the waves head on, impossible to brace yourself since you can't see them coming, it does get a bit challenging! Again, this is what it's all about! :-)
JP came up to check the speed, we where getting peeks at 9 kts, a bit to fast for head on collision with the waves, out here on deck it's not so bad but bellow everything is getting tossed around, including JP and Tania! I turned 3 degrees into the wind and we slowed to 7.3
10:00 PM, 2 specs of light over the horizon, one at 9:30, the other at 11, our first contact today, to early to see what it is. Triangulation give me an ETA at around 12:30 PM tomorrow, still on schedule.
May 5th, 2013, 7:15 AM
Ruff night, the wind was strong, the catamaran was slamming like crazy! The unsecured washing mashing tipped over, a big stainless steel pipe that goes on the new arch but still needs to be welded, came loose, JP called me to come help him, I had no life line, no floating device, no shoes, cloudy sleep in my eyes, a high rolling sea and an unpredictable roll of the boat in complete darkness.... And now I'm supposed to go down the back stairs and grab my side of the pipe to bring it up, that won't happen, I am always the first to go out on a limb, to do dangerous things but this is not logical, a slight slip and I'm gone and I know that it's certain death.... I ended up reaching down from the cockpit and grabbing it with him.... We really need to have a talk about security....
We have a tight S-E reach, doing 6.5 kts with a heading strait to Carriacou, looks like the ETA was right on: Noon.
My shift starts soon, going to cast a line a pray Poseidon to cough up a nice tuna....
10:15 AM, had a nice little hit on the rod, saw it pop out, looked like a small tuna, even had 3 birds circling... Ended up losing it...
8:41 PM, we got to Carriacou at 1 PM, turns out my calculations where right on, we anchored right in front of Richard and Diane's house, JP made breakfast and we ate at 3:30 PM, yup, a bit late for breakfast!
We put the dinghy down and went to visit our dive master friends, they where happy to see us and they gave us a tour of there new place, very nice by island standards, incredible view: beach front facing the sunset, I was also quite hapy to see them again, they are now accredited 5 star PADI dive shop, I told them about my plans to start chartering in a year or so, they will be my first choice when offering dive and cruise combo!
It was a short visit and we are now back on the ocean, crossing to Grenada, should be a 6 hour ride, I got the first shift, head wind but calm seas, we are doing 5 kts, the main sail has 1 reef and the genoa is fully extended, we repaired the front navigation lights before we left, the bulb had exploded, probably shorted from water infiltration, it got hit pretty bad for 60 hours strait. Just now it's the back navigation light that gave out, actually not a nav light but some white decorative LEDs that are 2 feet above the water line on the stern, they did the job fine but it was a temp fix, the actual nav light is not yet hooked up and the connection for the LEDs also got soaked for the duration of the crossing.... Salt water environment will eat away at anything and everything! I rigged a frontal flashlight on the back so that we still give out some kind of light... Hope no one rams us! :-)
10:10 PM, so this is the 4th night, the first night was ok, second and third practically sleepless, it's getting to me, I'm not dozing but I am feeling the lack of sleep, coordination is a bit off and I starting to have difficulty with my balance, nothing serious, it's just interesting to see the effects of sleeplessness.... I'm off in less than 2 hours, this will be my last shift, I should be able to sleep the rest of the night cause the sea is really calm, practically no wind, we are moving along at a snails pace... Tomorrow is the Haul out at Grenada Marine, looking forward to it, I don't like sleeping on the hard, no movement, no breeze, no water sound, but what I do enjoy is seeing the catamaran lifted out of the water, you have this huge crane that lifts this huge boat out of the water, yup, just like when we where kids, playing with out Tonka Toys, actually, it's still the same, the toys just got a bit bigger...
May 6th, 6:40 AM
I was out like a light when I hit the pillow around midnight, I woke to the most beautiful sunrise, Tania and JP probably went to bed a couple of hours ago so, if I'm quiet I will have some thinking, reflecting, soul searching or just simply relaxing, tuning out time with a coffee and the gulls chatting away on the few lone pilings that stand guard a hundred feet behind us.
8:04 AM, took the dinghy down, coiled all the ropes, unconnected the temporary stern light, took down the flashlights that I rigged last night to replace the temporary stern light that went out, took a few good shots of the island, had a coffee, life does not get any better.
We lifted the anchor around 10 and went to , Prickly Bay for customs formality, this is where I saw a new hybrid concept, not sure if it will catch on...
From there we motored strait to Saint David's Bay to Grenada Marine, this is where Raphaella will spend the Hurricane season on the hard (don't ask me how we made it with the motors, it seems like we where running on fumes for the last 2 days!
By sunset she was resting on the hard, the AC was running: JP took care of the electricity while I made an exhaust panel with some plywood pieces supplied by Richard in Carriacou, the AC won't cool the boat much bellow 27 Celsius but it will keep the humidity down so that there is no mold by November, when she goes back in the water.
May 7th, 2013
Got up early to go for a jog to the end of the island, compleatly deserted and an incredible view!
Plenty of work to be done; rinse off the boat, take down the genoa, rinse off everything that goes into storage, remove the lines, remove the Bimini, put up some lines between the keels to store the dinghy off the ground and out of the sun, clean out the bathrooms on the port side, pack the suitcase so that we are ready to leave at 6 AM for our flight back to Reality.... We still found time to go snorkelling in the bay and have a few beers at the bar.
May 9th, Montreal....
Already looking to book my next vacation, the more time I spend at sea, the harder it is to come back to land....
Louis R.
