Turkey Day Without Family

Sherry talking turkey at Nanny Cay!

Holidays are family time. Except when you are sailing and your family is miles away! Of course, with our five children and their families scattered from California and Oregon to Michigan and Pennsylvania and all the way across the pond in London,UK, we rarely have a big family holiday anymore. The kids also have the "other side" with whom to spend holiday time, as well. Therefore, we figured it would not be so bad not to be home from Thanksgiving. (Last year we were stuck in Miami when our flight was delayed and we missed the connection so turkey dinner was at a Marriott!)



Up close and personal with the turkey!

This year we felt the lack of family and the turkey dinner. We were anchored off Norman Island and had our normal boat fare for the day. I must admit was savoring the taste of stuffing and pumpkin pie. We did dinghy over to S/V Lady for cocktails later in the day. At least, S/V Lady thought ahead and brought along their turkey -the inflatable one! That was the closest we got to a real turkey.

Even though we will be home for Christmas, we will only have one child and one grandchild with us. The rest are with the "other sides." Hopefully next year we will have a gathering of the clan.

S/V Lady at anchor on Thanksgiving Day

We wish you a belated Happy Thanksgiving and an early Merry Christmas. Time to raise the anchor and find another quiet cove.

In a few days, we will head north to cold country and get ready for the holidays. I am sure we will be anxiously awaiting our return to the islands in January. So we will be dreaming of a white Christmas and the island sun.

Interesting Weather on the Water

After being held up in Hampton, VA for five days, the Caribbean 1500 Rally left on Friday, November 18th. We had a windy start and trip out to the Gulf Stream. Sometime during the first night, someone at the helm allowed us to veer off course to the east and we got caught in an eddie with the current against us. Our second day was spent trying to get out of its clutches. Needless to say, we did not make very good progress on our second day at sea.

You could water ski out here!

Not only did we have the current fighting us, the wind died down. The ocean was so calm for two days that you could have water skied on it. So, of course, we fired up the "Iron Jenny" (our Yanmar 110) to make some headway. Then after that we hit strong winds with northeast swells up to 15-20 feet.

Life was good! We were sailing along at 7-9 knots. After a couple of days at this rate, it happened! The autopilot steering gave out! Actually, we learned later that it was a matter of cleaning the graphite build-up out of the brushes. We checked everything in the trouble shooting manual, but could not find the access to the brushes. Being coached by other skippers on the Rally SSB Radio Net helped, but none of them had the same type of system we do, so we were not looking in the right place. Ironically, we listened to a lecture on cleaning these brushes. Apparently we assumed the User's Manual would direct us to them. NOT!

Now that we are on land and had others look at it, it could have been a very easy fix. (Sorry crew!) Most of the lessons are learned under challenging situations at sea! Our wonderful crew rose to the situation and were steady at the helm day and night - and day and night and ...

As you can see, we have to tear apart our bed to get to things like the batteries, autopilot, etc. It seems like every time I get the cabin organized, we have to pull it apart for something! Oh well, it gives us something to do to pass the time!

Fortunately the autopilot problem was our only major issue during the crossing. With the high winds and seas and intermittent flat spells, the trip took longer this year. We basically followed the rhumb line and made tracks to Tortola. The lack of the autopilot caused the crew to hand steer for 700 miles. Their watches went from two hours to one hour on the last day as fatigue set in. I could only handle the wheel for an hour and a half before my shoulders started screaming "no more!" Bob and Larry were terrific and determined to stay the course (maybe they just wanted to get off the boat??). Thanks, guys!

Ahoy! Land Ahead!

The sun rising over Tortola! A welcome sight!

We are in Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI! After ten and a half long days and nights, we arrived in Nanny Cay, Tortola early Monday morning. We actually slowed down overnight so we could cross the finish line in daylight. I was soooooo happy to see the sun rising over Tortola when I awoke Monday.

We had a good, but physically challenging trip. The autopilot died at about mile 700. That meant hand steering for 800 miles through seas with swells ranging from 6 to 20 feet. The guys changed the watch schedule from three hours to two as it was so tiring. The last 36 hours they switched off every hour. That meant very little sleep for anyone.



We are heading to the dock at Nanny Cay



I just couldn't stand in the galley very long so the meals became less structured. I am bruised all the way around my body where I was thrown from side to side and forward and back in the galley! I let the dirty dishes pile up to reduce my time down there.

One person was always at the wheel while the rest of us ate. Then we switched the helmsman. Food wasn't even appealing near the end. We just wanted to reach the finish line and dock! So we are here - safe and sound AND catching up on sleep.

Loving the New Electronics!



A multitude of antennae!

 After tenderly using the electronics that came on Trillium for the past two years, it was time to replace them. On the return from the Caribbean last spring in the Atlantic Cup Rally, the chart plotter in the cockpit sighed its last breath! As a result, Dennis had to sit down in the navigation station and direct me in and out of harbors with our walkie-talkies. It made for a bit of a challenge. I did have a small hand-held GPS at the helm, but not the same detail as on the chart plotter below.

Of course, as electronics go, they no longer supported 10 year old technology. And, of course, the new chart plotters could not communicate with any of the other electronics on the boat. Therefore, it required a complete installation: radar, chart plotters, autopilot, VHF and we added AIS for safety. And naturally, the software chips we purchased last year do not work in the new equipment, so that meant new navigation software, too! It is never as simple as you would like.

Love the graphics!

Anyway, the outcome is terrific. We have new B&G equipment and the cartography is outstanding. It is much easier to use: the logic is more like the way one's mind works. Instead of having to go in and out of so many different screens, it is like most computer files where you can go deeper and deeper via drop downs, etc. I love the AIS as I can identify other vessels that have it, know their size, where they are headed, and how fast they are traveling. It also gives the bearing so you can tell if you are on a collision course. This is especially helpful when you are staring down a freighter.

Paul at work on Trillium

We had Paul from X-Com Systems in St. Clair Shores, MI do the installation. He works on the super racing yachts in different parts of the world. We highly recommend him if you are looking for help with your marine electronics. I stumbled upon his company when I was trying to get the old Simrad chart plotter repaired. After talking to the Simrad technical support, they directed me to him. What you don't know about your own area!

It will be more comforting crossing the ocean with up to date equipment and charts. We are in the process of learning how to use all of the functions available to us. There is probably much more than we will ever use!

Safety Lessons

Again this year, we watched the Safety at Sea demonstrations where they demonstrate the proper use of flares - especially SOLAS flares. The SOLAS flares are a safety requirement in the Rally. If you have not ever seen the difference between the Coast Guard approved flares and SOLAS flares, you should attend the Safety At Sea seminar. 

Here the Rally team does the demonstration and people are allowed to try it with their expired marine flares. You can see the difference by carefully lighting out of date flares in a safe place. Practice is good. You don't want to be in an emergency situation and have to read the directions (after you have found your reading glasses!) when time is critical. Also make sure you properly  discard old ones as well as the remains of the ones you used.

In addition to the life raft demonstration, we saw how a MOM8 works. Davis and Peter did the exercise in the hotel pool. Quite interesting to see. It is possible for the life raft to inflate and flip over! Davis showed how to right and then jump into it. Last year's demonstration was done on land. This was much more effective.Of course, the rule still stands: don't get into the life raft unless you have to step up to it! Or if the boat is on fire and you need to get away from it. Boats have a better chance of surviving than the life raft does in high seas and wind conditions. It is also easier to spot a boat from the air in a search and rescue mission.

Dennis and I took the Safety At Sea seminar at Bayview Yacht Club last spring. Having watched the Coast Guard helicopter rescue someone from the water. I don't ever want to have to be in that situation!

We have covered the various safety procedures for Trillium with the crew. Everyone knows what they are to grab on the way off.

But we also threatened them: Don't fall off and Do take preventive actions to avoid a serious situation.