Picture of Operation Spyder In

This picture was taken from Christa's bow the morning after Omar passed by. You see Maaktare, another Westsail32 just like Christa and further on is Wandering Dolphin. You can get a sense of what it means to be lashed into the mangroves. Their really is two methods. In my opinion the tactic that gives you the best chance to survive is to use the method all three of us used. The rub is that few spots exist where you can use the preferred method which is to suspend the boat in the center of a narrow channel. You can see lines leading from the boat in all directions to the roots of the mangroves and the boat is stripped of all sails and canvas and anything that would create resistance to the wind. But the second methods is to jam the bow into the mangrove and deploy anchors off the stern. This method seems just fine to me but could be a problem if the wind is astern or from the side which could drive you straight into the mangroves. This is the beauty of the mangroves. If the boat does get driven into the mangroves, little damage would be done, maybe some cosmetic damage but nothing serious. But I clearly prefer the middle channel deal. This is why I move earlier which provides me with the best spot and plenty of time to tie in properly. Plus truth be told, I like it in the mangroves. As you can see it is beautiful, just a little warm with bugs. Not a problem for me for an extended period of time. I wouldn't want to spend a month in the mangroves, but a few days is fine. Anyone who places comfort as a core value wouldn't do so well.....in fact anyone who places comfort above all else would not do well as a cruiser. One must have a high tolerance. So that's that.

Capt Chris

Yikes!

Here is a sat photo of Omar as it spins north east to the NE Caribbean islands. I didn't have the graphics available while in the mangroves. And I guess I'm glad I didn't as that is a scary looking storm. You can see the bulk of the energy to the north east of the eye.

Capt Chris

A Close Call But a Non-Event

All is well aboard the good ship Christa. Hurricane Omar passed about 70 to 80 miles to the south and east of my position here in the Jobos. Amazingly enough we had no wind and no rain. Here is my speculation. Tropical Storm force winds extended out to 115 miles from Omar's center. But upper level winds were pushing all the energy to the eastern side of the the storm, so 115 miles measured to the east. I was on the northwest side. I am not bummed in the least that I did all this work to lash Christa in for not. What needs to be noted is how close a shave it was. Omar reached Cat 3 status and racked across the Virgin Islands. I'm sure extensive damage was done as few hurricane holes are to be had. But a very small shift to the left and we would have experienced the full brunt. Although I am sure Christa and company would have weathered the storm fine, still the destruction ashore would have been a real pain. Last hurricane to hit the south coast caused power outages that was not restored for 3 months. That would have made my last few days in PR a real pain. So today has been spent removing all the chafe gear and removing and stowing lines. Another boat ran aground at high tide, so I spent an hour or so helping them kedge off. Some tense moments for all hands. All in all this has been a positive experience. The water here is much less salty which is killing all the growth on the bottom which will make cleaning the bottom much easier. Not to mention the Jobos is a wildlife refuge and is as unspoiled as it gets. But the bugs are significant. So tomorrow I'll head back to Salinas and regroup and make preps to start cruising again. Wahoo!

Capt Chris

Lashed to the Mangroves

Yesterday morning it became very clear that the disturbance that has been on the my radar for awhile took a turn to negative town. Amazingly enough a tropical low that is now Tropical Storm Omar stopped its westerly advance, stalled and is now forecast to turn around and head northeast toward Puerto Rico. The last time this happened was in 1999 when "left handed Lenny" did the same thing and whacked the Virgin Islands. So after we gained some clarity, myself and another Westsail32, Maktare and Wandering Dolphin with the Burton Family minus Christopher headed out of Salinas harbor. Wandering Dolphin had some excitement as they ran aground. This caused some delay, but Rebecca was able to extract WD from the mud. Maktare and I made the 6 mile trip to the Jobos without incident. As I have mentioned before the mangrove system is stellar protection from the elements. Within the mangroves, Christa, Maktare and Wandering dolphin are situated in a creek like feature that is about 60 feet wide with about 8 foot of water under the keel. Each boat has lines, anchors and chains spidered in all directions that are tied or hooked to the mangroves. Sails have been stripped and stowed and the same goes for canvas. It is a big job to get set up properly. I was a bit stressed yesterday as it seems when all kinds of uncertainties revolve around these system ie will it develop and which direction will it go, cause all kinds of problems for me. Sometimes it is very difficult to know what the right move is or maybe no move is the move. But as soon as we decided to move I began to relax and once we got positioned in one of the best spots I became positively subdued. I slept like a rock last night as tonight should be the same.

So Tropical Storm Omar as of this evening is just 4 knots below a Cat 1 hurricane. Current track keeps shifting further south and east of my position which is good. However it appear that Omar is going to be much more powerful than initially forecast. Some models have it reaching Cat 2 status as it reaches the Virgin Islands early Thursday morning. This means the closet point of approach for me is about 78 miles if it stays on track with tropical storm force winds extending out to 90 miles, I'll be just on the cusp. Also the most vigorous wind is on the east and south side. Puerto Rico should experience the west side. Omar is supposed to pick up forward speed and move quickly which will limit exposure but will create more intensity for the folks on the NE quadrant. So us folks here in the mangroves are prepared for whatever Omar has in store. I'll do my best to update from the sat phone when I can.

Capt Chris

Ground Hog Day

About a week or so ago I got all full of myself thinking that hurricane season had all about died even though November 30th is the official end of the season. I was lulled into a false sense of security as the weather turned winter like here for a week with temps in 80's vice the usual summer mid 90's. In paragraph three of my 10/6 post I noted some disturbances near the Africa. Well here we are 6 days later and check out the sat photo. First off "Invest 97" which is 1600 miles to my east (not in the sat photo) should be a tropical storm at any moment but thankfully looks like she will steer herself smooth into the open Atlantic. "Invest" by the way stands for Investigate. It is a naming convention the hurricane gurus use to designate disturbed areas. So look south of Puerto Rico and you can see a huge blob of convection and stormy weather. That is "Invest 98" which is doing its best to spin up to a tropical depression. It stands a chance to develop.....where? That's right smack over Puerto Rico. Aye Chiwawa. I say groundhog day because this situation is just about exactly what happened with "Invest 93" just a scant week or two ago. In Salinas we received just under 30 inches of rain from 93. 98 is setting up to do nearly the same thing. The silver lining appears to be that the system has some hostile upper level winds which is retarding its development. But all hands need to keep a sharp eye in case 98 becomes a tropical storm or worse. Little time would be available to weight anchor to get to the mangroves. Even then transiting to the mangroves with 50 knot squalls coming through would be no fun and challenging seamanship wise not to mention the lashing in process.

From what I have learned what is occurring is not abnormal and really is in line with the past Octobers. As the season gets later and later the systems struggle much more to become a hurricane. Water temps are starting to drop but more importantly the jet stream dips much lower which exposes these disturbances to more upper level winds and they the tops of the clouds get sheared. Also the cyclone genesis becomes much more concentrated in the central and southwest Caribbean instead of Africa. Although all kinds of crazy things start happening at the changing of seasons. Right now things are so complicated in the Atlantic and Caribbean the forecasters preface their forecast with "I have low confidence with this forecast" meaning everything is speculation. The lesson for the sailor is to pay close attention, hope for the best but be prepared for anything.

Capt Chris