New Video

S/V Christa
S/V Sandpiper 50ft off my bow
Anchored Pigeon Island, Rodney Bay
St Lucia Island
Caribbean Sea
14’05.1N/60'57.6W

Sailing South/iMovie compilation from Christian Allaire on Vimeo.

Recent Picture....Continuous Adventure with Team Sandpiper

If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you can see Sandpiper and Christa at the bottom of the picture. We are in a wonderful anchorage called Pigeon Island which is located at the NW corner of Rodney Bay, sheltered from the north swell that has been engulfing the SE Caribbean. Also you may notice the all inclusive Sandals Resort just off our bow. We've got it made! More late....gotta jam.

Capt Chris

Sandpiper Renunion!

S/V Christa
Anchored Rodney Bay
St Lucia Island
Caribbean Sea
14’05.1N/60'57.6W

With much fanfare and a surreal bizarre feeling I blasted out in the dingy to meet Tom & Amy from Sandpiper. They rounded the point and through the bino's Sandpiper lines were obvious. Just like old times, it is as if I had just waved goodbye to them. So I shot this picture just as I was making my approach to Sandpiper and of course Tom was doing the exact same thing as me. True Amigos!

So Sandpiper is anchored just in front of Christa. We spent whole day sitting aboard Sandpiper and eating. It was and is wonderful. Right now Tom and I are having some breakfast ashore while Amy takes care of stuff aboard ship. Listening to her new favorite band, "Busy Signal" awaiting our return. After breakfast it will be a beach day for all hands. More later!

Capt Chris

St Lucia

S/V Christa
Anchored Rodney Bay
St Lucia Island
Caribbean Sea
14’05.1N/60'57.6W

Ahoy! I set sail Saturday morning from Dominica after waving goodbye to SV Buxom who set sail for St John. The weather was beautiful and calm. I was able to sail most of the way out of the large bay that makes up Prince Rupert but then got caught in the wind shadow of the large island. I fired the “iron genny” for a couple of hours before I picked up some wind. The wind was slightly south of east that put us on a close reach. The wind direction stayed south of east for the remainder of the 105 mile trip.

After clearing the south coast of Dominica the boat was jamming along between 5 and 6 knots. The current flows strongly between these islands, as trades drive the wind and seas and then is compressed resulting in a westerly set. So I had to sail harder on the wind to try and counter the set. I had dashed behind Martinique by night fall and the wind eased but did not die. So for the 30 mile length of Martinique I had to work the boat to keep us moving. For some reason I was very tired even though I had slept well the night before. So after clearing the south coast of Martinique I was once again in the open sea, I reduced sail to slow down so I could get some sleep. Usually I do just fine staying awake for 24 hours, but not this time. So with the boat speed at 2.5 to 3 knots I was able to sleep off and on for about 4 hours. With a start I awoke with, confused for a moment but then I felt a bit rested. I cracked on more sail and pointed for Rodney Bay.

I arrived around 9am and spent a good while meandering around the bay and then headed into the lagoon looking for Team Sandpiper and a mooring. Thwarted on both counts I headed back out into the Rodney Bay. I had a tough time getting the anchor in and never did get it to bight. The bay is very deep in some spots and then shallows up. The bottom is a sporatic composition of sand, rock and busted up dead coral. It took me several tries to get the boat anchor which is the last thing a sailor wants at the end of a long passage. Right now the anchor sits on its side on top of broken coral on a 10 to 1 scope. So basically the weight of the chain keeps us in position. But should the anchor drag, the hook will drag for ten feet and then hit a lovely sandy spot where it will dig in.

After this exercise I was very tired and passed out for 3 hours. I awoke in the late afternoon and started to secure the boat properly and that is when I heard on CH 16, “SV Christa SV Sandpiper over” and next thing you know I was talking on the radio with Tom. Amazing! They are in a bay just south of Rodney Bay and they will be here tomorrow afternoon. The last time I saw Tom and Amy was in Puerta Vallarta in 2005 where I flew down for a visit while I was still on active duty.

So very excited!

Capt Chris