Spanish Virgin Islands

Dropped anchor this morning in Ensenda Hondal harbor in Culebra. Wandering Dolphin and I raised anchor about 7:30pm last night in a near calm and carefully avoided the reef that protects Patilla. The conditions were just beautiful with no moon, the sky a planatarium to be studied and the seas were navigated easily. The test came when we rounded Punta Tuna on the southeast coast where we would be exposed to the full force of the elements if the elements were present. The seas became a little bumpy due to the depth rising rapidly, but we stayed in at least 1000 fathoms and it was no problem. Once thing I wanted to mention is we were approached twice by boats with no lights. It was Customs and Border Protection who have a very robust presence all along Puerto Rico. A week ago back in Salinas CBP hauled in two sailboats with 65 Dominicans crammed into the cabin. Illegal Immigration in Puerto Rico is a serious problem and between the Coast Guard, FURA, The Policia and the Dept of Natural Resources they have assets just about everywhere. So anyway they came whaling on in with a spotlight shined in my eyes with the usual questions of last port of call and next port of a call and all that. Some folks get so upset but not me as I used to be the guy on the other side of the spot light in my former life. Onward. Once we rounded the NW tip of Vieques it became apparent we were making very good time and we'd arrive before sunrise so we eased on back. Pretty soon the lights of Culebra and St. Thomas were present on the horizon. The entrance to Culebra is riddled with reefs but all are very well buoyed, thank you USCG and it was an straight forward navigation detail. There is an anchorage called Dakity that sits behind a beautiful coral reef and has tons of free moorings just west of the entrance, I hope to move out to Dakity in a day or two and enjoy the isolation and clear clear water. But for now I'm anchored just off the runway on the north end of Ensenada Honda in very good holding. Quite pleased with the situation to say the least. But just as I was drifting off to sleep an prop job flew about 100 feet over my main hatch.....that may become upsetting at some point.

One more thing, I was going to do a long blurb on my long stay in Salinas but have decided against it. I have good things to say about Salinas and it served my purposes well, but the drama became stifling and I will just leave it at that. Cruisers that spend alot of time in one place for awhile can identify, clicks form, emotions swell and it usually rears its head at the dingy dock. Genesis of all problems amongst cruisers always erupts at the dingy dock.


Capt Chris

Broke Suction. Rolling!

Anchored Puerto Pattilla, south east coast Puerto Rico

Ahoy. I weighted anchor from Salinas PR yesterday morning and > made my way 6 miles to an anchorage adjacent to the Jobos mangrove > system to pre-stage myself prior to heading into the Caribbean Sea > early this morning. During the short transit to my pre-stage > anchorage I ran up the Yanmar to full power and ran most of the > other systems, raised sail (first time in 8 months) and pretty much > ensured that I had no weaknesses. I'm happy to report that Christa > ran strong and all systems are G. I am also excited to report that > the Burton Family aboard Wandering Dolphin of Rudyard Montana joined > me in the anchorage at sunset last night. They also were struggling > to break the ties from Salinas. It's wonderful to caravan with > another boat. > > Our original plan was to sail our the Boca de Inferno inlet at > sunset last night and sail all night and hopefully make the west end > of Vieques Island by sunrise. But the forecast was for 13 to 18 > knots on the nose of course and a 8 to 9 foot long period north > swell. That large north swell could make some areas of transit > tricky as the north facing beaches are predicting max 16 breakers. > It was not worth it as the forecast is improving greatly over the > next couple of days. So instead Wandering Dolphin and I weighted > anchor by 5 am and made an easy, pleasurable trip 17 miles east to > the little fishing village on the SE point of PR. The trip was easy > with no strain in early morning calm. We watched a wonderful sunrise > as we motor sailed at 5 knots. We had the anchor down by 8:30 am > right off the beach. It is very picturesque. Palm trees line the > beach with towering green mountains in the backdrop. Beautiful. > > So the current plan is to rest here all day and weight anchor about > 8pm and make the 30 mile or so sail to Vieques. If the conditions > are nice as expected and were making good time we may decide to go > the extra 20 miles to Culebra where I plan on spending two or three > weeks before moving to St. Thomas/St. John USVI, St. Thomas is only > 20 miles east of Culebra. > > More later. > > > Capt Chris >

Going to try and Break Suction

Well my time here in Salinas is coming to an end. I'm hoping to make the 60 mile jump Sunday and to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands. In terms of weather it is the usual mix bag. I am very very happy to report the tropics are quiet and no models forecast any type of hurricane formation. So were happy about that. On the other hand, it is the usual story where I need to move at night when the trades are at there lightest...one hope. I will continue to motor sail to windward really until I get to the Virgin Islands. One more 80 mile hop from the Virgins to St. Maarten in a couple of months and then I truly start to trade wind sail in earnest.

Well I'm going to go for an evening run before the sunsets and I will finish this post when I can or I may do another blog entry. I have some thoughts on Salinas and my nearly eight months here.

Capt Chris

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

Update

Sorry for the lapse in time since my last post. I have been busy with my new floorboards for the dingy. View them above. So I am very happy to have this project complete as it has been on the work list for quite sometime. To have the boards replaced by Achilles would have cost more than $500 boat dollars. Gulp. This is the nature of boats. But a local fella, Steve took my old boards and fashioned up some new ones out of marine grade plywood. I then spent the week laying down epoxy and then painting. I also had to order the new plastic strips that connect the board system. I know the color really is kind of ugly, but I used existing paint that I had aboard plus the uglier the less chance of it being stolen. Or so goes the theory.

So I have been quite shocked over my last blog regarding the little puppy that popped up on the radar. What is funny is I never mentioned nor ever entertained actually adopting the little critter. Quite the buzz in the comments section. No having a dog aboard would cramp me a little to much, especially a puppy. But sometime in future when I get back ashore I certainly will be gathering up some pets. But let it be known that the little pup pictured has been adopted.

So over the past week I have really been excited about the change in weather. The nights have been cooler and the days clearer and more crisp. A sure sign that the winter is around the corner and the hurricane season is ending. However, much to my dismay, some active weather is south and east of the Cape Verde Islands. Some of the computer models develop these areas of low pressure systems into hurricanes. The experts say that Cape Verde type storms this late in the year are unusual. In fact only 4 hurricanes have hit the Lesser Antilles since 1851 during the month of October. But the ocean is plenty warm even though the water is starting to cool. So lets hope that wind shear or whatever destroys these systems before they even develop.

Awhile ago Brian Kos asked what the plan is in terms of rolling out of Salinas. The current plan is to make the call somewhere around October 15th. If the tropics look calm and nothing seems to be spinning up I'll head out of Salinas to the Spanish Virgin Islands. I then would hang out in Culebra for most of the month of November and then be in St. Thomas and St. John area around December 1st. But all plans are subject to change as always. One thing is for sure, I am ready to get moving!

Capt Chris

An Abandoned Puppy

As many of you know I spend at bunch of time at the Cruisers Galley due to the food, wi-fi, AC and big screened TV. The owner Diasha, among other things spends alot of money rescuing animals. One of the greatly disturbing things to me about Puerto Rico is the insane amount of stray cats and dogs running rampant. I'm not saying that animals should be elevated to human status but the contempt that many treat animals here does not thrill me. A culture clash no doubt. So the little guy pictured was left in a card board box on Diasha's door step last night. A real heartbreaker.

So I am back from my house sitting adventure a couple of days early. I started to have a crisis of confidence that my pre-arranged ride from San Juan back to Salinas was going to fall through. This would have been a real problem that only could be solved by an expenditure of alot of money. So when a fellow cruiser who had a car ( a CWC...cruiser with a car) came up to San Juan with team Wandering Dolphin to pick me up. We had a nice dinner in Caguas and arrived back to HQ here in Salinas as the evening stars appeared.

So thankfully the disturbance that was to my east was destroyed by high upper level winds and things seem okay weather wise. So back to the grid of retirement.

Capt Chris