by steve, on November 6th, 2008 (
At Sea,
BVI,
St Martin)
First a little more info on our crossing. The original intention was to sail from Nanny Key to The Baths, rest there then head off to St Martin around 5pm. Going to The Baths would have meant going past Round Rock Passage where we intended to leave the BVIs. Helen suggested we stop off somewhere before we get to the passage which was a far better idea. We therefore stopped off at Cooper Island.
An hour before we arrived we popped our Bonine pills. Neither of us wanted to run the risk of seasickness on the overnight passage. We figure taking them an hour before our rest stop would help us doze off and get a little early sleep.
We both managed some rest but we spent most of the time chatting and planning. Our minds were spinning with all we still had to do.
Continue reading Catch up on last few days (long blog)
by steve, on November 3rd, 2008 (
At Sea,
BVI,
St Martin)
We’ve arrived in St Martin after a safe passage from the BVIs. Waves were between 4-6 feet and we had wind on the nose all the way so it was motor, motor, motor all the way over. We are staying the day and night in Fort Louis Marina. For now the priority is to get our dinghy to provide us some independence from the marinas.
by steve, on November 2nd, 2008 (
BVI)
It’s 10:15am and we’ve already cleared customs and immigration. We’re now back on the boat stowing the last few items. The ‘Q’ (for quarantine) flag is now raised and we’ll set sail soon. Some hard tacking to get to The Baths where we’ll stay til around 5-6. Helen will be getting some boat practice today. At The Baths we can’t go ashore but we can swim and definitely rest ahead of our night passage. Next message from SXM.
by steve, on November 1st, 2008 (
BVI)
Today the gelcoat guy came to patch a small scratch on Dignity’s side. I must admit I had forgotten to check this and didn’t realize the work was outstanding. It takes time to repair so we’re not able to leave Nanny Cay today. We have been given tonight to stay gratis to make up for this. This won’t change our planned arrival in St Martin on Monday. Tomorrow we’ll sail to The Baths where we’ll moor on one of the day buoys there. Early evening, sometime between 5 and 6 we’ll let go and head through the gap called Round Rock Passage at the south end of Virgin Gorda and commence our overnight motorsail to St Martin.
One mystery uncovered was that the champagne was from CatCo. Big thanks to them. We sat on the foredeck last night with fried egg sandwiches and champagne. One new mystery is where the new suntan lotion went. It has gone. I was the last one to use it so Helen is not pleased with me.
Today I did some paperwork. I’ve fitted the genaker gear on the bowsprit and cleaned/installed the speed log. Later we must ready the sail. I will also take a look at the stern light which has been reported as working intermittently.
by steve, on October 31st, 2008 (
BVI)
One thing I meant to report on (but didn’t cos of the rush to get the ribs and chicken) was the results of the G2 upgrade to the hybrid system. Until now all we had were the reports from other owners that the upgrade was good. Well – what a difference. Dignity glided out on electric power from Nanny Cay as smooth as silk without a great deal of depletion of the stored power. Once the sails were up the regeneration kicked in. With wind speeds around 15kts the amps being put back in were not as great as we experienced back in Feb when the winds we 20kts and I got good performance data. That being said I no longer need to fiddle with settings to find the best output. We did not sail long enough to see any real benefit, that will come in time. I did play around with combinations of motor, sail, with and without generator running to see the differences. The results are very encouraging.
by steve, on October 31st, 2008 (
BVI)
As intended we took Dignity out for a test sail today. This was after a somewhat slow start to the day as we unpacked and stowed our belongings. How we’re going to fit the stuff we shipped I’ve no idea. A problem for another day.
I could find only one issue with Dignity on the test sail and that was with the speed log. This is a small paddle wheel beneath the boat that measures boat speed through the water. With the the instruments can calculate actual wind speed from measured. We stopped in Deadman’s Cay on Peter island to test out the anchor. This worked well. I put my snorkel and mask on and surveyed the bottom of the boat. The recent paint job was could but I could not find a trace of the instrument. Back at base I reported this and they realized they must have forgotten to replace it after the recent haulout. It is removed on haulout to protect it from the straps. This meant I was shown where it was and how to replaced the inserted blank with the instrument which was aboard but not fitted. Now I’ve learned something which is a good thing.
Soon we’re off to Mulligans where on Friday night they serve free wings and ribs.
Looking a little further out. Tomorrow we’ll leave Nanny Cay and anchor somewhere tomorrow evening. Sunday we intend to go to the marina in Roadtown – if there is room. Monday morning we’ll sort out a couple of things in town then check out. We’ll spend the day in the BVIs before heading off to St Martin overnight, arriving Tuesday morning.
by steve, on October 31st, 2008 (
BVI)
We’re finally here. We’re aboard Dignity. In fact we arrived about 10:30 last night. There was a bottle of champagne but no note so we are wondering who it’s from. This was placed in the fridge. We dropped our bags and made for the bar which was, unsurprisingly, shut. So we went back to the boat and slept well – the bottle will wait for the right moment. It’s been raining a lot and its quite humid. Some sorting out of our stuff to do this morning followed by provisioning for a few days. Then we’ll take Dignity out for a test sail before having a Q&A session with the staff this afternoon.
We could be off to St Martin as early as tomorrow evening but another option is Monday. More soon.
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