Well you will be glad to know that we finally arrived in Curacao safe and sound!
We had an amazing trip from Trinidad to Curacao, Honalee did us proud and got us here in record time. We left Trinidad north bound for the first night, bypassing Grenada and then swung west into pirate country around midnight on Saturday. The most Honalee has ever done in a day has been 120 miles coming across the Atlantic – we did 160 miles the first day and 170 the second. So yes we hammered it! The boat sails really well, and despite 25 knots of wind and 10-12ft swells she got us here safe and sound. It was all down wind sailing but the waves rocked and rolled us all the way here, no casualties and no one was sick. I even managed to cook (much to Nigel’s amazement I might add) a Spag Bol and Sausage and Mash, quite an achievement when the boat is bucking like a bronco.
We sailed through pirate country at night with no running lights as we really didn’t want to give our position away. Had a scary moment at around 3am when Nigel and I were on watch together, we could smell an engine running behind us but the wind was so loud we couldn’t hear where it was. Thankfully a merchant vessel lights suddenly appeared over the horizon – big sight of relief! Mind you they would have had a hell of a job getting onboard as we had 12ft swell and a cricket bat/ferry pistol at the ready!
Anyhow – here we are in Curacao! We sailed past Bonaire which looked mountainous lush and tropical, Curacao is flat and quite barren. It has a heavy Dutch influence, canals, architecture and currency (the gilder). We are anchored in Spanish Waters south of Williamstad the capital, I guess at one point it was a mangrove swamp visited by Galleons looking for water and buried treasure. Today it is inhabited by the ubber rich and famous with holiday homes around the shore and mega yachts tied up in very fancy marinas. We were a bit like Mary and Joseph – we got here and there was no place at the Inn – so we anchored with the rest of the ‘plebs’ in the harbour. The are yachts from all around the world who are our neighbours – at the moment we have Swiss and Swedish. Nigel thought he was being very brave the first hour we got here, we all desperately needed a wash, he stripped off and sat in the cockpit for a solar shower – very modest of him. Not our neighbours - they just strip off and dive naked into the harbour – just before we have our breakfast – wrinkly old Swedes - just what you need!
Today we spent 4 hours trying to get through immigration and customs – 4 American mega cruise liners were in – deep joy! Fighting our way through 7,000 Elmer J Fudds and their ‘interesting’ golf trousers. No wonder everyone wants to bomb the b*ggers, I could have quite happily have murdered a few of them myself. Gee honey! Look at that stone in the road – take a picture of it with me Irvin for the folks back home!
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve – not quite sure what we are doing – but with 7,000 less visitors Williamstad sure will be a little quieter and the beer cheaper. I would like to go for a swim in the sea at some point – it’s an amazing turquoise and so warm. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas – I will be thinking of you. Hopefully I will be able to put some photo’s on with this update – I think you will all appreciate the ‘Snowflake’ sign on our neighbours yacht in Trinidad!
PS Sorry no pics - internet speed not fast enough here on the anchorage
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Still Here - and its Still Hot!
Well the saga of the engine goes on! Everything else is good to go we just have to get this sorted. The engine is our source of power for everything that we will need for crossing the Pacific ie water, navigation and communication, so it is important that we get it fixed now rather than further down the line when we won’t have access to mechanics let alone spare parts.
Have I mentioned how hot it is recently? Thankfully we have shore power which is a God send so we have fans running constantly, we won’t have the luxury of this as we cross the equator, not unless the wind generator and solar panels can generate enough power for them to run. We are hoping to sail by the wind vane which will save on the power, once we get under way we are going to have a trial run.
I am eyeing up with envy the Americans here on their large catamarans, they’ve all got air conditioning, flat screen tv’s and all sit around in the evenings in their lounges with their chilled drinks on the coffee table! Most evenings we wander down to Sails Bar for supper and listen to the music, tonight I have stayed home and watched a DVD and sent the boys off by themselves. Work here is performed at a leisurely pace, during the day we do as little as possible with the major work late in the afternoon and early evening. Most mornings we are woken up by the birds who insist on sitting on our mosquito net – luckily none has pooped on us yet! We sleep with the hatch wide open looking up to the stars, the past few nights we have had Orion’s belt directly overhead, my old friend on watch The Plough is off to the left and no doubt will keep me company on my solo night watches.
I guess you must all be well into the swing of Christmas by now, it seems a million miles away here, we have Christmas decorations up at the marina and some of the boats are decorated with Christmas lights but with this heat it doesn’t feel like it some how.
I’ve been scrubbing the boat out from top to bottom, there’s been 4 guys onbard for the past year and it desperately needs a scrub. It gives me a chance to look in all the nooks and crannies, making space for food and any ‘souvenirs’ I buy along the way. Also if we get boarded by the DEA when we sail along the Colombian coast I know what is in all of the spaces. This is a real likelihood listening to our neighbours, one who had the Bejesus scared out of them when they were buzzed by the DEA helicopter in the middle of the night. Apparently they appear from nowhere and light you up like a Christmas tree, I’d rather that than the bad guys any day!
Well I’m off to study some charts, hopefully we will set sail fro Grenada by the end of the week and then on to Curacao. Last time I sailed in to Grenada it was cooking up a storm, thundering and lightening, it was the only time I have seen St Elmo’s Fire at the top of a mast. Let hope that this time it will be uneventful!
PS. Hope to put some photo’s on soon but the internet is so slow here that it would be nigh impossible to upload them.
Have I mentioned how hot it is recently? Thankfully we have shore power which is a God send so we have fans running constantly, we won’t have the luxury of this as we cross the equator, not unless the wind generator and solar panels can generate enough power for them to run. We are hoping to sail by the wind vane which will save on the power, once we get under way we are going to have a trial run.
I am eyeing up with envy the Americans here on their large catamarans, they’ve all got air conditioning, flat screen tv’s and all sit around in the evenings in their lounges with their chilled drinks on the coffee table! Most evenings we wander down to Sails Bar for supper and listen to the music, tonight I have stayed home and watched a DVD and sent the boys off by themselves. Work here is performed at a leisurely pace, during the day we do as little as possible with the major work late in the afternoon and early evening. Most mornings we are woken up by the birds who insist on sitting on our mosquito net – luckily none has pooped on us yet! We sleep with the hatch wide open looking up to the stars, the past few nights we have had Orion’s belt directly overhead, my old friend on watch The Plough is off to the left and no doubt will keep me company on my solo night watches.
I guess you must all be well into the swing of Christmas by now, it seems a million miles away here, we have Christmas decorations up at the marina and some of the boats are decorated with Christmas lights but with this heat it doesn’t feel like it some how.
I’ve been scrubbing the boat out from top to bottom, there’s been 4 guys onbard for the past year and it desperately needs a scrub. It gives me a chance to look in all the nooks and crannies, making space for food and any ‘souvenirs’ I buy along the way. Also if we get boarded by the DEA when we sail along the Colombian coast I know what is in all of the spaces. This is a real likelihood listening to our neighbours, one who had the Bejesus scared out of them when they were buzzed by the DEA helicopter in the middle of the night. Apparently they appear from nowhere and light you up like a Christmas tree, I’d rather that than the bad guys any day!
Well I’m off to study some charts, hopefully we will set sail fro Grenada by the end of the week and then on to Curacao. Last time I sailed in to Grenada it was cooking up a storm, thundering and lightening, it was the only time I have seen St Elmo’s Fire at the top of a mast. Let hope that this time it will be uneventful!
PS. Hope to put some photo’s on soon but the internet is so slow here that it would be nigh impossible to upload them.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Guess What? Its HOT!
Well - we are still waiting here in Trinidad for the engine to be fixed. today it was put back together and then the engineer bent one of the rods! Everyone shuts down on the 18th for Crimbo - so It looks like we may still be here then! This is not the place I want to spend Christmas!
Stored ship today! A very hot bus trip in to Port of Spain to fight our way round the Trinadian Christmas shoppers - not pleasant!
I am going to keep this short today as it is as hot as hades at the moment and I am wilting very fast - I'm going for a swim and then out for dinner. When it is cooler I will sit down and describe some of our adventures in the past few days. My fear of snakes is lessening as the days get hotter - 500 yards by path in 92 degrees or 100 yards by field. Hell - I'll be Steve Erwin soon!
Stored ship today! A very hot bus trip in to Port of Spain to fight our way round the Trinadian Christmas shoppers - not pleasant!
I am going to keep this short today as it is as hot as hades at the moment and I am wilting very fast - I'm going for a swim and then out for dinner. When it is cooler I will sit down and describe some of our adventures in the past few days. My fear of snakes is lessening as the days get hotter - 500 yards by path in 92 degrees or 100 yards by field. Hell - I'll be Steve Erwin soon!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Farewell My Dear Hairdryer!
Well we finally arrived in a very hot and humid Trinidad. The last time that I was here was just after 9/11 and to be honest in the past 8 years nothing has changed. We were hoping to have left for The ABC Islands (Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire) by now but we are having problems with the engine.
Anyhow – our home for the next few months is a yacht called H***** of Dartmouth, she is a 40 ft Scanmar and is Captained by *********** (Commodore *** as he likes to be called). Hopefully we will be sailing all the way back to New Zealand with him aboard Honalee.. We are presently tied up in Coral Cove marina in Chagauramas in the North of Trinidad just across from the Venezuelan coast. Across from us is the fishing dock so we have something to watch all day long, the pelicans keep us company as they beg for off cuts from the fishermen. I’d rather be here than over at the Crews Inn where I was previously, it’s full of ubber rich Americans all comparing the size of their rudders! I can’t complain - we have a plunge pool here, toilet blocks and also I have the added luxury of a hairdryer onboard at the moment! In a couple of days time I will bid it a fond farewell as I pack it away at the back of the cupboard until we get to another marina with shore power - and I don’t know when that is likely to be. A short haircut is looking good!
Today Ted and Nigel have been working hard on the wind vane steering – another thing that has been in pieces on the deck. After lots of swearing they finally got it back together – now we have to figure out how to use it! It will be a bonus when we are in the Pacific trying to conserve our power. Autohlem is great but is uses up power which we can ill afford to use if fuel is getting low.
I’m getting used to life onboard, we haven’t looked at a watch since we have been here, we eat when we are hungry and we know it is time to go to bed when the moon rises over the rain forest. Clothes washing is done in a bucket every morning and hung out to dry, when the wind comes up my big knickers come down - the boat moves side way! We have a laundry here but it is too hot to walk the 200 yards with a big bag! 92 degrees today!
Once we have got the engine fixed we are sailing North to Grenada and from there across to Curacao. We are hoping that this will take us out of the main pirate areas, of all the trip this is the part I am not looking forward to. We are not too sure yet where we will be spending Christmas, if we get held up more with the engine (I have ‘Fa*co’ on the floor beside me as I write - fixing the engine) then I think we will be in Curacao. If not we hope that it will be Cartagena or the San Blas Islands waiting for our passage date through the Panama Canal. I’m really forward to the San Blas – look them up on google - they’re amazing islands and the people are supposed to be very friendly. So Christmas day may be spent on the beach with a tin of Spam and tinned fruit! I have brought my Christmas stocking so I hope that Santa will find me! Think of me when you all sit down to turkey and Crimbo pud – I no doubt will be thinking of you all – especially about last year at Dee and Norman’s – No Harrods pud this year hey Norman? I wonder where it could possibly be?
Well I will love you and leave you for now – I’d like to say I’m going to sit on the poop deck and sun myself but I’d fry! So I will go ashore and sit under the pergola with the marina dog and cat – they know the coolest places – hey I only hang out with the best of folk!
Anyhow – our home for the next few months is a yacht called H***** of Dartmouth, she is a 40 ft Scanmar and is Captained by *********** (Commodore *** as he likes to be called). Hopefully we will be sailing all the way back to New Zealand with him aboard Honalee.. We are presently tied up in Coral Cove marina in Chagauramas in the North of Trinidad just across from the Venezuelan coast. Across from us is the fishing dock so we have something to watch all day long, the pelicans keep us company as they beg for off cuts from the fishermen. I’d rather be here than over at the Crews Inn where I was previously, it’s full of ubber rich Americans all comparing the size of their rudders! I can’t complain - we have a plunge pool here, toilet blocks and also I have the added luxury of a hairdryer onboard at the moment! In a couple of days time I will bid it a fond farewell as I pack it away at the back of the cupboard until we get to another marina with shore power - and I don’t know when that is likely to be. A short haircut is looking good!
Today Ted and Nigel have been working hard on the wind vane steering – another thing that has been in pieces on the deck. After lots of swearing they finally got it back together – now we have to figure out how to use it! It will be a bonus when we are in the Pacific trying to conserve our power. Autohlem is great but is uses up power which we can ill afford to use if fuel is getting low.
I’m getting used to life onboard, we haven’t looked at a watch since we have been here, we eat when we are hungry and we know it is time to go to bed when the moon rises over the rain forest. Clothes washing is done in a bucket every morning and hung out to dry, when the wind comes up my big knickers come down - the boat moves side way! We have a laundry here but it is too hot to walk the 200 yards with a big bag! 92 degrees today!
Once we have got the engine fixed we are sailing North to Grenada and from there across to Curacao. We are hoping that this will take us out of the main pirate areas, of all the trip this is the part I am not looking forward to. We are not too sure yet where we will be spending Christmas, if we get held up more with the engine (I have ‘Fa*co’ on the floor beside me as I write - fixing the engine) then I think we will be in Curacao. If not we hope that it will be Cartagena or the San Blas Islands waiting for our passage date through the Panama Canal. I’m really forward to the San Blas – look them up on google - they’re amazing islands and the people are supposed to be very friendly. So Christmas day may be spent on the beach with a tin of Spam and tinned fruit! I have brought my Christmas stocking so I hope that Santa will find me! Think of me when you all sit down to turkey and Crimbo pud – I no doubt will be thinking of you all – especially about last year at Dee and Norman’s – No Harrods pud this year hey Norman? I wonder where it could possibly be?
Well I will love you and leave you for now – I’d like to say I’m going to sit on the poop deck and sun myself but I’d fry! So I will go ashore and sit under the pergola with the marina dog and cat – they know the coolest places – hey I only hang out with the best of folk!
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Man from Immigration - he say No!
Hi There!
A very brief update for you! Am sitting in Chagauramus in a hot and humid Trinidad at the moment - never ever thought that I would ever come back here again! Nothing has changed!
Well after a VERY long journey to get here (which had lots of hiccups - ie over booked flights etc) we finally got to immigration in Trindad - and the Man he say NO! long story short they had lost our Skippers fax to confirm we were crew. Any how we are here now - and trying to cope with the heat and jet lag.
I will update you more when I have internet time!
A very brief update for you! Am sitting in Chagauramus in a hot and humid Trinidad at the moment - never ever thought that I would ever come back here again! Nothing has changed!
Well after a VERY long journey to get here (which had lots of hiccups - ie over booked flights etc) we finally got to immigration in Trindad - and the Man he say NO! long story short they had lost our Skippers fax to confirm we were crew. Any how we are here now - and trying to cope with the heat and jet lag.
I will update you more when I have internet time!
Monday, November 23, 2009
An Awfully Big Adventure!
Well it seems ages since I updated my blog – but I have been slightly busy you could say! Nigel and I have decided to take ourselves off on an awfully big adventure, how long we will last is yet to be decided! Next Tuesday Nigel and I will be leaving New Zealand bound for America and then on to Trinidad and the start of our trip.
We will be joining a yacht in Chagauramus in Trinidad and sailing it back down to New Zealand. Our journey will take us along the North coast of Venezuela and Colombia and on to Panama where we will sail through the Panama Canal. Once we exit the Canal we will sail along the coast of Ecuador before setting sail for the Galapagos Islands. We have always said that if there was one journey that we would like to do it was a trip to the Galapagos and now we have the chance of a life time. After the Islands we will then have a LONG ( a month at sea) sail to the Marquesa Islands in the middle of the Pacific and from there we will do French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora) and then Tonga , Samoa and Fiji.
Our trip could potentially take up to a year – if we last that long of course! Steph is betting that we will be back for her birthday (March 3rd). It will all depend on how we find the yacht and the rest of the crew when we arrive in Trinidad. We have decided that if we consider the yacht not sea worthy we won’t even consider embarking on the journey, we will stay in the Caribbean and try to bum a ride on another boat for a while. It’s an awfully big risk – but we decided that we would never get the chance again, and if we turned it down we might regret it in years to come. Hell - I’ll probably regret it the first time we hit a big storm and I’m chucking my (excuse the language) ring up over the side, but I’m sure that there will be times and sights when I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Our major concern (ok my major concern) is our safety sailing along the top of South America, pirates are a major issue, as well as alongside in Colon in Panama buying provisions. Colon is called the a**hole of the world for a reason and its not all to do with its name. It looks like we will spend Christmas in Cartagena, then on to the San Blas Islands before going through the Canal. We may or may not stop in the Dutch Antilles yet it depends on our given date for the canal transit.
I’m really looking forward to the trip through the canal, Nigel has been through the Suez so that will be him done both of the great canal transits. There are webcams along the way, once we get the date and time of our transit I will try and post it on the blog or text the time to as many of you as I can. Here is the link to the webcam site: http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html , I’ll wave as we go along, the first locks will be the Gatun ones. The transit should take 2 days as you pass from one set of locks into the holding lake, which by the way is full of crocodiles; so no going over the side to cool off!
We really hope that we stay the course and eventually sail into the Bay of Islands here in New Zealand sometime next year. But – and this will keep the parents happy – if at anytime we think that our lives or health are in danger we will jump ship and head for home. I’m taking so much medical stuff that if we do get boarded by the coastguard they’re going to think I’m smuggling narcotics. Don’t fancy doing a stint in a Colombian prison for smuggling large amount of extra strength Tylenol and anti diarrhoea tablets. I will try to update my blog as often as I can but as you can imagine it isn’t always going to be easy to find an internet café in the middle of the Pacific. Anyhow I’m off to find out how to bake bread on board and what is and what isn’t going to eat me if I stick my backside off the back of the yacht.
I will miss all of you dreadfully, especially talking to Mum, Dad, Robb & Heather, my chats with Leah, and I know that the Dave, Jimmy and Arran will come to my mind often (especially when something comes up with the rigging). Be sure that when I am on watch looking across an empty ocean or watching a million stars in an evening sky I will at some point be thinking of you all and wishing that you we there to share it with Nigel and I.
We will be joining a yacht in Chagauramus in Trinidad and sailing it back down to New Zealand. Our journey will take us along the North coast of Venezuela and Colombia and on to Panama where we will sail through the Panama Canal. Once we exit the Canal we will sail along the coast of Ecuador before setting sail for the Galapagos Islands. We have always said that if there was one journey that we would like to do it was a trip to the Galapagos and now we have the chance of a life time. After the Islands we will then have a LONG ( a month at sea) sail to the Marquesa Islands in the middle of the Pacific and from there we will do French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora) and then Tonga , Samoa and Fiji.
Our trip could potentially take up to a year – if we last that long of course! Steph is betting that we will be back for her birthday (March 3rd). It will all depend on how we find the yacht and the rest of the crew when we arrive in Trinidad. We have decided that if we consider the yacht not sea worthy we won’t even consider embarking on the journey, we will stay in the Caribbean and try to bum a ride on another boat for a while. It’s an awfully big risk – but we decided that we would never get the chance again, and if we turned it down we might regret it in years to come. Hell - I’ll probably regret it the first time we hit a big storm and I’m chucking my (excuse the language) ring up over the side, but I’m sure that there will be times and sights when I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Our major concern (ok my major concern) is our safety sailing along the top of South America, pirates are a major issue, as well as alongside in Colon in Panama buying provisions. Colon is called the a**hole of the world for a reason and its not all to do with its name. It looks like we will spend Christmas in Cartagena, then on to the San Blas Islands before going through the Canal. We may or may not stop in the Dutch Antilles yet it depends on our given date for the canal transit.
I’m really looking forward to the trip through the canal, Nigel has been through the Suez so that will be him done both of the great canal transits. There are webcams along the way, once we get the date and time of our transit I will try and post it on the blog or text the time to as many of you as I can. Here is the link to the webcam site: http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html , I’ll wave as we go along, the first locks will be the Gatun ones. The transit should take 2 days as you pass from one set of locks into the holding lake, which by the way is full of crocodiles; so no going over the side to cool off!
We really hope that we stay the course and eventually sail into the Bay of Islands here in New Zealand sometime next year. But – and this will keep the parents happy – if at anytime we think that our lives or health are in danger we will jump ship and head for home. I’m taking so much medical stuff that if we do get boarded by the coastguard they’re going to think I’m smuggling narcotics. Don’t fancy doing a stint in a Colombian prison for smuggling large amount of extra strength Tylenol and anti diarrhoea tablets. I will try to update my blog as often as I can but as you can imagine it isn’t always going to be easy to find an internet café in the middle of the Pacific. Anyhow I’m off to find out how to bake bread on board and what is and what isn’t going to eat me if I stick my backside off the back of the yacht.
I will miss all of you dreadfully, especially talking to Mum, Dad, Robb & Heather, my chats with Leah, and I know that the Dave, Jimmy and Arran will come to my mind often (especially when something comes up with the rigging). Be sure that when I am on watch looking across an empty ocean or watching a million stars in an evening sky I will at some point be thinking of you all and wishing that you we there to share it with Nigel and I.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Bonfire Night Down Under
Well it seems strange being down here and celebrating Guy Fawkes Night! Wellington celebrates with a large firework display in the middle of the harbour, co-ordinating with music on the local radio.
We had a grandstand view from Steph and Mike's balcony which looks out over the harbour and the Cook Straits. Robb & Heather had been out an bought a rather large box of fireworks (called the Earth Shaker) but unfortunatley it was too windy to let them off. We would have either set fire to the gorge below Stephs house or the neighbours house - seeing everyone lives in wooden houses round here we thought that it wasn't a wise move!
Sonia & Ben, Nigel's Niece and Fiancee arrive this weekend for a brief visit before heading off to the South Island. Hopefully we will finally meet up with Julian & Ness our old friends from Canada who live just down the road. We haven't seen them since we left Nova Scotia and so you could say we have a lot of catching up to do! My lasting memory of Julian will be of him dressed up as a camel at our Arabian night and Ness rather drunk performing in our garage in snow boots and a cycle helmut on Burns Night- I'm sure that some of you will remember those nights well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)