Projects After a Year of Cruising

We’ve now been cruising full time for over a year and have a little better idea of what things are important and what projects should be moved to the top of the to-do list. We got a few items done in the first month and a half here in Trinidad.

A new awning with sun shade sides. Since the prevailing winds came from the east as we moved through the Caribbean, the sun would beat into the back of the boat and heat up our salon to unbearable levels just when Kim was deciding what to fix the crew for dinner. After more than one “I’m not cooking in this heat!”, this problem moved to the top of the Captain’s list. The solution involved having a stainless tubing canopy made to extend the boat deck over the transom and dropping sunshade material down on the sides. The finished product is shown in the picture and it works really well. We can see through the screened sides but the mesh blocks the beating sun and gives us some added privacy for those outside showers. All of the sections can be rolled up individually when we want that panoramic view back. It really feels like a new room on the boat and we added a few hooks above for drip drying wet swim suits and towels.

Strengthened Stern Davit. The original stern davit was too weak for our heavy dingy and did not raise our dingy far enough out of the water. Since many of areas we will be visiting are third world and would consider our dingy quite a prize, raising it each night has become a priority. We could also raise the dingy up on the boat deck (which we do for all passages), but that is cumbersome and requires considerable battery amperage that is obviated with the hand-operated davits. We beefed up the stainless supports and added an attachment to our new canopy to have it follow the boat deck lines and provide additional support. Leaving the dingy in the nutrient-rich, 84 degree water also quickly fouls the bottom with algae and barnacles. Raising the boat each night has the added benefit of keeping the critters from getting a foot hold.

Haul-out for bottom work. As you can see from the before and after shots, our hull needed some new bottom paint. Down here in Trinidad, we have access to heavier duty Tin-based paints that are now outlawed in the US. We hope that the 2 ½ coats we had our Trinidad friend Shawndel put on will keep the bottom clean for another year or so. We also had some through-hull valves replaced and had our naiad stabilizer fin seals replaced and were back in the water in less than a week.

Sprucing up the car (dingy). We use our dingy at lot. The beating tropical sun is brutal and our Zodiac is made from a material that will slowly breakdown with extended UV exposure. We found some craftsmen here who will wrap the dingy up with a canvas material that will allow this dingy to survive our 5 year adventure. We replaced the cushions too and think she looks so good now that we are REALLY happy that we can raise her up every night! We also found several instances where it would be useful to explore some possible anchorages and check the available depths without endangering the mother ship. Therefore, we added a roll bar and mounted a removable depth/fish finder and a GPS to find our way home when we stray too far at night.

We did some normal maintenance items on all the engines and did some extra items like replacing all the injectors to get ready for a Pacific crossing. The last six weeks were a lot of work and we and our credit cards need a rest. We have moved into a more secluded anchorage now and are getting back into our normal cruising mode. We started fourth grade home schooling this week and Emily is still enjoying afternoon swims and visits with cruising friends anchored only 100 yards away.

We are enjoying watching the topical storms as they develop off the African coast, build strength as they head straight for us and then veer predictably to the North West long before they reach us. We sit calmly in this undeveloped cove and hear the squawks from the bright green red-winged parrots as they argue loudly who will get the highest branch. We have heard, but not yet seen the Howler monkeys that scamper through the trees. What they do not know is that we are a patient crew and are certain that we will see them before we leave this steamy land…

Tom

Leatherback Sea Turtles

Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth, growing up to seven feet long and exceeding 2,000 pounds. These reptilian relics are the only remaining representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years. Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world.

While all other sea turtles have hard, bony shells, the inky-blue carapace of the leatherback is somewhat flexible and almost rubbery to the touch. Ridges along the carapace help give it a more hydrodynamic structure. Leatherbacks can dive to depths of 4,200 feet (1,280 meters)—deeper than any other turtle—and can stay down for up to 85 minutes.

Leatherbacks have the widest global distribution of all reptile species, and possibly of any vertebrate. They can be found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. Adult leatherbacks also traverse as far north as Canada and Norway and as far south as New Zealand and South America. Unlike their reptilian relatives, leatherbacks are able to maintain warm body temperatures in cold water by using a unique set of adaptations that allows them to both generate and retain body heat. These adaptations include large body size, changes in swimming activity and blood flow, and a thick layer of fat.

Leatherbacks undertake the longest migrations between breeding and feeding areas of any sea turtle, averaging 3,700 miles each way. After mating at sea, females come ashore during the breeding season to nest. The nighttime ritual involves excavating a hole in the sand, depositing around 80 eggs, filling the nest, leaving a large, disturbed area of sand that makes detection by predators difficult, and finally returning to the sea. This was the event that we wanted to witness.

The temperature inside the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings. A mix of male and female hatchlings occurs when the nest temperature is approximately 85.1 degrees Fahrenheit (29.5 degrees Celsius), while higher temperatures produce females and cooler temperatures produce males. Female hatchlings that make it to sea will roam the oceans until they reach sexual maturity, when they return to the same nesting areas to produce their own offspring. Males spend the rest of their lives at sea.

It was in search of these giants that the crew of Emily Grace climbed into a bus at 5 PM for a 3 hour ride to the Northeast coast of Trinidad. We stopped along the way and had dinner at a roadside diner. From about May through August, thousands of giant leatherbacks return to the beachs of Trinidad to lay their eggs -- At the peak of laying season, between 300 to 500 come ashore each night, each of them laying between 80 to 100 eggs in each nest.

We arrived after dark and were met by a group of guides and were to wait off the beach until we received word that a turtle was sighted. It is illegal to go on the beach at night without the company of a certified guide (which was included in our excursion). Guides take groups of people out onto the beach with the help of a red light (regular flashlights disorient the turtles), and each guide is trained and knowledgeable about anything you'd ever want to learn about the turtles -- the fact that it is believed that the turtles return to the beach on which they were hatched; that they generally love the waters of the arctic and northern oceans, and actually travel thousands of miles to the Caribbean and South America to lay their eggs, so that the warm sands provide the proper temperature for incubation; and that while they seem clumsy on land, they are incredibly fast in the ocean, able to outswim sharks, and dive deeper than whales.

Because flashbulbs are prohibited at night, it can be very difficult to photograph the turtles after sundown. It was discovered, however, that the period when actually laying eggs the turtles are unaffected by lights as they enter a kind of trance. We were allowed to take a few photos for about 10 minutes of the entire night. Since it was too dark to take video, I borrowed a video from the internet that shows what we saw and included it below.

We were lucky to see 3 or 4 turtles laying eggs and one nest of hatchlings scurrying across the beach towards the water. Our guide almost stepped on one baby since he was rushing over to see another adult.

As we rode back on the bus we all reflected on how fortunate we were to witness this unique event. It was almost 2 AM when we finally climbed back aboard and snuggled in our beds to rest up for our next adventure.

Tom

Carriacou and Grenada

We moved from Union Island down to Carriacou and checked into the country of Grenada. We had some extra paperwork here because of swine flu. We all had to go into Immigration so that they could see that none of us were sick or had pink curly tails. Apparently, we were OK since the colorful Grenada flag was soon flying on the starboard spreader of Emily Grace.

The most populated island of the Grenadines, Carriacou has superb beaches, quaint rum shops, excellent diving and extraordinary scenery. Believed to have gotten its name from the Carib word for "land of reefs", Carriacou's coral origins are best represented by the six mile barrier reef on the eastern side of the island, while Kick 'Em Jenny, the active underwater volcano, is evidence of Carriacou's volcanic past.

We moved around to Tyrell bay which is more protected and cleaner. We caught up to Whiskers and enjoyed talking with them again and then we left for Grand Mal bay on the main island of Grenada. On the way we stopped and anchored near near the Kick 'Em Jenny active underwater volcano to do some snorkeling and have lunch. Luckily the volacano was quiet for our visit.

When Christopher Columbus sailed by Grenada in 1498, the island was already inhabited by the Carib Indians. The admiral dubbed the island Concepcion, but passing Spanish sailors found its lush green hills so evocative of Andalusia that they rejected this name in favor of Granada. The French then adapted Granada to Grenade, and the British followed suit, changing Grenade to Grenada (pronounced Gre-nay-da).

In 1979, an attempt was made to set up a socialist/communist state in Grenada. Four years later, at the request of the Governor General, the United States, Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean States intervened militarily. Launching their now famous "rescue mission," the allied forces restored order, and in December of 1984 a general election re-established democratic government.

We found the holding of the bottom in Grand Mal bay to be rubble and not particularly good so we went around to Prickly Bay on the southern coast and saw John and Mary again on Navigator. We each reviewed our options for the hurricane season.

We took the island public bus (about 92 cents each) to the town of St. Georges with Byron and Lynn from Voyager for the day. We climbed up to the Fort and enjoyed the views. The market was really nice. We bought bags of whole nutmegs and cocoa balls for almost nothing and Maggie even gave us bags of Tamarind with instructions to make Tamarind tea. We learned that Nutmeg is not a nut, but the kernel of an apricot-like fruit. Mace is an arillus, a thin leathery tissue between the stone and the pulp; it is bright red to purple when harvested, but after drying changes to amber.

Tom cleaned the bottom again to prepare for the overnight passage to Trinidad next week and we took an island tour to see the Chocolate Factory (http://www.grenadachocolate.com/index.html) and Belmont Estate in the Northeast area of the island. The chocolate factory makes organic chocolate largely with solar power and more details can be found at the link above to their website. We learned about the entire chocolate production process from the cocoa bean harvest, fermentation, drying and processing. Our women had their chance to assist the drying process by rotating the cocoa beans in the drying trays with their bare feet.

The Belmont Estate dates back to the late 1600s, during the colonial area, when plantations were first established under the system of land allocation under French rule. Throughout its history, Belmont has played a major role in Grenada's agricultural economy. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, it was one of the 81 plantations established on the island with coffee being its major produce. Sugarcane was introduced as the main crop later in the 1700s; the ruins of the water mill remains as testament to that part of its history. Cotton, was also a major crop of the estate, being later replaced with cocoa, nutmegs in the 1800s and bananas coming later. The estate is still a major producer of cocoa and nutmegs and a fine example of a traditional historic plantation.

Lunch at the Belmont Estate was really special and we all enjoyed the steaming hot white hand cloths that were presented to us with tongs to clean our hands before the meal. This was another first for Emily and it brought back memories of first class airline flights back during those work years for me. We wandered the grounds and saw orchids, birds, fruits and even some monkeys in cages.

A sad memory of Grenada was saying farewell to John and Mary on Navigator. They have cruised with us now and again almost since the very beginning of our trip in Connecticut. Our path will take us to Trinidad and their destination was West to Bonaire and to Panama. Although we will most likely head there in several months, their schedule will move them too quickly for us to catch up. I have no doubts that we will keep in touch and connect when we decide to settle down back in Massachusetts.

We all checked out of this spice island and readied ourselves for the overnight 82 mile trip to Trinidad…land of wild parrots, monkeys, leatherback turtles and steel drums.

Tom

St Vincent and the Grenadines

From the Pitons it was a short trip to St Vincent. We chose Wallilabou Bay since it was where the Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. We had just watched the original movie and one of the sequels that were loaned to us by Navigator, so it was pretty cool to be in the same bay where much of the movie was shot. We saw the town and the gallows where the pirates were hanged in the movie as well as many of the props used by Disney.

At this anchorage, we grabbed a bow mooring and a local man, Randolph, rowed out and took a long line from the stern to a piling near shore. This allowed the boat to face the open sea and made this anchorage more comfortable. We gave him some of Emily’s clothes that she had outgrown since he had two daughters younger than her. He was grateful and told us later that they loved the clothes. Again the water was clean and clear and we snorkeled around the boat. There was a cool arch that had been carved into the lava rock by the sea that we explored.

Just a mile up the road we hiked to a nice small waterfall where we could swim beneath the cool fresh water. We saw the usual goats and cows tethered to a tree now and again and wonderful mango and banana trees just bursting with fruit. We found bushes that produce small pure white seeds that the locals make jewelry out of and we collected some for later crafts projects.

The next day before we were to leave, Randolph delivered a 5 pound black fin tuna to our boat. I had told him I had had no luck fishing on my own and really wanted a tuna to make sushi. He rowed out before sunrise and had caught this fish on a hand line…unbelievable! The fish could not have been fresher. Kim gutted it and put it on ice and we pointed the bow towards Bequia (pronounced Beck-way).

We anchored in Admiralty Bay in Bequia near Voyager right off a nice white sand beach. The water was clear so we snorkeled around the reefs here. In two days we saw 3 turtles around the boat and reef.

We got a tour taxi to take us and the Voyager crew around the island. The first stop was to The Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. We met the founder, Orton “Brother” King and got a good explanation of his facility. His project involves monitoring beaches, checking nests, trying to protect mother turtles and eggs from poachers, collecting hatchlings, and taking them to the sanctuary to keep them safe during the most vulnerable years of their life.

We learned that The Sanctuary is making a big difference in the survival of these creatures. He has been in operation now for over twelve years and has already released 2000 three-year olds with his special mark (a hole drilled in the back end of the shell). Divers are seeing these marked turtles throughout the waters of the Grenadines.

Our second stop was to the The Whaling Museum. Whaling has taken place for 130 years and is part of the culture of the island. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries whale meat was a staple food for Bequia's population and provided valuable nutrition. Bequia is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed by the International Whaling Commission. Natives of Bequia are allowed to catch up to 2 Humpback whales per year using only traditional hunting methods of hand thrown harpoons in small open sailing boats. We heard that they rarely catch their limit and last year they caught only one. Our tour guide was a 14 year old girl and she told us the meat was very tasty. We also visited several model shops where the artisans made detailed models of whaling boats and will even make a model of your ship if you have the time to wait. Maybe some Dear reader will commission a model of the Emily Grace...Christmas is coming up.

The Tobago Cays, which incidentally are not in Tobago but in the Grenadines, are one of the most beautiful places on this earth. It is an archipelago of 5 small islands set behind a long Horseshoe Reef. After our quick 20 mile trip from Bequia, we anchored behind the reef between a couple of the islands in the crystal clear, gin colored waters. We had stunning views everywhere we looked, from the waves crashing out on the reef to the white sand beaches lined with coconut palm trees of the individual cays. It is so pristine, with no civilization in sight and only accessible by boat. In fact, the Tobago Cays have recently been turned into a national park in an effort to preserve the natural beauty and abundant wildlife.

And the snorkeling in the Tobago Cays was fantastic! Before we got our anchor down, we had spotted two or three turtles around the boat. We quickly got the boat shut down and dove in. We were soon surrounded by green and hawksbill turtles. We were just floating among them, watching them eat sea grass and occasionally coming up for air. You could even hear them ripping up the grass and chewing and now understand why the locals call turtles the goats of the sea.

We dove several times over the next two days and saw a school(?) of 17 sting rays and several schools of squid which are always fun to watch. Tom has resorted to buying fish from the locals rather than waiting for a bite on the fishing rod. It sure does taste good as sushi and on the grill!

We moved to Union Island to check out of the Grenadines and to check for news on the internet. After an internet fix, it’s off to check into Carriacou and Grenada..the spice islands!

Tom

Martinique and St. Lucia

From Dominica we pushed south to Martinique to catch up with Bay Pelican in the port of Le Marin. The charts promised a flat calm anchorage and it was that. It was also hot and buggy and not suitable for swimming. One of the neatest things about this life style is that we are free to move our home if we don’t like what we see. We managed to eat a few more baguettes and pastries and we moved on to St. Lucia.

We found Rodney Bay in St. Lucia to be much more pleasant. Cooler breezes, clean water and free WiFi on the boat. Tom managed to SCUBA and clean the bottom again and Kim got two coats of varnish on the caprails. The scenery is more rustic and the people are friendly and welcoming. The entrepreneurs come out to the cruising boats in anything that will float selling fish and vegetables and offering to take dirty laundry and will fill any other need you may have.

We moved further down St; Lucia’s coast to the famous pitons. Located near Soufriere, these primeval twin peaks are St. Lucia's most famous landmark. Towering nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, the majestic peak of Gros Piton, along with its twin peak Petit Piton, dominates the western coast of St. Lucia. The lush green slopes of these pyramid shaped icons rise abruptly from the sapphire blue waters of the Caribbean. Covered with thick tropical vegetation, the massive outcroppings were formed by lava from a volcanic eruption 30 to 40 million years ago.

We nestled Emily Grace into the waters directly beneath these giants and grabbed a park mooring that put us within 100 feet of the shoreline. We enjoyed a day of snorkeling and enjoyed a meal ashore with more cruising friends aboard Voyager, a custom trawler complete with full dining room and a fireplace!

Tom