The Caribbean – Grenada to Tortola - 2014
Grenada
to Tortola - 9th to 28th
January 2014
On the 9th January we departed
Grenada, Port Louis Marina at 1015am for the BVI’s. Plan was to sail directly there (a 55 hour
trip) and then have a relaxing Island hop once we got there….
Left Grenada in 12 knots of wind, average
wind speed soon rose to 30 knots, by 2100 with all crew not faring well, seas
about 2-2.5m, and Josie Maria heavily
reefed on beam reach.
From midnight to 0900 we had squall after
squall hitting us, gusts 35+, 45+ and 50+(which was a bit scary). The squalls would come with driving rain as
well, so it was a busy night for Vicki who, apart from Matt, was the only
person not sea sick, and Matt was not happy with the state of the seas and the
strength of the gusts. We reefed to
virtually nothing at one stage, after the squall past we hit a vacumn of wind
and needed to motor to get head way through the moderate seas. At this time we had more EVC engine control
errors and the engine would only allow us to operate in a reduced rev mode. The engine seemed to have the same problems
we had experienced when we were en-route to Palma de Mallorca…..which was not a
good sign!! The wind picked up again –
and the squally conditions continued so we didn’t need the motor and turned it
off – to worry about later when we needed it!!
At midday on the 10th January
John caught 2 Dolphin Fish, the wind had settled around 28 knots and we were
sailing along at 8 plus knots. John
filleted the fish and made fish nuggets for a snack (no-one had eaten much over
the previous 24 hours so everyone was hungry!!).
In the evening - 1900 hours John had a fall
across the Saloon floor and hurt his back.
He slipped, but the movement of the boat lifted him up so he was
airborne before he connected with the companionway stairs! He was in agony and it took us half an hour
or so to determine that it seemed that he had only done soft tissue damage, as
he had no tingling in his arms and legs, we managed to get him to a comfortable
spot off the galley/saloon floor where he landed, and into a berth with a lee
cloth, with a large ice pack on the bruised area.
The wind picked up at this time, averaging
35 knots – with 40plus gusts. Amit and
Vicki kept Josie Maria sailing along at 9M plus per hour with 3 reefs in
headsail and main. At times the gunwale
(the topside of the deck – for those not used to boat terms) was in the water
and they were ready to release main or genoa sheets (the ropes that control
these sails) if the gusts were too strong.
There was lots of water coming over the bow, and Rhiannon was in the
cockpit (too sick to venture into the Saloon).
Everyone on deck had harnesses and life vests on – Fortunately Josie
Maria handled these conditions really well.
The autopilot only failed once, which was a blessing because it would
have been very uncomfortable to have hand steer her all night with all that
water coming over the bow!!
Just after 0300 the wind dropped to average
28knots – much more comfortable. Vicki
had been awake for 24 hours at this stage and needed some sleep, so with
assistance John managed to get out of bed and into the cockpit (with his bad
back) and with help from the rest of the crew who were feeling a little better
as the sea state lessened and the wind dropped sailed Josie Maria to St Croix
in the USVI’s.
At 1300 on the 11th January we
had made it to the Buck island Channel, everyone was happy to see land- but
Vicki was anxious about that motor.
Would it work after the problems during the band of squalls we had gone
through? When the engine was turned on
the engine did not engage the throttle – the throttle fluctuated between engage
and disengage throttle and was not functional.
We really need the engine to work to get into Green Cay Marina. We decided to keep going – but really wanted
to stop to rest and recuperate. Also
where were we going to go without out motor….
Fortunately John had an idea that the problem was caused by salt water
getting into the throttle control, so we filled up a bucket with fresh water
from our shower and doused the throttle control with it. This gave us throttle control so we headed
back into Buck Island Channel for Green Cay Marina. Daniel, Rhiannon, David, Amit, Emily and
Matthew prepared our fenders (inflated all the inflatable ones!) and tied them
to the deck, and the dock lines and we boldly headed into the marina. We had called the Marina prior to entering
and had Butch waiting for us to catch our lines. Unfortunately everything went terrible wrong
when we entered the Marina. John had
been getting better and better at reversing into tight marina berths and was
just about to go into one when the engine controls failed again!! –to top this
off the bow thruster also failed, so we drifted slowly, like a lame duck into
the wall at the end of the Marina.
Fortunately we had lots of willing help, and lots of fenders up. We put our tender in the water and with many
willing hands and lines we towed and pulled Josie Maria to the fuel dock. Josie Maria stayed on the fuel dock until we
needed to leave for Tortola to meet John’s family who were meeting us on our
voyage back to Australia!! Thank-you to
everyone at Green Cay Marina, St Croix who were there to help!!
We had planned to be in Tortola by the 22nd
January to meet John’s family who were meeting us (and Josie Maria) in
Tortola. We had to fly there because Josie
Maria was not seaworthy without a motor and we needed to wait for several weeks
for Volvo to prepare and replace (for the third time in 6 months!!) our engine
fly-by-wire throttle control. We felt in
more important to meet family who had made the trip to see us than to wait with
Josie Maria for parts – especially when it was hoped she would join us sooner
or later. As a result we left for Tortola on the 21st
January (via St Thomas) on a commercial flight while Josie Maria stayed in St
Croix waiting for the throttle control to arrive and be fitted. Josie Maria left with Ted Reshetiloff and
crew from Caribbean Yacht Management Services on the 28th January. Just in time for a day trip onboard before
John’s family headed back to Australia.
Thanks Ted!!
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| Carla, Jessica and Vicki |
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| Carla, Jessica, Vicki, Allie, Fran and Sam |
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| Vicki and Dophins |
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John and Dolphins
|
We had a lot of fun in Tortola with Fran,
Tim, Allie, Sam, Stefani, Carla, John Paul (JP), Jessica and Rob, and a memorable day sail
onboard Josie Maria on the 29th January with Fran, Tim, Allie, Sam,
Stefani, Carla, JP, Jessica and Rob. We
motor sailed Josie Maria from Nanny Cay Marina (Tortola) to The Bight, Norman
Island for lunch. Picked up a mooring (a
few attempts with no bow thruster – but we managed it!!). Took out the Seabobs and had a great day!!
Ted helped us in and out of the marina
berth – quite challenging with the berth we had and with no bow thruster –
however this was also successful!!
Some
time-away while boat repairs were occurring…
From 3rd February to 17th
February we took a two week break and went to Africa (Rawanda to see Gorillas
and Tanzania both the North and Southern Serengeti for game Drives) and during
this time Caribbean Yacht Management Services managed a range of maintenance
and warranty repairs onboard Josie Maria.
Our bow thruster had a faulty recharger, which needed to be replaced;
our Ice maker, which had not been working from Las Palmas Gran Canaria, needed
a new motor and so on!! ….. We found it
best to be off the yacht when these repairs were being done.
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| John in Rwanda with the Gorillas |
17th
February to 12th March 2014 -
John and I were back onboard Josie Maria on
the 17th March. When
preparing the bed for our friends Mike and Lyn we found a wet patch on the
mattress cover – the fore-hatch was leaking again!! It was found that the hinges had rusted and
fresh water was leaking through the hatch.
We find that we are continually thwarted by maintenance/warranty issues
when we have plans….so we are learning that you really can’t plan with a
yacht!!
It took a few days for this to be repaired
– so Lyn, Mike (who arrived in Tortola on the 18th Feb), John and
Vicki did some sightseeing in Tortola and made more plans for a two week round
British Virgin Island cruise – this plan actually eventuated and was lots of
fun!!
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| Lyn and Mike Dunn |
Cruising
around the BVI’s – 22nd Feb to 8th March 2014
We had a really successful cruise, and
became confidant with anchoring seeing all the BVI’s from the 22nd February
to 8th March. Highlights
were: Lyns cooking (thanks Lyn!); Mike’s useful sailing tips (thanks Mike!);
Turtles in Little Harbour, Peter Island; North Sound, Virgin Gorda and a taxi
trip with Redrat for a beach BBQ and to see the Jumbies at Leverick Bay; and
Anegada – with its BBQ crayfish, beautiful white beaches and flamingos!!
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| Jumbies at Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda |
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| John, Vicki and Lyn at "The Indians", BVI's. |
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| Mike doing a flyby with the Seabob |
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| Action Man ! Mike and the Seabob |
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| Mike and John |
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| Lyn and Vicki |
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| The Callwood Rum Distillery at Cane Garden Bay, Tortola |
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| Lyn and Mike Dunn |
Josie
Maria stays in the Caribbean while we head home for work!
On the 12th of March we needed
to head back to Australia due to work commitments – so we left Josie Maria in
the hands of Caribbean Yacht Management Services – later deciding to leave her
in Tortola over the Hurricane season in a cradle on the hard. We left a long list of maintenance and
warranty repairs to be completed and were planning on coming back in January
2015 to complete out voyage back to Australia.
We did manage a quick visit back to her in May 2014 – just before she
was taken out of the water and she felt just like home-away-from home. We are looking forward to renewing the voyage
in 2015. See our next post for details!!
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| Sunset at Cane Garden Bay, Tortola |
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