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Jumping In
When we decided to jump into
this cruising life, my wife Christina and I agreed that we would
give it a full year trial run. If we hated it after 6 months,
well, too bad, we would force ourselves to stick it out for a
year at least. We pretty much sealed that deal by leasing our
house for a full year, so there was no going back. It has been
about 10 months now with thousands of miles under our keels and
we are still grappling with the skills, both nautical and
personal, that it takes to make this lifestyle work.
Cruising is all about
friends
After a rowdy passage to
Tortola with the Caribbean 1500 we wound up smack dab in the
middle of the prime cruising grounds of the British Virgin
Islands (BVI). We spent 6 weeks exploring the mountainous
archipelago that makes up the BVI and the USVI. The area is a
huge charter destination, and for good reasons. Steady winds,
clear waters, friendly people and beautiful beaches are
everywhere you turn. We quickly discovered a fundamental
lesson in the cruising lifestyle; cruising is all about the
people. We were fortunate to hook up and buddy cruise with a
variety of “kid boats”. Kid boats like Zia usually don’t get to
close down the beach bars at night (bedtime is around 8) or go
charging off on island tours first thing in the morning (school
starts at 9 and lasts until about noon). That said, we manage
to fit in plenty of fun between school and bedtime.
We hooked up with Annapolitans,
John and Po Martin on their catamaran Jamie at the Bitter End
Yacht Club. Their two girls Jamie and Skyler are just about the
same age as our kids so it was a natural fit. Johnny Martin
practically grew up in the BVI and he and his wife Po guided us
to every secluded cove and cool spot that wasn’t swamped with
charter boats. We would cruise together for a week or so,
swapping dinners and kid sleepovers or just hanging out. Then
we would split up and go our separate ways for a week or two,
with the whole boat looking forward to our eventual reunion.
We cruised all of the islands in the area, Tortola, Jost Van
Dyke, St Thomas and St. John and dozens of anchorages in
between, each destination similar in beauty but always unique in
some interesting way.
Guests are great
We had family in for both
Christmas and New Years and we wowed them with beautiful
anchorages and fantastic sailing. We found that sharing our
lifestyle paid huge dividends over the minor inconveniences of
having guests. Watching our way of life through someone else’s
eye helps us to appreciate our good fortune all the more. With
some guests, the plan was to point the bow out to sea and sail
half a day out and half a day back, fishing all the way. With
others it was anchoring in a secluded cove for days at a time to
play in the sun, swim and snorkel. We could not lose either
way. Staying close to your family and friends while cruising is
easy, as long as they’re willing to travel to exotic
destinations to meet you.
Just after the New Year we
departed the BVI for the Leeward Islands. After sailing through
the moonlit night we hooked a Mahi Mahi just as we were dropping
the sails in St Martin. Talk about busy, snapping sails,
whipping sheets, anchor rode clanking down and through it all
trying to keep a brilliant green Mahi dancing on the line. We
explored both the French and Dutch side of the island spending
an indulgent ten days having fresh baked baguette and French
wine just a dinghy ride away.
Indulge a wild hair
One afternoon we were enjoying
a day sail from Anguilla (sounds like vanilla) to Dog Island to
sample some of their world class beachcombing and snorkeling.
When we arrived, it was obvious that a heavy northwest swell
made the beach untenable for beachcombing much less anchoring.
The waves were rolling in like Hawaii 5- O. Wistfully we gybed
and headed back. But as we made the turn and trimmed the
sails, we started to wonder; where else could we go? We have
done St. Martin (and Sint Maarten) as well as Anguilla. Perhaps
we should indulge a wild hair and head further down island, just
like that, spur of the moment? It’s a fine day for sailing, a
solid 20 knot breeze with clear skies and our ship loves to
glide through the miles. So we laid in a course for The Saints
in Guadeloupe about 150 miles away and we were off and running
for an impromptu night sail. On my nightwatch at 3AM, we
sailed past the eerie streaks of lava flowing down the peak of
Montserrat’s volcano. It was like looking up at a ski area
with the runs etched in shimmering orange light.
Sailing through the night
works well for us on Zia. Christy and I split up the watches
into 3 or 4 hour shifts, and since the girls are sleeping, when
you come off watch you can jump right into a warm bed. We
emailed friends the next day to cancel dinner plans in St.
Martin by saying, “sorry we can’t make dinner tonight, ‘CAUSE
WE’RE IN GUADELOUPE!!!”
Meet the Locals
After cruising around the
elegant French islands near Guadeloupe for a week or so, we
overnighted back north to St. Kitts to host Christina’s sister
for a week. One of our first stops was Sunshine’s Beach Bar in
Nevis where we got to know a local couple named Lakey and
Carla. We hit it off so well that they joined us for cocktails
on the boat that evening, braving a hairy dinghy ride through
the surf. They reciprocated with an invitation to brunch at
their house the next day. On the drive up to their house we
noticed that many of the beautiful houses on Nevis were
unpainted. Lakey explained that Nevetians don’t pay property
taxes until their house is finished, and it’s not finished until
it is painted – sweet loophole.
The Icing on the Caicos
After making our way back to
the BVI via St. Bart’s, we started making ready for the passage
to the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas. We left St. Thomas half a
day behind the Martins on Jamie and met up with them in South
Caicos after two and a half days of sailing. The passage
turned into a sailing delight when, for an afternoon, we had
the weird combination of sailing upwind but surfing down big
rollers coming from astern. We would fall off a bit and when the
roller lifted the stern, point her up and scream down the wave.
We took turns seeing who could peg the speedo the highest. The
Caicos bank is such a bright blue that its reflection on the
clouds tops off the sky by giving it a lovely blue-green color.
The bank provides miles and miles of easy sailing in 12 feet of
crystal water, with only the occasional deviation to dodge coral
heads. After a week exploring the Turks and Caicos we cruised
north to the Bahamas to meet guests from arriving from
Annapolis.
It’s just as good in the
Bahamas
We dropped the hook in George
Town and were greeted by the sight of over 460 cruising boats in
the vast anchorage. There is a thriving community of cruisers
with a wide variety of activities, community groups and even
different church services. The cruisers net begins at 8AM every
morning on the VHF and covers a lot of territory, from weather,
grocery specials, meeting times, taxi sharing, to you name it.
The dinghy dock in town could easily be 5 dinghies deep on any
given day. Many cruisers make George Town their home for the
winter before either heading back north or continuing on south.
We were kind of the oddballs having come from the south on our
way north. While we hung out with the cruisers at volleyball
beach and at the Chat and Chill beach bar, the kids were in
heaven. They merrily joined the rest of the kids, running with
the pack for hours at a time.
We moseyed up the Exuma chain
finding the clearest water and best snorkeling that we had yet
experienced. Tame sharks, Thunderball Cave, wild pigs on the
beach and many more things to see and do are scattered through
the Exumas. We spent 3 expensive but glorious days at the
Atlantis marina in Nassau. It was our first taste of real
luxury in months and we made the most of it by hanging in the
pools and reveling in long hot showers.
Want to rent a house?
Now as hurricane season
approaches, we need to make ready for the passage to Bermuda and
on to the Azores and Europe. The plan is to cruise Spain and
Portugal before heading into the southern Med. We are hoping to
winter in Spain and enroll the girls in a local Spanish school
for the season. We can hardly wait to continue the adventure.
Anyone want to rent a house?
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