January 27, 2008
Leaving Aruba
We left the customs & immigration dock shortly before 8am, four souls on board – Mike, Judy, Marciano, and me. Mike & Judy decided to hire Marciano, whom they found through the marina office, since he has done this passage many times. He is a charming man, slightly younger than me, and runs a charter business on his sailboat “Morningstar”.
We motor-sailed in light easterly winds, hoping that once we were out of the lee of the island we would pick up some winds. As the island became smaller and smaller on the horizon behind us, the winds diminished at the same rate. By mid-afternoon, as we were motor-sailing passed the Gulf of Venezuela, the Venezuela Navy hailed us on the VHF radio. (Last I heard, the country didn’t have a navy, at least no ships to speak of, and Chavez had resorted to laying chains across the harbours to keep unsavories (American-flagged sailboats?) out of his waters.)
Nevertheless, we cooperated with their request.
“Boot at [insert longitude and latitude] eedenteefy yooself”. His accent and English were so bad we didn’t know he was actually speaking to us. Inevitably, we responded.
“This is the sailing vessel PorFin. How can we help you?”
“Oka, what ees yoo flag?”
“Americano” Judy answered in her best Spanish accent.
“Oka, what is yoo coonits?” Judy and I looked at each other dumbfounded. Mike and Marciano were below playing with a leaking hose on the engine. We decided not to interrupt their progress, despite Marciano’s fluency in Spanish.
“No comprendo” Judy answers.
“What is yoo coonits?” Egads. I think they want our coordinates. We gave them. It took several broadcasts to finally get our coordinates to him, which by the time he finally accepted them, we had moved about a mile west.
“Oka, boot nam in international fontics?” Oh, sweet chilli peppers!
“Papa. Oscar.” Judy asks me if that’s correct and I shrug my shoulders. “Romeo. F.. F.. Febrero”. Oh, no, that can’t be right. “India. November”. After several attempts, the Venezuelan Navy officer got PORIN. Good enough.
“Oka. Last for”. What? Last four? I suggested Judy give him the last four digits of our coordinates. “No. No. Last for.” Ding! Last port! Judy says “Aruba”
“Oka. Nest for.” We got this one straight away. Judy replies “Panama”.
The conversation went on for several more minutes, after which the radio went silent. We have no idea whether he was able to obtain the information he needed, although I joked with Judy that since they now had our longitude and latitude, the incoming scud missile would put a big hole in one of the sails. She didn’t laugh.
Posted by dave at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2008
Farewell Aruba
We’ve gone from too much wind to not enough. Tough. We’re leaving at first dawn tomorrow morning for the San Blas Islands.
We will be sailing from Aruba N12.31’ W70.02’ to Isla Porvenir, Panama N9.33’ W78.57’.
563 miles from Aruba, we should arrive shortly after daybreak on Thursday, 5 days from our start.
We’ve strapped the dinghy down on the foredeck instead of raising it on the davits on the stern of the boat. Since we will be running with the wind behind us, there is a risk that a large wave could fill the dinghy and cause us some grief.
The spinnaker pole has been rerigged to allow us to fly the jib on one side out on the pole, and the staysail out on the other side, often referred to as sailing “wing-on-wing”.
The jack lines have been set on each side of the boat. These are straps that run along each deck, to which we will attach our tethers if we need to leave the cockpit. They are called jack stays because they make sure “Jack stays on the boat”.
Mike and Judy have hired a fourth crew, a blessing for a journey of this length. Marciano will arrive before daybreak tomorrow.
Judy and I went off to the grocery store this morning and bought lots of fruit and munchable raw vegetables (carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery), hard-boiled 18 eggs, cooked 12 chicken breasts, and made some a bastardized pad thai that will feel very good at sea. We packed everything in snack-sized Ziploc bags, so there should be no reason to spend a lot of time in the galley cooking, which is an instant sea-sickness inducer when underway.
Tonight, we head out for dinner with friends, then to watch the Lighting Parade, one of the Carnival festivities. We will miss the big Carnival Parade on February 3. Earlyish to bed, as we will be up before sunrise to clear out of customs and immigration.
I am very excited to be back at sea again. This is a dubious trip, as the seas we will be sailing are the fifth roughest in the world. Hence the reason we have waited 9 days for an appropriate weather window. I fear, however, that we may have to motor part of the way.
The San Blas Islands are very remote and we are not entirely sure that wireless internet or cellular telephone service will be in our grasp. Fear not, eventually I will get back online and post some photos and stories.
Here’s this morning’s weather in case you are curious:
OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST FOR THE SOUTHWEST AND TROPICAL NORTH ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN SEA
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1030 AM EST SAT JAN 26 2008
AMZ084-262130-
SW CARIBBEAN S OF 15N W OF 75W
1030 AM EST SAT JAN 26 2008
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
N OF 10N E OF 78W NE WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 9 TO 12 FT. ELSEWHERE NE WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT IN NE SWELL.
SUN AND SUN NIGHT
N OF 11N E OF 78W NE WINDS 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT. ELSEWHERE NE WINDS 15 KT. SEAS 5 TO 7 FT.
MON
NE WINDS 15 KT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT.
TUE
NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 5 TO 7 FT IN E SWELL.
WED
E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 5 TO 7 FT.
Posted by dave at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
Weather Window?
Woohoo!
Things are looking better. A line of squalls blew through here today, and the skies cleared behind them. Our daily weather checks have revealed a window to depart on Sunday morning for Panama. While the conditions are not ideal, they are better than the 35 knots of wind and 16-foot seas that are out there right now.
In the meantime, I have relearned how to windsurf. I took a lesson Tuesday, during which I spent more time in the water than on the board. Today, I winged it, and did much better. This time, I spent more time on the board than in the water. It was a lot of fun, but the 30-knot gusts made it tough on these chicken-wing arms. 300 downward dogs do no justice to holding a sail back against these winds.
It was 34c (90f) here today. New York was cold. I miss home, but I'm thrilled to be here.
Posted by dave at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2008
Aruba Photos
We wait patiently for the winds and seas to subside off the coast of Colombia, blowing 30-35 knots right now, and big choppy seas up to 16 feet. It's looking like Sunday/Monday might present us with a window to allow us to finally leave the dock here in Aruba.
Meanwhile, I got out for a wander around town with the new camera to snap some great photos.
Mike & Judy's sailboat, PorFin
Oranjestad Architecture
Oranjestad Architecture
Oranjestad Architecture
Oranjestad Architecture
Posted by dave at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2008
Twice in One Week, Hundreds of Miles Apart
Just last Sunday, Chis and I watched the Queen Elizabeth 2, the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria rendezvous in New York harbour under a sky of fireworks and pouring rain.
Today, I went for a run and spotted the Queen Victoria, on her maiden voyage around the world, tied up at the cruise ship dock. Later that afternoon, she slipped past the end of the marina and set sail, no doubt for the Panama Canal. She is a magnificent site!
Posted by dave at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)
Oranjestad, Aruba, N12.31’ W70.02’
I arrived safely this afternoon after a very long travel day. The wind is blowing like crazy and the seas are big and rough. We will wait for a couple of days to see if things subside a little. No sense in feeling like a rubber duck in a washing machine. Mike & Judy have invited a fourth crew, a local guy, for this journey, who has done it several times. The coast of Colombia is notoriously rough, and it's a long passage (4 to 5 days).
Meanwhile, I'll have a couple of days to explore the island and get in a couple of runs. It was pouring rain when I left New York and I am glad to be in the warmth and humidity again.
Posted by dave at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)