Alone

Took by buddy Bernard to the airport today, via my tender, to fly home to France. Bumped into a girl who worked for a charter company by Lagoonie's whom I have known now for 3 months or so, and she was flying on the same flight. Christine and Angie are gone, as of yesterday. Bob left over a week ago. Graham, and mate, Dave, have been gone for weeks. I am not sure where Ellison is, as his boat is not where he has had it anchored. All of my playmates have left, except for Claire and Michael, my German friend, and of course, Sam, who now lives on a different clock than most folks, going home when most are getting the coffee started.

As I rode back from the airport on the dink, I felt alone. Maybe even lonely. Claire and I had supper together this evening, to console each other, as her mom and dad departed on the same plane as Bernard. But, it is not enough. Time to move on, I think. But, must continue with the legal problems, and have the trip to France coming in just a couple weeks. And then, I must go. Time to find a new group of friends.

Tick off number 9

I am into the Lagoon. Now, have anchored 9 times. How about that! Came in today at the 230 opening, with a crowd of other boats, as the Bay is a terrible place to be right now.
Unfortunately, I had to steer by hand to port, and steer by auto pilot to starboard to get in. And in 22 knot winds! Was a bit hairy for me, and even though I deserved a nice cocktail or 2 to celebrate, I don't drink much when alone here, so will have one with Bernard and Claire tomorrow, perhaps.
Will post a couple pictures of where I am exactly, but if you use Google Earth, you can put in the Lat and Lon - 18 - 03.07N 63 - 05.97W.

The first image shows where I was in the bay, and centered on my new location. Second image is zoomed in a bit, and third is zoomed in more. What is commonly called Explorer Island is on the left. The small beach on the eastern part of the island is where we had a BBQ party over a month ago, with the bonfire and music. The land to the right is the place where I tried to take photos of the goats that roam there and climb many evenings to the top of the rock outcropping, but the pictures were blurry. I called it Goat Mountain at the time, or something similar, but the common name for it is Witch's Tit - (Sorry Davina! - She doesn't like that sexist name at all.)

Right now Bernard is borrowing my camera to document the condition of Narvalo before his supposed departure on Sunday. (With the volcanic ash shutting down most of Europe's airports, I don't think he will be departing Sunday.)

Will think this steering trouble through, and talk to the experts on Monday. What I think is wrong, should not be wrong, as the part is new, so perhaps I have reached my level of expertise. We shall see.

How to choose a good anchorage.

My friend, Claire's mom and dad are here for a vacation, from Paris. We have been together several times, and last night Paul and Peggy had us all up to their apartment in the hills for another fantastic dinner. They are incredible cooks, and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy every thing that they serve. Well, I have to make an exception. Black Sausage, or French is Boudin Noir. In Britain, is called Blood Pudding. The cooked blood of pig or cow, cooked long enough that it will congeal when it cools, inside a sausage skin. Not my favorite, but I seem to recall hearing about it in my family when I was a child. They had asked that I bring my keyboard along, and I played after eating for about an hour. We had a good time, and I returned to AF after 1am.

Had another nice long email today from old neighbor and lifelong friend, Rosemary, whose family were our next door neighbors when Mom and Dad moved to Rosslyn Farms. She had just caught up on the blog, and agreed that I was whining too much. You might remember that she wrote me several months ago, complaining about this blog's title. This time she agreed that I WAS doing a bit too much whining!

My reply went into the latest news, including that I had moved AF yesterday, but missed the bridge opening at 530pm so could not enter the lagoon, and had to find a new place to anchor. I have admired a spot now for many months, as being away from the crowds and traffic (after 3 months of being bounced by the water taxis, muscle boats, and tourists on wave runners), and that is where I anchored, with Bernard's help, in calm, flat, placid waters with light winds from the east. Last night, the calm was replaced with the same winds that we have had for the last 2 weeks and from the north. It was only one day's reprieve. So, once again, AF is tossed and bounced about, with 3 foot waves, some breaking, passing under her, as she rides up and down. Not so much rolling but pitching, on the fore to aft axis.

Responding to Rosemary's email had me thinking about anchoring, and my choices.

I have read more than a few books on sailing, cruising, etc, and each has at least a section, and many a full chapter, on anchors, site selection and anchoring technique. It is a common thread on websites as well, since a poor anchorage choice is miserable, and poor anchor hardware, and practices are a danger to your own boat, as well as to other's. Commonly, we owners look to the rent-a-boat sailors with some consternation when they approach, as they do not have the practice and experience to make good anchoring choices, and often just put out enough chain or rope (called rode) to "get by", without doing the calculations for a proper ratio. I have only experienced one period when winds and seas were so bad, that boats began to drag anchor, or worse, ground tackle broke, putting the boat adrift, possibly to ram another in the dark of night. It was a rough couple of days and nights. You might recall that I wrote about being struck by a drifting hulk, which had torn loose of its moorings.

If I have read so much and studied it, why am I sitting in a pretty lousy (sorry, Mom) place, AGAIN, tonight? Probably, inexperience. Let me count for the the number of times I have anchored:

1 night inside Captiva Island, south of Tampa Bay.

1 night in Key West.

1 night (actually 2 because I chose poorly) near Fiesta Key, I think, south of Miami.

2 nights in Key Biscayne.

Annapolis for the boat show, with Paul's help and advice.

Several nights in the Severn River, again, with Paul's help.

2 different choices in St George's Bay, Bermuda.

And here, in Marigot Bay, twice now.

That is a total of 8 times in over 2 years that I have, alone and with no advice or suggestions from others, chosen a spot and put down anchor. In that time, I have travelled over 3500 nautical miles, with one 96 hour trip from Miami to North Carolina, one 8 day leg from Norfolk, and one 10 day leg to St Martin. I guess that I have to re-read some of those books and figure out what I am doing wrong. My anchoring skills are OK; (I have only dragged, perhaps twice - in 35 knots in St George's Bay, and about 30 yards that first night after the Regatta here in Marigot.) I just choose to do it in the wrong places!

I should fill in some details about yesterday. The weather could not have been more perfect to try to take a recently repaired boat through a - oh, about 18 foot wide bridge opening, that looks, maybe 10 feet to me - calm winds and flat water. I picked up Bernard about 11 and we decided to pick up chicken dinners and eat here on AF, and then motor around a bit, testing the steering. We ate, upped anchor and drove around a bit. It was the first time I have seen my Rocna anchor in more than 3 months, other than through a diving mask glass, from 15 feet above on the water's surface. The steering worked perfectly. That is, it worked perfectly when turning to port. Starboard, on the other hand, was if-fy. It did not respond very quickly at all, sometimes taking many turns of the wheel to start the rudder moving. Air? Fluid Leak? It did seem to improve a bit, as we rode and turned. (BTW, we missed the 230 opening of the bridge, because we weren't watching the clock closely enough after we ate lunch. That left only the 530 opening.) I turned the wheel as we did messy figure-8's around the bay, away from other boats testing and worrying. I decided to risk it, but had to take Bernard back to his boat yard for a few minutes. We returned to AF, at a new anchorage, and again raised the anchor, and slowly, I motored over near the rocky entrance to the short channel and the bridge. A safe distance from the opening, the depth under us decreased to 8 feet with 3 ft showing on my chart in one place, and I moved away from that area, which took us out of line of sight of the bridge, but there was another boat waiting with us, who, I thought, could see the bridge. The procedure is that first, boats exiting the Lagoon come out, and then the bridge operator changes the light from red to green for the seaward side, and boats can enter. We waited. 530 came and passed. We waited. No boats came out, which would indicate it was time to re-allign AF with the channel. Sitting patiently for 20 minutes (sometimes the bridge opens late due to traffic or ambulances), I finally called on the radio, and there was no response. Several tries later, we gave up, and as we passed another boat at anchor, he shouted that it had opened and then closed. There had been no boats waiting to exit, and when we did not enter, he lowered the bridge. I missed my chance! But, with renewed confidence, I felt that I could enter alone today. That is, until last night when my anchor alarm went off, as the wind had turned, swinging AF along with it, and increased to 20 knots+ again. Today, I have cussed myself all day long, as I bounce and rock again.

I looked at a US Navy weather website, and it looks like it will get worse before it gets better, so I might go in and ask Bernard to come out again and we shall try one more time.

The steering trouble must be resolved and the only thing that I can replace now is the hydraulic cylinder that acually pushes and pulls on the rudder arm. To remove it safely, I must be in calm waters. I think I can have it tested and rebuilt on the Dutch side, after removal, and if not, will buy a replacement of some kind.

Along with that, there are a couple repairs and jobs that I need to be in calm waters to do, and then, I should be able to make plans to depart, and join long-waiting Paul and Joyce, who, at this point, don't think that I will ever depart.

Oh, yeah. The answer to the Title question is: Anywhere away from the place I choose.

Whah. Whah. Whah.

I have been a doing a lot of complaining for the last week or so, about this anchorage. It has been a real pain, and, now that I can steer ( I hope) I look forward to moving AF into the Lagoon for a while, to do some work that requires a more stable place than this. The winds seem to be dieing down some and the waves are more and more calm, with only an occasional big roll or slap on the hull, but this morning I had the bright idea to try to capture a bit of video to show you what I am whining about.

About a week ago, I met a wonderful young couple, who had just arrived here. They are true cruisers, living in the most basic of environments, and with little money to spend. They both have a terrific attitude, and quite unabashedly asked where they could buy food cheap, or perhaps where was there food that was too old or damaged to sell, that might be given to them. The kind of folks that you don't mind helping out. XXXX is from Brazil, I think, and speaks good enough English to translate into XXXXXXs ear almost as I speak. He has very little English, and perhaps is from Argentina. A swimming coach/instructor. And she, a veterinarian.

I invited them out to AF for a swim and spaghetti dinner on Easter afternoon, and asked Bernard and Claire along. Bernard chose not to come, as we were dining a bit late for him. Claire brought along her sweet little puppy, Lilly, whom I adore, and have known now long enough to see that she is growing up. We teach her to enjoy the water, but I think the salt bothers her nose. Below, she finds shelter and shade under one of my padded seats in the cockpit after a short swim.

Claire and the old fat man goof around. I hosted my friends today for a quick drink, and they asked me to remove their photos from the internet, as it might create some problem back home. So, have just removed all evidence!

We all had a pretty good day, and I am glad to have helped them out a bit. They are both so nice, always positive and big smiles. I am planning on taking them to the Dutch side soon on the dink so they can see what they are missing staying here on the French.

As a friend recently reminded me, I AM in paradise, so what am I complaining about! So the anchorage is rough, and it rains for a few days! Life IS good!

Dontcha just hate a cold

Oh, this is so miserable - bored, feeling terrible, blah, over-medicated, eyes watery, throat burning, listless - oh the list goes on. I hate a cold.

To add to it, this anchorage is murder lately, and last night there were 25-28knot winds out of the east and 3 foot seas out of the north, which hammered the port side regularly, knocking the boat hard. I set the anchor alarm. Woke up a dozen times because of the loud pounding, and a couple rain squalls.

Good news. Although my internet does not do well in high winds for some reason, I was able to read an email from the assistant to the Pittsburgh attorney, who writes with apology, that he will be getting onto my case in a couple of days. He apologizes for not having written sooner, and after a couple more tax returns, will dig into the materials he has and see where we stand.

Gotta go. Atchoooo!

Inspiration

I have a good cruiser buddy here, named Christine. She is about 32 years old, a California girl, bartends at Lagoonie's, and pretty much is 'up' all of the time, although she and her ex-boyfriend are still sharing their boat, GypsyCat - a situation that can be very stressful, to say the least. Somehow they manage to stay friends, and I must say, I have never heard her say anything negative about him. Sadly they have decided that they must sell the boat, as neither can afford to keep it alone.

Christine took me and 2 other guys out to Ladies' Night at the big nightclubs some months ago. She is always trying to come up with something that will promote Lagoonies, and has had some very clever ideas. She always has some news about where the best deals in town are. (The latest - the cheapest water is at Cadisco on the French side of the island.) We recently became 'friends' on Facebook, where I found this wonderful photo of her, taken by her ex-boyfriend and cruising mate, Chris. I asked him if I could have a copy of the photo and he was kind enough to send me one in an email. It turns out that the manufacturer of her catamaran saw it and used it for several months in their print ads.

I find it absolutely beautiful and inspirational, and hope that there will be a woman I love, and a private anchorage like the one shown here in my future. I epitomizes why I left the US on a boat, and what I am seeking - freedom!

I Dotta Really Bad Told

Woke up a couple of days ago with the burn and itch of a good common cold starting - sore throat tickle, sinus burn and pressure, watery eyes - the whole package. I started on antibiotics immediately since I know that my smoker's lungs are already inflamed and do not want them to become infected. Yes, I know that doctor's do not agree with this, but my experience says it will protect the lungs from bad infection. But I cannot find on AF any antihistimine or expectorant, which surprises me, as I emptied a lot of drawers and medicine cabinets into bags and brought them here. Perhaps I did a better job of sorting them than I think, and threw out what was already opened, thinking I would never need it.

I am pondering a new hair cut, or other options. Have decided that I cannot continue to pay for haircuts in the long run, so I am considering my options. I bought an electric razor thing, and could give myself a buzz cut, but will look fatter, and round faced if I do that. It is a very common choice of cruisers - both men and women, who all look a bit like concentration camp prisoners, except for tans and smiles, of course. I could pay for another hair cut. I could let it grow out into a pony tail. A 4th option came up the other day at lunch with Claire, as the waitress offered to give me free dred locks. Kinda like that idea, but will have to forstall a decision for now, as the hair is not long enough yet to do that. Also, I still hope to visit France and I think it would be better for me to look more traditional, so will probably opt this time for another $20 haircut.

Looking in the mirror yesterday, after my shower, and trying to figure out how to make this long, straggly mess look better, I noticed something. It seems like just a couple years ago when friend Bart accused me of dying white wings into my hair, which was false, of course. But he was right - I had 2 very distinct and balanced white wings - sort of like Pauly had on the Sopranos, but not so long and obvious. Yesterday I noticed that they have gone almost and have blended into the rest of my hair, as it all has turn grey, and now my whole head matches. I am mostly grey now, I think, as well as having a lot of scalp showing through. I am getting old.

Have just Googled the French words for decongestant and antihistimine, and will dink in to the store to look for some remedy for this cold, as I feel like - well you know how I feel. It's no fun being sick.

More Happy Easter!

I am not sure if I have written that I hired a man to come to the boat to finish the work on my steering, and had to throw him off the boat, after 2 hours. It is part of the negative stuff that I have been dealing with lately, and I choose not to mention it in detail here, but the event really upset me for a couple days. A few days later, I talked with a friend of my Aussie buddy Graham, and he agreed to come out and finish the work, which went well. He would stop and ask me to look at his work periodically to make sure he was doing it to my liking, and all in all, it was a good experience, although, he has not tender, so I had to ride over to Simpson Bay each morning and return him again at 5 pm.



There is no word, at this time, from the Pittsburgh attorney whom I hired to work on the tax situation. Several weeks ago, he wrote that his assistant's father had passed away, and that it would be put on the back burner for a while, but enough time has passed that he should be able to determine if he has everything to clean up this mess. I feel unable to plan a departure date from here until I know that either it is solved or on its way to be solved. While I wait, I am paying for very good, but still unreliable, internet access here, as well as maintaining a cell phone, which, by the way, costs the same as I paid for my first in 1986 - 25 cents per minute. My first cell, which had a big box screwed under my van's seat, and a hand set fixed to the dashboard, cost me $100 for 400 minutes each month, and as I recall, would not switch me to the next cell as I drove, but would just drop the call.



I have offered some help in the last month or so to my friend Claire, who found a boat to buy - the Marin Gouin - which I think means the mosquito sailor, but don't quote me on that. Apparently, if you mis-pronounce it in French, it means, Sailing Lesbian. She and Bernard and others have had a lot of fun listening to my terrible French, and this has been one source of laughter for them. The boat, a 30 year old CSY 37 was on the hard in Marigot, but was flagged as a Nederlands Antilles boat, and being sold by French Canadians. So the paper process was a bit complicated, and she asked me once to drive to Phillipsburg to inquire, in English, exactly how the paper process would work, and what was required. After she bought the boat, we were required to take the boat to Phillipsburg, about a 2 hour ride, by motor, for a government inspector to see the boat and the safety equipment.

So, last week, she and I and Bernard drove it up to P-burg and back, in one day, and had a good time. My ribs prevented me from doing anything strenuous, but I did use my dink as a tug boat to push her bow around out of her slip in the marina, and upon our return, back in. Otherwise, I acted as interpreter with the official, and had a good time.

Recently, running the generator, I noticed, for the millionth time perhaps, that the cooling water intake was clogged and the generator was about to over heat. Donning mask and snorkel, I dove on the intake and I was able to remove the trash that had been sucked up into the through-hull opening. It was a rather small piece of plastic. This is the kind of trash that really makes life miserable sometimes, although, sometimes it is only seaweed or grass.My good Buddy, Graham, the Aussie, with mate (POM, Dave) returned for a few days to St Martin, before he completes his job on the catamaran he has captained. He takes it next to Grenada, and then flies to London, and then on to Thailand to pick up a different boat. (What a life, huh?) With his return, came several nights of partying. Last week, Claire joined us and we all had a ball, starting out at Toppers for karaoke, and then sneaking up to see my friend Sam, who is now bartending at a topless bar. Claire agreed to go, for the fun, and she and I entered first, and after waiting a bit, Graham came in for the real surprise for Sammy. She took good care of us with the drinks and we misbehaved properly. I am not sure the time when Claire and I returned to Marigot in the dink, but it was pretty late.

Patrons are not permitted to take photos at the topless bar, but I snapped a couple, just of my friends, not the 'ladies', before being told, by Sam, that it was not allowed. Above is Graham, and below, they try to pose for me whilst I try to hide the camera.

We all had a great dinner the other night with Ellison, and his new girlfriend, Lisa, who is crew on a big yacht. They are both so nice, and would do anything for me, I think. They have asked me if I would like to baby sit their dogs for a week while they visit another island, and stay at their apartment, with use of Ellison's Range Rover. I am not sure if time will allow, but it is something that I am considering. We shall see......Yesterday, Claire, and Bernard and I met a couple who just arrived from South America. I visited them today on their boat for a couple of minutes. They are real cruisers, with no refridgeration, or auto pilot, living on a rather small boat. He is from Brazil, and she, perhaps from Venzuela, and a veterinarian, with both French, English, Portugese and Spanish, and is a wonderful interpreter. They have very little money, living on a real shoestring, and are very appreciative of any kindness. Thinking of inviting them out for spaghettie dinner soon. We shall see.

So, that is some of what has been taking up my time here in St Martin. More later......

Happy Easter!

I have been very busy for several weeks, and have failed to post anything here, and for those of you who check regularly, I apologize.
One of the things that consumed my days, when I had internet, was working on a new Facebook account. I am not certain that I like Facebook. It seems to be a lot of work, and I am not one to just put something about my day up on the "Wall" as some do. But, I will continue to use it and decide if it is worth the work. I have enjoyed reconnecting with some friends - some very, very old, like Doug Schutte, with whom I went through much of grade school. Davina has a page and I find that we communicate more using Facebook, with a quick couple of lines, instead of a long and detailed email. She is in Panama and flying to the DR to get on another boat. Even Aussie buddy Graham has a page. He departs SXM today, and will leave the boat in Granada, and fly to London, and then Thailand.

My brother has scanned and posted almost 200 photos of growing up in Rosslyn Farms, as well as his home and family, hunting, and flying photos. It was a pleasure to go through his album. (Search Foster Doak for his Facebook account.)

Several good things to note here. First of all - Happy Easter. It is the day to celebrate the whole foundation of our faith, but, as with Christmas, many forget why we get the day off from work, eh?

My ribcage problem seems to be getting better, slowly, although when I overdo it here, I feel it that night and the next day. Ibuprofen is doing a fine job managing the trouble.

And most important, I hired a 3rd fellow to finish my steering work, and as of this moment, I steer, although, there is still a lot of air in the lines, to be bled. And, unfortunately, there could be a bigger trouble with the hydraulic ram, which may require rebuilding or even the purchase of a new part. Will know more tomorrow, I think. The important thing is that the lines are in place and connected - one fitting has a small leak and requires a good tightening, but when I turn the wheel, the rudder turns the correct direction for the first time in over 3 months.

Many more things to post, but will stop here with this good news. I did want to wish everyone a Happy Easter, and touch the high spots in my life, although there are many more things to write about here.