5/8/17

Here's a boat keel anchored in Beaufort.  The spot he picked was fine until the winds came from the other direction and he swung into shore.

Same day in Beaufort.  Oops!

One more oops - no one aboard this boat and when the winds picked up to 30 knots their anchors dragged.  This boat was still on the beach when we left for Oriental.

Wild ponies or horses on Carrot Island, Beaufort.

More horses.

Our stay in Beaufort included a beach walk on Carrot Island.  It was near low tide as we hiked through the muck to the sandy beach picking up sea shells along the way.  Just off the beach we found a herd of 24 horses grazing in the marshy grass.
While in Beaufort the winds picked up with a passing front and we had a ton of rain.  You can see Persephone in the background of the last boat up on the beach picture after the storm had passed.

Next stop - Oriental.  Feels like home.  We met up with many cruising friends on their boats and in their homes.  Cousins Dick and Georgette are close by too.  On borrowed bikes we rode to the marinas where friends were staying, biked to the grocery store, biked around during the town wide yard sales.  We spent a lot of time at The Bean, the local coffee shop right at the town dock.  There were potlucks to attend, projects to help out with, always something going on.  Jerry is always sought after for consult on a variety of boat projects.  He loves to help out, talk about boats and boat systems and diagnose. 1400 bicyclists came in last weekend and set up their tents all over town for their bike event in Oriental.  Imagine a town of 900 hosting 1400!  Our friends Don and D organized an entertaining and informative presentation at the Town Hall about their recent trip to Cuba on their boat.  I even took my guitar to open mic night at the Silos Restaurant and played a couple of songs.  Staying almost 2 weeks is a record for us.  We will be on our way today heading north.

Fort Pierce, FL to Beaufort, NC

4/22/17
63 hours from Manatee Pocket, FL to Beaufort, NC!  We had less wind than we would have liked but a fairly comfortable passage.  The gulf stream current added up to 4 or 5 knots at times.  Average speed about 10 knots!  Now that's moving.  We were thinking of our friend Jeff who has a performance catamaran and travels in excess of this speed all the time.  Fast!
The swells were large and confused as we approached the Frying Pan Shoals area of NC and we rocked and rolled.  An area of heavy rain, thunder and lightning greeted us as we exited the gulf stream current and headed for Beaufort.  A nice fresh water boat wash to clean the salt water spray away.  By 11 pm we were anchored in Taylor Creek.  In the distance at the Beaufort Town Docks we could see our buddy boats:  Blue Jacket (Donna and Jerry) and Scheherazade (Deb and Ron).  They arrived earlier after a 4 day sail from Great Sail Cay, Abacos, Bahamas.   We picked them up in the morning by dinghy and Jerry made breakfast aboard Persephone for everyone.  It was the beginning of a wonderful day with Ron, Deb, Donna, Jerry enjoying the sights of Beaufort. 

Don't tell anyone that our friend, Capt. Bob, who singlehands from NY to FL every year has his 82nd birthday next week.  Anyone looking at the photo would assume that Capt. Bob is our age.  Photo taken aboard Persephone in Lake Worth, FL.

Ryan, Harmony, and Zoe drove up to visit in Lake Worth, FL.  Here's what Zoe thinks of sailing.

Dale brings Dale's Pale Ale to share with Jerry aboard Persephone in Manatee Pocket, FL.

Here's a ink to a video Jerry took near the end of our passage from Ft. Pierce, FL to Beaufort, NC: https://youtu.be/rdc6hPwfjBc

4/14/17

With a favorable 4 or 5 day forecast we left St. Thomas headed west not knowing where we'd actually make landfall.  The wind would choose the destination.  In a little over 6 days we arrived at the inlet at Lake Worth.  It was a wonderful passage with wind between 5 and 20, all pretty much on the beam or a little after, sun shining or stars and near-to-full moon each night.  There are 2 videos as we approach Lake Worth Inlet.  You can click this link to go to Youtube to view:  https://youtu.be/I10ELFRLMRM   This one is the sun coming up:  https://youtu.be/5M0bigobQmM.

We counted 4 flying fish on deck after we anchored in Lake Worth.

The moon rising over the fancy houses at Lake Worth.

Sunset on passage through the Bahamas.

The next day we moved south to the City Docks in West Palm Beach with a view of the Trump Tower building looming and walked all over the hustling downtown.  We met the other sailors at the anchorage and had an interesting evening of sea stories.  Our friend Bob, who is anchored at the north end of Lake Worth, came down via bus and we sailed together to his neighborhood with a stop to see his son's new boat on the way.  Our plans are to hang out with Bob, go visit friends in Stuart, and continue heading north.  Please write when you have a chance!  We love to hear from you!

PS  One last video that I just found - my favorite brother-in-law Tom Shepard at the helm aboard Persephone in March.  https://youtu.be/cnR1tHYl8K8

Pictures - The Shepards Visit Water Island!

Owen at the helm! 

Owen and Susan

Kira and Sydney on deck for some salty spray

Susan, Kira, Syd on the rail and in the sun.

A view from above Honeymoon Bay.

Susan and Karen are ready for a salty ride to the grocery store.

Snorkeling and beach walking on Water Island at Norman's Beach.

Susan and Tom walking towards the Water Island ferry dock.

A view from Blue Vista where the Shepards are vacationing.

Monday night movie night at the beach on Water Island
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Try this link to youtube and a video of Cindy and Kevin sailing in the BVI.  Actually, Cindy is at the helm!  https://youtu.be/b0TwjXrATuU

And here's another sailing video from earlier this year.  Virgin Gorda to Peter Island.  https://youtu.be/FNMtTxBfaUs

Owen at the helm for his first sailing experience!  https://youtu.be/eCfgffI9Hmg

Well, if you made it down here you're ready for some description of what's been going on!  After Kevin and Cindy left my sister Susan, her husband Tom and their kids Sydney, Kira and Owen came to visit.  They rented a beautiful place on Water Island called Blue Vista overlooking Limestone Beach, with a view of St. Thomas, and a short golf cart ride to Honeymoon Beach where Persephone was moored.  They came in on the worst weather day of the season!  High winds, rain all day, temperatures only in the 70s!  It was a good transition day for them I suppose coming from Maine.  We met them at the airport, walked 100 yards to Lindbergh Bay beach, and took them by dinghy to Honeymoon Beach.  Luckily, the rest of their vacation was about 84 and mostly sunny and plenty of wind. 
Owen has been begging to come down to visit to go sailing so we made sure that happened.   He had a big smile on his face as he stood at the helm and sailed us through Hassel Island Cut, through downtown St. Thomas and out onto the Caribbean Sea.  We sailed until a couple of the faces started turning and shade of green and hightailed it back to Water Island.  On our second sail Owen took us out to Buck Island where we snorkeled to see a variety of fish and an octopus.  Cool!  It was wonderful to spend the week hanging out on the boat, hanging out on the beach, sharing meals with family!  We snorkeled, read, painted, hiked, explored, had lots of time to visit and savor the time together.  I was so excited when I heard about the blizzard arriving on the east coast on the day you were supposed to fly back.  So glad you stayed a couple more days!  Thanks Susan and Tom for listening to Owen and coming to visit.  The beauty of the Caribbean is even better when it can be shared. 

Susan and Kira aboard Persephone

Tom and Sydney enjoying the sail.

Owen at the wheel on the downwind leg back to Water Island.

2/12/17

2/11/17

What do we do all day down here in the Caribbean?  Sail repair for one.  The main sail overlaps the backstay at the top and it chafed along the SSB insulator that had a cotter pin sticking out.  Just enough to tear the sail and the mainsail leach line.  We took the sail apart and installed a new leach line and a patch.  My sewing machine wasn't working perfectly on this heavy fabric so we ended up hand sewing most of it.  Now - it's like new and ready for our next adventure!

Jerry sews the mainsail.

Kevin and Cindy flew in, so back to the airport by dinghy for their salty pick up, we provisioned, and off we cantered the next day with our goal to reach North Gorda Sound by Sunday for Superbowl.  The wind picked up as we beat our way first to Great Harbor on Peter Island and then on to North Gorda Sound on Sunday.  Yacht Shots came by when we were sailing and took pictures (available for purchase at yachtshotsbvi.com 2017 Yachts or click here Your Events)

32 Photos taken of Persephone by yachtshots.com.  Check them out.

Kevin gives the thumbs up.

 Kevin and Cindy had virtually no experience sailing before or staying aboard a sailboat but within a few days we were all working together as a team hauling the dinghy and motor, handling the sails, changing the boat from a floating hotel to a yacht each day.  Cindy even took a turn at the wheel.

Sorry Cindy.  I know you don't like your picture taken but this is perfect.

  You sail while the guys relax!

They thoroughly enjoyed the sailing though a bit green at times with the big seas. They even got to experience a rogue wave as they sat on the catwalk and were soaked with a 7 foot wave!   We watched the Superbowl at the Bitter End Yacht Club’s Crawl Pub.  The Pub had lots of tvs for outside viewing and 2 big projection screens.  Palm trees swaying, boats at anchor, and a sky full of stars were in view along with the Superbowl as we peered at the screen towards the water.  

Superbowl on a Big Screen with the North Gorda Sound in the background.

 We spent the week snorkeling, reading, playing games (lots of games!), telling stories and laughing.   Did I say laughing?

So many games!  So many tally sheets!

How’s that for a vacation!  And as Jerry said, “just when we got them whipped into shape for the sailing life they had to leave!”  We sure are glad they came down to share the week with us!

Kevin and Cindy at Peter Island Resort

Jerry, Kevin, Cindy looking down on Peter Island Resort's Beach

1/29/17

Upon my return to St. Thomas from Christmas in NY we set sail for the British Virgin Islands visiting our favorite anchorages and a new one too.  Little Harbor on Peter Island.  We dropped the anchor there and backed in towards shore between 2 catamarans and tied to trees on shore.  The winds were blowing 20 knots but we were tucked into the perfectly flat anchorage surrounded by steep tree-covered mountains and clear sparkling blue water.  Up to 4 remora under our boat waiting for scraps to be tossed overboard.  Remora resemble a shark shape but they have a suction cup on the top of their heads and attach to boats or large fish waiting for handouts. 

Persephone anchored at Little Bay, Peter Island

Another favorite anchorage is the North Gorda Sound where we anchored in “Jerry’s secret spot” near Saba Rock Resort.   

Moon rise at Saba Rock Resort

Ready for a new adventure we hopped on the free ferry that goes from Saba across the Sound to the settlement of Gun Creek.  There is a fairly new Customs and Immigration office here we wanted to see.  We were already checked in to the BVI so we just stopped in to say hello and find out their hours.  If we were sailing onto St. Martin this is a convenient place to check out from as long as you do it before they close at 1 pm.

Gun Creek settlement is on Virgin Gorda so named by Christopher Columbus who thought the island shape, from the sea, resembled a fat woman lying on her back.  Many peaks on Virgin Gorda are over 1000 ft.  Lots of steep hills to climb!  Leaning forward in the blazing heat of the midday sun up we hiked for over an hour zigzagging on the switchbacks up, up, up searching for the place we’d heard serves traditional West Indian rotis.  In the air the smell of hot brakes as vehicles passed going downhill and the smell of goats.  Goats were roaming all over the place and beef cattle grazing along the road in rocky, fenced, almost vertical pastures.  Finally we find the sign for Hog Heaven and turn onto that road.   A pickup stops and offers a ride.  We hop in and Jerry asks about Hog Heaven and rotis.  No rotis, we’re told, but excellent food and prices.  How does this man know so much about Hog Heaven?  The man introduces himself as Blondie and he is the owner of Hog Heaven.  We forgot to ask how in the world he got the name Blondie but we see that Hog Heaven is the right name for a place that sells a lot of pork and is perched near the top of a mountain amongst the clouds.  From the outdoor dining tables the views are spectacular of North Gorda Sound, all the boats at anchor, the island of Anegada 12 miles off, and a horizon of nothing but blue water beyond.  Our boat looks like the perfect vessel for ants from this vantage point.  We are there for a couple of hours having juicy, sticky finger, delicious bbq chicken for lunch.  We watch people come and go, some just stopping by for the vista from Hog Heaven’s deck.  We’re on our own for the walk back down.  No free rides.  You’d think that going down would be a relief but it turns into a knee-straining, calf-building exercise with extra care taken not to slip as we trek back down to Gun Creek and the Saba ferry.  We enjoy a well-deserved painkiller at Saba Rock Resort before getting in the dinghy to go back to the boat.

Way up on the hill we see Hog Heaven from the boat after a long day's hike.

Can you see it yet?

Hog Heaven up at top center.

Hog Heaven

A nice surprise awaits us back in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas.  Our friends Favio on Odoya and Leandro on Alaussa are anchored here.  We first met them in Jacksonville, FL a couple years ago and we enjoy their company again along with their friends on board.  We’re the old people and we listen to stories about couchsurfing.com and crewbay.com where these youngsters find opportunities to visit places anywhere in the world affordably by staying on a host’s couch or boat or they find crew for their own boats (they’re both single-handers).  We learned so much!

The rest of the week we spend cleaning up and preparing for company.  Our first time having a couple (besides Mom and Dad!) stay on board.  Mike and Liz from Callahan’s Marina on Oneida Lake (who winter in FL) are coming for a week.  We pick them up from the airport and whisk them off sailing to the BVI after an evening of Bingo on Honeymoon Beach, Water Island.  Little Harbor, Saba Rock Resort, Cane Garden Bay, Great Bay on Jost Van Dyke, rum punches, painkillers, snorkeling, sailing, fresh fish and some exploring on land.  It’s always fun to share our lifestyle with friends.  Jerry loves to cook breakfast and made home fries, eggs, toast and bacon every morning.  The week flew by.  Nothing like leaving the Virgin Islands by a salty dinghy ride to the beach and a quick walk up the road to the airport!  Thanks for coming Mike and Liz!

Mike, Liz, Karen, Jerry enjoying the lounge chairs at Saba Rock Resort

Liz and Mike with a view to the sea

Mike and Liz at Cane Garden Bay

We’re anchored back at Honeymoon Beach at Water Island walking in the mornings and swimming in the afternoons.  We get together with our friend Kari (who moved to Water Island and works at Dinghys Beach Bar and Grill) to tell stories, laugh and try to beat Jerry at rummy.  At the end of the week our friends Kevin and Cindy are coming from cold, snowy NY for a week in the sun!

Karen & Jerry

Mike with mahi.  Fresh fish for dinner!

Sunset at Cane Garden Bay

1/3/17

Happy 2017!  Back on the boat with Jerry.  All is well.  We're headed to the BVI for a bit before our friends Mike and Liz fly in to spend a week.