#ozcatamaran

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

A dream of a lifetime will now become a "Trip of a Lifetime"!

Original blog posted - 19th January 2013

It is Patrick’s dream and I have been listening about it for almost 3 and half years now….. Some dreams remain dreams but ours is about to become a reality!

Not sure when Patrick’s dream turned into our dream but similar to his little unit in a quaint suburb of Sydney that became our home and his family became mine, his dream is now my dream.

I sailed in my teens and it took a bit of a fight to get an entry into the dinghy sailing scene in Mumbai with the organisation that first introduced me to sailing. We used to sail small dinghies called Cadet Class for under 18 year old. Every Sunday became my favourite day of the week, only because I could sail. Sunday! Who doesn’t love them? But I think I had more to look forward to than most other average 14 years old.

Sunday started with a wake up at 4.45am in the suburbs of Mumbai. Rain hail shine, exams or holidays, for five years of my life I never missed the Sunday parade. Then a journey on the Mumbai local train to Churchgate Station with the fisherwomen for company in the designated ladies compartment, followed by a bus ride to Afghan Church! The parade started at 7.30 am. Sailing started at 10.30am. As the only girl in the team I felt both privileged and discriminated at the same time. One thing was sure I had fun… the elated feeling of the wind on the water racing with the fellow sailors was worth everything, including my mother’s wrath at the end of every Sunday for getting home tired and “dark”! She was certain that no one would marry her tanned, tomboy of a daughter, who went sailing on Sundays instead of staying at home like other girls and helping in the kitchen or focusing on her HSC studies. I was not interested in boys then, I just wanted to sail.

I then sailed dragons (another type of sail boat, a vessel similar to the Mumbai Seabirds) in Hong Kong, but that was exactly opposite, I sailed in the hope of meeting a nice boy. I even went on a Tall Ship’s race from Okinawa to Osaka on Ji Fung an Outward Bound Adventure and my only offshore sailing experience till date. That experience taught me a lot about myself and my reaction when pushed out of my comfort zone.

Finally I met Patrick, in Sydney not on a sailing boat but on an Internet dating website, he loved sailing, cooking and eating “what I cooked”! And he dreamt of buying his own “Cat” (catamaran) and sailing it back from the Caribbean one day. What more could I ask for!! I knew from day one he was my soul mate.

And here we are in Sydney about to fly out in a month’s time to St. Maarten to pick-up Hestia….. A Lagoon 440 by Beneteau with 4 cabins with ensuites. Our dream boat!

Ecstatic, elated and even a little bit anxious!

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Patrick gets experience on canal transit as line handler on Jehol - by Patrick Dwyer

Original Blog posted: Saturday, 11 May 2013

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy" Norman Vincent Peale

Well we have been at the Shelter Bay Marina (Colon – Atlantic side of canal just inside the northern breakwater) for a few days for some well deserved R & R organising all the red tape to allow us to passage through the Panama Canal. Some of the other crew have taken line handling jobs on other yachts needing assistance taking their yachts through the canal. I decide to do the same so I have some first hand experience when I take my own yacht through next Tuesday i.e. practice on someone else’s yacht first.

The requirements are that all yachts need 4 line handlers in addition to the master of the vessel to be allowed to transit the canal. Further, yachts under 20 metres also require 4 mooring lines of at least 50 metres each and up to 12 car tyres wrapped in plastic bags with a bit of rope attached so you can attach to the sides of the vessel for protection against the canal wall or when rafted up to the other vessel/s.

I hear that Philippe the master and owner of a 53 foot super catamaran made by X Light Catamarans in France is looking for an extra line handler. He is just opposite us on the next marina arm. I visit his yacht “Axe Jehol” (Named after a famous Belgium race horse) and meet him. He gives me the job for his transit on the Saturday & Sunday giving me time to take the busses back from Panama City for our transit on the Tuesday.

His yacht is amazing. Over $2m worth of yacht in carbon fibre yacht with rotating mast also in carbon fibre (when rotating it he can get up to another knot of boat speed and also allows him to reef or bring the sail down when underway and not into the wind as most non rotating masted yachts do). It looks mean and fast designed to easily cover 200nm a day and often travelling at 15-18 knots for long periods. On looking inside everything is designed to save weight. It has a very spartan layout with no doors only curtains, no wooden draws or steps or other bits and pieces just pure unadulterated carbon fibre. Philippe was considering not even having a hard bimini for sun protection because the carbon fibre to make it would add 30kg. His engine controls are only on one side of the yacht because of the extra weight and no steering wheel just 2 tillers like on a 3m yacht just to save weight. How much weight is saved well his yacht is 6 tonnes and mine is 12 tonnes and his is about 3 metres longer. Say no more.

All this reminds me of an alleged quote from one Sydney to Hobart skipper who told his crew that they had to cut down the weight they brought on board suggesting they cut their toothbrush in half to save weight. Philippe has taken this to another level.

There is usually a compromise in most choices i.e. speed V comfort. Hestia will cover 160nm a day if things are going well so for 40-50nm a day difference in our yacht you have one ice box not 3 fridges and freezer, 4 generous single berths and one queen berth in saloon and one shower & toilet versus 4 queen sized cabins & 2 single cabins, one shower versus 5 showers, one toilet versus 4 toilets, 3 small batteries versus 7 large batteries and you see where the extra weight goes. The differences are many these are just a few of them.

Anyway the days fly by until Saturday afternoon arrives. I meet Philippe and his other crew at 1pm and depart Shelter Bay Marina for an area known as “The Flats” some 2nm away where transiting yachts wait for an advisor at 3pm to assist each of the yachts transiting the canal. Note that boats under 20m have advisors whereas vessels over 20m have pilots. Both have the same purpose.

We are then met by an advisor on a launch who is dropped off at our yacht and is equipped with all his paperwork, mobile phones and radios. Each yacht has its own advisor even though we are one of 3 vessels rafted up side by side at the rear end of a 600 foot container ship going through the first of the locks (The Gatun lock) that has 3 chambers each lifting the vessels about 10 metre per chamber. This lock is about 3 miles away from our anchorage at The Flats.

We raft up just outside the entrance to the locks and go through to the lock as one unit after the container ship we are transiting these locks with enters first.

Once inside the first chamber the lock door shuts and we are thrown a small rope called a messenger with a monkey fist (rope tided into a ball) attached to the end from about 30 metres away. The two line handlers on shore throws this missile at us and it hits the deck hard and is then picked up by the line handlers on board each of the outside vessels and is attached separately to 2 of the mooring lines required to be on board each vessel and is then hauled up by the line handlers ashore and secured onto a bollard. The fore and aft lines on both the 2 outside vessels ( the vessel in the middle just watches) are then adjusted by each of the line handlers on each yacht so that the vessels stay in the middle of the lock as the vessels rise as the waters flood into the lock. The water that is released is enormous and causes many whirlpools and disturbs the vessels creating a hazardous situation if left unmanaged. One of the 3 advisors on board the 3 yachts moves onto the centre yacht and gives commands to the other advisors, the masters of the 2 outside vessels (to put their engines into forward or reverse) or to the line handlers on the outside yacht to take up or let out their dock line.

We eventually get through the 3 chambers without incident and then unraft just outside the lock in Gatun lake and then move under our own power to a big muffin (the name we called the huge mooring buoys about 2nm away from the main shipping channel where we rafted up again and had a swim and cool down in the lake (avoiding any alligators alleged to be in the lake) before having dinner and going to sleep in my new crammed quarters).

The following morning we were greeted at 6am by a new advisor who walked all over the slightly damp boat in his printed plastic shoes making marks like an animal at an African water hole. I was following him around with a rag wiping up the brown marks he was leaving everywhere. He could see me and what I was doing but he wasn’t going to take his shoes off for anyone. He was in charge, or at least that is what he thought.

Then after giving him breakfast we were off at about 6.5 knots for the 5 hour transit of the lake following to the port side of the red channel markers. For quite a long time we did not see another ship as there had been some fog at the Miraflores locks (the first lock on the Pacific side) that had delayed the passage of some ships. I was amazed to learn that only 45 vessels of any sort transit the canal each 24 hours and of those 3 to 6 vessels are small craft like ours. The lake has a current minimum depth of 38 feet which they are hoping to soon bring it to 45 and then 60 feet to allow bigger vessels to transit. Many vessels now off load their cargo at either end of the canal and transport their cargo by rail to the other end to be loaded onboard another vessel for its continuing voyage.

On the way to the Pedro Miguel locks which has one chamber we saw many dredges keeping the channel at least 38 feet or to slowly increase the depth to 45 feet.

After around 5 hours we had arrived at the only lock which only has one chamber. We rafted up again and duplicated the previous manoeuvres. We stayed rafted up to the other vessels after transiting this lock as the final lock (Miraflores Lock) was only 1nm onwards. This lock has 2 chambers and like the preceding one you drop about 10m each chamber. This is less troublesome to yachts as there are much fewer whirlpools as the water is leaving not coming in.

After going through the final lock we were in the Pacific. Yahoo!!!!. Philippe opened a bottle of champagne that we all had a glass of.

As we motored to our anchorage at Flamenco we dropped off our advisor to a launch that picked up the advisors off the other yachts we looked up to see what looked like a flattened version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge another 2nm onwards

Having passed under this bridge we dropped off our mooring lines & tyres that were hired in Colon to a waiting barge and then continued on to our anchorage.

I stayed the night on the yacht doing a few things in Panama City the following morning before I took 2 busses back to Colon and then Shelter Bay Marina.

Now I have all the knowledge to do the transit on Hestia in two days time.

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

A day in the life "at sea"

Original Blog posted: Friday, 10 May 2013 by Patrick

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever" Jacques Yves Cousteau

Many of you (friends and family) have expressed your dismay at our adventure by saying we are crazy and other adjectives that describe our reckless pursuit of adventure because many of you are unaware of what life at sea is like. You have said what do you do once the sails are set, isn’t it boring just watching the miles go by. What follows will give you some insight as to what goes on at sea so you might be enticed to join us on one of our many intended journeys or to just make yourself available for one of our many planned lazy days around Sydney harbour or environs sipping some alcoholic beverage over some freshly caught fish etc possibly cooked a la Archie in some exotic spices to make you think you are in heaven and don’t want to go home.

Ok. I have picked a typical day of our voyage so far which was day 3 of our passage from Bonaire to Shelter Bay Marina in Colon (eastern or Atlantic side of Panama Canal) just inside the northern end of the breakwater that alerts you that you are now under the control of The Panama Canal Authority.

So the day starts at midnight (still on Bonaire time for convenience as Panama is 1 hour behind Bonaire time). I have just come off my 4 hour shift from 8 to 12 pm and handing over to Georges for a 2 hour stint at the wheel. The vessel is on auto pilot and handling the 5 metre seas and gale force seas easily with 2 reefs in the headsail and the preventer on to help the headsail stay open and not cross over the other side when travelling with the wind almost being directly behind. We try to sail at 150-160 degrees to the wind i.e. almost behind us as is a faster route (more apparent wind) than directly behind us (sailing at 180 degrees to the wind i.e. wind behind, even though we may not be going right on the course we want to achieve i.e. a little zig zag course required. Anyway as the vessel sails itself I explain to Georges about the prevailing wind and sea conditions during my shift, the course set on the plotter and whether any other vessels in the area (visually sighted or assisted with AIS and or radar at times when visibility is not as good or when squalls are nearby) and any other information he would need to be made aware of what he could expect on his shift. This includes looking at the house battery bank management and perhaps water tanks levels so if he needs to put the main engines on for any reason he might decide to put the water maker on to make some water.

So I headed off to bed for 8 hours (unless I am needed to make a decision or to assist on deck) whilst the others took over for 2 hour stints with the backup watch keeper on standby close by and ready for action at short notice if needed. This rotation with other crew continued through the night.

At 6am Nick had just finished his 2 hour shift and was getting ready to do his morning of celestial navigation using his sextant and nautical tables interspersed with reading a paperback. One of the reasons Nick wanted this time slot for watch keeping was that after his shift he could go straight into his navigation and then have breakfast and then continue with it after breakfast.

At dawn each day (around 6am) that there is clear skies Nick does his star sightings using his sextant (a complex and expensive piece of equipment with lots of mirrors and shades). He takes a sighting of up to 7 stars with the horizon that he can only do when both are visible for about 10 minutes each day that both can be seen i.e. no cloud and the right amount of light etc. This gives him a position line for each and allows him to get a cocked hat fix (the most accurate fix or position you can get). Then at between 9 and 10am he takes a sun shot that gives him another position line. At noon he takes a noon site that gives him his latitude. Then knowing the course and distance run between the morning site and the noon site he can get a running fix that gives him his midday position. Later in the day if both the sun and moon are visible he can get a 2 point fix to get his position. With all of this Nick tells me he can get a position within 2 nautical miles of what the GPS says which itself uses a number of satellites to triangulate your position automatically without all the sextant, tables and good visibility that are required for celestial navigation.

Colin also gets into the celestial navigation and also has his own sextant which he bought at the flea markets in St Maarten. He also compares his celestial sightings and positions then both check them with the GPS shown on the main plotter at the helm to see how accurate they were.

Archana was up for action at 7am organising the breakfast and setting the table as the seas had died off a bit. She made blueberry pancakes which everyone enjoyed with maple syrup to compliment the rest of their breakfast of cereal, peaches, fresh fruit, tea/coffee, fruit juice and bread.

Once breakfast had finished the crew got into their daily routine. Some putting their fishing lines out, others working on their iPad's, listening to music or reading electronic books on their iPad’s or just reading normal paperbacks. I did my normal daily check around the yacht to look for anything not normal i.e. rubbing sheets and halyards, things that might have broken during the night and ended up on deck and of course to throw all the flying fish off the yacht that the yacht caught the previous night (often up to 7 flying fish have landed onto the yacht at night, some even almost hitting me at the helm some 3 metres or so from the sea level). Yes it is a hazardous life at sea!

I spent much of the morning hand steering to save on the house batteries as the auto pilot does use quite a bit of power even on the least sensitive setting and we have had some problems with the batteries as not looked after well by the previous owners of the vessel and now not holding the charge that goes into the batteries from the engine alternator, the two wind generators and five solar panels).

The morning goes quickly as crew come to visit me at the helm for a chat, to read a book or to catch up on where we are, how many miles to go to our next waypoint, how fast we are going etc. I review my course and sailing angle whilst I look around mesmerised by the flying fishes antics and the huge distance they fly (sometimes over 300 metres). Later on in the morning I spot a pod of about 40 dolphins coming to the bow to great us. I alert the rest of the gang and they come running with their cameras and go-pros to take some pictures and movies of the action. It was a good encounter and everyone was happy with the experience and the photos they took. Later on we saw a Portuguese man of war jelly fish only a few metres from the beam as we flew by at 7.5 knots. At other times we had seen whales, manta rays and many turtles during our travels as well as birds prowling the seas and then darting downwards to occasionally capture a fish on their return from below.

Lunch time has come and Archana has been down in the galley cooking up a storm. She has cooked three different pizzas to match the culinary tastes of the crew on board. I am still at the helm so Archana passes food to me through the small hatch near my feet like a caged animal at the zoo. This is the best way as it is safer and less chance the food will fly off the plate once the wind hits it. I am lucky I have got seconds and now with a drink to keep my fluid levels up as at sea you get dehydrated much more quickly than of land. This is really important to do at sea as it also reduces the effects of sea sickness.

Once I have finished my lunch at the helm I hand over to the next watch keeper in the normal way whilst I review our course, way points on the planning computer below. We have two laptops with charts on them attached to GPS’s so the position of the vessel is automatically placed in the middle of the screen; we also have two plotters with charts linked to GPS signals (at the helm and chart table) as well as a handheld GPS and paper charts, and of course Nick & Colin’s astro positions. So for navigation purposes we are covered. I then get a few hours of rest in our cabin before coming up for dinner and do my 8-12pm shift at the helm.

In the afternoon Archana & Nick decide to have one of their many games of scrabble on the rear deck while other review their pictures and movies on their computer. Phil has taken a break from watching his home movies to bake a loaf of bread in the pressure cooker. It comes out perfectly as usual.

Just after lunch Colin’s $800 fishing reel starts clicking madly alerting all that a fish is on the line, now the challenge is to land it aboard before it wrestles free or breaks the line or bends the hook that has happened a few times to Georges and Colin over the last few weeks. After 10 minutes of reeling in almost 400 metres of line he had landed an almost metre long tiger mackerel, a fish similar to our Spanish mackerel that is caught back in Australian waters. When bringing it on board it has to be killed quickly for two reasons. The first being that you don’t want it escaping; secondly you don’t want it kicking around and doing damage to the boat or crew. Some fish like the barracuda’s have very sharp teeth and Colin has already caught two of them on the trip. So to kill it we have a small baseball bat that I secured at the Polypat yachties flee market when we were there that I picked up for $1. This bat is then used to hit the fish on the head a few times until it stops moving. There is another way that we use is spraying the fishes gills with some cheap vodka we acquired in St Maarten. This kills the fish quickly and humanely. If done to some humans I know they would be in ecstasy just like the ladies in some ancient king’s harem fanning the emperor. After these formalities are attended to then it is important to bleed some fish by cutting its throat so the blood doesn’t go through all the flesh spoiling the meat. Then we need to scale the fish if required as some fish have a smooth skin and have no scales. Then the fish is gutted as any offal remaining inside the fish for any length of time will give the flesh a bitter and unpleasant taste. Then depending on how long the fish is and the type of fish we make a decision about cutting it up (fillets, cutlets or leave whole). Then we make a decision of how to cook and then eat it. In this case we decide to cut it into cutlets and do on the grill and have with lemon and a few spices. So many decisions the stress just kills you! I know you all said this passage making is hazardous.

This makes Colin’s 6th fish. Georges still has none. But wait, I hear someone call Georges you have a fish on your line (no guesses who with that familiar Geeeeeeorges sound). After some apprehensive moments Georges lands his first fish of the trip a very nice yellow fin tuna that we end up having over three meals. Firstly some sashimi some minutes after being caught, then for lunch the following day a lemon and spices cooked Tahitian tuna salad (also known as Ceviche in South America) and for the next evening we had a tuna curry a la French style also courtesy of Georges. So 7 entrées and 14 main courses for the one fish. A good day for the yacht!

Yellow Fin Tuna caught by Georges

We have talked at length of how many fish Colin & Georges have caught but what about anyone else. I have to say the winner of the number of fish caught competition was always going to be the yacht. Hestia has already caught over 20 flying fish and will catch well over 100 fish by the time we get back to Sydney. I have only put my line out a couple of times and the first time had much of my lure bitten off. The errant fish just missing biting my ever awaiting sharp hook. I am claiming half of Georges fish anyway as he used my bike inner tube bungie to catch his fish. This rig is used so that when a fish takes the lure it is not ripped out of his mouth and hence you lose the fish.

When I come up to start my 4 hour watch keeping at 8pm (usually I come up quite a bit before) I review the log on my navigation program, Maxsea, that tells me our hourly position, course, nautical miles covered in the last hour so I get a bit of an indication of our progress and if we have deviated too far off our intended course that might involve a tack or auto helm adjustment to get the yacht back on course. I also look at the grib file which is a weather file that I download from the internet that gives me the predicted weather for the next 16 days in 6 hour increments from the weather bureau before I leave port and on the passages via my satellite phone (wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure etc for the area of the ocean I want the information for). This then allows me to be aware of weather conditions in advance and be prepared for bad conditions or predicted sudden changes. This is in addition to any live or predicted weather information I get over VHF (if I am within the 18nm range), via HF (High Frequency) radio or via email via my satellite phone.

Once I have this information I head up to chat with the current watch keeper about what has happened during his shift before taking over as watch keeper myself. What I usually try to do is to take the bimini down at night as it impairs my view of the sails and the beautiful sky at night. Having done this especially on a clear night like tonight it is amazing. As we are so far away from city lights, smog etc you get such an mesmerising view when looking up to the heavens. You seem to be able to see every star and they are so bright and clear to see. You picture the shapes and try to see the major star clusters. You try to see satellites, planes and keep a watch out for shooting stars. I saw many of these during the night. So you do dream a bit as you keep a watchful eye on the instruments, other vessel movements and weather changes. This is a lovely time being at the helm as the scorching day heat has gone but I am still only in a tee shirt and shorts and one hundred miles off the coast of Columbia. It seems surreal that I am actually here, not an artificial light around, only the rush of water through the two hulls with the occasional splash as the wave behind us catches up with one of the rear hulls and alerts us there is a big wave there by splashing the boat and very occasionally the crew. The coolish breeze is lovely and one of the reasons I pick this time of the day to being up on the bridge to do my share of the watch keeping.

Now we are in Colon at the Shelter Bay Marina (not in a sheltered bay near a marina as one of you miss heard us) awaiting for our date next Tuesday to transit the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to Pacific side (and then nearing sight of home some, well getting nearer anyway, at least in the same sea).

So this is a typical day on the yacht. As you can see there is a bit of everything in the life of a cruising yachtie i.e. relaxing, sleeping, steering, navigation, cooking, eating, having a chat, the marine life experiences, fishing and star gazing etc. Life on board the ship has it all. Enquiries for stay over’s mitt wine & Archie’s special needs meals …. Please speak to Archie.

Now only 7,521nm (about 14,500 kilometres as the crow flies so really quite a bit more) till we are home. Lots of the above to come and we haven’t even mentioned all the exotic places we have seen and yet to see along the way. Stay tuned for our blogs of what really happened in our reckless pursuit of adventure (and fun).

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

The First Month - by Patrick Dwyer

Original Blog posted: Saturday, 11 May 2013

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." Isak Dinesen

Well as most of you know Archana & I bought a catamaran in the Caribbean and left Sydney on the 18th February 2013 to sail it back to Sydney.

We arrived in St Maarten on the 19th Feb after a 53 hour experience from Sydney. We were picked up at the airport by our engineer who was to check the boat out and fit all the extras. He took us to Anse Marcel a quaint little port on the NW side of the French side of the island that you could be forgiven for missing even from 100 metres from the sea entrance. We spent 5 days there living on 54 foot & 40.7 foot Beneteau Oceanis yachts before concluding the handover of our catamaran with the seller. One final thing had to be done by them to fulfil their part of the contract and that was to check the engine leg sail drive seals as water was noticed in the oil on the second survey. Therefore the yacht was taken by one of the staff of the company I was buying the yacht off with me to Polypat boat yard (an hour’s motor away) to be hauled out for a visual inspection. In trying to get the seal off the vendors engineer took a lathe to it and ruined the major part the seal was affixed to and which prevented the yacht being put back into the water. Having ruined the part we were stuck on the hard stand for 3 weeks whilst another part was shipped out from Belgium. So as the 5 crew (an Australian, Englishman, Frenchman & a couple from Zurich) began turning up for this experience of a life time they had to endure walking up a rickety ladder onto the boat for up to 3 weeks before the new part was fitted and then we got into the water with all our new toys fitted to the yacht i.e. 1500 litre per day water maker, AIS, new plotter, battery monitor, SSB/HF radio, BBQ, microwave, a freezer to add to the 3 fridges already on the boat and oven & 3 burners. The galley has 3 sinks with a 4th outside where fish are slaughtered before being devoured sashimi style or cooked. (Archana is in heaven and queen of the galley). We met some nice people there and invited them onto our yacht for dinner a few times over a Presente or Carab the 2 favourite beers over here.

Here at the boat yard we couldn’t use our water as it would create a flood in the yard so we had to have our shower in one open to the world to see at a cost of 1 Euro (in a pay machine) for a 5 minute cold shower that you had to keep pressing the button during those 5 minutes to keep the water flow coming. I am thinking of putting the same system in at home to get Archana to cut her 45 minute showers down. Here we could both have our showers within the 5 minute time limit which was an all time first. The secret is to now to get her from using 100 litres of water to clean her teeth on the yacht where the two biggest daily issues are power & water usage. The toilet also was an experience in Polypat.

Whilst we were in the ship yard at Polypat we hired a car for 3 weeks that allowed us to see the island, buy things for the yacht including a mountain of food (thousands of dollars worth including 150 litres of long life milk). The crew on our boat must be the most well fed around with Archana’s quality food the crew have also had sorbet, ice cream and several days of smoked salmon for lunch, pancakes, homemade yogurt & pressure cooker made bread. All really yummy. It doesn’t look as though the diet I thought I would be on during this trip will eventuate.

On other purchases two of the crew bought kayaks each so they can have a paddle around in some of the bucket list of places we are visiting. They have had a few places to test them out and others have had a play with them as well.

With the French capital of Margiot only a few minutes walk away we had the opportunity to visit the famous markets there with Archana once again being in her element bargaining with the fish sellers as well as the spice merchants where we made a big spend for the trip. One of the crew doesn’t like spicy food so Archana has been making bland offering to him which he seems happy with. How boring!!!!.

So finally we were off and my first mission was to navigate our new acquisition through the Polypat bridge with wind and current hindering me and being forced to go through the narrow opening at 5 knots to keep my course knowing I only had 2 foot either side. This task was made even more difficult with everyone taking movies and photos and asking me to smile at the worst possible moment. I got through with no mishap which was a blessing as it would have spoiled my year if I had ended up like a Catana 47 catamaran that the owner bailed out at the last minute and did $100,000+of damage to the yacht. This yacht was being repaired 2 boats along from us when we were on the Polypat hard stand and only 150 metres from the bridge. In the time we were in the boat yard we had a bird’s eye view to the many near misses of catamarans going through when the bridge opened 3 times a day.

So we were off and the 1st night we spent 200 metres off the beach at Anse Marcel in a bit of déjà vu considering the dramas that emanated there. The following morning we were off to St Barts, Colin one of the crew caught his first fish, we saw dolphins, turtles and a nude French man who passed us in his catamaran, had a nice lunch, swim and afternoon at a lovely little island near St Barts before entering the main harbour there with multimillion dollar yacht all around. My favourite was a 3 mast mono hull. Each mast was the same height and it had 18 hydraulically controlled sails that covered any space above deck on the whole of this 55-60 metre yacht. We visited the township and completed our formalities before returning to our yacht by tender and had a swim before dinner and the mandatory drinks (for in port use only).

Over the next few days we visited St Kitts, Portsmouth in Dominica (a great yachties place where we visited Indian River where Pirates of the Caribbean was shot, walks through rainforest, bought a hand of bananas with over 120 bananas on it for less than $5 but now we have the mission to eat them all considering they are all expected to ripen at the same time etc) then onto Tobago Cays which was what I expected all of the Caribbean to be about with the marine iguanas, so many turtles, sting rays and lots of other fish in this tranquil setting that Archana said she could spend a week there. They even had the boat boys come around with fresh baguettes and lobsters for sale to cruisers. We then left there for Grenada (the isle of spice) where you see so many waterfalls over the island and every town seems to have at least 10 spice stalls by the side of the road. We were sorry we went on the tour of the island on Good Friday as the rum distillery was closed. They must have known we were coming!!!!

On the way to Dominica we saw a few dolphins and a humpback whale looking over her calf doing 100 or so tail slaps to the delight of Archana & I and the other 5 crew. During the trip thus far I have had a number of new foods not experienced before i.e. Jamaican apple, fresh tamarind and chickoo (sapodillos).

Now I am writing this on the way to Bonaire some 400 nm from Granada. The wind has been right behind us all the way so have been doing it easily with just the headsail out but still averaging over 6 knots but peaking at 12.7 knots with 2 reefs in the headsail and no main sail. Colin caught his 3rd fish yesterday morning, a 90cm barracuda that we had for lunch an hour later. I was amazed how good eating it was as it is something I have never eaten before as you never see it at the fish shops. Yesterday we went within 1 metre of running over a huge turtle at 6 knots. He, fortunately for both of us, turned at just the right moment giving us a fright and also an experience. I saw my 1st Portuguese Man-War today. A huge marine stinger (about the size of a large coke bottle) with colourful sail. So many flying fish that are buzzing our boat constantly along with the birds dive bombing them with occasional success. On the Grenada to Bonaire leg we experienced our first gale as the wind hit 35 knots and 3 metre seas. On most of the other passages we were sailing close hauled with the wind so variable especially when coming out from the leeward side of the islands and into the open passages between the islands.

On the less than 3 day passage to Bonaire we had two days of up to 36 knot winds so it was nice to finally see land and moor up 50 metres off the main road in the capital in 5m of water on top of a coral reef where I have already had a few dives. One thing I am still getting used to is the heat. Unrelenting 30+ degrees every day. On one day I actually got burnt before 9am. Colin caught his 4th and 5th fish another barracuda & a tuna.

So the plan from now is to leave for Panama on Friday night (5th April) 5 days to do the 740nm passage, 4 days to wait to get through Panama, 5 days to get to Galapagos, 8 days there then say 21 days to get to the Marquesas. This is the best estimate I can give at this stage as so many variables to deal with.

Thank you to those of you wishing us your best via Archana’s regular blog and to others send emails etc.

Until the next update from me. Archana will still be keeping you enthralled with her perspective on the big trip on her regular updates on her blog. Only 8285nm (nautical miles i.e. almost double for kilometres) till we are home

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Bonaire

Original Blog posted: 7th May 2013

A calm settled in as we woke up in Bonaire. After breakfast and a change of buoys we dinghied to the nearest jetty to complete the immigration and customs formalities. Colin once again opted to be the Cinderella and stay behind while the rest of us headed to the land.

Unfortunately after the two minutes dinghy ride and a 15 minute walk to the Immigration and Customs office, we were told that they needed to see all our faces in the office. So Patrick went back to get Colin while I completed the paperwork and the rest explored the nearby tourist info desk.

The place was abuzz with tourists from a massive cruise ship that had arrived in the morning. Markets and special info desks had been set up just for these people.

The Customs officer was pleasant and processed us quickly however we had to wait for the Immigration person to arrive. After almost 45 minutes we had the immigration officer in his full uniform, gun and handcuffs in the office. Meanwhile Patrick had gone back and forth to the dinghy dock twice because on the first occasion he forgot to the take the dinghy keys.

After all the drama the Immigrations officer matched the faces of the available crew and their passport and stamped all the passports without bothering with the missing two - Patrick and Colin. You can imagine the disappointment when they got to the office within a couple of minutes of this happening.

Back on the boat we had a quick lunch of shallow fried Tuna (caught the previous day) with rice. During lunch we realised that we did not have to go too far or dive to see the dynamic sea world, it was alive and active right underneath our boat. The Yellow Submarine Scuba shop across the road (50 meters from the boat) used this spot for their training facility and night dives for this very reason.

The afternoon for Patrick and I involved the usual running of errands, finding or trying to find various solutions for the yacht's problems, such as a fix for the batteries, fix for the wind generator that we almost lost earlier etc....

It was a great feeling for Patrick and I, as we sat for dinner that night with a glass of wine watching a magnificent sunset.

The plan for the next day was to pay the fees for the marine park, refuel the dinghy canister and check batteries, gas bottles, options for refuelling gas, find new sheet for topping lift etc....

On day three we decided to hire a scooter and tour around the island. This was being tourist and I loved this day in Bonaire the most.

The day started with haggling for price with the scooter rental. We had a late start as we had run few more errands earlier in the day. The only scooter available to hire was dilapidated and the indicators on this scooter, the fuel tank and the speed gauges did not work.

Anyhow it was a workable option and off we went. The views were beautiful in the town area but as we left they got breathtaking. For this I leave you with the pictures.

Once again the colours of the water were amazing and the road signs indicated divers crossing.

We were riding towards the northwest of the island from Kranjedl where the boat was moored. The island was a thin strip of land and we had to almost do a "U" turn and start heading down south. We did not see any flamingos at the first potential spot and at the next town centre (if you should call it) we bumped into Phil and Sibylle. There was a small Chinese shop across the town church with a large tree in the middle of the roundabout. The Chinese owner and his partner had been living here and running the shop cum restaurant for 4 years.

Now we had Phibylle for company on their scooter and and as we left the town we saw some wild donkeys. The landscape was as vivid as anticipated. Although the flamingos were out of season we were told that we might see some in certain areas. The white sand, the blue and green hues of water, the tall cacti and houses that looked like ranches from a western movie, had we seen the flamingos it would have added the pink dots to complete the scene. Phibylle had taken a slightly different route to the south via the salt pans and spotted some earlier and also down the south. We missed out again. There were Indian (feathered not dotted) colonies and engravings. There were windmills that added the modern touch.

We stopped for a quick drink at another Chinese owned supermarket and I was in heaven as I found bunches of fresh coriander.

At this stage I did not realise that the best was yet to come. As we went further south we saw the huge salt pans that added more shades of pink and white to the landscape.

The white salt mound almost looked like mini snow covered hills. The drive was narrow and scenic with some old structures, a light house and more coral covered beaches.

At one point we stopped to see these little houses that seemed to have been built for Lilliputians with a tin door in the front facing the ocean and a small window at the back. The map indicated this as a historic spot and the old plaque hardly legible talked about the story of the salt slaves that were brought to work on these salt pans. Theses little structures were where these salt slaves could store their personal belongings and sleep to shelter them from the large waves and the wind during the nights. They looked spartan and sad.

We also stopped by a kite surfing location with drink stalls and a street sign offering lion fish burgers for sale.

To the southern most point we stopped at a beach whichever had 4 different options 3 for the tourists and one for the locals. We stopped at the least crowded spot popular with the locals for a drink and watched the windsurfers in action.

It was now time to head back as the plan was to clear Immigrations at the close of business and set sail early next day.

After a quiet dinner we cooked and froze a few more dinners for underway as the next passage was anticipated to take us between 6 and 8 days. We were heading off to Colon on the Atlantic side of Panama at the Shelter Bay Marina until we could cross the Canal.

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

The toughest yet!

"Difficulties are things that show a person what they are." Epictetus



Original blog posted: 19th April 2013

We left Grenada on Easter Saturday at the crack of dawn. The anticipated travel time to Bonaire was 3 days to cover the 430nm at an average of 6kts.

For breakfast we had a fresh papaya with lime juice, the usual cereals, bread and jam.

As we left, the yacht appeared to be moving differently and I started feeling a bout of sea-sickness, the worst experienced so far. Two dinners for underway had already been prepared, a bologna sauce by Georges for Sunday night and a chilli con crane by Patrick for the following night. Despite the sea sickness I was hell bent on preparing an Indian Pea (mutter) Pulao for dinner that night. The combination of the motion sickness and the heat in the galley finally resulted in the worst thing that can happen in these situations.....I ended up on the leeward side emptying my breakfast overboard. Patrick, kind husband that he is, ran frantically from the bridge (after hearing a blood curdling cry of Paaaartrickkkkkk) and came by my side to assist with some water and bucket and reprimanding me at the same time for very elagantly leaning with head through the safety wires outside the yacht rather than using a bucket. Patrick had heard of people losing balance and ending up overboard carrying out this behaviour.

A breeze of fresh air cooled down my face and I felt a bit better. As I focused on the horizon, Phil and Sibylle who were at the bow sounded excited and when I looked down, I saw the most amazing sea-creature ever, a sea turtle that was at least 5 feet long was swimming close by our port side in the opposite direction and only managing to get out of the way of the yacht at the very last moment. All the excitement and elation took away my thoughts of the motion sickness for the time being.

We also counted our blessings that the turtle was on the side and not directly under the boat as he could have done some serious damage to the boat and himself.

Georges helped me with keeping an eye on the pulao that was now cooking by itself n a pressure cooker. Phil and Sibylle prepared the lunch platter while I continued fighting the motion sickness in the interim.

It was recommended that at this stage that I start taking the tablets and give up on the acupressure bands, ginger and other natural remedies. I noticed Phil and Sibylle were also fighting motion sickness in their own way but I was not yet ready to take the pill (sea sickness pill that is).

In the late afternoon I made another attempt at cooking and made a coconut curry (kokam kadhi) to go with the pulao for the dinner. But I felt drained at the end of it.

Many years ago in 1997 I had sailed in a tall ships race from Okinawa to Osaka. My memories of that trip are varied and distinct. The worst one about being permanently sea-sick, wrenching my guts out while being harnessed and tethered to the leeward side of the boat. Going down to the bunks with round portholes with the view of the water level half covering the porthole it felt like being tumbled in a washing machine. This feeling would make me extremely ill and hence for the later half of the trip I only slept (more like lying half-dead) in the saloon area of that boat with people eating around me and talking about me. However this was far better than being tumbled in the dry washing machine downstairs.

As result of this memory I wanted to sleep on the back deck in the open with some fresh air covered with a beach towel and another rolled up towel under my neck to support the head. When Patrick finished his shift at mid-night he checked on me and tried to convince me to sleep inside or in the cabin.

By inside he meant the saloon, but this would be occupied by Colin, who was happy to sleep out side the cabin even though he could have shared with either Georges or Nick when underway. (In port Colin either slept outside under the hard bimini, on the trampoline, in the pod, in the saloon or even in 2 single cabins in the fore peak. Lots of options here!

So I slept on the lounge outside and Patrick went to our cabin downstairs. Despite the 3 meter tall waves and the speed of the wind my tired body was rocked to sleep by the movement of the boat. Peace at last........

Like a nightmare I was woken up by the feeling of drowning with salt water rushing down my ears and my nose. This wasn't really happening, no it was a dream, no I was awake and it was real. I was gasping for air, the towel covering me was soaking wet and so was the one under me. My clothes and my hair were wet and finally after what seemed like forever I was able to breathe. What would have probably been a few seconds had summed up my life for me with the thought that if we were drowning I should have been next to my Patrick. (The violin has started playing)!!!!!

It took a while for me to gather my thoughts and senses and realise that a stray wave of unusual height had hit the aft of the boat and the water splashed up to water log me. The wave had been tall enough to soak Georges who was on the bridge (3m above the sea level) on night watch while Patrick rested.

Once I realised that I was alive and the boat was okay I collected myself and walked down to our cabin. I have never slept on the aft lounge since. I know if something terrible was to happen (god forbid) I would rather die next to my man. (Is there a violin playing again?!!!!!!)

When I went down to the cabin and curled up next to my Patrick in my soaking wet attire and sop story, Patrick just laughed, called me a drama queen and asked me to go to sleep. He also told me off for coming to bed in wet clothes. Too old for wet dreams!!!!

The next day when I narrated the story to the crew at breakfast, Patrick laughed once again and mimicked playing a violin. Wicked man.

Day 2 of this passage and motion- sickness continued. Another session of projectile vomiting and yet again overboard on the leeward side. Old habits die hard. What was the crew briefing about at the start of the trip? No leaning over the side feeding the fish.

This was the turning point when I decided that I would start taking Dramamine - the tablet to cure motion sickness. So when Phil offered me one I gladly accpeted. Hallelujah! Why had I resisted this so far? 4 hours later I was fighting fit.

The winds kept getting stronger (to over 40 knots) and waves higher (to 5 metres), the motion sickness returned as the effects of the tablet started wearing off. I took another one before going to bed and had a good night's sleep in our cabin on a bed that was still wet from the previous night.

The tablets were miraculous! I had started taking 2 per day at breakfast and dinner. (Pill popper!!!!)

On day 3 Georges recommended a stop for a late lunch stop at some small islands that belonged to Venezuela, known as the "Islas Los Roques" (islands of the rocks) - we decide to stop at Cayo de Agua. This was deemed as a good suggestion by most of us except Patrick (as this would mean that we travelled into shallow waters where the wave height increased and the wind just got stronger). We all looked forward to a relaxed meal in a beautiful serene bay with magnificent views. We even caught a fish as we got closer. From a distance the islands looked enticing but as we got closer the birds started making lot more noise and led us into thinking that they wanted us to leave their home and go away. The wind got stronger. I was sitting upstairs with Patrick on the bridge under the effect of Dramamine (my friend), enjoying the colour of the beautiful water that looked like someone had dropped a bucket of indigo in it. There were thousands of white caps indicating the ocean getting rough eras we got closer.

The decision to stop here had been made in the middle of the night. Gorges had recommended this place but of course covered himself by saying that it was a recommendation only and the final decision would be Patrick's as skipper. The guide books had warned against approaching these islands both for the safety of the area naturally and politically. Patrick had given into pressure not just for Georges but also for me. It would be another 18 hours to Bonaire and even a short break would have been good for my spirits.

Within a nautical mile of reaching the shores of the island, the apparent wind hit 34 knots and the speed of the boat being 6-7 knots we were in a 40 knot area. Patrick was handling the boat manually and finding it hard to steer and just as we were about to make a decision to turnaround we heard a loud clunk. It was in the middle of the day and fortunately all the crew were on the deck in the anticipation of land. The wind generator on the starboard had just given in to the wind and almost fallen off the boat. Fortunately 3 pairs of strong hands - Colin, Phil & Georges held it to prevent it falling into the water. One of the supports for the wind generator had come adrift from it's support and pulled the 4 screws out from t the deck that took all the wind generators support away apart from the base. As a result with the strong winds also pulling against the main support of the wind generator, the generator and its pole headed towards the sea. This reflected some poor workmanship in Saint Maarten by our highly paid team who forgot to properly ensure that the wind generator supporting arm bolt went right through the support to its mounting.

Losing a brand new generator would not only have been expensive but also impacted on how much power we generated each day. The solar panels were good for the sunny days but the two wind generators did their job on windy days and at night.

After securing the generator temporarily Patrick wanted to head off to Bonaire without stopping here but was convinced by Colin and Georges to halt at the neighbouring island to strengthen the fix and to have a quick check of the engine bilges to see why the bilge alarm had been going off at odd occasions during the night.

We anchored near the shore to see a very scary looking island full of rocks and birds, no sand, no trees, clear water but no fish The break was anything but peaceful. After a quick bite the boys got to work looking at the two problems on hand. We had planned to have a quick refreshing dip there but the current was so strong that no one dipped in the water.

Within a couple of hours after doing the absolute minimum, we left this god forsaken place with a promise of never to return.

The moment we were outside the bay in deeper water things looked better and the navigation program indicated an early arrival in Bonaire that night making it a 2.5 day trip to do 430nm which was a good effort as we had only sailed with an average of one reef in the headsail for the whole trip. This soared our spirits once again. As per the original plan we should have reached here at day break the next day morning but despite an effort to slow down we were here at 2am. Patrick was at the helm and Nick still up to assist with mooring. But it seemed that we had run out of mooring buoys. We moved from one anchorage to another and finally ended up using what seemed like someone's private buoy in a water in just over two meters deep. It was a chance we had to take at that hour. I barely slept until the daybreak and was pleased to see the sunrise and a small town waking up on the port side just a splash or two away. We had woken up safe in Bonaire.

After breakfast when everyone was up we found another pair of mooring buoys in the proper anchorage just 400 metres away.

We were amongst a number of big and expensive yachts just 50 metres from The Yellow Submarine one of the local scuba shops which had it's own wharf that we used many times during our stay in this barren and dry island that is the home of the pink flamingo and the majority of the south of the island is devoted in the production of salt. They probably export cactus's as they are just everywhere. Even the fences are made of hundreds of catcus cut off's.

All of us had been looking forward to Bonaire in the ABC islands and it was going to be a few days of R&R and fun!

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Grenada

Original blog post on - 14th April 2013

The last of the West Indies.

It was only 45 nautical miles from Tobago Cays to Grenada and with the favourable wind behind us for most of the way we once again had to slow down sailing with reefed headsail only to ensure we reached there at the break of dawn rather than having to anchor in the dark if we had travelled there with full sails.

Once again it was a reasonably flat and non rolly bay for our anchorage that was amongst a few other yachts just outside the main commercial harbour in 5 metres of water. Facing the bow was a huge volcanic rock and a beach that looked like it had volcanic sand (almost black) gone was the beautiful white sand from the beaches on Tobago Cays.

We could see the working harbour about one kilometre away on the left hand side and we knew about the Port Louis Marina on the right hand side that existed beyond the rock formation based on the guide books and the navigational program we were using. This is where a few super yachts as well as many other cruising yachts similar to ours were berthed.

After breakfast six of us got into the dinghy to head to Port Louis Marina. Colin stayed on the boat to catch up on some much needed sleep having done the graveyard shift from 12am to 2pm.

Despite some confusing and wrong information given to us, once at the marina we were easily able to locate the customs and immigration office to complete our entry requirements into Grenada. Once again in a cricket loving country, the immigration officer, young Sheldon was eager to talk about cricket. As the skipper Patrick was required for signing the documents but as per previous ports I completed the forms seeing I had made myself his personal assistant attending to all ship paperwork. (Just to inform you Hestia is not officially a yacht or a vessel or even a boat but a "ship" registered with the Australian registrar of ships via our international registration of the yacht and not just a NSW registration since it has now been transferred off the French registry of marine vessels). With both Patrick & I present there, Sheldon started his conversation with a loaded question "so you are from India and he is from Australia, so how did the household cope when India beat Australia 4-Nil in the recent test series?" Neither of us knew about this test series but we played along anyway. Patrick pleaded that he did not understand cricket (tongue in cheek) and I laughed. Sheldon launched on his cricket expertise about how the young Indian team with the likes of Kohli and Avinaash was much better than the old Australian team that needed some new blood and revamp. This while there were 4 other skippers waiting outside the office in the heat to get their clearance!

After a pleasurable conversation and a lot of time in this 2 person sized office we departed as now having officially arrived in Grenada.

It was our first day there but as always Patrick and I had a list of tasks to achieve including buying some more groceries and fresh fruit. One of the main reasons for coming to Grenada was in a slim hope that we may be able to find another LPG gas bottle for the galley that we had not been able to secure in St Maarten or elsewhere along the way.

Mind you this was on a Thursday (day) before Good Friday. The shops would be closed the next day and although we might be able to get things on Saturday we were planning on leaving Saturday evening latest.

It was a day of mixed success, we managed to walk from Port Louis Marina to the town. On the way there we found a decent supermarket, no luck with the gas bottles and a market where we bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables including some local fruit for the crew to taste.

After a quick break for some young coconut water, the Indian way, we headed back and managed to get a ride in the local transport buses at $1 (Eastern Caribbean) per person. This was a 17 person mini-bus that had about 25 passengers and two crew (driver and ticket seller) cramped in it like a can of sardines....including the smell. Patrick was sitting in the single passenger seat in the front of the bus when a very oversized lady put her arm out to get a lift. I looked in the back and it was crammed already and wondered where this person was going to fit. The bus conductor opened Patrick's door and in moved this giant of a lady pushing Patrick almost onto the lap of the driver and hindering him from using the gears. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

We then got off at the Supermarket and did a big shop, the tough bit was carrying it back to the marina where we had the other crew waiting for us with the dinghy.

We then found a local baker in the Marina complex, an elderly couple from South Africa that reminded you of elderly couples that you read in a fairy tales, hardworking people, proud of their product leading a simple but complete life spreading joy where they can.

We ordered 24 Hot Cross Buns to be picked up in the late afternoon that we could enjoy on Good Friday and hopefully over the Easter Weekend.

Back on the boat, Colin caught trevally was devoured for lunch and we headed back to the marina to get the laundry done and pick up the hot cross buns. Unfortunately there was no coin laundry at this marina and so a decision was made to go by dinghy to the yacht club across the pier after picking up the buns to source options for both laundry and wifi facilities.

The yacht club (RGYC) reminded me of the CYC back in Mumbai a colonial style building with traces of bygone glory and fabulous location and views. Dusty flags from other yacht clubs around the world hung in lines from the ceiling. Unfortunately we were too late for laundry but we were assured that there would be someone there first thing tomorrow if we returned in the morning. While Georges accessed internet he bought me a gin & tonic. Phil, Sibylle and Colin went looking for some tourist information in the meanwhile.

I noticed an interesting and reasonably priced menu here and a mental decision was made to bring the crew back for an Easter treat for dinner that night.

Although the menu for dinner did not match the menu on the board seen earlier in the day, it turned out to be a pleasant evening for all a we sat on the yacht club terrace and enjoyed the Caribbean meal with either fish or chicken options. We had a few drinks and finishing it all with some local ice cream.

Good Friday was a day for seeing the island with almost all official business closed. We had booked a taxi for 5 of us for a 6 hour tour from 10am. The taxi and the rate had been confirmed the previous night via email at US$20 person, total $100 for a 6 hour job. The fellow had been happy to accept our business but seemed disgruntled when he picked us up in the morning, partly because we were late and partly because he had realised that a cruise liner with its wealthy passengers had arrived in the morning and he could have made 50% more money on the same tour. Sadly this set the tone of the tour and although we saw some interesting areas on the day and managed a beautiful walk to Concord falls as a guide he provided us with no commentary on the area and all the conversation revolved around money and time. Not enjoyable at all.

Our most interesting visit for the day was a moderate grade bush walk to the Seven Sisters Falls of which we only saw the Concord Falls. The water fall was amazing or so Patrick tells me but I refused to jump in the water with over 50 local teenagers hosting a barbecue and a day of get-together to meet the local girls. the kids were brave to say the least as they climbed the slippery rocks and got to the top of the falls about 18 meters high and jumped into it.

I found it a bit intimidating to strip to my bathers with all the local boys scanning the foreigners. Just as we were leaving a group of American teenagers arrived with their local tour guides and jumped onto the pool. They were about 10 of them and I wished they had arrived earlier.

Also being a Good Friday we missed out on the rum distillery and nutmeg factory which were both closed due to public holiday.

We viewed a lake created by a meteoroid that had unique eco-system.

We finally managed to buy a second hand 10 pound fibreglass gas bottle from one of the local convenience stores at the marina that was almost full of gas and they accepted our offer that represented a good discount off the new price. So whilst not the size we originally wanted it was at least enough gas to get us to Panama where hopefully we will be able to purchase a larger gas container especially for the big passage from Galapagos to the Marquesas in French Polenesia some 6,000 kilometres away that we plan to sail in under 3 weeks. This is one of, if not the longest passage in world cruising.

Back at the boat Patrick swam 400 metres to the beach with the black sand and volcanic rocks jutting out from the sea floor. Colin was kind enough to ferry me in the dinghy to the shore to meet up with the others. This beach was full of local kids playing cricket, football and practicing karate or some sort of martial arts. Nick and Georges swam there as well. It was a lovely evening with a beautiful sunset.

Dinner was pasta (ghackets und hoerndli mit oephelmues) i.e. minced beef with horn shaped pasta and apple sauce by the Swiss couple. The crew rating was "delicious!". I had the vegetarian version and it very good too. We finished off the meal with some Swiss chocolate.

It was a pleasant break in Grenada and we had an early night in preparation of the early start for one of the tough legs anticipated. We were heading for Bonaire around 420 nm away the next day with anticipated 20-25 knots wind conditions according to the grid file Patrick downloaded from his Maxsea navigation software.

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Now this is PARADISE

Original Blog post - 13th April 2013

Tobago Cays!

We had to delay our arrival until early light into Tobago Cays. The entrance to the anchorage was tricky and with sudden changes to the ocean depth level and existence of reef it made it preferable to anchor in daylight. After all that we were anchored in only 3 meters of water.

I had been suffering from slight effects of sea sickness the night before and was woken up by the sounds of the anchor chains rumbling. The stillness of the water rid my sick feeling and I was out on the deck to find us in the middle of paradise.

There were a few boats in the anchorage but what was amazing was that we were surrounded by Robinson Crusoe style islands white sands, empty beaches, green mountains and no sign of human beings. Now this had to be rectified. The turtles were visible and very inviting. Following the Swiss couple Phil and Sibylle, Patrick and I changed into our bathers and hoped into the water.....oh yes.... There were turtles and plenty of them as well as stingrays and a multitude of other marine life.

We swam across to the nearest island and found a small path that lead us to the top of the mound availing us with amazing views of the aqua marine waters and other islands and atolls. On the way back we saw a turtle crossing the path and then many big marine iguanas sunbathing. One actually posed for Patrick.

I swam back to get breakfast ready. It was still too early for breakfast but we had a visit from a floating hawker selling fresh baguettes at US $15 each.

Few more vendors passed us including a lobster seller and then came the marine park rangers to charge the fees for the use of this reserve.

It was one of the most relaxing days we have had by far since our adventure began in February.

After a breakfast of fresh blueberry pancakes, some went kayaking and the others swimming or snorkelling. You did not need to dive to see the wonders of the ocean here. The water was so clear and still. It was bliss!

After a relaxing afternoon we decided to leave this paradise, the aim was to leave early while still light and head towards Grenada. Dinner was a spinach quiche that was planned for whilst we were underway.

I know we all would have loved staying here for another day, hell no, another week. But we had to go now.

Just as we left the protected nature reserve, Colin got his fishing line out and even before sunset we had caught our 2nd trevally of the trip!

Since dinner had already been cooked the trevally would have to wait in the fridge until Grenada the following day.

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Dominica

Blog posted originally on 3rd April 2013

Arriving in Dominica on a late Saturday afternoon, we were pleasantly surprised by a simple village and a calm anchorage. The boat boys welcomed us offering tours and other services. After a late lunch at 4pm on the boat we decided to stay here until Tuesday morning to explore the local sulphur springs, hikes in the rainforest, Indian River etc....

We also needed to refill one of our gas bottles. The boat came with two tiny 4.5 kg gas bottles each. With cooking for 7 people even with just one hot meal per day, we consumed these quickly. Patrick wanted to buy 2 x 20 pound fibreglass gas bottles (9 kilos each) for our big crossings but the supplier seemed to be having problems and these had vanished from all of the Caribbean.

It rained on Saturday night and washed the salt of the boat, cooled the atmosphere and brought about a change of mood for all. Dominica was a refreshing change after St Kitts. We started our tour on Sunday morning with a couple hours paddle in the Indian River, parts of it reminded me of the backwaters of Kerala and the other parts reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean....well, they did shoot some parts of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean - Calypso in this region and our guide was more than proud to highlight these areas.

Later in the afternoon we went for a small hike accompanied by our guide Winston. He informed us of the flora and fauna of the region......surprisingly most of the flora was again common to my native land of Malvan in India. Tamarind, chickoos (sapodillas), breadfruit, mangoes, papayas, Jamaican Apples (Jaam), coconuts etc...but there were also, avocados, coffee trees, cocoa and nutmeg trees that I had never seen before. The hike took us through a rainforest and we heard the song (call) of the local parrots that are a national symbol of the country. The Jaca and Sisserou, could be heard but not seen. The Syndicate waterfalls, the highlight of the hike were impressive but the heavy rains killed any opportunity of good photos.

Monday was full of daily chores, hand washing laundry, preparing dinners in advance for the trip and completing the formalities as the office had been closed since we arrived on a Saturday afternoon or so we thought. To our surprise the officer was not impressed that we had not officially registered on Sunday. We informed him that we had been mislead by our guide book and he accepted it. As the conversation lead to cricket, Shane Shillingford and the recent test match between Zimbawe and West Indies where the Windies had walloped the Africans, the mood relaxed and all our documents were cleared with a smile. Here in the West Indies being an Indian from the land of Sachin Tendulkar had an advantage!

This day also included a quick visit o the markets to buy some local fruit and vegetable including a hand of bananas that would ripe gradually over the next few days ensuring some sort of fresh fruit supply while underway.

Once again after an early dinner we set asail for our next destination Tobago Cays. An opportunity to swim with the turtles was promised by Nick the English man who had visited the region earlier.

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

St Baart & St Kitts - 3rd April 2013

 

Ile Fourchue

This little bay of Ile Fourchue had some turtles swimming in it and the grey pelicans frequently diving for fish. This was a protected natural reserve and we had to ensure no fishing lines were visible while in these waters.

St Baart's (St Barthelemy)

After a lovely break and a yummy lunch, we sailed to the rich island of St Baart's (St Barthelemy). What a contrast to the poor cousin St Maarten? This French owned isle was filled with expensive boutiques and beautiful cars! There was no sign of poverty and the architecture would have fooled you in believing that you were in St Tropez. Well you were in the St Tropez of the Caribbean!



We anchored on the bay for the night as we watched the house (bay) turtle do his rounds. We were surrounded by various yachts that indicated the metropolitan mix of this area. Despite all the super rich yachts, my favourite was our neighbour.....a Chinese Junk boat - rusty, poor looking and proud, it had a look of a spy vessel. But life was good, you could smell the rice being cooked on it.

We travelled by our dinghy the next morning to visit the island and also complete the immigration process for St Baart's.

St Kitts (St Christopher)

That evening after an early dinner, we headed off for St Kitts (St Christopher). Although not on our original itinerary the decision was weather enforced.

As we approached the island late evening, we could see and smell back-burning. When we turned around the corner the wind dropped so the last patch of sailing (motoring into wind) took forever. We arrived in St Kitts anchorage (or what we thought was the anchorage late hours past mid-night). Tired and weary all we wanted to do was anchor and go off to sleep. The anchorage looked surprisingly vacant. No other yachts were visible and with the night vision the area across seemed like a working dock. We had gone past an anchored cruise liner earlier and wondered if that should have been the anchorage but our guide book indicated otherwise. It was too late turn around and we were too tired so we put up our "Q" flag indicating we are in the process of entering the country and completing the formalities if immigration and customs (these would have to wait until the morning as the offices would be closed at this late hour). The general feeling was to avoid a late arrival in the future.

The anchorage had a lot of swell (large sea waves) rolling the boat all night. I could barely sleep as it felt wrong. Just wrong to be there!

I woke up at the first light to see a very un-impressive industrial looking town in aft and we were facing the working dock in the fore as anticipated the previous night.

After breakfast, 5 of us got ready to visit this ugly looking town....country. We headed in our yellow dinghy to the work men's jetty as indicated in the guide book.

Leaving Phil & Sibylle with the dinghy (we had heard about dinghy thefts in the region) we made our way as indicated by the workers to the customs office. A smart lady officer in impeccable English advised us that we were in the wrong bay and although she could assist us a bit, we were better off going to the other side of the cruise liner where there was a marina and both the customs and immigration formalities as well as the port paperwork would be completed.

This was not the Caribbean island we were anticipating. An artificial facade welcomed us to blairing music, bars and souvenir shops, the place was full of overweight tourists, with orange skin from the 2 cruise liners anchored at the bay.

We had to stop at a bar to access internet by using their complimentary Wifi service.....this bar was in the annex of a casino, selling US $3 alcoholic smoothies at 11 in the morning with Asian crew from the cruise liners smoking like chimneys while they communicated with friends and family back home.

At the Customs and immigration office I saw my first set of carbon paper after almost 3 decades. Not self-carbonated paper, but actual blue carbon paper that had to be stapled between 3 copies of the same form. Do they still make them? After previous two islands of St Maarten and St Baart's where the process was computerised (simple & straight-forward) check-in and check-out, we found this a bit Neanderthal. To see the senior customs officer supervising her 2 staff while she read a novel in the background reminded me of the Indian government offices of the 70s.

Formalities completed, we headed off to the real world of St Kitts...simple, poor people. Patrick and I had a quick stop at the supermarket (another establishment owned by the Indians) called Ram's. No dearth of Indian pickles (Mother's Choice and Bedekars), spices etc...here. After the grocery shopping we went back to the boat and had a quick lunch. While Patrick and the rest went on a sight seeing tour, I stayed on the boat for some "me" time.

Again after early dinner we headed off to Dominica (for the cricket fans, this is the country of Shane Shillingford).

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Grocery shopping for the trip of a life time! - originally posted May 2013

“You can’t change the direction of the wind but you can adjust the sails to reach your destination.” – Anon

Shopping for 8 individuals sailing on a boat with nowhere to go! I was preparing for a big trip - not on the land but on an ocean where there could be days or weeks before we could see land. The luxury of making a quick run to pick-up a missing ingredient – impossible!

The airline training (I used to be a flight attendant for an international airline based in Hong Kong for 9 years) had prepared me for the worst case scenario of being on a raft in the middle of the ocean without any help within 48 hours. I thought an education in Home Science (nutrition) and Hotel Management, experience in hotels and overall a love for food had prepared me for this day!! HA!……………….HA!

The maximum people we would have on board was eight people (including Patrick & myself) and a minimum three on any given sector but in total there were 14 personalities - people from different cultures, eating habits and backgrounds. Some seasoned sailors and other novices that did not even know if they would suffer from motion sickness!

The only off-shore experience I had was on Ji Fung (Outward Bound Tall Ship from Hong Kong in 1997), it had taught me what it was to crave for a certain food when you are sea-sick, home-sick or just sick of the same food being served to you day-in and day-out. A sense of smell has the strongest memory and to this date I can remember the smell of fried spam for breakfast and my stomach that had settled overnight wanting to revolt all over again. I still have these thoughts.

As a result, I prepared a survey and as people confirmed their trip with us, they were requested to complete my survey so that I could prepare for every possibility and plan for the trip.

The intention was that we could have every person’s favourite food (if possible) on board in some form so I could surprise them…..BIG MISTAKE! But I will talk about this later.

As the survey forms started returning my heart started sinking!

Patrick - probably the most no m-fuss person I know when it comes to food but he can be pedantic about health food to the extent of gruelling restaurant staff about the origin of the fish being served or butter, lard, white flour and sugar being added to his food.

Archana – Indian & practising Hindu - I on the other hand have no hang-ups about cooking but am restricted to seafood and chicken in my diet. But on a Saturday I am a strict vegetarian (not even eggs) and absolutely no alcohol (I only abstain on Saturdays and some other religious days).

Nick - The English man could not eat curry! His 3 favourite spices were salt, pepper and nutmeg! Anything else he was allergic to! A hot Indian Curry was definitely not on his choice of menu. Later during the trip he even claimed that turmeric gave him stomach ache. Turmeric the most healing and anti inflammatory food.

Georges - The French Man did not want any garlic or onion or wine in his food! Did you ask me if he was French? 100%

Colin – the Australian man was allergic to chocolate and red wine! He thought he was an expert on food but…….

Phil & Sybille – Swiss German Couple could not have raisins in their food and then there were other food fusses that were not mentioned on the form but starting emerging as we cruised.

Jeff and Anne-Marie – Australian Canadian Couple – Loved Hot Food but did not like tomato based sauces or curries.

Elsye – Australian-Peruvian - Could only have Soy Milk but once on board, she only consumed normal milk leaving behind the cartons of soya milk that I got for her with much difficulty in the Caribbean.

Janice – Australian - did not like the smell of a fresh fish being cooked (yes she was heading for a trip of a life time on an ocean and wanted eggs daily).

Phil & Hubertus – German – Little or no spice. Favourite food Lamb! We told Phil one day when we were fishing that we were unlikely to catch any sheep during the trip. He understood!

Milk -

To top this all off there was a massive debate that went for over 100 emails about whether we should carry Skim milk, Full Cream Milk, Powdered Milk, UHT Milk. Apparently UHT milk from the French Polynesian Islands was not good as poorly stored and the cartons would open up etc… There were people who could not imagine having cereal with reconstituted milk and we could not provide enough refrigeration for fresh milk! Rather we couldn’t even buy fresh milk on some of these islands we were planning to stop by.

For days while we waited for the boat to get ready I spent time checking out various super markets – bulk buying places for options of different milks, juices, cordials, frozen vegetables and fruit.

Various brands of milk were trialled and finally we settled for a particular brand for skimmed and full cream milk. Based on the feedback we bought estimated milk quantities to last us most of the way back to Sydney……1/3 tonne of milk plus several kilos of milk powder to make yogurt and for any emergencies should we run out of milk mid-passage! (Eventually we had to buy more milk as supplies dwindled making almost half a tonne of milk purchased and consumed during the 7 month voyage)

Rice & Pasta -

We bought sacks of pastas, rice (2 types), flour (whole meal), frozen meat, frozen vegetables…..

I had got 20 kilos of plain rice but Colin requested for Jasmine Rice and I complied. The agreement was we would alternate rice every 2 kilos.

Besides this, we also bought peas (frozen, canned & dried), similarly lentils were bought in cans and dried, cans of artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes, corns, coconut milk, babmboo shoots, water chestnuts etc….

Fruit & Vegetables -

We bought hammocks to hang fresh fruit and vegetables (see photos below). There were several hands of bananas that we bought throughout the journey.(Some of these consisted of over 120+ bananas and cost between AUD $5-7) they were way too big for the hammocks and were strung up on the side of the rear hard bimini and secured with a number of ropes to reduce movement.

I also learned how to clean the fruit and vegetables for storing. It was recommended to wash the fruit and vegetable in a mild chlorine solution first and then in a vinegar solution to avoid taking on board some of the uninvited visitors, insects and cockroach eggs. Once they form a home on your boat it is next to impossible to get rid of them.

Spices -

Spices from the markets at Marigot and the Indian super markets! I read a trick somewhere in one of the Galley Guru books about leaving the spices in their packets but putting them together in one box so that they did not fly all over the place as god forbid you were hit by a stray wave and chilli powder flew all over the main saloon! It also kept them dry from the humidity of the boat life. While looking for a solution a container better than just a tight lidded container, I was buying storage boxes. Finally it dawned – I had been living a cruisers life and what better than a tool box to house all my spices! It was a genius and turned out that more cruiser wives had already discovered this.

Tea, Coffee and hot drinks –

We bought a mixed variety of Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, Malt drinks….. to last for the journey and until we reached Panama we seem to have all tea drinkers but one making it easier for everyone.

The new lot from the French Marquises seem to prefer their coffee and the way we like it in Sydney!! Just an instant coffee would not do the trick, every port we spent time researching and buying new brands of sachet coffee to make cappuccino, lattes etc….

The person who had debated the most about carrying just milk powder so that precious storage space could be saved for wine or spirits now wanted “Cougar’s Milk” every night! It is a drink made with hot milk, brandy or rum and vanilla. Obviously this did not taste good with milk made from milk powder.

Chocolate -

We also carried some chocolate, some to share with all but some to put aside for emergencies in the slim possibility that all hope was lost. Chocolate gives you hope, boost your mood! I guess it’s the zinc in it.

Bottling -

Onions, garlic, ginger…… Whilst not much could be done with storing the onions, I bottled garlic cloves in olive oil, ginger in vodka and lemons in salt and sugar.

Fortunately the boat itself was built for cruising and hence we managed to store it all without much of a problem.

Eggs -

Various books from a number of Galley gurus were researched but carrying eggs was a problem. I could not fathom eating or cooking eggs that had been covered in Vaseline. So finally we just carried about 5 dozens and turned them over every week and stored them in a cool dark place.

Refrigeration -

The boat came with 3 small bar fridges (dilapidated but in working condition) and we bought a 120 litre freezer not just to carry some of our purchases but just in case we caught a big fish!

The old oven by VPM (the previous owners) was replaced with a brand new oven in Sydney and we also bought a brand new BBQ!

We also bought a few litres of Ice Creams and sorbets. It was not long before I had learned to make frozen mango yoghurt with our home (boat) made yoghurt from milk powder. This had received approval from all corners! This was one item I did not have to make two separate batches off – spicy and non-spicy!

Water –

The boat carried 900 litres of water, this included water for drinking washing, showering etc….. in the first 2 days we had used up 900 litres whilst we were still at Polypat Marina. We actually had to investigate that there were no holes or leakages in the tanks. No Siree! It was just the way water was being used by the non-seaworthy crew and myself! New rules - no running water whilst washing hands, brushing teeth or washing pots and pans…. During Passages we would use salt water to wash clothes and pots and pans with only the final rinse in fresh water. New salt water friendly dish-washing liquid was acquired.

Because of the problem of refilling the water during our stops Patrick spent about $10,000 to install a reverse osmosis water maker that converts salt water into drinking water at 80 litres per hour using our 12 volt battery power that was topped up by our 5 solar panels, 2 wind generators and by the engines alternator when we ran the main engines.

Cooking Fuel –

We had managed to secure 2 x 9kg gas bottles. So that if one ran out of one in the middle of a passage, we would not have to rely just on cold food and sashimi! We also had to be most economical about its usage. No making individual cups of tea…..etc…

Alcohol -

We (Patrick & I) had preferred that no one drank alcohol during the passages (on landfall it was ok) but 2 crew members revolted! So we suggested that they could bring their own alcohol and decide when they wanted to share and when they preferred to keep it to themselves. Patrick was pedantic steadfast about not drinking during passages; and hats off to him he managed it throughout the entire journey albeit there were times where he could have used it.

I was concerned about motion sickness and hence did not want to drink during passages. But we had 3 seasoned sailors, these guys for fun would live on someone’s boat for up to 6 months every year. They lived by their own rules.

Imagine $60 per day for accommodation for a private cabin with ensuite toilet, 3 meals a day, unlimited snacks, unlimited tea, coffee, free travel! Of the three of the men who started with us in Sint Maarten 1 was a widower but the other 2 were married men. It is so true, “a sailor has a wife in every port!”

Back to food, these guys had their demands and little did we know at that stage that by offering choices I was going to make my life difficult!

[journeysofpatrickandarchana]

Family on a floating home - 26th January 2013

“No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” Lin Yutang

Well, we would like to take our old, familiar pillow with us, so that we always feel at home!

Patrick has been working relentlessly for years to achieve this aspect of our adventure. This involved getting the required certificates, lots of study hours and also hours on the sailing log. There were times when we hardly saw each other for days, even weeks due to his odd rosters, weird shifts. But the next 4-5 months will make up for this lost time. This involved various delivery jobs and free-lancing with various Harbour Cruise companies (including a Fishing Charter), he worked to gain as much experience as possible and save as many pennies as possible…All towards an effort to make this boat a home away from home - as safe as possibly can be!

But what is a home without a family? Albeit we will have our family travelling with us… I mean our travel companions will be our family! And there are some interesting people joining us on this journey, from whom I am sure we will both learn a lot.

Originally Patrick was meant to do this journey on his own (without me), I only intended to drop by at several ports and catch up with him in Galapagos and Bora Bora. So he emailed via some of the popular sailing clubs database and websites asking for people interested in joining him on the voyage. They would have to pull their own weight both financially and assist with the sail by taking shifts, helping in the galley and being a pro-active part of the journey.

I did not think he would get any responses at all and was astounded when within the first two hours we had more than 20 responses! The eager mates have dropped off and the ones that took their time to decide are the people that are sailing with us. Some we have met in person and some we have met virtually via Skype.

Here are our fellow colleagues and family. Mind you, this list could still evolve, as experience has taught us by now:

St Maarten to Galapagos:

Phil & Sybil (Swiss German)

Georges (French)

Nick (English)

Colin (Australian)

Galapagos to Marquesas (French Polynesia):

Georges (French)

Nick (English)

Colin (Australian)

Marquesas to Papeete (Tahiti):

Georges (French)

Nick (English)

Colin (Australian)

Jeff & Anne-Marie (Australian & Canadian)

Papeete (Tahiti) to Suva (Fiji):

Jeff & Anne-Marie (Australian Canadian)

Philip & Elyse (German and Ecuadorian origin but Australians

Janice (Elyse's Mum)

Georges (French) - Maybe

Nick (English) - Maybe

Suva (Fiji) to Sydney (Australia):

Jeff & Anne-Marie (Australian Canadian)

Philip & Elyse (Australians - of German and Ecuadorian origins respectively)

Georges (French) - Maybe

Nick (English) - Maybe

Dragans? - Maybe

Of course Patrick and I are excited but so are the team! Some with sailing experiences wanting to better their experience & knowledge, and some without any experience wanting to learn how to tie a bowline….

The varied experiences, backgrounds cultures, eating preferences and knowledge will make this international floating family fun to be part off.