We were booked on an early flight to Florida on Sunday 19th February so the Captain and I checked in to a hotel near Gatwick for night of the 18th as we were meeting up with the German girl who was going to help crew the boat who was flying in from Frankfurt that afternoon. She had said she was up to date with the technical stuff so he thought she would be a useful asset on the trip.
On the morning of 19th February we took the hotel transport and arrived at the airport, and we went through to baggage check in. A nice young man called George, from US Homeland security, said there could be a problem. We didn’t have return tickets from the US. We explained that our return ticket was from Australia and showed him the documentation. But, he hummed and haa’d. He let us get right up to the stage of boarding and then said we couldn’t fly until we supplied information from the owner of the boat. We watched our baggage being unloaded from the hold of the plane and were escorted by staff to collect it.
So we booked another night in the hotel and managed to contact the boats owners and get evidence that we weren’t intending to stay in America as illegal immigrants. They had a friend in the local sheriff’s office who backed up their story. We then flew out the next day and George wished us well.
We arrived at West Palm Beach Airport on Monday evening and the boat owners turned up in a rather small mustang car which would only take our luggage and one crew. the Captain and I hailed a cab and after the driver had asked all his colleagues how to get to North Palm Beach marina we were finally on our way. We arrived quite late in the evening and so ate a meal on board with the owners and then retired.
The owners joked about a rat on deck in the night. It didn’t stay on board………
The owners had said that they were going to be around until 25th February to help us get in supplies for the journey and go through the boat’s systems, some of which are quite complicated. However, they announced that they were leaving in just two days, well one and a half actually. They took us to a store to buy provisions for the journey.
The owners insisted that the boat was “ready to go” and gave only cursory information about how all the electrical and mechanical systems functioned. They did leave a hand written set of notes and most of the works manuals but it seems to omit two or three important little details on specific equipment as we have since discovered. They went off on the morning of Wednesday 22nd February and left us to it.
We had to go shopping for food again, this time the Captain came along. The crew turned out to be a bit of a liability, she wanted to be Captain, Cook, engineer and crew…. You know the type...... She is supposed to have a yacht-master qualification but we suspected very early on that it was not necessarily true as she insisted on putting the safety lines, (to which you strap yourself in bad weather to get safely up to the front of the boat), on the outside of the guard rails (garden fence). That meant that you would have to stop and unclip and clip again on each side of the stays…. About 5 times at least! Really dangerous in a blow!
We got the impression that she had reservations about the trip as she listed some ‘omens’ like her personal safety equipment being confiscated from her luggage en route, a dream about being lost at sea, needing constant reassurance from her husband via skype and lots of other little things. Anyway she started making life very difficult and eventually jumped ship at Fort Pierce.
However, during the journey from North Palm Beach to Fort Pierce, she ran us aground, didn’t seem to know how to set the sails so changed course to make the wind fit the sails, when anchoring at Fort Pierce poured chain on top of the anchor - a sure way of making the boat drag, etc, etc….
We had trouble finding a deep spot to park in and kept grounding and leaning over as she swung round.
So here are the two of us on an 53 foot ketch…..it’s a biggie. Lovely inside, plenty of space, a nice pilot house to shelter in - from sun, wind and rain, and for which we have been very grateful on the journey here. When we set off on the 1st March we had a nice southerly to take us out into the Atlantic ready to go south to Cape town.
When we were about 2 miles off the US Homeland Security boarded and checked us, all documents and the boat, over. That happens quite often so we are used to that and the chaps were very nice. Just doing their job.
Well, we seem to have had one problem after another. A storm force 7 gusting 8-9 gale with big cross waves and swells of 5 metres or more which knocked us over. Luckily she righted herself again very quickly with not too much effort. VERY scary…… Then it calmed down a bit but came up again.
Some diesel from the fuel tanks spilled into the engine bilges. Apparently we overfilled the tanks.
The heads (toilets) sinks kept filling up with water when heeled over on that side because the stopcocks don’t work.
The pump for the generator which powers the autopilot blew up on 3rd March with a lot of black smoke and a big bang. On the 7th March we discovered that the battery feeding the autopilot wasn‘t being charged up as it needed the generator to do this. This meant that we have had to steer manually and in some rough seas. I took a few turns to give the Captain rest time when the sea had calmed down a bit as I am not used to wheel steering as other boats I have steered have had the old fashioned stick (tiller) method. The wheel is not so responsive especially with a long keel.
Plus, both the wheel in the pilot house and in the cockpit outside are fitted tight to the bulk head so you bang your knuckles against it.
The gas canister for the cooker ran out on 6th March, so in a quiet moment, the Captain changed it to another of the 4 spares. That turned out to be empty and set gas alarms off and to date we haven’t been able to reset it. The sensor is between the cooker and the gas tank and controls the flow and is difficult to locate when you’re bouncing about. Since then we haven’t had a hot meal and have been surviving on cheese, sausage, home made humus, onions, tomatoes, crisps and pitta breads, and chocolate. With iced coffee, and juice, etc.
The engine was also started acting up and the Captain has to do something, not sure what, in the engine room to make it start.
I got thrown across the galley (kitchen) during the storm and am black and blue and have pulled arm/shoulder muscles hauling ropes, winding winches and pumping out the loo.
We hailed a passing freighter going south for a weather report and the Indian radio operator told us “There have been winds of 45knts in the north and in the south it is worse, but here it’s just fine!” and it was….
So, we diverted from our course to St Martins to get all the above problems fixed. We realised that we were or had been in the notorious Bermuda Triangle!
On the last evening at sea a couple of sea birds were following us making the most awful racket then one landed precariously on the top of the outboard motor and managed to stay there till dawn. Looked like a surfer taking the rolls and motion of the waves. Really amusing to watch him perched there.
We hadn’t seen any other wildlife until the approach to Marigot when 6 dolphins came to welcome us. I guess we weren’t going fast enough for them to play in the bow waves as they swam off after about fifteen minutes. But it was lovely to see them.
We arrived here on Monday 12th March around 4pm, absolutely exhausted, dehydrated, more or less suffering from exposure and, as we’ve been eating cold food for days, were really looking forward to a hot meal on shore. But, the outboard engine on the dinghy gave up the ghost. The Captain took it apart but was unable to fix it.
The owners have given us the go ahead to order a new one. I can see the shore and there are lots of boats on the anchorage but not a very friendly bunch. Usually, if someone sees someone struggling to start a motor, they come across and ask if you need a hand….. Not so here…..So I haven’t reached the shore yet - think I might fall over when I do as the ground won’t be moving!
The Captain managed to hail a ride to shore this morning to clear customs etc and returned with some fresh bread and croissants. Yummmy!
We have arranged for a man to come and look at the generator but until we get the new outboard are still without cooking facilities. You’d think we would be depressed and grumpy but our spirits are remarkably high, we are still able to see the funny side of things, thank goodness. Last night we played Frisbees with some foul tortilla things which were cluttering up the fridge. Just a pair of big kids really!
Oh and we think we should go through the Panama canal and across the Pacific, which was the first intended route when I agreed to participate in this adventure, with the trade winds favourable rather than face the sometimes tortuous route round south Africa and south Atlantic.
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