Personally I think one of the actual nice things about wandering around the oceans in a sailboat is that it disconnects us from society. People, taken individually are usually a pleasure to talk to and interact with, however, large amalgamations of human groupings come with baggage like rules money governments and power structures designed to control me, and I don’t like being controlled or manipulated.
So the fact that we catch almost no news about the outside world is actually a very lovely by-product of this sailing life. I always joke that if world war three broke out I would be the last to know. Well… my crew and friends have recently brought to my attention that the whole world has gone mad…!
I am beginning to hear rumblings about this flu going around that has everyone in a panic. You, the person reading this, know more about this subject than I do as I remain blissfully in the dark.
However… it has come to my attention that although the flu is a flu and we are all eventually going to get it… so my feelings about it are pretty disinterested, it seems that for some reason the madness has become an inexplicable run on toilet paper supplies. So I have thought about this for a while and decided that perhaps WildChild needs an emergency virus contingency plan… so today…. we stocked up on toilet paper too.
Nobody wants to get stuck wiping their ass with their hands like they do in India… too savage for me…
So clearly we are totally prepared for this coming zombie apocalypse … that has the rest of the world gone mad… nothing to worry about anymore…
or is there….?
Well it seems… as we explored Montserrat today they closed the visitors center down because of concerns about this flu… grrrr…. it seems that stores are closed… restaurants are closed… ferries are closing down… and countries are closing down their borders. This is going to pose a HUGE problem for us.
So WildChild’s plan still remains LEXI WANTS TO GO HOME… the big problem is I need to go thru a bunch of other countries to get there.
The obstacle in particular… the biggest pain in my ass… is still America and their stupid rules about Europeans. We are planing to be in the BVI’s in about 10 days… do the ferry crossing into Puerto Rico… my German crew CAN use their current and valid ESTA’s for this… which then opens us up a 90 day window to traverse American shores to get us back to good old Canada.
But I am hearing America has already closed its borders to all Europeans… period. I hear even Canada is starting to close its borders… I hear from my crew that Europe is closing its borders between countries inside the E.U.
What if these little Caribbean nations starting closing their borders to small sailboat travellers… ? That would be a GIANT problem for us.
So I am thinking… Montserrat has been lovely to visit for a bit but lacks any decent safe and secure port for WildChild. IF we are going to get stuck somewhere, perhaps very soon, let it be on an island with a good safe protected port.
So our friends Rob and Anna sailed up to Nevis yesterday, they said the customs agents were a pain in the ass to deal with and there is not much there worth seeing. I was thinking of going there as it is on our way to St. Martin.
However I have recently been looking at the Navionics charts and the active captain reviews for Antigua and it is rather well reviewed, safe and most importantly with several good safe harbours. Although it is known for being a playground for wealthy people and tourists, therefore expensive… there is one port, Jolly harbour, still free to anchor in with good protection. So now… I am thinking of maybe going there tomorrow. On the backside of this unusual swirling high pressure system over us now… tomorrow the winds will be briefly light and from the south east… which could give us a beam reach and calm seas for the sail north east. … hmmm….. maybe….
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That Dive Park I Mentioned
I am not sure if I had time to talk much about the Jaques Couteau dive park we went to off the coast of Guadaloupe last week. Well… we did dive the “Aquarium” as they call it, saw the statue of the famous man and got some great video footage for your guys later. I would say that we did enjoy the dive… but… I would not say it is better than the Bahamas. That Fowl Cay dive park up in the Abacos was absolutely spectacular and this dive park did not exceed it.
I would however say that my highlight was actually the next day when we decided to swim the anchorage itself, there is a cliff to the north end and there are rocks underwater at the base. This is always a good sign for me so I convinced my crew to forgo the dive park proper and explore the cliffs with me. We were not disappointed. This diving was actually better than the dive park. More rocks and structure to see but admittedly less fish. The most exciting part was when I stumbled upon this big sea turtle feeding below. I got to swim with him for over 20 minutes and just film him and watch him mosey around. I tried calling for my crew to share the experience with me but they were both off wherever.
Well… I get to check that off my bucket list now anyway.
That afternoon after our swim Mr. Kol wanted to take the family car into shore for a few hours. Being the generous boat mom that I am I allowed the kid to use it.
What was funny was that before he could release it from the davits… all of a sudden… out of nowhere… hundreds of little fish started jumping up out of the water all around the dinghy in a frenzy to escape whatever predator was below hunting them. Well 3 of the little guys jumped into the dinghy with mr. Kol. He got so excited for the free bait, with images of a splendid fish dinner he was about to catch, he called for a fishing rod immediately. Free bait equals free dinner in his mind… and he did try for about 30 minutes before he gave up.
He was a determined boy for a whole 30 minutes of his young patience before he accepted his defeat.
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Deshaise Burned up Sailboat
From there we sailed up to Deshaise just 1 mile north to resupply a little bit and stage for our jump north to Montserrat. Although we have been to this cute little town before, so there was nothing interesting or new about it to report on, we did find something interesting on our way to the dinghy dock that day.
It seems… that a few days before we arrived… this sailboat, that was anchored in the bay, caught fire! I do not know anything about the story and have no details to share with you. I can say it was still half floating and half on the bottom. It still smelled freshly like smoke and burned wood. It was tied to shore with a restraining rope to stop it from floating away. It looks to be about a 36-38 footer.
Somebody had a terrible day recently. This is why I am so cautious with my propane stove on the boat. A tiny gas leak will build up in the bowl of the hull and explode with one tiny spark.
The stuff of sailor nightmares.
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The sail to Montserrat
The next day WildChild made her easy slow sail north to Montserrat. The winds were super light and the seas calm. The good news is that WildChild is a race boat and moves just fine in light winds. I made my crew wake up at the crack of dawn and lift anchor right away, breakfast can be found after the boat gets in motion.
Although we were all still tired… they did a great job getting the boat underway. Elena lifted the anchor for the first time ever, a feat, for which I am extremely proud of her. I have no idea why she is suddenly interested in trying to learn to sail and be a helpful sailor… but I am super happy about it.
I am sure many of you who are sailors know how challenging it can be to sail in light squirrely winds. I confess to needing to motor assist for the first hour of the sail, and few short 10 minute periods during the day when the wind died off completely a few times. As much as Mr. Kol loves to sail fast and hard… I was happy to go slow and gentle that day. We sailed most of the way 5 over 4 on a starboard tac beam reach, WildChild is so awesome.
The boat was so calm it felt down below like we were at anchor. I do confess that I spent most of the day down below watching TV. Mr. Kol did most of the day reading a book at the helm. We watched a movie in the afternoon. I love easy sailing. As the Captain I always have to do the beginning an the end of every voyage. I have to always do all the hard sailing. So when the sailing is easy… and young Mr. Kol doesn’t mind being at the helm all day…. I confess… I am happy to let him.
As we approached the active volcano it became time for the Captain to take the helm again. We all know I am a big chicken, and if that sulfur dioxide ash filled cloud decides, for whatever reason, to fall instead of maintain its horizontal altitude we could find ourselves in trouble fast. As I analyzed the conditions I decided it would be okay to approach the shore and skirt along the edge of the exclusion zone.
Under clear skies and calm seas we sailed about a mile offshore and we could see the ruined city of Plymouth thru the binoculars. Although it seems like nature has reclaimed most of it… there are still places that look like mud slides. I have recently learned this was the pyroplastic flow from the last eruption in 2010, the ashy mud still retains so much heat the plants cannot grow there still.
We brought WildChild to anchor sort of in the middle of the country in old road bay north of the exclusion zone. We had the open anchorage to ourselves and it took 2 tries to get the hook to set into the bottom but eventually we got er done.
As it was a Sunday, and they charge you extra fees for customs and immigration outside of normal business hours, we opted to just stay on the boat for the day and check in the next morning.
Monday March 16th, today for me now, we went to shore to check in and out, for the reasonable price of $35e.c. We had to land the dinghy on the beach thru breaking surf again, our least favorite type of landing. We walked for a while in the general direction of the main road and hitched a ride to the nearest bus stop. We bused to the main port of little bay and got the check in stuff sorted out without too much difficulty. Interestingly the government workers were all wearing blue nitrile gloves but nobody was wearing a face mask. Maybe this flu does not spread airborne after all?
Of course the local tour guides found us and starting offering their services for the low low price of $200usd. I find it funny that they never tell you the price in the local currency, always in US dollars. Now I was interested in going to the visitors observation center and seeing the movies of the eruption and get the history, and I knew it would be a very long hot walk, so I was in the mood to get a ride, but not to pay the high tourist prices.
Sammy was the second driver to find us and he already had a cruiser couple he was about to take on the volcano tour. It seems he offered them a discount price based upon his certainty that we would want to join them.
As usual my German crew become suddenly silent wherever we get approached by the local hustlers and I end up having to do all the talking.
Now this is a little complicated for me to explain so please bear with me…
I am a Canadian. We are a very polite society ruled by old world British ideas of acceptable social conduct. Canadians NEVER haggle a price. In our culture the price is the price, either pay it or don’t. The price is the same for everyone no matter their skin color race or ethnicity. So I am so very uncomfortable ever haggling for prices. It makes me squirm.
However… I have been out here sailing long enough to know… that my white skin often earns me the Gringo price, which is usually 200-800% more than what the local people pay for things, and this offends me to my core. So out of principal I step up and begin the dance of negotiation. I hate it… my German crew will never do it… and I am the Captain… and I am also usually the one paying for everything.
If you get to know me… you know that I can become a little She-Sheldon’ish. I am socially a little awkward or weird. I am not easily embarrassed as I seldom ever care what other people think of me. I actually like people, one on one, and I am always curious about interesting characters. Sammy is an interesting character. My crew, and this other American couple stood back and watched Sammy and I dance around for 20 minutes for the negotiation.
He is offering me a terrific deal… it is usually $120usd for a personal bus tour of the ruins … but as there are now 5 of us (Gringos) he will give us a great deal… only $30usd each…! Do the math… his deal will let us pay $150usd for five of us instead of the standard rate of $120. It is only $30 each… doesn’t that sound great..?
Oh geez… why do I have to deal with this stuff?
Everybody watching is amused to no end as I dance around the logic and haggle with good old Sammy. My German crew is willing to walk it… I know it is really far, lots of walking and it is very hot out today. I do not want to walk 20 kilometers in this heat. I want the ride… I just do not want to pay gringo prices. I know… that under normal circumstances I could get a bus ride near to the volcano for $7e.c. per person… but with the virus fears, and stuff here shutting down… it could take all day to find a bus, there are not very many of them running. This would still leave us out of the damaged city and this would still leave us walking most of the day.
Eventually I come to an agreement with my new friend Sammy and convince him, that he is taking these other two sailors for $60usd anyway… why not earn a little extra money and take us along of an extra $120e.c. ($40usd). It takes a while but he agrees. Everyone is amazed at my haggling skills but I am ashamed that I need to use them. In my culture this hustling is disgusting and dishonest.
The price should be the price no matter what my skin color.
Sammy turned out to be a nice guy and a good tour guide. He was an interesting character and he was happy to explain all the different hidden stories as we drove past them. In some places the ash is piled 20 feet deep over top of the old bridges and homes.
When we got to the observation center it was closed due to virus fears so we missed seeing the films of the eruptions and the museum displays inside. There was still a nice view from the viewing platform but not a better view than we had on the sail in, past the shore line.
Meh… I think that is enough Volcano hunting for my lifetime now. They are not very interesting. Next time my crew can go without me.
okay.. enough for now…
Next blog I will tell you which island we went to next… or you can peak at our route tab and check our Garmin map.
Cheers Sailors
Captain Lexi…
. …. the perplexed….