To my regular readers I apologize for the long delay on the birth of this blog. Although I try to write about once a week, my recent hectic sailing schedule has made this rather difficult. There are two constant companions to the sailing life, the first is mother nature, the second is that nothing ever goes according to plan.

For all my Canadian friends and family suffering the nasty embrace of winter… perhaps escaping into my hot tropical world for a little while might warm your soul, enjoy….

Warning… Long Blog today… lots to cover

 

 

Fishing Stories

Just for fun I decided to start today’s blog with my two recent fishing stories. A few days ago, I have no sense of dates anymore, WildChild was making her way into the anchorage in southern Martinique called La Marin / also St. Annes. We had just had a lovely day of almost sporty sailing in waves usually below 2 meters and winds usually just below 20 knots.

 

 

My original plan was to cheat the channel way on the north side and cut into the back of the anchorage going slowly thru the shallows. I was making my approach along the edge of the underwater ledge of the island when suddenly we get a hit on the fishing line trolling behind. My crew gets excited and I am making a plan to bring home dinner. I turn the boat 10 degrees into the wind to luff my sails and slow the yacht down.

The line is just whirring out of the reel as the BIG fish is spooling my line fast. I was not too worried and was rather happy my pretty pink squid lure finally got a hit on it, we had been trolling it for 3 days with nothing. My reel is setup with 60 pound test line and the drag set at like 40 pounds, so I was surprised my line was spooling out so fast. Whatever we got, it was rather large for sure.

just like that…. zzzzzzzzt ….   ping… 

the line goes slack…!

It spooled me hard and snapped my line as if it were nothing. There goes another $20 donated to Neptune that failed to bring home dinner. That was rather depressing.

My crew was always sort of under the impression catching fish out here was easy, almost that you troll a lure for an hour or two and the fish practically jump into your boat. We have been sailing for days without a hit, and when we do get one, it does not last long. A sailor friend once calculated that after a decade sailing the Atlantic ocean, he averages about 1 fish every 1000 miles sailed.

Reality is a harsh mistress

Well, just to stick it to me, Neptune pulled a funny yesterday. I have a friend anchored around the corner from me in St. Annes who texted me yesterday and asked me if I wanted any Barracuda? Although it is probably safe to eat here, I still do not risk it, the fish sickness is just not worth it.

I am impressed and ask her, wow… where did you catch it. She replied… “…in my dinghy….”  but that still did not answer my question. Yes but where was the dinghy where you were fishing…?   She tells me   “…. we were not fishing… we left the dinghy in the water overnight behind our boat and the Barracuda must have jumped into it during the night and died in there…!  ” she is a reliable person.

 

 

Well shit….  I suppose I lied to my crew a little bit, maybe the fish do sometimes just jump into the boat…!

ha ha ha….       🙂

 

The Elephant in the Room

I have decided that I should address the tidal wave of crazy that hit my life last week. For my regular readers who are unaware of all the behind the scenes national news drama in Croatia that featured me and my new crew….

It seems… that unbeknownst to me….  my new crew…. is like the TRUMP OF CROATIA….! And I had no idea, I thought he was just some guy. He was apparently a politician back in Croatia a while ago and maybe even ran for president…? The Croatian tabloids seem to stalk him everywhere he goes, he is super famous back in his country. A few days ago families in Croatia sat down to dinner and the national TV news featured me in my underwear on WildChild and teaching my notorious crew.

I was bombarded by sudden unwanted attention as 75,000 croatians flooded my website and youtube channel….!

I was just stunned. Honestly Croatian reporters began contacting me, and are still trying to contact me for interviews about my crew. Companies want me to sponsor their products…!   it’s so crazy.

So to CROATIA…. let me be clear…

anyone who contacts me to ask about my crew…

will be blocked and deleted

 

If you have questions about ivan… ask ivan…! 

 

This might be shocking to all the Croatians obsessed with my crew…. but my website, blog and YouTube channels are actually about me and my life, my crew is only a short term incidental intersection into my world. I had no idea my last blog would become international news, and this poses a huge problem for me.

So when the media storm calms down… and for my regular readers who follow me…  this tidal wave of crazy that hit my life will affect my future writings. For the first time ever… I need to censor what I write. From now on I need to protect my crew from the jackals and be much more obtuse and indirect in my future blogs.

Sorry that I will need to be vague now and in future blogs… the paparazzi have ruined it.

 

Checking Out of Grenada

My VISA for Grenada expired on Jan 14th 2022, so exactly on Jan 14th I went to the customs and immigration building in Tyrell bay of Carriacou (part of Grenada). My regular readers know that I openly confess I am bureaucratically retarded. My tolerance for the black and white world of the government technocrat is nearly zero. Trying to fit my existence into the little boxes on their stupid forms just exasperates me to no end. This experience was no exception.

The impossibility of reason

We had a lively sail from Halifax Bay Grenada up into Tyrell bay the day before. So that morning we launch the dinghy and begin the slow passage to shore where I remember the customs house to be.  I always cross my fingers and say a little prayer when I start my shitty old dinghy engine and that day she was sluggish and begging to die.

The dinghy engine died like 30 feet from the dock so that was lucky, I rowed the rest of the way in. We make our way up to the buildings and I see an old couple sitting at the table outside the small shack. I ask them  “.. is it open..?” and they reply in the affirmative.

I go to the door to open it, its locked..!  I check and there is a big green “WE ARE OPEN” sign on the door. I peer inside and there is a lady there motioning to my right? I read the sign on the window to my right, it talks about fishermen looking for a fuel exemption… blah blah blah. This has nothing to do with me I try the door again and stare thru the glass at the government lady staring blankly back at me.

 

 

Hmmm…. it seems we have stumbled into our first impossibility of reason. They are open with a locked door.

The couple sitting behind me sees my confusion and pipes up… “…I think you have to go around the side…“. So I do.

and I just stand there beside the slightly cracked open window and just peer inside.

Eventually someone comes to the window.

It seems…. that because of COVID… they do not want any direct contact with public. Placing a sign on the front door indicating that people should go to the side window is intelligence well above their pay grade, reason is not their friend.

The government employees stand 6 feet back from the window and mumble very softly and quietly at me. Honestly, I am standing outside, I did not hear a thing. This then forces me to bend my ear down to the window to try and hear them. This is a  rude and degrading way to treat people but again, they have no idea. Installing an intercom is again far beyond their mental conception of reasoning.

They are annoyed with me now for bringing myself close to speak and listen to the narrow gap in the window to communicate. I am exposing them to the plague like a dumb ignorant girl. They are peering down at me with contempt. I am sorry they are forcing me into this position, but I am submitting to their stupid system, it’s not my idea.

 

 

Then the man comes and starts asking me some stupid questions that I do not know the answers to. Some of these questions I have never been asked before. He starts with “where are you going…?” I say “North“. He doesn’t like my answer, he has no check box for North on his form.

I explain that with Covid the government rules change every week on every island and the respective governments do a terrible job of updating their websites or making this information accessible. Since there is no realistic way for me to know what the entry rules are for each country, I am forced to just show up and see what they say.

He unhelpfully says to me in that low mumbly voice I can barely hear…   “… you know wit da covid it’s not so easy to check in anymore…”   he says to me with the patience one would use on a stupid child.

No shit Sherlock…  that’s unhelpful….   really what they are getting at… is they want us to pay their government $150 usd per person for an exit COVID test, but I am refusing and ducking the issue. The Covid testing scam down here is very lucrative. They make you pay for a test to leave, and pay the next government for another test upon arrival, they need to make money off you on both ends. The fact that everyone is already vaccinated and Covid is already on the island is irrelevant treacherous logic that cannot be tolerated.

They demand to know which island you want to sail to so they can force you to pay for the stupid tests and call ahead to inform the next government that you are coming so they can get you too.

I think… well… thats nice…  you have fun with that… Submission not really in my soul….  Wild Children are hard to control.

“… ma’am what is your destination… you must tell me exactly where you are going…  exactly what port are you scheduling to go to…?” he demands of me. Again I explain “… I am unsure… I am going north… I will stop and ask the local governments if we are allowed to check in or not.. where I stop depends on the winds and seas as we go…” holding my line and refusing to submit.

He is unsure what to do with me…  he is getting frustrated with me. He pushes again. I know from sailor friends that just went to Martinique that they do not require a COVID test upon entry, the French governments showing much more intelligence than these english islands. So I offer him an olive branch and say Martinique, I figure I will get there eventually. He stares down at me skeptically then he demands to know exactly which port I will check into..?  I have no idea, it depends on the weather and how the sailing is going when I get there.

He refuses to concede on this dance either, the form needs a box ticked.

Then he goes on to ask thru the glass in a voice barely audible exactly what time..? What time for what…?  He needs to know what time exactly when I will lift my anchor and exactly what time I will be anchoring at my destination..!   Wow sailing really doesn’t work like this. He explains so if we do not arrive on time they know to come looking for me. Nice answer but total bullshit. Their incompetent government does not know or care what happens to anyone after they leave their country.

The wonderful intelligent French islands never ask such stupid questions, the English islands ask so many stupid questions. I have no answers for his silly black and white world….  I tell him just to put in whatever times he wants to put on his forms. It is clear we are not going to be friends.

He eventually just walks away without saying a word and leaves me standing there wondering what is happening.

He comes back 5 minutes later and pushes some paper at me and mumbles sign these. I say sure no problem, happy to, may I use a pen..?   Nope… they do not have a pen available. He explains he has only one pen and he is not lending it out.

Wow…. I admit… he got me… I got frustrated. I felt my cheeks flush with red heat and I go off.   “… what kind of government tells you to sign a form but doesn’t give you a pen to do it with…?” I am saying rather loudly for everyone around to hear. My bad… rule number #1 when going to deal with local governments… and I know this… paint a nice fake smile on and be infinitely patient and suspend all logic and reason. I failed.

I had to go into the small store beside them and ask the clerk at the counter if I could use his pen. Very nice guy smiled and said yeah no problem. I am sure it was not his first time getting asked this.

I wish I was not so Bureaucratically stupid

I am all full of logic and reason,

governments hate that

 

Sailing and Boat Projects

For those of you following along with the videos  (  CLICK HERE to see this one ) you know the first day sailing North into the Grenadines was just some wonderful sailing. I originally planned only a nice easy sail to Union island but conditions were so good we kept going north to Canouan island. We anchored there clinging to the edge of a very narrow shelf and failed to sail off the anchor the next morning.

 

 

From there we had a good upwind sail into Bequia where we anchored for a few days. Here I had to run the water maker and do a sudden necessary boat repair. I had repacked my stuffing box around my prop shaft a year and a half ago and it was dripping more than I would like. During the last two sails… it was kinda gushing water into the boat. My bilge pump was going off every 40 minutes that first night, I knew it was time to face my demon.

I had tried two weeks ago to crack the huge nuts to tighten the stuffing box but failed. The salty ocean is so harsh on everything I own. There is a big cap nut that you tighten down to compress the stuffing material packed around the prop shaft to form a seal. The problem is, there is also a locking nut that pinches into the cap nut to prevent it from rotating loose with the rotating prop shaft. The two nuts were jammed together super tight, corroded into place.

Last time I crawled into that tight space and suffered to exert all my might into cracking the nuts with all the force I could muster… I failed.

 

 

I began to worry… that as I begin increasing force loads on the old brass metal… if it breaks or cracks during this effort… and I am in some remote place without a boat yard and lift…. my boat will be sinking and I might be unable to save it.

Tightening the stuffing box was now necessary but cracking the nuts was very risky.

The repair suddenly could no longer be delayed until I find a boat yard as my backup plan in the event things go wrong. I was going to face this demon and either win… or break it and sink the boat.

I leave my crew playing on his phone in the salon and I put on my dirty work bikini and go down into the tiny engine room to begin the struggle. I am grunting and groaning and cursing and swearing at the thing for 30 minutes exerting all the force on it that I can muster, but still it does not budge. Even the extra leverage from my newly acquired long handle channel locks are not enough.

I am losing and I cannot afford to lose.

All my girl power is not enough.

THEN….  SUDDENLY…  during one of my many full body exertions… it moves…!   The locking nut cracks loose and the brass casing did not break….!

LEXI WINS AGAIN…!

I am so shocked I am screaming with joy. My scratchy voice rising up out of the hole at a masculine pitch like a lion roaring victory. My crew is worried I am dying in the hole. I am so shocked I did it… I climbed the impossible mountain.

With the lock nut loose tightening the cap nut was easy and the leak slowly sinking my boat was stopped.

Life is good again.

 

Sailing North Again

From Bequia we left and began our run up into St. Vincent proper. My plan was to make it into the shadow of the volcano that erupted last year and see what was left. You can    CLICK HERE    for the grumpy Captain video of that day of tragic defeat at mother’s hands and a good explanation as to why sailboats cannot have make or keep schedules.

My intentions are meaningless to mother nature.

The winds would be light but WildChild does so well in light winds. Honestly watch the video and I show you that at some point that day she was sailing in 5 knots of wind going 4 knots UPWIND…! against it…!  But no sailboat can sail in ZERO winds. In humiliating defeat we motored into the nearest bay on St. Vincents West coast called Cumberland Bay.

 

 

Honestly St. Vincents is dicey for crime. It is very poor and poorly educated. I was a bit nervous about anchoring there but we had no choice. The boat boys came out to fetch us when we got within a half mile of the bay. We were lucky though, Loogie found us and helped us in. He even rented us a stern line.

I was nervous that night about crime. We were stern tied to within 20 feet of shore, an easy swim for any thugs looking to plunder the yachties.

Now I know… you are thinking just like my crew was…     Lexi… you are always such a chicken… you always worry about nothing… the world is a safe place do not worry so much….

Well…. it seems 2 night previously… on the same island… not far from where we were anchored that night….

***

I got this from my boat mom that night…

Be cautious

Violent Night Boarding of a Yacht at Anchor in St Vincent January 16, 2022
First hand report!

At 0230 on 16 January, the sailing vessel of a solo sailor was boarded by two masked men. The boat was anchored in Buccament Bay on the west coast of St. Vincent’s.
A buddy boat was anchored close by.

The owner was asleep in the forward berth, and he awoke to find himself being choked. He initially struggled even though the assailant was much younger and more powerful. However, there was a second assailant who was holding a gun, so resistance stopped. The owner was blinded by a cloth over his head as the the thieves ransacked the boat.

They took all the valuable electronics, phone, personal computer, camera, etc.
They demanded cocaine and money. There were no drugs but the owner cooperated in handing over a significant number of American dollars.

The thieves tied up the owner and were going to take the dinghy and motor. However, it was suspended in davits and chained to the arch, so they must have decided it was too difficult and left it.
Once they’d gone, the owner untied himself and notified the police. No arrests have been made (as of Jan 18)

Note: CSSN has been advised.

***

We only had trouble with the CAT stern tied right beside us so close that night we could shake hands deck to deck. We left first thing the next morning.

Our Next stop would be St. Lucia… which historically I always skip… as it is very high crime and just too risky for my tastes. My new crew however is not ready to take the helm alone and unsupervised and I have no intention of night sailing anymore than I need to.

 

 

We need to stop in St. Lucia next.

***

The winds would be bordering into the sporty range but my crew was doing so much better helping me sail. I felt he was ready for the beating to windward and I knew WildChild could take it. The last two sails were more aggressive but my crew did very well, he is learning.

My friends advise me…  “…. Lexi you are very smart and this sailing stuff comes easy for you… natural…   but you have to be patient with your students… it is a lot to learn so quickly…“.   Eventually my crew was beginning to learn and become a helpful useful member of my team.

 

St. Lucia

The sailing the next day was windier and we kept the boat moving along just fine. I kept the first reef in the main and used only about 60% of the Genny. WildChild was doing great until she got into the wind shadow of the main island. We slowed down but still had light winds to sail in and kept going.

 

 

As we were sailing West of the Pitons about 6 miles offshore in that golden zone of stable winds we get hailed by a sport fishing vessel ahead of us. I respond and he asks us to deviate our course around him to the west. He says he has a big marlin on the line and it is trying to run to the island to the east.  Would I mind passing to the West of him..?

Of course marine courtesy I will. Even though I am sailing close hauled tight to the wind and on Starboard tac and I have priority over a sport fishing vessel …. I will be polite and respectful and concede.

This however causes me to lose much of my windward advantage and will cost me an extra 5 mile tac later.

As it happens… this delay caused me to hit my anchorage AFTER sunset and have to land in the dark. It is not fun to anchor in the dark but I can do it and my crew now knows how to handle the anchor for me. With night vision and thermal imaging we slowly crept our way into a tiny little shelf just outside of Marigot bay in total darkness.

This is also where I injured my knee on carelessly placed items my crew left in the cockpit in the dark. I am now missing a dime sized, thick, piece of skin on my left knee, a gift of my crews carelessness… grrr…   no swimming for me for a week or two… the risk of infection is too high.

We left early the next morning before the extortion boys could find us.

 

Mistakes

I think that most people walk thru life fearing making a mistake. I do firmly believe in the wisdom of letting ourselves make mistakes, forgiving ourselves and others for making mistakes, and learning from them and moving forward. We just try not to make the same mistake twice. If you are going to live… go forth and make your mistakes, causality is the best teacher.

I know that as a sailing instructor my students need to make mistakes to learn, I get it. I need to balance this need for them to learn by making mistakes against the risk of injury or damage to MY VESSEL, as is my responsibility.

So a few days ago we were sailing almost into the sporty range to get ourselves up into Martinique. We were smashing our way into sustained winds around 17-20 knots all day and smashing up thru 2 meter waves. My crew was napping in the cockpit and I was alone at the helm.

We hit marine traffic on our way into Martinique. I had generally sailed to the west of the main traffic route between Northern St. Lucia and southern Martinique for most of the day but it was time to tac west and align my approach in the water highway.

I am west bound port tac close hauled tight to wind just a smashing her thru the waves and washing my deck in salty water. As I am watching around I notice this very expensive racing CAT fore of my beam on the starboard side. As I keep watching and calculating I realize we are on a collision course.

 

 

They have right away as they are on a close reach Starboard Tac. I must yield… and yield quickly. I call my crew awake and inform him we need to tac and tac now, quickly. He has been doing great tacking the boat for the last two days, I know he knows this. I have gone thru this with him dozens and dozens of times successfully.

I am standing at the helm calculating my variables and I command him to get ready to tac in the center of the cockpit where the lines are. We are close to the other boat, less than half a mile. I do not want to tac right in front of him either and block him, I need to tac quickly before we cross his T.

My crew is standing there genny sheets in hand…  I give the order…   PREPARE TO TAC… which he knows mean unlock the leeward genny sheet but hold it tight. Only GET READY to dump it once we cross the wind and backwind the genny for 2 seconds, to cross the wind. He knows this… he understands this… he has been very very well trained on this procedure.

He suddenly and unexpectedly dumps the genny BEFORE I give the command or even begin to cross the wind. He dumps my power right in front of the fast approaching CAT…!   Crew can stress me out sometimes.

In one stupid second we are suddenly in danger from my crews sudden and unexpected mistake. My super smart super fast brain analyzes everything and in less than a seconds understands…  I have to crank the wheel hard over to use what remains of my boat speed and mainsail power to cross the wind as we are riding UP the next 8 foot wave, which wants to stop us cold.

Just as we are floundering in irons, I can see the racing CAT sees our mistake and he alters course for us to avoid the collision. The next large wave is sufficient to cross my stalled bow across the wind and I jump into action yelling at my crew while I rush forward to repower my yacht and get her moving again.

My crew has no explanation as to why he did that

 

You thought being a sailing Captain was all glory and prestige didn’t you….?

It’s mostly just stress…

and new crew definitely add to it.

On that note I interviewed a young German girl as potential crew for WildChild today while writing this blog. She seemed very nice, easy to get along with and has sailing experience. I made her an offer today to join me and we will see in the next few days if she decides to come along or not.

***

 

OKAY sailors….

I know this blog was a bit delayed and a bit longer than my usual long blogs.

As I am constantly on the move now…

my free time is very scarce lately….

 

but stay tuned anyway….

it will not be boring…

 

Wild Captain Lexi

 

hugs love and kindness to everyone