LET'S PANIC!!!!

When we finally made the decision to get a date for the Panama Canal transit, the scheduler said: "Today....." and my heart seemed to stop beating.  Until he continued "we don't have any slots" and I could almost breathe normally again.  We could have gone through two days later, but I asked to be scheduled for Wednesday, 20. December 2006.  Three days to find two more line handlers, buy polypropylene rope to hang the ten tires all around DHARMA BUM III, get the food shopping and preparation done, make space for all the people aboard, plus a multitude of smaller chores. 

 

We agreed that all would go under the motto:  LET'S PANIC!!!!

 

But somehow we stayed reasonably calm until just before and when the anchor came up without any major trouble, the line handlers and the advisor were on board, things were almost relaxed.  One of the reason was the advisor Rick, of Chinese ancestry, and making a very competent impression right from the start.  He explained everything beforehand, made drawings and asked questions to check that we understood.  Helmut from Austria had gone before, while Darrel and Loretta Smith from the Privilege 37 catamaran CANKATA were as new to the canal as we were.  Of course, it had become night by the time we took off.  Normal for a transit from the Caribbean to the Pacific side. 

 

First we waited for a cargo ship, but it came in so slow, that we went to the lock first.  When the ship was in, we approached the starboard wall, picked up lines, repeated the procedure on the other wall and as soon as we were secured the bell rang, the gates closed and water began to pour in.  The turbulences were impressive, but we were secured by our four heavy lines center-lock behind the freighter.  It went as smooth as a commercial.  The next two chambers were exactly the same and in no time at all we were in the Gatun lake, where Rick switched on his pocket-GPS and guided us to the huge mooring buoys. 

 

The pilot-boat shone their big searchlights onto the buoys and Darrel jumped across to fasten our lines.  Not as easy as it sounds, for although they are about three meters across, they are also covered with "Pelicanite" (guess what that is), which gets very slippery when wet and exudes fumes that make one wish for an oxygen-probe or at least a canary. 

 

All went well and we had a nice dinner in the cockpit.  Around midnight everybody was asleep. 

 

At 5:30 the next morning, I went into the two engine rooms, to top up motor- and transmission-oil, check the belts and the water.  Our speed in the canal was an average of 6.5 knots, but the Panama Canal Authority ACP insists that the boat must be able to make 8 knots when going full speed.  An Irishman we met in Colon had to pay an extra US$ 850, as his boat was so slow that he couldn't transit the canal in the required time.  I had no intention of emulating his experience. 

 

About an hour later, an elderly advisor and a young trainee, both of African ancestry, jumped on board carrying with them all kinds of dirt on their shoes, for it had just rained heavily.  The stench from the mooring buoy got almost overpowering.  Unfortunately, things went steadily downhill from there.  The trainee was polite and friendly, but whenever he gave me instructions, the advisor countermanded them.  Rick had told us, that we should always stay inside the channel on the starboard side, as it was ACP policy that all vessels should pass port to port. 

 

This new advisor, however, had us sometimes on the starboard side, sometimes on the port side and at other times completely out of the channel.  He was fond of short-cuts and continually urged me to go at full speed, even when already inside the lock, only to say a second later that I should reverse.  He was definitely getting on everybody's nerves, probably most on those of his trainee. 

 

The trip through the lake was beautiful, as the drowned jungle with wisps of mist and cloud looked positively enchanted.  We sighted one alligator, which swam close to shore and we really enjoyed that part of the passage through the canal. 

 

At around 11:30 a.m. we arrived at the downhill locks with no other boat or ship in sight.  To our great surprise, we didn't have to wait at all, but went through all alone, which didn't quite go as smoothly as with our previous advisor Rick.  First, the new advisor wanted to persuade me to go down along the wall, which I refused.  Fortunately the captain of a vessel has the final say in all these decisions.  That didn't please the advisor and when we went in the lock, something didn't work out with the communication between advisor, trainee and the line handlers on shore.  We were tied up at an awkward angle, so that I constantly had to reposition the boat with the help of my two 40 HP Volvo-Penta engines.  Good to have in moments like that.  When sailing, we don't use them at all, as the solar panels and the wind generator supply all the electricity we need. 

 

While we were in the last lock and everybody was busy as hell, the advisor announced repeatedly - and with a louder voice each time - that it was time to eat and created quite unnecessary stress that way.  Needless to say, he ate at least twice the amount of his trainee or anybody else on board. 

 

Still, we made it to the Pacific without mishap and by 2:00 p.m. we dropped anchor behind Flamenco Island.  You can't believe how happy we were to be back in the Pacific one more.  The change was almost startling.  Not only are the tides extremely high on this side, but when you look at Panama City with its skyscrapers, wide avenues, trees and parks, you can't quite believe that it belongs to the same country as slum-like and outright dangerous Colon. 

 

After a couple of days, we re-anchored on the other side of the causeway, because it is a lot more protected.  Also there are a lot more boats at La Playita de Amador.  Here we ran into Dennis and Linda from DREAM MAKER, who are taking care of our sails which got badly damaged in the storm off Colombia. 

 

We made a trip to the Balboa Yacht Club, which is booked out for two weeks and were put on a waiting list.  While Dennis, Liping and Aurora Ulani went food shopping at the local REY Supermercado, I talked to my family back in Flensburg.  They had already started on their Christmas dinner. 

 

When it was dark, Santa Claus came to DHARMA BUM III as well.  Aurora Ulani ripped off the gift wrapping from her bicycle - she is riding it in the spacious cockpit right now - and the brown furry rabbit, the boat got a foresail made of Mylar, Liping got a nice dinner ashore and I finally got a speargun.  Karl and the delicious dinners of Big Eye had convinced us, that a speargun was not only a necessary survival-tool, but helps to enrich the food supply considerably. 

 

So we made Christmas in the Pacific after all and if we get the visa for French Polynesia in reasonable time, we can soon take off for the Marquesas and the South Seas.  We really are looking forward to that trip! 

 

Latitude: 08°54.61'N  Longitude: 079°31.54'W

DHARMA BUM III going through the Panama Canal

Ho guys,

 

We'll be starting to go through the canal in the dark, on Wednesday, 20. December 2006 at around 5:00 pm Panama time (UTC: 10:00 pm, Germany: 11:00 pm, Taiwan: Thursday, 21. December 2006 at around 6:00 am).  As the locks are very well lit, you might be able to spot us at:

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camara-animada.html

 

If possible, I´d like a copy of a photo of DHARMA BUM III going through the Panama Canal.  :-)

 

http://worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_pa.aspx

 

Cheers!

 

Holg

DHARMA BUM III surfing with 15.3 knots 

60 knots of wind 

Bequia --> Panama

After about seven months in Trinidad we sailed to Bequia, where we spent almost another month in pretty much perfect surroundings.  Excellent holding ground, lobsters and moray-eels living right under the boat, the beach white and fringed with palm-trees - one could get used to that.  Plenty of charter boats and sky-high prices, though. 

 

Anyway, the GRIB-Files indicated reasonably good weather for the next eight days and so we weighed anchor and took off towards Panama.  Liping took just 25 mg Meclizine Hydrochloride and didn't have any problems with sea-sickness whatsoever.  Aurora Ulani had to throw up about three times for the first three days and I was slightly nauseous for about four or five days.  Fortunately that was it. 

 

All went smoothly until we came into the vicinity of Maracaibo in Venezuela.  However, as soon as we were off Colombia, conditions began to deteriorate.  Not that we had squalls or the usual kinds of bad weather.  It stayed pretty much sunny all the way until we reached Panama.  It was just that the wind got stronger and stronger. 

 

When we had steady 40 knots, I began to take in sail and thought that things would soon go down to 35 knots or, preferably, a tad lower.  Instead, the winds picked up until we had steady 50 knots with mountainous following seas (my guess is between five and eight meters).  I was amazed, because I just could not believe that we were having this kind of weather in the Caribbean - and with the sun shining to boot. 

 

We had noticed that the winds picked up as soon as it got dark and the instruments seemed to bear out this observation.  All seemed to be going reasonably well, until I noticed that this time the wind climbed up from the 50+ knots to 60 knots.  (We had just the tiniest scrap of the jib up, because otherwise we would go sideways to the seas.  We surfed at 15+ knots at that time.)  That's when I finally got really scared, because the word hurricane kept popping up in my head.  And after the typhoon we experienced in September 1994 in Taiwan (a window blew out, glass pierced the plywood I put to replace the window, sofa & arm-chairs flew away, a heavy steel washing machine disintegrated &c. &c. ) I had absolutely no illusions as to what would happen to us, if we were in the dangerous semicircle of a hurricane. 

 

Blue water came over the deck and more than once a wave broke right into our cockpit.  Unfortunately our sails suffered badly as well.  The jib developed a hole, which enlarged itself within seconds to impressive proportions, but I didn't dare to take it all in.  Earlier on the main had ripped itself off the first three mast-sliders.  I was sitting at the wheel in foul-weather gear, harness and life-line, in order to correct our course if the boat should get out of control while surfing.  When things were at their worst, that happened every two minutes or so.  I had the feeling that we might not make it this time.  Fortunately it was only my fear speaking. 

 

In the morning I saw a cargo-ship beating towards weather (probably bound for Cartagena) and making heavy work of it.  I called the captain on the VHF and asked for the weather report.  He was kinda busy at the time, but about half an hour later he came back and read it to me.  Surprisingly the weather report talked of only 25 to 35 knots of wind and a maximum swell of 4 meters.  No change for the next 48 hours.  When he signed off, the captain shouted: "Good luck!!!"

 

It took us a little while to get to Panama and while the situation got slightly better, it never got reasonably comfortable.  At any time, the winds would go up to 40 or even above 50 knots, while the sea was confused and exceedingly boisterous.  And, of course, it was around midnight when we arrived.  Nothing to do, but take down all sail and wait for daylight. 

 

We reported to Cristobal Signal Station, had to wait for one cargo-ship to go through the small entrance and anchored in the flats not much later.  

 

~~~~~

 

What we got to hear in the few days since we arrived, has made us reevaluate the whole experience.  Nobody here remembers anything like this storm.  Of 18 yachts in the anchorage, 16 dragged anchor and one yacht got lost and sank (divers floated her again already).  Three cargo-ships got thrown ashore.  Two biggies collided out in the roads and most of them left to avoid a similar fate.  Apparently 16 people died here as a direct result of the weather. 

 

~~~~~

 

We have had our boat measured today and we are thinking of going through the Panama Canal in a week or so.  It'll take two days, but we know that the Pacific is waiting on the other side and we are more than eager to sail on to the South Seas once more. 

Bequia --> Panama

We are in Bequia (St. Vincent & The Grenadines) and have just checked out to sail to Panama tomorrow. Very nice place here with good holding ground and lobsters right under the boat.

Scotland Bay, Trinidad -- Friday, 20 October 2007

Last time I went to immigration here, the guy said:  "You have to leave the island!"  When I remonstrated with him that DHARMA BUM III was not ready and that this wasn't my own fault at all, he replied:  "Your boat has a problem.  You don't.  You have to leave the island!"

 

I could try again with a different officer, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.  So, I am planning to clear out on 10/25 and then go for a little sail to Bequia, the Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Greneda and then back here to Trinidad. 

 

These days I am spending the nights over in Scotland Bay in the company of a horde of howler-monkeys and my good friends Kar(e)l & Libu Hauschke, whom I met in French Guayana in 1989.  Karl is a famous mountain-climber from the Czech Republic.  ("New generation of climbers of the fifties and sixties together with a group of young local climbers threw themselves into climbing very demanding cracks and marking up new routes. One of them was Karel Hauschke (nicknamed "Koksa") who became famous by his original ascents at difficult never-climbed walls in Adrspach. The Valley Route at the Duke (marked out and climbed along with Jan Zalesky) crossed the huge Valley Wall and the Dwo-day Route was the first of many cracks leading to the top of Pegasus. A year later, Koksa made the famous Aerial Route on Mistress. Two weeks later, he and Vaclav Hornych climbed the Long Corner opposite the Lovers. In the following years, Karel Hauschke and Jaroslav Krecbach ranked about the best climbers. Routes such as Dechac on King, the Mushroomers' Route on Tooth and the Magic Route on the Koksa Spire rank among the most famous. The last one was climbed and marked out together with Vladimir Meier a co-author of the impressive Vault Route on Castle.")

 

He designed and built his boat ROSINANTE and Karl & Libu have lived on the boat since 1972, raised and home-schooled two children and sailed around the world.  They go spearfishing all the time and find lots of fruit and vegetables in the jungle.  And, of course, they are very fond of good food, good drink, and good parties.  :-)))

 

We should be back here pretty soon, as there is still a lot of work to be done on the boat.  I still plan to be in the Marquesas Islands by Valentines Day 2007 - so I'd better get going!

VESLA -- armed robbery with guns

In the night from Wednesday to Thursday  (17 Aug '06) at between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. the skipper and crew of S/V VESLA from Norway were chatting in the cockpit of their sailing vessel, while their guests Paul from the U.K. and two German girls were down below.  A dinghy with several black Trinidadians came alongside asking for a drink and cigarettes, which Torbjørn, Einar and Christian were happy to provide. 

 

Suddenly one of the people out of the dinghy came aboard, wielding a gun and asking the people in the cockpit to empty their pockets.  He was accompanied by more people from the dinghy who were armed with machetes and knives.  The armed intruders then proceeded to get down below, where they apparently produced another gun and woke up the people down below with a gun to the head. 

 

They then proceeded to ransack the boat, taking two laptop computers, scuba-diving gear, cameras, video-cameras, a battery charger, binoculars, knives, alcoholic drinks, a watch and so on as well as all the money and credit cards they could get their hands on.  In the process one of the intruders touched and "felt up" at least one of the girls, they went through the backpacks and kept asking about more money.  At the same time they started hitting one of the crew with the broad side of a machete, getting more violent when that didn't produce the desired results. 

 

The whole search of the boat took about 1 1/2 hours and the only thing of value not taken were a bunch of travelers' checks and a credit card that the robbers had apparently overlooked.  Even the souvenirs including an African drum as well as the photos and videos were taken. 

 

Just before they left, the robbers threatened once more with the gun asking for the rest of the money and then stabbed the dinghy about 20 times.  Finally they took off towards the open sea. 

 

The skipper immediately got on the VHF radio channel 16 in order to send out a call for help.  He was informed that he would have to call for the Coast Guard specifically and got a response apparently from the Coast Guard, which advised him to change to channel 11.  He was told that somebody would be there in about 30 minutes, but since nothing much happened in that direction he called again about 1 1/2 hours later.  After about two hours altogether the Coast Guard actually showed up, spend about five minutes on board and then left again. 

 

Meanwhile other sailors from the yachting community provided immediate assistance and skipper and crew would like to stress that the help they received from this direction, as well as from YSATT, the management of Power Boats, Peake Yacht Services and Jesse James of Members Only was invaluable and greatly appreciated.  The local dinghy-repair-shop offered to repair their slashed dinghy free of charge, a fellow yachtie donated an outboard engine - theirs was waterlogged in is probably destroyed - Peake Yacht Services offered free dock space and a hotel room, Power Boats offered to put their boat on the hard for free and Jesse James offered a free trip around the island so that they could see for themselves the beautiful side of this island. 

 

In other areas a certain amount of miscommunication seems to have taken place.  By the time the police arrived to take finger prints, Sunday (20 Aug '06), around lunchtime, there weren't any useful fingerprints left and although the management of Power Boats met with the Coast Guard, they still hadn't heard anything new from that angle at the time of the interview (Wed., 23 Aug '06 at noon). 

 

Originally VESLA was supposed to leave for a trip to the Orinoco in the near future, but instead the crew is going to fly back to Norway to recuperate from the incident.  When the hurricane season is over, they hope to sail north to begin their long voyage home to Norway.

Security-Update for Chaguaramas, Trinidad, W.I. -- Th., 17 August 2006

Security-Update for Chaguaramas, Trinidad, W.I.  --  Th., 17 August 2006

 

Things in the anchorage seem to deteriorate.  Last night between 2:30 and 3:30 am, an aluminum dinghy or pirogue coming from Fisherman's Village near Cruise Inn, came alongside a Norwegian yacht, which was anchored in front of Peake Yacht Services right in the mooring field. 

 

The people on the Norwegian yacht were still up and talking in the cockpit.  At first the fishermen only asked for cigarettes but suddenly several of them boarded the boat wielding a gun and machetes.  They then took their time, perhaps 1 1/2 hours to search the boat and rob everything that was of any value.  Computers, money, credit cards, cigarettes, alcohol, and so on.  In fact, the boat was pretty much stripped.  Then they destroyed the inflatable, sank the outboard and took off towards the sea and the west. 

 

The Norwegians called for help on several channels but the only immediate response was from a few yachties in nearby boats that came to help.  The coast guard was much more concerned with getting the spelling and the paperwork right and didn't do anything at all until about 5:00 o'clock in the morning. 

 

For us, this means that we will barricade us in every night and go to bed with our UHF handhelds as well as our cellphones.  (Those are incredibly inexpensive here - I paid US$ 6.50 for a brand-new one.)  Our VHF radio will stay on all night and at the first sign of trouble we will broadcast on all channels and phone 999 as well.  Whether that will do any good, is a different story altogether. 

 

Since I did not talk to the people involved personally, there may be a few inaccuracies in this account, but the gist should be correct. 

 

Greetings from Aurora Ulani, Liping & Holger Jacobsen  --  S/V DHARMA BUM III  --  YSATT mooring #2

 

 

After a whole spate of thefts, burglaries and armed robberies in Chaguaramas, yachties convened a security meeting this morning at 10:00 o'clock in "The Bight" at Peake Yacht Services. Andy of TIXI LIXI organized and chaired the meeting and about 100 yachties and cruisers showed up (at a similar meeting in March about 10 people came). Especially invited were the Yacht Services Association of Trinidad and Tobago (YSATT), the police in Carenage, and a representative from the ministry of tourism. Unfortunately I did not see any of the representatives and the local paper covering the boating scene understandably didn't want to print things that might keep people away from the place.

Quite a few of the people present had lost dinghies, outboards, generators or other things from their boats and not a few of them were victims of armed robberies where the attackers held guns to their heads. One French sailor had his boat broken into at the reputable marina Crews Inn. The boat got completely ransacked and the thieves had taken absolutely everything of any value. Even the diesel generator and the engine were gone.

One person stopped his car at a red light, when a robber smashed the window and held a gun to his head. Another was robbed in his house and received multiple serious stabs in the front and the back. One woman about 70 years of age was robbed three times while taking a maxi-taxi (minibus) from Chaguaramas to Port of Spain. She now has obtained a permit to carry a gun. These were all local people, not visitors, tourists, yachties or cruisers. In the capital of Port of Spain, which is relatively small as capitals go, on average 1.7 people get murdered every day. This is not only a yachtie problem - but yachties are prime targets for thieves and robbers.

Naturally some of these people were extremely upset, with tempers rising and flaring. Some cruisers called for the formation of an armed militia, which suggestion didn't receive much enthusiasm. Other people were quick to demand all kinds of things from the local business community and the local government. Finally, most yachties present signed a petition to send off to the authorities, while a subgroup discussed forming a dinghy-watch run by yachties in a revolving manner on a voluntary basis. One circumnavigator, whose wife was on the most recently robbed maxi-taxi (minibus) suggested a concerted boycott of all the local businesses to draw their attention to the security problem. He received a round of solid applause.

Amongst the other numerous suggestions was the idea to suggest a harbor watch to the local marinas and YSATT, as they already have most of the necessary infrastructure in place. And pretty much everybody agreed that the SSCA, Trans-Ocean and similar organizations and publications should be made aware of the atrocious and worsening security situation here in Chaguaramas and Trinidad.

As it stands right now, there are quite a few boats leaving for Venezuela and elsewhere, many of them never to return. They will do their best to spread the word amongst their friends, acquaintances and fellow cruisers.

As one of our engines is currently down and as we still haven't received any compensation whatsoever after being hit by a local boat (we were stationary, at anchor, with no one on our boat) on 30 May (we informed the coast guard, the police, the harbor authorities, YSATT and the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association (TTSA) right away), we can't leave right now. Otherwise we certainly would. Our dinghy is chained to a lamppost, the outboard engine is chained to the cockpit-table and these days I never carry more then $15 to $30 on my body. I don't walk the streets of Port of Spain in the dark, but try to be on the boat by then. Still, most of the people who got robbed were just as careful as me.

Eventually, we'll move on to Venezuela (hopefully not from the frying pan into the fire) and then move back home into the Pacific. We have many friends in the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, in Papeete and Tonga and we are quite sure that at least over there the peaceful yachtie-life will have us back. But hopefully it'll be a lot earlier on.

Greetings from the Venus-Flytrap, no, from the Trini-Boattrap

http://www.wownet.net/~holger/ -- http://mail.im.tku.edu.tw/~jacobsen/

Damage!

Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association                                                   Fr., 6/2/2006

 

Indian Arrival Day last Tuesday was not a good day for us.  A local Freedom 44 ketch with many party guests on deck apparently didn't see DHARMA BUM III and plowed right into our port bow while going very fast.  Now there is a hole in the bow, the crash bulkhead is delaminated, the pulpit is destroyed entirely, all but one of the stanchions are ripped out of the deck, bent and destroyed.  The rubbing strake is bent and there is extensive fibreglass and gelcoat damage all over. 

 

It appears that LA BALEINE is not insured, but belongs to a famous Trinidadian and was skippered by his grandson, Sebastien Paddington.  We went to the Coast Guard and the Police in Carenage together, and the next day I went to see the Director of Maritime Services by myself.  According to him, everything is very simple.  I was stationary and he hit me, end of story. 

 

The owner of the boat is expected to arrive here today and our respective surveyors have already had a good look and taken plenty of pictures.  Everybody agrees that we will have to come out of the water and that it will take quite a long time until ourboat is shipshape again, especially as all the yards are booked out and the rainy season is beginning. 

 

It will certainly cost us plenty money, plenty time and plenty nerves, that's for sure. 

 

That's how it goes...

 

Talking to circumnavigators Karl & Libu at the TTSA

 

Two Months In Chaguaramas, Trinidad

Now we are without a mast and DHARMA BUM III looks rather strange.  The KISS wind-generator is the highest point of the boat and there is one lonely solar-panel sitting on top of the bimini. 

 

A few days ago one of the boats on a YSATT-mooring went adrift which is one of the reasons why we are thinking of relocation to the Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association (TTSA), a Yacht Club a few bays further down.  Another big reason is that they have a swimming pool, where I can finally teach Aurora Ulani swimming.  However, the place is very noisy on the weekend with the disco in full swing and it is far away from shops and other facilities. 

 

Also, one must pay for a whole month over there, so if it is not good, we will be stuck there anyway. 

 

We hope to have our mast standing up again early next week and maybe we even get the frame for the four solar panels within a month.  Sooner or later we will have to deal with immigration and then we'll have to think of where we want to go.  I am still inclined to forget about Venezuela and go straight to the San Blas Islands and Panama. 

Latitude: 10°40.73'N  Longitude: 061°38.07'W

Music, Music, Music!!!

Can't quite believe that I had to go all the way to Trinidaaad (Drinkin' Rum an' Coca Cola, workin' for the Yankee dollaaar  --  that base was right here in Chaguaramas Bay) to get to know the Dancehall-Reggae band SEEEDS from Berlin...) 

 

Another really good one is the Internet-Radio-Station & Website Scratch: dub, reggae, rocksteady & ska 

 

http://pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=KE6PIB 

Chaguaramas, Trinidad -- Tue., 5/9/06

Yesterday I tried to reawaken Skymate to new life, but I wasn't very successful.  I think it has overheated and died on day #2.

 

This morning we went to TTSA (Yachtclub), to pick up a couple of bicycles which Karl & Libu - old circumnavigator-friends I met in Kourou in 1989 - had left for us.  Jörn (old friend of the Stahlratte & enthusiastic SEEEDS Dancehall-Reggae Fan) offered us the use of his bicycle-seat for small children, so that Aurora Ulani can go with us.  She is turning into quite an energetic little girl and her boat vocabulary is really amazing. 

 

When at her friend Zoya's home she remarked;  "The house is not floating on the water, is it?!   And there aren't any waves here!"  She knows what a travellift is for and she is very comfortable in the dinghy now, no matter how rough the ride is. 

 

Later I did some work in the engine room and Peter (Jörn's Partner at First Mate Ltd.  --  we went together to the beach at Macqueripe Bay after Jörn's great Thai-Food-Party last weekend) welded the adjustor-arm for the alternator for me.

 

Yesterday we could observe a big forest fire here, which looked like an erupting volcano at night.  Unfortunately it smothered our boat in soot and ashes. 

 

Some of our long-distance and long-time yachtie friends here are a bit worried that we overdo it on the work and might actually get stuck here like so many other yachties have done.  What they don't realize is that the visa-situation doesn't allow us to get stuck anywhere for long and that the San Blas Islands, Panama and the South Pacific are beckoning.  Never mind 1421...  <grin>

 

http://pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=KE6PIB 

Sa., 11. February 2006 - Progress!

Sa., 11. February 2006  - West End, Tortola, BVI - Progress!

 

Did nobody notice that the mast was broken in the picture below?!?  ;-))

 

After our successful sailing trip with Cam we stayed out on a mooring in order to enjoy the clear waters, privacy and quiet out there.  On a mooring, you don't have to worry about the ramp or bumping into the dock when the weather is bad or there is a swell.  Also the steady stream of tourists, which has inundated these islands for many years, doesn't get that far.  When one (or more!) of the big cruise-ships is in Road Town, things get uncomfortably tight around here. 

 

Unfortunately this blissful state of affairs didn't last all that long.  Although I ran both 40 HP engines for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, the voltage in our batteries kept going down.  What was worse, was the fact that not only our house-bank (lights, fridge, etc.) were affected, but the starter-batteries as well. 

 

I had managed to change the transmission oil out there without any major problems, but that one requires a permanent solution as well. 

 

So back to the dock we went.  Many days of hard labor from sunup to after sundown (professional sailor Ian Henderson (Sydney-Hobart Race, Newport-Bermuda Race, and many others) said to me one day at sundown:  "You are working really hard,man!"  <grin>) followed our return to civilization.  My mood was far below the freezing point at that time.  It didn't help at all that I woke up every morning from nightmares in which little Aurora Ulani played the main role... 

 

I finally found the cause of all my problems. 

 

On the one hand, the isolator was wired incorrectly and on the other hand, one of the connections to the starter motors was badly corroded.  Once I knew what the trouble was, it took only moments to rectify the issue.  So, the last few days we are running only on batteries to see if anything else crops up. 

 

The next project is going up the slip once more.  I already have the seals and housing and just need to line up the travellift, the mechanic and Joey to help me get the boat over there.  The work itself could be done in an hour and when that is finished we are planning on getting out of here. 

 

We might go straight to Trinidad or we might first check out Puerto Rico.  We haven't quite decided on that one yet. 

 

Latitude: 18°23.11'N, Longitude: 064°42.31'W

Shit happens!