MUTUAL FUN - A SAILING ODYSSEY

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FIRST MATE'S LOG - April 2001

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Sunday, April Fool's Day

It's early so nobody's gotten me yet but I'm sure they will. I always fall for stupid April Fool's tricks. My computer warned me when I turned it on that the time has changed and I can't figure out if the time changed here or not. It gives me a list of choices of locations but nothing for the Caribbean. Oh well, I don't have any appointments on my calendar today so I should be OK. Ha!

I just have to add to my log today that although the horse-jumping contest was mediocre and the accompanying dog show was a farce, the steel band called Halcyon way up the hill on Shirley Heights was outstanding. I've never seen anything like it. I lost count at 20 drums and the music was very professional and not just noise. I danced with a couple of Rastafarians. Although they seemed pretty high on something, they are great dancers and I had a ball. Patti got her hair all done up in braids and Randy even got 3 tiny braids put in his hair. They told me they could do my hair, which is a joke since it's only an inch long but I said I would only do it if Patti's dad did so I didn't have to. A great time was had by all and I'm going to listen to the evening SSB net and hit the bunk.

April 3, Tuesday,

Day 6 of being my own captain

Hey, I kinda like this. I get to make all of the decisions and do exactly as I please, when or if, I please. But I do miss the big guy. Yesterday I ran a slight fever and had absolutely no energy so I just lay around all day. Hoping for a good night's rest, which it was, just cut short by the sound of occasional scraping. I thought I had solved that problem but it turned out to be a different problem. My anchor line is lying on rock. Oof! It's not dangerous but it does get annoying at 5:00 in the morning, when I was rudely awakened. I had 6 hours sleep but those that know me know I am a total 8-hour woman. I feel better today, if a bit tired and my fever is gone. No more excuses, I must work. The big decision is whether to move the boat out of the way of these rocks or train my mind to ignore the noise. I was teetering this morning but I decided to go for the ignoring method for a couple of days. My neighbor is in the same predicament and so far they are using the ignoring method as well. Reanchoring this baby has many drawbacks. Getting someone onboard to help isn't a problem. The BIG problem is that until an anchor has set in one place for about 3 days, you really don't feel calm. That means 3 days in a row of bad sleep and nervousness, which I'm not quite up to right now.

Everyday has a dilemma all to its own and today was no different. Randy noticed my snub line (extra protection for the anchor) is beginning to chafe. I sat up on the bow pondering the problem for quite some time before I moved into action. I was properly impressed with myself just for that. I won't go into the whole magilla of what I did but only tell you the highlight. The snub line is extremely taut and the wind is blowing 20-25k here so you can guess what I must do. I turned the engine on, got a rubber hose connected to the other end of the line, threw it into forward and ran up to the bow and put my anti-chafe gear into place. Well, actually, it took 3 tries but since you weren't here watching, you don't get to make fun of me. I could easily have asked for help but it seemed so much fun to do it alone. It is now in place but I am not completely happy with it so when I get the urge, I'll turn the engine on and do it all over again. I rented a "Cher" comedy called "Mermaids" for tonight. Patti's father left this morning and I haven't seen Patti or Randy all day. After a 10-day visit with a southern Baptist father, that's perfectly understandable. My sister will be here Saturday and I can't wait to have fun with her. I've found a new place to perch and she can be the first to share it with me. Last night I put on Jesus Christ Superstar and let it rip while I climbed up on the boom (the big spar that holds the mainsail) and lie down on my back, 5 feet off the deck, watched the stars and listened to my favorite rock opera. Another little slice of heaven.

Hope you are all enjoying my sweetheart. Give him back to me in one piece, complete with ponytail in 2 more weeks, please.

Can't remember if I told you about the huge mega-yacht here named "Tatoosh." It's the biggest private yacht I have ever seen. There are so many toys on board it's hard to conceive. A helicopter, a powerboat, jet skis and I don't know how many tenders. Anyway, his brother just pulled in with his mega-yacht named "Leander." It has a 72' sailboat inside of it, not to mention all of the other toys. Unbelievable!

April 5, 2001

(I just discovered if I ask real nice, my computer will tell me the date)
What a work day yesterday. The wind seemed sufficiently calm enough to let me begin the teak work, in other words, I pretty much ran out of excuses. About 9:30am, after all of the stuff I listen to on SSB radio, I grabbed the blue masking tape, jumped in the dinghy and set about taping the sides of the hull. I had already sanded over a week ago so the wood was ready, waiting and growing impatient. The wind was a tad brisker than the hour before, when I made the decision to do this but what the heck, once committed… Starting at the bow, I tied the dinghy on and began taping. Everything was going relatively well until I realized I had to untie so I could move along the boat. Taping is definitely a two-handed job so I figured this ought to be interesting. It took me awhile to figure out how I was going to hold on and tape but I finally figured out if I just left the tape hanging from the boat, I could do this. As you can imagine, almost every task that is done on a boat is comical. Not necessarily at the time but certainly after its completed and you've had some rest. I completed the port side and wondering if I had the required energy to tape the starboard side, blindly went at it. Completing this side and feeling pretty proud of myself, I dragged myself back into the boat and decided I needed to return my video so I didn't get charged an extra day. Pretty drained of strength and wondering how and if I would have the energy to actually stain, I set off into town on my little excursion. I returned my video, checked Hotmail and then decided to call Bob. After talking to the people at Cable and Wireless, who virtually have a monopoly on the phone systems here, I gave up that idea. My AT&T card could put the call through at $9.43 for the first minute and $2.40 for each additional minute. The local calling card was $6 something for the first 3 minutes and $2+ for each additional and my Visa was the best alternative but still ridiculous. Sorry, Bob. Maybe next week. Upon returning to the boat, I immediately set about the task of staining. Getting everything organized and into a pail, and all of us into the dinghy, I scooted the dinghy to the bow and realized it was now blowing the usual 20k. Oh well, once committed…

I held on with my left hand or arm and brushed with my right. I was only going to touch-up the spots where I sanded, thinking I would complete this job, both sides, in time for lunch. But once I started applying the Cetol stain, I noticed how thirsty the wood was and I did everything. 2 hours, one sore left arm and one sore right hand later; I completed the port side. It did look nice. I wondered if I could do the other side and decided to decide after a peanut butter sandwich. Once sated, I went for it. Upon doing about Ľ of the starboard side, I gave up. My arms were so sore they ached and besides, I was at the bottom of the can and the stain was acting a little gunky. I threw that can, the brush and the stirrer away and awarded myself with a swim. Once in the water, which by the way felt wonderful, I noticed grass growing along the water line so I got a brush and went around the boat, treading water and scrubbing. Eyeing a few barnacles, I grabbed a plastic scraper (barracuda have been known to attack hands holding metal scrapers in the water) and went around the boat again and cleaned them off. Now, as if I shouldn't have been beat, I somehow felt rejuvenated in the water and swam over to "Passagio." We talked for awhile and then I swam back. Always one to save our water, as in SAVE OUR WATER, I grabbed the Joy soap and had myself a nice salt-water bath. This is done treading water, since Bob isn't here to do my hair, and hanging off the ladder. Realizing I hadn't thought about a shave or my towel, I had to pad through the boat, dripping wet, grab them and come back up for a fresh water squirt-off. NOW, I was tired. I fixed a can of tuna with a scallion and mayo, toasted bagel and butter and freestone peaches for my dinner. I was so tired that I was in bed and asleep by 9:15pm. I slept like a baby.

This morning I will help "Passagio" move to a dock and then set about applying a second coat of stain. After explaining all I did yesterday, I am already pooped. Better have a nice, big breakfast.

Again April 5, 2001

I have decided to dedicate this day and call it Gripe Day. It's been an extremely long day and it's just a little after noon. At 7:50am, I dinghied over to "Passagio" to help them get to a dock for refrigeration work. My job was to throw the stern lines to a person waiting at the dock. Everything went fine. While at the marina, I disposed of trash and tried to find a light bulb for our anchor light that wouldn't deplete our battery, to no avail. This was done by swinging from the boat onto the dock, about 4 feet away. Kind of fun but if Randy hadn't been there to catch me, I don't know…

When I got back to our boat, I couldn't put off any longer the nasty job of defrosting the fridge. It hasn't been cooling very well and it needed to be done. I started at exactly 9:00am and figured it was a 45-minute job. I just got done and turned the fridge back on at exactly noon. That's 3 hours of boiling water, pouring it over the cold plate, recycling the old water (gross) by sponging it into a pail and boiling it again. Our fridge doesn't have a drain, heaven knows why, so it all must be sponged up. After 2 hours of this process, my back is wrenched and I am in a very bad mood. I had put most of the food in the top of the freezer and the remainder I threw out since "Passagio" has borrowed our cooler. It wasn't a great loss, old pickled beets and nasty looking cheese spread; stuff like that. Because Sailmail isn't working since a fuse blew, I called Patti to get info on how to use Pop3 and download my mail to Hotmail. She gave me the idea to use a hairdryer of the fridge so I spent the next 45 minutes blow-drying the cold plate. There were hunks of ice 4" thick on there. Finally, I clawed the last chunk of ice off, cleaned it out and turned it on. Do you think I will get around to staining today? It would be an interesting bet. For now, I think I'll have a big, fat peanut butter sandwich and pray that nothing else on this boat needs work. My sister comes in 2 days and I would sure like to spend some time with her.

Friday the 13th April, 2001

Wow, what a nice week. Sharon arrived safe and sound. I picked her up at the dinghy dock and she was pale and Ohio-looking. She was sitting on the dock waiting for me with her feet dangling over the water, looking quite happy to be here. It didn't take her long at all to get into the swing of the cruising life. Getting in and out of the dinghy was hard and frustrating at first but as time went by, she was holding the line and keeping us safely near the boat as we boarded. All of the many frustrating and hard chores that boat life require, became second nature to her. She could wash the dishes with even less water than I use and could take a salt-water bath with the best of 'em. Today is her last full day here and we've only taken 1 fresh water shower. We've rather enjoyed bathing in the sea when it's hot and sunny. We rinse off with fresh water in the cockpit, thereby saving about 4 gallons of water a day.

Sunday we went to Jump-Up and had a great time dancing and enjoying the steel band. We've gone to the beach several times and done our share of walking around. We hosted a party of 8 aboard Mutual Fun last night and tonight we're going out for pizza. We were going dancing after but Shar's got a touch of a tummy bug. Her last day tomorrow, we'll probably hit the beach again and then she taxi's to the airport about 5:00pm. Sunday is Easter and I haven't had any offers yet but I kind of hope I don't spend it alone. Then there's Monday and Bob comes home late Tuesday night. I can't wait to see him. I've talked to him just twice in the 16 days he's been gone so far. I set it up at a convenience/water taxi/fuel store to get the incoming call from Bob. Sounds like he's seen almost everyone he wanted to and had a really good time. I know it's grey there and he would like to get back here to the sun and fun.

All the time he's been gone, I've been faced with almost daily "situations" and the only things I haven't taken care of are the SSB radio and the battery situation. Bob has to call the shot on replacing our batteries and Cliff on "Joss" is going to help with the SSB. They'll be back soon for the big sailing regatta taking place on the 19th.

All in all, I thing Sharon had a nice time, as nice as can be living with me for a week and I enjoyed her company. I will have 3 days alone again and then we'll be back to normal. Normal would be nice. I look forward to moving out of Antigua to a new island. I believe Guadeloupe is next.

April 15, 2001 Happy Easter

Today is dedicated to Bob's mom, Florence, who has cooked me Easter dinner for the last 15 years. I miss her and Bob's children, Alex, Jason, Lisa and Gretchen. And, of course, I miss Bob.

I did have a nice day, though. Randy and Patti (Passagio) picked me up in their dinghy and we went for a nice long walk to the beach and then on to English Harbour. We stopped for a cold drink and then walked back to Fallmouth to use the computers and on to the grocery. I had a little snooze in the cockpit, did a bit of cleaning and took pictures of "Equus" as they left the harbour. They are going to Europe and we probably won't see them again although they're from Ohio so one never knows. Pat and I exchanged chocolate bars and Patti brought me brownies today, which I am saving to eat while watching the movie they brought me. Around 4:00pm, Rachel on "Camelot" shouted over and asked if I wanted to go to the beach. Boy, did I! It's been quite hot lately with not much wind and the water feels great. We had a nice swim, they dropped me off and I gave them leftover spaghetti to take home. I celebrated Easter with a grilled cheese sandwich and potato chips but I have a good movie to watch so I'll be fine. While swimming, I stepped on a piece of coral and my foot is red and swollen. I poured alcohol on it so I hope it's OK. It's throbbing and painful but I'm sure tomorrow it will be better. Tomorrow I will get in the water and clean the barnacles off the bottom and then clean the black soot off where the generator exhales. We must have a pretty boat for the captain when he gets back. Two more days!

April 19, 2001

Aaaah, my sweetheart is back. He better never leave me again for 3 weeks. What was he thinking? Well, he came back to me pale and pasty but after one day here, he looks healthier already. I have been whining about our batteries ever since he left and I know he didn't believe me when I told him they were failing but I was able to prove it to him in less than 60 seconds. I turned on the fridge, without the generator and we immediately went down to 11.95V. So, the project de jour is the purchase and installation of 4 new house batteries. The generator starter battery we purchased in December appears to be failing as well but we'll wait and see. I can't wait to have it all done and be able to have on a light, play a CD and flush the head without collapsing the whole system.

April 20, 2001

Batteries installed and everything working in top order. This place is really hopping with the classic sailboat regatta going on. The docks are full of gorgeous boats and the racing starts tomorrow morning. We will be at the docks to watch the boats take off and then we'll climb up a mountain to watch some of the racing. Cliff and Mary Ellen from "Joss" will be crewing as will Randy from "Passagio" and Jack from "Camelot." We'll go cheer them on. Our friends, John and Ginny from "Windshepherd", along with second mate, Slater the cat arrived in Antigua today. We haven't seen them in months. A bunch of other people we know have also turned up for this event. From here, most will be moving south, as hurricane season will start in a little over a month. Most insurance policies call for the boats to be south of latitude 12 degrees by June 1. I'm looking forward to moving this sailing home again. There are a couple of anchorages here in Antigua that we'll check out before heading for Guadeloupe. It's going to feel strange to move again. But first, there's still some fun to be had right here, last loads of laundry to get done and always one more visit to the chandlery to be had.

April 22, 2001

Personally, I think watching sailboats race is like watching the laundry spin around in the dryer but it was a beautiful day and a nice hike up the mountain.

We watched from an old fort, high enough up to see the beautiful sails and with binoculars we could make out which boat was which. Today there is a big parade at English Harbour and then the fantastic steel band, Halcyon plays at Jump-Up at 4:00pm. Bob hasn't seen them yet. He's not into climbing the mountain so we'll take a cab with "Wind Shepherd."

April 23, 2001

Weather permitting, we'll be leaving here early Thursday morning for the run to Guadeloupe. It's a little over 40 miles and if the wind isn't bucking against us, we should make it before dark. If the wind is bucking against us, we'll turn right around and come back. Our water tanks are full and the laundry will be done tomorrow. Hallelujah! We'll be on the move again.

April 27, 2001

Now that's what sailing is supposed to be like! Arrived Guadeloupe 7+ hours in 15-20k winds from the SE on a beam reach. Averaging 6 knots of speed and seas were 4-6ft. What a beautiful sail! I almost wished we were on our way to the Med. Almost. We are anchored in Deshaies (pronounced Day-hay), at the northern tip of Guadeloupe. It looks to be a quaint little place but exploring will have to wait till tomorrow, as we're both pooped. We may possibly rent a car and go into the main city of Basse Terre. It's good to be back in a French country. I like the French. My sister would probably proclaim that I was French in my last lifetime. We spent a fun good-by with "Passagio" at a little restaurant at the end of their dock where they apparently hope you get drunk enough not to notice that you are paying twice as much as anywhere else in Antigua for the food and drinks. We understand that from here south, food is very inexpensive and the quality is very good. I'm sure tired of paying $7.00 for grapes and $1.50 for a green pepper. We spend a little too long with our good-byes and I didn't sleep very well even though I took Tylenol before going to bed. Bob isn't too spunky today, either. I just told him homemade mac and cheese sounded good but I'm rethinking the whole idea to maybe chicken soup and a salad.

It's blowing about 20k here in the anchorage but the holding seems good so I'm not going to worry. Not that I usually do. It's one of those "blue" jobs on Mutual Fun. A guy thing.

April 30, 2001

Yesterday was gray almost all day long; the third rainy day since we've been down here. We took a little walk to stretch our legs, bought some groceries and spent the day being lazy and eating chocolate. I begged Bob to swim with me. I even got the ladder in the water and he got his ankles wet before telling me he just couldn't do it. After while the sun came out and I finally got him in but then we heard 2 boats hitting each other so we hurried up and got out and dinghied over to see what we could do. Another couple was already there so we helped them get the boats far enough apart, put fenders up and went back to Mutual Fun. A big green hulled boat anchored right next to us after dark and I told Bob they were too close but he hates to say anything to other captains, assuming they all know what they're doing so he let it be. About 10:30pm, as I was reading and Bob sleeping, we heard a crash. And, of course, the other boat hit us but the winds weren't strong and it wasn't a bad bump. The green boat decided since they were up anyhow, just to start out to Antigua right then and there. Fine with us.

I have to laugh when I remember our second to the last night in Antigua. We were having cocktail hour aboard "Wind Shepherd", along with "Joss" and ourselves. "Passagio" hadn't been invited because "Wind Shepherd" didn't know them. Patti and Randy came tooling over in the dinghy to drop some mail to Cliff (Joss), who was going back to the States for a week. Randy actually told Cliff that one of the letters was his alimony check to his ex-wife. What was he thinking? Well, the jokes started immediately after Randy left and all of the things we were going to write on the back of the envelope got funnier and funnier, with each new cocktail. "This is the last check you'll ever see from me" and "Come find me", etc. Randy had said that she didn't know where he was so we finally settled on: "Did you know that Randy won the lottery? - from Antigua" We (I say we, but you know darn well who actually did the writing) also drew a bad picture of a cat and scribbled the envelope up a little more. When we had cocktails with Patti and Randy on our final night there, we couldn't help but pull his chain. We told him all of the things that we were going to write and he turned white. We asked if his ex had a sense of humor and he said, "NO!" We said that was too bad. We also told him that they should get their spare berth ready because we had invited her to join them in The Saintes. Oh, by the end of the night we were holding our bellies. Randy had almost cracked a smile but still didn't know if we were joking or not. He said he was just going to have to go to the expense of calling her and explaining and we said that would be silly, since maybe we didn't write anything at all. At the end of the night, Patti (after 4 glasses of wine) tried to find out the truth but we just made more jokes. As we were leaving the next morning, halfway out the channel, we get a call from "Passagio". Patti fesses up about some little white lie she told the night before and asked us to tell her the truth about what, if anything, we wrote on the envelope. We just held the radio mike away and started laughing. She says, "oh well, I guess we'll never know." We said, "oh, you'll know. Have a nice stay in Antigua and we'll see you down the way." It will be interesting to see how that turns out!

Today is gray again. The rain is good for the boat and it keeps the intensely hot sun away so we don't mind. We never were able to check in to Customs here as the office looked like a hurricane hit it and no one was there so we're going to try again today. Guadeloupe is very lax about Immigration but Dominica will expect us to have been somewhere the last week so we need to check in and out of somewhere.

- MORE TO FOLLOW -