SV Spectra to mission control-We have internet on the go.

“17:59.310N 65:20.07W”

5634 Miles since leaving Sandwich.

11th April 2023

Our planned departure slipped until Monday mainly due to Easter Friday catching us unawares and leaving the larder bare. We were particularly keen to get a good shop in here as the Bahamas are an expensive place to stock up, a painful lesson learnt from the last trip that way. With Norma’s shopping list growing longer by the day we decided that we should now become a two- trolley family and are now the proud owners of another granny trolly, green with a go faster white stripe this time. Actually, there is no shame here as you see an endless stream of boat people dragging the ubiquitous little granny trollies backwards and forwards in every port that we go to. We are now suspected of some serious one-upmanship; nobody has two shopping trolleys I hear them mutter as we strut passed. Enough, enough about the shopping trolley I hear you cry.

  Saturday night we invited Simon and Roddy over for a meal and to say thank you for the loan of the dinghy. We had a good meal and several drinks before they whizzed off back to their respective yachts. As Arrow is being refitted which includes an extensive chuck out of all that is on board, we have gained a few freebees while they have been here. We now have three new throws for our saloon seats which will help protect them from sweaty bodies in the Tropics plus a snazzy Carib beer mat that will hold our cold drinks while we try to stop sweating in the tropics. On Sunday afternoon we dropped the loaner dinghy back over to them, had a couple of beers and then bade them a fond farewell.

Snazzy new throws and beer mat.

Monday 0800 and we were ready to go. The journey across the lagoon was trouble free but did have a certain stress level starting with a veritable Christmas tree of weed that pulled up with the anchor. With the anchor just off the bottom I slowly drove Spectra along the unmarked channel while Norma leant over the front with our carving knife cutting great swathes of the stinky stuff away. If you read our arrival blog you will remember that this is one shallow lagoon in places. The very narrow channel has no markers meaning that you have to feel your way out using the depth sounder. We dropped to 0.3 meters below the keel at one point but that was the lowlight. Eventually we drove into the deep pool at the canal entrance and waited for the bridge to lift which it dually did right on time at 0830 and we drove through straight onto the fuel dock at the seaward entrance of the canal. This was the first fill up since arriving in Jolly harbour after the Atlantic crossing back in January and 230 litres of Diesel plus 50 litres of petrol had all of the tanks filled to the brim. 

Bridge is open and we are off.

Our turn next

Good by Marigot, Goodbye St Martin.

Typically, after 4 weeks bouncing about on the anchor with gusty strong winds in Marigot, Anguilla and the Lagoon on our day of travel the wind dropped to 10 knots. Not to be deterred we have persevered and sailed on. We are now 27 hours into the journey and have completed 117 miles which is pretty pathetic really. That said, the wind finally died away to Force 1-2 an hour ago and we have decided to run under engine for a while which will at least move us along a bit. I would say charge the batteries but with this sun blasting down we are putting a constant 200+ Watts into the batteries from solar alone so plenty of juice there. The only incident of note during the trip was two big tankers and a 50-meter pleasure yacht all ganging up on us south of the British Virgin Islands during the night. All three of them passed at within 1/3 of a mile, and all from different directions, one in front, one behind and the pleasure yacht alongside front to back and all within an hour which left us in a bit of a spin but perfectly safe as it turned out. We both feel fine after the first 24 hours at sea and have decided to skip the Spanish Virgin Islands and press on straight for the Dominican Republic, the 5-star Hotel, Marina and infinity pool are beckoning. We haven’t had a walk ashore berth since English Harbour on the 4^th March and Norma informs me that she is well over due for a bit of pampering.  Actually, stopping in the Spanish Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is a bit iffy legally anyway as Norma hasn’t got evidence of her US Visa as her passport is still in the UK getting renewed. Even though we only planned to anchor sleep and move on there seems to be an awful lot of coast guard activity if the constant chatter on the VHF is anything to go by so discretion is perhaps better than valour at this point.

Sun come up over the Starling Antenna on the first morning at sea.

Today we have video called Tony my son while on the move and received confirmation that the marina berth is booked. Considering that when Spectra was born, 1982, mobile phones were in their infancy, GPS was military only if even that, and Yachties were still navigating by the Sun and Stars. Now, we have video calls offshore while on the move and chat via website to marinas, bloody amazing I say. Looking at the rates which reduce significantly for a one weeks stay and the entry fees for the Dominican Republic at over $120 just to get us and the boat in we have decided that a short pitstop is not good value for money. We have decided to stay for a full week, hire a car and make the most of our visit. I may even join Norma in the Spa and infinity pool for a bit of pampering of my own, only when I’ve done my chores of course.