Where Is The Far Reach--Part III

[Jerry Hammernik]

Now that is pretty cool! Small world indeed.

[John Stone]

We left Francis Bay about 0710 in a mirror calm...like glass. We motored (yes I said motored) around to Water Lemon Key. Maybe 2 miles. We spent the day snorkeling (pretty good) and hiking ashore. We met a neat couple that sailed their Beneteau First 42 to the VI from Martha's Vineyard. A fairly simple boat too. Lots of experience.

This morning we slipped the mooring under sail and had a nice sail to start our beat up the Drake Channel and around east end of St John to Round Bay. Started off as a nice sail then got whacked by a 30 kt rain squall. By the time I got the jib down and stays'l up it was gone. Dropped the stays'l and rehoisted the jib.

Got our usual lovely sandy spot in 14' of water. Gayle and I had a great swim. Then the cats showed up in force. 13 charter cats. All very close. Have not fouled our anchor, so far, but I had to stand on the foredeck to to influence them not getting to close. This is new to St John as all the cats used to be in the BVI before Covid. It's too bad.

The problem with the charter boats is it invariably it means dinghies are driven dangerously fast through the anchorage. There is also a new style of fast water toy tearing through the anchorage. The hydrofoil boards are pretty quiet and you can't hear them when you are swimming. Two people killed last year by dinghies around anchored boats. One was the former commodore of the SSCA (I met her widowed husband) and the other was a 14 year boy in the Pacific. Who knows how many have been injured. Then there is the loud music at night. I don't blame people for wanting to have a good time (depends on how you define good time) and I did not care when in the BVI since that's the way it's set up there. It's to be expected there. But it's tiring here. Anyway, it's just something to deal with and probably I should sail further afield next time. It will be interesting to see if the charter fleets return to the BVI when entry restrictions eventually return to pre Covid.

[Chrisa006]

We were in the BVI for a week on a Cat in early March, (please forgive me). I was expecting it to be loud in the mooring fields but was happily surprised. I only once heard music/noise from another boat and it was at 6pm and lasted 15 minutes. The mooring fields tended to be near full but it worked for us.

[John Stone]

We were in the BVI for a week on a Cat in early March, (please forgive me). I was expecting it to be loud in the mooring fields but was happily surprised. I only once heard music/noise from another boat and it was at 6pm and lasted 15 minutes. The mooring fields tended to be near full but it worked for us.

The mooring fields tend to be OK especially in the national park. PWC are not allowed. Many have anchorage hosts that keep things under control. Presently we are Round Bay. Outside the park. But this past month there has been a significant increase in boats. And foiling boards seem to be booming. There are calls for them to be outlawed in surf zones around the world. There are some grizzly pictures on line. It's only time before they are outlawed in anchorages. Yesterday afternoon a woman they were teaching on the cat anchored near us almost hit broadside when she lost control and fell about 15' before hitting us. I have read about people being nearly decapitated by foiling boards.

You should not have to worry about being run over when you're swimming around your boat.

[Carl Thunberg]

What is this thing you call "swimming"? We don't do that in Maine for fear of hypothermia.

[John Stone]

What is this thing you call "swimming"? We don't do that in Maine for fear of hypothermia.

Exactly. Which is why I am here swimming and not on a Maine cruise. But, seriously, I am very much looking forward to a Maine cruise just not sure when. When we were last in Nova Scotia I swam out to a buoy in Mahan Bay (?) from the shore. It was cold. I didn't have to swim far. Maybe 30-40 yards. Very refreshing but cold. Not something I am built for.

[wikakaru]

The problem with the charter boats is it invariably it means dinghies are driven dangerously fast through the anchorage. There is also a new style of fast water toy tearing through the anchorage. The hydrofoil boards are pretty quiet and you can't hear them when you are swimming. Two people killed last year by dinghies around anchored boats. One was the former commodore of the SSCA (I met her widowed husband) and the other was a 14 year boy in the Pacific. Who knows how many have been injured.

It sounds like it is more important than ever to use one of those drag-behind buoys with a diver down flag if you are more than an arm's length away from your boat, even if you are just swimming and not diving below the surface. Of course, that assumes that the operators of the dangerous craft are smart enough and capable enough at maneuvering to stay clear, which is an awfully big assumption.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Yesterday we sailed into busy Coral Harbor from our anchored spot in Long Bay (where we had our encounter with the hydrofoil boards) on the east side of St John and anchored in 18' of murky water. It was windy and swelly in the small harbor. I did not like our first spot so we weighed anchor and moved a bit and set it again. I dove the anchor to make sure we were hooked up in a good sandy bottom, which we were. We rowed the dinghy to a rocky shore in front of the market. I anchored the dinghy and she settled back toward the shore in about 12" of water. Gayle and I waded in (not as dramatic as it sounds since the surf was minuscule and the water was below our knees).

I bought 60 lbs of ice and rowed it back out to the boat topping off the ice box. Gayle picked up some provisions. Then, I rowed back ashore anchoring and waded in as before. I linked up with Gayle and we had lunch at an outdoor restaurant. It was excellent.

Then, we returned to Sweet Pea and rowed back to the FR. It was a pretty brisk dead up wind 2 mile motor-sail back to Round Bay in about 20 knots of east breeze. We motor sailed with a single reefed mains'l and maintained just enough angle to keep the sail full. We attempted to anchor in Hanson Bay. It was windy as hell even though the spot was protected by high cliffs. The wind was whistling down through a saddle. The sandy spot we used once before was not suitable due to the wind direction. I picked another spot in about 15' of water. From the surface it looked like sand. I dove the anchor--it was just a rocky crusty bottom. No good. We hauled the anchor up and and moved about 1/3 of a mile south along the east side of Coral Bay to Long Bay and reanchored where we had been the night before. This is just below the house where the voice of Zeus resides. We set the anchor in 14' of white sand. Then, I dove the anchor for a third time that day. We knew it was going to be a windy night and we were not disappointed. Where there had been a parking lot full of cats two days before it was just us and two other boats. The Far Reach was blown around all night but never budged her 45 lb Spade anchor. I had put out 130' of 5/16" HT chain so we had good scope.

This morning we hauled Sweet Pea up on deck in her inverted position and strapped her down in her chocks. Then we hoisted a double reefed main and stays'l and reached out the bay and around Rams Head near Salt Pond Bay. We consistently made 6.8 to 7 kts. It was brisk sailing. Wind was about 25 kts snd seas abut 4-7'. We sailed past Salt Pond and into Little Lameshur Bay. There are five moorings but only two boats. The mooring closest to the beach was open.

There was a fair amount of wind and I tried a blind side approach circling to the right for a port side pick up but Gayle missed the pendant which she rarely does. I could not see the ball so I failed to position her well. I decided to go around counterclockwise and slightly overshot it. She lost the pendant and I tried to back down so she could grab it. I lost sight of the pendant float and should have immediately gone into neutral but I hesitated in an effort to allow her to get the boat-hook onto the pendant. Bad call, as I hit the float with the prop just as I went to neutral. Then to add insult to injury we were hung up on the mooring with a rocky shore not far away. I grabbed the boat hook and snagged the pendant over the stern. It was caught on the prop. But, fortunately, a few sharp yanks and it came free. Once we drifted back and cleared the pendant I went into gear. I was hoping everything was ok. No odd vibrations. We circled again counter clockwise and the rest went just fine.

Once on the mooring I checked the bilge--dry as always. Then, grabbed my mask and jumped over the side. I examined the prop and the shaft log. No issues. A small amount of anti fouling rubbed off of the trailing edge of the butt-water next to the shaft log. I then examined the mooring pendant and it showed no damage. I then checked the entire mooring and it looked very stout and in good shape.

We conducted a short hot-wash after action discussion so we don't make that mistake again. It was my fault and a valuable lesson. During our sail over this morning I had mentioned to Gayle how important it is we always check for lines over the side before we start the engine and engage the prop. I had said every sailor will snag his prop shaft at least once and I had done that when I was 17 years old and have always been careful since. And while this was not the same thing it was just as valuable a lesson.

And then, we did what we came over here for, we went for a nice long swim. It was very refreshing and a nice way to relax after a little unwanted excitement. Then lunch and coffee and a nap.

We are in a lovely cove. Sandy bottom. Cliffs and a rocky shore line provide protection. A nice sandy beach is just off our port side. There are hiking trails ashore leading to petroglyphs made by the Arawaks which we will explore tomorrow. It's peaceful and quiet. It's very dark out tonight but a great view of the stars. All is well.

[wikakaru]

...

There was a fair amount of wind and I tried a blind side approach circling to the right for a port side pick up but Gayle missed the pendant which she rarely does. I could not see the ball so I failed to position her well. I decided to go around counterclockwise and slightly overshot it. She lost the pendant and I tried to back down so she could grab it. I lost sight of the pendant float and should have immediately gone into neutral but I hesitated in an effort to allow her to get the boat-hook onto the pendant. Bad call, as I hit the float with the prop just as I went to neutral. Then to add insult to injury we were hung up on the mooring with a rocky shore not far away. I grabbed the boat hook and snagged the pendant over the stern. It was caught on the prop. But, fortunately, a few sharp yanks and it came free. Once we drifted back and cleared the pendant I went into gear. I was hoping everything was ok. No odd vibrations. We circled again counter clockwise and the rest went just fine.

Once on the mooring I checked the bilge--dry as always. Then, grabbed my mask and jumped over the side. I examined the prop and the shaft log. No issues. A small amount of anti fouling rubbed off of the trailing edge of the butt-water next to the shaft log. I then examined the mooring pendant and it showed no damage. I then checked the entire mooring and it looked very stout and in good shape.

We conducted a short hot-wash after action discussion so we don't make that mistake again. It was my fault and a valuable lesson. During our sail over this morning I had mentioned to Gayle how important it is we always check for lines over the side before we start the engine and engage the prop. I had said every sailor will snag his prop shaft at least once and I had done that when I was 17 years old and have always been careful since. And while this was not the same thing it was just as valuable a lesson.

...

Hey John,

You might benefit from the technique we use to pick up mooring balls, set or retrieve the anchor, and do other jobs that require one person at the bow and the other at the helm.

The basic idea is that the person at the bow who can actually see the mooring ball, pendant, anchor, or whatever, is the one who "drives" the boat using hand signals. The person at the helm is just a visually activated autopilot. That way it is really easy to get the boat right up to the mooring ball, reverse the engine at exactly the right time to halt the boat, and pick up the mooring with no fuss.

We had hand signals for forward gear, neutral, reverse gear, throttle up, throttle down, steer port, steer starboard, steer hard aport, steer hard astarboard, and helm centered. It could all be done without speaking. With a flashlight with an orange cone attachment it could even be done at night without using deck lights so we could maintain our night vision.

As an aside, we have seen other boaters use similar systems, but they all seem to indicate steering direction by the person at the bow pointing in the general direction they want the boat to go, which is useless because to the person at the helm the signals for "head 20 degrees to starboard", "head 45 degrees to starboard" and "head 90 degrees to starboard" look exactly the same. The helmsman can't tell angles from that vantage point. Also, even if the helmsman can see the thing to be picked up, they can't judge distance accurately from the helm. We found that the people who either let the helmsman just guess, or who used inadequate hand signals invariably wound up in loud, heated arguments.

With the system we used, the full responsibility for the maneuver rests on the person at the bow, and if the maneuver doesn't work out, there's no question why. I was typically the one at the bow and my wife was at the helm, so if there was a screw-up, I knew it was because I had mis-estimated wind or current and it was no fault of the helmsman. It worked really well for us.

If you want a detailed explanation of exactly what hand signals we use to accomplish those actions, I will be happy to provide them.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

P.S. Enjoy the petroglyphs! We did that hike years ago and it was nice.

[John Stone]

...

There was a fair amount of wind and I tried a blind side approach circling to the right for a port side pick up but Gayle missed the pendant which she rarely does. I could not see the ball so I failed to position her well. I decided to go around counterclockwise and slightly overshot it. She lost the pendant and I tried to back down so she could grab it. I lost sight of the pendant float and should have immediately gone into neutral but I hesitated in an effort to allow her to get the boat-hook onto the pendant. Bad call, as I hit the float with the prop just as I went to neutral. Then to add insult to injury we were hung up on the mooring with a rocky shore not far away. I grabbed the boat hook and snagged the pendant over the stern. It was caught on the prop. But, fortunately, a few sharp yanks and it came free. Once we drifted back and cleared the pendant I went into gear. I was hoping everything was ok. No odd vibrations. We circled again counter clockwise and the rest went just fine.

Once on the mooring I checked the bilge--dry as always. Then, grabbed my mask and jumped over the side. I examined the prop and the shaft log. No issues. A small amount of anti fouling rubbed off of the trailing edge of the butt-water next to the shaft log. I then examined the mooring pendant and it showed no damage. I then checked the entire mooring and it looked very stout and in good shape.

We conducted a short hot-wash after action discussion so we don't make that mistake again. It was my fault and a valuable lesson. During our sail over this morning I had mentioned to Gayle how important it is we always check for lines over the side before we start the engine and engage the prop. I had said every sailor will snag his prop shaft at least once and I had done that when I was 17 years old and have always been careful since. And while this was not the same thing it was just as valuable a lesson.

...

Hey John,

You might benefit from the technique we use to pick up mooring balls, set or retrieve the anchor, and do other jobs that require one person at the bow and the other at the helm.

The basic idea is that the person at the bow who can actually see the mooring ball, pendant, anchor, or whatever, is the one who "drives" the boat using hand signals. The person at the helm is just a visually activated autopilot. That way it is really easy to get the boat right up to the mooring ball, reverse the engine at exactly the right time to halt the boat, and pick up the mooring with no fuss.

We had hand signals for forward gear, neutral, reverse gear, throttle up, throttle down, steer port, steer starboard, steer hard aport, steer hard astarboard, and helm centered. It could all be done without speaking. With a flashlight with an orange cone attachment it could even be done at night without using deck lights so we could maintain our night vision.

As an aside, we have seen other boaters use similar systems, but they all seem to indicate steering direction by the person at the bow pointing in the general direction they want the boat to go, which is useless because to the person at the helm the signals for "head 20 degrees to starboard", "head 45 degrees to starboard" and "head 90 degrees to starboard" look exactly the same. The helmsman can't tell angles from that vantage point. Also, even if the helmsman can see the thing to be picked up, they can't judge distance accurately from the helm. We found that the people who either let the helmsman just guess, or who used inadequate hand signals invariably wound up in loud, heated arguments.

With the system we used, the full responsibility for the maneuver rests on the person at the bow, and if the maneuver doesn't work out, there's no question why. I was typically the one at the bow and my wife was at the helm, so if there was a screw-up, I knew it was because I had mis-estimated wind or current and it was no fault of the helmsman. It worked really well for us.

If you want a detailed explanation of exactly what hand signals we use to accomplish those actions, I will be happy to provide them.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

P.S. Enjoy the petroglyphs! We did that hike years ago and it was nice.

Oh hell yeah. Absolutely share it.

We use something similar but not as well as we should as I can generally see the ball...except at night.

And for the record we have a no yelling boat. I have seen yelling on a boat (way back in my MORC days--shocking) and want no part of it.

[wikakaru]

Oh hell yeah. Absolutely share it.

We use something similar but not as well as we should as I can generally see the ball...except at night.

And for the record we have a no yelling boat. I have seen yelling on a boat (way back in my MORC days--shocking) and want no part of it.

I'll start a new thread for this...

--Jim

[wikakaru]

I'll start a new thread for this...

Here's the thread: http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38518

--Jim

[John Stone]

We made good time this morning sailing west down the coast of St John, passed Pillsbury Sound, past what is now known locally as Pedophile Island (formerly Little St James), down the coast of St Thomas and gybed NW into Long Bay, Charlotte Amalie. About half was wing and wing with the whisker pole. What a delightful way to sail. We were under canvassed with double reefed main and our big stays'l in 20 g 22 kts ESE wind but still seemed to average about 5.5-6.2 kts. It's times like this when flush through hulls and a folding prop reveal their value. East swell rolling under the stern. Just easy sailing.

Sailing along the coast here is visually quite beautiful. The deep blue water contrasting against the whitecaps while the trade wind clouds acting as a reflection of the whitecaps on the blue sky. The long high spine of St Thomas stretching out to the west in repose paralleling our course. The island is still lush green even without much rain offset with the vibrant colored buildings numerous along the island's hills.

We took a detour through long Bay and dropped and furled our sails then checked out all the sailboats on moorings and anchored in the big harbor. After touring the anchorage we motored down through Government Cut and into Elephant Bay and onto our mooring. We got the boat cleaned up but are undecided about going ashore tonight. Tomorrow we haul water, do laundry, and start some light reprovisioning.

[wikakaru]

I like how you can keep your awning set while sailing.

I had to Google the new name for Little Saint James Island. I don't follow the news, so it wasn't obvious to me.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

A slow week. Ice. Water. Laundry. Minor provisioning. Sailed back around to Brewers Bay. Water seems to be clearing up finally. Gayle flies home in a couple days.

In the meantime we rowed ashore and walked on the beach. In the evenings we like to row up into a little lagoon we discovered not far from where we anchor. Gorgeous birds roost in the mangroves. Pelicans dive bomb the fish and fly circles around us low to the water. We like to go early evening and watch them fly in and settle in the trees. Very quiet and peaceful. Can't do this easily like we can with Sweet Pea if you have an inflatable. Most inflatables row so poorly it's hardly worth the effort. A motor would change the entire experience.

Tomorrow we sail back to our mooring and make final preps for Gayle's flight home. Then I need to start thinking about what's next.