November 2009
Independence is back on her mooring in Red Hook and we are very glad to be home. We have always thought she was a special boat and after our fairly boisterous passage from Bermuda we remain convinced. Our weather wizard promised us 15 to 20 foot seas and winds from 20 to 30 knots for the first few days of our 850 mile passage to St. Thomas, but he also said it would get better the closer we got to home and that the conditions around Bermuda were NOT going to get better for a while. He was right on the money, the first few days were fast and furious, a whole new kind of rock and roll and lots of water on deck and a few (ok, more then a few!!) drops found their way below. Our comfy bunk in the aft cabin stayed dry and nothing broke so we just held on and enjoyed the ride.
Right about at the half way mark it started getting easier, a little less wind and sea and even some sunshine. Day four started with a visit from a whole bunch of dolphins, they swam and danced around the bow for about half an hour. They really made us feel like they were welcoming us back to the tropics. Day five was even better, we had a nice broad reach and our wind vane was steering. The engine was off so it was very peaceful - seas very mellow - and I even baked a loaf of bread. We discovered that our new satellite radio worked off shore, and we listened to a little news and some music. We still aren't sure if that is a good thing or not, being off shore is the ultimate get-away-from-it-all situation and having access to the outside world interferes a bit. We forgot to try it in Bermuda but I am sure we will enjoy it when we stop in the Windward Islands next summer.
The wind kept dropping in strength so our last night was all under power - jib rolled up and mainsail just for steadying - but it was nice to have the power so we could keep the radar on. We saw 2 ships and then, finally, the outline of Anegada, always the first island that appears. It is very flat with miles of surrounding reef so it is very good to have it pin pointed. Tortola was the next island to pop up and then Jost Van Dyke - remember we are only going about 6 miles an hour so our arrival took hours. By the time we were in the lee between the islands it was starting to get light and we could turn off the radar and chart plotter and come home on local knowledge. It was calm enough to make a whole pot of coffee and we enjoyed it while picking out all our favourite anchorages on St. John and Lovango Cay, Whistling Cay and Congo and then - home again - Red Hook. We tied up at American Yacht Harbour at about 6:30 a.m., well under six days and very pleased with our time and especially with our boat.
The last few days have been a whirlwind of scrubbing and cleaning and getting cruising gear off and charter gear on Independence. We are almost ready and will be accepting bookings starting on November 1st. She looks great! First Mate Ray is very ready to put down his construction tools and get back aboard and I can't wait to get sailing again, it's been almost a week!! So, come on down and ...
Let's go sailing!
Captains Pat and Pieter
*****
October 2009 - Update!
Independence had a very fast passage to Bermuda, in fact a record for us, we did it in just under four days! The weather cooperated right up until the last couple of hours so we were comfortable as well and, best of all, the refrigeration which had been such a headache worked perfectly! We arrived in St.Georges, Bermuda at around two o'clock in the afternoon and were welcomed in by the customs and immigration crew and Bermuda Harbour Radio. They do a wonderful job with yachts here, we have an easy place to tie up for the entry formalities and a dinghy dock is also available complete with a place for garbage and an easy walk to grocery stores and laundromats, heaven for the cruising sailor!
Once we were cleared in and our quarantine flag lowered we motored out to anchor to be met by our good friends Jimmy and Kathleen on High Pockets. They are fellow day sailors and neighbors in Red Hook, we knew they were going to stop in Bermuda on their way home from their summer cruising in Maine and Rhode Island and were very happy to have caught up with them. We got a call on the radio inviting us over for dinner. A night off for this cook and a chance to swap sea stories was a perfect way to end the voyage.
We have been here almost a week and thank our lucky stars we came when we did! The wind has been howling for the whole week, we have two big anchors out and wear our foul weather jackets when we venture ashore in the dinghy - spray flies everywhere in the waves stirred up by the wind! It is not the kind of conditions we need to get our boat projects done but we have done a lot of reading!!
It looks like the weather will give us a break early this coming week so we are thinking of sailing home to St.Thomas a little earlier than planned. Our mooring in Red Hook is looking pretty inviting about now and if the weather gurus say we can leave, we should be home well before Halloween. All things being equal we will be up and ready to start daysailing as planned: in early November.
I have been having some problems with my pocketmail address so if you have sent a message and have not heard back from me, please try my other e-mail address, which is independence44@gmail.com.
We are looking forward to being back in St.Thomas and hope to take you sailing!
Captains Pat and Pieter
*****
October 2009
Independence has had a great summer in North Carolina! Grandchildren are the best, but temperatures are falling and it is time for us to head south. We are tied to a friend's dock in Beaufort and still have the last bit of stowing and grocery shopping - fresh shrimp and tomatoes! - to do but our weather guru says go now so we sail this afternoon, I should probably say "with the tide" but being a Caribbean sailor I don't know much about tides!
Our passage to Bermuda is about 600 miles and should take about 5 days so we will be out of touch for a while but will be looking for e-mails once we get in. Our plan is to spend a few weeks in Bermuda getting a some varnish projects taken care of and visiting the island and then, around Halloween, we will sail for St.Thomas. We will be available for daysails anytime after the 10th of November so come on down and let's go sailing.
Here's hoping for fair winds and sunshine for everyone!
Captains Pat and Pieter
*****
July 2009
Independence finally departed Red Hook, actually a mooring off Honeymoon Beach in St.John, at about 2 o'clock on Tuesday, July 7th. The reasons for such a late start on our voyage north were mainly Leah (age 3 months) and Marisa (age two and a half) - the visiting grand-daughters! We had so much fun with them it was hard to leave; we even had a day on the boat and showed Marisa the turtles in Peter Bay and had a dolphin surface right beside us.
We left Red Hook on the the 6th, it was very apparent that we had to get out of town if we were ever going to leave so we went to St.John and did the final prep for departure. Everything had to be stored securely, the boat moves around a lot in the open ocean so we didn't want tools, groceries and pots and pans crashing around. We secure the stove top with springs that hold the pots in place while I am cooking, so those went on. To hold us on the boat when we are working, on deck we rig jack lines from the bow to the cockpit. We wear harnesses and are clipped on whenever we are on deck - we always like to arrive with the same crew we left with! The dinghy and outboard are pulled aboard, the outboard gets secured on the stern pulpit and the dinghy is lashed upside down over the port side hatches on the coach roof. Pieter set up our Aries wind vane on the stern; it steers the boat for us when we are under sail. We have an auto pilot that drives if we are motoring so we don't have to spend much time at the wheel and makes short-handed off shore passages much easier. Once all was secured and ready, we dropped the mooring and headed for the mouth of the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, North Carolina, a distance of about 1200 miles. We planned about ten days to do the passage.
 We listen to weather broadcasts on our single side band radio and the advice we got was to go now, as the wind was favourable and nothing was brewing out in the Atlantic. It was good advice and we had a perfect trip! Independence is a great motor sailor, we sailed the first half of the trip and when the wind died and our weather guru said to keep up our speed and get in to port before bad weather was forecast, we had the fuel capacity to do just that. Our daily run averaged just over 140 miles a day and the sea conditions were mild so it was pretty comfortable. Pieter's birthday present this year was a 'Find Me Spot' so every day around 2 in the afternoon he would turn on the little orange box and wait for a satellite signal and then press OK. The other options are 911 and HELP, we have no desire to find out what happens if we have to press either!! OK sends a message to those on our list of our latitude and longitude and the knowledge that we are OK. I think we could upgrade the package we have and then they would see us on a google map - technology is amazing!
 We have a little dvd player and watched a few movies, did more than a few sudoku puzzles, read a few books, baked a few loaves of bread and enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets. Only one pod of dolphins gave a performance for us, and that was about half way up the Bahamas. It looked like a large family group and they were great jumpers and synchronized swimmers. A lot of ships passed us, but only a few came close enough to cause us to alter course but that is the main reason we always have someone awake and on watch.
The last night of the passage was when we crossed the Gulf Stream; usually that is pretty rough and the idea is to get across as fast as possible. This time it was like being on a people mover at the airport! We averaged better then 10 knots and, instead of crossing, we stayed in it for about seven hours as we were going north and even a little west - exactly the right direction. We had thought to arrive at the entrance to the Cape Fear River on Thursday night and hoped to be in before dark so we could find a place to anchor or tie up. Instead, we found ourselves off the sea buoy just on dawn Thursday morning and after some fun looking for the channel markers for the river, we headed in and up stream to our summer base, Wilmington Marine Center.
  Independence doesn't do much river travel, the last time we were in fresh or brackish water was the Panama Canal in 1985! You have to pay attention to channel markers and ship traffic but it is flat calm and there is lots to see: houses, small boats and river bank scenery, quite a change from days on the ocean. Our marina is 24 miles up the river and then through a narrow channel, perfect in the event that we have to deal with a storm this summer. We have everything we need: an alongside slip with water, power, friendly neighbors and even three resident alligators! I met the largest one when I tossed a chunk of ice overboard and he came to investigate, his name is Phideaux and he is a good 6 feet long!
Independence will spend August and September in her slip. We are about 3 hours away in Greensboro, NC in an apartment close to our grand children. Our daughter and son-in-law have a few projects around the house that we can help with and I have some sewing projects for the boat, so we won't be completely idle. We will head back aboard around September 20th to haul the boat and get her ready for the passage to Bermuda. We hope to spend most of October there doing boat projects and exploring one of our favourite places. Around Halloween we will be looking for a good forecast to head back to St.Thomas and home, usually about a 5 or 6 day trip, so we will be up and running by around November 10th. I have internet access here so if you think a day on Independence sounds like fun when you are in the Virgin Islands let me know, I am happy to answer any questions.
Have a great summer and then, let's go sailing!
Captains Pat and Pieter
*****
November 2008
Independence is back on her mooring in St.Thomas after a wonderful and very productive summer in St.Vincent. We had a lot of work done on the boat when she was in the boat yard, a new boot stripe, bottom paint and interior and exterior varnish. The work was done well and to our great pleasure it was done on time and on budget. If you need a good boatyard next time you are in the Windward Islands check out Ottley Hall in St.Vincent!
Pieter and I flew back to St.Vincent on October 2nd and were able to launch and move back aboard the next day. Our old friend and crew, Lorraine Ross, was at the yard waiting for us and helped with all the myriad of jobs that need to be done before and right after hitting the water. There was a bit of a surge running when we splashed and it was more then a little exciting as Independence careered around the slipway until the yard guys could get the slings from the Travelift off the boat and we could back out and get clear. Kudos to the yard crew and manager Paul Cyrus for brilliant line handling, our hearts got a good cardiac workout but no damage, and once we had the rig set up we motored up to the Young Island anchorage.
Friends had given us the use of a mooring there and we spent several days putting on sails and awnings and unpacking. The refrigeration gave up the ghost so we went on the hunt for an expert to fix our old system. There is a technical college in St.Vincent and we were lucky enough to find two recent graduates of the marine refrigeration class who were available to help us. They were ably assisted by their teacher who came out late on a Sunday night to solve the final problem and now we not only have refrigeration that works really well but it has been switched from R12 which is bad for the ozone layer to the more environmentally friendly R134 (Ithink that's what it's called!). It was a great experience and thanks to all our many friends, new and old, who made our stay in St.Vincent so much fun and so productive, we will definitely be back!
Hurricane Omar raised his ugly head just as we were thinking we could go sailing, maybe spend a little time turtle watching in the Tobago Cays. He was headed right to St.Thomas so Pieter jumped on a LIAT flight and went home to secure the house. I stayed and dealt with the huge swells that came down and blasted a lot of the islands in the lower Caribbean. Independence was on the Sunsail Dock and facing into the swells, so all I had to do was move us off the dock a bit, which was easily done. Portsmouth is a wide open bay, protected from seas from the east which is where they usually come from. Omar came from the west so the damage was quite extensive, several little freighters were washed ashore and all the dinghy docks were washed away. St.Vincent, Bequia and Mustique all had considerable beach erosion and dock damage but everyone was out making repairs as soon as things calmed down so they will be ready for the upcoming season.
St.Thomas was very lucky, no damage to speak of; the storm tracked away from us at the last minute so there was just lots of rain and a few gusts. Pieter flew back to the boat as soon as he had the storm shutters raised. We spent a few days in Bequia and then cast off for a 30-hour motoring passage to Portsmouth on the north end of Dominica. Our good friends Pat and Stacy Kosick, ex Ike Witt Red Hook day sailors, have settled up in the mountains of Dominica and are busy building a small eco-friendly resort complete with river, waterfall and small swimming hole. The web site is up, so check it out www.rootsjungleretreat.com.
We haven't been in Dominica in decades; we stopped in Roseau, the capitol which is on the southern tip of the island. We were adopted by Lawrence of Arabia, as he and his crew are known. They took us ashore to clear customs and ended up being our water taxi for the 3 days we stayed. Lawrence is a licensed boat host, has reasonable prices, and offers great service. Knowledge of the island is a requirement of the Dominican Tourist Board to be a licensed host and the system is working well. Pat and Stacey gave us an awesome tour of their property and as much of Dominica as we could see in 2 days.
We all did the Wacky Roller Tour on the Layou River. If you are ever in Dominica on a cruise or if you are lucky enough to spend a few days, try it out. We had a ball, clambering over shaky suspension bridges and zip lining over the river, harnessed and helmeted we were safe but it was exciting and so much fun. Trafalgar Falls and the Emerald Pool are famous attractions on Dominica but we will have to go back to see them. Dominica is a very big island and if you like hiking, rivers, waterfalls, wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables organically grown, and beautiful scenery and great snorkelling just a bit off the beaten path you will love it in Dominica!
We had a great passage home, only two days and we saw a whale between Dominica and the Saints (they have 7 huge windmills making electricity there-come on Virgin Islands!). The whale breached and blew for us, which was very exciting and then we had a pod of dolphins dance around the bow for almost half an hour. The wind didn't cooperate very well; we only got to sail for about 6 hours but the engine chugged along and the auto pilot steered so it was an easy trip. If you are going on a cruise remember to look out and look down at the sea, maybe you will see Independence or some other small boat(compared to your huge ship) bound for your same port! Trust me, we will see you! There must have been 4 big cruise liners between St.Thomas and St.Maarten the night we were headed in; they light up the night sky and are very pretty as they drift slowly to time their arrival with the sunrise. We don't get close enough to hear the music and laughter but have done a few cruises ourselves so know the sounds!
We arrived in Red Hook, our home port on St. Thomas, at about 5:30 a.m., just on daybreak. The fuel dock at our marina was open so we tied up, home safe and sound on October 29th, 2008. We have local boater cards so just had to call and check in with Customs and Border Protection; that is an amazing innovation and saves so much time, aggravation and paper work!
The last week or ten days have been busy. The boat has been emptied of all cruising equipment and the rest of the charter gear - snorkle gear, life jackets, etc. - is back on board. The new back awning - the one I made in September and have been praying would fit - is on and looks great, the decks are painted and the sails have been checked and bent on. Independence is ready for guests and we would love to take you sailing!
Hope to see you this season, and great news! ... First Mate Ray Whittemore is back so we can look forward to more awesome snorkle tours!
All the best from
Independence and Captains Pat and Pieter
*****
September 9, 2008
Independence had a fabulous passage south. We left from Norman Island in the BVI on Thursday, July 10th headed for Carriacou, a small island about 350 miles south southeast of us and just north of Grenada. It is one of our favourite places and if you have read the rest of the log you will remember that we rode out Hurricane Emily there a few years ago. The weather was benign, just enough wind to drive us at about 5 or 6 knots, easy seas and the Aries self steering gear at the wheel. We had a visit from a pod of dolphins, the first group we have seen in years, and they stayed with us for over an hour doing the dolphin dance around the bow, jumping up to check us out and putting on quite a show for Pieter and me.
Everything was perfect until early Sunday morning when a line chafed through on the Aries and suddenly we weren't going the right way. I was on watch and it took a few minutes to figure it out but it was a lovely night so I took a turn at the helm for an hour or two until Pieter came up and we set up the auto pilot. It works really well, too, but uses a lot of electricity. The wind was being blanketed by St.Vincent anyway so we rolled up the jib and cranked up the engine and proceeded on our way. Diesel has gone through the roof here in the Caribbean too, so we were happy to only have to use the engine for a few hours. We arrived in Carriacou around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we missed all but one of the heavy rain squalls surrounding us but at least we got all the salt washed off Independence (Pieter too!) before we dropped the hook!
As always it was lovely to be at anchor, to be able to put my cup down without it flying off the table and to enjoy an uninterrupted nights sleep. I never think about those things until I don't have them. I love going to sea too, maybe it is like banging your head against the wall because it feels so good when you stop! On Monday we cleared in with customs and immigration in Carriacou, always an adventure and sometimes very frustrating but once we were done with all the paperwork we were free to re acquaint ourselves with Hillboro. It is a step back in time and really reminds us of the Caribbean of the 60's. That said, cyber cafes are everywhere, everyone is skyping and cell phones and satellite dishes are very popular. It was easy to check in with our kids and get all the news from home. We had no problem getting fresh produce and for everyone who likes our rum punch, nutmegs were readily available! After a morning of dealing with officialdom, e-mailing and shopping it was great to get back to the peace and quiet of Independence.
One of the highlights of the cruising life is meeting other cruisers. First to show up was Gypsy Queen; Bob and Mary are part of the Red Hook coffee klatch and it was great to have them aboard and hear about their adventures. Their trip south will make a much better novel then ours but they were enjoying the Grenadines on their way to haul out in Grenada and encouraged us to visit the Tobago Cays. We have stopped there many times and it is a lovely reef surrounding a group of small sandy cays. The St.Vincent government has recently declared it a marine park and it is being monitored much like our own National Park in St. John. We had a wonderful visit, the rangers are controlling traffic speed and making sure that anchors are only dropped in sand. I saw several turtles (just like our Scot Beach) grazing in a buoyed off area plus lots of colourful fish and one spotted moray eel.
We visited a friend in Mustique and heard all about the big 40th Mustique Company birthday party, later read in People that Mick Jagger and Prince William and his girlfriend were there, timing is everything! In Bequia we came across Sinbad, last seen in St. John circa 1996. Doug and Bethanne, and toddlers Antares and Azzura, were planning to circumnavigate. Sinbad is a gorgeous old iron freighter about 85 feet long. They fitted her with masts and sails to help push and to stabilize her, rebuilt the interior with comfortable accommodations and a very complete metal and woodworking shop. Then they disappeared from our view, but, July 26th, my birthday, there they were anchored in the middle of Admiralty Bay. We had a great visit and caught up on some of their adventures. Antares is off running a large yacht in the Mediterranean and Azzura is off to university in Paris. Doug does beautiful sculptures in bronze and Bethanne is translating while they wander the Caribbean. We also met up with Gallivanter and crew, Kirk, young son Stuart and Catherine (she was Peter's secretary at the boat yard) who are sailing slowly west with the idea of settling for a bit in Australia!
It was hard to tear ourselves away from Bequia but we had a date with the boat yard in Ottley Hall and good friends Angela and Joe Browne waiting to help us so we headed across the Bequia channel and back to our old home island of St.Vincent. I daysailed out of St.Vincent in the early 70's with our old schooner, Evoe, and my mate was Lorrain Ross, he is a captain now but a good friend and he agreed to do a bunch of work for us on Independence while we were in the States. Joe is a marine surveyor as well as a good friend so she is in good and qualified hands. The haul out was uneventful, Ottley Hall is a great yard and we were able to get everything stored and put away properly in case of a storm in a day. I'm not sure how we would have done it without the hospitality and help of the Brownes, not to mention Angela's washing machine!
We flew home to St. Thomas in early August for a couple of days. Hillary and Brian and our grand daughter Marisa had moved up to Greensboro, NC, on July 11th and we were anxious to get up there to see them and help with house hunting and resettling. Son Paul had everything under control at home so we flew out on August 7th. It has been a great trip and we are wowed at all that our daughter and son-in-law have accomplished in less than 2 months. Both have jobs, NC drivers licenses, cars, and they will have closed on their house and moved in by mid-September. They have had tremendous help from Brian's family. We will really miss having them here but they have all the support they need from the Murphy's and are making a great life for themselves in America! We now have 2 credit cards with frequent flier miles to get us to Greensboro, so we will be visiting!!
September will be spent in St.Thomas doing house projects, getting caught up on boat paperwork and trying to keep up with the jungle growth in the garden. We have been lucky so far with all the storms but it has been raining, a lot, and I have swapped the varnish brush for gardening gloves!
We fly back to St.Vincent on October 2nd and hope to launch quickly and get back aboard Independence. It will take a day or two to get her back in sailing order, but she will be looking very smart with a new boot stripe, bottom paint and shiny varnish. Our plan is to spend a week or so in the Grenadines and then head to Dominica. We hope to catch up with former Red Hook day sailors, Pat and Stacey of Ike Witt (now on Soon Come) who, rumour has it, have decided to settle in Dominica and build a small cottage hotel. From there it will be - maybe - two days of down wind sailing home.
We'll be back in time to vote in early November and will start daysailing as soon as we can after that. Ray is still planning to sail with me this season and we look forward to having another great season of sailing and exploring aboard Independence.
Come on down and let's go sailing! - Pieter and Pat
*****
July 10, 2008
Independence has finished another wonderful year of daysailing and we are off for the summer. This year we are heading south to St.Vincent and the Grenadines. We will have a few weeks to enjoy some of our favourite anchorages in Cariacou, Mayero, Tobago Cays and Bequia before going to the boatyard at Ottley Hall in St.Vincent.
Independence will spend August and September out of the water in dry storage, hopefully no storms will come our way but she will be safe there and good friends will keep an eye on her. The yard will give her bottom a good sanding and a couple of coats of anti-fouling paint. We got some bad paint last year in Rhode Island and have been battling barnacles and grass all winter, it will be good to have that behind us!
While Independence is enjoying her down time Pieter and I will be in North Carolina for the month of August and then back in St. Thomas for September. It will be very odd to be in Red Hook with no boat and I suppose that will mean house projects instead of varnishing and stainless polishing on Independence.
Hurricane season starts winding down in October so we will fly back on the 3rd to launch and start ambling home. Our plan is to be back in St.Thomas before election day and we will be looking forward to daysailing again. First Mate, Ray Whittemore, has promised to sail with me for another season so we expect that more great snorkel tours, r.p's, island stories and philosophizing will be there for all our guests next season.
Thanks to everyone who sailed with us this year, it was one of our best seasons and so much fun. We look forward to next year, I will be checking my email as often as I can so if you are thinking of a Caribbean cruise or a Virgin Islands vacation, plan on a day aboard Independence!
Have a great summer! - Pieter and Pat
*****
November 26, 2007
Independence is back home on her mooring in Red Hook! We arrived in St. John on November 2nd and picked up our favorite mooring by Caneel Bay at 10 p.m. The new chart plotter made navigating between Jost Van Dyke and Tortola in the dark very straightforward and even though Independence knows her way through the Durloe Cays by heart it's a narrow pass and it was nice to watch our progress on the screen. We left Bermuda on Sunday, October 28th and cleared the Town Cut about 11 a.m. The plan was to go south and get out of the way of Noel, maybe a tropical storm but, maybe a hurricane, so we had no wish to meet up with him!
I will try and give you an idea of life at sea on Independence with just Pieter and me on board. Instead of television we have the single side band radio for entertainment when we are on a passage and we spend a lot of time listening to weather reports. We talk to Chris Parker in the morning at about 6:30. Of course the channel he uses gets interference from our auto pilot, so I drive the boat and Pieter listens. He tapes it, too, so I can hear the news; lots of boats check in and it is fun to hear what is going on in Venezuela, Panama or off the fishing grounds in the Bahamas.
After the weather I make coffee, always an exciting adventure if the seas are up because I am a coffee snob and have to grind the beans; that means using the inverter for 110 electricity. It's in the aft cabin, so “don't spill the beans” takes on a whole new meaning! Once that is done I very carefully pour the boiling water over the beans (hoping the boat doesn't lurch) and then, finally, my reward … the best cup of coffee ever! If it is dry on deck we sit in the cockpit and enjoy the breeze and the view.
Pieter goes for a nap; he takes the watch the second half of the night so has earned his rest. I clean up the galley, keep an eye out for any passing ships and on the weather. Our auto pilot steers if we are motor sailing; the wind vane takes over if we are just under sail. They do a better job hour after hour then any human could and make it possible for us to enjoy a short handed passage without being tied to the helm. One of the wonderful things about being at sea is no distractions … no computer, at least for low tech Independence … no phones … no one but ourselves to see to. The routine is pretty set but there is lots of time for reading – and I love to read! – Sudoku, crosswords or whatever your pleasure.
When Pieter comes up from his morning siesta we check our position, every hour we log the latitude and longitude from the GPS. He puts it on the chart at noon and we find out how far we have come in 24 hours and how far still to go. This was a very fast trip so every noon-time was a celebration - a hundred and fifty plus fewer miles to go until we are home! Lunch is usually just a sandwich and then it is my turn for a nap.
Pieter calls me about 4, we always have tea about 4 and being at sea doesn't change that, but by 4:15 we have the radio on to listen for Herb and I am back on the helm steering and drinking tea. Herb is Southbound 11, a wonderful man who does weather routing for yachts, tugs and fishing boats all over the Atlantic. We have heard vessels check in from the English Channel to Hudson’s Bay, and the Caribbean to South Africa. The check in can take up to 45 minutes because there are so many boats. We don't talk to him because there is always a boat close to us that does so we piggy back on their forecast, but it is fun to listen to everyone and hear who has caught a fish and who is having too much or not enough wind. Herb does not mince words. He works hard to provide a good forecast and woe betide the mariner who doesn't follow his advice and gets caught by bad weather … They have to deal with a storm and a tongue lashing from Herb! It is better than Survivor and everyone wins with a good passage and a safe arrival!
You are going to think that all we do is eat, sleep, read and listen to weather! We mostly do but every now and then we have to change or reef a sail, switch from the auto pilot to the wind vane or fix something. This passage was fast as we were going south as quickly as we could and so it was rough … Big seas from Noel with lots of spray and motion, the wind was gusty and not from a steady direction. We were busy with sail changes, but the only repair was to prime the pump for the refrigeration. Despite the wild ride, the only repair needed on arrival was to a leaky window. Of course, the leak was over the electric panel so that caused a few problems but nothing Pieter couldn't handle. We both sustained a few bruises from going left when the boat was leaping to the right but nothing serious.
Cooking can be a challenge in a big sea. I love my pressure cooker and always have a few meals in the freezer for the first night out and those rough nights. I even managed to bake some bread on this passage. Seems that cakes fall if you bang them around in the oven but bread doesn't, it smelled great and was a real treat! The cook gets lots of kudos, especially when it is rough!
I get the first half of the night for my watch. Before Pieter goes to bed the radar goes on so I can see shipping long before it gets too close and also any squalls that might be trying to sneak up on us. Every ten or fifteen minutes I go up on deck to have a good look around, check the course and, even though the radar is on, I check for any shipping traffic. This trip was pretty wet so I didn't spend much time in the cockpit but if it is a clear night with a moon it is really nice to be out in the air. The rule on board is no one is on deck without a harness on and clipped on to the boat, the best man overboard drill is prevention!
We didn't see too many ships this time. One bright orange tanker came over to have a look at us; we had seen them in Bermuda on our way to the Dockyard so it was like meeting an old friend … lots of waving and they took pictures. I fried my camera with a bad battery so no shots from me. Pieter usually wakes up about midnight, we have a cup of tea and then I retire to my bunk after a nice hot shower, love that little bathtub in the after head!
Five nights of that routine and lo and behold, Anegada showed up on the radar! We were very glad we left when we did; boats were being told to go back to the east coast to hide from Noel, and Bermuda geared up for a blow. It wasn't too bad there but we got ahead of it and after 5 days 11 hours - very fast for us - we were on the mooring in St. John. There is no feeling quite so wonderful as the end of a passage, everything is still, no rocking and rolling, the engine is off, a glass of wine, a hot shower and the prospect of a whole nights sleep, awesome!
The last two weeks have been busy getting the boat cleaned up, the cruising equipment off and the chartering gear on. We have done our first two charters, a half day last Wednesday - thanks Mary Courtenay and Tim for being our practice run - and a full day sail with a delightful group from Denmark and Sweden on Sunday. The only thing I forgot was the parmesan cheese for lunch on Sunday … Not too bad after 5 months off and we had a great time any way!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Come on down and let’s go sailing! - Pieter and Pat
*****
October 26, 2007
We have been in Bermuda for about 2 weeks now and are really getting antsy to start sailing home. Nobody has much sympathy for us though, stuck in Bermuda ... how bad can it be? Actually, it is pretty wonderful and we will be back. We are just feeling the lure of the grandbaby (see her picture in the Photo Album), and it will be good to be back in home waters.
Our trip from Newport to Bermuda was fast - only four and a half days - but very wet and we had a few repairs to make and a lot of drying out to do once we got in. Our new toy, the chart plotter, allowed us to enter at night by showing where the navigational markers we wanted were in relationship to Independence ... Amazing and I don't know how we managed this long without it. Probably would have stood outside off the island until dawn, it was very rough so it would have been a very long night. We did have company on our trip: a woman single-handing a 43 foot Swan left with us. It was nice to have someone to compare notes with on the radio. She has deck leaks, so was even wetter than we were.
Along withdrying out and fixing hatches, our refrigeration quit. We carry lots of ice so no food went bad, but at $9 a bag ice is an expensive solution in Bermuda. Pieter diagnosed the problem as a bad bearing in the clutch and our good friends at Bermuda Yacht Services (see dragging incident in an earlier log!!) came to the rescue by ordering the part and giving us a discount on ice!
It took a while but the part finally came: the right part the first time too! It went in with a minimum of fuss and is now working like a charm. We have been doing some maintenance chores as well, the varnish is looking very shiny, the stainless is all polished, the oil and filters are changed and lots of other little chores have been crossed off the list. The hatches have been re gasketed and better not leak; all the Christmas goodies are stowed in the focsle!
This trip hasn't been all work. We ferried up to the old Dockyard and in to Hamilton for some shopping and exploring. One of the other jobs to be done was replacing our red and green navigation lights and they actually had the same ones at the chandlery. Also got parts for the Aries windvane; we are leaving Bermuda in very good shape. We connected with several old friends from past visits and have had a very pleasant social schedule. Boats come and go, most from the northeast and heading to the Caribbean so there is always someone to meet and talk with about the next passage. Just now it is all about weather, some boats have left and are having fast but rough trips, the tropical system by Puerto Rico is causing us to hesitate a bit but the consensus seems to be that tomorrow - the 27 of October - is our day. One more weather guru to listen to on the single side band, the much-loved Herb from Southbound 11, will give his opinion tonight, so keep your fingers crossed for us! It is about 850 miles and we hope to be home in about a week and I promise an update once we are in and reconnected.
Independence is gleaming and will be ready and available for full-day and half-day charters after the 15th of November so come on down to St.Thomas and lets go sailing!
We'll see you soon! - Pieter and Pat
*****
October 2, 2007
Independence is sitting at anchor in sunny - chilly but
sunny - Newport. We are waiting for the right weather window to head for Bermuda and our best advice is not until next Monday!! Keep your fingers crossed for us that the lovely Indian summer we are enjoying now to last for another week or two!
The summer has been wonderful. We got a great deal from Avis so while Independence was hauled out at Pirates Cove Marina in Rhode Island, Pieter and I took a month to visit old friends, explore new territory and spend time with our grand daughter, Marisa, and our daughter, son-in-law and his whole family in Greensboro,NC. I won't be a boring grandma ... However, Marisa is the best, brightest and cutest baby in the world, to us, and I will post some pictures soon, enough said!!
We had a great time with Pieter's family in Ontario and arrived in Pickering hours after the birth of niece Leslie's son, Troy, so got to share in their joy.
Williamsburg was another stop and we loved it! We would definitely like to go back and share it with Marisa when she is old enough, maybe staying at one of the old inns. We got together with dear old friend, Dee Carstrphen Hopkins, for lunch and she brought us a copy of her book, Narrow Waters. It is a beautiful book full of lovely sketches, history, anecdotes and information about cruising the Intra Coastal Waterway. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in doing that trip or is just interested in canals and waterways.
Independence was painted and ready for launching when we returned to Portsmouth on August 24th, so after some provisioning and scrubbing we left to do a little cruising. Our old friend, Greg, whom we met on our last cruise north, found us a mooring in New Bedford and introduced us to THE local diesel mechanic. Our exhaust system, repaired after the melt-down it had on our way in to Newport, was still smoking into the main cabin and that was worrisome. Fortunately, it turned out to be a bad gasket, which was easily fixed. New Bedford is a lovely old town and we explored the cobble-stoned streets, Whaling Museum and waterfront. Picture us having 50-pound chunks of ice lowered down to our little dinghy while a huge fishing vessel loaded tons of crushed ice right next to us. When you travel on your own boat local color takes on a whole new meaning!
We left Independence on the mooring in New Bedford and drove with friends to Maine for the Labor Day weekend. Camden was a visit with friend, Benet, who gave us the royal tour of the schooner rendezvous, shipyards where lovely old yachts were being restored, and a tour of the Owls Head Transportation Museum, which was full of antique cars (Pieter's new passion). Our last night in Maine was spent at the home of former V.I.ers Sandy and Sherry. They live on Pemaquid Point, right on the water and we were lucky to have a calm and sunny day to go out on their boat and hunt for Puffins. Double lucky that we found 2 pair, but we couldn't get close enough for a good picture, better luck next time!
Back aboard and with all systems in working order we decided to head for Onset and Marc Antony's, home of the best pizza and scallops - it has been too long since last time we were there. It's right next to the Cape Cod Canal; no time to transit this year as we had spent too much time on road travel. We did get a trip up to Sandwich on Cape Cod with friends who took us to the Heritage Plantation. It is a lovely place with manicured gardens, a century-old carousel for me and a round barn full of antique cars for Pieter.
Newport for the boat show was next. It was a great weekend, with plenty of new gear and boats on display, and we bumped into lots of friends. We now have a chart plotter - a screen that shows the boat on a moving chart so we know where the buoys and the rocks are ... Amazing!
We spent a lovely day at the Mystic Seaport annual Antique Car Show ... What could be better then old cars and old boats?! Last weekend we went up to Providence to see Water Fire. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people came out to listen to music and watch as the fire pits in the river were lit, a gondola was giving tours complete with gondolier and hat with ribbons!
Now, projects are wrapped up, provisions are aboard and all we need is a good weather forecast and we will be off for Bermuda. I think we will head to Block Island and leave, hopefully on Monday, from there.
Starting the journey home - Pieter and Pat
*****
July 2007
I promised an update from Bermuda and here we are a week into our stay in Newport, Rhode Island. You would think I'd have plenty of time to write now that we are cruising, but we have been very busy!
The trip from St. Thomas was idyllic. Five and a half days of wind on the beam and not much in the way of seas so it was great sailing and very comfortable.
Pieter has not had much time on Independence in the last year, so once we were cleared by Bermuda Customs and Immigration we headed to the anchorage in St .Georges harbour and he started on a list. Our main problems were refrigeration and hot water. Both easily fixed once the causes were diagnosed and both very important. It gets cold in Bermuda in June and cold showers are not an option for these warm weather sailors! It turned out that Pieter had disconnected the hot water heater when a hose started leaking, bought the new hose and put it behind the heater to put on later! Twenty minutes in the bilge with a screw driver and some hose clamps got me a hot shower. The fridge needed a little more ingenuity, but Pieter remounted the cooling pump and so far, so good - cold drinks and frozen chicken! While he was in the engine room I was busy polishing stainless and sanding and varnishing teak on deck. Everything works, for the moment, and we look pretty good too!!
It wasn't all work though, we had a visit from sister Ann and her husband. Peter so took them for a boat tour of Bermuda. We went through the swing bridge into the very quiet and lovely waters of Ferry Reach past some lovely old homes ... A step back in time except for the roar of aircraft landing at the main airport!
We exited through the pilings of an old bridge that was destroyed by a hurricane years ago. The next leg of our trip was to the old Dockyard; on our way there it was off the wind and calm and fast. We tied up at the big ship dock to take on some duty free diesel and then to the yacht marina for water and some time ashore to explore the beautiful old buildings. Bermuda has a very British history so we went to a pub, the Frog and Onion, for a lunch of Cornish Pasties and a draught beer before heading back to St .Georges. Upwind, now, against the choppy little waves, it wasn't so quick or so dry a passage and we were very happy to escape back in to Ferry Reach.
We spent two weeks in Bermuda and are looking forward to going back in October. St. Thomas is our home and the Virgin Islands will always be our favorite place, but Bermuda is very special. If you get a chance to go grab it!
After waving goodbye we did the last minute provisioning and laundry, cleared out of Bermuda and made ready to head off-shore to Newport. We left with three other boats who were all bound for Maine so we set up a radio schedule with them and chatted every evening after Herb's weather net. Herb is a Canadian, former Bermudian resident and cruising sailor, he is a very knowledgeable meteorologist and talks to yachts every afternoon. He gives each one a personalized forecast wherever they are in the Atlantic region, Trinidad to Greenland or Halifax to the English Channel. Sometimes he is on the air for hours and for us it is better then television for information and entertainment.
The trip to Newport was fast, we did it in just under five days. We had about 12 hours of 25+ knot winds and pretty rough seas; I was glad of my Bermuda-bought sea sick remedy, Stugeron. If the FDA ever approved it for use in the USA it would put Dramamine out of business! It was a spectacular night with lots of thunder and lightning, so we had lots to talk about on our radio chat session. One of the boats recorded 40 knots; all of us were happy to see sunshine and calming seas in the morning. The Gulf Stream, the big obstacle to cross en route to the east coast, was a mill pond. We have never seen it so calm and - thanks to Herb and our other weather guru, Chris Parker - we crossed at a very narrow point. We were through, with little adverse current, in about six hours.
We had thick pea soup fog for most of the rest of the way. Thank goodness for radar, but I guess that guy 'Murphy" thought we were having too easy a trip so he threw a monkey wrench at our exhaust system. Lots of hissing noises alerted us to the problem so off with the engine - that means no charging of batteries so limited use of radar and no auto pilot. Fortunately we had a light but steady breeze so we rigged up the Aries Wind Vane, which steers us by wind power, and started sailing. The eddies off the Gulf Stream were pushing us briskly in the right direction so apart from not having the radar always on to watch for shipping, we were fine. Pieter had a very close call with a big ship and after that he got creative. The exhaust elbow had rusted through where it goes into a big hose, he splinted it with most of a roll of duct tape and about ten hose clamps and it worked! Radar on (thank God!!) and as the wind died we were able to use the autopilot again. The repair got us in to Newport and was actually still working fine a week later when we made the proper repair! The sun came out and burned off the fog so coming in was easy. Homeland Security met us at Goat Island Marina a few minutes after we tied up it was a very pleasant entry. They didn't even come aboard, just checked passports and ships papers and wished us a nice stay. We got fuel and water and did a quick fresh water wash down - free water in Newport which is a real treat for us islanders!
Newport is a sailors town, there is plenty of room to anchor, lots of dinghy docks and places for trash, and a constant parade of boats to watch. We loved our time here 3 years ago and it almost feels like a second home now. We have made some repairs and done some more varnishing, eaten some lobster and lots of cherries, and generally reacquainted ourselves with the joys of Newport.
Our plans are to haul Independence on July 23rd for about a month and go land cruising. Our first trip will be south for a family reunion with daughter Hillary's in-laws and,of course, our amazing grandbaby, Marisa.
All the fog, tides and lobster pots have us planning to drive to drive rather then sail to Maine! September is boat show month in Newport and then we will be planning our return to Bermuda and on home to St. Thomas in early November.
We have had quite a few e mails requesting charters for next season so we are excited about that and looking forward to lots of sailing. Sometimes it takes a while to find a computer when we are cruising so please be patient with me if it takes a few days for me to answer an inquiry. My cell phone works up here so if you would like to call for information the number is 340-513-2897.
I hope everyone has a great summer and we hope to see you in the Virgin Islands next season.
All our best! - Pieter and Pat
*****
June 2007
The charter season is over for Independence and we are madly getting ready for our passage north to Bermuda and then Newport, Rhode Island.
Our last charter was on June 2nd. It was the perfect way to end the season, sunshine, ten to fifteen knots of breeze so great sailing, crystal clear waters and no swells in our favorite anchorages for awesome snorkeling and repeat guests who were up for the adventure.
We ended the day at the boat yard in the Lagoon, the adventure was running aground in the channel a hundred yards from the dock! Not to worry ... A cell phone call to Pieter who was waiting for us, and all was well. He directed us to back off and go around the unmarked shallow spot and after a little engine maneuvering we were off and proceeded to the dock! We waved good bye to the Hollidays - they have promised to come back soon - and started on the transformation from day sailor to offshore cruising boat. Snorkel gear off, Aries steering vane on - not to mention rigging checks, oil changes - and let's not forget provisioning ... It will all get done!
Ray, first rate mate for the season, has lots of plans for the summer including getting his captain's license but has promised to keep in touch and just maybe he will be back aboard Independence when we start chartering again in November.
Our plan is to leave here on June 12th or 14th(never start a voyage on the 13th!!) and it will take us about a week to get to Bermuda. I will update the log from there and again once we reach Newport.
Keep your fingers crossed for a gentle and quiet hurricane season for everyone.
Have a great summer! -
Pat and Pieter
*****
April 2007
It has been a wonderful season and we still have another six weeks to go before we shut down the charter side of sailing Independence and start getting her ready for some offshore cruising and a summer exploring the New England coast.
We have had many wonderful families aboard this season ... Take heart - our future is safe in the hands of the next generation!! Ray, son of Al from last season, has been my right hand this year, and the kids have been following him on the snorkel trail and helping with sail handling … we call it Ray Care and I am not sure who has been enjoying it the most – Ray, the kids, or their parents. I have been day sailing Independence on and off since 1980 and we are now sailing with grandchildren - kids of kids I took sailing 20 years ago. It's amazing and so much fun! And while we are on the subject of grandchildren …
Pieter and I are now proud grandparents! Daughter Hillary delivered Marisa (7lbs., 4oz.) on February 20th; mother, daughter, and Daddy Brian are doing just great and Marisa has already been on her first sail! She is a St. Thomian born and bred and loves the water, whether at Hull Bay, Magen’s Bay, Honeymoon on St. John, or in her own bathtub. They are all planning to be in North Carolina with Brian's family in early August and I think we will really be ready for a grand baby fix by then so are contemplating a road trip south from our Rhode Island base.
One of the questions we are asked frequently is, "Do you ever have really awful guests aboard?" I have been chartering forever and certainly there have been one or two groups that, shall we say, made for some great stories but I always tell people that we remember problem passengers because we have so few of them.
Well, we had a day this winter that we will probably never forget – but not because our guests were awful – they were great (as usual!). It was a pair of special visitors that made this day stand out. Our charter group requested a long sail up to Water Lemon Cay on the north side of St. John; we don't often have time to get up that far but the wind was good and it was an easy sail so off we went. It was the second day that week on Independence for the family of four that we had aboard and the daughter really wanted to see a dolphin, not a common occurrence in shore in the Virgin Islands … But, just as we picked up the mooring a snorkeler popped up next to us and said he saw dolphins right under the boat! Within minutes everyone was geared up and in the water to see the two dolphins. They looked like a mother and baby, and they hung out with us for about an hour. They seemed totally unafraid and curious; the baby got close enough to Ray to allow a plastic bag to be peeled off of his back – no telling how long it had been stuck there. What an unforgettable experience for all of us. In forty years of sailing in the Virgin Islands that is only the second time that has happened. We didn't see any whales this year but those dolphins more than made up for the lack.
We had another slightly unusual charter: a couple from Holland who just wanted to sail, no stops, no snorkeling, no lunch, just sailing. I am always up for a good bash to windward so on day one we circumnavigated Jost Van Dyke. We looked for whales but no luck; no dolphins either, but the sailing was terrific. Day two we got really ambitious and circumnavigated St. Thomas, we had to motor some but it was fun to see the south side of the island and the airport and all the cruise ships. The last leg was a sunset sail but we made it home by dark. Day three, our last day, of course we had to sail around St. John. Pieter came along for that leg - a good thing too as it was quite windy beating up between Tortola and St. John and his mechanical expertise was needed to repair a recalcitrant bilge pump. We were sorry to see our Dutch guests go but we have hopes of meeting them at the boat show in Newport, they want a sail boat!
Our regular day or half day is more than just okay with us. What's not to love about a day of snorkeling and sailing? Your destination is where the seas are calmest and the winds take you. You have time to stretch out and relax, turn off the cell phone, and have a few hours with no worries! We will be sailing from St. Thomas until the end of May and will be back and available around Thanksgiving for the 2007/2008 season.
I hope you will join us this winter!!! -
Pat and Pieter
*****
September 2006
We got back last week from a 5 day quest to Anegada for lobster. I know you New Englanders laugh at our clawless crustaceans, but they were very tasty and you can't beat the atmosphere! Anegada is north of Tortola and more like the Bahamas than our hilly islands; there are great beaches and snorkeling. You have to do a little navigating to find it - the tops of the palm trees are the first thing you see and then the island pops up. Now that there are buoys to guide you through the channel, it's not quite as intimidating as it used be, but it still feels like a passage and an accomplishment to drop the anchor after a 3 or 4 hour sail. We also stopped at Norman Island so I could snorkel at the Indians - awesome! I also made an early morning dinghy run to the Treasure Caves. I was the only one there, definitely a bit eerie in the caves, probably because I had just seen Pirates of the Caribbean!!
The day sailing from Red Hook has been delightful and quite busy for the off season. I think our average summertime temperatures of around 85 daytime and 78 nighttime were so much cooler than the heat waves up north that a lot of people were tempted to travel south. It is so wonderful to head into an anchorage and maybe find one other boat and no one on the beach. The water is warm and the snorkeling has been great with very clear visibility and lots of fish.July is traditionally one of our windier months, so the sailing was terrific and the kite surfers were out in force. It is a little lighter now but still enough to move Independence along.
Pieter and I will be grandparents this winter ...very exciting! Our daughter, Hillary, and her husband, Brian, are expecting in February. They live here so we can be very involved! Hillary has been controlling morning sickness with something called Preggie Pops; she says they work. I have done some investigating and found that they have the same thing for sea sickness. I hope to track them down and have some on board for concerned guests, even the non pregnant ones!
Our next short adventure will be to the Spanish Virgins; we've been to Culebra but never to Vieques. The island was used by the U.S. Navy as a bombing range for many years but a couple of years ago they pulled out. I gather that there is still some unexploded ordinance but only on one part of the island. Friends who have sailed there say it is gorgeous ... I will let you know! It is less then a day's sail away so we can hop over easily. The great thing about traveling with your own boat is no security checks(well, not the kind you stand in line for anyway), and I have my own pillow with me!
The Coast Guard boarded us a month or 2 ago and they asked to see identification for everyone on board. That is a new rule for us so when you travel around the islands have your drivers license or some form of ID. with you. You will need a passport starting January 1, 2007, and that is certainly a great form of ID!
You will hear all the boat captains asking you not to bring suntan oil on board. That is for safety reasons; there is nothing more slippery than an oily deck. I am asking that you leave the aerosol spray sunscreen in your bag as well. It gets all over the boat, which makes it somewhat slippery but mostly that stuff is expensive. The wind picks it up and it goes everywhere but where you want it ... on your skin to prevent sun burn!
We have bookings for full and half day sails in September and October and even one for Thanksgiving, but we still have plenty of space available so come on down and enjoy our Paradise while it is so uncrowded.
Best wishes for a great fall -
Pat and Pieter
*****
March, 2006
Time has a way of getting away from me, I can't believe that it is March and I haven't written since August! Independence is looking pretty good these days. After our run-in with hurricane Emily and the adventures in Bermuda we were in need of some cosmetic help so it was into the boatyard for the month of November. Lucky for us, son Paul stepped up to the plate and while Pieter and I were off playing in Florida he did the lion's share of the work. He sanded and faired and filled and got the boat ready for an awlgrip job(like getting your car spray-painted). He also replaced the epoxy that was ground off the keel during the hurricane and then we (I helped!) gave the deck a new non-slip coating; it looks good and is much easier to walk on, especially when wet.
While Paul was beavering away we went on a cruise - on a real cruise ship - no driving or navigating required. The food and the cabins were amazing. Everything all our guests have raved about was all true and we are glad that we went. The Jewel of the Seas was our home for a week and we had lots of family along to show us the ropes so we gambled and ate, played silly games and ate, went to the gym so we could eat some more, even the coffee was great, if you have sailed with us you may remember how important that is to me!
It was hard for us to look at the damage wrought by hurricane Wilma, south Florida was recovering quickly but it was wild looking at all the high rises with blown out windows, the Mexicans in Cozumel were hard at work rebuilding and I am sure they are glad for all the visitors that come and spend money, no FEMA there! St. Thomas has been so lucky with hurricane season in recent years but all their damage brought back memories of Hugo and Marilyn, fingers crossed for a quiet year so everyone can recover.
Independence was launched and ready for season by mid December. Friends from our South Pacific cruising days, circa mid '80s, showed up in time for Christmas. They sailed all the way from New Zealand over the course of several years so had lots of stories to tell and it was great to catch up. Our kids played together and explored around places like Bora Bora in their small sailing dinghies, they were pretty young, Hillary 6 and Paul 8 and their boys the same, but they still have good memories of a pretty amazing way to grow up.
My first mate this season is Al Whittemore. He loves to sail, lives on his boat in Red Hook, and is an avid snorkeler and student of our underwater life. His son is mate on another day sail boat here and I might even convince his wife,Irene, to fill in occasionally - St. Thomas has another sailing family! If you are thinking of a day on Independence with your children, Al has had great success getting the kids in to enjoy the water, even snorkeling!
We are doing more half day sails this year, I guess the idea is to get in some shopping and still get to go sailing and snorkeling. The wind has been cooperating and we have had some great sails. The baby pelicans are getting big and very visible over on Congo Cay and the tropical birds are back. We keep our eyes peeled for those elusive humpback whales. We got lucky last year and saw a mother and her baby in Pillsbury Sound off Thatch Cay, so we keep hoping for another encounter.
I hope we can plan a day aboard Independence for you ... Remember, we take only 6 guests onboard, so we can tailor the day to your group. We do have a standard menu but that doesn't mean we can't discuss changing the food to suit your taste or diet, and it is never a problem to get your favorite drink or brand of beer or soda ... as long as it is available on island!
Pieter has a building project that is just getting started at his old boatyard so it looks like Independence will be here and available for summer charters. Cruising is fun but somehow it is hard to be unhappy stuck in this little corner of paradise! Get in touch with me if I can answer any questions you have.
Come on down and let's go sailing! - Pat and Pieter
***** | 
dinghy - we are easy to spot and we'd love to see you.
