When do We Sail?

We call ourselves liveaboards cruisers. The emphasis is on liveaboard, mostly at anchor. Yet we do sail. It is the only way to really change our neighbor or neighbors. There are ten major islands and dozens of anchorages in the Lesser Antilles between the Virgin Islands and Trinidad. Each one is, mostly, a different independent country. The distance between them is usually an 8 hour or less sail between them.

Don’t assume, however, that the sailing between them is an easy sail. Many times, it is, if you choose the right “weather window”. These small islands sit essentially in the middle of the ocean. Actually, they divide the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea, so the seas between islands are mid-ocean worthy seas.

All this, to explain that island hopping is not taken too lightly as a jaunt across a bay. Before crossing, a few things need to be done. First, you must clear out with Customs and Immigration and sometimes with the port authority. This is just paperwork but must be done in person when changing countries. Obviously, you must be in a port where these authorities are. Once that is done our home aboard has to be “secured for sea”.

This entails a multi-step process that includes:  remove the dinghy engine using the spinnaker halyard to mount it by the main mast. Raise the dinghy on the aft davits and secure it to prevent any movements while at sea. Close and secure all ports below the main deck; stow the keyboard and all movable objects in the boat into a secure space, usually the v-berth; remove and stow below all sun awnings, covers and screening; set up all sail gear, remove sail covers, set up reefing points and ensure all loose deck gear including bicycles, kayak, BBQ, deck lights are secure; lower curtesy and signal flags. Then we start the engine, make sure it starts! Turn on all electronic navigation instruments, wind indicators, auto pilot, running lights, and cockpit gauges. Turn on the anchor windlass, remove the anchor snubber. If we are on the dock, disconnect the power and water connections, single up dock lines make ready the boat pole. At anchor, raise the anchor and clean the chain of any growth as it comes up.

Having done all that, we are ready to depart the dock or anchorage and proceed to a clear area to raise the sails, set our course, watch for traffic, check the wind, currents, and general weather conditions expected enroute to our destination. Our departure time is scheduled so that our arrival is at a convenient daylight arrival time. Many times, this may mean an overnight sail or a predawn departure sail.   

Once all that is accomplished, we have a pleasant (hopefully) sail.

Needless to say, we spend more time stationary than actually sailing. After two months in Antigua however (including one month in New York), we were ready to go sailing. For one hop to Guadeloupe.

We set the alarm for 4:30 in the morning of our departure for the best “weather window” opportunity to sail south. The trade winds have been blowing strong from the southeast for a week, but they were going to back to the northeast. That is what we need to have a good sail south. It was a small window as in less than 12 hours the winds would become very strong. Too strong for anything but a very “salty” sail. Clearances and all the “secure for sea” items were done the day and night before. By 5:15 AM we were on our way in the predawn darkness. We actually moved the boat the night before to the outer limits on the anchorage so that we didn’t need to go thru the anchorage in the dark. Sunrise was around 6:30 AM.

We set a reef in the main sail and rolled out the stay sail. Since the wind is light in the lee of Antigua we motored south until the northeast winds picked up. Even with our shortened sail plan, we could do better than 6 knots and make a 7 hour passage. The wind was forecast to increase during the day and that is why we started with the shortened sails. It never gusted more than 20 knots.

It was a good day to sail. The sky was clear with only a few puffy white clouds, but the seas were still “angry” with 6-8 foot beamers making it a lumpy ride. Halfway down we heard a pop and the stay sail clew flew off the stay sail boom. Ugh! Roll the sail in, start the engine to keep us moving, and dig out a new outhaul block for the boom. That worked well, we only lost about 20 minutes or so.

The following few hours went fine but as we approached Guadeloupe clouds were piling up off the north end. Light rain showers/squalls were evident. Of course! The last hour into Deshaies will be in squally weather. Before this we even rolled out the jib and increased our speed to 7+ knots as our good friends Bob and Brenda passed us. They have the same size boat but it is a modern “fast” cruiser. Ok, there is a good reason for a fast boat: fewer hours making a transit.

We were both hit by a dry squall, ie. no rain but instant wind speed increase to around 30 kts. “Roll in the jib!”. Easier said than done when it is blowing like that. Maureen’s fingers took the brunt of the punishment, and we couldn’t get the last foot or so rolled in.

We did push on and made it to the anchorage in gusty winds. Deshaies is a lovely little French seaside town, but the anchorage is not that large and is subject to strong gusts which tests your anchoring capabilities. We found a good spot to anchor realizing that it was going to be very windy for a number of days. Be careful who you anchor behind! They may become very close neighbors in the middle of the night.

So now, we are here in Deshaies and yesterday the winds gusted to 30+ with numerous rain squalls. Today it is sunny but still gusting to 30 knots. This should calm down slightly each day and by close to normal by the weekend. By then, we will be ready to hop down to Dominica, with a better weather window, where we will spend some more time. A short video of the highlights is below: