Updated Log to Curacao

5/4/15 - Spoke with Parker on SSB. Winds will be up due to high pressure ridge at 35*N and Columbian low well E. Probably 10 days 'till we can move to Curacao. We'll have to wait and see. Got generator started (dead battery) by jumping it with the port engine start battery thru the hatch! Cleaned and stretched isinglass. Fixed latch on locker on port side. Found second leak in port pontoon of dingy. Must buy flexible epoxy to patch as patching material on board doesn't last. Changed water maker filters and made water.

5/5/15 - 1500 moved in 25+ kn winds into Renaissance Marina where we med. moored with help of Saunders. X-J signed us in. Signed up for a month as the winds are not expected to abate soon and we plan to go to FL for Kyler's HS graduation. Went to dinner at Iguana Joe's. Had Bon Bon shrimp and Iguana nachos. Great!

5/9/15 - Daily winds are still 20-25 kn with gusts above 30 kn. Weather reports show these conditions out thru next weekend. African/Sahara Dust gets all the way here leaving a haze obscuring the sun. Not as bad as smog in LA, but... We've decided to go back to FL on the 17th in HOPES of going to Kyler's graduation, or at least wait out the wind/weather in happy surroundings.

Steve and I have completed a bunch of projects/repairs: re-wired the generator to the house as its battery is dead; patched the dingy with G-Flex; fixed the strbd. Engine's starter disconnect (I was having to jiggle the solenoid starter connection to get engine started); tightened the strbd. engine fan belt (locking bolt was over tightened!); and stabilized the aft antenna mounting bar. Still to go is re-stitch bridle thimble and replace main halyard (cover rotted off presumably from the Columbian dirt/mud/organic material).

5/11/15 - Went up mast at 0630 before Aruban wind came back up to normal 20-25 kn. Used old main halyard and boson's chair with spinnaker halyard as safety back-up. Linda was on the electric winch and Steve was belaying the spinnaker halyard. Lorry stood by in reserve. We communicated with our "marriage savers" (Wilkie-talkies). Mast is 58' tall from deck base and 67' from the water. Main halyard is 200' long. It is covered in Colombian mud which I neglected to wipe off. Will order new Dyneema halyard with thimble spliced in. Also will order new generator battery (36 amp hours).

5/17/15 - Went to FL for Kyler's H.S. graduation at the Amway Center. HE MADE IT!

Steve and Lorry flew home.

5/25/15 - Steve returned one day before us so he could sail to PP, DR, ?

5/26/15 - Reassembled the dingy seat after attempting to fix leaks: only partially successful. Will have to look at it again when we get to PR. We will put the dingy sans motor on the davits at the fuel dock. Can't get off Kuhela with it hanging across the stern. Bought groceries for trip. We will refuel after we get off the ball ( Med-moor) to include the bladder at about 1300. This should give us over 200 gallons: 90 in the tanks; 35 in the yellow diesel cans; 30 in the "salad oil" cans; and 48 in the bladder. Have modified the bladder's fueling/re-fueling system so we can pump the fuel into the tanks. Just had to reverse the hookups on the pump to make the change happen.

Bright, sunny day with winds for the most part under 20 kn. 82*F, 73% humidity. Winds are predicted anywhere from 14 kn to 35 kn from mostly E. with small craft warnings over next several days. Seas predicted at around 5-6' with 6 sec. interval from ENE. We hope to sail out into calmer waters 100 or so nm NE of here.

We cleared out at Barcadera. Had to tie up along side a Venezuelan steel boat in order to get ashore. No problem and they were friendly and helpful. Got the bum's rush after telling Customs we were leaving right away. We had a steering hydraulic problem fixed with more oil and re-aligning the rudders that kept us dockside longer than they wanted. Finally got off about 1845 in 20 knot winds and 3' seas. Averaging 7.2 knots for first hour and a half. Wind and seas increased as we passed the western tip of the island. Winds back to 20-25 knots, seas to 5'. New main halyard (dyneema) too thin to be held by clutches. Main slipped. Used corks to jam it. Night passage quite rough. Couldn't hold course fit Culebra or even PR. By morning we were 15 nm off course to the W. About mid-morning the jib heads gave way followed shortly by the entire sail. We bundled it up and changed course to Curacao 200 miles away where we hope to make repairs. Seas all broken up at around 4'. Winds 18-25 knots. Very uncomfortable. Afterward taking down the main we refueled with relative ease underway using the Dehaan pump so both tanks are full. Had to swop in line for out. Autopilot also went out so we are hand steering to Curacao, too.

5/25/15 - "O" Dark Thirty: Last but not least main boom line parted freeing the boom. Climbed up up tie it down. Tie down also parted in middle of the night. Made two lateral tie downs at top of boom vang after light and before breakfast tying them to the mid cleats thus temporally securing the boom. Will re-weave the main block in Curacao probably at Curacao Marine. By the way, steering with defective hydraulics in 1.5-2 hour shifts all night in an itchbay! Can't let it go for a second: constant reading the GPS heading and adjusting the bearing. With our speed under 4.5 knots this went on seemingly forever.

Got to Curacao around 1400. Checked in with Customs after coming alongside next to the bridge at Willemstad. Next we went across the inlet with permission of the Willemstad Port Authority, tied up and went to Immigration and then Digicel. From there we called Curacao Marine (I now understand they don't monitor the VHF or even have one) and lined up a slip from where we hope to get everything fixed. Pulled into a slip with help from various cruisers already here: very friendly and helpful bunch.

Posted with Blogsy

Some What a Catch Up from 2014

1/2/14: left Sunbay Marina at around 1400 in scattered showers. Seas off Rosy Roads and Puerto del Rey Marina 2-3 ft. Chop with wind 20-25. Made turn at Rosy Roads to 207T. Rain showers off Vieques threatened but missed. Winds down under 10 kts.: bummer, motoring at 1800 RPM's. Seas now (1730) 1-2 ft.

Broad reach wind 15-21, speed 5.6-7.5.

1/3/14: wind picked up around 0100: 15-24. Speed 6-8. Turned off engines. 18 hr. avg. 6.8 knots.

Broad/beam reach, wind 18-19, speed 7-8; seas 5-7'

Broad/beam reach, wind 12-15, speed 5-5; seas 5-7'

Broad/beam reach, wind 8-10, speed 5-5.5 seas 5-7'

At 1500 hrs. checked engine oil. Stbd engine room awash. Pumped out with emergency hand pump: bilge pump not hooked up (elec.). Port engine room same. Water coming from???? Pumped both bilges and now motor sailing as wind below 13 knots past 2hours. Seas 3-4 ft.

1/4/14, 0730: wind 17-24 knots; seas 4-6'. Speed 6.5 - 8.4 knots b/b reach. Partly cloudy with a squall 8.5 nm W .

1700 hrs.ind 14-26 knots; seas 5-7'. Speed with port engine at 1,200 rpms. to counteract the ( probably) out of sync rudder.

1/5/14, 0200: woke up to see Bonaire light. Entered channel between the islands using chart plotter and radar. No moon.

0615 hrs. arrived Oostpunt, Curaçao. Took sails down.

0730 hrs. Bright, sunny. Wind 7 knots from S. Many fishing boats and 2 sail boats headed towards Bonaire for a festival. Caught up with Rob and Lauren Dehaan on Southern Comfort at anchor at Spanish Waters.

Panama to Cartagena After our stay in Panama

12/23/14 - Left Nargana around 9:15 am after several attempts to get the autopilot to work. Seas on the bank are moderate with swells at times to 6'. Clear sky's with cumulus clouds. Seas 81.3*F. Bearing 71/72*T. Current arrival at outer markers set for 5 pm Thursday, 12/25/14. Off the bank at 11:30 am. 171 nm to outer marks. Set jib at 5:15 pm in 8-10 knots of wind off port bow. Speed increased by around .5k. Wind shifted so took jib in at 0020. Linda went to bed.

12/24/14 - cloudy at dawn with 15-20k wind on the nose. Cleared to blue sky's with few cumulus clouds. Swells 3', 6 sec apart. Choppy.

Still slightly sea sick since last night. Linda's fine except for a cough.

At 1515 winds came up to 10-12k just barely off the port bow. Speed increased 1 k. 1615 wind to 20k. Speed up another .5k. Wind kept increasing to 18-25k. Pulled jib in at dusk. Increased RPM to 2,200 to make headway (4.5k) against gusts. Ships all around lining up to enter main shipping channel one after the other. No moon! Arrived 2315 after 37.5 hours of slogging.

4/20/2015 - Puerto Valero, Columbia: 0230 alarm. Linda makes coffee. 0305 up anchor. No moon. New windlass works flawlessly. Winds under 10k; seas flat. Round point and head north into slight chop. Sent out Spot message. By 0530 winds increasing as well as seas: swells 2-3 ft. with 1 ft. chop. 0600 winds continue to increase: 10-12k and seas, too: 3-4 ft. Wind constantly within 25* of port bow. Can't sail. Engines flawless at 2,200 RPMs. Winds and seas continue to increase on way to Magdalena waypoint 5 nm off the river's mouth. 0730 winds 18-21k; seas 4-6 ft with 2 ft chop; skies high, light overcast. Visibility 5 mm. Linda makes Spam and egg sandwich breakfast. Speed average down from 6.5 kph to 5.4 kph. 1015 ETA 1421. 1226 wind gusts up to 30 kph. White chop and rough/bumpy/steep (3-4 ft) seas. 1350 3 mm out. Winds 24-27 with gusts over 30 kph. 1430 arrived at Santa Marta Marina. 11 hrs. at 5.4k moving average. Sent out Spot message on our safe arrival.

4/21/15 - Steve and Lorry Clark arrive from Canada on Avianca. Lost bag is found and delivered to the marina.

4/29/15 - Santa Marta, Colombia departure 0915 after spending last of our pesos on beer at the marina minimart. Winds calm to 5k from SW. Seas nearly flat. Clear skies with visibility 5nmn due to arid dust. SoG 6.2kn. 1130 we changed course to 61* to pass 30+|-mm W of Cabo de la Vela in hopes of catching the trade winds sooner in these calm (1-2', 7 sec. and slowly building) seas. We can still head back E if weather and sea conditions deteriorate.

Linda and Steve took the helm all night. At 2230 a freighter passed us from the stern at about 1.8nm. Couldn't see its lights until it was very close; just it's AIS signature on the chart plotter. Again at about 0430 another ship passed by at about the same distance from the bow. Seas came up as the water got shallower (

After a meeting with all of us, we decided to change course and head to Aruba. Time 1735. We have travelled 188 nm in 32 hours to this point. We will stay N in deep water for as long as we can, then slide down and in over the banks. We will motor the ~115nm into the wind and waves. The trip to DR (350 nm and at least 60 hours) is way too long as we could hit a Parker projected storm on Tuesday. We would have to sail as we don't have enough fuel to make the entire 60 hrs. and not be able to maintain with certainty our 6+nmph average. New avg. speed 4.4nmph. Seas all night rough, steep, confused, and choppy. Close intervals. Winds steady in low 20's. Dawn at 0500 with cloudy skies. Leaking hatches in main and strbd. cabins: oh, joy!

5/2/15, 0930 we refueled putting the ~28 gals. from the "oil" jugs into the strbd. tank and 25 gals. into the port tank. Port is full and strbd. is bobbing full according to the gauge. Took about an hour to do both sides. 1445 increased RPMs to 2,700. Speed increased at least 10%.

2045 dropped anchor in Barcadera harbor, Aruba after an all day run through 6-8' scrambled seas with winds 20-25 kn gusting to 30 kn.

5/3/15, 1100 Aruba Coast Guard boarded us. Checked our passports and told us we needed to check in ASAP, not waiting for Monday. We moved to the dock, tying up with some difficulty due to the NE 20+kn winds. Very pleasant immigration gal came aboard with the necessary paperwork. She took our passports, stamped them, and welcomed us to Aruba. Next stop, customs who were just as efficient but not as friendly. They were interested if we had a spear gun. Total cost for both, nada. At 1300 we headed up the coast for Niki Beach (airport anchorage). Dropped the hook in sand in 13' of water, 100 yards off the beach with three other boats. Still lots of wind and sunshine.

5/4/15 - Spoke with Parker on SSB. Winds will be up due to high pressure ridge at 35*N and Columbian low well E. Probably 10 days 'till we can move to Curacao. We'll have to wait and see. Got generator started (dead battery) by jumping it with the port engine start battery thru the hatch! Cleaned and stretched isinglass. Fixed latch on locker on port side. Found second leak in port pontoon of dingy. Must buy flexible epoxy to patch as patching material on board doesn't last. Changed water maker filters and made water.

5/5/15 - 1500 moved in 25+ kn winds into Renaissance Marina where we med. moored with help of Saunders. X-J signed us in. Signed up for a month as the winds are not expected to abate soon and we plan to go to FL for Kyler's HS graduation. Went to dinner at Iguana Joe's. Had Bon Bon shrimp and Iguana nachos. Great!

5/9/15 - Daily winds are still 20-25 kn with gusts above 30 kn. Weather reports show these conditions out thru next weekend. African/Sahara Dust gets all the way here leaving a haze obscuring the sun. Not as bad as smog in LA, but... We've decided to go back to FL on the 17th in HOPES of going to Kyler's graduation, or at least wait out the wind/weather in happy surroundings.

Steve and I have completed a bunch of projects/repairs: re-wired the generator to the house as its battery is dead; patched the dingy with G-Flex; fixed the strbd. Engine's starter disconnect (I was having to jiggle the solenoid starter connection to get engine started); tightened the strbd. engine fan belt (locking bolt was over tightened!); and stabilized the aft antenna mounting bar. Still to go is re-stitch bridle thimble and replace main halyard (cover rotted off presumably from the Columbian dirt/mud/organic material).

Posted with Blogsy