Being Aware of Wares, Where, Wear and Tear, and just how Little I Wear….

After spending only a week on the mainland, we skipped along the southern coast of Puerto Rico to Vieques to meet up with my sister and our good friends Sean and Shea.  This was the first time anyone has come visit us on this trip, and the first time we've had anyone else on the boat aside from Ashley.  There's nothing like having visitors come and live with you, and inviting them into your world,  that makes you realize just how different your world has become.  I guess it never dawned on me just how much things have changed, how I have changed, because every time I go home, I'm transported back into my old life, my old world, and quickly re-adapt  One of the biggest things that has changed, is that I've become more aware.  Sounds a little silly, but living this lifestyle, you have to be hyperaware of everything.   Something as simple as being aware of a hatch being open, or even something left on deck.  Being in the hands of nature, you start to see that there is a direct consequence for everything that you do… or don't do.  You leave a hatch open, chances are you ruin anything under that hatch when the daily tropical rainstorm comes along.  You leave something unstrapped on deck, odds are in favor of you losing it when the wind picks up, or when the waves build and rock your boat.  Having guests over makes you realize just how much you subconsciously do to avoid these little "inconveniences."  (Hmmmm….ironically as I'm writing this post, I'm hearing a pan-pan from the coast guard on the vHf of someone's 51' sailboat being thrashed on the rocks on western Culebra because his mooring ball drug while he was having lunch down below, shit…)  

Explaining to your guests things that need to be done and fearing that you are sounding a bit like a neurotic control freak when you're telling them how to properly flush your Lavac toilet, not to throw toilet paper in the bowl, not to leave things on countertops in case it gets rolley, to put everything away from deck before going to bed, and to shut off fans when you leave the room to save power.   Keeping things neat and orderly has become a priority for us as there has been more than a night or two where we have been nearly  thrown out of bed at 3am because of a sudden onset of a violent squall with stuff we left out, like dirty dishes, flying all over the boat.  Realizing that we are now so much more subconsciously hyperaware, that we wake up at any unusual sound or movement, and tripping over our guests sleeping soundly as we get up instinctually to check for the source of the mystery sound.  It's funny, we are so much more in touch with nature now that we are even able to gauge the windspeed just from the sound of our wind generator with incredible accuracy.   We have routines in which we get up every morning, shut off the anchor light, check  our power consumption, go up on deck, look around and see our surroundings to see if we dragged, check on the dinghy…so on. Being responsible for all these little things as well taking ownership of your actions and inactions deeply changes your perspective and relation on things.  You start think about things more thoroughly, not just in terms of your living space, but you start to apply that notion to other parts of your life as well.  In a way, you simply take more direct responsibility over your life.  That's not to say that this is necessarily a good thing as it can just as well turn you into a paranoid, anxiety ridden nutcase. I suppose, just like everything else in life, there needs to be a moderate balance of awareness, as well as care-freeness.  Speaking of care-freeness, having guests on board also made me realize just how often I am naked without even realizing it.  Oops, haha.  I suppose that's just another side effect of living on a boat…

Aside from all that deep philosophical stuff, we had a great time with our friends and my sister.  Sean ended up staying for about 10 days, while Shea was only allowed a brief 4 day stay.  My sister was with us for close to 3 weeks.  In that time, we took Sean and my sister to Culebra as well as St Thomas, where Sean flew home from, and my sister stayed on an extra week, while we sailed back to Vieques to meet up with her boyfriend (now fiancé…he proposed on the trip :)  We took them on some dive adventures where they got to got see coral that they wouldn't have been to access without a dinghy.  We showed them what it was like to sail from island to island.  We did some spearfishing and found some conch.  It was awesome to see my sister  adapt to this life so quickly, and take to it.  She really loved the simplicity of our life as well as being surrounded by nature, and says that she already misses the boat.  I'm happy as that means that she will be wanting to join us again in the near future.  Yay!

Sailing to Vieques…

Shea and Sean

Sister sister...

Goofing off in St Thomas...

Island hopping

Diving under the pier in Vieques

My sister the mermaid

Uni

Freediving

First pic of Frank and I both spearfishing

Sean spearfishing

Octopus Frank speared and I cooked…(first time ever
preparing octopus!)

Culebra

Finally….A New Country!

We decided to stay an extra day in Mayaguana to get some rest as well as enjoy the spearfishing offered on the island.  Initially, we had planned to leave that night after a couple of hours of sleep and continue on to the Turks & Caicos, but after seeing the water quality (we dropped a quarter in 35 ft of water and were able to see it on the bottom from deck level), we couldn't resist exploring the reefs.  As well, our buddy boat, Sailboat Furminger has been having a bunch of mechanical problems lately, the most recent two being setting the engine room on fire while underway from Long Island to Crooked (a wire had shorted out and ignited their oil absorbent rag under the engine…see their site for more details), along with losing their throttle control cable also while underway from Crooked to Mayaguana, the day after the fire.  What had happened with the cable was that they had paid a marina back in Baltimore $4K for someone to install new control cables and a dual action control arm as their binnacle mounted controls had broken at that point.  Since they are new to the whole boating arena, they didn't notice that the mechanic had improperly routed the morse cables so that the throttle cable was sitting against their exhaust riser, which ended up melting and seizing the cable (you can't trust anyone!).  When Nico went to throttle back, he broke the control arm as well.  After they finally got anchored up later that evening, Frank was able to go over and jerry rig a simple system for them consisting of lines and pulleys so that they could again control their throttle from the helm.  The sea always manages to find the weaknesses in any system so it pays to be handy...

After a good night's rest, we spent the next morning hunting in some of the clearest waters we've seen so far.  Of course, the day's haul was stupendous, and we were able to spear some Slipper lobsters to boot.  Frank and I have been looking for these elusive Slippers now for many, many years (at this point, I'd say close to 10).  Ever since we've heard about these things, we have been hoping to spot one.  This time around, not only did we finally see them but we managed to catch 4, and they were absolutely delicious.  They are a lot like Spiny lobster in flavor and texture except a little sweeter.  They however don't hide in the same way Spiny lobsters do.  Normally when in search of Spiny lobster, we look under a rock or coral head, and they are usually just tucked up under there, sitting up, just staring at you, antennas waving around just waiting to be captured.  With Slipper lobsters we found that they usually cling on to the undersides of the rock/coral in a nook very well camouflaged, so when you're peaking into a hole, instead of looking down, you would look up and along the sides of the walls.  Though hunting them was slightly different than hunting Spiny lobster, preparing them was just as easy.  We simply steamed them and dipped it in melted butter.  In the same meal, we also prepared Stone crab, which were also just as delectable.  It was a real treat as crabs tend to be a little more rare.  I now know why they call them Stone crabs, as the shells on them are rock hard.  I lost one in a reef trying to spear it, with no luck as my spear wasn't strong enough to puncture the tough shell, and all it did was deflect off before the little critter ran away.  How frustrating!  Frank, with the better spear and skills, managed to spear one that Nico had spotted right between the eyes (as you can see from the photo). All in all, our brief stay in Mayaguana turned out to be very worthwhile, and I wish that our weather window wasn't so short so that we could've had more time to spend exploring this beautiful, remote island.  

They really look like slippers!

I love Mayaguana!!!

This poor crab didn't know what was coming….

After sharing our feast with our Nico and Lindsay, we took a nap and awoke at 11pm to continue on to the Turks.  With the winds at 10-15 knots on a close haul, we were able to have a beautiful night sail with a sky full of stars and a trail of phosphorescence in our wake.  Getting through Sandbore Channel proved only mildly challenging as the 10 miles of the shallow "channel" was sprinkled with coral heads, so visual piloting was absolutely necessary.  We are now anchored in Sapodilla Bay on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos.  We will spend the next couple of days here awaiting another weather window to open up so that we can take our next passage safely.  I'm not sure what we're going to do in terms of fun activities as spearfishing is highly forbidden here and lobster season is over.  I'm sure we will find something…

Beach that we are anchored in front of….

Sunrise underway….

Chalk Sound, Providenciales

Long Island to Mayaguana

After what seemed like an eternity in Georgetown, we finally got a good enough window to leave.  The one good thing about being stuck there was that we were able to meet yet ANOTHER younger couple cruising.  Lee and Rachel Cumberland on Satori.  Our time together was brief, and I wish that we were going in the same direction, as we did have a bunch of fun with you guys.  It was so refreshing to find another couple like us, in a similar situation, going through a long refit of the same style of boat as ours (he has a Tayana 37).  Lee's pragmatic sensibility, affinity for traditional style looking boats, as well as general handiness, reminded me much of a younger Frank.  The same but completely different.  Isn't it great when you meet an alternate version of someone you know?  Check out their blog.

So after leaving Georgetown, we spent a couple of days in Calabash Bay on the NW tip of Long Island as we couldn't resist the spearfishing there.  After the last time, we remembered that this island offered some great reefs abundant with numerous culinary delights.  In one day, we speared 12 lobsters, 2 crabs, a big ass snapper, a jack.  I only speared 3 of the lobsters, so it was pretty much all Frank, but still it allowed us to feast with our friends Lindsay and Nico on Sailboat Furminger.  The next couple days were not as insane in terms of the haul, but were still pretty bountiful. We had to stock up our protein as our next couple spots offer scant protection and will serve only as rest stops for a couple of hours of sleep between passages.  I may officially be sick of lobster…

Hand puppet show…..

So here we are now anchored in front of Mayaguana Island. After a stop in Clarencetown, on the southeast side of Long Island, we had a short layover at Landrail Point on Crooked Island, both of which took a pretty hard hit during the recent cat 4 Hurricane Joaquin back in October (the one that took the cargo ship, El Faro, with 33 crew onboard).  The hurricane came within 15 miles of Crooked Island with winds up to 155 mph, and it submerged more than 70% of the island with flood waters up to 5 feet deep.   The islands from what we saw looked absolutely devastated.  Roofs were ripped up, homes were sunken in sand, it felt eerily like a war zone.  Mother Nature strikes again!  It is so sad to think of all the people who lost their homes and their lives. Makes you grateful for what you have, and a great reminder that life is short.