Bringing Her home
After years of dreaming, planning, tweaking the dream and planning some more, the day had finally come. We were on our way to take ownership of our boat. Oh, the anticipation and excitement. We planned out our trip. We were picking her up in St. Thomas and from there we planned to island hop our way back to the States. The littles stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. Our friends Mel and Leigh were going to meet us in St. Thomas and help bring her home.
We have arrived!
We got to the boat, which was docked in Red Hook Bay, and started going through the systems and cleaning. First thing we found was the master head (toilet) was not working properly. We also quickly found that everything on our boat was labeled in French! Out came the smart phones to translate what each valve was for. This was something we – I say “we,” but, really, I mean me -- had not taken into consideration when buying a European boat, which has certainly made things more interesting.
We weren’t able to hook up to shore power being that our cord was European and, well, shore power in St. Thomas was not. Steve and Mel went up to the marine shop located there at the marina where everything was at the bargain price of at least twice what you’d pay back home and picked up a new head pump and some rope. They were given the name of an electrician on the island and scheduled him to come out. He took a look at our cords and drew us a diagram of what we needed to do to temporarily fix our electrical dilemma, but he could not do the work as it was carnival and everything was closed. Our initial plan had been to take a few (as in two) days to go through the boat and get her ready to set sail. Rain, carnival, and various repairs delayed our departure.
On the bright side, our first day there we had gotten something to eat and through conversation with our waiter, we were given the name and number of a guy who owned a catamaran chartering company. Steve contacted him and he was beyond helpful. Dare came to the boat and went through all the systems with the guys. He let us use his car to make runs for parts and groceries. He also had a mechanic who took a look at our engines, changed the oil, filters, etc. before we set off.
I was getting a little antsy and tired of being tied up to the dock. We had plans and the days were ticking by. We also had a schedule. Thankfully, we did get a break from the dock for an afternoon and took the opportunity to try out the gennaker and spinnaker. The spinnaker was just beautiful as it unfurled and snapped into place. It was a beautiful day despite the fact that it was raining.
Finally, five days later than we had anticipated, we were off. We set our course west. Captain had heard about a great fishing ledge about three miles off shore and we caught our first fish, Mahi Mahi. Yummy! Our first anchorage, Sandy Bay, was supposed to be an easy, sandy bottom anchorage. It was evening and we had about an hour, maybe a little more before sunset. After multiple attempts, our anchor would not set so we made the decision to move to the next possible anchorage, which was east on the north side of the island, the complete opposite direction of where we needed to be headed.
As the sun set and darkness enveloped us we realized there is nothing fun, nor safe, about sailing at night in unfamiliar territory near an island. The spotlight on board left some to be desired, but better than nothing. Just one more item added to the “to purchase” list, which seemed to be growing. Dare had told us what B.O.A.T really meant, Bust Out Another Thousand, and I was beginning to see the truth in that statement made jokingly.
We set anchor in Magens Bay, which was basically right where we had started just on the other side of the island. We were closer to Redhook Bay than we were the Spanish Virgin Islands.
Morning came. We pulled up anchor and set off, retracing our steps back east. Now we were yet another day behind schedule. We pulled into a beautiful little day-use cove near Culebritas. Leigh and I were able to get off the boat and walk in the white sand and did a little snorkeling, swam with a couple turtles. The guys, unfortunately, spent the day repairing the generator, which was not working consistently. We left this beautiful spot and spent the night in the Culebra anchorage.
Next morning we headed southwest for Puerto Rico. Our first night was spent at the anchorage in Salinas. We wanted some ice for our drinks and Mel and Leigh took the dinghy over to the dock where there was a little shop. They were also checking the availability of fuel. What was meant to be a quick, simple trip off the boat for ice, turned into the introduction to issues with our dinghy, which over the course of the trip became “The Stinky, Dinky Brinky.” Mel and Leigh were able to find someone to tow the “Brinky” back to the boat. The outboard motor had died and they were not able to get it started. We had a long way to go and without a dinghy to get to shore, our fun in the sun trip was quickly turning into Murphy’s Law, if it can go wrong, it will. And it did.
Salinas did not have a place for us to fuel up, so the plan was to head up to Ponce, fuel up and head out. At this point, we were in for multiple days and nights at sea. We decided to skip Mona and Dominican Republic now as we needed to get back on schedule. Leigh and Mel had work to get back to and, well, three weeks is a long time to have little guests for the grandparents.
As we approached the port of Ponce, we called the Dockmaster and requested to come in for fuel. They asked if we had called customs. We hadn’t planned to do this as we were just wanting to get fuel and get on our way. We weren’t really going to be going ashore in our mind. They wouldn’t allow us to come to dock without calling customs, so we did. We had anchored out just beyond the fueling dock and when it was our turn to get fuel, we pulled up the anchor and with it came this huge piece of something, part of an old dock, rock and barnacles, who knew? It was hooked on the anchor pretty good and we weren’t able to just lower the anchor and have it fall back into the sea, so we let it swing as we made our way to the dock.
Customs finally arrived and after a lengthy discussion with him, our closing agent back in Omaha, and the customs supervisor, they would not release the boat until we paid a very large sum of money for an import duty as we had purchased foreign merchandise, the boat, and were bringing it to America. Gulp! WHAT?!? It was late Friday afternoon and the people we needed to contact were at the end of their day. Steve, being the quick thinker he is, started making phone calls and was able to contact a yacht agent in Miami who sent a letter to the customs official in Ponce on Saturday morning notifying the official he represented us. After grabbing a cab and driving to the other side of Ponce to pay a small entry/exit fee, we were released. While we were being "detained," we made the most of our stay and were able to get off the boat and had a great meal and made some friends in a local pub in the Ponce marina. The next morning, now two more days behind schedule, we were on our way for The Turks and Caicos Islands.
Feeling like the worst was behind us, it felt good to be on our way. Around 10:00 that night I went up to chat with Captain K and see how things were going. We were now passing through The Mona Straight, known as one of the more treacherous passages in all of the Caribbean, and this night was no exception. We could see lightning off to the west rolling off the east coast of DR. Steve had pulled up the weather radar on his iPhone, because the radar on board was not working, and there it was, a HUGE storm moving right through our planned route. We had a decision to make, do we turn back to Puerto Rico, which was about four hours away, or continue and hope we catch just the edge of the storm and weather it out. As the lightning became more frequent and the radar more red, Captain decided heading back to land would be the safest thing to do. I went down below and studied the Puerto Rico sailing guide and found an anchorage at the northwest tip of the island that sounded easy enough to pull into for the remainder of the night and wait out the storm. I wish I could give you the name, but as our luck would have it, during our route planning, the sailing guide was left on the fly bridge and was soaked. Doph! My bad. Once we found the bay, we were able to find and grab a random mooring ball, which honestly might not have even been a ball meant for mooring. From what we could see, there were only two in the bay and a fishing boat was on the other one.
After getting the boat securely on the ball, it was time to catch some shut eye. It was now about 4 a.m. and we planned to get back on our way as soon as the storm passed. I had been down for maybe 10 minutes and the boat started rocking hard and the noise from outside was crazy loud! I thought Steve had changed his mind and headed back to sea, but it was the storm and, WOW, am I ever thankful he made the decision to come back inland.
As the first signs of morning came and the storm moved off to the east, we released the mooring ball, which had kept us secure through the storm, and set our sails for the Turks. We passed a pod of sleeping dolphins, which at first glance had appeared to be birds, the last sight of anything living we’d see for a few days. The next 61 hours 34 minutes and 18 seconds were spent sailing, motor sailing, or motoring our way to the Turks. I thought I would go out of my mind! First there was plenty of wind and we were zipping along. Then there was no wind and the seas were dead calm. I’m talking glass. To occupy my time, I read “Broken,” which may not have been the best choice to read while out at sea, but also could have maybe saved our lives had something disastrous happened.
Arriving at Grand Turks around midnight, Steve found us an anchorage on the southwest end of the island and we dropped the hook. Everyone was wiped out and we all crashed.
The next morning I woke up and out the window I see this huge building with all these windows and my first thought was, “The anchor didn’t set and we’ve drifted and are about to crash into a huge building!” I dash out into the cockpit and as my brain finally woke up, I was able to register it’s a cruise ship crawling by right behind us. I could have served coffee to the people on board they were so close! By the time I got my camera, they were nearly to the dock, but what a way to start the day!
After clearing customs, we finally get off the boat. The beaches were beautiful and it was heavenly to feel the sand under our feet. We decided to explore the island in the Stinky Brinky. The kill switch on the outboard motor had broken in Ponce and we had rigged it up with a little screw driver. While we played at the beach, unbeknownst to us, Captain needed to make a run to the boat, jumped in the Brinky and set off. We figured out he had left when I spotted him out in the Brinky pulling on the engine as he’s floating further out to sea. I wonder to myself, “Should we do something?” “What can we do? We’re here, he’s there.” Luckily there was a sailboat anchored further out that he paddled over to, got tied off, and continued to pull on that engine. Trying to figure out how we could help him, Mel stepped up and shouted to Steve. First Mel says, “This is yes (hands in the air in a ‘touchdown’ motion). This is no (arms crossed like an X). Would you like us to bring the boat to you?” And as clear as a bell, we hear Steve’s “NO!” Who needs hand motions when your voice can carry like that?
I was able to catch a couple local fishermen and asked if they’d mind giving us a ride back out to our boat and then go retrieve our captain, which they happily did. That’s one of the things I love about the islands, everyone is so very helpful and friendly.
So by now you’re getting the picture of how comical, frustrating, and just whacky our trip was. We made up a song about the Brinky to the tune of “Achy Breaky Heart,” which has its own page, and after a few more all-nighters we made it to the Bahamas. Leigh and I jumped ship and caught a plane home. Steve and Mel took an additional two days and sailed to Savannah. They saw dolphins, caught tuna, and had a fantastic guy trip until they hit bad weather right as they were coming into the river. They took a couple of days to button up the boat, make sure she was secure, and the adventure was over. It was a three-week trip and a little over 1100 nautical miles were traveled.
When I left the Bahamas, I have to admit I had no plans of getting back on the boat. I wasn’t sure how I was going to break this to my husband. This was his lifetime dream. But, just like childbirth, after a couple of weeks the pain of the trip was gone and I was left with memories of spending time with great friends and lessons I would not have learned otherwise. I now know for those overnight, multiple day trips, you really need to be mentally prepared. Also, the time we took going through the boat, making sure all systems were in good working order was time well spent. I’m grateful for the people we met while in St. Thomas who taught us so much about the boat and things to be mindful of. I was very naïve to think owning a boat would be as simple as chartering a boat had been.
