St. Maarten Arrival

Nov 10: LOG 1788 nm

The last two days were hard up-wind traveling under motors. The motion was so violent that we could not even cook and use the stove. The notion that we were so close to our final destination of St. Maarten gave us our last boost and we hung in until the bitter end.

After 1680 miles we finally spotted the island of St. Maarten. We popped our last cold beers and celebrated a great trip. 

FLO performed amazingly. With a top speed of 19.2 kn and really not one single system breaking or failing she really kept the promise of being a well-built and well performing vessel. The only hitch we experienced was a stripped Gennaker tack line which we quickly replaced.

What a privilege to have sailed on this capable Nautitech Bavaria 40 Open catamaran with my two best friends Mike and Stephane. What a trip!

Sharks !

After two relaxing days ashore we made our way east past the island of Puerto Rico towards Tortola. Once in the BVI's we fueled up at Sopers Hole Marina and then sailed towards Norman islands where we anchored off a quiet Marine preserve.

Swimming to shore we discovered an amazing variety of coral fish that followed us in curiosity. 

My friend Stephane challenged me to swim with sharks which were circling our boat -which apparently got attracted by our under deck lighting. Since they were toothless sand sharks (still measuring about 3.5') it took me some courage but I jumped into the water and won the bet - and survived to tell this hero's tale ...

Poulet à la Stéphane

Boneless thighs (dark meat)

Cilantro 

Marinate in plastic bag:

Lime

Lemongrass

Ginger

Sesame oil 

Olive oil 

Salt 

Pepper

Pit Stop

Nov 6.LOG 1255  nm

The 3 day "Halloween gale" forced us more W than we wanted so we decided to visit the Dominican Republic and stop for some provisions and exploration. 

We entered Bahia Samana at 1030am and pulled into Porto Marina Bahia for 2 nights. 

Beautiful surroundings, exotic vegetation and colonial buildings greeted us. 

Next stop the BVI towards St Maarten. 

The Three Day Gale

Nov 3-6. LOG 780  nm

We stuck to our original plan of leaving Norfolk VA by aiming to an imaginary "safe point" ca. 200nm S of Bermuda to reach St Maarten. This would provide us with the opportunity if needed to take shelter there. 

By downloading daily weather updates via our SPOT Global sat phone we felt confident to bypass this "safe point" about 150 nm to the W and continue directly S towards the Carribbean. The data suggested a weakening ridge that would follow us S and bring us desired fresh NE winds. The forecast read 18-20 k from the NE. BUT what we actually experienced were 3 days of an uninterrupted full blown gale with 25-35 k of wind and rough (and short) seas of 10-15 '

FLO - our Nautitech Bavaria Open 40 handled the strong conditions beautifully. Under single reefed main and reduced jib we sailed at double digit speeds and at one point reached 19.2 knots. 

Yahooo!!

Bird Watching

Nov 2: LOG 670  nm

As on most of our offshore trips we sight birds. Most of the time they are marine avians bred for this often hostile environment and can stay in the air and sea for weeks. 

Today's sighting was more unusual. A small Finch type land bird circled our catamaran and finally had the courage to land on our safe island. He was obviously blown off a freighter and exhausted. We tried feeding him - after an hour he went on his way. 

Bon voyage little bird. 

First Dolphins

Oct 31: LOG 550  nm 

We woke up to the sight of a small group of dolphins. At first the sentinels checked us out after which the entire pod of more than 40 joined the fun darting and zigzagging in front of our bows. 

Seeing these beautiful creatures in the middle of a vast ocean always puts a smile on our faces

Up the mast again

Before our offshore delivery To the Caribbean i want to make sure all looks good up top. 

T minus 0

Today is the day we feel the weather window is good enough to launch FLO from Norfolk VA to St Maarten. 

My two friends Stéphane and Mike have arrived and the 3 of us will keep each other company on this 1600mile offshore trip. 

Our route will be a big arch as it will pass by a "safe point" 200 miles S of Bermuda. This will give us on option to duck into Bermuda if we need to. 

Next update from the Caribbean. 

Off into the beautiful BIG BLUE.....

Sunrise in Norfolk

It's blowing 30 knots and the crew of FLO is happy to be tied up at the Tidewater Yacht Marina. 

Last night we walked through the old town of Norfolk and had some Schnitzels and Bier at the famed Biergarten German restaurant. 

Got back to boat just before the storm hit. 

The 6.5$b boat

The George W. Bush is a 1000' Nimitz class aircraft carrier that can carry 6000 sailors and pilots as well as 100 jets and choppers. She is equipped with 4 turbines  putting out 250,000 hp powered by two nuclear reactors. Official speed is 30 knots although top speed is higher and classified. The monster can stay at sea for 22 years!! (Not sure if the sailors would be hungry ...)

We passed this boat and a second sister ship. At 6b$ a pop some increadible machinery. 

You guessed it ..we arrived in Norfolk, VA - the worlds largest and coolest naval base. 

This is the end of Flo's stay aboard FLO. Tomorrow I am driving her back to Annapolis to get her car so she can carry on back home to NY. 

I will remain here to wait for my wo amigos who will arrive on Oct 27. 

With a good weather window we want to leave next day and go offshore - directly to St.Marteen. Carib ! Here we come !

(Oh - almost forgot. We sighted a pod of dolphins on the way ...)

Cloudy Skies

After a beautifull sail from Yorktown we anchored in a small cove called Hunts Point about halfway to Portsmouth, VA. We encountered two rafted up monohulls that seemed to be anchored in a bad spot but coming closer we realized that one of them had engine problems and the other one was helping out. We offered assistance but Sea Tow was already on the way to give them a lift to Portsmouth.

It is once again good to be able to take hot showers aboard the boat as freshwater fitting is fixed that gave us an air leak.  

I also found tons of seagrass that snuck its way into the starboard engine salt water intake which are some of the joys of Sailing the Chesapeake.

Flo is feeling really comfortable with the cloudy skies as she is my Dutch girl.

Yorktown VA

We woke up to a spectacular sunrise only to find out that our water pump has crapped out. Upon further investigation I promptly destroy a key plumbing fitting which now sealed our fate. Having full tanks and a powerful watermaker does not help showering if you have to use a hand pump to extract H2o from full freshwater tanks. In any case - first fix stbd engine, then inspect keel....

A quick dive revealed no damage to keels and also no blockage around stbd raw water inlet. After carefully motoring on one engine into the narrow creek and docking, I changed the impeller with Ryan the friendly local mechanic- as well as cleared a handful of sea grass from the seacok. 

Afternoon was spent biking to colonial Yorktown and visiting the historic Revolutionary battlefield grounds and museums. 

Flo bought another mug and continued the killings of little flies that seem to have found a new home in our boat. 

Aground in Worley Creek

I can't say that it is an uplifting experience to run your boat aground. Getting it off however certainly is. Today's run was Onancock to Yorktown VA. Great sail blasting across the Chessepeake put us in striking distance of Yorktown where a neap tide and tricky small entrance made us kiss bottom. No harm done as I was going at less than 2 knots and the bottom was silt. We backed out of the entrance with our tail between the legs and anchored just outside the narrow cut to enjoy a GT and quiet evening. 

Pork loin BBQ with carrots and baked potatoes....

Tomorrow I will go for a swim to investigate stbd engine raw water blockage. I suspect a shopping bag wrapped around our sail drive or the saildrive ate sea grass. 

Also our freshwater pump is acting up and there seems to be an air leak somewhere upline. 

Onancock

Whoever came up with these weird names? ....obviously the native Americans. 

Sailed south east across the Chesapeake and entered the Onancock river around 5 PM. We were greeted by Mr. Lee from the Onancock town dockwho gave Flo a ride to the grocery shop. The evening was spent barbecuing German sausages accompanied by an Australian Malbec and watching the movie "The Perfect Storm" (interestingly Flo's choice)...

Solomons Island

Today we officially broke the 100 mile barrier with our two e-bikes. (That is total in 5 days ...errr , not all today:)

Some more exploring, maritime museum visits to learn about the beautiful log canoes and skipjacks, lighthouse visits and a guided tour through the Solomon Island harbor (that Flo felt was boring). Flo thought a visit to Annemarie's art museum and sculpture park was more interesting ...we bought another souvenir. 

Back to the Yacht Club where we gorged on BBQ spare ribs at the local Tiki bar that we were told attracts 20,000 party goers at the beginning of the season. Another spectacular sunset rounded off a memorable day. 

Tomorrow we are outa here, towards our next stop South: Onancock (them Indians had some strange names...)