They made it. They’re in one piece. They’ve needed to make at least one rum run already. They’ll be posting here soon enough on their own, but they’re “playing” ’till Tuesday when the crew leaves, then they should be back online and working.
Archive for November, 2008Friday, November 28, 2008 Hello Everybody! Today Leo and I had the best watch. Just after 6 am we were joined by a lone dolphin followed by two more cavorting at the bow. Shortly thereafter came a beautiful sunrise: yellow & orange coming through scattered clouds. It was as if the Caribbean was welcoming us home with sunshine, blue sky, fair winds and a smile! Yesterday while charting our course for Antigua we had noticed a 59′ pinnacle rising up from the 17,000′ seabed 26 miles northeast of St. Barts. Fisherman’s heaven. Hoping they would hit the jackpot, the fishermen plotted a course that would take us directly over the pinnacle, and ordered that we maintain a speed overnight that would put arrival at 0800 for optimal fishing. Between 0700 and 0800 Jake, Pete and Pierre wandered up to the deck to begin catching fish. We rolled up the jibs and centered the main for easy maneuvering. We motorsailed within 49′ of the pinnacle and turned to circle back, this time within 52′, with no result. Discouraged at not seeing even a slight deviation in the depth we eased out the main, unfurled the jibs and turned for Antigua. Not 15 minutes later: zzzzzz, “fish on”, we had a fish. As we reeled in the empty line we hooked a second fish–two Mahi. Peter reeled in his fish, Jake did the honors with the gaf, and Leo began reeling in the 2nd fish…..until the crank handle broke! Well, Leo comes from a long line of Dominican fishermen, having fished with his grandfather since he was 9; so a mere broken handle couldn’t stop Leo. He simply put on the Kevlar gloves, grabbed the line and began pulling it in, just as he had when fishing with his grandfather. His comment: ”Now I feel like I’m fishing!”. Current and final score: Peter 3, Jake 3, fish 1. Now were are motorsailing with the whomper between the islands. We are 16 miles off Barbuda, but its highest point is 250′, so we wont’ be able to see it. We saw the loom of light over Anguilla and St. Martin before dawn, and have seen Saba on horizon. We can now see Statia, St. Kitts & Nevis, Montserrat and Antigua. Later…We are turning the SW corner of Antigua as the sun sets. We’ll be anchored up in another couple of hours. We’ve consolidated the fish flags on the halyards: a Mahi flag with a 5 and a Wahoo flag to port; to starboard we are flying the quarantine flag, reguired until we check in with customs and immigration. We plan to have dinner once anchored (Mahi, what else?) with a cold beer or perhaps a rum. We’ll drop the dinghy so we can swim and/or shower on the back deck. We feel as if we’ve arrived at our home away from home and look forward to seeing all our Antiguan friends again. Tomorrow after a big celebratory breakfast we have a full day of work. Jake will check us all in and we will go to the dock to fuel and wash the salt off the boat. We’ll have to spend the day getting the inside and outside of the boat cleaned up, but it should go quickly with 6 people. Peter and Pierre plan to stay in Antigua for a well-deserved vacation before departing for home on Tuesday. Danielle will be remaining in Antigua, Leo has arrived home, and Jake and I will stay a couple of weeks before deciding what to do next. All the best from the crew of Avalanche, eager to make landfall. Thursday, November 27, 2008 Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! We thought Thanksgiving would be a good day to record some the things that the crew of Avalanche is grateful for: Our families: parents, spouses, significant others, children and grandson! We have one piece of news: a 100 pound sailfish just spooled us. Leo gave it his best, but when there is no line left on the reel, there isn’t a lot more to do. So the score is Peter 2, Jake 1, fish 1. Our plan is to have our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday at anchor in Falmouth Harbour. All the best for Thanksgiving from the crew of Avalanche. Reply to all Forward Wednesday, November 26, 2008 Hello Everybody! I’m pleased to report that the biggest news today is that Pierre caught Mahi #3 on Peter’s side. So the fishing contest score is Peter (and Pierre) 2, Jake (and Leo) 1. As a result of yesterday’s catch we had wonderful mahi sandwiches for lunch and baked Mahi for dinner that drew rave reviews. The third fish is in the freezer so Leo can make “fish water” (fish in a kind of savory broth) for us later. The only other excitement was the rain Leo and I sat through on our watch; followed by lots of clouds, overcast and squalls keeping pace just east of us, but never hitting us. The good news is that tonight is the first night that we haven’t had to wear foul weather gear to keep either warm or dry (with the exception of this very minute when it is raining on Jake & Pierre). After a really great effort on the part of the crew yesterday, the engine has been running beatifully! However, as a result of that effort and the long day everybody was pretty tired today. The guys all showered on the back deck, but Danielle and I are still holding out for warmer weather and sunshine. And that is about all the news to report. As for observations: This trip has been unlike any other we’ve made. The cold temperature and strong winds leaving Jamestown were not unusual, but the rest of the weather has been. Normally we are able to avoid anything like the winds and waves in the storm, but it formed unexpectedly in a location near us. Since then we have had a cold front, which has kept us in foul weather gear to keep out the wind and protect us from the splash of waves until just a day or so ago, when we were able to be on deck off watch during the day without it. Usually once we get south of Bermuda we are able to be in shorts or swim suits all day with only a windbreaker or fleece at night (if that), but not yet this trip. We’re hoping that will be the case tomorrow! Because of a number of factors, we will be approaching Antigua from a slightly more western angle than usual. That means Pierre will probably get a look at Anguilla, St. Martin, and St. Barts, plus St.Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat. It looks as if we’ll arrive in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday, so we’ll pass some of the northern islands in the daylight and might even have some good fishing. All the best from the crew of Avalanche, hoping for sunny skies, warm weather and showers on the back deck for all! Tuesday, November 25, 2008 Hello Everybody! The crew of Avalanche has continued to come together as a team today! It started at dawn and hasn’t finished yet at 9:46 as we prepare dinner. This is what we have accomplished: Caught 2 Mahi Mahis!!! One on Pete’s side, one on Jake’s. Simultaneously! After lunch we: All the best from the crew of avalanche, looking forward to Mahi for dinner tomorrow night! |
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