November 20, 2010  2 weeks since arrival in Antigua

Hello again,

I guess I should learn not to make promises….  In my defense, this time it was our computer.  Our kvm switch finally failed.  (We have 2 computers aboard, one strictly for ship’s use, the other for ‘fun’.  The kvm switch allows us to use only one keyboard, monitor, and mouse for both–if it works.)  What that meant to us was that we couldn’t use either computer.  Couldn’t upload photos, couldn’t write a blog.  We got a new switch and spent half of Wednesday and 3/4 of Thursday installing it and sorting out the various cables.  Most of you can commiserate with us on that–reworking computer stuff is always a pain and never as simple as it should be.  Well, complicate that with the fact that we had to work in very tight places with wires running behind drawers and inside wall panels.  Additionally the 2 mac minis are installed under the computer desk and the wires run from behind toward the bulkhead.  Suffice it to say that I am the only one small enough to get in there, and even then it is incredibly tight and generally I can only get one arm in.  Well, by Thursday night we had both computers up and running, and the various wires sorted out and neatly wire-tied in place.  And I have black and blue places on arms and legs because of the tight spot.

Since I told you a week ago that 3 or 4 boats had arrived, a steady trickle has continued.  Last night 4 100 plus footers have arrived, and probably half a dozen previously.  The charter boat show begins Dec 8 and they expect 120 boats here, so I’m sure that trickle will become a steady stream very quickly.

We have accomplished most of the maintenance, clean-up and sorting out to get into the ‘cruising’ mode and frame of mind.  We’re beginning to feel like we’re on vacation.  Very unusual for us, since we usually have deadlines:  either something that must be repaired or we cannot proceed or a departure date that must be met.  This is a nice change!  Today we got up at 3:45 (vacation?) so Jake could take part in a fishing tournament. They are after Mahi and Wahoo, on a local friend’s new 50′ charter fishing boat.  If they could win it would be great advertising. Meanwhile Jake should be having a great time!

Today’s photos include only a few onboard, Mirabella V arriving and the empty docks at all the marinas (the areas where you see landscape in the background are usually a solid forest of masts), and Peter L and Leo Bontiff after their night out on the town!

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Just for fun here is a photo of Mirabella V at anchor in Antigua with Avalanche motoring by.  Look closely.  

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All the best from Jake and Marnie the remaining vacationing crew of Avalanche.

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Finally I have the first round of photos. I have to apologize for the small number. For some reason we didn’t take many photos. I haven’t found a single photo of Jake or me–perhaps we were always on the other side of the lens. There are several videos, which I would love to share, but I don’t know how to upload them yet. The second round of photos are still in the camera, so look for them tomorrow.

Saturday November 13, 2010 Day 16
17.00 N latitude, 61.47 W longitude
Catamaran Club Marina

Hello Everybody,

We arrived at the mouth of Falmouth Harbour at 2200 Saturday night. The wind was dropping as we turned the southeast corner of Antigua heading along the south shore to Falmouth, so we furled our sails and motored the last 6 miles. Our goal was to land at the Catamaran Marina so we could give the boat and equipment a good wash down Sunday morning. We used the dock space to spread things out, used dock water and set to work. We were incredibly efficient. We had the boat clean: inside, outside, jackets, fishing gear, sailing gear, cushions–everything. We got the boat fueled, Jake checked us into Antigua…all by 1:30. We were very pleased with ourselves because sometimes cleanup runs into the second day! After a quick lunch we moved the boat out to anchor and everyone had a swim. The boys took snorkels and fins and went off to the “nudie” beach while I swam a couple of laps around the boat. Once everyone was clean and cool we broke out the beers and the rum and had our second lasagna as a send-off meal for Peter V, who would leave the next morning (Monday) for home.

We have never seen Antigua look like this! There has been little or no wind since we arrived! And no rain, not even a sprinkle, rarely a cloud! It has been in the 90′s with only the lightest breath of air. We’ve depended on plenty of snorkeling and swimming to keep cool, plus fans and some air conditioning. And….there were no boats here. There were 2 sailboats at the ‘Cat Club’, Falmouth Harbour Marina was totally empty, Antigua Yacht Club had fewer than half a dozen boats and there were fewer than half a dozen boats at anchor. Everything is quiet. We have bumped into vendors who are normally running to appointments and they had time to chat! Most places have reduced hours. It’s quite amazing and wonderful! That has changed in the last 2 days, however. Sometime Thursday ‘Vesper’ arrived, followed Friday morning by ‘Mirabella V’ (the largest sloop in the world at the time she was built), and 3 or 4 boats today. We’re going to have to learn to share.

Our trip was fantastic! Probably the best ever. We think we had a maximum of 2 hours plus “a couple of sprinkles” of rain. The temperature was so moderate, with the lowest nighttime temperature 57, that only Leo wore a winter jacket, and he wore his only for one 4-hour watch. We had good winds most of the way to Bermuda, using only 69 gallons of fuel, and for the most part they were aft, so we flew along without much heel. We did have a really good roll going north of the Gulf Stream, but it was only troublesome when we tried to serve dinner. Somehow we managed to cross the Gulf Stream very quickly in a meander that swept us southeast toward Bermuda. As it turned out the window to leave Jamestown was very small. A boat that left a day ahead of us had strong headwinds for 2 days, resulting in a miserable trip. ‘Ticonderoga’ an antique wooden boat from Newport couldn’t leave on Thursday and had to hold in Newport for 2 weeks, probably leaving today. Herb told us to leave right behind the front, and that’s what we did–the fog had lifted, we had changed the alternator belts, so we quickly gobbled down the pizza and we were gone!

The trip from Bermuda south was perfect! We were so lucky that we could take advantage of another very small window, and that Herb was able to navigate us way east out of any weather. We had good wind at a great wind angle most of the way. Best of all we had constant sunny or starry skies! And not just Peter V, everyone! The fishing was good with 2 Marlin and 5 Mahi. We had a great group! Every one was a good competent sailor. Peter L is primarily a small boat sailor, so he was eager to practice steering in big wind and seas and in the dark. Leo is learning about navigation, so he navigated us into both Bermuda and Antigua in the dark.

Once we got here and on our anchor, we declared ourselves on vacation. Chris Adams stayed until Wednesday, so Jake, Chris and Pete L snorkeled and swam every day. Chris and Pete went ashore to the bars in the evening. After Chris left it was just Jake and Pete swimming. Last night Leo took Pete out with his friends for ‘goat water’, ‘fish water’ (from one of the Mahi we caught) and a night on the town. Pete couldn’t decide which he liked better, but thought both were excellent! Today Leo and Pete have helped us bring Avalanche back into the dock for a few days. We have a couple of maintenance issues: a watermaker tune up with the world’s best watermaker guy, a radar check up, and a professional look at Chris’s solder job on that hose. It’s just easier for those folks to come to the boat at the dock. (And in the current heat, with no wind, it’s easier on us to have the benefit of air conditioning!)

I have to mention something that was totally funny, totally appropriate, that I neglected to describe at the time. When we were looking for the leak at midnight Peter and Jake found it. Picture those two with broad shoulders crammed into a bilge space looking at the leak…..And Chris Adams said: “If you two would get out of the way, I could have this fixed in no time.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jake and Peter move so fast! Chris had it fixed in record time!

All the best from the greatly diminished crew of Avalanche, with promises of photos tomorrow!

Hello Everybody!

Tomorrow is the big day! We have a fine weather window as soon as a
front blows through. We plan to leave before noon, just as soon as we
can get the last minute details completed.

Everyone on the crew this year has sailed with us before. Peter
Vaiciulis, who has many deliveries with us; Leo Bontiff, who makes
his 8th trip this fall; Chris Adams and Pete Largess, both of whom are
making their 2nd trips. So who will be the rookie? We have
previously posted biographies of all but Pete Largess. I’ll try to
give you his background as we sail south.

We hope you will follow our trip as I write daily blogs, and we
especially hope that it will be a fun trip with fine weather, lots of
marine life and great fishing!

All the best from the crew of Avalanche in Jamestown poised to leave.

June 1, 2010 Day 11
41 52N 71 37W Jamestown, RI
Lots of (mostly) good luck

Hello Everybody!

FYI The overwhelming choice of title for our day of drifting serenely backward was “ETA never”, with a vote coming from as far away as Germany!

To continue the saga of getting home with no engine, let me say we had good luck. We did indeed get the predicted SW breeze overnight into Tuesday, 15 knots increasing to 20 and beyond. There was fog, but only 3 hours. Leo got to make a security call and Ruleo learned to watch for high flyers (lobster pots with radar reflectors on their buoys–which scratch the heck out of the hull if you hit one) on the radar. By daylight we had 25 knots of breeze from the SW, off our quarter, which is a terrific ride. That was all good luck. As we hurtled toward Jamestown the off watch crew was madly packing bags, stripping beds and filling laundry bags. We had a quick lunch of whatever leftovers were available as we entered Narragansett Bay. Just in time to jibe 3 times on the way to our mooring.

Fortunately the marina crew had put a pick-up wand on the mooring line for us and could direct us to the appropriate buoy (it’s been half a year, after all). They also stood by near the mooring to help if we needed it. More good luck (or was it skill): we didn’t need help. The wind had picked up (as Herb had predicted) to probably 25 knots–I don’t think anyone looked–as we approached the mooring. It looked as if we’d come up short, but with a full crew aboard they simply rolled out the staysail for a little speed, rolled it up again, and we coasted right up to the mooring. Meanwhile Brian & I were doing the “pickup dance” on the bow: get the wand, no use the boathook, no the wand…..you get the picture. In the end Brian grabbed the wand with one mooring line and got it onto the cleat! Success on the first try. More good luck.

We got to the mooring about 12:30, then continued our clean up and pack up as we waited for Customs & Immigration. The officer arrived about 2:15 and we lucked out again: although it’s not normal procedure, she took the launch out to avalanche at the mooring instead of asking us to come in to the dock. More good luck.

We left the boat with the C&I officer and all our clothing and personal gear and lots of laundry. Jake, with Leo and Ruleo, took Dave over to Newport and Brian home to New Bedford, where they had a great time checking out Brian’s bachelor pad and his Harley!

More good luck came with the weather. About 5 pm a round of thunderstorms came through with lots of rain (free fresh water rinse, good luck), followed by calm. As in no wind, which continued through most of today until the fog rolled in about 3 pm. It is now so foggy we can’t see the dock across the street! Really good luck that we didn’t have to attempt to arrive becalmed in the fog.

At this point we are feeling fortunate. Although we consider losing the use of the engine bad luck (especially because we try so hard to stay on top of maintenance), we were really lucky to be able to sail into the bay in bright sun and right up to our own mooring!

Regarding the fishing: I’m going to have to mend the 3 fish flags that flew through all the squalls and high winds. The West Indian lads plus Jake will have to pay off the bet to the engineers. The final score stands at WI+Jake 1, engineers 4, fish 1. About 4 miles from the mooring buoy we got 2 hits, one on each side. Bluefish. The good news: Leo, Ruleo, Jake & I had fish soup with bluefish for dinner tonight.

So, all the best from the crew of avalanche, ashore.

P.S. Please keep checking. We have photos to put up, but our photo editor (Ruleo) has been busy scrubbing and cleaning the boat, so he might take a day or two to put the photos together for us!