Ben and Kitra Gray, John Harrington and Thomas Morris
Monday March 16, 2020
Today we awoke at 2:00 a.m. and headed to the airport for our 6:00 flight to Martinique via Miami and St. Martin because our 5:00 a.m. flight via Charlotte had been canceled the night before. As a result, we would meet up with Cousin John in St. Martin rather than Charlotte. Thomas Morris also made the trip with us as our plan was to sail from Martinique to St. Martin for boat upgrades. Since John’s flight arrived in St. Martin at 1:30, and ours did not arrive until 3:30, I thought it was more likely that he would make it to Martinique and we might miss our connection—I was pessimistic about our making Martinique in one 24 hr period.
However, when traveling to the islands one must expect that pretty much nothing will go as planned. We arrived on time in St. Martin and met up with John who was ready to hustle us through baggage claim and to boarding our Air Antilles flight as he had already completed the process. However, when we got to the check-in counter, we were told that they had over sold the flight and Ben, Thomas and myself were going to be taxied to the Grand Case airport and put on another flight to Guadeloupe where we would catch our final flight to Martinique. John could not go with us because his luggage was already checked on the original flight. So now we would see John again in Guadeloupe, if we made the flight at Grand Case in time. Urg!!
We made it to Grand Case and amazingly got a boarding pass, checked our bags and boarded the plane in time to make our connection. But hold on….now John was texting us letting us know that his flight was delayed. We flew to Guadeloupe only to discover that John’s plane would not land in time to make the connection. We had to continue as now our baggage was checked. So amazingly the three of us landed in Martinique in at 8:30 p.m. while John had to come in the next morning. The nice thing was that Air Antilles took great care of John by putting him up in a resort and making sure he had food, transportation and was booked on a flight the next day to arrive in Martinique at 11:20.
A cabbie was waiting for us at the airport and after a quick stop for some snack food, he drove us to the Marin where the marina was located. We found information regarding our boat location on the window at Dream Yacht Charters and with the code they had given us we located our new boat Kilimandjaro (aka Daggers Down). The AC was blowing, the sheets were on the beds and we were tired. So we munched on some snacks and then headed to bed ready to greet the first day in our new home.
Tuesday March 17, 2020
First thing this morning we thought we would check in with Dream Yacht Charters to let them know we had made it and see what stores were open where we could buy supplies that we needed for the boat. When we told Damien, the site manager, that we planned to provision the boat and make sure everything was working properly before sailing it to St. Martin for further upgrades, he proceeded to tell us that because of the coronavirus we needed to leave immediately because everything was closed in Martinique and Customs would be shutting down at noon. He also said that St. Martin probably would not let us in the country either. In fact, he went on to say that the BVIs and USVIs also were closed. I have to tell you that the thought of leaving immediately on a boat with little to no provisioning, and which we knew nothing about, as well as not knowing we where we could sail or where could land, basically made me sick to my stomach and almost pass out. I had to sit down.
Luckily for us some of the information we were given in the Charter office was erroneous. Ben went to the Customs and marina office, while Thomas and I went to purchase coffee and pastries from the bakery. They were only letting 5 people in the bakery at a time because of COVID-19. When Ben came back to the boat, we learned that the Customs office would be staying open ‘til further notice and that grocery stores as well as hospitals were open. However, it was true that all chandleries, restaurants and basically EVERYTHING else was closed.
Thomas and I went to the marina grocery and bought some provisions for the boat. Then Thomas walked up the hill to a bigger store (where only 10 people were allowed in the store at a time) and got a lot more provisions.
I stayed on the boat to decompress and wonder what our next steps would be. At first, we thought we might be stuck in Martinique for a while. Then John arrived with more updated information. It seemed that we could enter the USVI because we were American. So we decided to take a few days to ready the boat and then we would head to USVI. At least then we would be where people spoke English and they took American money.
Thomas, however, after talking with his wife, Jenn, decided that things were too unstable and he needed to get back stateside. With his knowledge of French, he helped interpret what he could and helped us provision the boat. Meanwhile Jen, worked her magic and got him an Air France flight back to Miami. As much as we hated to see him go, we all understood.
Wed. March 18, 2020
Was it really only Wed? We felt that we had already lived several lifetimes for all the stress and planning and replanning we had been doing for the last two days. Thomas left us this morning and we started checking weather and making plans to leave this island that had absolutely NO amenities except grocery stores, which of course we were ever so grateful, had not closed down too. We checked out of Customs and then decided to get fuel the next day and make way for either Dominica or Guadeloupe, depending on how long it took us. John and I went through the boat bit by bit, locker by locker, bilge by bilge and basically felt most things on the boat looked sound. We starred a few items for Ben to look at, but at least we were feeling better about leaving dock and getting underway
Thurs. March 19, 2020
It took us 2.5 hours of waiting in line in the harbor to finally get up to the diesel pumps only to find out that they only took Euros because the wireless was down and they could not take credit cards. Luckily, I had the foresight to buy some Euros from Thomas before he left. Next, we also learned that our gas gauge did not work, so we actually we had more gas than we thought. So something went our way—we had enough money to buy the gas we needed. Praise the lord!!
It was now 11:30 a.m. and we decided to at least sail as far as the northern part of Martinique, where we could for sure make Guadeloupe tomorrow. We had gotten no further than Fort-de-France, when our instruments started cutting out. After inspection, we determined that our batteries were not holding a charge (as they were fully charged when we left Marin after motoring for 2.5 hrs). Crap!!! One more thing!! We tried to see if the generator would start, so we could at least have a way to charge things and found that it also would not work. So after discussion, we decided, that while not ideal, we needed to make a run for USVI non-stop as we could not turn the motors off. So we set a course for Nevis, our first leg, and ran the motors at 1000 RPMs. We had a nice sail at 8-10 knots except for a short span when we were in the lea of Dominica. We did have one very bright spot when a pod of dolphins bid us adieu from Martinique. They jumped and swam with us for quite a while. It made the whole day better!
As it became close to dark, we decided to reef the main just in case we got a squall during the night. The night was pitch black with only stars to keep us company and a random cruise ship. It was quite the romp because at times the wind was as much as 25 knots true with an apparent wind of 29 knots. We sailed at a close reach to almost a close haul much of the night. There were times when the swells were small and choppy and other times when the swells were so large that inside the boat it felt and sounded like the boat might crack apart. But no, this boat was a sailing beast!! It took the chop and swells, and danced merrily on track to our destination.
Friday March 20, 2020
As daylight broke, we were passing Guadeloupe and in the channel to Montserrat. John and I saw a beautiful rainbow. The guys had been up most of the night, because even when I took the helm I had to wake them several times to reef the jib or help discern what was being seen. So I took the helm to let them rest a bit. The day turned into a nice sail and spirits were lifted. We believed that any day on the water was a good day even if things were not perfect.
When the guys took over, I took a nap. When I awoke, it had been discussed that we might pop into St. Kitts only a couple of hours away. There, if they were open, we might be able to buy a battery for the generator and a few other items that would be helpful. So at 1:30 we dropped anchor in Basseterre. By 3:00 we were in Customs. It remained true in our minds from the first time that we visited that the people of St. Kitts were some of the nicest people you would ever meet! The new Zante marina had a nice dinghy dock along with showers, wifi and 24 hr. security for $5. At the security gate they called a cab for us so that we could get to Budget Marine in time to buy a battery. After buying a battery, we headed to Island Auto to buy some tools and they let us in even though they were basically turning the lights off and closing for the day. Then the taxi took us back to immigration where we could finish checking in.
We took all our supplies back to the boat and the guys began to work while I cooked some pasta for dinner. At first nothing seemed to work. So we ate a quick dinner and Ben went back after it. Suddenly as I was “showering,” the AC came on. Wow! I gave Ben all kinds of accolades but they were premature because then the generator shut off. When we tried to turn it on again the water maker suddenly started spewing water everywhere and probably it was now toast! Dang! One more thing! So we went to bed somewhat deflated but at least the breeze was cool and we drifted off to a sound sleep!
Saturday, March 21, 2020
This morning we awoke with new resolve. Dave from Indigo Yachts called us back and gave Ben some ideas of how to work on the generator. So Ben and John got to work. Dave stuck with us for a while and finally found us a manual (because the boat manual was not for our generator motor) that he said he would leave at the marina office for us. While we might not get it working today, at least when we get to St Thomas maybe we could get the parts we needed to get it going.
After lunch we went to went to the marina office to get the manual Dave left for us and to the Horsford hardware for more tools and such. The cabbie even helped us find a place to buy some ice. We dinghied back to the boat, stored supplies and Ben read the manual and figured out how to get to the impeller. Once he opened the impeller, it was discovered that Dream Yacht Charters had sent us out without an impeller in the generator. Yet, we were fortunate to find that we had a spare that fit. Ben and John put the generator back together and, low and behold, it worked….but, we found it was not big enough to run any of the air conditioners. So while this was sucky, at least we finally had a way to charge our batteries, rather than constantly running our engines.
While the guys worked on the boat, I got some food ready for our next crossing to USVI. I made pickled cucumbers, boiled some shrimp, and made egg salad. We also had bought a broom so I cleaned up the saloon. Things were looking up for the moment at least.
Since we were now all too weary to go into town for dinner, we ate leftover pasta and shrimp for dinner. Then we went to bed for the first time without the engines running. However, Ben did have to get up around 12:30 to turn on the generator as the batteries were getting low. When we finally find an appropriate store, batteries would be high on our list of purchases!
Sunday March 22, 2020
We got off to a lazy start today as it was a very rainy, cloudy day. So outside work on the daggers and such had to wait. We still sorely needed rest, so we all took a nap and waited for the weather to improve. Then we went ashore to find some wireless in the marina office to check the weather and the routes to St. Thomas and decide if we were leaving today or tomorrow. Luckily Ben was able to connect and found that the wind was supposed to lay and the weather was not a main event, just passing showers/squalls. I had no luck connecting to the internet for some reason which was frustrating as I was sure I had millions of emails and messages. Oh well, that was the life of a cruiser, I guess. After checking the weather reports, we decided to leave for St. Thomas tonight as planned.
Not much was open in St. Kitts on a Sunday with no cruise ships in port and the COVID-19 scare, but we did find a Chinese restaurant where we had lunch and where I finally connected to wifi. John said we were not much company when wifi was available, but it had been over 5 days for us both.
We also found a Kentucky Fried Chicken and decided it would be a great snack food for the crossing. Who doesn’t love cold fried chicken, right? John got us a bucket of chicken and we dinghied back to the boat. It was now close to 4:00 p.m. So we hustled and made the boat ready for the crossing, stowing all loose items and getting the lines ready. We reefed the main as the wind was blowing 25 in the harbor. Then we started to raise the anchor. However, as you know by now, nothing really works that smoothly on this boat as of yet, and the remote for the windless only brought the anchor part way up and then stopped. Now we had windage and Ben was struggling to keep us in place. John fiddled with the connection and whew, it started to work again! Off we go!!
As we left St. Kitts behind, the wind did lay a bit, so we decided to shake out the 2nd reef and get a move on. As dusk became dark, the wind continued to freshen. We had a nice downwind run going for a while. It was so weird to be barreling into the pitch black at 10-11 knots without much frame of reference once we left Statia and Saba behind. However, about 1:00 in the morning, just as a few stars came out, the wind began to build and move forward increasing our apparent wind. We found ourselves at 16 knots of boat speed which seemed a little too fast for comfort. So Ben headed down, but when John came up for his shot at the helm and I went below to rest, he had quite the fight on his hands to keep the boat down. Inside the cabin it sounded like all hell was breaking loose and it took a while for me to go to sleep. Finally, as Ben woke from his nap, he saw John hunkered down fighting the wind as well as the rain. At this point it was decided that enough was enough. So they furled the jib and added another reef in the main. Things finally settled a bit and I was able to drift off for a while.
Monday March 23, 2020
At daybreak, we finally began to see land again as the BVIs came into view and then St. John. Another pod of dolphins greeted us as we entered the waters of the USA. Their playfulness was a welcome sight. We had survived another riotous night of wind, rain and darkness. It was quite evident though that even with all the issues this boat had, sailing in heavy seas and 8-10 foot swells was where it excelled.
We decided that it would be nice to find a slip with a shower and power as well as Wi-Fi to use to plan our next route. We began calling around and it seemed that many sailors were seeking the waters of USA to wait out the virus craziness, as most of the marinas were full and boats were anchoring in the channel of Charlotte Amelia. However, persistence paid off and I found us a slip at Crown Bay Marina. They had one slip available for our size boat for two nights. That was perfect and close to downtown St. Thomas!!
We were disappointed to find that our power cord, being French, would not work and no cords or adapters were available for purchase. So with our battery issue, that meant we would not have AC and would have to run the generator at times to keep things charged. Also their free Wi-Fi was almost unusable but the showers were super nice. I said it was the most expensive shower I had ever had. Ha!
Ben bought some more things for the boat, like dock lines and a line to replace a frayed furler. Then we got a battery for our Ohm meter. So now maybe we could find out what was going on with the batteries. After taking showers, we all crashed for a while and tried to get our snap back.
The restaurant only had take-out, so we ordered a pizza and had a simple dinner. I found a better Wi-Fi outside the bar so I finally got caught up on some internet action.
Now if the mosquitoes don’t eat me alive tonight with the windows open, I was ready for a peaceful good night sleep.
Tuesday March 24, 2020
I awoke this morning with my mind ablaze with questions regarding our next leg of the trip. However, as usual, plans for our next leg were waylaid when Ben found a marine store that would get us the items we needed for a safer crossings such as a chart plotter, AIS system, radar, etc. Thus, our first LiveWire LLC meeting was cut short by this wonderful phone call.
After dropping off our laundry and the discussion with Stewart at the marine store, we called Yogi, the cab guy to taxi us over to Customs. We were unsure how we would be received at Customs and Immigration but it went without a hitch. We were officially back in the USA at least for now! YAY!!
Then we went to the grocery store, where they only let us get 9 gallons of water. So we would have to go to the store again for water. However, we got a few groceries to complement the things we already had and some other staples that we could not get in Martinique such as sandwich bread.
Ben spent a great deal of time talking with his office today since his phone worked here. Otherwise we got all the groceries stowed and rested until Ben could fill us in on what he had worked out with his employer and with the marine store.
I finally was able to download some books yesterday with some free Wi-Fi here. So I started a novel and totally relaxed. Tomorrow we had to leave this dock at 11:00. We were not sure where we would go but maybe over to Red Hook since that was where the marine store was located.
Tonight we planned to eat leftovers and Ice Cream as they had an ice cream store here. That sounded delicious!!
Wednesday March 25, 2020, Today was a day of elation and deflation
First thing, Ben was back on the phone this morning with Stewart ordering the items we needed. Stewart believed we could get the parts we needed by Friday and he could deliver our batteries today!! He also said his actual store was closed and that all the riggers would come to us. We talked with the marina office and they allowed us to stay another week on the dock. This would be helpful as we began the installation process. Spirits were high at this point.
Then John and Ben went to the store to see if they could resolve the shore power issue. John’s cabin was against the pier and he got almost no breeze at night. Plus, he was suffering from sun poisoning on his face and kind of felt crummy. He really wanted air conditioning. At first, they thought they had a fix and once again spirits were high, but no, the cable they bought was not the answer.
Then as Ben was talking to an electrician on the dock, he indicated what we needed was to wire up an adapter and as it turned out, Stewart had the adapter. So he delivered the batteries and the adapter. To top it off, it looked like the batteries would fit on our boat. Yay! Elation and then…one of the delivery guys said that these were not the right batteries. We called Stewart and it was true, they were the wrong batteries. He only had two of the batteries that we needed, not four. Dang!! He thought maybe we could use two of our old batteries with the two new ones but after testing them, it was determined they were all crap! Thus, for now we only had two, but these two should be better than the 4 bad ones we had….
Now to fix the shore power cable. Ben and John wired it all up and John was almost doing handstands as he was so excited to have air conditioning, but no, the new adapter did not work. Bawawawa.
So John and I took a break from the boat while we waited for the correct batteries to be delivered and walked over to the pharmacy. We bought lots of odds and ends but I decided a few decent pillows were in order, cause after all this was OUR boat and we should have comfortable pillows! Ben was jazzed when I bought them back.
Next, they installed the new batteries which luckily fit in our tight battery compartment. We hoped they would be enough and we would not have to run the engine or generator all the time. We still did not have shore power. However, later that evening, Ben saw the electrician on the dock, and after discussing the problem with him, Ben realized his wiring mistake and voila, we had shore power and AC. Elation!!
We were all drained by the evening from all the ups and downs of the day, but we were content in the knowledge that we had equipment coming our way, we had a place to stay and at long last we had shore power. So now John could get some rest and hopefully start feeling better!
Thursday March 26, 2020
I seemed to have developed a pattern of waking up early, going to the showers and then sitting on the steps by the marina and catching up on texting, Facebook and internet searches for cruising guides and such. This was the only place I could get consistent Wi-Fi at the marina. It was nice to find out what else was going on in the world of COVID-19 and with family and friends. We were so isolated here and while restrictions were evident, it did not seem to be so “in your face” like it was back in the states. At this point there were only a few cases in the USVIs. They only let a few folks in the store at a time, but this had not been a major inconvenience and the stores were not bare like they were in the states. We had one rigger who was older that was refusing to work on boats unless they were dry docked, but that seemed reasonable. Otherwise, people were still helpful and out and about. Some people wear masks but others do not. Of course, there was hand sanitizer everywhere. Nevertheless, except for going to the store we were simply not around very many people. Our boat was basically our own quarantine station.
We were somewhat worried about family and friends back home and it was hard to stay in touch. So in the mornings, I tried to answer a few texts and find out what was happening outside our island cocoon. In addition, I was starting to relax from the stress of being on a boat where something seemed to break every day. I was appreciating that I was lucky to be on a boat, on an island, with water dancing all around. I could be going stir crazy sitting in my house at home. I also had the knowledge that good friends were watching after our dog and house. So things were fine for now.
Today, the guys began to tackle a few tasks such as hard wiring the anchor remote so that it would work consistently. It would be nice to know that when we wanted to raise the anchor it would come up. They also went to Home Depot to get tools and materials so that the installation would go as smoothly as possible when the items arrived. Meanwhile, I spent time reading and doing some yoga to get some of the kinks out.
Then about 5:00, Stewart showed up with our equipment order, a day early!!! We were so surprised and excited as this meant, the next phase of getting this boat in working order could begin! We were all very happy as we sat down to dinner, in our air-conditioned cabin. We didn’t even seem phased when we figured out that our power cord would trip if we tried to run the microwave and the AC—HA! It was always something!
Friday, March 27, 2020
This morning, after my shower and a little internet time, I found the guys drinking coffee and plotting how to start the rigging process until the rigger could help us in the afternoon. They decided to run messenger lines to ready cable pulls and see if they could find our internal boat compass.
Since the boat was going to be torn up and I would basically be in the way, I decided to walk to the grocery store where I could look for things like spices and such at my leisure. Ben said I should wait for them to come with me to help, but I used my pat phrase —“This was my life now.” I had to get use to walking to get groceries and lugging them home, this would be a part of the cruising life.
When I returned from the store, I had this powerful hankering for a hamburger and French fries. So I went to the café at the marina and ordered us all burgers. They were so scrumptious. It had been a while since we had had this type of food.
The rigger, Perry, arrived about 3:00 and while we didn’t get everything done today, Perry indicated that he would come back tomorrow even though he usually did not work on Sat. We got the radar hooked up and got the chart plotter working. The guys also ran a few more power lines so that we could hook up the helm station tomorrow
Everyone was really tired after working in the sun all day. So we had a quick dinner of migas and went to bed early, excited to get more items installed tomorrow.
Saturday March 28, 2020
Perry came about mid-morning after stopping at the Kmart for SD cards for the chart plotter and Go Pro. The guys worked a good part of the day wiring power to everything and double checking that everything worked after they put it all back together, such as the auto-pilot. We still did not have the number for the AIS or Epirb but we hoped it would come through by Monday. The guys were busy most of the day, so I helped where I could, but spent a good part of the reading and relaxing.
For dinner, I made pan-fried pork chops and fresh corn cut off the cob. John reminded me that in the south, they always put sugar in their vegetables. This was a habit I let go of a long time ago, but since John worked so hard in the sun all day, I obliged him.
Sunday March 29, 2020
Today Ben worked on cleaning up wires behind the chart table and behind the settee. We also began planning our escape from St. Thomas. We had gotten a lot done and it was about time for us to head for home. So, I made a list of food we could eat for the next 10 days, determined how much water we would need, and made a shopping list
I also cleaned up the inside of the boat while the guys fiddled with more stuff outside the boat. It was filthy inside. So I swept, mopped and sanitized the kitchen. We were all somewhat antsy about leaving. We decided to make a grocery run and at least buy half the water we would need and the food I needed to prep for the trip.
Upon returning from the grocery store, the guys, without me knowing it, proceeded to take down the Dream Yacht Charters panels off the main sail bag. They were very proud of themselves, but I was somewhat annoyed because I thought we had agreed to leave it alone in case there was something wrong underneath those panels. Luckily, it was ok.
I didn’t feel much like cooking, so we just had nachos and hot dogs.
Monday March 30, 2020
It was hard to believe but we had been in St. Thomas for a week now. It was good and bad as we all wanted to get home, yet we needed the upgrades for the boat. Since we planned to leave in the next day or so, I decided it was time to prep some food. I made some chicken and rice and some red sauce pasta. I also had some taco meat and hamburger patties frozen for later. That should hold us for five days until we reach Key West. Then we would resort to beans and rice, egg salad, and tuna salad. Maybe John would catch some fish if we get a rod before we leave.
Today Perry, the rigger, came back and got our AIS antennae working and went to the top of the mast to find out that our tricolor bulb had burned out. Meanwhile, Ben and I went to customs to check out of St. Thomas in hopes that we would leave tomorrow or at the latest on Wed.
Perry was still waiting on our AIS number. So he left to get us another bulb for our light and see if the number would come in later today. We all discussed the circumstance and decided we would stay until Wed a.m., but then we would leave no matter what, in order not to pay another day of slip fee. But to alleviate any misgiving we decided that fresh ice cream in a waffle cone was in order. It was amazing how this simple pleasure made decision making better all around!
John and I went to the grocery to get the rest of our water supply while Ben updated our chart plotter software as well as the active captain software. The guys finished up a few other duties while I made shrimp scampi for dinner. I thought it was our last dinner ashore so I wanted it to be special, but since we would be here one more night, I told them that tomorrow night we would order out.
We hoped the AIS number would come in tomorrow as well as the fishing rod. Just as we went to bed, the breaker popped and we lost AC. We were not sure why except the harbor had been working on the power and had it turned off part of the day. So we were uncertain if it had something to do with the breaker or not. Nevertheless, we would be sleeping without AC tonight.
Tuesday March 31, 2020
Yay we finally had our government AIS number!! Perry planned to come over later, after his dentist appointment, and program it for us so then we would transmit our location to other boats and they could see us also. In addition, Perry would go up the mast and change out the tricolor and anchor light bulbs. We had run jack lines and were getting everything else prepared to leave tomorrow.
Perry came as expected and got us all buttoned up. All upgrades and repairs were done except Ben was still trying to figure out why the AC didn’t work. He finally decided to hardwire it and bypass the breaker and we finally had AC again. Yippee, it would not be such a sweltering night. Maybe we could all get a good night sleep before we head out tomorrow.
We ordered pizza and wings tonight, thinking that leftovers will be great for the passage. Now we had to settle down and get rest for tomorrow as we finally head for Texas!
