Did the Leprachauns steal the trade winds?

Who Stole the Trade Winds?

Volver set off to sea with a plan to cruise overnight to St. Maarten.  Mother Nature did not co-operate.  She sent us light winds from the South, not the usual 10-15 knot easterlies of the trades and not enough to keep the sails filled while sailing downwind.  The swell, smacking Volver on the bum would cause the boom to swing from side to side as the boat rolled in the light air.  This is hard on your tackle and your nerves.  The first mate tried to serve as human shock absorber, grabbing the mainsheet and trying to ease the boom to each side, but this was a sure step towards shoulder dislocation.  All sailors learn flexibility is the key to happiness, but we had some charts of the Bahamas and Puerto Rico set aside for us at a chandelery in St. M aarten, and had to go pick them up.  So we altered our course to westward to minimize rolling, turned on our engine to assist the light wind, and were snuggled up on a mooring ball outside of Pinney Beach on Nevis by 2230.  Up at 0445 and on the road by 0500.d again by 0500.  

Sunrise through the Narrows, the channel between St. Kitts (left) and Nevis

We spent the next glorious day getting to St. Maarten, albeit in light air.  The capt'n was lamenting the motoring aspect of our journey, but was reminded that motoring brings hot water and power, so we listened to good music; it was a beautiful sunny day, no squalls in sight, and we were crossing the Caribbean sea at a place where we could see Nevis, St. Kitts, Statia, Saba, St. Barts, and St. Maarten!  We decided to practice an attitude of gratitude and were rewarded shortly thereafter by the arrival of a very large pod of dolphins.  Finally, they had time to come and play in our bow wake.  Magnificent!  Capt'n tried to capture on film.  Beauties in motion are hard to film.  And, like with most awe-inspiring sights, film fails, as the feeling is not three dimensional!  

Not Flipper

We enjoyed Philipsburg, which is the epicentre of cruise ship tourism:  4-6 cruise ships a day in the harbour, which is surprisingly clean.  The water was crystal clear.  We could see our entire anchor chain and were able to ascertain that the anchor was well buried, without a need to dive it.  Barry the Cuda came to visit frequently.   

Barry the 2 foot Cuda

We shopped, found the 12 metre bar, home base for the 3 Americas Cup boats (2 Canadian, one American), which was a good place to watch some champions league football games, and readied ourselves for an overnight passage to St. Croix.  

Another light air trip:  this one 95 nm, plus some gybing (zigzagging), for we could not make our course on the rhum line.  We settled into Christiansted, St Croix, which is the main port of entry for cruisers in this, the largest of the USVI.  

St Croix was owned by the Danes until 1917, when it was bought by the US.  There are 5 national park/historic sites comprised of a fort, a church, a scale house for sugar and other traded goods, a market building, where slaves were sold, and a government building, which the US gov't turned over to the territorial USVI gov't for their sole use in 1985.  Residents of the USVI get to vote in US federal elections, but unlike the first mate, who does not live in US/ US territory, they don't have to file taxes with the US!  Are they not hiding money in offshore accounts?  'Splain me this, Lucy?  I mean Barrack!  We digress...

Is there a Leprachaun in the House?  

Of course there is!

We were only settled in the the anchorage for an hour or so when Happy Chaos arrived, having sprinted north from Grenada over a very short timeframe.  They sprinted in order to make it to the St. Paddy's Day parade and party, which is legendary, and sees people arriving from the mainland US to join the party.  Their last name is one of the O' -types, so they can sniff out a St. Paddy's party from across the Caribbean Sea!  You can tell from Sean's socks that he came well prepared.  

You know by the socks that this party was planned for months in advance

Now, apart from the gorgeous weather and the rum, we think St. Croix has got New York and Boston whipped:  the parade is a green, celtic-flavored, carnival! Why the USVI, you ask?  Is there a large population of Irish descendants?  Not so much.  The history we heard from a local woman is of a cement truck filled with rum punch that started dispensing same elixor through the city streets in the 70's and the party evolved from this tradition.  

Dragonfly

Trapeze artistes

There were jumbies, steel pan and high school bands, mas bands, and yes, a rum truck, pay what you can, in benefit of area animal shelters.  

The two capt'ns enjoyed the libations (the first mates drove the dinghies that day) and the party ashore continued on into the night.  The live music was enjoyed from the cockpits of our boats.  

the warm up

The anchorage was a little rolly, being open to the sea and protected by a reef and the marine parks were a little too far to visit by dinghy. There was a horse that came for a swim at first light, and we enjoyed the American and Caribbean culture for a change.  

Oh, no:  not the green rum drink!

Capt'n Morgan came too!

Northward Bound

We set off at first light, minutes behind the Happy family, and had a glorious 45 nm sail, true winds 15-20 knots, at 150 degrees, with benign 4 foot seas, full sail up, and an average speed 6.5 kts.  We sighted the briny breath of whales, then the whales themselves, shortly into our journey.  We think they were grey whales, about 35 feet long, sadly, going the other direction as Volver.   By 1430 hours, Volver was settled at anchor in the Honda Ensenada anchorage of Culebra, one of the "spanish virgin islands," islands of Puerto Rico.  After making it through the most complex customs process of our trip thus far (funny, going from one US territory to another), we are ready to dust off our Spanish (use of our pathetic french language skills seems to have obliterated our clumsy Spanish) and enjoy cruising the Puerto Rican coast, the next leg of our journey home.

Sunset in Culebra