Well, we made it back out onto the ocean again on another version of our favorite catamaran, the Antares, this time in the Caribbean 1500 rally. We joined new friends, Glenn and Pam, in Portsmouth on their 2017 Antares cat, MIRA. MIRA is the same kind of catamaran as YOLO, just newer, so we felt right at home. Our extensive experience with the systems on this boat was one of the reasons Pam and Glenn contacted us originally. Here she is safe and sound after our arrival in Falmouth, Antigua. But we still had to prep her from Portsmouth, Virginia.
Jason and I flew to Norfolk, VA to meet up with Pam and Glenn for the first time, a week before the rally was scheduled to depart. They surprised us by picking us up at the airport. Pam had seen pictures of us on this blog and hoped to recognize Jason (the tall white-haired guy). We'd been dawdling around in the airport, thinking we'd be catching an Uber to the marina, so Pam was frantic when most of the luggage had been picked up and she still hadn't seen us. We came wandering into the baggage claim and she called out Jason's name tentatively. We were quite happy to get a ride with our bags. We'd brought some sailing stuff for them to use and, as always, everything we carry for a boat is heavy.
MIRA, named after the twin star to Antares, was tied to the fuel dock as the marina was full. We had to move the next day as folks needed to get fuel, so we tied up at the end of the dock at the entrance to the marina. We got nervous whenever a boat had to squeeze between us and the breakwater. We'd walk an extra fender along as they passed just in case a gust appeared. One boat didn't have enough speed to offset a puff of wind and they scraped across the bowsprit. Just a scratch, no functional damage, but nobody likes to have their brand new boat hit by another.
Here is Pam in her galley, making sure the ingredients for a meal are all together. She did a fantastic job provisioning and preparing meals in advance for this passage. And we ate very, very well because of it.
My first task was to 'dress the boat' by putting all the signal flags up in a particular order. There were 40 flags that had to be strung together, one for each letter and number and a few extra. They would never again fit into these tight rolls and pouches in their fold-away carrying case.
Jason and Glenn worked on getting the dinghy set for an offshore passage. Not just raised on the davits as usual, no sirree. They were glad we talked them into taking the engine off and raising it as high as possible and securing it every which way. Lines and rachet straps worked well to hold it in place the entire way.
Our view down the dock in Portsmouth. Those big boats on the right were on the outside of the marina dock and were exposed to the wakes and wash from the Elizabeth River. The US Navy maintains a large presense here and it is the start of the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). Lots of big boat traffic passes here.
The view behind MIRA. The classic 3-masted schooner, Spirit, was on the other side of the entry, so folks had to manouver between us to get in/out of the slips or to the fuel dock.
The 'Yellow Brick' tracking beacon that was attached to every rally boat to record their positions every few hours. You can follow our track on the site https://www.worldcruising.com/Carib1500/eventfleetviewer.aspx. Just move the timeline dot at the bottom to watch the boats scatter. It relayed the GPS location of each boat and the Coast Guard was monitoring the fleet, too.
Some of the signal flags fly on the stern.
The rest of them on the bow of MIRA. The boat stayed 'dressed' until we heard of the impending 40-knot gusts expected.
Jason teasing with Pam in the galley of MIRA.
The rally and marina held a Halloween party for us and Pam found these cute headbands for our devil husbands to wear.
Glenn and Jason put new table supports in before we left. The old ones were not designed for sea life and the paint was chipping off of them. These will hold for years. And they look great. Good job, guys.
The huge barges that plied the river here were fascinating to watch. This one had a crane on it so large that it wouldn't fit into the frame of the camera.
Here's the rest of it sticking out front. Remember, this is the start of the ICW and lots of smaller boats were starting to make their way down south. Note the huge Navy warships in the background, across the river.
Glenn studying the upcoming weather. It didn't look good. Red blobs are mean and nasty. We were going to be in for some rough stuff if we left on the rally's schedule.
Glenn goofing off while installing his solution to an exhaust fan vent that had allowed water to spew back up into their settee storage. He built a plug that he could install before leaving port and remove upon arrival. We just couldn't use the stove exhaust fan in the meantime. We could deal with that.
He had to climb into the settee storage area after we took out all the pop, water, and other items stored in the area.
Glenn looks like a kid in his playpen. But his solution worked just fine.
Glenn's contraption made from a PVC cap and a foam plug. Cruisers gotta get creative.
A floating apartment block moved up the river to a new location for workers on a Navy project.
We got a tour of the Coast Guard operations center here in Portsmouth. No phones or cameras allowed, but it was quite interesting. Their modern approach to search and rescue is used by folks all over the world. Makes me feel safer knowing they're there for us.
Pam found spider headbands for us womenfolk to wear for the Halloween festivities.
The four of us in our rally MIRA shirts as we head out to the potluck Halloween party at the marina.
Karen and Jason in a selfie.
This dog was a 'therapy dog', or so his owner told us. Not sure who really needed the therapy, but this dog tried to attack me when we were walking down the dock. The previous day he'd been quite lethargic as we passed. Here, he was barking visciously at us through the rope hole in the side of one of the big boats tied to the dock.
The kid boats hit us for Trick or Treat just as we were leaving for the party.
Hockey costumes for some cruisers.
The safety checker for the rally made a good pirate, serving free beer and wine.
Pam setting out her delicious parmesan cheese artichoke dip. A winner by all accounts.
This pretty Gunboat was the first boat to reach its destination. Fancy and fast.
The rally participants put on quite a spread of food. Other events, dinners, and seminars were held in different bars/restaurants nearby. Free food and drinks had the venues well attended.
Spiders and devils in our rally MIRA shirts that Pam and Glenn got for us all. The crew on MIRA had a good time.
Relaxing after the party in the salon of MIRA.
A huge warship was moved while being worked on at the naval shipyard across the river. I watched these huge tugboats move the Navy ship up and into a new slot a quarter mile away. Moving/towable gates keep unwanted visitors out from the water side. This big machinery is fun to watch, I think.
The tugs got the ship out and were guiding it up the river a bit. Thank goodness the strong winds forecast hadn't arrived yet.
Between the boat projects, provisioning, local street market shopping, and coffee shop visits, we found time to attend the rally seiminars and events. The Rally's Trivia Night at a local bar; we took 3rd place and got even more drink tickets we really didn't need. By now, we'd all met lots of new people and were having a great time.
The rally put on safety demonstrations for us all, too. Here, a yachtie volunteered his body and life jacket for a demo of the proper fit/use of them. Modern lifejackets have tethers, lights, whistles, knives, spray hoods and AIS/ GPS tranponders. But they still have to be comfortable enough to wear them to be effective. We all had top notch PFD's (Personal Flotation Devices) provided by MIRA.
A liferaft was also deployed on the grass so we knew what to expect if we had to use/deploy one. This is a 6-person one in a suitcase type canister. It was out of date and couldn't be re-certified, so had been donated for the cause.
A hard yank on the tether and the liferaft inflated in just a few seconds. The off-gassing took a few seconds longer, something I've never witnessed, so it was very interesting. I tried to upload the video of the inflation, but it wouldn't work.
Glenn volunteered to be one of the six persons to test out the space inside. Very cramped and uncomfortable. You don't want to spend much time in one of these.
They also demonstrated several different types of flares. These are some of the types used these days.
This orange smoke distress signal was meant for daytime use, but the USCG uses night vision goggles on searches and said the heat from the smoke and its different color might be enough for them to spot it.
Karen playing Lady Liberty, setting off a flare. Something I've always wanted to do anyway, this was for personal experience/demonstration purposes at the marina safety seminar event.
The rally organizers threw a farewell party at their sister marina, complete with food, drink, and live entertainment. Pam and Glenn at the party.
The tent was needed for the drizzles that started the evening off.
The band was surprisingly good. One rally member talked his way into playing the drums for a bit.
He also played the guitar for a few numbers. A musician who just couldn't let an opportunity to play pass him by.
The day before departure, we were told we needed outward clearance papers from the USA to provide to Antigua on our arrival. Nobody else in the rally was going there first, so we were the only ones affected. We were told we could get the paper from Customs across the river, so we were up early and taxied to the Customs House to be there when they opened Saturday morning to get this last-minute chore out of the way. Folks from a different rally had said they were turned away from Antigua and sent to St. Barts to get clearance papers needed to enter Antigua. We narrowly avoided that issue. You don't need to clear out of your own country, but other countries want an exit paper from the previous country to process when you enter their country. US Customs will provide complimentary papers upon request for just this purpose.
The Customs House building is a majestic old building on the waterfront across the river. It was cold and windy, so we took Uber instead of the ferry. A long way around but we were certain to get there dry and on time.
We waited in a hotel lobby across the street for our Uber ride back to the marina. The lobby had some interesting artwork in it. This is a tree made from carved wooden people. Or people carved into a tree....not sure which came first.
This Mona Lisa is a montage of other images.
This copper mermaid was pretty cool. Appropriate for the neighborhood.
Halloween pumpkins and gourds provided a nice decorative touch while we waited in the lobby for a ride.
A street clock on the corner of a building. Nice architecture.
Watching a catamaran back into the fuel dock at the marina. MIRA was tied up there when we arrived, and you can see we didn't move far. Tight spaces in this marina.
The galley in MIRA. Pam taped the blue X on the Corian counter to remind us not to use that part. It cracked a couple of days before we left and she couldn't get the repairman out to replace it before we left. This was the second time they'd had issues with it and she didn't want to make it any worse, so we didn't use it for anything hot or heavy the entire trip. It didn't get worse either.
All the fun, food, and seminars were over. It was time to head to the Caribbean!
No comments:
Post a Comment