Arriving in St Thomas a week before the event, we had not only time to practice on Flight Risk, the Nacra17 with local owner and good friend Teri McKenna, we watched the club prepare for their biggest event of the year. St Thomas Yacht Club is more of a sailing club than it’s name implies. Located on a lovely beach in Cowpit Bay, the beach cats are yards away from the club house. Kids can play in the trees or water while parents socialize, and everyone knows your name. It’s a friendly club and “No Shoes No Service” signs don’t exist.
El Gato first anchored, then moored across the 1 mile bay in Christmas Cove, a lovely anchorage complete with small reefs and loads of turtles. Waking up here to go race was a highlight, and it was only a 5 min dinghy ride that included dodging the occasional ferry boat wake.

We watched the club ramp up by building stages for the bands, inflating the large buoys that were used in the ocean and bays, and building longer docks to accommodate the VX1’s that attended for the first time.

There were 8 classes competing. Gun Boats (large sexy multihulls built for cruising in style), CSA 1-4 (Caribbean Sailing Asociation), IC24’s (formerly J24’s but with scooped out decks), VX1’s, and the beach cats.

Last year 9 beach cats competed but this year the numbers were down. I’ve heard in the old days there were up to 30 cats when the Puerto Ricans would sail over and compete. It’s only 20-40 miles away so it must have been fun making that passage with others. Everyone loves the “Back in the day” stories, but some make us sad those days are over.

On Thursday, the tradition is to run the St John Round the Island Race. Since beach cats are not invited, and the wind was up, I accepted an invitation to race on Flow, a 60’ Gun Boat.

What a thrill to feel the power and speed, but even more thrilling was watching the crew work professionally to keep her moving safely in the right directions. Old friend and cat legend Cam Lewis was on board training Amy Drinker how to do pit which is located in front of the cabin house. In other words, when we crashed down on some big waves, these two were drenched! Sometimes waves would come flying through the cabin because the doors were open for the owner, Steve Cucchiaro, to see where he was going!
There are 2 wheels, one in front of the door, and one behind. Steve would choose which wheel depending how “fresh” things were outside. Closing the door means not hearing the folks up front. Not good. There were two strong guys doing bow with captain Tony floating around to help prevent anything seriously bad happening.
Another super cool feature was how the main was controlled. By a remote! Dru Slattery, who I met years ago in Dubai at an ISAF worlds, held this device in her hands and stared upwards from the back of the boat to control the hydraulics. That woman needed a neck massage afterwards!

Inside the cabin was the brain trust. Larry Rosenfeld and Jeff Udell worked on navigation while Dru’s husband Jack managed the sail choices and trim. He and Dru own North Sails Marblehead.

(this is actually inside El Gato but I wanted to add a photo of Jeff doing his B&G Genius work)

Karill, Tony’s first mate kept an eye on everyone and everything and Jama, Steve’s GF learned how to roll tack with me.
Roll tack you ask? In small mono hulls we roll from one side to the other and timed perfectly during a tack it propels the boat forward more than just changing sides. Roll tacking on a large multi hull means when you are up on the trampoline and the boat tacks, we roll our bodies across the trampoline and giggle while getting soaking wet! I learned this special maneuver watching one of the crews on the AC45’in the World Series and it was my first time too.
Maybe it will become a new trend…
Other than roll tacking I helped them identify marks and locations with my “local” knowledge, and mainly floated to help anyone who needed an extra hand.

On to racing in the STIR.
While Eric had been sick with flu after our kids left (someone brought the bug onboard after flying), by the time race day came Teri had the bug and Eric was well enough to sail. The three of us had all practiced in different combos and the original plan of Eric driving with Teri crewing was changed to me driving and Eric crewing. We were the defending champs so it was a winning combo, we just needed to get out there and do it again. The forecast all week had been for fresh to frightening and it was true. We started in about 20 knots, downwind, with two other beach cats. All others opted not to go. One Hobie 16, with a 16 year old skipper and a veteran crew, did great job of flying downwind, and we had a good neck and neck race towards the first mark. How could that be when we were on a faster design? We played it super conservative and sailed low and slow (which was still plenty fast) to stay onboard and finish the race in one piece. The boat and us. It worked. We sailed through waves and over waves and were constantly on our guard letting the spinnaker breath as needed. One capsize during a jibe and we were back up quickly. Crossing the finish line we were the first boat in the whole fleet. Sadly one of the beach cats lost control and capsized, turtled (upside down), got assistance when they couldn’t right it, and wound up not only losing the mast and sails, but also breaking both rudders and getting injured.
The boat was towed to shore on a small beach and still sits there while the owner recovers. At the awards ceremony the class presented the Wisdom award made up of parts of his boat including a green rudder piece. Wisdom for deciding Not to go out there!

The second race was an upwind start and we had to circumnavigate Buck Island. By the time we rounded and were going back upwind we did not see the Hobie again. Turns out they got help and stopped at Buck Island. When Eric and I were heading to the finish line a squall came and it blew up to 30 knots. Grateful only 2 races!

The forecast did not ease up and when all beach cats declared not leaving the beach on day 2, I jumped back onboard Flow for another wonderful wild ride! They had not finished either race on Day 1 after their sail broke so they needed to win all races to win the regatta. So they did!

With the wind never letting up, the beach cats stayed ashore Saturday and Sunday. Two races constitute a series, so our two first place finishes sealed the deal. We would have preferred more racing for that beautiful watch that Eric now owns, but safety is always the most important aspect of sailing or racing, and we chose to not hurt us or the boat.

After racing on Flow and Flight Risk, going back to El Gato was like having the perfect trifecta. My love for catamarans has been with me since I was 15 years old and flying my first hull.
As the cats change, and it becomes more commonplace to see multi hulls racing and cruising, I am grateful for the good old days, the now days, and the knowledge that someday these days will be my good old days.
Writing will help me remember them better. And I look forward to sitting with grandkids telling them stories that might begin with something like “Did I ever tell you the story about the time we were sailing over big waves on a little cat and Grandma and Grandpa were winning a big race when all of a sudden the boat tipped over, crashed! And we had to jump in the water from up high in the sky?” “Or the time we saw pilot whales and turned around to sail next to them?”

•you see someone letting the tap run while they brush teeth, or shave, rinse dishes, and you want to scream “stop it!” whether on boat or land!
• you feel like you are on a roller coaster but in reality you are trying to take a shower
• to get to the sewing machine you have to dismantle the couch
• you have to do downward dog to find something in the refrigerator. You know it’s there, but can’t see it.
• you throw your used toilet paper in the trash in a restaurant bathroom.
• you have to ride your bike or walk to purchase only what you can put in your basket and on your back.
• it takes all day to wash the equivalent of one load of wash on land.
•drying clothes is a sport.
• you see your neighbors naked, or in undies, and it doesn’t seem weird that they are outside and possibly even taking a shower on their back porch.
• hanging your undies on your front or back porch when the neighbors are 20’ away is no big deal.
• you write a new list everyday that includes what needs to be fixed, written, bought, cleaned, cooked, and searched.
•your neighbors and friends are constantly moving away from you and you never know when, or if you will see them again.
• the next good grocery store could be several weeks to a month away so stocking up and keeping things fresh, frozen, and stored is never taken for granted.
• leaving all the lights on could risk not having any at all
• your life depends on your best friend and every day you are reminded of it.
• your favorite shoes are no shoes at all.
• listening to the news on tv is depressing and reminds you how nice to not be exposed to such fear based reality horror shows.
• you have no idea what day it is but you know the time and distance to the next island.
• getting fast internet is almost as good as great sex. Almost.
• you call your bedroom your cocoon.
• all your friends want to come visit.
• top of your reading list is either a how to, or a where to.
• the exact same food tastes better than it does on land.
• meeting new people of different cultures is an every day occurrence, and breaking into a different accent comes naturally.
• your car is a dinghy.
• you flip a coin to see who makes the bed(s) this time. PITA!
• Your friends become closer because you are together 24/7, and you cherish every minute of it. All 1,440 minutes/day.
•your family visits and even if they’ve known you their whole life, they finally see you in your element, doing what you love, with the risks and rewards presenting themselves in snapshots.
• you pinch yourself for following through and making your dreams come true!

We knew there was a Sasquatch onboard, but we had no idea a Kraken had slipped onboard El Gato as well! We were 3 days into our first charter. Kraken, with an argument in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean over how it is pronounced (you say Toe-may-toe, I say Tom-ah-toe) is a sea beast of myth and legend, resembling a huge octopus, with tentacles that reach near and far. It is also a Caribbean spiced rum that is strong, rich, black and smooth.

And somehow it has slipped aboard, creating mischievous pranks like leaving the ice maker open overnight, putting toilet paper in our non-paper heads, and drinking all the rum overnight forcing us to go get more by seeking out local distilleries (rummeries)!

We thought Bad Boy was doing it, the Beanie Baby that daughter Chelsea blamed all bad deeds on when she was young, and we know BB is not up this level of Bad. He is onboard, but it’s not is fault.

In all seriousness, we had a blast with our friends/guests/charterers, and we loved showing them Martinique, Dominica, and Iles De Saintes, how to drive and sail El Gato, to run the dinghy, play hard, eat well, catch big fish while under sail, whale watching, snorkeling with turtles, and everyone left with huge grins and only one sunburn.

Except somehow Kraken is now a stow away that Eric, AKA Sasquatch, will find and serve up for a good meal as soon as he figures out how to squash him! Those tentacles are slippery and sneaky!

The food is delicious! Sauces are a specialty.  For a boat you can buy canned butter. Canned Duck!  Mouth watering creamy yogurts called Frommage Blanc. Wines that are less than $5 and boxed wine that is actually quite tasty. The outdoor markets with fresh food and spices are always entertaining and good.

You know you are in France when you are at a restaurant and it takes forever to get your food because the waitress sat down for a smoke (or two) and a coffee. The people next to you are smoking too.  This was yesterday.  After 40 minutes I left.  They might not have even noticed.  I ordered a salad.  LOL

The women smell wonderful, their hair is always perfect, and they wear the smartest clothes and accessorize with small beautiful things.  

The workers can do anything, and do it really well, but not now.   Maybe next week, maybe not. It might be another holiday. They have so many that in St Pierre, Martinique that in the 1800’s they had to limit them to a possible 10, then a mandatory 10. In France, the country, the kids get a week or two off from school every 6 weeks. Plus Christmas, Easter, summer… They love their time off and family comes first. Vacations and family come first. It’s not a bad concept! 

The law in France unless you own the company is a worker can only work 35 hours a week. Eric and I work about 80.  

Almost everyone has taken English classes but very few speak English. If asked, they all say “a little”.  Since French is not required in the USA we are almost even.  

The boats are well built and designed. Ours is made for crossing oceans and has proven itself not only capable but superbly comfortable as well.  The French saw the details and we love them.

The kids are out in little sailboats when they are old enough to go to school. 20 knots? Still out there.  No wonder the French lead the way in round the world high performance wild designs and races. They learn early, with their friends, and have fun.  Weather is all part of it. No scaredy cats. 

We love what we’ve learned by living in France for 4 months and then cruising there for another 2. And now we are visiting French Islands so it’s a bit of Deja vu. Martinique is our first French Island on this boat and this season.   Soon we will visit St Martin which has Dutch and French sides. They couldn’t be more different.  

I have our French for Cruisers handbook on the table ready.  

Today I will go provision for our first charter.  

We will eat well,  that we can be sure of!!

Since we’ve arrived in the Caribbean, we have met some very colorful folks, and their names reflect their personalities. Vision: he and his wife do varnish, believe in the Rasta religion whole heartedly. Romeo and Juliet: they cooked our scrumptious meal on a beach in Tobago Cays, they are friendly and easy on the eyes.  Mr. Quality: brought fresh baguettes to yachts this AM and told us he was in the cruising book with a big smile (proud of his work), Marlin: owned the horses we rode on St Lucia, and said next time we come he will cook for us a nice BBQ at his house! Fiber: did the fiberglass repair on our daggerboard, Elvis: was missing and subcontracted a kid who did a disastrous job sandblasting our bottom paint off so no wonder Elvis was missing.  Jah Marley: picture the complete Rasta stoner on a tiny leaking wooden boat trying to sell anything to anyone – we gave him a beer to pick up some trash floating by.  Niza thought he only had one leg so we really felt for him until one day we saw two. Lol. Then there was Bushman: he enticed us to come eat at his restaurant on Eric’s birthday. Where was it located? In the bushes!  

Restaurants have names like Delirious, Rainforest Hideaway, Razmataz, Jambe de Bois, Driftwood, the Frangipani, and the best one so far, Whaleboner! That story is a good one and will be told in next blog. 🙂
And boat names?  Romeo had his name plastered alongside his boat, Sparkles does laundry service, Never Never Give Up fishes and cooks, One Love, More Fresh (selling fish and lobsta), Neptune, Pablo Step Pan Dem (no clue), Handyman are just some examples of the locals power skiffs that are quite colorful. 

We are on our way to Bequia and could not be more excited. Eric is trolling with three lines and we caught at Baracuda and threw him back. Here’s to hoping we catch something for dinner! 

When we sailed west to the Grenadines we checked into customs (I’m getting very good at that) and went to a tiny islandcalled White Island which is on the south side of Carriacou, north of Grenada.

Like Gilligans island only smaller. No one here but our two yachts so yes, naked! Well at least when the Tazmanians Gaz and Reets from Miss Catana were not onboard!

Then sailed around to yet another little spit called Sandy Island and dropped anchor. Windsurfer, snorkeled, relaxed.
We are back into the anchoring and love finding the perfect sandy spot to drop. 

But yesterday after a night next to a small town, boats started arriving to check into customs and buy provisions and everyone seemed to want to anchor close to us. Why? When there is a huge bay we can’t sort out why folks crowd unless they just aren’t sure so they think you know best and want to copy. 

I was getting stir crazy from working on the boat (we still have a lot of projects) and needed to go to shore to find culture. A small museum and next thing I am whisked upstairs by the woman running it to see her fathers private art collection. Evidently he was a famous artist, Canute Caliste, and musician and even played at Buckingham Palace! She had his clothes and musical instruments and the walls were covered with his art.

Ok so I got my wish. Great discussions including American and Caribbean politics, (they hate Donald), warnings about pirates near Trinidad, and local foods.

Back to the dock and the others met me. Just when we were about to walk to find a bus Eric notices another boat drifting towards ours! Boom we zoom out and get there just as an old beat up monohull, that had signs of sea Gypsy live aboards, is sliding alongside but hasn’t touched.

Of course their anchor dragged over ours. 

That was a first for us.

I’m at the throttles and helm and Eric and Reets have fenders to keep their big metal bow piercing anchor roller from smashing into our mid section. Because it was next to our shrouds and daggerboard which was lifted, Reets had to jump fore and aft to keep them off. Meanwhile Gaz was still in the dinghy and got between the two to act as a big fender and we got far enough upwind of them before we realized we were getting sucked back into them. Now they were on our stern. Without a board down we don’t have directional stability but putting one down with their chain going under us was sketchy.

We just had our bottoms completely and I mean completely redone. My stomach was starting to twist.

Meanwhile the Germans on the cat that also anchored too close were on deck watching the shit show with great interest. Did they bother to offer help? Nope. They watched. Eric had spoken to them earlier about being too close and asked if they would be onboard while we left so he knew that they knew we had concerns. I signaled for them to get out of there as when you are stuck on an anchor, with no directional control you can swing wildly when the puffs roll in at 20 kts. They didn’t budge. And there were moments when we were headed right at them, throttle full reverse, no response. Too much wind and the other anchor. Agh!

Finally the two vagabonds row their cute Dory out and it’s a nice looking young couple, late twenties, early thirties. 

The girl is smiling. I want to smack her smile. Maybe looking back she was nervous. But showing concern would have been more polite. Perhaps she was clueless but seriously, when two boats are trying not to smash what is there to smile about? I asked if they spoke English because after sailing the Med it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. She laughed and said she was American. He had long hair and a Hawaiian shirt on, was British, and was quick to offer to jump in and clear anchors. By then Eric was jumping in so with engines going, boats trying not to smash, a German boat too close for comfort, our starboard engine, for the first time ever, quits. Yep, it quits. Of course.

It’s the rule of the sea.

When things go wrong, they go seriously wrong.

So now we have two guys in the water that I can’t see, but Gaz is telling me where they are.

I can see their chain going under us so I tell the girl to let out their chain.

The guy lifts his anchor off a rock and we are untangled.

And finally we are able to go forward and lift ours. With one engine.

Won’t restart.

Tricky business.

But we manage and once free use plenty of speed to have directional control and zoom to a place where we hope no one will follow. 

Did we go back to land and see the island?

Hell no!

Mexican Dominoes ruled the night and we found our own piece of culture with nachos and butternut squash pasta.

Lessons learned?

Move your own boat when others won’t.

If there is any doubt, move, and choose a place that is easy to see from land.

Four sets of hands on deck in an emergency is better than two but that was luck.

Karma was on our side.

Maybe the milk carton we bought for the old man outside the store at Barbados gave us a little.

And…

Sometimes just one little minute can change the results in fate.

Reets had forgotten her wallet and Gaz had gone back. He returned.

Then their pillows that they were giving away had blown off the dock and we were looking at rescuing them when Eric noticed the boat was getting closer.

And when we got there it was only a few feet away.

If we’d gotten on a bus as planned there is no telling what kind of damage we would have acquired. And one look at their boat told us they have no insurance. 

Our damage report? One small gash on our port side that is an easy fiberglass fix. We are grateful that’s all.

After a night off to cool off, the engine started. Hallelujah. 

Tomorrow is Erics birthday and we head to Tobago Cays. Two days later it’s Gaz’s, and today is Australia Day which is like 4th of July for us. 

Lots to celebrate including living our dream!

After reunions with locals and ARC+ friends we sailed to Barbados, upwind, port tack all the way, with squalls and sizable waves on the bow. 90 miles later, after a spectacular sunset where we literally were sailing through a rainbow, we found Miss Catana’s owners, the Tasmanians Reets and Gaz on a mooring ball outside Port St Charles. We met when we first bought El Gato while they were at the Catana Yard in France. Our first cruising friends and we’ve enjoyed sharing time and adventurous stories with them in Greece and now the Caribbe.

Backing up a bit, those of you who read FB saw how we hosted a lively hello and goodbye party in San Diego. Annie cooked Roti, a typical Caribbean dish for 50 and Painkillers were served to commemorate our wedding party drink of choice. Thank you Sam for playing bartender!

A bonus to our party was we booked our first charter! We are Thrilled that our friends Daryl, Jenny, Lee, and Dee will be cruising Martinique and Dominica with us!!! They signed up for our Valentine Special – Nothing is Sweeter than Sailing!

And while we continue to work on the website for our teaching charters, we are officially open for business for friends and acquaintances. We’ll focus on fun and exploration for our buddies that want to come play. Spread the word and share the cost (and the fun). Two couples or four adults max as we have 2 available cabins with king and queen size beds.
We have T Mobile and can easily call or text or write you back. For now we are offering discounts through April. Check out the El Gato calendar at the top to see where we are going and we will work with you to make something special happen!

Three amigos who have sailed with us!

Making Roti for 50 was a challenge – especially since I’ve never cooked it before. but I have a new Caribbean cookbook and appreciation for the local diets.

After 3 days in St Lucia, we were treated to a spectacular dinner with chef Laura cooking the the St Lucian National dish of salt Cod and Green Figs. Green figs are green bananas BTW. We met when the 3 friends when they were manning an artist booth during ARC arrivals. Sabrina has raw talent and I just loved her work and her smile. Nicole is her “bitch” as they jokingly say and loves to make jewelry, dolls, and support her buddy with the techie side of things like phone calls and internet. Laura works at Sandals as a cook and is working her way up the ladder to chef, watching and learning the pros as she goes. We brought Sabrina and Nicole back supplies for their trades and gave Laura a certificate for a massage. X Mas in the islands!

Within a week of arriving we finished the work in the boat yard, launched, were at the marina for 2 nights, entertained three times, and took off. Add the party in San Diego and we were 2 tired puppies!

So now that we are here we are discovering Barbados.
It is to windward of all the windward islands.

Their heritage is making rum which they discovered with the byproducts of making sugar from sugar cane. The molasses which was left over fermented and Mount Gay and other notables were produced in large quantities and shipped around the world.

There are some magnificent properties here on island and in general the local houses are not too shabby either. The happiness of the people shines through in their smiles and attitude. St Lucia was not dissimilar but here you get a safer feeling and maybe that’s because it’s harder to get here. Cross an ocean or sail upwind are the choices unless you fly.

We hired a car for a day and visited the Mt Gay Museum then went for lunch on the east coast at a very tasty local place called Da Garage Bar and Grill. Instead of $160 for a meal at Atlantis, we paid $20 for Marlin, the best mac and cheese, and salad. The exchange rate is 2-1 so it was $10. And unforgettable.

After lunch a walk on the Bathsheba Beach. Some boys were swimming and smoking behind the rocks, hence the feet shot. When the rainbow came out it was stunning!

Today the Mount Gay Barbados Round the Island Race commenced and we watched them start and finish off our stern in Carlisle Bay. The 2 MOD 70’s smashed the 3 hour record and were spectacular, nothing short of AC drama, to watch start.

We rigged our new sails and had some tired forearms as well. LOVING being back on a board and we have 4 sails so ready for anything. 

Super duper psyched to explore the Grenadines tomorrow. We sail tonight for a daytime arrival with Miss Catana. First stop Carriacou (Carry – a – coo? or cow?).
We are two happy couples who have crossed an ocean in our Catana’s and are ready to do what these dreams and cats are made for!

Our Gato is on the hard, up in the air balancing on blocks in the IGY boatyard, St Lucia.

While we are home in San Diego California for Christmas to enjoy the holidays with our family, we love that El Gato will be getting some TLC while we are gone.

Waiting for us when we return will be 2 new Kona boards with windsurfing kits and adjustable paddles so depending on conditions we can sail, paddle, or surf! Merry Christmas to us, and to everyone who will play on our new toys when they sail with us!

While we are taking a nice “break” from being full time live aboard’s, it does not keep us from continuing to read and research and make calls concerning our boat and the islands we plan to visit.  The Grenadines are next and possibly Barbados, then up to Martinique, and as many islands as possible before we hit the BVI’s in March.

In between holiday gatherings and festivities, we’ll be putting our sailing calendar together and will post our available charter dates, prices  and website as soon as possible.

Until then, hope everyone stays healthy, happy and remembers to

EAT SAIL LOVE!