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Giving up your accustomed shore life, to move onto a sailing vessel is a huge change that entails preparations and adjustments in many ways. Once that big step is taken and you have gotten used to living aboard, similar experiences of a smaller scale will occur. Every time you leave a place where you spent some time and made friends, it feels like you are leaving a part of yourself behind. It is a bag of mixed feelings and day to day adventures soon turn into fond memories, while you “move on”.

 When you leave a certain popular area, you leave friends and fond experiences.          © Liesbet Collaert

My husband Mark and I sailed throughout the Eastern Caribbean for the last three years. After going up and down the island chain once, we knew the “lay of the islands”. We anchored in our favorite spots, knew where to pick up decent internet signals, shopped in the best stocked and most affordable supermarkets, knew which day the local vegetable lady showed up, attended the greatest happy hours, saved our dirty laundry until we reached a harbor with a do-it-yourself washing machine and frequented the places we liked. Every year, we would sail to and explore a few different parts of this or that island, but those adventures were short and in close vicinity. Every time we ended up in St. Martin or Grenada, we stayed put for a few months to work or spend hurricane season. The excitement took place in between these destinations, when we mostly “did what we wanted” and during the occasional weekend.

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A lot can be told and written up about safety and security while living on a sailboat. The previous weeks, I touched the subjects of safety gear, safety and security nets, anchoring technique, dinghy security, robberies, and piracy with a focus on the Eastern Caribbean, since that is the area I am most familiar with at the moment. This week, I will conclude this “series” with a few more odds and ends that have to do with taking care of your and your boat’s safety while sailing the world and the Caribbean. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions or thoughts at any time!

Remoteness might interrupt the "peace of mind"           © Liesbet Collaert

Boat Boys

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I have a good friend in Belgium, whom I see once a year while visiting “home”. He and his girlfriend love to travel, they don’t have children and they are both teachers, meaning plenty of vacation time. All these factors make them very plausible candidates for an Irie visit in the Caribbean.  Only, in four years time, it hasn’t happened yet, even though I suggest the idea yearly. So, last fall, I personally asked him this: “Imagine you have a good friend who basically lives in the Caribbean on a catamaran, where you could stay for free and have a wonderful vacation in a pleasant climate and a great environment. What would you do?” His answer: “I would come visit.” Duh!

 Northeastern Antigua                                                                                                  © Liesbet Collaert

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As a northern Leeward Island, St. Maarten/St. Martin is a small one with a big appeal. The international airport accommodates large planes, dumping tourists from all over the world, wanting some sun and fun on the many beautiful beaches and in the numerous vibrant night clubs. The massive Simpson Bay Lagoon on the west side of the island is a safe haven for hundreds of boats, arriving from all corners of the world. Every cruiser or sailor will end up here at some point, whether it is after a crossing from Europe, a hurricane season in Grenada or Trinidad, an island hopping trip from the United States or to prepare for the Atlantic crossing (back) to Europe.

 Simpson Bay Lagoon and Marigot Bay (right), seen from Fort Louis

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Perfection in life is hard to come by. Nothing is perfect (most of the time), not even on a catamaran in the Caribbean! Just as with a lot of things on shore, the elements we rely on while sailing, cruising and living on the water rarely come in the right proportions. We strive for the perfect balance of the basics to fill us with enjoyment as well as help us survive, but we are not to decide in most cases.

Wind

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Sailing in the Eastern Caribbean is fun, especially when you can “pick” your weather windows to go where you want. That is easier to do with your own catamaran with less of a time frame than when you charter a catamaran for a week or two week holiday. Nevertheless, the islands in the Eastern Caribbean lay relatively close to each other, maximum a day sail away, offering a multitude of great destinations and options. The size of the catamaran, the skill of the sailors, flexibility, schedule and the weather will decide how fast you go and where you end up.

There are a few things to note when you plan a sailing trip in the Eastern Caribbean. One of them is “the sailing season”. From November until June, it is high season in the Caribbean, on shore and on the water. Many tourists escape the winter in their own country, prices go up, beaches can get crowded and harbors fill with (charter) boats. It is busier everywhere, but the climate is wonderful and the sea refreshing. The trade winds mostly come out of the northeast and are stronger than in the summer (15-20 knots). This can make a longer crossing less comfortable. The seas are consequently bigger and will come out of the north frequently due to cold fronts originating in Canada and the States. The biggest disadvantage of this phenomenon is that a lot of beautiful harbors become very uncomfortable with a swell rolling in from that, unprotected, direction.

The other season is “hurricane season” from June until November, with August and September known to have the most potential. The winds are lighter (10-15 knots), typically out of the southeast with no north swell running anymore. Harbors and shores are less crowded, the most magnificent beaches almost deserted. It is hot, however, and the warm ocean doesn’t always provide the desired coolness. The biggest threat, of course, is the possibility of a hurricane. Many of the Eastern Caribbean islands have “hurricane holes”, where you can tuck your catamaran into the mangroves, attach a bunch of lines and deploy all your anchors. The best solution is to spend your summer months cruising within a day sail of safer environments like Grenada, Trinidad, Venezuela or Luperon in the Dominican Republic. Or, totally get out of the hurricane belt.

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My husband Mark and I are the proud owners of a catamaran. One you can sail on. Of course, you think, but, believe it or not, there is such a thing as a power catamaran. Ours does have an engine (well, actually two), which comes in handy to start and finish a trip. You see, it’s quite a big boat, with a heavy anchor and such. Not trailerable, unless you own a semi… and the road you will be towing the wide load on. We didn’t buy her as a step up from a Hobie. To be honest, I never even sailed a Hobie before. No, we obtained her to make the lives of our dogs more comfortable. They hated sailing on a monohull. Sailing on a catamaran, however, is wonderful. No heeling and no seasickness (for me) anymore. Best of all: you can put your drink on the table, whether at anchor or underway, and it won’t move!

The name of our catamaran is Irie, meaning “It’s all good!” in Jamaican. She is a Fountain Pajot Tobago and I suppose, without thinking about it, we were ready for her. She is 35 foot long and 19 feet wide, not really the kind of toy you are reading about in these blogs and a bit less invigorating to sail on, but perfect for a couple and two dogs. No dinghy feeling here, we have a dinghy for that, albeit not a sailing one. There is also no way we will ever go 30 knots. On a beautiful day with great wind conditions, we might sail 7-8 knots and that is fun and liberating in itself. There have only been two occasions we reached 10 knots, once in a good way with the current behind us on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) in the United States and the other time scarily surfing towards shore on a breaking wave (with more following us) over a shallower bank and reef in the Dominican Republic. Exhilarating spray does make it all the way in the cockpit sometimes, especially in rough weather when we get swamped by a mass of water coming over the side. And that’s about as far as the comparisons with a Hobie go: some spray, two hulls and two sails.

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