Log #43C More heavy weather and steering problems

Written at: Royal Jamaica Yacht Club

Kingston, Jamaica

Jan. 25, 2007

Hi Folks,

We're still here at the RJYC waiting for our Raymarine Smart Pilot to be returned. Murphy's Law, it did not go out Monday as we had hoped as the courier service needed some additional forms and an opened package. By the time we got from the anchorage (with a cantankerous outboard that died 30 feet from shore) to the office the courier had left. However, Patti, the office manager, contacted the local Yamaha dealer (the owner is a RJYC member)and took us, the box with the Smart Pilot, and our outboard to the dealership which is also a Raymarine distributor. They shipped the box off next day, but the delay will probably mean there is no way we will get it back before next week.

Patti has been most helpful, taking us into town several times for groceries. The club is several miles out on a spit across from Kingston, with very infrequent bus service and expensive taxi rides. We hope to get over to Port Royal at least while here. The outskirts of Kingston are third world conditions with poverty corruption and crime. There were 40 murders in the first 10 days of the New Year.

The outboard motor is back, we had a steel plate made for Wave Dancer's transom, and the club is getting WiFi set up. We hope to be able to hook up to it. Happiness is access to the internet from the boat! Because the outboard was in for repairs we brought Veleda alongside into Tom's slip. Tom met us when we were working on Wave Dancer and offered his slip as his boat is up on the hard with a very serious osmosis problem. So we are comfortable and secure, with electricity and water at the slip, and access to the club with a patio bar, restaurant, swimming pool and showers, However the electrical hookup has reversed polarity which we haven't been able to rectify. We are using it anyway for a few hours a day to keep the batteries charged.

The weather is fine, hot and sunny.

All the best,

Aubrey

~~~~(\_~~~~

Log #43c More heavy weather and steering problems

Royal Jamaica Yacht Club

Kingston, Jamaica

Jan. 24, 2007

In my last log, we had left St. Croix the morning of Jan. 8 with another 1000 miles to Cuba. We had easterly winds as per usual, sailing most of the way until noon of the 9th when we motor sailed for 12 hours through light easterlies (we were heading west), a pleasant sail and motor sail with beautiful clear weather, catching a nice 12 to 15 pound Mahi Mahi at 0800 on the 10th. We made several sail changes, from wing on wing to jibe the sails to the opposite sides, and to go on a broad reach with both sails to port. It was a pleasant first two days on passage.

However on the afternoon of the 10th, the winds started to pick up: force 4, then force 5 by sunset, force 7 by midnight, and a full force 8 gale by sunrise the morning of the 11th. As the winds worked up to 35 and 40 knots, the overtaking seas caused us to surf down them at 10 knots at times. The four metre plus waves would rise up, lifting our stern and Wave Dancer on the Dinghy Tow up on its brackets 15 feet above the following trough, then plunge us and the dinghy down into the rushing abyss, slewing the dinghy wildly side to side and yawing Veleda 20 to 30 degrees off course. We had tightened down the side cross lines, but the following waves pushed Wave Dancer up and up, then dropped it like a stone, clanging down on its support arms. The starboard outer bracket bolts fractured and Wave Dancer slewed wildly, supported by only the one arm. Precariously leaning through the stern pulpit, we secured the dinghy to the fractured arm with rope and reinforced the other arm with rope as well to make doubly sure its bolts would not similarly fracture. Judy also noted the 1/4 inch aluminum plate backed by 1/4 marine plywood which was fastened on Wave Dancer's transom for the Dinghy Tow brackets was flexing, and was concerned that it would break. It too was lashed down for added support.

At this time we were on a beam reach with the double reefed main and half furled genoa both out on the port side, bombing along in 35 to 40 knot gale force winds. This meant the waves coming from astern were not always directly behind us, but were coming from the starboard quarter, with occasional cresting waves slapping the sides of the boat and drenching us in the cockpit. Veleda is usually a dry boat, never burying her bow and her stern rising up above overtaking waves. But waves breaking at the sides and slapping Veleda's hull spray the breaking surf into the cockpit, making life wet and very uncomfortable, especially since we don't bother with foul weather gear in these warm climates. Several times Judy asked, "Why are we doing this? Sailing is supposed to be fun." She was very unhappy! We faced another 700 miles of this stuff!

To make matters worse, our self steering system which had been operating magnificently through all these following seas started to act up. It would occasionally shut off indicating "No Data" from the computer or fluxgate compass, and cause Veleda to wildly swing into the wind with flogging sails, pounding into the 15 foot following seas until we manually got her under control and back on course. This was not good! Judy was discouraged, regretting our decision to go to Cuba. What to do?

As we were off the western part of the south coast of the Dominican Republic, we altered course and headed for the tip of Cape Beata, the southernmost point, some 20 miles to the northwest, seeking shelter on the leeward side of the cape. At 1615 we dropped anchor off a small hamlet just northwest of the cape (17 36.66N, 071 25.82W) for the night. However as the winds continued to howl, the surge came around the cape making a fantastically uncomfortable roll all night, so at first light we weighed anchor and headed even more northwest, up the coast, seeking shelter from the easterly surge. Three miles up we found a wide shallow bay with minimal roll and after the fourth try our anchor dug in and we were relatively comfortable for the next 24 hours off a mangrove lined shore (17 39.26N, 071 21.99W) with a bird nesting area behind. However we did not go ashore as we wanted to relax and see if we could fix the self steering system and further secure the Dinghy Tow for Wave Dancer.

We put extra lashings and a secure shackle on Wave Dancer and checked out the Raymarine auto pilot, but found no solution to the intermittent problem we had experienced. What to do? We could not go back as that would mean pounding into force 8 gale winds and 15 foot seas to go to Santo Domingo on the DR, or to Puerto Rico. Going west we would be along the coast of Haiti, an area we wanted to avoid. We decided to press on to Cuba if possible as we had a friend who was planning to meet us in Cienfuegos, Cuba on the 24th or so. This is one of the hazards in meeting someone or having to be in a certain place at a certain time, as the flexibility of waiting for good weather is reduced. Judy was still unhappy about our destination, but what alternatives did we have?

We set sail next morning, hopefully for Cuba 600 miles away, however after a few hours in force 8 winds, we again sought shelter, heading up to Cabo Rojo, still in the DR, but only 20 miles from the Haitian border, which on our computer map (C-map) indicated an anchorage with an aluminum plant nearby. Judy was getting antsy about calling her dad to let him know where we were, and shortly after anchoring in the bay south of the aluminum plant we went ashore to see if we could make a phone call. No luck!

However an open fishing boat came alongside with an official from the local Commandante to get our papers and ask us to come in next day to complete formalities. He spoke no English, and we were not certain of exactly what he wanted, but we said, "Manana", knowing we were not in a port of entry to the Dominican Republic, and having no local currency to give him as a "gift". After another quiet night at anchor we went ashore next morning to see if we could phone from a local hotel. Again, no luck as the beach we went to thinking it was a resort beach was instead a private beach with an armed guard who waved us off. We then wandered the shoreline in Wave Dancer, trying to find the Commandante's office, and finally were directed by an armed guard at the Aluminum plant to an area with a few open fishing boats, where we found the sleepy Commandante's building. Again, no one spoke any English and our (Judy's) Spanish is minimal. We wanted our papers back and to leave as soon as possible as the weather seemed to have settled a bit. It took over an hour with two officials trying to type up a form (two finger hunt and peck) with carbon paper to give us as our exit form. I made a mistake in using our phrase book to enquire if there was any diesel available, and this started a whole new babble about our time of departure and whether we were going to go up to Pedernales, the next DR town at the border with Haiti, for fuel. We immediately backed off and said, "No Prroblemo", as we just wanted to get out of there. We gave a "gift" of $5.00 US to the first official who visited the day before and a further $65.00 US for the paper work including another"gift" for the two fingered typist, wearing a NY Yankees ball cap and a 45 calibre side arm, who finally, excruciatingly slowly, completed the exit documents.

By 1130 (Jan. 14) we weighed anchor and were heading out in light force 4 easterly winds on our way again towards Cuba. By late afternoon the winds had worked up to force 7. We noticed a tear at one of the seams of our triple reefed main. The fabric itself was shredding, not the seam. Judy went up with her harness and stitched it, but we lowered the main and continued to sail with only the genoa, still traveling at 6.5 knots in 30 knots of wind. Around midnight the wind dropped to force 6 (about 25 knots) and by dawn was down to force 3, so we motorsailed for a few hours. The Raymarine self steering was acting up more frequently, and we had to hand steer for two hour watches for the next 36 hours.

Again, what to do? Santiago de Cuba and Jamaica were equidistant, about 170 miles. We were under time pressure to meet our friend in Cuba, but our ability to get the self steering system repaired in Cuba was likely to be minimal, and so we decided to head for Jamaica. It would be another night time entry!


Next log