Log #43D Entrance to Kingston Harbour and The Royal Jamaica Yacht Club

Written at: RJYC, Kingston, Jamaica

Feb. 2, 2007

Hi Folks,

We're still here with no word on when our self steering system will be back, but we are enjoying Jamaica anyways. We explored some of the lovely sandy beach cays, and have had several good seafood meals from fish and lobster obtained from local fishermen.

As yesterday was Judy's birthday, we had a very pleasant trip into the Blue Mountains with an elegant lunch at the Strawberry Hill resort.

There are two pictures with this log, one of a supertanker in harbour and the other of a small nameless island with the treacherous shoals around it.

All the best,

Aubrey

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Log #43e Entrance to Kingston Harbour and The Royal Jamaica Yacht Club

RJYC, Kingston Jamaica

Jan. 31, 2007

It was a pleasant motoring trip from Morant Bay the 39 miles over to Kingston Harbour in the quieter winds of the morning land breezes. The police boat that checked us out had indicated we could check in from the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club, which was our intended destination anyway, rather than stopping in the middle of the industrial/fishing harbour at the customs and immigration authority dock.

Our C-map indicated several ship channels depending upon whether approaching from the southeast, or southwest. As we were approaching from the southeast, the first few approach buoys were green, so we passed them on our port to stay away from the many cays, shoals and reefs spread 120 degrees around the entrance for several miles. As we neared the outer peninsula at Port Royal, the channel narrowed as we went between green and red buoys (red right returning) guiding us through the channel between the shoal surrounded Gun Cay and Rackham's Cay.

Many of the cays (keys, or small sand and coral islands) have treacherous shoals extending beneath the surface, mostly to the north and south of each cay (see attached picture). For some reason we were just on the wrong side of the next red buoy, just outside the ship channel, when we surged over (thankfully) a sandy bottom. We immediately turned into the main channel, surprised the water was so shallow just outside that marker. For the rest of the trip in we did not want to stray outside any part of the shipping channel. Sometimes the buoys seemed confusing as there were multiple channels marked, such as the small boat channel around Port Royal, and the routes to the container and refinery pier, the industrial/fishing pier, and the defunct cruise liner pier, all with their green and red marker buoys. So, seeing a green buoy did not necessarily mean you had to pass it to port as you entered, unless you knew you were in the appropriate channel marked by that buoy. Otherwise you were accidentally crossing from one channel into another, and risked shallows in between. Kingston harbour is the world's sixth largest natural harbour, seven miles long and three miles wide with shallows and shoals scattered helterskelter throughout. We did not have any paper chart of the harbour, only our dated C-map, the GPS, and our eyes (still no operating depth sounder).

We knew from the C-map where the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club is, the far end of the harbour on the outer sand spit peninsula, across from Kingston proper. However there was no channel indicating the approach to the club and we had to risk crossing directly towards it. Fortunately, this track led past several merchant ships at anchor. It seems a safe bet that if a 300,00 ton vessel has enough depth to anchor, we should be safe passing nearby (see attached picture).

We were impressed by the size and industry of the harbour. The main container terminal piers had 10 of the latest gigantic Super Post-Panamax gantry cranes for container transfers and at least 15 more container cranes of slightly older vintage, an impressive capacity. Kingston is a major transshipment port because of its central location in the Caribbean, and has facilities for supertankers at its refinery piers. In addition there are

substantial piers for a cement plant, power plant and bauxite (one of the major minerals for the aluminum industry) loading facility. We noticed several bauxite plants and harbours as we approached Kingston. There is a rail system on the island, but not for passengers, only for bauxite and other industrial uses. We were similarly impressed by the amount of shipping using the harbour. We counted at least six major ships entering or leaving the harbour at any given time of our slow approach and entry.

However, it is not small boat friendly. The only facility for cruising boats such as Veleda is over at the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club, a very pleasant yacht club, but primarily for the local members, not visiting cruising yachts. The rest of the harbour is for industrial and larger fishing boats, except over at Port Royal on the tip of the outer 7 mile peninsula, where there are two small marinas, but again primarily for local boaters. More about the infamous piratical Port Royal in my next log.

We called the RJYC on VHF, indicating our interest in coming alongside. We got a friendly reception and invitation to come alongside their fuel dock. Upon entering there was an assistant to take our lines and welcome us to the club. We went up to the office and explained our steering problem. The office manager was not in that day, but we were welcomed to stay at the fuel dock and a local technician who knew Raymarine autopilots was called, and came down to help us identify the problems, did a thorough check of all the systems, and sent an E-mail off to the Raymarine website in the US asking for info.

Next day he came back with a response and other checks he should conduct, and the following day, a Friday, we took him out for a sea trial in the harbour. On doing the compass swing, the computer came up with 15 degrees deviation, the maximum the system could safely handle. We tried to reduce any magnetic influences by repositioning the fluxgate compass and removing any possible source of magnetism from its location. No luck! Then it was unable to pick up any compass data. We were faced with having to send the entire instrument, the control unit, fluxgate compass and computer, back to Raymarine in the US for repairs or replacement, under warranty, as it was less than two years old. Upon returning to the club, Patti, the very congenial and co-operative club manager, phoned all the courier companies, only to find out they were not available for a pick up on Saturday for various reasons and we would have to wait until Monday to ship the system off. If we could get it back by the next Friday, we might have a chance to complete our voyage to Cuba, especially as we had asked a friend from Canada to join us in Cienfuegos.

Judy got a ride into Kingston with Patti to do a grocery shopping and laundry. We enjoy the local foods, especially fruits and vegetables such as callaloo, okra, mangos, papayas, casava, coconuts, and even breadfruit. Judy made up a zesty mango based salsa which we enjoyed, and named it after the RJYC. The recipe is attached below.

More about the RJYC, our travails with the self steering and the outboard motor and some lovely cruising around the tropical cays near Kingston Harbour and Portland Bight in my next log.

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Royal Jamaica Yacht Club Mango Salsa

1 mango

1 green pepper

4 scallions

2 cloves garlic

1" cube ginger

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp oil

½ tsp salt

dash of hot sauce

Chop all solid ingredients finely, mix all ingredients, let sit refrigerated one hour or more.

This is a tasty salsa Judy devised while we were at the Royal Jamaica Yacht Club. It went exceedingly well with barbecued fish, and would go well with almost any meat dishes.


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