Week 2 in Jamaica

It's easy to see how people sail into a port and never leave. We are now into our second week at Port Antonio, Jamaica. Richard, our other crew member left us last week. We all agreed it wasn't working out, so it was sad that he didn't get to see through the adventure he was looking for, but, as they say, that's sailing.

We have sorted out the problem with our HF radio, with the help of a local guy, Richard. Seems the antenna connections were so corroded, we couldn't receive anything. Now we can receive and transmit! Our chartplotter started mysteriously playing up a few days ago, but i think we've sorted that out now too - probably a dodgy adapted card that the microSD card sits in. In the meantime......

......we spent a couple of hours one day on a bamboo raft going down the Rio Grande. Our rafting guide, Keith, was very happy for Ivan to 'take the helm' from time to time......

......we went swimming in the Blue Lagoon - made famous by the movie of the same name - with our fellow boaty friends Ed and Martha........the lagoon is nice to swim in because it has a layer of cool freshwater on top and warm saltwater below. This is because it is fed by some freshwater springs. There is one right next to the lagoon where you can rinse the saltwater off after a swim...very civilised!

We've been checking out the sights, sounds and tastes of the town......the market in any place is always a fun experience

Jamaican apples

me holding the freshly baked bread and a breadfruit


.....and Ed, who has made a science of bread-making, showed me his no-knead method of making bread. although it took up a good part of the day because we were fitting a lot of other chores around it, the bread was my best effort yet in the oven. The secret ingredient was the air-conditioning as  without it the cabin would has been tooooo hot to do anything in. We decided to purchase a small air-conditioner that we can use while in port, so we can get a decent night's sleep. It is soooo good.


Happy to be in Jamaica

Day 2 in Jamaica after a 10 day non-stop trip from Florida.

We left Stuart in Florida on 3 June, with Rose and Phil on the dock waving us goodbye and safe travels.
 It was a pleasant couple of hours down the canal to the St Lucie Inlet which was our entree to the ocean. Having heard all sorts of stories about the shifting sands at the inlet and the importance of local knowledge to ensure a safe crossing of the inlet, we found our way easily and were quickly in the deep blue heading south down the coast. Our plan was to stay close to the coast of florida to avoid the strong currents of the Gulf Stream and then cross the Gulf Stream way down south somewhere in order to get across to the Bahamas. Of course we are sailing, so nothing goes according to plan. It all seems long ago now so it's hard to remember the detail, but we didn't end up going to the Bahamas beacause the winds and seas were against us. Instead we kept going south into the sea north of Cuba and then travelled southeast along the coast of Cuba, finally making it to the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti and then across to Jamaica. Sounds quick and easy as I write it now, but it was a slog. Even Ivan said it was some of the worst sailing he has experienced.

We seemed to either have wind on the nose or no wind at all. It was pretty tense going through the channel north of Cuba. We spent a lot of time motor sailing there to get us through the channel as quickly as possible as the weather looked like it was going to get stormy. Fortunately there were no storms. We did 2 hour shifts at the helm each night and the self-steering and the chartplotter were good companions here. (Hey Tuckker it's quite fun checking out the size and speed of ships on the AIS as they are bearing down on you!) Some days there was no wind which was very frustrating and some days the wind and current were such that we were nearly going backwards. We spent about 3 days trying to get past Cuba.

the view...mostly

So my introduction to passage sailing was pretty ugly - fear, nerves, anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, salt and sweat saturated clothes and bed, preparing food at a 45 degree angle....oh and i almost forgot the first 2 days of seasickness. But at least it wasn't rough and stormy weather.

Don't look Mum, that's me up the mast



Asymetrical spinnaker



Although we had intended to sail direct to Panama from Florida, by day 9 we were all exhausted and sick of being on a slow boat to nowhere, so Skipper Ivan suggested we pull in at Port Antonio on the north side of Jamaica. It would also be a chance to get some more fuel as we had used us most of what we had by then. It was with great relief that we pulled into the Errol Flynn Marina at Port Antonio at about 8.30am on Monday 13 June.

Waiting for lunch

We have explored the town a little and all had a big sleep last night despite the party raging on the boat alongside us. The people are really friendly and relaxed and the marina is in a lovely spot. The heat is intense, but the marina bar and pool make up for it somewhat. we will spend a few days here doing some minor repairs and hopefully see some sights. Tomorrow Ivan and I are going to go on some sort of rafting trip in the mountains.(Perhaps the holiday is beginning!)