The great sailing adventure
“It’s the best place in the Caribbean,” said Roger. I figured he would know. Roger has been to the British Virgin Islands 17 times in the past 20 years and has spent the last 3 years sailing the Leeward Islands. “Little Harbour on Peter’s Island was written up in Sailing magazine,” he explained. “Now that […]
The Remora Fish Story
“That’s got to be the ugliest fish I’ve ever seen,” I said to my brother Neil. He proudly held up his prize for me to take a picture. “Is it even a fish? Maybe it’s an eel? Who ever heard of an algae-green fish with a sucker on the top of his head. Besides, it […]
The trip to the British Virgin Islands
Leaving Fort St. Louis Marina in St. Martin at 4 a.m. was a decision based on arriving in the British Virgin Islands during daylight hours. The plan was to check into Spanish Town. Immigration and Customs in the BVIs can be difficult. I know that from experience; they are sticklers for detail. The last time, […]
St. Martin
“High surf warning,” shouted the headlines on the internet. “Rare northwestern swell wreaks havoc on anchorages around St. Martin.” I could see the masts of the boat in Marigot Bay rocking back and forth violently as the huge rollers barrelled in from the northwest. A massive cold front extended from the Yucatan Peninsula to Nova […]
The trip to St. Martin with Marco.
“You are going to have to find them and bring them back for me to sign them out before we can allow you to leave Antigua on your sailboat.” I looked at the customs woman with disbelief. “They flew out of Antigua two months ago,” I replied. “Couldn’t you check the customs records at the […]
Sailing tales
“Help me! Help me!” squawked the handheld VHV marine radio. Roger, asleep in the V-berth of his recently purchased sailboat, woke with a start. He had anchored at Simpsons Lagoon, St. Martin, in the Caribbean, for the night. He had forgotten to turn off the radio last night before going to bed. Glancing at his […]
The Delivery
I had just come out of the Department of Surgery meeting. It was 5:45 PM. I was ready to go home. I am currently chief of surgery at a community hospital in Toronto, and the meeting had just wrapped up. The familiar ring of my cell phone went off. I glanced down at the caller […]
Arriving in Antigua
“The lazy jacks on the starboard side have failed,” said Jeff in his usual calm voice. “The lines were dragging in the water, so I tied up the ends to the boom.” The last night at sea was the roughest. My shift was from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. I crawled into the forward berth […]
The sail south to Antigua- the lost jib…..
“The jib just blew into the water!” I shouted. The 22 knot wind swallowed my words. I knew Michael and Jeff asleep below would not have heard me above the roar of the waves smashing into the hull and the screeching of the whistle as the wind rattled the rigging. It was 4 a.m. 100 […]
Avoiding Hurricane Melissa
The screen shot of PredictWind shows strong winds off the east coast. The dark red indicates winds of 30 knots…. Add in the 15 foot waves coming onto the eastern US coast from hurricane Melissa and dangerous conditions exist for our planned departure on November 1- destination Antigua in the Caribbean. The three of us […]