Mack Packs

Before I get started, let me apologize to my non sailing friends. This post probably will be pretty boring to you, but we are really excited about how easy this will make our sailing life and it might be interesting to our sailing/cruising/soon to be cruising friends.

Since it looks like we will be in St. Thomas for the next week or so, we decided to order new Mack Packs for Storyville.  We've been wanting a stack pack system for a long time and since we are planning to do a lot of sailing once we get past St. Martin, and head south, we figured this would be a good time to make it happen.

We put all new sails on Storyville before we left two years ago (Wow - two years ago, hard to believe) and at the time we had the chance to add stack packs. We decided not to do so because we were worried that it would affect our sail performance. Sail performance, that's a laugh. We haven't done near as much sailing as we had hoped to do. The reason for that is that we've spent most of the last two years heading east into the prevailing trade winds. On the few opportunities that we have had to sail, we realized what a pain it is to use our main sail. Mostly because we are a center cockpit boat and it is impossible to reach the sail in order to stow it away properly and get the sail cover on.  It can be a 45 minute to an hour job that takes both of us to accomplish properly. After a day of sailing the last thing you want to do is spend an hour and a half putting away two sails (the main and the mizzen), so as a result, we tend to sail without the main. If we have sufficient wind, that usually is not a problem, but it will be so nice to have the option.

We ordered our system from Mack Pack and it will be shipped here next week. Click the link to learn more about their system. 

UPDATE: We received the Mack Packs and have them installed.  It took about a day for each one as the sails had to be removed and there was a lot of drilling and tapping in order to attach the packs to the masts and booms. Troy made it all look easy. Mack Pack sent a great instructional video and written instructions. There were a wonderful company to work with.

Here is a picture of Storyville with her new Mack Packs.  We think they make the boat look great:

To reach a port, we must sail - sail, not lie at anchor - sail, not drift ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Christmas Winds

We’re still here in St. Thomas. There are several reasons for that: a) we like it here; b) Troy is playing a gig Saturday night; and c) The Christmas Winds have set in. There are a few other reasons, but those are the main ones. We’re enjoying our time in the busy harbor of Charlotte Amalie, watching the mega yachts and cruise ships, walking Luna, shopping (getting some provisioning done before we get to the expensive BVIs) and spending time with our other cruising friends – Pipe Muh Bligh, Illusions and Alternate Latitude.

The Christmas Winds affect the Caribbean every year, around some special holiday, I forget which one.  Anyway, we knew that there would come a time when we would want to find a place to wait out these winds, and here we are.  With about 25 knots of wind, straight out of the east, which is the way we are headed, it makes a lot more sense to stay put for a while.

In technical terms there is something called the Atlantic subtropical high, or Bermuda High, that is always around in the Atlantic, shifting with the seasons and varying in strength and size. During the winter months of December and January, the high shifts further south and results in increased gradient pressure and higher winds in the region. 

Anyway, all that scientific weather talk (the whole two sentences worth) just means that we are planning to enjoy St. Thomas for a bit longer than planned and hopefully sneak over to St. John before too long to see what we can find there.

Oh, one other big benefit.  All of the wind and sunshine have our battery bank in a happy place because our new solar panel and our wind generator are making power all day long!

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while. ~Kin Hubbard

There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind. ~Annie Dillard

The Looney Bien

We've spent the last three weeks here in St. Thomas and the last three Saturday nights at a tiny Mexican restaurant called The Looney Bien.  Owned and operated by a Val, the head "looney", we've enjoyed great margaritas and Mexican food there as well as the live music every Saturday night, provided by Pony Jarrett and Tommy Hegarty.  Pony has been great about letting Troy play, even though it's not an official open mic night.  In fact, due to scheduling conflicts for Pony and Tommy, Troy has been asked to fill in next weekend.  Since we are looking a some pretty heavy winds in our region right now, we figure this is a good reason to hang out here for another week so that Troy can play the gig on Saturday.

If you're ever in St. Thomas, be sure to stop by The Looney Bien in Frenchtown!

Fun times were had by all!

Pat earned some tips for the band

St. Thomas, USVI

Clouds on top of the mountain at Charlotte Amalie

We've spent the last few weeks (including Christmas and New Years) on St. Thomas.  We really didn't plan for that to happen, we thought we would be in the BVIs by now, but that's the way the cruising life seems to work. We have been enjoying our time here. Troy has played music a couple of times at a small Mexican restaurant - The Loony Bien - and we've learned to make good use of the public transportation system in order to get around on the island. The local buses (or Safaris) are trucks with covered, open air benches in the back and they are a cheap way to travel, with the highest price being $2.00.

We spent some time in Brewer's Bay, right next to the airport. Brewer's is a beautiful bay with a beautiful beach and clear blue water.  Troy loved watching all the airplanes take off and land and Luna loved the beach and learning about the kayaks and the dinghy.  She's gonna be a great boat dog.

Brewer's Bay and St. Thomas Airport

Rainbow on the beach at Brewer's Bay

St. Thomas is 31 square miles, 13 miles long and 4 miles wide. The island has quite a history. Christopher Columbus is said to have discovered the island on his 2nd voyage in 1493. It has been claimed by Indians, the Spanish, Pirates, the Danish and, finally, purchased by the US in 1917 for $25 million.  Now, the capital of the US Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, is a major cruise ship port (can you say "duty free!").  We've seen as many a 6 ships here at one time. You can learn more about the history of St. Thomas at THIS LINK.

Storyville anchored with the cruise ships in Charlotte Amaile

We are thinking that we will be here for a few more days and then work our way over to St. John for a week or so before heading out to the BVIs.  This may be the last that Storyville sees of US waters for a long time.

We will spend a little exploring in the BVIs - they are too beautiful to rush through - and then cross over to St. Martin for a while.  We have boat projects and all kinds of things that we are planning to get done in St. Martin.  We're hoping to make it there by the end of February so that we can see the Heineken Regatta.

Luna's first trip to a park. So much to see and smell!

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2013, can you believe it? I am having a hard time with it, because 2012 just rocketed on by. I guess that's what happens, the older you get, the faster time flies. We had an absolutely wonderful year on Storyville. We sailed to some fabulous places, we got to visit our family and friends and we got a really cute new crew member. I know that I say it all the time, but we really are living our dream.

Some of the highlights of our year were:

• Seeing how much our grand kids have grown and getting to spend time with them
• Spending time with our fantastic daughters and nieces and their families
• Adding our new crew member, Luna
• Good health for us and our families

Some of the beautiful places we visited on our boat:

• The Dominican Republic
• Puerto Rico
• The Spanish Virgin Islands
• The US Virgin Islands
• The British Virgin Islands
• St. Martin/Sint. Maarten

We are looking forward to a fantastic year. We will spend the next several months cruising slowly down the Caribbean island chain, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, sailing our boat in beautiful waters and soaking up the sunshine.

We wish all of our friends and family a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Dream big and start thinking about how to make those dreams come true!

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Merry Christmas from The Islands Mon!

Storyville at the end of the rainbow!

We will celebrate Christmas this year in St. Thomas.  We sailed over from Puerto Rico on an overnight crossing without any problems.  It was Luna’s first sail and she is a great sailor, if we could just get her to stand her watch instead of sleeping all night!

We are currently in Charlotte Amalie which is a very busy harbor.  I counted 6 cruise ships here yesterday!  We spent the last several days anchored in Brewers Bay which is a beautiful bay near the airport. We shared it with just a few other boats, the beach is beautiful, the water is clear and fish are jumping everywhere.  We decided yesterday after sailing into Charlotte Amalie that we would much rather spend Christmas in Brewers Bay so we will head back there tomorrow morning.  We just wanted to get a little Internet and some laundry and shopping done before hightailing it out of this busy harbor. 

I’m looking forward to my first beach Christmas.  I will definitely miss my family, but at least I got a get in a recent visit and got to celebrate Sismas with my girls.

 We are also happy that we finally met up with Steve on Alternate Latitude.  I’m not sure that we will be with them for Christmas but we have plans to meet up with them in the British Virgin Islands for a full moon party and to ring in the New Year.  We are really looking forward to spending some time with Steve and Deb and exploring some of the BVIs.

Life is good on Storyville, it will be a simple Christmas this year but one that I hope will remind us both of the real reason for the season!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Luke 2:11-12

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:14

Luna won't wake up to take her watch

Troy Was Busy

While I was back in Texas visiting family and friends Troy stayed in Puerto Rico on Storyville.  He kept busy with several boat projects.  Boat projects tend to make a mess of the boat and it's just as well that I was gone for most of these.  Troy did such a great job and he had Storyville nice and neat when Luna and I got home.

Not only did he complete these projects, he also did the routine maintenance, cleaned and painted several lockers and storage areas and fiber glassed some compartments into the space beneath the aft berth.  What a guy!

Compressor for the new Engel refrigeration

New cold plate - Yay, refrigeration that only draws 2.5 amps!

Luna helped with the Engel installation

New spot for Luna under the settee

I think she likes it!

New faucet in the galley

New faucets in both heads!

We also bought a new solar panel that we will install sometime in the next few weeks and we are getting another natures head composting toilet for our forward head that will need to be installed.  The work is never done.... just ask Troy!