Trinidad to Annapolis

Well, we couldn't get the boat broker in Trinidad to list our boat (or even to respond to our requests to list the boat). So, Ralph headed down to Trinidad with the idea of a 5-6 week trip to bring the boat back to the U.S. Initially, the plan was to end up in West Palm Beach, Florida. But, as it developed, Annapolis became the choice. And the trip took just over three months! Ah, sailing.

Ralph left Albuquerque on 1/20/11. He spent a week or so prepping the boat after its winter on land. Once again, he was involved in clean-up. This time it was mostly the exterior that needed the filth removed. We had placed a dehumidifier in the boat before leaving last June and that really did help keep interior mold at bay. Ken met up Ralph on 1/27/and they left Trinidad on their way north shortly thereafter. Grenada was the first destination - the shakedown cruise for the boat and the crew.

They had hoped to then sail to Martinique and to arrive around 10 am on 2/3 after an overnight sail. But, instead of a call from Martinique on the appointed day, I received the following email from Ralph: "Winds turned a little weird, so we turned left at St. Lucia. We are pretty tired and are trying to figure what is next. Have a couple of things to deal with, then will know more." It had taken them over a day to do this little jaunt and so already, they were behind schedule. Since it had been such an unpleasant passage - pounding into the wind (blam, blam, blam, blam), they stayed until 2/5 and then made way to St. Croix planning a passage of 53 hours. And, since the winds cooperated, they arrived on schedule the afternoon of 2/7.

They hitched up to Ralph's brother's Fred's buoy, where we had been jostled about quite ferociously in 2010. Of course, because they were at a buoy, the dinghy was required but the dinghy engine would not turn. Ralph's nephew, Travis, came to the rescue and schlepped Ralph around to get that worked on and also suggested a possible third crew member who could meet up with Inspiration in Puerto Rico. Ralph and Ken were able to see the rest of his family in St. Croix, the Wilson clan, when they had a great dinner at their home one evening. Ralph got to drive on the wrong side of the road to that event!

They then left St. Croix for a nice sail to the lovely Spanish Virgin Island of Vieques which was beautiful. Next stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they had a day for some sighting seeing. They also met up with a third crewmember, Jim, a former neighbor of St. Croix Travis, provisioned, and left 2/15 for the long passage to the Bahamas. They arrived in Georgetown Bay on 2/19, just in time to get Ken to the airport for his return trip to Washington. By now, the shitty Fischer Panda Generator had failed again so the Ralph and Jim made their up the various islands and landed in Nassau, where my sister, Kathy, and her husband, Don, whose trip to Greece was cancelled due to the revolution, were waiting to meet up with us. I arrived on 2/26 and that night we all went to a Greek Restaurant where Kathy had previously made friends with the whole extended family and many Opas! and much dancing ensued! On the 27th, Kathy, Don and I walked from the Marina to the Bahamian National Trust Palm Garden and then all went out for Bahamian Food. Conch fritters, mahi mahi, rum drinks, YUM!!!!  After that, we went to their hotel room to watch the Oscars. Kathy and Don joined us on the boat on 2/28/11 and we did some boat prep for the overnight trip to Lucaya, Grand Bahamas, Island. They then took us out to dinner at the Green Parrot Restaurant to celebrate our anniversary.  Really nice.

On 3/1, we left the Nassau Harbor Club for the overnight trip to Lucaya. Kathy and Don became instant sailors-no day sail to get them adjusted! They adjusted to the 3 hour watch mode and stepped up to the plate in doing various duties. We made good way to the Lucaya Marine Village in somewhat restless seas as a storm was on its way. On 3/2, Kathy, Don and I took the local ferry to the village and had conch salad, then we walked to Taino Beach. We had happy hour with conch fritters at the marina bar and spoke with some other cruisers who proclaimed that they had been stuck in Lucaya for some time due to the weather and unsettled seas. We were a bit surprised since we thought the conditions had been ok on our sail. However, we decided to spend several days at Lucaya in order to let the conditions calm down. We had dinner on the boat and then tried to watch a movie but all were too exhausted for much of anything that night.

The next day, Don and Kathy rented a car (Don drove on the island - on the "wrong" side and Kathy navigated, they did a great job) and took me with them. We went to the Lucayan National Park Caverns which was a beautiful area that the native Lucayans had used for ceremonial and other purposes. The Park contains a huge mangrove area and beautiful white sand beach. We went to the highly recommended Bishops on the beach for conch and fries and StrongBack beer. We dined al fresco but it was windy and cold and we were glad we were not sailing that day! We then went to Garden of the Groves Botanic Garden and took a tour. Then we provisioned, had dinner on the boat, and actually did watch "The King's Speech". On 3/4, we went to the Rand Nature Preserve which also had more native and other plantings. In the afternoon we took the ferry for another walk on Taino Beach and went into the village for an Italian dinner at Giovanni's.

Since the weather had passed and the seas calmed down a bit, we left Lucaya for the high-end West End Marina on 3/5 and had a nice sail that day. We walked around the resort and then had pizza at their restaurant. We left the Bahamas for Florida on 3/6. Kathy and Don got the open water experience and we all got to experience the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea. It was a windy day and we made great time with a little help from the tides. We arrived in West Palm Beach before cocktail hour and as a thunder and lightning storm passed over us. It is always disconcerting to be on the boat during a lightning storm. But, we and electronics did not fry! The person who took our lines at the Marina expressed surprise at how fast we had sailed that day from the Bahamas. He was also concerned over the stormy conditions that day. Ralph told him we just had a great sail and after all we had been through on the voyage from Olympia, it didn't seem like anything other than another day on the water. I would think most day sailers would not have enjoyed it, however.

I stayed in West Palm Beach until 3/23/11. Then our brother-in-law Joel arrived on April 7 for the sail up to Annapolis with Ralph. They had hoped to travel several days on the Atlantic with the first stop in Beaufort, N.C. planned for 4/10, but, had to stop at Bald Head after a hellacious lightning storm on the Atlantic and as 400 tornadoes that had struck the midwest and south also headed out to the Atlantic. They had gusts to 48 and planned to bail out to seek refuge when they could. However, these are long hauls and bail out areas are limited, so they had more than their share of weather excitement. Joel had to become an instant sailor, as well, and he was up for the challenge! He was a great help. But, as always, Mother Nature determined the schedule and the conditions. Who would guess that Ralph would be moving the boat during the worst spring for hurricanes on record? But, it seemed as if every year we sailed the locals said the weather was unusual. Climate change, anyone?

Some days later, Inspiration was able to continue the journey and they made way past Beaufort, Hatteras and in to Norfolk on 4/15. The storms again started raging in Norfolk. Since Joel had to leave on 4/17 and conditions were not amenable for the sail to Annapolis, Ralph waited for his weather window to continue on the last leg on his own. Most of the time, the boat was pinned to the dock due to high winds. Ralph had to adjust fenders to keep the boat from being damaged. Finally, he was able to leave for his single-handed adventure to Annapolis on 4/22. He arrived wet, cold and tired on 4/23. Hooray, the journey is now really completed! He spent another 5 weeks prepping the boat for putting it on the market. He returned home from his "5-6 week sail" four plus months later (on 5/28/11).

This marked the end of a remarkable adventure started in 2007 from Olympia, WA down the Trinidad via the Panama Canal and then back up to Annapolis. We figure we went about 10,000 nautical miles by the time we went into and out of countless bays, bobbled around and changed course or just plain had to go the wrong way to get where we were going as we depended upon the wind to take us where it would. And that is why we always figured a passage at an average speed of 6 knots although our boat could go 11+ with the right trim and wind. It is a great boat and we always knew it could take more than we could!