There are two extremes in boat ownership. One is having a boat and never sailing it out of the port (sadly every marina has its share of those) and the other is ‘sell up and sail’ and live on the boat full time like our friends Vicki and Porter on Cinnamon Teal. Most sailors fall somewhere in between. A chaqu’un son bonheur or ‘to each his own.’
Port des Minimes, La Rochelle: The biggest sailing marina in Europe with over 4,000 spaces. It is estimated that only 10% of the boats are used more that four times a year and there is a certain percentage that are never used at all.
Those of you who have been following this blog are acquainted with our bonheur as full time cruisers during the past year; soon to be part time cruisers during the winter months. But enough about us. As promised in my last post, here are the stories of three cruising boats we know and love and met up with during that miserable week in Antigua.
Short Term Sabbatical Cruisers: Stormsvale of Denmark
A dinghy with a lone sailor passes us in the channel on our way into Jolly Harbour. Just as he goes past, we hear him shout: “Debbie? Patrice?” Sporting a new beard and a slightly, err..more 'relaxed' hairstyle, we hadn’t recognized our good friend Mike, who we first met in the marina in Porto last October and last saw when we left the Canaries for Cap Verde at the beginning of this year.
Mike (Canadian), Tanya (Danish) and their two amazing children, Isabel (age 13) and Josh (age 9) rented out their home in Denmark their last summer and took off on a year’s sailing sabbatical. Mike is professor of oceanography at the Danish Technical University and although technically on sabbatical, still works from the boat as best he can flying out for various meetings when necessary. His beautiful wife Tanya has a Phd in oceanography and valiantly 'holds the fort' or the boat in this case wherever they are moored during his absences, taking care of and tutoring the children in their studies.
Their plan was to cruise down the west coast of Europe to the Canary Islands, cross the Atlantic to St. Lucia with the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in November and then cruise the Caribbean during the winter months before crossing back home in time for school to start in August. As so often happens in this lifestyle, plans change--both voluntarily or involuntarily. Two days into the ARC, the boat's batteries began to fail and they were forced to turn around. They made it back to the Canaries and decided to lick their wounds and ‘chill out’ there for awhile. Late January they crossed over to Martinique without incident. Given the delay and a growing desire to somehow continue cruising beyond their sabbatical year, they decided not to cross back to Europe this summer as planned. With the promise of a berth in Norfolk, Virginia from a friend, the current plan is to leave the boat there during the hurricane season, fly back to Denmark this summer and figure things out from there.
Their plan was to cruise down the west coast of Europe to the Canary Islands, cross the Atlantic to St. Lucia with the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in November and then cruise the Caribbean during the winter months before crossing back home in time for school to start in August. As so often happens in this lifestyle, plans change--both voluntarily or involuntarily. Two days into the ARC, the boat's batteries began to fail and they were forced to turn around. They made it back to the Canaries and decided to lick their wounds and ‘chill out’ there for awhile. Late January they crossed over to Martinique without incident. Given the delay and a growing desire to somehow continue cruising beyond their sabbatical year, they decided not to cross back to Europe this summer as planned. With the promise of a berth in Norfolk, Virginia from a friend, the current plan is to leave the boat there during the hurricane season, fly back to Denmark this summer and figure things out from there.
We had an enjoyable reunion with this lovely family in Antigua sharing stories and congratulating each other on making it this far. We made plans to meet up in St. Barths later that week.
Long-term Winter cruisers: Receta of Toronto
I read a book called "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" by Ann Vanderhoof way back in 2004. It’s the author’s true story of the two year sabbatical sailing trip that she and her husband Steve made from Toronto and Trinidad back in the 90s. This book both inspired me and terrified me and eventually served as the springboard of sorts into more serious sailing for us.
We often wondered what had become of them until one morning two years ago, when we were still cruiser ‘wannabes’ back in Trinidad, Amazon recommended a book to me called "The Spice Necklace." It's a book on Caribbean island culture and cooking by none other than this same Ann. That’s how we found out not only that they were back in the Caribbean, but that the boat was in Trinidad!
We often wondered what had become of them until one morning two years ago, when we were still cruiser ‘wannabes’ back in Trinidad, Amazon recommended a book to me called "The Spice Necklace." It's a book on Caribbean island culture and cooking by none other than this same Ann. That’s how we found out not only that they were back in the Caribbean, but that the boat was in Trinidad!
It turns out that after returning to Toronto, they missed the cruising life so much they decided to make a lifestyle change. They now live aboard Receta and cruise the Caribbean during the winter and in the summer months, during hurricane season, they usually leave the boat in Trinidad and fly back home to Toronto.
Steve is a photographer, art director and editor in publishing. Ann is, of course, a writer of several travel books and many magazine articles on travel and food. It's not always easy and can actually get very complicated at times, but somehow they managed to work from both places. Their success has inspired us to believe we might be able to do the same.
Once I realized that they were in Trinidad two years ago, I was able to track them down and invite them to dinner. They accepted our invitation and that evening we discovered that we were kindred spirits in many ways. Ann is originally from New Jersey, not far from where I was born and her husband, Steve is cut from the same out-going gregarious mold as Patrice. Moreover, we all share a love of good conversation and good food and thus a friendship was born.
Since we left Trinidad we have stayed in touch and they have been a great support to us this past year enthusiastically following our aventures. After much anticipation and with much rejoicing, Taka Trois and Receta finally met in Jolly Harbor, Antiuga. Oh happy day!
Steve is a photographer, art director and editor in publishing. Ann is, of course, a writer of several travel books and many magazine articles on travel and food. It's not always easy and can actually get very complicated at times, but somehow they managed to work from both places. Their success has inspired us to believe we might be able to do the same.
Once I realized that they were in Trinidad two years ago, I was able to track them down and invite them to dinner. They accepted our invitation and that evening we discovered that we were kindred spirits in many ways. Ann is originally from New Jersey, not far from where I was born and her husband, Steve is cut from the same out-going gregarious mold as Patrice. Moreover, we all share a love of good conversation and good food and thus a friendship was born.
Since we left Trinidad we have stayed in touch and they have been a great support to us this past year enthusiastically following our aventures. After much anticipation and with much rejoicing, Taka Trois and Receta finally met in Jolly Harbor, Antiuga. Oh happy day!
A Cruiser on a Mission: Rionnag of the Isle of Skye
After our Atlantic crossing, we needed some rigging work done on Taka Trois and the best place in St. Martin for that is FKG in the Simpson Bay Lagoon on the Dutch Side. Moored up on FKG’s pontoon was a young sailor in a very unique-looking red sail boat. He won my heart immediately as he was quick to take our mooring lines when we arrived and was on hand several times during our stay to lend a hand and share a ‘sun-downer.’
During the few days we spent on that pontoon, we learned that his father built that boat himself and had sailed it across from Scotland single-handedly. His father has since passed away and Jaime had flown over to first fulfill his father’s wish to have his ashes scattered in Dominica and then to sail Rionnag back home to the U.K.,
We ran into Jaimie unexpectedly again in Antigua where he was in the throes of preparing for the trip home with two crew members. Since then, we know that he has made it safely to the Azores and is now on his way to the U.K. It should take him two weeks or so. We wish him ‘fair winds and following seas” as we follow his progress with not even a hint of envy....!
During the few days we spent on that pontoon, we learned that his father built that boat himself and had sailed it across from Scotland single-handedly. His father has since passed away and Jaime had flown over to first fulfill his father’s wish to have his ashes scattered in Dominica and then to sail Rionnag back home to the U.K.,
We ran into Jaimie unexpectedly again in Antigua where he was in the throes of preparing for the trip home with two crew members. Since then, we know that he has made it safely to the Azores and is now on his way to the U.K. It should take him two weeks or so. We wish him ‘fair winds and following seas” as we follow his progress with not even a hint of envy....!
This photo (click on it to enlarge) was taken from Jaimie’s wall on Facebook with the following message: Atttached is a painting done by Ian (one of the crew members). A tradition on Horta (in the Azores) where sailors that have crossed the Atlantic can leave a painting of their story on the harbour wall. Ian opted for this whilst Jaimie ended the boats toilet and Geoff (the third crew member) did the laundry!”
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