Gadgets that improve the lifestyle on Sheer Tenacity

16.12.2011

Much as old school cruisers mock the need for Fridges,( for cold beer and salad stuff), Freezers,( for fresh meat, ice, and to freeze ones catch),

Calorifiers,( for hot water to spoil ones partner), water makers (to ensure reasonable quantities of drinking, shower and laundry water….to avoid degenerating into “grotty yachties”) ….we new kids on the block would never have been able to lure our ladies to into such a radical lifestyle without them!!

The price is once again, the never ending power struggle! Gensets are the obvious answer… Been there, done that… chucked it out!! Way too big, and too much of a hassle on a 40ft boat.

Another source of relentless pressure, is our ageing, aching bodies! Although the active lifestyle keeps one pretty fit and strong, there are times when the frozen shoulders, or degenerating discs make certain chores a pain in the arse.. or elsewhere! We have to make certain concessions, and start using brains and technology to compensate for our frailties, before we are forced to swallow the anchor!

Some of my friends and readers hate my technical digressions, whilst others are eager to hear more. So , for those who hate it , feel free to press “esc” now! In my defense however, I decided to rattle off a whole bunch in one go, rather than to phase them in like a slow intravenous drip! Some gadgets, I might have mentioned before, but collectively, they have done the job thus far for us!

First up is the 100amp Balmar Alternator, with smart regulator. I have resticted myself to the 100amp unit ,as it was the biggest I could use without changing the crank and water pump pullies from single to dual, which would make fitting the original spare alternator, in an emergency, a BIG job. Besides, I did not wish to use the main engine as my primary battery charging source.


I have changed to an array of 380w of 24v Solar panels, controlled by a Blue Sky MPPT controller. This set up puts in up to 24amps for 3 to 6 hours per day, and is way more efficient during the remaining hours as well. The AirX Marine windgen has been fitted with the new Silent Wind blue carbon fibre blades, which not only kick in at lower wind speeds, but are also quiet, and will not cause your neighbour to throw his towel into your wingen just to stop the screaming banshee!

With this “free” power input, we have added a 2000w Sinergex Puresine Inverter, which can cope with all my power tools, the vacuum cleaner, computers, and even a toaster or microwave if required!

We have added an Echo Tec water maker, which produces 55lts /hr, while using about 30 amps. We chose this ahead of the less power hungry Spectra , because it is so simple and can use non proprietry spares from most hardware shops. We have also built in an addition 60 lt tank to store non chlorinated water maker water, to enable easy flushing , which enables the unit to stand for 10 days between runs, before having to run again , or pickle it. We transfer “made” water in 60lt batches to our main holding tanks, into which we can also pipe rainwater from our rain catching bimini.

The final backup for all our power needs, and to make water without having to run the main engine, is our little 2.0kva Honda genset, which uses inverter technology. It only weighs 11kgs, runs on very little petrol, is extremely quiet, and can pump in up to 100amps via our Mastervolt 100 amp battery charger. !




In this age of “lock it or Lose it”, it is important to get into the habit of lifting ones dinghy every night. A good davit arrangement takes the chore out of this job. Our davits are hinged at the bottom of the two main gantry posts, so as to lift the dinghy clear of the transom hung rudder. A double block and pulley system to one of our secondary winches makes this a quick task .

My one concession to sore shoulders, back ( or to enable Mary to wind in the roller furler easily, or to lift the dinghy), is the hand held 28volt Lithium battery powered Milwaukee , right angle drill, fitted with a winch socket ! A full on power winch wherever we need one! Incredibly powerfulLast up…. To those of you who have made it this far, you might remember my blog about the fellow dribbling humungous nuts along the nudie beach at St Martin…. Well I found the tree in Grenada where he grew them!

Back at Home...Take Two!!!

15/12/2011

Sheer Tenacity was ready and waiting in her steel cradle, but sans the antifouling which we had purchased in St Maarten. We were told that it had “turned” and was unusable. I had been disappointed with the Micron 66 in the warm waters, and decided to try Jotun. This required a barrier coat, as the two products are incompatible. I returned the Jotun to IWW,from whom I had purchased it, but they never had any of the new Jotun as replacement. I had previously been told by a long term cruiser, that he had switched to Trinidad 75, which is a hard (non ablative), very copper rich antifoul. As IWW had this in stock, and the barrier coat had already been applied, I have gone this route.

We had a number of other jobs to tackle, such as replacing anchor lockers, and fitting new closed cell cockpit cushions, before beginning the task of preparing to launch : Fitting stackpack, sails, bimini, spray dodgers, running motor, commissioning systems and equipment. After 5 days of running around like hooligans, we were antifouled , fitted, tested, and ready to splash.

It then took another couple of weeks to provision and repack the boat, (and have a few sundowners as we renewed contact, and made plans with various cruising mates!),,, then we were good to go! Lobster season was open again too!!

Our first step was a shake down sail around to St Georges, catching a Tuna Mackerel along the way. St Georges is a pretty town, on the lee side of the island, with an anchorage, outside the lagoon, has clear water, and reasonably easy dinghy access to shops. We have decided to spend more time there when next we pass this way!
For once we picked a good SE breeze to start our way north, and enjoyed a 4 and 1/2 hr romp up to Carriacou, averaging 7knots, and catching a Dorado just past Gouyave. We arrived in Tyrrel Bay, and it was indeed, almost like coming home again! Stacks of well known faces, some of whom had not moved since we saw them last July! Paul Johnson,( he of the Venus ketch, many wives and sometimes artist), had managed to get knocked down by a car, and was nursing broken ribs and head stitches. His pain management system involves frequent sips of Westerhall Superb Light Rum, at all hours, from little 1/3 bottles that he always carries around with him. He needed this medical treatment while talking to me in the supermarket queue, waiting to pay for his breakfast sausage!

Elsewhere around the bay were a number of other boats and crews well known to Hout Bay! Australian Tony, musician and teacher, from “Ragin’ Cajun”, who had persuaded my ex neighbour, Lynn Rattle, to go sailing with him. She jumped ship in St Helena, and seems to have planted roots there now!

Another Hout Bay boat, is New Dawn. Mary and I used to enjoy our racing duals with Kyall and Ruth, on their previous boat “Suzanne”. They then bought “New Dawn”, and sailed over to Brazil. Sadly their relationship hit rough weather, and they went their separate ways, with Kyall buying out Ruth’s share in the yacht. We last saw Kyall down in Abraao, Ilha Grande in Brazil and suddenly he is knocking on our hull here in Tyrrel , with his new lady, Natasha . They are doing a quick circuit around the Grenadines, before heading down to Tobago to meet up with family.

Yet another Hout Bay boat, “Jervon”, with Jeremy, and Yvonne (who, thankfully, has been given the all clear after her 6 month check up in Trinidad after brain surgery in January). They are here to haulout, antifoul, and spend Christmas with old friends. “Olive” too, is here, also scheduled to haul out before making their way north.

Meanwhile , on Sheer Tenacity, we have spent a week remaking a new bimini , as after a few heavy downpours, it became obvious that 4 years is about as long as a Sunbrella bimini and rain catcher can be expected to last in the tropics.( we had ours up for a year in Hout Bay before we left, and it’s been up ever since we reached Brazil). Of course, no sooner had we finished, than the rain stopped, and we have had to commission the Watermaker!

After the Bimini, and a new set of saloon cushions to brighten up the interior, Mary has returned to full on cruising mode, even visiting fellow cruisers for sundowners with her top on inside out!

Home Visit

14th Dec 2011

To my shame and horror, my last blog was dated 17th July, and titled “Almost like being Home!”. Since then , we have in fact hauled the boat on to the hard at Spice Island Marina, repainted, varnished and generally put her to bed for the hurricane season…. stripped of all sails, canvas work, and strapped down to concreteblocks,between welded frames…. and hoped for the best!

We then headed for home, via Gatwick and Dubai to Cape Town, arriving exhausted and ailing from the usual long distance flight incubated flu, coughs and splutters. So this is more a bunch of excuses for not keeping up to speed with my blogs!!
The home visit was a whirlwind of medical and dental overhauls, financial reviews, political updates, Visa applications, leaving far too little time to spend with friends and family. We stayed with Kate in her beautifully renovated home in Tamboerskloof, and were lucky enough to be loaned a car by Maryandrew (as in Maryanne and Andrew), whose wedding we attended on our last visit home! We tried our best, and did a hell of a lot, but still fell short of meeting some of our friends on the “must see” list. Two months was just too short! Our apologies to all offended parties!
We did however, get a medical “all clear”, and were able to resolve a number of health problems that had threatened our cruising lifestyle. We also spent time with Steve and Kim, who have moved back to Cape Town after years in the Mozambican bush and islands. We even managed to get get Steve to to cook us all prawns on the braai for HIS birthday!

We spent time with Trevor and Shirl, both in Cape Town, and up the West coast in their new holiday home. We confirmed that the West coast area will be our probable landfall area, when we finally swallow the anchor, and give up cruising!
My Mom, Pam, had passed away shortly after our last visit, and she had made it quite clear to both Deb( my sister) and I that I should not rush home for a funeral, should she pass on. It meant however that Debs was custodian of her ashes for nearly two years, and so she arranged a small ceremony at Christ Church, because this was one occasion where we, as a family, were all together in the same country for a few weeks. Richard and Tina, the other family wedding we were lucky to share on our last home visit) with their new baby Maximillian, were also back in town for a visit from London. So with Mary and I, Steve and Kim, Richard and Tina, all in Cape Town for once, this was the ideal opportunity to do so.
Mom’s ashes were thus laid to rest besides my Dads, in a relaxed ceremony conducted by a former colleague of his, Rev Keith Griffiths, who changed callings, and is now the Rector of Christ Church. Deb mentioned that she felt a little awkward about having stored her ashes in the hall cupboard until such time as we were all together. Rev Keith put her mind at rest by telling her that he had kept his Mom’s ashes in the garden shed for five years, waiting for his brother and family to come over from Canada for the same reason. He said it was absolutely fine and very common in today’s world! He then went on to tell us that when Steve & Kim looked like being a little late, due to the traffic, he started having a panic attack, because he knew the automatic sprinkler system turned on at 5.20pm, and he did not know how to reprogram the system, or turn it off, and he imagined us all getting soaked as we tried to sprinkle Moms ashes! Thankfully Kim & Steve arrived on the dot of 5pm, and we were done by 5.15pm!
We retired to Deb and Graeme’s home for a family dinner , and were able to share family news and get to know Ingi, Nicks fiancé.

On the other side of the family, Andrew and Maryanne had also been doing what newly-weds do, and Mary attended Maryanne’s baby shower, for little Jessica, who made her appearance shortly after our return to the Caribbean.
In the blink of an eye, so it seemed, the two months were over, and we were on our way back to Sheer Tenacity, all safe and sound at Spice Island Marina, Grenada, having survived the Hurricane season without us!

Almost like coming Home!

7/7/2011

It was good to get back to Tyrrell Bay in Carriacou. We now know it so well—where to find the sandy patches for good anchor holding, when Denise and Lucy open their fresh fruit and veg stalls, where to buy the cheapest cases of Kronenburg 1664 beer, and all those very important answers to common cruising questions!
Many of the “Characters” on boats here, are regular live -aboards, but many of the new arrivals, are folk whose company we have enjoyed “up north”, who are also dropping down south for the hurricane season.
“Bolero”, an attractive 100footer, is such a yacht. She was built in Cape Town by Farocean about 20 years back, and is skippered & crewed by a South African couple, Mike and Sarah Kopman, who have also just bought a home in Hout Bay. We last met with them up in the BVI, and were able to catch up with their news, including their entry in the “Spirit of Tradition” class in the Antigua Classic Race Week. Mike has just paid for a gaff rigged Dudley Dix designed +/- 25ft wood and epoxy racing boat, which will probably be computer cut and packaged by our good friend Roy McBride! I sent a picture of “Bolero” to Roy, telling him about our small world, and Roy spotted a green double ender in the background. He wanted to know if it was a steel Hout Bay version of Paul Johnson’s Venus Ketch design. The answer turned out to be that it was a 100% German boat called “Pappegai”, which looked similar, but that by even greater coincidence, the boat anchored in front of us was an original Venus Ketch, called “Cherub”, owned and sailed by Paul Johnson himself!
Roy’s interest in Venus Ketches was due to the founding of the TBA, which featured this design at the time, and I was able to track down a magazine article about the man and his history, which I have no doubt Roy will share in his blog!
Jeremy and Yvonne (Jervon), arrived a few days later after making a detour via Petit St Vincent, in time to celebrate Mary’s birthday at the “Slipway Restaurant”, and a Tuna Mackeral Cerviche for supper.
We were all watching the weather carefully, hoping for a good window to head on down to Grenada. July5th looked good with an ENE breeze, and had the added benefit of a favourable Meridian passage of the moon, which would give an Easterly set of the current for much of the passage, instead of the prevailing westerly.
We chose to go down the windward side of Grenada directly to Prickly Bay, and we managed the 45 miles in just 7 hours. At times the seas were a bit lumpy where the currents rush between islands, but in the main it was lovely, with 15-20knots on the beam, and we romped along at up to 7,8knots at times.
And at long last, we caught a decent sized Blackfin Tuna, so it was sashimi for dinner….. 3 nights running!
Many of you have read “An Embarrassment of Mango’s” by Ann Vanderhoof. It is the story of Anne and Steve’s trip from Canada down the ICW, to the Bahamas, and the Caribbean to Grenada in their 40ft yacht, “Receta” It is a beautifully written tale, not only of their voyage and experiences, but also of her metamorphosis from a deadline driven Magazine editor, to a competent and laid back yachtswoman. Along the way, she shares her passion in cooking, using all the local island ingredients, with recipes at the end of each chapter…. Hence the boats name “Receta”.
We found “Receta” anchored just behind us in Bequia, and I told Anne that WE owned the most read copy of her book in the world , and how we had made our family read it in the hope that it would help them understand our crazy plans!
In Mustique, we met another Canadian couple, George and Joanne from “Romantasea”, and ended up lending them our “most read” copy, on the understanding that it HAD to be returned! When we met up with them again in St Georges, they returned the book to us, with a newly added inscription . “ To Rod and Mary, Owners of the most read copy!!!!Fair winds, wherever “Sheer Tenacity” takes you! Signed Anne Vanderhoof. “Receta” had anchored just behind ‘Romantasea” in Chatham Bay, Union Island, and showed them our book again!
Guess this copy is too special to risk lending now!!

In Anne’s spirit of sharing recipes, here’s “Sheer Tenacity’s”way of using up all those offcuts and trimmed bits of tuna, left over after preparing sushi, or seared tuna steaks!

.”Tuna Ciappino with Pasta”

1 ½ cups tuna offcuts (no dark bloodline meat)
6-8 cloves garlic
1 large onion chopped
2 red flavouring peppers
1 huge Grenada bayleaf
A sprinkle each of Oreganum,Rosemary and Thyme
Large tin of chopped tomatoes ( Hunts Fire Roasted tomatoes)
Table spoon tomato paste
Desert spoon brown sugar
Tot of Olive oil
Small tin sliced mushrooms
¼ teaspoon “Lime sauce” (a very hot Caribbean chilli sauce)
small pkt of bacon bits
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups pasta ( shells, elbows or spirals)

Add red wine or stock to correct consistency, and serve with fresh chopped basil as garnish! ENJOY!!

Salt Whistle, the Cays, Chatham, Clifton to Carriacou

23/6/2011

Salt whistle bay has got to be one of the most special anchorages in the Caribbean. As such, it tends to get overcrowded at times, and often with inexperienced bare boat charter boats. Fortunately, these folk are often on a limited time route march, and regardless of weather, they have to move on. We enjoyed a few days there, waiting for a good time to visit the Cays.
We all walked up to an old church, the highest point on the island, to look over the Cays, Saline Bay, Union etc, and to have breakfast at the Sunshine Bar and restaurant.
We all had a very refreshing R25 glass of juice, before enquiring about how long the breakfast would take, as we could see the rain clouds building.
“Oh, my Golly Gosh…… Breakfast!!” Said the owner. “ I have no more eggs or bacon…. All I have got is juice! Sold out of eggs and bacon yesterday!”

Mary and I elected to hot foot it back to the boat, as we had stupidly, and unusually, left the boat hatches open! Jeremy said “You won’t make it before the squall!”, and he was right! We got about half way down the mountain before the heavens opened, and we were drenched. By the time we got down to the dinghy on the beach at Salt Whistle Bay, the sun was shining, and Mary had won the “wet T shirt competition!”
Fortunately, the squall was short and sharp, and the boat was not too wet.
The following morning we went round to the Cays, where we dived with the Green Back turtles, that seemed oblivious to our presence, and also dived the outer reef, in lovely clear water, with shoals of reef fish, and the odd ray or shark. It was just as well we packed so much in on day one, because the rain came down in buckets the next day. We felt for Sheldon, and the crew of Nexus, a 60ft RSA catamaran, as the rain squall dropped its load. They were anchored next to us on a 3 day Grenadine charter, having to cover as much as possible in the 3 days.
We sailed on round to Chatham Bay on Union, enjoying a really nice, fast reach
in flat water, picking up a Barracuda along the way. Chatham is a wide open, well protected Bay, with minimal services…. which suits us! The water is clear, and the beach long enough for a good walk! Boobies, pelicans and jumping fish surround the boats , and our neighbour landed a bonito spinning from his foredeck.
On the following Monday, we headed round to Clifton , to check out of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and sailed down to Hillsborough, Carriacou, to check in once again, to “Grenada and Carriacou” .Bureacracy completed, we continued round to Tyrrell Bay to await the arrival of Jervon, who had elected to go via Petite Martinique, before coming to Tyrrell Bay

Magical Mustique?

8/6/2011

We made heavy weather of our little 12 mile line of sight sail to Mustique! The gentle Easterly was converted by a localized squall into a NE beat against a bitch of a current once we rounded Pigeon island on the way back up to Britannia Bay. When we skirted Montezuma Shoal , sailing into the anchorage, we did not know that the splendid homestead, with the infinity pool, behind which lay an entertainment /bar area, wedged between two hotel sized accommodation wings, belonged to Celine Dion! Now we do! It was still a bitch of a beat, but at least we can dream about the day we entertained and enthralled the great diva with our own little show! We learned later she wasn’t even in residence!!
The island is different, with its Kirstenbosch like gardens, and carefully manicured lawns, laid out picnic areas, barbeque facilities, gazebo’s, sign posted nature trails, horse riding centre, cricket field, tennis courts, library etc, all owned and controlled by the 100 “elite” owners, who make up the “whose who” of the entertainment world. We did the “Island tour”, and were shown where some of the celebs have their pads…. Mick Jagger, Bryan Adams, Tommy Hellfiger, Late Princess Margaret etc. We also were shown Corporate Homes where the big execs of organizations such as Merryll Lynch and Lacoste take time out to recover from their daily stresses!
Hotels such as the Cotton House, and the Firefly, sell their facilities as “An experience, not just a hotel”, and attract large numbers of honeymooners wishing to sample the lifestyle of the rich and famous.
The shops were indeed lovely, but expensive! A $3 EC beer would cost $15EC (R45) at Basils, but who knows which of the locals might pitch up?
On our last day there, Mary and I did a walk from Basils along the waterfront around to the point. The path took us through mangrove swamp areas, past bird hides, and beautiful picnic spots, through groves of carefully marked and signposted poisonous Machineel trees. Boards instruct one never to eat the “apples”, or to seek shelter from the rain under these lovely looking lush trees, as they are highly toxic: a fact we discovered for ourselves later that night.
I had collected a little pile of these apples to photograph, handing the camera to Mary afterwards to wash my hands in the sea. Later that night, Mary had a violent allergic shock reaction to something, with her throat and tongue swelling up alarmingly to the point where she could not talk or swallow. Antihistamines made no difference, and by 2.00am Mary managed to swallow and keep down two Cortizone tablets, without gagging. Slowly but surely the swelling came down to the point where she felt she might survive the night. We spent a very frightening six hours waiting for daylight and the clinic to open with the visiting doctor, where we were forced to join the waiting queue before being seen by Dr Teddy. He was so distracted by Mary’s sky high BP, that he would not listen to our previous experiences, and was convinced that Mary had suffered a mini stroke( TIA). Even when her BP came back to normal without medication, he kept seeing paralysis in one or both side of her face, and was convinced that her swollen tongue( twice normal size at 2,00am) was only normal size but paralysed. He instructed Mary to double her BP medication , and to do nothing strenuous!
Having seen Mary’s allergic reactions to the “No Seeums” in Brazil, and the Sand Dollar fibre toxins, we are still totally convinced that the problem was a “cross allergic shock reaction” to the Machineel tree. She had handled the camera after I had handled the apples, and washed my hands. Cortizone was her salvation in Brazil, and was again the answer in Mustique. Lesson learnt….If you are susceptible to allergic reactions ----- don’t go near a Machineel tree!
This little drama delayed our departure to Salt Whistle Bay, some 20 miles south in Mayreau where we met up once again with “Jervon” a day later.