Caribbean - tips and hints

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by stormalong

What is that supposed to mean?

to bite on sailing experience, I've got more than a "few" sails under my belt

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by stormalong

What is that supposed to mean?

That he’s got a twisted sense of humor. And that after his 3 years of monthly cruising expenditures is giddy to have reeled someone in with the “limited experience” line.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

That he’s got a twisted sense of humor. And that after his 3 years of monthly cruising expenditures is giddy to have reeled someone in with the “limited experience” line.

Cheap entertainment, cuts down on his cruising expenses. [emoji849]

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Cheap entertainment, cuts down on his cruising expenses. [emoji849]

just another budget control item I bring to the table

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Smaller headsail, no need for big Genoa's, a nicely cut jib is great for going up and down the windwards.

Hmmm. How does this apply to boats that are head sail driven? For example my boat has a 14m2 main, but a 36m2 genoa.

Originally Posted by mvmojo

Yes, you'll need shade for the boat - we spent 6 years down there on a 42' ketch and had an awning that spanned the two masts and had side curtains that attached to the life lines. Invaluable. Make sure it fits and can be rigged bar tight or the wind will rip it up.

Follow another poster's advice and skip the big genoa - we had a 135% jib and it was too big.

If as some have said if blows 15-25knts everyday. Then aren't your awnings and shades being blown around like crazy.

I hate windy anchorages, currently in Lagos where it's 20-30 knts every day. The wind kicks up enough waves to make swimming unpleasant or being anywhere in the wind, and my shade has had to come down.

No-one has mentioned dinghy thefts yet. I follow a number of cruiser pages for various places in the Caribbean that I expect to end up visiting. All of them are rife with thefts, it seems few people leave the Caribbean with the same outboard/dinghy combo they arrived with

[boatman61]

Never had a dinghy theft in the Caribe.. mind I use a long chain that secures the O/B to the dinghy then leads fwd to the bow with 9ft spare to lock tight on a cleat or ring ashore and nights its slung up and locked to the boat.
Wonder how many thefts are actually arrive back at boat pissed and tie up/secure poorly and it drifts away.. common in SMX.
Best way there is wait for a SE and sail over the top of the Bahamas.. should give you 3 days as the wind swings round to the SW then ride the N front E when it inevitably arrives..
Enjoy.. its a great area once E of the US Islands.. ignore the drama queens..

[sailorboy1]

I think a lot of dinghies leave their owners once they find out the owners aren't worthy

[Telesail]

On dinghy theft: Definitely need a dinghy lock and, unless you are lifting the dinghy out of the water at night, a cable or chain that attaches to a strong point. However, In a decade of being in and around the Caribbean on various boats, we have never suffered from dinghy theft. It seems to be more talked about than actually happening all the time.

Other specific tips would include:

Get some dinghy nav. lights - not just because local governments are becoming keener to fine people without but because we have seen unlit dinghies almost run down by motor boats that just did not see them.

If you can pre-file immigration details (such as e-sea-clear etc) or get copies of forms before you arrive then definitely do so. It often helps you jump the line when you get to customs and immigration.

Bring your check-in papers to any chandlery or service provider if you want to shop duty free (supplies for a Yacht in transit).

Buy your fuel after you have your check-out papers since you will often be able to re-fuel duty free.

Assume that nobody has/uses holding tanks and so do not swim in a busy anchorage unless you are the windward boat (particularly bad on the moorings in Anegada, where charter boats don’t even seem to wait for cover of darkness to dump their tanks).

That’s it for now

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

If as some have said if blows 15-25knts everyday. Then aren't your awnings and shades being blown around like crazy.

Not if they are designed and made correctly. See my earlier post about awnings. They should be stretched tight and almost ridgid once deployed.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Telesail

On dinghy theft: Definitely need a dinghy lock and, unless you are lifting the dinghy out of the water at night, a cable or chain that attaches to a strong point...

The outboard mounting toggles make a good strong point, and secure the engine to the dink.

[Kenomac]

Regarding dinghy theft, it’s my belief that well over half of them are in fact the result of owners or friends having tied crappy knots that come untied. We’ve experienced this first hand, which is why I always check the knots on everyone except for three close cruising buddies. On our boat, we actually use a knot to secure the knot along with a carabiner to secure the secure knot.

It also helps to have an excellent outboard with almost zero resale value. All three of ours are 30-35 year old 2 strokes in pristine condition under cowlings which have been beated up by an ugly stick. It doesn’t hurt to also show a little exterior corrosion on the lower unit. When we come pulling up to the dinghy dock in a huge cloud of blue stink coming off our funny car loud 40hp 200lb Mercury, I assure you... nobody’s thinking about stealing our outboard.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

Not if they are designed and made correctly. See my earlier post about awnings. They should be stretched tight and almost ridgid once deployed.

Hmm, mine goes over the boom and gets sinched tight to the mast, to the boom at both ends, 6 stays, and the lifelines.

The stays and lifelines aren't bar tight though so still allow some movement. 20 knts is actually very strong. Ok perhaps fluttering like crazy was over playing it a bit, but unless you can get everything bar tight and the fabrics stretched like a drum skin it's going to move.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Hmm, mine goes over the boom and gets sinched tight to the mast, to the boom at both ends, 6 stays, and the lifelines.

The stays and lifelines aren't bar tight though so still allow some movement. 20 knts is actually very strong. Ok perhaps fluttering like crazy was over playing it a bit, but unless you can get everything bar tight and the fabrics stretched like a drum skin it's going to move.

I understand what you mean, but that is because many awnings are poorly designed and made. Not much more than a piece of material with some string attached.

So yes, that is why I wrote that "they should be stretched tight and almost rigid once deployed" to stay up in wind and rain.

I can't remember ever needing to take ours down in the Caribbean due to weather.

The awning I am referring to was built by Antigua Sails way back when. They built their awnings like sails:

- hollow cut
- the edges that carried the main loads were heavily built with webbing
- the corners, and point(s) along the sides, were made like a sail clew, with radiating webbing reinforcement and a ss metal ring
- attached to each metal ring was a line and this went around the attachment point (side stays, backstays, runners, arch, etc, depending on the boat) multiple times to create a multipart purchase
- these purchases were cranked on until everything was bar tight
- the very flat cut of the awning and the bar tight edges then created a very tight and rigid awning with very little movement
- the lifelines or toerail was not used as an attachment point unless the side curtains were rolled down.
- if the side curtains were in use we attached them to the toe rail (because as you said, the lifelines always have some slack) and again, tensioned them, although not as highly as the main part of the awning

Here are a couple more examples of something similar (although I'm not sure if these are exactly made by Antigua Sails)





And, whilst I have no direct affiliation, here is a link that describes the kind of quality awning that I am talking about from Antigua Sails:

https://www.superyachtservicesguide..../antigua-sails

Originally Posted by SSG website

Custom awnings are a particular speciality and Graham has many Captains who insist on his awnings for their present vessel, as they have done repeatedly for all their past commands. Nowadays this often sees him being flown across to Boat Builders yards to measure a new custom awning at the build stage, or alternatively, yachts leaving the yards without them... and then heading straight across the Atlantic to rendezvous with 'the man himself’ !

That might sound over the top for a small cruising boat but a proper awning like this is a good investment for tropical cruising. As I said earlier, we used ours consistently down island, it was up almost every time we were at anchor (excepting brief stops for one night) and after 6 seasons it was still going strong.

Also, in addition to the comfort factor, a good big awning like this also provides a lot of protection to the boat itself. The tropical sun really beats everything up.

Hope this helps

[Telesail]

I wonder if it is something about Antigua.... We had our awning from A&F Sails in Nelson’s Dockyard (Shout out for Franklin, who ensured it was a perfect fit and, like JMH’s awning, sits drum tight and laughs in the face of only 20 kt winds) and have not had a moment of regret. It allows us to avoid a bimini and so have an unfettered view of the sails for trim etc.

I would recommend a wide brimmed hat, UV protective clothing and sun cream coupled with a good awning for when you have dropped anchor beats a bimini that creates windage and a potential point of failure in a proper blow.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by Telesail

I wonder if it is something about Antigua.... We had our awning from A&F Sails in Nelson’s Dockyard (Shout out for Franklin, who ensured it was a perfect fit and, like JMH’s awning, sits drum tight and laughs in the face of only 20 kt winds) and have not had a moment of regret.

Yeah I think many of those guys started out at Antigua Sails, and the ones that didn't still had very good examples to learn from close at hand.

And again you see that with Franklin, he is a sailmaker too, and for me it's those skills combined with the canvas making that makes a really good awning.

We had new dodgers made by Antigua Sails as well. They were fantastic too.

The new stainless frame was by Marine Power Services and some adaptive woodwork to make everything fit right was by Woodstock. Andrew had relatively new mostly one man band business back then serving the Classic boats, now he has a full service company with an army of staff!

Funny how quality work seems to grow solid businesses that are still around 25 years later (plus all the years that they were operating before too).