Caribbean - tips and hints

[jmh2002]

PS: Telesail, can you post of your awning?

[jmh2002]

A&F Sails: https://www.afsails.com/canvas-work/awnings/

Originally Posted by A&F Sails

Our awnings are made from high quality sunbrella fabric, reinforced with nylon webbing and are designed to stay ridged in strong winds. Standard features include: stainless steel rings, spliced lines, gore tex thread, nickel-plated grommets and ash wood pole when necessary.

LOL. That is pretty much what I described in my earlier post!

[FlyingScot]

Lift and lock dinghy, outboard and fuel tank every night. Dinghy theft is the #1 issue that I hear and read about.

Tie you dinghy painter on the cleat and again at another spot so you have a plan A and plan B if it comes off the cleat.

Never tie anyone else's dinghy, so if it comes undone there won't be any finger pointing.

We've only sailed around the ABC islands and I find them to be very safe. A lot of CG activity. We always get a flyover from either a helicopter or twin prop. Usually one, but sometimes two Dutch Navy Frigates patrolling the waters.

Only once have they got in our way. VHF call went something like this "SV Cosmos, this is WARSHIP such and such, we instruct you to stay 4NM clear of us to our North. It turned out they were doing live fire exercises. It was a little bit of hassle as the winds were light and we were trying to go SW but had to go N for a couple hours. They were zig zagging all over the place which sometimes felt like they were heading right at us while we were trying to stay away. Winds were around 8 kts, so our speed was 4.5-5.5 kts.

Other advice, stay below 12N during hurricane season.

[sailorboy1]

Ok a sunshade is a good idea. I basically posted that one so it’s not much new hints & tips for me.

Who has a new tip/hint?

[Telesail]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Ok a sunshade is a good idea. I basically posted that one so it’s not much new hints & tips for me.

Who has a new tip/hint?

At the risk of offending Sailorboy1, The tip was that an awning is better than a bimini for tradewind sailing IMHO. In fairness the rest of my “tips” were basically chopped liver....

Unfortunately I do not have a better picture but you get the idea.

[sailorboy1]

I’ll just let it go if we can move on.

For those WITHOUT a water maker, how much hassle was getting water? (Let’s avoid the pro/con of one, everyone knows what they are)

[Telesail]

Definitely easy to get water most places, normally at the fuel dock if you do not want to pay marina fees. But a filter - we use 10 micron and 5 micron cartridges -is almost essential. Some places have good water at least some of the time but you just cannot be sure.

[sailcrazy]

sailorboy1...FWIW-we cruised our first 3 seasons in the Caribbean withOUT a watermaker. It was doable, but a real PITA! And...you had to pay for the water; it was not free. Some places refused to let us top up, saying Yes, they had water, but they could NOT let us have it because then they would be liable and they did not have the proper docs(??). At the start of our 4th season, we bought and I installed a watermaker. Yes, it cost some $$, but the convenience and loss of hassle has been well worth it. And...we can take a shower, as long as we like, every day, if we chose to. Amongst the best $$ we've ever spent on our boat.

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

... natives in the Caribbean can be a bit more nasty as far as killing you and raping the wife, but more so further south...Some blame it on poor starving fishermen, I blame it on primitive psychopaths, lots of those down there...have a fancy boat, a sexy girlfriend or wife, a nice dinghy, whatever: Many a Times the locals want a piece of it and you are screwed...

Are these opinions all based on your personal experience; you must've had a rough time of it?
I'm just glad to see that you've recovered from being killed by those nasty locals down there and are now safely returned to the crime-free USA

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

...For those WITHOUT a water maker, how much hassle was getting water?...

Not much, we had to pay for water perhaps three or four times during the three years that we were in the Caribbean, though we often had to jerry-jug it back to the boat. Same with the Bahamas, though I don't recall ever having to pay for water there.

[daletournier]

Dont underestimate dinghy theft. Although I agree with other comments that some owners lose their dinghies the fact is outboard motor thefts are a big issue here. It's just the way it is in some parts if the world, Madagascar is another hotspot.

I've only been in the carribean for 2 mths and I know of 5 dinghy thefts and one attempted.

Our friends have a large dinghy with a 30hp on the back. They had it on davits and locked. The theives lowered the dinghy at night and used bolt cutters to cut the locks.
Fortunately they underestimated the weight of the outboard, they sunk their little boat and the outboard!! The owners sleep in the front of their boat and didn't hear a thing.

My friends got up in the morning and had a "..... moment, the dinghy is gone). Fortunately not long after they noticed something shining on the bottom, it was their motor. Not long after that another cruiser over the radio announced they had found a dinghy floating past, 7nm away.

They got lucky, motor is up and running and all is well.

This happened at Montserrat

[Scatterling]

Because of your limited sailing experience, I'd take along a third crew member. Preferably a fellow Hunter owner. Maybe one with knowledge of driveshaft coupling failure, sanitation hose replacement, offshore diving to free tarp from prop, Tohatsu carb cleaning etc. Just my 2c worth.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Scatterling

Because of your limited sailing experience, I'd take along a third crew member. Preferably a fellow Hunter owner. Maybe one with knowledge of driveshaft coupling failure, sanitation hose replacement, offshore diving to free tarp from prop, Tohatsu carb cleaning etc. Just my 2c worth.

He can come along, ............. as long as he promises not to touch anything

If he has experience with keel problems it would be a plus.

He can bring his wife. Does she cook?

[mikedefieslife]

In dinghy theft threads where are always people that claim the owner didn't tie it up correctly. If that is the case, why it these dinghy thefts seem to out number those in the Med by about 100:1 or more. Are people in the Med better that tying up their dinghies? I doubt it.

Originally Posted by Telesail

Definitely easy to get water most places, normally at the fuel dock if you do not want to pay marina fees. But a filter - we use 10 micron and 5 micron cartridges -is almost essential. Some places have good water at least some of the time but you just cannot be sure.

If you are filtering water at the source to that level it must take about 40 mins or so to fill your tankage. The fuel docks are ok with you waiting this long whilst others are having to hover about waiting for fuel? Especially if you don't actually need to buy much fuel.

I ask because many places in the Med aren't so keen.

[Telesail]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

If you are filtering water at the source to that level it must take about 40 mins or so to fill your tankage. The fuel docks are ok with you waiting this long whilst others are having to hover about waiting for fuel? Especially if you don't actually need to buy much fuel.

I ask because many places in the Med aren't so keen.

We rarely had a problem - mind you, we chose times that we did not have other boats waiting and would take a partial fill if we had to (water, that is. We have two fuel tanks and they take a while to fill anyhow).

I preferred to have a partial fill than put something in my water tank that could contaminate the whole lot. On our new boat, we have a water maker and it is useful for long passages. Not essential for island hopping.