Madame Geneva and her faithful crew are poised for our next adventure. This time it requires a bit more than provisioning, planning and topping off fuel tanks though.
April found us in Nonsuch Bay, Antigua with buddy boats, Karadow, Merlin and Ti Amo. All thinking a quick jaunt upwind to Barbuda would be a great last bash before we put our girl to bed in Jolly Harbour for an undeniable family emergency and our friends continued North to the northeast US. Captain Pete from Merlin hovered alongside of us at anchor that morning and we discussed ideas for our departure. Captains Tim, Pete, and I decided we would take a shortcut through the Spithead channel at roughly 30° north magnetic and skirt the reef on our way to Barbuda since, why not? We sailed single file through the reef watching obvious hazards on both sides popping out of and just under the crystal turquoise water as the channel grew narrower and the ocean swells started to come into play. Merlin, reacting to his chart plotter, went hard to starboard when depths looked reasonable only to stop abruptly and spin around calling out 12 feet of water over the reef on the radio. He bravely continued in the lead down the channel trying to get free of the reef while we both followed. I’m guessing it was a coral head or maybe a finger of reef not on the charts but my depth sounder went from a tense 12 feet to 7.5 feet with an ocean swell rolling under us towards the end! Our dear Madame requires 7 feet of water to avoid grounding! We spun in circles second-guessing ourselves and crept seaward until we saw a much kinder 28 feet below the keel and 5 foot swells from the east. That was one hell of a way to start the morning. Once offshore we all settled into a nice broad reach to even downwind sail around the north end of the island having heard from a fellow cruiser that the waves in Barbuda were making the anchorage is untenable. As we commonly do, we made a plan only to do something entirely different. Perhaps out of prudence perhaps for other reasons we decided to go back to Jolly Harbour and put our girl in the marina so we could fly home. Our friends very sweetly came in for the night as well so all the children (7 in total) could have one more night of fun together. That would be the end of our spring cruise but far from the end of this adventure.
We bid farewell to our friends wishing them a safe journey north and promising to rally when they come through Charleston and to feed them well when they do. The crew of Madame Geneva had to get home. Kelly’s brother Joe had been fighting bravely for five years at this point and his fight was coming to an end so we made hurried plans and caught a flight the next day back to Charleston. The timing could not have been better we all were blessed to spend some wonderful weeks with Joe before he caught his biggest and final wave.
There is no argument against family being the most important thing in life. So us being there and seeing my parents and Kelly’s family was right on time. That said, the five that live on our boat have made a big decision to continue with an adventure I never dared dream we would be lucky enough to embark upon.
I have been back in Antigua for eight days now stripping Madame Geneva of all of her canvas, sails, loose bits, pickling the water maker, water systems fuel systems, etc. because those are the requirements to load your home at sea onto a freighter and ship her to the Mediterranean for the next adventure.
This was completely new to me so a five day delay in the loading process, two of which had me anchored in the industrial harbor of St. John’s baking in the tropical sun with no canvas up for entire days, was naïvely unexpected. Once madame Geneva was allowed to come alongside the freighter it became obvious what the delays were. The delays were caused simply because this is a ridiculously difficult process. They must have had 30 yachts of all sizes from 40 to 80 feet on board in a jigsaw sort of pattern being hoisted by giant crane’s. Once in the cradles aboard the deck the cradles were welded physically to the ships (like with fire) All boats were strapped down with hurricane straps. I will say that my approach to the ship with its cranes and freeboard towering over my head was flawless except for the part where a plastic shopping bag was sucked into my bow thruster leaving me partially unable to steer as the ship approached a few meters away. No harm no foul just another example of how glamorous things can be and how quickly the expected does not deliver and the unexpected can bite you.
Gherty’s friend Pecan has bravely volunteered to stay aboard for the crossing boasting to be the first in our family across an ocean by sea
This has been the longest I have been away from my family since we became one and I have been sick over it since day two. It’s with mixed emotions I will fly back today as I miss them all so much I can think of little else. I also know that today will be my last day in the Caribbean which for the last few years has given Kelly, Che, Gherty, Quinn and me a life so extraordinary I am humbled to recount it.
The melancholy of leaving here is tempered though in knowing that we will be back. In fact we have little choice. After Our next adventures in the Med we can’t say exactly what we will do but we know we will sail back across the Atlantic Ocean as a family and there is little choice but to land in the Caribbean. And that will be all right with me.
Our Madame set sail today as well and I will be following her voyage via marine tracker. She will arrive in Palma, Mallorca, Spain in the Balearic islands in roughly 2 1/2 weeks. We are working furiously to get things settled at Folly Beach and will join her at the first week of June. Of this I can say with complete confidence “I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen”.
And that is why this so much fun.
Stay tuned, much love!