The good light, strong wind dilemma
Shy on fresh produce and eager to go exploring, Rebecca and I had hopes of making a quick dash out of Port Egmont and into the next bay to the east, Calivigny Harbor. Although we had yet to visit this anchorage, unlike Egmont, it was reported to have a spot where we could get to shore and thus make our way to a grocery store.
Calivigny is one of those places that you can really only enter in “settled weather.” In fact, if you’re in there and the weather kicks up, you may very well be stuck there until it improves.
Here is what Chris Doyle’s Sailors Guide to the Windward Islands has to say about Calivigny Harbor:
You must have good enough visibility to see the reefs off Fort Jeudy. The shoals coming out from Westerhall Point are deeper and harder to see, though they often cause breaking seas. Stay with the devil you can see. Find the reef off Fort Jeudy and follow it into the outer harbor. The entrance can be hairy in heavy winds and large swells, and I would only recommend it to sailors with a lot of experience in reef navigation in rough conditions.
As we awoke yesterday morning to view the rising sun shining off the calm waters in our anchorage, our hopes were buoyed as the conditions appeared much improved from the day previous. I just knew the dilemma that we were going to be facing though.
In spite of the warnings, Rebecca and I were eager to explore Calivigny Harbor. What good is having a narrow, shallow-draft cat if we can’t explore out of the way places, right?
Knowing that we needed good visibility to see the reefs, we waited until 10:00 AM when the sun was high in the sky before we picked up our anchor. The problem with waiting so long is that the trade winds, which are frequently calm in the early morning, almost always really start to kick up around that time. And so it was yesterday. As we made our way out of Egmont Harbor we were greeted with brisk 15-20 knot winds out of the SE and considerable waves from the same direction. In my mind this was exactly the conditions that we did not want to see.
Although I said that we were eager to see the next bay, we are in no way reckless. After flying up and over some significant waves at the mouth of the harbor, we didn’t even bother rounding the Point of Fort Jeudy as I just knew it was going to be way too dangerous to try to enter that bay. So, because we had nowhere that we had to be, for a change of scenery Rebecca and I raised our jib and enjoyed a nice calm downwind sail towards St. George’s.
Will we go back to Calivigny Harbor? I certainly hope so. We just need to pick a time when the trade winds are suppressed in some way, or figure out how to deal with the good light, strong wind dilemma.
On an unrelated topic, while underway towards St. George’s, I hung over the bow pulpit and put a couple of stripes of white tape on our Rocna’s ring. I thought this would be an easy test to see if it aided visibility before we gave it a full-blown makeover. What do you think?
Top image: Anchor lying as we dropped it. Middle image: Starting to back down.
Bottom image: Almost set.
Looks like the striped/alternating pattern is a winner for the anchor loop. Nice job!
I agree. Thanks.
Yes the tape is quite visible in these photos. Is this the same view you’d get looking over the bow or only when in the water ‘diving on the anchor’?
In my Bahamas sailing I’ve found that the GPS gives such an accurate position location on the Garmin charts, and that they are so accurate relative to hazards that I’ve come to trust this method over trying to navigate by eye. I certainly don’t ignore what I’m seeing in front of me, but so often the glare and/or overcast sky combined with choppy water make locating reefs by sight nearly impossible. Therefore when navigating questionable waters I’ll just slow down and zoom in tight on the GPS for steering information.
Obviously, this isn’t something that you were comfortable doing in yesterdays situation and I’m curious about that. I’d guess that you’ve found some reason why this method doesn’t apply and would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks.
Unfortunately, unlike the Bahamas, the water is seldom clear enough to see the anchor from the boat in most places.
As for the Garmin charts, they have yet to let me down. Our reason for calling off our approach to Calivigny did not have to do with the charts or being able to see the reef. It had to do with the sea state which I think would have had us surfing into that narrow entrance. I was concerned that we might not be able to hold our line well enough to negotiate the channel.
Anchor tape looks great.
Forget the paint – two rows of tape and you can use it like a range and line of the shank just like your photo shows. Maybe a white reflective tape?
Yeah, I agree. I’m sure there are better tapes to use. I just grabbed a roll from our cabinet as a quick experiment.
Whose idea was tape? Actually looks pretty good with the contrast more than anything else.
I forget whose idea it was originally. The tape and the stripes is a good combination.
Great idea on the Rocna – what kind of tape did you use? I’d like to do it also. Looks like winds may be depressed in the next few days by the “N” named LO – maybe you’ll get to Calvigney?
Hi Dave
It is just simple white electrical-type tape. If we get a few extra-calm days, as we had a week or so ago, we’d love to check that place out. I’m sure without the big waves the channel would be easy.
Wow, that really shows up. Reflector tape would be good for at night.
Hi Gail
I’m sure you’re right. We avoid anchoring at night at all costs and if we ever do, we would never consider diving on the anchor. That might be nice in an emergency situation though.
Hi Guys…
I have to say that I’ve not even read this entry, but thought I’d send a message anyway. As I type this , I’m sitting on my boat in BRONTE and had decided to walk three fingers over to see if “TEMPO” was actually here. Hope fully you have kept in touch with Dave and Jackie.
Although they were not around, a neighbor informed me that they’re leaving here tomorrow or at least this weekend for the south. Friends of mine left have left this Aug. and are currently just up river form NY.
They are the ones that put me onto your blog, and since I’ off work with a knee injury, I’ve been reading your blog from the beginning (why I havn’t read this particular entry) and have a hard time putting it down. When Icatch up with you (reading) I will surely be sending you some more messages.
Yours in sailing,
Dan .
Hi Dan
That’s awesome! We have not written to or heard from Dave and Jackie for a little while but would love to catch up to them when they get further south. I think I’ll have to send them an email!
Thanks for reading the blog. I know it’s a considerable time commitment to get through it all. 🙂
Mike
PS: Speedy recovery on the knee thing.
Your concern to wait until the sun was high enough to give good reef visibility is obviously very sensible.
But, is it not possible to get good visibility by using good quality polarised sun glasses? I have not done it, though I have been told it works well.
Mike
Polarized glasses seem to give better contrast in high light. I don’t think they do anything to improve low light conditions.
Hi Mike and Rebecca,
I just found your blog a couple of weeks ago and wanted to say hello and thanks for this. It’s great! I’m stuck in an office in New York but dreaming of following you south. My wife and I have a Catalina 22 we sail primarily on the Hudson. Its on the Rondout – I did see that you stopped there on your way south.
I got a lot out of this particular post because I got into your thought process,looked at the chart, read the guide excerpt and could imagine myself making the same types of decisions depending on conditions and hazards. Heck, we’ve been out in much smaller and more local waters and gotten our butts kicked by high winds and had to change plans. By the same token, I have read some of the begining of your story and could envison us making some of the same choices regarding selling the house and other things. Maybe we will, someday.
I love this blog because it is informative, fun and never lacks for clarity and yet has a lot of heart. I so much appreciate it. I must be getting emotionally involved because I am now checking the stats of Hurricanes.
I doubt any tape will last very long on your anchor. But I will keep checking back.
Best regards and happy sailing.
Hi Sal
Thanks for the post and for reading our blog. 🙂
I remember our visit to Rondout Creek. We went to a cool bar there!
Keep in touch!