Tag Archives: Maho Resort

US Virgin Islands — Jan 5 – 13, 2014

There are a few places in the Caribbean that are so comfortable, so pleasant and so familiar, that returning to them feels like returning “home”.   One of them is Francis Bay, St. John, USVI, where we settled in among friendly neighbors that must feel the same way, since they are so often there when we are:  Hunter and Devi (Arctic Tern), Lee and Sharon (Allegro), Bill and Coleen (Dolce Vita), and Tom and Lesley (Farhaven).  Also in the mooring field when we arrived, and hosting a sundowner that very evening, were Morgan and Lindsey (Nirvana).

The sheltered bay provided a welcome break from the raging winds we have so often experienced this winter, and the surroundings provided great opportunities for swimming and hiking.

We also engaged in some major projects.  The depth sounder had been acting flaky, and an installation of a new transducer before we left Trinidad had not solved the problem.  Nor did swapping the depth instrument in the pilot house — the one into which the transducer is plugged — with the seldom-used instrument in the master stateroom.   That left what?  The Sea-talk.  So we disengaged that and ran the depth instrument in stand-alone mode, getting its power directly from the boat via a spare sea-talk plug that Hunter graciously provided.  That apparently removed the problem.  What remains now is for me to attempt to re-integrate, one at a time, the components of the original Sea-talk network in order to find the bad boy.   Why re-integrate?  Because the stand-alone configuration gives me no depth or wind indications on the flybridge, and no wind indication in the pilot house.  (I am indifferent to lack of depth indication in the master stateroom.)

The other major project was the installation of AIS on Tusen Takk II.   (A word of explanation for the benefit of land-lubbers:  AIS means Automatic Identification System.  Active systems send and receive signals; passive systems receive only.  The signals sent contain such information as the name of the vessel, the speed, the direction of travel, the coordinates, and so forth.  The receiving instrument uses that information and similar information from the receiving vessel to calculate the closest approach and the time of that closest encounter. All of this information is then displayed on a computer running navigation software, or on a chart plotter.)  At the sundowner on Nirvana a number of captains sang the praises of AIS, recounting how during night passages the unit had kept them informed of the path and intentions of the large ships that ply the seas, and had made it possible to hail an approaching ship on VHF by name, ensuring that they would answer.  When I admitted that we had no such unit, Bill (Dolce Vita) urged me to come over the next day and see his installation. As he conducted the demonstration in his cockpit, he remarked that he had another unit installed down on his nav station below, and that his new unit had replaced the old and the old had not been used for a couple of years.   He offered to give it to me, and suggested that I bring my computer over to his boat to see if it would work.  I did, and it did.

So then we had the problem of installing the system on Tusen Takk II.  The AIS unit functions as a MUX, receiving info from the vessel’s GPS at one speed through a serial connector, combining that info with the info received on a VHF (or AIS) antenna (from other, transmitting boats), and sending the info back through the same serial connector (but at a different speed) to the computer running the navigational software.   Without Bill, I would have been at a loss.   With his help, after several attempts, we succeeded in tapping into the correct GPS output and getting the unit working!   Fantastic!

(For those who are curious, the AIS I installed is a passive unit, and the computer in question is my backup navigation device, running Nobeltech 8.something on an old Dell that just keeps on ticking and running Windows XP (gakk).  When/if I upgrade I will simply need a serial-to-USB converter to get the info to the new computer running the new nav software – which will definitely NOT be Nobeltech, given their policies concerning upgrades and additions to their charts, and will definitely NOT be a Dell, given that it is not a Mac.)

Our stay in Francis was not all work.  Our neighbors got out nearly every day, either snorkeling or hiking or both.  Our projects got only somewhat in the way; we joined the crew in an expedition to explore the now-defunct Maho Resort on one day, and on another the crew took multiple dinghies to Cinnamon Bay and explored the nearby ruins and then took the more challenging path up the mountain to Centerline Road, where we turned around and came back down.

On Jan. 13 we moved over to St. Thomas and took a slip at Crown Bay Marina, where we a)  equalized the batteries, b) provisioned, c) hired a taxi to help us get our new carpets at Tropical Shipping, and d) readied ourselves and the boat for the arrival of friends from Savannah:  Beth Logan and Steve Ellis.

About the carpeting.  We sought the advice of the folks at Kadey-Krogen, and learned that a number of KK-ers had used Jennifer Highlander (carpetgirl@att.net) who works at or near Stuart, FL.   We contacted her and she agreed to help out.   We sent her patterns that we carefully cut to size on craft  paper.  We sought her advice on carpet style and color, having also sent her swaths of material from our sofa cushions and window treatments.   She ordered the carpet material, cut them to size, attached borders, and sent them and appropriate carpet padding (also cut to size) to Miami, where they were placed on a Tropical Shipping vessel and sent to St. Thomas, USVI.   We carpeted the entire boat (except the engine room 🙂  ) and are extremely pleased with the results.   Our careful creation of the patterns and Jennifer’s careful work have resulted in carpets that fit each spot perfectly.

About our Savannah guests:  tune in to the next edition of “Chuck and Barb go cruising”.

 

 

US Virgin Islands – Dec. 19-30, 2012

Shortly after our arrival in Francis Bay, St. John, USVI, we had an extended period of high swells sweeping into the northeast Caribbean. We were well protected from the weather, but we paid a price for our location: we could not get a useable connection on the unprotected wifi that we had used the year before. So we hitched into Cruz Bay and purchased a Choice 3G/4G cell modem/router that we hoped would solve our problem. Alas, no joy.  Friends Devi and Hunter (Arctic Tern) had acceptable reception on their 3G AT&T router, but our vendor’s signal was not visible in Francis Bay – at least from our extreme NE corner.  We were not totally isolated, however, since our iPads could receive AT&T 3G signals.  Marvelous instruments those iPads, but there are certain functions that cannot be performed on them, or that are awkward.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay in Francis Bay.  We got down the kayaks from the upper deck and did some paddling in the bay.  We went for walks on the island.  We had a number of sessions of Spades with the Terns, during which the women unaccountably mostly won.  There was a repeat of last year’s dinghy float on Christmas Eve, and a large contingent of cruisers attended dinner at Maho Resort on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day there was a cruiser-initiated ugly T-shirt contest on the beach.  Barb attended (getting ashore via kayak), but I stayed on board and completed the nth rebuild of our water maker “energy transfer device”, known to Sea Recovery owners as the ETD, of course.  How did that go?  Well, the rebuild improved considerably the production rate, but there is still evidence of malfunction.  My guess is that there is a seal that looks ok but that is really not working properly.  I think Sea Recovery is a fine water maker, but I must repeat something I have said before:  if one is considering purchasing a water maker, do install a modular unit; DO NOT install a “compact” unit that is totally encased in a frame, at least not if the frame is then tucked away into an inaccessible location.  Pickling should be easy, but the attachment points are not accessible if the water maker is inside a “compact” frame.  Removing the ETD should be easy, but it is not easy if the water maker is inside a “compact” frame.   Attaching/unattaching the power and control wires should be easy, but it is not if the water maker is inside a “compact” frame.  Go modular; eschew “compact”.

On Dec. 28 we moved from Francis Bay to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.  Our 4G modem could see a signal, but kept going blank.  We took it in to the local Choice shop, expecting to be told that there was a problem with the power connection. Nope.  The young clerk took the unit to a back room, and returned in about ten minutes with same, but with a firmware update.  Did that help?  Yes!  Hurray!   We now have super-fast wifi on our boat!

As we were returning toward our dinghy from our visit to Choice, we ran into a large group of cruisers heading over to Shipwreck Tavern to take advantage of “hamburger night”. We reversed direction and joined them.  Huge burgers at reduced price.  Barb, ever faithful to her almost-totally vegan diet, had a veggie burger.  I didn’t.  (Her diet has been a tremendous success, by the way.  She has lost a bunch of weight and has reduced her cholesterol by 100 points to a now-acceptable level.  She is pleased and proud, and so am I.)

Next day (Dec. 29) we caught a bus and saw a movie at Caribbean Theatres.  Django Unchained.  Afterward, Barb asked me to remind her next time to never see another Tarantino movie.  The movie was done well, but extremely violent and bloody.  Is it any wonder that the USA is so plagued by massacres.