waiting out weather

[Gringo]

I don't know what's going on with the weather. Since we got back from Texas it seems that if it's not howling, it's raining. Except for those times when it howling rain. And we have had a few of those. Cisterns are staying full.
There was already about a foot or so chop at dawn this morning.



And it builds throughout the day.

I guess it was like this last year, too. I don't remember it being this windy this long. Must be Al Gore's jet stream or something.

But we try not to let the wind keep us off the water entirely. keep us off the water, entirely. We bought one of them Hobie inflatable tandem kayaks some months ago for exercise and knee rehab. It works real good. We just throw it on top of one of the 4x4's..




So when we don't feel like getting beat up offshore in the 'big boat', we have our little rubber boat and can always find a sheltered area. That's one of the good things about islands. And we have plenty of canals to explore around here.

Yesterday we saw the local version of "Deadliest Catch" boats..


(eat yer heart out, Sig)

Oh, that mop might be used to keep the deck clean, but that's not the primary function. The local lobster fishermen use mops to catch spiny lobsters. They use the mop head to entangle the spines. We haven't tried it yet, but from what I have seen it should work pretty well. They tell us to use an old mop, with fluffy strands.

Friday was the first time we had taken the kayak out since the knee replacement over five weeks ago. We got an hour of hard pedalling in, no problem:



Now, notice you don't see the dog in that photo. Historically, he rides on the very back of the kayak behind me. We figured that kept him out of the way of the pedals. And keeps a wet dog out of our way. More on this later.

So we have spent a total of three hours so far this weekend kayaking around exploring. Just goofing off, really. Looking at things like this really awesome boathouse someone is building into the canal bank:



That is going to be one really great place to keep a boat during a storm.

Things went so well Friday that yesterday we decided to give the sail another try. That's it rolled up and secured alongside the kayak:



We got out onto the Caicos Bank, in about a fourteen knot wind, and tried to sail. What a disaster. A real Flustercluck, if you know what I mean. The sail was flapping like mad, making a heck of a racket and for some reason I could not get the rudder to work. It was sporadic, and I could NOT figure out why. We didn't even get any photos of the sail up. We managed to duck into a little spot and get it all taken back down. THEN we figured out what was going on. This kayak has the rudder lines running through a flexible tunnel that is glued to the top of the kayak. Normally, the dog is sitting back there happy, and things work fine. BUT put him on a small boat with this big scary sail flapping to beat the band right above his head, and I guess he digs in. Or does something. ANYhow, we finally figured out that it was the dog in panic mode that was preventing the rudder from moving freely, which contributed to the boat not being controllable, and the sail flapping more, which further freaked the dog....well you can see this was a viscious circle.

I did check the specs on the sail later. Not supposed to try to use it when the wind is over 10 mph. Whoops.

We didn't try the sail again yesterday. We DID experiment with moving the dog forward. So far the only place we could find where he is not underfoot ( literally) is next to La Gringa. Which makes him just as happy as can be. And also keeps him close enough to throttle when necessary.


It remains to be seen whether he will be as happy riding up here in Business Class when that sail is directly overhead. I suspect he will beat feet to the farthest spot on the boat. Which will be shaking and shivering right back on the rudder cables. We'll see.

[g_max_2003@hotmail.com]

im from trinidad in the southern caribbean and i share many of the same experiences as you. and i have also heard of the lobster trick with the mop.

keep posting the pics gringo

greg

[Robja]

LaGringa has a lot of freckles

[La Gringa]

LaGringa has a lot of freckles

Those were photoshopped...!!!!!!!!!!!!

[clt_capt]

If the sail continues to bother Dooley, Use one of the paddles as a rudder. Maybe not as slick as the pedals, but just as effective.

[Gringo]

In the few instances when I was able to get the boat pointed the right way, and the sheet pulled in so it stopped luffing, it was fine. Noise went right away. Problem was that with the rudder getting hung up I couldn't maintain that position.

The way this kayak is set up, the rudder control is a little dial by my left hand. The sheet has it's own little cleat by my right hand. The front pedaller puts those fins up horizontal (by pushing either foot all the way forward), and the rear pedaller puts both fins vertical (both pedals side by side), and that becomes the centerboard, or keel. Once it's all set, it should sail along nicely with no effort at all. Oh, and it's supposed to be used in light winds. We haven't tried that yet. Who follows instructions?

This was only our second time to try the sail, and it was a hassle both times. But I couldn't figure out why the heck putting the sail up should foul the rudder controls...

and now I know. A Jack Russell Terrierest! A gremlin's gremlin.

I think a kite could be fun with this boat, too.

[Gringo]

Finally, yesterday afternoon we had light winds, under 10 kts. we were finally able to get the sail up and rigged, and found out that with light winds it works okay as an assist. It just doesn't like anything over 10 mph.

An added bonus is that in light winds it doesn't flap like crazy and scare the dog.



He DID manage to fall overboard in the middle of Leeward Channel though. We were crossing the wake of a big boat and he slipped and fell off the bow. Little PITA.

[gottaflylee]

Just reading this kinda puts things back in the right place in the world...love the yack....

[gutterman]

How is the job market there I have my captain lic. looking for a change and love provo. Time to do something differant and now is the time. I was there last june and would love to go back and never leave looking some info any help you could give

[Gringo]

With rare exceptions, boat driving jobs here are reserved for TCI citizens. The only way around that is either if the job requires some kind of qualification that no local guy has. Then the employer can get a work permit for someone who IS qualified to move here for that job. I don't think USCG captain qualification would make any difference, since this is not the USA.

If you are talking big boat (freighter) type licenses, then the way to approach that would be to talk to the ocean freight companies, ACL, Tropical, etc.

Oh, another way would be to form a business with a local partner driving boats.

I'll grab a local paper ( they come out about once a week, or so) and check the Help Wanted section. But you usually kinda need a local contact who really wants to hire you in the first place, from what I have seen.

Capt_John here on SFC probably knows more about the ins and outs of that, since he worked here as a captain.