Profligate's Progress
April 7 - St. Barth
There is a lot of change in the air here
in St. Barth. It's noticeably warmer, dryer, and more humid than
even a month before. There is less rain, so the island's hills
that were so green back in early December are now covered with
brown vegetation. The winds are generally lighter and the seas
calmer, making for perhaps the most ideal sailing conditions
of the year. The calmer conditions mean the already clear water
is even more transparent than before. You can't believe how beautiful
the color of the water is beneath Profligate here on the
hook off Gustavia.
The view of Profligate as seen the from sand path down
to Grand Saline.
Profligate at Baie St. Jean, another favorite.
For all intents and purposes, the end of
April marks the end of the main sailing season in the Caribbean,
and Antigua will be the center for the last blasts. Next week
the island will host the Megayacht Regatta, followed by the Classic
Regatta, and topped off by Antigua Sailing Week. All these events
are expected to be the biggest in years, with perhaps the best
quality boats ever.
As such, many of the good friends we've
made over the season, and many of the great yachts, have moved
down to Antigua. A few have already taken off to the Med or the
East Coast. All the talk around the tables at Le Select is who
is going where on what boat, which crews are jumping ship, who
is having a new boat built - it's all about the changes. Some
of them are sad. Relationships have formed between crews on two
different boats, and now their boats are headed in different
directions. "I really love her, but I don't think we'll
get to see each other for at least three months, and even more
if I can't get a work visa for the States."
There's lots of change aboard Profligate,
too. Friday will essentially be the last day of the Wanderer's
winter season in the Caribbean. It's true that he'll be flying
back to Antigua after giving seminars on the Baja Ha-Ha and comparing
Mexico with the Caribbean at Pacific SAIL EXPO in Oakland, but
it will only be to do one Antigua Sailing Week race aboard the
90-ft Leopard of London, before taking off on Profligate
with a big crew for the 1,100-mile trip to the San Blas Islands
and the Panama Canal. Doña de Mallorca will similarly
be flying back for Sail Expo only. After reaching Panama, she
and several others will be bringing the big cat back to San Francisco.
Chris Bridge on the Outremer 55 Cheval did it from Panama
to San Diego in 20 days, and de Mallorca is hoping for a similar
time.
It's been a tremendously satisfying winter
for both the Wanderer, who was lucky to spend about half the
season here, and de Mallorca, who has spent the entire season
here. Number one, of course, has been the friendships that have
been made with a truly international cast of boat and land people.
For 27 years when on his boats, the Wanderer has basically darted
from one cruising destination to the next. This winter was different,
for other than trips to Antigua, Anguilla, St. Martin, Nevis,
St. Kitts, and Saba, Profligate has been based in St.
Barth. More or less staying put has been a great change. It's
helped, of course, by the fact that just about every great yacht
in the world, and many of the great sailors, have stopped by
the island one or more time.
This living close to nature business has
been fabulous. Sure, there have been a couple of rough nights
when we've had to stand anchor watch, and some rough sails, but
all in all it's been fabulous. Yesterday we circumnavigated the
island for our eighth time of the season, and now feel quite
familiar with the wind patterns, the currents, the rocks and
the reefs. Our goal is 10 circumnavigations, so we intend to
go around again today and on Friday. Lucky us! Another thing
that's put us closer to nature has been swimming, boogie boarding
and snorkeling. This morning we woke up, threw on a suit, dinghied
150 feet over to a sensational reef, and saw half the fish pictured
on a laminated card of Caribbean reef fish. The water was clear
and 83 degrees. The other day we caught about 100 waves with
our boogie board. And the scenery - the blue water, the white
sand, the jagged hills, the topless girls - was lovely.
The view of Grand Saline Beach, our favorite for boogieboarding,
from the galley of Profligate.
Doña de Mallorca, getting in a little exercise. Despite
it being the tropics, most days she runs for a mile and also
likes to get in some swimming with her boogie board.
Photos Latitude/Richard
The one goal we didn't meet this winter
was getting around to more of the Eastern Caribbean islands,
such as the Grenadines, the Virgins, and all the places in between.
Given this tremendous amount of unfinished business, after a
summer back in California and another Ha-Ha in late October,
Profligate will probably return to the Caribbean next
year. Yeah, a month to get here and a month to get back to California
is a long time - but the destination has been worth it to us.
The moral of our winter in the Caribbean:
You can do it, too. It's not that hard, and if you're willing
to live simply, it's not that expensive either.
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