Chasing Elegua

[Elegua]

Some friends just arrived from St T and an impressive moonrise

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Ribs, bow crew, bow thrusters. All super yacht stuff.

The wind is up, so I’m not super excited about getting off the dock as I planned this afternoon. The potential for things to go spectacularly wrong is big. Discretion something, something valor.

Oh, yeah; spray some raid on you dock lines to avoid boarders.

Would love to see the Caribbean, but that all sounds like a great reason to avoid civilized areas.

I’m trying to imagine all of that - a swarm of gross superyachts, a swarm of gross cockroaches crawling up your mooring lines, and a swarm of 99%ers med moored all around you and all of its hassles. But I guess wintering over in Glacier Bay, AK would have its own hassles

 

[slug zitski]

Would love to see the Caribbean, but that all sounds like a great reason to avoid civilized areas.

I’m trying to imagine all of that - a swarm of gross superyachts, a swarm of gross cockroaches crawling up your mooring lines, and a swarm of 99%ers med moored all around you and all of its hassles. But I guess wintering over in Glacier Bay, AK would have its own hassles

Hate to tell you this but the entire world is simply infested with yachts

the smallest anchorage or port…the tiny one boat spots …all have two of three boats

the Caribbean is particularly bad ..I no longer need a chart to identify harbor s or anchorages ..I just look for the forest of masts

 

[Elegua]

@Jud - s/v Sputnik

Nah, mate; you got it all wrong. Sure there are super yachts. Yes there are charter boats. Uninvited boarders are a problem anywhere in the tropics. I didn’t see any, but I know they are there. This more about me getting used to a different type of cruising.

But, yes “ uncivil” areas are nicer.

 

[slug zitski]

@Jud - s/v Sputnik

Nah, mate; you got it all wrong. Sure there are super yachts. Yes there are charter boats. Uninvited boarders are a problem anywhere in the tropics. I didn’t see any, but I know they are there. This more about me getting used to a different type of cruising.

But, yes “ uncivil” areas are nicer.

View attachment 558800

Be alert ..personal security

the rule is ..the first day they spot you , the second day they make the plan and on the third day they get you

increase vigilance when you plan to stay for a while

 

[accnick]

Be alert ..personal security

the rule is ..the first day they spot you , the second day they make the plan and on the third day they get you

increase vigilance when you plan to stay for a while

That was the approach we took to crocs in Australia. We were told never to go ashore at the same place twice in a row, as the crocs would lie in wait for you to return.

We were anchored off Horn Island in the Torres Strait when a fisherman came out to tell us that a large croc was keeping an eye on us. I didn't think much about it until a croc that looked about half the length of our 40-footer swam by while we were having drinks in the cockpit.

Needless to say, we didn't even put the dinghy in the water.

 

[slug zitski]

And remember ..a big portion of theft , break in is by fellow cruisers ..nasty bunch

I can tell plenty of stories about these flea bags

the Caribbean is full of them

be alert

 

[Elegua]

So stay home then?

We’re late to the party. GPS and easy communications have made remote places easily accessible to the punters.

Nothing is the same as 20-30 years ago. When I went treking in NW Nepal to Rara lake and beyond (Simikote) we were the first white people in living memory in some locations. Now it’s a regular stop and former Maoist hotbed. I remember having to send telegrams because there was no phone service STOP

 

[slug zitski]

So stay home then?

We’re late to the party. GPS and easy communications have made remote places easily accessible to the punters.

Nothing is the same as 20-30 years ago. When I went treking in NW Nepal to Rara lake and beyond (Simikote) we were the first white people in living memory in some locations. Now it’s a regular stop and former Maoist hotbed. I remember having to send telegrams because there was no phone service STOP

No

be alert or you will get bitten

 

[Elegua]

No

be alert or you will get bitten

That was always true. I remember some eurotrash backpackers trying to steal my stuff at the start of a trek way back when and then they tried to beat me up over it. Then it was the Israelis fresh from the army washing their socks in the town cistern trying to get us beat to death.

The key it’s to take precautions and be the grey man.

 

[Ajax]

Nah, mate; you got it all wrong.

The key it’s to take precautions and be the grey man.

Preach it, brother!

 

[TheDragon]

Makes my trip through the South Pacific seem idyllic, lots of isolated anchorages with few if any boats, and no issues like the above.

 

[slug zitski]

Makes my trip through the South Pacific seem idyllic, lots of isolated anchorages with few if any boats, and no issues like the above.

The only reason you go to the Caribbean is it’s superior sailing conditions ..perhaps the best

cruising is a bunch of second class rolly anchorages and hurricanes that break everything every few years

 

[Elegua]

Makes my trip through the South Pacific seem idyllic, lots of isolated anchorages with few if any boats, and no issues like the above.

You’ve been in one part of it. It’s a big place.

When I was talking about unwanted boarders, I was talking about cockroaches. After living in AsiaPac for close to 40 years, I’m pretty sure they exist, and on docks, too.

 

[Bryanjb]

English harbor can be tough, lots of breeze on the beam.

 

[CapDave]

Jeez, you guys are making the Caribbean sound like a s..thole place. Sure, it's not the untrammeled paradise that it was when I started sailing here in 1974, but there are many many places to go off the beaten path a bit, and it's still beautiful, and the climate is great. The further you get from the bars and restaurants the fewer people there are. And there is one side benefit to being not remotely 'remote' anymore which is that repairs, maintenance and upgrades are easy; for us it's more like 'home waters' sailing. Not sure about the "second rate rolly anchorages" Slug, maybe you've been looking for love in all the wrong places? Hurricanes, yeah, like many places around the world, and try Googling Medicane!

 

[2airishuman]

The key it’s to take precautions and be the grey man.

Just don't overdo it. Once, late at night, I almost got beat up by a bunch of American youths while traveling in Germany because they thought I was a German.

 

[Bryanjb]

My wife grew up cruising in the Caribbean, they were often the only boat in an anchorage for weeks. That solitude is gone, it's been replaced by marinas with travel lifts, chandelries, ATM's, grocery stores, restaurants... These are all good things for the cruising community. There are still places you can go that are quiet like Barbuda.

 

[Kris Cringle]

While we still don't lock our doors here (yet), you can't go anywhere without expecting to be fleeced at the very least.

Our last was an inept pickpocket in Milan, Italy. My wife foiled her with loud, "CUT IT OUT" on the train platform. Apparently, that phrase or tone needs no translation; the crowd parted leaving the pickpocket standing there with a lame WTF look?

 

[slug zitski]

My wife grew up cruising in the Caribbean, they were often the only boat in an anchorage for weeks. That solitude is gone, it's been replaced by marinas with travel lifts, chandelries, ATM's, grocery stores, restaurants... These are all good things for the cruising community. There are still places you can go that are quiet like Barbuda.

Barbuda is OK …, clear water, fish…..also wind blasted and isolated

the best cruising is nor necessarily about isolation ..it’s about low density ,secure anchorage , nice facilities ashore…taverna or grocery shop ashore .. with happy people

rallying around a taverna in the evening for beers , something off the grill and conversation with local folks is what life is all about