144. A Parrot in a Palm Tree

Christmas morning, Sunset House

I went for a Christmas dive at Sunset House with a group of friends – Richard, Norma, Joe, Mark…we all wore Santa hats and took a group picture with the mermaid.

I got a bottle of Diplomatico Reserve Exclusiva Venezuelan Rum for Christmas, my very favorite rum at the moment. And a couple of books about sailing I found at the animal shelter shop. And already feeling much better about the lack of boat maintenance being done.

The first book was John Kretschmer’s story of sailing round Cape Horn in a Contessa 32 – my dreamboat.  Contessas are very similar to Elizabethan 31s; both are tough heavy English sailboats built in Lymington in the 1970s, designed to be sailed in gale force conditions.  Compared to Gigi, Sonic Boom is actually longer in the water, slightly narrower and heavier, has a longer keel, larger cockpit, more headroom…

It’s always interesting to read about storm tactics; I smiled when Kretschmer wrote that when the wind went up from 40 knots to 50, and waves up to 15 feet, he added another reef in the main, rolled in the jib a bit more, and maintained course. But what about in even worse conditions than that? Many sailors like him, and with boats as good as a Contessa, argue that in a hurricane out at sea, instead of going bare poles, the secret is to heave to. Both tactics were tried in my next book – the story of the 1979 Fastnet race and the deadliest storm in sailing history.

Richard Santa

wreck of a world War II landing craft

143. Aqua Quake

Christmas winds have arrived, there’s a nice cool breeze at night and no mosquitos. Rough seas mean no diving, so I tried to catch up on some boat maintenance. I finally fixed my compass light – so happy about that. In the end I bought a tiny 12v LED stick-on light for five bucks from Parkers, the best auto parts shop on the island.

I also fitted a new VHF radio; it’s submersible, and has an AquaQuake function.

The reason I bought it (an icom m324g) was it also has built-in GPS. My coordinates are displayed on the screen, which means that if I have a problem with my chart plotter I have back up for navigation.

Online I got a ship radio license and registered the MMSI number, so now if I lift a cover and press a cool red button for three seconds, the radio broadcasts a digital distress signal with location on a dedicated channel.  So it’s also back up for my EPIRB, which is registered with the US coastguard. Since Sonic Boom’s homeport is Troon, I had to register my MMSI number with UK coastguard. Does that mean I get double rescue?

Camana Bay

142. Ambassador Divers

Siggy invited me to go diving with Ambassador’s, who are currently celebrating 25 years. A two-tank dive, me and four other divers on their huge boat; we picked up buoys just off Seven Mile beach. First was Holiday Inn drop off, then to Royal Palms ledge. Both amazing dives; we saw stingrays, lionfish, an enormous crab, lots of colorful coral and sponges. Chris led the dives and was very cool. I tried out a pair of split fins and they were better than I thought they would be.

http://www.ambassadordivers.com

7am on 7 Mile Beach, outside Royal Palms

The tiny gecko I have on board Sonic Boom seems to have forgiven me for flicking him into the water ten months ago. I surprised him the other day while he was sunbathing on deck – he pretended to be invisible, then very slowly moved away. He seems happy enough, but I’m still not sure he’s going to like an overnight passage beating to windward.

Safe and sound in Lime Tree Bay

141. Sea Turtles

I like shore diving – I love Macabucca, Lighthouse Point and Sunset House, but nothing beats taking a giant stride off the back of a boat, and going straight down.

Turtles are my favorite things to see diving.

I saw these ones swimming off the reef around West Bay the other day.