Gwyn Wagschal

Watching from the sidelines

I’m sitting here having received the latest Spot (https://www.findmespot.ca/en/). A Spot is a message sent on a small electronic device that sends a signal to some satellite somewhere and eventually sends a message to my phone/email. It helps to have someone on shore tracking you in case of emergency. I am one of two primary contacts on land (Paul’s brother Mark is the other) that ensure we hear from Blue Sky at least once every 24 hours. This trip Paul sent messages every 12 hours or so. This was great for me.

This is a record of the track Blue Sky made (each Spot report is represented by a dot).

While I go through my guilt of not participating in the trip this year I can tell you it isn’t easy being the one watching from afar. Not only do I know what they are facing as they make the 1562 miles trek across the big blue, I know what it takes to get the boat ready for this passage.

I used to be the one to take care of provisioning, storing things safely, ensuring Charlie had all his paperwork done, and preparing some ready made meals for the passage. This year Paul had to do that along with the boat repairs and getting his head around having crew for the first time. Believe me the guilt is real.

Anyhow, while he made the trek I watched him get closer and closer to the final destination, Virgin Gorda, BVI. The latest Spot read ‘Land Ho. Arv VG about 2100 tonight.’ Great news and I’m sure the captain and crew were excited to spot land after 8+ days at sea.

As Blue Sky made her way I reflected by looking through photographs of our travels on her over the past 3 years. This is one of my favorites taken last spring in the BVI. I had borrowed Paul’s waterproof camera to take ashore to take pictures of rocks I had stacked. On my way over on the paddleboard I spotted a Ray. I stuck the camera in the water and this was the shot I got. Pretty proud of it. (And only now did I realize that this Ray was spotted on what would have been my mum’s birthday – what a gift).

Hopefully the next blog will be from captain or crew along with some pics of the trip. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Underway Again

Paul and crew, Dennis, Elizabeth (hope I got those names right) and Titan (our grandson), left Hampton Virginia this morning just after 0200 with the tide. They were not alone. About half the fleet opted to delay a few days to avoid a storm disturbance over the gulf stream the past few days. The other half of the fleet opted to leave early on Nov 1st and ran motors to get ahead of the storm. Charlie of course is taking it all in stride. He had some good times with his Jack-Russell friend Zoe while in Hampton and knows what’s ahead. So they’ll be on the water for 9-11 days. You can follow the fleet on snap.ocens.com where you can enter in Blue Sky as the boat name to follow just Blue Sky, or enter SDR in the group field to view the entire fleet.

Blue Sky is the dark blue dot near Virginia Beach

CAULIFLOWER BROWNIES

I know it sounds a little strange to have the words cauliflower and brownies in the same recipe title, but trust me on this one, these are fantastic. I’m totally addicted to them. I make them vegan by switching our regular chocolate chips to a vegan version found at Whole Foods. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cacao powder (unsweetened)
1/2 cup (or less – I only use slightly more than 1/4) coconut sugar
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, steamed and cooled
1/4 cup almond milk (or vegan milk of choice)
1/3 cup almond butter
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I use 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 cacao nibs)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350, prepare 8×8 baking tin
2. Place all ingredients except the chocolate chips and cacao nibs into a food processor and process until smooth
3. Stir in chocolate chips and cacao nibs
4. Pour into pan, spreading evenly to make nice thin brownies
5. Bake 25 minutes or until brownies firm up
6. Let cool completely before serving

I like to cut them up and freeze them. This way I can take one piece out at a time, making the whole batch last over a few weeks. Be warned, you may discover you like them frozen too. Enjoy!

Finding things to do

In March and April I (Gwyn) began to feel restless with my days. Adult coloring books weren’t doing it for me so much any more. I spent many a day cleaning beaches as my search for what to do with myself stirred within me.

Three years of sailing is truly a dream come true. I’m grateful for every moment, the friends, the night watches, being alone with the universe in a very special way. So why was my soul nagging at me that there is something more. I kept telling myself to be grateful, not worry about something more, but the nagging continued.

I missed my family, I missed land life, I missed working. Yes, I said that and I began to realize that I truly needed to work some more. I was not/am not ready to retire. I wanted to find a way to go back.

On a whim, I found a job online that seemed like a perfect fit. So I talked with Paul and pondered whether or not to apply. Days of thoughts overtook me and before I knew it, I’d composed a cover letter and updated my resume and sent it off figuring I’d see what happened. As Paul said, you can always change your mind if it gets to a point where they offer you a job.

Weeks went by and I did not hear back. We began the process of planning our trip back with the Salty Dawgs. No sooner did we sign up for the rally back to the US, that I was contacted for a phone interview.

That phone interview led to a Skype interview a week later, then a request for references. Then nothing heard for another 2 weeks. I figured someone else got the job. I started planning for a summer visit with family, we were happily gathering with the Dawgs for our trip to the US, and BOOM, the job offer arrived.

Now it was on me, to say yes or no. Further discussion ensued with Paul and I. He wanted to continue to sail, I wanted to take the job. The job is temporary – 18 months. I could return to sailing then if it fits. Paul and Charlie would spend the summer in Vancouver with me. We’d figure out the rest. We’ve lived in separate cities before and made it work. We can do this. So we did.

It’s taken me awhile to post this, because I wanted to settle in and focus on the new job and adjusting to life back on land.

Do I miss sailing – yes. I know I miss the big blue now that Paul has set off with the Salty Dawg Rally back to the BVI. He’s got crew going with him this time. I am wishing I was there to do my part, but I trust that the crew he’s signed on will succeed and Blue Sky will get them back to the Caribbean safely.

I’ve already got plans to visit them in the Caribbean over Christmas vacation. Paul and Charlie will return to Vancouver next summer for 3-4 months. Time will fly as it always does.

So there you have it. This is where we are at. Paul and Charlie returned to Blue Sky in Hampton in September. A discovery was made that the boat took an indirect lightening hit while he was here this summer. Paul scrambled for 2 months to do all the repairs in time to get her ready for the passage south. He did it all on his own, replacing nearly every electronic on the boat. He continues to amaze me.

As for me, I’m getting busier with my new job and enjoying the challenges within it. I will continue to post about life on land, while Paul will post when he can about life on the water.

Sailing isn’t done for us, we are just doing it a little differently for a little while.

Great Bird Island

Great Bird Island is located 3 kilometers off the north eastern shores of Antigua. Two years ago we almost made it to this island with our friends Laurie and Joe. Back then we were still so new to sailing in these waters and the guidebook talked so much about watching for coral heads that we changed our minds at the last minute and put it out of our minds.

This year we had some beautiful clear skies and much more confidence in our ability to read the water and we decided to go check it out.

There are about 5 mooring balls near the island as you approach. They are marked NEEMA. We didn’t know what NEEMA (North East Marine Management Area)was at the time and all the other boats were anchored so we figured they were private moorings and found a patch of sand to anchor in. You need good light to see the sand as there are reefs and coral heads to watch out for. We later found out the moorings are there for cruisers to visit the island and to protect the bottom. I believe they are free as we did not see anyone coming around to collect fees for them.

Getting ashore can be a bit of a challenge as you have to navigate around the reefs and the water shallows quite a distance from shore. Once we landed the dinghy we discovered nice short walking paths and signs asking us to stay on the paths to protect the wildlife (birds, rare lizards and snakes). We spotted the birds and lizards, but thankfully no snakes.

Apparently a few years back there was an infestation of rats on the island so there are signs asking that you leave no garbage behind and take only memories. The rats have since died off and the birds are nesting on the island once again. One path takes you up a bit of a hill where there is a one hundred foot drop through a huge blow hole to the water. I kept a good hold of Charlie on his leash and stayed well away from the edge. The views from here are worth the short uphill hike.

View from the top

You can see the speck of blue water 100 feet down in the middle of the picture

Scenic view

There are several other small islands around Great Bird Island which Paul explored via water on his kayak.

Let's explore Charlie — Let’s explore Charlie

We also took the time to snorkel on the west side of the island. The coral is some of the healthiest we’ve seen and the fish are abundant.

What I liked most about this island was the peacefulness of it. It’s far enough from the airport and the main island of Antigua that you feel you have entered another world. The only noise you hear are the various birds calling out to each other. There are small tour boats that visit during the day, but the evenings are just you and a handful of other cruisers enjoying the sights and the sounds.

Red Billed Tropic Bird

Tropic Bird