Lighthouse off the Puerto Rican Coast

Perfect Day

Start off with a snorkel among the colorful corrals off the coast of one of the British Virgin Islands. Climb out of the water with fins and mask to explore caves and hidden bridges then race a stingray back to the boat. Sail out of the perfectly clear, flat waters of the cove and round the island heading off to scuba dive an old 380ft ship, the HMS Rhone. After this amazing two-tank dive take the same path thousands of pirates hundreds of years before your took. Then sail to a secluded island with white sand beaches stretching as far as the eye can see. Hike up to an old lighthouse only to race your way down to the waters edge and splash happily as the perfect temperature of the water cools your body. Spend the rest of the afternoon alternately fishing and climbing coconut trees. Feast your evening away on fresh fish, rice, coconuts and mangoes. Crawl in to bed thoroughly tired and fall asleep to the sound of the waves lapping the hull of your home.

Light Up The Night

We left St. Barths early evening heading off to the BVI’s. There were a few dark clouds on the horizon but nothing that looked too terrible. Four hours later we were passing St. Maarten and I got a call from Alex saying there was bad weather on the way. We assessed the situation and figured we would be able to outrun the storm, if not we would be stuck going back to St. Maarten for two or three days to wait it out. It would be an overnight sail so we split up the watches from 9-12, 12-3, 3-6. I went to sleep around 12:30 hoping to catch a few hours of shut eye until my next watch started at 3am, I got just over an hour before the storm hit us.

Just before 2am I awoke to an earsplitting bang. My first thought was that our mast, or some other piece of my new home, had come crashing down. I held my breath until my ears were no longer ringing and slowly, slowly I began to hear sheets of rain pouring on to our tiny deck. The next thing I knew, the whole boat was lit up as if someone had turned on a floodlight off a movie set. My eyes, similar to what my ears had just experienced, took a few moments to adjust past the sparks of light that played along the lines of my vision and only seconds later I again heard the crash of thunder.

Still in shorts and a tank top, I bolted from my bunk to run outside only to make a hasty retreat from the now pouring rain. After grabbing my rain jacket I crept, though this time much more cautiously, out of the dryness of the interior. I was astounded by what I saw. The seas were no more rough then usual and there was little wind but this time instead of the stars I was used to seeing when I gazed upwards past our sails, I could see only an angry black sky opening only to let buckets of rain empty through. Within moments of taking in the light show that now played out before me I was soaked to the skin. Chris, my Captain, and I watched as lightning struck over and over again. It was the most spectacular and frightening thing I have seen in a long time.

Around three the strikes increased in urgency until they were hitting between twenty and thirty times a minute. We had managed to surround ourselves completely; every direction I looked there was flashes of light closely followed by earsplitting thunder. The closest strike happened in that hour, only one and a half boat lengths (about 50ft) away. It was at that point that Chris

and I accepted we would be hit, that all of our electronics would be fried in a split second, roughly $15 000 worth of damage. We stayed well clear of any metal.

Our biggest problem was there was only a slight down wind so we were making only 1.5 or, sometimes if we were lucky, 2 knots. As a result. we decided to start the engine because we were basically a bobbing cork that was floating in small circles. At least with the engine we were able to keep moving forward.

Unbelievably, Gypsy Cat survived. The storm lasted about six hours and at her worst were strikes of 40 per minute. It was a humbling experience and I was reminded of mother natures power and the raw energy she wields.