cruising in a P42

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bill walton

I've noted several postings lately on the various forums asking about cruising the caribbean in a Hunter. A pair of fellow 42 owners who used to be our dock neighbors on a Texas lake, before we both departed, has been cruising the area for about a year and a half now. They send us a monthly, sometimes, newsletter when he hits a port with email facilities. I don't think they would mind us posting his latest. Their email address is kenwendy@juno.com. Hello everyone, Well, we made it to the year 2000 and I guess that's a good start. We are still sailing and seeing things that we missed last year. Since our last communication we have celebrated the new millenium in the picturesque Tobago Kays. It was quite a celebration, we rondezvoued with 6 or 7 other boats and started our celebration watching the various new years parties starting with Australia all the way to New York. We were lucky enough to have tv reception in English which had a BBC and CNN special all day and night. You folks think think we have any luxuries down here--we even have television --sometimes. We then all gathered on a boat--"Kosrae"--friends from Texas and drank champagne, rum, beer, cognac and ate black-eyed peas. It got a little exciting when all the drunks started shooting their flare guns off at midnight, including yours truly--can't believe we didn't burn anybodys boat up. We did almost drop a flare into somebodys dinghy, but they were nice--they thought it was fun,--gave them a bottle of wine anyway. I would say, we brought the new year in with the best of em. Must say, the next day, the next day just seemed like another day, though--with a mild hangover. We then sailed up to Bequia, one of our favorite places in the Caribbean--we always seem to stay there 3 times as long as we intended--it is still one of the paradises in the Caribbean. We get so settled in sometimes, it's hard to leave, but we knew we needed to start heading north--still so much to see. The skipper, me, didn't pick a very good day--for the next 2 days as we sailed to St. Vincent and St. Lucia, we were bucking 25-30 knot winds and 12-14 ft. waves. --NOT that great of a sail!!! The boat was wet everywhere--got caught by several huge waves, knocked us around pretty good, but it's nice to know the boat can handle it. The inside of the boat looked like we had just unpacked without us knowing it. I would have to say, the expression on Wendy's face as we anchored and looked below was one that said--"if we're going to have to do this very much, I think my old job in Dallas is looking better and better"!!! When we finally got to Marigot lagoon in St. Lucia, it was like we had gone to heaven--no wind, no waves and beautiful scenery again. Stayed 3 days just getting everything back in order. From Marigot, we came up to Rodney Bay , a nice easy sail, which is where we are presently. We are really living in style here--unlimited water and cable tv in the marina. The skipper has learned that if he wants to keep his first mate, you need to provide a little comfort and luxury now and then. We leave tomorrow for Martinique and then on to Dominica. We'll probably go pretty fast, we've seen both of these islands on the way down last spring. I know everybody seems to enjoy picturing us with some occassional hardships here in paradise--the most recent one made me appreciate this boat in that it is very similar to the airplanes that I flew--the similarity being, we are lucky enough to have 2 of everything--2 friges, 2 motors, 2 sails, 2 heads, 2 beds, 2 radios, etc. This time, the failure was the master cabin head. If you talk to all sailors--they will say the thing they work on the most is their head--meaning "the toilet" for you landlubbers. Bet not many of you have torn your toilet apart lately--it's a fun, "shitty" job. Wendy handed me the tools and I played plumber for 4 days. There is nothing more frustrating to know that you have done everything right and it STILL dosen't work!!! Today, it is working!!!!!!! The problem is, I don't know why. Therefore, I have ordered new parts knowing that it's going to give me problems again, and I will once again have that shitty job. I think that's enough on my toilet story, I'm sure you have the picture. As you know, we have adopted 2 cats--"Bob" and "Marley", brother and sister which have turned out to be great company, very entertaining, and occasionally destructive to Wendy's bikini tops--Marley likes to chew the straps off her bikini tops. Therefore, Wendy has numerous bottoms and just a few tops--it's ok with me!! For you cat lovers, you will like this story--when we are in a slip in a marina, Bob, the male likes to wander. He regularly goes and visits people on all the other boats--they think it's cute except for this one group of Germans---Bob went to visit them then decided to jump through a small hole that went into the boat's bilge--a part of the boat that only a cat can get into. Then, he would not come out--so at 7:30 am, we were greeted by some Germans trying to tell me our yellow cat was trapped in their boat. So, I got dressed, went to their boat, crawled into the bowels of their boat where I could see him in the distance and fortunately when heard English instead of German and a recognizable voice, he meowed and walked out just like it was no big deal. He followed that event the following night with an unintended dip in the ocean. He apparently fell in off the dock right near our boat, however, we didn't even know he was gone. All of a sudden, here comes Bob looking like a drowned rat walking back into the cabin--salt water all over Wendy's clean floors--it turns out he somehow fell in, some neighbors 2 boats down heard this god-awful meowing in the water--there was Bob holding onto a concrete pier talking away. The lady jumped in her dinghy, pulled him out of the water, put him on the dock and that's when he showed up noncholontly in our cabin--soaked. We now lock the cats up at night in the main cabin--that seems to work. For those of you who are now thinking--that boy needs to be fixed--we already did that in Trinidad. He dosen't even like girls. Enough cat stories. Another visual event that many of you can possibly picture--is the haircut that I gave Wendy 2 wks ago. She had been bugging me to get the clippers out and give her a buzz. We called it a butch in the 60's. I finally gave in and found out it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be--Wendy now has a totally new look--she always wondered how much gray hair she had. Now that the longest hair on her head is 3/4 of an inch, no blonde hair left, and this beautiful, solid silver hair color very similar to mine. Believe it or not, she really likes the haircut, but not too sure about this new color. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a picture for everybody. Thank God she is so feminine because her hair is shorter than nearly all the guys. Good news--it IS growing. Our future plans are to continue to island hop up to St. Martin. We plan on being in the St. Martin area all of March where we will have several guests join us and visit the nudist beach!! You will be sure to read our St. Martin letter. Then down to Antigua mid April through early May for Antigua Sailing Week. Followed by returning to Trinidad for hurricaine season. We will probably take approx. 6 wks for a visit back to the States and Canada this summer. The big picture is to be in Panama by Feb. of 2001 for our big adventure in the Pacific--destination--New Zealand and Australia. I guess that about brings us up to date. We are doing wonderfully and have forgotten how we used to live, it seems like decades since we were part of the daily ratrace and spending everything we made just to live. We are still spending money on toilet parts and other necessities--the difference being, everyday is an adventure which we are still enjoying. Stay in touch, we'll talk to you soon. (electronically) Fair winds, God Bless, Ken and Wendy.
 
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SteveC

Nice article....

Really enjoyed it... Wouldn't mind any follow ups you may get..
 
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Jay Hill

"I got a bass-e-ball Jones"

"Sometimes I keep my P42 under my pillow...maybe that's why I can't sleep at night" Good to see folks living there dream. Gettin' closer...
 
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Debbie Mchugh s/v Yaga

Ditto Steve

Bill,I would be very interested in hearing the adventures of Ken and Wendy (Bob and Marley, also) as this is exactly what Mickey and I plan on doing in the next five years. Right now we are plugging along doing the ratrace thing, tweaking Yaga, sailing as much as possible, building my confidence level (Mickey doesn't need to) and learning as much as we can from others who have been there, done that. THANKS!
 
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Myrna Antonich

Ditto, Ditto

I agree with Debbie and Steve. This was a wonderful story and would love to hear more. Again, my husband and I are looking at doing something of the same in about 3-4 years. Would love to know if they have found it to be more expensive to be retired and sailing in these areas, then it is to be part of the rat race! Thanks again for sharing. Myrna
 
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