svbeachhouse

Author: kerrizane

  • Position Report – Prickly Bay, Grenada

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/01/16 21:46
    LATITUDE: 11-59.82N
    LONGITUDE: 061-45.70W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 10
    WIND_DIR: NNE
    CLOUDS: 10%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1011.2
    AIR_TEMP: 30.6C
    COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Prickly Bay, Grenada with about 150 of our \”closest friends\”…:-)
    Blog Update tomorrow

  • POSITION REPORT – Scotland Bay Anchorage – Trinidad

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/01/15 22:28
    LATITUDE: 10-42.23N
    LONGITUDE: 061-39.79W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 5
    WIND_DIR: ENE
    CLOUDS: 30%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1010.9
    AIR_TEMP: 26.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House -Scotland Bay Anchorage, Trinidad – Departing to Grenada early a.m.

  • If You Don\’t Go….You Won\’t Go!…..

    January 15th, 2014
    Chaguaramas, Trinidad – (-4 on UTC)

    If You Don’t Go….You Wont Go!…..

    This is exactly how it has felt these last few weeks since we arrived back in Trinidad to start the 2014 sailing season. Firstly, the boat was brought onto the hard,(dry dock) for the bi-annual bottom scrape & paint in addition to transmission and through-hull maintenance. Then we had an unscheduled delay of having to go back to the States for a week or so after I needed some medical tests done. No worries, it\’s all good! The bonus of that short trip was a quick stopover with friends Debbie and Leon in their gorgeous West Palm Beach, Florida home. It was nice being able to welcome in 2014 with them. Hugs and kisses to Duffy, Deb\’s Mum too!

    While in Florida, we even managed to slip in a couple of days at Disney World in Orlando. It was great fun and got Scott in touch with his inner child which is always worth seeing. En route back to Miami, we stopped in Jupiter, Florida to visit friends of Scott\’s parents – Bob & Cyra Lewis and Grandson Sam.

    Finally upon our return to Trinidad in the new year we have done some last touristy bits, including a hike up to the old WW2 tracking station and Bamboo Cathedral in Tucker Valley on the north side of the island.

    With all bottom scraping, water-maker refurb, transmission, steering hydraulics overhauled, decks scrubbed, hulls waxed and even a new washing machine installed – its time to check out with Trinidad Customs and Immigration here in Chaguaramas. Shortly, we\’ll untie the dock lines and head off around the Northwest corner of Trinidad to Scotland Bay anchorage. This will give us an opportunity to test all our systems before leaving at \’0’dark-thirty\’ tomorrow morning for Prickly Bay, Grenada.

    Funny enough, this first jolly North, which should take us about 12 hours (85 miles) in total, will be one of the longest passages we’ll have this season. The long voyages and mammoth provisioning requirements of the last few years are for the most part a distant memory now until the boat goes through the Panama Canal; most likely next year.

    This season as well – we hope to have reasonable internet so we can post photos as we go along.

    So in the words of Mark Twain… \”Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover\’. And in the words of Scott Stolnitz, \”If you don\’t go…you won\’t go\”!….:-)

    We’re off again
    Nikki & Scott

  • POSITION REPORT – Begin 2014

    YOTREPS: YES
    TIME: 2014/01/13 14:37
    LATITUDE: 10-40.82N
    LONGITUDE: 061-37.92W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 1
    WIND_DIR: 340T
    CLOUDS: 90%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1014
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House – Chaguaramas, Trinidad – Preparing to depart for Grenada

    This is a test of the new WordPress Remote Posting for Position Reports.
    We are preparing to leave for Grenada around the 15th of January.
    Stand by, Scott and Nikki

  • Remote \”Ship\’s Blog\” Posting System Test……

    January 13, 2014

    Dear F&F,

    We\’re getting ready to go and tweaking up the systems. We hope to be off mid week for Grenada. Please ignore this post as it is just a test to see if we can \”post a blog\” while \”at sea\” vs. on the internet directly.

    This is a test of the new wordpress remote posting for a Ship\’s Blog.

    Stand by, more soon!

    Scott & Nikki

  • New Website Makeover – S/V \”Beach House\”…….

    Dear Friends of Sailing Vessel \”Beach House\”…….

    You are receiving this email as a current subscriber – friend or family of Scott Stolnitz and s/v \”Beach House\”.

    We’ve done major updating and renovation to the website at: www.svbeachhouse.com

    We have a whole new look and more robust navigation tools:  Hover your mouse above any menu at the top of the toolbar and enjoy!

    I am currently updating the website to get up to date on our PHOTO GALLERIES.  I’ve posted many new galleries all about our land touring, African explorations and sails from Richard’s Bay, South Africa to Cape Town, South Africa and on to the islands of Trinidad & Tobago.

    I will be posting many more new PHOTO GALLERIES within the next few weeks. These will be done in reverse order to show you the most current photos and experiences first.

    We now have a SLIDE SHOW feature on all of our galleries. It\’s instructions are at the top of each photo page.

    As of today, you are subscribed to receive email notices of new posts from:  www.svbeachhouse.com

    You can SELF MANAGE your email subscription anonymously.  AS ALWAYS, YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE SHARED WITH ANYONE!  You will notice that you can manage your email subscriptions on each and every email you receive from me in the future, including this one.  If you have “friended” me on FACEBOOK, you will continue to get posts via the FACEBOOK social media system.

    Each post will send you a brief email with a link to click it and be taken to it directly.  For the next few weeks, you’ll be receiving 1 or 2 each day.  After that, only when something new is posted.

    For those of you who would prefer to use FACEBOOK, you can send a message to Scott Stolnitz via the FACEBOOK system.  This will generate a \”friend request\”. You will then receive notification of new posts via the FACEBOOK social media.  You can receive notifications via email, FACEBOOK or both; that’s entirely up to you.

    Nikki and I are tentatively planning on sailing through the Windward and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean this coming season, starting in January.

    Please feel free to leave a comment or send an email; I’d love to hear from all of you!

    Explore and Enjoy!

    Scott Stolnitz

  • Website Being Updated Now!…..

    November 4th, 2013

    Many of you may have noticed our \”new look\”.

    Feel free to keep on exploring and we hope you like the new features to aid in searches.

    Hover your mouse on the titlebars in the tool bar and you will see extensive drop down menus.

    ALL THE OLD VIDEOS SHOULD NOW WORK AS WELL….DIRECTLY OFF THE NEW SITE LINK ABOVE.

    Our original website is still linkable on the right side above and will remain so.

    I\’m adding new photos (YES FINALLY NEW PHOTOS!) in reverse order till I get caught up.

    There will be self \”subscribe and unsubscribe\” features added and I will send a post out within two weeks to tell you all about the new features.

    In the meanwhile, ENJOY!….

    Please drop me a note to let me know your comments on the new format, etc.

    Scott with soon to rejoin me in Trindad….Nikki!

  • 2013-08 Antigua & Florida (by land) – Photos

    The regatta gets lots of gold plated entries and is the most popular regatta in the Caribbean; often getting several hundred entries
    Nikki enjoying an “umbrella drink” at a beach bar
    We saw this local catamaran coming into the bight. Anchoring in white sand and calm waters
    We visited English Harbour, home to the historic “Nelson Dockyard”
    Admiral Nelson. The famous Admiral most noted for his victory at Trafalgar, set up these yards
    Docking facility. Here the ships were careened for repairs. English Harbour is an excellent hurricane harbor with a blind entrance. This insures large waves will not enter the harbor.
    A bit of Kitch…. Like most tourist attractions, the nick nack stores do a brisk business in the season
    Pristine Westsail 32. This was a real cruisers dream back in the 1970’s. Almost all were kit boats. Heavy, slow, but durable.
    The Harbor with historic buildings
    Across the entrance to the inner harbor
    Nik, being Nik!…..


    Steel Band. Trinidad was the birth place of the “steel drum”. Drums created originally from 55 gallon drums used by the US Military. The phenomenon quickly spread throughout the Caribbean nations.
    English Harbour with Falmouth Harbour in the distance
    Art Deco Miami….. This was our hotel, “The Marlin” in the Art Deco district of South Beach
    Uniquely, our hotel was famous for the South Beach (recording) Studio located INSIDE the hotel
    We got a personal tour from Joe Galdo, the Head Honcho
    Joe was very nice, gave us a great studio tour and told us his mantra when it comes to running the business. “Accommodate, Facilitate and Cooperate – with an Attitude of Gratitude”. Thanks Joe!
    As many of you know, I have taken lots of Underwater Photos. I purchased my equipment from internationally famous photographer, Stephen Frink. I had no idea that it would take sailing 90% the way round the world to accidentally come across his office while we drove to Key West.
    Typical view from the barrier causeway that is Highway A1 en route to Key West
    For all you sailor types, I just couldn’t miss having a drink in “Margaritivelle”…:-)
    At Jimmy’s famous bar
    Capt. Tony was a mayor of Key West and legendary drinking buddy of Jimmy Buffett
    Words of Wizdom from Captain Tony…:-)
    For those who don’t know, Jimmy Buffett’s (serious) fans are called Parrot Heads. Nuff said….:-)
    We visited Hemingway House where the famous author penned many of his best known works.
    Ernest Hemingway
    Hemingway’s Study where he actually wrote.
    The End…. Highway 1, Key West, Florida
    Marker showing the most southern point in the Continental USA!
    To bottom of the world?
    Leon and Debbie …. We stayed with my old UCSB and Dental School friend. A wonderful time.
    Maestro – Leon’s Lipizzaner Horse which he and Debbie ride dressage upon…..We really enjoyed our time with “Leap” and Deb…..
    We visited the famous Antigua YC where the annual “Antigua Race Week” is hosted in the Spring of every year

  • Tobago to Trinidad…..

    Tobago to Trinidad…..  To see the Photo Gallery for this post, click here

    August 1st, 2013  Time: -3 on GMT

    We got up early as we did not want to get into Coral Cove Marina in Chaguaramas too late in the day. I always like to leave a window for \”issues\” when arriving in a new place.

    This would sadly be Nikki\’s last sail on \”Beach House\”, now having sailed aboard her for the better part of 20 months, 16,000 miles and almost 2/3rds of the way around the world.  It was a great sail.  The winds came up in the pass between the islands within an hour of our departure and we were flying across the waves. We hit 12 knots several times and again, once saw over 15.

    There was a lot of local boat traffic including high speed catamaran ferry\’s between the islands.  These boats were going up to 35 knots!  When we got close to the pass to head into Chaguaramas, a small thunderstorm showed up, but didn\’t stay very long.  It\’s hot and humid down here, so it certainly was to be expected.

    We furled the genoa and mainsail, dropped the spinnaker pole and motored the last 6 miles into the Marina. Gave each other a big hug and reflected on our time together. A glass of wine was duly opened and we drank a toast to us, Cindy and Beach House……

    It turns out, it was a local holiday, so we had to guess where we were supposed to dock.  It was a good guess!  We had some help in the tight quarters, but with Beach House\’s twin engines, we can pretty much turn in place.  Fortunately, we had dock power to run the little air conditioner and within a few days, had some modifications done to get the whole boat A/C system up and running.

    The nice thing about this area is that we can get a LOT of boat projects done quickly and reasonably.  We\’ll be mooring the boat here in the water till the end of October when Beach House will have her bi-annual haul out and lots of little projects will be attended to. A few that are not so little too….:-)

    Will have a wrap up blog or two, but this one is the end of the actual sailing season.  The boat will be here till around November 1st and then most likely finish our circumnavigation next season.

    For now, KIT,

    Scott and Nikki

  • Englishman\’s Cove & Castarma Bay…..

    Englishman\’s Cove & Castarma Bay…..

    July 30th – August 1st, 2013   Time: -3 on GMT

    We checked out with customs and immigration as this country requires us to do so every time you change an area.  It\’s a make work project, but hey, it\’s their country.  We went by two rock groups The Brothers and The Sisters.  The Sisters is supposed to be a nice dive spot. Down deep they have schooling hammerheads.

    Our plan was to go into Englishman\’s Bay for the night and just relax.  When we arrived, there was no other boat inside, so we anchored about 200 feet off the beach near the center of the cove.  We were just anchored for about 20 minutes when out came a local who was angry at us.  We were blocking where he\’d planned on casting his nets to catch fish.  Now, the Customs people designate this as an anchorage for visiting yachts, so we knew we weren\’t violating some local law.

    Much of the Bay was deep, making anchoring in other spots problematic. As such, we decided not to get into any kind of an explanation or confrontation session with our upset fisherman and moved on toward Castarama Bay.  Along the way, we stopped at another bay, but it was just too shallow where we could anchor as the fishing boats had essentially choked off the cove to any other boats.  No worries, it was Castarama….we hoped!

    When we arrived in Castarama Bay, there was a British monohull and a French cat already anchored.  We found a cozy spot between some moorings and dropped the hook.  Shortly thereafter, we saw a fisherman go out the French boat and asked him to move.  We weren\’t completely sure why as he wasn\’t going to be fishing there.  The bay was really lovely, better than Englishman\’s and clear.  We went for a walk on the beach and then we took a kayak to a cove around the corner called, \”Heavenly Beach\”.  It was very tropical, lush, private and quiet.  We paddled ashore and had a great afternoon exploring. It was one of the highlights of Tobago.

    Tomorrow, we\’ll be off to Trinidad….stand by!

    Scott & Nikki