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November 9th, 2009 – At Sea, 16 45N, 063 30W
by Herb McCormick
It seems to me there are precisely two sorts of people in this world. First, there are those who truly enjoy the musical stylings and island flair of one Jimmy Buffett, who consider themselves Parrotheads of the highest order. And everyone else? Not so much.
Anyway, I actually fall into the former category, and caught my first (and only) Buffett concert well over two decades ago, well before the laid-back crooner became a pilot, author, club owner and certified zillionaire. Say what you will about the guy, he’s a terrific entertainer with a vast following and he puts on quite a show, though I still haven’t fully recovered from the jarring moment when the late Ed Bradley, of 60 Minutes fame, sauntered on stage in a bad Hawaiian shirt with a tambourine and clumsily attempted to join the band and get his groove on (that totally explains the earring, by the way).
I even hung out with Buffett a bit during the 1986 America’s Cup off Western Australia – he was the friend of a friend, writer P.J. O’Rourke, who was there on assignment for Rolling Stone, and don’t even get me started – and I have to admit, he was pretty cool. About once a week, he’d amble onstage in a Fremantle pub and start jamming with the locals, and these impromptu, unannounced appearances were a highlight of that fantastic summer (before the Cup became, you know, a total and complete fiasco). Buffett really is an accomplished sailor, and he came to Oz to root for Dennis Conner, which proved to be a very safe bet.
Aboard Ocean Watch, when it comes to Buffett fans, I pretty much stand-alone. The dude has become so famous and popular that he actually has his own dedicated satellite-radio station, Radio Margaritaville, which in the dead of night I sometimes switch on before everyone has a hissy fit and freaks out.
(In my defense, there are some pretty eclectic musical tastes on the boat. Scientist Michael Reynolds, a musician himself, sometimes favors his collection of Norwegian folk songs, wailings so painful they make me want to ram knitting needles in my ears. He’s even regaled us with tales of the all-night sitar concert he once attended. So you tell me who’s crazy.)
In any event, Buffett sprung to mind early today as Ocean Watch and crew rounded the western shores of Puerto Rico, and for the first time, cleaved a bow wave through the celebrated waters of the Caribbean Sea. I have to admit, even I, a Buffett fan, can’t keep all his songs and lyrics straight. Fittingly, perhaps, when it comes to sailing the Caribbean, Buffett had the same trouble telling one place from the other. That was surely the inspiration, one would surmise, from the tune that invokes the name and concept of “St. Somewhere.”
As Ocean Watch made her way south on Monday, here’s a partial list of the islands we’ve passed along our way: St. John’s, St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Bart’s, St. Christopher, St. Eustacius and St. Kitts.
I mean: Saints alive.
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| Dave Logan enjoys Ocean Watch’s first true Caribbean Sunrise. |
Our first true Caribbean sunrise was predictably astounding. A low tier of blue and purple clouds lingered atop the horizon, topped by a middling layer of fluffy white cumulous puffballs, from which, remarkably, a big rainbow soared high toward the heavens. We all agreed we’d never seen anything quite like it. It was like a big, layered wedding cake with a lit sparkler on top. But once the sun actually ascended, all the colors flattened into a one-dimensional monochrome of gray, with squalls dotting the seascape at various cardinal points of the compass. The party was quickly over.
Happily, though, the wind soon built and filled from just north of east, and Ocean Watch took advantage of the gift from the weather gods to head south under reefed main and staysail with dispatch. Eventually, the breeze faltered somewhat, and we unrolled the genoa and continued onward quite merrily under sail. New crewmembers Jen Price and Rick Fleishman broke out their cameras and fishing rigs, respectively, and quickly established their own onboard routines.
Yesterday, skipper Mark Schrader laid out the impending plan in his ongoing Captain’s Log. Here’s what he wrote:
“Our track to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will take us right through the heart of the Caribbean islands. We’ll sail just east of the Virgin Islands, then go west of St. Kitts and Antigua and then direct to St. Lucia, where we may make a fuel and refreshment stop. We’ll then sail west of Barbados on a rhumb-line course for the small Brazilian islands of the Fernando de Noronha group, a marine sanctuary about 200 nautical miles east of Brazil’s easternmost point, close to the city of Natal. These islands are approximately 2,000 nautical miles southeast of St. Lucia, and distance-wise, this represents the longest leg yet for OW and crew. Rio lies another 1,500 nautical miles southwest of Fernando de Noronha. The ETA for Rio, certainly subject to change depending upon a number of variables, is December 1.”
Alternatively, instead of St. Lucia, Ocean Watch’s next stop, the skipper says, might be Martinique. Either one is fine by me, because I don’t care what anyone else around here thinks. For when all is said and done, I’m just another Cheeseburger in Paradise, and frankly, I’m looking forward to chomping into one soon.
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
Main Photo – Rick Fleishman and Jen Price have joined Ocean Watch until it reaches Brazil.
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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