(or should I say “broken parts 1)
I am so sick of religion. It’s all over the news every day. This religion against that religion, and even within religions it’s this group against that group. It’s enough to make you want to scream. But when it comes to “Saints” I love em. Here’s the list: Saint Thomas, Saint John, Saint Martin, Saint Barth’s, Saint Eustatius, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent. I don’t know what any of those guys did to make saint hood but they sure named a bunch of great islands after them!
A big one
Since leaving Fort Lauderdale last year we had a lot of long legs but never 300 miles like this one. The difference is all the stops along the way. The reason we went all the way to Saint Lucia from Saint Martin had more to do with suitable marinas than anything else. Some islands we bypassed because we had visited them before. The only one that was truly new to us was Dominica and it was the most exciting. We usually cruise once each month and need a marina to leave the boat that is protected from storms, secure, and has marine services. There are none in Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts or Montserrat. Guadeloupe and Martinique each have one but they are French and hard to handle. We have stayed at both before. For these reasons we decided to go for 2 weeks and get all the way to Saint Lucia’s Rodney bay. They speak our language and have Scones and a spot of tea to boot!
“Beaming” with delight
We left Saint Martin and headed south through all the islands. Each leg was about 50-70 miles and what a romp. From Fort Lauderdale to Saint Martin the wind is on the nose the entire time. When you leave Saint Martin you make the big turn and head south and now the wind, mostly out of the East, is on your beam. The beam reach is the best point of sail for most boats. Why? Because it’s fast and the boat isn’t pounding. It’s Glorious. When you watch these next videos you will see lots of sailing and a lot of speed. The days are easy and the passages are fast and fun. Sometimes we didn’t want to stop, as you will see.
Things that go bump in the day
So on this trip like others the shake down continued. We had a few mishaps and some were self-inflicted. Don’t blame us for making mistakes. Just buy a boat and sail from Florida to El Caribe. When you get there call us and tell us how trouble free it was. Lets compare notes.
This is the first of a 3-part video series because I couldn’t fit it into 20 minutes… and you cant watch us for more than that at one sitting
See our video below
Dad
You guys know how to live! I’m very happy for you.
owen
Hi Randy, you mention an alarm on the boat. Could you give more details please.
happytogether
Hi Owen, We have a GOST system and we can’t imagine not having it. I will give more details on a security video coming up!
Steve
We Really enjoy your stories. My Daughter and I follow about 15 channels we both agree you guys are #1 in our eyes. Love the boat and love the stories. Keep up the great work.
happytogether
Hi Steve, Thanks for the comment. Keep watching as we have a lot more coming. How old is your daughter???
Steve
She is 6. We have just booked a 10 trip in November down to Grenada and the Spice Islands to get our 101,102,103,104 and 114 ASA certifications. Should be an epic trip. Always looking for to the new video! Travel Safe
Sue
What happened to the prop or what was the banging on the hull that you heard?
happytogether
Hi Sue, Yes its either the prop or the transmission but we are working on the answer. Randy
Glenn Wakefield
Where did hoiu find the original Delos jam?
I looked a ton and could on!y find various ‘mixes’, none exactly the same…. And I did searches based off the band\song at the ends of their videos. Your background music sounds like the true original though. Please… Do tell where goiu found it!
happytogether
Hi Glenn, I have both the original and the remix. The remix is actually better since they had more help to make it and the quality is good. The one Delos uses in their intro is the remix. You can find it on youtube and then you can use a converter to get the music in a MP3 file. Its called 2011 official remix and its 3:15 long
Its great and we listen to it all the time. Randy
Glenn Wakefield
Aha! I was just looking on iTunes and Amazokn for an easy purchase and download. Gotta get more tricky with it sounds like. Thanks…. Always a wealth of CRITICAL sailing info on your blog/vlog!!
Misha
Hey ! you two
Realy like the vids and the stories its like we are with you so 10 out of 10 for that , love the way when you drop clangers you can still laugh thats a good partnership you have and it shows for all to see. As a a brit in the uk this was on my bucket list but age and blood clots x 2 now has to be watched so my plan is europe canals 65ft bathtub style but ease of medical help if needed. I to have a younger wifelet lol by 15 years and we laugh alot like yourselves and lets be honest it does make you younger , notice you have come off a mono onto a multi hull apart from the ease on water do you still enjoy against the elements as much as the mono and the leopard itself would you purchase another ? or is a gunboat on the menu one day, fantastic craft but the electronics put me off, i like to keep it basic = less to go wrong in my book. Love how you have guests and party hard and the guests flat out the next day = now thats living. You Tube is still trying to block the odd vid in the uk but its easy to get around , like the way you included price of derv when you tanked-up please state the prices of things as you go along I think it gives a clearer picture to us landlubbers costs and lifestyle with home base expences. My dutch barge bathtub is on a 12 month waiting list to be built then its on my bucket list to visit Paris , not going by water over the english channel going to get it on transport rather than wait weeks for a duckpond window . Thats my lot for today keep posting the vids and once again thank you .
Regards Misha
happytogether
Hi Misha, Thanks for the great comments and we are thrilled you are enjoying our channel. Sounds like you aren’t letting a little health issue slow you down completely. We too will cruise Europe by barge one day. We follow a few blogs with people doing just that. We love the cat and are not going back. Gunboat??? we love them but they go to fast with too much pressure so we prefer the 8-10 knot speeds of a cruising cat. Maybe a bigger cat one day. Lennie wants a dishwasher…yes a dishwasher….Oh and she wants a separate washer and dryer. What else could she want on a boat LOL. Keep watching and check back often. I will keep your idea of mentioning price frequently. New video posting tomorrow! Randy & Lennie
Jim Woodall
I have just subscribed, enjoy your site and youtube channel. I was on Tortola in early May 2016 and I’m pretty sure I saw S/V Happy Together in her slip at Nanny Cay. My wife and I have been sailing for 20+ years on our own monohull and have chartered often in the Caribbean and Med, usually on catamarans. We have chartered out of Nanny Cay in the past. We have ordered a new Lagoon 42 and we’ll be keeping her on Tortola. Our tentative delivery date is June/July 2017, but we expect it will be a few months later than that.
I really enjoy all your cruising insights – keep those coming. My wife and I are also long-time scuba divers and I like your scuba setup, including your scuba tank rack. Is it a custom fabrication or generally available? Also, I see you use (what appear to be) steel tanks, which manufacturer? I like shorter tanks, especially on a private boat. One last question; Do you have a compressor onboard? I know Blue Water Divers is at Nanny Cay and tank fills are fairly easy in the Caribbean so an onboard compressor may not be a good use of space.
Thanks, I really enjoy following you, Lennie and S/V Happy Together!
happytogether
Hi Jim and thanks for the kind words! We love getting letters like yours and it makes all the editing/filming worth it. We love the Lagoon and are very excited for you to take delivery. It sounds like they are selling well if its a year out. We waited a year as well but it can be time well spent. We went to every major sailboat show and visited each tent and met with many vendors and manufacturers to make decisions on what equipment we would add to the boat. I have a pretty good list of what we did before and after closing that I can send you. Email my randy@svhappytogether.com address and I will forward. The scuba set up is great and you are right on with the tanks. They are steel and we usually can get 2 dives out of them since we are usually shallower (25-50) and only about 25-30 minutes each. They are made by Faber and the tank rack was sold to us as an option by leopard. It is a good setup. My son in law’s family owns a large dive outfit in fort lauderdale so you can imagine I had great help in selecting and outfitting everything. We do not have a scuba compressor. That was a big debate for us. We don’t dive as much as we thought maybe once or twice a week and getting fills is easy as you mentioned. I would like one but the space thing is tough (and added weight) so I am still contemplating it. Keep in touch and I am happy to answer any questions. Thanks Randy & Lennie
Kenny
Hey Randy, I just got back from St Martin a couple weeks ago. I visited a couple of the places you recommended (Sunset and Calmos Cafe). Unfortunately, the power was out in Grand Case due to a storm. The Sunday night entertainment and food service was cancelled at Calmos. The great atmosphere and drinks made up for it. Turned into a huge candle light party on the beach. I absolutely had the time of my life. Can’t wait to go back! Looked at a few cats in St Martin and in Ft Lauderdale (on the way home). Hoping to pull the trigger in the near future.
Keep up the great work on the videos! Take care and thanks again.