Tobago Cays,
The Grenadines
12.37.764N
61.21.422W

This morning at 8 am, Orpailleur slipped her mooring lines and we on the Palace hoisted our anchor and fell in behind her. Orpailleur turned into the wind to hoist her main sail, then returned to course just as we turned into the wind to unfurl our main sail and did likewise. It looked like a well choreographed dance. MTNest was attending Mass and would join us later.

We motorsailed to the end of Bequia, then turned south, unfurled our jibs, turned off the engines and streaked to the Tobago Cays. The 25 miles, from anchor to anchor, only took us 4.5 hours. MTNest, which is a catamaran, made the same trip in 3.5 hours when they joined us later.

One of the highlights was when Orpailleur spotted a pod of pilot whales off to our right. Dale figured that there were about 20 of them. I caught a couple of good glimpses of them but wasn’t quick enough with the camera.

Our only mishap occurred at the end of the trip when we turned into the wind to furl away the jib. The winds were gusting to 27kts which whipped our lines about the deck dangerously. Our starboard jib line whipped against one of the panels of isinglass and tore it to ribbons in a matter of seconds. Dale had a difficult time trying to bring the jib back in but was able to wrestle it under control with much grunting, groaning and nashing of teeth. There wasn’t much we could have done differently as we were keeping tension on the line to prevent it from knotting itself. Turning further into the wind would have just whipped the lines even more. So now we either live with it for the next couple of months or try to find some isinglass in Grenada. We’d kicked around the idea of making a direct transit to the Los Testigos islands from Carriacou, so one possibility is taking the ferry to Grenada while Orpailleur in on the hard.

We hosted dinner on our boat this evening and when we were discussing the situation, Gerry mentioned that he might try to locate a sail loft to have some additional chafing protection added to his sails. If that’s the case, we may try to replace the panel if they have the isinglass in stock. If not, I’m inclined to wait until we get back home to have it replaced.

The newly adopted park fees were in full force and effect on this visit and the new park rangers met us shortly after we anchored to collect them. We asked how the fees were going to be used and got a pretty pat answer about protecting the environment. We’re hoping that the dinghy moorings will be better cared for. In just the year we’ve been here, we seen about a third of them disappear. Either too large of a boat is being moored on them or the ropes are in disrepair. A little care and monitoring would do wonders I think.

We didn’t go snorkeling today as we had hoped due to the continued high winds but we’re hoping that they die down as forecast and we’ll have a good day tomorrow. I’m looking forward to swimming with the turtles and visiting the wall again.

Admiralty Bay
Port Elizabeth, Bequia,
The Grenadines
13.00.687N
61.14.506W

To do something different today, Mike & Terri invited us to join them riding the dollar bus around the island. We’ve taken the bus before on different islands when we had somewhere specifically to go but have never gotten on just to ride. It turned out to be a great little ride. With Mike teasing the driver and his daughter, who collected the fares for her dad, the driver got into the role and played guide for his less than conventional passengers.

He told us that this was a special day on the little island. Yesterday one of their fishing boats had caught a whale. Since it has been a tradition for over a hundred years, the government allows the islanders two whales a year. Sail boats about 28’ long with a crew of 6 men, tack back and forth under sail looking for whales. When one is spotted, the alert is given to the other boats to converge on the area and help with the kill. Harpoons are used much the same way as they have for generations. The first in plunged deep into the whale by hand and a thick rope flaked in a basket unravels to its end. That’s when the “Nantucket sleigh ride” begins. When the opportunity arises, a second and third harpoon are also thrown by hand. When the whale tires, a man transfers from the boat to the whale and plunges another harpoon through the mouth of the whale and then bends it to hold its jaws shut to keep it from taking on water and sinking.

Yesterday’s kill didn’t fare as well. After the first harpoon was thrown and the sleigh ride began, the rope gave way and they had to call in a boat with a motor to catch the rope in the water and transfer it back to the original boat. Guess it has something to do with the rules that allow them to continue to take whales.

After the whale is killed, it is then hauled through the water to a little island off the coast where it is carved up and sold to the islanders. It sells for about $5.00 EC/lb. The boat crew who made the kill reaped the benefits. It looked like the whole island turned out to get their share.

Our bus driver continued by telling us that you need not only the meat of the whale but the blubber to cook it in. He said that people nowadays like to use a regular cooking stoves but he thought that it tasted better cooked over a wood fire the way they did it when he was younger.

He said that the meat tasted like beef and indeed, when we got a look at some of it in a bucket, it looked like beef. The lady sitting behind me offered to take us over to watch as they carved up the giant but I gave an emphatic no thank you. I can’t stand the smell of Dale filleting a fish on the back deck, I certainly don’t want to get a whiff of something being carved up that’s as big as a boat.

We finished our ride and when we were deposited back at the dock, we met Gerry & Nicky who were shopping for fruits and veggies. We told them all about our trip and walked down to the market to pick up some fresh bananas, pineapple, star fruit, green onions and broccoli for ourselves.

We all retired to our respective boats and made plans to meet up again for dinner at a local restaurant that featured a jazz pianist. Mike plays several instruments and often sits in with the bands we find. He had played before with Uncle Louie, who, from his accent, is from Scotland. Uncle Louie invited Mike to join him again and after our dinner, we were serenaded in grand style. When Uncle Louie took a break, Mike played a couple of tunes on the piano.

It was a great evening and punctuated with good humor when a gentleman from the table next to us, mistook Mike for someone he had met earlier in the day. Of course, this opened the door for Mike to run with the idea and was made even more crazy when the man Mike was mistaken for, actually showed up and sat at the next table down.

I think Gerry & Nicky weren’t quite sure what to think when they first met Mike and he immediately started teasing with them but considering how quick witted they are, they’ve made up for lost time. We always have so much fun.

Tomorrow, we’ll all point our bows south towards the Tobago Cays. Since these are uninhabited islands, it will be a few days before I’m able to make my blog posts again. Until then . . .

Admiralty Bay
Port Elizabeth, Bequia,
The Grenadines
13.00.687N
61.14.506W


After a great night’s sleep, we awoke early and checked to see if we got a decent internet connection from where we were. Yep! We connected immediately (although it had a tendency to drop from time to time.) Kind of glad I picked up that month long subscription now.

Dale saw a cruise ship arrive, so he took off to pick up Mike and Gerry and continued in to Port Elizabeth, the town associated with Admiralty Bay to check us into customs before they were inundated with people coming ashore. Unfortunately, the immigration people had already left for the cruise ship, so they were forced to return later in the day for that aspect of our clearing in process.

We he came back, he had news that we were going on the turtle farm tour later in the morning. A quick check of the depth gauge showed 7.5’ of water so at 10 am, we all made our way back and climbed into the back of a pick up truck customized with seats along the sidewalls and a roof over the back. Actually, it was a great little ride.

We arrived at the turtle farm and learned that their newest arrivals are hawksbill turtles and were discovered just as they were coming out of their nest. As a result, a pretty good number of the little tykes were scooped up and brought to the farm for rearing over the next year.

According to our guide, as long as the babies aren’t imprinted with the sights, sounds and smells of their birth beach, they can be released on any beach and imprinted later. They are brought to the farm and kept in pools with circulating water which is changed daily. Generally, they are kept together when they are tiny but if they are injured or don’t play well with others (biting seems to be the most common problem) they are kept in isolation tanks until they are healed. After a year, they are released back into the ocean from any number of beaches in The Grenadines.

Any nest can have up to 250 eggs and they are able to return half that number to the wild after a year. Our guide told us that although these turtles are endangered, some of the local island governments still allow hunting seasons on the creatures. Seems rather odd to me.

We hopped back into our “taxi” and started making our way back to the bay when we learned that there was a pottery store along the way. One quick stop to look through the inventory and we were back in the truck and on our way. It was picturesque and pricey.

When we got back to Port Elizabeth, Dale sent me to pick up some cash while he returned to the boat to get the immigration forms he hadn’t brought with him. Big mistake. I haven’t been to an ATM in about 18 months. I put the card in, punched in the numbers, started talking with the security guard sitting nearby, pulled out the cash, and the receipt but didn’t get the card. I told the guard, she went and got a bank manager, who asked for an ID, then went in and tore the machine apart looking for the card. It wasn’t there. He came back and asked if I had left the area and returned; no, of course not. He asked again how it happened, I told him I got the cash, I got the receipt, I just didn’t get the card back. He asked me to please check because the machine isn’t supposed to dispense the money before the card is retrieved. You can imagine my surprise when I found the card in my purse with the money. To this moment, I do not remember pulling it out and putting it in my purse. In fact, I specifically remember reminding myself repeatedly not to forget the card. These senior moments are getting scary. Needless to say, I spent the next few minutes apologizing to the bank manager and the security guard. Then I had to go out and tell all of our friends and Dale why it took me so long. We all had a good laugh but you know, it really is kind of scary.

Mike & Terri and Dale & I continued to show Gerry & Nicky around the little town. We walked through the straw market and the Rasta vegetable market. We walked through a couple of the model boat shops, then eventually had lunch at a place called the “Salty Dog” where the guys could watch the cricket matches some more.

We made it back to our respective boats and once we climbed aboard, Dale immediately donned his swim trunks to check the water level again. This time our depth gauge was indicating 6.5 - 7’ of water; we draw 5.5+ feet. With the wind starting to pick up, Dale wanted to check. He came back saying that he wasn’t happy. There was only about 6” of water under the keel and he could see where it had left an imprint on the soft sand below, lightly brushing along the most shallow areas.

So once again, we upped the anchor and did the anchor dance eventually dropping into 10-11’ of water. I stayed in the cockpit to watch us settle into our anchoring swing while Dale descended below to check for eyelid light leaks.

We ended the day along with MTNest on Orpailleur watching the sunset and eating the various hors d’oeuvers we each brought for the occasion. Good food and good friends; hopefully I won’t forget the fun I’m having.




Photo 1: The crew: Dale, me, Nicky, Terri, Mike & Gerry
Photo 2: Nicky getting a closer look.
Photo 3: 1 month old Hawksbill turtle.
Photo 4: Mike talking with proprietor of pottery shop.

Admiralty Bay
Port Elizabeth, Bequia,
The Grenadines
13.00.687N
61.14.506W


We raised our main and dropped our mooring ball at 7am and together with Orpailleur, MTNest and 2 more boats from the anchorage, motored out, unfurled our jib and raced to St. Vincent. Along the way, more and more boats either joined us or were coming towards us. We felt as if we were on an invisible super highway.

The first half of the trip, Dale drove while I sat with my sail handbook and tweaked the sails, trying to get every inch of performance out of them. I’d ease the sheets, adjust the blocks, play with the twist in the sail and look for where the wind was positioned in the sail. I think it was working since we were streaking along with speeds between 7-8 kts and well over 8 kts on occasion.

Once we got to St. Vincent, we switched. I drove and Dale tweaked. When he turned the wheel over to me, he cautioned me that it had been a work out, so not to over do it. It was about this time, we came into the lee of St. Vincent and the winds died completely. I ended up sitting down, and driving with my feet. Shortly after that, we turned on the engine and motored most of the way down the island. We noted a few boats anchored in some of St. Vincent’s bays. In the past, it was well known that visitors were not welcomed. Perhaps things have changed since last year, but we weren’t stopping to find out today. As soon as we rounded the southern tip of St. Vincent on our way to Bequia, I was on my feet again and got my work out for the rest of the day.

MTNest and Orpailleur had taken a more direct route to Bequia but had run into a couple of nasty squalls. Dale had tried to side step a west setting current which ended up keeping us out of the squalls but also took us closer into the lee of St. Vincent and the long way to Bequia. Terri radioed back to ask if we were OK and promised to save some lasagna for us when we eventually showed up.

About 5:15pm, we moseyed in and dropped our anchor in about 8’ of water to the side of MTNest; we noted that Orpailleur had elected to take a mooring ball. We backed down and settled very near the anchor of another boat. Dale says he’s not comfortable with that, particularly after the other morning, so we lifted the anchor and moved further forward, dropping in about 7-8’ of water. Just to be on the safe side, Dale agreed to jump in and check things out. The anchor looked good on a sandy bottom and yes, there were some shallow spots but we appeared to have plenty of room and depth to swing in.

We took a couple of quick showers and headed over to MTNest where Terri had prepared a wonderful lasagna dinner for the 3 boats. It was especially delicious when we were all tired, hungry and didn’t have to cook it ourselves. Gerry made positively obscene sounds when she produced a cake with chocolate frosting. He is a bona fide chocoholic. We all eagerly devoured everything she placed in front of us and announced that we’d sleep well tonight after all the exercise and good food.



Photo 1: Orpailleur & MTNest heading off into the rainbow.
Photo 2: Gypsy Palace heading into Admiralty Bay, Bequia (taken by Kenmore).

Jalousie,
St. Lucia
13.49.352N
61.03.897W


At 6:00am this morning, Dale started scurrying around to start the engine to move us forward so our neighbor could retrieve his anchor and leave. This wouldn’t have been so bad except that his wife would raise the anchor 6” at a time to scrub the chain. It ended up taking quite a long time. I told Dale that we were being punished for not being here yesterday.

If you recall, the day we arrived and first dropped our anchor, we had promised to move when they were ready. The next day, I was up and ready to move the boat when they came up but they had changed their minds saying that they were heading north and wouldn‘t leave with the way the winds were blowing. Yesterday when we took our island tour, they said they had wanted to leave and we were no where to be found after 9am. We apologized but this morning, we paid for our transgressions.

At 8 am, Gerry and Dale dinked in to clear us out of customs. Customs wasn’t opened, so they wandered on down and talked with Scott & Heather on Scott Free for a while. About 8:30 they checked again, customs still wasn’t opened, so they wandered over to the local chandlery for a look see. Customs was open when they returned shortly before 9 am. Island time, man! Nothing like it.

They made their way back to the boats and we secured the dinks before heading out of the inner anchorage to the outer one. MTNest’s dink wasn’t behind their boat and they didn’t answer when we hailed them on the radio, so we headed out beyond the anchored boats, turned into the wind and unfurled our sails. We turned back out and cut the engines.

Although we were in the lee of St. Lucia, we had a great sail most of the way down to the Pitons. Occasionally, a steep mountain would hinder our air flow but generally it was a brisk ride. Orpailleur, once again left us in their wake. This time I dug out our book on sail trim and started studying. I’d ease the sheets, then pull them back in, ease them back out, so on and so forth until I got frustrated and closed the book, convinced that the sails were exactly as they were when we first started.

We finally made contact with MTNest who told us that their watermaker had been repaired but that they wanted to run it for a couple of hours to make sure that everything was working as it should. They didn’t think that they would be able to join us today but would catch up tomorrow.

We had discussed stopping for a quick snorkel at Soufriere but when we arrived, there were no moorings available. As the water dropped to over a 1000’ a few yards beyond the mooring balls, we elected to forego the snorkeling and continue over to the anchorage outside of Jalousie between the Pitons.

With the “assistance” of the local boat boy, we snagged a couple of mooring balls and proceeded to settle in. I wasn’t comfortable with what appeared to be the local spot to take a break around the rocks on the beach and smoke a joint which was very close to our mooring field. We hadn’t heard of any boardings or robberies but I wasn’t crazy about leaving the boat unattended while a few of the locals got high nearby. As it turned out, once it was quitting time at a nearby construction site and all of the workers went home, so did the activity on the shoreline. Maybe it was my imagination but Gerry noticed them too and didn’t seem to be in a great hurry to go snorkeling either.

What Gerry did do, was scope out some information about a dinner and show that occurred on Wednesday nights at the restaurant down the beach. What do you know? Today is Wednesday!

Another surprise was MTNest calling us on the radio to say they were rounding the corner and to save them a mooring ball. As luck would have it, one had just become available. Dale and Gerry dinghied over to it and held it long enough for Mike & Terri to grab it.

Mike & Terri decided not to join us this evening, so the crews of Orpailleur and the Palace dinghied to the dock and walked over to a restaurant called Bang. It was previously owned by the English Lord Glenconner but recently purchased by its very close neighbor, the Hilton Resort.

Bang had a set dinner menu with 3 selections for the main entrée and the Wednesday night show consisted of local talent. We had acrobat/fire eating brothers and students from a local dance school. We had a great time and even participated in the limbo challenge. Lord Glenconner even showed up for the entertainment after dinner and sat at a table nearby. I guess even though he doesn’t technically own the establishment any more, he’s still very much a part of it.

We knew we had an early morning, so we snuck out a little early to get back to the boats and secure the dink. After doing the limbo, crawling back into a rainy wet dink was easy.

Photo 1: Dale doing the limbo?

Photo 3: Gerry, Dale and a blonde caught in the act!

Photo4: Gerry trying not to fall.

Rodney Bay,
St. Lucia
14.04.473N
60.56.990W


We scheduled an island tour today, so I got up early and finished the recovering of the dinghy seat project that I had started yesterday. Dale sent an e-mail message to Orpailleur regarding the fire last night and discovered that they had not seen it.

When it came time to dinghy in, we swung wide and got a better look at what was left. It had been a trimaran and even the little houseboat that was anchored behind it had damage to its roof.

Gerry & Nicky picked us up at our boat and we dinghied in and met Mike & Terri at the docks. When Chris, our guide, picked us up, he already had the local scoop on the fire. Arson basically. The trimaran was used as a lunch and dinner cruise operation; successful from what I could tell. Someone had approached the owner of the trimaran asking to purchase the establishment but they had been refused. Next thing you know, the boat is destroyed. Chris called it jealousy. Dale figured it was a propane leak considering how quickly it engulfed the entire boat and how hot it appeared to be burning. At least no one was on it at the time.

We began our tour to Castries, the capital of St. Lucia. We continued our southern trek with stops at banana plantations, a casava bread operation, a waterfall (and small botanical garden), a sunken volcano that spews sulfuric steam, a fishing village, a restaurant at the top of the mountains with a view between the Pitons, but we actually ate lunch at a local establishment which was tasty and cheap, then the rest of the island that we simply circumnavigated.

We learned that the old prime minister is out and a new one is in and at this point, doing a much better job of managing the island’s budget so that the people are seeing some benefit from their tax dollars. Most of the roads we traveled on were recently repaved, the people have work if they want it, the farmers have been encouraged to return to their farms to provide a more diverse economic base, and the island just seemed to be growing and improving.

One item of concern though, we were told the last prime minister encouraged everyone to buy, build and basically go into incredible amounts of debt based on the tourist dollar expected to come with the World Cup matches in cricket being played here. However, now that the matches are being played, hotels are not completely booked, bed & breakfast rooms that were built onto people’s homes are not booked, and the extra taxi cabs that were purchased are not being fully utilized to pay the debt. I fear that once the games are over, the islanders will quickly fall into economic ruin and the huge changes that we’ve seen in one year will backslide over the next.

Cricket, naturally, was our lunchtime conversation. Gerry & Nicky tried to teach the Yanks the basics of cricket. Since its about the 3rd time that Dale has listened and asked questions, he seems to be grasping more of the game. Listening to the conversation reminded me of an old Andy Griffith skit I saw a long time ago about a country bumpkin describing the first time he ever saw a football game.

It was pretty late when we got back and even though Terri had offered to cook lasagna for everyone, we didn’t want her to go to all of the trouble after such a long day, so we dropped by Scuttlebutts and picked up a couple of salads or burgers. We told them about Google Earth and they were fascinated. There was an internet connection in the restaurant but a couple of guys were using it to surf for the latest female crew photos (we hope), so I suggested that everyone return with us to our boat and we’d pull it up for them.

Unfortunately, until quite late at night, our WiFi is usually slower than molasses in January but they at least got the idea. If you haven’t seen it, go to http://www.googleearth.com/, download the software, and then travel the world. It’s best to start out with a state or country, then start narrowing it down to city, before you go for the street and house number. It’s not real time, but it’s pretty cool to see where we are. Of course, you can just enter our coordinates as another type of address.

Tomorrow, we’ll point our bows south again and make our way to Dale’s favorite anchorage between the two Pitons. Hopefully, Mike & Terri will be able to go with us but if not, they’ll catch up to us on down the road. At some point, we need to touch base with Scott & Heather on Scott Free who are in a slip right in front of us. They are on the same time table as Orpailleur as far as making Panama by May, so maybe they can buddy boat part of the way.

In any event, I need to get these posts uploaded while I still have an internet connection. Even if it takes me all night.

Rodney Bay,
St. Lucia
14.04.473N
60.56.990W

First thing this morning, Dale & Gerry went and stood in line for the customs office to open in order to check us into the country. Once again, it was 8am ‘island time’, which means it was closer to 9am by the time the doors were actually opened.

I had stayed on the boat to run the genset, try to upload my blog posts and to be prepared to move us forward in case the boat behind us wanted to get underway before Dale returned. As it turned out, I ran topside when I saw the couple on their deck but he shouted over that they had changed their minds due to the winds being unfavorable for the northern transit they had wanted to make. That and it was raining.

Dale & Gerry came back saying they had run into Mike & Terri at the marina, who had agreed to join us for our island tour. What a treat, they are really great people.

We had the Indian fast food called a roti (curried chicken & potatoes in a burrito bundle) for lunch, then the guys took off to “work” on Mike’s watermaker. Nicky and I dug out our sewing machines and did our own work. Mine consisted of trying to recover our dinghy seat cushion which is taking a beating considering how well Dale secures the dinghy with cross ropes. The job is easier said than done. I’ve got it almost finished but with the tour tomorrow, I’m not sure when I’ll actually get it done.

The guys returned with the news of ‘no joy’ on the watermaker. They had discovered that the filters had been put in backwards but other than that, they were only able to ascertain that it was a problem with the pressure.

I put my sewing aside early, since we had made arrangements to go into an Indian restaurant called Razmataz. Indian cuisine was the theme of the day, I guess. Gerry & Nicky guided us through the menu and we had a very tasty and spicy dinner. Curries and chilies were in almost every dish; only the mint yogurt put out the flames.

Odd choice of words, now that I re-read them. Just after I wrote that paragraph, I heard a muffled pop. Seconds later, a boat in front and to the right of us quite a bit away was fully engulfed in fire. I called to Dale, then hailed the marina on the radio. As it was a little after 11:30 pm, so I wasn’t sure anyone would answer. Thank heavens they did and I was able to tell them they had a boat on fire at the end of their dock. Fire engines arrived within minutes. There were at least 2 and possibly 3 more muffled pops after the fire engines arrived. It was a difficult fire to put out as it kept coming back and to this minute, there are a few flames that keep popping back up. Unfortunately, the boat appears to have been burned to the water line in about 30 minutes. Hard to tell from here. Hopefully no one was on board.

It’s amazing what you see when you’re a night owl trying to get a decent internet connection.

Rodney Bay,
St. Lucia
14.04.473N
60.56.990W

Dale’s tummy wasn’t feeling too well this morning, so Nicky and I decided that there was no need for the guys to come in with us to return the rental car and do our grocery shopping,. We took off in the ‘banana fender’ (as it was called today) with thoughts of doing a couple of quick errands and returning before they had time to complain.

We dropped by Foreclosure to say hello and explain that we had been running in different directions for the last couple of days, then tied the dinghy at the dock and took the car back to the rental agency where we waited for someone to return to the office. Clearly they were open as the hurricane shutters were rolled up and a folding sign was placed outside the door. After about 15 minutes we checked with the establishment next door to see if maybe they knew if the woman who worked there had a habit of heading off for a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Nope, no information. After about 30 minutes and seeing several people walk down the street with grocery bags in their arms, we knew that a store was somewhere near, so I left Nicky in the car while I went in search of the store to pick up the bread we both needed.

Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour after we arrived, the woman showed up with others in tow (apparently clients). At least I had been able to find some bread. We made our way back to the dinghy and our respective boats.

We hoisted anchors and slowly made our way out of the anchorage. Orpailleur was held up because of another boat resting over their anchor. Considering how they had to dance around the other (unattended) boat to retrieve theirs, they were lucky the anchors hadn’t tangled.
We made our way out to the St. Anne anchorage and unfurled our sails. By the time we reached the end of the anchorage we were doing over 5 kts and didn’t slow down until we made it to St. Lucia. We saw speeds up to 8 kts; not that we were racing or anything but Dale & I did hand steer all the way and at least stayed in the competition. At one point on the transit, there were 4 boats all vying for the same air.

We reached Rodney Bay exhausted but in good spirits. We were transiting the narrow channel that leads to the marina inside the lagoon when the approaching dinghy waved us down. It was Mike & Terri from MTNest with Brad, one of their guests they had aboard about this time last year that we had met. We made some hasty arrangements to get together later and continued on our way into the fuel dock.

I’ve gotten pretty good at holding the Palace in place while waiting in line for fuel and today was no exception. Except that it took forever. We watched as the power boat fueled and paid their bill but after that, we couldn’t figure out what was taking so long. The closest we could figure was that they were simply chit chatting with people on the dock, ignorant of the line forming behind them. Finally, the station attendant motioned for us to go ahead of the power boat on what was left of the dock.

From previous experience, we knew not to throw a bow line to anyone standing on the dock in case they tug too forcefully. Thank heavens, Dale repositioned the line from the bow to amid ship because sure as shooting, even though he told the guy to use it as a spring line to keep us from drifting down on the powerboat behind us, the attendant caught the line and secured it to the nearest cleat which didn’t keep us from smacking the powerboat’s anchor with our dinghy hanging from the davits. Of course it acted like an overgrown fender but with two kids sitting on the bow of the powerboat, I was furious; with myself and with the attendant. I should have allowed more room for the dinghy which ultimately would have forced the attendant to use the farthest cleat to secure us to. As it was, it was the powerboat’s owner that gave us a helping hand to secure the Palace to the dock more securely.

Our normal place to anchor in the tiny lagoon even further in was crowded, so we ended up anchoring to the outside of the marina. It’s busier with buzzing dinghies and sounds from the local establishments but it has free WiFi, so who can complain.

We finished our day by going over to MTNest and enjoying the sunset, the music and the company. Brad & Angie, whom we had met last year, are flying out tomorrow but it was good to see them again.

Gerry & Dale have decided that Mike needs more help on his watermaker problem and have volunteered to take a look at it tomorrow. These guys actually get a kick out of working on mechanical things. Maybe they just get a kick out of working on other people’s things. Boys and their toys.

Le Marin,
Martinique
14.27.688N
60.52.108W


Thank heavens this morning I was able to sleep in. At 8 am, Dale started the genset and took off for the town to check us into customs with Gerry. Then they were off shopping for guy things.

While they were gone I was in charge of running the refrigerator and making water, which of course I did. I was also able to take a leisurely shower and wash my hair. Then I brought out the guide books and figured out where the botanical gardens were that Nicky and I wanted to go see.

When the guys came back, they had the usual assortment of oil, wire and various metal things but Gerry came back with a bright yellow dinghy as well. It seems, he’s tired of getting wet on his dinghy rides and decided to buy another one with a higher bow. Nicky immediately dubbed it the Custard Bullet.

So we left the men behind playing with their new toys while we went in search of a rental car and map. After 3 tries, we found one that was fairly reasonable and off we went. I had asked Nicky to drive figuring that on a French island they would drive on the left hand side of the road but when we picked up the car we discovered that no, they drove on the right hand side of the road. It didn’t matter, we were off on our own and having a blast. There were several round abouts along the way and the car couldn’t get out of its own way if it had to but the hardest part was getting onto the freeway from all of the little one way roads. Once found, it was rather simple to make our way to the Jardin de Balata.

We took a leisurely stroll through the gardens, starting with the hummingbird feeders that lined the porch of the reception area. Then through the gardens filled with bromeliads, palm trees, ferns, water gardens, gingers, haliconias and orchids. We should have picked up some lunch before hand but ended up having some ice cream to tide us over until dinner time.

On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at the Eglise de Balata, the twin to the famous Basilica de Sacre Cour located in Paris. Nicky had been to the original church and said that this one was just like it only smaller. A wedding was being prepared for and we caught a glimpse of the bride before we left.

On the way back, we noticed that there was a pottery village that was just a little off our route on the way back to the boats, so . . . Of course, we sought it out. It ended up being down a dirt road but was a great find. True to it’s name, it was a collection of artisians in separate little shops all located in the same area. We wandered through each one and found a couple of little pieces that caught our eye.

Back at LeMarin, we found the guys patiently waiting for us at the local pub. We teased Dale for the better part of the evening that I was having a delivery made to the marina tomorrow with all of my purchases from the pottery village. He went along with it but I don’t think that he actually believed that I’d order something that had to be delivered by a truck.

Earlier in the day Nicky had loaned me her washing machine (a diaper pail that sits on a motorized agitator) so that I could do all of my delicates. While we were gone, Dale had been kind enough to wash them for me (I think that he just wanted to play with a new machine) and they were soaking in rinse water when I got back to the boat this evening. So in the dark of the night, I hung up all of my delicates to greet the morning’s sun. Nothing like a 21 panty salute first thing in the morning.

Tomorrow we’re off for St. Lucia after we drop off the rental car and make a quick stop at the local grocery. If the Cooper factor is in effect tomorrow, we’ll have to do something drastic like offer a rum drink to King Neptune or something. These nasty transits are for the birds.

Le Marin,

Martinique
14.27.688N
60.52.108W

I am pleased to tell you that I did not break the microwave but I did learn that I can not use it continuously for half an hour. Dale believes that there is an overheat switch that shuts down the appliance until it cools and that is what happened last evening. As a result, this morning, it miraculously worked without further fiddling around with it.

About 7:45am, we lifted our anchors and made our way south again towards Cul-de-sac du Marin on the south coast of Martinique. It proved to be a really nasty transit.

We essentially motored the entire way due to the rain showers predicted in the morning hours. The rain showers did arrive, were fairly short lived and certainly nothing to write about. However the 20+ kt winds that may have been embedded within them proved to be something else. They were on the backside of the showers and continued for the remainder of the day. We had one gust to 30 kts but generally they stayed in the 23-28 kts range. Both of our boats can sail in winds such as these and at one point we did turn off the engines for a short time. However, for some crazy reason, which we have dubbed the “Cooper factor” the winds never died down and even shifted to be directly on the nose where they stayed for the rest of our journey.

Of course, after a couple of hours of 20+kt winds, the seas whipped up and ended up being our nemesis. As we rounded the southern coast, the waves were wicked. Four to six foot and close. Near HMS Diamond Rock, the depths came up from over 1000’ to about 200’, so that added to the mix and made those particular seas confused. We tried to tack to get the best possible ride but it was rough no matter what route we tried.

What seemed like forever to achieve, we finally entered the channel, made our way past the Club Med at the point and entered into the bay at Le Marin. Normally, we’ve anchored in St. Anne in the past and dinghied into Marin but Gerry & Nicky preferred not to dinghy the 2+ miles, as they would be soaked to the bone by the time they arrived.

We wiggled our way through the reefs in the anchorage, saw Foreclosure (no one was on deck) picked a couple of anchor spots, changed our mind, moved into shallower water, circled around a few times and eventually settled into about 12’ and dropped the hook. Orpailleur was aft and slightly to our port.

We sat in the cockpit for about an hour to make sure that we were secure, then lowered the dink and made our way into the marinas to show Gerry & Nicky around. Dale was excited to show Gerry the Yanmar engines dangling in a nearby window which, of course, they both oo’d and ah’d. For sure, Gerry would be able to find any parts he needed there.

We walked up the nearby hill to a restaurant that Dale & I had gone to back in December. We had a great dinner, then returned to our respective boats where Dale & I discovered that our starting battery was not holding a charge. I told Dale that this is the first time something has gone bad in a place where we could actually do something about it. Guess what we’ll be doing tomorrow. Well sort of. It was also a unanimous vote that the guys will putter around on the boat doing their thing while Nicky and I will rent a car and go see the Botanical Gardens to the north of here. Should be a fun day.

Photo: Orpailleur making their way to Le Marin

St. Pierre,

Martinique
14.45.555N
61.10.660W

Our sail started off slow but ended up rather exhilarating.

We hoisted our anchors at 7 am and made our way out of Portsmouth, Dominica. It was a long open harbor and took almost a half hour just to leave. We turned and either hoisted or unfurled our main sails and then returned to our course for leaving.

We motored out a ways and then slowed to see what the wind was doing. Then we continued our motoring for the next couple of hours. Once, before we reached the end of the island, the winds teased us and we unfurled our jib and shut off the engine. We sailed along briskly for about a half hour and then it was back to motoring as the on shore breeze was stronger than the trades and made for a stalemate where we were located.

We saw a couple of dolphins, the first for quite some time now and we had a stowaway for a short time hiding on one of our back seats protected by a fender.

Near the southern end of Dominica, we could see wind on the water. The rest of our sail was between 6-8kts all the way to Martinique. Of course, Orpailleur left us in their wake. We used the autopilot for most of the way but towards the end we each took a turn at hand steering and made some noticeable headway on Gerry/Nicky. For the briefest of times, we played who goes where with another boat approaching on a collision course with us. Dale was on the wheel but I saw the boat under our jib. The other guy was on a starboard tack, so Dale turned up wind. The other boat must not have thought that we were going to turn in time so he turned in the same direction, then we all did it again in the opposite direction. Then one more time just for the sheer terror of it. Finally, we passed starboard to starboard and with a respectable amount of space between us.

As we approached the harbor in St. Pierre, a large black cloud passed over the town and out to where we were. We slowed our speed and waited for the rain to pass. On our previous trip down island, I had placed a waypoint near where we needed to go. Today, it was easy to just turn on the autopilot and plug in the waypoint and slowly make our way into the anchorage while keeping a sharp lookout for any other boats doing the same thing.

We reached our waypoint as the rain subsided. We still had about another half mile to travel but at least the rain was gone. We entered the anchorage and remembered that you were practically on the beach before you ever reached anchoring depths. Our first attempt Dale wasn’t comfortable with. Our second left me anxious about being too close to another boat, we finally circled around and dropped a 3rd time just a little behind where our second attempt was so that we settled behind the boat I was concerned about. Gerry & Nicky anchored somewhere near where we tried the first time. They didn’t drag but Gerry said that he wasn’t real comfortable about the feel of it either and that they would stay where they were.

We finished our day with a quick dinner of stuffed baked potatoes. I had already finished cooking when the microwave just turned off. At first I thought that because I had left the door open, the light turned off automatically after a period of time. When I saw that the whole oven had turned off, I thought of a circuit breaker tripping. When that wasn’t the case, I called my handy, dandy repair man who said that he’d try to fit me into his schedule tomorrow sometime.
Our biggest concern right now is: how do we get the dang thing out so that he can look at it. It’s definitely a project that needs the light of day to shed some light on the situation.

There’s always fun in the sun.

Portsmouth,
Dominica
15.34.872N
61.27.829W

What a long day. A great day but long nevertheless.

It began at 7 am when Dale started the genset so that it could run its full course before we headed out for an island tour. We had not toured Dominica on our first trip down, so we were anxious to see what we had missed.

Jeffrey, our boat boy, had arranged for Andrew to pick us up at 8 am but when we arrived at the docks, he made his apologies and said that he had hired Michael “Budda” to be our guide for the day. This turned out to be to our advantage as Budda is a botonist and was very knowledgeable about the plants and flowers that Nicky and I were interested in.

We headed north around the island and Budda would stop periodically to pick a few leaves of bay, lemon grass, citronella, anise or point to custard apples, bread fruit, bread nuts, nutmeg, cocoa, apricots, bananas, red bananas, grapefruit, pineapple and a host of various trees or flowers. I think I snapped 200 photos today.

We toured a Caribe Indian village, an emerald pool at the base of a waterfall and had a lunch of local cuisine. We walked through rainforests where we saw and heard various birds and Budda would tell us stories of various politicians that had run amok or tales his grandmother had told him when he was a child.

He spoke highly of a woman who had lived to be 120+ years old and said that it was the government that had killed her. His reasoning was stretched but we got the drift. Due to her age, she came to the attention of the government. They wanted to take care of their “national treasure.” Budda never said that she was a Rasta but he said that she believed in the natural way of life and never ate anything that had chemicals added to it. At some point, medical workers trimmed her long toenails and trimmed them too short. This caused an infection that led to her loosing her feet, then her legs and eventually her life.

We felt that Budda was an excellent guide. At one point a man was walking along the path with a lighted cigarette. Budda was very polite when he told the man that smoking was not allowed in the rainforest as the trees were volatile (there were large no smoking signs everywhere). The man seemed extremely put out but did douse his cigarette until we were out of sight. Budda scooped up a small bit of sap from the tree we were standing next to and told me to smell it. It smelled almost like kerosene. He took a lighter and touched the sap, it ignited immediately and burned like a candle before he snuffed it out.

Budda also told us of his own personal experiences where his father is a black man and his mother is a Caribe Indian. Of the four children from this union, one looks Indian, the other three are black; Budda being one of them. He told us that the Caribes have a long standing hatred of blacks and that his father was not allowed to live with his mother in the Caribe village. Once the children were out of school, the 3 blacks were no longer welcome in their own village. It’s obvious that he is very hurt, to the point of being bitter, over this situation.

I was extremely impressed with our island tour and commented to Dale on a couple of occasions that once you get out of the main villages, the island was cleaner than most of them down here.
Budda dropped us off at the bank (per our request) and Andrew picked us up once again to take us back to our respective boats. As it was almost 6 pm, we made a mad dash to “Big Papa’s” to retrieve our laundry and have dinner. It has been a very long day, but not one I would have wanted to miss.

Tomorrow, we’ll hoist our anchors and point our bows south again towards Martinique.

Portsmouth,

Dominica
15.34.872N
61.27.829W

Dale & Gerry made their way into the customs dock this morning about 8, while Nicky and I stayed on our respective boats and blogged it. They came back a bit later and said that the immigration official wasn’t in and they had to return to the offices after lunch when he came back.

Until then, Gerry & Nicky went in to check out the laundry facilities and the possibility of an internet connection. As luck would have it, right about the time that they returned with news of a WiFi connection, my computer picked up the signal. Apparently, the electricity was down in town earlier in the morning and when it came back on, so did the internet possibilities.

In the meantime, Dale tried to track down a leak in our water system. When the pump is on, it cycles about once every minute. We’ve also noticed that our bilge pump cycles more often. The only problem, the water system is fresh but the bilge water seems to be salt. He’s working on the problem.

I continued to blog it. For some crazy reason, I take an inordinate amount of time to create these posts. Then I have to edit, then re-edit when the spell check uses the wrong word, and choose pictures and then wait forever and a day to upload them. Once I found out that I could upload pictures from this connection, I went back to my last posts and added the photos that I had wanted to originally. That is, after I read and answered all of our e-mail. Can I help it if it takes me all day?

At 4 pm, Andrew, one of Jeffrey’s guides, came by to pick us up from our boat. The waves coming into the harbor made it pretty confusing to say the least. I dang near went in the drink just getting into his boat. Then we went over to Orpailleur where I threatened to take their picture if they fell in, knowing full well that Nicky’s camera was poised on me during my less than graceful crossing. Once we were all aboard, off we went to the opposite side of the harbor where we were deposited for the guys to go buy our tickets at the gas station across the street for the Indian River Tour. Nicky and I checked out the local crafts. When they returned, we all crawled back into the boat and made our way up the river.

Talk about a trip back in time. I think I mentioned last year that a curve in this river was used in the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Where the witch’s cabin was. In any event. It’s a pretty cool ride. Andrew told us that although Dominica has boa constrictors, they usually don’t attack humans but prey on the local iguanas instead. There’s no doubt in my mind that a boa constrictor would find this area a nice hunting ground. As it was, Andrew pointed out the iguanas in the trees, the various birds and bird nests, the land crabs watching us glide by, as well as the various trees, bushes and flowers.

Dale and Gerry took turns remembering the Disney ride through the jungle and kept saying that around the next corner was where the elephants would squirt us or the hippo would appear from under the water.

One thing that was different from last year, was the end of the ride where a tall, thatched roof building once stood. Inside you could buy extraordinarily strong (rum) Dynamite Punch. Seems the owners either didn’t pay their taxes or didn’t pay their rent and their building was torn down. Looks like someone else is now trying to build on their property and has started with the thatched roof and a little stand selling, you guessed it, Dynamite Punch.

Portsmouth,

Dominica
15.34.872N
61.27.829W

With clocks properly set, we all got up and lifted our anchors at 6:45 am this morning. Normally we like to leave at 7 but since we were dodging a couple of rain showers, it seemed to be in our best interests to leave when we could see. However, as sometimes is the case, there was no wind beneath the clouds. We ended up motoring off and on to the end of the island which was clouded in a fine mist that lasted until the island was out of sight.

Once we passed the southern tip of Guadeloupe, the trades filled in and we started to sail. It was a decent little romp until again, we saw a black cloud looming ahead of us. We brought in our jib to be on the safe side, turned on the radar and plunged into it. Luckily, what little winds were associated with the shower were hardly over 20 kts and soon we exited out the other side and continued to motor the last hour into Dominica.

Well before the harbor entrance and in the pouring rain, Albert, one of the many “boat boys” came roaring up to us in his boat to welcome us to Dominica. We thanked him for his greeting and told him that we had used Jeffrey on Sea Bird last year and would be using him again this year. Orpailleur got the same greeting and unfortunately for Albert, he had the same reply from them as well.

We rounded the headland that protects the northern side of the bay and entered into Portsmouth. There were certainly a lot more boats in this year than there were last but there was room for us in 20’ of water and close to where we wanted to be. I’m sure that Albert had telephoned Jeffrey because we had just dropped our anchor when he pulled up in his colorful boat to welcome us back and ask what he could do for us. We told him that we were interested in the Indian River Tour and possibly one of the tours to the rainforest. No problem mon, 4 o’clock tomorrow, he’d send a boat to pick us up for the Indian River Tour.

Since it was my turn to cook dinner, I went below to start on my lasagna when Dale called me back up. He had found a flying fish plastered to the side of the boat. Quite possibly the smallest one I’ve ever seen. I had been telling Nicky just the other day that we had seen a squadron of small ones that looked like fairies on the water with their wings glistening in the sunlight. This one was much smaller than those. When Gerry came over later, we sent the little guy’s body home with him.

At dinner later, I did my best to fill them up and I guess I must have succeeded since both Gerry & Nicky went home with left over lasagna. Either that or it wasn’t very good and they didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Nah! Nicky would tell me in a most definitive manner that it was not fit for human consumption. And she didn’t, so it must have been edible.

Pigeon Island,
Guadeloupe
16.10.366N
61.46.789W

What time is it anyway?

In spite of the fact that Nicky likes to ease into the morning the way that I do, Orpailleur took off bright and early this morning. We fell in behind, passed the fisherman casting their nets in the early morning light and followed them to our predestined site of Pigeon Island where the Cousteau Underwater Park is located. We sailed the 8 miles there but due to the light winds associated with the morning, we didn’t really get up and go until mid-morning. Once the winds picked up, we scooted right along loosing our “race” with Orpailleur once again. When I asked about this, Dale says its because they have new sails, a battened main and they are probably better sailors than we are. We anchored in the bay across from the park and once secure in our holding, changed into our bathing suits and headed across to the park.

We took the dinghies to the far side where it is shallow and tied to a couple of mooring balls before slipping over the sides and snorkeling around the smaller of the two islands that make up the park. This was a marvelous area and once again, I wished we had brought our scuba gear.

The area where we first started was sandy, with some coral heads and large rocks. We swam between the two islands where it was even more shallow with lots of coral and then along the wall that rose up to make the island. At one spot in about 30 feet of water, I found a statue of a man waving. I tried to free dive down to get a better snap shot. We’ll see if it will upload.

We saw loads of barrell sponges and lots of different types of coral. We swam through clouds of sergeant majors, blue chromises, and goatfish.

I chased a juvenile French angelfish, some foureye butterfly fish and a filefish of some sort with the camera. Dale spotted a flounder that I was able to take a picture of since it wasn’t moving and a black durgon that I wasn’t quick enough to catch. It was a great time. I was delighted to see that when I turned around to see where Gerry & Nicky were, they were right behind us.

Nicky had invited us over for dinner this evening and I had already prepared the salad I was contributing to the meal when Gerry called to ask what time we had. We told him and discovered that they were working an hour ahead of us. We scrambled around checking our various clocks on the wall, on the alarm clock, the chart plotter, etc. All indicated the same time. When we arrived, we learned that they had adjusted their clocks for daylight savings time, which doesn’t effect the Caribbean. Nicky was upset that she had given up an hour of sleep that she didn’t need to. At least now, we’re all working in the same time zone.

Deshaies

Guadeloupe
16.18.376N
61.47.864W

What a Great Sail!

We were ready to leave Antigua at 6:45am but since we had told our neighbors that we would leave at 7, we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the quiet morning starting to come to life. At 7am, we started the process of lifting the anchor, which can be noisy if you’re anywhere near. This was all the alarm clock our neighbors needed and came up to find us creeping slowly towards them. Sure enough, they had to start their engine and move forward a little to let us retrieve our anchor.

We motored to the entrance of the harbor, turned into the wind and unfurled the main sail to the first reefing point. We turned back toward the entrance and motored out beyond the lee of the island, unfurled the headsail and turned off the engine. We had perfect sailing conditions. The seas were down and the trades were averaging about 15-18 kts all day. The skies were blue except for a couple of white fluffy clouds over the islands. This is what sailing is all about.

At one point during our sail, Dale jumped up and started shouting about seeing a marlin jump out of the water just in front of our boat. He was all excited and said that if it had been 10 seconds later, it would have run into us it was so close. I hadn’t seen it but could tell something had caught his attention. He rummaged around for the cheat sheet on fish that we keep in the cockpit (in case he actually catches something on the line he sometimes drags behind us) and decided that it had to be a white marlin due to its sail size.

He also witnessed a flying fish crash and burn. These little fish often entertain us on long voyages when they launch out of the water and fly over the waves for extended periods of time. They manage to do this by flicking their tails on the crests of the waves to lengthen their flights before diving back into the sea. We’ve watched these little squadrons on just about every leg of our trip. Sometimes having to toss them back into the sea when they tried to fly through the cockpit but slammed into the enclosure. Today apparently, one of the little daredevils, took off, but when it came time to flick his tail on the wave, he misjudged and the wave flicked him which caused him to fly tail over gills into the water sideways.

In spite of the 1-1.5 kt current against us, we slipped into Deshaies, Guadeloupe, about 6 hours after we started, averaging about 6 kts over the course of the trip. We anchored slightly to the port side of Orpailleur and Gerry & Nicky came over to greet us. The guys talked about our various mechanical difficulties and Nicky and I talked about the horrendous crossings we each experienced the day that our paths separated.

As I mentioned before, Orpailleur had lost engine power and had to sail the rest of their trip. They, like us, were making a trip up wind which meant that they were tacking back and forth to their destination in huge seas and then once reached, had to tack back and forth to enter the harbor which was filled with anchored boats, not all of whom had their anchor lights on and the moon hadn't come up yet. They also have headsets, so with Gerry standing on the bow, Nicky sailed according to his directions and tried to keep the wind in their sails. They had quite the time, tacking back and forth among the boats that they could see and the occasional one that they couldn’t. They were able to work their way in to reach a depth of 50 feet, then let out every inch of chain that they had and prayed that they would stay put for the remainder of the night. Luckily they did.

The next day, Gerry tore apart his engine and discovered that they had a bad fuel injector. They rented a car and explored the island via the looking for parts tour. What they found was a diesel mechanic who cleaned their injector and then sold them a refurbished one. Gerry put everything back together and they were able to move to a more secure location within the harbor where we found them. They’ll just use the engine to enter and leave harbors until we can reach Martinique where we know they have a Yanmar dealer.

At least we all back together again.

Falmouth Harbour

Antigua
17.00.708N
61.46.523W

While Dale checked us out of customs and paid our refrigeration bill, I found an internet café and camped out for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Unfortunately, it was a slow connection and I couldn’t get any of my pictures to load.

We saw Brian & Lisa off Wasabe walking down the street and called them in to join us. We had spoken to them briefly when they arrived via the radio and had promised to catch up with them today. Brian had his computer and logged in while Lisa made the introductions to their new buddy boat named Jalapeño. They told us that they had seen a sign indicating that tonight was sushi night at the marina so, they made reservations on behalf of us all, including Steve and Vicky on True Companions. We caught up between the distractions of working on the computer and then said good bye until we were scheduled to meet up again on True Companions at sundown.

We stopped and greeted our new neighbors on TaiTai, an older, very British couple, who may have anchored over the top of our anchor and have to either pull up or fend off as we leave early tomorrow. They were very nice and said that they thought they might have to move if we left before them. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to sneak by without having to disturb them.

At sundown, Brian brought their parrot Gypsy along for the ride. She’s a beautiful red parrot with a purple breast and bright yellow and purple tail feathers (although she’s kept clipped pretty short). She was looking much better than the last time we saw her when she was going through a molting period (supposedly throwing a temper tantrum while Lisa was off the boat). Gypsy seems to like Dale, or at least his glasses and rubbed her beak all over his shoulder; ‘claiming him’ according to Brian. I hope that I’ll be able to load the picture of her when it comes time to post this section. She really is a beautiful bird.

Later we made our way over to the yacht club for shushi and enjoyed a very tasty and expensive meal. Dale likes sushi as does Brian & Lisa; I like steak. Personally, I think I got the better deal.

Tomorrow will begin with another fairly early morning as Dale wants to get underway by 7am. Hopefully, the sailing will be better than when we arrived.

Falmouth Harbour,
Antigua
17.00.708N
61.46.523W

A quick check of our sat e-mail this morning brought some alarming news. Gerry and Nicky sailed past Montserrat and continued to Guadeloupe. However, they lost their engine power along the way which forced them to continue under sail and into a new harbor late at night. Today they tore their engine apart to ascertain the problem and discovered that they have a bad fuel injector.

Dale checked us into customs and then dropped by the refrigeration people to confirm that we had arrived as scheduled. We were 4th on the list and were told that they would try to make sure we were seen today. Dale got back to the boat and wanted to move us in a little closer to the marinas. We chose a spot just up from where we had originally anchored and already the roll disappeared. We got out the hose and gave the inside of the cockpit a quick wipe down to get all of the salt off. We’re hoping for a little rain shower will pass our way to get the rest of the salt off the outside of the boat.

In the light of day, we recognized that we were amongst the very elite in sailing. The Maltese Falcon (the largest 3 masted sailboat) and a huge ketch are tied in slips just in front of us. Also, as we had surmised, many of the larger racing yachts are in from the Heineken Race and also at the marinas with a couple anchored out with the rest of us mere mortals.

Early afternoon we were contacted to head into the fuel pier and pick up Richard, the refrigeration repair guy. He had fixed our refrigerator last year about this time and we kidded him that we were back for our annual maintenance. He brought a young apprentice with him and with Dale’s assistance, they tore the salon apart to access the compressor and pump. The long and short of it was: faulty wiring.

The culprit was a short in an unknown splice in the wire leading from the compressor to the pump that led through a strake beneath the floor boards at the level of the bilge (which means that it was not visible.) Richard discovered this with his multimeter and the fact that one end was black and the other end was white. We dug out some string, attached it at one end and started pulling. Sure enough the rusty splice came out and promptly fell apart in Dale’s hands. Why anyone would put an unprotected electrical component in a place that is bound to get wet is anybody’s guess. In fact, Richard said that we were lucky that we hadn’t had a fire or explosion considering the potent ional for spilt fuel or oil in the area.

Once this was discovered, Richard told Dale to just re-splice the wire, adding the necessary heat shrink material for protection, then lead it back through again. Dale not only put heat shrink material on each individual wire, he put heat shrink material on the bundle as extra protection. A couple of hours later, we had the salon put back together and the refrigerator going. Now we’re wondering what else is lurking in inaccessible areas.

Steve & Vicky on True Companions and Brian & Lisa on Wasabe heard us talking on the radio earlier in the day and contacted us to get together with them in the evening. We had last seen True Companions in Grenada and Wasabe in Trini. As much as we would have liked to visit with each of them, we’re still exhausted today. So we declined the invitations and promised to get together tomorrow as a check of the weather had 9’ seas and we’re going to wait until they decrease a bit before heading back out again.

In the meantime, we offered to run down a fuel injector for Gerry and found out that we could get one here in 24 hours if necessary. However, Gerry & Nicky are taking a tour of Guadeloupe and will look for one there. Hopefully, they’ll let us know in time should they want us to bring one with us when we leave.

Since we’re going to be here another day, I’ll head into a marina tomorrow and see if I can find an internet café.