I have been informed that I am overdue for a blog
update. I can’t argue, I can only make
excuses.
When I last I reported we are in St Pierre, Martinique. It was our last day so Cori went to shore
early to search for more sea-glass and I ran the generator to give the
batteries a little boost. Midday we
pulled the anchor to move on, we were headed to Grand Anse Bay further down the
coast. Grand Anse is a bay that has a
lot of small restaurants, several resorts, a couple of shops catering to divers
and tourists, it is not a town. We spent
two days, one relaxing on the boat and another hiking over the ridge to the
next bay. Being as the restaurants and
bars cater to the tourists they are open late and as usual have their music
turned to full volume so everyone in the anchorage can enjoy it until 2:00 am. After two days we had enough, we knew the
next bay was more peaceful. The
highlight of the stay was dinner one evening delivered from another boat. It is a boat that travels to various harbors,
in the morning they announce the menu for day in French and English, and will
deliver to your boat. The price is
reasonable and the food is good. They
have found a way to go cruising and make money as they go, not a bad way to
live. Sunday morning, Easter Sunday, we
pulled anchor and motored around the peninsula and dropped anchor in Petite
Anse, a smaller but quieter bay. There
is an actual town here and we had spent about a week here on our trip up the
island. Since it was Sunday and the town
was shut down I just hung out on the boat while Cori went in her kayak in
search of the elusive sea-glass. Monday
was a holiday so it was another relaxing day of reading, napping and of course
Cori was off for more sea-glass.
It was time to move on so the next morning we went to shore
to hit the bakery and checked out of Martinique with Immigration and
Customs. Back at the boat we pulled the
anchor and headed out. We were making
for Rodney Bay in St Lucia. We beat into
the wind for a bit until we got clear of the island then had 15-20 knot winds
on the beam. We did a nice comfortable 6
knots across the gap and pulled into Rodney Bay and dropped anchor about 2:30,
a nice quick passage of 28 miles. I took
the dinghy to check into the country and Cori stayed on the boat to make sure
we did not drag on our anchor. We try
not to be those sailors that pull into a harbor, drop their anchor, quickly
make the trip to shore and come back later to where thy left the boat except
that it is no longer there. We try to
wait to make sure the anchor has set and is holding properly. There was an incident several years ago in
the Bahamas where a sailor anchored to go ashore to check-in and when he
returned his boat was no longer there and has never been seen since. We don’t want to be in that situation. The next day we went ashore to hit the shops,
have lunch and pick up some groceries.
There have been a number of dinghy thefts this year in Rodney Bay (14 at
last count) and there was an attendant at the dock leading to the shopping area
keeping an eye on the dinghies. Maybe
they are catching on that cruisers are starting to bypass them feeling
unsafe. Where we were anchored was close
to the marina entrance and there was a fair amount of traffic so we pulled
anchor and moved further along the bay to re-anchor by the National Park. The next day we went ashore, paid our park
entrance fee and hiked Pigeon Point.
There is the remains of the old fort overlooking the bay entrance and
another hike to a higher point overlooking the North end of the island and
across to Martinique. It was a tough
climb but worth it for the view. Once
back down the hill we toured the rest of the fort, stopped at a café for Wi-Fi
and a late lunch. We went back to the
boat for a couple of Ibuprofen and a nap.
In the morning we heard via the radio net and listening to the
Martinique Coast Guard that that there had been a mayday call from a boat
making the passage we had just made reporting he was taking on water and was
sinking. They were broadcasting for all
boats in the area to be on the watch for a man overboard. After several days the search was
abandoned. This was a stark reminder of
how things can go wrong and lives are in danger when they do. There is no pulling off the side of the road
and calling AAA when you have a problem.
There was a mooring close to us that boats from the resorts would tie up
to and disperse groups of snorkelers so I decided I needed to see what the
attraction was, I dropped overboard and
swam over to see. It was very
disappointing, there were hardly any fish, there wasn’t much coral and most of
it was dead. It was one of my most
disappointing outings. The next day,
Saturday, we spent on the boat relaxing while Cori polished the stainless
steel. Salt water will make anything,
including stainless, rust and corrode if you do not keep at it. Sunday morning
we tried to pull anchor and move down the island but had a small problem. In the switching winds our anchor chain had
wrapped around a rock. I tried diving
down to see if I could dislodge it but it was below my diving depth. I swam over to our neighbors on Party of Five
to see if he was a diver. Travis came
over to see if he could help. With him
in the water and Cori at the bow he was able to direct us so that we were able
to free ourselves from the rock. After
thanking him profusely we were able to pull the anchor and head off to
Soufriere. Soufriere is at the base of
the Petons, two volcanic peaks that are the pride and national symbol of the
island. Cori was able to get a couple of
nice pictures of Hi Flite with them in the background when she went out in her
kayak.
This harbor has a reputation of
having aggressive boat-boys, guys who come out in their boats to help get you
tied to a mooring, sell you everything from fish, fruit, vegetables and
homemade jewelry. We didn’t experience
that aggressiveness but there were a number of them but left when we declined
to buy their wares. The anchorage is in
a marine park so in the evening the park rangers come by to collect the mooring
fee, no anchoring is allowed but they provide secure mooring for a fee. We scheduled a water taxi to pick me up in
the morning to take me to shore to check out of the country. We had the dinghy secure in its davits and
didn’t want to take the time to drop it, make the run to the dock and then stow
it again. It was time to move. The taxi arrived on time in the morning,
Customs went without a hitch and then the Immigration officer was an hour
late. So much for getting an early
start. We motored against a headwind and
current until we got to the bottom of the island and the winds shifted again
from the east. We had been fighting the
wraparound from the winds funneling through the gap. We had 20 knot winds with 4-5 foot swells and
we ran about 5-6 knots with a reefed headsail and the mizzen. With less sail out we had a fairly
comfortable ride until we got into the lee of St Vincent where we lost the
wind. We continued to motor along the
island trying to decide where to stop for the night and where we would be able
to check-in. Our planned stop was not as
protected as we had hoped and we were arriving late so we would have to spend
the night before checking in. We
continued several miles until we arrived at Wallilabou Bay and pulled in. We got tied to a mooring with a line off the
back of the boat to the pier and were set for the night. It turned out that the Customs and
Immigration officials were there so we were able to get checked in right away. The appeal of this bay is that besides being
well protected it is one of the locations used in the Pirates of the Caribbean
movies. We were in the movie site of
Port Royal.
Some of the buildings built
and remodeled for the movie are still there and house a small museum. The next day we did a hike, more of a walk up
the road, to a small waterfalls, for a swim under the falls and in a freshwater
pool. A nice break from swimming in
saltwater. After that we dinghied around
the area to check out the other bays and the caves carved into the shoreline. That night it was a nice break from loud
music blasting from shore, all we had to listen to was the natural sounds of
the critters on shore.
WE wanted to go back to the Tobago Cays since the last time
we were there I was not feeling well and the wind was blowing so hard it was
hard to get off the boat. Everyone says
the Cays are beautiful with short hikes on the islands and great snorkeling on
the reef. We left Willilabou Bay towing
one of the boat-boys to the next bay so he didn’t have to paddle. He had what was busily a salvaged boat with
home-made oars and had to stop to bail every few minutes. After dropping him off we set sails for
Tobago Cays. We motorsailed against the
current until we reached the bottom of the island and then caught the east
trade winds blowing 20 knots with the swell on our beam causing a rolling rough
ride. We arrived at the Cays and motored
into the central harbor and decided to pick up a mooring instead of anchoring
with the wind still blowing 20 knots.
The reef cut down the big waves but the wind was kicking up small waves
after that causing a lot of rolling during the night. In the morning the wind had not let up and we
decided to find a more protected harbor.
We dropped the mooring and once clear of the reef we sailed downwind
under a headsail to Chatham Bay on the west side of Union Island. We dropped anchor in the bay, got the dinghy
in the water and headed to shore stopping first to say hello to our friends on
Heavy Metal that we had spent time in Margot Bay with. The evening was spent having beers at a beach
bar and visiting with a group from Burlington Vermont. In the morning we went snorkeling with Koen
and Yvonne from Heavy Metal. Koen and I
snorkeling and Cori and Yvonne stayed the dinghies keeping them from drifting
off to Central America. I have never
seen so many fish, schools of small baitfish all moving as a group. I tried getting pictures and video but I’m
not happy with how they turned out.
After that Cori and I hiked up to the take in the view from the top of
of the ridge. Up there we got to visit
with “Bushman”, one of the locals who takes care of the cows grazing in the
area. Instead of building fences they have
a rope tied around its neck and tied to a tree or to some rocks and
periodically move them to another spot.
Later as we were walking down the road we met up with one of these just
walking along dragging a small bush still tied to its rope. It ignored us and just continued on to
wherever it was going. We did not see it
on our return so it must have gotten to wherever it was going.
We also see a lot of goats out grazing this
way, some tethered to a tree or just dragging their rope behind them. Back at the beach we stopped at one of the
bar/restaurants but had not brought money with us on the hike. Our credit was good and with a promise to be
back later to pay we had cold beers.
While there we learned that the bartender, Claudia, could take care of
our checking out when it was time to leave.
Saturday we went ashore, did the hike to the road and then hiked over
the ridge to the small town of Ashton.
There are only two towns on the island and from there we caught a bus to
Clifton. Clifton is where we would have
to go to check out and the anchorage was rough with the wind still blowing 20
knots. We checked out the shops, had
lunch at one of the non-tourist cafes, bought some of the best tomatoes we have
had on this trip and caught a bus back to Ashton. For an extra fee the bus took us to where the
trail from the beach met the road, we didn’t have to make the hike over the
ridge. That evening’s entertainment was
watching the fishermen pulling their nets real close to us; quite an operation with
lots of yelling and it seemed everyone was giving orders. Sunday morning we slept in then went to shore
to have lunch and give our paperwork to Claudia. She lives in Clifton and would take the
paperwork to the airport first thing on Monday and have it for us at 10:00 when
she got to work. She gets a ride to work
on one of the boats that travel back and forth.
Monday morning at 10:00 we jumped in the dinghy to get our paperwork and
as soon as we left the boat it started raining.
One ashore, soaking wet we waited out the squall, got our paperwork,
paid her for the service and then back to the boat to pull the anchor.
We had plans to go to Petite St Vincent and Petite
Martinique, two small islands nearby for a couple of days, but the wind was
still blowing 20 and it would be an unwind trip. We decided to just head down to Carriacou,
stop in Tyrell Bay to check in and spend a couple of days. This turned out to be a classic example of
why we don’t travel with other boats. By
the time we arrived at Tyrell bay we were having such a good sail we decided to
continue on to Granada. We estimated we
would arrive at Dragon Bay to pick up a mooring about 4:30. We were off by a little, arriving after 5:00,
but there were no moorings available.
This being a marine park there is no anchoring. We continued on to St George Bay off the
capital city of St George and set the anchor while it was still daylight. St George Bay is reported to be a very rolly
anchorage but with the wind direction it was a fairly calm night. In the morning when we pulled the anchor
there was a rock caught in it. Evidently
it was not as well set as I thought. If
the winds had kicked up we would have dragged and had to reset during the
night. We were lucky. We motored around the southwest point and
turned east heading to Prickly Bay. The
winds were kicking up some big waves and we pounded into them for about an hour
until we made the turn into the Bay. We
scouted out a spot to anchor, dropped it, set it and shut everything down. We were back in Granada, about a week earlier
then we had planned. I made the quick
trip to Immigration and Customs and we are legal again. Later we made a trip to shore to walk to the
bank to get some local cash and a stop for more groceries. I got real excited when I found 12 packs of
Diet Coke. It is not available on very
many islands and I had run out of my supply.
That night we rolled violently and were uncomfortable, so in the morning
we pulled the anchor and moved over to Clarks Court Bay where we had spent
Christmas and New Year’s. It is much
more comfortable. Cori took the kayak
over to Hog Island to help her friend Sperry prepare the “sea eggs” he sells
and I made a trip to the nearby marina for a loaf of the best bread you can
find anywhere. Sperry is going to store
a lot of our extra stuff for the summer while we have work done on the boat so
we started sorting and offloading some of to him. In the evening we went ashore for pizza night
at the marina. The next day Sperry
picked up us with more of our stuff and brought us to his home where Cori got several
loads of laundry done. He also brought
us to the grocery store for more provisions then we spent the evening with his
family.
Friday, the 20th, Cori was off to the island with
Sperry to help out again and I was on board for projects. I need to clean and prepare the watermaker
for summer storage. When that was almost
done I noticed a smell of something burning.
I checked outside since there is often someone burning something but
didn’t see or smell anything. It seemed
to be coming from the aft cabin. I
checked the hanging locker where all of the electrical connects are and found a
wire that was melting its insulation and smoking. An overheated wire. It was the feed wire from the solar panels to
the solar controller. It doesn’t have a
switch, just a fuse and it was the fuse holder that was melting. I cut the wire, breaking the connection and
everything was okay again, we just had no solar charging. The next morning I caught the scheduled
shopping bus to Budget Marine, running the dinghy out of fuel on the way, to
buy a new fuse holder and a solar control.
I hoped the controller was okay but bought one just in case. After inspecting the old controller I found a
component that had failed and melted.
Now I knew what caused the problem.
After removing the old and installing the new controller we had lots of
power going from the solar panels to the batteries. I don’t want to think of what could have
happened had I not been on the boat when this happened. There are a lot of jackets and such hanging
in that locker and there was the possibility of a fire breaking out. About the running out of fuel, I had the fuel
jug ready to put in the dinghy to top off but got into a rush and forgot. I also left the boat with the hatch above the
bed open but was fortunate that it did not rain. I just got into too much of a hurry worrying
about being on time for the bus. As my
friend Bill puts it: “I don’t know how you mere mortals do it”. I was able to
get a tow back to the boat so I didn’t have to row. Sunday we spent the day with Sperry’s family
with games being played and sea-glass jewelry being made. Sperry’s daughter, who is going to cooking
school, did the cooking and made some of the best fried chicken we have had in
a very long time.
It is Monday and our weather advisor says that we should
have good conditions for the trip to Trinidad on Tuesday. We plan to move back to Prickly Bay to top
off the fuel and check out of the country.
We will leave late in the afternoon or early evening for an overnight
sail. We estimate about 12 hour to get
there so if we leave in the morning we will arrive after dark, therefore we
leave in the evening and arrive in the daylight. We will spend a few days before we are
scheduled to be hauled out and then will meet with the workers we have
scheduled for the summer projects. After
that we will be flying back to the US for the summer again.
