August
worst for hurricanes in last 20 years.
Wed
1st
Bad
weather is forecast so we check out from Bequia and head for
Carriacou. A brisk motor-sail and we arrive in Hillsborough on
Carriacou after customs have gone home. We head off for the police
station and seek the immigration officer. We are now legal to search
for a beer and an internet connection. Weather still looks grim.
Thur
2nd
Sign
in to customs and move round to Tyrell bay. This is a known hurricane
hole. The mangrove swamp is an oyster bed and only opens when storms
are expected. Its open!
We
go ashore to get some local knowledge and internet details. Storm
Ernesto is forecast to move north of us but nothing is certain and
there is a constant precession of boats moving into the mangroves.
Fri
3rd
We
have a safe night as Tropical Strom Ernesto has tracked north
luckily. It was however full of worry, even though the winds only
gust once to 35 knots we sleep in fits and starts and every three
hours download the latest information on the storm. At 5:30 we get
the latest and decide to go into the mangroves. Ernesto has gone
further north over Barbados and between St Lucia and St Vincent. We
missed the worst of the wind but when a storm goes through it is
followed by a reverse swell. We are now expecting a swell of between
3 and 5 metres. If we had gone into the mangroves last night we would
at least have had a good nights sleep. This is the first time we have
done this manoeuvre and are not sure if we go in forwards or
backwards. There are several cats already in and all have their bows
into the mangroves with 4 to 7 lines ashore and either one or two
anchors astern. We decide on 4 lines ashore and within an hour we are
tied up and dropping our secondary anchor into the dinghy. We feed
out the warp and chain and throw the anchor out. Done....three hours
later we need to take the dinghy out again to lift the chain and
anchor and place it further upwind getting covered in mud in the
process. We can settle in. There is no internet access here but a
kind lady on “Boldly Go” was relaying details to all those in the
mangroves without access. We see gusts up to 30 knots as our mast and
windex (anemometer) are above the shelter of the mangroves, but the
boat hardly moves as we are so well sheltered.
Sat
4th
Early
on we hear a call to the coastguard from an aircraft on channel 16.
They give the position of an overturned life-raft in the Caribbean
sea. This morning the general consensus on the radio is to stay put
for another night, but one by one we watch each yacht remove all
their lines, lift anchors clean decks and go; by late afternoon we
are the last in and settle for a quiet night in the pitch black, no
loom and moon does not rise until late.
Sun
5th
Quiet
night in the mangroves and spent the morning retrieving the anchor,
cleaning all the mud from it, loading it onto the trampoline, then
removing two of our lines. Engine on, fenders on remaining two lines
cast off and reverse into the middle of the swamp. I retrieve the
lines from the mangroves whilst Trudy remained with the boat. We
motor out touching 1.1 metres of mud but not hitting anything even
though we draw 1.4 metres. Head out to anchor in the bay and clean
all the mud off Everything! So happy to miss hurricane we head out to
celebrate and end up finishing the 5 year old rum aboard...late. In
the Old Rum Shop we meet fellow live aboarders Jon and Shirley from a
dark blue hulled sloop “Khaya Moya” that we were parked next to
in the mangroves, Henry and Mary Jane from “Tabasco” and Barbara
who has settled ashore after her husband died some years ago. She is
in her 60s and still keeps her Wharam catamaran.
Mon
6th
7:30
we are woken up. The “No Fear” crew arrived last night at 9:30
and they need crew for the race. I am in bed and very bleary; it
seems like they are just as bad. We have coffee. I get a bottle of
water a hat and plaster factor 50 on, this is my race prep and we
dinghy to “Tabasco” to check where the course has been set.
Course in hand we take the anchor off “No Fear” and attach it to
the dinghy which we leave behind. We are off to the next bay. Angie
calls in the raced committee and declares us as contenders and that
we will race with a hanked on headsail this changes our handicap and
prevents a disqualification but forgets to mention that we have no
pole. This would have improved our handicap. To remind you “No
Fear” is the yacht that broke its mooring and sank at Christmas
leaving a metre square hole in the hull. A week ago it was in five
pieces, hull, keel, engine, rudder, and mast. During the last week
keel was attached, launched, mast fitted, rigging tuned, engine
fitted and a brief sea trial performed. Angie has driven this project
with Jay and Robin performing some of the duties and a lot of help
from other locals. Angie is a German girl in her 30s who has been
living aboard Kibe a 36 ft sloop for a couple of years after crossing
the Atlantic on another yacht. Jay is a Canadian schoolteacher who
lives alone aboard “Spirit” a 45 ft sloop when not working in
Canada. She also performs a major role at the Bequia reading club
held Saturday mornings at the “Fig Tree”; Robin, you may
remember, otherwise “Fixman 2” is an ex Ferrari racing driver who
crashed out in flames at the one and only race around Birmingham bull
Ring. He took over from Fixman about 20 years ago. At 69 he is our
very energetic skipper and helm.
The
race starts at 10:00 and with a mix of weather including baking sun
and 35 plus knot torrential rain with no visibility. Four hours later
we have been round the course twice and pass the finish line. On
corrected times we are 1 minute and 2 seconds behind 3rd placed
“Tabasco”. We had been ahead of them three times during the race.
On our (poor) handicap we end up 7th out of 8. The
keel stepped mast has moved back an inch and a half, 3cms, at the
deck. This is in winds over 30 knots. The race was very exciting with
e.g. Tabasco missing our stern by 1/2 metre and with a yacht almost
touching our stern as we cross the finish line. John, who we met last
night, could have stepped from their bow to our stern. We are all
knackered so have a half hour kip and head ashore for the prize
giving. Jerry, who owns the bar and organizes the sponsorship reads
out results and gives out prizes. He gives himself a prize for the
most crew (5) in the double handed race! He won but should have been
disqualified; (his sponsorship, his regatta...) nobody protests. We
sit with Edgar, an Aussie who has been out here 5 years he has a J24
that he sailed single handed from St Lucia. He came 2nd overall
in the regata.
Tue
7th
Jay
stayed with us overnight as No Fear has only 2 1/2 berths; Angie and
Robin arrive with breakfast having been shopping and we discuss the
“merits” of a moving mast, race tactics etc. They are heading for
Happy Island, a bar on the reef outside Clifton on Union Island. They
will stay there a night, snorkel in the Tobago Cays and head back to
Bequia. We consider joining them but this would mean going through
customs and immigration four more times for a couple of days and at a
cost of about $200. Plus we still need to get our engine serviced. It
will probably be an unpleasant sail as we sit in the bay with
frequent 25 knot squalls with torrential rain.
Wed
8th
Try
to get hold of Uwe the engineer to sort out someone to service the
engine. We find his house but he is having lunch, can we come back
later. We have loads to do around the island and by the time we get
back he is closed. We have been recommended a place for breakfast and
lunch, Sally's Kayak Café, we go there and meet Bob Goodchild the
yacht surveyor who suggested we do not go into the Pacific without
changing our rudders, we let him know that he was right!
Thur
9th
We
track down Uwe who will service our engine tomorrow.
Fri
10th
Engine
Serviced, so we go ashore lambi fritters at the Lambi Queen and
eventually find huge crowd at the Lazy Turtle. Sally an Australian
from Sally's Kyak is having 60th birthday party. She
has stepped off her yacht and at 60 has just opened a restaurant.
Sat
11th
Stay
on board all day due to heavy rain and high winds
Sun
12th
Go
for cocktails to “The Slipway”, unfortunately we did not book! So
we have to make our own lunch. Whoever heard of booking in the
Caribbean? Thomas comes to see us, Do we want to buy some wine? He
has taken over from his brother, Simon, and now gets the bin ends
from the super-yachts and cruise ships. Rothschild Merlot at £5-95 a
bottle, can't be bad. 10% discount for over 6 bottles? Yes no
problem...
Mon
13th
It
is another bank holiday but we decide on a trip to paradise beach to
pick up a bracelet for Trudy. They are closed, we go into town, It is
closed! Back to the bay and a lazy day on board.
Tue
14th
Bank
holiday again, this is Grenada Carnival day, so a boat cleaning day
for us.
Wed
15thTo Sun 19th
Sitting
in Tyrell Bay watching weather as a tropical storm approaches.
Chatting about the weather in various bars!
Mon
20th
Low
“Invest 94L” is heading for Guadeloupe so we take a view and set
off for St Georges Grenada Full sails and a small breeze. We arrive
in good time after a pleasant 8 knot cruise. Very poor holding in the
bay so only try to anchor once then take a mooring - £7, cheap at
the price!
There
is another low coming through in a couple of days; this is a constant
concern throughout the rest of the hurricane season, we might have to
travel back to Tyrell bay if there is no room in the hurricane holes
in Grenada. First stop will be the marina in St Georges.
Tues
21st
We
go and spend some bucks on the boat and get all that is required to
go into a hurricane hole. Arrange to go into the marina, and angle
grind both our anchors off their chains. Reattach with new shackles
and we are good to go.
Wed
22nd
Head
in to Port Louis marina for my birthday dinner. We go to Belle Creole
restaurant in Blue Horizon beach resort we book for 7 as they eat
early here. When we get there the manager has gone for his tea so we
need to wait as he has shut the bar! We have a very disappointing
meal and end up back in the marina bar and spend the evening on shots
with a young crew from one of the larger charter yachts Helios. Can't
remember any names though.
Thur
23rd
Liming.
Fri
24th
We
hear that there is a sale on at the chandlers so we get up early to
check out the bargains. Later the bakery is selling build yourself a
burger deals for 10 ec, so we have to try them.
Sat
25th
Off
to see Barracuda with his acoustic set, he now has a young girl doing
backing vocals and our friend Nina from Bequia dancing and
percussion. He finishes a long set with only three strings left on
his guitar, a brilliant night.
Sun
26th
Head
off to Clarks court bay for a jam session in whisper cove marina. It
is 12 miles all against the wind and strong current, we make about 4
knots through the water under power only.
Jam
session is a hoot, but a bit crowded; 8 guitars, a banjo, sax and
clarinet, 2 blues harps, and a mandolin, various percussion and 2
singers and a penny whistle. We all get 3 free drinks and go home
happy. The bay we are anchored in is very peaceful even though there
are a large number of yachts here. We are in between two marinas and
five bars, four restaurants, all are about 200 metres away.
Mon
27th
Jobs
day, planning what parts we need searching, sourcing, measuring,
cleaning ropes etc. We are still not satisfied with our water
collection system and need to get hold of a wind generator to make up
power deficit. We collect a set of duplicate keys from Nigel Ned and
whilst ashore discover Nimrod Rum Shop near the bus stop, rotis twice
a week, excellent! Dinghy to next bay East to visit the sail-maker
for advice on the water collection system. They will do the work
starting next week.
Tue
28th
Try
a roti at Nimrods rum shop. It is the biggest so far, but for taste,
only second best to Mrs Taylor's in Bequia. We then set out for a
spree in the chandlers and buy loads of goodies including barbecue
and wind generator to be delivered tomorrow. We track down a welder
and an electrician who can install the generator in the next couple
of weeks. Francis, the welder comes to the boat to do the measuring
for the stainless steel this evening. He orders the steel from
Trinidad to be delivered Friday. We (Trudy) decide to get a double
helm seat made at the same time.
Wed
29th
We
dinghy round to the next bay West to attend the Seven Seas Cruising
Association seminar in Secret Harbour about blue water cruising
around the world. We meet several cruisers from around the world
including Seat and Jen from Woka irie who intend crossing the Pacific
on their 32 ft with only a 30 gallon water tank! This is very
inspirational and gets us thinking.
Thur
30th
Liming and
chores on board.
Fri
31st
Just
missed the fortnightly cricket match as we had to do some
victualling. This is played with a beer in one hand, and a tennis
ball covered with gaffer tape. (No pads and many LBWs)
The
highlight of the day was the dinghy concert. Dinghies from all the
local bays surround two pontoons that have been towed into the middle
of the bay. One pontoon is a bar, the other a stage; and for a couple
of hours until sunset we listen to the band whilst rolling about on
the sea. http://youtu.be/9uQwIXeq8sg Next
we go to Roger's beach bar for a blue moon (second moon in a month)
party. This finishes late! Next blue moon 2015. Meet Sally and Dylan
from Yacht Orion, Sally persuades me to try google blog.
