August 2012

August worst for hurricanes in last 20 years.

Wed 1^st

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 2^nd

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 3^rd

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 4^th

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 5^th

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 6^th

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 3^rd placed “Tabasco”. We had been ahead of them three times during the race. On our (poor) handicap we end up 7^th 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 2^nd overall in the regata.

Tue 7^th

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 8^th

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 9^th

We track down Uwe who will service our engine tomorrow.

Fri 10^th

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 60^th birthday party. She has stepped off her yacht and at 60 has just opened a restaurant.

Sat 11^th

Stay on board all day due to heavy rain and high winds

Sun 12^th

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 13^th

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 14^th

Bank holiday again, this is Grenada Carnival day, so a boat cleaning day for us.

Wed 15^thTo Sun 19^th

Sitting in Tyrell Bay watching weather as a tropical storm approaches. Chatting about the weather in various bars!

Mon 20^th

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 21^st

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 22^nd

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 23^rd

Liming.

Fri 24^th

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 25^th

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 26^th

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 27^th

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 28^th

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 29^th

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 30^th

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.