A view of Le Marin from up
the mast.
Yole in Le Marin Martinique
Rain in Le Marin czech boat in front.
Sunset while sailing.
The marina bar in Port Antonio Jamaica.
The old cruise ship dock Porti with Navy island in the back ground.
Feet washing after a muddy tramp through the jungle.
Navy island, owned by Errol Flynn in the fifties.
The Blue Mountains in the distance.
The lighthouse off Folly Point.
Same thing.
Lighthouse and rock pools.
Sea water pools.
In Kingo's Stress Free Garden
A 300 year old fig tree. The roots grow down from the branches. You can just see us.
Manureva at anchor from the marina.
The Marina with Manureva in the back ground.
Boston beach.
From the other side.
The creek leading to Frenchmans cove.
The beach at Frenchmans cove.
RuffnNuff playing at the marina bar.
Manureva January Log
January 2014
We are moving again so thought I would restart a log. Heading from Martinique to Jamaica. Trudy will continue to upload photos on our blog. http://andyandtrudy.blogspot.com/
Fri 10th
Final shop and check out at the Captainerie. A very simple procedure in Martinique and all French islands. You just put the details in a computer, print it off and pass it to the secretary who signs it and you pay 5 euros. Pick up some spare diesel hose, don't know how I forgot that.
We agree with Ambler via VHF a timetable for making contact using the SSB. 11:00 local (15:00 Zulu) on 14.300 USB, then 11:30 on 7.100 LSB. We test both and they work. We remove the dinghy engine from the dinghy. This is the first time we have travelled like this, but after the trip from Puerto Rico we felt the need to add an engine mount to our guard rails and remove the engine to reduce the weight moving the dinghy on its davits. Less chaif, ooh.
Sat 11th
Up anchor at 9:25 and shimmy around the hundreds of yachts anchored close to each other in Le Marin bay.
We try to contact Ambler on 14.300 USB, then 7.100 LSB. Neither work. It may be because we are too close, or they might have gone ashore for a last shop!
GPS plotter plays up, usual thing turn it off then on. Plays up again, but position will not come back. Wait ages then were back working. Our Autohelm will keep us exactly on track making changes depending on current; but only if the GPS has a position, otherwise we just set a course and do our own navigation. WHAT? Wind generator has worked loose again so its out with the tool box to stop it falling over the side. It would have been better all welded with no screw fittings. Also we should have fully checked the original installation - or done it ourselves. We are running down wind for the first time. We tried with 3 reefs in the main and headsail but have decided to run with headsail only. The handbook says do not do this so we will need to keep an eye on the rigging. So far it works better with headsail only. Winds are 15 to 20 knots and we are only getting just over 4 knots through the water, a five day trip might turn into a 10 day trip.
Very easy night with 2 and 4 hour watches. This is the first time I can remember sailing into a (nearly) full moon moonset. I might me hallucinating after a sleepless night but the view ahead is a mass of silver horse tails swirling on top of the water, nothing like a sea at all!
126 miles. 798 to go.
Sun 12th
8:00 report in to the "Coconut Telegraph". This is a short wave radio network that allows yachts to stay in contact when out of VHF range (line of sight 16 miles ish). We make contact with Stan on 14.300USB. They are about 30 miles North East of us. Wind dies down over the day and we end up doing 3 knots. Very disappointing. Try out all new fishing lures for a half hour each, also very disappointing. go back to guitar practice! Overnight the wind picks up a bit under the clouds. We decide on 4 hour watches. The fairway to the moon looks more like a coating of molten tin tonight. We see one superyacht and two coasters during the night. No other traffic.
110 miles. 687 to go.
Mon 13th
Winds finally pick up at dawn then slow down for the afternoon so back to about 4 knots, we could walk it as fast. We get into a routine for the trip. 7:00 weather, rigging and trim checks and battery checks, 8:00 Coconut Telegraph, 9:30 distance traveled in 24 hours calculations. 10:00 fishing rod out; 11:00 Contact Ambler. Thats it for the day!
Thur 16th
I put out the fishing line and an hour later I catch a 2 1/2 to 3 lb Blackfin Tuna. Steaks for supper, Cevishe for lunch and steaks again tomorrow, and soooo fresh! Plus a bit of sushi during the preparation. The Lure was a red, white and silver jet head (squid like) with a number 7 double hook, about 15cm long.
Our slowest day yet with only just over 100 Nautical miles covered. We were expecting a half to one knot current to be with us all the way but what we have had has been pushing us South - maybe another part of global changes.
Fri 17th
We get our first shower of rain which last about 15 minutes. We see dolphins again, must have followed us from Martinique. Small, about 1.6 meters long very dark, probably common bottlenose dolphins. Anyway there was quite a lot of them. We have been on a starboard tack all the way with a couple of hours on port to avoid the south coast of Haiti.
Sat 18th
The colour of the moon is very white hence the silver reflections. I remember seeing reflections in England that were more yellow. I don't know if the difference is due to air or light pollution but the difference is astonishing.
Sun 19th
We arrive in Port Antonio (Porti) and moor along side the pontoon at ten am. The rest of the day is spent checking in with 1. Public Health inspector, 2 Port Police, 3 Customs and Immigration then 4 Coastguard.
We finaly get a beer at 6:30! The bar food looks delicious but we have already eaten.
Paul, the dock manager gives us a tour of the marina similar to a holiday rep. very friendly place.
On our arrival we have to check in by radio on VHF channel 16 prior to docking. We are surprised to hear Pink Panther on the radio before us. They anchored here last night!
Monday 20th
Hans gets a taxi for us and we go to the supermarket. This is followed by the open market.
Fruit and veg here it the best and cheapest we have yet to find in the Caribbean. The butcher also provides excellent beef pork and fish.
Wednesday 22nd
Jessus turns up to fix our once again broken alternator. He does a very thorough investigation of the wiring and takes the alternator away. He returns at 4pm refits the alternator and we are once again producing 60 amps. The difference is that he found that the two spacers at each end of the shaft had been reversed and as a result the brushes were not making full contact, the alternator would then try to push out full charge until diodes burned. I hope this will now be a permanent fix, but we have ordered a new one anyway.
Beer is $2-50 a bottle for red stripe, not bad bu ta bit dear. Monday has a happy hour $2 for a bottle.
Cora gets us a gig on Friday and every Friday after that. The first gig we get free beer all night and a meal. The meal is awful, dry chops and a bit of lettuce. Obviously musicians rations. the next Friday we get only 6 beers For Three of Us! Still, didn't miss the food.
It feels like time to head out to Cuba, but we have to wait for a new alternator and my credit card.
Fri 24th
Gig goes down well with a small crowd. Fri 31st gig is a lot busier.
