June and July 2012

June

Fri 1^st

Check out Moana Roa with Dominique. She is a beautifully presented Bahia; a metre longer than Manureva but with all the kit for ocean sailing. Radar, AIS, water maker, diesel generator, wind generator huge inverter, washing machine and upgraded sail plan. She would be ideal if we could get a quick sale on our boat. Seems unlikely. The fact that we are considering this suggests we have already made our minds up to carry on sailing further a field.

Sat 2^nd

The students have finished their courses and are celebration. The music is loud and lasts all night until ----

Sun 3^rd

10.am a precession of yachts files out of the bay each one competing for the loudest sound system. Some have loaded extra large generators to provide the decibels.

We plan to come home to get my teeth implants fitted change credit cards and catch up. There are no moorings available but we meet Gerhardt who suggests a quiet place to anchor where he is happy to guard our boat. It seems that all sailors look out for each other.

Mon 4^th

Another bank holiday and we watch the hobie cats and optimists racing round the bay.

Tue 5^th

We meet Emanuel the guy who sold us the boat a year ago. We chat about the boat and he suggests we look at another boat tomorrow. We book tickets back home to arrive 15^th of this month.

Wed 6^th

View a Privilege 465. Loads of kit but far too expensive.

Thur 7^th

Wind up to 30 knots so stay on boat.

Travel to UK and Back

July

UK for the first few days

Thu 5th

Hans picked us up from the airport, he is a German guy who moved to Martinique about 5 years ago and has just relaxed into the Caribbean way of life. He does between 5 and 10 airport pick ups each week depending on the season. Gerhard was in the supermarket car park waiting to dinghy us to Manureva. Back on the boat; she is still exactly where we left her and we have just finished unpacking.

Fri 6th

Shopping day, with torrential rain.

Sat 7th

We take a trip to get our boat keys back from the broker, however the are closed whilst delivering yachts up north. We will need to stay put until their return.

Sun 8th

Whilst in England we had several roast dinners and in memory we try cooking one on board. Vegetables cook well but yorkshires turn into a thick flat pancake, corned beef is rubbish and tinned sprouts taste like tin!

Mon 9th

Gerhard from Blue Lagoon has invited us to join him and Marion for a game of “Mexican Train Dominoes”. They are a German couple in their 60s who have been living on their yacht for 6 years. It has been under repair for that entire time. We have heard of “Mexican Train Dominoes” a lot as in some cruising areas there are regular sessions each week. I assumed this to be just another name for the dominoes we have all played with double blank to double six dots on each domino. However this is a recent fashion in America. The “tiles” have double blank to double 12 “points”, and the game is played in two parts, After the usual selection of the descending double each player created their own “train” starting with the double and trying to get rid of all their “tiles”. You need to check out the rules on line and I expect there will be a few sets bought by next Christmas!....or maybe not..

It took 3 hours to complete one game and reviewing the rules on line I am not sure that we followed them correctly; still it was not difficult to drink Languedoc rose and concentrate on play at the same time!

Tues 10^th

Chucking it down again – off and on all day. We want to go ashore to check out but will wait for good wind and weather. Spent most of the day trying to send photos to you all without repetition. Picasa from Google is being tricky.

Wed 11^th

Whilst shopping we come across a new fruit, Abricot pay. About 130 cms in diameter and light brown in colour. You peel off the outer pith and eat the flesh around 1 to 4 huge stones. We bought one to try that had 4 stones and hardly any flesh, I guess that's the luck of the draw, it tastes a bit like an apricot!

Thur 12th

Meet Dominique and Fred at A&C Yacht Brokers, they have a couple of yachts in the pipeline, but cannot sell our yacht. So we will carry on cruising. We check out early and motor sail to Rodney Bay St Lucia. We arrive after 15:30 so it is too late to check in and we must remain on the yacht. We have an interrupted sleep; This week until next Tuesday it is Carnival so music has been turned up and last until ???? We think it was after 4 am when the dogs start barking to keep us awake longer.

Fri 13^th

Check in to customs and see Ian Cowan for advice on who and how we can fix a rigging problem. It appears we are back to manufacturing our own parts again.

Mon 16^th

Head for Carnival; On the bus on the way to Castries one of the passengers comments that in her day Carnival started late and finished at 2 am. It seems they now start at 9am and try to get the roads open by 6pm. Anyway its the usual mix of dancing, bikinis, feathers and major costumes, one girl comes as a pyramid, about 4 metres square, and there are loads of people on stilts more than 2 metres long, I didn't see anyone getting off them but it must be tricky.

Tue 17^th

What a night, more noise and the dogs wake us up at 5 am. We visit Ian Cowan regarding new sheaves and as he only has one we decide to head south. We do the usual checks and after sailing for about 2 hours decide that we should probably get the rigging sorted in Rodney bay as we trust the guys and the next chance we get will be in Grenada. A lot could happen between now and then. It has been a difficult decision as we really need to head south to avoid any hurricane activity but cannot push it as the rig is not up to scratch; or we could end up stuck in Rodney bay with the boom off, unable to sail, when a hurricane comes through. We decide to turn back and will have to visit “Chinaman” tomorrow as he is the best guy for the job.

Wed 18^th

Chinaman can do the work whenever we get the parts. Ian says they are on their way and may be available by Friday.

Thur 19^th

Parts arrive no duty to pay! Fedex costs will be the only extra. Chinaman booked for tomorrow first thing. On our way home we meet Steve and Laurie who has just bought the boat we wanted and are invited for tea on “Lateral thinking” with Brian and Catherine. Laurie is brining his family out and they will all travel back to Aus together. We discuss Moana Roa. They will probably have to spend US$30k on refit and rigging so we avoided a near disaster by not buying her. The rigging alone is US$10k and is an insurance requirement.

Fri 20^th

We get up early to prepare the boat and head into the fuel dock. 9.30 Chinaman called to sort an emergency yacht collision will be with us later. 12:30 we get a visit to say he will be with us shortly. He arrives and we find the parts do not fit. He needs to machine them down. No surprise there then. We notice 4 rivets missing (out of seven) on the boom and get them replaced. (pop rivets aircraft grade $10 each) He finally finishes and we head out to the bay; Have just enough time to shower and change ready for “Tea”. This turns out to be sirloin steak and jackets. A real treat as Brian has definitely got the knack for barbecuing steak. Catherine is a nurse, Brian has retired and they are heading south as we are, but will travel back to Aus through the Panama Canal next season. When they get home they intend to live on the yacht in the north of Australia and Catherine will go back to work. She misses her dog and is looking forward to getting home.

Sat 21^st

We put back the rig following the fixes yesterday and prepare the boat to go.

Sun 22^nd

Liming again.

Mon 23^rd

Wind a bit high so decide to stay in Rodney Bay for another day.

Tues 24^th

Set off to Soufriere Bay, we motor and sail alternately due to lack of wind and arrive about 3.pm. We stay on board as there is so much hassle in this bay. Mooring is compulsory at $25 for two nights. The boat boys offer to clean the hulls for XCD 100 or about £22 so we um and ahh and get persuaded into this. 3 hours later our hulls are clean again. This was a job we had planned to do on Wednesday before setting off early on Thursday morning. We go to the Humming bird for happy hour and meet Joyce Stowe from the Hummingbird who received an OBE for services to tourism in St Lucia.

Wed 25^th

Trudy checks out Hotel Chocolate restaurant and rooms, then checks out for customs and immigration. No telling off this time.

Thurs 26^th

5 am. And we are up preparing the boat, we get off the mooring at 5:30 and it is still dark. Past sunrise but we are sheltered by the Pitons. It is flat calm so we motor for a couple of hours with full main up. The wind starts to rise and we have a fantastic sail for about 80 miles with winds from 6 up to 27 knots, reefs in and out but not too busy, no rain but a little haze to keep the sun off. We arrive in Bequia at 15:30 and decide to stay aboard and check in tomorrow.

Fri 27^th

We get a bollocking for not checking in yesterday. “The rules say you have 24 hours to find a port of entry, and once arrived should check in immediately (if customs are open)” “When were you last here?” “Then you should know what time customs is open” We did know because it is in the pilot, however it also says we get charged overtime if we check in after 4pm. I have a sneaking suspicion that he charged us overtime anyway. Back on the boat it has dragged a metre or so, so we re-drop the anchor in about 2.2 metres of water.

We meet the usual suspects and arrange for an engine service. We watch a bit of the Olympics opening ceremony and head off to the New York bar. Maria's restaurant for Merlot and steak and chips then back to the boat.

Sat 28^th

Invited for sundowners on Tjeldøy so its off to the shops to buy rum, coke, beer, (and a few other bits). An old lady sells Trudy her mangoes that are delicious, very strong flavour. Sugar apples and avocados are also in season again we have been waiting ages for these.

2 hours turns to 4 and we are late home again...I get another laptop to fix, an Acer with a black screen.

A couple of hours on the net before bed and I haven't a clue.

Sun 29^th

Next appointment is De reef at 4pm sundowners again. I spend another hour on the net and get a fix for the Acer. Pull out ram, clean and replace. It works. So drop it off at Robin's.

Robin and the girls have been preparing “No Fear” for the racing next Friday. This is the boat that broke its mooring, ran aground and sank over Christmas when we were last here. Hull and rudder are repaired, but engine, keel, rudder, mast and hull are still in separate places! If this is ready to race in a week I will be very surprised.

We look at weather and “Wind Guru” is predicting 42 knots by next Saturday, race day. This has a 20% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone or worse. We need a plan to avoid this by heading north or south to avoid the worst. At the moment it looks like north is the best bet. 4Pm and we set of to De Reef. A dinghy ride, bus up and walk down very steep hills. We meet Sean and Ali again and discuss fontaine pajot yachts. They are a couple in their early 40s who charter their yacht for most of the year. He teaches diving and drives the speedboat for skiing etc.,she prepares 3 gourmet meals per day for guests. The last charter (5 guests) got through 18 cases of beer and 15 (5 kilo) bags of ice in six days. Plus spirits and mixers! They work very hard.

Mon 30^th

Weather changes and south now looks the better option but still over 40 knots forecast for Bequia. Sean from “Imagination” is looking at doubling up on his anchor; we could also do this as we have the parts. We are waiting to get our Stb engine serviced by Robin but it looks like he will be busy. The other reliable engineer in Bequia “Kerry” is on holiday in Carriacou so we must decide to wait for Robin or move south and postpone the service. Source and buy oil and filters for service. On our way back we stop at “Gingerbread” for home made ice cream.

Tue 31st

We move the boat into deeper water after a brief tour of the bay. We were in 2.2 metres and if we get a large swell, as forecast, we will be bashed on the bottom. We drop anchor in 3.6m and end up in 4.4m so we will be Ok in up to 3m swell. We are also experimenting with deploying a second anchor which has 15m of chain and 25m rope (rode). This requires an hour of snorkelling to adjust chain and rode to prevent chafe.

May 2012

May

Tues 1st

Early start, leave Falmouth for Deshaies Guadeloupe. The sail

is brisk to start and tails off as we get to the north of

Guadeloupe where we just miss a succession of tropical

storms and finally catch one full on. Visibility is down to 50m

again for about an hour before we arrive in Deshaies bay. We

arrive too late to check in so must stay on the boat overnight.

Wed 2nd

Check in, have a walk around the town and head for the

botanical Gardens by bus. 80 cent for two of us, but 31€ for 2

entry fees. The place is huge with a cemented path around

the flora. Flamingos, macaws and parakeets, koi, and vast

quantities of flora from around the world all growing prolifically.

They have the weather for it! We then go by bus to St Pietre.

It is a dump and a complete waste of time as the bus drops

us at a terminal outside the town; so we get on and go back to

Deshaies. Still at least we have seen part of the island. It is

just like many parts of France with the architecture, road signs,

street lights etc. looking familiar. Just as the previous

occasion anchored in Deshaies the wind drops and we all

spin round in the bay. The anchor watch alarm is constantly

going off and late at night we end up re-anchoring in the

middle of the night. Finally get some rest.

Thur 3rd

Sail to Pigeon Island bay. Only 10 miles so it is quite relaxing.

Anchor, go ashore to check out Pigeon. Just a couple of

beaches with black sand and a load of tourists from France.

Several shacks with dive shops souvenirs and a bar. It is

possible to go on a glass bottom boat or hire kayaks. So quite

a busy little place. The main road is just behind the beach with

buses to the north and south of the island. The highlight for us

being that there is a good French supermarket about 2 Km

away.

Fri 4th

Trudy dives off the boat to discover a huge barracuda lurking

between our hulls. He seems to have decided this is a good

place to stay.....all day. It rains and we get chance to test our

new rain catching system and in about a half hour we have

collected 40 litres. Enough for nearly three days! We decide

to stay in Pigeon for another day as we expect southerly

winds followed by no wind during the next week. If we head

south too early we will have to pay 13€ per day to sit out the

lull in Isle de Sainte as anchoring is not allowed there and we

will need to check out from Guadeloupe before heading

further south.

Sat 5th

We set off for Anse de la Barque as the pilot says it is easy to

get in and well sheltered from the roll. When we arrive there

are 6 yachts there and it is full! We could only anchor in more

than 12 metres; so we set off again to look at Basse Terre. It

is a wide open bay which does not look sheltered but would

do. However we have a 2 knot current running with us so

decide to go on to Isle de Saintes. When we get there the

place is quite empty; there are over 50 moorings and about

ten yachts moored. For a Saturday night it is very quiet.

Sun 6th

We wake up to drizzle and 100% cloud cover, we have a

good internet connection so download a “grib” (weather) file.

We will have little or no wind, in the wrong direction for at least

a week. If you go to the UGRIB web site you can download

weather information, from around the world, in the

professional format with isobars, wind arrows and an estimate

of rainfall. Very useful. There is a lagoon cat moored beside

us called Pussy Cat, perhaps Pussy Catcher would have

been a better name! We walk around the bay checking out all

the bars and restaurants, most are closed.

Mon 7th

We head for Trudy's preferred restaurant, we are the only

couple having lunch, that is apart from the eight Firemen!

Trudy has trouble concentrating but reminds me of the bar

near St Martin airport runway. Where a girl walks in with such a

brief bikini that it looks like she is naked from behind, with her

bum covered in sand, and from the front it is only a couple of

square inches different. Weather looks to be changing so we

should get some wind tomorrow, so we check out for 1€ plus

33€ for three nights mooring.

Tue 8th

Throughout the night we get horrendous thunderstorms and

torrential rain but when we wake up the wind is moderate and

in the right direction. So we dodge between the rocks and

islands of Isle de Saintes and head south for Portsmouth

Dominica. We have a brisk sail close hauled with a moderate

sea. This allows us to explore the best angle on the wind to

maximise our VMG (velocity made good) or the best angle to

close on Portsmouth bay. When we arrive we are debating

whether we should use Eddison and his team again or use the

first boat boy to see us in to the bay. In the end we meet

Alexis from SeaBird a mile off shore and he takes to the best

mooring, i.e. the closes to Big Papas bar. His first words are

“welcome to paradise” which is a bit corny but reminds us

what a laid back island this is. We clear in by dinghy about 2

miles away. Everyone is gorging on mangoes that are back in

season. We meet “Crosna” who reminds us that the buses

here are more comfortable, quieter and safer than other

islands.

Wed 9th

Late start as we are putting off cleaning the bottom, I squeeze

into my wetsuit get in and start scraping. Out rudders are still

pristine with no growth at all. The rest of the hull is a mass of

weed and barnacles. I only stay in for an hour but Trudy

carries on for two.

Sat 12th

Take a bus to Calibishie, a resort village on the north of the

island, somewhere we had missed on our last visit.

Sun 13th

Barbecue night where the boat boys serve food and rum, we

meet Olivier and Vivien from Maryanne and Wili and Mark

from Liahone, and Chuck and Barbara from a Trawler. They all

agree that seeing the hurricane season out in Trinidad is the

best option.

Mon 14th

Mark and Wili invite us to a hog roast on June 9th at Black boy

and Debbie’s in Saltwhistle bay Mayreau.

Tue 15th

Head south to Roseau, meet Desmond a boat boy we have

met before and get a mooring outside the "Drop Anchor" a

new restaurant, closed Monday and Tuesday!

Wed 16th

We get a tour to Trafalgar Falls, Titou Gorge, Botanical

Gardens and Sulphur Springs. Craig is our guide and is very

helpful, He swims with us through the Titou gorge to show the

two waterfalls up river. This gorge is very narrow, between

11/2 and 3 meters wide, covered by rain forest and is almost

completely dark until you get site of the waterfalls. A totally

awesome experience. He also takes us over man sized

boulders to swim under the Trafalgar falls.

Thur 17th

anchor up and try to check in at St Pierre but they are closed,

4 hours early! It s another bank holiday. We get asked to

move as the ferry is coming in and we get a god place miles

from anyone; that night a yacht rides forward on its anchor by

about 100m, so he must have at least 50m of rode out, far too

much. When we wake him he tells us we should move as we

were too close and he had done 7 Atlantic crossings! Trudy

says NO. I guess he didn't realise how far he had moved as

he spent the next hour dropping a second anchor and ended

up back where he started about 100m from us, hardly close!

Fri 18th

Try to check in at St Pierre but the electricity is off, we are

sent to Fort de France down the coast, luckily we were going

there anyway! We have a tough sail and hold the full lot up

until seas get large in 27 knots, We have never before reefed

this late so she obviously copes with more canvas than we

first thought. 2nd reef goes in at 30 knots, and third shortly

after as seas are getting biger and we are getting gusts to

35kts. We end up having to motor directly into the wind whilst

avoiding a tug with a 400m tow; a huge rubbish container

destined to be emptied at sea I fear. We arrive under the fort

and anchor up. we are a short walk from the centre of town,

quite handy! Also there is a park in full view of the boat where

concerts are held. Check in at SeaServices, it is free!

Throughout the evening we listen to the band that sounds

much like Michel Jarre.

Sat 19th

Walk around the markets, they are the best we have seen

since Grenada. Music from the stage is Latin American /

Creole mix with a female vocalist.

Sun 20th

Techno music in the bay.

Mon 21st

Take ferry to Pointe de Bout have a wander and visit

"Manureva" restaurant, an expensive place so we just have a

beer. Today is another bank holiday as Martinique is

celebrating the abolition of slavery this day in 1848.

Tue 22^nd

Set off to Grand Anse D’rlet.

This is a small resort bay with a couple of restaurants, shops and bars. We are in no rush so stay a couple of days. We had planned to leave here, check out and head directly south to St Lucia, but change our minds as Trudy has found a yacht for sale in Le Marin that would suit us well. There is a small café “Le P’ti Bateau” that is licensed to check yachts in and out. This system is on all the French islands and is very convenient.

Fri 25^th

Leave late under sail but end up motoring due to lack of wind and arrive in Le Marin and park up in a no anchor zone. (along with all the French) about 2 pm. This is a very busy bay with 600 slips all filled and a further 80 moorings all taken.

Sat 26^th

Martinique is a good place for all things French so we stock up on pates, cheese and wine. It is also a good place to buy and sell catamarans and we have found a new cat that looks very interesting.

Sun 27^{th to}  31^st

April 2012

April

The lagoon area in St Martin although 12 square miles of sheltered shallow water is by no means quiet. The main airport runway cuts through the lagoon near the middle and as such we are all anchored or moored less than a mile away; also, as there are two bridges to the lagoon, one to the North in the French side and one to the South in the Dutch side, there is considerable water traffic from one bridge to the other throughout the day and night. So we are in constant swell caused by boats passing by.

You can see the bottom reasonably clearly through water that is very yellow; it is this colour that puts us off diving in. Very little life can be seen in the water.

Sun 1^st

A trip out to use the internet. The signal in the lagoon is useless so connection is not possible afloat. We tour a new part of the lagoon on foot and by dinghy. We get free wifi at Pineapple Pete's and walk around the South side of the bay checking supermarkets and shopping. I have a “showarma”, a kind of messy overfilled kebab and have bad guts for the rest of the day. We find two supermarkets with amazing selection of goods and one has very reasonable prices, i.e. about the same as England.

Mon 2^nd

The Raymarine electronics engineer is expected today. We spend the morning fitting new bushes to our “goose-neck”, the joint that attaches the boom to the mast and main sail. Wind has dropped to zero so we spin about slowly in the lagoon getting very hot.

Tue 3^rd

We get a call to say that the electrician has a job that overran and it is unlikely that we will see him this week.

Wed 4^th

Go to Phillipsburg on a mission to buy a new laptop. We spend half a day finding the cheapest spot and get an ACER Aspire 1 with the long life battery, Intel Atom 1.66 GHz, 1gig memory, 250 GB hard drive a case an 8gig memory stick for £200, I hope that was a good deal!

Thur 5^th

We pick up our headsail from the sail maker and head back to pick up Sally and Chris, we drop them off at the airport dinghy dock and have a couple of beers before they go through. We go to the French side to get Internet and have a beer in the Cadisco petrol station! (beers as 1.5 euro) where the local French yachties hang out.

Fri 6^thTo Wed 11^th

Trying hard not to spend money shopping!

Thur 12^th

Andy the Electrician arrives early to fit our new log impeller. He looks at the job and says he will be back in the pm as he has another job to do first. We spend three hours dismantling the boat, unscrewing shelves, panels, walls and floors to find and provide access to the conduits so we can mouse the new line. True to his word he arrives and the job is completed. We then spend another two hours putting the boat back together. Stewart and Stephanie visit us for a jam session with two guitars and a violin, we plan to put a set together for Friday at Barnacles. By 10pm we have three songs, and the beer stops us continuing. We plan to continue practising on Friday pm.

Fri 13^th

Go to Barnacles for the jam session and food only Stewart plays as we did not get enough practice. Trudy has grilled prawns that are deep fried and I have a Greek burger, just a normal burger that has been stuffed in a pita with some salad. We are disappointed! Early on we listen to Stewart, Mason, Tony and a guy with a feather in his hat. All is good until a band comes on later that is so loud that your ears ring so we get an early night! (If its too loud you are too old!) Also music is rubbish, mainly shouting in the mike and the keyboard is playing loudly in the wrong key. It really hurt your ears.

Sat 14^th

Another day victualling the yacht; we split up as it chucks it down. Roads are flooded but we end up completing the second half of our big food shop. We now have tins and dried for about three months as here these are a third of the price on other islands.

Sun 15^th

Stay on yacht as wind is high.

Mon 16^th

Try to source half inch screwdriver to remove broken deck fittings. No luck. Go to Phillipsburg. On the way back we go to the bars at the start of the airport runway. There are two bars, one at either side of the runway and a beach behind where the planes take off. A road runs between the beach and the end of the runway which is protected by a wire fence. There are large signs saying “Beware of force from planes taking off and landing” “Danger of Death or serious injury”. However there are crowds that stand behind the jets, some holding onto the fence. They get blown away or blown horizontal holding the fence.

Flora from Folkloreic finishes our water catcher. This is the final job that we planned to complete before we leave, so we are now ready to go!

Tue 17^th

Except....Final shopping, (48 bottles of duty free), check out from French quarter, have lunch with Stephanie and Stewart from Matador and Simon from Bird. Lance and Michelle (new girlfriend ) should have been there with us but Lance lost her in the French marina, only a 200 metre walk around pontoons on the edge of the water! We fill with water, but there is no dinghy fuel. We pass out of the lagoon through the 16:30 bridge. I fit a hydrofoil to the dinghy engine. This is a bolt on fin that attaches to the outboard just above the prop. It is supposed to reduce fuel consumption, stabilize and help lift the dinghy onto “the plane” quicker.

Wed 18^th

Set off for St Eustatia, a good sail with full canvas up in moderate sea. We arrive and Trudy checks in, we can then both go ashore. There is a huge amount of smoke and clunking coming from the outboard but when it settles down the performance is a great improvement. (perhaps some swarf got into the intake? I hope not!) Oranje Baai is a quiet town on the coast and the top of a hill. There are many well preserved historic buildings from the 17c when it was the busiest harbour in the world. Mostly due to sugar and slaving. It is very quiet now and a delight to wander around. This is a place to chill, very different from the bustle of St Martin. We have a beer in the Blue Bean, there is a loud noise like monkeys fighting, we find out that it is the macaws that patrol at the start of the evening. We catch a glimpse only, nice to see them in the wild.

Thur 19^th

Leave Statia early and sail off to St Kitts. Another relaxed sail but with two reefs and a slightly bigger sea in parts. Trudy goes ashore to check in. The customs officer makes several mistakes on the forms so we need to go back again to get them changed. We wander around the town, most of it is designed for the cruise ships with designer goods, and when we get to the old town strangely the same Chinese souvenirs seen all over the Caribbean are on sale here. “Piccadilly circus” is a small roundabout that can be seen in all the brochures but there is not much more to see.

Fri 20^th

Late start and a leisurely sail for only ten miles to Nevis. We get some light rain which is very welcome. We pick up a mooring, one of forty and head to the port office and customs.

There is a sign on the dinghy dock saying do NOT lock your dinghy, we do anyway and ask why at the port office, I am told to go and unlock it (which I do) but given no reason. We go to customs and arrange the changes to the clearance form, this presents no problem other than they cannot get it to print. 20 mins later and we are off to walk around the town. Initially we walk through a cruise ship mall, they seem to be springing up all over the Caribbean with the same designer shops. Once through we get to a small town with a single road through there are a few local shops, several Chinese restaurants and not much else, an old machine gun forms a monument in the small town square.

Sat21^st

We get up at 5 and motor-sail all the way to Antigua. This takes 9 hours and ends with the last hour in a tropical storm with visibility down to about 50 metres. The start of the journey was interesting as the gps was showing us travelling backwards! After rummaging around in the Raymarine manuals we discover that the flux gate compass has reset itself 180° out. After further research we do two 360° turns slowly to initialise the compass variation, then get the chance to digitally adjust the compass to the correct heading. We waste about ten minutes performing this task and fix the problem. This then allows us to use the auto-helm. When we get to Falmouth harbour we have missed the customs office so cannot leave the boat. This is the island that fines up to $5000 if crew get off before the yacht has checked in.

Sun 22^nd

Trudy checks us in then we get off for a walk to the beach to see the Classic yacht race start. The yachts are extremely impressive, with beautiful lines and sail plans. We end up in English harbour where the yachts all parade through after completing the race. The evening entertainment is provided by Panerai the watch makers. We get free cocktails canapés, dinner and drinks and a band plays throughout.

Mon 23^rd

Stewart and Steph invite us on “Matador”, a Rival built in 1978. We head out to watch the racing close to. Some photos in our link.

Tue 24^th

When going ashore the dinghy prop begins to spin up. More work required!

Wed 25^th

Call Seagull inflatables, they can get a prop with a smaller pitch today otherwise there is a three day wait. We decide on the smaller one. I dinghy ashore at about 1/2 knot and walk a mile to Seagull Inflatables. I get a lift and help taking the engine off and have to provide boat papers and wait 3 hours for the prop to arrive. Once fitted and back in the dinghy the acceleration and planing is much improved so the smaller pitch was a good choice.

Thur 26^th

We go to the beach to watch the racing and then walk to English harbour and get a dinghy taxi across the bay to the Chandlers and back.

Fri 27^th

Mount Gay rum “Red Hat” party. If you have raced or drunk enough rum over the previous week you get a “free” Mount Gay Race week red hat. We got one. Another huge ambition realized! Party is busy and an active dance band are on. Also rum is free for a couple of hours.

Sat 28^th

Rest day!

Sun 29^th

Spent part of the day drilling out pop rivets from the bimini and inserting larger ones. This has been getting looser since we started. It is now tied down in place and the rivets are a vast improvement.

Mon 30^th

Return pop rivet gun to Jan,Check out at customs in English Harbour and get the boat ready to leave in the morning. We have stayed 9 days and the cruising and immigration fees come to about $100.

We have missed several days from the calendar during our time in St Maarten, this is only because we spent a lot of time sourcing parts and services. Also the bay is so large that you can spend ages just investigating the coastline to find dinghy docks (and bars). We also did a large amount of reading and got through about 5 to 8 books each this month.

March 2012

Thur 1^st

On the way to Guadeloupe we catch a fish trap on the port prop, it takes Steph about a half hour to entangle it and we now have a fish trap buoy on board! We arrive and anchor in Deshaies and as we had already checked in and out at Iles de Sainte we stay on board and do not visit the main land. It is very rough and the wind is all over so we need to do an anchor watch. During the night we swing very close to another yacht that is moored in the bay.

Fri 2^nd

We lift anchor at 05:50 as we are all awake and it is a long trip to Antigua. Early in the day we spot whale spume about 400m in front of us. This continues for about a 15 minutes whilst the whales speed away in front of us,never to be seen. When we arrive in Falmouth Antigua Trudy has to go ashore alone to check in as Customs are very strict and can impose $5000 fines if crew go ashore before being check in has been completed. It is also somewhat complicated as four of our crew are leaving the boat and flight numbers and addresses need to be included on the forms. We eventually all go ashore to the Mad Mongoose to try the local beer, Wadadli which is 5% and quite good.

Sat 3^rd

We sail around to Jolly harbour about three hours away. The pilot says it is extremely well marked by red and green buoys, however when we arrive there are some missing and the ones remaining are all grey. We take a pontoon in the marina which looks like it has seen better days. There is however a good supermarket and the happy hour is enjoyed by all.

Sun 4^th

Steph and Gabi set off at 4:00 am so we don't see them off! Helga and Steve help us clean the boat and later we sail to St Johns. On arrival it is so grim we head back and anchor in “Mosquito Cove” just outside Jolly harbour. We later drop Helga and Steve off in the marina where we manage one beer before they need to get their taxi.

Mon 5^th

We visit Budget Marine to buy charts and courtesy flags then spend the rest of the day chilling in Mosquito Cove.

Tue 6^th

A late start then back to Falmouth. The first half is a rough sail with all the reefs in, it then turns to an awful up wind motor-sail into Falmouth bay. The wind is still gusting 35 knots and we anchor with the chain pulling hard despite motoring against the wind. Jan and Susan from Peter Pan, who we met in Granada, visit and we decide to go ashore as this is their last night here before travelling to Germany.

Wed 7^th

Wander round Nelsons dockyard in English harbour, this is a quality renovation of the original dockyard. There are several classic yachts on the slip being prepared for Antigua Classic race week in mid April. All beautiful and shiny with some first class renovation progressing to teak deck hardware, masts, wooden blocks bright-work etc. We meet Mike “The Scrim” who makes jewellery and scrimshaw to order. Trudy is debating a dolphin wrapped around a pearl. Later we pick up “Peter Pan” Susan and Jan and drop them on the pontoon.

Thurs 8^th

Stay on board catching up on chores.

Fri 9^th

Go to see Mike the scrim, he has not only sold the gold dolphin but got a further commission on a new one. He will make Trudy another and will have it ready when we get to St Maarten. Later he cycles past the Mad Mongoose and tells us he will be in St Maarten on the 23^rd, for a couple of weeks.

Sat 10^th

Go to St Johns for a mooch about, find nothing but tourist traps so buy a roti, local, 10xcd and get the bus back.

Sun 11^th

We meet Dave from Old Bob a modern day classic made from ferocrete, Libby and Geoff who live on the island. Libby invites us over for a Sunday lunch party in a weeks time and suggests we spend the week going to “Green Island”. There is nothing there but beautiful beaches and reefs. A place to chill.

Mon 12^th

We shop in preparation for the trip to Green Island. The dinghy davit block breaks so we need to get more boat parts. We have a shackle that is a bit too small; The lady in the chandlers says her shackle is 390 xcd, about £97, so we won't want it! She is right...the small one will have to do.

Tues 13^th

Set off up wind from Falmouth harbour to Green Island. A beat sailing 23 miles to make 9 miles up wind. So we discover that we need to do 3 times the miles when travelling hard on the wind. This is the first time that we have had to work so hard to make progress. Fortunately we can make about 6 knots through the water or about 2 knots towards the way-point!

Wed 14^th

Wake up to a peaceful bay that slowly fills, first with kite surfers and then tourists fill both beaches. Super-yachts go and come as more arrive to enjoy this beautiful place. I re-reve the first reef line that has been wearing out the new sail bag and Trudy carefully removes all traces of mould that have accumulated on our snorkelling masks. We find that the straps on our Zoggs swimming goggles have all rotted, presumably due to a mix of sun sea and heat. We attempt our first video and apologise to anyone watching it for the sound quality, the wind noise is bad and we do not know how to edit it out!

Thur 15^th

Get up early and set off back to Falmouth harbour on a down wind leg. On the way back the 9 miles takes only 13 miles gybing 130 degrees to the apparent wind. We get about 6 knots.

Fri 16^th

We spend the day in four chandlers buying rigging parts including a very fancy snap block that will fit almost anywhere on the boat in the event of a block failure. We check out Catherine's café that gets a good write up in the pilot and end up going back there for dinner. Fois gras a lamb shank, fish tartare and a fillet steak mmmm. First meal out for about a month. Seems longer.

Sat 17^th

We need to shop for wine for tomorrow's Sunday lunch at Libby's. Otherwise a lazy day reading in the sun.

Sun 18^th

Bottom cleaning. Surprisingly there are no barnacles on our new rudders despite being in the water for about a month. However the rest of the hulls are covered with barnacles about 8mm in diameter. So much for the (hard) anti-foul in Grenada.

Sunday lunch out was a hoot, Libby started us off with a classic rum punch. (1 of sour 2 of sweet 3 of strong and 4 of week). Their house is totally open plan with the only doors being on the bathrooms; no windows and drinks were served in old jam jars. They have several cottages in the grounds up and down steep pathways. I was asked to put the (4 in one tray) chickens in the oven, a 30metre walk up hill to an oven that worked! About 15 of us with locals from various technicalities sat around chatting all day. Libby put on a great Sunday roast dinner, our first since leaving the UK. We were the last to leave as usual.

Mon 19^th

Recovery day...

Tue 20^th

Pour over charts and pilots to choose a route to St Maarten. (Saba, St Statia, St Kits, Nevis, St Bart’s, Montserrat?) We will be sailing part of the way in the dark with no moon. This will be the first night sailing since arriving in the Caribbean. We don't want to land in the dark or pass too near any lee shores; It is about 100 miles to St Maarten with many possible stops from 50 miles on. We decide to leave about 4pm. So if we make 8 knots we will arrive early in the morning and if we only make 4 we will still have a couple of hours daylight left.

Wed 21^st

We have a restful day and head out at 4pm.

It was an eventful night in the pitch black with no moon, but glorious stars. We set off with full sails up doing 8 knots but after about 8 squalls each getting worse we end up fully reefed and continue the rest of the night at between 2 and 4 knots. We are circled by a number of cruise ships that waste time and diesel each night to ensure that they leave each port at dusk and arrive the next day at dawn, even though it should only take them an hour!

Thur 22^nd

Early morning we catch another rope around the rudder. We cannot now start the starboard engine and do not want to dive in deep water. Even with the small 3 to 5 foot swell that we have you could be banged on the head by 12.5 tons of boat. As we near the bay we drop the headsail and slow down. By good fortune the rope seems to have dropped off.

We arrive in Simpson Bay at 12:30 pm, we missed the bridge into the lagoon by an hour. The island is shared between the Dutch Antilles and the French Department. The 12 square miles of lagoon in the centre is also split. Entry into the island, either the St Maarten or St Martin half is different; and we want to go through the Dutch bridge and into the French part of the lagoon. We dive to check the rudder and all is clear.

At 17:00 we up anchor and make our way to the bridge, which is lifted at 17:30. There are only four of us going through at this time and we are the last. The Yacht Club is situated about 20 metres after the bridge, and huge cheers go up as we pass by. This is apparently a daily event during happy hour. We make our way through 2 to 2.5 metres of water to the north of the lagoon where hundreds of yachts are parked on the French side. We locate “Vanity” and drop anchor nearby under the “Witches Tit”. This is half way between French and Dutch marine complexes. As we look around there are many familiar yachts from Grenada.

Fri 23^rd

We check in at the French immigration, you just fill out a form on their computer and pay 7 Euros. We find out it would have been $90 in the Dutch side. Have lunch in Cafe la Gare, it is just like being in France. Steve and Carol call by from “Innamorata II” (first love the second!) and we arrange a crawl from Yacht Club to Barnacles for the evening. Chris and sally from “Vanity” call by and we catch up on gossip and information about the area. They have sold their yacht, nearly.

Yacht club happy hour sees us watching new arrivals and meeting Tony from Tactical Direction, Len and Jean from Tuatora. We all head off to Barnacles by dinghy. It is an octagonal bar with stools and no tables. So you eat standing at the bar. A Greek chef but the bar had an Aussie feel to it. It is open mike night, and the talent contest goes on until after we leave.

Sat 24^th

A day spent touring the bay from chandlers to supermarkets and end up visiting the Soggy Dollar bar and Lagoonie's where we meet more old friends. Including London Pride and Guinness. A beer in happy hour, from 16:00 to 19:00 is $1-50 US. Desmond from “Cala d' Oro” is an Irish guy who has only ever sailed cats and is now on his sixth. He is most helpful with technical questions.

Sun 25^th

A rest day, reading in the sun.

Mon 26^th

Early start with the gas bottle being dropped off at Island Water World, then back to receive luggage from Vanity as they are staying the night, Dave from “Mistral” visits to asses our gas fitting requirements. We spend the rest of the day visiting chandlers. When we get back Sally and Chris are aboard and Desmond arrives for beers. Thai curry for all.

Tue 27th

Dave arrives at 08:00, Chris takes us to “Turtles” for breakfast, eggs Benedict with extra bacon! The rest of the day is spent chasing gas parts and Dave eventually completes our new installation. The old system was unsafe, worn out rusty, several joins etc. We now have from the bottle, a quick release valve, regulator with gauge, a solenoid valve, a single run of reinforced tubing, electric control box and a single split for oven and hob.

Wed 28^th

Dave comes back with plumbing tools to fix dripping tap. It is the kind of job that I would do myself but having tried it was so seized up that I dare not force it as it could result in no water and no gas as both are now on the same circuit. Dave has trouble but with the liberal use of impact hammer we finally free the tap to discover a small piece of aluminium foil has been preventing the tap from closing. In the afternoon we remove our head sail and take it to the sail-maker, the leach cord has frayed at the end and needs replacing. This is a cord that is used to tighten the leach (trailing edge) of the sail to prevent flapping and premature wear. On our way back we are hailed onto Cala d' Oro where Chris and sally are celebrating the money in the bank from their yacht sale. The party later continues on “Lala” Lances boat, the one that Sally and Chris are now staying on until they can arrange flights to England.

Thur 29^th

Guess what another rest day. How did we get back to the boat? How did the dinghy get lifted onto the davits?

Fri 30^th

We arrange for a Raymarine electrician to fit our log impeller transducer and tour the hardware shops, order water pump bearings, on the Dutch side, have lunch at Lagoonie's and a night in.

Sat 31^st

Parked at Shrimpy's dropped off laundry and walked around the French capital Marigot, lots of designer shops and it is very like any French seaside town. Back to Lagoonie's again where we hear from Chris and Sally that, due to money laundering regulations, their bank have stopped their account! Simon from “Bird” has decided to sail back to England via Cuba.