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New Year’s Eve in Bequia started slowly, we went ashore for some fresh vegetables to make a nice dinner that evening with the new soya chunks that we have recently tried and make a great meat substitute on board. We decided rather than dash around to fit in a dive that afternoon we would take things more leisurely and we stopped in a shore side bar for some people watching instead. The water is fantastically clear and we could see the fish beneath the surface and even a hummingbird in the flowering shrub beside us.
We went back to the boat and Kevin prepared dinner whilst I did some tidying up before we settled down on the foredeck / trampolines with a Gin & Tonic. Kevin spotted a Hawksbill turtle coming up for air just in front of us, it dived down and we saw it reappear a couple of times more before it finally disappeared.
We had another great dinner aboard outside as the sunset before we tendered ashore. We put our dingy on the market pier, though did note that there were none others there. We could hear the noise from the large speakers behind the market as we pulled up and this was definitely the locals party with a very heavy bass rap type music and not a tourist in sight. We walked down the front street where there were more speakers and some beer stalls set out on the shoreside again with lots of locals. Eventually when we got to the otherside of the bay all the cruisers and tourists had gathered at the Frangipani with just a few local families joining in to see the lively steel pan ban. It was a great atmosphere and the dingy dock was full, we decided to bring ours round here as well and settle in for the night. One of the locals provided a solo dance for the early part of the evening until a few more cruisers finishing their NYE dinner at the restaurant beside the bar came along and filled in. We decided to head back and watch the fireworks from the deck of the boat for a better view, the display is provided by the local business and run by volunteers called the Bang Gang and was really good, though the most impressive were the red parachute flares that someone was letting off at the same time. So we celebrated 2008’s Old Year’s Night (as it is regarded here) in style as it has certainly been a fantastic year for us.
This morning turned out to the calmest so far and we decided after a fairly leisurely start following another dawn chorus from the local livestock, to take a walk ashore. Kevin had been anxiously awaiting the reopening of the fishing tackle shops after the Christmas closure and he was finally rewarded today. Both of our two reels had now officially given up, though being bought for Mackerel fishing in the Irish sea they hadn’t really been up to the job anyway, letting a couple of bigger fish escape much to Kevin’s anguish.
Therefore, this morning we bit the bullet and bought two Penn reels, which Kevin assure me are the thing to have. Obviously this also meant two new special diving lures coming highly recommended by the shop owner who, to be fair, did seem very knowledgeable. He also then needed line and more shackles, plus also some new sunglasses seemed to sneak in. However, we are apparently now full equipped and as soon as we got back to the boat Kevin was straight on to refitting the rods in eager anticipation of our next trip out.
This afternoon, with the wind finally below 30 knots since the first time we arrived we finally got to go diving just outside the harbour at a popular reef called Devil’s Table. I was boatman today and Kevin diving. The water immediately inshore was quite murky but when we got out to the West Cardinal marker it was so clear you could see the bottom. Kevin jumped in and I tried to guard his track from the yacht dingies and local fishing boats going overhead. There were also dozens of yachts out sailing, one French catamaran which tried to cut the corner to go over the reef which in places is literally just below the surface.
Kevin emerged after about 30 minutes, having had a thoroughly good dive down to about 10m, with lots of fish life and coral and surfacing beside a chimney type structure about 10m in height which nearly breaks the surface at the top.
Happy Birthday to Kevin’s brother Phil, hope you have a good day!
I checked our new Delta anchor though and it is dug in extremely well, the vis wasn’t great though and I didn’t see much life apart from that. We are just waiting for the wind to die down for a proper dive. Kevin went in to inspect the damage too and also fitted some chain markers (so you can tell how much chain is out) that we’d been waiting for the opportunity to put on. Just to show you how windy it has been, we have 30m of chain out in 4m of water (7:1 scope). Our neighbour, a boat from Ipswich, UK reckons he had 60m (9:1) of chain out! This seemed a bit excessive to me in a crowed anchorage, but actually he hasn’t swung much at all.
We did a bit of cleaning and caught up on a few jobs before catching up on the next adventure of Jack Aubrey, with the wind finally calming that evening.
After a quiet day onboard on Saturday listening to the wind whistle around us and enjoying the next adventures of Jack Aubrey for me, we decided to take a walk on ashore on Sunday. We had been booked for a family Skype call at 1pm, so we set out early for Fort Hamilton which turned out to be just behind where we were moored. We put the dingy at the nearest dock, of which Port Elizabeth is very well supplied, with about 6 along the bay so you rarely have to walk too far with shopping, rubbish etc. We walked up the hill past all the colourful local houses, nearly all with tethered goats in their gardens. We didn’t see any roosters, which is probably a good thing as they wake us daily at 4.30 -5 am, but there are definitely quite a few locally too, plus dogs who also howl at night.
We saw the local two-bow boats which originate on the island pulled ashore and also several bery well kept sailing dingies which compete in the annual regatta. It being the Christmas period there was also quite a few people milling around at the plentiful local bars. We walked up the hill to the south western extreme of Admiralty bay to where the remains of Fort Hamilton sit over the entrance to the bay, previously used by British forces to repel American privateers and French invaders. It is apparently named after the father of the American constitution who was born on the small island of Nevis just south of Bequia. It really was a stunning view from the top and we got some great photos of Invincible at anchor and the bay. Whilst we were there two tourist minibuses also arrived, so this is obviously part of the standard island tour. There is very little remaining of the original fort, though a selection of canons are trained to sea I’m not sure if they are original. However, it was worth it for the view.
We had a walk through the town to get some pictures, though being a Sunday things were closing as we walked around so we headed back to the boat for our Skype appointment and a swim to cool off.
View from Fort Hamilton of Admiralty Bay (Invincible is just infront of the trimaran in the foreground)
Looking South from Admiralty Bay
House in Port Elizabeth (town at head of Admiralty Bay)
Front Street, Port Elizabeth
Town Beach, Port Elizabeth
Front Street, Port Elizabeth
After a great day on Christmas Day, with a morning of Skype calls to family and then a beer ashore at Coco’s bar over looking Invincible, we enjoyed a full Turkey dinner. Later that afternoon we also had a visit from Santa who arrives by boat for those in yachts and was rewarded with a couple of cold Carib beers (as there were no Reindeer, no carrots needed).
Boxing Day was a fairly quiet day onboard, the wind continues to be very gusty, so we just enjoyed a bit of reading and a bit of swimming from the boat. I have just started the Patrick O’Brian series which Kevin consumed in the Canaries, so am best not disturbed once started!
In the evening we went ashore for a meal out, after a bit of walking around we opted for the Porthole restaurant on the shoreside in Port Elizabeth. We had conch fritters for starters which were very nice and tasted rather potato-like. I then had lobster and Kevin tuna for our main courses, both of which were unfortunately rather disappointing. The lobster was over cooked and the tuna full of bones, the wine was rather nice however and we had a local guitarist all to ourselves so it was still a good night. It was fairly quiet ashore everywhere, perhaps due to the gusty winds.
Beer ashore on Christmas Day in Coco's Bar
Christmas dinner on Invincible
Visit from Santa, he was rewarded with a cold Carib beer in Caribbean style
Thanks to everyone who has been reading our blog over the last few months and all your encouraging emails and comments which are always appreciated. We hope that you are all enjoying the festive season, have a great day.
Merry Christmas to All
Kevin & Jo
We woke early again on Christmas Eve morning for our final short hop to Bequia of 15 miles. We left St. Vincent in another rain squall, which although they didn’t last long they were fairly frequent and heavy on this sail with up to 30 knot winds accompanying them which made for another lively trip. There was quite a few other boats around, another 3 yachts going into Bequia, a couple of the inter island ferries going between St. Vincent and Bequia and a large cruise ship heading north but by far the most beautiful was a Caribbean Schooner, the Friendship Rose. They do daily charters between the Grenadines and St Vincent and they flew north from Bequia under full sail at an incredible speed but very stable despite the large swell running.
The Friendship Rose looking majestic
Owing to the shape of Bequia, there is no shelter from the land until you are in Admiralty Bay, so we were relieved to enter the natural harbour where there was another cruise ship anchored in the entrance. As we rounded the headland, we found that there was about 500 yachts already anchored! We had heard quite a few people mention Bequia and it is apparently now an annual event that this is where cruisers in the area head for the festive season, which includes a big fireworks display on New Year’s Eve. We had a little bit of hunting to find a spot to anchor but dropped our new anchor successfully in about 4m of water which was so clear I saw it hit the bottom. The resounding pull as it dug in was something we never experienced with our old anchor and was a huge relief to both of us. Kevin got in to have a look and found it was already buried to halfway up the shank and was going nowhere. We are over a sandy bottom and a large puffer fish also swam over to have a look.
Admiralty Bay, Bequia
I was straight in the dingy to provision the boat for Christmas; I walked the length of the main street. It was absolutely buzzing with people, locals and cruisers alike doing their last minute Christmas shopping in the brightly coloured shops lining the main street. The street is small with hardly any cars, there is a bright market with a great selection of fruit and vegetables and lively guys wearing rasta hats selling their wears who playfully fight with each other for your attention. There was no hassle from anyone and although the food was very expensive here, it is labelled that way and locals and cruisers alike were buying at the same price. I managed to get sliced turkey, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, turkey gravy and potatoes for lunch. I drew the line at £10 for a Christmas pudding so we are having banana bread and custard for desert, which seemed more authentic.
When I got back to the boat Kevin told me that there had been a small ships strong wind warning issued by the local coastguard starting 4pm Christmas Day until 28th Dec. We are quite safe in here but won’t be going anywhere until after New Year’s, with 10ft swell heights expected outside. There have been a few brave souls departing perhaps to catch flights or return charter boats. However, we definitely want to stay for the fireworks display on New Year’s Eve and apparently most boats stay through until New Year’s anyway. However, with upto 35 knots of wind in the anchorage through the afternoon we decided to stay on board for the evening as did most of the other boats around us. Our new anchor proving itself well as we didn’t move an inch.
However, we can already see it will be a Christmas to remember here, I told Kevin when I got back that it was going to be an expensive one for him as I wanted to move in! We are certainly looking forward to having a look around.
We were up early for the second leg of our journey to Bequia, passing across the channel to St Vincent, down the west coast (leeward side) of St Vincent and across the channel to Bequia. We had dropped the mooring line by 08:00 that morning having been awake since very early listening to the wind howling with the rain squalls passing through.
After passing the Pitons, you start to head out west towards St. Vincent as the south end of St Lucia curves away to the east. We were soon therefore in the channel with the full force of the Atlantic swell on our beam, there were also regular squalls with wind speeds up to 27 knots. It was a pretty choppy crossing and not exactly what you imagine of Caribbean cruising, but Invincible took it in her stride. We’d reefed down accordingly but were amazed how many boats we saw under full sail in those wind speeds. We think mostly charter boats and although they generally have rough cut sails to accommodate the less experienced sailors that sail them, even then they were pushing it. We were amazed at the number of boats heading south, it felt like a regatta sailing in such company, we hoped they weren’t all going to Bequia, which has a reputation for Christmas and New Year celebrations as it was going to be very crowded on the anchorage!
Regatta of boats heading south past the Pitons
After a couple of hours we were in the lee of St Vincent and it looked fabulous, much less populated with the steep volcano of Soufriere on it’s northern shore topped in cloud. Kevin had been keen to see the film set of the Pirates of The Caribbean which is located in Wallilabou Bay there. We had a look in the pilot book and it looked so good, we decided to stay the night to break the journey to Bequia.
Film set for Pirates of the Caribbean
We took a mooring buoy with the help of the ever present boat boys alongside a selection of other boats who’d also stopped in. We went ashore in the dingy and had a look around the remnants of the film set and saw the locals washing clothes in the river nearby. We were able to check in with customs for St Vincent and the Grenadines with the custom’s officer who comes to his office here for an hour at 17:00. We then had a meal in the restaurant at the end of the pier, the front of which was also in the film and in the many props and souvenirs on show there including a pirates flag signed by the cast is the mast that Jack Sparrow steps of onto the jetty at the beginning of the first film.
We had easily the best meal we have had since we arrived in the Caribbean which was authentic local food. We shared Try-Try fishcakes to start, then I had a vegetarian plate and Kevin Creole chicken, which came with rice and fried plantains plus various kidney bean and other local accompaniments. We went back to the boat and obviously watched Pirates of the Caribbean (Part 1) to spot the shots of the bay which appears as Port Royale in the film.
Locals washing clothes in the stream
Loading arm that Jack swung from to make his escape
Invincible on her mooring
Jetty that Jack stepped off his sinking ship onto and leftover cannons
Archway where Pirates were hanging from on Jack's arrival to Port Royale
Mast Jack stepped off from his sinking ship
View from restaurant
We decided to bite the bullet and buy a new anchor here as we could not continue much longer with our current one and by 8.15 we were on our way to the chandlery hoping to get everything done that morning. We decided to go for the Delta which was for sale here, we also noted on the way to buy it that 80% of the boats on our pontoon had one which was a good sign. Kevin soon had it refitted and the anchor locker and cockpit locker restowed.
I went off to Johnson’s hardware to try and get a new washing up bowl and a scrubbing brush, which may seem insignificant, but our water consumption across the Atlantic was significantly lower through the bowl we bought in the Cape Verdes, which had unfortunately cracked. I managed to get both and was so excited that I got straight to work on the checker plate in the cockpit with the scrubbing brush wearing a white vest top and short skirt not the best for cleaning, but I was so excited to get it looking like new (I have become like a 1950’s housewife now in my boat cleaning). It took me a while to register all the boat boys filing back and forth and I said to Kevin I should probably change, he said I shouldn’t as he was charging a fee!
By 11.30 am, we’d managed to get everything we wanted done, so I dashed up to the Customs & Immigrations office to check us out of St. Lucia so we could leave that afternoon. I assumed that they’d just look up our record from before, but no we had to fill out the whole triplicate form again with the subtle difference of a tick in the check out box instead of arrival box. I realised I needed Kevin’s signature and as I had just been given a fresh form and Kevin clearly wasn’t with me I couldn’t forge it either. It was 11:40 they closing at 12:00 until 13:30, which would be too late to get to Soufriere before dark. I raced back and fetched Kevin and we made it back by 11:50, the first guy we needed to see was out of the office, he came back but then wondered into the back office apparently to talk to a friend even though we were sat at his desk. He came back through at 11:55 and complained we’d be eating into his lunch break. He did however manage to fill in the 5 lines and three ticks within 5 minutes and allowed us to take our other sheets to the other two people in the office. We were checked out and had to leave St Lucia within 24 hours.
We went over to say our goodbyes to the many good friends we’d made here and slipped the lines. Pikorua waved us off from their boat too as we sailed off, we will see them again at our wedding in February.
Goodbye from Barry & Marie-Jeanne on Pikorua
We were soon out of the bay and sailing past the Barrel o’ Beef rock under full sail and a smile on Kevin’s face ear to ear! It was great to be under sail and off cruising again and the 15 miles to Soufriere were soon over and we were in sight of the spectacular twin mountains of the Pitons. It is a UNESCO World heritage site and you can see why. We took a mooring ball in the bay by the town of Soufriere which is in the shadow of Petit Piton. We arrived about 16:00 and had a fantastic evening watching the sunset and just admiring the view. There were a few of the 2 minute Caribbean rain showers passed through creating fabulous rainbows over Soufriere. We were both so excited to be in a new spot after too long in Rodney Bay waiting for supplies to arrive and the Pitons really has to be one of the most spectacular anywhere.
The Pitons
Rainbow over Soufriere
The ARC prize winner’s party occurred on Saturday night and Sunday morning there was a large exodus from Rodney Bay marina. We were then finally allowed to take berth in the marina so we could get water onboard and move on South. We had to ask a couple of times on the VHF through the morning before we were allowed in and when we got to the berth Barry & Marie-Jeanne were there waiting to take our lines, which was great, we were moored only one boat up from them. Barry could hardly wait to until we were tied up to tell us that Pikorua had won their class in the ARC!! It was fantastic news after all the hassles they had had on the way over with breakages and propeller losses etc. So congratulations to all the Pikorua crew!
We were straight to work as soon as we got in, refilling the water and Kevin was fitting the Fortress anchor that Barry had given us. Unfortunately, the shape of the Fortress, being a Danforth type anchor, it just wouldn’t sit comfortably in the bow roller so would not travel well there as it would need to. So we were going to have to have a rethink on the anchor, but after it dragging again in the good muddy holding of the Inner Lagoon, we were not going to trust it any longer.
We had been hard at work since 7am giving the boat a thorough clean and polish and by 2pm we were starving and ready for some food, so we decided to go for beer battered fish & rough cut chips at the Bosun’s Locker that we had seen advertised before. We ordered that and a couple of beers and waited expectantly. The waitress brought over a basket each, we looked in and found approximately 4 chips each (potato wedges) and two or three pieces of battered fish the size of fish fingers. This cost $48ECD (£12) each, I think we decided there and then that we’d had enough of Rodney Bay and the rob-the-yachtsmen prices and decided it was time to head south.
We saw Lawrence from Papillon in the afternoon who said that Lexie was recovering well and now in a hotel. Also Barry and Marie-Jeanne dropped by after saying goodbye to Barry’s daughter Jen & son Jonathan who’d flown back that afternoon. One drink turned into another and a few cocktails were had for a great last night in Rodney Bay helping Pikorua skipper and first mate to celebrate their victory again!
Marie-Jeanne & Barry from Pikorua, Class B ARC winners
We were awake very early at 4.30am by the sound of chain dragging on the gravely bottom due to rain squalls coming in and the concurrent wind increase. Although there was no real danger as we were not dragging far with all that chain and had plenty of room, it does disrupt sleep rather. When things had calmed down we got our heads down for an hour about 6am before we decided to investigate moving into the marina. We were due to be going out that evening to Gros Islet street party (the “Jump Up”) with Barry & Marie-Jeanne and preferred a safer mooring and we needed some water before moving south anyway. However, when we spoke to the marina they said all berths were reserved until Sunday, although there are several empty as many of the ARCers have moved on. We decided to try anchoring in the inner lagoon just beyond the marina which although it is pretty crowded turned out to be a perfect choice. There is no swell, we are surrounded by supermarkets we need for re-provisioning and bars and large houses and it’s really sheltered from the wind.
Kevin popped by to Pikorua to see if Barry needed a hand refitting his bowsprit and found them in the middle of celebrating the arrival of their friends aboard Blue Pearl a German Bavaria 37 crewed by Bobby and Carola who’d arrived at 4.30am that morning. We’d actually seen them cross the line when we got up. They’d all been drinking since then and were all fairly merry to say the least. It seems that Barry had also had the same plan as Kevin since our trip tp the Bosun’s Locker when they both saw the English breakfast on the menu as they were heading there next. Kevin came back in the tender to fetch me and we went to join them all.
After breakfast, we left Barry and Marie-Jeanne to collect their bowsprit and have a siesta and we went back to the boat, where Kevin also decided a siesta sounded good. I left him on the trampoline in the late afternoon sun as I went off on I think my fourth ever solo trip on the tender to the supermarket.
We met Barry and Marie-Jeanne, Jonathan, Jen and friend Henry on Pikorua at 7.30pm for G&Ts before the Jump Up in Gros Islet. Kevin collected Mike from Jeannius and then Bobby and Carola arrived from Blue Pearl, though reasonably left early having had visitors all day and not yet having rested from their 4.30am arrival. After G&Ts, we had a beer in the park area where the usual Friday night party was on complete with the best band on so far and a bigger crowd than usual. We took a taxi to Gros Islet and were soon mixing with the large crowd of locals and tourist there. There was no stage this evening but some large speakers had been erected and there was great atmosphere as everyone mingled on the street. We sampled a good selection of the local food available on the stalls including skewered kidneys, barbequed chicken, Sweet Henries (doughnut-type ball), patties of beef, conch and other fillings we were not sure of exactly. We had rum punches, spiced rums and of course local Piton beers from the various stalls and bars along the street as was only fair to distribute our custom before heading back to the marina to catch another local band on the stage.
On Thursday we learned that Lexie from Papillon had taken a nasty fall down the hull steps after a night out, resulting in a vertebrae and wrist fracture and spell in hospital in Castries. Kevin popped over to see Lawrence to see if there was anything we could do to help and met the crew of Snow Leopard a Fredis 46 catamaran from the ARC who are also heading to Bequia for Christmas.
Finally the long awaited battery charger to Kevin’s Sony Vaio arrived after 17 days on a delivery estimate of 5 days much to our relief. It has been the thing we have been waiting for and preventing us from moving on south to the Grenadines as we planned. Thankfully the laptop appeared to charge as normal when connected and Kevin was a happy man again to get his favourite toy back up and running.
We had a change of scenery in the later afternoon because the north east swell had made it into the bay and managed to upset the holding of our rather over-sensitive anchor. Luckily however, Barry has very generously given us his old Fortress anchor from his last boat which is a little too small for his current one, so as soon as we can get somewhere suitable we can swap ours out. We took ourselves over to the Pigeon Island side of the bay in the shelter from the swell and tried to reset the anchor. Unfortunately, everyone else had had the same idea and the spaces were limited especially as we like to give ourselves a good run off just incase. We were struggling to get it to set and I put on the snorkel to have a look, but could see the holding was not good where we were with a thin layer of sand over coral and rock. There were not many options left though and several boats around us, who I suspect were not checking so diligently. We laid plenty of chain, so we were not going anywhere far and set the alarm.
The ARCers were all heading to a fancy dress party on Pigeon Island that night but we decided to take a well earned quiet night in together on anchor and enjoyed a beautiful sunset with the background music of their revelries in the background.
We reported for duty at 9am on Pikorua, despite a slightly fussy head and were treated to some toast made from home baked bread and fresh coffee to start our day off slowly. Kevin then got to work with Barry winching him up the mast to check their rigging, tighten some fittings and replace others damaged on the trip across. A job made considerably easier by their substantial electric winches onboard. They swapped the large genoa headsail with a smaller Yankee more suitable for double handed sailing from now on with Barry and Marie-Jeanne. It really brought home to me the difference from Invincible helping to flake the Genoa, which seemed heavier than our main, everything is on a much bigger scale for them and they need to plan ahead well to manage Pikorua with the two of them. Invincible by comparison can easily be sailed single-handed, so I think what we loose in seaworthiness and speed in a smaller boat we gain in manageability which can also be a big factor in safety.
Marie-Jeanne and I spent the day getting their iPod installed on their laptop which turned out to be a pretty long winded job as the version of iTunes I had was not high enough for their iPod and the newest one had to be downloaded on a fairly slow Wifi connection. Next the tracks which they had been given by their friend Inke (crew for the Atlantic crossing) had to be manually removed from the iPod using some trial software I found which only did 10 tracks at a time. Otherwise iTunes would delete the lot when it first synchronised the iPod, blah blah blah. I can understand why most people hate computers so much! Anyway, we just managed to get it all sorted and synchronising when the power went off for the whole pontoon and the laptop went into standby disrupting the synchronisation and leaving it blank! Luckily this was resolved when the power was resumed later that night.
Kevin and Barry went to the boatyard to negotiate some work to straighten and stiffen Pikorua’s bowsprit which bent on the passage. Edwin the excellent boatyard manager, gave him a good quote and got someone working on it straightaway. He even gave Barry some marine plywood he needed to fix his pushpit for free. Later Kevin and I went back to check on Invincible and get a shower before we all went out to the newly opened Bosun’s Locker bar/restaurant for a nice meal out after all our hard work.
Tuesday I had to catch up on a few jobs, the first being catching up on my budget spreadsheets. I keep a record of everything we spend, including the category of spending e.g. boat maintenance, eating out, groceries etc in order for us to maintain control of our budget. I also keep a log of where we moor each night, whether at anchor, marina, passage making etc for our own interest, though it has also been handy in the past as a sort of calendar of events too. Kevin had also popped into the marina again to check for our parcel and also popped by to see Laurence and Lexie for more computer fixing.
Later in the afternoon, we had a visit from Barry and Marie-Jeanne from Pikorua who were out on their tender. They were enjoying a break from host and hostess duties onboard and getting sometime to their selves. Kevin duly assisted their relaxation with some of his cocktails, in fact I think Barry was treated to almost the full repertoire from Grogue from Cape Verdes to local Chairmain’s rum and pineapple to a Vesper cocktail from the Casino Royale film in what turned out to be a fairly drunken evening! It was a great night though and Barry and Marie-Jeanne I think appreciated the chance to relax. We moved from foredeck to cockpit and back to avoid the sun, then watched the sunset as the evening rolled by. I offered to loan Kevin out to Barry the next day to assist with some of the boat jobs they’d accumulated on their crossing as we prefer to have a busy day and I was enlisted to sort out their new iPod, so we agreed to meet up at 9am the next day. They headed back to prepare food for their crew and we pretty much just went straight to bed!
We had a couple of drinks with Mike & Jim on Jeannius the night before watching them welcome a few boats over the ARC finish line. It was a good job that we were coming over as they were having a few technical difficulties. It was going dark when we arrived and they soon discovered that the strobe on the buoy marking the far side of the finish line had stopped working. Next their searchlight intended to be used to highlight the flag on their forestay as boats arrive to pick them out in the busy anchorage had also stopped working. Kevin went to fetch our searchlight for them, just in time for the first boat to arrive.
We had an early start on Monday morning as we'd agreed the night before to try and find Mike’s propeller which had dropped off at some point between him anchoring near to us and taking his position at the other side of the bay at the finish line. It was a bit of a long shot but we thought it was worth a go, besides we were both keen to go diving again.
We have developed a fairly healthy lifestyle with the 12 hour nights here (sunset around 6pm and sunrise about 6am) of going to bed fairly early usually before 10am and up at around 6am. I think we both look much younger for having a decent sleep everyday and it is great to have a bit of time before the sun gets too hot (I know the trials we face!). So, we had got up and had a light breakfast, prepared all the dive gear and taken our tender over to Mike’s boat before 8am on Monday morning. It was quite choppy and we have now confirmed that our tender is really a bit too small for us both and two sets of dive gear as I had to bail the occasional spray coming in over the bow. We had a bit of a deadline to meet as Mike was due to go off watch at 10am, so we got straight in the water when we arrived. The visibility was not great only about 2m, but the water temperature is 27-28 degrees. As soon as we descended we we surrounded by a shoal of small colourful fish and saw a large lionfish-type colourful fish with ornate laterally fins of inky blue on a white body. We unfortunately did not find the prop, but we did enjoy the dive, although it was a sandy bottom we saw several live conches buried in the sand and a few calcified shells laying on it. There was also some coral and assorted small fish flitting around on the sand, I’m afraid I’ll need to get an ID book to improve my descriptions before the next dive!
We were back to boat by 9am and enjoyed the day pottering around the boat. Kevin had a run ashore in the tender to maintain the vigil for the missing battery charger on route from the UK. He’d also been to collect our Fedex delivery of two steering bolts from Fountaine Pajot as the bushes are wearing on ours. Annoyingly, in what seems to be the way of things when you have a boat, we were presented with yet another ridiculous bill. The customs agent who we did not ask to work on the retrieval of the parcel from customs, which should not have been stopped anyway (delivery of spares for a Yacht In Transit should not attract import duty) wanted $150 US for his work. Kevin pointed out this was about 5 times the value of the item and we hadn’t even asked for his help, after a long debate Kevin paid 40$ECD (£10) as he’d collected the parcel from Castries which had saved us a tedious job.
Life on anchor is really very easy in a busy place like Rodney bay, there is Gregory who provides a daily fruit delivery service which we make full use of any have fruit salads daily. There is also a boat based Laundry service called Sparkle Laundry who pass by most days or you can call them on the VHF radio and they collect.
Gregory the fruit man on delivery, he's fairly easy to spot or hear arriving with his conch shell horn
Another beautiful sunset on anchor
Our friends Jonny & Kate on Newtsville (blog in links section) also completed their Transatlantic crossing today, arriving into Falmouth Harbour, Antigua after 25 days at sea and 2876 miles since departing Gran Canaria. So many congratulations to them and Kate’s brother Roo on board as crew for a successful crossing!
Sunday as usual has been a day of rest, catching up on emails and the blog, a bit of reading and internet surfing. We are going over for drinks on Jeannius with Mike and his new crew tonight who are on finish line duties for the ARC.
Saturday we set out to meet up with Lawrence and Lexie from Papillon who we’d met only briefly in La Rochelle when we were both collecting our new boats, though theirs was the largest in the range and ours the smallest. We’d been in email contact ever since, following their tales of their rapid tour of the Mediterranean, clocking over 9000 miles already since collecting their boat. We bumped into them in Scuttlebutts bar and joined them for lunch before going back to their boat for a few drinks and hear all about their travels. Lawrence had already become very popular with the various guys selling to the boats as he’d invited them all onboard to join their celebratory drinks the day before when they arrived and consequently they all kept turning up afterward to see if the free beer was still flowing. We saw the Pikorua crew as well as we passed who were slightly quieter today from the celebrations of yesterday and we left both boats to go for well earned celebratory dinners with their crews.
Lawrence buying some local souvenirs
Lawrence, Lexie & Kevin
I went to the dingy dock without shoes and watch, naively expecting the Diginav owner to meet me as planned at 8.30am, I had arrived early ready. After about 12 other dingies had come in and out I asked one for the time, it was 8.55 and still no sign. So, I went up the steps opposite to the shop in bare feet to see where he’d got to. When I entered the shop he said, so you are ready? I said yes, I’d been waiting on the dock where we said, he shrugged his shoulders and indicated the two customers who’d just left the shop, no apology. I then waited another 15 minutes while he gathered tools and took the replacement parts out of packaging and answered the phone half a dozen times. We then left the shop where I was gingerly walking on the wet tiles in my bare feet carrying the equipment, as we reached the top of the stairs he joked that if I was to fall I should not damage the equipment, but frankly I wasn’t really in the mood by now for his humour.
We got the boat and he replaced the equipment, whilst telling us how to anchor a boat, drive a tender, disembark passengers from a tender and various other pearls of wisdom. He cleared our 4600 mile ships log without warning or telling us, though I guess this was perhaps unavoidable, it would have therefore been easier to bear if there had been any appreciable improvement in the operation of the equipment. The maximum depth indication was still not working when we left and the other two faults being intermittent will take sometime to confirm. However, we were keen to get back to St. Lucia and meet a couple of ARC friends who were due in, so we headed off as soon as he’d done. We saw a couple of other ARC boats appearing over the horizon as we sailed south down the channel between Martinique and St Lucia, I gather that about 30 boats got in that day.
ARC Party in the park
Once we were anchored again in the bay, we headed into the marina to check our post and see the crews of Pikorua and Papillon. We only managed to get as far as Pikorua and were invited onboard for a drink and dinner before we all headed to the Friday ARC party that we’d attended the week before. It was great to see Barry, Marie-Jean and Jen and meet the rest of their crew. We had a great evening exchanging our crossing stories, though having lost their propeller and had three trips up the mast on the way across, one after only 3 hours, Pikorua’s tales were much more dramatic than ours. However, everyone was well and despite the water taxi crashing them into the dock when towing them in, they were all in good spirits and we enjoyed joining their celebrations.
ARC Party in the park
Jen, Marie-Jeanne, Barry and Jonathan of Pikorua
