I had been speaking to Furuno France to arrange the replacement of our Wind Indicator which on occasions when switched on just spins constantly and also does not illuminate the wind speed at night. We also had to have the transducer replaced as the depth sounder intermittently sticks on the depth reading which can obviously be dangerous when approaching shallow water. It also does not display the maximum depth indication of --- over 100m, but varies in reading from about 2-4m in these depths which is not as serious but could hide something one day. They had sent the spares to an agent in Martinique, this being a department of France, so presumably would not cost them import duty, despite the fact we were in St. Lucia where there is also a Furuno agent. I had been calling Diginav the agent in Marin who had the spares trying to arrange a solution but the owner was away in France and his son’s English was about as good as my French and we weren’t getting on to well he put down the phone on my first attempt then didn’t pick up after that. I spoke to Furuno France again who were to be fair very helpful but said we’d have to wait until Thursday to speak to the owner.
I finally got through to the owner on Thursday morning who was most unhelpful and said that there was no agent in St. Lucia, I said there was we’d met him and he then changed tack to say he didn’t know this new equipment. He said that we should just sail the 25 miles to Marin and that Furuno France had already had a large bill sending the spares to him and should not have to send them to Martinique – as if they were some how the injured party for supplying us with faulty gear. The guy was actually just very rude and I was fuming by the time I got off the phone and he was obviously just protecting his business rather than being bothered about the customer. However, it was obviously going to be pointless arguing with him and we needed this fixed to be able to move on, so we decided to make the 8 hour round trip to Marin to get this finally fixed and so we set off north.
It was a fairly lumpy trip but Invincible sped along at 6-7 knots all the way so we were soon moored in Marin again in much the same spot as our last visit. We went into town to let Diginav know we’d arrived and make arrangements for the next day when he’d promised to do the work. After waiting in the shop for 15 minutes being ignored as he dealt with another customer, I introduced us and said we’d come to let him know we’d arrived. His response was that he could see that. He then set about making us go through the whole history and symptoms of the case again, although this had already been done and diagnosed and hence the spares sent for the repair. He explained that the spinning needle on the wind indicator was a physical fault due to light sensitivity and that the workaround was to leave the sun cover on starting. This is complete nonsense in my opinion and we have certainly observed that it related more to high windspeeds but he seemed to believe it. We agreed I would collect him at 8.30 the next morning in the tender.
We had a wander round the docks at some of the catamarans there and a charter Mahe 36 to see how it was fairing before heading to the supermarket and back to the boat for the evening. We had a nice picnic dinner with fresh French baguettes in the cockpit under moonlight before retiring to bed after our 6am start and tiring sail. At 4am I was woken by a large squall passing through with high winds causing us to spin on our anchor before it tripped itself and the alarm starting going to say we’d dragged. So we had to reset it in the dark and the rain, not a good preparation to meeting Cheerful Charlie the surly electronics guy the next day.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
On Wednesday we decided to sail back to Rodney Bay to see if Kevin’s replacement laptop charger had arrived into the marina office. We had another lovely sail back and anchored back in the bay off the beach in almost the same spot and we had left. We had a wander round the marina where there were now quite a number of ARC boats from the racing fleet with signal flags and ARC flags flying it looked great when you entered the lagoon. We saw DreamCatcher KM the winner in the very newly finished superyacht berths looking absolutely fantastic all of the steel was gleaming and the decks were sparkling, certainly not looking like it had just crossed an ocean. The crews of all the racing yachts were all over in the matching crew t-shirts and there was a great atmosphere everywhere compared to the largely deserted place of a few weeks ago. We had dinner in Café Ole on the waterfront before heading back to the boat to check on the positions of some of our friends who were in the closing stages of their crossings.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Marigot Bay, St Lucia
We’d had such a good rest in the bay overnight we decided to stay another night and spent the day onboard doing a bit of metal polishing, reading and a bit of web surfing on the free Wifi. I made I think my second ever solo trip on the tender to fetch a fresh baguette from the bakery ashore and pay our dues at the marina office. There is unfortunately little to explore in the vicinity of Marigot Bay, there is a village over the top of the hills apparently but you are warned not to walk back after dark in small groups.
Dr Dolittle's
We were happy enough though onboard in the nice sheltered harbour, heading ashore in the evening for Happy Hour at Dr. Doolittle’s where we enjoyed rum and banana cocktails whilst talking to Dave the owner who is originally from England. The bar is in a great spot looking out of the bay and has its own dingy dock to pull up in front. Kevin displayed his misspent youth by soundly beating me in our pool competition in the tables by the bar. It was a really fun evening and we headed back to the boat for some food by tender requiring perhaps just a little more concentration than on the way out!
Kevin wins the pool competition
View from Dr. Dolittle's bar at sunset
Looks like Kevin didn't hide my Christmas present too well...
Dr Dolittle's
We were happy enough though onboard in the nice sheltered harbour, heading ashore in the evening for Happy Hour at Dr. Doolittle’s where we enjoyed rum and banana cocktails whilst talking to Dave the owner who is originally from England. The bar is in a great spot looking out of the bay and has its own dingy dock to pull up in front. Kevin displayed his misspent youth by soundly beating me in our pool competition in the tables by the bar. It was a really fun evening and we headed back to the boat for some food by tender requiring perhaps just a little more concentration than on the way out!
Kevin wins the pool competition
View from Dr. Dolittle's bar at sunset
Looks like Kevin didn't hide my Christmas present too well...
Monday, 8 December 2008
Marigot Bay, St Lucia
Well we did not get to Marigot Bay on Sunday by the time we had finished pottering around, we decided to leave it until Monday morning. We had only a short 8 mile hop to Marigot Bay under a gentle breeze down the west coast of St. Lucia. There were many other yachts out enjoying the good weather and almost guaranteed sailing conditions at this time of year in the Caribbean. We passed by the capital of Castries and saw a couple of cruise ships in dock and a couple of other large cargo ships anchored in the bay. A large oil terminal makes less spectacular scenery at the south of the capital but other than that the hills and greenery of the St. Lucian landscape with dotted colourful houses is unbroken. There are a few larger resorts but these were well planned and landscaped and did not stand out. The entrance to Marigot Bay is fairly narrow and arriving for the first time it is difficult to know if you are at the right place but for the prominent red roofed house on the hill at the southern side of the entrance. However two water taxis came out to see if we wanted a mooring buoy (they don’t own or operate these just charge you a fee for passing your line around it) which also indicated we had reached our destination. We declined and make our way in to see about the anchorage in the protected inlet, which legend has it an English admiral managed to hide his fleet there to hide from the pursuing French by tying coconut fronds to the rigging.
Marigot Bay
The narrow inlet is protected on both sides by steep hillsides covered in mangroves which reach right down to the waters edge interrupted only by the fabulous villas of those rich enough to have holiday property in this secluded spot. A luxury hotel has also been added in the last couple of years which is wooden built and blends into the hillside well hiding patios and an infinity pool. The bay was said to have been home to the famous Dr Doolittle and a bar bearing his name is on the entrance to the cove before the sand bar sheltering the inner lagoon which is covered in coconut palms. This area which was an anchorage has now been taken over by mooring balls operated by Marigot Bay marina which run the pontoons there and where Moorings have a charter base. We decided to take a mooring buoy and called on the VHF and one of their guys helped to show us to a mooring ball.
Marigot Bay
We soon had the tender in the water and made the two minute drive to the tender dock / ferry pier where you can pick up a ferry to the other side of the bay where there is a small resort of apartments. We went into the marina office to pay the £15 per night mooring fees and find out where the facilities where. First stop was a shower which is on the first floor of the small arcade of shops. The facilities were clean and fairly new and we were soon fit to do a little more exploring. The arcade of shops include a boutique, souvenirs and houseware but were rather pricey. We walked down the pontoons to the end of the bay past all the superyachts, one of whom were running a fire fighting course for their uniformed crew complete full BA equipment. We walked up to the hotel at the end and had a beer in the shaded bar beside the infinity pool where a few of the residents were relaxing, but like most places we have been in the Caribbean so far was pretty quiet. The Moorings charter fleet were also mostly in the marina rather than out on charter too. Although the surrounding were lovely, the price of the beer reflected this so we decided to head to the bar on the entrance to cove after our beer. We found a nice place which extended on stilts into the water and had a couple of docks where visiting yachts could tie up when coming for dinner. A large charter party of I think youngish French where having a great party dancing away on their boat and on to the dock. A couple of local divers also showed up to survey a leaking pipe which are literally laid on the bottom in the narrow 4m deep channel between one side of the bay on the other. The owners large black Labrador was also trying to help and we had another beer and watched all the coming and going in the bay. We head back to the boat before dark for dinner in the cockpit in the very sheltered bay, the sound of the crickets the only thing breaking the quiet.
Marigot Bay
The narrow inlet is protected on both sides by steep hillsides covered in mangroves which reach right down to the waters edge interrupted only by the fabulous villas of those rich enough to have holiday property in this secluded spot. A luxury hotel has also been added in the last couple of years which is wooden built and blends into the hillside well hiding patios and an infinity pool. The bay was said to have been home to the famous Dr Doolittle and a bar bearing his name is on the entrance to the cove before the sand bar sheltering the inner lagoon which is covered in coconut palms. This area which was an anchorage has now been taken over by mooring balls operated by Marigot Bay marina which run the pontoons there and where Moorings have a charter base. We decided to take a mooring buoy and called on the VHF and one of their guys helped to show us to a mooring ball.
Marigot Bay
We soon had the tender in the water and made the two minute drive to the tender dock / ferry pier where you can pick up a ferry to the other side of the bay where there is a small resort of apartments. We went into the marina office to pay the £15 per night mooring fees and find out where the facilities where. First stop was a shower which is on the first floor of the small arcade of shops. The facilities were clean and fairly new and we were soon fit to do a little more exploring. The arcade of shops include a boutique, souvenirs and houseware but were rather pricey. We walked down the pontoons to the end of the bay past all the superyachts, one of whom were running a fire fighting course for their uniformed crew complete full BA equipment. We walked up to the hotel at the end and had a beer in the shaded bar beside the infinity pool where a few of the residents were relaxing, but like most places we have been in the Caribbean so far was pretty quiet. The Moorings charter fleet were also mostly in the marina rather than out on charter too. Although the surrounding were lovely, the price of the beer reflected this so we decided to head to the bar on the entrance to cove after our beer. We found a nice place which extended on stilts into the water and had a couple of docks where visiting yachts could tie up when coming for dinner. A large charter party of I think youngish French where having a great party dancing away on their boat and on to the dock. A couple of local divers also showed up to survey a leaking pipe which are literally laid on the bottom in the narrow 4m deep channel between one side of the bay on the other. The owners large black Labrador was also trying to help and we had another beer and watched all the coming and going in the bay. We head back to the boat before dark for dinner in the cockpit in the very sheltered bay, the sound of the crickets the only thing breaking the quiet.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Anchored in Rodney Bay, St Lucia
This morning started with some excitement as the winning (across the line, the first will actually be determined by a handicap system later) Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) boat arrived. DreamCatcher KM is a British Swan 82, which arrived past the finish line boat at anchor on the entrance to the bay just behind us under full sail at 8:44am local time after 13 days, 23 hours, and 44 minutes and was greeted by a number of press and other small boats, we could hear fog horns and added ours to the celebrations. The light conditions meant it was a slower time than in previous years, (record is 11 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes for an Italian Maxi yacht in 2006) though still several days ahead of the majority of the pack, although it is one of the Invited Cruising boats, being larger than the allowed maximum for the Rally proper.
They have just gone into the marina now (1pm local time) having been anchored outside since they arrived, I assume they were arranging the reception! Kevin is currently ashore anyway, so I guess I’ll find out soon. We were planning to head to Marigot Bay this afternoon and spend the night there, only 7 miles from here as we’d like to have a sail ourselves. Although, I guess there may be more celebrations here tonight, so we’ll see!
DreamCatcher KM passing Pigeon Island on their way to the celebrations
We hadn't originally planned to be around here when the ARC came in, expecting it to be very busy but I'm pleased we have seen it all unfolding.
They have just gone into the marina now (1pm local time) having been anchored outside since they arrived, I assume they were arranging the reception! Kevin is currently ashore anyway, so I guess I’ll find out soon. We were planning to head to Marigot Bay this afternoon and spend the night there, only 7 miles from here as we’d like to have a sail ourselves. Although, I guess there may be more celebrations here tonight, so we’ll see!
DreamCatcher KM passing Pigeon Island on their way to the celebrations
We hadn't originally planned to be around here when the ARC came in, expecting it to be very busy but I'm pleased we have seen it all unfolding.
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Anchored in Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Saturday had a bit of a slow start after the night before but was another lovely sunny day at anchor. Kevin ran ashore in the dingy for a few bits and pieces which was unfortunately unsuccessful. I was still engrossed in my book when Jeannius arrived with Mike and Ian on board and Kevin was quick to jump across with his drybag of clothes to join them. I decided this sounded like it should be a boy’s day out and opted for a relaxing afternoon with my book instead.
Boys sailing trip
I made a long Skype call home, using the very helpful free Wifi connection offered by a waterfront hotel and did a bit of cleaning. When Kevin, Ian and Mike arrived back they dropped the anchor and came across for a tour of our boat having had a nice sail out round the north of the island back out into the Atlantic to show them how it handled the swell. Kevin was impressed with the Privilege a very nice catamaran and due to its size very stable apparently in a seaway. Mike and wife Jean are going to be providing skippered charters on Jeannius in the British Virgin Islands, so you can also try it:
http://www.sailbvi.net/jeannius
We decided to enjoy a night at anchor together that night and Kevin prepared a lovely meal. We sat out in the cockpit enjoying the cooler air although still in shorts. There was unfortunately a disco ashore at one of the bars, but it didn’t disturb the evening for us which was just how we’d hoped it would be in the Caribbean.
Evening at anchor
Boys sailing trip
I made a long Skype call home, using the very helpful free Wifi connection offered by a waterfront hotel and did a bit of cleaning. When Kevin, Ian and Mike arrived back they dropped the anchor and came across for a tour of our boat having had a nice sail out round the north of the island back out into the Atlantic to show them how it handled the swell. Kevin was impressed with the Privilege a very nice catamaran and due to its size very stable apparently in a seaway. Mike and wife Jean are going to be providing skippered charters on Jeannius in the British Virgin Islands, so you can also try it:
http://www.sailbvi.net/jeannius
We decided to enjoy a night at anchor together that night and Kevin prepared a lovely meal. We sat out in the cockpit enjoying the cooler air although still in shorts. There was unfortunately a disco ashore at one of the bars, but it didn’t disturb the evening for us which was just how we’d hoped it would be in the Caribbean.
Evening at anchor
Friday, 5 December 2008
Anchored in Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Friday we left Rodney Bay marina to head into the bay just outside to anchor up for a few days. We had a leisurely start to the day though and collected our gas cylinder, stocked up on tonic water and other such essentials before eventually dropping the lines about lunchtime. We were both keen to be anchored up before the heat of the day started so we could go for a swim. We found a spot in front the beach and dropped the hook in amongst about 20 other boats on this side of the bay in front of a large light sand beach. Probably the best view of the anchorage is from the photos we took from Fort Rodney on Pigeon Island we are on the far side of the bay. The boats are well spaced though and does not have a feeling of overcrowding as some people complain about in the Caribbean, it is very friendly and everyone waves at each other with boats coming and going frequently. There are almost as many catamarans here as monohulls which is a nice change from our perspective. There are small sailing dingies from the hotels circling and unfortunately jetskis, but you can’t have everything.
We spent the afternoon relaxing on the boat, the Atlantic crossing now behind us and just gentle day sailing for the new few months we are really starting to relax and we are both really enjoying Caribbean, from the little we have seen so far. I spent the day reading and Kevin pottering on his boat jobs as he enjoys doing , oiling, polishing checking rigging etc. We both swam and dried off in the heat. The water is unfortunately quite murky, I think just because of recent rain running off the hillsides bringing sediment. However the water is still warm and very inviting in the humidity which we are both still growing accustomed too.
View from onboard at anchor
Half and hour or less after we had moored up, we were joined by David on his Tobago catamaran, who swam across to say hi. He’d literally just got back on the water from the boatyard. He asked if we were going to the ARC opening party that night, which had also been mentioned to us at the marina office when we went to pay for our electric, so we said we’d see him there. The party started at 6pm, so we got the dingy into commission again and headed ashore. I imagine that the organisers had planned that the winning boats would be in for this party, as in previous years they would have been, but unfortunately this year the first was not expected until Sunday morning. However we were more than happy to join in on their behalf! Kevin also enjoyed sending some slightly taunting emails to some of the competitors the next day that we had been drinking their free beer, which was a slight exaggeration! Although quite a number of beers were drunk that night!
ARC opening party
We met up with David and his crew Burt over from Canada to try out a catamaran for the first time. Later all of the cruisers we had met the previous week at Gros Islet turned up and we exchanged news. Mike from Jeannius our marina neighbour arrived with Ian (from the cruising forum) who had just got in and with them Kevin and I formed the catamaran appreciation society for the rest of the evening! It was a really good night and we eventually made our way home by dingy with the plan to meet Mike & Ian the next day who were going out for a short sail for Ian to see a Privilege catamaran at sea, which Kevin was also keen to see.
Kevin, Ian & Mike (aka Kev&Jo, Irenie, Jeannius Cruising forum aliases)
We spent the afternoon relaxing on the boat, the Atlantic crossing now behind us and just gentle day sailing for the new few months we are really starting to relax and we are both really enjoying Caribbean, from the little we have seen so far. I spent the day reading and Kevin pottering on his boat jobs as he enjoys doing , oiling, polishing checking rigging etc. We both swam and dried off in the heat. The water is unfortunately quite murky, I think just because of recent rain running off the hillsides bringing sediment. However the water is still warm and very inviting in the humidity which we are both still growing accustomed too.
View from onboard at anchor
Half and hour or less after we had moored up, we were joined by David on his Tobago catamaran, who swam across to say hi. He’d literally just got back on the water from the boatyard. He asked if we were going to the ARC opening party that night, which had also been mentioned to us at the marina office when we went to pay for our electric, so we said we’d see him there. The party started at 6pm, so we got the dingy into commission again and headed ashore. I imagine that the organisers had planned that the winning boats would be in for this party, as in previous years they would have been, but unfortunately this year the first was not expected until Sunday morning. However we were more than happy to join in on their behalf! Kevin also enjoyed sending some slightly taunting emails to some of the competitors the next day that we had been drinking their free beer, which was a slight exaggeration! Although quite a number of beers were drunk that night!
ARC opening party
We met up with David and his crew Burt over from Canada to try out a catamaran for the first time. Later all of the cruisers we had met the previous week at Gros Islet turned up and we exchanged news. Mike from Jeannius our marina neighbour arrived with Ian (from the cruising forum) who had just got in and with them Kevin and I formed the catamaran appreciation society for the rest of the evening! It was a really good night and we eventually made our way home by dingy with the plan to meet Mike & Ian the next day who were going out for a short sail for Ian to see a Privilege catamaran at sea, which Kevin was also keen to see.
Kevin, Ian & Mike (aka Kev&Jo, Irenie, Jeannius Cruising forum aliases)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
