St. Barts to St. Martin

Thursday, April 19, 2012

We had a lovely sail from St. Barts to Marigot Bay in St. Martin with 15 knots of east wind.  We left about 8a.m. and arrived just after noon.  As we passed by  Phillipsburg, which is on the Dutch side of the island, we saw only 2 large cruise ships there.  As many as 10 can be there at a time. At Marigot Bay, we put out a lunch anchor as the Marina takes a lunch hour between 12-2.  The French have their leisurely lunches unlike most of the other islands.  The stores don't close at four but stay open usually until 7 p.m.  After lunch, we obtained a location in the Marina Fort Louis.  One end of the boat is attached to a mooring ball and the other is tied to a dock.  Most boats have their sterns to the dock but since we have a canoe stern, we put our bow to the dock.  We therefore have to climb over the anchor to get off the boat.

Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring the Marigot Bay harbor.  They found nice gallery of a local artist.  I went to a bakery to get some of the wonderful pastries for which the French islands are famous. We went to the Port Royal lagoon area for a dinner at Le Village where we had terrible service!  There are many restaurants there competing for your business. Luckily the food was good.  While walking around Marigot Bay, they noticed that St. Martin has much more trash along its streets than St. Barts.  Trash, empty bottles and cans abound in vacant weedy lots.  In the countryside we saw recycle bins but not in the town area.

Friday, April 20, 2012
The next day, Lynn, Dan and I took a taxi to the Ile of Pinel beach area and rode the wooden "ferry boat" over to the island.  We had a delicious lunch and then  lounged at the beach.  Lynn and Dan enjoyed playing in the water and getting some sun.  The water is beautiful and the beach though crowded with beach chairs and umbrellas is very clean.   Then it was back to the boat for dinner on board.  That night our refrigerator compressor stopped working so we could not cool down the freezer/refrigerator.  We usually do this twice a day for 2 hours each time.  While we were gone, Charlie had put more antifreeze into the generator and checked the generator oil.

Saturday,  April 21, 2012

Lynn and Dan went ashore exploring again finding a museum giving the history of St. Martin.  Since Lynn and Dan were to fly out today, we had a snack on shore at a French cafe at the harbor.  They took a taxi for the airport and Charlie and I had lunch at the cafe, seafood crepes.  We planned to leave for our overnight sail to St. thomas about 2p.m. but forgot about the marina office being closed between 12-2.  We did not leave until 1510 (3:10 p.m.).

I'M SORRY THAT HERE ARE NO PICTURES.  I LEFT MY CAMERA BATTERY CHARGER AT HOME SO I CAN NO LONGER TAKE PICTURES. I MAY BE ABLE TO ADD SOME LATER FROM LYYN AND BETH.

Saint Barths

Friday, April 13, 2012

We had following seas and SSE winds almost all the way to St. Barths. We only had the main sail up and we motor sailed most of the way as winds were usually only 11-15 kts on our stern. We had left Jolly Harbor about 6p.m. (1800hrs) and arrived in Gustavia about 9a.m. (o900). We rested a couple of hours and then went to the Port Authority to check in. French island check in is so easy and quick! We first found an ATM and then we had a leisurely lunch at the route of the Bouchaniers. Then we went back to the boat to rest some more. It was sunny and very hot!

Saturday- Sunday, April 14-15, 2012

We had made a list of chores to do before the arrival of our daughter Lynn and her husband Dan on late afternoon Sunday. We spent most of this day and Sunday doing those chores. We had to move the cruising spinnaker out of the V-berth to in front of the mast so they would have space to sleep!

The winds were high these two days 15-15kt gusts and we had scattered showers. We went to shore about 5:30 to wait for Lynn and Dan to arrive from the airport only to discover that there had been no flight on Sunday due to the high winds! The ferry boats from St. Martin were full to overflowing with passengers due to this. Once we discovered this we imagined that they would have to find a place to stay in St. Martin overnight. They we saw them on the LAST ferry of the day! They had arrived in St. Martin in time to change their plans and catch that last ferry! We welcomed them and had dinner on shore at Le Repaire. Then back to the boat to settle them in for the night.

Monday, April 16, 2012

We let our visitors sleep in as they had had a long day of traveling from Chicago and then the frantic change of plans to catch the ferry. We went ashore for lunch and allow them to explore the Gustavia area. We did a bit of shopping in the grocery store and bakeries. We had to get our french bread for pate. We had lunch at the famous Le Select (hambugers). Then we walked to the Shell Beach for a couple of hours of relaxing and sunning, but not too much to burn them! Back to the boat for dinner.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

We got ashore about 10:30 and checked out the times for "The Yellow Submarine" . It had a "tour" at 11a.m. which we went on. We saw a number of variety of fish, an eagle ray, turtles, coral, scuba and snorklers. The tour included a sunken ship (100 Ft + fishing vessel sunk in a hurricane) and the nearby reef. there were many yellow snappers, , a puffer fish, sergent majors, blue parrot fish, nurse sharks, baracuda, etc.

Our tour was followed by lunch at "Le Bar De L'oubli" which is the bar of forgetting where we could also get online. We checked the weather for the next few days to ascetain the best time to sail to St. Martin. Charlie stayed there while Lynn, Dan and I walked up to the Lighthouse. The road up gave us great views of the whole harbor. We picked up Charlie and back to the boat for dinner. Overnight the winds died down a bit.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Another bright and sunny day on ST. Barths! After breakfast Charlie fixed one of the bilge pumps by replacing the diaphram which had split. Then he put antifreeze into the engine. So we did not get ashore until about lunch time. We ate a long leisurely lunch at Le Repaire and then went on an island tour via taxi. Our taxi driver/guide had grown up on St. Barths so he was very informative. Dan and I had made a mad dash to the bakery before it closed to buy some more delicious breakfast pastries. After the tour, we went to the Port authority to check out for tomorrow. Then Charlie and Sharon went to The Bar of L'oubli to get online while Lynn and Day hiked up to Ft. Karl above the Shell Beach. We will go back to the boat, take the dinghy out of the water and put it up on the deck for our sail to St. Martin tomorrow. The winds are forecast to be 10-15 from the NE and E. It should only take us about 4 hours. We plan to leave by 0900.

Enjoying Antigua

April 6, 2012

We took the dinghy into Nelson's Dockyard where we

solved my HotHotHot problem and Charlie found an electrician to go to the boat and check out our battery bank. After tightening some of the connections, and giving some advice, the battery bank was judged OK. I was able to

find some good bakery items at the Nelson's bakery but the Liquor store/market left much to be desired.

We had lunch at "Catherine's" on the Slipway side of English Harbor. It was recommended highly in articles and by a friend. It lived up to its billing.

I am always amazed at how relatively small these famous harbors are. Antigua Race week is a week or so off, but it is filling up. there were empty spaces, but I guess they

were reserved as the "Marina" did not answer our calls. Several boats were being worked on at Slipway Marina/Boatyard as well.

We went back to the Nelson's Dockside for Seafood Friday put on by the Pepper and Ladder Restaurant. They must have had seating for 100 outside some under tents, with 4 food tents. The food was fabulous! The music was great and mellow and with a full

moon under the stars, who could complain!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

We had a leisurely breakfast and headed in to the chandleries for some odds and ends. Then we walked over to Falmouth Harbor. Due to Easter Weekend, many small restaurants were not open, but we found Mad Mongoose whose speciality was hamburgers so big that I couldn't eat all of mine! Charlie enjoyed the local Antigua beer. the Mad Mongoose had a take off of Van Gogh's flowers in a vase (see picture)

We did finally find a larger market where I could by some essentials for the time being. We saw the Breezeway and the Antigua Yacht Club while there. Many big ships were in that harbor as well. Charlie's back was bothering him so we took a cab back to English Harbor.

Sunday, April 8, 2012 (Easter Sunday)

Today arrived with much rain. We had scattered showers in the morning but the sun came out for the early afternoon. Families were on the beach nearby having picnics. Rain came again in late afternoon so we did not go to the traditional Sunday Shirley Heights event. We could hear the music just above us.

Today was also Charlie's Mom's 97th birthday celebrated in Chattanooga with other family members.

Monday, April 9, 2012

We left English Harbor heading for Jolly harbor with the wind directly behind us so we ended up motoring the three hour trip. Jolly harbor reminds me of Fort Lauderdale because it has various tributaries of water with houses lining them each with their own boat

dock. The marina is far in from the coast and well protected. They have a large boatyard. Evidently many boaters pull their boat for Hurricane season and leave them in Antigua. Also the big Antigua Boat weeks start April 19 into May. Some have arrived and are being worked on and others are out practicing or recruiting crew. We are in the marina which

has few finger docks so we have to depart the boat over the anchors on the bow. There are several restaurants and shops nearby. There is also a great big grocery where we will provision.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

We got our wifi code so we can get online. We also found the laundry and dropped of 2 loads worth ($90EC). We made a trip to the Budget Marine for supplies: oil, line, etc. We actually were able to find the correct rearming kit for one of our SOSpenders that lacked one! We discovered that the yellow salt bobbins are specific for each model. There is a big ornate concrete building here that once was a CAsino. It has been shut down for a few years.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Charlie changed the oil in the generator and disposed of it. He also found out where the Customs offices are so we can go tomorrow and check out. I made a big trip to the grocery store to replenish our stores for this next week. we are trying to spend our EC dollars as we will not need them anymore. Tomorrow (Thurs.) we will leave in late afternoon to sail overnight to St. Barths. This will allow us to arrive early morning on Friday.

4 countries / Islands in 4 days

April 1, 2012

We left Rodney Bay sailing to Fort de France, Martinique. We had a great blustery day of sailing and arrived about 3p.m. The anchorage by the Fort was not nearly as crowded as the last time we were there. Many children were out on the beach playing. Maybe it was a holiday.

April 2, 2012

We had the longest trip the next day, 48 nm, to Roseau, Dominica; but the winds were great and we were sailing along at 7+nm over the ground. We arrived in the Roseau early afternoon. the Sea Cats boat met us and put us on a mooring ball near Anchorage Inn. Of course they did not have the correct change. All along the coast of Dominica the anchorages always seem to be rolly so we rocked all night long.

April 3, 2012

Our next stop was The Saints. All along the lee coast of Dominica we had westward wind although the forecast was E and ESE winds. As we sailed several miles beyond Dominica, we finally picked up good E and ESE winds s all the way to The Saints. we had great sailing! The picture on the right is approaching the small islands of The Saints. the picture on the left shows the windmills on the south side of one of The Saints islands.

we

We planned to anchor off the biggest island as we did last time hoping to find enough space. BUT since we were there in 2011, The Saints has put in 60-80 mooring balls! You just

pick up a vacant one! It was great. Eventually the harbor boat came around to collect. Luckily I had some uro change left over from the previous trip. It cost 11E.

April 4, 2012

Off to the next island/ country: Guadeloupe. The Saints are only about 8 nautical miles from the coast of Guadeloupe.n We had great winds until we hit the lee coast of Guadeloupe where we again experienced west winds all along the lee coast. There was plenty of wind so we sailed almost all the way to Deshaies on the north end of Guadeloupe. We had beautiful blue skies and great winds. It was a relaxing sail. We anchored near the shore at Deshaies. They now have a new dinghy dock near the Blue Pearl. Before one had no choice but to tie up in the creek on the south end of the town. The harbor was very crowded. Several very large boats were anchored there. We were able to get online with a HotHotHot site so we could check the weather for our sail to Antigua the next day.

April 5, 2012

We left Deshaies about 0800 heading for Antigua 42 n miles to the north. The winds were great; E to ESE at 15-20. It was a fast but comfortable ride. We arrived at English Harbor about 2:30 so we quickly launched the dinghy, put the engine on it and sent Charlie in to Customs. We couldn't get a slip so we anchored in 11 feet water in Freeman Bay at the entrance of English arbor. Toward the evening a very unusual boat anchored next to us. It eviden

tly did not have an engine so three dinghies pushed it into the anchorage. We are calling it the "Zebra boat".

March 23-30: Grenada to St. Lucia

March 23, 2012:

We arrived safely in St. George's, Grenada. We had gusty winds and some rain on our passage. Thank goodness for AIS for during the rain, an unlighted boat crossed our path. Without AIS we might have collided with it. We tried to hail the boat but got no reply. We arrived about 9a.m. We stayed several days in Port Louis Marina which is a beautiful marina with restaurants, but not a good wifi. Customs had moved from St. George Yacht Club to the marina which made it much easier to check in and out! Charlie was concerned with the quality of our fuel and we tried to find someone to clean it, but no one was available for a week. Charlie worked hard on several other small tasks, checking raw water filters, fuel filters, etc. Since we were tired from the overnight passage, we decided to stay another day. We took a "bus" ( a van showing #1) for 2.50EC ($1USD) up to the Grand Anse beach area in order to find an ATM to obtain EC (East Caribbean) money. We then walked down to the beach, walked along the water's edge to one of the restaurants along the beach where we had lunch. We caught a cab ($40EC) back to the marina.

Sunday , March 25, 2012

After waiting for the Immigrations officer to arrive ( He was 45 minutes late ), we had a nice sail to the island of Carricou, a part of Grenada. We just anchored for the night and did not go ashore.

Monday, March 26, 2012

We proceeded north through the Grenadine Islands and took a mooring at Young IS of St. Vincent. since we did not stop there on our way down, we decided to stay two days. We had Sam Taxi check us in and out on the same day allowing us 24 more hours to depart. We had a nice lunch ashore at Xcape and took a water taxi across to Young Island where there is a nice quiet small resort. We enjoyed a drink there before returning to the boat. A cruise ship was in Kingston so many of its passengers came to the small, grey beaches of Young IS area.

Wenesday, March 28, 2012

We were off the mooring at 0645 heading for St. Lucia. The guides warn of flukey winds at the north end of St. Vincent, but they were not too bad this day. We arrived in the southern part of St. Lucia at the Soufriere Bay near the two volcanos called the Pitons. We were helped onto a mooring and charged 25EC ($10) and a coke. Later, the park ranger came by to collect the mooring fee or $45EC. Several other boat vendors came by as well selling fruit and carved wooden objects. We had a peaceful night and could see the stars well.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

After a leisurely breakfast, we continued north to Rodney Bay near the northern tip of St. Lucia. It took us only 3 hours and by 1125 we were in a slip at the marina. We checked in at Customs and Immigration. That only cost us $40EC. Then we paid for our slip for 3 days and found a place for lunch....pizza at Elena's. We had dinner at the former H2O now called Ocean Club.

We launched our dinghy only to discover we could not get the outboard motor, previously serviced last July at Power Boats in Trinidad, did not work. We got a mechanic that afternoon who took it away and brought it back. We decided to wait until the next day to go over via dinghy to the shopping area where there are two big groceries. We ate on the boat but went on shore to try to use wifi, but the wifi server was slow and the restaurants were crowded.

Sat: We tried again to go off to the grocery but again the dinghy outboard would not work. We called the mechanic who came and recommended we get a new fuel hose from the gas tank. Off to the Water ISland chandlery for the parts. After replacing this, we went across the lagoon to the grocery. It is a great store so we were able to well provision the boat. We lunched on shore and this gave me this opportunity to use shoreside wifi to update the blog.

Tomorrow after getting fuel, we will depart Rodney Bay and St. Lucia. Tomorrow we will anchor in Fort de France in Martinique overnight. We will proceed northward each day until we reach Antiga on Thursday. We have gone a bit ahead of our proposed schedule to be able to check in before Good Friday, we hope. I will update the blog there. I hope to have some pictures to share then, too.

On a good note, Charlie's Mom is back in rehab and improving. This past week was touch and go, but the future seems calm now.

Departing Trinidad

March 22, 2012

We have been very busy checking all the systems, repairing windlass connections so the anchor will go both up and down, tightening rigging, having the engine checked out, repairing our leaky deck prism, putting on the jack lines, etc, etc. etc.

Charlie has plotted our course and we will depart this afternoon with the tide. Charlie has Commander's weather report and Predict Wind's forecast and feels it is time to depart. We will sail 85-90 nm overnight to St. George's on Grenada. The next day we will sail to Hillsborough BAy on Carricou IS which is a part of Granada. Due to time restraints, having stayed longer than expected in Trinidad, we will not stop in the Grenedines IS this time. We will spend a couple of days at Young IS/Blue Hole on St. Vincent which we had to skip on the way down. From there we will sail to Vieux Fort on St. Lucia and then sail on to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia the next day for several days of rest and to reprovision and refuel.

I will update the blog when time and access to wi-fi.

Back in Trinidad to retrieve our boat

March 14-18, 2012

We arrived back in Port of Spain airport and were transported to Chaguaramas to Power Boats where our boat was on the hard. We had a new barrier coat and bottom paint job done as well as the exterior brightwork (teak wood trim). We had an apartment rented until we put the boat back into the water. We worked hard to load our three duffle bags, computers, 2 overnight bags, etc onto the boat using the block and tackle from the Life Sling as the cockpit was some 10-12 feet up in the air. We also had the plastic cover tenting the boat taken off so we could put the canvas dodger and bimini back on. All of this was done between rain showers in high 80 degree weather.

The boat was put back into the water on March 16 about 10:30-1100. The engine started and we proceeded to a slip at the Crews Inn Marina. This area has a little bigger grocery store, a very good restaurant and a nice cafe for sandwiches and sweets. The Crews Inn also has a lovely swimming pool which we used the first afternoon! We are plugged into shore power so we can run our AC and refrigerator/freezer, though not at the same time. So far the freezer and refrig are doing OK, so we guess we had no loss of freon. One less thing to worry about.

Since then we have been stowing all our gear on board the boat, cleaning the storage places. We had an infestation of moths which liked grain products so much had to be thrown out as well as outdated can goods. We spent most of Saturday putting the lazy cradle, the main sail and the Yankee jib back on the boat. A rigger and his helper helped us. I was glad of that since it made it easier on Charlie's back. Unfortunately the rigger reversed the first and third reef lines so they had to be redone. Charlie kept telling all of us that we had it wrong and Charlie was correct! Sat. night Charlie checked out all the navigation lights on the boat to make sure they were all working. The refrigerator and freezer were started and I went grocery shopping. What was available was still short of all we should start out with on our journey north.

We got a shock this morning (Sunday) with an e-mail from Charlie's brother that his almost 97- year old Mom had taken a fall, cracked her pelvis, and had a small bleed in her brain. She is in ICU and seems to be doing well. We pray she continues to get better!

Today we put on the staysail, a much smaller and less complicated sail. Though the generator, which runs or refrigerator and freezer when we are not plugged into a dock, worked when tried, Charlie noticed debris in the fuel filter, so we need to solve that problem. The engine fuel filter was quite full as well, so all fuel filters will be changed before we proceed north. We may have to have the fuel polished.

The weather today and Sat was not rainy but was very hot (90). At night it has been cooling down which gives us some relief. Rain is expected again the next few days so we installed our cockpit surround in late afternoon. We had some difficulty with some "frozen" zippers, but we finally prevailed so we can stay relatively dry when the rains come again.

I will try to update our progress before we start for Grenada in a few days.