Antigua and Catching Up

The trip to Antigua was a nice, 7.5 hour reach, not too close, but not on the beam either. The apparent wind strength probably averaged 18 knots, with numbers as low as 14 and as high as 26 being seen. We were reefed for as much as 24 knots, and, although we got a bit wet from spray, it was a normal sail.
Hugh and Liz got a bit of everything in their trip. We left Pointe-A-Pitre in a high 20+ knot wind, and had to point into 8+ foot waves for about an hour and a quarter. It was a little wet, and a little scary, but we were well reefed, and we got through it. We then turned downwind after clearing the east side of Basse Terre, and had a bit of a sleighride into the Saintes. While there, they got to enjoy this quaint, unique area, with fun shops and little beaches. However, the waves were bending into town, and Cat Tales literally rattled at the mooring ball. After 3 days, we did another sleigh ride downwind to the lee of Basse Terre, actually seeing the boat hit over 11 knots over ground in 33 knots of wind. The captain hid his nervousness.
Anchorages in Pigeon Island and Deshaies were calm, and we enjoyed beach time and beach restaurants in both locations. The Grand Anse Beach north of Deshaies was entertaining, as was a trip to the Deshaies Botanical Gardens.

Grand Anse Beach, just a 20 minute walk from our anchorage in Deshaies


Same shot, but a closer look at Laurie:




Same shot, but a closer look at Laurie:


Taken at the Botanical Gardens in Deshaies, Guadeloupe








Cat Tales has been having trouble, however. Coming into Deshaies, we hit a wind of 33 knots. We were under a reduced jib only, but it still seemed to be a strain. I opted to furl more of it in, but did a sloppy job of it such that the jib flapped so violently that bits were flying into the wind. Sunday afternoon, after Hugh and Liz departed to the airport by taxi, Dawn and I took it down and sat to our sewing in the cockpit. It had lost a velcro pocket that was part of the foot tensioning system, as well as some repair materials that were sewn on in 2011. With the UV strip starting to fall apart, and with quotations for the repair coming in at half the price of a new sail, we have some decisions to make.
Twice in as many weeks, the starboard engine has pumped all its lubricating oil out the dipstick hole and into the bilge. Today, I took the advice of a mechanic, and replaced the engine's fuel pump. The mechanic suggests that diesel may be leaking through a compromised diaphragm in the pump and into the engine oil. This expands the volume of oil until it overwhelms the engine's ability to deal with it and it sheds it out into the bilge. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope this works, as it is a real mess to clean up each time. The same engine seems to be having some trouble with its alternator, but I'll work on that tomorrow. I replaced the pohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrt alternator only 10 days ago.
We're also working on lights, engine checks, toilet issues, and general boat cleaning.
Regardless, we're off to a wedding at a resort in Dickenson Bay. We'll celebrate the wedding of Lyndsey, daughter of Roger and Gail Moser, to Mitch, son of Jan Pelkey. Also attending will be Scott and Tina Kennah, Bill and Lynn Cabel, and likely others we will know and enjoy seeing. We'll anchor in the bay and enjoy whoever makes it to the beach. For the wedding day, we have day passes at the resort.

For anyone not tired of reading, we have had another story printed in the Caribbean Compass. You can see it at this location: http://www.caribbeancompass.com/online.html You can find it on pages 34 and 35.

A few weeks ago, Laurie and I stopped by the tourist office in Deshaies to arrange a taxi to take Hugh and Liz to the airport. We confirmed a couple of days before the leaving date. As we sat on the step awaiting their driver, along comes this wonderful specimen. He hopped right out, spoke to us in English and teased us about the fact that he was 5 minutes early!

Heading for Antigua

Hugh and Liz are waking up in Miami, and rushing for their next flight home. It was great having them on Cat Tales, and the tour of
Guadeloupe went along with usual efficiency. We were beat about by wind and waves half the week and enjoyed great, quiet anchorages the second half. More later.

Cat Tales came through in usual shape as well, we've been bailing oil from the bilge, and hand stitching sails. More later.

Today, we're raising sail to go to Antigua. Weather reports suggest 10 to 15 knots which may mean a little slow, and the wind angle having a bit of north in it which may mean some tacking. We'll be fine, and so will our repairs. We'll try to put up pictures and more information when in Jolly Harbour tonight or tomorrow.

Shopping...Swimming...Sailing!

Hi Folks, Liz and Hugh here relaxing in the warmth and sun in Guadeloupe with Dawn and Laurie. We arrived on Saturday, March 3rd at met them at the marina in Pointe-a-Pitre. After relaxing in the marina with a cold beer we toured a wonderful aquarium. The next morning we sailed to the Saintes. The winds were averaging around 25 knots. The first third was a bit wet but once we turned downwind the ride was fast but dry. Waves were 8 to 10 feet.

While we were there Hugh and Laurie visited Fort Napoleon on the top of a very high hill while the women shopped the streets of the small town.



We also spent a wonderful afternoon at the beach and spent our last night eating the best pizza in the world. One would think curry, chicken, onions, cheese, and eggplant in a cream sauce would be an odd combination for a pizza but it is absolutely delicious!


On our fourth day we sailed to Pigeon Island for a two night stay. On the way we hit 11.5 knots in a 30 knot wind, with 10 foot seas. It was a wild ride but remarkably smooth because we were going downwind. Kudos to our captain and his trusty crew.






We spent two nice days on the beach. The food is excellent here. Baguettes, soft cheeses and inexpensive red wine ... pure heaven. To top it off Dawn bought Nutella so the boys are eating baguettes with the equivalent of chocolate sauce on it for breakfast.



For most of the trip the winds have been very high. One night in Pigeon Island the wind howled. We hit 34 knots at anchor, 150 meters from shore. This is what a mariner would call "blowing a hoolie".

Liz had her first successful snorkeling experience at the beach in Pigeon Island. She stayed close to shore but Dawn and Laurie got some great shots of turtles and barracuda.




This barracuda was about 4 feet long. Laurie and Dawn swam back to the shore rather swiftly!

We have arrived in Deshais, which is our last stop before we head home on Sunday.
We visited the local botanical garden and will be heading to shore in a few hours for a creole meal.
Cat Tales is a five star resort. We heartily recommend it and will be sorry to leave.


Liz drying off after a swim!

Visitors in Guadeloupe

Sitting in the harbour at Point a Pitre in Guadeloupe while awaiting our company from home, many large ships passed by giving us lots to look at. Here is a nice little cruise ship sneaking along behind us all sitting at anchor! Though a member of the Costa Line that has had trouble of late, this one stayed in the channel and left without incident the next day.


On Saturday afternoon, we met Hugh and Liz at the dock in Point a Pitre. We tossed their luggage into the dinghy and Laurie and Hugh ran the bags out to the boat. We then took the opportunity to visit the aquarium only 10 minute walk away.

Here are a few pics I took while there:
Nurse sharks laying around at the bottom of the aquarium


Queen trigger fish


Tarpon: No where near as dangerous as it looks.


On Sunday morning, we headed over to Les Saintes, just a 3 hour sail mostly downwind. We are now on a mooring ball here in the bay, where all boats are required to pick up and pay for mooring balls. Only last year, one could anchor anywhere. We find it a bit rolly out in the bay since we're used to sneaking up close to shore away from the swells.


Hugh and Liz walking the beach on the windy side of the island at Les Saintes


Laurie and Hugh walked up the mountain to view Fort Napoleon while Liz and I poked our noses into all the little shops in the town in Les Saintes. Both of us agreed that 'one size' does NOT fill all!

Tonight, we go in to town for chicken pizza.


Hugh taking a photo of a couple of gals at the fort.


Hugh snooping around at Fort Napoleon


Tomorrow morning, we let go of the mooring ball and sail in the high winds and giant waves over to Basse Terre. As it is downwind and only a little more than an hour away, it should be fine, although exciting. We'll spend the next few days in the relative calm of the west side of Guadeloupe, sailing, swimming, and doing the tourist thing.

Point a Pitre

We arrived in Point a Pitre yesterday afternoon and will do maintenance work on Cat Tales until Saturday when Hugh and Liz arrive. We plan on taking them over to Les Saintes for a few days and then along the southern coast of Guadeloupe with a stop at Pigeon Island and finally on to Deshaies, where we'll spend a couple of days on Grand Anse beach and the Botanical Gardens. They'll cab it back to the airport from there.

When they leave, we'll be looking for the next weather window to make our way back north to Antigua where we're attending a wedding on March 20th at Sandals at the northern part of the island. Several friends from home will be staying at Sandals for the week so if the weather permits us to sit at anchor there, we'll have a great time.

The wind is supposed to die down on Sunday after blowing a hoolie for the past 10 days or so. That's the good news, but the bad news is that it will be short lived and will start to blow again mid week! Hopefully, the experts are wrong on this one and we'll have fair winds for the next 2 weeks so we can carry on with our plans!

A new alternator is supposed to be in at Fred's Marine today or tomorrow, but it's the Caribbean, so who knows! We also are shopping for a new toilet, so today will be filled with snooping around the shops. Getting past the language is a lot of the problem, but Laurie works hard at it and has his dictionary in his hand at all times!

Laurie is in the bilge right now cleaning up the oil that blew out of the engine on the way over here yesterday. Every once in awhile, the dipstick blows out and the oil flies around until there is nothing left in the engine. Fred's Marine sold him a used fuel pump after explaining to Laurie that if this part fails, then it's likely that he'll have a bit of diesel find its way into the oil giving it the umpf to blow it's lid. (those are my technical terms, not his...)

All for now!

Dawn

Islet de Gosier, Guadeloupe

Dawn here...

We have no internet here in Gosier, but will attempt to send this blog by Ham Radio. We haven't had to use it this year, so I'll attempt to reacquaint myself with all the settings and wires etc.

We left Saint Francois on Friday morning in high winds. The winds have been blowing hard all through the island chain making it difficult to move around from bay to bay. Sailing from one island to another is totally out of the question! When we arrived in Saint Francois, we knew that it was a tricky spot to get into, with markers indicating the channel to get in between the reefs. The guide book, Chris Doyle's, told us that we would be pushed in quickly with the current and breaking waves, but then we'd have to fight it all to get back out. He suggested that if the motor were to quit on the exit, then it would mean serious consequences. Of course, as we sat there at anchor, we watched the wind increase over the 3 days and also watched several boats pound their way out to sea. Then, it was our turn. Laurie started both engines and before we knew it, we were committed. It was a bit hairy, but within 15 minutes, we were on the outside with the normal high seas and waves. It's often the edges of the ocean that are the killers, not the ocean itself!

We headed for Saint Anne, which was only a couple hours along the coast and familiarized ourselves with the drawings in the guide and how it was laid out. Again, reefs were going to be an issue and the winds were strong and waves were breaking all over the place. We looked through the binoculars before we started the channel to discover that only ONE boat was anchored in at this popular spot. My vote was NO, we should carry on, but the captain won this one and in we went. Kite surfers were everywhere along with windsurfers trying to get air lifted along the edge of the coral in the breaking waves. The channel was narrow and full of these living, breathing obstacles! Once inside, we realized that it just as rough inside as out and a squall was upon us. Out came the rain coats as we headed back out through the channel.

Once outside, we decided upon Gosier, a little island outside the capital city which is slightly out of the stronger winds and waves. We dropped our hook amoung 30 other boats. The island is a real touristy place with water taxis delivering 20 people at a time all day long. Power boats come and go and it's a crazy place until the sun goes down. Swimming just at the back end of our boat was dangerous because of all the traffic. We haven't left the boat since we arrived because of boats coming and going and boats dragging anchors. It's just not safe.

This morning we listened to the weather on the Ham Radio and the discussion that followed, and it would seem that the winds will continue to be abnormally high until at least Wednesday. We plan to stay here for a couple more days and then make the 3 mile sail into Point a Pitre and await Hugh and Liz from home who will stay with us until Sunday, the 11th. Our time is being spent, pleasantly enough, with boat chores, reading and watching movies. We don't watch many movies on Cat Tales, however, we have power to spare with our wind mill cranking out more electricity than we can use.

Marie Gallant and now in Saint Francois

We sailed from Les Saintes to the little island Marie Gallant, part of Guadeloupe, with 'Tiger Lily' (Denis and Arlene) from Canada. They have been sailing the Caribbean for many many years and we always love to run into them. The destination was almost straight upwind, and we spent a good 7 hours banging and tacking; and actually enjoyed it for the most part. We worked hard in winds from 18 to 23 knots apparent, and played the wind shifts as well as we could. At least nothing broke.

We arrived at Grand Bourg and spent a couple days there, one of which included renting a car with Denis and Arlene. For 39 Euros, you can get a car for the day and run out of road before you run out of time!! Along with many windmills originally designed to crush sugar cane years ago, we saw a couple of rum distilleries and mile after mile of sugar cane.


A stop at lunch time got us to a nice restaurant with a view of the ocean! Curried goat (Dawn), red snapper (Laurie) and octopus (Denis and Arlene) were all delicious! Beer couldn't have been served any colder!


Denis, Arlene and Laurie and I found a part of Canada here in Marie Gallant!


These sea gulls lined up nice and pretty for picture taking!


Soon after arriving in Marie Gallant, Laurie and I saw many posters advertising the oxen parade to be held on Tuesday, February 21, a part of their annual Carnival celebrations. We moved to the bay next to the competition, walked the mile or two on land, and waited a couple of hours before seeing the first 'float' off in the distance. Our excitement soon dwindled as the driver of each cart beat the poor animals mercilessly with heavy whips in order to move the massive creatures up and down dirt and paved roads. They had already been walking for more than 3 hours before we saw them along the coast and we were very saddened by the event. Our smiles turned upside down quickly and we rushed back to the boat after the last cart went by us. Maybe this is the way it always was between humans and beasts of burden; but we were too soft to enjoy the spectacle.










Three judges were in a great discussion after each entry in the competition as the oxen went by. We were so struck by the whipping, dehydration, hooves slipping uphill and downhill on the pavement etc. to be too impressed by what the judges thought were the winning qualities of the animals and drivers!


In Port Louis, Marie Gallant, we met with the sailing vessel 'Charlotte D.' out of Cape Breton. We have met them several times over the past few years and enjoyed their company for a beach walk and a 3 hour lunch at a beach bar restaurant. This is Peter looking pretty happy with his crayfish.


The crew of s/v Charlotte D, Catherine and Peter.


This classic sailboat came along the coast of Guadeloupe in the middle of a big race out of Antigua called the Caribbean 600. We watched about 6 beasts go by, but then this monster tacked offshore and headed directly for us. We had to veer off to avoid him but he's much bigger than us and in the midst of a big 600 mile race which will take the winner 2 1/2 days and the looser 6 or 7 days! What a beauty!




We're off to explore Saint Francois in the morning and will likely stay here for 3 nights. There are kite surfers, wind surfers everywhere! Let's hope nothing gets tangled in our rig!
When we leave here, we'll spend a couple days in Saint Anne and then move to the capital of Guadeloupe, Point a Pitre. We'll do a few repairs aboard and await Hugh and Liz' visit with us on March 3rd.