With seldom any, and often poor internet service, we have
been rather sketchy with our weblogs.
Apologies to anyone who still looks to them for entertainment or
information.
Today, March 8th, 2014, finds us in Grand Case, on the
French side of St. Martin. Just now, two massively tall ships, a schooner
and a 3-master, under Dutch flag, are pulling out. It makes one want to read another Patrick O'Brien
book.
We left St Eustatius on Monday, February 24th, just after 9
a.m., after signing into the Mississauga Maritime Net. We took a long, swinging arc to get around
the petroleum depot, and headed upwind.
The waves were rather large, but on a good angle to the bow, and we
could make our appropriate direction with a comfortable tack upwind, with very
little luffing with two reefs in the main and 3/4 jib in the 20 knots apparent
wind. The views were lovely, with Nevis,
St. Eustatius, and Saba like great pyramidical towers all around us, and the motion
of Cat Tales was not objectionable. We
had dismissed Saba once again, being rather tired of the rough anchorages of
Basseterre and Oranje Baii; and rather again in awe at the difficulties of
their approaches as described in the guide.
We came up to Ile Fourchue near St. Barts around 1:30 in the
afternoon, and turned down 30 degrees for a lovely sail to the north end of St.
Martin, passing under little Tintamarre, a favourite anchorage of the past; and
put the anchor down off Anse Marcel by 4 p.m.
We enjoyed a lovely evening in the sheltered bay, and cleared into the
country using the computer in the Port Captain's office.
We were disappointed that the advertised washing machine was
not working, and were disappointed still when the nearby resort filled the bay
with jet skis. There is something
obviously diabolical about these devices - whosoever gets on them thinks:
1. They are doing something
impressive; 2. Everybody around them is as impressed as they
are, and happy to be involved; 3. Nobody minds the noise, the waves, even the
spray that comes aboard as they pass as close as 10 feet going outrageous
speeds; 4. All swimmers can happily fend
for themselves; and 5. There is not a
chance that they will lose control and sink you. Indeed, these things either suck the brains
out of the riders, or appeal to riders who arrive with their brains already
missing. We were reduced to quivering
wrecks very quickly, lifted anchor and moved to the next bay: Grand Case. And guess what? It was Tuesday, the night of their weekly
street party.
We went ashore, had a nice meal, and walked among the stalls
and street entertainment. We have been
here every night since, leaving only to anchor elsewhere for day chores and a
picnic. We have been joined by Silk
Pajamas, who were quite ecstatic to be here for the next Tuesday night when the
street party was combined with the Mardi Gras celebrations - including one of
their street bands and amazingly decorated dancers. One girl had a torso that could wiggle and
spin in a most hypnotizing manner - the whole experience is etched on my mind,
replaying regularly!
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| Street party in Grand Case, St. Martin |
Silk Pajamas left their boat anchored and came aboard Cat
Tales for a trip to Tintamarre, where we enjoyed a different beach, lovely
sights of other "boat people" enjoying the day, and the last of my
calalloo soup.
Our chores have included anchoring off the French channel to
the inner lagoon and dinghying across the 4+ miles to the chandleries and back. We
don't want to bore you with the regular maintenance of the boat, but failures
have included two inverters, a shower hose, an outboard fuel hose, an outboard
fuel tank, and miscellaneous small bits.
It actually has been a good season, but for the $1200 dollars worth of
sail and sailbag repairs, and $400 worth of chain.
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| Heineken Regatta |
An interesting treat, here in Grand Case, is a view of some of the major races of the rather famous Heineken Regatta. We have seen, in one direction, more sails than ever we have before, and some amazingly large yachts. Those, who like me, are impressed by quality catamarans, would have enjoyed the main race being led by four great Gunboats as they raced to the east side of the island between Grand Case and Anguilla. Lots to see.
We are being plagued by wheat moths, and Dawn has declared
war. Our cockpit is now filled with
various food stuffs, as they and the storage areas go through cleaning and minute
inspection for moths, worms, and cocoons.
It seems to have begun with a box of whole wheat noodles that were
stored in their box inside a heavy sealable bag. She found the bag with the guilty detritus in
it, and after the food went over the side she attempted to rinse the bag before
disposing of it in the garbage. It
leaked from a half dozen areas, where the worms had eaten their way out. She has been watching and has killed
somewhere around 4 moths a day coming out of the original area. This is the second cleaning of the goods
there.
We are now casting our eye for a weather window to the
Virgin Islands. The winds are expected
to be light until late next week, so we are focusing on Friday, to avoid 20 or
so hours of slatting sails in annoying waves as we drift down-breeze.
