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| One more repair job on Laurie's footwear. Next year, we'll pay closer attention to the quality and age of the footwear we pack for the winter! |
We arrived in St. Pierre as planned from Dominica, on
Saturday, February 27th, after a good, fast crossing; but just enjoyed a good
evening at anchor and a great night's sleep before sailing down the coast the
next day to Anse (cove in French) Chaudiere.
Anse Chaudiere is actually the south side of the bigger Anse
D'Arlet. It was another good sail, but
for a bit of space where the larger mountains blanked out the wind; and except for the open space near the great
bay of Fort de France, where we got totally blasted by wind and waves, but then
had a wonderful rain squall and rinse just as we got to the far side of the
opening.
Anse Chaudiere was recommended as a reasonable snorkelling
spot by Arlene of Tiger Lily II, and our arrival allowed Dawn and I to poke
around for well over an hour, finishing with a hard swim against a current to
get back to Cat Tales. Although not
loaded with diversity, at least that was apparent in one dive, we did see a
large collection of red squirrelfish, a few glassy sweepers, and a large black blenny,
probably a red-lipped blenny. With
Dawn's underwater camera broken, we have nothing to show.
Monday morning, we got up truly at first light to attempt to
find the easiest conditions possible for motoring around the corner, beside
Diamond Rock, and along the south shore to Ste. Anne. We certainly got there in time to join Lorna
and Brian ashore for a bokit at Boubou's snack bar, where we used his
restaurant's computer to clear customs.
Tuesday, we hitched Lorna and Brian's dinghy to the back of
Cat Tales and went into the bustling anchorage of La Marin. Lorna and Brian made numerous trips to a dock
for jerry cans of diesel and drinking water, while Dawn and I ran to two
chandleries for the boat parts we had ordered and others we had left for
repair. We also stopped at a really
interesting restaurant inside the boatyard, where the special was stewed rabbit
with a 1/2 bottle of red wine. All four
of us said we'd do that again! A final
stop at Leader Price for wine, beer, and French delicacies finished the trip,
and we coasted back out to Ste. Anne for re-anchoring.
There were lunches ashore, meals aboard, and even a beach
party (Denis and Arlene of Tiger Lily II organised this beach crowd of 20+) in
the short week we were there. We also
had another hike; this one to a little mountain called "Creve Coeur"
(Broken Heart?). The views were spectacular. The hike took about 3.5 hours, with 0.5 hours
more spent at a bar with cold beer and lovely baguette sandwiches near the end
of the hike. Amazing how a couple of
cold beer stop your friends from griping.
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| A steep but shady path up Creve Coeur |
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| Many hundreds of steps up Creve Coeur, as important to control corrosion as for the climber. |
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| A view of the bustling harbour at Le Marin, from half way up Creve Coeur |
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| Brian, looking east, was one of four of the hikers who made it all the way to the top of Creve Coeur. |
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| Creve Coeur Hiking Team |
Our trip out of Martinique on Monday was a spectacular sail,
with 12 knots of wind on the beam, and speeds of 6.5 to 7.5 with only splashes
at the bows. We dared it with only one
reef in. No fish, however.
Last night, the winds rose to 25+ knots, while a surge
ensured that many yanked against their anchors repeatedly, and many boats went
walkabout. I (Laurie) was around to help
two of the single-handers: StoppKnot (John Fallon) and Jackfish (Mike) re-anchor
this morning after they dragged and had a rather rough night of it. John dragged 250 feet but caught safely while
poor Mike hit another boat before he settled in. Neither slept well, being on anchor watch the
rest of the night. We have just spoken
to the owner of the boat behind us and he tells us that his boat dragged in the
night as well.
Dawn here: Here in
Rodney Bay, the women on boats in the bay are invited in for a lunch at a
lovely posh restaurant with a pool.
Lorna and I along with 18 other women headed in and enjoyed the company
of past friends and made many more.
After a wonderful lunch we bobbed around in the pool enjoying fresh
water! Many of the guys have made a
habit to go to the Bread Basket for lunch, but their numbers don't come
anywhere near ours. I have enjoyed many
of these Wednesday lunches with the ladies here as well as in St. Anne in
Martinique. We talk about many things,
but we DON'T talk of volts or amps!
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| Public beach at Ste. Anne, enjoyed by tourists and locals. |
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| Lorna with a couple of gals at a Sunday buffet in St. Anne, Martinique. |
TECHNICAL:
We've picked up new lower and upper diaphragms for our
Yanmar SD20 saildrive to install in Grenada.
In total, these cost 2300 Euros.
As these are supposed to be checked every year after 6 years of service,
the replacement is quite overdue. Hope
we make it to Grenada without a wet bilge!
We also had our 1996 Furuno radar serviced. We were both hoping it was beyond being
serviced so that we would either do without it (and rely on the AIS capability)
or buy a new Raymarine dome antenna to complement our new a75 display. As the insurance company would prefer we have
radar, and as the Raymarine option would be ~$2000 US, we will adjust to having
the Furuno working again for only 85 Euros.
(thanks Diginav from Le Marin)
Yesterday, I loaded 167 feet of new chain into our anchor
locker to be connected to the anchor and the boat the next time we move. This is by orders of the Admiral/Foredeck
Manager, who says the old one is rusty and jumping off the gypsy too
often. I'm also trying a new
product: PB spray Penetrating Catalyst;
in one more attempt to free up the parts on the windlass. At present the gypsy, clutch, and rope spool
are totally ceased onto the axle or shaft.
Works great, but I want the gypsy off so I can ensure it is not too
worn, and so part of the problem.
