Back on the Water! Grenada, West Indies

 Cat Tales was successfully launched in Grenada on Monday, November 24.  We had intended to go in on Friday, but we obviously were not ready.  We took the weekend to properly prepare, and while we were at it, we renewed the two front engine mounts for each engine.  It was actually a difficult weekend, but we tidied it up before lunch on Sunday, and after another meal at One Love we became the guests of Hugh and Maria of MV White Pearl.  They had their own problems getting their boat ready to splash, and had moved to Park View Apartments.  There, we had a lovely cool-down in their pool, a couple of pre-dinner drinks and a fantastic chicken dinner, complete with potatoes, carrots, peas, and gravy and yes, even cranberry sauce!  If you have read about Maria hosting us in past years, you already know she’s a respected cook amongst our little crowd down here.

A crowd of tired boatyard working friends enjoying happy hour at One Love.  Nothing like 2 for 1 rum punches after a hard day’s work!

Once in the water, we found a lovely anchoring spot, and started to knock off the chores.  We have a potential buyer, but we’re still working through the chores in a responsible manner.  If the buyer changes his mind, we’ll be ready to sail!

We had another walk to the Container Park near the University, this time just Dawn and me, and this time for Shawarma Wraps in air-conditioned comfort.  Very tasty.  We had already eaten a full Shawarma meal there, and gone for the “Buddha Bowls” as well.  The attendance at the West Indies Brewery has been done also, once again with Richard and Heather of SV Sea Pearl of Lunenburg.  It was the night of the American Thanksgiving, but we turned down the big meal as it would have left little room for the ales.

Speaking of the boat selling process, the prospective owner has hired a surveyor to do both an out of water survey and a sea trial.  Both are behind us, and with some work, we believe we satisfied the surveyor.  Indeed, we had the boat going over 6 knots with a third reef in 14 knots of wind at 60 degrees, and we hit 6.5 knots with no sails and only one engine running.  No mechanical or electronic issues, and the engines seemed happy with the new motor mounts.

Yesterday, we attended our first Grenada Hash in years.  Called “Drinkers with a running problem”, it is modelled after the Hash House Harriers, a group of British servicemen who organized running through jungle trails of Burma (I think) to get exercise and relieve boredom.  We did a 3.5 mile walking trail that included a difficult hill and a bit of mud, and took us an hour and 45 minutes of brisk walking, sweating, and chatting.  The afterwards food and drink were well enjoyed, and we saw some good friends. 

Scenery along the hike!

Susan from sv Erie Spirit involved in the ‘long walk’

Walking, walking and more walking…towards BBQ chicken and icy cold beer!

We’ll continue just living on the boat for a while, likely staying in Prickly Bay, until the ownership of the boat is worked out.  Books, socializing, eating in and out, chores, and maybe too much social media seem to be what we’re about.  The days on the boat in the bay are pleasant as ever.

TECHNICAL

Much of what the boat needed got done on the hard:  sails bent on, lines sorted, engines and bilges cleaned, props back on, new motor mounts, saildrive baffles, bottom paint, washing and waxing, new anodes, Bimini and solar setup, dinghy and outboard maintenance etc.  The new motor mounts were a surprise, but with the extra time, it seemed like the right thing to do.  Also a surprise was the need for need for two new start batteries.  The existing ones looked good, and seemed to hold the charge from the solar and wind.  However, once the power sources were removed, the voltage slowly, gently, dropped to below 12.6 Volts.

We are working through the last bits of cleaning and polishing - mostly because we spent time too close to other sanding and grinding operations in the yard.  Dawn had some sorting of foodstuffs, and two trips for provisions, and I am working through the proper cleaning and oiling of all the tools.  One mistake and a pile of rust will lay where my favourite spanner was set down.

Typical chore before lunch!

A good wipe-down of each piece with penetrating oil will keep it in good shape

Old mounts

New, shiny and stiff motor mounts!  If you think this was a simple task, just ask Dawn, as she was half of the team moving the engine sideways and lifting it to get out the old and install the new.

Another surprise repair was the outboard.  Although only purchased in 2019 and always kept in good condition, a little plastic arm broke off the shifting gear shaft, and we had to source and replace it.  The first replacement we found was actually used, and was cracked in the same place the other failed, so we got a second one just in case.  More importantly, the tradesman provided some guidance to ensure I could make the repair.  We found Matt from “Essential” by asking on the morning net for help with our engine.  The net controller quickly gave us Matt’s WhatApp phone number and we were in business!  Three hurrahs for Matt and three more for morning nets on the VHF.

Next on our list is a trip to Island Water World to pick up a new ‘Quick’ remote for the windlass.  The UP button works fine, but the DOWN button is showing some hesitation.

The broken piece and the replacement part which is on the left we got from Matt

A wee bit of swearing going on, but what else is new?  The engine runs like a charm again!!

 

Readying Cat Tales for a New Season in the Sun, presently in Grenada

Dawn and I had another normal summer in New Brunswick:  playing pool, book club, home repairs and renovations, a little camping, a little sailing, and some visitations.  Two couples who visited you would know from our past weblogs: Dawn’s sister Lorna and brother-in-law Brian from s/v Peace & Plenty, and Cindy and Dan from s/v Sittatunga.  We also hosted my brother Paul and his wife Alida, and grand-niece Emilie.  All visits were great fun.  We also suffered the death of a family member after some illness.  That has been sad and took not just a little time out of our summer.

We were able to get Dan and Cindy (s/v Sittatunga) out on our Hobie 21 while they were visiting us.

Lorna and Brian and Laurie, on a visit to The Hopewell Rocks, which didn’t disappoint!

Laurie’s sister Lolly and her cat Mister.  When Lolly died this summer, we have her kitty and he’s as cute as he looks! While we’re away, Mister is  being looked after by Lolly’s  dear friend, Marilyn who lives in her building.  Lolly will be missed for sure!  She was the funniest gal who always had everyone laughing!  Some would say she was into ‘shock humour’!

However, since November 9th, we have been back into the apartments at Cool Running, just across the street from the Spice Island Boatyard, southern Grenada where Cat Tales has been stored for the summer, hurricane season.  Much of the work is usual for each year, but the big project this year is the replacement of baffles for both saildrives.  We budgeted 3 extra days for it, but it is sucking up a lot of our time.  Still, there is a better than average chance that we will meet our scheduled launch on Friday.

Still, we are enjoying our evenings at One Love Restaurant and at the Container Park bars and restaurants near the university, all with Richard and Heather of s/v Sea Pearl of Lunenburg, and the more recently arrived Hugh and Maria of m/v White Pearl of Saint John, NB.  As well, wherever we go and whatever we do, we meet up with old friends among the boaters, workers, and service providers.  With the air conditioned apartment we seem to be able to manage the heat rather well.  Dawn has overdone it and is going to nurse her back this afternoon while putting up the weblog.  Likely she will be passing tools for me too.

TECHNICAL

Dawn has 90 % of the boat cleaned and waxed, I applied two coats of bottom paint (which was normally applied by us in the spring), and one saildrive completed but for some touch-ups.  The interior cleaning is continuing, as are many of the little checks and chores on the relaunch list and the problems found during the haul-out list.

Dawn doing her usual “Wax On, Wax Off”!!

Just look at that shine!  Bottom paint applied and a lovely sharp waterline!  Oo, la, la!

Laurie cleaning up the roller and pans from the bottom painting and then we’ll put that equipment to bed! 

Just so you know, to remove a saildrive takes 30 bolts, one clevis pin, and a few hose clamps.  Dawn cleaned each of these bolts and they are shining!  The engine has to be unbolted from the floor and slid forward to allow the saildrive to come out.  Then 8 more allen-key bolts also have to be removed.  At that point, you have to be ready, if it is an older saildrive, for serious cleaning, scraping and sanding, then coatings of Ospho, zinc phosphate primer or zinc chromate primer, outboard paint, and finally some aluminum-friendly ablative bottom paint.  Time between coatings is the big issue, but as already mentioned there are many other chores to do.  Right now, I can put on one of the folding propellers.  The props had been soaked in vinegar last April and were tucked away completely clean.

Bolts and washers for the port saildrive are looking rather pretty after a vinegar soak and soap scrub down, but Dawn’s fingernails, not so much!

This is the first saildrive (starboard side) and is undergoing reassembly after all parts and pieces were cleaned and painted and necessary parts replaced.

34 degrees and a shirt he can wring out!  This is the second of the two saildrives to be removed and serviced.

Smelling the Barn

 Final weblog for the 2024-25 sailing season

SMELLING THE BARN

Cat Tales being gently lifted from the water and preparing for storage.

Sitting pretty in Prickly Bay, Grenada

Cat Tales is the little one at the far left of this lineup.  Newer boats are a bit longer, and a great deal beefier.

That is a funny expression, but even down in Grenada, with few large farms and no real barns, they know the reference, or can guess the meaning.  Horses and cattle smell their home and will speed up to get there.  We’re presently sitting in our quirky apartment at Cool Running, waiting for the taxi that will take us to the airport.  It was a harder than normal week in the boatyard.

We arrived as reported in Bequia on March 8th, and cleared customs the next morning.  One missing item about the trip was the sighting of s/v Prism who pulled out from the Pitons in St. Lucia just as we pulled out of Anse Cochon.  Our double-reefed main kept us behind them, and indeed, their lead grew to over two miles before we caught up in Admiralty Bay.  We joined them after we all cleared Customs and made our way to Petra’s in Lower Bay with Frank of s/v Komeekha who had already completed a hike to Hope Bay.

A view of Admiralty Bay while hiking Bequia

Looking at the south-west end of Bequia

After a few lovely hikes and meals with this little group of five, both Komeekha and Prism caught a comparatively light weather window to continue their march south.  Frank made one big jump to Prickly Bay down the west side of the islands, feeling he’d rather do it all at once rather than dealing with the sails and ground tackle in the middle as a solo-sailor.  Anina and Charlie jumped all the way to Chaguaramas, Trinidad; with the reasoning much like Frank’s, but also to travel well to the east of the islands to maintain the better angle with the wind on this long voyage.  We sat in our cockpit, watching their progress on the tracking applications, and keeping up communication with them.

Laurie with one of our favourite bar tenders, Leo,  at the Cocktail Lab in Bequia.

We saw and met other acquaintances while lingering in Bequia, but mostly enjoyed slow time alone.  We read good books in our preferred genres, snorkeled the reef on quiet days,  found interesting hikes high up the sides of the main harbour, and followed our usual custom of good lunches and even suppers ashore.  When weather allowed it, we cleared out of Customs and Immigration and made the jump to Carriacou, arriving on March 25th.  The week we were there, Dawn and I began our end-of-season maintenance: me working on engine fluids and checks, and Dawn starting through the boat with cleaning and wiping down to inhibit mold if Grenada turns abnormally damp in our absence. 

Beside one of the largest grocery stores in Tyrell, someone parked their donkey outside…well now, that was a first!

The playing field has been used to collect and compact debris from Hurricane Beryl.  This is just a fraction of the volume, and here it is, almost a year later!  It appears to be mostly, corrugated metal roofing.

We often see creative ways to build a wheel barrow, and this is another fine example!

We hiked around to keep up our dinghy legs as well, looking for restaurants that had reopened after the hurricane damage and gauging the level of recovery of the people and buildings.  We decided to give the island a 55% recovery number, but the people get a perfect score for fantastic resilience.  Construction and reconstruction is constant, with the predominant projects being roofing.  Some wrecked habitations were being lightly dwarfed by new homes growing up behind them.  The boating community is hard at work as well, with owners and clever opportunists fixing up the best of the boats.  When we came through in December, wrecked boats were still being lifted onto barges and headed to dumps and landfills.  Still, there are derelicts in the boatyards and in Trellis Bay that tend to affect one’s mood.

We left for our last easy and fun sail to a mooring ball outside of St. George’s on the main island on April 6th, and two days later had the easiest motor along the south coast and into Prickley Bay.  We’ve had a few nights entertainment with Jock of s/v Unleaded, who had to answer many questions from us on his trials and tribulations this season.  He was headed north in late November when he got beat up by winds and waves at the Kick’em Jenny underwater volcano.  His mast fell down, taking off his davits, dinghy, and a large piece of transom.  He spent most of the season in St. David’s reconstructing his WEST-constructed boat.  Because he had built the boat and dinghy himself, he knew just how to tackle it.  We also enjoyed time with Lunenburg sailors Richard and Heather of s/v Sea Pearl, taking in meals and drinks at the Brewery and at other local venues.

Finally we were hauled out of the bay and placed in the Spice Island Boatyard on April 14th, and began the work of getting Cat Tales squared away for storage.

One thing left to report:  Cat Tales has been listed for sale.  After enjoying her for 23 years, we have made this difficult decision.  It has been more than just fun: exciting, challenging, engaging, educational, and the meeting of great people we would not have had the chance to enjoy otherwise.  However, we’ll be back to Grenada in November to get Cat Tales ready for another season, and if no buyers arrive, we’ll go through the islands again!

Here’s the listing:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1996-fountaine-pajot-tobago-35-9757554/

 

TECHNICAL

We went at the boat in the normal fashion, maybe a little quicker as the dates that lined up for us only gave us six days to work.  We left off the new Seajet 038 bottom paint as the directions provide for less than 3 months between application and wetting, and this helped a bit.  All equipment was checked during decommissioning, and either repaired or noted for November repair.  The four winches were torn down and regreassed.  Interestingly, although the 6 years of life in the charter trade was tough on the winches, there have been no problems since the 2003 repairs, thanks to the maintenance.  One exception:  I found a broken pawl spring this time and replaced it with a spare.  It shows the value of regular maintenance.  One of our friends down here said that tearing down winches is the most gratifying thing she does.  Her boat has eleven of them!

Laurie tearing down, cleaning, and greasing one of the 4 winches. 

Wrapping the dinghy and covering the trampoline will protect them both somewhat from sun damage while we’re gone.

We found last year’s repair of the batten car loading strip was faulty, and had that done again, much better.  A strong analysis of the issue suggests that the reefing loops at the luff of  the new 2002 mainsail are too short, and reefing results in pressure on the stop at the bottom of the loading strip.  Extensions to these reefing loops will result in that issue coming to its end.

The mainsail bag on the boom was originally fabricated by Dave Martin of Flyer Products, Fredericton, in 2003.  The fabric was still in great shape, but all threads were rotten and letting go.  We hired “Forever Canvas” to restitch it.  They did a great job, complimenting Dave’s handiwork but condemning his thread.  

One interesting thing I found was the rusting of a clip that holds on the safety baffle on the starboard saildrive.  I will order complete baffle systems for both saildrives and replace these systems in November.  I’ll not sell the boat with this job weighing on the new owner.

Dominica, Martinique and on to Bequia

Cat Tales sitting in beautiful flat water of Anse a l’Anne in Martinique

We last wrote from rainy Portsmouth, Dominica, just about a month ago.  Well, Portsmouth didn’t get much drier.  The daily deluges kept us out of the rainforest, eliminating the best hikes of the Island.  After about a week of investigating the town and the Cabrits fortress with Rachel and Susan of s/v Aspen1, s/v Prism arrived with Charlie and Anina, and joined our little band.  We continued along the similar lines, with shoreside investigations and lunches out.  One fantastic find is the newly renovated Chinese/international restaurant at the Riverside Hotel on Moo Cow Road, overlooking the Picard River. We ate there years ago, but then it was messed with by a hurricane, and is now back in operation.  Great food, sweet view, and constant babbling brook sounds coming to the table.

A tour of a reconstructed Kalinago community in Dominica.

A dugout boat that the tribe dug out by hand.

Things picked up rather quickly when the special events began to celebrate the Salty Dawg Rally.  We got into a couple of tours and joined into a couple of famous PAYS Beach Barbecues.  We got to mingle with a lot of interesting people, and even enticed famous Island historian Lennox Honychurch to sit at our table at the banquet.  We heard some interesting stories as we quizzed him on various historical and local topics.

PAYS BBQ with rum punch included…a dangerous offering!

Poor Rachel slid out on one of our hikes up the mountain and orders up some beer therapy!

An old wheelchair turned into a wheelbarrow!  These people are very clever at reuse!

No clothesline?  Hey, this works!

Trafalger Falls, southern Dominica

Charlie & Anina (s/v Prism) and Dawn & Laurie (s/v Cat Tales)

We had intended to at least go to the Saints, and had hopes of making Marie Galante and the west side or Guadeloupe, but we have had a season with too much wind and rain and too few windows of weather suitable of open ocean sailing.  Fearing trouble finding enough opportunities to get back to Grenada before season’s end, we headed back south on February 28th.  Well, we had a full month in Dominica, so we at least got our fill of that!  We enjoy the PAYS characters to no end, and always think of them fondly.

The trip across the open water back to St. Pierre was not as fabulous as the passage a month earlier, but it was easy and enjoyable.  Traveling with s/v Prism, we arrived to find s/v Cloud Street waiting for us.  They stayed two days before departing for northern destinations and awaiting boat company.  We had a great hike with Charlie, Anina, and Joanna to the Depaz Rum Distillery and a lunch, not letting damp weather bother us. After another day, s/v Prism headed to Case Pilot for a mechanic’s appointment, and we were joined by s/v Peacekeeper, with Skip and Kitty.  We did a hike just into the back of town, investigating more of the ruins of 1902, followed by what for us was the 3rd fantastic meal in the restaurant Alsace a Kay.

Joanna & Bill (s/v Cloud Street), Charlie & Anina (s/v Prism) and of course, Cat Tales dining out at one of our favourite restaurants in St. Pierre

Joanna, Anina and Dawn

This is a section of what is left of the large Insane Asylum in St. Pierre.  We found this on our way back from the Rum distillery.  There was a spa with water therapy included in the asylum as treatment for the troubled minds.  This was the first facility for psychiatric care in the Caribbean, but totally wiped out, with both staff and patients succumbing to the 1902 volcanic eruption.

The only remaining complete structure is the isolation chamber.

On the way to the Depaz Rum distillery

Depaz estate

Looks like Laurie forgot to dress up for Carnival!  This was our lunch spot after the 3 hour hike.

We all found s/v Savannah Sky on a mooring at Z’Abricot, near Fort de France, and got together with them, Skip and Kitty, and Charlie and Anina for a hike and lunch in at Anse a l’Anne.  With Savannah Sky leaving for parts north, and Prism leaving for Rodney Bay, Cat Tales and Peacekeeper enjoyed the last two days at Grande Anse D’Arlet, with more hiking and lunching.  We then cleared out, said our goodbyes and had a quiet night at Anse Chaudiere, awaiting a 2-day trip back to Bequia, Friday and Saturday, March 7 & 8…

Skip (s/v Peacekeeper) while checking out some ruins at the back of St. Pierre 

This little chapel was behind the Bishop’s estate, back of the large Catholic Church.  It was probably where the Bishop prayed alone.  Other buildings were for servants and slaves, as the area dates back that far for certain.

Inside of the Bishop’s little chapel.  We find some new and interesting ruins every time we return to St. Pierre.

Stern view of the Bishop’s estate.  This building was obviously reconstructed after the eruption, as reinforcing concrete was used for the upper floor, columns and ceiling.

For the first time in a long time, we put up the main with only one reef in her.  We expected light winds and a strong current from the southeast against us.  I figured we needed some power to combat the current.  The current was no problem, and after strong winds and confused seas at Diamond Rock, we had a fair and constant beam reach all the way to Anse Cochon halfway down the side of St. Lucia.  We had chosen to just ‘yellow flag’ St. Lucia as we had been having such bad luck finding weather windows.  At daylight on Saturday we raised the sail, but with two reefs, and prepared to tackle wind and currents again for the 60 miles to Bequia.  Ten and a half hours later, we dropped anchor, very tired of bracing ourselves.  It was mostly nice, with Dawn managing the music and passing out treats to the Captain, but it does wear one down.

Sailing from Martinique to St. Lucia 

St. Lucia to Bequia (a small island owned by St. Vincent)

Directly to our favourite anchoring spot in Bequia off a sweet reef accessible with a little swim from our stern.

TECHNICAL

Amazingly, this last month has gone by with practically nothing going wrong or leaving us concerned.  I had scrubbed the waterline over a month ago, and it needs it again, and our new style bottom paint seems to grow grass and slime although the barnacles are under control.  I’ve been spending a bit of time each afternoon on that, as it is good exercise and cool to the body.  A few nights ago, sitting in swells for a rocky happy hour, a strange squeak from the tiller connector had me digging out tools to get the tiller arm further down the rudder post to stop a minor rub.  My technical section has never been shorter, and Dawn, with her constant chores related to kitchen, supplies, social calendar, and passing me tools, may be wondering what use I am on a boat. 

As we ready for our second night in Bequia, we have begun our maintenance lists, end of season lists, etc.  We’ll have fun here, but there’s work to be done as well.