Last writing I was telling you a bit about us traveling here. It was not a nice trip, and indeed, we have had only a little bit of truly enjoyable sailing since we started from Trinidad. Some of the problem is the amount of north in the wind this season, and some more of it is my fault for trying to sail this boat too close to the wind. The problem with a small cat like Cat Tales is that the skegs are shallow; and in a lumpy sea state, the water becomes so turbulent that the skegs just don’t bite like they should to give us lateral stability. The short waterline and the shallow skegs combine such that Cat Tales cannot motor directly into a strong wind in a lumpy sea; nor can she motor-sail close to the wind like a deep keeled monohull or a long waterline cat with large motors. The only way for us to get anywhere is to get on a proper tack, about 45-50 degrees apparent wind, and get going at least 6 knots so there is lots of water going by the skegs to take the lateral resistance. Any slower or any closer to the wind, and we start skittering sideways as well as forward. Once I get that through my thick head, and accept the extra distance to sail upwind, then it is a little easier going.
I was also talking about the boat repairs, and indeed, Dawn has some pics for you. The big project is to try to get our watermaker working properly. The present theory is that the motor needs better voltage; so we have been running new, heavier wire around the boat. Because a lot of the work requires two people, and more of the work requires getting into compromising positions, Dawn has been an invaluable help. I spent about an hour in the small part of the anchor locker, with my head between my knees and the spare anchor in an unenjoyable, rude place. Other periods have me bunched up in other small places, sweating gumdrops. Ah, the life of a sailor.
Laurie working in the anchor locker for about an hour and a half. He had a difficult time walking when he was finally released!
You can see him in behind all the stuff. He's sitting on a spare anchor and chain!
Wiring job half done at this point with beautiful expensive tinned wire. Let's hope it makes a difference in our watermaker...
If you look really hard, you can see him on the small opening side of the locker.
I think I also said I’d tell you about some of the people we have been spending time with lately. Of course, most of you know John Fallon. He has been a regular here, and since his boat burned in the boatyard this summer, he took up winter residence in a small apartment near the marina. He is in one or another restaurant at the marina, with other friends almost daily. We intend to take him to Martinique and back next week.
We are also enjoying old friends from boats named: Silk Pajamas (US), Hidden Falls (US and GB, now in Bali), Tiger Lily 2 (Can), and Nahanni River (Can). I can’t go into the people too much, but can tell you how easy it is to meet and enjoy good people out here. The type of people who are down here on their own boats are easy-going, enthusiastic, happy, and interesting; with interesting stories of their own past and recent cruising.
Today, we and some of these boats got to the marina, jumped into a bus, and did a 1.5 hour ride to a village called Canaries to do a hike to a waterfalls. As soon as we got there, we realized it might be a bad idea. We started hiking up the river valley road, and were told that the falls, (two sets) were a mess, and were unreachable since Hurricane Tomas, last October 29th. Indeed, the river was filled with the village women doing their laundry, and special compact treatment systems were running and being set up to purify water to be used for drinking. Since returning, we have learned that many of the beautiful waterfalls of St. Lucia and/or their accesses have been torn up by Tomas. We walked up the road for a while, then switched to walking the wide riverbed (to be fair, it was obvious that the road had become part of the riverbed during the hurricane). When it came to wading up the stream, some of our crowd decided that was enough, and we hiked back down, and bussed back an hour to Castries for a big but amazingly affordable lunch. That was lovely, and made even better with ice cold Pitons (local beer). Soo, the bus rides were many times the hiking time, and we need a new plan to get some exercise. Well, that takes us back to the NYE party at the yacht club. We’d better be doing some dancing!
After Hurricane Tomas, the river up in Canaries was washed out and changed dramatically. Notice the car embedded in the mess.
The locals, now without running water, go to the river and do laundry. You could hear music while they made the best of their situation.
Water was being pumped out of the river and treated for use by the people.
Children have a way of making the best of a bad situation! This one gave me a huge smile when he saw my camera pointed towards him.
