GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS IN (Caribbean) FRANCE

We last communicated from the waters of Prickly Bay in Grenada, soon after the launch of Cat Tales, and now, 4 short weeks later, we are in St. Anne, Martinique; the land of wine and pate.

We moved the boat to the anchorage outside of St. George before a week was out, as we knew we wanted to test everything before heading north.  Many do use their water makers in the murky waters of Prickly Bay, but I figure there is too big of a chance for either heavy metals and grease from the boatyard damaging the RO membrane or the prefilters being clogged or colonized by baby shrimp.  Well, things worked out fine in the clear waters of our new anchorage.  Actually, a great omen was getting our anchor into a sand pile on the first try - often Dawn gets a sunburn (and a bit cranky) as we try setting the anchor for over an hour in this anchorage.

We shopped at both the last big chandlery and the last good grocery store for a while, and also visited with Steve and Maria of s/v Aspen who were staying on the dock at the local marina, carrying out their own recommissioning.  Fred Johnson of s/v Dakota Dream was also there, and we enjoyed two meals and an afternoon at the marina swimming pool before catching the first weather window to the north.

The trip was very nice, as I (Laurie) ignored the engine noise and coasted through the flat water to Isle De Ronde, an island with a pretty anchorage in between Grenada and Carriacou.  We had a lovely late afternoon and overnight before we up-anchored and carried on.  Dawn and I swam about a quarter-mile to the beach and back, and felt great about our health.  That was significant for me, as it was the first anniversary of my operation, my biggest or most recent reminder of our mortality.  We thought about it a bit during happy hour.

Kickim’ Jenny Rock, off Isle de Ronde

”The Sisters” left white by the birds!

The Sisters in the sunset

The last 2-hour leg to Tyrell Bay was also a fun sail - We had wind, and at a decent angle!  Tyrell itself was nice, though we didn’t stay long.  We walked the road along the shore a couple of times, picked up some fresh produce, and checked out after only 2-3 days.  You just do not know how long before the next weather window, and passing them up can leave you somewhere for quite a while, waiting for the next.  We checked out, and made a run all the way to Bequia, in pretty much ideal conditions for Cat Tales.  True, we motored upwind to Clifton, while we had to make water anyway, and the increased wind angle was part of the improvement!

We anchored in our usual spot, just out from a rock outcrop that separates Lower Bay Beach from Princess Margaret Beach.  About 4 days later, Steve and Maria sailed in to join us.  Predominately, just the four of us enjoyed lunches, suppers, and sunsets on the floating bar for the next week.  Steve kept his eye on the weather, explaining that a window, opening up on Saturday, December 14th, was not just good, but was somewhat alone among relatively bad weather.  As it approached, and stayed unique, we devised a plan to leave at midnight, and sail direct to Ste. Anne; and that is pretty much what we did.

We sailed all night with Aspen and got a nice shot of them in the sunrise just before getting to St. Lucia.

Conch stew and drinks were served aboard Cat Tales the day after our 14.5 hour sail to Martinique.

It was a long night, with no more sleep for anyone among the four of us.  The conditions were very good, but the necessity of accomplishing the 95 miles before another night meant I could not afford to wait for gusts behind St. Vincent or St. Lucia, but had to motor on through.  Good thing we were low on our water supply, and could make use of the power for that.  As we passed Rodney Bay, we got a chance to radio a hello to John Fallon of s/v Stoppknot, and we also were joined for the crossing by Fred of s/v Dakota Dream.  Sadly, this is where the good weather stopped.

The three boats were tossed and blown in three + major squalls, with waves over 8 feet and winds clocking over 40 knots.  I found it exciting and worth doing, sucking up the great waves of water that drenched me in the cockpit, and the torrential rains that tried to rinse the sea back off, until our jib furler jumped out of the furling drumflipped and made it impossible to put any of our jib away.  As the conditions on the trampoline were too dangerous, we limped (at 7.5 + knots) across with as much luff in the jib as possible, and the boat pointing as high as possible.  We found a comparatively flat area behind the first headland of Martinique, and I relaced the furler as Dawn tried to keep the boat as stable as possible and pointing into the wind, and the flailing jib ensured the foredeck was uninhabitable.  It felt like a long time, but was likely less than 10 minutes of work.  With the jib finally rolled away, we motored in relative calm, and easily anchored.  Amazingly, Fred hung with us in his 38’ Leopard Cat, both watching out for us, and documenting some of our troubles with his camera.  Steve and Maria were a 1/2 squall away, letting us know what was coming next.

Hose is now filling that nasty gap that allowed the furling line to jump the drum!

We have made two trips into Marin for parts and groceries:  Once by bus, and once with the dinghy tied to the back of s/v Jumbie (Kathy and Tom), who had to go in for major work.  We have very much enjoyed the Sextant restaurant in the boatyard both times.  We’ve also met new friends and hiked to Saline Bay twice.

Now we’re predominantly just fixing things, hiking a bit, and waiting for Christmas Day, when Dawn has organized another big party at the Touloulou’s Beach Restaurant.  Attendance this time is approaching 30 persons.

We should like to add that, besides the numerous restaurant visits, we have enjoyed, on board, Dawn’s usual one-pot chicken wonders, and Laurie’s favourite recipes of conch stew, plantain salad and callilou soup.  All nutritional and local.

Happy Holidays everyone, and we hope that 2020 is enjoyable for the whole universe.

Happy Hour at LaDunnet in Ste. Anne, organized by Willie and Mark of s/v Liahona. Most of these people will be in attendance for Christmas dinner at Touloulous Beach Bar and Restaurant!

TECHNICAL

Well, the good news is that the starboard engine is working just fine so far, after running it for 20 minutes with mineral spirits in the crankcase, cleaning it out.  This was done on the advice of Roger Michaud at home.  Maybe I should do the port engine?

Bad news is that the battery issue continues to haunt us.  I bought 3 new batteries from Budget Marine: ACDelco ACDM27DC, that Budget said were 100 AH deep cycle batteries.  While trying to find the best way to use them, and how to take care of them, I found definitive proof that they are only heavy-duty marine start batteries.  This explains the lack of depth and storage.  I attempt, when they are showing almost 14V, to run the refrigerator cold plate that takes 27 amperes.  This results in a reading of 11 volts within 7-8 minutes, even though wind and solar are delivering over 13 amperes.  No storage worth talking about.  I have purchased two 75 AH French-made batteries and am trying different ways to make it all work.  Certainly an improvement, and may get us through the season until we can serve our wrath on Budget in Grenada in April.

We had an 80 ampere alternator on the port engine, and enjoyed making water and running the cold plate at the same time with it.  Well, that’s gone as its output has dropped to 19 amperes.  There is no easy way to fix it here, and the replacement is 275 Euros.  We have bent on the spare 35 ampere alternator, and are adjusting our habits until we can find a repair shop.

We’ve also had two more electrical failures:  Our BlueSky 25 ampere MPPT solar regulator seems to have gone insane, judging by the read outs; and my basic digital multimeter will not zero for any electrical parameter.  No real worries, as our friend Fred (many regular readers will remember him as the person who saves boats, motors, and sailors with health problems - “rescue Fred”) is having to go home to Dakota celebrate Christmas with his large family for Xmas.  He will return soon after Xmas with boat parts for himself, Steve of Aspen and us as well.  We will have a new BlueSky 35 ampere regulator, and a new multimeter with a clamp-on DC ampere measuring ability.  That’s Christmas for me!!

In anticipation of the new regulator, I have already purchased another 110 Watt flexible panel for the top of the bimini.  It really does create anticipation, as this may be of real help with refrigeration, with six or so amperes.  On top of this, Fred removed two ancient, heavy but flexible 75 Watt panels that were trapped underneath his previous solar upgrade, and have given them to me.  I’ll ensure that they work, and then attempt to find ways to use them as well.  Of course, that has to wait until my new meter arrives.  Chances are, they will be used at anchor only, and stowed when under way.

As for that furler problem, I have provided a picture of my attempt at alleviation.  A bit of hose and wire-ties makes the gap in the furler cage much smaller, and maybe, with a little more care in furler use, we can minimize chances of getting stuck like that again.

Steve, Fred and Laurie taking a break from boatwork!

Dawn, Fred, Laurie, Maria & Steve in Grenada

Otherwise, things are normal.  I have a continuous list little parts that need to be replace, and I have also noticed the start of tiny barnacles already screaming for attention on Cat Tales’ bottom.