On to Martinique

Well, hello from Trois Islets, Martinique.  Cat Tales followed Savannah Sky into this eastern edge of Fort de France Bay this morning/afternoon.  We have not been here since 2005 or so.

 

We had last written from Rodney Bay about 2 weeks ago.  Well, once we received our spare starter from Island Water World, AND bent it on to make sure it worked, we took the next opportunity to travel.  That was January 12^th.  We had a lovely but light sail over to Ste. Anne, Martinique.  Winds were forecasted to be 13-18 or so, and we reefed for it.  We had more than an hour of less than 10 knots apparent wind, meaning the true wind was often 5 or so knots.  Still, the wind direction favoured the east, and with two tacks, we got into St. Anne in about 5.5 hours.  Not a rocket ship, by any means.

 

After a tiny hike, we still felt we deserved a great lunch and refreshments at one of our favourite beach restaurants, Basilic

The beach hike along Ste. Anne.  Steve and Maria (Savannah Sky) and Rachael and Susan (Aspen)

Only turned the tracker on for the return trip, so you can X2 the distance.  Lovely, shady and relatively flat
walk.

We’ve had a wonderful evening with Joanna and Bill of Cloud Street, sharing Dawn’s pumpkin soup, and a ti’ punch night aboard Savanna Sky with Maria and Steve and with Rachael and Susan of Aspen.  We did the obligatory run into Marin for wine, beer, cheese, and groceries, a “chicken walk” for barbecue chicken and clementines, and finally the also obligatory hike to the southern beaches.  We had dinner one night on s/v Fathom This with George and June where we were introduced to another lovely couple from Switzerland.  The Swiss couple’s boat is an amazing aluminum catamaran about the size of Cat Tales, named “Kobold”.  It was constructed as a prototype over 30 years ago, and the owner, Heinz, has carried out extensive carpentry inside.  No others were ever constructed.

 

Kobold, a prototype aluminum catamaran the size of Cat Tales

One funny occurrence was the loss of Dawn’s magnetic sun glass attachment for her progressive lens glasses.  They were knocked off her face while she was leaning over to lower the dinghy. The next day, I could not find them when diving, and we had resigned ourselves to the loss.  Well Steve wanted to get in on the search so we gave it another try yesterday.  While the two of us searched, I gave a quick search under the port hull.  Upon finding a 3-4 foot baracuda there, I didn’t look too closely.  After we had scoured the rest of the anchoring arc, I returned to find the shades exactly where the ‘Cuda had sat.

 

One thing I want to talk about, although it has come up before, is the amazingly interesting people you may meet here.  Yes, world travellers like our friends Steve and Maria, but more:  Jenny of Tanglewood is not only a car accident survivor, a cancer survivor, and the most upbeat person we know, but she is the granddaughter of Irving and Etsy Johnson, who traveled the globe in two great ships as charter captains.  Check it out here:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Johnson_(ship).  We also have learned just recently that Bill of Cloud Street is a survivor of the greatest US naval fire since WWII:  The Forrestal Disaster:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire#:~:text=A%201966%20fire%20aboard%20USS,down%20system%20on%20all%20carriers.

 

Joanna and Bill (Cloud Street) and Jenny (Tanglewood). This is Jenny who Laurie speaks of in the above paragraph.

The last interesting find is George aboard the motor sailor Fathom This.  George was the builder of the original chart plotter.  He sold his design to Figawi, and the world changed forever.  Well George came over to Cat Tales two days ago, took apart our Standard Horizon radio, scraped off the totally blackened polarized film from the display, and stuck a new one on!  Amazing!

 

George and his helper Laurie changing the window film on our vhf…it lives!!

Today’s sail around the southwestern peninsula was easy, with most of the way done by just the jib.  However, it was a hard slog to get the 6 miles into Trois Islets through 20-25 knot breezes and waves.  I’ve smelled diesel in the port engine compartment and also noticed the belt is just about done.  I’ll have to investigate starboard in the morning.  Dawn thinks we may have a line on a bokit lunch, so I’d better start early.

 

‘Ti punch happy hour.  Take nasty French rum, add sugar syrup and lime until you can drink it!  Voila!

Plans are to move back out of here tomorrow afternoon, and maybe try Anse Mitan or Anse a L’Ane.  The next weather window looks like a week away, and we hope to be ready to jump islands from northern Martinique, St. Pierre heading for Dominica.  

 

TECHNICAL

 

I am happy to report that the rebuilt starter is working fabulously.  I was pessimistic when picking it up, as it was a 1.2 kilowatt motor, while the old ones are 1.0 kW.  It actually starts easier, without a hesitation.  The older one is now the spare!

While in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, a Hobie Cat from a resort hit us and punctured the outer skin of our rear port hull.  We chatted with the officials from the Landings resort and they arranged for us to meet the gentleman who was sailing the Hobie that day.  The gentleman agreed to pay the asking fee and sent us the $$ into our account after he arrived back home in the UK.  He was extremely sorry.  We promised him a free sailing lesson if he was to come back to the Caribbean.  A temporary patch was done by reaching down from the deck and a better job will happen when we haul out in Grenada.

Temporary, but water tight.  More work to be done in April at haul out time.

 

Cat Tales has been having trouble with belts, and I am starting to blame the 80 ampere alternators.  Especially when we try to use the 80 amps, like when we try to use the cold plate in the refrigerator and make water at the same time. The belt heats up and throws material.  I’ve switched both engines back to the original 55 ampere alternators (hard to find these days, but I got one from Bill of Cloud Street, and really need to let him know how happy I am), and things are better.  The belts are something else.  I’ve always kept a stock of them on board, and now think part of the problem is them drying out in storage.

 

Well, we endeavour to persevere.    

Playing In Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Sailing from Bequia, St. Vincent to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Last report had us enjoying Bequia with our friends Linda and Garry Graham.  With them in tow, we joined Louise and Joseph of Tangaroa II for another hike in a crowd of near 30 people.  It was one we had done many times, a hike along the northwest ridge to a place called Cinnamon Park, with a steep road back down to the Springhill shore, and a walk back to town.  For Laurie, this turned a bit brutal, as his right knee started to revolt from the steep descend.  We’re both a little concerned.  Should we enjoy such hikes while we can, or should he lay off some of the worst so we can do the things we like? 

 

Almost to the top of Cinnamon Hill

Check out the contour lines!  NOT a flat walk!!

Mount Pleasant hike, Dawn was taking the photo!

Two days later, we were off to walk the loop on the back side of Mount Pleasant, with another large crowd.  The knee was calmer, and we’re calming down as well.  The second crowd included a lot of our previous friends and acquaintances: Steve, Maria and Fred; Mike and Nancy of ‘Lost Loon’, Garry and Linda; Jane and Ken from ‘Genesis II’; and new friends Rachel and Susan, the new owners of ‘Aspen’.  Again, the hikes involved numerous enjoyable portable conversations.  Both hikes involved lovely lunches at the Porthole – still the winner for quality, price and service in our books.

 

Maria sprung a Christmas Eve party on us, in their new boat Savannah Sky; hosting their Atlantic crossing delivery crew: Fred, Anina, and Charlie, and including us as well.  It was the usual Maria feast, with lots of everything!  We heard a few more mid-Atlantic stories and tasted some good rums from the far side.

 

For Christmas Day Dinner, we had a fantastic treat.  Instead of all of us joining a very large crowd at a potluck like last year, Linda and Garry hosted us for a potluck at their airy, elevated, open villa in Lower Bay.  It was about as much enjoyment as could occur.  We were joined by Steve and Maria, Rachel and Susan, and Charlie and Anina.  It was a lovely crowd in the prettiest of surroundings.

 

Dawn and I were suffering wanderlust, however; realizing that we had not got so far north last year and had not seen some islands for many years.  We got up at 03:00 hours on the 27^th and used the full moon to guide us around to the northwest side of the St. Vincent volcano.  The weather window was marketed well, and we got the promised wind strength and direction in the dark, providing low seas, romantic views, and full sails.  However, when the sun came up, the wind died to below 5 knots.  We motored on one engine until arriving in Rodney Bay at 16:00 hours.

 

The Pitons of St. Lucia!

Since here, we’ve had two hikes: one with Joseph and Louise, as well as Johanna of ‘Cloud Street’ and new friends’ over to Cas en Bas, and another with them and Steve and Jennie of ‘Tanglewood’ exploring the roads of Gros Ilet and the bay shore.  Both of these ended up in the best open restaurant at the marina: “Elana’s”.  We have also enjoyed some time with John Fallon of ‘StoppKnot’ and his senior bachelor gang around the marina.

It was surprising to see a brand new golf course all set to go on the Cas en Bas side of St. Lucia.  Goodbye ‘rustic’ hello progress…?

Cas en Bas, St. Lucia

Day one in St. Lucia get-together with old friends!

Second half of the table

 

We’re waiting here for a spare part.  More on that below.  After it arrives, we’ll join Savannah Sky and others who are heading direct to Ste. Anne, Martinique.  Dawn has a list of supplies she needs, including cheese and wine.

 

I second that remark!

TECHNICAL

 

The boat is working well.  The new batteries and solar panels have solved the minor irritation we had last year, and the new mainsail performs better – I’m even getting better at storing it in the sailbag.  Minor maintenance has taken up some time: loose alternator belts, replacing some tattered lines, placing some dark laminates on some of the hatches to stop the UV damage, etc.  Never enough to tarnish the enjoyment of the sunset and evening breezes.

 

One bit of nuisance was the loss of a spare starter.  Last year, I rotated out a starter that was not working, replacing it with the spare.  I sent the starter to get rebuilt to our friend in Gouyave, Grenada, along with three alternators I wanted checked over.  The three alternators came back, but he held the starter for the summer to get parts for it.  Sadly, when we checked with him before our return, he did not remember the issue, and could not find the starter.  The problem, we’re sure, is age, not greed.  We told him to have a nice Christmas and not to worry about it.  Anyway, Ian, the manager of Island Water World, says he can get a rebuilt starter here this week, and we are waiting for it.  To sweeten the deal and amortize the cost of shipping and importation, we added some other Yanmar items.  Now we wait – but it is still a lovely place.