After our whirlwind tour of Dominica and the Saintes, we had returned to the south of Martinique and anchored in Marin on the first day of March. We picked up supplies, boat parts, and another great lunch with friends in le Sextant, before leaving in the morning for Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. Our Sextant companions were Bill and Joanna of Cloud Street, and Kristen of Silk Pajamas, and it was our last visit of the season with them.
When we landed at Rodney Bay that morning, we again had a full day. We cleared in and out of Customs and Immigration, purchased 4 jerry jugs of diesel, and booked in a fun lunch with almost every friend in Rodney. We were intent on catching a strange northeast wind for a ride down to Bequia in the morning.
We were moving before 4 a.m. and had a lovely and anomalous broad reach the full length of St. Lucia. However, at the end of the island, things changed. The wind was so far behind us, that we could use the main or the jib but not both, and the current coming through from between the islands made for a very confused sea. Ten miles before we could get behind St. Vincent, the starboard alternator regulator stopped working, the voltage shot up to 15.5V, and caused the autohelm to pack it in, and we hand-steered through foul seas all the way to Bequia, a period of about 7 hours, with one hand needed to hang on and another on the wheel. We arrived in Bequia just before dark – the latest we’ve ever arrived there.
 |
| The sail from St. Lucia to Bequia! All downwind, for a change! |
 |
| Upon arrival into Bequia, we met with Garry and Linda for a birthday lunch for Garry. Mac’s Pizza never fails to please. What a nice coincidence that his birthday was that very day! |
 |
| Dawn on the hike to the old fort in Bequia. Our boat is somewhere in the bay behind her. |
I (Laurie) hurt my back attempting to sort out the alternator problem, but we did some short hikes while it sorted itself out. I was soon working on the autohelm as well, and got it replaced just as Leo and Jo-Anne arrived for a 7-day visit.
As we determined that the shortness of the visit and the state of the seas ruled out a cruise with these distinguished guests, we shared them with our other friends during walks and lunches. We also took them for three swims to our favourite little snorkelling spot between Princess Margaret and Lower Bay beaches. All in all, we’d say they adapted to the life on Cat Tales rather well. Way too soon, they were gone.
 |
| Leo and Jo-Anne cleaning up at the end of the day in salt water followed by a fresh water rinse. |
We stayed a few more days in Bequia, hiking with a crowd of old and new friends to Ma Peg’s Rock and then Hope Bay; returning both times to fill the table of the PortHole restaurant, our favourite watering hole for a crowd.
 |
| Anina (s/v Prism) showing off the view from the top of the mountain. She was just finishing her long stint with dengue fever, a mosquito borne ailment, which laid her up for about 7 days! |
 |
| Garry and Steve with the tiny Bequia airport in the background on the east side. |
 |
| Laurie and Linda still smiling as they neared the top of Ma Peggy! |
On the 26th, we sailed to Chatham Bay for a supper at Vanessa and Seckie’s beach restaurant, and then joined Savannah Sky as they were sailing by to go to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. Yesterday we motored around to Cassada Bay to avoid reversing winds in Tyrell. As lovely as it is, Savannah Sky left, and we are all alone in a giant, island-ringed anchorage.
TECHNICAL
It has been a busy time in the repair department lately. Our AIS receives data but will not transmit our location nor data. We took it into Jacques at Diginav, Marin; but he had little time to work on it and had his own electronic issue that hindered his AIS repair equipment. We took it back and are just sailing incognito. A fuel leak had grown on the port engine, and I was quite sure it was the Yanmar filter gasket. I purchased new ones and replaced both the gasket and the filter. A week later it seemed worse – then on the trip to Chatham Bay, I inspected the engine and determined that fuel was spraying from a mesh-coated hose from the filter to the high-pressure pump. Just yesterday, after seeking significant advice over the phone from the Yanmar shop in Grenada, I took the hose off, cut the crimps and hose from the banjo fittings with a Ryobi rotary tool, fitted a 3/8” fuel hose over the barbs with hose clamps and new copper washers, reassembled, tested, and began cleaning the mess in and around the bilge. Hot, dirty work!
 |
| A tense time onboard Cat Tales as Laurie tackled this job which would either fix the problem, or make it worse. Luckily, it’s fixed and we now have both engines working…for now! |
The replacement of the autohelm system back in Bequia was difficult work, but we had fantastic luck. Steve of Savannah Sky had purchased all parts to replace his autopilot system if it failed on his previous boat (Aspen) during his solo sail to Easter Island. He didn’t use it, and luckily for us, the kit does not fit the new boat. It was available for sale to me, and after 3 days, I had it installed and fully troubleshooted. As it connected to the Raymarine backbone wiring system, it actually provided the complete electronics package on the boat with significant new features. What fun! ;-)
 |
| After the autopilot was installed, it didn’t boot up properly. Once that issue was behind us, the next day more trouble. Steve and Laurie chased some wires and found a loose electrical power connection. Once that issue was solved, everything was working ticketey boo! |
 |
| Autopilot computer |
One thing on the agenda at this time is finding a reliable repairman for the alternator in Grenada.
Although a less technical problem, we have been suffering this season from two attacks of weevils. In both cases, they came from lasagna noodles. The first time, they escaped and caused concern and hard work on Dawn’s agenda. The second time, they were contained in a hard plastic case, and only caused a menu modification.
