by Judy Handley | Dec 15, 2005 | Caribbean - Windwards, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 59, Year 1: Finally . . . A Perfect Day in Paradise
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Weather: Beautiful Day, 86 degrees F
Location: Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
We made it to Rodney Bay here in St. Lucia around 1315 this afternoon. And finally, we have had a day with no challenges. In fact, it has been a perfect day. Yesterday continued to go down hill after I filed the log. To make a long story short, the Coast Guard from Guadeloupe came up beside us while we were having a very difficult time reefing the main. Our problem was the lazy jacks that catch the sail when it is lowered was caught under the sail, but we didn’t know it. While trying to talk to the Coast Guard and answer their routine questions on channels that were not clear and a language barrier to boot, we managed to rip the Doyle stack pack sail cover. This was the perfect ending to what had already been a very bad, no good, terrible day. But today was a different story.
I came on watch this morning at 0330. I was finishing reading Pat Henry’s story of her solo circumnavigation and motor sailing along the coast of Martinique. Because of the almost full moon, the night sailing was beautiful. At about 0445, the first light of a new day was just beginning to peak through in the eastern sky. There were shades of pink streaking through the sky that had been dark just minutes before. When I turned to look behind me, the almost full moon was getting ready to set. There were clouds on the western horizon and the moon just sunk into those clouds and ended the night. The sun came up and a new day was beginning. As soon as we got out of the lee of the land and headed across to St. Lucia, we were able to set sail and had a delightful sail in 20 knot easterlies. There was a line of sailboats heading into St. Lucia from the northeast and as we found out once we got here, the ARC boats were coming in one after another. The ARC is the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers and the boats had come from Europe by way of the Canary Islands. St. Lucia is the final destination and there is plenty of celebration in Rodney Bay tonight.
We decided to anchor out by Pigeon Island instead of going into the marina area in town. This was not our plan, but as we came into the bay and I looked over at the anchorage, I couldn’t resist it. There is a beautiful beach in front of us and lush, green hills to our left. There is a very fancy resort to the right and in front of us, but I am choosing to ignore that. As soon as we anchored, all of the tension of the past few weeks finally just slipped away. The water is deeper here than in St. Martin, so it is not the beautiful turquoise here at anchor, but we can see the shallow water closer to the beach. Mark had to go check into immigration alone as crew must stay on the boat until the captain checks in here, so I have not seen town yet. But there will be time for that tomorrow or the next day. Coming here was a good decision and now it is time to relax and enjoy.
The sunset here was gorgeous tonight with lots of red sails. The full moon is up in the eastern sky and there is music in the air. It doesn’t get much better than this.
by Judy Handley | Dec 14, 2005 | Caribbean - Windwards, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 58, Year 1: Engine Doctor to the Rescue, Again
Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2005, EST 1600
Weather: Mixed Bag
Air Temperature: 82 degrees F
Location: South End of Guadeloupe
If this were a board game and the goal was to successfully survive challenges thrown at you every time you make a move, then we would definitely win. Since setting sail from Boston on October 18, we have had one challenge right after another. And today was no exception. We sailed overnight by the light of an almost full moon. We passed one island after another, and shortly before daybreak we had a great view of the mountain lava flowing down the side of the volcano on Monserrat. At 0700 we checked in with Dave and Pam Gwinn, friends from Shipyard Quarters, who are spending the winter in the Bahamas aboard Jubilee. We talk with them by radio every couple of days. At 0730, we tried to listen in to the Caribbean Weather Net, but we were motoring and for some reason, we have had a lot of extra radio noise when the engine is running. I slowed down and turned off the engine so that Mark could hear the report. Here comes the challenge. You guessed it. When I tried to restart the engine, nothing. Not one single solitary sound. I double checked to make sure the gearshift was in neutral. It was. And still nothing.
The day went downhill from there. While Mark was checking things out, I tried to use what little wind there was to head us south. The wind picked up and we were able to sail to the north end of Guadeloupe. Then, no wind. We were getting 3 to 4 knots and moving ahead at about 1 knot. All the while we were trying to figure out what could be the problem. Mark checked the battery dedicated to starting the engine and it was fully charged, all connections were tight, and the ground was securely fastened. Still the engine would not turn over. It would “click, click”, and then it was silent. We decided to use the satellite phone to call David Laux, our engine doctor back in Delaware that installed the new Yanmar, but he was not at home. We called our contact at Mack Boring, Jack Law, and he connected us with an engineer. We did everything he told us to do, and still nothing. His conclusion was that we had a bad starter. I asked him how that could be since the engine is brand new. Of course, he had no answer. We got the names and numbers of Yanmar contacts in Martinque and St. Lucia, and contacted the St. Lucia shop first. They were very helpful and said that if we could get there by tomorrow, they would take care of us as soon as we arrived. They even gave us the cell phone number of someone who would come to the boat if we arrived after shop hours. That was encouraging.
There was still very little wind. We put up the spinnaker and tried to sail wing and wing with the head sail. We were going a whopping 1.5 knots, but at least we were moving south. We continued to try and reach David, and did get through to his wife Donna. She gave us a number where we could reach David around noon. We connected, he listened, and then said that times in his life, he has seen a battery register as fully charged, but not have enough amperage, possibly caused by cracked cell. And yes, our battery is brand new, but he still thought that was the problem. He had Mark make a connection from the main battery bank to the starting battery and try to start the engine. Bingo! That was the problem. David is a genius. We just need to find a way to entice him to sail around the world with us.
With all the delays, it was going to be early evening before we could get into the anchorage on the south end of Guadeloupe, so we have decided to just keep sailing through the night and stop tomorrow either in Martinque or go straight to St. Lucia. I didn’t handle this challenge very well and am realizing just how tired I am. The more I look around the boat at the things that were damaged from the rough passage to St. Martin, the more I realize that a few days of just sitting still sounds really inviting. So we will probably sail to St. Lucia tomorrow and stay in Rodney Bay until the kids arrive on Monday.
by Judy Handley | Dec 13, 2005 | Caribbean - Windwards, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 57, Year 1: Overnight from St. Martin to Guadeloupe
Date and Time: Tuesday, December 13, 2006, 1600 EST
Weather: Gorgeous but Winds from the South
Air Temperature: 80 degrees F
Location: Headed Southeast between St. Barts and Saba
In typical Handley style, we are flying through the Leeward Islands in two days. But it’s okay because we are rushing to get to St. Lucia to meet our kids for Christmas. We have nine wonderful days planned of snorkeling, scuba diving, relaxing, snorkeling, scuba diving, relaxing, and some sailing.
Right now we are motoring as the winds are once again right on our nose. But that’s okay, because the winds are light, the seas are fairly calm, and the weather is gorgeous. I can see St. Martin behind me, St. Bart’s to the east, and the islands of Saba, Statia, and St. Kitt’s to the west. Their volcanic mountain shadows rise out of the sea and then slowly fade as we head further southeast. By sunrise we will have Montserrat to our west and Antigua to the east, and by early afternoon tomorrow we will reach Guadeloupe. The trip getting here was a bit rough, but the experiences here are making all of that fade away.
by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2005 | Caribbean - St Martin, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 56, Year 1: Last Day in St. Martin
Date: Monday, December 12, 2005
Weather: Still Gorgeous
Location: Marigot Bay, St. Martin
Today we traveled to the Dutch side of the island, Sint Maarten. We took the dinghy through a canal and into Simpson Bay Lagoon. There are two great chandleries there, Island Water World and Budget Marine, and they had everything and more than the West Marine stores back home. Unlike here in French St. Martin, almost everyone there spoke English, but much of the charm was lost. It was just a little too much like being back home. Another difference was the clientele. Here in St. Martin, there are numerous sailboats at anchor, one monster sailboat anchored out a ways, and some large Windjammer sailboats at anchor from Nassau-but no mega yachts here. Sint Maarten, on the other hand, was jam-packed with mega yachts. We enjoyed the great service, but definitely prefer the French side.
Tomorrow we are off to Guadeloupe. From our anchorage here, we have had beautiful views of the mountainous island of St. Martin in front of us and views of the long, low lying island of Anguilla to our north. It has been a beautiful anchorage, but I am already looking forward to new views of the islands further south.
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2005 | Caribbean - St Martin, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 55, Year 1: Stories from Marigot Bay, St. Martin
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2005
Weather: Warm and Sunny
Location: Marigot Bay, St. Martin
We certainly did enjoy sleeping in our bed in the aft cabin last night instead of the “nest” on the starboard settee where we slept between watches on the passage here. We are now on Atlantic Standard Time, but I have insisted on keeping the clocks on Eastern Standard Time for now. I want to know what time it is back home, but we will probably compromise with one clock on EST, one at AST, and one on Greenwich Mean Time. By the time we made it to land this morning it was almost noon island time. We checked in at the Fort Louis Marina to get an access card that would allow us to use the marina laundry facilities and their high speed internet access. From the marina dinghy dock, you have to climb a short ladder up to a breezeway that houses the two washing machines and three dryers and the bathrooms. You can get out onto the docks from the breezeway or use your access card to open the gate and head to town. After checking in, we left our laundry by the machines that were already in use by someone else and headed into town to find a place to have lunch. Unlike yesterday afternoon when we were in town, today everything was very quiet. Last night, the traffic was crazy, but there was hardly a car in town this morning. Everything, and I mean everything, was closed except for a couple of restaurants in the market place.
If you transported Marigot Bay into the French Quarters of New Orleans, I don’t think anyone would notice the difference. The surrounding mountain and ocean scenery are certainly different, but the town itself reminds me very much of the French Quarter. There were local artisans in the Market Place today and after wandering through their offerings and having a Creole lunch at Rosemary’s, we headed back to the marina to do laundry. I realize this is not the most romantic thing to do on your first full day in the Caribbean, but it was a necessity. But while doing the laundry, we were able to catch up on e-mail from friends and family. There were great comments that people had sent to the website, some sad news from Concord about the death of dear friend of Mark’s, and weather reports that made us really glad that we are here. A great big thanks to those of you who are keeping us updated on news from home. We really appreciate it. And now for some stories from St. Martin.
Story #1-Nitro in St. Martin: My maiden name is Martin and I grew up in Nitro, West Virginia. As we were headed back to the marina gates today, we noticed a racing boat just to the right of the gate. All over the side of it was painted Nitro, St. Martin. Not sure what the significance of this might be, but I thought it was speaking to me.
Story #2-Livia: Doing laundry took all afternoon. So we settled in and checked our e-mail and just enjoyed doing laundry outside in beautiful weather. A dinghy came into the dock at some point in the afternoon and a couple, probably in their late thirties or early forties, climbed up on to the dinghy dock, bringing a baby bassinette with them. The bassinette was covered with a bright yellow fabric and I strained to see if there was actually a baby in it. And indeed, there was. And it looked so very tiny. I asked how old but I speak no French and they spoke no English, so we didn’t connect. They carried the baby in the bassinette and headed into town. When they returned, we tried once again to communicate and this time when we asked hold old, they answered five days. We were intrigued and continued to ask questions. Basically, the very proud father said the baby was born in St. Martin in the hospital where a thousand babies are born each year. He said that the care was wonderful. This whole time, I am basically staring with open mouth. I took my first born to the top of the Washington Monument when she was seven days old, but living on a boat, going to shore to have a baby, and only five days later climbing stairs from a dinghy dock with baby in a fancy bassinette seemed unreal. The mother looked great and the baby was perfectly content as they sped away on their dinghy named “Livia.” It will be hard to top that one.
Story #3-Traveler: One of the boats that had been checking into the weather net each day during our passage was “Traveler.” Late in the afternoon as I continued to sit in the marina breezeway doing laundry, there was a flurry of activity as a sailboat was towed into port and docked just outside the gates of the marina. Mark went out to help with the docking and I noticed that the boat was from Annapolis and was named “Traveler.” When Mark returned from helping with the docking he explained that this was the same “Traveler” that we had been listening to each afternoon. They had left from Beaufort, North Carolina, and were eleven days getting here. Sometime late yesterday they lost the use of their rudder. They tried to fashion something to get them in, but the waves were just too big and they couldn’t make headway. They contacted St. Martin by radio and found that there is a volunteer service from the Dutch side of the island that would come out and tow them in. And that they did. Unfortunately, in hooking up with the tow boat, they knocked a hole in Traveler’s port side, so repairs will include a new rudder as well as fiberglass hull repair. It made us feel very thankful that we made it in through the rough seas with no major problems. We do have a few small repairs, but certainly nothing like Traveler. And the amazing thing is that the folks from Traveler were not upset with the towing boat. They were just very thankful that they had come out to tow them in.
Tomorrow will be out last day here in St. Martin. We will spend part of the day exploring the Dutch side of the island and then preparing for our overnight to Guadeloupe on Wednesday.
