Sint Maartin - February

   On arrival we anchored in Marigot Bay. And enjoyed our first week  with a minor swell due to ocean waves, coupled with the occasional fast motor boat and the endless tourists having a go in speed boats or jet skis.  There is a very nice Creperie just inside the Lagoon where we anchor to do the paperwork.
  After a day we find that in the channel is a laundry called ‘Shrimpies’  where we can do wi-fi with a coffee or a beer, plus Mike knows all there is to know in the area so is the right chap to ask for advice.
  Our Dutch friends Simon & Nel arrived by plane around the 8th so we spent time with them doing lunch and generally chilling out.  We also took them and their daughter Anna out for a days sailing which everyone enjoyed immensely.  During their stay we also managed to find time to sort out the master switch for the generator/shore-power/inverter selector—for which there was no replacement at short notice, put the Yankee sail in for a new UV protector strip and sort out the rev counter on the main engine.
  Well! I've come to the conclusion that if I wipe furniture polish over EVERYTHING WOODEN once a week that keeps things ship shape. Since there is so much wood I do a little (ha) every day.  We have been at anchor for nearly two weeks now and the washing is piling up.  Now that we have fixed the machine (and improved on the design of the door-locking mechanism ) we need some fine weather to dry the stuff.  Did I tell you it rains here? At least twice some days, but it does mean we have plenty of water. 
At last the Yankee sail was dry enough to repack, & we went to the sail-makers to find that she thought the sail to old to put a new UV strip on so is now going to patch the old one .  She was amazed that the webbing re-enforcements are 8 thickness’s plus the UV and sail fabrics and her machine won't go through them !  She will do her best with repairing the old UV strip but we may have to resort to a new sail next time it goes. It may be ready tomorrow.  We also called into the Yanmar/Yamaha specialist, but he no longer does Yanmar repairs so has given us another guy to try, (Glen) while there we tried to source a bit for the outboard which Duncan had serviced while we were in Trinidad- he had forgotten to replace the bit which stops you trying to pull the start cord while the engine is in gear . This means that it is very dangerous if you happen to pull with out checking- the boat goes off at full speed and you end up in the water ! Meanwhile the three way selector switch has been removed and bypassed in the interim so that we can still use the 3 machines (Genny, inverter and shore power) but no replacement is available and after dismantling it no much chance of repairing it. Watch this space for more news...
  Now for fish & chips the captain is cooking
Another day aboard Malcolm has fixed the switch! And found a replacement for the rev counter on the engine, a brief worry that we had no 24cm ring spanner to do the job but hey at the bottom of the locker we found one. Plus the sail maker has phoned to say the sail is ready but we missed the call so more to do tomorrow.
I made shepherds pie tonight and we sat in the cockpit 26C in the pouring rain (the first shower of the day)
  As you can see life is all go while aboard 'Piano'  hopefully we will see some of the island now most jobs have been done...

  Saturday, after seeing Glen, he told us that the Yamaha  outboard is past it, he offered us a 3 month old Daihatsu 9.8 for $900 plus the old Yamaha ($400) in part exchange.  Next called round at Shrimpies and did emails and when we told him the Yamaha story he said “Why I have just the motor for you another 9.8 Daihatsu but only $800 plus the old Yamaha”, so we pick it up on Monday.
  Meanwhile Mike also fixed us up with a hire car so Saturday we set off to explore the Island.  First a short walk along the coastal path then we end up having a meal out at the far corner.  VERY TASTY !  Sunday back off to the North of the Island and another coastal walk which was ok while trotting along the shoreline but pretty hard going up the boulder strewn mountain and down again the other side

Suriname to St Lucia

I partly expected the Captain to write up the voyage back to St Lucia, sorry but you’ve got me again!  Well it was fast.  That said the Aires did all the work with the Captain taking a turn when needed.  I know that the little helming which I did was very exhilarating.  Once the sails were set for the course they didn’t need changing at all apart from the occasional tweak for maximum performance.  We had one or two squalls which required the foul weather gear to come out but otherwise good weather.  We saw very little in the way of wild-life—the ubiquitous flying fishes and a couple of small Dolphins but that’s about it.
I did the graveyard watch from nine or 10 ‘til one or two depending on how long Malcolm let me sleep for.  He rarely woke me the next morning but after Tea he usually went for a ‘lie down’  Rodney Bay was a welcome sight as we entered at half– past midnight on Sunday morning. ( 680 nautical miles in just over 3 days!)
     We both slept late and prepared for customs the next day.  After mooring in the Marina we were greeted by many people who remembered us from last year,  ‘Prudent’ came out to fix the freezer and didn’t charge us ( maybe he enough last year ?) and John & Vincent at Regis checked out the Auto-helm motor and fixed the brushes on that so that it now works again.  The marina pool was well used and I attended one of the Ladies lunches where I met many more familiar faces.  On Saturday evening we went to the Sailing club with Daphne & David and had a great time what with a BBQ and disco to dance at.  Also on Monday we ate out at ‘Buzz’ (it was my birthday treat.
  We left St Lucia on Wednesday morning and had another fast ride up here to St Maartin.  It took another three full days, however, there was far more to see in the way of Islands and not as many squalls—at least on my watch.
  I have now brought you up to date so I can upload this as soon as we get wi-fi again.  This time there are no new pictures to look at on Picasa.