January 2017

What excitement since I last wrote. Yes S/Y ‘Piano’ is now in St Lucia visiting Derek and Bridgit on their jetty. More of this after the run up.

The whole team swung into action soon after I last wrote, Collin, Cooper, Kaye and Damian. The hull was deemed dry to begin the sealing, (4 layers), then primer, and lastly Anti-fouling (3 coats).

Meanwhile the halyards were retrieved from the masthead where they had been since we laid up, various new items were uncovered, Falco checked the engine,blah blah in short a week of preparation filled with gusto. After hanging in the slings for the bottom of the keel to be anti-fouled, we were finally launched with Azul and Curtis aboard to determine any leaks from their work and then to replace floorboards in the cockpit lockers. Next we filled up with Diesel and petrol for the tender then motored out around the bay to see what was working. - Just the depth meter not playing ball so far. We arrived to a warm welcome at Crews Inn and continued to check out instruments, get the sails on and generally work like sink to be away for Friday. Of course we had time to say goodbye to our friends at the weekly Potluck. I also made time for a trip to Badwasings hardware store with lunch and shopping at Trin City afterwards.

Friday arrived bright and sunny (as it had been since we arrived back) so we were ready to check out with Customs and Immigration before lunch. Around 3 we slipped our birth and motored away.

This to allow Malcolm time to thread all the reefing lines and so on. At this point things began to go pear shaped. The calm mill pond changed to a slight breeze which piped up to 15 knots accompanied by tumultuous rain...here I heard the bilge alarm sounding but I had my hands full helming and Malcolm was down at the mast working by the time he was back in the cockpit it went off again and I drew his attention to it. He opened the engine compartment and noticed the seawater hose had come off its spigot and was allowing seawater to be pumped into the engine bay. We switched the engine off while he temporarily re-fixed it and I sailed down to wards Scotland Bay – yes it was still blowing hard and raining and I was actually beginning to shiver!!!! (unheard of in the Caribbean) We anchored in Scotland Bay ( after dropping the lead line to check the depth) and decided that we would try to sort things out in the morning.

At this point I should say we have an uneventful night at anchor with a good meal and pleasant nights sleep.

Next morning, Malcolm finds the offending Jubilee clip which has failed (what luck?) and adjusted the hose to allow two clips of better design to be fixed there. The remains of seawater was pumped out of the engine compartment and the wiring flushed with freshwater and of course the engine was started to check for any other leaks and to be sure that the new clips were doing their job. Then we had elevenses. Next we attacked the sails to discover that the foot had come out of the boom so we then manhandled then off into a roll so that they could be re-fed and secured again. Then they were hoisted and checked. Time for a very late lunch. We were now ready to sail to Grenada.

Wow a full 24 hours sail into St Georges Bay. Yes we saw dolphins and flying fish and there were a few showers too. After some rest and recovery sleep we checked in and out again the next day. A trip to Island Waterworld to find they were still selling the old Dolyles guide, but we did get internet and found that Jane and Paul had received an email to say that the cottage on St Barths was off this year – at the last moment they had been told that the house below was having work done involving a jack hammer all day every day plus Paul had wrenched his back so a cramped flight would have been agony. We celebrated my birthday at the Marina restaurant and decided to sail straight for St Lucia

This was another 23 hour sail at tremendous speeds with the only slow bit behind St Vincent when we had to motor. Again we arrived at first light in time for the morning net and to announce our arrival. After checking in and elevenses with wi-fi at Cafe Ole in the marina we spent the rest of the day having lunch and sundowners with Derek and Bridgit. We arranged to use their jetty for the next week.

 After docking on their jetty Malcolm spent the rest of the day tracing the wire from the depth meter so that he could check the resistance. This done he could then arrange for Vincent to call next week and see if he could fix it.

Meanwhile the bilge alarm went off again so we hand pumped the last of the water from the bilge and waited, it went off again about a day later so Malcolm checked and found that the new generator hose was not as tight as it should be- he tightened it and then cleared to seawater up AGAIN. He will also check the other end to be sure that it is tight enough too.

Wednesday Lunch at Bay Gardens was a real treat meeting up with some friends I hadn’t seen for a year or more, plus a few new ones. It seems everyone I talked to was waiting for Vincent to sort out some minor electrical problem! The next amazing item was another earth tremor at 3.50 local time – sufficient to make Piano judder in the water and for the whole jetty to judder too, when satisfied that it was another tremor I looked at Dereks’ windows and yes they were vibrating too!

For Dereks’ birthday this year, he went drinking with a few friends to celebrate, the Sunday afterwards the whole family and friends arrived for lunch arranged by Jane his niece. She cooked a massive amount of Caribbean Pelau and rice, while Jemila did the green salad Alison and others brought birthday cakes and Ice Cream. It was quite daunting trying to remember all the new names and I hope I have not made too many typos with the spellings! Naturally the topic of sailing came up and before long I had suggested that for our annual sail with Derek and Bridgit Mandy and Charlie might like to come? We arranged it for the following Sunday. Here are some snaps…

We ‘flew’ down to Anse Cochon for lunch and made sure that everyone did some helming- even Charlie Junior who was a natural! Mandy had brought a Lasagna and salad for lunch so all I needed to do was heat it and serve it. This along with Piton lagers all the way. Most people snorkelled after lunch.

We arrived back on the jetty just after dusk tired but invigorated to a smooth glass of red wine and said our farewells.

Needless to say Vincent did not materialise with the external echo sounder to check ours with so we took our hosts out for a Chinese meal on the Monday did some final provisioning and sailed for Grenada that week. Kathy and Greg arrived (S/Y ‘Indigo’) they think their engine mountings may have worked loose…..

Another fast sail to Martinique where we anchored for the night and then sailed for Dominica. Should winds have been light this could have taken all day so we maximised on day length and set off at 6 o’clock. So far it has been blissful sailing all the way (8 sometimes 9 knots on a beam reach). We arrived in Ruperts’ Bay around 5 o’clock and were welcomed by Albert. S/Y s’ Liahona, Persphone, and Moose Tracks are here already.

Saturday was the start of Yachtie appreciation week so the usual BBQ with speeches by officials. It sounds formal but is a real delight. The local headmaster had made a special effort to say a few words of thanks, this was brief and heartfelt. His staff PTA and pupils were truly appreciative of the donations made by members of the yachting community. Both the Minister of Tourism and the local MP said a few too many words but I think the clapping took longer every time he hit the nail on the head. They all realise that there are benefit to welcoming us tourists often has knock on effects. Someone had the bright idea of auctioning the table decorations so that made even more money for the cause!

Sunday is the start of Carnival .
Yes I lied We are in Dominica! The internet is being used by everyone and their dog so sorry if these two issues are confused.