February Bonaire diving at last!

Engine block...not ours!

Well my avid readers I’m at it again. After being reminded by 3 friend I’m doing my duty and letting you all know our news. It’s Friday 13th and the first mistake was an accident with the 2 stroke oil which emptied onto the Nav area floor so panic to scoop it up before it went every-where, that done we went for a tank fill and wifi at the yellow Submarine where Fi gave me her advice on Corals which we have seen a plenty over at Klein Bonaire.  There hasn’t been a tail end of a hurricane here since 1999 and growth is taking off fast.  We now have some pretty good snaps of both Corals, fish and sea creatures.  Plus an interesting fact that Parrot fish who dine by scraping the coral with their teeth, (this gets any small creatures into their stomachs) but also means that the coral (dead) gets worn away and excreted as sand for tourists to sit on –tee heee.  We only have 10 tank refills left and the 15th of March is drawing closer when we should be in St Barths again to visit with Jane and Paul.  We need to work fast and be ready for the next weather window to make our way North to Culebra and points East to St Barths.

I hear from some at home that there has been a little snow OK I don’t really miss it but just so that you realise our friends families in Canada are undergoing MINUS 40 C so be thankful it’s not like that in the UK!
 Last weekend we went into Kralendijk to view the children's Carnival, this Sunday is the adults Carnival so more fun to be had.  Expect the adult Carnival in the next update.

Now then a kit update
My iPad has stopped saying that it’s hot and shutting down– maybe it just didn't like the data card—or the fact I wouldn't update it to ios 8, I have taken the bait and updated to 8.3.2 because it has been on top form while here.
The generator has been quite good too, the non charging has been cured but we had a small worry that the same dial was dead the other day ( I tapped it and it sprang to life) so no costly payment necessary.

Dive gear is all performing well, only operator error to blame for leaking masks, and colour problems when the camera is not set for underwater!

 Well that’s about it for this edition.  We have finished all available episodes of House, The Good Wife, and Top of the Lake– which I didn't like very much! We are now watching the second series of Suits with loads more to see.
I have also been putting together DVDs of our snaps by year, and have been trying to edit movies with Go Pro Studio (not much success there) it takes 3 days to make and 3 minutes to watch!!!

By far a better way of spending the day is a light lunch with friends, or a cocktail on shore as the sun sets.
 Next update sometime in March.  Meanwhile enjoy the pictures whether you see them here , on Google plus or Facebook.  

January 8th 2015

  First I must thank–you all for the Christmas updates!  How much easier to swap Christmas greetings and hear so much more of your year at home.  Luckily (or not) you have it all to do before the event, unlike me who needs to write up each new Island just so that I have an aid memoire for the future. I was so lucky that Malcolm wrote the last blog!
 New Years Eve then, began late afternoon for sun-downers on the beach at a club in Curacao with Otto & Esther.  Ottos' son Wicher is flying home to Holland tonight so Esther is driving us.

We limed downtown taking in the ambiance and having a great time with the revelers, raising our glasses at your 12.00 time.

All feeling peckish we then returned to our hosts house where we cooked and devoured our New Year meal. Yum Yum.

Out again and we went to the Hotel at Avila beach.  Very up market , friendly and best of all FREE champagne from the start!

...plus (of course) Fireworks to ring in the New Year.
Then back to ’Piano’ for a small snack and more drinks!

Well it was a great night for all of us I just hope you can say the same.

The rest of our time here has been viewing the Island.  We have been to many wonderful beaches

and done some awesome snorkelling in mostly clear water. Malcolm maintains he has seen a new species every time he has been out.

Rather than spend a whole day at the beach we also did some sightseeing. This was a hike around the Pastors garden involving an 800 year old Kapok tree:

Another day another hike, which started early in the cool of the morning. This is the peak of the highest point on the island in Christoffel Park:

And here some of the fauna, which has benefited from the recent wet weather:

Our Boxing day lunch , although why we look happy I don’t know.  It is the busiest time of the year and we waited hours after ordering then gave up and went for a swim.

  We even managed to get our dive tanks filled so that we are prepared for our next dive.  Of course with the water being so rich and soupy we have had massive growth on the underwater-sides of the tender and ’Piano’

....and after the cleaning:

 We spent a good 3 days cleaning the tender and have a diver coming to do the hull before we leave.
Just for the record it isn’t all a bed of roses! The washing machine seems to be on it’s last legs, major surgery on the door catch every time it is called upon to function.  The electronic ignition on the cooker regularly need attention to work properly but on the plus side the bread maker is performing very well. (I’d better not speak too soon…)
Probably more to come from Curacao but that's it for today.

Happy Christmas Ho Ho Ho...

Christmas in Curacao

The preparations begin...

The floating bridge is decorated ..

...and we enjoy a light lunch with Esther who is waiting for Otto to return tomorrow.
I'm sure there will be more to report as we intend to do more sightseeing when he arrives!
Until then I await news from home and friends far away to see what you have been up to this year!
Have a great Christmas where ever you are and stay safe please.

For those of you who were missed out somehow hear is the long awaited Christmas edict from the Captain - Enjoy!

ANOTHER YEAR IN THE SUN – CHRISTMAS 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2015 TO ALL OUR FRIENDS

Time again to bring you up-to-date with what we've been doing over the last year.

After many years of famine in regard to friends coming out to sail with us, this year brought a flood – 3 sets of visitors for a total of 8 weeks. It was great to be able to share the joys of Caribbean sailing with them and a really enjoyable time was had by all. As all the rendezvous were made in St Lucia, this was the centre of our cruising ground for the year, as attested by all the immigration stamps rapidly filling our passports! We sailed up to St Martin and back via St Barts, Antigua, Dominica and Martinique with Reinhard, down to the Grenadines with Gill and Paul and then, later in the season, explored Martinique with Maria.

While our first two sets of visitors were with us, we were accumulating the usual selection of mechanical and electrical problems but thankfully, nothing for which we didn't have a backup system, so our plans weren't interrupted. Then, however, one of our engine batteries , which was less than a year old, failed, so we decided to head back to St Martin to replace both of them. Our biggest excitement of the year came when trying to cross from the Dutch to the French side of the St Martin lagoon to go out through the French bridge. This is a very poorly marked channel but one we had used many times before. This time, however, we ran hard aground and the combined efforts of 4 RIBs couldn't get us clear initially. We sat there for a couple of hours surveying the surroundings by dinghy then, using the wake of a passing motorboat, we managed to get off under our own power. By this time we had missed the bridge opening so we went back to anchor. We didn't want to risk this channel again so decided to use the Dutch bridge the next morning, as there's deep water all the way. However, when we came to get our anchor up, we brought up half a wooden wreck. Luckily our friend Lee from Allegro was close and together we managed to extricate the anchor from it and, by the skin of our teeth, got through the bridge before it closed. From St Martin, we headed to Guadeloupe and then to Iles aux Saintes and Marie Galant. The latter was our second “new” island of the year, after Dominica – very peaceful and intensely agricultural, with animals working the fields everywhere.

In late May, after Maria had left us, we headed south again towards Trinidad visiting Bequia, Carriacou, Petite Martinique and Grenada on the way. Petite Martinique was our third “new” island of the year. Finally on May 28 we arrived in Trinidad, after a very enjoyable season, during which we sailed just under 2500 miles. This year, PIANO stayed in the water at Crews Inn throughout the hurricane season, while we spent 8 weeks in England, enjoying one of the best summers I can remember for a long while. While there, we managed to catch up with quite a few old friends, some of whom we hadn't seen for quite a time. Back in Trinidad, there were plenty of jobs to get done, although nothing as major as last year. One big purchase was a new mainsail – the original one from Hood had done sterling service for almost 20 years but was now deteriorating in a few areas. Its service isn't totally over though, as the sailmaker arranged for it to be donated to fishermen in Haiti! It wasn't all work, however, and amongst other things, we took the opportunity to take part in Barts Bash on a friend's boat. This event set a new Guinness World Record for the “Largest Sailing Race in the World (Multiple Locations over 24 hours)”. We were one of almost 17000 competing boats from 500 clubs in 60 countries. Amazingly, Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association achieved a turnout of 46 boats, fairly evenly split between dinghies and offshore yachts. Contrary to all expectations, the sailing conditions were almost perfect and we had a great time, while achieving a very creditable result according to the local results.

With virtually all the planned jobs completed, we set off for Grenada on 9 October to start another season. Although the wind was light, there was almost nothing in the way of waves to disturb things, so the new mainsail was able to drive us quickly and very comfortably to our destination. The plan had been to spend just a day or two in Grenada before setting off downwind to Bonaire to go diving for a month. However, a whole string of equipment failures put paid to that plan. The biggest problems were the generator, which stopped generating and the freezer, which stopped freezing! We ended up stuck in Grenada for almost 2 months, mainly spent waiting for the correct parts to arrive from the US. Finally, on November 30 we were able to leave and reached Bonaire almost exactly 3 days later after another very pleasant and uneventful sail. There were more yachts than last time we were there, so we had to take one of the row of moorings that is VERY close to the shore. Luckily a couple of days later one of the outer ones (an extra 30m from the shore!) became available. This one was in a very good spot for diving and snorkelling, so we took full advantage during our stay. One innovation since our last visit was the provision of a free twice-weekly shopping bus to the island's best supermarket (Van den Tweel). In Grenada, the range of provisions available was often very limited – for example we only found fresh tomatoes twice in two months – but here, on this much smaller island, our eyes lit up at the range and quality of the food in the supermarket. After just a week in Bonaire, we made the 8 hour hop across to Curacao, where we will spent Christmas and New Year. Again it was an almost perfect sail and soon we were safely tucked up in the marina at Curacao Marine. This marina is in the large commercial port area and, while not at all scenic, it is very convenient, being just a few minutes drive to the house of our friends Otto and Esther. This will be the third Christmas we have celebrated with them – the first in Lanzarote, then Suriname and now Curacao! The Christmas celebrations are just about to start in earnest as I write this, with a Christmas Eve lunch at a beachside restaurant planned, so that's all the new for this year.

If you have any plans to visit the Caribbean in the coming year, do let us know and we'll see whether we can meet up. We hope that, wherever you are, you have an enjoyable festive season and a successful 2015.

Malcolm and Sue

So Much Waiting

Waiting ...More Waiting!
I am remiss; We anchored off Calivigny Island and went to our first Dinghy Concert, this was held a short ride into Le Phare Bleu Marina entrance.

  They tow a barge for the musical entertainment and the bar, then everyone in a dinghy ties up behind to listen and ‘Chill’.  We were joined by Jen and John (S/Y Aeeshah) so we caught up with their news.  We also visited ‘Taffies’ for real fish & chips.
Next we motored to recharge the batteries back to St Georges and who should we see as we anchored ?- yes Dave from Mistral! He kindly suggested to stop by and have a look at the freezer the next day.
Well he spent hours with his trusty sniffer and eventually found a leak near the condenser plates.  The choice was to get a new condenser or failing that a new freezer! So to cut a long story short we ordered a new freezer! That Sunday we went to a BBQ at the Coastguards grounds near Prickly Bay by bus. Ten days later we anchored in Prickly Bay for Malcolm to dinghy in to Budget Marine to collect it, VERY Rolly) then back to St Georges for Dave to fit it. Meanwhile Arlene has been busy sourcing the new small end for the generator.  On Saturday we had dinner in Port Louis Marina, on the way home,  Malcolm managed to miss the step getting into the dinghy so ended up in the water, the only damage was a wet wallet and a lost shoe. (What drama)  The next morning –Sunday we motored round to Le Phare Bleu Marina in torrential rain. Kenny the dock master came out to meet us and guide us in as the visibility was quite poor. The new part arrived and work was started by Kevin to remove the old one.  At lunch time Mike his boss told us that it was designed for 110 volts (the American model) and he had Simon out to test for any other problems so that if we could use the old parts for the 220 we would– but no there were other issues so this meant ANOTHER one had to be sent. More work for Arlene, but now she has me to sympathise with and I’m sure she couldn't be doing a better job.

 In the meantime it’s a month since the Dinghy Concert so there’s another one this Sunday.
No shopping buses but the mini market has fresh bread, Wholemeal, French,  Italian, plus sweet pastries too. The shop will also provision for us, as I hand the order in I spy Fresh Tomatoes and lettuce so make a snap decision and take the lot ( there have been no Tomatoes in the supermarkets since we have been in Grenada!)
Tuesday 26th November, the latest small end has been cleared by Arlenes’ husband and is brought to Piano by Kevin, who promptly fits it...

...then comes the moment to start and test it.  All the right noises are made for: preheat, start etc, however, after turning over nothing more.  The fuel line is checked and all the new wiring, each with no success, Kevin then starts on other wires and with the help from Reverend Danny it is finally found.  She springs to life a happy generator once again!  Later Simon comes round to give the final checks together with advice after also checking the battery banks.  One in particular keeps overheating and probably needs replacing quite soon the others are less fit than expected so another expense to look forward to.
    After paying ‘Palm Tree Marine for all their hard work, and the Marina for the extra long stay we say goodbye to everyone who has been so helpful, friendly and sympathetic.

Rev Danny, Arlene and Kevin Thank-You so much ! you guys are the greatest!

 We sail around to St Georges Bay to do some final shopping and clear out with Customs & Immigration.  Next we prepare for the sail to Bonaire and surprisingly we manage to get away by 08.30 the next morning.  ‘Piano’ is soon under way and enjoying the down-wind run.  We sail most of the day with one reef in but before dark we add another two to make the sail more comfortable for sleeping. Over 100 miles traveled on each day. In all it takes 71 hours for 390 Nautical miles and we arrive at 7.30 on Tuesday 2nd of December.

October came first

Well October came first, and as I write here in the air-conditioner Commadores room at Crews Inn I can afford to tell you of the nitty gritty going on. Our fellow cruisers have just left on the Neirid Rally to Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname, the place seems empty with out their smiling faces.

HAWK MOTH, Pseudosphinx tetrio

Frangipani Caterpillar

This large dark silvery-gray moth pupates from the ground under the wild Frangipani Tree (Plumieria alba) and sometimes from under Allamandas (Yellow Bells), also belonging to the Apocynaceae family.  The caterpillar is large, about 5  inches long, and as fat as a finger. They are very conspicuous with yellow bands on the black body and has a red head, presumably as a warning signal to birds. They feed on the poisonous sap, thus becoming poisonous to the birds that might be searching for food. After the leaves are stripped by the voracious caterpillars then bury into the ground to pupate. This cycle is said to be of much use to each party, so they thus live in a symbiotic relationship.   The gardners' trimmed the empty stems , since they were unsightly, we just wait for the pupation to end

  Falco (as efficient as ever) came to change the freshwater pump , even this took 2 working days as a gasket was not included so had to be sourced before he finished, and he was suffering the after effects of chikungunya the latest mosquito infection to hit the area.

  Graham and the gel coat team arrived to remove then re-seat all the port-lights, which now hopefully will last another 15 years.  We bumped into the expert gel coat man (Colin) to have a look at a few spots Malcolm is worried about but to date he has not managed to come and inspect them- so this will have to wait til next year.  He is very busy on another yacht which must have priority.

  Then of course Malcolm managed to drop his wallet which caused 3 weeks of trauma, having knock on affects while waiting for new cards to arrive.  Many returning cruisers and their friends & family back in the UK were involved in helping and deserve our heartfelt THANKS. Still that meant the weekly BBQ was a welcome break from eating out.

                          

                 which Malcolm fitted himself. This means that all the sailing kit is ready for our new cruising season yippee. 

  The next big event was the 'Barts Bash' a sailing event to get into the Guinness Book of Records.  We crewed  for 'Aeeshah',  since 'Piano' was in no fit state to compete.

Thanks Bethany for this snap

and this the happy team, Captain John, Jen, and their crew for the race

We had a brilliant sail, aboard a fast boat, no bad language, and plenty of fun at TTSA in the party afterwards.

 I'll leave you to look at Aeeshahs blog for the details Click here for our fun.

<http://www.aeeshah.com/blog/>

 We finally took possession of the new main last week amid the heavy rain of a Tropical depression passing through.  Instead of 2 hours it took closer to 3 days to fit and still requires some of the ropes to be sorted.

Jonas the rigger (who was asked to check the rig back in June choose the same day to do his check and found that we needed a new forestay, he does work fast and that was completed in record time.

Now for the fun items:

Another trip to Asa Wrights' Bird Sanctuary, where Barry the Warden remembered us from last time.  The snap shows feeding time on the veranda, and you may just see the Great Kisskadees in the bush waiting their turn at the sugar trough.

A hike in Tropical rain to see various birds.

A land crab enjoying the wet weather.

The Tropical rain drenched the whole of Trinidad and we were lucky to even get there, getting home 

.was more difficult when this tree fell into the road

Luckily someone had a machete in his car and made short work of clearing it, 20 minutes later we were traveling again.

Elsewhere, at TTSA some yachts were seriously damaged:

This yacht ended up on the shore
leaning to starboard,
 so it will be full of water by now.

,Our return to 'Piano' was to no shore power and flat batteries

The RCD had cut in when the power was resumed and left ‘Piano’ quite happily on batteries only, except that we had left the freezer and the fridge on (because I had defrosted said freezer that day) The rectification of shore power is on going and I’m not going to delay posting this blog for any 

...longer.  I’ll leave it as a cliff-hanger until the next episode.

Apologies are in order for the cranky full stops and exclamations at the beginning of the sentences, just another quirk to put up with

September 2014

Back To Trinidad.
  Well there’s no news like old news, so here goes.  We did leave the UK with a little sunshine but all we received after returning were comments as to how awful the weather was once we had left!
 We finally reached Piano at 3.30 am on the 7th August, after a dreadful flight. The Monarch flight had been detained by air traffic control at Manchester unable to leave its hanger or refuel, so arrived at Gatwick 2 hours 55 minutes late! Then slight headwinds so we were almost 4 hours late, Malcolm had left 4 hours between flights from Tobago to Trinidad knowing we could take some beach time to acclimatize, not to be!

We were put on standby and managed to catch the last flight out at 1.45 am on the 7th  all thanks to the sterling work done by Caribbean Airlines staff doing their utmost to get us all home.  (After complaining to Monarch we have heard nothing as yet, in the way of apology)
  We have been back for a month and have settled in nicely.  Abdu has been to re-varnish a few spots where seawater has done its worst.  Kay has made alterations to the dinghy chaps , spray hood and bimini, and we are very pleased with her work as usual.  Ian has helped Malcolm to drill out the screw from the staysail furler and is as I write replacing the thread.  The new anchor has been marked ready for use , installed and is ready to do duty.  (Its home has been cleaned and polished too!)   The lads from Dynamite have been to rectify the fuel tank fitting and are in the process of sorting out the small hatches which seem to allow seawater to ingress.

On the bright side we have been to listen to the Trinidad & Tobago Youth Philharmonic playing Tchaikovsky at the new Queens Hall in Port of Spain.  How amazing that this was the day that our dear friends Otto and Esther came to visit unannounced!

We must have missed them by a few hours! hopefully we will catch up with them in Curacao in November.

and the Starlight Steel Pan Orchestras' Independence Day Celebrations.  This meant missing two sessions of Mexican Train Dominoes with both events being on a Sunday.
Shopping takes place each Tuesday or Friday which ever is more convenient.
The new watch which I bought in the UK has fallen to pieces ALREADY so I shall be sending it back!  and the mobile printer which was supposed to be the answer to our printing problems has been giving Malcolm big headaches.

 Most stuff is proceeding at the usual Caribbean slow rate here, The main upset has been that Malcolm lost his wallet while cycling between two cash machines and to cut a long story short the guys who found it and gave us the run around finally brought it back sans 350 TT $ (£35) so no reward for all the problems they caused us.  We have had to cancel 2 cards and his driving licence, but all are winging there way home with some Brits who are also bringing spares back for us. The forestay is now fully operational after a weeks work with Ian the winch guy to help, the dinghy chaps have been modified to stop water syphoning in at high speed, and the bimini has also had modifications to stop some tiresome drips so all is now watertight and usable in all weathers!  Varnishing has been finished indoors ( as it is the RAINY season and a neat thing to do if not reading or swimming etc) another leak in the mast boot has too been fixed along with a cycle repair puncture and 2 new spokes by Maxwell for only 100 TT $. (£10) 

That just means the new main, freshwater pump for the generator, and troublesome leftovers since the re gel job last year namely re-seating the port light windows and rewiring the aerial for the furuno box of tricks which is not receiving any satellite info for the nav systems! eeek the list just gets longer!!!!!

that's enough to let you get the picture.
Next update just before we sail or early October whichever comes first!

June to August 2014

Well my intrepid readers here we are in the UK once again, for the hurricane season.

Thanks first to my mother who has put up with us the longest in Sandwich, as usual home cooking has meant that I have put a few extra kilos on! 

 Next we travel down to the cottage to do some house work in the form of window painting etcetera.  Our first real outing of the visit was the Eden Project. Last year we visited in November and it was too hot to use the Tropical walkway!  This year it has been discontinued , however the Tropical Biome does have an air conditioned room to chill out in (if you need it)

 The shop supports the foundation by selling ethically sourced products and look what we found:

 Coconut Candles!  Next up was a hike along to Loe sands, the water was crystal clear and we could see huge jelly fish in the water too.

                       Our first visitor was Gaye my housemate from early in my career.

Our friends Raymond and Helga came to visit so we took them to Polo on the beach at Newquay, this being a shot of the venue, still underwater from high tide.  A few hours later the event began and was terrific fun- if a little slower than the real type of Polo at Windsor Great park.

 Next a visit to our dear friends Denise and Anton at Postling, this is a walk we went on after a massive lunch cooked by Denise.  Plus who else is there but Maria who visited us this year looking for Papillion -in Martinique!

This is a shot is of the Sailing Club at Theale with Malcolm helping his old buddies rig their boat,

Now a picture of the walk we did at Sidmouth while passing through.  Sidmouth was hit by a storm last winter which took part of the sea wall away.  It has subsequently been restored for us walkers.

 Finally we stayed with Gill and Paul for a week while the holiday makers used the cottage,  we had a pleasant day out at Silchester Roman Ruins this being the amphitheater.

The present "Dig" site which is below the Roman ruins, is now down at the Iron Age.  Unfortunately English Heritage who owns the site will loose the band of archaeologists from Reading University this year.  The grant has expired so the site will be re-covered to preserve it !

We also had time to Visit our 'old ' friends in Darby Green , namely Vi and John  ex-neighbours, then Shirely and David- just look at Shirelys' quilt:

James and Franke at Reading, Patti and Peter in wildest Berkshire plus Malcolms' sister and family in Basildon, giving everyone the usual invitation to visit us in the Caribbean.
I am writing this sitting at my mothers while cooking the evening meal, we have had a wonderful stay with sun-kissed weather.
My Uncle Chump is 90 years young on the 9th of August I'm sure it will be a grand family gathering but by then we will be back in Trinidad.  Yes we will raise a glass!