Turning around, waving good-bye and losing control

Road Town, British Virgin Islands
18 25.4N 64 36.8W

Dominica was our southern most destinations in the Caribbean for the season. We have made the decision to take Matsu back to the United States where she will be hauled out while we’re going to England for hurricane season and beyond. Thanks to the economic downfall, we need to replenish the cruising kitty. The UK was selected as it will give us the opportunity to spend more time with Tim’s relatives, it’s much closer than Australia, it will give Linda a new “living abroad” experience and, as a bonus we’ll earn money in a stronger currency. So it is time to turn around and head north.

The first leg of the return trip was short and easy. It took us to lovely Les Saintes in the south of Guadeloupe. We spent a few days there saying tearful good-byes to Wendy and Peter of Keesje II and also to Tracy and Ian of Loon but, as they are also returning to England during that period, it was simply an “au revoir” and promises were made to see each other again soon.

The second leg was to take us from Les Saintes to Deshaies, a little bay on the north-west coast of Guadeloupe. The trip started beautifully as we crossed the “Canal des Saintes”. The sea conditions and wind gusts are renowned to be quite fierce in this passage but, despite 25 knots of wind it was all relatively settled on that day. Just as we were rounding the southern most part of Guadeloupe the autopilot started beeping and stopped functioning. We had noticed a tiny leak coming out of the helm and thought the autopilot might just be in need of some more fluid. Taking the helm we quickly realised that we had no control over the steering of the boat and the boat was now aiming straight for the rocky shore. Ahhhhh! A series of action happened in the following 5 minutes which might not be exactly in this order … The engine was started, the Genoa furled, the emergency tiller dug out and installed, the main sheet dropped and with great difficulty the boat was put back on course. While the Captain was fighting with the emergency tiller trying to maintain a course parallel to shore, the crew was tempting to refill oil in the hydraulic steering system spilling it everywhere. Somehow it worked and once we were safely in the lee of the island we were able to motor up the coast using the helm and made it safely to Deshaies.

In Deshaies, the Captain now turned Hydraulic Technician changed the faulty seal for a spare one we had on board (thanks again Jeff & Ann!). Hydraulic fluid was added and the lines were bled of air. As we proved by the 70 nautical miles passage from Deshaies to Antigua, the steering and the autopilot were back working and the story was over … so we thought.

In Antigua, we sadly again, said good-bye to our cruising friends Michèle and Jean-Pierre of Bleu Marie. This time it’s in Canada (au Lac Noir) this summer that we will rendezvous!

The fourth leg was of only 10 miles in calm water behind a reef in Antigua. Mid way, the autopilot started beeping again. We looked at each other slightly panicked but, luckily the helm was still working and, according to the Captain alias Hydraulic Technician, the autopilot probably needed more bleeding of air. Easy enough and we did so when we arrived at destination.

The fifth leg took us to St-Barts about 75 nautical miles from Antigua. A bit unsure about the steering reliability, we put the dinghy on deck and rigged the wind vane at the back of the boat. A Sayes rig wind vane was part of the boat inventory when we bought Matsu 2 years ago. We had tried it once and had decided that it was a very good way to steer the boat on long sea passages, but cumbersome to rig for more coastal work. It doesn’t require any electrical power and keeps a good average course responding to the subtle wind variation.

Furthermore, when the dinghy is raised on the newly installed davits we can’t use the wind vane. We designed the davits making sure we would still be able to use the wind vane (putting the dinghy on the foredeck) but we actually hadn’t yet tried it. Predictably, it wasn’t quite working freely and some adjustments (involving an angle grinder!) were necessary. We were quite glad we had taken the time to make these adjustments when, 20 miles into the journey to St-Barth, the autopilot stopped working again. We made the next 50 miles under wind vane and arrived in St-Barts safely. Again, the blame was put on air in the system and, once again more fluid was added and more bleeding of air was done.

We made the sixth leg to Sint-Maarten without steering problems. Sint-Maarten being a major boat repair hub, it was easy to get professional advices. We were told the problem was most likely air in system indeed. So we started fresh, drained all the existing oil and refilled and bled the system.

Once again it was time to say some good-byes to L’Aventura, Voyageur C and Daniell Story, three boats we happily bodied with over the last 2 sailing seasons. We’ll missed them dearly and promised to stay in touch … we never know, we might cross paths again somewhere in the 7 oceans.

From Sint-Maarten, we sailed some 80 nautical miles towards the Virgin Islands. It was a gentle broad reach in calm seas under blue sky. Everything was working beautifully up to the last 5 miles when we were just about to get to a cut through a reef. The skies then opened, the wind blew a gale, the sea became rough and … the autopilot stopped working.

We are now in Road Town, Tortola, BVI. We again sought professional advice being a bit lost for words (and ideas!) - apparently the hydraulic steering system needs more bleeding of air…

Somewhere in all this we caught a tuna, saw hump backed whales and had some fun, but the steering fiasco rather overshadowed it!

Back To Nature

Portsmouth, Dominica
15 34.9N 61 28.1W

Wow! Dominica is in the fortunate position of being so mountainous that there is only one place flat enough for an airport and that has a very short run way. As a consequence, no resorts, no development and lots of nature.

Visitors fall into 3 groups, Cruise ships tie up at the capital for 24 hours of shopping and touring a couple of the more accessible water falls, yachties and finally the eco tourists who brave the small planes.

We spent a superb week in Portsmouth, visiting a few of the sights and chatting to every Dominican we met, everyone is friendly and they all want us to tell our friends to come, but don't spoil the environment!

The first day of touring we hired a car with Jean Pierre and Michelle from Bleu Marie and drove a circuit of the north end of the island, the roads are steep, twisty and pot holed and keeping your eyes on them hard as you pass through stunning mountain scenery, lush rainforest and people going about their day.

Our first major stop was the village of Bense and a walk through the forest to a superb set of pools in the river.

The main pool is an outdoor spa, the water from the small falls tumbles into the pool and swirls around, causing bubbles and currents and making for an incredible swim. We had the whole place to ourselves for over an hour, parrots in the trees, and sunlight falling through the canopy - amazing!

We drove on from there through more wild forest and then miles of cultivated land, banana trees, oranges, grapefruit, avocados the smell wafting through the windows.

The drive took us to the only Carib Indian reserve in the world, where the remaining descendants of the original inhabitants live.

Not much to see really and the one place tourism seems to have had an effect as there was a lot of begging despite them being richer than the rest of the islanders!

Our next outing was trip up the Indian River. Portsmouth is home to a collection of locals with boats, the Boat Boys, that cater to your every need in the anchorage, they can arrange laundry, fresh bread, fruit etc all at prices much higher than if you just go ashore yourself! That said they also offer great security in the anchorage, lots of fun and tours of the Indian River.

Charlie our selected boat boy was fabulous, he picked us up and then rowed us slowly up river as we watched the birds and wildlife along the banks.

It's a narrow mangrove river and was used in Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 apparently (we're collecting set locations) the tree roots are astonishing, gnarled and clinging to the ever eroding banks. The trees themselves covered in parasitic plants like orchids and ferns - a very relaxing start to the day.

Sunday night is party night, as apparently are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, so the anchorage is bathed in very very loud music, so rather than not sleep we headed ashore for the BBQ and rum punch festival, a great night out and a chance to catch up with the locals on their day off.

Monday, a bit the worse for wear, we set off again in the car, first stop Emerald Pools, a more developed tourist spot, thankfully we were there when the cruise ships weren't, so we got a relatively unspoilt walk through the stunning forest to the pools.

Green sums up the forest - everything is green, and then the green things have other green things growing on them like moss, or lichens.

From here we went to Victoria Falls and another wow moment. The walk goes up a river bed and crosses the river 5 times, so it's bare feet and wading for a kilometre or two. The valley is great, but the end pont being the 78 foot high water fall is even better.

The day we saw it there had been relatively little rain, but still the force of the water put us off bathing there, settling instead for a more sedate rock pool. In the rainy season apparently you can't get within 200m of the foot of the falls!

The final leg of the grand tour came with a day out in the Cabrits national park that overlooks the anchorage at Portsmouth. It is basically 2 hills that were once home to a huge British Garrison and fort. Dominica is half way between Martinique (French) and Guadeloupe (French) so obviously the British were a bit concerned it may get invaded!

Today there is a restored fort, and perhaps more interestingly as you walk the trails you stumble of the parts that are unrestored, cannons, walls with trees entwined in them and all sorts of remains of days gone by.

Fascinating fact of the day, it is the British invention of the brass cannon that means we won the battles out here, plus Trafalgar, apparently. French could only get 2 shots off with their iron ones while we blasted merry hell out of them with our fancy new fangled brass ones. No doubt there was a huge argument over military funding in the budget and awarding the contract to Lord so and so's nephew but it all worked out in the end!

Dominica sadly marks the turn around point for us. We are heading back to the USA for summer, then a spell of w*rking in the UK to pay for more travels. So from here we will start the long journey north, but with plenty of time and the wind behind us it should be more pleasant than the original bash down the the Thorny Path.

We will upload more photo albums very soon, so check the link.

Iles Des Saintes

Iles Des Saintes, Guadeloupe
15 52.1N 61 35.1W

Don’t they all look the same after a while? a friend asked one day, when talking about the Caribbean Islands - without a doubt the answer is no. Not only they look different but they also feel different.

Les Saintes, a little group of islands just south of the main island of Guadeloupe is one of our favorite places in the whole Caribbean. The picturesque setting of Bourg Des Saintes, the beautiful snorkeling around the islands, the best baguettes and pain chocolats in the Caribbean and the relaxed attitude of the people makes this place very special. Try to imagine a place where children can run free, where you never lock your doors, where the beaches are spectacular, where the weather is almost perfect and where you can get the best food and wine France has to offer.

We had a lazy and enjoyable week or so with our good friends Wendy and Peter of Keesje II. We walked all over the islands, eating, drinking, liming well … cruising. What a great time, what a great life.

We had originally planned to visit Guadeloupe and Martinique but both islands were completely shut down by a general strike. Islanders are requesting equal salaries and living standards (price of food, petrol, etc) as on main land France. Also, they are making the point that people living on the islands don’t have equal opportunities as most businesses are being run by the “Békés” , the first French immigrants to the islands, and that their control and attitude towards the other islanders is overpowering. Slavery has ended but the descendants of the same white families that owned the plantations now own the tools of capitalism, while the descendants of the slaves work minimum wage jobs in the area with the highest cost of living in France.

Luckily most of this feeling is not present in Les Saintes and it manages to both look like and be a paradise!

Festival Of Cricket

English Harbour, Antigua
17 00.2N 61 45.7W

The main reason for coming back to Antigua so soon was the 2nd Test Match, the cancellation of it and a few events to coincide with it meant for a marathon of cricket over about 10 days that tested even my infinite love of the game!

First leg of the marathon was for me to play in a tennis ball cricket competition for a local side, Curtly Ambrose & Richie Richardson umpired and I got to meet the enormous man himself, and no I am not standing in a hole!

Roger Wilson flew in to join me for the 5 days of the test, and we set off with high hopes on Friday 13th for day 1. We sat in the allocated seats that were to be our home for the next 5 days and got the first round in ready for the 10am start. Lets face it we should have guessed given the date, but as you all now know the pitch was a sand pit and after 10 balls the match was abandoned.

Luckily for us we had shared a taxi to the ground with some people who had tickest to the "party stand" (free beer and food) so we blagged our way past the overweight security guard, promising to be back soon, and settled in for a mammoth free drinking festival.

To while away the time between beers, we chatted with Freddy Flintoff, Curtly came by again, we walked onto the field with 500 other disgruntled fans and surveyed the damage before being removed by security guards, and then had a beer to cool down.

The party stand even has a pool so Rog could freshen up after his flight!

Day 2 dawned with uncertainty and hang overs, would the game go on, in fact could we go on. Luckily the RFU had laid on some 6 Nations for us to watch, and the internet told us we would have a match on Sunday. It even rained all day so we didn't feel like we missed any cricket!

So Day 3 off we head to the Antigua Recreation Ground for the now renamed 3rd Test. It is a much better venue, loads of atmosphere, right in the centre of town, the scene of many a record breaking match/innings and to my knowledge the only test ground in the world where you can have BBQ lobster for lunch under the main stand!

Sadly Rog had to fly home at lunch on day 3 of the new test, but I got to stay on for the full 5 days, soaking up the atmosphere and fulfilling a life long dream of watching a test in the West Indies.

St Bart's To Antigua On One Tack!

Jolly Harbour, Antigua
17 04.5N 61 53.8W

We have arranged to be in Antigua for the England vs West Indies cricket test match. Due to easterly trade winds, the usual way to go from St-Barts to Antigua is to day hop to St-Kitts or Nevis, then from St-Kitts or Nevis to Montserrat, followed by a leg from Montserrat to Guadeloupe and then up from Guadeloupe to Antigua.

Four days of sailing were expected so we left with plenty of time ahead of us before the first day of cricket. The sailing plan was to sail as close to the wind as we can and try to make the first leg all the way to Nevis. About half way, the captain announced that we were actually on a rhumb line to Antigua direct. There were still 50 something miles to go so it could well change but so far so good ... we arrived in Jolly Harbour Antigua just after sunset, amazed we had made it on one tack! And the winning prize was ... 2 beautiful tuna.

St-Barts, The Sanatorium

Anse Colombier, St Bart's
17 55.4N 62 52.3W

For the first time in many years, I (Linda) woke up with a sore throat, a blocked nose, a massive headache and could feel every muscle in my body. I had caught the flu!

Apparently it’s been around the islands since Christmas coincidentally just at the start of the “high season” of tourism. I suppose it’s difficult to impose a quarantine period on tourists coming on a weeks holiday ...

But do not worry, Tim took me back to my favourite island and I got to recover movie star style in St-Barts. It’s a shame we missed out on more diving while we were there but we had some lovely walks on the beach, wonderful lunches on the waterfront and a few swims in these turtle “infested” turquoise waters.

Busy In St Martin

Marigot Bay, St Martin
18 04.0N 63 05.4

It was perfect timing - we had about a week’s worth of chores to do and arrived in St Martin just as the weather turned to very wet and windy with frequent heavy showers and lots of grey sky, plus plenty of wind to test our new wind generator. We bought one in Trinidad and it started to make a grinding noise after a month or two, so it was sent back to the manufacturer for repair and we had come to St Martin primarily to pick it up.

After an hour or two mounting it, running the wire again etc etc we sat back and watched it spin and put out lovely amps – then during the night we were woken by ker thunk, ker thunk and the same problem had reappeared! The manufacturer was great, we got a new unit shipped to us for free and after uninstalling the old one yet again, and installing the new one all was well and we could fully join in the “amp wanking” with our cruising mates again.

“Amp Wanking” – this is a term coined to cover the endless discussions held by cruiser over evening drinks about the size of their battery bank, how much power they get from solars, wind gennies etc and how many amps the fridge uses – it’s the cruising equivalent of how well little Johnny is doing at school, what grade at violin he is etc etc.

The rest of the time passed raiding the chandleries, buying wine and cheese in French St Martin, and Heineken, fruit and vegetables in Dutch Sint Maarten. We also said farewell to many cruising friends heading in a different direction from there. So, not the most interesting cruising week but we both feel good about it as Matsu is again in top condition and the cupboards all filled with goodies. By the way, do not throw away your socks when you go sailing in the tropics, they make fantastic shock proof covers for wine bottles!

St Tropez Of The Caribbean

Anse Colombier, St Bart's
17 55.4N 62 52.3W

Yes we are on our way to St-Martin but St-Barts is on the way and we’ve never been so …we checked it out and it was definitely worth it!

Gustavia, the capital is a busy port de plaisance filled with super yachts, mega yachts, pretty yachts and more yachts. In town you can find everything you don’t need on a yacht … Gucci bags, Dior perfumes, Chanel clothes, confit de canard and caviar. But we loved it!

We opted instead for a secluded anchorage called Anse Colombier about 5 miles from Gustavia, ie only the 2 huge mega yachts blocking our sunset and a few cruising boats. It’s in a marine national park and it’s very pretty, lovely white sand beach, walking trails over the iland and turtles endlessly swimming past the boat.

The marine life has been protected for many years now and a trip underwater shows the benefit of it. We had an absolutely wonderful dive where we saw turtles, rays, eagle rays, eels, and thousands of fish. We were adopted by a large queen angel fish who travel with us for the entire dive, absolutely amazing!

But yes, we still have to get to St-Martin and get our repaired wind generator so let’s go.

Sand, Sand, Sand

Cocoa Point, Barbuda
17 33.2N 61 46.1W

We said goodbye to Antigua and had a lovely sail to Barbuda. Average speed of 8.5 knots on a 40 mile journey … not bad! All that time fixing the engine and we sailed the whole way! But oh so good to be on the move again.

Barbuda is nothing more than a beach … but what a beach. Fine pale pink sand for kilometers, actually all around this little island. We walked some 10 kilometers along it the first day. A very good stretching of legs after 10 days cramped in the engine room.

We also took advantage of this dream location to reconcile ourselves with cruising. So no work for a few days, long walks, bike rides, snorkels and swimming in this clear turquoise water. Book reading and star watching completed the activities. We promised ourselves to be back soon but St-Martin and our repaired wind generator are calling us …

Gear Box Repairs

"Jolly" Harbour, Antigua
17 04.5N 61 53.8W

To Cruise: v.i. To sail about without precise destination or making repairs at a series of places, often exotic.

Boats are under an awful lot of stress caused by salt water, harsh sunshine, bashing waves, etc. People say that the more use a boat gets, the better it is for its various systems but I personally think boats are in better shape simply because you have no choice but spending so much time maintaining and fixing them. This is not a complaint, just a foot note to the Christmas video!

So, after a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous week –at anchor- with The Wilsons to start the new year we decided to tackle the issue on hand, the gear box. To make a long and painful story short, the dip stick supposedly firmly attached to the fill nut had fallen into the gear box and, depending on the point of sail, the moon quarter and/or any other completely esoteric reason we did or didn’t have reverse gear. We lived with this gremlin for while, making sure we could entertain friends joining us for a sailing holiday. A very special thanks to Dave from s/v Magic who helped us anchoring at times when all the above mentioned factors were aligned and the engine was refusing to go into reverse.

So there we were, in beautiful Antigua, taking the engine apart. To do so, the entire engine had to be parted from its mounts and lifted in the air. It’s been firmly attached for 20 years so to undo the 12 reliable bolts took a hard day of work.

The second day the engine was lifted and held in place with a hydraulic jack and another fight with bolts attaching the gear box to the engine started. Let me explain how this work would be better performed by a mix between a yogi, a contortionist, and an arm wrestler. First it needs to be done in an upside down position, requires 2 elbow flexes and 3 wrist ones to get a tool on the one bolt and then, the easy part, you must apply incredible force in order to loosen it. A few “mantras”, 12 repetitions and voila! I did hold the light and pass the tools remarkably well but all merit goes to Tim alias Captain, Chief Engineer, Mechanic, Yogi, Contortionist, Arm Wrestler and amazing husband. Once out the gear box had to be opened up the offending and by now very badly mangled dip stick removed and then reassembled trying not to get it sealed so it won't leak oil!

It cost us all of $40 to get it fixed, an improvement from the initial fear that the gear box would need to be replaced entirely and, on an engine that old, it might not worth it, replacing the entire engine being a wiser, but very expensive and time consuming, decision.

To put it back together was not an easy task but it was somehow easier and done with a lot more enthusiasm. We tested the engine by moving anchorage in 25 knots of wind and a head sea and it all worked well. I must (reluctantly) say that we had a scary moment during the test when a very loud BANG was heard. We both thought the engine mounts had given way in the rough seas but, “fortunately” it was the anchor falling off the bow roller. I had forgotten to tie it down when leaving the anchorage. Major Oops! But luckily no damage, just very wet people.

So with the gear box now back working it is off to Barbuda for some R&R on the white sands there.

A Wilson New Year

Jolly Harbour, Antigua
17 04.5N 61 53.8W

Kate , Rog, Abby and Georgie Wilson flew into Antigua for a week on Matsu in time to celebrate the new year, the warm weather (after a Philly winter) and all things Antiguan.

Our plan was to sail round some of our favourite anhcorages with them, but as we prepared to leave Jolly Harbour the gear box that has been giving us intermittent problems since Union Island finally died for good. So instead we spent a wonderful week "stranded" in Jolly Harbour this left us with a mere 7-8 deserted beaches to enjoy and the kids missed out on the joys of a 5 hour sail from place to place - not sure it was too much hard ship!

New Year's Eve was very special, we had a night on the beach with a BBQ and a camp fire and at midnight let off the Chinese lanterns that Mike and Liz had brought last April, we finally had a night of no wind and something to celebrate with friends. During Mike & Liz's visit it blew 30 knots all day and night and we feared major burns or starting a bush fire!

The evening finished with Kate & Abby fast asleep on the beach, while Georgie and Rog ran round partying and asking for more beer, so no genetic predispositions there then!

The rest fo the holiday passed with conch shell collecting and just having a lovely time and we were very sad to see them all head off to the airport. Kate somehow let herself give Rog permission to return for the test match in Antigua next month so we will see him again soon!

Antiguan Christmas

English Harbour, Antigua
17 00.3'N 61 45.7'W

We arrived here on the 13th and have had a wonderful 2 weeks enjoying some of the many pleasures on the island. English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour are right next door to one another, two hurricane holes with deep water and as a result home to the British Fleet in the 17th & 18th Centuries a lot of history. Today there is tourism and super yachts, and given the credit crunch who knows what tomorrow will bring!

English Harbour is home to Nelson's Dockyard, for many years this helped Brittania rule the waves, the Navy could bring ships into harbour here, be protected by nature from the elements and by 3 forts from the filthy foreigners while they scrubbed, repaired and restocked the fleet.

A clean boat is a fast boat, and a fast boat used to win the battles. Nelson was commander of the dockyard for many years earlier in his career and pursued the Spaniards and French later on from this base. Astonishingly the Georgian ship yard was left to decay for 200 years before being "found" in the 1950's and restored by an English expat, today there is a museum, shops, restaurants and some yachting facilities among the old buildings.

Around the corner in Falmouth is where the super yachts congregate, millions if not billions of dollars worth were tied up there over Christmas and New Year, including Tom Perkins 250ft plus long Maltese Falcon, currently on the market for US$165m if anyone is feeling flush. She is a modern take on the clipper ships, the sails furl intot he mast and it is all computer controlled. We watched in amazement as the crew unfurled the sails and sailed off the dock at the yacht club and off down the channel that we had motored carefully down in Matsu a few days before!

Many other stunning yachts were there with their crews polishing and cleaning absolutely everything on board to make them gleam, not quite as glamorous a job as it appears from outside!

The main reason we had come to English Harbour was to celebrate Christmas, we had arranged with 5 other boats that we have known and cruised with for many months to tie up to the dock at Nelson's Dockyard and have the full turkey dinner.

The dockyard has a party of its own in the morning so as we cooked we walked around watching everyone dressed in their Christmas best and sipping champagne, even getting to face a couple of overs of hostile West Indian fast bowling.

Linda cooked a turkey, as did Donna from Magic, while Offline, A2C, Keesje II and Imagine brought all the trimmings - home made cranberry relish, roast potatoes, sprouts, stuffing etc etc possibly the biggest Christmas feast I have ever had all on tables under the trees in a 200 year old historic monument. The atmosphere, the cheap French wine and the great company made for an excellent day and night, lot's of laughter and food to be danced off.
Sadly we are all going different ways now with most of the boats heading for the USA while we stay in the islands, so it was also a farewell meal too - you spend a lot of time together while cruising and make great friendships very quickly, we are sad to see these boats go and send our best to you all for your future travels.

As well as our new cruising friends we got to spend some time with Sarah, Manfred and the kids who were holidaying in Antigua over Christmas. They joined us for fishing, snorkeling and maybe a couple of drinks, Lukie put me to shame by catching a fish in about 30 seconds after my recent disasters!

Day Sailing North

English Harbour, Antigua
17 00.3'N 61 45.7'W

Mother Nature dictates our plans and once again listening to her brought great rewards. We had planned to spend a few days touring around Dominica and then a few days diving and snorkeling in beautiful Les Saintes in Guadeloupe but a weather window to head north with easterly wind and tamed seas was open to us so instead we took it and day sailed along the island chain up to Antigua.

We experienced some of the best sails we have had in a long time just off the wind and averaging well over 8 knots, with a few spells in the 9's thrown in. Now the weather window is closing up, so we’re very happy to have taken it and be here in Antigua waiting for Christmas and friends.

It gives us a few days to deal with some repairs, sort out bureaucratic issues with the Australian tax office, send our Christmas wishes, use Skype, visit what seems to be a lovely and very welcoming island and update the blog!

Guadeloupe

Les Ile Des Saintes, Guadeloupe
15 52.0N 61 35.2W

We have just spent a cracking 10 days or so in Guadeloupe, with the exception of Chelsea losing the Champions League final that is - watched the game in a tiny bar tabac with a huge TV screen, no joke it was half the width of the building!

A wonderful place, Caribbean island charm but part of France, so baguettes, wine and funny little cars as well.

We managed to get a couple of dives in at the Jacques Costeau underwater park - not sure what the park signifies as we watched fishermen hauling nets on the reef, but still some great diving.

From there we sailed down to Iles Des Saintes, three tiny islands just off the south coast. We are at Bourg a small village with no traffic, a boulangerie and a Napoleonic fort. A few days of pottering and now we will head on to Martinique.

We have caught up with about 6 boats we were in the Bahamas with as we now all start to funnel down the island chain towards Trinidad.

On the blog front have added photo albums to Picasa, there is a link on the right hand side of the page.

The Kingdom Of Redonda

Sailing Past Redonda, Near Montserrat
16 57.0N 62 20.5W

We are currently sailing from Sint Maarten to Guadeloupe and have just sailed past a large rock - see photo.

The words, bizzare and strange fail to do justice to this place, a very brief excerpt from the history of Redonda may get you intrigued:

"The island of Redonda has been known ever since Columbus as a marker for ships and lately yachts sailing up and down the Eastern Caribbean. But very few people have landed as the island's sheer cliffs plunge straight down into the sea. Ferocious surf and swells pound the one boulder-strewn beach.

Nevertheless, there has been a Kingdom of Redonda for 118 years!

The story began in 1865 when a quarter-Irish Montserratian trader named Matthew Dowdy Shiell was sailing his ship past a lump of rock near home named, by Columbus, Nuestra Señora de la Redonda. His Free Slave wife had already presented him with eight daughters and finally a son was born. Shiell was, of course, over the moon about this so being partly descended from Irish kings and a romantic sort of gent he promptly annexed the island so that his newly born son, Matthew Phipps Shiell, could one day become King of Redonda.

On his fifteenth birthday the boy was crowned King Felipe I of Redonda by the Bishop of Antigua. He promptly elected to drop one "l" from his name. Ten years later the British Government officially annexed the island declaring it to be a dependancy of Antigua. But the act of annexation was also declared not to have affected the sovereignty vested in Shiel, and the British Colonial Office tacitly admitted his claim."

For more on how it then became a monarchy passed through generations of literary types and how you too can become an Arch Duke of Redonda try these links!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Redonda
http://www.redonda.org/
http://www.antiguanice.com/redonda/

Marine Toilets

Sint Maarten
18 02.0N 63 05.8W

PART I

The forward toilet broke when we had 5 guests on board. An order for the broken part was placed, delivery arranged and after more than 3 weeks of sharing the en suite toilet (with a few near missed-in-action and lots of mooning-in-the-morning stories) the toilet was successfully repaired. So successfully in fact that it became clear that the back one was a time bomb and would be dying in near future. The job was put on "things to do in Trinidad" list and a prayer had to be made before every flush until then.

PART II

During a leisure and discovery trip to Budget Marine in St-Maarten, the Captain found the exact part he had to order to fix the front head at a better price! Excitement shines in his eyes and the job was upgraded on the list to "urgent" status.

After breakfast (and the use of the front head) on a warm and sunny Friday, the Captain put on his plumber suit - a pair of shorts revealing a little line at his back side- and started the preventive and urgent maintenance of the back head. The site of nearly blocked elbows and pipes corroborated his fears and the Captain/Plumber was happy he could do the job on his own terms. (read: not have to deal with a blocked toilet)

Unlike the front head, the back one hadn't been serviced in years and a more drastic approach was necessary. All hoses needed to be replaced in addition to a new service kit. The infamous brass arm though, was in a very good state but it was decided to install the new one anyway and keep this one as spare.

The main hose was refreshingly quite easy to access. A screw down floor had to be lifted and all the rest would then be easily undone. Unfortunately, the last screw didn't want to give up and it took some crude words, brute force and an hour to negotiate with it. When the floor was finally dismantled and the clogged and smelly hose taken off the Captain jumped in his dinghy and went shopping.

Upon his return, the puzzle work started and the spare repair kit, the brass arms and all the hoses were installed in a record time of 2 hours. All went well except for a little grub screw activating the pedal giving up under pressure.

Don't you just like St-Maarten, it's cruisers heaven. Everything can be found within a dinghy trip. Rowing back in the late afternoon heat and incoming tide was unplanned (ran out of petrol) but good to exercise the back getting very sore after 5 hours of bending down.

The ½ inch grub screw ending up being 2 mm too long, the result of metric and imperial systems being confused but it took only 45 minutes and 4 hands to cut it to a perfect fit.

The assembly of the toilet was then resumed and the head put back in place all hoses connected and looking shinier then ever. And why shouldn't it be? It had now evolved into a combined toilet and foot spa (with 2 jets!) giving you a nice refreshing foot clean when flushing... At 6 PM, exactly 9 hours after the start of the preventive maintenance, the plumber put on his sundowner clothes and encouraged the crew to use the front head.

PART III

Saturday morning started just like Friday if with a bit less enthusiasm. An hour later, the plumber, his bum crack and the toilet were in perfect condition and live happily ever after. Departure for Guadeloupe was delayed by a day!

The West Indies

Sint Maarten/Saint Martin
18 02.0N 63 05.8W

We had yet another motor sail overnight on Sunday and woke to sunrise over Sint Maarten our first Leeward Island and our first "proper" Caribbean island despite what the tourist brochures say!

The forecast northerly swells meant we traded French chic and sophistication ie St Martin for the Dutch side ie Sint Maarten, therefore hardly surprising that there was a strip club opposite customs and immigration! You can travel between the 2 sides quite freely so we have zoomed back and forth across the lagoon a few times in the past week, depending on whether we want spare parts (Dutch) or Pain Chocolat (French). The Dutch charge a lot more to be here and the French side is nicer so we must come back when the weather is better.

Marigot the French capital is very pretty, has a little fort that the French built overlooking the stunning harbour and has lots of great boulangerie and restaurants. According to the information boards, the French wanted to build the fort to protect the "inhabitants" of the island from the cruel and aggressive behaviour towards them of the English privateers and navy - another board says that the "inhabitants" were so overwhelmed by the French proposal that they agreed unanimously and showed their support by donating even more slaves to the builders than were necessary. So a not very inclusive use of the word inhabitants then!

We have passed our time here while we wait for a decent breeze to get further south catching up on long overdue maintenance, there is all the boat spares and expertise you can need here, so a great spot to start dismantling things. More later on that on the blog!