St. Pierre, Martinique to Carriacou, Grenada

 After our whirlwind tour of Dominica and the Saintes, we had returned to the south of Martinique and anchored in Marin on the first day of March.  We picked up supplies, boat parts, and another great lunch with friends in le Sextant, before leaving in the morning for Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  Our Sextant companions were Bill and Joanna of Cloud Street, and Kristen of Silk Pajamas, and it was our last visit of the season with them.

When we landed at Rodney Bay that morning, we again had a full day.  We cleared in and out of Customs and Immigration, purchased 4 jerry jugs of diesel, and booked in a fun lunch with almost every friend in Rodney.  We were intent on catching a strange northeast wind for a ride down to Bequia in the morning.

We were moving before 4 a.m. and had a lovely and anomalous broad reach the full length of St. Lucia. However, at the end of the island, things changed.  The wind was so far behind us, that we could use the main or the jib but not both, and the current coming through from between the islands made for a very confused sea.  Ten miles before we could get behind St. Vincent, the starboard alternator regulator stopped working, the voltage shot up to 15.5V, and caused the autohelm to pack it in, and we hand-steered through foul seas all the way to Bequia, a period of about 7 hours, with one hand needed to hang on and another on the wheel.  We arrived in Bequia just before dark – the latest we’ve ever arrived there.  

The sail from St. Lucia to Bequia!  All downwind, for a change!

Upon arrival into Bequia, we met with Garry and Linda for a birthday lunch for Garry.  Mac’s Pizza never fails to please.  What a nice coincidence that his birthday was that very day! 

Dawn on the hike to the old fort in Bequia.  Our boat is somewhere in the bay behind her.

I (Laurie) hurt my back attempting to sort out the alternator problem, but we did some short hikes while it sorted itself out.  I was soon working on the autohelm as well, and got it replaced just as Leo and Jo-Anne arrived for a 7-day visit.

As we determined that the shortness of the visit and the state of the seas ruled out a cruise with these distinguished guests, we shared them with our other friends during walks and lunches.  We also took them for three swims to our favourite little snorkelling spot between Princess Margaret and Lower Bay beaches.  All in all, we’d say they adapted to the life on Cat Tales rather well.    Way too soon, they were gone.

Leo and Jo-Anne cleaning up at the end of the day in salt water followed by a fresh water rinse.

We stayed a few more days in Bequia, hiking with a crowd of old and new friends to Ma Peg’s Rock and then Hope Bay; returning both times to fill the table of the PortHole restaurant, our favourite watering hole for a crowd.

Anina (s/v Prism) showing off the view from the top of the mountain.  She was just finishing her long stint with dengue fever, a mosquito borne ailment, which laid her up for about 7 days! 

Garry and Steve with the tiny Bequia airport in the background on the east side.

Laurie and Linda still smiling as they neared the top of Ma Peggy!

On the 26^th, we sailed to Chatham Bay for a supper at Vanessa and Seckie’s beach restaurant, and then joined Savannah Sky as they were sailing by to go to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou.  Yesterday we motored around to Cassada Bay to avoid reversing winds in Tyrell.  As lovely as it is, Savannah Sky left, and we are all alone in a giant, island-ringed anchorage.

 

TECHNICAL

It has been a busy time in the repair department lately.  Our AIS receives data but will not transmit our location nor data.  We took it into Jacques at Diginav, Marin; but he had little time to work on it and had his own electronic issue that hindered his AIS repair equipment.  We took it back and are just sailing incognito.  A fuel leak had grown on the port engine, and I was quite sure it was the Yanmar filter gasket.  I purchased new ones and replaced both the gasket and the filter.  A week later it seemed worse – then on the trip to Chatham Bay, I inspected the engine and determined that fuel was spraying from a mesh-coated hose from the filter to the high-pressure pump.  Just yesterday, after seeking significant advice over the phone from the Yanmar shop in Grenada, I took the hose off, cut the crimps and hose from the banjo fittings with a Ryobi rotary tool, fitted a 3/8” fuel hose over the barbs with hose clamps and new copper washers, reassembled, tested, and began cleaning the mess in and around the bilge.  Hot, dirty work!

A tense time onboard Cat Tales as Laurie tackled this job which would either fix the problem, or make it worse.  Luckily, it’s fixed and we now have both engines working…for now!

The replacement of the autohelm system back in Bequia was difficult work, but we had fantastic luck.  Steve of Savannah Sky had purchased all parts to replace his autopilot system if it failed on his previous boat (Aspen) during his solo sail to Easter Island.  He didn’t use it, and luckily for us, the kit does not fit the new boat.  It was available for sale to me, and after 3 days, I had it installed and fully troubleshooted.  As it connected to the Raymarine backbone wiring system, it actually provided the complete electronics package on the boat with significant new features.  What fun! ;-)

After the autopilot was installed, it didn’t boot up properly.  Once that issue was behind us, the next day more trouble.  Steve and Laurie chased some wires and found a loose electrical power connection.  Once that issue was solved, everything was working ticketey boo!

Autopilot computer

One thing on the agenda at this time is finding a reliable repairman for the alternator in Grenada.

Although a less technical problem, we have been suffering this season from two attacks of weevils.  In both cases, they came from lasagna noodles.  The first time, they escaped and caused concern and hard work on Dawn’s agenda.  The second time, they were contained in a hard plastic case, and only caused a menu modification.

 

Martinique to Guadeloupe and back!

Well, it has been a month, and time to let this journal know some things.  We are presently back in Ste. Anne, Martinique.  We have returned mostly to pick up parts and have an electronic thingy looked at.

 

Dominica to St. Pierre, Martinique

We were in Trois Islets a month ago, primarily following Steve and Maria on Savannah Sky as they were both looking for new anchorages at the same time as they were attempting to keep the boat from rocking in the wind and waves.  We both found Trois Islets rather uncomfortable, and the water was just plain brown.  They left for flatter water, while we once again tramped the streets in search of new things, and bokit sandwiches.  Finding neither, we upped anchor to spend a couple of nights at Anse Mitan.  Steve and Maria showed up for a day and we had a wonderful beach lunch.  When they left to get a new technical matter repaired, we put the jib up and went to St. Pierre.

 

From St. Pierre, we made a loop of Portsmouth, Dominica, and Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, then back to St. Pierre over a period of 16 days.  The time included 5 trips to customs, visits with the PAYS group of marine service providers who are also a lot of old friends, hiking and lunching on Terre de Haut with the people of Charlotte D, CloudStreet, Aspen1, and Prism; all of which was terribly enjoyable.  As Aspen 1 were the newbies to the island, we all enjoyed showing the sites and sharing our wisdom.  Not enjoyable was the weather, and especially the sailing.  While in Portsmouth, the wind turned light and shifted to the west, and western swells actually emptied the anchorage.  Two boats: a 70’ freighter and a fairly new cruising boat, ended up on the beach.  All others, predominantly members of the Salty Dawgs who were there for a major event, scattered before the event was over.  The weather continued to be poor for some of the time we were on mooring balls in Les Saintes.  A few more boats were thrown onto the shores along the islands.

 

We saw several boats that washed ashore the night of the west winds and swells!

Nor was the sailing very good, as we pretty much motored the whole route.  Like other passages this year, we would reef for the forecast, then find not enough breeze to move the boat above 3 knots.  

 

Lunch in Les Saintes with sv Cloudstreet and sv Charlotte D.

A resident of the restaurant dropped in to see if anyone had any tidbits leftover from lunch!

Lunch in Les Saintes with sv Cloudstreet, Charlotte D., Prism, and Aspen1.

We regrouped at St. Pierre on the 17^th of February and sailed to Anse a l’Ane, on the south shores of Fort de France Bay.  There we had 3 nights that were quite lovely, a couple of nice lunches ashore, and found a hike we had never been on before.  Traveling west along the shore, up and down the beautiful, shaded, green and irregular coast, we found two secluded beaches and a major archaeological site at a secluded place called Anse Bellay.  Predominantly a large 18^thcentury slave burial site, it also provided the archaeologists with evidence of the habitation of 13^th century Kalinagos and the habitation of 8^th century Arawaks.  The bones were originally removed for study, but after the locals made it a political football, they were returned with ceremony and a proper plaque to display both history and respect.

A lovely, partly shady, meandering trail.  

 

Supposedly part of the original cemetery.  We were delighted to learn and read all the details on the plaques here, thanks to Google Translate!

A lovely hour long hike involving some good ups and downs!

Deep fried ballyhoo and fries!  Such delicate white fish with no bones.  A treat, but not necessarily nutritious!

Leaving Anse a l’Ane on Tuesday, 20^th of February, we were determined to sail upwind to Ste. Anne and Marin.  That was a bit of a disaster.  Although properly reefed, we encountered a dry squall, high and sharp waves around Diamond Rock and Pointe du Diamond.  The forward crossmember crashed into waves way below their tops, dislodging everything not nailed down.  The water constantly cascaded up the boat and found all our undiscovered leaks.  When after 30 minutes of this we arrived at the other side of the disturbance, the wind calmed down and for about an hour, we found the sailing we were after.  Then it was gone, and we motored even longer, all the way to Marin.  

 

We’ve now departed Marin and are anchored in Ste. Anne and are waiting for a call about our equipment.  Not so bad, really, we’ve had a lovely lunch at le Sextant with Johanna and Bill and a pizza ashore here with Kristin and Terry of Silk Pajamas.  Today, Anina and Charlie of Prism should arrive with their company from Rodney Bay.

 

TECHNICAL

 

I went ahead and switched back to 55 ampere alternators for both engines, now that I have two, and also fitted them better with sleeves for the bolt holes from the spare alternators.  It also took new belts to stop the constant wearing of belts, and things are better in that area.  

 

I had a fuel leak I couldn’t seem to stop on the port engine, and each time I ran it, a slow drip came from the Yanmar fuel filter.  I just got a new set of gaskets for those little filter cans and put one on.  It seems to have stopped it so far.  If it continues in any way, I’ll replace the soft copper washers on the banjo fittings and tighten them.

 

The cockpit table dropped a screw, and when I attempted to tighten the screws, I noticed many holes were stripped.  I epoxy-filled them, predrilled and reassembled.  That is likely the end of that problem.

 

Repairing the curly wire for the remote control for the anchor windlass.

Anse a l’ Ane to le Marin & Ste. Anne

The underside of the cockpit table and the pedestal connection.

Lastly, we’re waiting on the return of our 2015 Raymarine AIS 350 transceiver from Diginav, Marin.  We have never had a consistent signal out from it and other boats do not read our position very often.  Interestingly, the respected genius there, Jacques Fauquet, said he would not work on the screen of my Raymarine a75 chart plotter as it is difficult to repair and the unit is a piece of shit, his words.  Time to go shopping, I guess.  

On to Martinique

Well, hello from Trois Islets, Martinique.  Cat Tales followed Savannah Sky into this eastern edge of Fort de France Bay this morning/afternoon.  We have not been here since 2005 or so.

 

We had last written from Rodney Bay about 2 weeks ago.  Well, once we received our spare starter from Island Water World, AND bent it on to make sure it worked, we took the next opportunity to travel.  That was January 12^th.  We had a lovely but light sail over to Ste. Anne, Martinique.  Winds were forecasted to be 13-18 or so, and we reefed for it.  We had more than an hour of less than 10 knots apparent wind, meaning the true wind was often 5 or so knots.  Still, the wind direction favoured the east, and with two tacks, we got into St. Anne in about 5.5 hours.  Not a rocket ship, by any means.

 

After a tiny hike, we still felt we deserved a great lunch and refreshments at one of our favourite beach restaurants, Basilic

The beach hike along Ste. Anne.  Steve and Maria (Savannah Sky) and Rachael and Susan (Aspen)

Only turned the tracker on for the return trip, so you can X2 the distance.  Lovely, shady and relatively flat
walk.

We’ve had a wonderful evening with Joanna and Bill of Cloud Street, sharing Dawn’s pumpkin soup, and a ti’ punch night aboard Savanna Sky with Maria and Steve and with Rachael and Susan of Aspen.  We did the obligatory run into Marin for wine, beer, cheese, and groceries, a “chicken walk” for barbecue chicken and clementines, and finally the also obligatory hike to the southern beaches.  We had dinner one night on s/v Fathom This with George and June where we were introduced to another lovely couple from Switzerland.  The Swiss couple’s boat is an amazing aluminum catamaran about the size of Cat Tales, named “Kobold”.  It was constructed as a prototype over 30 years ago, and the owner, Heinz, has carried out extensive carpentry inside.  No others were ever constructed.

 

Kobold, a prototype aluminum catamaran the size of Cat Tales

One funny occurrence was the loss of Dawn’s magnetic sun glass attachment for her progressive lens glasses.  They were knocked off her face while she was leaning over to lower the dinghy. The next day, I could not find them when diving, and we had resigned ourselves to the loss.  Well Steve wanted to get in on the search so we gave it another try yesterday.  While the two of us searched, I gave a quick search under the port hull.  Upon finding a 3-4 foot baracuda there, I didn’t look too closely.  After we had scoured the rest of the anchoring arc, I returned to find the shades exactly where the ‘Cuda had sat.

 

One thing I want to talk about, although it has come up before, is the amazingly interesting people you may meet here.  Yes, world travellers like our friends Steve and Maria, but more:  Jenny of Tanglewood is not only a car accident survivor, a cancer survivor, and the most upbeat person we know, but she is the granddaughter of Irving and Etsy Johnson, who traveled the globe in two great ships as charter captains.  Check it out here:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Johnson_(ship).  We also have learned just recently that Bill of Cloud Street is a survivor of the greatest US naval fire since WWII:  The Forrestal Disaster:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire#:~:text=A%201966%20fire%20aboard%20USS,down%20system%20on%20all%20carriers.

 

Joanna and Bill (Cloud Street) and Jenny (Tanglewood). This is Jenny who Laurie speaks of in the above paragraph.

The last interesting find is George aboard the motor sailor Fathom This.  George was the builder of the original chart plotter.  He sold his design to Figawi, and the world changed forever.  Well George came over to Cat Tales two days ago, took apart our Standard Horizon radio, scraped off the totally blackened polarized film from the display, and stuck a new one on!  Amazing!

 

George and his helper Laurie changing the window film on our vhf…it lives!!

Today’s sail around the southwestern peninsula was easy, with most of the way done by just the jib.  However, it was a hard slog to get the 6 miles into Trois Islets through 20-25 knot breezes and waves.  I’ve smelled diesel in the port engine compartment and also noticed the belt is just about done.  I’ll have to investigate starboard in the morning.  Dawn thinks we may have a line on a bokit lunch, so I’d better start early.

 

‘Ti punch happy hour.  Take nasty French rum, add sugar syrup and lime until you can drink it!  Voila!

Plans are to move back out of here tomorrow afternoon, and maybe try Anse Mitan or Anse a L’Ane.  The next weather window looks like a week away, and we hope to be ready to jump islands from northern Martinique, St. Pierre heading for Dominica.  

 

TECHNICAL

 

I am happy to report that the rebuilt starter is working fabulously.  I was pessimistic when picking it up, as it was a 1.2 kilowatt motor, while the old ones are 1.0 kW.  It actually starts easier, without a hesitation.  The older one is now the spare!

While in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, a Hobie Cat from a resort hit us and punctured the outer skin of our rear port hull.  We chatted with the officials from the Landings resort and they arranged for us to meet the gentleman who was sailing the Hobie that day.  The gentleman agreed to pay the asking fee and sent us the $$ into our account after he arrived back home in the UK.  He was extremely sorry.  We promised him a free sailing lesson if he was to come back to the Caribbean.  A temporary patch was done by reaching down from the deck and a better job will happen when we haul out in Grenada.

Temporary, but water tight.  More work to be done in April at haul out time.

 

Cat Tales has been having trouble with belts, and I am starting to blame the 80 ampere alternators.  Especially when we try to use the 80 amps, like when we try to use the cold plate in the refrigerator and make water at the same time. The belt heats up and throws material.  I’ve switched both engines back to the original 55 ampere alternators (hard to find these days, but I got one from Bill of Cloud Street, and really need to let him know how happy I am), and things are better.  The belts are something else.  I’ve always kept a stock of them on board, and now think part of the problem is them drying out in storage.

 

Well, we endeavour to persevere.    

Playing In Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Sailing from Bequia, St. Vincent to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Last report had us enjoying Bequia with our friends Linda and Garry Graham.  With them in tow, we joined Louise and Joseph of Tangaroa II for another hike in a crowd of near 30 people.  It was one we had done many times, a hike along the northwest ridge to a place called Cinnamon Park, with a steep road back down to the Springhill shore, and a walk back to town.  For Laurie, this turned a bit brutal, as his right knee started to revolt from the steep descend.  We’re both a little concerned.  Should we enjoy such hikes while we can, or should he lay off some of the worst so we can do the things we like? 

 

Almost to the top of Cinnamon Hill

Check out the contour lines!  NOT a flat walk!!

Mount Pleasant hike, Dawn was taking the photo!

Two days later, we were off to walk the loop on the back side of Mount Pleasant, with another large crowd.  The knee was calmer, and we’re calming down as well.  The second crowd included a lot of our previous friends and acquaintances: Steve, Maria and Fred; Mike and Nancy of ‘Lost Loon’, Garry and Linda; Jane and Ken from ‘Genesis II’; and new friends Rachel and Susan, the new owners of ‘Aspen’.  Again, the hikes involved numerous enjoyable portable conversations.  Both hikes involved lovely lunches at the Porthole – still the winner for quality, price and service in our books.

 

Maria sprung a Christmas Eve party on us, in their new boat Savannah Sky; hosting their Atlantic crossing delivery crew: Fred, Anina, and Charlie, and including us as well.  It was the usual Maria feast, with lots of everything!  We heard a few more mid-Atlantic stories and tasted some good rums from the far side.

 

For Christmas Day Dinner, we had a fantastic treat.  Instead of all of us joining a very large crowd at a potluck like last year, Linda and Garry hosted us for a potluck at their airy, elevated, open villa in Lower Bay.  It was about as much enjoyment as could occur.  We were joined by Steve and Maria, Rachel and Susan, and Charlie and Anina.  It was a lovely crowd in the prettiest of surroundings.

 

Dawn and I were suffering wanderlust, however; realizing that we had not got so far north last year and had not seen some islands for many years.  We got up at 03:00 hours on the 27^th and used the full moon to guide us around to the northwest side of the St. Vincent volcano.  The weather window was marketed well, and we got the promised wind strength and direction in the dark, providing low seas, romantic views, and full sails.  However, when the sun came up, the wind died to below 5 knots.  We motored on one engine until arriving in Rodney Bay at 16:00 hours.

 

The Pitons of St. Lucia!

Since here, we’ve had two hikes: one with Joseph and Louise, as well as Johanna of ‘Cloud Street’ and new friends’ over to Cas en Bas, and another with them and Steve and Jennie of ‘Tanglewood’ exploring the roads of Gros Ilet and the bay shore.  Both of these ended up in the best open restaurant at the marina: “Elana’s”.  We have also enjoyed some time with John Fallon of ‘StoppKnot’ and his senior bachelor gang around the marina.

It was surprising to see a brand new golf course all set to go on the Cas en Bas side of St. Lucia.  Goodbye ‘rustic’ hello progress…?

Cas en Bas, St. Lucia

Day one in St. Lucia get-together with old friends!

Second half of the table

 

We’re waiting here for a spare part.  More on that below.  After it arrives, we’ll join Savannah Sky and others who are heading direct to Ste. Anne, Martinique.  Dawn has a list of supplies she needs, including cheese and wine.

 

I second that remark!

TECHNICAL

 

The boat is working well.  The new batteries and solar panels have solved the minor irritation we had last year, and the new mainsail performs better – I’m even getting better at storing it in the sailbag.  Minor maintenance has taken up some time: loose alternator belts, replacing some tattered lines, placing some dark laminates on some of the hatches to stop the UV damage, etc.  Never enough to tarnish the enjoyment of the sunset and evening breezes.

 

One bit of nuisance was the loss of a spare starter.  Last year, I rotated out a starter that was not working, replacing it with the spare.  I sent the starter to get rebuilt to our friend in Gouyave, Grenada, along with three alternators I wanted checked over.  The three alternators came back, but he held the starter for the summer to get parts for it.  Sadly, when we checked with him before our return, he did not remember the issue, and could not find the starter.  The problem, we’re sure, is age, not greed.  We told him to have a nice Christmas and not to worry about it.  Anyway, Ian, the manager of Island Water World, says he can get a rebuilt starter here this week, and we are waiting for it.  To sweeten the deal and amortize the cost of shipping and importation, we added some other Yanmar items.  Now we wait – but it is still a lovely place.

 

 

 

 

Waiting for Christmas in Bequia

Last Blog found us anchored in Prickly Bay, just over 3 weeks ago.  Since then, we’ve made a few moves. 

We moved downwind to a mooring ball outside of St. George’s as planned, and for some time made that our base of operations.  We made good use of the dinghy dock at the Yacht Club, touring St. George’s and making the long hike to the Spice Island Mall and the Umbrellas restaurant.  A couple of trips picking up provisions tied up the time until our friends arrived.  While we waited, we hosted the new owners of s/v Aspen: Rachael and Susan.  These ladies each own a boat in a northern Ontario yacht club, and on an investigated whim, went searching for an Island Packet down here for joint ownership.  They seem fun, and are definitely enjoying their time down here, albeit with the typical problems of boat ownership.  We also hosted Jock of s/v Unleaded.  He had helped move a Jaguar 36 catamaran from Carriacou to Antigua and had flown into St. George’s late in the evening and needed a bed while waiting for the next ferry to Carriacou.  We were honoured to host, and happy to catch up on his news.

 

Savannah Sky, Steve and Maria’s new Island Packet 48+, with Anina and Charlie s/v Prism) and Fred (s/v Dakota Dream) aboard, arrived from the Cape Verde Islands as part of the ARC+ Rally at 04:00 hrs on December 6^th, and Dawn and I got up to see them pass by on the way to the dock.  We caught up with them later that day, and found them all in good spirits, albeit a little groggy from the 19 days of sleep deprivation.  They came in 89^th out of a group of 90 or 91 finishers.  To be fair, they had no real downwind sails on a voyage that was totally downwind – when there was enough to move the boat; and north swells disrupted the sails and made for a rather uncomfortable trip.  Island Packets are comfortable, durable boats – not speed demons.

 

We spent some time with them before Charlie and Anina headed to Trinidad to start working on Prism, and we all spent a full day helping Fred in the boatyard with Dakota Dream.  We got rewarded by a lovely lunch and a later happy hour at One Love restaurant by Fred.  After a few more lunches with Steve and Maria, we caught a weather window to Carriacou, on December 11^th.  The weather models lied about both the strength and direction of the wind, and our Carriacou trip was a 6-hour motorboat ride.  However, we got in early, and had a lovely evening. 

 

We answered a call on the VHF radio from a boat called Zepher needing assistance.  Coincidentally, they were right beside us in the mooring field.  They required help to get their crew and lots of luggage to shore that evening.  They had just sailed across the Atlantic and their crew had overnight accommodations on land.  This meant that the owners of the boat would get their bed and space back!  Laurie jumped into the dinghy and took them into St. George’s where they could hail a cab.  The owners of the boat were so grateful, they gave us a few pounds of fresh tuna they had caught along the way.  We ate tuna for days!!

Tuna for two for days!

The very next day, we responded to a call from Louise and Joseph of s/v Tangaroa II and went on a 3-hour hike to a bay by Dumfries near the Cassada Restaurant.  The hike was partially new to us and much fun, with 20 other participants.  We kind of just enjoyed the boat for the next day and used Thursday to do Customs out of Grenada and enjoy the Iguanas Bar – and their fantastic fish tacos.

Hike in Carriacou - 9.6 km and 3.5 hours

This is Hamish who easily doubled our distance…what energy in this heat!!

Friday’s sail to Bequia will go down as one of the best.  Compared to last year, when on this leg we were soaked, blew our mainsail, had a leaky Bimini, and other wind-blown issues, this sail was just as advertised.  A fair wind, good angle, reasonable speed, and just spray salt on the boat.  Dawn enjoyed it so much she let me sail on and into the anchorage!  A rain before bedtime washed the boat.

Carriacou into Chatham Bay, Union Island (3:00 to 5:30pm)

Union Island up to Bequia…all sailing until the very end!!!

Directly into Port Elizabeth, anchored right off the reef in Sweet Bequia!!

 

We have made contact with shoreside travellers Linda and Garry, and have had a lunch with them at the Fig Tree.  Tomorrow, we all hit the trails again with Louise and Joseph.

We’re one of the wee boats in behind this monster!

Getting caught up with Garry and Linda at the top of the hill at the Fort.

The Old Fort, Bequia

We have several old time friends arriving in the next couple days here in Bequia and we’re organizing our own potluck Christmas dinner.

 

TECHNICAL

 

We were were once again surprised to find our water maker doing well in the waters of St. George’s.  The membrane was installed in 2012 and is still putting out water below 315 ppm hardness.  We bought a new membrane for last year, and still wait for the inevitable failure.  The water maker still needs 35 amps at 12.6 Volts, so an engine must be run.  However, with the new solar panels, we can run one engine, and manage the power requirements of both the water maker and the refrigerator cold plate.  We make water every 2-3 days.  When not making water, we run the cold plate at 15-minute intervals with just solar.

 

One concern we have is the barnacles we found on our bottom paint this week – the worst we’ve seen, especially concerning how early in the season it is.  We tend to want to blame the inconsistent quality control of Islands 44, but it also could be the extreme high temperatures of the water this year.  Our little bit of snorkelling has provided us with some views of bleached-out brain coral, more than we’ve ever seen.  The water temperature this morning is 28.5 C.

 

We also have significant browning of our screens, both the radio and the Raymarine chart plotter a75.  We’ve been speaking with George of s/v Fathom this, and he says he is having luck with dismantling the devices and replacing the thin polarized film with film from Amazon.  We’ll research that.