Made It
Diatonic
Anthony Warr
Mon 14 Dec 2009 02:19
|
13 05.4N 59 36.7W
Arrived 8am Local time - 1200 UTC
Another rough night with winds gusting up to 35
knots and a very bumpy ride with little sleep. However the thought of sun
drenched beaches kept our morale up. Trouble was when we arrive there were big
black clouds covering Barbados and some rain which is to be expected this time
of year. The skies cleared by 11 am and it became quite hot. It is
quite a relief to have completed this voyage and certainly a relief from the
contant rolling. We do feel a sense of achievement having done it on our own and
would do it again but in a larger boat (Di....).Although we all enjoyed the
cooking it was sometimes a chore on top of the watch keeping routines and I
would prefer a 4th crew member as permanant cook.
Tried to get in to Port St Charles to clear customs
but couldn't get them on the radio. When we released the dinghy to go to
the office found a 2" hole in one of the tubes. Tried to patch it up and
decided to sail down to Bridgetown while it dries . Had a broad
reach in flat water with 30 knots of wind and exciting speeds of 9
knots.
We had to take Diatonic into the main harbour with
4 large cruise ships in order to clear customs and immigration. This took a
couple of hours before we proceded to the anchorage at Carlylse Bay.
Pumped the dinghy up but had to pump every 10 mins to keep afloat so first job
is to find a repair specialist.
Bridgetown at night is very busy and a bit of a
disapointment with the thumping dnce music everwhere but will check it out in
daylight tomorrow.Once wev'e done the impotant things will probably anchor in
one of three bays we pased. These look like your Caribbean island dreams with
empty golden beaches and clear turquoise waters.
Will post another blog in about a week when we have
collected some experiences.and photos.
|