Rodney Bay
Luna Quest
W. Eric Faber
Mon 5 Jan 2015 11:48
Since arrival in Chaguaramas in Trinidad on December 1st, Julia and I have been working hard dealing with as many items listed in my notebook as possible, but the day of launch was fixed for Wednesday, 3rd December, which forced us to complete any job that could not be dealt with on the water within the two-day period available to us. A new 25kg Rocna anchor to replace the old CQR anchor involved some modifications to the stainless steel bow roller and, of course, Luna Quest had to be anti-fouled and the propeller cleaned and covered in Propspeed. Once in the water at Crews Inn Marina, a new AIS system was installed, the engine checked, the boat re-rigged, the sails bent on, a propane/butane adapter made and a new bracket made for the towed generator. While the stainless steel work was polished, I discovered that I could neither send nor receive any emails via the satellite phone. This was a major cause for concern as all my communication systems rely on the services of Mailasail’s satellite connectivity.
On December 16th we felt sufficiently confident that Luna Quest was adequately stowed to start our passage to St Lucia, some 220 miles north of Trinidad. We decided to retrace our route that we sailed in March, calling at Grenada, Union Island, Bequia, St Lucia’s Marigot Bay and finally Rodney Bay, from where the World ARC starts on January 10th. In Grenada I was so frustrated with my computer that I was on the point of deciding to buy a new PC laptop as the latest version of Yosemite 10.10.1 from Apple, downloaded in Newport a month before we left England, was identified as the cause for frustrating Mailasail’s email services. The World ARC offices had recommended that I should either roll back to the previous version or buy another computer! The problem was in the setting that were automatically undone (despite having saved the changes) as soon as the computer found an internet connection. The solution was, therefore, to dedicate my MacBook Air to the Mailasail services and use Julia’s computer for internet and non-Mailasail email purposes.
On the way to St Lucia we have been pleasantly surprised to find many of Waitrose’s products on the shelves of the better supermarkets. Julia has been actively clearing those shelves and weighing the boat down. She now believes that we have all the supplies we shall need to get us to Australia, where rumour has it that all foods are confiscated and dumped!
Today is January 4th, when the World ARC office opens in Rodney Bay. We are scheduled to report in at 3.15pm and our safety/security check will be carried out in the next few days.