Unexplored Waters

Tuesday, 16^th February 2010

At last we are en route again! Lorraine is now free of a tooth and the recurring problems it brought. We have also, at some expense, replaced a spinnaker pole that I first re-modelled whilst crossing the Atlantic and then, having failed to tie it on properly, lost the remaining unbent end over the side whilst beating up to Martinique.

Anyway we had a very good week with our old friends Pár and Ann, visiting the coastal sights of St Lucia and then sailing up to Martinique again. We had excellent weather for their stay...it had been a bit rainy before they arrived but even the winds relented and allowed us to sail direct to Martinique at a fast pace on a fine reach, showing off the boat at its best. It was a holiday for all of us, we had time-off as Pár and Ann are excellent yachtsmen and did a lot of the sailing, it was warm and breezy, the swimming was great and Ann mixes an excellent rum punch. We will add some pictures of their stay when we arrive in Colombia, hopefully our next landfall, assuming we can find some wifi access.

After Pár and Ann left us, we expected to spend 2 or 3 days in Rodney Bay but needed 4 for washing (mostly done by the Sparkle Laundry), engine servicing, cleaning, shopping and stowing. It is surprising how long it takes to prepare for a long passage. Careful stowing and updating of the stowage inventory is essential to avoid chaos at sea. It is amazing how easy it is to forget exactly where the new pack of muesli or box of tea was squirreled away or the piece of cloth needed immediately to affect a repair to this or that. Selective restocking of galley lockers from stowage lockers makes life easier underway, this also helps keep track of what stocks we have and generates the shopping lists. Shopping, particularly food shopping, can be quite laborious and very time consuming without a car. Food shops now are generally smaller and there is less choice. Fresh produce in the supermarkets is usually chilled and won't keep so we have to move on to the markets when they are open, they are more fun as the chat is usually fast and sharp; then there is the haggling, it all takes time. We have to shop around and sometimes need taxis, it is usually a long way back if we have forgotten something as we are nearly always at anchor so we have to be very methodical.

Wednesday, 17^th February

Now in the central Caribbean Sea, we expect this leg to take about 6 days. We are currently running at 5.5 knots in a rather uncomfortable sea, with a moderate easterly trade wind. This passage is supposed to be a very windy one, especially as we near the Colombian coast where the winds speed up under the influence of the land and the seas build up as the water shoals; it is purported to be the fifth roughest sea passage in the world. We shall see.

We had already decided to miss out Venezuela and to give us a bit more time in Colombia and the San Blas islands we will also bypass the ABC islands, unless we need to stop for any reason. Aruba is described in one pilot we have as Las Vegas on sea, so we may not be missing much.

Thursday, 18^th February

We both feel that we are now embarking on a different level of our adventure. For one thing we have not been this far west before (not by sea) and we will not be able to use our favourite line of "when we were here 28 years ago.....". Also it becomes progressively less easy to get help or spares. In Grenada and especially Martinique there are chandleries that put to shame most UK chandleries some of which seem more and more concerned with clothes and footwear these days. Sailmakers, canvass workers and riggers work flat out to accommodate yachts in transit over here. There are also plenty of technicians to test kit and to fix yachty problems too knotty for the boat crew. Anything can be tackled from installing a new engine to polishing the hull and steelwork. After Panama we think we will essentially be on our own from the point of view of maintenance until we reach New Zealand.

Friday (just), 19^th February

So far so good. We are into our 3^rd night at sea. First night fine, last night lumpy and very swelly with poor sleeping, tonight... well it's only 01.30 a.m. We have been running goose winged at 6.5 knots under full genoa and poled out jib, this has given us speed but we have had to sacrifice 15 degrees off course to get these winds. For the night we have reduced to genoa only which has dropped our speed to 5.5 knots but brought us back on course, now we are rolling which makes everything clank and rattle that can clank and rattle. We don't mind veering north slightly as we want to stay well away from the piratical waters of Venezuela which now have a very bad reputation for boardings and robbery. We have sighted just one ship, this afternoon going in the opposite direction to us. We have always welcomed seeing other vessels but because of these piracy issues it is a relief to get through another night not having seen anything. Won't be for long, once through the Panama Canal things are thought to improve.

An earlier weather broadcast, by courtesy of Chris of Caribbean Weather who provides short wave broadcasts three times a day, was forecasting a build up of wind to 30 knots and big seas for tomorrow and Sunday with slight moderation on Monday. A long spell like this will be tiring for us and a strain on the boat so we may well fit in a stop over at the ABC islands hoping it blows down to more like 20/25 knots which is exhilarating enough on long passages like this. Meantime, where on earth is that clank coming from?