The Engine Saga Continues:

Tuesday 21 February 2017

Bequia to Martinique, 90 miles, 16 hrs, 16.8 engine hrs, 5.6 knots average speed

Total Miles since departing Falmouth in August 2016: 5262.9

As you can see by the above date I’ve been extremely slack in posting our blog, even though I promised I’d update it more frequently.  I have no idea where the time has gone, but I do know it’s been a busy and eventful few weeks, with both tears and laughter!

The night passage to Martinique was horrible; stronger winds and higher seas than forecast and on the nose so we chose to motor-sail all the way.  Lady Rebel was bouncing all over the place, her bows crashing into the waves, the wind screeching through her rigging and the night sky darker than black.  We even spotted a creepy crawly trying to abandon ship and I didn’t blame it.  It was a relief when daylight arrived and our spirits lifted when three porpoises came to play and we saw a whale in the distance.  It was even more of a relief to arrive at the anchorage opposite the marina with an engine still running; the wind had dropped and the sun was shining.  The anchor dug in and set well on our first attempt so we were confident to leave the boat and go ashore to check in with customs and immigration.  A computerised system made a quick and easy refreshing change to the normal filling in of ten sheets of paper requesting practically the same information and only 5 Euros too.  We were already beginning to like this French owned Island!

Ken forgot his flip flops so we ambled around a few shops on the marina in order for him to purchase some more.  He found some substantial ones at a very reduced price so he was happy – marina shops are normally extortionate!  To celebrate we had a beer overlooking the bay while we researched the location of various chandleries and electrical services.   We needed a ‘Raymarine’ man – our Autopilot (self-steering mechanism – much needed on long passages) has an intermittent fault.  You don’t realise just how useful the autohelm is until it’s broken.  On night watch, if the other one is sleeping and you are having to hand steer the boat you can’t just nip down below to make a cup of tea, or have a pee, especially if it’s blowy.  I can go without my tea and I have a strong bladder so my biggest gripe is not being able to concentrate on steering the boat and listen to ‘The Archers’ at the same time.  I download and save up episodes of my favourite radio soap onto my phone which makes the long, lonely night passages just about bearable, even enjoyable if the story line is extra good!  Ken thinks I’m sad.  He listens to his Leicester Tigers Rugby Show that he downloads weekly!

We booked an appointment with the ‘Raymarine’ man to come out to the boat the following day, but he messed us about and never did get to see us the few days we were in Martinique.

Gary and Louise, Barbados 50 rally friends, were also in Martinique and invited us for a very enjoyable BBQ and good catch up aboard their catamaran Takomoana.  We also enjoyed a meal at Zanzibars with them the following night, to celebrate Gary’s Birthday.

Disappointingly we didn’t really get to explore the Island as there was a strong NE wind forecast to come in the following week, lasting several days and we needed to continue heading up North.  Timewise we couldn’t afford to be weather bound in Martinique for a week or so as had friends (Bill and Nicky B) meeting us in Antigua on

3 March.  We spent the three days we were there provisioning the boat, catching up with paperwork, passage planning, buying bits and pieces from various chandlers and hardware stores (which always seemed to be situated miles away in baking sunshine) and generally getting the boat ready for our next passage.

We did manage to catch up with Sylvie on Maryna II (Fabrice was back in France on business) another Barbados 50 rally participant. 

Saturday 25 February

We were up bright and early with sunrise in order to depart Martinique for Dominica.  The engine started fine and as it hadn’t let us down on the previous trip we thought engineer number two back in Carriacou had finally fixed it!  A massive relief.  However, that relief didn’t last more than precisely four minutes; we were just about to lift the anchor when the engine, for no apparent reason, cut out.  We were mortified.  Luckily, we hadn’t actually lifted the anchor.  We tried the now very practiced routine to start it i.e. take the stairs out, lift the floorboards to access the engine atomisers, bleed them, check the starter motor terminals, relays, pump connectors, fuel filters and if any air in the Racors.  (Note to self:  add these new skills to CV in case need to find a job in the future – will certainly qualify as a Perkins engineer!).  With no success, a mad dash ashore to find engineer number three also proved unsuccessful as they either don’t work weekends or those that do were fully booked up for the beginning part of next week at least.

We were pretty fed up by this point and anxiety overtook and I spent most of the day in tears – firstly because we, once again, could not trust the engine not to cut out at any crucial moment i.e. leaving or coming into an anchorage close to other boats or close to reefs or the edge of the channel or rocky shore and secondly because we desperately needed to be in Antigua, 180 plus miles away, within less than a week, with a strong due wind forecast against us.  Back on board, resigned to the fact we couldn’t do anything until Monday I suggested we try one last ditch attempt at finding engineer number three.  There was a Frenchman we’d tried earlier who’d not answered his phone.  This time he did, initially saying in his best English he’d knocked off for the day, but then discovered he practically had to pass our boat on the way back to his so agreed to call in.  His immediate gut feeling was dirty fuel, although our filters were clean!?!  He asked where we’d purchased our last lot of fuel and when we explained it was from Carriacou (not a French owned Island) he basically said, whilst flapping his arms around, and shaking his head disapprovingly, no wonder we were having issues; they get their fuel from Venezuela and it’s rubbish.  We should always purchase from a French owned Island, much better quality bla bla!  He then promptly, without even checking the fuel filter, bled one of the atomisers and the engine started.  Now why the hell it didn’t start when we did that we’ll never know.  Infuriating for sure!  Grrrrrr ……………….  Even more infuriating is he may have gotten the engine going but hadn’t actually solved the problem.  He just told us to change the fuel filter?!?  Luckily, he only charged us for a couple of beers.

At 1630 hrs we raised our anchor and were on our way.  It was a difficult decision to make and rather risky but we were keen to get going to beat the unfavourable weather coming in.  Plus, if we waited for engineer number four to diagnose and solve the engine issue we would be waiting at least a week, time we didn’t have to spare.  I was literally shaking as we motored through the anchorage and weaved our way between other boats and the various shallow shoals until we were beyond the channel and out in the open sea.  At least if the engine died then we could put our sails up.

My brother, a professional sailor, would say we should be able to sail on and off moorings, manoeuvring skilfully between other boats and come to an immediate standstill when required (as we were taught to do as kids).  Our sailing friends, especially those who have sailed with us on Lady Rebel, will appreciate this is not as easy as it sounds.  My brother, not wishing to discredit by any means, has sailed regularly throughout his life, is also used to racing yachts, with lots of very talented crew, designed for quick sail changes and that can spin on a sixpence.  Lady Rebel weighs 28 tonnes laden, has a very large turning circle due to her long keel and it takes Ken 10 minutes to raise the mainsail as it is so heavy.   We don’t have the luxury of electric winches so winching in the genoa is a long slow process that leaves us breathless with aching arms and backs!!  I digress …………….

Dominica is now not an option as we would arrive there during the night (not sensible at the best of times, never mind with an unreliable engine), so we would sail Northwards past Dominica and head for Guadeloupe.  I was very excited about this as we are big fans of the TV series Death in Paradise and Deshaies Bay, on the NW side of the island is where it is filmed.  We had a fantastic night sail between Martinique and Dominica then once in the lee of the land the wind dropped so we motor sailed.  The engine behaved perfectly.  Once past Dominica we had another fantastic sail still Northwards up to Guadeloupe.  Sunrise was amazing.  Again, in the lee of the land the wind dropped to nothing so we decided to motor the rest of the way to the anchorage.  The engine wouldn’t start.  Our hearts sank.  We were bobbing around on the ocean, drifting aimlessly with no wind to fill the sails and no engine to turn the propeller.  Luckily, we were far enough from land to not go into panic mode just yet.

We went into the routine of the usual engine checks and then bled the atomisers to get any air out of the system, taking it in turns to hang upside down in the engine room and be sprayed in the face with diesel.  No joy.  We (the Royal we this time) – Ken - removed the very inaccessible pump filter and we topped it up with fuel.  Very tricky and swear inducing whilst wallowing around on the ocean in 30 degrees of heat.  Still the engine wouldn’t start.  By this time the starter batteries were flat so we had to run the generator and wait a while for them to recharge.  All this time we were slowly drifting closer to shore.  We were at the end of our tethers.  I didn’t even have enough tears left to cry, so the only option left was to remain positive and phone our very good engineering friend Ian, back in the UK.  He was sure going to love us, calling him on a Sunday evening UK time.  He was fine and after talking us through various things to try and several phone calls, he got us up and running – calling us, affectionately I hope ‘a pain in the butt’!!  I think we both cried then, with relief.  Ian, we owe you big time.

We decided to skip Guadeloupe as couldn’t face the stress of the possibility of the engine cutting out in the middle of a notoriously busy anchorage.  With our massively increased engine experience it was now obvious air was being sucked into the system somewhere and once built up to a certain amount it would restrict the fuel flow and cut the engine.  We traced the pipework etc., as best we could, but for love nor money could work out where air could possibly be being sucked in.

We calculated that if we carried on overnight to Antigua, if we went slowly enough, averaging just 3 knots, we would arrive just as daylight came the following morning.  The wind, as forecast, picked up to 20 plus knots, gusting 30 and, being in the perfect direction, we were flying along at over 6 knots.  On any other occasion this would have been fantastic!  We reduced our sail area to a minimum and even had to let the small amount we had flap and spill wind in an attempt to slow down.  The wind eventually turned on the nose so we had to motor the last few miles arriving at Falmouth Harbour on the SW side of the Island, at the start of the new day.  With the fear the engine would cut out at any time we found the first big gap and dropped the anchor.  It wasn’t very comfortable as it was blowing a hooley and the wind was funnelling down between the mountains.  The boat was swinging and rolling massively and snatching at its chain.  We rigged a snubber line to take the snatch out but it was still very noisy, something we preferred to live with rather than risk moving the boat to a more sheltered spot!  At least Bill and Nicky would have somewhere to sleep on their arrival in Antigua for their holiday!

Once we were happy the anchor was holding well and we had washed down the decks, packed the sails away and had a much-needed sleep following the two nights at sea we went ashore to check in with Customs and Immigration.  Check in was at Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour, the only working Georgian dockyard in the World, just a short walk from Falmouth Harbour.  Both harbours are stunning with beautifully restored buildings.  The marinas were something else, full of amazing superyachts, some modern, some classic, with numerous amounts of crew in smart uniforms busying about polishing brass and scrubbing decks.  The larger motor-yachts carried jet skis and one a helicopter! 

To our delight we bumped into Martin and Rita from Maisie, anchored in English Harbour.  They invited us aboard for a BBQ with Steve and Dee from La Mischief.  We were ‘Maisied’ once again, waking up next morning slightly jaded. 

Maisie anchored in English Harbour

The initial part of our stay in Antigua consisted of organising engineer number 4, finding a water maker supplier/fitter (who never showed) and an electrician (who came out but never got back to us with a quote for more solar panels)!

One evening we were having sundowners in a ‘locals’ bar overlooking English Harbour with Maisie and La Mischief when we spotted Outa and Herman from Thetis (Barbados 50 friends) cycle past.  We didn’t know they were in Antigua; they joined us and we each devoured several large gin and tonics!  On another evening we had a Barbados 50 reunion meal with Maisie, La Mischief, Thetis and Modjadji and White Ibis who came down from Jolly Harbour by taxi.  It is so good that we are still regularly meeting up with fellow B50 participants having gone our separate ways since Barbados.

Jessie, engineer number 4, came out and discovered a worn ‘o’ ring in the Racor filter that could potentially be letting air into the system.  Off we went to the chandlers to order a new one that would arrive in a few days.  We decided to take our laundry ashore rather than use the washing machine onboard and preserve water.  We didn’t want to use our water for washing as without a reliable engine, going alongside a pontoon in a marina to fill our tanks was not a viable option. 

Wifi was proving to be a nightmare both aboard and ashore.  If we did manage to find some it was painfully slow.  Ken persevered; I gave up and settled into my book, ‘An Embarrassment of Mangoes’ by Ann Vanderhoof, about a couple who did exactly what we are doing, visiting the same Islands and having not dissimilar boat issues.  A great read.

Friday 3 March

Today was a very exciting day for us.  Bill and Nicky, our friends from Harbury, were due to arrive at 1600 hrs.  We arranged to meet them at the Antigua Yacht Club, where coincidently we were able to watch Leicester Tigers play Exeter.  I won’t mention the result ☹!  Several beers and rum punches later we took our guests back aboard for a meal and more alcohol!  We were on holiday after all!!

Bill was a little delicate the following morning and went for a swim around the boat to try and liven himself up.  We all went ashore to do some sightseeing, visit the museum at Nelson’s Dockyard, then caught the water taxi to Galleon beach where we snorkelled, ate a long lazy lunch accompanied by several beers and glasses of wine.  We were on holiday after all!!

Sunday 5 March – We don’t like cricket, oh no, we love it t t t

Back in the UK last July, before we set off on our adventure, whilst visiting Bill and Nicky, Bill being a big cricket fan, the subject of West Indies V England in Antigua on 5 March 2017 came up.  A plan was soon hatched for them to come and visit us combining it with a day out at the cricket at Sir Vivian Richards Ground.  Nicky B was a little reluctant (for at least 60 seconds) as felt they should be saving for under floor heating in their newly planned kitchen.  Caribbean holiday V underfloor heating???? Let’s think about that for a minute.  Their flights were booked in no time and Ken put the word around the other Barbados 50 boats to see who else fancied meeting up in Antigua on that date.  There was a lot of interest; 14 of us in total.  What a fantastic day we had and to cap it all, England won.  Luckily Bill being an expert on the rules was able to explain exactly what was happening and soon into the game we were all hooked.  Far more involved and technical than I’d ever imagined.  I’d taken my mini binoculars so I was able to assess the players more closely.  Several times (apparently) I took my eyes off the ball and was seen to be observing certain players for long periods of time!!  There were BBQ’s all day long, rum punches and music after the game.  We didn’t need to eat dinner that evening.

Bill was up early the next morning to catch us fish for breakfast.  We waited ….. and waited…. and waited, then got the cereal out.  Apparently a new rod set up was in order which Bill would tackle (excuse the pun) later in the day. 

Nicky B and I went off in the rib to do a supermarket shop leaving the boys to investigate the engine further.  They changed the Racor filter and interestingly discovered a hose clip was missing – a place air could certainly be being sucked in.  Let’s hope so.  If that was the case, the addition of the new clip should solve the problem.  Confident with this in mind we weighed anchor and motored the 3 miles round to English Harbour, where we moored stern-to, with our anchor out to hold our bow in place, at Nelson’s Dockyard Marina, next to a rather impressive superyacht!  It made us look like a Tonka toy!  We towed the dinghy behind us in case the engine did pack up and we could tow ourselves out of trouble.  The engine was fine – woo hoo.  Martin and Rita invited us aboard Maisie for sundowners.  I crashed out as soon as we returned to Lady Rebel, well and truly ‘Maisied’ once again and the others munched on cheese and biscuits then crashed out soon after, also ‘Maisied’.  What dreadful hosts we are, not even capable of cooking our guests an evening meal!!

During the next ten days we walked via the old fort to the stunning Pigeon beach, did lots of swimming and snorkelling, ate some amazing meals, made many visits to the ‘cheese and wine’ shop (actually a supermarket but we only ever seemed to buy cheese and wine to accompany our many late nights of card playing!).  We walked the stunning coastal pathway up to ‘Shirley Heights’ and invited Martin and Rita aboard for a BBQ so we could ‘Maisie’ them back!  They were a little nervous as the previous night their anchor had dragged and they had to re-anchor their large catamaran in the tiny harbour, will little room to manoeuvre in the black of night. 

We had a special meal on board of salmon and champagne to celebrate Bill and Nicky’s engagement back in November 2016 and me honoured to be their maid of honour 😊 and then another of lobster ashore.  You can justify anything when there is a celebration involved!!  We hired a car for a day, explored various landmarks chauffeured by Bill and tested various pinacoladas in various establishments, mostly having amazing views over golden sandy beaches or rocky coastline. 

Jessie, engineer number 4, came out once more to check over the engine, for our reassurance as much as anything and didn’t find anything obviously wrong so we concluded the ‘o’ ring and hose clip had done the trick.

On Thursday 9 March we were part of a large crowd welcoming the arrival of Chris Bertish who arrived into Nelson’s Dockyard having paddle-boarded single handed across the Atlantic.  91 days alone at sea.  What an incredible achievement.

Unfortunately, the wind was quite strong blowing our bow sideways and pushing us back onto the quay.  We added several more lines in an attempt to keep us straight and took in some anchor chain to pull us forwards.  We were wary of doing this as we didn’t want to pull the anchor up from its grip in the seabed.  It was too windy to go out and re-moor.  After four days and nights and the wind not easing up we decided to sail the 15 miles around to Jolly Harbour on the West coast of Antigua.  It was a very pleasant sail under genoa alone and we found a lovely spot to anchor outside of the harbour, in an enormous bay.  The engine behaved perfectly.  We were even in time to race ashore in the rib to watch the Wales Ireland 6 Nations rugby game.

The following day was another rugby day in a bar ashore, with other Barbados 50 friends.  France beat Italy and England beat Scotland.  We later wandered along to the stunning Jolly beach for a swim, sleep, read, sunbathe and pinacolada, not necessarily in that order! 

Another day took us to a very secluded beach where you could be half a mile out and still touch the bottom (even me!).  Bill and Nicky decided to have a race swimming back to the beach.  Nicky’s left arm is clearly stronger than her right whilst undertaking front crawl at speed as she went slightly off course and was heading off towards the harbour!  Fortunately she lifted her head, regained her bearings, altered her course and continued with the race, by which time Bill had taken the lead. 

Another friend from Harbury contacted us via Facebook to say friends of theirs who used to live in Harbury 30 years ago (before our time there) have a yacht charter business in Jolly Harbour Antigua and we should look them up.  Their boat name is Jabberwocky, Nick and Kaye Middleton.  We gave them a call and they kindly invited us for sundowners.  There yacht is moored literally in their back garden, an amazing spot.  We had a great evening with them and bumped into them several times more.  They were a great source of local information which came in very handy i.e. when trying to source engineer number five, but I’ll come to that later.

Tuesday 14 March – a very sad day

Today was the day Bill and Nicky B were departing for the UK.  We ate lunch ashore, spent a bit of time on the beach, showered in the Marina facilities and waved them off in a taxi to the airport at 1630 hrs. My stomach was in knots; with all the engine issues I was suddenly feeling very homesick and wanted to go with them, to be back with family, friends and the security of dry land!  As a distraction we went to see our friend Billy on White Ibis (Jade was visiting the UK).  Then to a boat called Fleet II that Ken’s dad, although not onboard, has shares in.  Then on to visit Peter on Stormbreaker.  Peter and Sarah’s trip had sadly come to an end and Stormbreaker had been sold.  Sarah was already back in the UK and Peter was putting the last of their belongings into crates to ship back.  We will certainly miss them as we were good friends in Falmouth and we set sail together back in August for Spain at the start of our journey.  It was Peter and Sarah who introduced us to the Barbados 50 rally organisation.  We have a lot to thank them for.

The final weekend of the Six Nation’s rugby, we were watching in a bar with Modjadji and White Ibis, a couple I recognised, but couldn’t place, came over to chat.  It transpired they were from Helford, near Falmouth UK and were customers of Falmouth Yacht Services and Falmouth Boat Yard when I was working there (Colin & Suckie Gladstone, boat Betsy).  Small World once again.

Sunday 19 March – time to move on

We spent the day researching our pilot books and charts for our next destinations – we could day hop to Nevis,

St Kitts, Statia, Saba, St Barts and finally to St Martin.  We checked engine, gearbox oil and water-coolant and made the boat seaworthy, stowing various items and preparing sails.  We weighed anchor that afternoon and motored into the harbour for fuel and water.  Our plan was to fill up, pick up a mooring buoy overnight and head off for Nevis first thing the following morning. 

We were up at 0630 hrs and ready to go by 0700 hrs.  The engine wouldn’t start.  I can’t begin to explain our disappointment and concerns.  We called Kaye and Nick, Jabberwocky for an engineer number 5 recommendation – David – came out to us at 3.30pm.  He used the ignition to run the fuel pump for ages to bleed the engine and finally got it started.  We could however see lots of air bubbles in the glass bowl of the Racor which is a very bad sign and confirmed air definitely getting into the system.  David could not see where so suggested we ran the engine periodically throughout the evening at different revs., for different periods of time until it cut out again.  It ran perfectly all evening.  I was feeling very down by this point and declining two wedding invitations back in the UK, one June, one September, due to timing and money, didn’t help my emotions.  I phoned Mum and Dad who, as always, made me feel better. 

Engineer number 5, David, who seemed to know his stuff, came back the following day and fortunately the engine wouldn’t start.  He set about putting his knowledge into practice and after a lot of checks finally got it going again.  He asked us, once again, to keep running it on and off until it cut out and then we should call him day or night as he had other things to try.   Typically it kept running and starting perfectly every time.  We did find a split in a fuel pipe, but David later confirmed it was just the outer casing and would not be letting air in.   We kept our minds off the engine by socialising in the evenings with Modjadji, their visiting friends and White Ibis at various bars that had bands, beach BBQ’s and ‘happy hours’.

One week later the engine issue was still not resolved, not through lack of time spent and trying and we were still attached to the mooring buoy at 25 US dollars per night (as opposed to anchoring for free).  David did lots of tests, took various bits and pieces apart and suggested we change all 24 of the hose clips.  Then we were to take Lady Rebel out in order to put some load on the engine.  We decided to join Modjadji in the 24 mile trip around to Antigua’s beautiful Nonsuch Bay.  They sailed, we motored!  On arrival, the engine having run perfectly, we dropped our anchor in turquoise waters, perfect distance from the beach and a reef we could snorkel.  Unfortunately the anchor dragged when we put reverse load on it, so without hesitation we lifted it, went around in a big circle and was just about to re-drop when the engine cut out.  To be honest, we weren’t surprised.  We dropped the anchor and hoped it would dig itself in as we didn’t have an engine to assist.  Once settled I took myself overboard with my mask and snorkel and went to look at the anchor.  The water wasn’t very deep and so clear, it was easy to see.  It hadn’t dug in at all, was just lying in the sand with the anchor chain in a snake like pattern beside it leading back to our bow.  There was nothing we could do.  We don’t have dive tanks on board to dive down and physically dig the anchor in so we just had to hope the wind stayed light and the pure weight of the chain and anchor would hold us.  We went through all the usual engine checks, nothing.  Tried to phone engineer number 5, David, but no reply.  Now completely emotionally drained, our only option was to launch the rib and invade Modjadji for rum punch sundowners.  Needless to say I slept in the cockpit that night on anchor watch.

The following day we managed to call David who talked us through an endless list of things to try to start the engine.  Finally through various checks and with the symptoms we described, it transpired this time to be a lose relay and not the air in the system.  After cleaning all the terminals and reconnecting the relay the engine started.  We reversed back on the anchor to dig it in before giving the engine time to conk out again!  A little more relaxed we spent the afternoon snorkelling the various reefs with Peter and Jenny, then took a dinghy ride over to Nonsuch Bay resort for a pinacolada.  Coincidentally and ex colleague of Peter’s was staying there!  Small World once again.

Thursday 30 March we headed back to Jolly Harbour, motoring all the way with no issues.  By 1400 hrs we were safely anchored in the bay and noticed yacht ‘B and G’, Rob and Kathy, Barbados 50 rally participants who we’d not seen for weeks.  They, along with Modjadji, came aboard for drinks and a catch up.  They had already been to some islands we wanted to visit so were a handy source of information!

Friday 31 March – Jolly Harbour Antigua to St Martin, 99 miles, 17.17 hrs, 5.76 knots ave. speed, 8.2 engine hrs

Total miles: 5610.9              

After a lot of deliberation, for four reasons we decided to do the overnight sail directly to St Martin and miss out the several islands in between:

1.      St Martin is a great place for boat parts with big chandlers and is tax free – a place where we could hopefully get the engine fixed once and for all, plus install a water-maker and more solar panels.

2.     We didn’t want to risk the engine packing up whilst entering or exiting any of the smaller islands, plus engineers and spare parts would be more difficult, if not impossible, to come by.

3.     A fellow Barbados 50 rally participant, boat Kirikou, had sadly broken free of its mooring buoy in Saba, due to a line chafing in heavy swell and had been washed up on the rocks.  The family were all ok but the boat damaged.  After three attempts the salvage company managed to tow the boat from the rocks to a safe harbour and avoid it sinking.  Absolutely devastating news; our thoughts are with them.  A large survey boat also broke free from its mooring and is still lying against the rocks.

4.     Steve from La Mischief was having a meal in St Martin for his Birthday, along with several other yachting friends and we were keen to help him celebrate.

We took the courtesy flag for Nevis back to the chandlers for a 25 US dollar refund as we were no longer visiting that Island.  It is flag etiquette when visiting a new country to fly their National flag from your spreaders.  It is very much frowned upon if you don’t and not worth risking upsetting the locals, customs or immigration.  At 25 US dollars a flag this is a very expensive business given the number of counties we have already and would be visiting.  I tried printing the various flags on A4 paper and laminating them, but sadly the plastic ripped and they blew away, plus they looked ridiculous!! We duly checked out with Immigration and said cheerio to Modjadji.  By 1600 hrs we were on our way; by 0900 hrs the following day, having had a fantastic sail, we arrived in St Martin.  Neither of us slept particularly well overnight whilst off watch but our Autopilot worked so I got my fill of The Archers and Ken was updated with Leicester Tiger’s news.  After packing the boat away we felt a docking totty in order, even though it was only 1000 hrs. 

We went ashore to check-in, found the restaurant we were meeting at later and back on board for a sleep.  Birthday boy Steve came over for a few beers then we proceeded to La Mischief where we were meeting the others for pre-dinner drinks, then headed to the restaurant for a fantastic meal and fun night, meeting lots of new people.

St Martin is divided between the French (Northern part) and Dutch - Sint Maarten (Southern part).  It is said that the French and Dutch were so civilised that rather than fight over the island, they had a Frenchman armed with a bottle of wine walk from North to South and a Dutchman equipped with a flask of gin walk from South to North.  Where they met became the boundary and the French ended up with a bit more because the gin was stronger than the wine!

We anchored in Marigot Bay on the French side – cheaper fees than the Dutch side! 

The last few days have been very productive in discovering the enormous chandlers, electrical stores and DIY store (all a good 10 minute trip at speed in the rib across an enormous lagoon, under the causeway bridge that is the boundary, to the Dutch side), the laundrette, fuel dock, supermarket, best wifi bar, sim card shop, ATM’s, rubbish drop-off and butane gas filling service for our cooker.  We ordered a new water-maker to be delivered after Easter and two new solar panels to make us fully self-sufficient in power.   With the ability to make our own water, by filtering sea water and extra solar panels we should be able to shower as often as we like and do as much laundry on board as required, without having to go into a marina to purchase water for our tanks at astronomical cost.  We fixed the generator hose leak, gas solenoid light and at great pains removed the old water maker (with the aid of a multitool/metal cutter!).  We traced and labelled cables, a nightmare of a job and got the freezer up and running, fitted a vacuum gauge to the engine Racor so we can at least monitor air in the system and we have yet to fit a new relay to the engine and so the list goes on……

It hasn’t been all work work work, although it feels like it at times; we have met up with various friends – some from the rally, some new people we have met en route, for sundowners, the occasional meal out, a trip to a street fayre in Grand Case with stalls, bands and lots of eateries and a couple of interesting seminars (with free beer!) and of course ashore for wifi to watch the rugby on our IPads!

Most mornings I make an effort to listen to the net at 0730 hrs, VHF channel 10, run by Mike from Shrimpys!  He gives weather first then asks new people to introduce themselves.  Cruisers and businesses then discuss their services, activities, items to buy and sell, safety issues, requirements and general information.  It’s an extremely useful 30 minutes and sets me up for the day ahead!

Easter Saturday and Sunday (today) it has hammered it down with rain, all day, with the occasional thunder and lightening thrown in for good measure.  With not a piece of chocolate in sight it has been a good opportunity to get the blog up to date.  We will be here for another week or so fitting the new water maker and solar panels and hopefully doing some sight seeing!  I hope therefore the next blog will be shorter and more about the gorgeous islands of the Caribbean ………… one can but hope!

Happy Easter everyone 😊