Guests! Who'd have them?

Oriole
Fri 18 Feb 2005 15:03
The title is no reflection on the the guests and the fun we have had with
them, but rather on the effect they seem to have had on the weather. This
trough which has been dominating the Caribbean for the last 2-3 weeks just
will not move away. Alternate days have been lovely and then the trough
drifts back again and we are back to overcast skies. The wind has been
coming from every direction except for the right one and often there is none
at all and we sailed back to St Lucia to drop off Andrew and Katherine in
less than 5 knots of wind. This is unheard of!! The weather prophets say
we should be back to 20 knots by Sunday but we have heard it all before.
However the departure of our guests should make the return to normal weather
more certain. However they seem to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We
celebrated Valentine's Day in our favourite restaurant in Les Trois Islets
and the young tolerated our presence with equanimity. They hired a car and
toured Martinique and returned to Oriole eulogising about their day. They
left on Friday looking decidedly more healthy than on arrival and we were
very sad to see them go. Andrews professional touch has been much
appreciated by the skipper as has Katherine's help in the galley and on
deck. We now want to push on north but we have one or two little bugs to
sort out which we hope will not delay us. The gearbox has a persistant leak
for which we are seeking the attentions of an expert in Martinique as the
skipper feels it is outside his repertoire, but it should be relatively
simple to fix. Then on to Antigua to collect our replacement winch motor.
But we really do want to get up to the Spanish Virgin Islands.