Fri-Thurs 19/1/12 - 3/2/12 - La Retour
Watergaw
Alan Hannah/ Alison Taylor
Fri 3 Feb 2012 18:40
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St Lucia to Martinique - 14:04.5N
60:57.5W to 14:30.1N 14:30.1N 60:05.3W
Rodney Bay and Pigeon
Island
We had a good trip back from the UK to Saint
Lucia. We left home at 04.30 for the flight to Frankfurt and were in the
boat before 00.00GMT. It was warm and late and so we decided that the best
course of action was to allow the boat to cool and go and have a cold beer
at Cafe Ole - Alan had a sandwich (which I generously helped him
eat). By the next morning we concluded that we would spend the next
few days at a more leisurely pace and take some time to buy our food and tidy
all the 'stuff' on the boat, and to visit Pigeon Island. We managed to do
that and had a lovely day enjoying a walk to the fort and having a well deserved
cold beer and delicious roti lunch at the Jambe de Bois restaurant on the
island. A roti is a bit like a chapati/wrap filled with spiced vegetables
and fish or meat. I had fish and Alan had lamb (no surprises
there). We must be getting into the swing of 'relaxez vous' because we both
arrived at the conclusion not to rush into heading off for Martinique the
next morning and decided that when we left Rodney Bay marina we would
anchor overnight - just to check the we and the boat were functioning
properly again. Alan wants to obtain Yanmar oil to service the engine and
the generator and Marin is reputed to be the most likely stockist near Saint
Lucia (but that can wait for a wee while). There was a lot of re-stowing to
be done when we got back from Christmas at home. Having Martin and Alan/Bob
on board had already made us tidy and stow things better but we wanted to spread
out again and get back to 'two aboard' stowage (some might argue that we are
just messier when we're alone). All went to plan and we had a good night
in the bay and got used to the motion of the boat at sea again.
Not Marin, but Grande Anse
d'Arlet!
We decided we would cross to Martnique on Fri 30 Jan, and prepared the boat
for a bit of "weather". Graham (from yacht Annie
co-ARCers) had told us that it could be quite rough off Pigeon Island (in fact
he had turned back twice because of the conditions and a breakage to his
furler). So we battened down accordingly, I put on my relief band, we set two
reefs in the main and used the staysail. Graham was right! We had
gusts over 30 knots at times and the wind was firmly in force 7 range. The
sea was lumpy and confused and was keen to join us in the cockpit. We
motor-sailed for an hour until we were clear of the most lumpy water and then we
stopped the engine and aimed for France in the Caribbean".
We had hoped to make for Marin but we decided that we were going to have a
longer, slower sail than we had hoped and we wouldn't make the customs
clear-in (they keep French Caribbean hours in Marin!). The
next clear-in port is Grande Anse d'Arlet. This also allowed us a better
sail and so Grande Anse it was. The sea was much smoother as soon as
we rounded the point and the wind more variable. Still occasionally gusting
28 knots but also as low as 10 knots. We were pleased to see that the
anchorage here is big and we found a good spot not far from the jetty. We
quickly divested ourselves of lifejackets and inflated 'Tink' to go ashore to
clear customs. It couldn't have been easier! The restaurant at the
head of the jetty has a computer for customs use. We had a cafe au
lait, completed the on-line form, printed it off and the waitress took down
a rubber stamp from the shelf above the bar and we were officially
cleared! (Today, Tuesday a customs boat came into the bay. They
cruised passed us, we shared a bonjour as they checked our boat name and off
they went - so we hope this means that the on-line system
worked)
Keeping the Plumbing
Working!
The next day, Stuart and Ann on Time Bandit (more
co-Arcers) arrived in the anchorage. They must have got up early because
they had gone by the following morning. Maybe me telling them that we
had a loo problem encouraged them to head off! Alan has spent three days
stripping down and cleaning the forward heads plumbing, since we had developed a
one-way system feeding the holding tank (not helpful!). This meant taking
it all apart, cleaning it down and scraping off the calcium (and other!)
deposits, and putting it all back together. The real problem is that
the system was built nto the boat before all the bulkheads and vanity basin
were put in. It is very neat, but nigh impossible to work on without
taking doors off, lying on one's back/side, and sticking one's head into the
cupboard which brings one's face very close to
the unmentionable! Not the job for a queasy person
and hard on the muscles and back over 3 days. He fixed it, but now the
other valve is acting up too, so he's back on the job and is more familiar with
loo gunk than he ever wanted to be, or ever wants to be again. Fingers
crossed that it all works this time. It hasn't all been toilet related
activity - we awarded ourselves a lunch out at a beach side restaurant
yesterday. We had two courses and were so full that we didn't have
anything for dinner - not even chocolate! We watched Mission Impossible II
and enjoyed it a second time (Alan couldn't remember the first time). So it's
now time to go and make lunch and recharge the laptop battery.
A bientot, mes
amis...... |