Lavers blog, 6th 2008-2009 entry

January 27, 2009, Ste. Anne

After breakfast we take the dinghy into Ste. Anne to look for an internet café.  We wander around looking at various tourist shops, then go to the market where we restock our vegetables.  We pick up bread on the way back to the town dock, and find that the restaurant nearest the dock has Wi-Fi.  We drink café au lait, upload the latest week of the blog, and start back to the dinghy.  We run into the Maestros, who are just coming ashore and looking for an Internet café.  Larry loans Wendy his laptop, and we agree to go ashore for dinner at a highly recommended restaurant just by the dock.  After a lazy afternoon of reading, Sam and Wendy pick us up.  The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays! We go to the restaurant with the Internet.  Nice atmosphere, OK food, lousy service, but a live trio and dancing.  We find that dancing in sailing shoes that are designed not to slip has its challenges.  We return to the boat around 10:00 and read for a short while before falling asleep.

January 28, 2009, Ste. Anne – le Marin

Chris Parker’s morning forecast is for lots of wind, but we are out of water and almost out of fuel, so we decide to move the 3 miles into le Marin anyway.  The harbor is very sheltered, and we assume that we will be able to tie up at the fuel dock without too much difficulty. The assumption proves to be true.  Although it is blowing hard just a few hundred yards away, the wind is moderate at the dock, and we take on water, diesel and gasoline without incident and move around to the south side of Grande Basse, a reef in the middle of the harbor, to find a suitable anchoring spot.  We find that Maestro has also repositioned, and we anchor nearby.  We take the dinghy back into the marina to arrange a rental car for tomorrow.  We are told by the first rental agency we go to that none of the agencies in the area have cars just now, but there is a bus.  We walk up the hill to the center of town trying to find the bus stop, but are unsuccessful.  We return to the tourist office in the marina and are told that, yes, there is a bus, but it doesn’t go to the airport – it goes directly to Fort de France, bypassing the airport.  We are afraid Elisabeth will have to take a taxi to the airport (which is more expensive than renting a cara for the day), but we try one more agency and, bingo, they do have a car we can pick up in the morning.  We return to Singoalla relieved.  Elisabeth spends the afternoon packing and reminding Larry of he chores he has to do while she is gone.  We go to Maestro for cocktails, then return home for a quick dinner then early to bed.

January 29, 2009, le Marin

Elisabeth and Larry say goodbye at the airport in Martinique.

Today we have to take Elisabeth to the airport, and we will take advantage of having the car to go with the Maestros to the duty free liquor store in Fort de France to replenish our depleted wine supply.  We have been advised that there is a general strike today, so we don’t know what to expect.  We decide to get Elisabeth to the airport early in case there are problems there.  We get the car, a tiny Peugeot Clio, without problem.  We go to customs to clear Elisabeth off the boat’s manifest, but they are not there.  They are on strike.  There is no traffic on the way to the airport, so we get there about 10:00 for Elisabeth’s 3:15 flight.  She tries to get on the 11:15 flight, but it has been cancelled due to the strike.  For some reason that only the French understand the 3:15 flight is still on.  We enjoy some wholly satisfactory café au lait and croissants at the airport shop, say goodbye to Elisabeth, then head for the cruise ship dock in Fort de France.  There are 2 duty free shops at the port, and the owners apparently do not like one another.  We buy some wine from each of them.  One follows the rules and says that they will deliver the wine to the boat (on board the dinghy is OK) at le Marin.  The other calls the customs officers who are now apparently back at work – the strike only lasted until noon – for permission to deliver the wine to our rental car.  Permission is apparently granted as our ships papers are with us and in order.  We then head for the big new Carrefour store on the way back to le Marin.  Think Walmart with a French accent.  Prices and quality are good, and they have just about everything.  We load up the car and return to the marina.  We take the dinghy to meet the wine delivery at 4:00 at the Mousse Café, then head back to the car to load up the dinghies with the remaining wine and groceries.  The dinghies groan under the load, but we both make it back without mishap.  The next trick is to get everything on board without the inevitable crew of cockroaches that travel in all cardboard containers down here.  After unloading and storing, Larry heads over to Maestro (with a dinghy full of cardboard) for dinner.  Wendy serves pork with rice newly purchased at Carrefour.  Tomorrow they will continue south and Larry will start on his list of maintenance chores.

January 30, 2009, le Marin

Heavy rain squalls blow through at 4:00 a.m., and again at 5:30.  Larry hears a knocking on the hull and at first thinks he has a visitor, perhaps the anchor is dragging.  It turns out to be a small plastic buoy that was 30 feet or so off the port beam.  The wind in the squalls has changed direction and Singoalla has swung over and bumped into the little buoy.  At about 9:00 Larry picks up Wendy, and they go in to the marina to return the rental, shop at the local chandleries, and get rid of the cardboard.  They then take the dinghy over close to Incidences, the sail maker, to inspect and pay for Maestro’s repaired genoa and Singoalla’s mainsail cover.  It is almost noon when they return.  Sam goes to customs to clear out, but they have decided not to leave until tomorrow.  Larry returns to Singoalla for his first full day alone.  He alternates between small maintenance chores – clearing the hose so the bilge pump will work full strength, making sure all of the seacocks are working – and reading High Endeavors.  He determines not to let Elisabeth’s absence keep him from eating well, so he prepares a dinner of grilled entrecote, sauted potatoes and onions, salad and ciabatta bread dipped in olive oil.  A meal fit for a captain, even a lonely one.

January 31-February 1, 2009 – le Marin

Larry spends all of both Saturday and Sunday working on maintenance chores without ever leaving Singoalla.  He finds and removes the crossover connection between the anchor light and the running lights, and runs a separate circuit for the masthead tricolor.  While the head liner is down he removes the main halyard winch, which has not worked since we returned to the Caribbean in December.  He frees the frozen spindle, lubricates and reassembles it and returns it to its place on the deck.  He services two more winches that have begun to be difficult to use.  He tightens the water cooling belt on the engine and replaces one of the dome lights in the main cabin that has developed a short.  He begins polishing rust spots that have begun to show on the stainless steel on the pulpit, dodger and bimini – this goes slowly because the work can’t be done in the sun.  He fires off about a dozen emails to Elisabeth asking her to bring various things that will be needed on the boat when she returns.  Meals are pretty much whatever is easy and quick – left over coq au vin with instant mashed potatoes, soup in a box, or cereal. By Sunday afternoon he is beginning to put the boat back together and feels he has accomplished a lot.  The crew from Angel in Paradise, a nearby American boat, comes by about 5:00 to ask he we know where one can watch the Super Bowl.  Super Bowl?  Larry had completely forgotten that it is Super Sunday.  He celebrates the event by spending the evening testing the wiring connections.