Lavers blog, 10th 2008-2009 entry, March 3-12, 2009

March 3, 2009, Deshaies, Guadeloupe – Falmouth Harbour, Antigua

Again we get an early start for the 40 mile passage to Antigua.   Again we set too much sail initially, but eventually the winds settles in about 22 knots and we get it right. Most of this passage goes at over 8 knots, an incredible ride in our boat.  Elisabeth steers most of the way, and unlike last year she does not ask Larry to shorten sail.  Instead she has a big grin on her face for the sheer joy of such sailing. We follow another boat about 2 miles ahead of us, and do not see any other boats until we are about 8 miles out of Falmouth Harbor. We are first passed by a lovely 60-65 foot sloop, then a monster schooner, incredibly beautiful , passes us as if we were in reverse. We enjoy the beauty, and wonder what it is. Before entering Falmouth we see Maltese Falcon under sail, a most unusual sight when all sails are set.  We anchor in Falmouth Harbor, again with a little engine alarm, and go in to customs and for much needed showers, especially a salt encrusted Larry.  A walk around Nelson’s Dock yard to admire the boats there, we see Eleonora , the recent reconstruction of Nathaniel  Herreshoffs Windward from the early 1900’s. It is she who flew by us earlier this afternoon!  We enjoy pizza at Cap Horn with Don Dery, and then back to the boat. We make two innovations, both successful. When we leave the boat we turn on the tricolor mast head light instead of the anchor light.  This makes it so much easier to identify the boat in the dark among all the many anchor lights in the harbor. And we use the new l.e.d. headlamps that Elisabeth bought when she was home. They are very bright and draw very little power and are much easier to carry than regular flashlights. And they always point in the direction you want to  

March 4, 2009, Falmouth Harbour-Jolly Harbour.

The motion of the steering quadrant on the rudder post has become more obvious, so we want to go to Jolly Harbour and have Carl at A1 Marine Services take a look at it. We leave early and head for Jolly Harbour. Elisabeth steers the whole way and we tack down wind through Goat Head channel and then reach up the west side of the island.  We take a mooring about 11.00 a.m., put the motor on the dinghy and go in to talk to Carl. He is very busy, but when a French Hallberg Rassy leaves his dock, which is expected around 1.30 he will take a look.  Island time! At 3.30 we dinghy in to the French boat. They still have workers on board and guess that they will leave in an hour. Clearly by the time they leave the dock it will be too late for Carl to take a look at the quadrant today. We agree with Carl that we will bring Singoalla in to the dock tomorrow morning.  We go in search of internet and spend a couple of hours  ashore.  On the way out to Singoalla we are surprised to see a catamaran at Carl’s dock in place of the Hallberg Rassy.  We go over to ask them how long they plan to be there. They are a retired couple from Florida and have an overheating problem with an engine, and Carl had also told them to come into the dock when the French boat left.  We commiserate with each other, and are invited to stay for dinner. Sue serves a chicken and pasta casserole and we trade stories and impressions from our cruises. They hope their issue will be taken care of quickly so perhaps we will be able to get at the dock by late morning.  We return to Singoalla disappointed not to be next on Carl’s list, but happy to have made new friends.

March 5, 2009, Jolly Harbour

After breakfast we decide to go ashore to check on Carl’s progress with Catalyst. We stop to greet the couple on Nordlys, a beautiful Swan 47 we have seen further south who have just arrived. We are invited for cocktails at 5.00. When we get to Catalyst, they are done with Carl and just paying their bill. We hurry back to Singoalla and bring her to Carl’s work dock. We are told that Tony, who worked on the fiberglass  on the mast step in December, will be doing the work.  That is great, because we know Tony to be both competent and diligent, a rare combination down here.  Larry helps Tony dismantle and remove the quadrant. There is too much “play” between the rudderpost and the quadrant, where they should be tightly clamped together.  At 5.00 pm Carl takes the quadrant to an automobile machine shop to have the two halves milled down slightly so they will make better contact.   We go over to Nordlys where we get to know David and his Danish born wife Annette as well as another British couple, David and Pita, friends of David and Annette from the UK, who have a Hallberg Rassy on a nearby mooring. Cocktails extend for 3 hours and we have a marvelous time.  When we return to Singoalla we think that a cup of soup will make a perfectly adequate dinner and shortly afterwards we totter off to bed.

March 6, 2009, Jolly Harbour

We wake up after a restless night slapping mosquitoes in the dark.  At about 10.30 Carl tells us that the machine shop was unable to mill down the quadrant because it is too thin and cannot be stabilized without building an elaborate jig, which would take too much time and money. Instead we will try to fill the gap between the quadrant and the rudder post with micro balloons. The quadrant comes back around 1.30 pm and Tony reassembles everything after laying a thick layer of micro balloons around the rudder post. (We think that it is a good thing that Tony is a small fellow who fits in the lazarette). We cannot leave until the epoxy has cured so we are stuck at the dock until tomorrow. Tony finishes at 4.30 and we have just enough time to get the boat presentable for before David and Annette come for cocktails at 5.00. David is a retired airline pilot and it is very interesting to hear his evaluation of the airline industry and the training given to pilots by various airlines. Once again, cocktails last for some hours.  After our guests depart we have a delicious chicken salad using leftover marinated chicken. We endure one more buggy night although the fan stirs the air enough in our cabin to make it more comfortable than yesterday.

March 7, 2009, Jolly Harbour

We are anxious to get away from Carl’s work dock, but cannot do so until we get the bill.  Carl’s wife is in charge if billing and she won’t be in until late morning, so we go to Dogwatch Tavern to plug in the laptop and get on the internet to update the blog.  By the time we have paid Carl, then gone to the fuel dock for fuel and water it is early afternoon and all moorings are taken. We decide to go outside the harbor and anchor in Mosquito Cove. There is a strong swell running and the wind is very gusty so we are in for an uncomfortable night. The wind blows at 10-15 knots for a while, and then we are hit by a sudden gust of 25-30 knots or more. This causes the boat to suddenly heel over and seems to pull the anchor through the sand a little at each gust. We reposition the boat to be a little further away from a post that marks the channel into Jolly Harbor.

 March 8, 2009, Jolly Harbour

We are awakened every hour or so by the anchor watch alarm on the GPS as the wind gusts pull the anchor slowly through the sand. At about 2 a.m. we both go up on deck in response to a particularly loud gust. The moon is almost full and it is a beautiful bright night. Suddenly Elisabeth sees that our dinghy is upside down – with the motor on it!  After some thought we decide to do nothing about the problem until daylight, when we might get some help in rescuing the outboard motor. Of course we forget that it is Sunday morning, when help will be very hard to find.  We wrap a line around the dinghy and winch it up on its side, then a little nudge makes it fall upright!  The fuel tank is floating nearby, still attached to the engine.  We get it back into the dinghy and contemplate what to do next. We see Nordlys departing the harbor on their way to Falmouth Harbour, so we know that their mooring is available now.  We immediately raise our anchor and go into the harbor and pick up their mooring.  We put a toolkit in the dinghy, and are prepared to row into Carl’s work dock where we can work on the outboard when John from Ocean Harmony comes by in his dinghy to ask what the conditions are outside.  After we report, he decides to stay on the mooring for at least another day and agrees to tow us into the dock so we don’t have to row against the wind.  He also helps Larry to get the engine up on the dock and holds the engine while Larry pours gasoline into the cylinders and pulls the starter rope to flush out the cylinders. We then find a cart and Elisabeth and Larry bring the motor over to the fuel dock where we give it a thorough bath with fresh water.  It is not water that gives engines problems, it is the salt. We take the engine back to Carl’s test barrel, reassemble it, and much to our surprise and delight it STARTS. We run it for about 5 minutes and pronounced it cured.  We throw out the old fuel as we fear it is contaminated with salt water and refill at the fuel dock. We then clean up Singoalla and ourselves and go to the Foredeck bar to wait for Mark, Chery and Connor who fly in today. After one drink at the bar we all head for Singoalla. Larry prepares welcome pina coladas and then we have dinner of grilled chicken, potato salad made with sweet and traditional potatoes and  green beans.

March 9, 2009, Jolly Harbour -Falmouth Harbour, Antigua

Chery and Connor enjoy the sail to Falmouth Harbour

The Barres and Larry -- first morning at Jolly Harbour

Eleonora, a Herreshoff re-creation

Larry and Connor in front of Mariette

The family at Fort Berkeley

After breakfast and after Barres have stowed their copious amounts of clothing and other gear they have with them, we pay our mooring fee and head for Falmouth Harbour. The wind is so far north we are able to reach through Goat Head Channel, almost unheard of, and have a short 3 mile beat up to Falmouth Harbour.  We go ashore to tour Nelson’s Dock yard, and are surprised to see Rowena Dery. She invites us all to drinks at their house and to enjoy the beautiful view, to be followed by dinner at Cap Horn.  After our tour of Nelsons Dock yard we walk to Fort Berkeley, then over the rough trail to Pigeon Beach. Connor keeps count of the goats we see along the trail - 46 in all. We complete the circle to Nelsons Dock yard where the Barres make serious inroads into the tee shirt inventory.  Rowena picks  us up at the Antigua Yacht Club and chauffeurs us up to their lovely home.  Pam and Brendan Kelley, Elisabeth’s friends from bridge at Harbour Court in Newport are visiting the Derys, and we have a wonderful evening trading sailing stories.

March 10, 2009, Falmouth Harbour - Rickett’s Bay, Green Island

Pina coladas bring smiles to the Barres

Winds are still quite northerly and there is a north swell running, but we are on the south side of Antigua and decide to make the 9 mile beat to Green Island.  On the port tack legs we go quite far off shore and the seas get pretty lumpy.  Eleven year old Connor, an avid reader, pays the price for trying to stay below decks and read.  He comes up looking somewhat green, but the view of the horizon and smoother water closer to the island have their effect and Connor feels much better by the time we drop anchor in Rickett’s bay.  As Elisabeth is preparing lunch Larry is pleased to see a topless blond mermaid paddling around the harbor in her kayak.  After lunch Mark and Connor don snorkels and fins and go snorkeling while Larry makes a start at cleaning the bottom and propeller.  Both are in pretty bad shape and require a scraper to get the barnacles off as well as Scotchbrite to clean off the scum. Mark assists by working on the starboard side.  We relax over pina coladas and a good filet dinner.  We are anchored in 12 feet of water quite close to shore and close enough to a nearby reef that we have some concern about swinging into it if the wind veers up to the east.  As we are cleaning up after dinner we hear shouts in French. We go top side to investigate and find a boat passing between us and the reef heading shoreward at about 4 knots in the dark. They stop in front of Singoalla and at first we fear that they are about the drop anchor right there. Luckily they decide to find another spot aft of us. We shake our heads and mutter something about French sailors.

March 11, 2009, Green Island –Falmouth Harbour

Connor is a quick study as a helmsman

Chery, Connor and mark at Shirley Heights

English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour from Shirley Heights

We spend the morning at anchor. Elisabeth goes for an early swim to the beach before anybody else is up.  After breakfast Mark takes Connor on another snorkel tour while Larry resumes the cleaning of the bottom. Once again Mark pitches in and completes the job. After lunch we go for a 2 hour downwind slide back to Falmouth Harbour. Mark steers most of the way and we are pleased to see that we gain on a much larger party catamaran that left the harbor shortly before we did. We anchor near Psyche, not far from where we were 2 days ago. Nordlys is anchored nearby and Annette comes over in the dinghy and suggests that we share a cab up to Shirley Heights for ”sun downers”. We think that is a superb idea and hurry over to Nelsons Dockyard for showers. The men’s shower room is (still) out of order, and the attendant locks us all in the ladies room for more or less communal shower. We get back to Falmouth just in time to meet the Nordlyses. Sunset at Shirley Heights is impressive.  Just as the sun disappears below the horizon we see an anemic green flash - but a green flash never the less .We leave the Nordlyses at the marina and go to Tappas Restaurant for a farewell dinner. We are amazed by the quality of both the meal and the service. We return to Singoalla and the Barres work on retrieving their clothes from various places in the boat and packing their enormous bags.

March 12, 2009, Falmouth Harbour.

The Barres depart, Singoalla floats 2 inches higher

The alarm goes off at 5.45. We are usually early risers, but consider this time to be reserved for farmers, fishermen and bus drivers. We manage to get dressed quickly enough to meet the taxi driver in the marina about the appointed time of 6.30. We say good bye to Chery, Mark and Connor and settle in for a day of reading. We need to get north to St Maarten but Chris Parker’s forecast indicates that both the wind and  a large north swell will be against us. We conclude that we can leave late as Monday and still be in time to meet Catharina on Wednesday.  When we go to charge the batteries in the afternoon we realize that no water is coming out of the engine exhaust.  Larry climbs into the engine compartment and finds that the water pump belt is loose. He thanks Elisabeth again for buying the new LED headlamps and Bolinders for suggesting them, because they make the job so much easier that it is almost like having a third arm. The Nordlyses arrive shortly after 5 pm for pina coladas, hors d’ouevres and entertaining conversation for a couple of hours.  After they depart Elisabeth prepares delicious spaghetti primavera dinner using locally grown vegetables and we read ourselves to sleep.