Lavers blog, 9th 2008-2009 entry, February 18-March 2, 2009

February 18, 2009, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

Larry spends most of the day cleaning the boat, getting laundry done, polishing the stainless steel and generally getting ready for Elisabeth ad the Swansons tomorrow. Rickard Sundblad from Sofia comes over for cocktails and they go to Bosun’s for dinner. They both have fish and chips made with a local fish that Larry has never heard of. Quite tasty!

February 19, 2009, Rodney Bay

More cleaning and stowing. Larry borrows the dinghy from Phoenix Rising to clean the waterline and wash the topsides with vinegar and water. The name on the stern of the boat has been damaged by the tropical sun over the months of exposure. One of the local workers tries to help restore the boat’s name and hailing port to its original bright gold appearance. The attempt is unsuccessful and the colors will have to remain a dull gray gold until it can be replaced. At 4.30 Larry goes with Floyd to the airport to pick up Elisabeth and the Swansons. The flight is over an hour delayed and Air Caraibe announces that they cannot fly due to bad weather on St. Lucia (which is 30 miles away from the Martinique airport). Meanwhile LIAT planes are happily landing with no difficulty. Eventually they decide to fly and everyone is relieved when the plane finally arrives. We celebrate with a fine dinner in honor of David’s birthday at the Chart House.

February 20, 2009,Rodney Bay

Heliconia in the Botanical Gardens, Soufriere

Larry, Kathryn and David at Diamond Falls, Soufriere

Marigot Bay

David rents a car and we drive first to Meat Express, a 

purveyor of frozen food to hotels and cruise ships that Rickard told us about. We lay in a stock of steaks, chicken, pork tenderloin and smoked salmon of a quality that we have not seen anywhere else on the islands. We then try to recreate the island tour that Floyd had given last week but now with Larry as guide. The tour loses a little in translation but is not a total washout. We stop at the Governor’s mansion for photos of Castries harbor, then we find a very pleasant sandwich shop in Marigot Bay for lunch. We are struck by how many Moorings charter boats are at the docks. The bad economy must have a major impact on the charter companies. In Soufriere we visit the Botanical Gardens, but opt to skip the volcano due to the advanced hour. It is a good decision as we encounter a major traffic jam between Castries and Rodney Bay. We arrive just in time to visit Richard onboard Sofia for cocktails. We enjoy swapping stories and manage to reduce Richard’s wine supply substantially. Back onboard Singoalla Elisabeth prepares a delicious dinner of smoked salmon, gravlax sas, boiled potatoes and salad. Lights out almost immediately after dinner.

February 21, 2009, Rodney Bay

Elisabeth, Kathryn and David take the car to the mall to get supplies for the week. Larry stays behind and works on the blog. The weather forecast is for continuous strong winds and high seas. We are very comfortable where we are and spend the afternoon reading and sharing tidbits from our books with one another. Larry finally prepares the welcome drink, pina coladas! Elisabeth prepares marinated chicken for dinner. We spend a quiet evening still captured by our books.

February 22, 2009, Rodney Bay

Kathryn and David at Scuttlebutt's

We spend yet another day at the marina. David swims in the pool while Kathryn observes from Scuttlebutts. We have lunch at Café Ole in the marina then read in the afternoon. We invite Rickard from Sofia for dinner. Larry and Elisabeth visit Mike and Linda onboard Casa del Mar, a neighboring boat from Portland Oregon. They are invited over for cocktails as well. Rickard, Linda and Mike arrive at 6 pm, and we have such a good time the cocktail invitation is extended to include dinner. Elisabeth has anticipated this possibility, and casually serves up a delicious dinner for 7. We are fascinated to hear about Mike’s fight against terminal cancer, an experimental “miracle drug“ that saved his life, and their decision to go sailing. We could have talked all night-and made a pretty good try at doing so.

February 23, 2009, Rodney Bay

Elisabeth and Kathryn walk to the grocery store and take the bus back with their heavy loads. Larry clears out at customs and checks out of the marina. We leave the lagoon and go a short distance out into Rodney Bay and anchor off the beach. The weather report is still not so good so we decide to stay here another day here. Kathryn and Elisabeth go for a swim but not very far due to the strong current. Tonight we play cards and Elisabeth learns to play gin rummy. We st

op with David in the lead when no one can keep their eyes open.

February 24, 2009, Rodney Bay

Mobile fruit store in Rodney Bay

We experience another rainy, windy day. We feel sorry for those poor souls who actually have to go somewhere today. We read all day, alternating between reading on deck and reading below during the squalls. Our friends on Teka Nova call this activity “hatch aerobics“. After making lots of progress in our books Elisabeth prepares pasta Bolognese for dinner. After dinner we play gin rummy again until we can no longer stay awake.

February 25, 2009, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia – St. Pierre, Martinique

Elisabeth gets a kick out of climbing the mast

Almost halfway there!

Finally we get a break in the weather. The seas are beginning to subside and the wind is down to a very tolerable 20 knots. We raise the anchor and head north. The strike is still on in Martinique, so we are not quite sure where we will stop. We sail fast, average about 7.5 knots, and have several periods of rain. Kathryn discovers that it is comfortable and entertaining to sit in the companionway under the dodger and watch as Larry and David repeatedly don and doff foul weather gear. Midway to Martinique we see a pod of dolphins, but they will not come and play. Despite the rain it is a comfortable crossing. We sail/motor up the lee side of the island to St. Pierre where there are many fewer boats than during our last visit. Just before arriving, a control line from the Dutchman mainsail control system fastens in the upper spreader tip.  We are unable to free it, so we release it from the foot of the sail so it will not keep us from dropping the sail at our destination.  We find a convenient spot to anchor near the dinghy dock. But the binoculars reveal that the stores are closed and there is very little activity in town, so we do not go ashore. Instead, Elisabeth goes up the mast to free the Dutchman control line.  We celebrate the good passage and Elisabeth's successful sky mission with pina coladas, which David and Kathryn have developed a taste for.

February 26, 2009, St. Pierre, Martinique – Roseau, Dominica

Roseau sunset

 David and Kathryn enjoy the crossing to Dominica

As we are preparing to leave St. Pierre we are hailed by the captain of a lovely nearby French yawl. He asks if we can spare a few liters of dinghy fuel. He is out of diesel, and has only about a liter of gasoline left in the tank of is small outboard. We gladly give him a few liters and wish him well. He is going to sail around to le Marin, ancor, and wait until he can get diesel for the yawl. We, on the other hand, raise the anchor and have a glorious reach to Roseau. The winds are around 20 knots with moderate seas. Larry, Elisabeth and David take turns steering while Kathryn observes from her perch under the dodger. Sea Cat’s boat boy helps us to a mooring and takes Larry to the ferry terminal to clear in. Kathryn, David and Elisabeth go ashore to reserve a table for dinner at the Anchorage Hotel and to see if we can use their showers. We are able to rent a room for the afternoon where all of us can shower for a very reasonable rate. We have cocktails in the bar until the restaurant is open, then enjoy a very nice buffet dinner. Larry and David pig out on the desserts.

February 27, 2009, Roseau – Portsmouth, Dominica

Getting water at Roseau

We are up early and take the dinghy to the Fort Young Hotel, the nearest dinghy dock to downtown. There is a major surge, so we tie the dinghy across a corner of the dock to avoid damage. Kathryn and David go to the Dominica Museum while Larry and Elisabeth go to Whitchurch’s grocery for provisioning. Back on Singoalla we need help from Sea Cat to free us from the mooring – during the night Singoalla has circled the mooring many times in the light wind and the waves, creating a major snarl around the mooring ball. We then go over to Sea Cat’s mooring and, with Desmond’s help and some very long lines, we back up to within 10 meters of the dock. Desmond brings us a hose and we fill up the water tanks. We have a quiet sail / motor sail / motor up the lee side of the island to Portsmouth where Martin takes us to a mooring quite close to Purple Turtle. Kathryn and David decide to leave us here as they have already been on the boat three days longer than they had planned. Martin takes them ashore and drives them to Heaven’s Best, a guest house run by a retired couple who have returned to the island after many years in New York where he was a chef. Larry and Elisabeth cook steaks on the grill, and go straight to bed, too tired to read.

February 28, 2009, Portsmouth

Kathryn and David in Prince Rupert Bay

Elisabeth and Larry go to the farmer’s market at 6 .30 am. This is one of Elisabeth’s favorite events, and she as usual comes back to the boat with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, all grown on Dominica. Kathryn and David come by as planned about 9.00 am. Larry takes their passports to customs to clear them off the boat. The custom’s agent is very friendly and helpful, but the immigration officer is anything but. He makes it clear that he is not happy that we have changed our plans. He refuses to stamp our documentation today, and says that Kathryn and David will have to get their passports stamped at the airport. A disgruntled Larry returns to the boat, but is considerably cheered when Elisabeth prepares a delicious salad nicoise for lunch. Martin takes the Swansons on his wonderful rowing tour of the Indian River. They then return to Heaven’s Best for the afternoon, but will return aat 6:00 for a farewell dinner. Elisabeth spends all day cleaning the boat, and Larry naps during the afternoon to try to get an allergy attack under control. He feels considerably better when Kathryn and David arrive at 6:00. We have farewell pina coladas, a steak dinner with sautéed potatoes and onions, salad, and fresh pineapple for dessert. Larry takes David and Kathryn back to the Purple Turtle after dinner where they expect to get a taxi back to the guest house. Larry is asked by a stranded sailor for a ride back to his boat – he has come back from a bus trip to Roseau after all the boat boys have gone home and has no other way to return to his boat. Tonight’s music from ashore is quite pleasant, and we fall asleep to the rhythm of the drums and bass that we can hear through the hull.

March 1, 2009, Portsmouth, Dominica – les Saintes, Guadeloupe

We are up early, before 7:00, but take our time getting the boat ready for the short passage to les Saintes. Our documentation is in order except for a clearance from immigration. Since the crew form has the customs clearance stamp on it, we decide not to return to the unpleasant immigration officer, but just to depart. We hear on the VHF that a Dutch boat has left without paying one of the boat boys 50 EC ($20 US) for a phone card that he had purchased for the boat, and that another boat boy’s house burned last night. We want to make a contribution to the fund that the sailors are raising for them, but Martin does not respond to our calls on the VHF. We assume that he is probably in church, but we need to leave to make sure we arrive at Passe des Dames in good light. We will hae to find another way to contribute. We have a beautiful passage to les Saintes, beam/close reach, 7.5 to 8 knots. Elisabeth steers most of the way. One boat of similar size that leaves about the same time drops astern, but another unknown boat gains on us and catches us just as we arrive at les Saintes. We are relieved to see that it is Albatros, a 50+ foot boat that we last saw in Martinique. Just as we reach the Passe des Dames, a narrow and dangerous slot between two reefs, but that saves ½ mile in going around the neighboring islets, a rain squall bears down on us. We are fortunate to reach the pass before the rain destroys visibility. We motor close in o Bourg des Saintes and anchor near where we were a few weeks ago. We raise the yellow quarantine flag and stay on board because the strike is still going on in Guadeloupe. We have wonderful grilled tuna steaks that Larry prepares rare on our propane grill, and a garden salad using ingredients acquired at the marvelous Saturday market in Portsmouth.

March 2, 2009, les Saintes – Deshaies, Guadeloupe

Elisabeth steers with les Saintes in the background

Sunset at Deshaies

We raise anchor and depart at 8:00 a.m. We set the main with a single reef and motor out past Ilet des Cabrits before setting the genoa. It is always difficult to judge how much wind is blowing and from which direction until we are out of the light air and turbulence caused by the steep islands. As is not uncommon, we initially set too much sail, but eventually get it right and cross over to Pointe du Vieux Fort at between 8 and 8.5 knots – the kind of passage that maks you want to shout for the mere fun of it. The fun is over as we go up the lee side of Guadeloupe. We sometimes have a beam reach on starboard tack, sometimes no wind and sometimes a close reach on port. We drop the sails before Rollo Head in very light wind on the nose and begin to motor the last couple of miles to Deshaies. Suddenly our newly installed engine alarm begins to sound – the engine is too hot. We turn it off and make slow progress under the jib alone for a while. When we judge that we are close enough, we start the engine and head in to find a place to anchor. There are very few boats now, and most are showing the yellow flag, meaning they are only stopping while passing between other countries and not going ashore. We find that at moderate engine speed – 1800 rpm – the engine gets enough water to stay cool, so we are able to anchor without drama. Elisabeth makes rum punches before dinner and we dine on pork tenderloin that has been marinating for 2 days. Incredible! Thank you, Meat Express on St. Lucia.