Hop to Dominica

One of the interesting decisions we are faced with is where to go next and when. So far, we have wanted to go just about everywhere. Never having been to these islands before, unknown shores, and all. This time of year, the trade winds are pretty reliably from the East, with some slight Northerly or Southern component from time to time. Leaving St Kitts to head south, we are FINALLY going to be able to sail something other than close hauled. So, one tack, predictable distances in the calculation. Now, destination. Montserrat is the next island south, only 25 miles away. Montserrat is a volcano, with no good protected harbor. We will skip for now. Guadeloupe is next. Big island. Good diving. WiFi. French food. Generally similar to Martinique where we are definitely headed. Problem is, Guad. is about 70 miles. More than a 12 hour sail. Can't do it in the daylight. If we continue on past Guadeloupe to Dominica we would arrive in the morning. Then, on the way back from Martinique, we can skip Dominica and make the full day run to Guadeloupe. It is all about being efficient with time, using the wind, and arriving well rested and ready to explore.

We had a wonderful trip. Winds 45-70 degrees on the port bow. 20-25 kts from St Kitts past Montserrat to Guadeloupe. Rolling along at 7 knots, sweet. The lee of Guadeloupe was calm, even to the point of motoring a little when the sails got to banging in the wee hours of the morning. Come daylight, we doused the staysail and raised the jib. We were soon at 8 knots, powering across the gap between Guad and Dominica and into Prince Rupert Bay. A mile wide crescent, well protected by high mountains, it is home to Portsmouth.

We were met at the harbor by Sam of the Lawrence of Arabia guide service. A warm friendly smile, and a knowledgeable helper to get us anchored. Holding was not good in hard sand and grass. I free dove the anchor each time, and it was dragging like a curling stone on smooth ice. A nice cruiser pointed to the sandy patch behind his boat. We dropped anchor on it, and Ginny and Tricia say "What about the boulder right under us?" A quick dive show a big coral bommie under the keel with inches to spare. We were able to retrieve the hook and only bounced twice. Then we went and took a mooring for $10/ day. You know the part I hate most? Anchoring is a spectator sport. Everyone watching and judging you. The Russians gave me a 2.0 on the compulsories!!

Now, what will we see??

Leaving St Martin Part II

Now that the boat is ready and working, we again stocked up on food and lovely Oettinger Beer ($15US/case- most drunk beer in Germany), and checked out of the French St Martin. 7 weeks = $7.20 US. HUGE BARGAIN!!! But, with it comes some challenges. Like the French side drawbridge which only has 6-7 feet of water depending on who you ask, and goes up and down on a slightly irregular schedule. Not to mention the new Causeway Bridge between the French side and Dutch side. Have I not mentioned it?? It is shiny and new. We were here for a nice fireworks show commemorating its grand opening just a few weeks ago. It is also broken. Rumor has it they didn't include the weight of the motor for the swing bridge when they designed the pilings.

Now it has sunk 4" into the muck. Of course, this doesn't mean you open it and leave it open so boats can get through. Boats must be the cause of it sinking. No, wait, cars and trucks driving on top of it might be causing it to sink. So why do they leave it closed to boats and open to traffic?? After some initial ranting on the morning cruisers net, the swing bridge now opens at 0815 and 1715. Of course, the Dutch bridge doesn't have an outbound opening at 1730, so you have to stay overnight.

So, we tied up next to John and family on Discovery, filled up our tanks with water and our bellies with beer and Tricia's homemade pizza. Early Thursday morning, a week later, we went over to the Dutch side and anchored for the day. We then got in line behind the super yachts, and left Simpson Lagoon at the 1630 opening. Turns out, don't wait for the super yachts. For some reason, they go slow through the bridge. Like 2-3 feet on either side isn't enough??

Next destination was St Kitts, which is only about 60 miles on a beam reach. Not wanting to arrive in the middle of the night, we anchored in Simpson Bay, had a nice relaxed homemade mac and cheese dinner, and then got underway at dark. A rainbow just before sunset was a beautiful end to a great visit. Winds were 20-25 just ahead of the beam. We set the staysail and a double reefed main. Seas were on the beam at 6-9 feet. Occasionally one would catch us wrong and get the cockpit wet, but overall, it looked like a comfortable sail. Cary and Ginny took the first night watch. Man, it was good to be sailing again after 7 weeks in port.

Engine Saga Continues

So, a day later, we are finally ready to leave St Martin and continue south.  Stock up on food, say goodbye to new friends, check engine-WAIT. What are these parts in the bilge?? Alternator pulley and belts?? That explains the loud screech and why it stopped. After pulling the alternator off, noted that the threads for the nut that holds the pulley on are worn smooth. How long had this been going on? (With a v-drive, alternator is on the front of the engine which is now the back, meaning you have to crawl over engine to see it.)

A day spent over at the Dutch side at ElecTec, FKG metal works, Pete's machine and engine shop, etc. yielded the good news that the alternator was fine, as a paper weight. Cost more to fix than replace, even though a replacement high output marine alternator is a BOAT unit. (A unit of measure for cost of boat repairs, based on the acronym BOAT for BREAK OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND.) Ordered from Marinewarehouse.com, shipped direct from Balmar to St Martin. Order on Friday, in hand on Weds, no customs tax. You have to love St Martin!!

Install was typical for 33 year old boat. Exact replacement doesn't quite fit. Nothing an angle grinder can't fix. Laying on engine, with Cary holding flashlight, she says "Dad, that's a lot of sparks!! 3.5 hours later, the quick 1 hour fix is done. And it works!

Still not 100% convinced we solved the making oil issue, but I will keep an eye on that. Meanwhile, engine runs smoother.

Doctor Diesel

I know, I know. Who would hire a guy who calls himself Dr. Diesel and was recommended by a guy named Shrimpy?? I guess you have to be a cruiser, or a total loon. Actually, Shrimpy is really Mike. The dog is named Shrimpy. Dr. Diesel is a former Canadian fighter pilot named Bob who lives on his boat in Simpson Lagoon. I hired Bob to fix the problem with my Westerbeke engine. Seems I sometimes have more oil than I started with, and the oil seems really thin. Not water, maybe diesel fuel. Also, engine vibrates a lot, and engine mounts are shot.

Dr. D decided to start by fixing fuel injectors. This would help it idle better, and, if the injectors were leaking or dumping too much fuel, solve the "making oil" issue. Also, need to rebuild the v-drive which needs new seals. Ordered injector nozzles and seal kit from Hansen Marine in Marblehead, MA. Took about 7-8 days to arrive. Then rebuild injectors, rebuild v-drive and replace engine mounts. All in all, about 3.5 weeks. Engine was recommissioned 2/7/14. Yeah!

On 2/8/14, we decided to move to a cleaner part of Simpson Lagoon over by the Mercure Hotel. Our friends from Day Dreamer and Elin were there. The trip over was another adventure. The channel markers that marked the crappy channel we ran aground in on the way in are gone. We tried to guess where we were last time and missed completely. Hard aground in 4.5 feet of water. (Music needs 7 to float.) Ended up kedging off, i.e. haul the anchor out with the dinghy, drop it, and use it to pull yourself off. Love my Simpson-Lawrence Sea Tiger 555 MANUAL WINDLASS!!! (As Joe Piscopo and Dana Carvey would have said "I'm going to PUMP! YOU! UP!)

On the way to the new anchorage, engine sounded like, well, not good. Called Dr D who could see me on Monday. In the meantime, decided to replace the temperature gauge, ignition switch and pre-heat switch that hadn't worked right since ingesting their share of the Bermuda Triangle on the trip south. When I test started the engine before Dr D arrived, it made a HORRIBLE SCREECHING NOISE. Of course, when the Doctor listened to it, it sounded fine. No noise. Bye bye, that will be $$$. (Actually, he tightened and adjusted a few things and didn't charge me.) I am a Dr Diesel fan!

Things to Do In St Martin on a Sunny Day

Yesterday, at the Time Out Boat Yard monthly marine flea market (first Saturday of every month), we ran into friends from DayDreamer. The kids were excited that "the KLM is coming at 1230 tomorrow".  For those who don't watch YouTube, there is a tradition here in St Martin for people to go watch planes take off and land at the airport. What is normally a fairly mundane event is made video worthy because the end of the runway is directly adjacent to a nice beach. By "directly adjacent", I mean about 100 feet. Close enough that idiots stand behind the planes as they get ready to take off, and get blasted by the jet wash. I wouldn't do it, but someone absorbent and yellow might.

Who Lives In A Pineapple?

I would love to show a picture of SpongeBob getting sandblasted by an outbound American Airlines flight, but, frankly, Cary the Camerawoman strategically decided to duck and cover when the wind really got up. Suffice it to say, it was more than we expected. April from Spirit of Argo had the lenses blown out of her sunglasses.

But what about all this KLM stuff? What is a KLM? KLM is a Dutch airline. On weekends, they have so many passengers coming and going from St Maarten that they use their biggest plane, a Boeing 747. Even though they lengthened the runway, the 747 still requires the pilot to use a lot of the real estate, so he has to touch down as close to the beginning of the runway as he can. Meaning he is very low when he passes over the beach. Below, all the kids are in the water as it passes overhead. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It was an experience!

 Finally, it was just a great day with the other cruisers. The kids got along great. We all ended up back at Day Dreamer (just gotta luv the room on a cat) for rousing games of dominoes and UNO.

L to R
Maya, Emma, Ginny, Anna, Jaycee, Olivia, Sarah, Cary, Kate and Love (Swedish, pronounced Loo-vay)

"Mayday, Mayday"

You hope never to hear a "Mayday" call on the radio. And then, yesterday, I did. Just a normal, sunny afternoon in Simpson Lagoon, St Martin. A voice comes on the VHF, "Mayday, Mayday. Sailboat is disabled near the French bridge and about to go aground." Several boats responded immediately with questions, but the caller was off the air. Probably trying to save his boat. Music is moored about 1/2 mile from the canal entrance to the bridge, so I hopped in the dinghy to go see if I could be of any help. First question, was he inside the lagoon or outside. As I approached the canal, I did not see anyone obviously in trouble, so I headed through the bridge to Marigot Bay. As I exited the canal, I saw a sailboat off to the left  towards the beach bobbing heavily in the waves that build as the water shoals. The good news was the cavalry had already arrived. The boat was surrounded by 4-5 dinghies, including a larger RIB with a good size outboard. A tow line was already in place. As I came alongside, I realized I know the boat and owners. It was "Mary Anne 2", John and Julia. Evidently, they were early for the bridge opening to enter the lagoon. Backing down, he had run over the wire security cable that had come loose from his dinghy. It wrapped on his propeller shaft, disabling the engine.  They have sailed nearly 60,000 miles, and this is the first time this has happened.

The good news is that the team quickly got "Mary Anne" towed into deeper water and properly anchored. I hung around and helped John as he dove to remove the cable from the shaft with bolt cutters. Luckily, there was no damage to the propeller or shaft when he tested the engine. Sharing a beer as he and Julia let the adrenaline dissipate, John commented that he had called on Channel 16 first and got no real help. He then switched to Channel 10, the cruisers general hailing frequency, and got help immediately.

All's well that ends well. And another story to tell.