Heading to Nevis/St Kitts

Approaching Nevis with a cloud cover on the top of the mountain

We were heading to Nevis/St Kitts today based on the weather forecast.  However, as usual the weather men were way off and we had seas from the side that rolled the boat, and less then 10 knots of wind that was mostly from directly behind the boat which makes the boat not sail.  Every once and a while a squall would come by and we would get some wind.   The day progressed with sails up, sails down, engines on, engines off, roll and pitch.   Was not a very comfortable ride. I saw a fish jump out of the water chasing the flying fish.   It was the first time I have seen this after watching the flying fish for two years.   It jumped three times chasing the flying fish.  

 To break up the boredom Kirk had two fishing lines out.   He was getting discouraged and said to me "This fishing ain't all it's cracked up to be."  Shortly after that I heard the reel spinning.  He hopped on down to find all of the line out and down to the plastic line and it was going out FAST.....   I helped him get the belt on and slowed the boat down.   He worked hard for a while.  When he finally got the fish up to the boat he was hollering for me to get the camera.  This is what I saw

It was a 4 - 5 foot atlantic spearfish.  It was beautiful.   I am so sorry I did not get a better picture.   The boat was rolling and pitching and the durn fish kept trying to get under the boat.  All the while I was supposed to be driving the boat.  It finally did get under the boat and snapped the leader.  Made for some excitement!

Kirk still working with the fish.

On to St Martin tomorrow.

On and On We Go

From the confines of the marina in Rodney Bay we headed north to the island of Martinique.  We headed for the anchorage of Anse D'Arlet on the south end of the island.  We had been there before and liked it.  Nice quiet, nothing going on, clear, clean water and you can clear into the country.  We spent most of our day tacking to avoid some serious storms.   We got in lots of practice on tacking as there were many storms. We finally arrived, picked up the mooring ball from the stern of the boat (another first), lowered the dingy and Kirk headed into shore to clear into the country only to find out that the customs facility was closed!.  So we just kept the Q flag up and spent the night.

Early the next morning we headed to St Pierre.  Another beautiful anchorage with clear clean water.  We visited the DePaz Distillery once again and enjoyed the views of the volcano mountain and town.

Up and away early the next morning past Dominica to Isle Des Saintes (The Saintes) at the southern end of Guadeloupe.

After much debate and weather studies, we were up and off again to Deshaise at the northern end of Guadeloupe.

One more time we were up and off again early in the morn to head towards Antigua.  It was alot of travel but you need to go when the weather windows allow.  These weather windows were not the greatest and if we were not heading St Thomas we probably would not have traveled and just hung out.  

We have been entertained by the birds trying to catch the flying fish throughout most of the trip since we left St Lucia.

We have hanging out in Antigua getting a much needed rest while the weather settles.

On our walk down the mountain from the DePaz distillery in St Pierre Martinique we came upon these guys hanging Christmas decorations.   My they were pretty far up.  Maybe 4 stories just hanging off the edge of the roof.  Notice the Santa already installed.

Looking down into the river that the road follows from the distillery.  When we first left the distillery, we came upon a man talking to another man on the side of the road.   He was carrying a bag and a cutlass.   After a greeting, he reached into his bag and pulled out some kind of fruit peeled a section off and offered it to us.  Kirk was not real fond of if, however I found it most interesting and he then peeled the rest of the fruit and offered it to me.   I thought for sure we were going to have to pay him for his goods but no he smiled and kept on walking.  It was a sweet and yet tart fruit with spines sticking out from the seed in the middle.   I have no idea of what it was.  Moral of the story....  If someone is carrying a cutlass and you do not speak their language offers you fruit, take it.

Mt. Pelee (Martinique) with cloud cover.

Now starts Antigua

Looking down over English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour

Cool Bench.   Very skinny!!

This tavern was at the top of the mountain at Shirley Heights.  Was cute and quaint.  

This yellow finch flew in and sat for a while on the cash register.

Pics of the sail loft pillars.  Kirk says they are famous.  They are in the famous Nelson's Dockyard.  Truthfully, this really did not so much for me.   I guess from living in Annapolis area for all our lives we have become used the maritime history.

Google this is you want more info.

This view was really spectacular.  Behind us is English Harbour.  The long skinny building near the end of the peninsula is Eric Clapton's house.   We had a brief narrative by Luscious ( a woman who came out of the gift shop) telling us all the sights from this vantage point.  Was pretty interesting.

Luscious took this picture.   The pirate on the right is Gary from the sv Capulet.

Another view of Eric's house.

Can't get away from those pillars.

Yours truly, showing you the pillars in case you missed them!

We had a fun day.  Stopped at a beach bar on the way back and I walked the beach and got a beach fix.

Leaving Grenada

We left Grenada on a Tuesday morning in the wee hours.   We had moved from Mt. Hartman Bay around to St Georges to sail up the leeward side of Grenada. The seas were not so great but on we went. We had some great sails.  The first day we made it to Tyrrel Bay and cleared out of Grenada.  The second day we made it to Bequia.  (one of my favorite places)  Unfortunately, the water maker blew a part when we were in Bequia and so plans were altered.  The wind was with us and we sailed to Rodney Bay in St Lucia.   We saw 3 whales sunning themselves.  That was pretty cool.  They were just floating in the sea enjoying the calm seas and sun.  We saw a large pod of  porpoises feeding.  That was also pretty cool to watch.  A few came over to visit us for a bit.

Lucky for us there is a dealer for our watermaker in St Lucia.  We ordered parts while still in Bequia.  They were shipped on Thursday, arrived in St Lucia on Monday, cleared customs on Tuesday and hopefully today, Wednesday, they will be installed and work and we will be on our way. 

 We have had a stay at the dock which is a change.   The marina is nice, there is a good grocery store a dingy ride away.   We got some boat chores done while here that require water among others.

Kirk is helping the boat next door.   They were trying to install the wrong sail in a rolling furling mast.  

He figured it out, they found the correct sail.

Video Kirk took of the porpoises

No wind.   Note the wind gen in NOT moving

Calm waters reflect the marina lights at night

Another view of the lights at night

Full moon over the marina

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Full moon in the sun rise this morning.   I did not use a filter with the pic.  It really was blue.

On Holiday

MaryJane, Rick, Karen and Andy came for a visit to Grenada On November 2nd.   We had a blast.  Or at least I certainly did.   Was so great to spend girl time with MJ and Care Bear.  We hung out in Mt. Hartman Bay, sailed up the windward side (Atlantic Ocean side) of Grenada visited Carriacou and anchored in Tyrrel Bay, around to Union Island then to Tobago Cays, back to Union Island, then sailed back to Grenada on the leeward side to St Georges.  It was a busy 6 days filled with swimming, noodling, snorkeling, fishing, cooking, laughing, sailing, partying, etc with a few minutes of down time thrown in for good measure.

Second night on the boat, we had friends from Mt Hartman over to meet our friends.  Notice that Karen is holding Jack.

Jack the deserter is with his pal Kirk.  He loves Kirk!

MJ ready to snorkel

MJ buying Tobago Cays shirts.

The guys waiting on MJ to finish her purchases.

MJ and Care found a new sport.  Tie a line around you and float in the current on a noodle.   This is in Tobago Cays.  From the first time I saw this water I wanted to bring my friends here to enjoy. So so glad they made the trip.

Care Bear doing her best move!!

When I get the pictures of the whole group I will post them.

Was a great holiday!   Thanks for coming to visit.

Halloween

Trick or Treaters 

Paula of sv Scherzo and I decided to go as one another.   Here is Paula dressed in my clothes with hat and knee brace.  I wore her clothes with bandanas.  We laughed and laughed.  

Everyone who knew us thought it was hysterical.  We had a good time.

This is the puppy that fit in your hand about 6 weeks ago.   She has grown so big.  She was a bat for halloween.

Our friend Daryl of sv Alibi was a sea nettle.

Paula, Nicki and Donna

Sean, Paula, Scott (her husband) and Kirk.   Kirk was a cruise ship tourist.

All the costumes come from what you can scrounge up on your boat.   Was a fun night

Living The Dream

For the past 10 days or so we have had rain squalls coming through.  Rains and blows and then sunny, then before you know it, rain and wind.   The boat has lots of nice rinses and I have gone out multiple times with soapy rags and scrubbed to take advantage of the rain showers.

Some times the dream has turned rather nightmarish.......

The lock on the sliding door broke when we came home from shopping with lots of cold stuff.  So there we were jiggling the lock with the key, checking all the hatches, taking some of the hardware off the sliding window in the galley, rechecking the hatches, all the while the cold stuff in the insulated bag is getting warmer and the frozen stuff is defrosting.   Is that a nightmare?   Once again, the Lord shinned on us and the lock worked.   Thank you again Lord!   Kirk then worked on the lock and Mr. Fixit did his magic with fixing and it has been working since.

The cover on the motor in the aft guest head came off and the motor drilled a hole into the waste line.   This was brought to our attention when we were getting ready to leave the boat and the bilge pump went off.  Never a good sign when a bilge pump runs!!  After investigation, the source of the leak was determined.   Yuk.   Do you remember the Monty Python movie line "he's got sh-t all over him"?  That was almost the case when Kirk disconnected the hose to fix the leak.  Gosh he is a good Mr. Fixit!!

We have push button locks on the cabinets.   They are now sticking.  Kirk showed me how he wanted them maintained and that has been one of my jobs.  Very tedious.  Unscrew the knob, remove the lock, clean the plunger with 3M pad, lubricate the locking mechanism and plunger with sailkote (a dry lubricant) and then put it all back together.   There are about 40 of the lovely latches on the boat.  I have done maybe half.

We did get the bottom of the boat cleaned and it is wonderful.   Kirk has been brushing the bottom with a long handled brush to remove the tiny shrimp that just love the bottom of the boat.  They are so nasty.

I cleaned the fan tails of barnacles, crabs, sea moss etc.   We had two oysters that had implanted themselves in the ridges of the wood steps on the swim ladder.   I had to chisel them out with a big screw driver.   They were about 1 1/2 inches long.  Oysters anyone?

Getting ready for our guests.