Christmas highlights: pre- and post-

I'm It’s been a while since the last post but, well, you have all been busy celebrating Xmas haven't you? Hope you had a good one. Down here it's been a very different festive season for us. Having spent 4 days changing the failed starter motor and relay, and fixing the outboard motor, we finally slipped our mooring in True Blue Bay, Grenada, at daybreak on 13 December. The 9h, 50nm passage to Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou was straightforward. A highlight was porridge served with nutmeg syrup. Having visited the nutmeg factory on Grenada, courtesy of a day’s outing with Wendy and Kevin, we could appreciate the work that goes into making the delicious syrup.

It was a peaceful evening

but we had a scare that night: having anchored quite near a shallow reef area named Barefoot Alley, we were woken in the small hours by a series of loud bumps beneath us. It was the keel hitting the reef - the wind had blown up with several very strong gusts and our anchor had slipped a few metres. Luckily Follyfin’s lifting keel enabled us to solve the problem immediately but needless to say, once day dawned we moved to deeper water. One day to recover in Tyrrell, clear out of Grenada customs (Carriacou is part of Grenada) and revisit the waterfront, we then tackled the 27h, 155nm overnight passage to St. Anne on Martinique, leaving Tyrrell on 15 Dec. The high spot was a visit from a pod of about 12 bottlenose dolphins, who played in our bow wave for about half an hour.

It was good to return to St. Anne where we had anchored earlier this year on first arrival in the Carribean.

However the weather was somewhat different, with frequent showers and very strong gusts of wind also frequent. Nevertheless one day saw us recovered from the tiring passage and by Sunday morning the Skipper felt able to tackle the Duogen problem, having been unable to fit it in Trinidad. With the promise of entrecôte and fries for lunch at Snack Boubou, we got it done and went ashore to celebrate. Took our time, chatting to other cruisers, connecting to wifi, savouring locally made coconut ice cream etc. Then dinghied back to Follyfin BUT stepping on board, Skipper immediately knew things were not as he had left them. As we puzzled to work out what had happened, a young French couple from a neighbouring boat came over in their dinghy and told us they had seen Follyfin dragging her anchor during a particularly strong gust in the early afternoon. They and another couple got on board, and started the engine to stop the drag - Skipper had fortunately decided to leave the key in the ignition and the batteries on, feeling that there was a very small probablitity Follyfin might drag (never thinking it would actually happen!). Well, we thought we had the anchor well dug in but… thanks to those young people, so alert and interested enough to help another boat in distress, even resetting the anchor and diving on it to ensure it was well dug in and... we are still afloat. Phew!

Needing an extra day to recover from that experience, the next move on 20 Dec was to sail round the SW point of Martinique and into the bay of Fort de France, the capital of Martinique, in order to reprovision for Christmas. Just 25nm, it was a splendid sail, achieving a record top boat speed for Follyfin of 10.5kn. However this sailing treat was followed by an anchoring nightmare. Suffice to say that during the 2 days we were in the Anse de Mitan, across the bay from the capital, we reset the anchor 6 times, eventually deploying a second anchor as insurance. Knowing that we would be leaving Follyfin for the best part of a day when we caught the ferry across the bay, we needed to be sure she would not move… 

Next stop would be Roseau on the beautiful unspoilt island of Dominica (not the Dominican Republic!). We made an excellent 57nm passage on 22 Dec, arriving after 7 hours and top speed of 10.2kn, experiencing big seas and strong wind on the 26nm open water stretch between the islands, and force 7 gusts off the mountainous SW tip of Dominica.

The west coast of this island is very steep to the shore so we were not prepared to risk anchoring again. We took one of ‘Sea Cat’s’ mooring buoys and slept peacefully there for 4 nights. Visited the wonderful and huge market on Friday 23 Dec. Christmas Eve’s special treat was a whale watching trip. The best view we had was of the magnificent skeleton of a sperm whale in the hotel organising the trip. 

Otherwise much time was spent searching with a hydrophone

eventually tracking one down for close sighting, although we saw the spouts of her group a little further off. Being honest, the trip was slightly disappointing. 

However, this was made up for many times over by the Christmas Day tour with Sea Cat himself (real name Octavius Lugay) we took with two others. He drove us first high up into the Morne Trois Pitons National Parkup to the crater lakes, Freshwater and Boeri, where the air is cool and the vegetation is called ‘elfin’ or cloud forest. Beautiful open views down the 2800ft to the sea, and no other people. Next we went to Titou Gorge - a slot-canyon that winds back ~200m into the mountain and a thundering waterfall. The sheer walls are narrow and twisty and the bottom is a river so you have to swim up and float back…. Diana and I did and were rewarded with dramatic views up to the sky through thick rain forest vegetation. The guys decided against it - they missed a treat. 

The next totally unique Christmas Day experience was a challenging ‘hike’ up, over and between slippery boulders towards the pool at the foot of Trafalgar Falls, clad only in bathing suits and sandals. So unfortunately no photos! Sea Cat was a fantastic guide, encouraging the faint-hearted and less fit amongst us up, up and up again until we left all the other trippers far behind and were able to luxuriate in warm rock pools under hot ‘showers’ spouting out of the rock. Admittedly our skin did turn slightly orange from the iron ore that was liberally deposited on the rock surfaces. What a great way to spend Christmas Day, one that we won't forget.

After lunch at a small roadside restaurant, we were then driven slowly back down through the sulphur hot spring area and the different forest layers, visiting the Botanic Garden to see the humming birds on the Powder Puff tree and on to the Champagne Beach -  so-called because warm bubbles ascend in about 10ft of water - where there is excellent snorkelling on the nearby reef. 

So ended a most memorable Christmas Day… after our Christmas dinner of Confit de Canard, courtesy of Mr Carrefour.

Boxing Day saw us leave Roseau and sail on up the west coast of Dominica to Prince Rupert Bay near Portsmouth. Taking another mooring buoy, we arranged with Martin, the guide recommended by Sea Cat, to take us up the Indian River this morning, 27 Dec. He collected us in his boat at 06:30 and off we went, again sharing with another couple. At that time no one else was about and rowing up this river was nothing short of magical. The following photos may capture some of the atmosphere… many birds were seen, including three species of heron, banana birds, bull finches, humming birds. Even the Dominican parrot was seen fleetingly but not by me. The plants were amazing too, the variety, colours, shapes and sizes, many with medicinal properties as explained by Martin who is a botanist by training and extremely knowledgable.

GIANT MALE CRABWITH FIGHTING CLAW READY FOR ACTION

GREAT BLUE HERONS ON NEST - Family of three

PHILODENDRON CLIMBING SWAMP BLOODWOOD TREE

MARTIN, OUR GUIDE

SATISFIED CUSTOMERS, F HOLDING HAND-CRAFTED BIRD OF PARADISE

We will be heading for Guadeloupe tomorrow, via the Îles des Saintes. Hopefully the interval between this and the next post from there will be less than two weeks.

Afloat again

I

Sitting here in True Blue Bay, Grenada, on 12 December, it's hard to believe that Christmas Day is only 2 weeks away. It's a month since we left the UK, spending 10 days with Warren, Lara and family in Jersey City en route to Trinidad. We found Follyfin in good shape after her 7 months languishing on land over the hurricane/rainy season. Quite dusty and dirty but no mold as we had left an air conditioning unit connected to prevent the humidity building up. Only slight worry is the occasional sighting of a cockroach on board... at first thought they had flown in when the door was first opened but now have killed 5 so I fear an infestation. Boric acid is apparently the thing to eliminate them...the only positive thing about the cockroach is that it hates humans, so it keeps a very low profile.

The climate in Trinidad is 'challenging' for working in, to say the least, with high temperatures typically over 35°C coupled with 70-80% humidity punctuated by frequent torrential downpours. Factor in a dose of nasty Caribbean flu and what do you get? A Skipper and First Mate virtually unable to move! For the first time ever we employed someone else to sand Follyfin's bottom and apply one coat of primer then two coats of antifoul paint. Also employed someone to polish her top sides (usually my job). Finally Follyfin was ready to be launched, and two weeks after arriving in Trinidad, we sailed away North to Grenada. And a cracking sail that was, in stealth mode overnight to avoid Venezualan pirates, but fast (max speed 8.3 kn, average 6.2 kn), so fast indeed that we arrived 2 hours before dawn so had to slow down to wait for enough light to get into St David's Harbour.

What did we achieve in Trinidad, apart from fitting out Follyfin for her next sailing season? One special US visa for entering the US on a private vessel and visits to (1) the Angostura Bitters and Rum factory,  (2) the huge open market in Port of Spain, plus (3) meeting two old school chums (brothers from Trinidad sent to Catholic boarding school in UK) of Mick's whom he hadn't seen for 55 years! 

Michael donated an empty Bitters bottle to the Angostura museum: it was so old that they could not date it but we knew it was at least 42 years old. Also met Miss World 1986, now the Angostura PR director, then Miss Trinidad and Tobago. Unfortunately illness prevented us from any other planned sight-seeing visits.

At another boatyard in Grenada, Follyfin had her gearbox removed and relapped, an operation we had arranged previously. This work completed, we finally got our old friends Wendy and Kevin aboard on Friday 9 December for a short sail west along the south coast of Grenada to True Blue, where we had arranged to rendez-vous with Ivor and Marina who were at the end of their 2-week charter from there with two friends. So in the end we only had 24 hours together, and unfortunately Marina had had to leave to catch her flight to USA before we linked up. Better than nothing though!

You know the saying "there's always something to do on a boat"? The truth of that saying has been driven home several-fold these past few weeks... As we turned on the engine to come into True Blue, a horrible burning smell emerged from the engine. The starter motor plus it's relay had decided to burn out. Since then the outboard motor for the dinghy has given up the ghost too. Other ongoing problems include the internal water pump which has a leak - somewhere - and we have been unable to fit the Duogen (hydro and wind power generation) back into its place on the stern. At least the engineer/mechanic/bosun won't get bored! Assuming the new starter motor relay piece arrives today, we hope to get away this evening or tomorrow, and make for Martinique direct. That will be a good place to stock up for Christmas!

STO PRESS: The outboard was fixed this morning after I drafted this blog. Hooray!

Revving up for the Return

As you may recall dear reader, we left our Follyfin in Trinidad at the end of April. Having spent the summer - or most of it - at home in North Yorkshire, our thoughts are now turning back to sailing. The leaves are beginning to turn and the air temperature is dropping. Autumn is almost upon us and the Caribbean calls. Before we go...

We have recently been reviewing our sailing adventures in advance of a local fund-raiser for the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) at which we will talk about the Ruby Cruise - more of this below. The first thing to do was to create a map to show the route, in which you may be interested.

 

For more detail of the places visited, see the following sequence of maps taking Follyfin from Brittany to Trinidad via Guernsey, Normandy, UK, Spain, Portugal, Madeira, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Martinique, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago Cays, Bequia, Canouan, Carriacou and Grenada. Phew! What a trip.

 

You can clearly see the undulations of the ocean's seabed. Amazing to think we sailed over the top of all that!

Back to the RNLI talk: this is being done in conjunction with a nationwide event instigated by the RNLI, their Fish Supper (click here) So the Skipper and I thought we would link this to a talk about our personal Atlantic Odyssey, our Ruby Cruise. We have gathered together photos and video clips from Cabin Boy, Deck Hand No.1 and moi First Mate, whilst Second Mate is busy compiling a short film from the extensive footage he acquired on his GoPro during the crossing. There will be Fish and Chips delivered from the nearby pub - The Fairfax Arms - and a raffle. More information can be seen by clicking here

Exploring Grenada, ending up in Trinidad: 8-15 April 2016

Day 1: Bright and early, Richard and Rosemary (R&R) pitched up at the Grenada Yacht Club to join us for a week’s cruise, having arrived in Grenada the afternoon before. In honour of their arrival, Follyfin had received a thorough clean; staples and beverages had been restocked; the cruising route planned. They kindly brought some essential supplies from UK (tea bags, ground coffee, grape nuts) and some non-essential (gin) but no less welcome.

As it is 8 years since they last sailed with us on a charter yacht in Croatia (and indeed 8 years since they sailed), a short 5 nm cruise up the west coast was planned for the first day. Follyfin slipped from her berth mid-morning heading north out of St George's Bay. Dropped anchor just south of Halifax Harbour for a swim and lunch but someone decided to create a smelly conflagration of tyres nearby on the coast, so we moved a short distance south to Beausejour Bay. Just finished lunch when a Marine Park Ranger vessel moved us on… apparently we had strayed into the ‘no anchoring’ zone. Undaunted, we then moved again, past Moliniere Point, and picked up a mooring buoy a little further south of Dragon Bay. Now settled for the night, R&R and F (the snorkelers) swam round into Dragon Bay in search of coral reefs, fish and (amazingly) an underwater sculpture park. This was created by Jason Decaires Taylor and is (apparently) world famous; it consists of 30-40 human figures standing in a circle looking outwards. It left the snorkelers a little underwhelmed since algae have hidden many of the facial features and folds of ‘clothing’. However a few ‘dead’ figures show more detail.

That first evening we were rewarded with a magnificent sunset.

Day 2: When they joined us, R&R expressed a wish for some sight seeing. Where better than the largest market in Grenada on a Saturday morning?

R bartering for spices; R ensuring she doesn't pay too much

After a swim, we had sailed back down to St. George's, anchored in the bay and then taken a long dinghy ride into the Carenage. Lunch soon followed the market visit, and was enjoyed overlooking the water at BB’s Crab Back (see previous post St George's) then R&R were sent off to climb up to Fort George, in the heat of the day of course, so they could appreciate the full experience of Grenadian sightseeing. Skipper and First Mate having seen it before (see previous post) decided to wait in the shade. That night we were serenaded to sleep by bands playing until 02:00 at an open-air concert (part of the Grenada Music Festival) on the shore near to our anchorage. Actually some quite nice music - jazz and blues - without too much audience participation, making for some pleasant sounds.

Day 3: After the previous two days’ gentle introduction, the time had come for a proper sail. Deckhand Herbert weighed the anchor at 06:15, full sail was set and Follyfin was off. Pointing south first, then turning east round the SW tip of the island, it was clear we would need to put in some tacks to achieve our goal of the SE tip: we faced a moderate head wind from the east but fortunately relatively low seas. R&R turned out to be very able seamen.

We had chosen Lascar Cove as our destination, mainly because it is quite remote and beyond the allowed range limit of charter yachts, the SE and E coast of the island being ringed with dangerous coral reefs and not well charted waters. Following the advice of the rather ancient pilot book, Follyfin entered the cove before 14:00 so that any reefs or protruding rocks just beneath the surface could be easily spotted in good time. Lookouts were posted on the foredeck and the anchor was dropped in 4 metres, when they deemed no danger was near. BUT once settled, we could see a reef, 0.5m from the surface, dangerously near the port side. So by dint of a couple of fenders, a floating line and the snorkelers, a stern anchor with 10m of chain was dropped away off the starboard quarter to hold Follyfin away from danger. Sorted! It was worth the trouble so we could spend the night in this delightful cove, where some local families were enjoying their Sunday afternoon.

No sooner than we were all settled, and the snorkelers returned to the boat, a young man came swimming out to us, shouting "fish, fish, we have fish, come, come" and inviting us to join their party on the beach. As you can see from the photos below, it was a unique experience. We had a great time.

That evening on board was very special: Follyfin gently bobbing at anchor, the only boat in the cove, protected by the reefs at the entrance, sundowners on deck, just the sound of the crickets on the shore and supper served up by the willing galley ‘slave’. A true Caribbean idyll!

Day 4: the plan was to sail on up the east coast as far as Grenville, the second largest town on Grenada after St George's. It is a mere 8 nm as the crow flies, but alas the crow has no sway over the wind when it comes to sailing boats. Both wind and swell were against us and by 12:30 it was clear we would not get to Grenville before 14:00 (in order to be able to see the reefs either side of the narrow entrance to the unmarked channel), let alone anchor up, dinghy ashore and still be in time for lunch. Discretion being the better part of valour, we turned around and headed into St. David's Harbour (see previous post) with its well marked channel and restaurant still serving lunch. Again there was just a handful of boats in there. The snorkelers, especially Richard, enjoyed rich pickings.

Treasures of the deep

Day 5: after a leisurely start, we made our way the short distance back along the coast to Le Phare Bleu Marina (with its resident light ship, see previous post) for a little luxury before negotiating the 90-mile overnight passage to Trinidad.

Day 6/7: having cleared customs the previous day, Follyfin slipped her moorings at 12:30. Because of a couple of isolated previous attacks by Venezualan pirates on yachts sailing between Grenada and Trinidad, we had been advised to sail well east of the sea border between these countries. With the wind now south of east, and not much of it, this proved difficult and required motor assistance for much of the passage. Luckily the swell was very small so no danger of sea sickness and R&R entered into the spirit of this their first experience of a night passage on a small boat, both keeping the night watch company at various stages through the 12 hours of darkness. We sailed without lights and without the AIS switched on so no one could see us. However we did have our radar on so we would be able to detect any largish vessels (though not the pirates’ small ones) before we hit them. Happy to say the only vessel we saw was a huge oil tanker which passed across our bow about 1nm away.  Richard took charge of the fishing line, which was out all night. The only catches were made soon after dawn: sargassum weed and…

a very respectable 3lb black fin tuna, which he duly gutted, cleaned and prepped for our supper.

Because of the lack of wind, what should have been an 18 hr passage took 24 hr. Another complicated clearing-in procedure with Immigration and Customs had to be negotiated before we could relax with the pelicans on the dock at Peake Yacht Services marina where Follyfin is to remain on dry land for the next 7 months. Of this, more anon.