Windward Islands

I apologise for the delay in posting to the Blog. I usually try to make at least one post per month.  My excuse, the New Dell Inspiron 14z laptop   I purchased 7 months ago died.

This is a Bleat – please ignore if you don't want to read my rant about Dell computers. 
Back in July 2013 I bought a new Dell laptop computer through Amazon. This was to replace the aging Dell Inspiron 630m that I use for, amongst other things, navigation and voyage planning. Long story short – 6 months later the new Dell computer died – it refused to charge!. It was a nice computer when it worked!
I contacted Dell tech support using their internet chat service. After lengthy explanations they were very helpful and tried to ship  a new motherboard to Tobago where I could have it replaced. Problem being that I was not in the States where the machine had been purchased. So I was hoping to get the computer fixed be it at my expense for shipping and repair. However, so called “Dell Customer Care” put a halt on the shipment allegedly due to a fraudulent shipping address. The upshot is that I now have a rather expensive, useless piece of Dell junk! Dell's lack of warranty support does not give me any confidence to purchase another Dell computer. It seems I did not do enough research into Dell products and as good as Dell used to be they are no longer.  My expensive mistake! Caveat emptor. Beware when purchasing Dell computers! Having the blog I can voice an opinion and my experience. 
End of Bleat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toward the end of February Lindsay on Avolare arrived in Prickly Bay, Grenada after a lengthy haul out in Coral Cove, Trinidad. We met up with Jerry and Joni on Lotus at the Tikki Bar and had some celebratory drinks.

After 2 months in Prickly Bay, Grenada it was time to move and leave the yoga and Thai Chi. Lindsay and I made a tentative plan to head to Bequia, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Being two independent, crusty, old, solo sailors attempting to cruise in company would have been like trying to herd cats, or so a recent expression goes. We settled for a destination and date of departure. On Tuesday March 11, I checked out of Grenada and hauled anchor close to midday for the approximate 75 mile sail northwards.

These are called the Windward Islands and aptly named. Apparently this is a term that was coined in the days of sailing ships when sailing northwards from Trinidad.

The weather was favourable with winds from the east north east and one metre seas. The normal plan is to sail to the west (leeward) side of the islands. The Atlantic side has stronger currents and bigger seas to contend with.

It was a pleasant sail at night under a waxing gibbous moon. Every now and again Sadiqi would start to pitch like a bucking bronco in short sharp seas. The speed (SOG) of around 3 to 4 knots was also slowed when she hit consecutive steep waves that would pretty much stop her in the water. On these occasions the course over the ground (COG) was due west.

Bequia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines

Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and a few other islands use the Eastern Caribbean Dollar for currency.

Currency Eastern Caribbean Dollar EC 2.6 =  US$1.00

Tall Ships

Cruise Ships

I arrived in Bequia, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines at just before midday March 11. Lindsay on Avolare arrived about half an hour after Sadiqi. I lost the bet that Lindsay had proposed that the first to arrive in Admiralty Bay, Bequia buys the beers. Avolare is a 40 foot steel boat with a clean newly painted bottom. Sadiqi is 30 foot long fiberglass and a year since being hauled out. I lost graciously and we had a few beers while waiting for customs and immigration to return from lunch. I did concede that I had motor sailed in the fluky winds in the lee of Grenada.

Admiralty Bay was crowded and busy with all manor of boats, ferries, tall ships, cruise ships and charter yachts. Customs and immigration process was relatively painless and efficient. There were quite a number of vessels clearing in crew and passengers. 

Admiralty Bay, Bequia

 

The town, Port Elizabeth was quaint in a run down, shabby sort of way, with rapacious locals selling their wares, many bars, curio shops and restaurants. I can only assume that the locals try to make up for Hurricane season when there would be few if any cruisers or tourists around.

Lindsay and I did some pretty extensive walking on the island. Bequia is only 7 square miles in area. We had to frequent a few beer establishments along the way. The trick was to find reasonably priced beer. The price of small bottles of local Hairoun beer or imported Carib varied between about 3 to 5 aussie dollars. 

Admiralty Bay, Bequia

While enjoying some refreshment and gazing out of the clear blue water of Admiralty Bay Lindsay noticed Lotus with Jerry and Joni onboard. We subsequently met up and some more refreshments were had overlooking the colourful busy Bay.

March 19, Lindsay sent a SMS saying he was done with Bequia having walked around the island and it was time to go. We cleared out and the next day and left early in the morning for Martinique. Being a 90 mile trip we decided to stage it by stopping over in Saint Lucia for the night. We ended up making it to Rodney Bay, which would make for an easy sail to Martinique the next day. I motored sailed in the fluky winds in the lee of the islands. Lindsay being a die hard sailor stayed further out and sailed. Because I motored sailed I arrived in Rodney bay at 22.00 hours, two hours before Avolare.

Leaving Rodney Bay for the 30 mile trip to Fort du France, Martinique the wind was 15 to 20 knots on the beam. Avolare left Sadiqi way behind. Avolare making between 7 and 9 knots with Sadiqi making 5 to 6 knots. Size matters. I had to put a large reef in the mainsail. It was a pleasant sail. I noticed some of the reinforcing webbing on the head sail clew and tack were parting company in the strong winds. I had to resew the webbing  where the UV had destroyed the stitching. This made for a good dunking on the bow going through the waves.

Martinique

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinique

Exchange rate: 1 Euro = AU$1.50

When I finally arrived at midday off Fort de France, Martinique Lindsay was reclining in his his cockpit, beer in hand with a large well earned grin on his face. Martinique is the most northerly of the windward islands.

Fort de France, Martinique (Avolare in the foreground)

I anchored, cleared away sails and tidied Sadiqi. Lindsay rowed over with a beer and smirk and offered to take me ashore to clear customs and immigration. My first impression of Fort de France was a modern bustling European city and very french looking. We wondered down the colourful, quaint, narrow streets listening to French spoken. We had to find the Sea Services Chandlery to clear in. This was one of the easiest and most pleasant clear in processes ever. We were pointed in the direction of a computer in the corner of the store. I keyed all the required details into the computer, then printed the result, which was stamped by the store keeper. The hardest part was coming to terms with the French keyboard. They don't use the US qwerty keyboard. 

 

Bibliotheque Schoelcher (Library)

We wondered around enjoying the ambiance of the small busy city. Fort de France has to be the most modern, progressive city that I have been in since leaving Cape Town. The city was clean and tidy – pride was evident. Lindsay has never been to France. He commented on the public open spaces ,the green parks and the benches where people could sit. This is something the French do well and was absent on the other Caribbean islands that I had seen so far. We sat, enjoyed the local Lorraine beer and watched the well dressed people in the cafes or walking past. Very civilised.
 

Fort de France

On April 2 I hauled anchor and headed south to St Anne and La Marin on the southern coast of Martinique. Lindsay and I had said our good byes the previous evening. I had cooked up a pasta bolognais, we had a meal and a few beers on Sadiqi to commiserate our parting ways. Lindsay was heading north to USA and Chesapeake Bay.

Sadiqi and I had a hard sail, mainly motor sailing, beat to windward. Would you believe it the wind was from the south east on the southern end of Martinique. This should have been a three to four hour sail. It took over six hours before I dropped anchor at Sainte Anne amongst a couple of hundred other yachts.

I anchored near Robin and Sandra on Ngoma, formerly from Zimbabwe. The next day I snorkelled around the boat and could see one of the reasons the sail had been so slow – the hull was foul. The Jotun paint was not self polishing due to the lower speeds Sadiqi travels. I spent a good deal of time in the water trying to get the crud off he bottom of the boat and propeller.

I walked the 8 kilometers into Le Marin, as I could not figure out how the local bus system works or if it did. I don't think I have ever seen so many yachts in one place – I think even more than Trinidad. The marinas and anchorage were huge. Several days later I walked eastwards from St Anne along the coastal paths and long lovely long sandy beaches.

All to soon it was time to get ready to leave again. I followed Ngoma into Le Marin and anchored there so I could clear out and do some food shopping. The clearing out process was just as effortless and painless as the clearing in, other than the cost of 5 EURO.