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| Cumberland, SVG |
When last we left you, loyal readers, Queen Emma was happily back in the water in Grenada. We were sailing north to St. Lucia where Betsy had a flight out and were congratulating ourselves for getting in the water and out sailing so fast. It was very much summer weather: hot and still with occasional torrential downpours. Just before taking Betsy to the airport in the southern part of St. Lucia, we enjoyed a middle-of-the-night downpour of biblical proportions. We all found ourselves at 0300 standing in the salon wondering who had turned the fire hoses on Queen Emma. This kind of downpour is a tropical phenomena which has to be experienced to be believed. The new water catcher has filled the tanks and every container on board.
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| Marley in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia |
We delivered Betsy to the Hewanorra Airport under the leaden skies and sailed up to Rodney Bay where we met all our old friends and watched the ARC boats coming in. Betsy had kindly pointed out that all her bedding was wet at the edges, so we consulted with Simon, the Welsh shipwright, as to why this might be. His considered opinion was that the cleats were leaking where they penetrated the deck into the forward locker. From thence they drip down through the spare sheets and pillows into the bedding itself. This has been a less than popular amenity with other guests. Something should be done. Other knowledgable boaters opined that it might just be a single toe rail bolt which was admitting the water. We opted for the easier to repair opinion.
Re-bedding and sealing a single toe rail bolt was not difficult and we bought 8 extra bolts just assuming that the one leak was not an isolated case. We want to come home to Berkeley to meet and greet our second grandchild in February. This is most easily done if we sail up to Puerto Rico (a kind-of, sort-of bit of the USofA) with good connections to California. Only problem: no wind. Plenty of heat. Humidity. Bugs. But no wind. For three weeks. No wonder steam replaced sail. If you are trying to get somewhere in particular, a big engine has definite advantages.
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| Fred of Tillikum gets into his work |
We also wanted to go up to Martinique to replenish the stock of wine stored in the bilge. This is a usually a short sail but the calm seas (due to the lack of wind) made for a motor-sail. It was fast and smooth but not as serene and fun. There we had also made an appointment with Fred, a brilliant refrigerator guy, to "tropicalize" our refrigerator. The current system worked OK, but not in the summer when it is most needed. It seems that the numerous "down island" modifications which had been made, resulted in a system which had too much evaporator plate (ability to take heat out of the box) and too little ability to get rid of the heat (a small radiator in contact with the sea water. In England, this is more than sufficient. There the water is cold and carries away the heat with little problem. Here the water is 80+ degrees and the cooler was totally inadequate. We added a fan and radiator in-line with the keel cooler. This will apparently be much better.
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| Mt. Pele, Martinique |
Fred wanted us on the dock so we had the adventure of Med mooring to French docks. Note to the sailors: when stern tied to an upwind dock, rain will go where it normally doesn't. More water below. However, the job was done and we were ready to head for Puerto Rico. Ice cubes in the freezer, wine in the bilge - time to boogie. No wind. Then suddenly we switch to winter weather. Big cold fronts coming off the US and a building high over the Atlantic. We grabbed a small weather window and sailed up the coast of Martinique. Rock and roll in St. Pierre as the winter storms in the North Atlantic churned the waters. Easy to get up and go since sleep was not an option. Off to Dominica. A rainbow greeted us in Dominica. We greeted our friends but worried about the wind continuing to build along with the seas. On to Guadeloupe.
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| Rainbow over Portsmouth, Dominica |
We made it to Deshais, on the north western corner of Guadeloupe. A beautiful little beach town with fond memories of French restaurants with good friends - but- the weather looked like it would hold for one more day before turning really nasty. We were up and out of the harbor at OhDarkHundred headed for Antigua. Antigua lies 50 miles to the north east of Deshais. The wind was blowing from the north east. And it was blowing hard. By this time the wind had been blowing for the three days and that gets the seas up. We went directly from complaining about the lack of wind to complaining excess of same.
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| Little black shiip, Antigua |
Hard on the wind means tilted way over and driving into short steep seas. Water was blowing over the bimini and blasting down the deck. We learned that the one bolt was not the only source of water ingress. In fact, water was coming in all over the boat. We hope that replacing three more toe rail bolts and re bedding the cleat may stem the flow of the Betsy memorial leak. The others may be due to the fact we left the dorades (those bell shaped air vents) open and facing forward while Queen Emma played porpoise in the seas. The next leg to Saint Martin will tell. If not there will be another round of undoing bolts located in awkward places until we stem the flow.
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| Hardworking sailors |
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| Mine is bigger |
Just so you aren't overcome with pity for us toiling sailors: we will be spending the holidays amongst the 1% at Nelson's Dockyard, Antigua. More probably, we will be spending them among the crews and megatoys of the one percent but the atmosphere is definitely upscale. In addition, this is a very British sailing center and we have numerous opportunities to partake of traditional English Christmas food. Having met the crews and examined the food, we shall celebrate the Solstice in splendid, pagan isolation. When the seas lie down, we will test for leaks on the way to Saint Martin.
Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate!
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| His beak can hold more than his belly can. |
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