Sunday 11th November 2007
After 22 months away from Blue Dolphin, I was finally returning! I stayed in a converted farm the night before with Silke and we had an early breakfast before the 5 mile trip to Gatwick! The easiest way to leave was just to dump bags at departures and say goodbye! We could talk on the phone after I had checked in and dumped the luggage! Departures was a shock! The check in was empty and I walked up with no queue and had everything sorted within minutes. That is after paying the £60 excess luggage fees!! 2 hours in departures, enough time to buy a couple of books and make the phone calls I should have made before! Next thing I know my gate has been called so I'm off. Long walk to gate 22, so I get there then remember I haven't got any currency yet! I'm gonna arrive in Grenada with £40 and no Eastern Caribbean dollars, or US dollars! Oh well, too far to walk back, will work it out when there! Now it is probably fair to say that XL airlines are the Easyjet of the Atlantic Crossing. Seats are "Adequate" and food is also, just! I had brought a bottle of water onboard, but that was all! Luckily the plane wasn;t quite full, hence I had an empty seat next to me. Without that, the journey would have been a bit hard!
We arrived in Grenada and it is important when a big plane lands in the Caribbean that you get off as quickly as possible! I was about ten rows from the back, so was really pleased to see the rear doors open and people started getting off. They let the back 9 rows get off at the rear, then closed the stairs and sent everyone else to the front! Yeah, I was amongst the last off!!! Enter the immigration area and what a queue! I guess about 300 people and immigration have 4 desks and are chatting to everyone! I was just short of an hour in the queue before I finally made it to the desk! No problems, just a chat and wish me a nice stay in Grenada, but by now I just wanted to get through! I had a taxi booked to collect me and take me to the boatyard, but no money, so was pleased to see nobody holding up a card with my name, but to the right there was a cashpoint machine! I tried, I won!!! I had EC dollars to spend!! Back to the taxi ranks and asked around, nobody for me, then a guy at the back steps forward and says Blue Dolphin, I have my lift!! We stopped at a little shop on the way to the boat and I picked up 4 beers and some basic shoppping, cleaning stuff etc, then on to St Davids.
In The Boatyard
As we entered the yard, there she was, exactly where I left her, but no idea what state as it was pitch black by now. I dumped the bags onboard and just climbed up on deck for the first time in 2 years! All very familiar, but what would it be like inside? Opening the main door was fun, it had a combination lock which had been in the caribbean for 2 years and hardly used. The light from my phone was enough to dialk the combination and I was in! It's fair to say it didn't smell too good, definitely a bit damp, but everything looked ok at first check. Open the hatches and get some air through the boat, electrics were working, the lights were ok from the batteries, so leaving the solar panels on whilst away had kept them well topped up. To be honest, everything seemed to be much better than I had expected (dreaded) After 2 years in the boatyard, I was almost expecting mould and damp in the boat, but she was looking pretty good and I was home again at last!
I slept that first night with hatches open and discovered that fresh English meat is a delicacy for the local mossies! Oh did I suffer, bites all over.
Next day and the work started, visit the office and find out what needed paying for, when I was booked in to be launched, find Craig the mechanic to see how they'd got on with the work they were doing, were my new props here etc? I got a fair bit done on day one, but most of it was just reorganising the boat and finding stuff again? One of the good points of being in the yard, was that we had free internet access in the yard, so I was able to stay in touch with Silke on MSN, which made things easier being apart! There seemed to be so many jobs to do and everything seemed to take a long time out here! I also noted that it is dark about 5.30 - 6, so the locals all work 8-4 or thereabouts. Time is very different here, it is normal to be asleep by 8pm and up again at 6am! Just seems to suit the daylight better.
One of the surprises I had with the boat was the "old faithful" tender. I had got it with the boat and it looked aged when I bought it, but now it had been sat in Caribbean sun for 2 years! Out with the pump, just to see...... Yes it pumped up, nice and hard and the air stayed in! It deserved a treat, so out with the cleaning stuff and wash the tender down. I gave it a good clean and got the hose onto it to wash everything off, when I realised something strange was happening! The hose was running, but the boat wasn't filling with water? It had to be coming out somewhere, so a quick look and it was coming out from between the tubes and the fibreglass floor! Now I don't mean a little gap in one place, I mean the entire floor! Yes it wasn't glued anywhere to the tubes???? Now that I hadn't expected! Out with the waterproof contact adhesive, A big tin of it!!
One evening, I was working on the boat, when an American couple (Brad and Elisa) stopped outside to chat! They said they also had a Lagoon 42 like this and were in the yard. I had walked the yard, but not seen another lagoon like mine. Right at the end, near the lift, which was the only place I hadn't been! We had a good chat and they came aboard for a look around, always good to see inside other boats and especially for them as they have the same boat, but a 3 cabin version with a workshop and bigger kitchen in the port hull. They waited for their taxi as they were staying in the resort around the corner, instead of feeding the mossies nightly, probably a very wise choice.
Next day, I visited them and as they had said, it was so strange to be on the same boat, but one which was so different! Their galley (kitchen) is huge and they have a full size fridge, lots of workspace and a microwave built in. They also have some nice built in bookshelves, which I would like to copy if I had the time, tools and skills to make them! Their boat is called "Web of Lies" and they have a number of stories about why it was so named! Some include that they named it after their yacht broker, but the real story is far more interesting. Read it on their site www.caribbeanescape.blogspot.com
I finished everything I could and hassled Craig a few times to pull off the Port Propeller It was on there solid and he has a hydraulic ram to remove everything with minimal stress and no hitting things with hammers! Craig arrived to remove the prop on Monday, the day before I am due to be dropped in the water and when he removes the prop, he points out that the cutlass bearing needs replacing! We remove it and he checks, but doesn't have any! Island Water World check and they have 1 in Grenada, at the other store, so it's ordered and will be on the van to arrive at about 9am tomorrow. Just enough time to get it fitted and get the prop on before I launch the boat early afternoon.
Tuesday 20th November 2007
It's launch day! I'm due to be dropped in the water today (boat not me!) Yet I still need the new cutlass bearing which is arriving about 9am from Island Water World! Craig then needs to fit it and the prop, so I can be launched. Everything else is ready! The Island Water World van arrives and leaves, I go and check at the shop and they have my switches and little items, but forgot the cutklass bearing! If that's not fitted, I don't go in the water! I was dreeading the response of sorry, they bring it back tomorrow! But the girl was straight on the phone to the main shop and I'm so glad I was at this end and not receiving her call! They would be sending the van straight back with my cutlass bearing as soon as it arroved back at the shop! Time for me to finish those other last minute jobs!
The van returned and by 12ish Craig had fitted the bearing and the new prop, so I was ready to drop in the water! Down to the office to let them know and they said someone would be along later! By 2pm I was afloat again. Engines working ok, no water pouring in from below! All looked good!! After nearly 2 years on land, Blue Dolphin was back where she belonged on the water! Everything was working ok, I motored out maybe 100m, spun her around to check forward and reverse on both engines, then dropped anchor! Near enough to the office to get wifi for possibly a final chat with Silke before I started cruising!
I spent another day in St Davids Bay, just so I could check everything out, knowing that any problems and I could be hauled out really quickly, but to be honest, there were no real problems! I met Graham and Chrissie from the yacht Eowyn, who were a really nice couple, they took me ashore in their tender, so I didn't have to test the freshly glued one I had! They are very into diving and use their yacht as a base for diving more than anything! Their website is on www.yachteowyn.com if you are interested? They are likely to be in the same areas as me over the next month or two, so we are likely to meet up a few times.
Grenada Marine from my boat at anchor!
Thursday 22nd November 2007
Maiden sail for 2007, so engines on, mainsail hoisted, anchor up, and I'm out of here! I motored out of St Davids bay, then the mainsail filled and with a good 15 knots on the tail, I set off for Prickly Bay. Only a short sail down the coast, but enough to check things like the autopilot are working ok. No problems and I made it to Prickly Bay and had anchored in about 90 minutes. Enough for trip 1 and I was now oficially cruising :-) As I entered Prickly bay, I had a call from Brad on Web of Lies, so I dropped the mainsail and anchored near to them to be sociable! This was to be the start of a good friendship, we helped each other with jobs that just needed the extra pair of hands, eg hoisting each other up the mast, and then drank the odd rum punch together to celebrate good work! We had similar plans for the next few weeks, so agreed we would probably cruise together, towards St Lucia. It also helped that most cruisers are 50+ so not only did we have the same boats, we also were amongst the youngest out here!
Friday 23rd November 2007
I checked the tender and Old Faithful was going to have to go! The glue was already coming unstuck in this heat and I hadn't even put it in the water yet! I checked the prices for a new tender and decide I was better of spending than having problems for 4 months! I couldn't imagine picking up crew in a boat which had the floor tied to the tubes with bits of rope! So my mission of the day was to get a new tender! I went into Budget Marine as they are in Prickly Bay and they had nothing in stock, but should be getting some in on Saturday. I had heard this before so wasn't too confident they would arrive! I then radio'd Jonathan at Island Water World and he had 1 in stock, and also pointed out that the 15hp engine was the same weight as the 10hp I had asked for, so I was sold! Elisa gave me a lift ashore and I got the bust to St George and within the hour from the call, I was in Island Water World and buying their last 9ft Dinghy! They gave me a lift back to Prickly Bay and helped me pump up the dinghy and then I was afloat again! This was a huge thing for me as I now had freedom to leave the boat easily again, knowing there wouldn't be problems! New dinghy, new engine, all good news. I fitted the wire strop and padlock which is mandatory out here and also padlocked the engine to the boat. SORTED!! We all went ashore that evening, to wait for Rob and Mel, who would be guests on Web of Lies for the next week. It was a good excuse to have some beers and listen to the band at the Prickly Bay Marina!
Saturday 24th November 2007
Shopping day again, just a few last minute provisions, then tomorrow it's the big sail from here to Union Island, about 40-50 miles North of here!
Sunday 25th November 2007
I woke up to the sound of someone throwing something onto my boat? It was Brad and Elisa, as they were upping anchor and setting off! It was 0600 as we had agreed, I was just still asleep and had missed departure time! Straight up and out of bed, shorts on, then on Deck and engines running! I had the anchor up and was chasing them, and by the time my mainsail was up, I was less than 5 minutes behind! Here we go, nice day for a good sail?
The journey could be described as eventful! We rounded the SW tip of Grenada and headed up the West coast, with initially 15 knots of wind, gusting to 20 knots whilst still behind the shadow of the island!
I was just winching in the jibsheet to tension it a bit more, when SNAP!! The sheet(rope) let go, the jib (front sail) was flapping wildly and I had to run upfront and gather the remains of the rope. Now I had to furl the jib in, whilst trying to tension a rope which was flapping like mad with huge force behind it. This would have been so much easier with two people! I got it on the second try and made it safe, but had no plans to try and fix it until I was safely anchored somewhere!
The wind picked up and became consistent around 20 knots, so as I was still in the lee of the island, I decided it was wise to put in a reef now, in case it increased when in free wind. The boat is fine in stronger winds, but everything needed to be tested again after 2 years, so 1 reef it was to be. With no jib and a reefed mainsail, I was sailing close to the wind, but had a long way to go, so the Port engine was left running and I motorsailed most of the journey. Those who have sailed with me, know I rarely motor, unless necessary, but today it just seemed the right thing to do.
The next "event" was a moment when a wave hit the bows, and caught my new tender, which was tied down on the starboard trampoline. I should have learnt my lesson two years ago when the old faithful put a big hole in the same trampoline, but oh no! Brand new 2 day old tender, was hanging down towards the sea, with ropes holding it up, but looking like it was going to go pretty soon! I grabbed a rope and tied it to the back of the new tender and winched the boat back up and onto the deck. There was no other way I could possibly have saved it without the added muscle of a winch! The tender was mostly ok, but I had seen the locker cover ripped off as it was hanging upside down! So much for having a shiny new tender, but at least it was safe!!
This photo was after arriving in Tobago Cays, but gives an idea of the size of problem when at sea!!
The rest of the journey could be described as uneventful if you ignore the squalls and torrential rain, which was hitting me, but Missing Web of Lies, who were sailing much further offshore. I had deliberatley stayed about 5 miles offshore as it gave some protection from the sea, but still allowed plenty of wind. I think Brad and Elisa had stayed offshore for better wind, but had basically had better weather! There wasn't much in it, but I did get there first, due to running one engine, when they sailed most of it!
I dropped anchor on Union Island in a pretty good gap, just above a local yacht which clearly wasn't going anywhere (probably ever!) Tidied up a few things, and rested from the journey, whilst waiting for Web of Lies, who were about an hour behind me.
They came in, nice big space near me, dropped anchor, upped anchor, dropped anchor, upped anchor, tried another spot, dropped anchor, upped anchor, then started leaving! we chatted on the VHF and they couldn't get the anchor to hold, then their windlass had broken! The windlass is the very powerful winch on the anchor, which is an essential piece of kit if you have put down 40 metres of chain and a heavy anchor! They were going to head back to Carriacou where they knew there was more space and good holding, and hope to fix the windlass on the way! They would see me here tomorrow!
I had been friendly to one of the water taxis (Skipper) and gave him my "Old Faithful" I was never going to use it again, so I was just carrying extra weight around! He asked about the engine for it and I said it was for sale not free. He had a good look at it and we agreed on 100EC$ which is about £20. It is worth more than that, but I was happy to let it go and make more space aboard. I also included free trips ashore from him, to save me having to get the tender out, which can be a bit of a pain!.
Monday 26th November 2007
I woke up, had a swim, then went ashore to sort out the customs and immigration. You have to do this as you change countries, but Union Island would cover me for entering all the Grenadines up to St Vincent. My next customs office would be when leaving St Vincent or Bequis for St Lucia. Customs was ok, except they wanted to know why I hadn't checked in yesterday, when I arrived. I explained that I was waiting for friends with a tender to get ashore, but they had problems. This was ok, but had pissed off the customs guys as they would have got overtime if I'd gone in at 5pm Sunday and guess who would have paid! As long as I didn't go ashore, I was ok.Immigration was up at the airport, so ten minute walk for 1 minute of stamping a form and letting me go. At no point had anyone actually looked at my passport!
Web of lies arrived whilst I was ashore, so I got Skipper to run me back out to my boat. This time they dropped anchor no problems and locked in first time. We watched a few other boats try and fail in the nice big spot they had tried yesterday. Presumably the sandy bottom was covering a hard base and no holding!
I swam over to them and we compared stories about yesterdays adventure! I'd had more problems, but they had also lost their starboard trampoline, when a big wave, pushed it up and ripped the fixtures for it from the hull! Now since these are designed to take 6-8 people on them, the force of that wave must have been huge to rip it out! They had tied it up as best they could, but this was a shopping trip to buy things before it would be repaired!
The rest of the day was to be a quiet day in Union Island, either shopping ashore, or just chilling and swimming on the boat! It was a good day and needed after the trip yesterday!
We finished the afternoon off with a trip to Happy Island. Now this island is man made, by the owner, who just started collecting Conch shells and piling them up on the reef, until they were above sea water! He Kept piling them up until it was big enough to put a palm umbrella on top, then he opened a bar! Those were the early days, he keeps building up his home and now it has a proper bar/home on top, with outer patio area and even a lobster pool on the edge. There is another island nearby, but because it is real land, he would have had to buy it. With Happy island, he has made it himself at no cost, other than a lot of effort!!! Solar power charges his batteries and he brings water out in containers using his dinghy!
Tuesday 27th November 2007
Today we were going to Tobago Cays! Now this place is what cruising is all about! It's a group of 5 small islands, with no inhabitants, in a marine reserve behind an outer barrier reef. What this means is 2-3m of crystal clear water, with white coral sand below and a view like no other! Heading East from here, is 3000miles to Africa!
We upped anchor and motored out of Union Island, past Happy Island and the reef and towards the Cays. The wind was straight on the nose and 10-15 knots, so the entire journey was under engines! I set off slightly ahead and was still in front when I approached the Southern Entrance through the reef. This shouldn't be a problem, except I have paper charts and 8 year old pilot books and I had to get through a channel in the reef only about 4 boats wide! I had plotted it on my GPS, so was fairly confident and when I got there, you could just make out the reef about 1m under the water, so I was happy to proceed through!
The Cays were much quieter than last time I was here, so I motored right up to one of the best spots and dropped anchor just off the North Easternmost Island. To the East of me was nothing but Sea! Web of Lies followed in and anchored just above me. We were here, I was back in one of my favourite places in the world!
The only problem was the charter boats and most of them had left by about 4pm, so there were less than 20 boats spread out around the Cays when we settled for the evening.
Wednesday 28th November 2007
I woke up to another great day at the Cays, life doesn't get much better than this! Dive off for a swim round the boat, then tidy up a few things onboard.
Just chilling out, then a swim to the island for some snorkelling with Brad, Elisa, Rob and Mel. We swam over to the island, then went out snorkelling off the beach to the south. I remembered seeing turtles here 2 years ago, so we went in search! After 5 mins off abuse from the others and comments like "what turtles?", suddenly, there they were! We spotted two big turtles swimming under us, and they headed off and met up with a third! I was right and they were still there! We followed them for about ten minutes, splitting up as they did and just swimming above, watching their graceful flight through the water!
Back on the island and Brad was chatting to a guy from another yacht. Chris is the skipper of Sundance, a charter boat operating from St Vincent, so he knows his way around the Grenadines pretty well! Brad introduced me and we chatted briefly. Chris is from the UK and his mother lives just up the road from me past Chepstow! His brother is in Abergavenny, so he knew Caldicot well.
Chris had to look after his guests, so we strolled round the island and Brad got chatting again with another guy Andy, from a Catalina 42 called Valhalla! He had sailed down from Canada and just arrived in the Cays that morning. He had company on the boat from a girl from Manchester, who he had met in the BVI's! We were all chatting when suddenly Jo (The girl) said, "are you Steve Turnbull?" I paused for a minute, then it clicked! This was Joanna, who had emailed me over a year ago to ask what it was like crossing the Atlantic on a catamaran! She had seen my website after posting on crewseekers.co.uk and we had swapped emails before she crossed the Atlantic last year! We have stayed in touch, but maybe an email every other month, then suddenly we are both stood on a beach, on an island with less than ten people on it! Now that was a coincidence that deserved a beer!!! We caught up about life, then agreed it would be "pot luck" onboard Web of Lies that evening.
Pot Luck is where everyone makes something to eat and brings it along, together with something to drink! Here began my next problem, as I wasn't sure I had anything suitable to make food for 7? My portions were generally smaller!! Back to the boat and what is there? I could do a Tuna salad, but had no salad! Could do Tuna and rice, but Jo and Andy were doing that! I know, Pasta in a Garlic Mayo sauce! Easy to cook, just boil the pasta, cut up the Garlic (lots of it!) and stir it into a big jar of mayonnaise, then pour that over the cooked pasta. Lots of stirring and it's ready to present! I was surprised how well it went down, as it was pretty basic, but Elisa even asked me next day how I made it!
We sat eating and drinking, then Andy gave Brad and myself the most animated guide to the stars I had ever seen! He knew his stuff, but the way he explained it was something to behold!! More chatting and drinking until time for bed and we set off back to our respective boats!
Thursday 29th November 2007
We had agreed to set off early for Bequia today, but I awoke to a knot of rope landing on my deck above my cabin! Web of Lies had already upped anchor and were heading off! I woke, shorts on and started engines. My anchor was up and I was giving chase within 5 minutes! Valhalla was sound asleep, so I sailed out without saying goodbye, but would email them later!
Out of the Cays through the North West exit and across to Canouan and then Bequia. The wind was almost on the nose again and light, so one engine on at 2.5k, but with the mainsail up also to wind assist. I was really surprised at how well the boat was going. The new props had made such a difference, I only wish I had bought them earlier!! I was making 7 knots with one engine on low revs, plus the mainsail probably helping to get 2-3 knots. Previously I would have struggled to make 6 knots with both engines on! This was going to save me a lot of fuel and just help reduce journey times by maybe 10-20% when motoring! That is worth the money easily! I slipped ahead of Web of Lies, even though they were running both engines, and arrived in Bequia with time to get the anchor down and have gone for a swim before they came in!
Bequia is a beautiful island and as things turned out, was to be my home for the next week! I will explain on the next upload..........
Friday 30th November 2007
Brad had taken his trampolines to be repaired and got a great job done by North Sails, so I went to see them for a quote on 2 new trampolines. This turned into a quote for 2 trampolines, a new bimini (Sun/weather shade for the cockpit) and some window covers! They were quoting me less for all the work than I had been quoted for one trampoline in Barbados 2 years ago! These were all high level figures, so I agreed to measure it all up and bring in the dimensions for a formal quote on monday!
It is Rob and Mel's last day today, they leave at 6am tomorrow morning, so we agree to go ashore tonight to Devil's Table for a meal. It is one of the better restaurants in the bay, perched right on the water, with a great atmosphere! Slightly more expensive than others, but worth the visit! We race across the bay in 2 tenders, tie up at Devil's Table, only to find that they are empty, but fully booked! We request a drink whilst we plan and they agree, then offer a table at the end, as long as we leave when we have finished eating! All agreed, so drinks ordered and menu's scanned! All worked out well as we had finished and were ready for a bar crawl, before the majority of guests arrived for their meals!
Another race across the bay to the other dinghy dock, then stroll along trying to find a bar with atmosphere for starters! I think we were too early as the only bar with atmosphere was so loud, we couldn't enter and it was an outside bar!!! That music was way loud!!!!
We went to a bar Brad and Elisa had used to watch the Tour de France earlier in the year and sat for a few beers watching repeats of American Gladiators! Time to depart and find another bar!!
Back to the waterfront and we settled for a couple more beers near the dinghy dock, then back home for the night! I bid Robbie and Mel a farewell, then went for bed! We had eaten and had a small pub crawl and ready for bed, yet it was only 10pm! That is so late out here when you are cruising!!!