Cricalix.Net

Not the best of nights; one squall and awake several times to investigate non-rhythmic noises.  Got up relatively late, 06:45.

Yacht is prepped, we leave for Bequia soon.  Sailing in the morning light is cooler, it’s easier to see the reef to the west of the Cays, and the sun isn’t as strong on the skin.  Speaking of skin, my arms are approaching the colour they held when I lived in this part of the world, and nary a ‘real’ sunburn in sight.

Departed the Cays at 08:15 via the Jamesby/Petit Bateau cut, with myself at the helm and Dad spotting the channel.  Nice reach up to Bequia, roughly 6.5 knots under one reef.  Around 10:30, we saw a large gathering of seabirds in our lee (upwards of 100 birds), about 10 nautical miles south of Bequia.  Must have been good fishing. (more…)

Up with the sun again, and a quick battening of the hatches as a small squall went through.  The plan is to depart around 10:00 for the Cays.  Leaving at this time gives us the morning light from the east on ‘Mopion’ and ‘Pinese’, making it easy to see disturbed water etc, and also gives us western light when we go into the Cays.

The ‘Allo Allo’ channel came in crystal clear for about 10 seconds this morning, courtesy of the German-crewed charter catamaran on our starboard quarter.  A pleasant way to start the day.

Watched the dinghy from the American-crewed catamaran ahead of us head for the dinghy dock, and then start paddling half-way across.  The ladies hopped off and went for a walk, while the guy paddled the dinghy back to the catamaran.  Suspect dirty plugs or water in the fuel.

(more…)

Woke up far too early, wandered to the stern, observed the light and went back to bed.  Got up again around 06:30.

We decreed today to be a day of rest; we’ll go up to the Cays tomorrow.  Nipped across to Petit Martinique (part of Grenada’s territory, so the yacht would have to clear customs to go there) in the dinghy around 08:30 with Dad for more ice (at ~ 1/3 the cost in Bequia), cheese and fresh bread.  Committed to staying in the shade until 15:00, at which point I may go back to Petit Martinique to use the internet cafe.  No TV channels of interest in PSV right now; only company is an expensive looking catamaran, crewed if you please.

Around 15:30, the ‘Nature’ channel tuned in, with some wind gusts and a solitary brown booby.  We were all standing on the fore deck observing the coming squalls when the booby decided to have a short bath in the sea alongside ‘Lady Di’, and then procedded to cruise, with barely a flap of his wings (it was rather windy), on to the pulpit not more than 5 feet away from us.  He (she?) had a bit of an issue gripping the stainless steel, but seemed quite content otherwise; going as far as to fold his wings in, and then extend one to keep his balance.  There was a red tag on his right leg, making us wonder if he ‘belonged’ to PSV’s hotel - no other booby we’ve seen up close has been tagged.

(more…)

Up before any one else today.  ‘Nature’ channel is in full swing as the pelicans catch breakfast.  Watched 3 fishermen drift along the bay, using a hand-thrown net to catch bait fish - the pelicans don’t seem to care at all.

Around 09:00, Mum and I took the dinghy over to where the birds were fishing, dropped anchor and fit our snorkeling gear.  Dropped into the sea, and not a fish in sight, just sand, rock and weed.  Headed inshore, and suddenly we were surrounded by thousands of fish, all about 2 inches long.  Then came across a moray eel, and backpedaled (well, I did) - I don’t like morays.  Given enough room, they’re as safe as any other wild animal (aka, you really don’t know what they’ll do).  In truth, they look more menacing than they are due to the fact they breath with their mouth open, fangs out.

(more…)

Squall in the night; proper tropical one that dumps several litres of water on you in a minute or two.  Compounding the normal squall rain were the rain scoops, sorry windscoops.  A mad dash to get the hatches closed.

Up around 06:30, with a breakfast of Tea Times, tea and oats.

On the ‘Sailing’ channel, we noticed that the gent sailing the board with anchor trouble had his head in the anchor locker again, so Dad and I loaded the toolbox into the dinghy and rowed across to see if we could lend assistance.  Alas, we could not; the windlass had cheared the bold that is used to mesh the clutch.  Result?  No windlass and 150 feet of chain to haul by hand.  Nick, the charterer, said he’d been in contact with the charter company.

Repaired the dinghy today.  The plastic engine mount on the transom had sheared two bolt heads, so we cleaned off some paint and bonded the plastic to the metal with some epoxy.  1 hour later, perfectly set.

Around 11:30, tired of the construction noise, we headed for Chatham Bay (lee side of Union Island).  A slight hash with the windlass, as I didn’t notice the chain building up as it went into the anchor locker, and jammed the windlass.  Easily sorted.

(more…)

The windscoops worked a treat; a very pleasant night indeed.  Breakfast was Gran’s banana bread, tea and fresh air.  Broke out the epoxy and fixed a broken drawer, one half of the leaf tables in the cockpit and one of the rope tidys.  The engine mount on the dinghy can wait.

Went ashore just after 08:00 to get some more EC, fresh bread and sunblock (a dirty suspicion that the stuff we have is too old).  Then across to the Internet cafe/Digicel store to post yesterday’s account, and down to Marianne’s to get some homemade icecream.  Back to the boat at full speed, trying to get the icecream to Dad before it melted in the morning sun.

As we got back, Daffodil’s showed up bringing all the block ice they had (all of 2 blocks).  So, back to shore to get more ice; ended up with 4 bags of cube ice from Frangipani.

With everything stowed, we set sail at 11:30 for Mayreau.  We made a bit of a hash of the departure, getting the sails and course a bit wrong initially, but we soon settled down.  Around the headland and a southward course to Mayreau.

(more…)

Better night than last; complete with squall around 23:30.  Up around 06:30, nature channel presented a brown booby using our pulpit as a perch for a good ten minutes.  Photos and video obtained, though quality is unknown given the age of the camera.

We have a JPEG from Kenmore Henville of the three of us crossing the Bequia channel; going ashore later today to e-mail it to various people.

Wandered around Bequia looking for a small reel of whipping twine, and a windscoop, but no luck.  Ended up with a small bit of waxed twine for free from a sailmaker, and two cheap bits of rectangular awning canvas (2′ x 2.5′, 22 EC).  Dad also bought some heavy cord to attach the cloth to the boat, and hopefully stitch the cloth.

(more…)