|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Diane's Diary3/10 Sun We jerry jugged more water this morning at about 7am. We went back to the boat, had breakfast & then Lori from S/V Pride walked around 9am. We walked the "loop" as we call it - about 3 miles roundtrip. But then we walked to the hotel & back for a quick swim which is probably another 2 miles roundtrip. I was really tired when we got back. We left at around noon so we could make a call to Larry's brother Eric. We had emailed him & asked him when we should call so we set the date & time up in advance. Larry was very glad to speak with him. Email is great but sometimes you need to hear voices. Anyway, a French phone card is around $11 US for 50 minutes to the US. We don't call that often though & the French islands are the cheapest in the whole Caribbean so it's best to call from here. We finally got our FedEx from the accountant on Sat. It had come into the marina & we asked our friends on S/V Pride to tell us if it was there. It was & they left Pride pick it up from us by calling us on the VHF. Thankfully, we were listening & heard their call so we didn't have to go in ourselves as the marina gave it to them. Anyway, I reviewed the taxes & all looks well. We will FEDEX it back to Joanne on Monday since FEDEX is closed over the weekend. We are getting a return so are very happy about that. S/V Pride came over for cocktails tonight. We had not seen them since we stopped in Grenada on our way north from Trinidad. They gave us our mail, the Latitudes & Attitudes magazine my picture is in, the March Caribbean Compass (they got it in Bequia where it is published- it usually doesn't get to Martinique until the middle of the month) & the latest Soundings magazine. We felt like we had a goldmine - it is so rare to get all that out here! We haven't gotten our own mail since we left the US. We will get it when we get back to Trinidad. 3/11 Mon We called FEDEX this morning to ask when we could get a pickup. They don't have any FEDEX offices here in St. Anne but they will come pick it up. Naturally, they wanted our "phone number" so they could call us when they were on their way. Since this wasn't possible, we arranged a time & place to meet them. They told us they would come at 11am, so we hurried back to the boat & got our documents & came back. We got there about 10:45am but they didn't come till 11:30. Oh, well, that's island time - at least they came. It's about $30USD to FEDEX an envelope from here. Pretty pricey but we didn't want it to get lost so that's why we sent it FEDEX. We meet S/V Moonrise & Pride & had a drink at the bakery with them. Then, it was back to the boat for lunch, reading, & logs. Since we sent the FEDEX back we can now finally leave Martinique. However, the weather is going to turn bad on Wed- Sat so we won't leave till early next week. There is no reason for us to leave in bad weather so we'll stay. We have really enjoyed our time here in Martinique & will be sad to leave. 3/12 Tues I left a 9am to take the 5-mile walk & swim. It's tiring so I try to do it every other day. I got back to the boat around 11:30am, had lunch, worked on my logs & then off to bocce ball at 3pm. Whoever said this was an easy life? There are so many things to do! We went to bocce ball from 3-6pm. After dinner, I updated my logs & studied my French CD. I also read some recent sailing magazines S/V Pride gave us. It was nice to read some magazines for a change. We haven't gotten our mails since we left the states in October. 3/13 Tues We went into town early in the morning to make some phone calls & pick up baguettes. After lunch Lori from S/V Pride came over to copy some discs. I was working on the PC updating my logs. After she left, Larry cleaned the boat bottom. We are not happy with the paint we put on in Trinidad- it's starting to peel already & it's only been on about 6 months. It's mostly peeling on the lead keel. We are not sure if this has anything to do with the SSB ground & all the copper we have used. We have used ACP50 before & never had any problems with it although this time we used the ACP 50 Ultima, which is supposed to be better. We may have to paint the boat again before we come home. This time I think we should just use the Jotun paint they sell in Trinidad. We didn't use it before because we needed to put a barrier coat first before we paint it. Then, when we get home, we'll have to apply another barrier coat before we paint it in the US. Jotun is tin based paint, which is no longer allowed in the US. Anyway, we celebrated with our last really good wine we bought in the US in CA wine country when we went to visit Deb & Eric. It was a really good expensive bottle so it can't even compare to the relatively cheap wine we drink here. We actually had a bottle at happy hour & then another with dinner. We definitely drank too much wine as we both had slight hangovers the next day! 3/14 Wed Well, in anticipation of finally leaving Martinique, we motored into Marin to go food shopping, clear out & go to the Internet café. We could have taken the dinghy in- certainly the new engine helps a lot but we still have a wet dinghy so we thought it was best to motor. We left St. Anne at 9:30am & arrived in Marin an hour later. The water is polluted here from the marina & because it doesn't drain well so we don't go swimming here. Remember NOBODOY in the Caribbean uses a holding tank! Larry went into the Internet store at 11am while I stayed on the boat. He was back to the boat at 1pm (with a baguette of course!) so we could have a quick lunch. At 2pm I took the dinghy myself to the supermarket. The dinghy dock there is the worst we have seen in the Caribbean & it is difficult to get into. But I managed. I got back to the boat around 4:30pm & we had wonderful Brie with pasta dinner. Larry is going through withdrawal thinking he can't get this once we leave here! 3/16 Sat We had a heavy rain last night that kept me awake for a long time with having to open & close the hatches constantly. The boat gets extremely hot when the hatches are closed. So, I didn't sleep well at all. We went into the marina to clear out (no clearance charges in or out of the French islands) & I used up my phone card with calls to my parents & Aunt Mary. It sure was nice to hear them again! Sometimes you just need to hear everyone's voices. After, we went to the marina so Larry could help me carry the heavy liquids. We also found we could get some free water in Marin without any hassle so we filled up the jerry jugs & all the water bottles. We know water is expensive in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. We had lunch on the boat & then motored over to Marin. Friends of ours S/V Legacy that we first met in St. Marten are coming today. We had spoken to them via SSB radio & knew they were coming so we decided to wait for them. If it hadn't been for them, we would have left Martinique already. They finally got here about 5:30pm & we along with S/V Pride went over at 6pm. We had a great time catching up with them. 3/17 Sun Happy St. Pat's Day! Unfortunately, they do NOT celebrate the day here! Both Ruthie from Legacy, her daughter & myself got sick last name with the diarrhea & bad stomach cramps. We did not have a lot to drink so it may have been the appetizers. Anyway, I was up half the night in the bathroom. Ruthie had lent me 4 People magazines her daughter had brought & I was so sick in the bathroom I read them all! It's a good thing, as I had to give them back to her. Joe took Larry into customs in Marin so he could show him where it was & so Larry could fill the jerry jugs. We want to have full tanks & water jugs when we leave here, as we know water is expensive down island & our water maker can't keep up with it. Also, we haven't been getting enough electric to run all our electrical needs & the water maker. If I had to do it over again I would definitely have gotten the Spectra water maker. It uses less electric & makes more water per hour than our Village Marine water maker. However, Village Marine was $3,000 vs. $5,000 for Spectra. You can buy a lot of water for $2,000! Anyway, Ruthie & I went into St. Anne while the guys were gone so I could show her around the town. I wasn't feeling too great though! Ruthie's daughter didn't come, as she still wasn't feeling well. We went back to Legacy around 11am & the guys were back. Larry & I went back into town around 12 as our favorite bread bakery was closing at 12:30 & since this would be our last French bread we wanted to get some. We used up our remaining currency in town buying vegetables, bread & pasties. I have a little room in the freezer so I'll try to freeze some but it just won't be the same! Anyway, our almost 3 months in Martinique are almost up- we will leave tomorrow heading south. We definitely enjoyed our time here & we even learned to speak a little French! Au revoir Martinique! |