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Diane's Diary4/28 Saturday S/V Cathouse had given us 90 minutes of computer time they had remaining. We had to go back to FDF to use it but had wanted to go back there anyway since we didn't get to see everything the first time. So, we took the 8:30 ferry again. We went to the library, which was just beautiful. Then, we walked over to the Internet café. We used the 90 free minutes we had & 10 minutes more. We had to pay 20 francs-$3 for those 10 minutes. This has been the most expensive internet café to date! Their computers were really slow also. It's a good thing we had those free minutes. I walked around window shopping while Larry was on the computer. Then we walked over to the fort & took a tour in English. The view of FDF was outstanding but there wasn't anything to see in the fort & I don't think it was worth the $7 admission price for the two of us. FDF shuts down at 1pm on Saturdays so everything was starting to close down. We happened to see a band from the San Juan Puerto Rico police play in the park. We enjoyed listening to them. Then, it was back to Marie Saintes restaurant for lunch again. We were going to take the 3pm ferry back since our schedule said there was no 2:30 ferry on Saturdays. But, guess what? There was a 2:30 ferry so we took it back. We got back to the boat & it was there- in the same spot we left it in! Thank goodness! We had squalls & rain from 3pm on. We just made it back to the boat in time. It rained on & off all night. 4/29 Sunday We decided since the winds were light, we would motor around to Marin to join our friends s/v Mima. Just as we were bringing up anchor, s/v Second Tri, came into the anchorage. Mima had introduced them to us. Oh, well, guess we'll have to stay. Thank goodness we have no schedule. We enjoyed catching up with Joyce & Jack. Jack was kind enough to clean our bottom- especially our prop. Thanks Jack we really appreciate it. Joyce also brought me more grapefruit from Dominica. We visited with them for a few hours catching up with them. We went back to our boat & I did the accounting, emails & updated my logs. We then returned at 5:30 for cocktails. We had a great time. We were really glad we did not leave that day after all as there was lots of rainsqualls all day & visibility was really down. 4/30 Monday We finally left Anse Mitan today. We were out of the anchorage by 7am. The RPM gauge was not working. Then we heard another noise. I was at the wheel & told Larry I thought it was coming from down below. He checked the engine & sure enough there was a problem. The bolt to the alternator had sheared off. Luckily, we were near the Anse Noir anchorage & went in. It was extremely narrow but beautiful. We called all our friends & everyone agreed to stand by. We are so lucky to have met such great cruising people. It really makes you feel good knowing there is someone else standing by to help. Unfortunately, we were rolling all around the anchorage & swinging 360 degrees on the anchor. I was uncomfortable with the spot as it was such a tight anchorage & was completely exposed. We were also on a lee shore which is dangerous. Fortunately, once the engine cooled down it only took Larry an hour to fix it. That problem was why the RPM meter wasn't working. The meter had been trying to tell us there was a problem but we just thought the gauge wasn't working. By, the time the repair was finished it was after 10 am. I told Larry I think we should go into the next anchorage Grand Anse & overnight there since the wind would still be on our nose going to Marin. So, that's what we did It was a beautiful anchorage with crystal clear blue water. We cleaned the water line as it was filthy. We would have stayed another day but our friends Mima were in Marin & we wanted to catch up with them as they were only going to be here for a few more days. We didn't even get to walk around Grand Anse either. 5/1 Tuesday We had the anchor up by 6:15am & set sail for Marin. Or I should say motor- the wind was naturally on our nose. We called our friends Mima & told them we were heading for Marin. They dinghied out & helped us into the slip as it is med mooring here- there are no side to docks like we have at home. It is a lot harder to get into but that's probably because we are not used to it. You either get off the bow or stern of the boat so it makes getting on & off the boat harder. We were not going to stay in a marina but Mima said it was cheap so we decided to stay. The price was really dirt cheap-$12USD per day which included electric & unlimited water. The marina has converters for110 volts so they tend to put all the Americans together so they don't have to use a lot of inverters. We were very lucky to get on the main dock- just by chance. Mim is on another dock across the marina- about a 10minute walk away. Guess we'll stay awhile & do some boat chores & provisioning. Second Tri also came into Marin today so we had a little reunion. Mima invited us all over for dinner. We all had a great time catching up with one another. 5/2 Wednesday I decided to have a belated birthday party for Larry so I invited Mima & Second Tri over for dinner. I made the mistake of walking to the supermarket. It was a really long walk in the hot sun. It would have been much faster to use the dinghy but we didn't have the engine in the water. I was lucky to find someone on the dinghy dock to give me a lift back to the boat. I made penne a la vodka & marble brownies for desert. With all that shopping & cooking, I was exhausted by the time the party was over. We all had a good time anyway. 5/3 Thursday Second Tri left for St. Anne today. We have a friend of Larry's, Heidi, visiting us in St. Lucia on May 20 so we have decided to stay in Martinque as long as possible. We invited Mima over for cocktails as they are leaving tomorrow. We will miss them both but will stay in radio contact via the SSB & will hopefully meet up with them in Granada, Trinidad or Venezuela. I was so exhausted from the party yesterday that I took a nap this afternoon. 5/4 Friday We helped Mima get out of their slip around 9 this morning. We will miss them & probably will not catch up with them until around July. Very nice people (& Clem the dog too!)- we have really enjoyed their company. After Mima left, we dinghied over to the supermarket & to look at the marine stores. We were back to the boat by 11am. We did some boat chores in the pm. We had met up with Patrick & Theresa from Kajsa a few days ago & had invited them over to cocktails tonight. An American singlehander came into the slip next to us- Louis from Coqui. I felt funny having them over while he was sitting in his cockpit by himself so I invited him also. |