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Diane's Diary4/9 Tuesday Well, the weather was not very good again today- it's still cloudy & overcast so as much as we hate to leave this wonderful place we have decided to go to Petite St. Vincent just a short hop away. We started taking down all the canvas & getting the boat ready to leave at 9am. It took us over an hour to put everything away & get prepared to leave. We left around 10am & motored over to Petite St. Vincent since it was only about an hour away. However, the swell was about 9 feet from the NE so even though there wasn't a lot of wind it made for a bumpy ride & we had to alter course because the boat was rolling too much on the rhumb line. So, it took us an extra hour to arrive but when we did we were glad we came. The island is very small (190 acres) & private with only 1 resort with 22 cottages on the whole island. It's somewhat off the beaten path, as it does not get a lot of boats, which is very good. We both immediately liked it & wished we had come over here last year. We ate lunch, & put the engine, oars & fuel tank on the dinghy. We went to shore & walked around. Unfortunately, the only place visitors can go to is the restaurant & walk on the beach. The resort is very expensive - $600USD per night plus tax, 7% & 10% service charge!! Plus, drinks are not included even though meals are. So, naturally, at that kind of money, they don't want the guests disturbed by sailors. We did go for a walk on this beautiful beach, which was just picture postcard perfect. We met one of the workers & he said we could get a tour of the grounds - just go to the office & ask. So, we decided we would do that in the am. We went for a swim & came boat to the boat around 4pm, took showers & just relaxed. 4/10 Wed I made some bread this morning as we are completely out. I put it in the oven on a baking sheet to rise while we went for a tour of the resort. The resort was just beautiful. They drove us around in a little golf cart & let us see several of the cottages. They were breathtaking. We also got to climb a small hill that had wonderful views of the surrounding reefs & islands. The whole resort was beautiful & we wish we had the money to spend a night! The restaurant was very expensive for visitors - about $40 per person & tax, service & drinks for dinner. OUCH! Needless to say, we did NOT eat there! We got back to the boat & noticed that not only did my bread rise; it got all over the cookie sheet & top of the oven! What a mess! The bread came out great anyway. There is nothing like the smell & taste of fresh homemade bread. I also made some chili for dinner. We bought 2 lobsters from the local fisherman for $20USD for both- about 7 lbs total. We had stopped by a boat, S/V Texas Reb, in the morning & invited them over for drinks tonight. They had stopped by yesterday but unfortunately I was just wrapped in a towel as I just finished my cockpit shower so they didn't stay! In the afternoon, we went over to Petit Martinique by dinghy. There wasn't much to the island, & other than good prices on booze & supposedly fuel (we didn't check the price) there wasn't much. They did have very good prices for booze - only slightly higher than St. Martin for vodka & rum. A 1.75 liter of Mt. Gay or Absolut vodka was $12USD each so we bought one of each. We were in PM for about an hour - it was hot walking around & not much to see. You do not have to clear customs when coming into PM even though it is part of Grenada, which is good. Texas Reb came over at 5:30 & stayed till 10:30. We really enjoyed getting to know them but I must admit I was falling asleep as we usually go to bed by 9pm. By the time they left, & Larry did email it was almost 11:30 before we went to bed. I was tired the entire next day. 4/11 Thursday We have a very heavy northeast swell today probably around 9 feet or even higher. It's from a storm up north. The wind is also from the NE but around 15. Normally, that would mean around 5-7 foot swells but the storm up north is causing the huge swells. So, we just stayed onboard this morning both reading. I did make some chicken cutlets up. In the afternoon, Larry wanted to go snorkeling to the nearby Mopion Island. I really didn't want to go, as I was pretty sure it was going to be too rough to snorkel. The dinghy ride to the island was very bumpy & wet & I was sorry we went. But the views from the island were nice. We went snorkeling but it was very rough & I didn't enjoy it. Most of the reef looked dead anyway. We got back around 3pm, washed all the equipment & ourselves & went over to Texas Reb. We stayed till around 8pm & enjoyed their company. 4/12 Friday This morning I worked on revising the Compass article I wrote on the Bequia Easter Regatta. Don't know if it will be published but we'll see. We heard the Caribbean Compass newsletter was out & since I had an article that appeared in letters to the editor we wanted to get it. We went to the resort, got the paper & went for a long walk on the beach. It was perfectly calm & we had wonderful views of the reefs. After lunch, Texas Reb & us went snorkeling to the other side of the island via dinghy. Each of us were reluctant to dinghy that far by ourselves in case something happened. But using 2 dinghies was much safer in case something happened. We all had a great time as they found lobster, which we hopefully got a picture of. They were to small to keep though. They also teased a moray eel to come out of it's coral cave & we hopefully got a good picture of that. We got back to the boat around 3pm & got the boat ready to leave in the morning by hoisting the dinghy, taking off the engine etc, taking the canvas down. Unlike charters, cruising boats have a lot of stuff that needs to be put away while on passage. So, it takes us a lot longer to get ready to leave port. After we did all our prep work, we sat down & relaxed. 4/13 Saturday Well, we were up at 6am this morning to get ready to leave. We had breakfast, Larry lowered & tied down the dinghy (we need to keep it up so we can get some air in the forward berth at night or we would roast in there) & I made sure everything was put away properly. We also listened to the 2 morning weather nets so we would know if there were going to be any changes to the weather. We had the sails up & left the harbor around 8am. Larry wanted to go down the windward side of Carriacou because we were east now & if we headed west to go around to the leeward side we would have to go east again into the wind to come into Grenada. We do not like to go to windward if at all possible so I agreed to give it a try. If it was too windy, we would go around the leeward side of Grenada. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad even though the seas were up to 9 feet. We were heading directly downwind. We could have sailed but the wind was light, only up to around 15 knots & we had about 45 miles to do. This could take anywhere from 6-10 hours so since we didn't want to arrive to late, we motor sailed. We tried fishing, as this was the same spot we caught the tuna in last year. But we didn't catch anything. We arrived in Mt. Hartman Bay, Grenada around 3pm. We had been in here for about a month last year. Also, we were here in December on our way north for several nights. For the remainder of the day, we rested & took it easy. We did not clear into customs as they would charge us overtime since it is a weekend & we are only planning on staying tonight & leaving for Trinidad tomorrow night. 4/14 Sunday Well, we took it easy most of the day in preparation for leaving tonight for Trinidad. The sail is about a 15 hour sail so it requires an overnight passage. Overnights are difficult because you don't sleep all night (although we try too it's not easy sleeping when the boat is rocking & rolling) & are tired from the long passage. Plus, this stretch of water can be hazardous - there is absolutely no place to duck into if the weather gets bad or if you have a boat problem. Another thing, Trinidad requires you to come immediately to the dock upon entering their waters - you can NOT go rest for awhile before you come in. So, you are tired from the passage & then need to come into the dock & clear in. All persons must clear into immigration. This is the only country that requires that - it's usually just the captain. So, now you have to close the boat & lock it all up before you go to customs. All this is tough on the body & brain when you haven't slept in over 24 hours! Anyway, I made sourdough bread from the starter recipe Texas Reb gave me. The bread came out pretty good. We were totally out of bread & most other food also - we timed the food correct. It would have been to expensive to provision anywhere else after we left Martinique so I just stocked up with enough food to get us to Trinidad & it worked! 4/15 Monday Well, we didn't leave for Trinidad yesterday as planned. In the late afternoon, a squall came up with heavy winds & angry looking clouds. We could not get a weather forecast, as 2 of the 3 weather services do not broadcast on Sunday. Also, we listened to David Jones until 8:45am & when he still didn't come on, we turned it off. We turned it back on 10 minutes later & he had come on but it was too late for us to get the weather. So, we didn't know if the squall we were seeing in Grenada was isolated to Grenada or would continue to Trinidad so we elected not to go. We did get a 6:30pm weather that stated there was no wind near Trinidad so we were sorry we didn't leave. But, by that time it was dark & it would have been tricky leaving the anchorage with such poor light. So, hopefully, we will leave tonight. We didn't do much today. I read an entire book in 1.5 days. We both wanted to take it easy & rest before the long passage. It usually is a long night. We left Mt. Hartman Bay with the sails up at 5pm. The winds were about east 15-20 knots & seas on the beam up to 9 feet, which meant the boat was rocking & rolling. My stomach immediately told me this was not going to be a pleasant passage. Now I wish we had left last night instead! I was taking my seasickness medication but it didn't seem to help any. I tried sitting behind the wheel so I would get some air but got drenched with several large waves. Stay tuned... 4/16 Tuesday Well, we motorsailed for 2 hours to charge the battery. There was little wind & sun in Mt. Hartman so we didn't get enough electricity so the batteries were low. I got terribly seasick about 2 hours out. I could not stop getting ill. Finally, I had to ask Larry to slow the boat down- it meant the trip would take longer but maybe it would calm my stomach down. It did, my stomach was actually much better. About 9pm, Larry was on watch when he saw 3 different boats. We usually don't see any boats during this passage so it definitely was unusual. I asked Larry if I should call the tanker we saw that was getting very close to us & he said yes. I went down below to call him but received no response. By that time Larry had let him get far too close for me- about 75 yards off! I could actually hear his engines running. Larry said, "Hang on" & quickly tacked to avoid us colliding. We certainly know which boat would lose if we collided!!! We know cruisers who tell us they never stand watch & we think it's stupid. We would have been fatally injured had we not seen the tanker. Since they didn't answer my call on the VHF radio, we assume they weren't even on watch. This is precisely why cruisers need to stand watch - we cannot depend on the ships seeing us! Finally, about 3am, the seas & wind finally calmed down. The wind decreased to about 10-15 & the seas went down to about 3-5. What a difference! I wasn't seasick any more. But, we were both tired since we had not gotten any sleep. It's very difficult to sleep with the boat pitching up & down. Plus, we both rested in the cockpit & I don't think you can truly sleep in the cockpit. We spoke about going to Scotland Bay for the evening after we cleared into customs but both decided we would rather go into Crews Inn instead. We could sleep in Scotland Bay & read our mail my parents had shipped in. But with fresh water, showers, cable TV & AC, Crews Inn won out instead. We arrived in Chaguaramas Bay about 10am so the passage took us about 17 hours- the same amount of time it took us last year. We got our slip from CI- A7- same as last year so we knew what side to put our fenders on. We were all set up on in our slip by 10:30am. We went to clear immigration (in most countries we clear into customs first but not in Trinidad) & got stuck waiting over 1 hour. We didn't get out of there till almost 12. There was a problem with the 2 different boaters clearing in ahead of us. Fortunately, I called the AC rental guy we used last year & he said he would bring the AC later that day. We cleared into customs but they didn't have the 30lb package my parents sent. CI didn't have it either so it either hasn't arrived yet or is lost in the mail. We hope it shows up - we haven't gotten mail since we left the US in October. We don't even have our Christmas cards yet! I went to the supermarket right near our boat & bought some lunch. We were both tired, exhausted but couldn't sleep even though I tried too. In the PM, our AC showed up- cold air, thank God! Since we didn't have much food left & were both exhausted, we decided to eat dinner at Crews Inn. We also took LONG showers - the last time we took such long showers was when we left here in December. It felt great. We haven't used hot water since December & it actually burned my skin even though I did not make it very hot. We got back from dinner about 8pm. We did some things on the boat, watched some TV & were in bed before 10pm. |