|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogMonday morning we went in to shore after the radio nets to get some water but were now told that the water was reserved for the fisherman. This was new! The man who told me was not a fisherman but seemed more an administrative type. We got our morning pastries and went back to the boat sans water. Jan and Ghislaine stopped by on their way to shore to ask if we wanted to go for a walk with them. As it happened, Diane wanted to go for a walk anyway and initially said I would but then I remembered that I needed to meet Liz from Mystique so she could see the pictures I took of the Yole races. So after breakfast, Diane left and I stayed. Liz came by with Willie at around 11 and looked through the pictures on the PC. She picked out the ones she liked and I said I would copy them to a CD later. They were for the local Yole association so they could put out some publicity material. I said I would bring the CD to bocce tomorrow or drop it off at the boat. When Diane got back she said she had spoken to the girl who works at the bakery and she had said we could get some water there if we came over before she left. So we got our jerry jugs and went to shore again. We filled up the containers and thanked her again for the water and went back to the boat. Other cruisers said they filled up their water jugs very early in the morning. We would have to do the same. The issue was not that the water was reserved for the fisherman (they had never really given us a hard time) but that some locals (and the crazy Mayor of Ste. Anne) didn't like the cruisers there, for a variety of reasons. The next day, Tuesday, we went into Marin. Jan and Ghislaine offered to take us in with them by towing our dinghy behind Piano. They were going to anchor there to do some last minute preparations before heading north and then back across the Atlantic to cruise the Mediterranean. It was very windy in Ste. Anne and the dinghy was really bouncing around as we left so Jan slowed the boat down to about 4-5 knots. We got in to Marin around 10, set the anchor and then had some coffee and very nice wafer cookies. Its always interesting to see how other cruisers do things and Jan and Ghislaine had a very set routine for raising and lowering the anchor that worked very well for them. We set off to shore around 11 and had a bit of a wet ride in since it was so windy. We then did our errands like going to the Internet place, eating lunch and shopping. I wanted to get some Goiot hatch parts (French made) as spares since they sold them here. I also wanted to get some other miscellaneous things and then Diane and I went to the large markets. The only disappointment was that they had no good Brie! On the way back to Destiny, we started off OK but with the afternoon sun in our eyes, we missed a marker and hit a shallow reef. Very luckily, there was no damage to dinghy, engine or us (except our nerves). I managed to raise the engine and we paddled off. The engine started again as soon as we were in deeper water. The wind had gone down considerably by that time and we got the boat on a plane easily. That was something that the old 5 hp engine could never do. We made it back OK and talked about whether we would need a different dinghy; one with a hard bottom. The roll-up we had was OK but you could feel the entire boat "ripple" as we went through the chop. We agreed that a hard bottom would be preferable. That evening, we thought we would try to get some water again. On the way in though, we saw Jantek with Veronique and Jean-Claude aboard. We saw Veronique in Marin earlier and she had said they would be out in Ste. Anne that evening. We had met them in Trinidad while the boat was on the hard. They had had a lot of trouble with getting the boat's topsides painted but it looked pretty good now. They went to Guadeloupe to get a replacement mast and boom and that looked great also. They invited us on board for a drink but we said we were trying to get some water now but would come back. We went toward the beach but saw some people at the fish market so we didn't even land the dinghy. We went to the dock to get a baguette but when we got there, they were just about running out and we couldn't get one. Oh well. We went back to Jantek and had a beer instead. Diane went to a "ladies lunch" the next day so I drove her to shore and I called the Yamaha dealer to ask some questions. I got a baguette for lunch and went back to the boat where I worked on the web site all afternoon while running the watermaker. There was plenty of wind and sun so there was power for the watermaker. I could have run the engine but I just don't like the noise. We also needed some water since we couldn't get any from shore for a couple of days. Around 4pm, Diane called on the radio saying she was ready to get picked up and to also bring the water jugs. She had talked to the tourist office and they went with her to the fisherman's market. They seemed to work out a good arrangement whereby the cruisers would buy some fish occasionally and we could get water. That seemed very practical and helped both parties. Jacqui, from Lady J, had already bought some that day. Thursday we went in to shore and took a walk by the Club Med. It was sunny but breezy so it wasn't too hot. I also brought in a small jerry jug for gasoline as we planned to stop at the Shell station before we went back to the boat. There was still plenty of gas in the tank but we wanted to make sure we had enough. I also wasn't sure when we would have to switch to the normal gas/oil mixture of 50:1. The mix I was using now was 25:1 and we had about 3 hours out of the 10-hour break-in period done. After 10 hours, the mix goes to 50:1. The walk itself was nice and there were plenty of pretty French women to look at to keep me interested. When we got to the end of the Club Med beach, facing Marin, we stopped and sat for a bit on their lounges. It was really pleasant sitting in the shade with the wind blowing looking out over the water. But then we decided to leave and so we walked back, getting the gas on the way and then a baguette, and finally going back to the boat in time for lunch. Later we played bocce ball again and Diane was so proud - she made 4 points in one game! We usually don't play in the same game or on the same team; as there are more than enough people for several games. Sometimes we play 2 games but that day we only played 1 and then just sat around and visited with the other cruisers. Friday morning we went in to shore early to get water and as we were filling our jugs, another cruiser also came in. As we left, still another dinghy came onto the beach. I could see why it might be annoying if we all came during working hours but we were all there before 7:30 in the morning. Anyway, we just stayed on the boat most of the day with Diane doing some hand laundry while I worked on finishing the latest update to the web site. We did go back in for a baguette for lunch though as Lady J had kindly picked up some of the good Brie for us during their shopping trip to Marin. After lunch, I did some small projects and Diane took a nap. We had spoken to Lori and Bob on Pride over the SSB that morning and learned that they would be coming into Martinique later. We knew they were coming and were anxious to see them again. We had missed seeing Lori when we stopped in Grenada on the way up north since she was back in the States on a visit. We spoke to them on the VHF as they got closer and finally again as they anchored in Marin. They were going to clear in, go shopping and then come out to Ste. Anne tomorrow. We invited them over for drinks and hors d'oeuvres when they made it over. Lori called later about our FedEx package. It had arrived and they were calling from the marina radio to get our permission to pick it up. "Absolutely." So the marina gave it to them and they would give it to us when we saw them the next day. The package had our tax return in it. A CPA friend in the States had done it and sent it down for our signatures. Early Saturday morning we went in for water again but the fisherman had turned off the faucet with the hose attached. Fortunately, another cruiser happened in who had brought a small hose with them so after he finished, he let us use it. After getting water and our breakfast, we went back to the boat but came back to shore at 9am. Diane was going to do her walk and I was going to see the Yamaha mechanic. There was nothing wrong with the engine but the dealer had said the mechanic would be in Ste. Anne this morning and he would check it over for us. Everything seemed fine and Diane did her walk and I went back to the boat. After I picked up Diane, we cleaned the bottom of the boat and Lori and Bob came over around 5. It was great to see them again and we enjoyed a very nice reunion. Sunday morning we got more water, got breakfast and then Diane took the dingy to do her walk with Lori. We went back in after lunch to call my brother in California. I figured that since we would be leaving soon and it was relatively cheap to call from here, I should make "voice contact" again. Email was good but sometimes you need to talk. We bought a quiche for dinner from a local lady that had been recommended to us by other cruisers. The conditions of her "establishment" weren't exactly up to OSHA standards, but when we ate the quiche that night, it really was delicious. Most of the day we read the magazines that Lori and Bob brought to us - nice to have new reading material. We also reviewed our tax return. |