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Larry's LogWe motored out in some nasty seas, about 6-8 feet although the winds were only about 18 knots. I had gotten the reefed main up already and we motored for a bit to get the batteries charged. I had almost forgotten what it was like to worry about this, as well as keeping the water tanks full. I had run the watermaker in Scotland Bay for a while to top them up again. It started getting dark and Diane was OK for a while but eventually, even though she had taken Sturgeron, she was seasick. She didn't actually vomit though until after dark; I give her credit for putting up with it, since she is sick just about every offshore trip we make. I unfurled the jib a bit but then noticed that the port jibsheet was fouled around the forestay. I had checked this before we left since I had taken the sheets off when I had removed the forestay during our time on the hard, but evidently I hadn't seen this - the port sheet was around the forestay one wrap more than the starboard one. So, I went up on deck to the bow, taking the fouled sheet with me and straightened everything out. We continued on our way, with actually a very turn of speed, hitting 8 knots over the ground in about 18 knots of wind on a close hauled course. I wanted to make as much easting as possible since I knew there was a 2 knot current pushing us to the west and I didn't want to have to tack to get to Mt. Hartman Bay. We held a course of about 15 degrees magnetic the entire night, except when I took over in the squalls and feathered the boat into the 40 knots gusts. Diane was sick several times during the passage but except for the midnight watch, when she asked ne to take over after just 2 hours, she kept her watch. Of course, she didn't have to steer or make any sail adjustments, but at least I could sit in the cockpit and close my eyes. Sail and course adjustments were my job but she didn't call me too often. At around 9pm, Diane called my attention to 3 lights in front of us. The one to the east was very bright, the one in the middle was just very visible as was the one to the west. We appeared to be catching up to them. We knew there was an offshore oil rig about 25 miles out, and just about on the rhumb line to Grenada, so Diane called on the radio to see if anyone on the rig (that's what we assumed it was) would answer. There was no response from the platform, but Trinidad's North Coast Radio (a monitoring agency different from the Coast Guard) answered asking if we needed assistance. Diane responded that she saw 3 lights and wanted to verify what they were. They asked for our position and she went below to look at the GPS. After giving then our position, she came up and said she couldn't be below (for obvious reasons) so I went below and continued the conversation. I gave them our speed, direction and after looking at the radar, about how far off the "target" was. They weren't sure but thought the lights might be tugs. They asked us to stand by while they contacted the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard then got on the channel, and asked about our last port, our destination and what kind of boat we were. Everyone was very helpful but nobody could tell us what these lights were. Finally, I looked and said I thought it might be an oil or gas platform since it was very brightly lighted and seemed stationary, but they still weren't sure. Eventually, the Coast Guard just said to give it a wide berth, for safety sake. I told them I was absolutely going to give it a wide berth. As we got closer, and we passed about a mile away, it was the offshore oil platform we had heard about. We could see it for at least an hour after we passed it. There were several squalls that night and I hand steered through the worst of these. Unfortunately, I only had a t-shirt and swimsuit on and got very cold, since even warm rain feels cold when you're already wet, tired and its blowing 40 knots. At least Diane got my hat for me so the rain wasn't pelting my head! Between squalls, we were really charging through the water, making 7-8 knots. The problem was that at that speed, we would make landfall before daybreak, not a good idea on a reef strewn coast. Even though we had been there before, several reefs protect the entrance to Mt. Hartman Bay and we needed to see the buoys and the color of the water to get in. So I slowed the boat down by bringing in the jib. Several minutes later though, we heard a sound like the main traveler slipping. I looked and the traveler seemed fine. I couldn't figure out what the noise was until I looked at the sky in front of us and decided to furl the jib completely. I pulled on the furling line and it came in MUCH too easily and then I discovered it broke and the sound we heard was the jib being released to its full size. To get the sail down meant another trip to the bow. I could just make out that we were about to get hit with another squall so I told Diane to take the wheel and release the halyard when I said to. I went on deck with some sail ties and bungee cord and managed to get the sail down without too much trouble. Ten minutes later, we were in another 40-knot squall. We were now going along at about 2-3 knots, under reefed main alone. But we were going to be in Grenada in about 2 hours, and could now make out the coastline easily, so I turned on the engine to get us there sooner. About an hour out, I noticed that the sail, now on deck, was partly in the water, so again I went up to the bow, pulled the sail on deck, lashed it down, and returned to the cockpit. Three times in one night was three times too many! Well, as we approached the entrance to Mt. Hartman Bay, there was another squall approaching. We could see the entrance and the buoys so we started in, and of course, the squall hit and almost blinded us just as we passed the first mark. Luckily we knew the course and could just make out the next buoy so we continued. Actually, we didn't have much choice since the channel isn't too wide and the wind would probably have blown us onto the reef if we had tried to turn around. Well, we got in OK although we had to circle inside the bay a bit until we could really make out where the other boats were anchored. I wouldn't have attempted it if we hadn't been there before and knew it well. The rain let up and we saw Lori and Bob's boat Pride, anchored almost where it was when we left. So we picked a spot near them and dropped the hook. We were in, and both very tired. I organized the deck a bit, made sure the sails were OK and went below for some rest. We had called out to Pride and Bob had waved back, saying "Welcome back." Thanks Bob, we'll see you later. We dropped the hook at about 8am and slept until about noon. Diane stayed in bed but I got up and started to get the boat in order. I got the broken furling line off and found the other end had just frayed. It had broken about 18 feet from the end and I wasn't sure if the remainder was long enough but I thought I would try so I repaired the line. I was too gusty to put the sail back up but we could do that tomorrow. I did some miscellaneous things and then took another rest. Bob stopped by and said Lori was back in the States until Wednesday and we were sorry to have missed her. Bob very kindly offered to bring us to shore but we said to come by for a drink later, so he did. We then talked about when and how to get further and we decided to listen to the weather and see how it goes. We were also concerned with Kick 'em Jenny, and underwater volcano just north of Grenada that had just erupted. It was still acting up and we certainly didn't want to be near it if it erupted again. Listening to the weather again, we heard the activity was reduced but we would wait until the morning. If it seemed OK, we would keep moving the day after. Bob came by and we had a nice reunion, but didn't stay but an hour or so. We were both still tired and so ate an early dinner and went to bed. The next day, Sunday, I re-rove the furling line, got the jib back on the furling unit and generally got the boat in order. Bob came by and brought us to shore in the afternoon and so we had showers and then bought him a drink at the Secret Harbour Squall Bar. Back at the boat, we decided to move on the next day, assuming the weather was good. We heard the weather that afternoon, and it was probably OK, but we decided not to make another long passage immediately. Next morning, we listened again and figured that we should move soon since all the various reports said the weather would deteriorate later in the week. So we went around to the leeward side of the island to a small bay called Grand Mal, just a couple of miles north of St. George's. Motoring there was easy and although it wasn't picturesque, it was protected and a good place to wait for the day. So we anchored and left the next morning, hopefully for Bequia, about 66 miles northeast. We got up at around 5am, ate a quick breakfast and got underway by 6. It was just light and we wanted to try to make Bequia so we needed to get going early. I generally estimate an average of 6 knots to be safe so we would need about 11 or so hours to get there. We had to motor in the lee of Grenada for about 2 hours and then we started to sail. Generally, the trip was OK except for 2 squalls that we managed to catch. But the wind was a bit squirrelly at times, dying a bit and changing direction. At those times, we turned on the motor to keep going. As the day went on, we could see that making Bequia was possible but only if we kept pushing. Amazingly, although the seas were up to 6-8 feet and the wind did pick up to 20 knots at times, Diane didn't get seasick. She had taken her Sturgeron religiously 3 times a day, instead of skipping the last dose as she had done before. I guess when you take the medication as its supposed to be taken it works better! |