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Larry's LogWe were on a course of 40 degrees magnetic almost all day after we passed Grenada. That course also took us about 2 miles to the west of Kick 'em Jenny, which had quieted down. The alert had also been downgraded to "yellow", so we felt better about going by. The only problem is that the current that runs here pushed you west, so to compensate, I had steered to about 43-44 degrees. Most of the day, that put us on the rhumb line but between Canuoan and Bequia the current must have increased since we were pushed about 2 miles off our intended track. In the end, we had to motor almost directly into the wind to get into Bequia, but we had made it with about 10 minutes of daylight to spare. It had taken about 11 hours 30 minutes. The only real excitement on the trip was that Diane saw a whale about 20-25 feet from the boat as we passed it. By the time I went to look, it was gone. The only thing I saw were 2 floating oil barrels. Oh well, at least we were in Bequia where we would stay for few days before continuing to St. Lucia and Martinique. I also found that the furling line was now too short to put the required several turns of jibsheet around the furled sail, so I would either have to find something else on board or buy a new line. The night we arrived, as I was working on the PC, I heard the fresh water pump cycle on and off periodically without anyone using the water. This was not supposed to happen and sure enough, when I checked under the galley sink where the pump is located, there was water sloshing around. There was a leak someplace but it would have to wait until morning to address. I turned off the pressure water system until I could address it. Next morning we awoke to blasts of wind. The Bequia Blast was in full effect and it was blowing about 20-25 knots. Although it felt good coming through the boat, I knew we would get soaked going to shore in the dinghy in those conditions. Can't have everything though. I addressed the leak in the fresh water system after breakfast and fixed it easily once I found the leak. I wanted to organize the fresh water plumbing better, but that would wait until we had more time in one place. After lunch, we launched the dinghy and, sure enough, we were pretty wet once we got to shore. I had brought the boat papers to clear in but we needed to get EC currency first. Unfortunately, the bank closed at 2pm and it was now 2:30. Well, we figured we could wait another day to clear in and so we walked to the canvas shop that Pride and Rejoice had recommended. Unfortunately, the person we were referred to wasn't there, but his helper was and we explained what we wanted and he said Aville would be back tomorrow. We could call on the radio first. OK, we needed to come in anyway to go to the bank, clear in and so we could bring in our bimini to get restitched at the same time. As we went back to the dinghy, we window shopped a bit and particularly admired the model boats that were made on the island. Nice work but very expensive. Back at Destiny, we just relaxed and had dinner. It had actually been a long time since we did that. The wind was blowing nicely and the wind generator was really putting in amps so we were doing well as far as electricity went. During the day, with the solar panels also generating, we were well ahead of demand so I ran the watermaker for a couple of hours to replace the water we had lost from the leak. The next day we went to shore, got some EC currency, cleared in and went to the canvas shop. We brought in our bimini that needed stitching and left in the shop while we brought Aville back to the boat to take measurements for the awning. He took very careful dimensions and asked a variety of questions and then we brought him back to his shop. By the time we brought him back from the boat, his helpers had stitched our bimini and so we brought that back with us when we left. When we asked how much we owed for the repair, he said he would figure it in the final bill. We left saying we would keep the radio on if he had any questions. We had also asked him to redo the middle piece of the dodger that was done in Trinidad with the wrong material. In this case, the canvas shop had misunderstood what we wanted and used material we supplied to build something that we didn't really want. At the time, the owner said he would redo it for just the price of the labor and he would supply the material but he used the wrong type of mesh. As a result, we couldn't get any air through, so we decided to ask Aville to build one with the right mesh. He called us later on the radio with a quote on that and the awning. We went in a bit after that to discuss details and finally said OK. It was fairly expensive, but cheaper than Trinidad, or maybe about the same, and we trusted him to do a good job; particularly since we had 2 other cruisers recommend him. Hopefully they would be right. Diane and I both awoke in the middle of the night because of blasts of wind coming down and making all sorts of noise. We had moved the boat a little further up in the anchorage and so the anchor is always suspect until it's proved "set", either by diving on it or waiting out a blow. I hadn't the chance to dive on it so I was just a bit nervous but it held very well. I always set the anchor by backing down until the rode is taut and the engine is almost at full power, but still... We didn't sleep very well because of the wind, rain and the roll. The roll was about 20 degrees in either direction at times. And the rain forced the hatches closed so it got hot and stuffy inside. I was glad when morning came, although we had both gotten up during the night since we couldn't sleep. The next day was also very dreary, rain, wind, roll and so we didn't even get off the boat. At one point, I noticed that the dinghy wasn't hanging right on its bridle and when I looked, one of the lift straps had pulled right off the tube. It could be fixed but would have to wait for better weather. In the meantime, I lowered it and set it behind the boat on its painter so it wouldn't hit the hull. Another project! We did however, call Grenadine Sails at about 4pm, just when they were set to close and Aville said the large part of the awning was almost done and the smaller part was cut and just needed to be assembled. He said it should be ready Monday at midday. Great, we could bring it to the boat, put it up and mark the point for the water catchment's fitting and then maybe be ready to leave Tuesday. Saturday was a pretty relaxing day since we didn't get off the boat again. I worked on getting the windvane set up, finally, and I believe that I have it figured out. I dug up some rail clamps to use as anchor points for the double blocks needed, but I'll have to buy the blocks and jam cleats either here in Bequia or later on. I think it may work. As I was doing some things below, Diane went into the cockpit and suddenly yelled that she saw a boat on fire. I jumped up and there it was, about 1 mile away to the west. Some dinghies were already rushing out. We turned on the radio to channel 16 and listened. As I watched, I saw an explosion aboard the boat, and then heard it several seconds later. There were several boats on their way out, along with the 3 or 4 dinghies. The St. Vincent Coast Guard was called but it would take them 2 hours to get here. The outcome was that the crew of 2 were picked up from the water by one of the dinghies but the wooden fishing boat was gone. We never learned what happened or the disposition of the crew. The next day we didn't get off the boat since the wind was up and it was rainy, but we did odd chores around the boat. We hoped our new awning would be ready tomorrow. Monday morning I readied the boat a bit for our passage the next day (hopefully). We called the canvas shop at was told it would be ready at 1pm. So we ate lunch and went in and cleared out, then went to the bank and sure enough, the main awning and the smaller piece for the bow were both ready when we got to the shop. We took Aville and the new canvas out to the boat for a test fit and see where we wanted to place the water spouts to catch rain. Everything seemed to fit fine and we discussed where the spouts would be. We then brought the awning and Aville back to his shop and he did the spouts right away. It took a while since he had never done anything quite like them, but he did a great job and finished at about 5:20. We paid him, thanked him for doing a good job in somewhat rushed conditions and said we would recommend him to our friends. He was a pleasure to work with and did good work. While at the shop, some friends who were also going north to Rodney Bay called on the radio. I borrowed the shop's radio to say we were still planning to leave tomorrow. It would be a rush to finish the preparations but we thought we could do it. We got back to the boat that evening and really had to rush to hoist the outboard, raise the dinghy and lash it on deck and get everything stowed. But we managed to finish it all and we called Mystique to say we would go with them in the morning. We would have to leave at around 6am to make sure we made the 68 mile trip to Rodney Bay and arrived before dark. 5am came around very quickly, particularly since we had some roll that night which woke us both up several times. But, we ate a quick breakfast, made the last minute preparations and got the anchor up by 6:15. Mystique and Early Out were about 30 minutes and an hour ahead of us, respectively. Maybe we could catch up. |