|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Larry's LogAt Mayreau, we anchored in Saline Bay. As we passed Salt Whistle Bay, we saw it was crowded with at least 12 boats - really too much. It is a very pretty beach, with Palms and all, and a nice resort tucked inside, but it was much too crowded for us. We just relaxed in Saline Bay that evening. Friday morning, we put the outboard on the dinghy and went into shore. We were surprised to see that the very steep road that went from the beach up to the village was being rebuilt - they had made the grade much better and you could see that it had been leveled out by about 6 feet in some places. We met some people from the Yankee Clipper cruise ship, one of the Windjammer ships, also anchored in Saline Bay. We talked to them a bit and they walked up the hill with us. Diane jokingly asked one of the crew who drove their launch when lunch was served and he said noon, come over! Of course, Diane jumped on the invitation and said, "Are you sure?" He said yes, but I had my doubts. Now, we had to rush on the walk since we were supposed to be back for "lunch." So we trudged up the hill, and although it was a better grade, the footing was worse since they hadn't laid the concrete yet. Still, they view from the top, near the village church, was spectacular and I took several shots. As we walked down to Salt Whistle Bay, that we did last time as well, we found that they were paving that road as well. Again, they made the grade less steep but the footing was treacherous because of the loose stones and gravel. It was interesting that we had now seen so much new road building in the Grenadines; the road to Spring on Bequia was new, as was the road to the wonderful southern view on Canouan and now the road from Saline Bay to Salt Whistle Bay on Mayreau. The St. Vincent government must have gotten a grant from somewhere. We walked along the beach at Salt Whistle Bay a little (we had to get back for lunch) and then started back. When we got back to Saline Bay, we waited a little for the launch to come into the dock and Diane asked the crew if we could still come to lunch. That crewmember didn't know anything about it so he said he would have to ask the captain; if it were OK, he would come back for us. Well, the launch didn't make an immediate trip back and the next launch that came in had the original crew that said we could come to lunch but he told us that because of their tight schedule, the captain had to say no. I didn't think we could go but one of the women that Diane spoke to had sent in some magazines and a book. So, with some disappointment, we went back to the boat (Destiny) ate lunch, lifted the outboard onto the stern and motored over to the Tobago Cays. The Yankee Clipper was still there when we left. The trip to the Cays was short, about 90 minutes from anchor up to anchor down, and very easy in light winds and only 2-3 foot seas. Other than the fact that we generally like that calm a trip anyway, we were glad we didn't get any spray on the boat since the light rainsqualls of the past few days had generally washed the boat of the salt accumulation from the trip down to Canouan. We got there and found about 30 boats in the anchorage so we moved to one side and the hook grabbed in 17 feet over clean white sand. You could actually see the anchor grab and the chain pay out, the water was so clear. We could hardly wait to go snorkeling. The rest of that day though, we just relaxed although we did go in the water to swim and double check the anchor. When we did, Diane said that she looked at the prop and asked if there were supposed to be 3 bolts sticking out. I said no and borrowed her mask to check the anchor and look at the prop. The anchor was fine but the zinc on the prop had fallen off, probably during the trip to Canouan. There were 2 of the 3 bolts still there so I tried to get those out but only 1 would move with just my finger pressure. I thought this would be interesting, attaching a zinc underwater. It had to be done but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to just free diving on it. Fortunately, I had plenty of spares in case I dropped one (or more). The next day though, we just went snorkeling though, once in the morning at the outer reef and again in the afternoon at one of the inner reefs. Because the winds were still light and the sun shining brightly, it was wonderful snorkeling. We didn't see any new species, or even any of the unusual ones we had seen last time, but it was still great. Lots of fish life with almost perfect conditions. The anchorage seemed to clear a bit that day and we were fairly well secluded until a very large (90 feet or so) sloop came in and anchored right near us. He wasn't too close or in danger of hitting us, but he certainly obscured the view. Luckily, he only stayed 24 hours. The next day, we (surprise) went snorkeling again in the morning and afternoon. The winds were still very light so I decided to try to replace the zinc when we got back from snorkeling so I dug out the spare zinc and tools before we left. Snorkeling this time we did see some different fish and one new species - a Pygmy Filefish, not particularly pretty but very unusual. When we got back to the boat, I reached into the cockpit and got the little plastic bucket with the zinc, spare bolts and tools. While I started the zinc, Diane cleaned the waterline. After removing the last bolt with the wrench, I cleaned the surface of the prop where the zinc attaches and then got the new zinc, bolt and Allen wrench. I found I could hold all three in one hand while I dove down and held on with the other. I managed to line up the holes in the zinc with the holes in the prop while keeping the bolt in the hole and the wrench on the bolt and so got the bolt started without too much difficulty. Well, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. After the first bolt was started, I made several move dives to tighten it a bit and then got the next bolt. This one also went in fairly easily as did the last. After all the bolts were in place, I made several dives to tighten them evenly and make them as secure as possible. It was done in about 40 minutes without dropping anything. Not bad! After that though, I was very tired from snorkeling for several hours and replacing the zinc. It was also almost 5pm - if we didn't hurry, we'd miss Happy Hour! So we showered, rinsed off the snorkeling equipment and had a drink. Diane and I discussed when we wanted to leave, since our reservation in Trinidad was for 4/15. It was now 4/7 and while we still had time, we might have to wait for a good weather window for the passage from Grenada (or Petite St. Vincent) to Trinidad. David Jones, the Caribbean Weatherman, hadn't broadcast that morning so although we had heard some other weather reports, we weren't sure of the forecast. The next morning was still very light winds but the sky was overcast and wouldn't be very good for snorkeling, at least not for picture taking. Our Minolta Weathermatic camera was good to 16 feet below the surface and had performed well for years but it wasn't a Nikonos with a big flash, and needed bright sunlight for good contrast and colors in its underwater pictures. We also heard on the SSB that David Jones had been in an accident and wouldn't be broadcasting for about 2-3 days. We hoped he was OK but that also meant that we would have to try to get weather reports from other sources so we could make our way south. We were both working on our logs around noon when within the span of 30 minutes the breeze came up to almost 20 knots from the East-Northeast. Well, we had heard on one of the weather nets that this would happen. I was just glad we had gotten 2 great days of snorkeling and that the zinc was replaced. Strangely, the wind went light again in an hour and started to back to the northeast. Eventually it backed to all the way to North. It remained cloudy though until about 4pm, but by then it was too late to go snorkeling. We just updated our logs most of the day, and while Diane took a nap, I read my new Patrick O'Brian book, "Desolation Island." The next day we decided to go to Petite St. Vincent (PSV) since we hadn't been there before. The wind was still light but the sea swell was starting to get big due to a large weather system north and east of the Caribbean. But the distance we were going was short and there was no problem although I had to steer since Diane couldn't get the feel for steering through the large waves. I also had to zigzag across the channel since the boat started to roll through 50 degrees otherwise. Fortunately, he wind was still light and there was very little wind driven waves to deal with. We went through a small pass between two reef-surrounded sand islands and motored into the anchorage at PSV and dropped the hook in 13 feet over brilliant sand. This was the southernmost island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and was a private resort. We were only about 50 yards from shore and could see that everything was well maintained and clean. After lunch, I started getting the dinghy ready. That consisted of putting the oars back on, attaching the security cable, lifting the new (large and heavy) gas tank back in and fitting the gas hose with the Racor filter. The last step is actually lowering the engine from the stern bracket onto the boat. I had finished everything else and went to ready the engine when I noticed some black oil had run onto the prop and had dripped along the sides. The oil appeared to be from the top of the prop from inside. That couldn't be good! I cleaned the oil, really just a very little, from the prop to see if any more was coming out. After waiting about 40 minutes, it didn't appear to be leaking any further but I was still worried about using the engine. I knew it could be used since there was still oil in the lower unit, but I considered using the Mariner instead. After talking to Diane about it, I decided to try using the Yamaha and just go slowly and keep an eye on it. If I saw any more oil I would just use the Mariner and wait until Trinidad to get the Yamaha checked. I was also going to email the dealer in Martinique about it and see what he would say. I hoped he would understand my message and be able to respond so that I could I could understand. That was the only problem with buying it in a French island. |