4 December 2018 - Martinique

Who says it never rains in the Caribbean? They lie! We have had a good sail up from St Lucia this morning, albeit  a wet one ... Several showers during the passage, but with our new extra cockpit enclosure, we kept dry. Even now, sitting in the dry while the rain continues to fall from the sky, we can sit outside with no problems. Neat!

The ARC boats have been arriving into St Lucia over the past couple of days, and will continue to do so for the next week or so. It was nice to be able to talk to the sailors who have achieved the crossing and we're thrilled to be able to talk about it. It has got us both all fired up and raring to go with our World ARC adventure. Bring it on! We have 5 weeks between now and departure on the 12th January. 🌏🌎⛵

3/12/2018: Rodney Bay, St Lucia

Yes, we've finally escaped from Grenada, 140 miles north-northwest to St Lucia, home of the Pitons, Soufriere volcano and mudbaths (you can smell the sulphur a couple of miles offshore) and the departure point for the World ARC in January. It was a boisterous trip up, 24 hours beating into high winds and seas but we made it in time to meet Debra's Mum for the day on Sunday.

Our arrival into Rodney Bay marina was greeted by two fellow World ARC sailors we last had lunch with in Bequia back in March. But a lovely welcome and a taster of what is to come in terms of camaraderie.

St Lucia is definitely less humid than Grenada which has made sleeping easier. It's also cloudier but that's probably a short-lived thing.

We have just enjoyed a delicious lunch (coconut shrimp and lobster burger) at a very stylish new hotel that has opened since we were last here ... we'll definitely be back.

This afternoon we're being kicked out of the marina as ARC boats are arriving and they need the berth so we'll anchor off Reduit Beach in Rodney Bay itself and then head to Martinique tomorrow. It feels like we're finally on our way!

29th November 2018: Final day, Prickly Bay!

Yes we're finally heading north today for St Lucia after three and a half weeks at anchor in Prickly Bay getting things sorted on board. After a frantic scramble yesterday we're ready (we think!) or at least as ready as we can be. Despite a last minute failure of a battery charger on Sunday evening, a great Trinidadian marine electrician worked miracles yesterday fitting it and the ampmeter. So now we can charge the batteries and see how full they are as well.

Our neighbours from home cruised into Grenada for the day on Tuesday and we had a fun few hours on board, showing them Tumi and our lifestyle and catching up on the news from home. We're meeting up with Mum in St Lucia for the day on Sunday and will be collecting the things we either forgot or couldn't fit into our bags from her. Hence the push to sail up there.

I'm pleased to report my toe is making a good recovery and I'm going for a walk this morning before we sail. It's been very frustrating!!

We're both looking forward to actually sailing today, our first time since March. Hope we can remember how!

24th November 2018 Prickly Bay

Well, what a week! We have finally got the better of the power anomaly by scrapping the dodgy MPPT controller and getting our money back, and replacing it with a different one that we can manage via Bluetooth, and can see at any time how much energy is being pushed into the batteries. The spiking on the circuit has disappeared so we are much happier with that.

The Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday was great fun, a potluck affair where everyone made a side dish and the venue roasted the turkeys ... in a pizza oven! There were competitions for trimming boats with extra flags and we won a prize!



We both are too much and followed that up yesterday with lunch and dinner out! So much for any weight loss!!

Yesterday afternoon Debra damaged a toe getting into the dinghy when the painter (that's the rope we use to tie the dinghy to the boat or a dock) got in between her toes and bent one sideways. Her foot is now black and blue and swollen and in need of some reiki treatment to ease the pain. We won't be doing too much walking in the next few days.

Actually, today is the first day in ages that we don't need to do anything, and so that's exactly what we are going to do, nothing!

Our neighbours from Chagford are arriving in Grenada on Tuesday, so we will spend the day with them, then on Wednesday or Thursday we will have the last two bits of equipment fitted, and then we are out of here sailing!

We will head up to Carriacou and clear customs and immigration there, take advantage of the duty free fuel once we clear out and fill up the Jerry cans and fuel tank. From there we will head north, maybe stop into Bequia for the night, flying the quarantine flag, then continue up to St Lucia.

21st November 2018 Prickly Bay

It's been a frustrating few days. We fitted two new solar panels on Saturday, U-bolted onto the existing frame. All went apparently well. I did the wiring from the isolator backwards to the solar panels. We have a controller to govern the charge to the batteries to stop them overcharging, the works. It should all have gone smoothly but unfortunately, it appears that something in the extra load of energy running through the electrical system has disrupted a circuit. The result of this is that our stand-alone battery bank in the bow has a power anomaly and the voltage has been fluctuating abnormally. This has triggered the power alarm on many occasions. Not good. The panels look nice though, as far as solar panels can look nice!

Anyway, three days later with input from fellow cruisers, lots of rewiring and insertion of two in-line fuses as isolators, and the charge going directly to the batteries, we seem to have settled the fluctuation down a bit. We are monitoring the situation but a local solar panel expert seems to think it should be okay.

On a good note, we needed to have an AIS transceiver for the world ARC instead of just the receiver we currently have. I fitted the new wiring yesterday, including a separate switch to be able to run silent without transmission in areas where we don't want to be seen. We needed a cross-over cable (120 eastern Caribbean dollars) to tmake a link to our existing network, but once installed, it was bingo! I scooted across to a neighbouring boat in the anchorage to find out whether they could see us and yes, a tick in the box. Something went well for once.

Tomorrow is US Thanksgiving lunch at the local hostelry, we are making brownies and roasted vegetables as our contribution. It will be nice to do nothing for a day.
Another good note is that we are nearly there with the canvas work and it's looking great. We have a dry cockpit area now which will be a real treat!

Somehow it feels that we are finally getting sorted. We still need a couple more things fitted and we are good to go sailing!!!