Website Lost

25/5/2015

We have just discovered that our internet service provider has ceased operating, and as such, the website we have developed over the years we have been sailing may be lost and unrecoverable. We now have to re-create the website and try to recover what we can. It is very disappointing to say the least.

Tumi is out of the water and laid up on the hard in the Chesapeake Bay just a short distance from Yorktown. We have returned to the UK for the summer to attend to a few things and plan to return to the US in September.

[Cruise News] Le Marin, Martinique

Finally the wind has dropped down to normal levels and our sail over from St Lucia on Saturday was delightful ... 20 knots, 1m seas, sun shining, all well with the sailing world.  After overnighting at anchor in St Anne, we returned to the marina on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of the stainless arch and solar panels being fitted this week.  True to his word the fabricator turned up on Monday morning to take final measurements saying he would be back to fit the unit on Wednesday.  Things looked promising on Tuesday afternoon when he came along and dismantled the wind generator in readiness for the new installation.  And that's when it all ground to a halt: the wind generator was re-fitted on Wednesday and we've now left the marina for a few days with a plan to return on Monday for a second attempt at getting the solar panels fitted. At least it means this will dovetail with the arrival of the pole ends - the first parcel got lost in transit and new ones are on their way to us.  We remain optimistic ... sad fools or not?

Being our third and final season in this part of the Caribbean it does feel a little bit like our "farewell tour" a la rock groups, aged singers etc etc.  Whilst I'll never say never about us sailing this area again, we both feel ready for new cruising grounds and so are looking forward to exploring the rest of the Bahamas (we only had time for the Exumas in 2013) and heading up the coast of the USA.  That's not to say that we're not enjoying our time in the Windward Islands .... quite the opposite.

[Captains Blog] Le Marin, Martinique

Back in Le Marin (having shoe-horned Tumi in reverse into a tiny space in between mooring buoys, yet again), we have been focusing on getting the new solar panels fitted and sorting out some of the running rigging. Since we got Tumi, we have had a single continuous line system for the main sheet. This means that we can alter the main sheet from either side of the cockpit as long as one of the cam cleats are locked off. In reality, we only ever used the line from the starboard side, and so what use was the port side line? Nothing! I decided to cut it down to a single side use, and so I got a spare line from the sail locker (bought at a boat jumble in Newton Abbot several years ago and never used to date) and put a tow end on it so I could pull it through the pulleys behind the line I was taking out. Plenty of spare, and bingo, we had a long line to use elsewhere. But where? We have been planning to have a "Wingaker" sail for a while, and that would need a halyard to haul it up to the top of the mast. Well, we measured the old mainsheet and it would just work, so I recycled the blocks (pulleys) that were now obsolete from the port side mainsheet and used one for the Wingaker halyard. That meant me going up to the top of the mast this afternoon, but hey ho, we have electric winches. Sadly, I think my bulk was too much for the winch to deal with and the circuit tripped which left Debra winching by hand. Eventually I got to the top of the mast and pulled the new halyard up from below, fed inside the mast and back down again. We now have everything in place to launch the Wingaker once we get around to ordering one.

Where was I? Oh yes, the solar panels should have been fitted today. However, this is the Caribbean, and no, they weren't. Kashmir, the guy who was supposed to fit them had some difficulty garnering the right diameter steel for the job and had to travel quite a way to find some, which (despite having been given a month's notice) meant that the job wasn't done. We have to leave the marina tomorrow, and so we have booked to come back to the marina on Monday for 3 days to get the job done (at Kashmir's expense, I hasten to add). We had removed the wind generator in preparation for it being welded onto the new arch, so that has had to be reattached to Tumi to give us some extra amps when we are at anchor over the next few days. It does give us a chance to explore the island now, so we will be hiring a car to see the sights, and also do some biking to a beach that appeals to us as well. Every cloud has its silver lining....

[Captains Blog] Granda Anse D'Arlet, Martinique

The freedom to roam the seas must be the single unencumbered global pleasure we have left, and it is definitely to be enjoyed. This week, we signed out of Bequia on Thursday afternoon, departed for St Lucia on Friday, arriving in Rodney Bay at a little after 4pm (too late to check in through customs and immigration), so we dropped anchor just off the beach where there was an annoying monstrosity called Sandals Resort which looked to us like a Caribbean Butlins. We hoisted the yellow quarantine flag to show we were in transit, and settled down for the night. Thankfully, the winds were slight, and we got a decent night's sleep.

Dawn broke yesterday morning and as we were getting our breakfasts, we started thinking what we would do that day. Check into Customs and Immigration first. Then what? Stay on St Lucia and do some exploring? What were our alternatives? We would be collecting our next visiting friends Fiona and Andrew who fly into St Lucia on Tuesday, so potentially we had 3 full days to fill. We both have a very low boredom threshold, and sitting around for days doing nothing, or killing time without a real purpose doesn't cut it with either of us. So we mooted that we could go sailing perhaps .... "OK" we both said. "Let's go to Martinique."

So 30 minutes later, having prepared the boat, washed the dishes, and put the bananas in the sink to stop them falling on the floor, we were under full sail heading across the St Lucia Passage towards Martinique where we arrived several hours later (too late to check into customs again) and are now at anchor in a beautiful, sheltered bay. As we were dropping anchor we were hailed by someone in a dinghy who had recognised us as we turned into the bay. It turned out to be the owners of the boat who were next to us in the Tobago Cays on Christmas Day who we got to know after the accident, and who invited us aboard their boat 'Badgers Sett' for sundowners. We also noticed that another boat whose owners we had been chatting to was close by, and we have a date with them this evening. Such a nice community, these sailors.

We still have the yellow flag hoisted until after clearing in at a cafe this morning (the French immigration process is so civilised and easy - all done online) when we can officially hoist Le Tricouleur as our courtesy flag and legally go ashore. Then what will we do? Explore the island perhaps? Dominica isn't that far away ... Or we might just check out again and sail back to St Lucia ....

[Cruise News] Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia

We had a super day out yesterday touring the island before dropping Jon & Hannah off at the airport at 5.30pm.  The day kicked off with a tour of St Lucia rum distillery (including a tasting of some very strong rums), lunch overlooking the pitons and then wallowing like hippos in the hot, sulphur springs at the volcano near Soufriere.  The mud bath started with us smearing white volcanic mud / clay all over our bodies (a local tour guide was very happy to help me in the process!) and then decorating ourselves with black mud over the top ... not a pretty sight but supposedly very therapeutic.  We then relaxed in the hot thermal pools prior to showering off the residue.  Interestingly we've noticed a slightly "sour" smell to our skin today and having spoken to other people who've done something similar it can take up to a week to wear off!

On Monday we enjoyed lunch out at Pigeon Island and then walked around the old fort in the afternoon ... an enjoyable day out.  We also were treated to dinner by Jon & Hannah as a belated Christmas present and thank you for having them.  It's a shame the weather has been so windy whilst they've been here but they said they enjoyed their holiday.

So tomorrow we're off to Martinique where we'll spend a few days having the new stainless steel frame and solar panels fitted and then we'll head north towards Les Saintes for the end of the month.