Christmas in Rodney Bay

We took off for St Lucia on the 23rd of Dec around 11:00 am knowing we would only go as far as the top end of St Vincent and stop for the night there. With an early departure the next morning we would arrive long before sunset. The winds were supposed to be dropping down and the seas will follow in the next 24 hours or so. But ... the weather man didn't see this one coming. We were in not bad winds and waves when we left Bequia and motor sailed along the coast and when we passed the volcano at the northern tip of St Vincent we were in for a ride. We had the main triple reefed and the jib in and out as the winds decreased and increased. Dawn and Laurie were ahead of us and they kept checking in to see we were ok. We had wind gusts of around 36 knots and they had 44 knots....  too much for sure. You can check out their blog for a full run down. http//corbettgonesailing.blogspot.com

When we arrived in Rodney Bay that is when the fun really began. We were anchoring in a thunderstorm unlike anything we have seen in southwestern Ontario. They don't get thunder and lightening like that around here. Brian was on the fore deck handling the anchor and chain as I was on the helm ...a large stainless steel wheel with lightening all around us. It was pretty intense for sure. It rained so hard and so long it knocked out bridges and roads and generally made for a very sad Christmas  for many locals. Land slides, homes washed out and loss of life in many communities. The airport has reopened and things are getting back to normal but just this morning Dawn and I went to the grocery store and saw many empty shelves. Especially the fresh produce and meats were pretty slim. People were buying up cases of bottled water as there are shortages and no water supply to many locations. At the restaurant the washrooms were locked due to lack of water. 

We are off to Cat Tales for dinner. Dawn has a new pressure cooker and she loves to use it. We have a BBQ so we make out quite well around. We have been keeping up on the general chores.... laundry and barnacle scraping. A walk to Cas en Bas is in order tomorrow for about 10 people from various boats in the anchorage. Never a dull moment for sure. 

Slight correction

Have to correct last blog update with the date we arrived. I posted Dec 6 and alas it was Nov 29 th. Definitely time to move on. 

We have enjoyed our time here with lots of great work being done, good walks and good restaurants to enjoy with Dawn and Laurie on Cat Tales. One of the more interesting things they have here in Admirality Bay is the water, fuel, laundry service that you call for on VHS 67 and the barge comes along side your boat for a fill up. Now it is a bit more expensive than other other islands but so convienient. The young boy was helping his dad. We used the laundry service called Miranda's and she comes out picks up your dirty and returns either wet for you to hang out or dried and folded. I opted for the wet and it was only 12 EC about 4CA. But it does always seem to rain when I hang out laundry. But the wind is strong and I haven't lost anything YET! Almost though! 

Weather window

We have been in Bequia since Dec 6 th and it would be nice to move on. But!!! The Christmas winds have been wild. We are still on a mooring ball paying by the day, Cat Tales is on two anchors next to us and boats around us anchor and drag and re anchor all the time. Yesterday a band of squalls passed through with wind gusts of 28+ knots. My hair looks frightening and we are all quite tired of this. But it doesn't look like any reprieve soon. Dennis and Arlene on Tiger Lilly 11 are due in today from Carriacou    Just a few hours to the south of us. He is a retired weather man from Toronto and offers a weather net on the SSB radio in the morning. He said they got beaten up pretty badly yesterday so sit and wait is his opinion. Sunday or Monday look like our best days to travel. We would like to be somewhere with more friends for Christmas (Rodney Bay) but we'll be grateful for the friends we have wherever we are. 

All the work is completed even the dinghy davits are installed. We now will figure out the best way to attach it for easy lifting and take off the motor for open sea travel. With the new canvas it is a little more in our way on the stern. We have decided Bequia is a great place to get work done .....just not so busy.

 Brian and FixMan2 installing the davits. 

We have enjoyed Dawn and Laurie's company and had a great walk to a beach bar yesterday. We have been using our BBQ and having evening get togethers. We get pretty wet in the dinghy with the waves and these winds. It doesn't make you want to go far especially at night. 

A little spirit of the islands just as we were about to post this blog. Cheryl the owner of the Fig Tree is dancing and waving as a party boat is passing by booming out the tunes. Live advertising!

Bequai Time Coming to a Close?

Well here we are it's Tuesday December 17 and our canvas projects have been completed, except for paying that is! We have a new bimini complete with drop down side and stern curtains, new dodger with removeable sun shades and rain deflectors on the sides and modified frame so Lorna and I can stand erect under it all! That's saying a lot since she is 5'2 and I'm 5'8 give an inch or so for shrinkage. Heights that is! We also had a large canopy/rain catcher made for the fore deck and the sacrificial strip on the jib replaced in navy blue. As soon as the winds drop below 15 - 20 knots we will think about putting the jib on, but the batteries are full!  We still don't know when we can leave since the winds are so strong. Even when the wind drops it will take some time for the seas to calm. Dawn and Laurie have friends arriving on the ARC in St Lucia and want to be there to greet them.i. It will be the last leg of their around the world voyage. 

Some people ask how we fill in a day here, let me say it's quite easy. Sometimes we watch the sun go down and wonder where the day went. A lot of the time we make a list of stuff to do like chores, for instance today I need to scrape the bottom; it's best to get the molluscs while they are small, or grocery shop or other projects some times we hike the hills.

Sunday we hiked to "Peggy's Rock" which overlooks Admiralty Bay. The story is that "Peggy" would go to this overlook and signal the fishermen where the fish were. How is unknown. It seems more likely that she would watch for whales since Bequai is known for whaling and still is permitted to harvest up to four a year. It is a huge event when they get one and just about the whole island gets involved. Back to the hike. Laurie and Dawn (Cat Tales) and us took a bus to the whaling museum at LaPombe on the West side (2.00 EC each about 75 cents CA)  then we started walking just about straight up! The pictures will tell the story: (the last shot is from the boat, Peggy's Rock is the second highest point, slightly to the left). Kendra we used your walking sticks and they were great. It was tall grasses in some   places,followed by a rocky path,followed by climbing over boulders. It was a great hike certainly our first major one this season. Today is Tuesday and I still can feel it a bit in my calves. 

Windy in the Bay

The work goes on and on but things are really taking shape with the canvas work. Avell and his guys have completed the bimini and the dodger. The dinghy and motor cover are finished and the rain catcher Is in place. We had most of the work done by Thursday afternoon and as we awaited Dawn and Laurie's arrival a wild rain squall passed through. Every seam on the bimini leaked and rain and wind swept around the dodger. We did not think we needed a flap of fabric but alas we were wrong. He came back out yesterday with a block of bees wax to rub down each seam hopefully eliminating the leaks. The side panels for the rain will be done on Monday. All that's left is paying the bill! We haven't got the final bill but so far it is far less than we were priced in Martinque and far less than St Lucia. The davit installer still has not arrived to install but he has the blocks of wood and the backing plates in the ready. He is using a wood called Purple Heart. We had never heard of it but he claims it to be a very hard wood perfect for the job. He doesn't work on the weekend or Monday so we won't have that job done until next week. Then we will be free to leave and get to Rodney Bay for Christmas, depending on a weather window for safe passage. 

Dawn and Laurie arrived on Thursday afternoon. They were in Carricou and the winds have been very strong.....they call these winds the Christmas winds and will continue for some time. But they took their best shot and made it here in almost one piece. They had a squall and a gust of 32 knots hit them and suffered a tear in their mainsail. It was still usable and has been repaired already. 

This is a lovely little island to spend time on waiting for work to be done. It is so unlike Rodney Bay with supermarkets and malls etc. The grocery store is quite complete but very basic. They sell no fresh produce in the stores only vendors on the streets with a huge variety of good fruits and vegetables. A meat man arrives on Saturday morning and cuts portions on a table on a side street. The fishermen blow a conch to let you know they have fresh fish on the beach. It is very rustic and very quaint. The town will have the lighting of the lights under the almond tree tonight. It is at 8:00 so not sure any of us will still be up. The town is quite decorated for sure. With Dawn and Laurie here I'm sure a hike will be in order. 

Another first

Each day brings along with it a new set of challenges. Our refrigerator had been seeming to draw a lot of power and not really get as cold as should be. We have had crazy winds and the batteries were well topped up but when the frig was running it would drop dangerously low. We supplemented with a couple bags of ice over the weekend until Sam The Refrigeration Mabn could be called first thing Monday morning. He was so prompt and was at the boat by 10:00. But he said he needed AC power to do his work. We don't have  that capability. We had met a lovely coulpe on s/v Chill a couple days before and had drinks on their boat and dinner on ours ... to use the meat I couldn't keep frozen. We had also taken an island tour on Sunday with them. So when they heard our dilemma they offered for us to raft up to them as they have a 1000 watt inverter and an extension cord. They are at anchor and we took a mooring ball ...we ran a really long line and drifted back and came along side. Oh my heart was pounding trying to do this and not hit anything. We did lose the boat boat pole and Brian had to dive in after it. Thankfully they make them to float. I had the swim ladder down as I'm still driving the boat and he clambered on and with Dan's help we were secure. The frig man was here all day and got the job done. We are making ice again!

An old favourite with a Bequia twist ......BLT

We left the boat for a walk up to Fort Hamilton (just a battery really). Not a very long walk but very steep in places. The view from the top is always amazing. We returned to the bottom where we had tied the dinghy to the dock at a restaurant, L'Auberge, where we of course rewarded ourselves with a cold beer. They specialize in lobster and had a huge tank on the lower level. Brian had fresh grilled tuna and it was delicious and I had a BLT ....bacon,lobster and tomato. Hard to find that at home. WOW it was amazing with huge chunks of lobster. Won't need a big dinner tonight. No table cloths but pretty fancy. 

Last night around 5:30 the winds shifted and a huge burst of wind hit us and set us practically spinning on our anchor. We did drag some and had a very uneasy night. We moved to a mooring ball first thing this morning after Brian swam around and inspected a few. We are in an area where it is convient for the workmen doing our canvas work and the davit installation but the holding isn't as good as on the beach side. The weather is supposed to be gusty for the next few days with 25 knot winds. We will rest much easier on the ball. 

No one here works on the weekend so we will not see anyone until Monday which is kind of nice. We are taking the weekend to do some walking and sight seeing. We spent Thursday afternoon trying to save us a few dollars. We are having the canvas strip on the jib replaced to match the new navy canvas. So with two seam rippers Brian and I sat with a huge sail filling the cockpit and picked out all the stitches. Miles and miles of thread I'm sure ..... three lines on zig zag stiches. Then there was the bits of threads left behind what a mess inside and out. The wind did a good job getting rid of most of it. 

So we are having fun and getting things done. 

Peace Out 

The canvas work in progress

We had decided after last year our canvas work needed replacing. Well it really decided for us. Much like a new roof on your house you don't want to do it, don't want to spend the money but low and behold when it starts leaking and ruins a ceiling you just have to do. Well this season as we started putting things together a zipper wouldn't zip, a window fell out and there were more leaks that you could dodge. We zip tied the window in and sewed and zip tied the zipper shut and hoped it would hold together to get here. So after some investigation we made our way here to Bequia where a company came quite highly recommended. We can now see why! Monday morning Avell came to the boat ... on time with notebook in hand and came up with a plan. Tuesday morning he called and needed confirmation of fabric for the sunshade. Wed morning he installed the completed bimini without side curtains yet. Today they were here by 8:45 and the dodger template is being constructed. They make it out of a light weight plastic. The bimini (the back cockpit roof ) is almost 18 inches higher and about a foot wider. It looks like we have a new living room I ...all 5ft 2in of me can stand up straight. As well Brian can also. He adjusted the support system for the wind generator to accomplish the wider area. It will keep out so much more sun and rain. So far we are very impressed and amazed at their good fast work. Usually everything is very much island time......today maybe tomorrow and maybe next week. But not these guys! So we are sticking fairly close to the boat for the last couple days while they work. You can see some winkles in new navy canvas but no front supports have been added. Finally some fun boat work that looks good. The new instruments are of course a good investment and sure made the sail here more enjoyable. All for now and more pictures when everything is completed. 

Peace out