It was an " And Then Day "

The rig is up! So We had a sail trial by ourselves for an hour or so making several tacks and all worked well.....even us. The next day Uli the fellow doing all the work came out for a test sail and put us through the paces and did some adjusting on the side stays and the back stay. He didn't quite like the angle of the mast and suggested we go back into the marina and he would get a piece to lengthen the front stay. So in we go and tie up again. Anchoring and docking are not most sailors favorite things but after this past week I must say we are much more practiced for sure. First thing on Wed am he was there and were adjusted and back out in the bay by 9:30. Wed is Ladies Lunch day so I left and Brian proceeded to get us ready to leave S. Lucia....check out,extra fuel,a few groceries etc. Customs turned out to be the usual disaster. The paperwork for the temporary importation ( when we leave it in the summer season) was no where to be found. Brian went back to the boat and searched all our papers. I knew we had turned it in in Nov. but they said we shouldn't have. In the end they let him check out and let's hope all will be well when we check in. We listened for Dennis's weather forecast and set sail for a 4-5 hour trip at 9:30 or so. The winds were perfect and waves were perfect and only a slight swell. We were sailing at about 6-7 knots for about 3/4 of the way with the finicky auto pilot working perfectly. All was perfect! Brian looked at the dinghy. The first time we sailed with the dinghy up on the new davits and all was good,not much swing. 

And then .......he saw the back stay adjuster spewing oil. It had totally lost all the pressure on the back stay. The piece that holds the mast back. 

And then.......at about 5 miles out of St Anne, Martinique the jib started to flap in an unusual manner just as squall of 22 knot winds hit. The schackle that holds up the jib snapped off. The sail only dropped about four feet and continued to stay up with the wind in it. We put on our life jackets in case we had to make a quick run to the front to manage the sail if it came down. We sailed into the very large bay and Brian pulled it down and tied it down on the deck. It is a lovely bay to anchor in so problems at all. We had our customary anchor beer.... No two beers and had a short rest to calm down.

And then....... French customs were along side wanting to do an inspection. One agent spoke English. Brian answered their questions. He explained the day we had, the mess of sails on the deck and they were very nice and they left. 

And then.....Brian prepared to go up the mast with his trusty mast climber. It was about 5:00 and I reminded him he had only about 45 mins of good light. Well his adrenalin was talking when he said ....this won't take long and proceeded up the mast. Well 30 minutes in and half way up he decided his light would be gone soon. Try again another day. 

And then......As Brian was lighting the small oil light we use daily the glass shattered in a million pieces in the cockpit. What a mess in the dark. We cleaned it up as dinner cooled and wore shoes for the rest of the night. Properly cleaned up in the morning. No blood was shed!

And then........We went to bed!!!

All in all too much excitement for me in one day and we are glad to be a quiet anchorage. The back stay adjuster should be repaired by Tue or Wed. We found the part we need to reattach the jib so all is working out. Except that Leader Price the big grocery store is almost out of box wine and very little cheese. They are waiting for their ship to come in they say. Maybe it had trouble at sea!