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Mike’s Page 1 May/June 2007 - March 2008

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April 2009

Eventually we moved from Charlotteville towards the western end of Tobago. We had to clear out through Customs at Charlotteville and then in again once we reached Store Bay. We tried to get into Englishman’s Bay, which is a really beautiful setting, but the locals were netting at the time and we were told in no uncertain terms that we should move the boat, as we would be in the way. We moved all right, along the coast to Plymouth. It was dusk by the time we arrived. There is a rock called Pelican Rock to the eastern end of the bay and a reef continuing out across the bay ending in what is called ‘The Barrel of Beef’. There is only about two feet of water over this end of the reef but it is quite deceiving as there was no surf over it and it could catch the unaware quite easily. We gave it a wide berth and rounded up into the bay.

It looked a good setting and a peaceful anchorage with only one other boat at anchor. We dropped the hook in about five meters of water and had a quiet night. Our peace was broken in the morning however with a fisherman shouting to us to move. They were netting here as well. At 0730 hrs they had already netted across the bay to the Barrel of Beef so that we were literally trapped and they continued to encircle us. We had to move closer to a pier that didn’t look too accommodating and in amongst the moored fishing boats whilst they continued stringing out their nets. We were in about three meters of water with a swell surging through between the land and the Pelican Rock. I was not a happy bunny! We had some breakfast, and as soon as we could we upped the anchor and headed on to Store Bay.

Store Bay is more of a holiday resort with all the usual accruements with hotels and rows of parasols on the beaches. There were a few other boats at anchor when we arrived but we managed to find a spot in front of the Coco Reef Hotel that had its own breakwater protecting their private beach. We were in five meters of water but there was a little swell coming from the North East.

Most anchorage’s are effected by the trade winds in the island chain and there is little respite from rolling except on the rare occasion when the wind dies altogether. We were here for the Easter celebrations which Pat will be explaining on her page. However Easter also brings more trippers and their share of idiots. We were just sitting down to a meal at our favourite bar when some Australian friends found us to tell us that our boat had been hit by a jet ski and that there was a large hole in the side. They had witnessed the incident and commented that if it had hit their boat with that sort of impact, it would have sunk their boat without a doubt. Once again I am glad we have a concrete boat. Insurance companies please once again take note.

We rushed to the dinghy and rowed out to inspect the damage. There was a hole on the port side about 400 mm by 200 mm, about 75 mm above the water line. Any lower and we would have been taking in water faster than we could have pumped out with the obvious result.

We then rowed ashore to the beach where these infernal machines were based. We found out that the driver had never ridden a jet ski before in his life and had received no advice or instruction. This was an 1800 cc machine. In motorbike terms it would be classed as a ‘Superbike’. The driver had already flipped his girlfriend off into the water and she had demanded to be taken back ashore when he went back to the sea and proceeded to weave in and around the anchored boats, lost control and hit El Lobo. He was a bit shaken up when we confronted him and complained of an aching shoulder. I had little sympathy for him. The guy I wanted was the owner of the jet ski. I got nothing but abuse from him. It was not his responsibility, “see the driver”. He needed no licence to operate his business and no insurance. I got nowhere so I went to the police station. They were more interested in my height or the colour of the boat. Eventually when the desk constable finally woke up she told me that as there had been no offence committed, the police would not be involved.

I returned to the complex and found the administrator of the Lifeguards for the whole of Tobago. This was good news for him as he has been lobbying to get jet skis removed from the beaches, or at least under control. It was he who rattled the police and eventually they came out to photograph the damage.

However that was the last we heard of the incident from anybody. I wrote e-mails to the Tourism Office and to the local paper but had no response. I got no offers of help from anybody ashore but unanimous offers of assistance from the other boats at anchor.

There are no haul out facilities on Tobago and with the swell it was not going to be easy to effect repairs whilst in the water. Waves were lapping into the hole and the bottom edge was constantly wet. I straightened out the rebar as best I could and pulled the mesh back into position. We had no power to run electric tools on board so I carved out a piece on plywood to the shape of the hull as best I could using a saw and a hatchet. I borrowed a rechargeable drill from Sam on a neighbouring catamaran and drilled through with another piece of ply on the inside and bolted the two pieces together. I now needed to seal it. We had plenty of mastic on board but that won’t stick to a wet surface. I got the hard dinghy into the water which I like to use for working on the boat. I took the inflatable around to the starboard side, filled it with water and hoisted it up as best I could. That gave us a list to starboard, enough to clear the hole of the swell. I then played my blowtorch around the hole and wetted it again with fresh water and dried it again. This was principally to get rid of as much salt as I could. I then went round the edge of the patch with polyurethane glue. For the uninitiated, polyurethane glue is used for woodwork. It expands and foams as it sets and is actually activated by water. So it was the perfect solution for the job. Unfortunately I used up all my stock for this and now I am desperately trying to find some more. It may mean a trip for Sheila to B&Q in Sunderland to get a further supply!

The Americas Presidents were having a summit in Trinidad over the Easter and the whole of Trinidad shut down. According to the locals, this was an absolute waste of time and money. Cuba wasn’t invited and the TT PM didn’t exactly cover himself with glory. They were not allowing yachts to depart for Trinidad until the security had been scaled down so it was the following Thursday when we set off for Chaguaramas. We set off with the intention of going slowly and monitoring the patch in our side. It was about 60 miles to the point and a further five or six into the bay. It was down wind so I knew we would roll a bit putting the patch completely under the water as we rolled. It stayed completely dry on the inside and we kept our speed through the water down to two or three knots, not difficult when you consider the amount of growth we had below the water line! There is a current between Trinidad and Tobago which is a split off from the Atlantic current and that gave us an extra couple of knots over the ground.

We arrived at the Custom Dock and checked in. Our friends, Jim and Sharon plus family on ‘Wendreda’ had e-mailed us to say that they were at TTSA in Carenage Bay and that is was a bit more peaceful than Chaguaramas. It was just around the corner so we motored around and stayed there for a week until we lifted out.

Over the past few years, Chaguaramas has developed into a major yachting centre. It was a major base for the Americans during WW2. There were major shipyards amongst other facilities. Many of these facilities were eventually left and derelict but now most areas have been taken by marinas that have just a few berths but their main business is hauling out. Their yards are almost full to capacity and usually forward booking is essential. We were lucky to be able to get one of the last places at Power Boats. From now onward, people are sailing south from the more northern islands to leave their boats here for the hurricane season. Most will fly home for the summer. Within a month from now, all the yards will be full to capacity.

Not only do we have the yards, but other small industries have sprung up here to serve the boating scene. There are electronic specialists, canvas makers, sail makers, stainless fabricators, resin and fibreglass suppliers as well as a few chandlers and dive shops. There should be everything we need here, Time will tell.

We got the call that they had a cancellation so we motored round from TTSA back into Chaguaramas and to the Power Boats Yard and we were lifted out. One small problem though. The travel hoist was rated for fifty tonnes which therefore was well capable of handling El Lobo, however our fore mast was touching the cross beam before the slings could reach out stern hoist position, so we a little nervous that we would overbalance with the slings so far forward. The forward sling was well on the forward slope of the keel. They had tied the slings together but with no real tension on the rope so that as we came out of the water, the forward sling slipped a little. It wasn’t much, but as we were on board at the time, it was a little heart wrenching! Anyway we are safely set up now and ready for the work to come.

Thought for the Month.

Ban all bloody Jet Skis!!

Top of Page

May 2009

Well they say that ‘cruising is doing maintenance in exotic places’ and they certainly got that bit right! Here we are in Trinidad, it certainly is exotic, but bloody hot as well! So we have had to consider a daily routine to cope with the conditions. By noon it is too hot to work comfortably so my routine now is to rise at about 5 am, have a little ‘brekky’ and get to work as soon as it is light. Come noon, I have just about had enough, so it is then a light lunch, a little siesta and then maybe a tour round the chandlers to get anything we may need for the next day. That way we make full use of the day without the heat effecting progress. Here in Chaguaramas we are blessed with a host of suppliers for the boating trade. There are chandlers, sail and canvas makers, stainless and aluminium fabricators, paint manufacturers, electronic specialists, carpenters and timber suppliers, resin and fibre suppliers and a few I’ve forgotten I dare say. We are at a yard called Power Boats, but there are also options with Peakes, IMS, Coral Cove and the posh one, Crews Inn. They all have a large capacity and between them are able to store over 1,000 boats on the hard. Many leave their boats here for the hurricane season and fly home until October or November.

We have a number of jobs to do, such as to strip the hull below the water line. The hull and the prop looked a lot like the reefs we were snorkelling on in Tobago with an abundance of marine life! We have always had a problem getting paint to stick to the hull so we decided to take off all the paint down as far as we can and epoxy the hull below the waterline. Epoxy is a lot cheaper here than in the UK so it becomes a bit more viable. Hopefully we will then be able to treat the hull more like a plastic boat. I have already scraped over the hull with an epoxy fairing slurry to fill any minor discrepancies and we are now ready for a couple of coats of the epoxy. We will then use a couple of coats of epoxy primer before the antifoul.

We then have to work on the topsides. The major job here is to repair the hole made by that b…….y jet ski. I have had one attempt but that was when I fell off the scaffold and acquired my injuries, so I have had to put that on hold for a while. Otherwise there are a few battle scars we have acquired over the last year that need to be touched up and repainted.

We have also lifted out the masts. They have their own crane here so it was just a matter of booking it when we were ready and they came round to the boat. The foremast came out without a problem, but the main mast was a different story. When we crossed the Atlantic, I noticed that some movement had started within the mast partner as the wedges had started to work loose, or shrink with the hot weather. So when we got to Barbados, I made some more and drove them in tight. Now when we tried to loosen them to lift the mast, they wouldn’t budge. We tried a little pressure with the crane, but no luck. I had managed to remove quite a few but the opposite wedges still held firm, so I decided I would have to saw them out. It was then that our friends Jim and Sharon arrived from ‘Wendreda’. Jim, being fitter that me, offered to give a hand. The poor fellow was dripping a lot of sweat before we managed to get the mast loose! The crane driver was still there sitting in his cab and eventually we had both masts on trestles beside the boat.

This is the first time that the masts have been lifted out of the boat since we originally rigged the boat so I really didn’t know what to expect. We knew we had some damage from the yard fittings and the original batten fendering. We think we have that all sorted now, but the damage remains. However none of it has turned out as bad as we expected. However we do have some cathodic reaction where we have fittings to the masts. These are the radar reflector, the anemometer and the deck/steaming light. A slight bubbling in the paint could be seen up to six inches from the fitting. The walls of the masts are ¼ inch thick so the damage is minimal. I had used a dichromate when fitting but I drilled and tapped the holes so there was a direct contact between the screws and the aluminium. When refitting this time I will try some plastic plugs with a rubber gasket against the face of the mast and that should at least reduce the problem.

At the time of writing I have stripped and sanded down to the bare aluminium. We originally used an epoxy primer and an enamel topcoat. The system seemed to have worked well and the epoxy primer was not easy to remove. It has taken me over four days to get the masts down to be ready for repainting. We will be repainting the masts with epoxy primer and a two part polyurethane topcoat. This time we are trying the Jotuns system

We also have to renew the anemometer as the wheel fell off the last one!! It is a Clipper supplied by a company called NASA, and believe it or not, with a name like that, they are not obtainable this side of the Atlantic! So Pat had to resource it from the UK. We are also upgrading the coax cable for the VHF. We have been having problems with our VHF from the start. Sometimes we get a good signal and sometimes we get none at all. I have constantly checked the signal and the contacts but can find no fault, so we are trying this heavier cable which may or may not be the answer.

The yards, battens and booms are all due for a little brightening up, so I have sanded them down and revarnished with a few minor alterations to some of the ends to facilitate lashing on the sails. The sails themselves will get a few patches to replace the running repairs I have had to make along the way. All in all, the rig has held up well. Since it was installed in the boat, we have logged over 7,000 miles and have spent less than ₤200 on the rig. However we do now need new sail catchers. The original was probably not made of the correct material, and mid Atlantic the catcher for the mainsail split and made life a little more awkward for us. It is an essential part of the rig. This will be our biggest expense for the rig so far and we are allowing ourselves the luxury of getting one made for us here.

The other main job is still the diesel tank and I will be attempting that one when I am back to a little more strength. It’s gonna be an awkward one. It has to come out through the navigation station which means disconnecting most of our electrical systems.

We are still getting through our anodes fairly quickly, but as one guy pointed out, we are using a lot of power here especially with our freezer running almost constantly. The answer is probably to fit more anodes, and that is what I intend to do. It’s good to see as many cruisers out of the water here and see how others cope with such problems.

On the power side, we are still shy of what we need. We lost one solar panel on our Atlantic crossing so we are replacing that one with a slightly bigger one, this time an 85 watt. We are also upgrading our wind charger. We are purchasing a ‘Kiss’ generator which is rated at about 300 watts as opposed to 100 watts on our old ‘Aquair’. The ‘Aquair’ will still be used as a towing generator when under way and I may also try to find a way to mount it in another location on the boat for extended stays at anchor. Yet another project!! The project now of course is to mount the ‘Kiss’. It is actually manufactured here and with a little adjustment it should go where the ‘Aquair’ was. The old gantry is now getting a little cluttered now so we may be looking at a redesign job for next lift-out. The problem is that our stern is quite narrow so there is a limit to how much gear we can carry there.

Yet another job now is to repair the dinghy. We had it tied up in the dinghy dock and locked with a chain, but on checking it one morning, it was moored up with just the stern rope. The painter and chain had pulled out leaving a big hole in the bow. I am convinced it was hit by a bigger boat which just ripped out the fitting along with a ¾ inch plywood plate which was over a foot square. There is often quite a swell in that dock but that dinghy has survived much worse conditions than that in the past.

The other major consideration now is that the rainy season is just about on us. I am told that when it does rain, it is torrential, so the painting schedule will have to be carefully timed.

See you next month

June 2009

Well here we are still in Trinidad and still out of the water on the hard. The rainy season is now officially upon us as is the hurricane season. So every morning we listen to all the forecasts we can so we can judge what sort of work we can progress on. So far though we have only had one serious downpour but that was enough to show us what problems we are likely to encounter. There is a drainage ditch behind the boat which carries the grey water from the shower and laundry block to the sea, but when the rain came it flooded over to about a foot deep under our boat so that anything left on the ground would be washed away. So a valuable lesson learned there and we are told that was not the worst downpour we can expect. We also listen to forecasts from the hurricane centre and I have to say that we are learning even more about the weather formations.

Work continues and we have now finished remedial work to the underwater section of the hull although I still have to withdraw the shaft and repack the gland. So the hull is now ready for antifoul just before we re-launch back into the water.

I have managed to patch up the hole made by that b…… jet ski. We bought a product called ‘Rockite’ which is generally used to cast in anchor bolts to concrete structures or to repair concrete floors. Firstly I had to straighten out the rebar which meant the use of a heavy lump hammer and a pair of Stilsons, very technical. Once that was achieved the rest was fairly simple. I made a shutter for the inside and then laced up all the mesh that remained. The gaps left, I wove in some mousing wire and tied it all tight to the rebar. I primed the edges with PVA and set to plastering up the hole. ‘Rockite’ is a fine powder which is just mixed with water and handles a little like ordinary plaster but it is very ‘saggy’. I mixed up a slurry mix first and went round the edges before mixing up a more plastic batch for the remainder. This stuff sets in 15 minutes so you need to work fast but it sags awkwardly for the first few minutes so you need to keep it moving as it starts to set. As long as you time it right, working and finishing it to the edge is straight forward. I made a plywood trowel for ‘rubbing off’ and it worked well with plenty of water applied and it finished much like plaster but much stronger. This stuff claims to be stronger than concrete after only one hour and unlike concrete it also expands a little so that it grips the edges. Time will tell how it lasts. The materials cost the equivalent of around 12 pounds sterling. Time taken, not including sourcing the materials, was about three hours. Of course we now have to make good the paintwork. One of the reasons I got from a few insurance companies as to why they wouldn’t insure Ferro boats was that they were expensive to repair! Now of course I have to replace the cutlery drawers and plate rack that I had to remove to access the inside of the hull.

The masts are now back in place but we have yet to re-rig the sails which we will start when we receive the new sail catchers we are having made. I have installed a new anemometer and a new LED tricolour and anchor light. Pat has filled you in on that saga on the June 09 Log Page!

Also we have always had a problem with our VHF radio, with occasional problems with transmission and reception. On removing the aerial I could see that the coupling from the cable was not fully mating into the aerial socket. So I replaced the wire to a heavier gauge and a new aerial, so hopefully we will have a fully working VHF again.

When lifting the masts we had to book the crane of course and we were asked who was our rigger. There were a few puzzled frowns when I told them that we didn’t need a rigger as we didn’t have any rigging. They hadn’t come across anything like El Lobo before. Inserting the masts was a bit of a doddle really. Jim from ‘Wendreda’ came along to give us an extra hand so the lift went well. Jim couldn’t quite get used to just dropping the masts into the sockets and just leaving them without wires to attach to hold them in place. Anyway, thanks Jim!

The new bracket for the Hydrovane was presenting a bit of a problem. I went round to the various fabrication shops and booked appointments for someone to come out to look at the problem, but not one turned up, but I was advised that this was normal for Trinidad! Fortuitously though someone dumped a stainless steel tubular bracket in the skip which was not far off the size and shape I needed. I got some more tube to lengthen the legs and took it round to one of the workshops and got them to tack-weld the legs on. I then took it back to the boat and offered it up to the transom with bits of string and rope to the approximate position and scribed a line around to match the profile of the transom, I then cut it to the line and took it back to the shop. Michel tack-welded a couple of plates with holes of course which would then bolt through the hull. Back to the boat and checked the angles. I then needed a clamp to fix it to the shaft of the Hydrovane so I used an off-cut from the original bracket, cut it lengthways and took it back to Michel to weld it to the bracket. I will let you know next month if it looks as though it will work, otherwise it will be back to the drawing board!!

We are still waiting for our ‘Kiss’ wind generator. They have also had problems getting a welder to come out to weld on the new bracket. We have been waiting for over three weeks and even the owner of the company was embarrassed about the situation but has promised that it will be done next week. I could wind up doing it myself.

Here in Chaguaramas we have a cruisers’ net operating on the VHF. These nets operate in many places around the world where there is a gathering of cruisers, often in larger marinas and anchorages. Several boats take it in turns to host the net so that it is not always dependant on one person to run the show. Yours truly is now hosting the net every Tuesday. Generally we try to find who has just arrived and give them hints on what is available and how to get around. We get weather reports from various sources and it is also a means of announcing social events. One of the most important features is the ‘Treasures of the Bilge’. This is where boats can offer surplus items for sale or barter but also pick up a bargain or two. We acquired our Air Conditioning unit through this net. Once we are just about ready to go back into the water we will also have some gear to get rid of. So if you ever get to Chaguaramas, be sure to listen in on Channel 68 at 0800 hrs, especially on a Tuesday for the next couple of months!!

July 2009

Another month has gone by and we are still out of the water. The rainy season is biting in and I have to be very aware of the sky to judge when the rain will start. When it does rain here, it is torrential and it is sometimes difficult to see any further than about 20 meters! Unfortunately we are in probably the worst spot in the whole of the yard as most of the run-off water is diverted down the beck behind our boat and down the road in front of us and converges under us. The culvert that takes the water into the dock is restricted by the walkway so that the initial surge backs up with flood water about shin deep around El Lobo, not good for working with power tools!!

Work still carries on. Nobody told me that retirement would be such hard graft!! But when you have a boat and your pockets are not that deep, it just seems to go with the territory. The hull is now primed and ready for final coating of paint and antifoul. We are still getting a few rust spots appearing on the hull and we believe that we are getting water in through the toe rail. It is made up of two pieces in order to be able to bend it to the shape of the hull, but it has been there for nearly 40 years now and the joints have opened a little. So we decided to build a new one. We are building it with teak. But before all you environmentalists start screaming rain forests at me, we are using locally farmed teak. It is not quite the quality of the Indonesian or Burmese teak but it still just as resilient and will do nicely for the job.

This toe rail will be a lot more substantial than the old one. We are leaving the old one in place and capping it on three sides, pouring epoxy into the old rail and allowing it to soak down into the hull wherever possible and sealing the top section with mastic and gluing the sides with polyurethane glue. A messy job but hopefully it will be a vast improvement and we think that it will also improve the looks of the boat. Once it is all together there will be much sanding and cleaning before we give it a good coating of teak oil.

The saga with the Kiss wind generator continues. Eventually they managed to secure the services of a fabricator to do the work. However he was concerned about welding stainless steel to our galvanised gantry, so he made up some cock and bull story about how he was going to tackle the job with plates on the end of the tube and flat welded to our gantry. He arrived on the Thursday to do the job and took a few hours to weld on just three tubes to our gantry, when he left, he told me that he would be back the next day to ‘tidy it up’. We were away the next day on one our trips and didn’t arrive back until after dark (it gets dark here at about six thirty in the evening), so it was on Saturday morning that I had a look at what he had done. The square plates were still sticking out from the uprights on the gantry, the pole was not lined up and his ‘tidying up’ consisted of covering his crappy welding with mastic! And he even made a crap job of the mastic!

To be fair to Doug of Kiss, he wasn’t happy either and said that he certainly wasn’t leaving me with that. I had already spoken to Mitchell who had made the bracket for our Hydrovane and he said that he would look at it for me. I told Doug and now Mitch came out to look at the job. After he fell about laughing he said he could sort it all out for us and I felt at last that we were making progress…….. until Mitch came round to see me a few days later to tell me that he was out of Argon gas and there was none to be had on the island until the second week in August!! Argon gas is used for the welding process. Stick welding leaves a slag which forms on top of the molten metal as it cools This is to protect the molten metal from oxidising and would be difficult to use with stainless steel when a polished finish is required. To put it in simple terms, the Argon gas is pumped through the nozzle of the welding torch and acts a shield to the molten metal as it cools. If this shield were not there then the metal would oxidise and splatter and loose much of the integrity of the weld. I could go a lot deeper into the complications and technicalities but I don’t want to bore you any more than I already have! Basically we now cannot expect our Kiss generator until the middle of August.

The bracket for the Hydrovane is now finished and in position but we have not bolted it up as yet, but so far it looks good and I think it will be effective. The frame actually goes behind the shaft so that it offers good protection from the odd bump. I had always thought that it looked a little vulnerable before.

August 2009

Well August is here and we are still out of the water. The rainy season is well and truly on us as is the hurricane season. We have had Tropical Storm ‘Ana’ and Hurricane ‘Bill’ pass us by but neither hit land or caused any damage. Hurricane ‘Bill’ passed North of the Antilles and up the Eastern Seaboard of the USA and back East before petering out as it reached Ireland, although the Northern Islands such as Antigua, St Martins and St Thomas felt some pretty strong winds. Tropical Storm ‘Claudette’ developed just North of Cuba and barely made it to the Southern States before dissipating and again no structural damage incurred.

We have felt the effects of the rainy season especially where our boat was located as we reported in last months page, however things came to a head when they lifted out a local fishing boat and parked it up the opposite row to us. The idiot that they left in charge pumped out the bilges or so he thought and the river of water that normally flowed under our boat then became a river of diesel oil. That was now unbearable and dangerous, especially in this heat. I had been trying to get the boat moved for a couple of weeks but was always told that there was nowhere else they could put us. But once the diesel river had occurred I blew my top. Asking nicely just wasn’t working after all. Eventually the yard manager came down to assess the situation and agreed to move us immediately, only about 20 yards or so, but at least we were out of the diesel but back into yet another puddle! However this one wasn’t as deep as the last!!

Well we now have the bracket and mast in place for the Kiss wind generator. Mitchell managed to get his Argon gas and all the fabrication is now complete, and the unit will be fitted in the next couple of days (I hope!). Let’s hope that all this hassle will be worthwhile.

The new toe rail is now more or less finished and I am pleased with the result, it certainly changes the look of the boat. We have been debating as to what sort of finish would be appropriate. At first we thought we would just apply teak oil and keep it looking fresh with regular applications. Another alternative was to just leave it to weather and leave it natural. The other option would be to varnish it, and certainly on boats we have seen here, a varnished toe rail certainly looks good. However ordinary varnish in this climate doesn’t last much more than about 4 or 5 months so it would have to be something special.

We have at last got round to painting the hull. I had spent some time fairing the topsides. The old girl will never look like a plastic hull but she is now better that she has been before. We had acquired some paint when we were in Tenerife but this was just an enamel paint, and after all the work we had put into the preparation we decided that we would use a two part polyurethane paint that would be far more durable. Echo Marine were based just a short cycle ride up the road and they had mixed the paint for our masts. So with bike and trailer I cycled up with a sample and purchased two 5 litre cans of specially mixed paint.

We only had enough scaffold for one complete side so we painted the port side first and applied four coats of paint carefully rubbing down in between coats. Once complete on the port side we shifted the scaffold round to the starboard side and did the same. For the last coat, however, I needed to start the second can. It was hot so I applied the last coat with a tarp protecting the hull from the direct sun. It didn’t do much for my working conditions as it was like working in a sauna. All finished and the next day I pulled off all the masking tape and it was then I noticed that we had two different colours. The last coat was definitely lighter than the rest of the boat. I had given the transom another coat, and where it met the port side, the colour change was noticeable. So it was back up to Echo Marine with the two tins where they have now mixed up another tin. I am about to apply it so you will have to wait in suspense until next month to see if they have got it right this time. I still cannot understand how they managed to mix two cans to the same recipe at the same time and still get two very different shades of green.

I have had a few people asking me about the polyurethane glue that I use for most of my joinery work, especially when I patched up the hole made by that jet ski. There are several brands on the market. The one most sold by chandlers I believe is called Baltocan. They have two types, one is called Rapid, which sets within half an hour and is probably the most used. The other is called Regular and needs several hours to harden which makes it useful for laminating. Evostic now also do polyurethane glue which is now sold in the likes of B & Q, and it also comes in a cartridge such as is used in a mastic gun. There are a few other makes on the market depending on which part of the world you are in and they all seem to be pretty efficient.

The principle of polyurethane glues is that they are activated by moisture and as they cure, they foam and expand and so have good gap filling qualities. However this also makes it imperative that the components to be glued need to be clamped or screwed together but as always not so tight that you squeeze all the glue out. The fact that it is activated by moisture means that it is a useful glue for use in marine applications. However, you need to be careful when using to avoid getting it in your hands, especially if you are going out to a posh restaurant that night. It is almost impossible to remove it from your skin; it literally has to wear off.

As you were enjoying the August Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, here in Trinidad it is when they celebrate Independence Day. Pat will tell you a little more on our main page, but one other trip is more in my domain. Some friends we have met here have a 42 ft Silverton Sports Fishing Boat and they invited us out for the day. On the Saturday of this weekend there was a power boat race which ran from just around the corner to Chaguaramas across to Tobago. We planned to watch the race pass by from the boat and then go fishing. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men etc………

We left the quay at 0800 hrs only to find out that the race actually started at 0600 and although it was a staggered start with the smaller boats going first, they had all passed by the time we got to sea! Roger, our skipper was not to be deterred and we set off along the Northern coast of Trinidad at a steady 20 knots, then after a while he slowed down and we set up for fishing. We were using four rods and trolling lures. Two rods he just let the lures trail out to about 50 yards from the boat and they stayed on or near the surface. The other two were rigged with small outriggers that trailed heavy weights (around 10 lbs or so) to take the lures down to about 10 to 15 feet below the surface. The line from the rods was then loosely attached to the weight with an elastic band. As a fish strikes, the elastic band would snap and release the line so that the fish can be played and brought to the boat. The lures we used were a mixture of plastic squid and Rapala type plugs. We trolled them at around six knots.

Meanwhile the ladies had prepared our eats. There was a grand spread that we all eagerly tucked into and enjoyed. Eventually we had a fish. Just a small bonito but we hoped that this would be the start of something but we were to be disappointed this day. We trolled all the way back down the coast and over to the island of Chacachacare, which is just off the Venezuelan, coast. We still had no more fish despite changing lures a couple of times but then there was nothing much showing on the fish finder either. So next time we might try it where the fish are!! We rounded the island and into Stanislas Bay where we dropped the anchor and tied the stern to a tree. It was a very hot day, which may have been a reason why the fish weren’t playing so it was great to just dive off the boat for a swim and cool off. Once again Joy (our hostess) kept us fed and we enjoyed a balmy evening relaxing with a glass of wine and yet more food. A really great day and our thanks to Roger and Joy.

September 2009

Still out on the hard!! Still working all hours. The weather continues to affect our progress. The rainy season is on us with a vengeance and when it rains, it rains hard. We did, however get one full week without rain, but that is now unusual. However as far as tropical storms go, this year has been relatively calm. As you may know, once a tropical depression reaches a certain intensity, it is given a name. They are all named in alphabetical order and the names are all picked out before the season starts. The latest named storm was ‘Fred’ and at the time of writing, ‘Fred’ is dissipating and heading for The Bahamas, about 500 miles off. Most of these ‘Tropical Storms’ originate around the Cape Verdes and increase as they cross the Atlantic. Few make the news until they hit land and cause damage but those who caught at sea get a really hard time. They usually start as a ‘Tropical Wave’, which is basically a trough of low pressure. There can be two or three Tropical Waves crossing the Ocean at any one time but only a few actually develop into anything unpleasant. The storm passage is generally well North of Trinidad which why insurance companies generally insist that boats remain South of 12 degrees North between June and November. So far though, all we have had is rain with a few strong gusts.

Our Kiss wind generator has at last been fitted. It looks the biz but as yet we have not used it in anger as we are still on shore supply. We have a smaller gantry further forward onto which we lower the foresail when we leave the boat for some time. I am trying to design a way of erecting another mast for the old Ampair as extra power when we are at anchor on to this gantry, but that may not happen whilst we are still in Trinidad.

Another problem I have to sort out is the prop shaft. When I removed the propeller, I noticed that the key way was misshapen so there is a twist in the end of the shaft at least. This will have happened when the drogue wrapped itself around the prop in mid Atlantic. It certainly hit it with a good thump (technical expression!!). When I look at it now, I realise we were probably lucky not to have lost the prop. However nothing is as easy as you think it is going to be, is it? There is a small Allen screw in the drive boss that locks the key and holds the shaft in place. This was rusted in and my efforts to remove this screw failed miserably. All the WD40 and cursing and swearing would not shift this tiny little screw. So I resorted to trying to drill it out. Well as you may well know, these Allen screws are made of pretty tough stuff. I managed to snap two cobalt drills in the process, the second one jamming itself in the screw itself. I tried to break this drill with a tungsten carbide masonry drill but it would not make any impression. I have now resolved myself to the fact that I will have to lift the engine and draw the shaft out from the inside. There’s another job I didn’t plan on!

I have found a product here called Bristol Finish. It is a kind of urethane two part varnish. All the details about it claim that it has 10 times more UV resistance and 100 times more abrasion resistance. Yes it is a little more expensive but the claims that it will handle the tropical sun in these latitudes seemed to worth looking into. It is also possible to apply subsequent coats after just one hour WITHOUT the need for sanding between coats. So we decided to give it a go. We have just completed the new toe-rails and I have to say that so far I am impressed so that were now in progress of doing the rest of the brightwork on the boat. There’s more work that I didn’t plan on just yet.

Of course if the bright work has all been done, then the decks will have to follow. Hey, this work list should be shrinking not growing, shouldn’t it?

I am also making up a couple of Dorade boxes. We fitted a couple of solar vents when we fitted out the boat in the UK. They were OK for those climes but out here they are pretty pathetic. If you were leaving the boat here for the season, then they would keep the air moving albeit very slowly. But for comfortable living in this heat, you need a good draught, something you can actually feel.

I got the basic design from the internet, but also a friend here has had to strip his out and I was able to have a good look and get some hints. The cowls I already had. Someone had considerately upgraded theirs whilst we were in Santa Cruz, Tenerife and I snaffled their old ones. I have also managed to salvage enough 15 mm plywood from the skips here to make the two boxes (photos next month), so they won’t have cost us much (the skip rat strikes again!).

I have also discovered two small areas of rot along one side of the cockpit. I replaced some of the timber in this area whilst in UK but obviously I didn’t take it back far enough. These areas are either side of the one I replaced. Wet rot like this is usually a form of fungus and if you don’t remove all if it, it can still spread. Yet another job I hadn’t planned.

Our hard dinghy (AKA Poco Lobo) has also been subject to some renovation. It has worked hard on our travels so far and was showing signs of stress, especially when the painter was ripped out leaving a massive hole (see May 2009). So we have repainted it and will be fitting some larger launching wheels. We fitted the original wheels whilst in The Channel Islands. The big tides there meant that we had to drag the dinghy along way up the slipways to be able to leave the dinghy for any length of time, so the wheels were a real help then. However they were only six inches in diameter and tend to sink a little on sand. The larger wheels will make life easier when landing on these sandy tropical beaches!!

October 2009

Well as you will see in Pat’s pages we took a week off to go to Angel Falls in Venezuela and it was a welcome break from the boat although as you will see by the itinerary, it wasn’t all that restful!! The trip up the river, in what were basically dugout canoes with some extra freeboard added, was a real eye-opener. It gave me another view of boatmanship that I couldn’t have imagined. Those guys certainly knew what they were doing and knew the river well. This trip was certainly not for the fainthearted.

Anyway, it’s now back to reality. I have to admit that it took nearly a week to get back into a working regime again. I had another go at the prop shaft and it still refused to co-operate so I called in Jim from ‘Wendreda’ again and together we pulled out the engine and then withdrew the shaft from inside the boat. Then as I was putting the nuts on to the mountings, I dropped the last one. No way to reach it and I thought, that bloody engine will have to come out again. However with persistent dragging of a small magnet under the engine, I managed to retrieve the nut as well as a washer I didn’t know I had dropped!

With the shaft out and on to my bench, it still took nearly two hours to remove the coupling plate. I had to drill a larger hole down to the rusted-in Allen screw and then drill a series of holes around the screw to weaken the material around it snapping several drill bits in the process. With my puller tightened up until I thought I would surely break it and encouraged with a few mighty blows from my lump hammer, I noticed a tiny movement. Eventually with further encouragement from the puller and hammer, the coupling came off. When I looked at the offending screw it just fell out on to the ground and I never found it again!! By the time I have cut another thread into that hole I had to drill, it will probably be replaced by a dirty great 5/8" bolt!! At least it will be easier to get out.

I took the shaft to a company called ‘Propscan’ and they are arranging for the shaft material to come from The States. They do not use the usual stainless steel for shafts. I will try to get all the technical details for next month’s page.

Working on the bright-work continues in between the rain. The rainy season arrived late this year and it now seems as though it will be ending late. The Bristol Finish I am using looks as though it will perform well, however it is prone to forming tiny bubbles as it dries and the trick seems to be to apply it to the area you are working and then go back over it with a slightly wetted brush to just take out the bubbles and then it will flatten off. I’m still working on that technique. I’m sure the heat has something to do with it but it does say in the specification leaflet that it can be applied in temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, but who wants to be working in that sort of heat!

We started bending on the foresail, but when we tried to fix the new sail catcher, we realised that there some minor adjustments needed, so this was the best time to get that sorted. So once we got the sail-catchers back we got the foresail on and now we are in the process of sorting out the main.

We have had a new stainless steel security grill made to fit instead of the washboards so that we can leave the boat with good air circulation without the risk of a break-in. I am also fixing some bars across the forward hatch for same reason. I got Mitch to make them for us. He made the bracket for the Hydrovane and also showed me how he polishes his fabrications after welding. So I have now equipped myself with a polishing head for the angle grinder and some jeweller’s rouge and I’m polishing everything in sight!! The brackets on the yards are now nice and shiny as well as the bow plate, which always looked a bit agricultural before.

Pat has been painting the gantry. I removed all the antennae etc and polished up all the brackets. These I had made out of bits of scrap stainless, procured from various sources in the past, but now they at least look as though they were made for the job!

We intend to get a new gantry made next year but funds wouldn’t run to it this year. The one we have built works well. I built it with 1 inch galvanised water pipe, but it was always intended as a prototype to see how it worked and then sort out what else we needed, and apart from a few adjustments needed to accommodate the Hydrovane, the new one will not be much different from the prototype except that it will be made in stainless steel and may accommodate a solar panel. Also, now that we have fitted all that we intend to fit to the gantry, I want the facility to hide all the wires from the antennae and lights etc. and that should make it a little more aesthetic.

I still have the problem with the fuel tank, but that will have to wait until we get back into the water as I will need to run the engine for a while to make sure that any repair I make has been successful. Once that is done, then I will have to rewire the navigation station, as the tank has to come out through that panel.

So now the emphasis is getting the boat back into the water. We are both anxious to be floating again and to have all our usually facilities restored. It is not easy living ‘on the hard’. Our freezer is water-cooled and we cannot use it ashore so we have to buy ice every day, and it is a long trek to the toilet block. Every morning there is a regular procession of guys carrying buckets to the toilet block and it will also be nice to have a shower on the boat again with hot water.

November 2009

Well here we are, still out on the hard but just about ready for the water. The antifoul is on; the new shaft is in, so we are just about ready.

The new propeller shaft finally arrived but when I compared it with the old one, it was about a quarter on an inch longer. It might not sound like much but when we fitted the new engine back in Sunderland, we had to fit a larger propeller and the new engine is slower revving. This means that the space provided for the prop in the hull and the rudder is a little tight and when going hard astern with the tiller hard over, we can sometimes feel the prop just touching the rudder. So it was critical that the shaft should be no longer, in fact I did ask them to make it a little shorter by a quarter of an inch. But this is Trinidad and we have learned that if you don’t watch over everything, something will go wrong! So the shaft had to go back and the adjustments made. Now all is well in that department.

The shaft is in and the prop fitted. Fouling in these climes is pretty vigourous and when we finally got here we were managing about four knots at full power with all the growth on the hull but especially on the prop. So this time I am using Jotuns Propspeed, which is an antifoul especially for propellers. It is a three-stage system. You need to clean the prop down to the bare metal and then apply an etching coat, then a couple of coats of vinyl primer and finished off with three coats of the antifoul.

For the hull antifoul we have used is Sea Hawk Island 44. It is the naughty stuff that still contains some TBT, which is banned in many parts of the world, but we are told that it is the only stuff that works here. We will have to take it off it we go to the US but we won’t be entering their waters until after we lift out next year. We do not plan to be out of the water for as long next year, believe me! We have always had trouble with paint not sticking to the hull below the waterline so this time we applied a barrier coat before we applied the antifoul even though we had epoxied the hull. Every time we lift out seems to be yet another experiment.

We have also been painting the decks this month as well as final touching up of the bright-work (varnishing the woodwork to you landlubbers!). We had a masonry paint on the decks before which covered well and was a good anti-slip surface, but it was impossible to keep clean. We have now gone back to a traditional gloss paint with ‘sanded’ areas where we need the grip, i.e. along the decks and parts of the coachroof where we tend to walk. So far it looks a lot better.

I have also used up a lot of the teak off-cuts making various bits and pieces. I have made teak frames for the inlet holes from the dorades so that we can attach mosquito netting, a new bracket for the EPIRB to replace the rather flimsy one that came with it, a frame to replace the washboards when at anchor again with mosquito netting, some racking to tie on our jerry cans on deck, blocks for our second spare anchor and various mountings for some of the antennae on the stern gantry. So of all the odd shaped bits of teak left over from building the new toe-rail, there isn’t a great deal left, and not much has gone to waste.

The log paddle wheel unit was also replaced. This meant threading the new wire all through the boat from under the heads through the bilges to the nav station. Why is it not possible to have a connection near the unit so that replacements are just a straightforward job? I have also rewired some of the charging system for the engine battery and linked it to the main battery charger. Also the wire from the split diode had been chafing against the gearbox so a new one has been re-routed.

One bit of bad news, out toaster finally packed up. It was a 240v unit but to replace it over here we will only be able to get a 110v unit as with any further appliances we may need to replace. So that means another electrical circuit. I have found a clever transformer that will convert 240v to 110v and vice versa. It will also handle 50 to 60 megahertz and 1500 watts, so with a switching device we should be able to have both circuits running at the same time whether we have a 240v or a 110v input. I’ll let you know if I get sparks coming out of my ears or the kettle boiling when we switch on the toaster!

Our Kippor generator has finally given up the ghost, or rather I have got fed up with fixing the damn thing and being a typical Chinese machine, there are no spares available anywhere in the world as far as I can make out. E-mails to their European and Chinese addresses remain unanswered. We managed to eventually get some spark plugs from a specialist in the UK but as far as any other spares are concerned, forget it. So I have managed to acquire a second hand Honda from a neighbouring boat. It is 110v but our new magic transformer will deliver us the voltage we need.

The scenery in the yard here is changing rapidly as folks return after the hurricane season for their trips up-island. So where boats were crammed together for storage, spaces are opening up. Everyone is working frantically to get their boats back into the water, us included. We would like not to be here for Xmas but we may not be able to get established elsewhere enough to find what’s on and where. However, wherever we are we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a great New Year.

December 2009

Well we are back in the water at last. We launched on the 10^th December and are now moored on one of the docks belonging to Power Boats in whose yard we have been since May 1^st. It was a long time to be out on the hard and to be actually living aboard. The launch went OK until I started the engine and there was no water coming out of the exhaust. The first thing I checked of course was the impeller but that seemed OK but I have seen impellers where the rubber vanes had become detached from the central boss, so I turned the engine with a spanner to check this. When I noted the rotation of the impeller, I then noticed that I put the circ. pipes on the wrong way round!! Thus the water pump was trying to expel the water back into the sea instead of around the engine. Dooooh! It didn’t take long to rectify this and we were soon on our way round to our dock.

We needed to moor bows-to with the stern tied to piles as opposed to the what we call a slime line in Europe. Then to cap it all, the boats are pretty tightly packed together making mooring and tying up a little hazardous, especially as we were to be alongside a modern classic worth a princely seven figure sum and was just a year old! We employed the assistance of Ian from the boat ‘Leila’, Peter from ‘Passagemaker’ and Anne and Alan from ‘Freya of Clyde’ (unpaid of course!) along with a few innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! I rigged up our gang plank (or passarelle if you’re posh) which is now graced with a rope hand rail (courtesy of the skip at Santa Cruz de Tenerife) so getting on and off the boat is a little easier than scrambling over the anchor. The tides here are a little less than they are back home with springs having a range of about 1 metre.

Work still goes on but at least we are back in the water and living is a little more pleasantly. The fuel tank situation seems to be getting resolved without lifting the tanks. I have reluctantly cut an access panel in the sole of the cockpit which now makes it easy to get at the offending pipe. I have yet to test the engine but I have replaced the fuel line to the engine. The old one had work hardened and no longer tight on the spigot, therefore letting in air so that the lift pump could not create enough vacuum to draw the fuel out of the tank.

The decks are just about finished now with a couple of extra non-skid patches added where Pat took a tumble during a thunderstorm! All in all, the boat looks as good as she ever has been since we bought her, and I think the hard work through the summer has been worth while.

I have a couple of e mails asking me about the ‘special’ shaft material that was used for our new prop shaft. It is called ‘Aquamet 17’ but rather than me trying to describe it to you, just Google the name and it will come up straightaway with all the technical details. Whether this material is available in the UK or not, I wouldn’t know at this stage. It is a lot harder than the ordinary stainless steel shaft I had made back in England, and hopefully this one will be a lot more durable.

I have made a new cockpit table from 12 mm marine plywood with a teak veneer and teak boarder rails. This one is a lot stronger and looks great if I say so myself. I have also made a couple of swing up tables for our seat at the stern. These are great for evening cocktails and also good to use whilst cooking on the barbie! So hopefully from now on, life will be a little more civilised.

Now on to a more serious subject, piracy. About a week before Xmas a yacht called ‘Triton’ was attacked in broad daylight about midway from here to Grenada. The couple on board were tied up and the boat was stripped of just about everything including all the instruments, food clothing, money, computers etc. There were six or seven of them, armed with pistols and in a fast pirogue with three 175 hp outboard motors. It is believed that they were from Venezuela where piracy is commonplace. Naturally news of this incident has shocked the cruising community here especially at the time of year when many cruisers were planning to go north up the island chain.

We are lobbying the coast guards from both Trinidad and Grenada to extend their patrols and they have agreed to do so but so far it is only words. There have been incidents since we have been here when the coast guards have failed to act or even respond to distress calls. So as far as we are concerned we will not be relying on them. We have our own contingency plans and intend to keep well clear from troubled waters even if it does mean an extra days sailing. We will let you know our plans later.

On a happier note, we had a great Christmas with a few other cruisers and we hope yours was as good as you wished. It just remains to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year and may this one be the one where you can live your dreams.

January 2010

Well, we’re on the move again at last and I’m writing this in Grenada where we await the arrival of Jim and Sheila.

It was great to be back in the water but still with a few more jobs to do before we could set off again. We had put the sails back on the masts but with a junk rig there is a fair bit of setting up to do. I had found some soft polypropylene eight-plait rope which I am trying for the batten parrels. These are ropes that go from the forward end of the battens around the mast and back to the batten, usually around a third of the way along the batten. These parrels are all that prevents the sails from flying away from the mast. By using a soft slippery rope, it prevents friction and causes less damage to the masts.

We also have a section of drainpipe on each mast which acts as a sleeve to protect the mast from the boom and the sail bundle when the boat is at rest. These pipes are split and have to be opened up to clip them around the mast; they are quite tough so I needed a hand. I managed to rope in John from the yacht ‘Demara’. His wife Suzanne was away back in England at the time. Anyway we got the first one on OK but when we attempted the second one it went on a little easier but suddenly a yell from John as his fingers were trapped inside the pipe against the mast. I had to get a big screwdriver to lever enough space for him to remove his fingers. I was really impressed by his composure (see the video on the home page). Yes, we actually got it on film and we didn’t even to have to insert any bleeps!

However, where boats are concerned, nothing seems to go without some sort of hitch or two and we were no exception, and once we launched we discovered more troubles. Firstly the electric bilge pump wasn’t working. I traced the fault to the float switch, again. This is the fifth float switch we have fitted since leaving UK and I have tried a few different types. I have now fitted a larger pump with a built-in level switch and we will see how that works. The problem is so far that it is rather more noisy as continues to pump for about 10 seconds after it has reached the lower level resulting in the noisy sucking-on-air sound. I suppose it helps to keep the bilge gas free but it does get your attention!

The next major upset was that there seemed to be no charge coming from the alternator. I ran the engine for a while and noted that there was little increase in the domestic bank voltage and what increase there was could be attributed to the other systems we have aboard. I removed the alternator and had it tested but it was given a clean bill of health. Good news in one direction but it also meant I had another fault to trace. Eventually after exhausting my limited electrical expertise I found that the voltmeter was at fault so no real problem there at all, it just kept me busy for another day or so trying to trace a fault that wasn’t really there!

When our time was up on the slip we were on, we moved out to anchor in the bay and then realised that the depth sounder had gone on strike. I had to strip out the wiring to the cockpit console to install the new anemometer and noticed that the connection to the depth sounder display was corroded, and as I tried to disconnect the wire on the back of the display, I noticed that the connection was coming loose. I fear a bad connection there and as it is a sealed unit, there was not much I could do. We have the NASA Clipper units and they are not available this side of the Atlantic believe it or not, so we ordered a new unit from UK and Sheila is bravely packing it in her suitcase along with numerous other bits and pieces for the boat.

Something to think about when crossing the pond - there are many items that you thought were international but actually are not. Raymarine, Navman and possibly Simrad and Furuno seem to be the only names in electronics that are available both sides of the pond. Icom radios are here as well as the Garmin range of GPS’s and chart plotters. I will correct that in the future if I find otherwise.

Whilst out at anchor, of course, we needed the dinghy and outboard. I had spent a day or so checking over both dinghies, repairing patches etc but it was the outboard that let us down. Whilst in the UK we read in the boating press how the US had banned the use of two stroke outboard motors, and we naively believed them. So we bought a four stroke 2.5 hp Yamaha outboard. Unfortunately this poor little chappie has had a few more ‘dunkings’ than were healthy. I went to the Yamaha dealer in Bridgetown, Barbados when we were there and was told that ours was an European model and they didn’t carry spares. In Trinidad and Tobago, I would say that Yamahas were the most common of the outboards used, but the answer was the same. They do not sell four stroke engines and so do not carry spares. The truth of the matter as I have been told is that whilst the environmentalists tried to get two strokes totally banned and a law was passed, but it was soon rescinded or at least relaxed when they realised what a mistake it was. As it stands now in some states it is not possible to purchase a new two-stroke motor but it is OK to use what you already have. So basically two-strokes are OK in the US.

So where did that leave us? Well basically, up the creek without an outboard! So we have had to bite the bullet and buy a new one. This time we have bought a 4 hp Tohatsu, a two-stroke of course!

With other bits of tweaking and preparation we were ready to leave Trinidad. As I mentioned last month, there was a pirate attack on a yacht travelling from Trinidad to Grenada when the occupants were threatened with guns and tied up and robbed. This happened on the rhumb line between the islands where yachts are regularly travelling. There is a strong westward current as you approach the island and so a good easting is advisable. Our intention was always to go east along the north coast of Trinidad and then head north thereby getting a better run up to Grenada and thus avoiding the rhumb line.

We left at the start of the ebb through the Boca between Trinidad and Mona’s Isle and were swept nicely through the channel. We then headed east under power, into the wind keeping close to the shore to avoid the worst of the swell. There are no real hazards along this part of the coast so you can stay fairly close inshore. We motored along the coast with a bit of a bumpy ride and at the turn of the tide we turned north-east, but then, so did the wind! So we were swept round to the north, close hauled and getting a rough ride. This was the first time at sea since April last year and we were both feeling a little queasy, but we made it through the night and by midday we spotted land. We headed for Prickly bay on the South West of the island and where we could clear in with the customs and immigration. We inched our way into the anchorage and as we still had no depth sounder we cautiously found a space and dropped the hook. I used a lead line to mark our depth to make sure we put out enough chain.

Now were are at anchor the test comes for our generating systems. Firstly however our Honda generator that we bought second hand wouldn’t give out power. So there’s something else to sort out, but I am confident that it can be sorted out here.

Here in Grenada, we are in the Trade Wind belt and the wind is constant from the east, or at least somewhere between north east and south east. To that end most boats, us included, fit their solar panels on the starboard side. There is little tide to influence the way boats lie to anchor so the wind will always face boats to the east and the sun is generally on the south side (starboard). However we are at latitude 11 degrees which means that for a few weeks either side of the Equinox the sun will actually pass over us on the north side so we may need to do a couple of alterations to get the best out of the solar panels. With our new Kiss wind generator the trade winds also do a good job of keeping our batteries topped up, so that the only time we need to run the engine is to heat the water in the calorifier. However we now find that the batteries are not holding their charge through the night and have come to the end of their useful life, so here is yet another expense we didn’t bargain for, this time we are going for 6 volt golf cart batteries. The others hadn’t done too bad really. We fitted them in the boat when we originally fitted out which makes them over 7 years old. So I am taking this opportunity to adjust the wiring a little and tidy things up a bit.

We also fitted a new tricolour masthead light with anchor light combined. These are LED lights so that we will consume less power. We have been well impresses with the unit. The anchor light is controlled by a light sensitive switch so that if we are away from the boat the light comes on at dusk automatically. We were impressed by the brightness for an LED light. Also with the tricolour the lights are really bright and I suspect we can be seen from a much greater distance that with our old light.

At Prickly Bay, we are on the South West coast of the island with St George’s, the capital, just around the corner on the West coast. There is a natural harbour there with a couple of marinas. We have applied for a berth for a week or so at the Grenada Yacht Club whilst Jim and Sheila are here so that we can entertain them on board. Jim is an old sea dog but Sheila is a little nervous of boats and would not appreciate the way we roll at anchor and I reckon the dinghy ride may just be out of the question. They have a regatta at the yacht club for the week before and cannot yet guarantee us a berth until everybody leaves. Apparently boats from the other islands tend to like it here and don’t always want to leave!! Can’t say I blame them.

Next month, once Jim and Sheila depart we will be heading North again for St Lucia, maybe stopping off at St Vincent for a night or so. Pat’s friend Barbara will be joining us for about 10 days. Also we have heard from our friends Titch and Stella who we met on The Guadiana a couple of years ago that they are in St Lucia waiting to show off their new boat (well second hand really). St Lucia is apparently a great island for hiking with challenging hills and rain forests. So Pat and Barbara will enjoy their walking whilst I get a little more work done on the boat and enjoy a few beers with Titch and Stella!! With any luck we may also take Barbara on to Martinique if she’s game.

Going straight up to St Lucia means that we will have to miss out the Grenadines but we will hopefully have plenty of time to do them on our way back down to Trinidad for the hurricane season.

February 2010

Well, we managed to get a berth at the Grenada Yacht Club whilst Jim and Sheila were here and had a week of comparative luxury. However, as always, it was not without incident. We were moored bows-to alongside our friends Jack and Laurie on their Island Packet ‘Horizons’ with a stern line to a buoy. Apparently the local boats were having a bit of a change around with their moorings and a sports fishing boat was moved next to ‘Horizons’. As he returned to his berth, in a strong cross wind, one of his props caught ‘Horizons’’ stern line and severed it. The cross winds blew ‘Horizons’ towards us and their stern caught one of our stanchions and broke off the base. Neither of us were on board at the time but the locals were great and set to rigging another stern line to ‘Horizons’ and pulling her clear. But the damage was done. It always seems to happen to us. As luck would have it we inherited spare stanchions and bases when we bought the boat, but it was a full days work to strip out part of the nav. station and the headlining and insulation to get at the bolts. Then of course the guard lines had to be removed and rethreaded back into place. Another job I hadn’t planned on. Anyway I have been promised a free fishing trip when we get back to Grenada so hopefully I will be reporting on a catch of big Marlin sometime in June!!!!!!!!! Ha Ha!!!!

We had a great week with Jim and Sheila and it was sad to say goodbye but now we needed to move on again. Our next appointment was to meet Barbara, an old golfing and walking friend of Pat’s. She had been on a cruise around the Caribbean and was to leave ship in Barbados and then to fly up to St Lucia to meet us and spend ten days on board. From Grenada north are the Grenadines, St Vincent and then St Lucia.

The Grenadines stretch for about 52 nautical miles between Grenada and St Vincent. They consist of some 100 islands, islets and rocks. Some islets are mountainous rising to 335 meters and some rocks awash. Some islands and islets are inhabited and some are not. Sovereignty is divided between Grenada and St Vincent. It is a really pretty and interesting cruising ground but we had to rush through it, planning to spend more time there on our way back down to Trinidad.

We did however stop at Carriacou, a small island just north of Grenada. We anchored in Tyrrel Bay at the western end of the island and stayed for a few days. They were having their Carnival and although it is a small island. It seemed that the whole population turned out to give us a colourful display.

We checked out at Hillsborough, Carriacou with an Immigration Officer who was larger than life, plus the two of us put together, and headed north to Bequia which is the northernmost island of the group passing some fantastic scenery on the way and getting a taste of what we hope to enjoy later on. We dropped the hook in Admiralty Bay flying the St Vincent flag and the yellow quarantine flag, but we had no intention of staying so we didn’t go ashore or check in.

The next day we set off north again to St Vincent and to Chateaublair Bay, which is about the most northerly safe anchorage on St Vincent and again flew the St Vincent flag and the ‘yellow duster’ again not intending to go ashore. Once we got rid of the proverbial ‘boat boys’ we had a peaceful night at anchor under a cliff with an abundance of palm trees. We could occasionally hear the splash of a coconut falling into the water.

The next day we set off for St Lucia. Once we cleared to the north end of the island the sea got a little fierce and we had a lumpy ride for the first hour or so but once clear of that, we enjoyed a beam reach for the rest of the crossing. The first landmark that you recognise as you approach St Lucia are the Pitons. These are two conical peaks rising out of the sea and otherwise known as Dracula’s Fangs. We headed for Soufriere which is just north of the second Piton as this was also as a port of entry. As soon as we approached the bay, we were approached by a boat boy who would assist us with a mooring. We followed him in and surprise, surprise, there was no mooring and he then said we would have to use out anchor, but he would help us put a line ashore. The bay is deep here and there is a small shelf of about 200 yds wide before the seabed drops steeply away. He took our line ashore where a couple of kids tied us to a tree. He then asked for 25 EC$, Pat gave him 20. Then the kids ashore came out and wanted their share, and the hassling ensued. We eventually got rid of them and then went ashore to check in to Customs and Immigration. At the ‘dinghy dock’ we were again confronted by another boat boy who said he would look out for our dinghy, for a consideration of course. I told him no. I locked the dinghy up well and we went to check in.

The attitude here was not much different. Not a very friendly welcome. We stayed ashore for some lunch. We do like to eat at local bars and cafes rather than touristy places. We found a place that looked OK but this time we were disappointed. The meal wasn’t up to much and apart from one larger than life barmaid we were treated with total indifference. Soufriere is not a place I could recommend for a visit.

The next day we left for Rodney Bay at the north end of the island, probably where we should have headed for in the first place, but I suppose that it’s easy to be wise after the event.

Rodney Bay is basically in two parts for want of a better way of describing it. The Bay itself is over a mile wide with good holding to about 800 yds off the beach in sand. It is well protected from the prevailing swell but is always windy which is great for the wind generators. However an occasional North Westerly swell sometimes occurs and strips the sand from a few of the beaches.

The other part of the Bay is the lagoon. This used to be a lake, which was then dredged and an opening excavated to link it to the sea or vice versa. This has been developed into a marina which also caters for a few super-yachts. There is also a further inner lagoon where there are mooring buoys and you could anchor if there is room. However the mud on the bottom is reputed to be the stickiest in the Caribbean so they don’t get that many takers. We opted to take a berth for a week whilst Barbara was here. The pontoons were fairly new and so were in good condition, which was more than could be said for the toilet block!! There is a drought here at the moment and they have just brought out a law which prevents anyone from washing cars, boats and even bicycles with fresh water from the mains. There are days the water is turned off on the pontoons so we just kept our tanks topped up when we could.

After our week was up we decided to take Barbara back down to see the Pitons. So we left the confines of the marina to sail back south. However as we were motoring out the alarm went on the engine panel, it was the overheating alarm. I checked for water from the exhaust and there was none. The impellor had gone. We were at the point of no return in the marina pool so with the wind behind us we hoisted the foresail with four panels out of the seven and sailed sedately out of the marina. As we cleared the marina entrance we headed for the anchorage and with Pat on the helm we swung round into the wind, dropped the sail and the anchor and let the wind drag out the chain. It was a good manoeuvre and we must have looked impressive as it went like clockwork for a change. I quickly looked out a spare impellor and set to replacing it as soon as the engine was cool enough. Within 10 minutes we were under way again and off in a southward direction which just happened to be against the wind. We had lashed out on a new pilot book for the area (our current one I had obtained from e-bay and was about a decade old). In this new book it describe an anchorage outside a restaurant in Soufriere so when we got to the bay, the same boat boy zoomed out to meet us and we told him we didn’t want his mooring. We headed towards the Humming Bird Restaurant only to be told that we could no longer anchor there. So even the most up-to-date guides can be out-of-date very quickly. With the boat boy continuing to pester us we just sailed round to the next bay between the Pitons, which was in fact far more spectacular, and no boat boys to bother us.

We dropped the hook in the appropriate place and proceeded to reverse towards the shore in order to get a line to a tree. However as we drew back from the anchor, the tripping line managed to find its way on to the prop and that stopped us dead. I quickly tied our two longest lines together and took the end ashore in the dinghy. After some super human heaving I managed to pull the boat in to tie to a tree and then made my way back to the boat. I then had to don my snorkelling gear and appraise the situation.

The tripping line had dragged the anchor back under the boat. So thus we had little or no scope. Firstly I dived down and cut the rope to the anchor. Then I got into the dinghy and lowered a wide loop down the anchor chain and pulled it forward. After a couple of attempts we managed to drag the anchor several meters forward and establish a reasonable hold. Then back with the snorkelling gear to try to cut the rope free from the prop. Well I ain’t as young as I used to was!!! It took around twenty dives to cut most of the rope away but the bit that was remaining was the important bit, ie the bit between the prop and the cutlass bearing. As usually happens in this situation the rope had wound itself in tight and was solid. I managed to free quite a bit of it, enough so that I could just turn the prop by hand. By this time I was exhausted so climbed back aboard. We were a little close to shore by his time so I decided to release the shore line and move he boat out a little further. We started the engine and there was excessive vibration but we managed to move out another fifty yards or so and re-anchor. We were in much deeper water, about 15 meters but we carry plenty of chain and with little wind I felt we were safe for the night.

Then along came a kindly gentleman from a boat called ‘Magic’ to offer a hand. He had a small dive cylinder that he was prepared to lend me so I took him up on his offer. It was getting late and I was a little drained so I decided to do the dive in the morning. I have been collecting diving gear for the last year or so with the intention of taking up the sport again. I have just about all the gear I need except for the air cylinder so this offer was great. The next morning I put it all together and went down. I was progressing nicely but I was aware that my breathing wasn’t correct. It was over thirty years ago that I was seriously into the sport and of course thirty years younger!! I was aware that I was going to use up all the air to complete the job. So reluctantly I returned the bottle still half full to its owner. He kindly offered to finish off the job for me with his friend. After they had their breakfast they came over and set to work. They struggled to get the rope off which me feel a little better. Eventually they gave the propshaft a clean bill of health. I offered the only full bottle of spirits we had, Gordon’s, but they refused saying that they enjoyed doing the job. Thanks guys.

We were now free to move off, so once everything was packed away we headed for our next destination which was Marigot Bay. Their claim to fame is that Doctor Dolittle was filmed here. In fact we found out it was just one scene! Anyway it is a very pretty bay, but also very expensive. It cost us the equivalent of 20 pounds sterling to tie up to a buoy! It is one of the main bases for Moorings Yacht Charters and every thing seems to be priced to cater for the rich. We only stayed one night!!

The next morning we headed north again to the town of Castries, which is the capital of the island and a commercial port. It has a large natural harbour, which caters for general cargo, containers and the proverbial cruise liners. There are no facilities for yachts other than a couple of corners for anchoring. We anchored right up beside the main road into the town just beyond the cruise liner dock. The airport is just up the road so the next morning we dropped Barbara on the road where she immediately found a taxi to the airport and a safe journey home.

We then made the short trip back to Rodney Bay to drop the hook. Here it is more exposed to the wind, as we had been pretty sheltered for the last few nights. The wind is important for comfortable living, not only for the power it generates for us but with a wind through the boat it keeps the boat a lot cooler especially at night.

Plans now are to move north to Martinique and then to Dominica where we hope to meet up with ‘Narwhal’, our German friends that we were with in Morocco and the Canaries.

March 2010

We cleared out at Rodney Bay and headed North again this time to Martinique. We were intending to go to St Anne’s but it is not a port of entry. The intention was to anchor there and take the dinghy along to Marin and check in there. However as we approached we could see that it would be a long and wet dinghy ride so we continued on through the marked channel up to Marin (I am wondering if I’ll ever get used to the buoys being the other way round!!). There are many covered sand banks here so careful pilotage is needed. Between the sand banks there are good anchorage’s and there were many yachts in all the basins.

Marin is a popular yachting centre and most of the facilities are there including a French style supermarket!! They have a good check-in system here where you sit at a computer, fill in the forms on the screen and print it out. This form also acts as a clearance document. I wish all the Islands here were as easy.

We stayed a couple of nights before moving on up the coast to St Pierre at the north end of the island where we spent a rolly night at anchor. There were some forest fires on the side of a volcano which at night looked quite spectacular, but the next morning the boat was covered in black and white ash.

We raised anchor and left Martinique and headed on North to Dominica. Roseau is the capital of the island and a port of entry. We were greeted by the proverbial boat boys who guided us to a spare mooring. The problem is that the moorings are to the south of the town and the customs office is at the liner terminal to the north, which was a long walk in the heat of the day. A few beers were necessary once we got there!!

The swell was now coming from the south which made the anchorage pretty rolly and we experienced this for a few days. We stayed two days at Roseau and then headed north again to Salisbury where we met up with ‘Narwal’ who we had met in Morocco in 2008. But you can read all those details on Pat’s page.

Salisbury is not mentioned in any of the pilot books and long may it stay so. It is a perfect hideaway with moorings laid down by the owner of a dive centre on the shore. Here Harald and his wife Beatrice have built a beautiful spot with a small bar/restaurant with a few tables outside under palms on a black sandy beach. Over the last ten years they have built a couple of small sheds that Harald uses for his dive business and a small jetty where he moors his dive boat and also used as a dinghy dock. Due to the swell though, a stern anchor is necessary to hold the dinghy off the wall.

Harald is always bust with his diving clients and spends his time when they have left, filling the dive bottles to ready for the next day. He had so many bottles about that I asked him if he had any spare that he could sell me. Eventually he came up with a steel 10 litre (60 cu ft) bottle that he said I could have for free. It’s a little smaller that the normal 80 cu ft bottle but it will do nicely for work on the boat and a shallow dive or two. It needs cleaning up and I’ll get it retested once I have repainted it. Thanks Harald.

Although Salisbury was subject to swell, it was also a little too sheltered from the wind so that our batteries were not being charged as we would have hoped so we had to use the engine about twice a day. So after about a week we decided to move on to a windier anchorage at Portsmouth which is in Prince Rupert Bay to the north end of the island. We were once again beleaguered with boat boys although here they did seem a little more organised. Friends of ours were viciously attacked by a gang here about a year ago and the locals were anxious that this would not be repeated and also that this incident would not put off other cruisers from visiting. So they have got together and formed a security patrol at night and to fund it they put on a barbecue on Sunday nights at 50 EC Dollars each (about 12 pounds sterling) so we decided to support it as did a good number of others. We hope that they can continue to keep these incidents down as we found this a good place to stay.

The winds here didn’t disappoint us and our batteries were once again back to a healthy level.

Our aim this year was to visit Montserrat and see the volcano in action so we once again started on North, next stop Les Saintes Iles. This is a small group of islands just south of Guadeloupe and comes under their jurisdiction. This was just a twenty mile journey and a good sail with the wind being just off the nose. The old girl went well. The islands are really beautiful and the water crystal clear. There a few reefs which are not marked so careful eyeball navigation was needed but we were amazed that we could see the bottom at 15 meters even with a fair ripple on the surface. There was a good choice of anchorages but we chose the one in front of the town. It was a little close the ferry pier but we’ve had worse. The islands are basically dependent on tourism with ferries running regularly from Guadeloupe. Things get a little quieter once the last of the trippers return. The snorkelling here was great so I am now saving hard for a decent underwater camera.

You could see Guadeloupe from the anchorage quite clearly but I got a bit of a shock when I plotted our course to find that our actual destination, Pointe-á-Pitre, was actually 20 miles away. The headland we could see was just six miles across the channel.

During the last month or so we have had a few water problems. There has been a drought here in a few of the islands. In St Lucia there was a ban on washing boats, cars or even bicycles and the water in the marina was regularly turned off. When we did get water we found that it was contaminated. Not with anything particularly nasty but mainly fine sand. This caused one of our tanks to produce a bad smell as it emptied and also blocked our drinking water filter. This cartridge had been in for just a couple of weeks. They usually last about three months or more. I also noticed deposits in the bottom or our water containers. These had come from St Lucia and Dominica. So now I have rigged up a filtering system so that all the water that goes into the tanks is filtered. I used a small 12 v submersible pump that I have had on board since we left but have never used (I was amazed that it still worked!!) and this draws water out of the containers and pumps through a large filter system (which I have also had on board from the day we left given to us by a certain Mr Renwick (thanks Alex). This then goes into the tanks. The system can also be used with a hose from the mains water supply if we ever get to be alongside again.

The contaminated tank we drained, then added about 5 gallons of water with a generous helping of caustic soda. We were at a pretty rolly anchorage at the time so the water was effectively sloshed about. We drained the tank again the next day and repeated with a further two more rinses. So far it seems to be effective and we haven’t had a problem since.

We are all aware that water can be a problem in many places around the world and for that reason when we fitted out the boat we invested in a Seagull Water Filtration system. It filters out just about all the ‘nasties’ that contaminate water including the dreaded e-coli. We are proud of the fact that we have never had to buy drinking water on our voyage apart from about six gallons that we stocked up with for the Atlantic crossing in case of an emergency. We see many yacht crews arriving at the dockside with trolleys loaded with bottled water. Apart from the chore and expense of getting the water to the boat, one has to question what happens to all that plastic.

Well folks, by the time you read this we will have celebrated out third anniversary at sea. We left Sunderland on April 1^st 2007. With tongues in cheeks and our hearts in our mouths we left with a tremendous send-off from hundreds of well-wishers. We would like to once again thank all who were there and also those that we know couldn’t make it but had us in your thoughts.

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