1 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
Tempus Fugit, start of another month of my life. I feel like I’m in limbo – I have a monotonous routine of school work, washing up, tidy up, 1 hour to do something and then into making dinner and there was the day …. gone! We’ve been here a month now and I’m tired of the view. I’m also frustrated because there are jobs on the boat to do, but I can’t bring myself to put the boat in a mess. The boys are pretty good, but wearing – I can’t wait until Glenys gets back so that she can take some of the pressure off me. It’s not that the boys are a problem – they are just so demanding on attention and time. “Dad, can I have a drink”; “Dad, look at this”; “Dad, I’m hungry”; “Dad, can you help me to find a bit of Lego”; “Dad, can I bring my (four, noisy) friends aboard to play”; “Dad, can I have a drink?”...
We had a record school today – it took Brett until half past two! After lunch, we all went for a walk round to the Pillars of Hercules which was interesting. Tuna lasagne for dinner.
2 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
We had a slack school day and did a review lesson. I did a bit of running about and then we did a major tidy up and clean up of the boat. All the boats arrived back from Dickenson Bay, so it was mayhem in the afternoon with boats trying to anchor all over the place.
I went and did a dive with Keith of “Tsimbe”. I filled 2 tanks. We went to “Severance” for a drink.They have a 1982 Oyster 39 which they have lovingly restored. The topsides and deck have been painted, they’ve just spent £10,000 having a new deck laid and the varnish is immaculate. I’ll get Glencora like that just before we sell her!
3 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
I switched on the VHF this morning and was surprised to hear “Dabulamanzi” calling us. They arrived at midnight last night. We picked Glenys up at half past ten and wasn’t I glad to see her! After lunch, Gareth picked us up in his dinghy and we went to watch the Funday Games.
In the evening, we went to the Oyster owners drinks evening. Richard Matthews is a typical company chairman – his eyes glaze over when he talks to “little people” like me. We had a few drinks and went for dinner at one of the chicken huts.
4 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
We had a quiet day, pottering about. I spent 2 hours scrubbing the bottom of the boat. I noticed that we have got a few small blisters under the epoxy coating. Our 3 year guarantee against osmosis runs out in July so I guess I’ll have to try to get it sorted out in the next few weeks. I don’t particularly relish the idea of a month on the hard, but the osmosis might get worse. We went over to “Dabulamanzi” for dinner and videos.
5 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
We filled up with water and diesel. I did school work in the morning while Glenys helped Gareth on “Dabulamanzi”. I went over and scrubbed “Dabulamanzi’s” hull. In the evening, we went out with Gareth to a chicken hut and then strolled about for a while. At half past eight, we took the boys back to “Glencora” and left Brett looking after Craig while we went out to the party. We had a fun time drinking rum punches and watching people at the Copper and Lumber.
6 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
A bit of a hangover this morning. At midday we decided to go for a dive. After about 20 minutes Glenys felt sick so we came up early. We went to the final race week event which finished with the Police Band, marching and gun salutes. Interesting day, quiet evening - in bed by nine o’clock.
7 May 1995 English Harbour, Antigua
School work in the morning. We went to the beach to a barbeque – I’m afraid that I find these very boring now. There are lots of mongooses in the woods behind the beach and they came fairly close to pick up the odd chicken bone. I think I got a photo of one, they move so quickly!
Most people are leaving this week and it’s about time that we moved on. I’ve still got to find the leak in the deck, so we’ll probably be here until mid-week. Brett’s feet are covered in verucae and warts – I’ve been trying to treat them with salicylic acid but his plasters keep coming off when he’s playing in the sea and I keep forgetting about it. If it gets any worse we’ll have to take him to the doctors.
8 May 1996 English Harbour, Antigua
Glenys did school work this morning while I took down the head linings to find the deck leak. I didn’t find the leak, but I did find out that the starboard chain plates are pulling off the hull! I got three opinions on it and all seem to think that it isn’t a complete disaster, but it needs to be done fairly soon. I decided that I will sort it out in St Lucia. We’ll set sail tomorrow to get out of Antigua before something else stops us. Fortunately, we will be on port tack all the way to St Lucia which will take the load off the starboard shrouds – I hope!
9 May 1995 English Harbour to Deshaies, Guadeloupe
We finally did it, we left Antigua! We had calm seas and a 10-15 knot wind from ESE. We basically motor-sailed the whole way there. I put the main topping lift on a stanchion deck fitting on the starboard side to give the chain plates some relief, and to act as an emergency shroud in case of disaster. I looked at the chain plates every so often, and found that the (now) free end is moving about 3 mm as the rig and hull flexes. It doesn’t seem to be getting any worse though. We anchored in the relatively empty bay at Deshaies, but the wind is coming from the west, which is weird! I cleared in and then we lounged about.
10 May 1995 Deshaies, Guadeloupe
We rocked and rolled during the night because the wind is coming from such a strange direction. Glenys did school work while I put back the head linings (apart from the box around the starboard chain plates, so that I can see what is going on!)
I filled 6 tanks. I had a chat to Adrian from “Kelly’s Eye” (GB) about the chain plates and he gave me some advice on how to do it.
After lunch, Glenys and I went on a dive. Another quiet, wine besotted night. It’s great being back in France!
11 May 1995 Deshaies to Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe
Another rolly night. We did school work in the morning and then motored around to Pigeon Island.
Conditions at the anchorage were terrible with an onshore wind and swell on the beam. We put a stern anchor out by letting out twice as much chain at the front, reversing into position and then dropping the stern anchor over the back of the boat. We then pulled up the excess chain at the bow. It worked OK, but we still had slack in the two anchor chains. Next time I’ll let out three times as much chain at the front. We ended up sitting bow into the swell, but the wind was on our beam, so we still pitched and rolled.
The boys disappeared to the beach to play in the surf and Glenys went to the supermarket, leaving me to protect the ship! Glenys wasn’t feeling too well today, she’s getting mild “panic” attacks. She feels hot, nervous, jittery and her heart speeds up. It’s like she’s just had a fright and has an adrenaline rush. It happened to her in the middle of the second charter on “Dabulamanzi” as well. We’ll just have to keep an eye on her!
12 May 1995 Pigeon Island to Ile de Cabrit, Iles de Saintes
An uncomfortable night with continuous pitching and rolling. Every so often we would get a gust of wind which would make the anchors snatch. One was so loud that I had to get up to check. In the morning, we decided to go to the Saints, but motored over to Pigeon Island to do a dive first. I’m glad we did because the reef is brilliant.
We called in at the marina at Basse Terre and filled up with water and fuel. We then motored across to the Saintes and anchored in the calm anchorage at Ile de Cabrit. The boys immediately went to the beach while Glenys and I sorted out the chaos of the boat. A quick snorkel, a tootle for an hour and it was dinner time.
13 May 1995 Ile de Cabrit, Iles de Saintes
School work in the morning. Glenys and I went for a dive around the north side of the island which was OK. Glenys spotted a lobster, but I failed to catch it. I filled 4 tanks.
I spent a couple of hours writing my “memoirs” – I’ve managed to find a style which suits me. It takes ages to type in the main parts and then just as long to correct the grammar and style. I reckon it takes me about an hour per A5 page, which equates to 400 hours or 50 x 8 hr days for a 400 page novel! Perhaps I won’t write a best selling novel!
14 May 1995 Ile de Cabrit, Iles de Saintes
Glenys did school work while I cleaned the engine bilge, checked under the floorboards, checked the stern gland and epoxied a hole in the exhaust water trap. Glenys then spent the afternoon cleaning the carpets, while I messed about snorkelling and writing my memoirs.
15 May 1995 Ile de Cabrit to Bourg de Saintes
School work in the morning, then we went and anchored by Bourg Des Saintes. After lunch we went for a walk, past the airfield, to Plage De Grand Anse. This is a mile long sandy beach which faces east – the waves crash onto the beach. The boys had brought their body boards, so ignoring the no swimming signs, we had a great time body boarding. It was a bit too rough for Craig – after a few wipe outs he went and played in the sand. Brett and I spent a happy hour crashing and tumbling about. The only sour note was that I lost my watch which had a Velcro wrist strap that obviously came off.
16 May 1995 Bourg de Saintes
School work in the morning. Glenys and I went and did a dive which was very good. Glenys and the boys went for a walk in town while I had a tootle on the clarinet. I went over to say hello to Mike of “Colleen” (GB) who we last saw in Porto Santo. Sounds like they’ve had a hard year going up to Boston and back – I‘m glad that we didn’t bother!
17 May 1995 Bourg de Saintes to Layou, Dominica
Glenys and I went to do a serious lobster hunt first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, the only ones we saw were either too small or too deep in caves – ah well!
We motored clear of the Saintes and then had a nice reach for 3 hours until we got in the lee of Dominica when the wind dropped from 20 knots to 5 knots in the space of about 5 minutes! We motored the rest of the way to the anchorage off Castaways Hotel. Typical of Dominica, it threw it down just before dinner.
I got Brett and Craig interested in making some puppets. We started to make the heads from papier maché – the bodies will come later after the heads are finished and painted.
18 May 1995 Layou to Saint Pierre, Martinique
We were woken up at midnight by the boat doing enormous rolls. The wind had died and the boat was side on to the swell causing us to roll very badly. Glenys went and slept in the saloon with the lee cloth up! Horrible night.
We motored along the coast of Dominica and had a fast, wet reach to Martinique. We anchored off the town at St Pierre. I chatted to a South African boat “Crest” who wanted me to fill a couple of tanks. We went out for dinner.
We wandered all around the town, passing shuttered up cafes and restaurants until we had just about given up. Then we spotted a small restaurant where we had a pleasant meal. The bill came to 387 francs which left us with about 70 centimes to our name – phew!
19 May 1995 Saint Pierre, Martinique
We all slept like logs last night. I got up at half past seven, which seems to be a habit with me now. The others woke up at half past eight when I put the kettle on and by quarter to nine it was chaos. I like my quiet hour in the morning.
I did school work while Glenys went into town to get some francs and do some shopping. After lunch Glenys and I went to do a dive while the boys went off to play with Dusty from “Ghost Dancing” (South African). I filled 4 tanks.
Henry, Sue and Dusty (7) from “Ghost Dancing” came for a drink and ended up staying for dinner. They ran a company that specialised in process control in South Africa and it was interesting to hear about their business and exchange stories of sales and debtors! Another couple that we have common interests with, that we will (probably) never see again – C’est la vie!
20 May 1995 Saint Pierre to Anse a l’Ane, Martinique
A bit of a hangover today. School work in the morning then Glenys and I went to do some shopping.
We then motored around to Anse A L’ane. The boys shot off to the beach while Glenys and I mooched about.
21 May 1995 Anse a l’Ane, Martinique
Bloody awful night. One of the bars was playing very loud South American Samba type music until half past two in the morning. It was so loud that it was hard to sleep. Normally I don’t mind too much, but the music was live, had an irregular rhythm and discordant trumpets – a nightmare!
We did school work in the morning and then had a quiet day, writing, reading and clarinet practice. “Mistral” with Hubert, Ben (8) and Petra (11) turned up and stayed the night before pressing on with a guest. We met them in Hog Island in July. We finished off the puppets for the boys which was good fun.
22 May 1995 Anse a l’Ane, Martinique
School work in the morning. Then another quiet day doing our own things. The outboard was very stiff to pull this morning – I’ve noticed it getting a bit stiffer. I put extra oil in the petrol and adjusted the carb to run a bit richer. God knows what is causing it, but the engine starts OK.
23 May 1995 Anse a l’Ane to Fort de France, Martinique
Motored over to Fort De France and anchored behind “Moby Dick”. I rushed off into town armed with a long list. I needed to get some chandlery and some diving spares, but ended up with nothing. I met the others in McDonald’s for lunch and then retired back to the boat to recover. Jimmy and Marion came to dinner and we polished off 3 bottles of wine before they left at midnight.
24 May 1995 Fort de France, Martinique
We both felt rough this morning, so we cancelled school work and moped about. I went and bought a new pressure gauge, but couldn’t find any filters for the compressor. I tried to buy an ink cartridge for my printer, but they wanted £40 for one! The prices are incredible, everything is twice as much as it should be – I guess that I’m used to St Martin prices. Glenys’ keyboard cost $390 US in St Martin and it’s $940 here! We filled up with water. We all went to “Moby Dick” to watch a video after dinner.
25 May 1995 Fort de France, Martinique
School work in the morning. I was a lazy bugger all day and read a novel. Glenys did the same interspersed with lunch and dinner. It’s Ascension Day so everything is shut up. We’re sort of hanging about to see if Gareth stops by. He’s coming up from St Vincent on his way to Antigua and said that he might stop on the way. This anchorage is OK apart from the rolling from the ferries and the fact that we can’t swim because it’s too dirty.
26 May 1995 Fort de France to Grand Anse D’Arlet, Martinique
Glenys and I went shopping in the morning. I cleared in and out of customs and we motored around to Grand Anse D’Arlet which is quite a nice anchorage.
After lunch I was overcome with lethargy, but Glenys told me that we were going diving - what a brilliant dive it was, really pretty. I’m becoming very lazy – I keep thinking about what we’re going to do when we get back to England in two years time.
It’s crazy but the thought of the UK depresses me and I look forward to six o’clock when I can have a beer and slide into the quiet, surreal world of alcohol. I keep trying to stop but I always find excuses – tonight Glenys is cooking prawns in garlic mayonnaise. We obviously have to have a nice bottle of wine to accompany it, so it doesn’t matter if I have a beer first. We’re becoming very decadent – putting on weight, eating and drinking whatever takes our fancy. They call it middle age spread and I’ve got to stop it!
27 May 1995 Grand Anse D’Arlet to Rodney Bay, St Lucia
We left at about ten o’clock and motor sailed to St Lucia. We didn’t have enough wind to sail until the last half hour.
We anchored off the beach at three o’clock. It took us 3 attempts before we found some decent sand. I went straight into the marina but the mail hasn’t arrived from Carol. The Post Office has sent us a slip telling us that “Band-in-a-Box” has arrived and needs picking up. Unfortunately, it arrived on the 23 April and they say they only keep them for 28 days. I’ll be really cross if they’ve sent it back to the States.
28 May 1995 Rodney Bay, St Lucia
We did school work in the morning. In the afternoon we mooched about and Glenys cut my hair. I had a tootle and worried about “Band-in-a-Box”.
29 May 1995 Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Glenys did school work in the morning while I rushed off to Castries. I went to the Post Office and thankfully they still had my parcel containing “Band-in-a-Box”. I went to the music shop and had the middle joint of my clarinet repaired. While I was there I bought a Benny Goodman Course and a book on Benny Goodman solos.
When I got back, I asked Dave from “Trixolar” to come and look at my chain plates. He gave me a few pointers and I then discovered that he is learning to play the clarinet. We ended up on his boat having a beer with his wife, Julie.
30 May 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
We went into the marina in the morning. I then went into town to check out the hardware stores and pick up some bits for fibre glassing. I took the tension off the shrouds and prepared the area around the chain plates. I got “Band-in-a-Box” working – fantastic! Dave and Julie from “Trixolar” came for dinner.
31 May 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
Glenys did school work in the morning. I chiselled away the old fibreglass from the chain plates. I'm not surprised that they pulled away – the matting wasn’t wetted properly and just peeled away. As I started to chisel it away I noticed that the fibreglass on the strengthening rib for the hull is dry as well. It could be a mammoth task to put it all right, so I'm just going to redo the area that pulled away. I wonder if the same person did the port chain plates?
I was finished at two o’clock, so I had a shower and tried to get the fibreglass out of my skin – no chance, I’ll be itching for days! After lunch Glenys and I got the anchor chain out and laid it on the quay to paint marks every ten metres. Brett and Craig helped Glenys for about 10 minutes, before they got bored and went to the swimming pool.
Fifteen minutes later, Brett came back wailing – he’s very noisy when hurt! He’d dived in the pool, hit the bottom with his face and chipped one of his front teeth! Split it in half, in fact – panic! We rang a dentist, Glenys went into Castries with him and two hours later he was back as good as new. Fortunately, I had the foresight to take a picture of him before he went to the dentist!
I played with “Band-in-a-Box” while they were at the dentist – I put a song into the computer and it plays it back to me on our electronic keyboard. I’m going to have a lot of fun with this programme and I think that it will teach me a lot about group music.