1 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
The batteries were way down this morning (again!) After a little investigation I found out that the battery charger is drawing 1.5A out of the batteries! I knew it didn’t work, but it must have a short of some kind. I plugged in on Tuesday morning, so it’s drawn out 72Ah which accounts for us having to run the engine a lot – Glenys was blaming it on the computer and I was blaming the fridge!
I went to the chandlers to buy some fibreglass and resin. They were expensive and didn’t have any matting, so I went to the boat yard. They didn’t have a lot, so I ended up going into town to a place called Sunbild Ltd, which was great. I got everything I needed for £25. Glenys went into town, (to buy me some wonderful birthday presents, I hope!) She went to Ogapadu Music Shop and bought a piano jazz book. I experimented with the amount of hardener to put in the polyester resin.
2 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
Very windy night with lots of squalls. Funnily, I would rather have been at anchor because I was worried that the fenders might pop out. None of my resin had gone off, so I had to experiment with more hardener. I managed to find the correct amount of hardener and started to fibreglass when Dave arrived to say farewell. He had a look and thought that maybe I was using a little too much hardener, but otherwise I had the right idea. I spent the rest of the day fibreglassing. Glenys did school work, but got herself into “I hate Brett” mode and went off into town to do some shopping.
3 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
I decided to wait a couple of days before cleaning up the fibreglass to give it a chance to really go off. I put some new lifting/strong points on the dinghy floor. I made a cricket bat for the boys – it’s great to have mains electricity. Glenys painted the anchor chain with some etching primer paint on the bits that have gone rusty.
I played cricket with the boys for a while and then did a few more odd jobs. Glenys did roast beef for dinner – what a treat! (Unfortunately, no horseradish sauce in the shops!)
4 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
My official birthday - 39 today – only one year to the big 40! We opened my presents, a new diving watch (to replace the one I lost in the Saintes!), a new torch (all our other torches don’t work properly), some water bomb balloons (for the boys) and a teach yourself harmonica book with a diatonic ‘C’ harmonica (for those long passages).
After breakfast we played cricket, and then went to the bar for a wet lunch. After lunch, I played with “Band-in-a-Box” for the rest of the day. I’m aiming to get all my favourite tunes on there so that I can play along. I read “A Clarinettist’s Bedtime Book”, which I copied from Dave. It explains a great deal about technique in a very down to earth way. It depressed me a bit because I've got the following things wrong with my technique:
- I don’t put enough mouthpiece in my mouth
- My breathing isn’t from the diaphragm
- My tonguing is incorrect because I push air as I tongue
- My embouchure and tonal quality is poor
- I lift my fingers too high
- My fingering technique is incorrect on A and Bb
- I use the wrong middle B and C# fingering on scales with C#
- Oh miser! I’m going to start a regime of one hour’s practice on technique. I really enjoyed my birthday!
5 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
I’ve decided to stop drinking alcohol (again!) My delusion of grandeur this time is not to drink until my 40th birthday. I’m also going to start doing exercises in the morning and go for a swim. The concept of being 40 obviously bothers me!
I called into the Marina Office on my way to town and found out that today is another bloody holiday. With corrupt politicians and officials and holidays every other week, it’s no wonder that these Caribbean countries are in such a state.
Glenys cleaned the bilges and washed out the water tanks (which were disgusting!) I got our 240V generator going by fitting the choke cable and cleaning out the carburettor. I then sanded the cockpit locker seat – I re-caulked it in Trinidad last September! The fibreglass has finally decided to go off – one part of it has taken 3 days to go hard. I obviously didn’t put enough hardener in that cup of resin. I still need to do some more fibreglassing around the bottom of the area.
6 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
I left Glenys cleaning out the bilge sump and then went into town to buy more fibreglass and miscellaneous bits. In the afternoon I re-tapped the roller reefing screws to ¼” and hopefully that will be the end of that little problem. Glenys tried to paint the chain with some primer, but it kept raining. It’s incredibly depressing when it keeps raining. It gets very muggy down below and tempers get a little bit frayed.
“Moby Dick” turned up today. Marion was really pleased to see us. She’s sort of adopted us as a surrogate family and wants to cruise down the rest of the Windwards with us. It’s nice to meet up with them every so often, but I’m not too keen on cruising in company.
I had a practice on the clarinet and discovered that I’m off key on many notes – it’s suddenly dawned on me that my embouchure affects the pitch of the note I’m playing – back to square one again. I really wish that I could have lessons instead of all this trial and error.
7 June 1995 Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia
We were going to go out and anchor this morning, but the sun was shining so we decided to have another attempt at painting the anchor chain. Surprisingly, it didn’t rain all day. In the afternoon, Glenys went to the shopping mall and did a big shop.
I went to a doctor about my elbow. About 2 months ago, I fell backwards in the dinghy and banged my elbow – it hurt like mad for a few days and then was OK. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed a swelling on my elbow – like fluid around the joint. The doctor said that it is a “bursa” and is just fluid under the skin. She wants me to go to a surgeon in Castries who will draw the fluid out and then inject hydrocortisone in. Yuk! She said that my red eyes are because they are dry – I’m not producing enough tears to combat the sun, wind and salt water. She sold me some £10 eye drops!
I fixed the GPS by fitting a new battery, which I bought from Cay Electronics for £10! What a rip off. We went to “Moby Dick” to watch a video.
8 June 1996 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
We filled up with water, put the chain back into the chain locker and went out to anchor. It was a bit of a miserable day.
I started to prepare the area around the chain plates and found that the area that had taken 3 days to go off actually hadn’t gone off properly. So I spent the afternoon chiselling the stuff off. It was the last bit I did and I reckon that I carried on working with resin that had started to gel. Apparently this is the wrong thing to do, since it affects the hardening process.
Derek and Alison from “Kaliba” came for a beer; we met them in St Martin in February.
9 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
Miserable rainy day. Glenys did school work while I did some fibreglassing. I redid the bad section. I’m going to leave the rest until tomorrow to check that it goes off properly.
The outboard hasn’t been pumping water out of the telltale (again) so I stripped the water pump down and went to find some spares. Nada! The mariner “agent” doesn’t even have an impellor, never mind a pump body. I put it all back together as best I could, I made a new key for the impellor from a nail – (must get a proper one before it rusts away). The thing still didn’t put any water out of the telltale. As an afterthought I flushed out the water system and guess what – it worked! The water flow through the block was OK, but the telltale tube must have been blocked – you live and learn.
Brett was happy this afternoon because “Mistral” turned up and he’s now got Ben to play with – poor old Craig gets left out of things!
10 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
The fibreglass went hard within a few hours, so I spent the morning finishing off the rest. After lunch I mooched about reading and playing the clarinet. Glenys did school work and made a new wind scoop for the front hatch.
Our mail still hasn’t arrived from Carol. She sent it about 6 weeks ago, but the postal workers and customs keep going on strike so I imagine that our mail is amongst a huge pile of parcels at the airport. We’re not having much luck with mail at the moment – I still haven’t received the filters for the compressor that I ordered at the beginning of March!
11 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
School work in the morning. The boys played with Ben. Glenys pottered about repairing the aft wind scoop and I played the clarinet. “Mistral” came for a beer.
12 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
School work in the morning. Glenys went to the shopping mall with Marion, I wrote some faxes to Paul Preston (our accountant) about our tax position and to Airtech about the missing filters. We put 25 litres of fuel in the tank from a container, so that we can run the engine for a couple of days more. I’ve lasted 7 days without drinking and it was no problem.
13 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
Glenys and I dropped the boys off at “Moby Dick” at quarter past eight, so that we could go on a First Aid Course. We arrived at the Red Cross Building to be told that they had rearranged the course to the afternoon. We went back and asked Marion if she would babysit in the afternoon for us!
I cleaned up the fibreglass around the chain plates which looks very strong! We went for the afternoon course, both got 100% on the exam and paid out $50 EC each. They gave us our certification cards so I don’t think that we’ll bother to go to the bandaging session tomorrow! We ended up having a glass or three of wine on “Moby Dick”. We met John from “Culnor” (UK).
14 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
School work in the morning. I went back to the doctor about my bursa. She said that the surgeon didn’t want to drain it just yet and had suggested a course of an anti-inflammatory drug. She gave me some tablets called “Cataflam”. I tidied up the starboard pilot berth and put the wall linings and boxes back. We then had a major tidy up.
15 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
Glenys did school work and I re-tensioned the rigging. I didn’t know if I was doing it right, so I went and got John from “Culnor” to have a look. He told me that I had the forestay tight enough but that I should start again with the shrouds. I slackened off the shrouds and checked that the mast was central to the boat. I then tensioned the upper shrouds and then the lowers. I’ve since found out that the sequence should be back and forestay, lowers and baby stay and then uppers. Anyway, it looks OK to me. We’ll check it on the sail down to Marigot. I suspect that I’ve always had the upper shrouds too tight which could account for the chain plates pulling away.
I went up the mast and checked the rest of the rigging. We went to “Culnor” for dinner. “Moby Dick” and Barbara from “Kelly’s Eye” were there too.
16 June 1995 Rodney Bay Lagoon, St Lucia
Hangovers this morning. Glenys hung around all day feeling sorry for herself. I went into town and got some new reeds for the clarinet. We had a quiet night.
17 June 1995 Rodney Bay, St Lucia
We put the genoa onto the forestay and went to the fuel dock. We filled up with fuel and water. We then went out of the Lagoon to anchor off the beach again. I filled 3 tanks. We received a fax from Ceris, telling us that Fiona has had a baby girl.
The bloody customs are still on strike, so we’ve asked Barbara to pick up the mail for us. She’s going to be here until end of July and should meet us in Trinidad. We can call them on 4407 KHz at half past seven or leave a message at 777A if our plans change. It’s great to be back out in the open sea. I started to feel ill and had the runs, so we had a quiet afternoon, punctuated by my frequent, desperate runs to the heads.
18 June 1995 Rodney Bay to Marigot Bay, St Lucia
I felt a lot better this morning. I’ve still got a dodgy feeling in my stomach, but I think that the runs have gone. We did school work in the morning and then sailed to Anse Cochon.
It was a broad reach all the way which was wonderful. Just outside Marigot we sailed close hauled so that I could check the tension in the rigging – the leeward shrouds were both very loose so I tightened them when we got to Marigot. As we were approaching Anse Cochon, the bolt which holds the kicking strap bracket on the boom sheared. It went with a bang which didn’t do my nerves any good at all. I bodged it when I got to Marigot and I’ll re-tap it in Bequia. Glenys and I did a dive which was OK. We returned to Marigot for the night – “Moby Dick” came for a sundowner, while I was doing my repairs.
19 June 1995 Marigot Bay, St Lucia
It was raining when we woke up, raining at lunch time, raining at dinner and raining when we went to bed – horrible day. We did schoolwork in the morning and sulked for the rest of the day. Craig’s front, top, right tooth is coming through. Unfortunately, it’s pushing behind his dead first tooth and pushing it forwards. We had a discussion about it but have decided to leave it for a few days to see what happens. The boys went out to play on a tree swing with Ben from “Mistral”. Brett pushed Ben when he didn’t want to and Ben hit Brett. Some of the other kids had to stop the ensuing fight. Brett came back, burst into tears and said that he’s “going to F***ing kill Ben tomorrow”! We told him that Ben is just a bully and the best thing to do is to not play with him – a difficult situation!
20 June 1995 Marigot Bay to Soufriere, St Lucia
We did school work in the morning. I cleared out of customs and we motored around to the Hummingbird Beach. We were going to stop at Anse Chastenet for a dive, but they’ve put out “No Anchoring/Marine Park” buoys. I think that there are some yacht moorings near to the shore, but we didn’t investigate.
We had the chance to do a couple of tacks as we approached Soufriere and I reckon the shrouds are still too loose – I put another turn on each shroud and the baby stay. We anchored off the Hummingbird Hotel. Glenys and I went for a dive which was good, but I’m getting bored because it’s all the same. We decided that we’ve had enough of St Lucia, so we plan to go to St Vincent tomorrow.
“Moby Dick” have anchored at the other side of the bay and we thought we ought to tell them about our change in plans. Fortunately, Jimmy dinghied over to check out our anchorage – theirs is a bit rolly! Glenys and I have had enough of cruising in company – it’s too restricting! We’ve told them that we’ll keep with them until we get to Bequia.
21 June 1995 Soufriere to Cumberland Bay, St Vincent
Up early. One of the boat boys wanted to untie my line for me, but I said don’t bother because I could do it myself. He finally offered to do it for free because he was worried that the other boats there might see me and he would lose business. It really pisses me off that they expect to be paid $10EC (£2.50) for tying the rope and $10EC for untying the rope. This probably all started with some yacht giving a local a bit of change for helping him.
We had a boisterous sail which was a bit uncomfortable, but at least the wind was slightly behind us. We tied up in Cumberland Bay and were besieged by boat boys. I jumped in the water, dived down to check the anchor and when I surfaced there was a woman on the boat having her picture taken!
I filled 2 tanks and we went for a dive. “Moby Dick” arrived and anchored next to us. We ended up on “Moby Dick” for a beer and I’m afraid that I got drunk.
22 June 1995 Cumberland Bay, St Vincent
We decided to go for a hike up to the top of the volcano, Mount Soufriere. “Moby Dick” kindly said they would babysit while Glenys and I went by ourselves. Our guide was called Abbey who said he would take us for $40EC (£10). He arranged a taxi for $90EC to drop us off and pick us up again. I thought this was a bit steep but what the hell.
We got to the taxi to find out that it was a pick-up truck, and we were expected to ride in the back. The driver (a huge tough looking guy) asked Abbey how much he had agreed, Abbey said “90 dollars”. The guy nodded and said “90US”. I said no chance and we agreed 90EC for us to ride in the back of the truck. It rained on the way, in fact it threw it down.
We arrived at the end of the road and started our 4 mile trek. Our first obstacle was 200 metres from our drop off point and we had to wade through a waist deep river. We walked along the beach for about ½ mile and then cut off up a dry river bed. One of the straps pulled out of my sandals and I had to tie it up with a bit of string.
We slowly, remorselessly climbed up through rain forest, hilly farmland and then near the top, low, scrubby vegetation. It was extremely hard work and halfway up another strap pulled out of my other sandal – I nearly gave up. Meanwhile, Glenys was struggling having to stop and rest every few hundred metres. She battled on though. Having said this, two of the guys with us were walking up in bare feet...
Near the top, we ran into clouds and gale force winds, which were so strong that we kept having to crouch down in the gusts. We eventually made it and sat on the rim on the volcano. Visibility was about 25metres, so we didn’t see a lot. The walk back down was just as bad because of the slippery, steep path, but we managed to survive. We filled up one of our rucksacks with green and ripe mangos from a wild tree.
We arrived back at the pick up point to wait the 10 minutes until three o’clock when our “taxi” would appear. By half past, he hadn’t appeared, so we started to walk towards Chateau Blaire to have something to do. We arrived in Chateau Blaire at quarter past four – still no sign of the “taxi”.
We decided to catch a bus back to Cumberland Bay - Abbey was not very happy about this. We were travelling on the bus when the pick-up truck went past us. Abbey screamed for the bus to stop and we all piled off. The pick-up driver grinned inanely, but didn’t really apologise for being 1½ hours late so I went ballistic. I told him that I was only going to pay him half of the money and did a lot of shouting. The bus load of people and Abbey (and his 2 friends!) thought this was highly amusing. I eventually told the guy that I would only pay him $50EC; he nodded and told me to just get in the pickup.
When we arrived back at Cumberland Bay, I went to give the driver $50EC, but he said the deal was $90EC. I started to argue that he couldn’t expect money when he turns up 1½ hrs late. He eventually just said “have a nice day” and drove off without any money. I then gave Abbey $50EC (intending $10EC tip) but he said he wanted $40EC per person – Oh, give me a break!
We eventually agreed to give him $75EC but then he still wanted $50EC to give to the truck driver. I said I wasn’t going to and he looked very worried and said that he was going to have to pay the truck driver from his own money. He was obviously very scared of upsetting the truck driver so I gave him $100EC and $10US and said it was up to him what he paid the truck driver. I told him that I thought that the truck driver doesn’t deserve anything – he was charging rip off tourist prices and then not supplying the service! We arrived back to pick the boys up at five o’clock - a long day out!
23 June 1995 Cumberland Bay to Admiralty Bay, Bequia
We motored round to Petit Bayhaut where Glenys and I did a dive – wonderful. We then had a nice sail to Bequia, which was slightly marred by bilge water slopping about wetting the saloon carpet. The electric bilge pump had packed up and we hadn’t noticed. I used the manual bilge pump for the first time in nearly 3 years sailing. We anchored off the beach. I went and cleared in and picked up a parcel containing the compressor spares from Air Tech – it’s a miracle.
Glenys went snorkelling and found what resembled a three metre diameter fried egg stuck to the sea bed just next to our boat. I put a scuba unit on and went to investigate. It turned out to be Inshore Arrow Squid, breeding and laying packets of eggs in a huge cluster. The centre of the cluster must have been several days old and the packet casings have gone yellow.
It’s an amazing spectacle with large 12” squid (males, we think) pairing up with smaller 8” long females (we think). They approach the egg cluster together and then the female deposits a packet of eggs about 3” long by 1/4” diameter. The whole thing looks like a giant anemone with loads of squid flashing about. This natural phenomenon has attracted a shoal of small tuna which keep flashing about. I spent over an hour watching them – fantastic!
24 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
Back into the routine. We did school work in the morning. Glenys made some mango chutney and went mad cleaning her cupboards in an anti-weevil campaign. I read a book and started to repair the bilge pump – I couldn’t get it working and managed to shear off a bolt.
25 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
School work in the morning and then pottering about doing a few jobs and playing the clarinet. I haven’t been off the boat for two days (except for a swim).
26 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
School work (Test Lesson 120) in the morning. Glenys went into town to do a bit of shopping while I filled 4 tanks. Glenys and I went to do a dive after lunch.
While we were away the boys were playing on the beach. Brett threw a big rock up in the air and it landed on his own head. He ending up being helped by a local who took him back to his hut on the beach, trimmed his hair and put a plaster on. Brett was OK. We’re feeling guilty - we’re bad parents leaving our two small children alone on the beach while we go diving...
27 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
Glenys did school work with both of them while I did a few jobs. In the afternoon, I played the clarinet and Glenys went into town. “Moby Dick” came for dinner and told us they were moving on tomorrow. Brett and Craig had a great time riding in a local’s ski boat with a 75hp outboard – wow!
28 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
We had a day off school today. I spent most of the day messing about with my “memoirs”. I’m working on the three months from leaving Feedback to moving onto the boat. I took most of the day to go through the old invoices for re-fitting the boat and figure out what and when we did things.
Glenys started doing the upholstery in the back cabin – she bought the material in Trinidad last September and HAS to do it before we go back there! Brett and Craig went to the beach with Ben from “Mistral”. Ben was being a bully again and wouldn’t let Brett or Craig play with Brett’s ball. Brett got upset and swam back to the boat. Ben jumped into Mario’s dinghy (a German boy) and chased Brett calling him a sissy for running away.
Brett doesn’t know what to do, he wants to play with Ben, but Ben is such a bully. All we can say to Brett is “don’t play with him”. We eventually persuaded Brett and Craig to go over to “Rose of Wight” and play with Harry (7) and Laurel (4). Craig had a great time and went on board, but Harry told Brett that he couldn’t go on board. Brett came back to Glencora and had an identity crisis. We went to “Rose of Wight” and had a beer or three with Nigel and Jan.
29 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
School work in the morning. Glenys and I went to the shops and then I spent most of the afternoon making a new cam plate for the bilge pump. I’ve changed everything else – impellor, end seal and put JB weld in the grooves of the shaft – I’ll try it tomorrow.
Brett and Craig played by themselves until about three o’clock, then they played with Harry from “Rose of Wight”. Ben and his mate started to tease Brett, Craig and Harry, Glenys saw him and went ballistic – she gave Ben a good telling off, telling him he was too aggressive and a bully and that she’s told Brett not to play with him, so there! We had a quiet night in.
30 June 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
School work in the morning. We called the Daffodil catamaran and filled up with water and fuel. I tried the bilge pump after dinner and (guess what?) – it didn’t work. I reckon that there is too much clearance on the ends of the impellor – try again!
We had “Rose of Wight” and “Colleen” (Mike and Jane) around for drinks.