MARCH_____________________________________________________________2006

Wednesday, March 1st

<Araksi> The weather is very pleasant and we try to take the best out of it by swimming, and snorkeling. We also managed to rent a car for tomorrow. It would be a pity to leave the island without having seen the interior, so we thought.

Thursday, March 2nd

<Araksi> ... and so we were driving at 08:00 towards the north along the eastern coast. The first half hour of having a car under command is always a "different" feeling; it was back in September the last time when we did such an "unusual " thing. Anyway, along the road, we enjoyed the new impressions; banana plantations, vast sugar cane fields, and the rugged windward coast of the island. The landscape reminds you strongly of those old drawings or photos of colonial times; you almost "see" the slaves carrying the sugar canes in baskets placed on their heads. Not today, thankfully. Instead the road along the plantations is full of special vehicles for transporting the corp.

The towns didn't impress us all that lot though. At the north, close to Macouba, we visited the J.M. Rum distillery, saw the production site, and made the obligatory purchase; three bottles of rum. We, especially I, came to like having a sip of rum in the evenings.

Our next stop was mount Pelée. The closest one gets by car to the peak is near the village of Le Morne-Rouge (824 m). The hike to the peak (around 1400m) and around the crater will take at least two hours, depending how far one goes along the crater and beyond. So, here we reached in to the clouds. The mountain offers a spectacular view of St. Pierre, and the two peaks of Pitons du Carbet before the damp and cool hug of the clouds obscure the rest of the world.

We enjoyed the road between mount Pelée and Fort de France, which is bordered by gigantic bamboos and graceful ferns, tall like trees, and other exotic plants in between. The translucent green and the twinkling sun rays dancing between the trees round up the whole pleasant picture.

We stopped at a huge shopping mall after Fort de France to buy a bermuda short for Ruud and a bathing suit for me. The highway to Le Marin was mostly very crowded. It was dark when were on Garabes just 12 hours after we had left her this morning.

All in all we enjoyed the trip but we wouldn't have missed a lot if we wouldn't have done it. I am sure that we will see even more spectacular and primordial views of tropical forests on other island along our way. We had expected to see much more impressive sceneries of the coastal region. For that though Garabes is a far better vehicle to use.

Friday to Sunday March 3rd to 5th

<Araksi> Besides our daily activities we are also enjoying the calm (finally) and sunny days by swimming and snorkeling in the clear waters of St. Anne. It has been hard to get Ruud out of the water. Each time he appeared on the steps of the boat he had a gift from the sea in his hands; an interesting shell of a sea urchin, a huge red starfish, a coconut that obviously had just shortly fallen into the sea and was floating along our boat, and he even speared two small fish to use them as bait.

Monday to Wednesday, March 6th to 8th

<Ruud> It is Monday noon, and - at last - we are on our way to the Grenadines. Martinique was nice, but we have seen it all. Easterly winds carry us quickly to Rodney Bay in northern St. Lucia, our first stop for the night. The bay is less picturesque than St. Anne and there is loud music from a modern hotel nearby. Only one boat boy is disturbing our peace but we have learned how to live with them: be specific and clear and just tell them to "don't call us, we call you". As diving without a guide and anchoring in most places is forbidden, we do not even bother to check in.

The next morning we leave early and sail further south. Around 14:30 the wild coastal line of St Lucia is replaced by the even more rugged skyline of St. Vincent, the next of the mini republics we will cross in the coming days. St. Vincent is truly beautiful: volcanic cones covered with the lash green of all kinds of huge trees. From the forest a cacophony of noises, mostly birds, accompany us throughout the day. Around 17:00 we started looking for a place to spend the night. It is simply not wise to sail in the dark in these waters. Unlit rocks and the objects floating around (mainly fishing pots) are a really danger. Crossing from St. Lucia to St. Vincent we almost bumped into a large pontoon, ripped away from its anchoring from who knows what harbor near or far. In the night we would have not have escaped from that one, with all disastrous results.

The problem of these islands of volcanic origin is that they offer only very limited anchoring possibilities, but we found a place in an already crowded little cove, Buccament Bay. Just in time, some ten minutes later the last light of the day was gone. We still have to get used how quickly the change from day to night happens in these latitudes.

We continued our trip the next day for a short sail of some two hours to the island of Bequia (pronounce "back way"), first of the island group called the Grenadines, and known for its protected anchorage, Admiralty Bay (013° 00'N; 061° 14,8'W). We decided to check in as we intend to stay a few days in the Grenadines, and the whole procedure turned out to be uncomplicated. The bay itself is crowded and surrounded with all kinds of restaurants and bars, very touristic and thus not really our style, but the island itself is beautiful and we are planning some nice walks for the coming days.

Thursday to Friday, March 9th to 10th

<Ruud> We visit the "capital"of Bequia, a little village called Port Elizabeth. It takes some ten minutes slow walking from one side to the other. One of the reasons we came here was that they were advertising wireless internet, but reception is so bad that this is not working at all. A pity. Friday the weather turns bad so that we decide to stay on board. The bay is known to have not more than average holding as the bottom consist of a mere layer of sand over coral. We think to have found a good spot though.

Saturday, March 11th

<Araksi> ... Yeah, that's what we thought!

Let me tell you what sailing is all about: to make a plan for the next day or two but then to be ready to revise it all! Why? To many variables; the weather, the anchorage, the new place with its new system yet to discover.

We had planned to hike around the island today, the sole attraction of the island (at least we assume it is). But this is our opinion, other sailors seem to like the place a lot. We do not understand why. Neither is the holding good nor the scenery tremendous, and nor is the town attractive. Sure, there are some charming spots but these are spoiled by the smell from the gutters that lay open along the main street, the usual tourist trap-activities, and by presumed services, such as haul out facilities only for catamarans (out of order), WiFi services around the bay (coverage almost zero), moorings (not holding at all). There are lots of the latter on the best spots but most of them do not have a legal status and are not serviced appropriately and therefore unsecure. You just feel screwed.

This morning, I woke up as usual around six, did my exercises, had breakfast and was ready for my Spanish session. Sitting in our forward cabin I could see the boats anchored in front of us. A British boat that had been just ahead of us was not there anymore. I first thought that it had moved, my next reaction was to run up in to the cockpit to check if we had dragged. We surely had. That was at 08:00 in the morning, when we started struggling in strong winds to weigh the anchor to maneuver around the anchorage and to re-anchor with only one engine. We had done the whole procedure five or six times maybe more, I do not recall (well, our windlass was overheated so we had to motor around for 15 minutes until it started again), when we finally settled down around 12:00. Too late and to unstable weather to go for a hike.

Sunday, March 12th

<Araksi> We left Bequia for Mayreau around eight this morning. The sail down there was marvelous, with winds between 15 and 20 kts on our beam. There is a reef on the northwestern tip of the island which has to be navigated carefully. The passage between the island and the reef is around 8 meters deep and wide enough to sail easily. Salt Whistle Bay is a very charming and the northern most bay of the island. We did not dare to enter in that rather small and very crowded anchorage with only one engine. A mile further south lays the Saline Bay, a beautiful cove as well. And that is where we anchored (012° 38.1'N; 061° 23,8'W). The entrance is large and less boats seem to come here, which suited our needs very well. The famous and beautiful Tobago Keys lay off the windward side of Mayreau. But we have to skip them now, for our one engine wouldn't save us from running on a reef if the factors of strong winds, currants and inadequate room for maneuvering came together. Not a rarity there!

Monday, March 13th

<Araksi> We left early this morning for Union Island, which is only four miles away. We plan to check out from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and do some internetting and shopping in Clifton, which is the main town of this island. The anchorage here is behind a reef. It is amazing to see how a stripe of awash corals hold back the waves, but not the wind. So while trying to anchor in this quite narrow bay we were almost blown over the corals when the anchor didn't hold at the first attempt. What a horror seeing the brown of the corals coming closer and closer. Thankfully full throttle reverse gear and the strong wind (a friend for once) helped to head the bows of Garabes to the entrance of the lagoon. what an escape! Our next attempt to get on land in this island was at the islet of Frigate, which lays just a few hundred meters off the coast. It looked very charming with lots of snorkeling and fishing opportunities, but alas we couldn't get the anchor dug in and didn't want to give another try in that windy conditions. So we decided to sail to Carriacou and enter Grenada without checking out from St. Vincent. That gave us a little of excitement, for some Caribbean authorities can be quite nasty if regulations are not followed, that's what we were told. But we had an excuse, even an emergency situation. That's what we told to ourselves and headed towards the next of the chain of mini-countries.

Around noon we arrived in Hillsbourough (012° 29,2'N; 061° 27,5'W), the capital of Carriacou and port of entry for Grenada. The town is settled in a very large bay. That made life easier for us. Nevertheless the holding in here is also very patchy and therefore limits the anchorage to a much smaller area: The corner close to the northern edge of the bay, not far from the dock. After settling down we headed to the customs and immigration offices. The entire procedure was a simple and friendly documentation about our boat and its crew. Nobody requested to see the exit papers from the Grenadines. Once again we were impressed by the easy and cheerful attitude of the people; the way they walk is a relaxed swinging, mostly to a melody they murmur along.

The town has an indigenous atmosphere. The white sandy beach with long elegant coconut trees along this two-street village frames a picture of an ideal Caribbean scene. Settled in there on the sandy beach is Calaloo, a restaurant with a very relaxed atmosphere. I had here my first pina colada, and that was it, I am addicted to it.

Tuesday, March 14th

<Araksi> The water is so crystal clear that would seduce anyone who harbors a little of enthusiasm for nature to submerge in to its depths. That's what we did here first thing in the morning.

After breakfast we saw a Dutch wooden boat approaching the anchorage. A second inquisitive gaze revealed her to be "Schorpioen" with Saskia and Wouter on board. We had met them at Las Palmas. It is always a cheer to meet people again, to exchange information, and hear about their experiences. After some cooling drinks they went to check out from the Grenadines while we went shopping, then internetting and for lunch we were at Calaloo. Here I had my first dish with Conch.

Wednesday, March 15th

<Araksi> Late in the morning I had turned on the VHF, just out of a mood, or maybe it was a foreboding. A couple of minutes later we heard "Vagebond" whispering the name Garabes. We responded but didn't get any answer. Then we heard it again, much more clearly; now it was "Fiddlesticks" calling. They were a mile away and heading to Hillsborough. And they were not alone; a couple of miles behind them was the "Vagebond". This was a real surprise! We were soon on board of "Fiddlesticks" and had a happy reunion with Anja and Hans, then again with Helga and René, when they joined us almost an hour later. We had last seen them in Las Palmas, so there was a lot to tell and listen to.

Thursday to Saturday, March 16th to 18th

<Araksi> During these three days we did the things which we were looking forward to doing in the Caribbean; swimming and snorkeling around the reefs which are full of colorful fish. We dinghied to the small island of Jack A Dan which lays across the bay. It is surrounded by a reef where we snorkeled between thousands of small fish. We were mostly in company of our friends while enjoying all of this.

Helga and Ruud were up on their feet again to catch some fish. I really enjoy to observe them; Helga with her hat and a cigarette in her mouth throwing the line in a very competent manner while Ruud is experimenting some other ways to get one of those delicious fish on board.

Then we rented a taxi, with Thomas as our driver and guide. He showed us the beauties of the island gave us some insight about the flora with information about the healing aspects of some plants. In the evening we had dinner in a very charming restaurant.

On Friday Ruud could even catch a fish so we all had dinner on Garabes on our last evening together. Tomorrow we will all be leaving; for us it is time to head south and our friends will sail northwards towards Antigua.

Sunday, March 19th

<Araksi> We lifted the anchor at 08:00 and headed south. We made some 36 miles, with winds from the E/SE. The sail was quite good and the seas along the windward side of Grenada were not that bad. St. David's bay, that harbors the Granada Marina, is on the southeast of the island. Therefore it is prudent to take the windward route unless the winds and seas are really bad. Taking the west route means beating against wind and current for almost nine miles to get here.

At our approach to the bay we saw waves breaking on the reefs that barr almost the entire entrance, but also could sight the buoyage that leads the way in to safety. Once in the anchorage we tided up on to one of the buoys that belong to the yard. Around 1400 we had settled down and were letting the impressions sink upon us; we liked what we saw. We saw lash green with elegant coconut trees, a beautiful hotel resort hidden behind the vegetation, a sandy beach with the ship yard behind it.

Monday, March 20th

<Araksi> First thing in the morning was to go to the office. We decided to haul out Garabes on Wednesday, I even managed (with Rachel's help here in the office) to get an appointment at a dermatologist for tomorrow. I would like to have controlled the growth on the mole, that I have on my face. We like the whole place here. We were introduced to Greg the mechanic who will be helping us with our saildrive then to Nicolas who is responsible for all kind of gelcoat, antifouling or painting stuff. It is a small but efficient ship yard with very helpful and sympathetic staff. In the following days we will also be able to comment on their efficiency, I suppose. They offer for the time being free WIFI, they have washing machines, and the Bar serves very reasonably priced meals, which makes cooking on board from a housekeeping point of view not profitable. The only drawback of this paradisiacal place is its remoteness in terms of provisioning. But again when on the hard the fridge will be off and that limits the amount of food we can buy. All in all our impression of this place is very positive. I hope we will be still able to give the same statement when we leave in...who knows when.

Tuesday, March 21st

<Araksi> My appointment is at 1200 and in St George's, in the capital of the island. To get there one has to walk almost a mile through a narrow road bordered by lush green trees of all kind: coconut, mango, banana and many others that I didn't recognize. We took a taxi-cab to town at the junction of this road and the main route. The cab drivers are known for their madly driving stile -now I knew what people at the yard had really meant a day ago when they were warning us about the "roller coaster" drive.

We had left the yard early so we did have time for doing all the other things we need to do. Such as buying a SIM card for our cellular phone and finally having a phone number to give to our parents and friends. We also wanted to do some shopping and just visiting the town. The city is settled along a big circular bay with small nice houses and the center has some cobbled streets with old british style houses with brick facades and ornamented pillars and balconies that are built in forged iron.

Dr. Jennifer Isaacs was a very pleasant person who seemed to know what she was doing. Her diagnosis was that the growth appeared to be quite harmless. So she decided to cut it out, for that we had to be back at 14:30. We bridged the time with a delicious snack on one of the pleasant restaurants at the waterside that we had pinpointed on our way to the doctor.

The operation was simple, it didn't last more than ten minutes, at the end that nasty little piece of skin was in a small bottle ready to be send to Trinidad. We will have the results in a week time.

Wednesday, March 22nd

<Araksi> Garabes is in the footlights today. Around 11:00 the lift was free for her. Our only concern was to be able to maneuver her in to the dock, so someone was there in our dinghy ready to give a push if necessary. Around 1600 the whole action was over; Garabes was set secure on the dry for some time. Graig, the mechanic, was there right away to check the saildrive. Its shaft was rattling unusually, which wasn't a good sign at all. We will know more about it tomorrow.

Thursday, March 23rd

<Ruud> In the early morning Graig and I removed the propeller. The inside which hooks to the shaft of the saildrive was completely chafed away. And the saildrive itself was making strange noises too. Graig told us that we had probably caught a rope or a fishing net which had damaged the prop which had then hurt the saildrive. The propeller had to be replaced and the shaft repaired and then the drive could be remounted completely but that would cost in man hours about the same price as a new one. As the new drives are so much better and have the distinct advantage that one can change the oil without having to haul out every year, we decided to go for the new one.

Next to us an older catamaran was sitting which had the same problem as us. I talked with the owners and agreed with them that they would purchase our other drive (still in good shape) so I could get the new model for starboard too.

Friday, March 24th

<Ruud> Graig passed by with the quote for the new drives, propellers and rope cutters which he highly advised to put on too. I had checked the internet meanwhile and his prices seemed extremely fair. Good that we found a yard that is not abusing from the situation. As Graig had good relations with Grenada customs - who are known to delay the arrival of shipments for no apparent reason - we told him to go ahead. He was hopeful to have everything at the yard within two weeks, let's see.

<Araksi> Before starting with the long list of things to do I decided to finish updating our homepage. In the evening we were at the bar as many other sailors and workers from the yard. We met lots of people and had a nice time. We watched a DVD before going to bed. We had lots of films from Hans.

Saturday, March 25th

<Araksi> We left early to get to St. George's. I have an appointment at Dr. Isaacs at 1300 just for a check. But before that we arranged to meet Annick and Michael at the marina in the lagoon. It was nice to see them again after five months. We all went to the market, walked around a little then went to Ocean Grill, the Restaurant on the sea side that we were in last Tuesday. This is a very pleasant place with good and reasonable priced meals.

I hurried to my appointment while the others were lingering around and checking out some computer stores. The doctor was content with the healing process of the wound. So I was out again joining the group already in a quarter of an hour. We all walked back to the lagoon and were on board Lucie for an hour or so. Then it was time to get back to Garabes.

Sunday, March 26th

<Araksi> We had a rich Sunday breakfast with Michel, our neighbor who is a Swiss and the skipper of a large catamaran. It was fun to listen to his endless experiences. He has been in this business of real sailing for thirty years and has around 300.000 miles in his wake.

I baked bread, cooked the last vegetables that were in the fridge and continued working on our homepage. I just should not delay writing our diary. It is much more work to bring it up to date all at once.

We watched yet another movie this evening; the Sixth Sense.

Monday, March 27th

<Araksi> While Ruud is mostly busy working on the computer and surfing on the net for information about health care, I am finalizing the work on our homepage. Tomorrow, I would like to start with the long list of work that has to be done on the boat.

<Ruud> I am chasing my neighbor to get the money for the saildrive we sold to him. In spite of his promise to pay immediately, he is finding ways to delay payment. Meanwhile I agreed with Nicolas, a very knowledgeably Frenchman to polish the boat, repair some gelcoat damages that were there since Croatia and put on the antifouling. Man hours are still payable in this part of the world, so we decided that this time we wouldn't be the ones to inhale all that poisonous stuff.

Tuesday, March 28th

<Araksi> I am focusing today on the stainless steel parts of the entire boat. Sea water causes ugly stains on it that have to be removed with some acid solution, and then rinsed off with lots of water. I decided to start with this job before the guys from the polishing team begin with their work tomorrow. Going through the entire boat is also helpful for checking every bolt and screw, the joints of shrouds, stanchions and many other parts for cracks or other damages: Garabes is still without wrinkles like a young lady.

Ruud was busy cleaning the holding tanks. He filled them with sodium bicarbonate deluded in lots of water and let it act for a while.

Wednesday, March 29th

<Araksi> Sewing was on the agenda today. I did bits of work on cushions, and especially on making screens for the saloon hatches. The more we get to the south, the more bugs bother us, so keeping doors and hatches closed helps a lot. To be able to do that you have to get screens on the openings so that you won't suffocate in the cabin. With this done we now have, together with the shades on the hatches and the roof, an efficient sun protection and a natural air conditioning on board.

In the afternoon the cleaning and polishing team started with work.

Thursday, March 30th

<Araksi> I mainly worked on sewing while Ruud cleaned the water tanks. They were quite clean but nevertheless it is a kind of precaution to wash and disinfect them with vinegar and sodium bicarbonate.

We usually eat on board. The food at the restaurant here is very cheap but not tasteful, and therefore we are now determined to use up our food reserves. This will help to get the weight off Garabes' belly too. Today, I prepared some rice with a chickpea sauce in a creole flavor. We enjoyed lunch together with Michel's anecdotes about sailing.

Friday, March 31st

<Araksi> While we continue doing lots of small bits of work, the various teams in the yard have Garabes in their grasp; the polishing and gelcoat repair team, the engine mechanics, and George who is responsible for electronics. Our chart plotter broke down on our way to Grenada. We always wanted to replace this device that we were never happy with. The charting program on our computer would be a much effective system. Doing so our laptop will be the control center for diverting information from one station to the other, such as log positions to the self-steering-device.

In the evening we were socially active at the Bar, where we met interesting, experienced and very helpful sailors; George is a Canadian and is responsible here in the yard for electric and electronic repairs while he lives with his girlfriend Isabella on his boat. We also met Kevin and John from Raindancer, a big wooden schooner. They all had lots to tell and we had lots to ask.

We like this yard for its simple and genuine atmosphere.