MUTUAL FUN - A SAILING ODYSSEY

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FIRST MATE'S LOG - May 2001

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December 1, 2001

Here we still are in sunny Grenada. Everything is fixed except we are still waiting on the water pump. Bob’s hoping it will be in Monday. I’m hoping it will be here this month. We’ve been biding our time nicely with a cocktail hour here, a dinner hour there. Last night we walked, with our friend John of “Sojourn”, around to Mt. Hartman bay for their famous Friday night BBQ. It was dee-lish. It’s buffet style so you get to pile on the potato salad, rice, potato and green salad. One piece of chicken, though, but it was a big one. Thigh and drumstick. They claim their chickens don’t have breasts here but I’m not buying that one. Tonight we’re looking forward to an inter-island pan band competition. It starts at 8:00pm and goes till ? We’ll be zonked. I’m already anticipating a nap. See how water life differs from land life? Bob is usually asleep by 9:00pm and I by 11:00pm. We’ll see how late we make it tonight.

December 3, 2001

The pan bands were great but since everything is on island-time, they did not get started till 9:00pm and we had arranged for our taxi driver to pick us up at 1:00am. When our driver dropped us off, he already was semi-drunk but when he picked us up, he was staggering all over the place. I seemed to be the only one concerned and none of the men would say anything to him so I sat in back and dug my fingers into the seat in front of me. I will say he drove really, really slow so we made it back in one piece. There were 10 bands total and they each played 2 scores; one sort of classical and one jammin’. They were all good but by 1:00am, only 6 had played and we weren’t about to stick around till 3 or 4:00am. We found out the next day that Trinidad won. We had a good time but I sure wish we could have seen the winners play. Each of the bands brought their own sets, complete with decorations and costumes. They also had 2 people (usually girls) holding up their banner and doing some little sexy dance. The music that can come out of these steel drums is amazing. If you close your eyes, you could swear there was a full orchestra playing. My favorite band had 60 members playing 134 drums. They were something!

We’ve fallen into a bit of a rainy spell. I got one handrail completely sanded but yesterday was committed to dominoes due to rain. The sky is overcast again today but maybe it’ll clear later so I can attack the second handrail. I’ll get 2 of the 4 done, give those 6 coats of stain and then get to the other two. No hurry, we’re on island-time.

December 6, 2001

Gee, here it is the 5th and we’re still in Grenada. What a surprise! Well, the pump came in but it seems to have a bigger connecting post so I guess now they have to find a machine shop to take it to and bore it out. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bob hauled 90 gallons of water in jerry jugs and I worked hard staining. Well, not really that hard. The rain held off for almost an hour so it wasn’t too badly pitted this morning when I went to apply the second coat. Just a light sanding with a pot scrubber and she’s looking pretty. I put a query on the radio yesterday and got an immediate response from a lady to cut my hair. I dinghied over this morning and she whacked off the back and sides. I think I’ll let the top go so when Bob is really bored, he can watch it grow. My hair feels like a Brillo pad from all of the salt water and sun so I guess I’ll have to find something to make it soft. It was not a worry when it was only an inch long. And, where did that grey come from, anyhow? No wonder I’ve been keeping it so short. Bob is due for a cut but I think he’s waiting for Geoff on “Free Spirit” to get back because it’s always so much fun to go to their boat for hair-cutting day. Only thing is, he butchers people. It’s good for a laugh, though. There’s a Christmas program in the rain forest on Sunday that we’ll probably go to if we’re still here. Mary on “La Sirena” has offered to include us on X-mas for a turkey dinner, which sounds quite tempting. The best laid plans….

December 10, 2001

Will the fun and excitement never end? We were picked up at 1:00pm in one van and one economy car where 16 of us piled in for the Christmas Program. I was lucky enough to get into the car, as I was solo today, what with football on television and Bob having more foresight than I, and all. It was drizzling and we were going up into the rain forest. That might have been our first clue. I wore a new bright orange and green dress that the salesgirl and I fought over.

I, insisting I looked like a pumpkin and she, insisting it was perfect. We made a pact and left it up to Bob, who wandered in with a big smile on his face exclaiming, “you’ve got to buy that!” So, there I was in my pumpkin-for-Christmas dress but having the insight to wear my best, get ‘em muddy Teva sandals. We climbed up the mountain for about an hour with our driver, the daughter of the van owner (who, by the way, has diabetes, is blind and also usually not sober. He does hire another driver for the van, who is not blind but is usually not sober, either) taking the turns at only 40mph or so but honking as she rounded the hairpin corners. We made it up safe, sound and only slightly frazzled. The rest of our people arrived ½ hour later or so. There were a few shops to meander in and food vendors, drinks and extremely loud, pounding music. This doesn’t faze me as my eardrums are already damaged from living through the ‘70’s. Turns out this area is one I’ve been to on a prior tour, on a prior visit to Grenada. So, being slightly familiar with the area, I led the way to a lookout area (dodging the pay booth) and we had a nice trek up a muddy path. We entered into an area overlooking the rain forest and if you climb up the 2 flights of stairs, overlooking some clouds. This rewards you with a beautiful view of the rain forest and deep, dark clouds looking a bit threatening. We hung out and sloshed around in the mud for a bit before heading back down to the pounding music. Some of the men were actually jumping up and down in the mud puddles like 4-year-olds. It looked like a lot of fun but after all, I did have my pumpkin dress to think about. Once back down to the main area, I ran into some Brits who were raving about some chocolate cake, down a winding street to where the lake was and where the main program was to take place in a few hours. Figuring I’d kill two birds with one stone, eat some cake and wash my feet, down I went. On the way, I ran into a very nice policeman who was getting off duty in 2 hours and would come back and look for me later. When I was in my 30’s, these kinds of comments used to bother me, now I just smile and appreciate the compliment, knowing full well he must need contact lenses. The path to the lake was muddy so I knew as soon as I got clean, I would be muddy again but the chocolate cake was excellent. I worked off the calories by hiking back up the street to where I was just in time to see Santa arrive; on his mule. Now the really funny thing was that we passed Santa and the mule on the way up the mountain. That is, we passed a van, not a truck mind you, with 2 guys and a mule’s head in the front seat. Santa strutted his mule back and forth and gave out nice gifts to the little children. That was celebrated with a band playing some hip Christmas music, more drinking and a different Santa, complete with skinny legs and white plastic boots.

At 5:00, when the program was about to start and we were assured of getting in without having to pay (the whole reason for coming at 1:00), we hiked back down the street and paid our $5EC to enter. I was with a group of 6 and we stopped for more food, then hiked up an extremely muddy path to long seats made of bamboo. They were fairly comfortable, considering there were no backs. The Santa with the white plastic boots was announcing that due to technical difficulties, the band couldn’t play yet. So, he filled the time with a little girl singing a Christmas carol, which was real cute, a local guy with gold scorpions all over his body singing another tune, not very cute and some jokes. There were a couple of hundred people sitting in seats and standing, most of them hugging themselves and shivering, but still having a good time. Due to more technical difficulties, we had to listen to a band sing and pound bamboo instruments on the ground. They actually had matching shirts with their band name on it so I think they thought they were a real band.

As I was sitting in my pumpkin dress with my foul weather jacket over me and my feet all muddy eating some cold fish and chips (which was actually quite good), all of the sudden our bamboo seat buckled and we all went careening to the ground. Everyone looked up at us and were laughing and hooting and cheering. We stopped the show. I have to admit we did have 2 guys of ample size. One side of our seat was on the ground but I just sat back down and finished my dinner. A prayer was next and we had to stand and pray so the weather would hold and we wouldn’t get soaked and electrocuted. Being in the rain forest and all, I thought that wasn’t a real fair request. Next we had the governor of Grenada giving a very political speech that got some harassment but in good humor.

Now, drum roll, the main band begins to play and we are all ready to rock ‘n roll when bang, a big poof and all of the microphones, sound equipment and the lights go out. We sit there in shock for a couple of minutes and decide even though it’s only 6:30, and we’re supposed to stay until 8:00, maybe we’ll go find our driver(s) and leave. Well, about 100 other people decide the same thing and there is a herd of us heading back. Everyone is laughing and hollering for a refund and basically having a good time (these Caribbean folk are hard to rile) until we get to the gate. The gate is only open enough to let one person through at a times so no one will get in, only out. All this control is trying to take place in pitch darkness. What a hoot! We manage to squeeze through in 15 minutes or so and hike back up the street. We find our driver and realize 2 things: we only have one van for 16 people and that van is sandwiched in front of a crowd of 50 people or so. Well, the van holds 12, plus the driver and somehow we have managed to pick up a local girl so there are 18 of us. I am sharing a jump seat with a British woman but I have the luxury of actually being placed on the whole seat and she only has one “buttock” on the seat. My shoulders don’t fit and her knees are jammed in. And that was only the two of us. It was hot, sticky, and muddy and still we were laughing. A policeman took over crowd control and got us out but once on the main road, cars were parked on both sides of the street and there was only room for one car, either coming or going, to pass. We were stalled in traffic for over 45 minutes; all of us bunched up, uncomfortable and still cracking jokes. We made it home in another hour or so and uncurled our bodies out of the van. I got a dinghy ride back with “La Sirena” but I would only get in after washing my feet in the sea. Wouldn’t you know it would be low tide? I couldn’t reach the water from the pier so I had to kneel on the dinghy and hang my feet over the side, my pretty pumpkin dress hiked up to my waist. Mike had to pass me a sponge because the mud was caked on. At 9:00pm, they dropped me back on “Mutual Fun” and there was a smiling Bob, maybe a bit bored but certainly not sticky, muddy and tired. He asked, “well did you have a good time?” We all laughed and I went below, washed my feet and legs, had a bowl of granola and hit the bunk. Will the fun never end?

December 14, 2001

Help, it’s raining buckets! I just did some hand wash and hung it out on the line barely rinsed. Why bother, with all of the rain coming down? It may be dry in the next week or so. This is some kind of weather pattern keeping us holed up here in Grenada. We had to go into town yesterday to extend our 30-day permit to visit. My toenails are permanently muddy. I got my hair cut within an inch of itself so it would quit doing that wavy-curly thing. The boat smells musty from being closed up so much. It’s my best form of exercise these days; open the windows, close the windows.

Yesterday about noon, “Free Spirit” limped in with a line caught in his starboard engine prop. They had a terrible sail from Trinidad. 20 hours of squalls, high winds, lumpy seas and Geoff was seasick the whole way. His new crew is named John and he was smiling and happy to be anchored. It was so good to see him but so sad to not see Sue. She writes often from England, where she is snug as a bug in her little cottage with a new kitty named Cleo, cozy fires and missing Geoff. We miss her terribly. Well, the show must go one so we all piled aboard “Serendipity”, a trawler last night and had a nice evening of chili, mac and cheese, salad, rolls and coconut cake. We then piled into their huge cockpit area and watched Moonstruck. It was a nice evening and a nice way to pass the time waiting to move on. We are thinking we may get out of here on Monday. The winds will be down a bit and the seas may have settled a little (now 7-10ft). Our destination is the Tobago Cays, which is quite open and will be uncomfortable in a big swell. Maybe Bequia for Christmas instead of Martinique. I just thank my lucky stars I am still in the Caribbean, no matter where it is.

December 19, 2001

Well we’re off and out off Prickley Bay, sailing down the coast of Grenada. It’s perfect conditions, about 15 knots of wind on the beam. We’re still motoring to recharge our batteries. The engine doesn’t sound right and there’s too much white smoke coming out of the exhaust. Poof! There goes the engine. Now we’re sailing along and Bob’s working below to change the Raycor filter but with no success. We radio “Free Spirit” and tell them we’re going into St. George Harbour where we’ll contact Enza marine (again).) “Free Spirit” decides to come in with us and make sure we get in all right without an engine. It takes us a couple of hours to tack back and forth. We are headed to the outer harbour, away from all other traffic and obstacles. The winds are a bit fluky near shore, ranging from 7-23k. I am hand-steering, trying to stay as close to the wind as possible without backwinding the sails and Bob is checking the charts and staying close to the sails to either furl in or release. It was kind of fun to actually have to test our sailing ability without all of these electrical instruments we have aboard. On the other hand, we really hoped to be leaving Grenada. Once securely anchored Geoff and John dinghied over and checked things out with Bob. They did another line bleeding and the engine started to purr. We left it on for quite some time. No more white smoke and it was running great. Bob started it several more times during the evening and things were great. I must say we all had our doubts because we didn’t really do anything but change the filters and bleed the lines. After all of the hand steering, I was a bit pooped but got revived by a swim. While down there, I noticed our water line was once again full of growth so I asked Bob for my snorkel and fins and a scraper and went to work. I came up for a nice rest and then decided to make dinner for “Free Spirit.” I made a tuna-noodle casserole and fresh green salad and they brought wine and popcorn. We had Bob’s lemon pie for dessert.

This morning we all set out at 8:00am and we were back at anchor by 9:30. The engine sounded funny, was emitting white smoke and died. We hand-steered her back in and wished “Free Spirit” a nice sail to Carricou. Enza marine just called to say they couldn’t make it out here this afternoon like they thought but will be here tomorrow. The only logical explanation for both the generator and engine not working is the fuel source. We think we may have water in the fuel somehow. Our tank is full and this may mean purging the fuel and cleaning the tanks. Bob has been changing filters for the last 2 hours and now has the generator up and running so at least we can charge batteries and keep the refrigeration going. For how long is yet to be seen. This is the part of cruising that drives us all crazy. System failures happen so often. Well, Grenada’s not so bad. At least it stopped pouring and is down to scattered showers.

December 20, 2001

Hurray, we landed safely in Carricou. We were both sitting with butterflies for the first 3 hours of sailing, with the engine running. We were so nervous that Bob wouldn’t turn the engine off for fear it wouldn’t start again so we motor-sailed all of the way here. Kind of a shame since we had great wind from the right direction. We didn’t even touch the throttle the whole way until we got inside of the bay and we HAD to slow down or hit shore. The engine worked great. Knock on teak. We only plan to stay the night and then we’re off for Bequia, where we’ll spend Christmas. So far so good.

December 22, 2001

A great sail to Bequia only lacked one thing. Bob was still afraid to turn the engine off so we motor-sailed all 38 miles. No problem, though. The engine worked fine and we were bookin’! Most of the sail was spent at a 25-degree heel so we pretty much stayed in the same spot in the cockpit. Using the head was kind of problematic as it won’t flush heeled over so far and actually sitting there was a bit difficult but we made it and it’s beautiful here. There are lots of boats here for Christmas. Some of them have even gone to the trouble of stringing up lights and are so pretty at night. We had pizza our first night in Bequia.

Everything is so expensive. I had forgotten how spoiled we got in Trinidad and Venezuela. Our pizza dinner was $92EC or about $38US. Upon our arrival, Bob wanted to get to the customs office as it was Friday and we were thinking (correctly) that they might close at 4:00pm. We got our anchor down at 3:30pm, got the dinghy put back together and left everything as is and dinghied over, making it to customs by 3:50pm. I stayed with the dinghy while Bob checked us in. The mad rush was for 2 reasons. 1: You have to pay overtime to check in on the weekend and 2: We checked out of Grenada days ago and never checked back in at Carricou, which is also part of Grenada. Engine failure is a good reason to have been nowhere for several days but you never know how the customs guy will take it. “Free Spirit” sailed in about noon today and we’re headed that way for cocktails in a couple of hours. We will talk about our Christmas dinner and see what the majority wants me to cook. Many of you know what kind of cook I am. Give us grace.

December 24, 2001

Twas the day before the night before Christmas and all through the boat
Not a creature was stirring (thank God), and we were still afloat.
The engine’s been a problem, the generator, too
The rain has halted, the sun is shining and we’re not blue.
As we prepare the menu for the big day to come
We’ll shop for a barbecue, yams and gifts to have fun.
A little daunting, this Christmas without you
We remind ourselves we’re lucky and try to make do.
For all of our loves ones back home in Ohio
Our 3rd year without you is a bit of a trial.
There will be laughing and lots of good cheer
Rum and tonics and wine and even some beer.
We’ll raise a toast to each other and smile
But secretly wishing you were here for awhile.
So to you our dear loved ones, we wish you the best
Have a great holiday and cheers, ho ho and the rest.

December 26, 2001

Christmas Eve was non-eventful except that a steep northern swell came in and we got pretty rolly on our boat. I was getting nervous about having Geoff and John over for the main meal the next day because they’re used to their catamaran, which doesn’t roll much. I awoke 5:00am Christmas morning and couldn’t go back to sleep because of the roll. I laid out Bob’s 2 gifts, wrapped in black plastic grocery bags with bows made of cut paper and fringed with hot pink and underliner yellow magic marker. Bob slept in due to being up in the middle of the night and he groggily set about wrapping my gifts as he ordered me to stay in my bunk. We poured our coffee and tea and set about opening our gifts. I got Bob a new pair of swimming trunks, grey with a bold yellow stripe around the legs and a kicky Caribbean shirt. He got me a Bequia bracelet and beaded ankle chain, a beautiful painted calabash bowl and serving plate. All locally made. All very nice. Since the roll continued, we decided to re-anchor closer, where the roll was less. What a mistake. The holding in here isn’t good and Bob and I tried to set the hook 5 times. Each time I would dive on the anchor as Bob reversed the boat and the anchor would just drag across the top of the bottom. We were getting tired and cranky. Finally, our friends on “About Time” dinghied over and suggested we come all of the way to the other side of the bay and anchor near them. We did. Bob wouldn’t let me dive on the anchor so here we are, probably not even dug in. If the wind picks up, we’re probably in trouble.

All four of us had been shopping together for the food. I bought what I was told was sweet potatoes and they were the dud of the meal. I put them in the pressure cooker and then prepared them like I would yams, baking them for 3 hours with butter and brown sugar. For liquid I usually use orange juice but I had to improvise with lemon flavored iced tea and the juice of 2 fresh limes. They smelled great and were inedible. We had a progressive dinner and happy hour was aboard “Free Spirit.” There we were treated to homemade avocado dip (John), goat cheese with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes and Greek olives (Bob) and rum and tonics (Geoff.) Before we got too smashed, Geoff started grilling the chicken breasts (me) and sausages (yuk.) I dinghied back to our boat and turned the oven on, reheated the potatoes and set the table. Christmas music was playing from the CD player, candles were lit, and everything looked and smelled good. The boat was scrubbed spotless and I was happy with it all. Unfortunately, the ambiance was wasted, what with 3 guys and all but I enjoyed it. The main meal consisted of the chicken, sausages, inedible potatoes and I had made up a 3-bean salad with garbanzos, hearts of palm (a gift from “La Sirena”) and fresh tomatoes. Dessert was a lychee crumble made by John and chocolate chip cookies, made by me, and coffee. We played our junk gift exchange game before dessert and had a great time. The gifts were creative and some actually usable. All in all, we had a very nice Christmas. I was so glad to be with Geoff and we were all missing Sue. John was creative with his gifts, especially since he travels around the world and only carries a backpack.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, too.

December 29, 2001

Another day, another passage, another adventure, another French island. Well, here we are in Sta. Anne’s, Martinique.

One of our favorite French islands and I paid dearly for this one. We left with a few bad omens but since I don’t believe in omens, we left anyhow. Firstly (is that a word?), I had been getting weather for the last couple of days but we were planning to leave at noon and I wanted the 8:30am weather. The guy that gives it was called out of the country on an emergency. Secondly, I really wanted to call my mom. That in itself was a little spooky. Did I think it would be my last chance to talk to her? Thirdly, the phone line was busy at 9:30 in the morning, her time. We are both notorious late risers and even later talkers. Fourthly, it was gusting pretty good in the anchorage. And last but certainly not least, I was in quite a state with feminine pains. Did I say that delicately enough? The worst of it all, at this point, I hadn’t even known was going to be a problem. And that is, I had cooked potatoes and eggs to make potato salad for underway but forgot to put them in the refrigerator before going to bed. When I awoke at 5:00am, I realized this but there was no room so I left them out. I hadn’t added the mayonnaise yet so I wasn’t too concerned. I added the mayo and put it into a smaller container and put it in the fridge. We went into town, checked out of customs, got a few groceries and tried to call my mom. All that done, we got the boat ready and started the engine at 11:30am. Waved good-by to our friends and off we went. The winds were boisterous right off the bat and we had the mainsail up and decided to put up the little staysail as we knew the coast of St. Vincent was quirky. All was going fine, it was a fine day and we had a full moon to look forward to at night. Nearing the coast of St. Vincent, we turned off the motor and sailed for about 20 minutes until the wind changed direction, the swells increased and we were pretty much slogging into the semi-heavy seas. The engine came back on and I was bummed. It was so peaceful with that engine off. We consoled each other with the fact that once we rounded St. Vincent, the swells and wind would change direction. True for the wind but the swells only increased. About 3:00pm. Geoff on “Free Spirit” hailed us on VHF radio. He and John had sailed to St. Vincent yesterday and he figured if we left Bequia when we said we were going to, we would be in their area about then. Their plans were to make a long day passage to St. Lucia (55 miles, compared to 100 straight to St. Anne’s) and then meet us in St. Anne’s the following day. At that point, I told him we were having a nice time and all was well.

About 5:30pm, I got started on getting our dinner together. We wanted to eat while it was still light and we could see our food. Cold chicken and potato salad. We had our meal in the cockpit but neither one of us really enjoyed it, although we didn’t say so. My stomach started gurgling right away. I thought Bob would take the first off-watch but he didn’t. That’s when I usually sneak off the bimini, which is the canvas covering over the cockpit. Yes, it protects us from the wind and rain but also from the moon and stars and I hate sailing with it at night. I can’t see well and I feel like I’m in prison. Well, I went to unzip it and the zipper pull broke right off. The zipper was frozen by salt water and I was mad! I tried out different ideas in my head and when I spouted out one of them, Bob said no. Now, you have to imagine, we’re at a 25 degree heel and slogging into 5 foot seas with some good winds in the mid 20’s. I saw his point but I was still not happy. It was about this time the potato salad was really having a poor effect and my feminine pains were becoming intolerable. I pouted myself into the corner and fell asleep. Upon awakening an hour or so later, I was in much worse condition and dreaming mightily about my condo sitting flat and not moving. Bob still wasn’t tired so I went below and tried to sleep. We were so heeled over that I had to sleep on the couch, on the port side of the boat where it’s not long enough to stretch one’s legs out. I awoke a couple of hours later in even worse shape. I did go above and found I needed long pants and a jacket. It’s actually getting chilly here at night again. Well, probably 75 degrees or so. Bob was tired so he sat in the corner of the cockpit for awhile and bobbed his head around until I convinced him to go below. He slept for 1-½ hours, just enough time for me to have a near run-in with a freighter. I swear these guys are fearless. Well, actually, they’re just big. I turned on extra running lights and hailed him on the radio. I ran below and got my glasses so I could read him my position and got a flashlight. He finally called back and said, “sailing vessel on my starboard side, you are within ½ mile of me.” I didn’t think “duh” would be a professional reply so I tried out, “captain, I see you and I think you can pass safely ahead of me but are you a freighter?” He said he was a container ship and I reiterated, “no barges?” and he said no. Well, ½ mile may seem a long distance when jogging but out here, it ‘s pretty darn close. His green running light was to my red, which is a no-no, big alert. So, that was my thrill of the night and I was happy to have it because I forgot about my woes for a few minutes. An hour later Bob poked his head out and said he was coming up and I said “good.” After having a sobbing fit in the cockpit, from stomach pain and cramps, I was sent back down to the bunk, only to find it wet from a big wave that had come over the high side and all the water was laying on the deck and leaking in. More pouting, more stomach pain and another bathroom run. Are we having fun yet? It was 2:00am and I went to sleep until 5:00am. Bob checked out fine and dandy and I blessed him as he sent me back to the bunk. I got up for good at 6:45am and found Bob had already made coffee and wouldn’t go to sleep. We had at least 4 more hours to the last main waypoint and then 4 more ½-1 mile waypoints into the harbour. There are reefs in the harbour and he was a bit anxious and didn’t want to be groggy. My tea and toast sat pretty well so I knew I was on the mend. The time passed but the seas never stopped their inconvenient swell so we bashed into them all of the way. We arrived to whistling, waving and hailing on the radio of many friends. Anchoring was a piece of cake, for a change, and we were settled and famished at 10:30am. I thanked Bob with scrambled eggs, toast and grits. Friends on “Wind Shepherd” stopped over with Slater the cat, complete with holiday bows. Slater is grey and white and sheds like the dickens and he’s welcome on our dark green cushions anytime he wants. He roams around the boat and makes himself at home. By 2:00pm we were showered and napping and up at 4:00pm to check out the town. We weren’t ashore 15 minutes before we were shoving French pastries in our mouths. It’s a cute little town with good-looking people and yummy pastries. We had a light dinner and now it’s time to say goodnight.

- MORE TO FOLLOW -