This page is the 2012 Ships Log. To see previous years, press on the hyperlink below.
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19 February 2012 - The Waiting Game (Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou)
Here we are at anchor in Carriacou, just North of Grenada - waiting for relatives. This time, its Diane’s brother Ted and his wife Karin, part of 7 people (most of whom we know) that are chartering a 42’ catamaran out of Horizon Yachts in Grenada. Not that we mind waiting, its part of our lifestyle. We’ve been here now for a week. What do we do with our time?
Well, first off, we went diving again with Lumbadive, a dive operation run by four Canadians who are in “semi-retirement”. With 6 dives (split evenly between Diane and myself), it works out to $ 45 per dive - if you have your own gear (their tank). This is not too bad, we can afford it - and the dive sites are rich in coral and fish life. The staff are friendly and very helpful. We certainly recommend Lumbadive.
Next, we again took a local bus to the capital, Hillsborough, where we bought some of the hard to find items and this time discovered a small ice cream shop that makes very cheap and delicious smoothies (we had banana chocolate). Most of what we need though can be found right here in the small village of Tyrrel Bay.
We also tackled “the dryer” project. In 1998, I bought a Miele washer and dryer, at a cost of nearly $ 1,000 each - quality appliances. Although these appliances were unused (yes, I mean never used) for 11 years, I always figured there would come a time. In April 2009, just weeks before departing Kingston, I realized that I had inadequate electrical power to drive the washing machine. It needed 220V, two-phase power - but I could only supply one-phase power. Therefore, we removed the Miele washer and replaced it with a dependable Maytag washing machine (120V only). Now, 14 years after buying the dryer, we have very slowly - but finally come to the conclusion that we don’t actually need a dryer. We much prefer to hang our clothes outside to dry. The only time I can think of that we might like to have a dryer is on an ocean passage - and in that case, we are in agreement that we can wait until we make landfall before washing our clothes. Therefore, while waiting here in Carriacou, we let the word out that we were looking to give away our dryer. In short time, we had Kenneth from Lumbadive offer to find a good home for our dryer. Therefore, we un-installed the dryer, lifted it out onto the deck and onto a local’s boat (for shoreside delivery) who was very happy to receive a new, unused dryer. Now we have a hole, or as some might rather think - an opportunity - for more storage. Diane wants me to make a couple of drawers so that we can maximize what we put in there. This project will have to wait until we get dockside, so that I can have access at least to a table saw and some sliding hardware.
Another discovery was that our anchor light failed while here in Tyrrel Bay. This is an OGM LED anchor light (with sensor) that failed just 1 year beyond its 2 year warranty. How disappointing! After some research on the Internet (Seven Seas Cruising Association) and the advice of Brian Alexander (SV Novia), I decided to replace the defective anchor light with a product from Bebi Electronics in Figi. The Bebi LED lights come very highly recommended from cruisers and are not sold in retail stores (consequently, you have to order them on the Internet and they are manufactured and delivered all the way from Fiji). By the way, the Bebi LED lights come with a lifetime warranty. I also ordered some additional LED lighting for future projects and will eventually report on that. In the meantime, we’ll be using our backup anchor light, a Davis Mega Light (incandescent, not LED).
Ahh - here they are, they arrived on Saturday afternoon.
Shortly after they anchored, we enjoyed “Dark and Stormy” drinks on SV Joana, and then headed over to “The Lambi Queen” for dinner and onshore entertainment. I’m trying to get some duty free fuel (price is $ 9EC / US gallon versus $ 15EC / US gallon). After that, we intend to sail North again, this time stopping in Bequia.
13 February 2012 - Anchored in Carriacou
We are back in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou - anchored. We're waiting for the arrival of Diane's brother Ted and his wife Karin, who (together with 5 others) will be chartering a 42' catamaran from Horizon Yacht Charters out of True Blue Bay Grenada later this week.
7 February 2012 - Diving at Soufriere and The Pitons, St Lucia
We have taken a mooring ball on the Southern edge of the town of Soufriere. Its tough to anchor here since the depths drop off so quickly. However, we have passed by The Pitons twice before and never stopped, so we figured it was time. The mooring costs us 54EC for two nights, or 108EC for the week (we’re staying a week).
Taking a mooring gives us the right to snorkel in the St Lucia Marine Management Area (an underwater protected area), but we’re not permitted to SCUBA dive unless we take a local guide. You’d have to wonder about these local fishermen operating “inside” this protected area, using a large net to encircle fish right next to our boat......
We did some research and decided to go with Action Adventure Divers, led by two brothers Chester and Vincent ($ 35US per dive - they provide the tanks). The park is situated with the two world-renowned giant peaks of Petit and Gros Pitons abruptly rising from the depth of the clear, blue Caribbean Sea and provides a protected natural breeding ground for a very wide range of coral and reef fish.
 
On our first dive, we did Superman Flight, located right at the base of the spectacular Pitit Piton Mountain. The cliff face here was used as a setting for the film Superman 2, where Superman was filmed flying down the cliff to just above the water. There was a bit of current on this site, promoting good visibility and requiring little effort to move across the reef. The steep slope presented a number of beautiful soft corals, and a great profusion of fish life - better than I have seen in some years. Something new was a basket star, very unusual - it felt like velcro in the palms of your hand. The next day, we did a wall dive between the two Pitons. Here, as you drifted across the wall/slope, you could see the impact of historical lava flow on the growth of corals. On the third day, we dove the Anse Chastanet Reef, followed by the wall dive.
 
 
The town of Soufriere is a small, very local, not very touristy St Lucian town. Here, you can find most (maybe the word “many” would be more accurate) things here in local grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies, hardware and automotive shops. You have to scale back your expectations though. Here’s an example of our lunch, at 37EC for both of us ($ 13.85).
 
After lunch, we had a walk-about, and took a few photos. Here’s one for our daughter Joana -- Joana’s Midnight Bar.
27 January 2012 - St Lucia
Diane’s brother Henry and his wife Marilyn were here over the past week, enjoying St Lucia. They stayed at the Bay Gardens Resort, an excellent facility that we can highly recommend. We had no problem visiting them there since it is not an all-inclusive resort, although we only sat by the pool and drank mango smoothies once during the week. The rest of the week was quite busy doing other things.
First, Henry wanted to experience SCUBA diving, in the ocean. So, as a former Instructor, I gave Henry some personal lessons, training him in the use of his mask, regulator and buoyancy compensator. Together, we made two dives under the hull, where we had anchored just adjacent to a reef that was 12 - 25 feet deep. After he became comfortable with that, we then tried a drift dive on a shallow reef (16 feet) nearby at Pigeon Island. At the age of 57, he showed that he can learn new skills!
Of course, we also walked all around Pigeon Island, climbing to both peaks, and had wonderful views of Martinique to the North - only 26 nautical miles. One of the more interesting things that we did was a Segway tour. Diane and I have done this once before in Madrid Spain, but this was the first time for Henry and Marilyn. They found the vehicle very easy to learn and fun to operate.
We also had a private tour of the island by taxi, price negotiated by Diane ($ 50 per person instead of $ 110 offered by the local tourist shop). We visited the volcano, the Pitons, Rainbow Falls, a chocolate/cocoa factory and a rum distillery. It was an excellent tour and provided a balanced view of the island. We stopped for lunch at Soufriere where both Diane and I tried the local BBQ pork - a first.
In this photo, you get an idea of all the possible rum concoctions made by St Lucia Distillers in Castries -- maker of “Chairmans Reserve - Spiced” --- my favourite.
It was really great to see family, and we were very appreciative that they were able to carry in their luggage our mail and some of the more difficult items to source (ice cube trays with lids, pressure gauge / computer for a SCUBA regulator, bearings for my Rutland 913 wind generator). Sometime next week, we’re going to head South to Carriacou. We’ll probably stop off at one or two places along the way, whatever suits us, since we want to take in more reef diving. In Carriacou (18 February?), we hope to meet up with another of Diane’s brothers - Ted and his wife Karin, who will be chartering a boat out of Grenada and headed North.
16 January 2012 - Rodney Bay, St Lucia
CLEANING THE HULL
We’re still here - but its a good place. On Friday, Diane’s brother Henry and his wife Marilyn will fly in from Canada. We’re looking forward to the visit, even though they’re going to be sleeping onshore at a nearby resort.
Yesterday we took a local bus (4EC per person, each way (total transport cost $ 6)) to the local Caribbean Cinema to watch “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. The film was excellent and the theatre just like you’d expect to see in Canada. Entrance, popcorn and drinks were less than half the cost of what we’ve experienced in Canada. The theatre was clean and the seats comfortable.
Today, Diane took up the regular task of polishing the stainless. My impression is that she goes up on deck about once every two months or so, for about 3-4 days, for an hour or so each day. This way, all the “noticeable” stainless gets a polish. However, when we’re passage-making, she needs to do that much more frequently because of the salt spray. Me, well - I’m responsible for hull scraping. This is kind of like mowing the lawn, at least in terms of effort. As far as anti-fouling paint goes, I’d say that cruisers that I’ve met can be categorized into one of 3 groups:
a. No antifouling. Believe it or not, there are actually cruisers who haven’t painted their boats for years. Barnacles and soft growth stick and stick hard. Some of these guys haven’t moved the boat for years, so who cares about barnacles? By the way, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, if your boat is covered in growth underwater, it goes a lot slower.
b. Ablative or soft antifouling. This is by far the most popular approach and requires nearly yearly application of a soft paint that slowly peels off, as the boat moves. If the boat stays in one place for months at a time, nothing falls off but the owner has to clean it.
c. Hard antifouling. There are some hard, smooth paints that claim to keep the hull clean of growth - I don’t think these work well at all. One exception that I’m aware of is our bottom paint - Coppercoat (a copper-rich epoxy coating) which claims a 10 year lifespan. We applied this (together with Dave Sutton’s help) in Kingston, September 2008.
My routine for cleaning the hull is as follows:
Once per week, while on my daily swim - vigorously brush the waterline (only the top foot of it). This is where most of the growth occurs, because of the sunlight. The deeper you go, the less growth there is. Depending on whether the growth is hard (small barnacles) or soft - I’ll use one or more of these tools.
With warm, stagnant water, there is more growth. With colder water and a bit of tidal flow, the growth is much less.
Once per month or so, put on snorkeling gear and use one of many tools to scrape clean the hull from the waterline down to the top of the keel. This includes a quick clean of the propeller.
Once every 3-4 months (more often in summer, less often in winter), put on my SCUBA gear and clean the rudder/skeg/keel, including the bow-thruster tube, propeller and shaft.
So, today it was time for me to complete the cycle and clean to the bottom of the keel. I’ve been wanting to make a post on this subject for some time, but have been unable to produce quality photos. Here, for example is a photo of the growth on the propeller. There were no barnacles at all. We last coated the prop and shaft with “Prop Speed” in October 2010.
Note to self, refrain from doing this when the wind is 20 knots on surface. Why? Because although the current and waves are really good at removing the debris, it is a bugger “holding on”. It takes a lot of effort just to stay in place. I tied two scrapers, two brushes and a camera to my buoyancy compensator - leaving my hands free. However, SV JOANA (like most other boats) sails a bit at anchor. The result is that the hull swings from side-to-side and makes my cleaning job more labour intensive. This is a photo that I took of my scraper “in action”. Its a little difficult to take the photo, but I think this is pretty accurate.
The job is done, I’ve cleaned everything up, and I’m now blogging about it.
8 January 2012 - Rodney Bay, St Lucia
An hour ago, 24 sailing yachts crossed the start line at Rodney Bay, heading for a 15 month around the world rally. This rally is conducted by the World Cruising Club and you can read more about it here. In fact, there were 25 yachts expected to cross the start line, but one has a problem of some kind and is “slightly delayed”. A few more will join the rally at the first stop, the San Blas Islands (near Panama). Here is a photo I took from our poop deck looking South.
This rally is so popular, that they are now conducting one every year. The 2011 World rally will finish in Rodney Bay in early April.
When Diane and I were still living in Ottawa a few years ago, we contemplated joining one of the ARC round the world rallies, but had a few reservations. First, the rally takes only 15 months. If we sail around the world, we don’t look forward to more than 6 months at sea and about 9 months in ports visiting, repairs, maintenance and “slack time”. I don’t think I’m far off with that estimate either. Its based on 22,640 nautical miles, average speed of 5 knots (120 mile days). Its just too fast for us, really. Next, if something goes wrong with the boat, or the crew, you could easily find yourself stranded as the rally moves on. From our experience, there are lots of things that can happen, either at sea or in a port. There are lots of simple things that can cause extreme disruptions to a schedule like this. In my humble opinion, the best thing is NOT to be on a schedule. Finally, there was the issue of costs and preparation. Despite the fact that I built SV Joana and we have been sailing on this boat for more than a decade (full time for the past 2.5 years), there is a requirement to show qualifications for first aid, fire fighting, mechanical and electrical repair. As if a two day course will prepare us for these things? Sure, I’ve got the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Yachtmaster certification, but the World Cruising Club wanted a lot of other small qualifications that I (in fact both of us) really don’t need anymore. I can’t remember the cost, but it was of the order $ 28,000 - for “management”, Panama Canal fees, weather routing and a few weeks at dock. Nope, not that interesting to us. In fact, have a look at the itinerary at this link. Nope, you couldn’t pay me to take this trip.
Nonetheless, I do wish this crop of intrepid voyagers the best of luck with their trip. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy our current version of cruising.
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