Let There be Shade

Looking up from Below

So what’s that view out the overhead hatch? Canvas!

    Several updates ago I mentioned our old, big, heavy, cumbersome, and wouldn’t fit anymore awning with my hope to convert it to something useful. Well here it is. A few more pinpricks, stitches, re-stitches, days in the doing, and dollars than I thought it would take, but nothing’s ever easy.

 

Full Boom Length Plus

    I split it down the center, manufactured a bolt rope as well as a rope around all the edges for tensioning, and riveted an aluminum rope channel down each side of the boom. Then I just had to solve the rear support since the rigging isn’t as wide as the ship there. Couple hardware store closet rods with creative drilling/cutting and we have SHADE.

    But heck, we’re way cooler down here than the Midwest USA already. Sorry.

Rear Support

   On the injury report, there will be no photo today. I took one to document…you don’t want to see it. It’s doing what a burn does, a large blister and 1/2 dozen small ones. Keeping it clean, followed by topical antibiotic and loosely covered. No sign of anything out of the ordinary. I'm very sure it'll leave a mark but will heal fine, and probably won't be able to do the Hash this Saturday.

Meanwhile, the sewing machine is off, the wind is blowing 12-15, the sun shines…batteries are rapidly catching up.

Injury Log, # xxx(x)?

Damn the pirates; The Coffee Pot’s kicking my arse.

    Lynn started this injury log thing some time ago and nooooo we really won’t post a number.  Lots of things on sailboats are incompatible with human flesh in this constantly moving environment. For those followers who may actually want to Cruise someday, the number is probably better well... unsaid. Besides, "nothing to date has required professional medical attention". Morning started great, and then somehow turned awry. See we love our French press for making coffee and I’ll make a small disclaimer here, the thermos brand we own makes superb coffee and is in no way responsible, the malfunction was clearly between my ears. Anyway… pour steaming water from the teakettle over the coffee grounds and in four minutes we have coffee house quality coffee at home, every day. Usually we set it up in the cockpit so we can observe the dawn while we wait. Today, while stepping down to turn on/off something as I do many times every day, can’t even recall what it was now, my foot clipped the top of the handle and it tipped. No, not in front as one would think, but hung balanced on the edge until right after my foot passed, then pouring the heat down the back of my calf, and tumbling down the companionway spewing  coffee and grounds everywhere. “Crap” (really?) I said observing the mess. Rinsed the grounds off my leg, leapt down to clean up the disaster below…AND start another pot of course..

T plus 2 hours

    Couple minutes into clean up I realized this whole REALLY hot water on the leg thing just might be a problem. Unfortunately, or fortunately depends on the situation, I have a quite high pain threshold so really didn’t pay attention as I saw coffee grounds spewed about the carpet and cabin. You know, priorities, and let’s not forget…I haven’t yet had a cup! So once I finally take in the big picture, I head to the head (no play on words there) and run cool water over it for a few minutes to make sure it’s cool and clean.  

T plus 5 hours

     Well here is the progress report by photo log. Not necessarily for the queasy, but please bear in mind, this is all documentation so others don’t make the same mistakes right? Short story; lots of Ibuprofen to reduce inflammation and pain, every 4-5 hours a rinse and coat with antibiotic cream (yes it is one of the meds on board that is actually both in date and labeled for humans), keep elevated as much as possible. What would the med professionals do? Not sure, but Google search indicates for small area 2nd degree burns: Keep clean, disinfect with antibiotic, loosely cover, elevate to reduce inflammation, use Ibuprofen for pain…see a medical professional if that’s not getting it done or if there is any indication of infection. OK…So far so good. For those less adventurous…there is a medical school here in Grenada. A bit frustrating to think I did a hash Saturday in some pretty tough terrain most the while chatting with one of the medical school students, left with nothing but a couple saw grass cuts and lots of mud stains. Today I can’t even get through the stinking morning coffee.

14 Hours

10 hours...preparing self medication

    Still finding splotches of grounds around the cabin…and a little afraid this one is going to leave a mark.

Island Time

    Clearly it is a phrase with many meanings. My version on the island is not to hurry. The day starts with a mug of coffee, a listen in on the weather, and off to do any errands before the Island heat sets in full force. Putter with some project until lunch, a nap, actually work for a couple hours then enjoy the evening (relative) coolness in the cockpit with a beverage and the six-string. Interesting meaning I learned yesterday is that when told your order will be here Thursday, It means here… on the Island. Oh, so when did you want to pick it up? Today after three will be fine of course. I’m adjusting…not to hurry. 

New Slide Attachments, Chafe Guard

Leach Tape and Cleat

New Cloth and Leach Detail

    Meanwhile the good ship Celebration is becoming whole again. The Mainsail we blew and planned to replace is now repaired and back on the boom. Johnny of Johnny Sails looked it over hard, made a long list of musts to be done and an even longer list of should be done's.  I nearly fainted at the price until he mentioned it was EC not US. Oh, so at 2.7:1 I felt a bit better. Told him to go for it and we’d  hold off on the new. Picked it up Tuesday and his work is excellent.  He replaced most of the blown panel, ran new cloth up the entire leach, new leach tape, removed all the luff grommets, new chafe protection on the luff, installed all new grommets, reattached sail slides, beefed up the leach end of the batten pockets as well as several other bits of hardware and re-stitching.

The "new" Shade Awning

    The canvas work is coming along, side number two is almost done, but I’m still waiting on the track for attaching to the boom. Yup, today after three.

Food for most of the week!

    In the food department we are still eating well. Sunday was the day to just suck up the heat and turn on the oven. So first a loaf of bread followed by a roaster full of pork loin smothered in potatoes, garlic, onions, and herbs. That pretty much got me and Adjima through the week. Last night a pot of chili made with ground turkey and a new discovery…Adj loves ground turkey. BTW…cheaper here on the Island than the canned cat-food we ration her as a “treat”. Tonight I believe I’m off to the Tiki-Bar happy hour, might even have a pizza. Two for one beer, live music, and cheep and delicious pizza, Island time, it doesn’t suck.

Laundry Day

    A morning here, one this week, actually dawned clear with dry air. So as a cruiser all other tasks were pushed back and it became laundry day. We’re often asked “What do you do with all that free time?” Here is one example of many like it. We don't carry the standard washer/drier, nor the electrical plant to support them. So here is how laundry gets done aboard the good ship Celebration. As you can see, two buckets, wastebaskets actually, one for wash and one for rinse. And the old fashioned wringer between. This one came from a car wash supply place where they’re used for chamois and towels. The mount here was actually a big step up for us. It sits over the lip of the cockpit locker so we don’t have to mount and remove it every time and is hinged for easier storage. Yes line dry. No problom mon.

    Today there is no dry in the forecast. Between rain and thunder showers this morning the good boat cat Adjima joined me in the cockpit while I sipped the first coffee and listened to the dismal prediction. She looks almost as excited as I am about it...I suspect slightly less concerned. It's all about the body language.

Independence Day

    Resting here in Grenada I was surprised to see a pop-up on the cruisers net for a July 3rd Canadian/American Independence Day celebration. The marina at Port Louise hosted the event last night and I might say cooked up a fine American Cheeseburger with fries in commemoration. (Sorry the burger at the Sandbox in Boquerón Puerto Rico still holds best burger title hands down!) Nicest part was seeing all the cruisers we know but haven’t seen lately as we’ve bumped and jumped our collective sailing courses down through the Bahamas, Turks and Cacaos’, PR, USVI, BVI, Leeward, and Windward Islands. Short list but not at all inclusive was Bob and Janice of SV Tsmaya whom we met in Annapolis last fall: John and Kathy of SV Oceana; Jen, Greg, and Quinn of SV Mirasol; Mike and Cheryl of SV Happy Times; Martin and Johanna of SV Snowbird (a very pretty Hallberg-Rassy Rasmus ketch designed by the same marine architect who designed CELEBRATION); and Mike and Rebecca , SV Zero-to Cruising.. Then there were the folks from Venezuela, Brazil, Germany, France, Sweden, and many more. What a great group to meet…the evening ended with a guitar and ukulele sing along on one of the large catamarans moored at the marina. And….there was no 0400 thunderstorm this morning, woo who!

    Tonight just before sunset I sat on deck and watched our dear friends Chris and Anne, SV Mr. Mac haul anchor and set off for points south.. It was one of those bitter-sweet parts of cruising. For those who don’t know, Chris and Anne were readying Mr. Mac at the same time and marina as Lynn and I were readying Celebration for her full time role as both our home and sea gypsy transportation. We left the dock a week apart each other. We ran together in Key West within weeks, then 6 months passed until we met again at the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) Gam in Annapolis. Nearly another year after that until we shared moorings in front of our wonderful friends Gary and Alex’s home in Newburyport MA followed by a couple weeks together exploring Maine. Again, off to different directions. One quick hello in Melbourne Florida at another SSCA event, and off to different ports. As we headed south this winter we met them in Boquerón Puerto Rico to realize we had similar plans for the storm season. Over the past couple months we have sailed the same routes, seen them in many ports, have snorkeled, hiked, shared a car or a bus to sightsee, and of course watched many sunsets together over cocktails while sharing past adventures and future plans.

    Several times in the past few years Lynn and I have compared cruising relationships to those we experienced in the Air Force. The similarities are extraordinary. With 18 moves over 24+ years and many deployments, we made and found many, many close friends. The new adventure, excitement, risk, and shared camaraderie, brotherhood all led to the building of a common bond among peers and extremely close, even could say intense, relationships. Then one day, any day, Independence Day (as we all are, and literal) in this case, you just waved and moved on to another place, always with the assumption in our minds that we would see them at another stop. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t.. Time moved so damn fast that suddenly it’s all over and we were in different stages of life wondering where all those great people are. Oh yes the internet and cell phones have changed a lot of that as we can now stay in touch no matter where we are. But tonight as I watched them haul anchor and head out, even knowing we will meet again this fall in either Trinidad or these Windward Islands, I had that old familiar feeling. Close friends departing course with the assumption we will see them again, soon.… I look forward to that.

Grenada, week 1

    We were headed here as a stopover point enroute to Trinidad. But with Lynn flying home we learned flights from here were quite a bit less, so we booked it from here. Then we got here and really like it; decided we’ll stay at least through Carnival. Plans change…the life of a Sea Gypsy.

    Lynn is back in the US for a while with her family so I’m taking some time for boat projects and of course continuing the quest for the best Happy Hour. I believe our friends Bob and Kitty of Equinox took on the same challenge in Key West last summer. Dang the luck but someone has got to do it right?. I’m happy to report last night’s deal was 3 beers in a bucket of ice for $10EC ($3.71 in US dollars) OK, so it’s hot, windy, broken only by thunderstorms several time a day/night thus far, but between the fellow cruisers we meet up with, the socializing, and the ability to get some work done in between…it doesn’t suck.

    First project: figure out how to get the windscreen to open farther without having to undo all the hardware and prop it up with a stick. Not a problem last year as we were headed north and trying to stay warm vs cool. Lynn came up with this solution. I measured the swing room, looked like it would work so took the old (shorter) slide in to the machine shop and they built two new longer slides. As you can see, the window opens flat out and a nice breeze blows through the cockpit.

    Now working on some shade so the saloon has temporarily been converted to a canvas shop. This big piece used to go over the boom but with lazy jacks and a Stack Pack (sail cover) both now atop the boom, it doesn’t work. Besides it was too heavy and cumbersome so we rarely used it. But it is hot here (did I mention hot yet?) so on to it. I’ve ordered channel to mount down each side of the boom as I’d seen on a couple big schooners. I’m splitting the canvas in two, will sew in a couple boltropes so each side can go on separately. More to follow.

This last photo is for Lynn since I know she doesn’t believe I really eat while she’s gone. Guess I’ve used that old college line “Beer; a pork chop in every can” at least once to often. Anyway here is today’s tortilla pizza lunch, lots of onions, garlic, olives, a leftover frank which Adjima took a liking to, and lots of cheese. Not too bad, followed by the obligatory after lunch nap of course.

We have not sailed off the edge of the earth…

...even though the computer navigation program often looks as if we are about to! We did however leave Rodney Bay, St Lucia on the 13th of June and have been pretty much out of touch since. First stop was Admiralty Bay, Bequia to check in for St Vincent and the Grenadines. A couple days there waiting for a "tropical wave" to pass and we were on to Saline Bay Meyreau. A night there and we moved out to the Tobago Cays Marine Park. We snorkeled in a turtle protection area (yes, lots of turtles) but the weather was unsettled, anchorage rough, and forecast calling for more wind so we headed for Union Island after a much too short visit.


   We loved Chatham Bay, Union Isle and the $2 Rum Punch happy hours at the open air Sun Beach & Eat restaurant/bar while another "tropical wave" blew through. Three days ago we headed south to Hillsborough Bay, Carricou to check in as this is (unknown to me prior) part of Grenada, then around the corner to Tyrrel Bay where yesterday we rode out yet ANOTHER "tropical wave" seeing wind over 35kts in the protected anchorage. Tomorrow we are hauling anchor to head south for Grenada proper, probably Prickly Bay, where I’ll spend a month doing boat work while Lynn heads back to the states to visit her family. Hopefully we will find a good Wi-Fi connection to upload photos.

  12 deg 27.404 min North

061 deg 29.317 min West

Fort du France

We spent almost a week in Martinique, reprovisioning and sightseeing.  The city of Fort du France is the capital and the largest city. It''s a great place to wander, which we did a lot.  The Martiniquois are a mix of indian, caribee and European and are a good looking lot and very tall! The skin colors range from kind-of-white-with-freckels (like me when I have a tan) to cafe au lait to the very darkest of dark chocolate.  There were quite a few inter racial couples, something that, while not uncommon on the other islands, was definately more noticeable here. 

The grocery stores are modern and fairly well stocked and we took advantage of the short walk to the dinghy dock to pick up some of the more bulky items: toilet paper, coffee and cat litter.  It's a challenge to shop in a French 'super marche', I have to take a dictionary to see what it is we're really buying.  And then there's the money.  We've gone back and forth and back and forth between the Euro and Eastern Caribbean Currency as we've gone from island to island.  I'm sure I look pretty funny standing in the isle trying to remember which currency we're using today and which way to divide the dollar and is that a good price for a kilo of rice? And, yes, things are in kilos and grams which also adds to the equation. Anyway, it's great fun and we've had more fun trying the new foods that we're finding here.

 We took a look around the Schoelcher Library in Fort du France.  It was designed by Gustav Eifel, built in France and shipped to Martinique in pieces in 1889.  It's a very elaborate building, made of metal and is still used as a library today. It's named after Victor Schoelcher who was a very active slavery abolitionist, there is also a town named for him on the island.

Local rum punches for sale in the market, I like the hats on the upper bottles.

We went through the main Market where there was everything for sale from soup to nuts, literally.  We bought curry and fresh vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks, tomatoes and lettuce. Steve and I were standing having our usual conversation*,  when the vendor overheard us and said "Oh you speak English, so do I! You're English."   Steve said "No, I'm American, my English isn't that good."  The woman was very funny and nice and hardly made fun of my attempts to speak French at all.

* (What's the exchange rate again? No, that's EC, we're using E here. Are you sure? What is this anyway? I don't know, I think it's a christophene. Are they good? I think it's like a potato, only different. Are you sure?)

Produce stall in the market, notice that she takes VISA and MASTERCARD.

We left Martinique yesterday and are currently in Rodney Bay, St Lucia, anchored off a giant Sandals Resort.  There's a lot to see and do here, but we'll keep moving south and try to be in Grenada in a week or so.  The phrase 'tropical wave' keeps coming up in the weather forecasts and we'd like to avoid them if at all possible.


And FYI, according to the guide a christophene "has shallow ridges, is pear shaped, comes in green or white, and grows on a vine.  Somewhat delicate in flavor, it makes an excellent vegetable dish or may be added to curries or stews.  Peel it underwater or with wet hands, as otherwise it leaves a mess on your hands that gives the impression your skin is peeling off.  It is excellent just boiled with salt, pepper and butter and is even better put in a white cheese sauce.  It may also be used raw as a salad ingredient. The seed tastes good raw".

Martinique, Ready or Not

    It was tough to leave Dominica as beautiful as it is. We wanted and planned to stay a few more days, but the wind was forecast to come from the south for about a week if we didn’t leave Friday…so we left in the evening and sailed overnight to Martinique. Well we mostly sailed. By the time we were in the lee of Martinique the wind had died to nothing, so we motored the last several hours. Not all bad since with Nanni sipping .56 gal/hour, we arrived with the water heater hot, the water tank full with all 175 gallons (engine drive water-maker), the fridge plate frozen solid, and the batteries all topped up. The passage was again smooth and uneventful. Lynn was joined on her watch by a large pod of dolphins ripping though the phosphorescent water and leaping alongside Celebration. I on the other hand, had some great sailing, a starlit night, but was greeted by no dolphins, just several large ships to starboard and several small ones to port. It was kind of like sailing right down the median of the highway.


And have I mentioned the FOOD?



    Check in at Fort de France, Martinique was as easy as could be, even on the weekend. We went to the lobby of the Chandlery to fill out the one form on-line (yes just one for check in and out too), printed it, took it inside for signature and stamp, no fees, no fuss, no "officialdom" and we were off. Well almost off as we of course met some other cruisers doing the same thing so note sharing and plans to meet later were obligatory. All in a day’s cruising. So far the French have it hands down on the check in process!



    Like everywhere, we study the local market early in the visit; pick our grocery shopping spots and today we made the large runs to top up before heading off. Tomorrow we’ll head for a more secluded anchorage as we are right down town now, then later in the week when the wind turns east again; we’re headed south to St Lucia. Meanwhile we can relax a little now just 160km from the airport in Grenada where we must be for Lynn’s 30 June flight home.

 14 deg 28.9 min North
061 deg 04.1 min West

Skipping right to Dominica

I know I haven't written anything about St Martin or Antigua or Guadeloupe, but I think you'll get tired of me continually saying how beautiful the beaches are and how great the snorkeling is and how FANTASTIC the fresh baked baguettes are for breakfast, etc. etc. etc. So I'm going to go right over those islands and straight to Dominica.  It's pronounced dome-a-knee-ka and has been, at times, ruled by the Spanish, the French and the British.  The names of the cities, mountains and rivers are a hodge-podge mix of all three languages and have a little Carib Indian thrown in for good measure.  You can go from Salisbury to Trafalgar then on to Morne Espagnol, Dublanc and Soufriere.  They mostly (is mostly even a word?) speak English but lapse into a Caribbean/French Creole when they don't want us foreigners to know what's up. 

Indian River from the Bush Bar.

 There is an interesting industry here, one referred to as "Boat Boys". I guess boaters entering the harbor used to be mobbed by very young men in boats and on surfboards offering all kinds of services and help for everything from laundry to trash disposal.  These days the Boat Boys are now Boat Men and they are organised into a group called PAYS (stands for Portsmouth Area Yacht Security, but actually it's what you do, you pays and you pays and you pays).  They now run most of the tours from this area, in addition to taking care of your laundry and trash.  It's difficult to describe but the way it works is that basically the first boat boy you are approached by becomes YOUR boat boy and you are expected to take your tours on the rivers and on land with him.  The complications arise when you want to take a tour with a few other fellow boaters to take advantage of the group discount.  Who's boat boy gets the business and who'll be upset?  It's too much stress for my stress-free lifestyle.  They also don't seem to understand how freakin'ly independent cruisers are (and how cheap) and that we as a whole don't want to PAY someone to hand us the mooring line that we're very able to pick up for ourselves, thankyouverymuch.

Steve and Chris drinking coconut water.

 Anyway, when in Rome... Our Boat Boy is Jeffrey and he's the president of PAYS.  He wasn't too upset when we did an Indian River tour with a competitor as long as we agreed to an island tour with him later in the week.  Both were wonderful.  The river tour, given by Monty, was quiet and fairly cool. We sampled coconuts, cocoa beans and mangoes, saw bananas ready for harvest.

The view from the restaurant almost made up for the supremely uncomfortable bamboo benches.

 For the island tour, eight of us piled into moreBLING with Winston.  (All the vans and most of the cars had names or sayings applied across the top of the windshield, and for some reason Winston's van said moreBLING, I didn't ask.)  Winston took us to see a bay leaf distillery, a rum distillery, a river where we swam across to a thermal pool, an Emerald Pool where we swam under a waterfall, mango trees, almond trees, cashew trees, passion fruit vines, taro root, on and on and on. 

Carib Indian basket vendors, looking out over the Atlantic.

 After lunch of fried chicken or fish, we were off in moreBLING to see: the Carib Indian reservation and purchase some beautiful handmade baskets, black sand beaches, red rock caves, cassava cooking, mahogany trees and more fruits than I can remember.  We were a quiet, tired group by the end of our 12 hours of touring, but we managed to stop by the grand opening of the new fishing pier here in Portsmouth and buy fresh tuna steaks for $3.20 a pound.  In all, a wonderful day with good friends, old and new.

The group sampling what I think was cassava. left to right: Darwen and Jan, Anne, Winston, Vicki, Chris, Steve and Bob.