MUTUAL FUN - A SAILING ODYSSEY

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FIRST MATE'S LOG - May 2001

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November 3, 2001

Much improvement here in Margarita. Patti is in their time-share condo. She ended the ordeal with 11 broken ribs, collapsed lung and 2 blood transfusions. We went to visit her yesterday and spent a fun day at the pool. They are staying at a very classy Hilton and the grounds are gorgeous. We wheeled Patti down to take some sun and Duchess and Dick showed up from “Duchess” and Bob came later in the day. There are 3 swimming pools all connected by swimmable channels and water slides. It was quite fun. To top off the day, I took a long, hot shower and let the water pelt on my body. I haven’t felt so clean since I was home in July. Patti was in good spirits but she doesn’t move much and I can tell we tired her out.

Geoff and Sue are heading out Tuesday. We’ll take them to dinner Monday night and say our good-byes. We’re all in denial and trying to just have fun and avoid the issue.

I finally got our package from home with my medicine and mail. We had to hire an agent and it took 3 days. I’m sure some palms were greased and we’ll find out today what we owe. Weather is great. We’ve been bad about getting pictures and will try to do better.

November 4, 2001

We had a good day of few chores and many laughs. We all piled on “Free Spirit” for our monthly haircuts. Sue did Geoff, and then she took off this stupid little tail that my last cutter left on. I have one of those cowlicks in the back and whenever someone cuts me a tail in the middle, it somehow ends up on the left side of my head. Then, it was Tim’s turn and as Sue buzzed the first hunk off, she held it up in her hand and we all burst out laughing. She cut out this huge gob and he only wanted a little cut off the sides. We thought the ha ha’s were over until Bob made some comment, right after she had taken a sip of tea and she had to run below and spit it out; she was laughing so hard. Bob wouldn’t come to the cutting chair after Tim was done, claiming he looked perfect the way he was. Well, this is because he was downtown yesterday and the hawkers got the better of him. He always has a good time with these guys but this was a good one. He was offered a pair of “Tommy” sunglasses at the “great” price of 20,000Bs (about $30 bucks.) He negotiated back and forth, using the carrying case as leverage, and never really wanting to purchase them in the first place. Well, when the guy came down to 6,000Bs and told Bob how great he looked, he got suckered in. The guy said, “just ask this girl over here.” So, Bob says to the girl, “do I look handsome in these?” She replied that he looked particularly handsome so then Bob asked the guy, “is that your sister?” The guy replied, “no man, I’m black!”

Yesterday at the swimming pool, I failed to mention that while Randy was still up in the room and Bob hadn't gotten there yet, Patti and I were dangling our feet in the pool when approached by 5 men in the water. They were quite nice but we couldn't converse very well, as they were light on English and heavy on Italian. Turns out, they were from Roma and Milana. One was the Minister of Culture, one the Minister of Transportation, one a TV journalist and the others we couldn’t figure out. They were at a meeting on the mainland but had 3 days off for r & r in Margarita. We described how we lived on a sailboat and they couldn’t believe we had been out almost 2 ½ years. They invited us to dinner but we got across “husband” and then we went our separate ways. It was fun while it lasted. Bob teased me about it all day but at this ripe middle age, I was only complimented.

November 5, 2001

Bob struggled to stay awake to watch the World Series in Spanish. He fell asleep three times and missed the end completely. He’s been trying to find out who won all day.

Tonight we are going out to dinner (a nice dinner) at Cheers, to bid farewell to Sue. They are leaving in the morning for Trinidad and then home to England. “Vitrain” will be joining us so I must go get showered and all gussied up in my best dress. All gussied up means I wear my best sandals and put on mascara. It will be a bittersweet evening, I’m sure.

November 6, 2001

Bittersweet it was. The restaurant was nice, the food so-so. It was hard to say good-by but Sue and I are of like minds and we didn’t need to verbalize that we were sad. We dropped them off in our dinghy, hugged and kissed good-by and went to sleep. I had nightmares and didn’t sleep well. I was up at 5:00am and waiting for them to weigh anchor at 7:00am. I had my last tears as I stood on deck and waved good-by. Bob will miss them as well; they were our favorite people to laugh with.

Today Bob will have his head down in the generator again and I’ll probably go back to sleep. The oil filter is still leaking but Bob found a new filter that may work. Never a dull moment!

November 11, 2001

Off we go at 7:00am for Grenada. “Passagio” waves good-by and so does “Kristali.” This is a notorious bad passage, heading into wind, waves and current so we are expecting the worst. The weather reports are for fair winds and seas of 6-8 ft. with an eastern swell. We can’t hope for better conditions; well we can but we better not wait for them because it will be next year before they arrive. Our first waypoint is Los Testigos but we are hoping not to have to stop. We are actually having a very comfortable motor-sail, running about 6 knots against all of the above. We’re happy and I’m tired so I took a nap (or two.) The sun is baking Bob in the cockpit so I go relieve him and he dozes fitfully. As we make the definite decision not to stop, we pass Los Testigos on our starboard and are heading in the general direction of Grenada, but west of it so we can sail. I ask Bob if he has throttled back and he says, “no why?” Never mind, my ears are playing tricks on me. But, I do go over and look at the rpm’s and we have lost power. All is well for a few minutes and I notice it again. We’re losing power badly and Bob shuts down the engine. Normally, losing the engine is plain not fun, after all, we are a sailboat, but our generator is not working and this spells disaster. We change sails and hoist all we can, change course and are sailing along at 1-½ knots. Bob messes with the engine while I think of all of the disastrous things awaiting us such as: no navigational lights, no computer charts, no refrigeration and no safe anchorage for days. We can not get into a safe anchorage under sail at night so we head back out to sea. Meanwhile, while I am thinking of all of the chicken and meat I am going to have to cook, Bob gets the engine started. We smile and pat each other on the back and then poof, out it goes again. This time, I reluctantly turn the autopilot back on (a real power hog) and go help Bob. Out comes the toolbox and the diesel. Bob bleeds the engine and changes the Raycor filter and we’re back in business. We change course yet again and head into the Los Testigos anchorage. It is about 5:15pm and we have an hour to go. The sun surprises us and goes down early, about 5:45. We pray the engine will stay running, get out our walkie-talkies, find these don’t work either, get out a hand-held VHF radio (the batteries give out after Bob’s first command) and proceed to anchor in 21 ft. of water. My watch is beeping because I have it set to listen to weather, Bob and I are hollering because we don’t have radios and it’s getting dark. At 6:20pm, Bob declares the anchor to be holding and I make a dash for the SSB radio to hear weather. 6:35pm sees us sprawled in the cockpit, Bob with a beer and me flat on my back with my legs up in the air to catch a breeze. 7:00pm sees Mona in the galley making a salad and heating 2 cans of French beef ravioli (not really too bad.) We are now showered and in our non-speaking mode. Tomorrow morning, we will attempt to start the engine and weigh anchor for Grenada. With any luck, we will be there approximately 24 hours later, tired but not too much worse for the wear.

This is a tough leg for us. We are headed north for the first time in over a year and a half, or so. The islands await us and we await the bittersweet feeling of returning to them for the last time.

November 15, 2001

Here we are in lush, green Grenada! Since we arrived 2 days ago, I tend to forget the drudgery of the trip. I’m thinking it’s like having a baby, although I never have, but the same concept. The motor-sail was 26 hrs. anchor-anchor. The seas were heavy and choppy, the wind supposed to be 10k, but in fact was 15-25k all night. We made 2 big tacks and Bob’s navigating was perfect. So was his engine repair skills, as the engine died 2 more times. The moon rose at 4:00am but the sky was filled from horizon to horizon with stars. We had schools of dolphin a few times but they never stayed to play long, as if dinner was waiting many miles ahead. I slept from 10pm-1: 30am and stood (actually I lay) watch until 5:30am. We made our big tack and then I hit the bunk; hard. We were in and anchored by noon.

We’ve met up with old friends here, one couple we met in Bermuda, and met some new people over dominoes. We had a refrigeration man on board for a few hours yesterday and the damage will be a lengthy process. We have to defrost both fridge and freezer, store our food somewhere and let the cold plates get warm. Then they need to be purged of all gas, the leaks fixed, some soldering done and then regassed and cooled again. How fun for us! We just had it fixed in Trinidad, but of course, when you move from place to place, nobody is held responsible so the money is just wasted. I guess that’s why they call boats open holes that you throw money into.

This is a nice place, the water around the boat is clean and I’ll get my fair share of swimming. Sue and Geoff left Trinidad yesterday for England, and I had to say my last good-byes to Sue over the radio. Geoff will be back on 5 December and we plan to meet him in St. Anne’s, Martinique for Christmas. It should be a blast as lots of boats we know will be there.

November 17, 2001

After going into town, I now remember the friendliness of the local people and it’s such a pleasure to hear English spoken with that pretty lilting accent. “Town” here is pretty basic. The buildings aren’t pretty but they’re not shacks, either. You can get pretty much all you need in the way of groceries; boat parts is a different matter. So far, Bob has managed to pull out the water pump from the generator (about 2 hours, much sweat, grease and swearing) and taken it into a shop for repair. If that doesn’t work, we’ll need a new one. Bob saved us about $100 by doing this much of the work himself, which I think he spent in beer last night up at the barbecue. There was a good pan orchestra and lots of friends but I refused to eat there, as the prices are ridiculous. The food is not so good, either and I am boycotting this restaurant here. Also, their Internet is $10 per hour when we just paid $1 per hour in Margarita. We’re going to have to get used to these prices again, that’s for sure. In any case, meals here are resort-like in price and we can easily go up the street and do much better. “Wind Shepherd” is due in this morning so I’ve been trying to hail their kitty over VHF, but he hasn’t come up yet. I’ve been calling “Slater, Slater from stuffed kitty.” Unfortunately people learn your voice and I’m just making a fool of myself.

This is a notorious rolly anchorage but so far we have been comfortable. The water is clear and warm and I’ve been having a good time scraping the bottom as an excuse to swimming. Yesterday my day was filled with odds and ends of boat chores. I cleaned the dodger plastic and we can actually see out again. The windows and hatches got a good Windexing and I only broke one. Bob fixed it. The swim ladder is free from rust…well, that’s a little stretch. It’s much reduced from rust. Today I must do some hand washing; the clothes I don’t like to go in the dryer. You ask the people that do the laundry not to put in your bathing suits and they say, “OK’ and then they come back all dry and folded. I’m pretty impressed how long these bathing suits last, given their life of salt water, sun baking and dryers. I’ve only lost 1 so far and another is on its last leg. Of course, this being my favorite as most of the elastic is stretched out. I call it my “fat” bathing suit and wear it whenever possible, if that tells you anything. A beautiful day awaits us and as it is Saturday, I shall limit my boat chores accordingly. Whatever that means.

November 21, 2001

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the boat
Not a creature was stirring for they were all dead from working so hard.
What a whirlwind the last couple of days! I think I’ll just sum it up with: The refrigeration is working, the generator is not and the engine is. I don’t think I ever worked so hard in one 24-hour period. See how fast I can forget about a one-week passage? Our fridge is up-and running but not cold enough to go to our friend’s boat, who is out of town, and retrieve all of the food we have in his fridge and freezer. Today, the fuel tank was cleaned by a professional (you can’t believe the pile of sludge that was in the bottom), the diesel siphoned out and Bob jerry-canned 15 gallons back to the boat. We have gone through so many fuel filters, we should own stock. There were rags, paper towels and diesel all over the boat. On top of which, the aft cabin was stripped and everything put in the main salon. What a disaster! The good news is that the fuel tank is clean, the engine is able to run and produce electricity to cool the fridge and tomorrow we will go buy a few spare fuel filters for the generator, Bob will install one and we should have the generator running, as well. The boat is all clean and back to rights. Tomorrow, after all of our chores our done, we will go to a restaurant, play dominoes and eat a turkey dinner with friends. Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving Day.

November 25, 2001

This has been a week of aggravation and repairs. The refrigerator seems OK, now that it’s been emptied, purged of all the gas, the leaky pipes soldered and refilled with gas. The generator is still not working; the water pump may have been ordered last Friday, or not, depending if anyone was working over Thanksgiving weekend. So we may get it in a week or so, or not. The main engine fuel tank has been cleaned and new diesel added but the volt regulator on the engine is working poorly. And there you have it. The weather is hot and still and it would be a perfect time to motor to Tobago Cays, which is northeast and so is the wind. The seas are flat and swimming was fun today. I broke my no-work on Sunday rule but just for a little bottom scraping and stainless polishing. I didn’t tax myself too much and rewarded myself with a good dunk. Bob took it easy today but fixed the head and the gas line to the outdoor grill. He then rewarded himself with a football game and I imagine a few beers to go with it. We were hoping to be out of here by December 1, but I have my doubts.

- MORE TO FOLLOW -