26/02/2010 by admin.

It’s 10:30 in the morning on Friday 26^th Feb at the end of another week in paradise. It’s 33’C outside, the sun is so strong it is too hot to walk on the teak deck barefoot. We are here in Falmouth harbour in Antigua, waiting to go over to the repair jetty to have the mast re-stepped. The good news is the inmast furling has been repaired and the mast is ready to be refitted. Hopefully by the end of today, the mast and sails should all be back on and Fizz should be ready to go.

A quick update on the last few days. We left Martinique on Sunday 21^st, after a fairly uninspiring stay at Fort de France, see last blog. Everything seemed to be shut,but we did manage to find a great little French restaurant overlooking the harbour for dinner on Saturday night. The run up to Prince Rupert Bay in Dominica was fairly uneventful, with the highlight being a visit from 2 large dolphins who kept us company playing in Fizz’s bowwave. We anchored overnight just off Portsmouth and were visited by a friendly tour guide called Fire, who tried to sell us a tour of the Indian River National Park, a sort of mini-Amazon. Unfortunately it was already getting dark and we had to head off to Guadaloupe the following day, so we had to decline. He did tell us that the second Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed in this bay.

On Monday 22^nd we headed out to Guadeloupe and with the wind coming from the South, managed to get the cruising chute up for much of the trip. After  a run of 55’ we motored into Deshaies Bay on the NW tip of Basse-Terre, where we anchored in a very busy anchorage. We went ashore to the little village where there were a few tourist shops and restaurants, very picturesque. We had a drink in a beachfront bar, where Pam and I tried  what we thought would be a rum punch. It turned out to be firewater,  neat white rum, about 80% proof, with some sugar in the bottom of the glass. This was the local take on rum punch, not for the faint-hearted. After a couple of those, you would feel no pain. We toodled back to the boat for supper feeling suitably refreshed.

Tuesday 23^rd was our final run up to Antigua, about 43’ north of Guadeloupe. We arrived in Falmouth harbour mid afternoon, and picked up a berth in the Cat Marina at the northern end of the harbour, ready for Antigua Rigging to start the repair on the in-mast furling on Wednesday morning. The sight of 30 plus superyachts berthed in Falmouth harbour was incredible, and made Fizz look positively tiny in comparison. Famous superyachts incuding Mirabelle V, Leander and Richard Branson’s new 100’ plus catamaran  were an amazing sight berthed at the Antigua Yacht club. Much of Wednesday 24^th was spent inspecting the damage to the in-mast furling and preparing the rigging for the mast to be removed. We moved over to the repair jetty on Thursday 24^th where the mast was lifted off the boat using a large mobile shore crane. The repair was completed yesterday afternoon much to our relief, meaning hopefully we should be ready to do some sailing when Jane and Richard Golds arrive on Saturday. They are with us until the 10^th March, by which time we should be in the British Virgin Islands. They are followed by Nick and Gareth and David Burnell who join us on the 11^th for a week’s sail round the BVI’s. .

Yesterday we hired a car and Pam and I went over to the main supermarket north of St John’s to stock up on food and drinks. We followed this with a drive with Stu over to Jolly Harbour where we met up with Bill, Laila and Tom on Kalandia for dinner. It was great fun seeing them again and catching up on news. Stu and Tom retired to the adjoining bar for a game of pool. It was also Karaoke night there, so we were able to enjoy (??) the local singing talent while watching Stu and Tom getting beaten by a local ex-pat , who managed to multi-task playing pool and doing a passable impersonation of Frank Sinatra at the same time.  

More to follow.

Chris & Pam  

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20/02/2010 by admin.

Today, Saturday 20^th Feb, we left St Lucia for the last time, heading for Martinique. We got in to Fort de France on the west coast of Martinique at 1:30 after a fairly uneventful run. With the mainsail out of commission, we  could only use the genoa, but as we weren’t getting good boat speed, we resorted to using the engine for most of the run.

We had a good visit with the Sturrocks and Quaidoos. After the ill-fated trip to Marigot Bay, we had a great day at their villa, swimming in the infinity pool followed by a BBQ.  We followed that with a sail down to the Pitons in Soufriere Bay. The highlight of that day apart from the view of the Pitons was the sight of Pete, Wilma and Keisha all swimming off the back of the boat. Well, actually not so much swimming as hanging on to the swimming ladder.  We had a few good evenings at the Bosuns bar where Pete and I gave a masterclass in pool for the benefit of Stu and Frank.  

Yesterday, our last day with them, we spent at their villa swimming , then a BBQ followed by a few games of cards . We all agreed to meet up in Edmonton in  July 2011 for Nicole’s wedding, and then it was back to Fizz. They were all planning to visit Castries today before they head off back to Edmonton tomorrow. It has certainly been great fun seeing them out here.

Well, we are now sitting in a cafe in a shopping centre here in Fort de France. It seems to be the only place open. Everywhere is shut. It is like a ghost town. Apparently after midday on Saturday everything shuts, so it looks like we will have a fairly un-inspiring visit to Martinique. We have found a Carrefour supermarket round the corner, so it looks like that is going to be the highlight of our visit to Martinique.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we head up to the next island, Dominica, and then on to Guadeloupe on Monday before crossing to Antigua on Tuesday. Fizz is booked in for some work on the mast to sort out the mainsail furling problem on Wednesday, so hopefully all will be sorted then.

More to follow.

Chris,Pam & Stu.  

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16/02/2010 by admin.

Pam’s sister  and brother in law Wilma & Pete Sturrock and their daughter and family Michelle and Frank Quaidoo with their girls Keisha (7) and Kalei (1) arrived in Rodney Bay on Saturday 13^th for a week’s holiday . Back where they live in Edmonton, Alberta, it has been one of the coldest winters for a long time with temperatures down to -20’C, so they are really enjoying the hot sunny weather here. They are staying in a villa a couple of miles from the marina, with amazing views of the sea and coastline. We fired up Fizz’s BBQ on Sunday and I managed to avoid burning the sausages, burgers and prawns, well almost. This was followed by a tense and nail-biting game of pool in the Bosun’s bar at the marina, with Pete and I holding off Frank and Stu at 2 games all. Final showdown to follow.

Yesterday, Monday 15^th, we took everyone out for what should have been an easy leisurely sail down to Marigot Bay 12 miles south of Rodney Bay. However, once we had cleared Rodney Bay marina , and were putting the mainsail up, the in mast furling foil at the head of the mast dis-engaged from the mast, causing the furling system to fail. This meant we had to bring the mainsail down , which was a little tricky as by this stage it was blowing 25 knots. So we motored round the corner into the next bay where we could get in the lee of the hills, and then Stu, Pete and Frank managed to release the halyard and bring the main down into the for’d cabin with Pam’s able assistance. Pete and Frank passed their first seamanship test with flying colours, great job. We then sailed round to Marigot Bay using the genoa, and moored Fizz in the bay before going ashore for lunch in Doolittle’s restaurant on the waterfront. It’s a great spot for lunch, and the food is good, but the service is sooooo slow, even by Caribbean standards. Kalei even managed to grow a tooth in the time it took for the food to arrive.

We had a great run back to Rodney Bay last night as the sun was setting with Keisha doing much of the steering before thrashing Stu and Pete in a closely fought game of I Spy.

More to follow.

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10/02/2010 by admin.

We had a relatively early 9 o’clock start on Friday 5^th Feb for the run from Soufriere due south past St Vincent to Bequia (pronounced Bekway) in the Grenadines. We decided to go to the east of St Vincent to catch as much wind as possible, but the wind died anyway after 3 hours and we had to motor the final stretch into Port Elizabeth in Bequia. Along with Kalandia, we anchored for the night in Admiralty Bay in Port Elizabeth. The following morning we went in Bill’s dinghy in to Port Elizabeth to complete customs and immigration formalities. We then sailed round the West Cay to Friendship Bay, which involved some close quarters tacking between Middle Cay and Petit Nevis, where at one stage we were so close to the rocks that you could almost step ashore. We anchored in Friendship bay and after a very relaxed lunch ashore at the Friendship Bay hotel, we used the scuba gear to give Fizz’s bottom a good scrub.

After a very rolly night at anchor, we headed off for the 3 hour sail to Wallilabou bay on St Vincent. Wallilabou bay is the location where much of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. Many of the buildings used in the films are still there, as is the jetty where Jack Sparrow aka Johnny Depp came ashore in the opening sequence of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. We picked up a mooring buoy and ran a stern line ashore to a tree. We had Team Kalandia over that night for a BBQ and a game of Risk, which after a hard fought game was won by Tom on Kalandia.

Monday 8^th Feb saw us heading back north to St Lucia. It was a great 5 hour sail in strong 25 knots of breeze back to Soufriere where we picked up a mooring buoy in the marine reserve between the Pitons. We spent the afternoon snorkelling at the north end of the bay where there is a special area reserved for snorkelling.  Pam had her first experience of snorkelling and thoroughly enjoyed being chased by a group of colourful squid. The fish and coral in this area are incredibly colourful, with loads of tropical fish in vivid colours, sea urchins, sea snakes and of course the Pam- eating squid. After cocktails at the Jalousie Hotel beach bar (great hotel, but a tad expensive), we headed back to Fizz and Kalandia for the night.

Today, Tuesday 9^th Feb, we sailed back up the coast to Rodney Bay, again a great day’s sail, plenty of wind. So here we are back in Rodney Bay Marina. Tomorrow we fly up to Miami for the Miami boat show before heading back here to St Lucia on Friday evening ready for the Sturrocks and Quaidoo’s due to arrive on the island on Saturday. We are looking forward to spending a week with them doing some sailing and sightseeing.

More to follow.

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10/02/2010 by admin.

Thursday 4^th Feb we sailed in company with Bill, Leila and Tom on Kalandia from Rodney Bay down to Soufriere, on the SE corner of St Lucia. The distinctive “Pitons” are just south of here, the “petit piton” at 750m, and the “gros piton” at 790m . These incredible hills , now established as a world heritage site, drop straight down into the sea and made a dramatic backdrop as we anchored just below them for the night. We had dinner that night at the Harmony restaurant on the beach. They come out to you in a dinghy with the menu so you can order from the boat, and then when you arrive at the restaurant , the meal is ready there for you. The food was predominately local creole fish , simply prepared and presented, but tasty and very reasonable. The highlight was the flambé bananas soused in rum, very tasty, followed by a lift back to the boat with the restaurant’s own dinghy service.

Chris & Pam

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