Bequia

It has been a relaxing week in Bequia. We have got to do some very nice snorkeling, seeing many small and unusual fish but nothing big (read edible). We did see 4 eels and an octopus near Petite Nevis which was fun. Jake and Isabelle discovered a beach with caves along the rock cliff, so that is nearly a daily routine now. Bequia is a nice stop from a cruising standpoint with a very protected anchorage, lots of services, food, beverages and generally just very hospitable to boat people.

This is a big week with Jake's 6th birthday on the 27th. He is very excited. Isabelle announced that she would like a baby sister for her birthday, unfortunately with that only 3 weeks away we probably will not deliver. Fortunately Jake is focused on his fishing pole, which I have stashed on board so at least there we will deliver.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

The Race

After motoring clear of Horseshoe Reef, The Race, was on. We had given 2 miles to the boat in front of us, having raised anchor later and following it our through the reef. Winds were 15-19 knots out of the ENE, finish line was 18 miles away bearing 27 degrees, seas were running 4-5 feet in a NE swell. The competing boat, and the one in the lead at the start due to their earlier anchor ups, was 40 feet in length and carried a cutter rig.

Given we are still a cruising boat and the kids were below watching movies, we had to be careful about the angle of heel as we made this beat to windward. Thus we began flying a single reef in the main and a triple reef in the genoa, effectively cutting the sail to a 95% jib. Our competitor was flying full canvas, main, jib and cutter. We were easily making 5 knots with the gusts pushing us to 6 knots. For the fun of it we were also fishing as well as for the electric energy towing our water generator. The first hour yielded very little change in the relative position of the two boats.

As we came out of the lee of Canoan, the wind dipped ever so slightly, and we shook out a reef in the geona. Suddenly we were closing the gap. We gave them a faint, showing a pass on their lee side, then hardened up, took yet another reef out of the genoa and ran up onto their stern, barely a half a boat length away. After a momentary stare down, we effortlessly moved up their windward side. We put them in our wind shadow and our lead quickly grew.

The the squall came. 35 knots of wind, lashing rain. We reefed ourselves back down, slowing to 4.5 knots. The competitor still slogging after losing their wind to us, took in their jib.... and turned on their engine! Powering forward dead into the squall. Needless to say our lead vanished and we were again behind by 1 mile, with only 11 to go. We knew though from watching the squalls pass while we were anchored in the Tobago Cays that the strong one brought a temporary but nice SE wind shift. We prepared and when the shift hit, we let out our reefs and pointed up to 50 degrees, picking up speed to 7 knots.

The wind slowly shifted to the ENE again, settling just below 15 knots. We shook out the remaining reefs, working now under full main and genoa. We rounded Admiralty Point 1 mile in the lead.

We are now anchored in Bequia, enjoying this beautiful island and its favorable orientation towards boats of all kinds, having formally a successful whaling station, a strong fishing tradition and a good boat building tradition.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Return to Mopion Island

After a nearly 10 year interval we return to Mopion Island. A 50 foot square patch of sand, surrounded by coral reef nearly too shallow to get the dinghy over and sporting nearly all the comforts of civilization; namely it has one 5 foot circular thatch roofed, single pole dwelling.... and nothing else. Bordered on all sides by the Caribbean sea, which breaks up on the island, moving it each year to the left or right. This time rather than the aforementioned "dwelling" was well to the east of the island rather than in the middle. The kids had a blast playing in the sand, getting crashed by the waves and generally running around the island as many times as possible.

This week we left Grenada/Carricou and moved up into the southern Grenadines, visiting Petite St. Vincent, Petite Martinique and Union Island. The fishing has been thinner though I was able to get one more lobster.

We did have a near scare. The water maker failed due to excess salinity above the preset threshold. Running through all the possibilities, bad salinity probe, membrane in need of cleaning, bad membrane or loose connections, I only had the ability to look into the last item, having no membrane cleaning supplies or salinity testing equipment. Very fortunately another cruiser came to our rescue, notably having both cleaning supplies and a hand held salinity probe. We ran the water maker, bypassing the automated salinity alarm and tested the output with the hand held probe .... the water quality was excellent, alas only a faulty automated salinity probe. We have water, which I find better than the alternative .. rum rations only.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Farwell to Grenada

We left Grenada this week for the southern Grenadines, Carricou to be exact. Even though we had spent the better part of 6 weeks in Grenada it feels like we left many things unexplored. It is truly a magnificent place to hang out. We wonder if we will be back?

The sail up to the Grenadines held a little bit of everything, no more than 30 minutes out we were hit with a squall that kept building until we had 30 knots of wind and a downpour of rain. Quick work was required to get the sails reduced as we had a full main up. We then had little wind and motored up the coast hugging the depth contours, which rewarded us with a Black Fin Tuna. This was the first fish we have caught trolling, Jake and Isabelle had a blast helping us land the fish. As we left the coast of Grenada the trades began to fill giving us between 13-19 knots of wind. We set sail with a double reef in both main and Genoa making good between 30 and 80 degrees averaging 5 knots, depending on the wind flow around the islands. Our course took us right over Kick'em Jenny and undersea volcano that last erupted in 1989.... but still. We were able to make Carricou in one tack, pretty good for the easting we had to do. We are now anchored off of Sandy Island, which as one would guess is very sandy, though only about 100 yards long.

The fishing of late has been outstanding. I finally found a clean reef on the south side of Grenada (they tend to be covered in algae, which I understand is seasonal, e.g. it is warmer now so more algae) and was able to take a nice sized lobster. Then on the sail up in addition to the Black Fin Tuna we also caught a Mahi Mahi, both smallish, but good fish none the less. After we had anchored we cubed the tuna and ate it raw, a fabulous treat.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com