Update
09 February 2013 | Anguilla
George
January 22, 2013
Good Morning,
Having passed out at 8:30 last night, I am now up at 4:00am and thinking it is a good time to catch up on the last three or more weeks. As mentioned in the last report, we are not sailing the chain this year because of Sam’s neck surgery, and a multitude of other things going on so we have few stories to tell of storming the wild seas. We have, however, been very content to hang around St. Martin, St. Barths and Anguilla and have had lots of little adventures.
Champlain, after way too many equipment issues, has been treating us very well lately with the exception of a couple of tears we have had in the mainsail. One is fixed the other we need to work on. At last writing we were about to replace the main intake seawater valve. With a diver and three of us holding wrenches, plugs and sealing goop, we removed the old valve and fitted the new one with only minimal drama. There were a couple anxious moments when we were open to the sea and found the replacement valve wouldn’t fit, but after some speedy work with a hacksaw and grinder we remodeled the offending valve stem, and all fell together.
Once able to sail again we finally left Fort Louis to spend a few days sailing around Grand Case and Tintemare Island. It was good to be out, but there was a very strong north swell beginning to build and was going to last for several days. This meant any of the anchorages (except the ones on the south side of the island) were going to be impossible to stay in. We tossed our anchor in Grand Case and planned on leaving the next morning to spend the day diving and exploring Tintemare, then head for the southwest Dutch side late in the afternoon for a safer anchorage. Tintemare is an uninhabited, 50 acre rock two miles off shore with a beautiful crescent shaped sand beach on the lee side.
Even as we dropped our anchor early in the morning, the large swells were wrapping around the beach side making it impossible to get to shore for our intended walk around the island. Other than a powerboat that was at a mooring in what is normally a somewhat protected area, there were no other boats and at first we saw no other people. We were very much enjoying the morning, the sun and the swimming as we were anchored far enough off shore that the higher and higher breaking waves were not a problem.
There were, however, people on the island, 12 adults and two very young babies. They had been camping there for the weekend just inside the line of scrub trees and bushes but out of our sight. As the waves became bigger, they began to wash out the beach, and then they were rolling right up the shore and into the trees. With that, the campsite was under water, and like ants along the shore, there was a caravan of people and gear, trip after trip from where they were going under water to higher ground. One of guys, actually a very able boatman, swam to their boat, (the one on the mooring), and then tried for well over an hour to get close enough to the beach to pick up the babies, the mothers and the gear, the rest would swim out far enough to be picked up. As good as he was with the boat it wasn’t going to happen, every third wave was rolling in well over their heads. The hour or so we are watching all of this, I was trying to figure out how they could get off as the waves were only going to get bigger for the next 24 hours. Finally their boatman came out and asked if I thought he would be able to get them off using our dingy. We both agreed a beach landing wasn’t going to work, but we did figure out a plan. We tied a hundred foot line between the bow of his boat and the bow of the dingy. My job was to back the dingy in toward the beach and ride the edge of the breaking wave but not get beached as he used the power of their boat to keep the dingy from rolling ashore on each wave. It was very tense, especially getting the babies in the boat, and having a propeller so close to the guys loading me up. Anyway it all worked, all were happy and relieved. An hour later after one trip with mothers and babies and five trips for heavy, soaked camping gear, chairs, bedrolls and coolers they were on their way, and so were we. As it turned out, they were all part of a very happening Spanish restaurant and bar on the island called Lagoonies. A few days later we went to visit them and were treated like heroes.
A Quick Diversion,
On January 16, we decided to take a quick trip to Dallas for the World Lighting Market. Having spent so much of my life in lighting and at this market, I wanted to see what us up, and if it something I ever wanted to be involved in again. It was a great trip, the market was well attended, and particularly, the HF showroom looked terrific. It was a very enjoyable visit giving me a chance to see friends, associates, showrooms, and new technology in a way I could never have experienced before as a direct competitor. There were times I a felt like a true insider and others an outsider with a real sense of loss. Then we flew back to the warm blue waters and I felt very good about it all.
February 1, 2013
This last week we spent a few days at St. Bart’s. One day devoted to walking several miles in and around Gustavia and then over to St. Jeane and back. The rest of the week we were at anchor with few other boats in Baie Columbier and Ille Foreshue. It was a good time spent watching the turtles, a pod of at least eight dolphins, and lots of time to read and work on the house plans.
We have not seen our friends Gene and Jo Ann this winter as they are exploring the Caribbean well to the west of us. When we met them a little over two years ago, they had only recently married having met at the Frangipani, a waterside bar and restaurant in Bequia. This week in two different anchorages we met two other couples; Stephen & Roberta on La Luna and Jim& Allison on Spirit of the North, both telling us the same story of how they met at Frangipani! For our single friends, this may be a place that needs visiting.
February 7, 2013
As soon as we returned from St. Bart’s we met up with Nancy Jenkins and Brian Jackson from Burlington. We had only met them last spring, but they had told us that they had a condo in St. Martin and wanted to get together down here if our paths might cross. They did, several times. We enjoyed dinner with them in their fabulous condo just on the Dutch side of La Samanna. We took them for a fun sail around the island, about 35 miles, did the drawbridge at Simpson Bay, and even got stuck in the mud in The Lagoon. From years spent visiting and living on the island, they gave us new insight to the ins and outs of local politics, real estate, and great restaurants.
February 8, 2013
We have spent most of the week sailing around the French side, anchoring in Grand Case and Orient Bay. Both winds and seas shifted yesterday making it a little too rolly to stay longer so we decided to take a quick sail over to the once English island of Anguilla. It was a fast, fun sail. From where we were to Sandy Ground was about 20 miles, yet we were able to clear out of customs in Saint Martin and clear in Anguilla before 12:30. We will hang out here and tour the island for a day or two, and then back to St. Martin to meet our son Geoff who will finally make it aboard Champlain for his first time. I would like to say he was really going all out to visit, but we are his second stop. He and friends arrived last night in Trinidad for Carnival; he will join us for a few days on his way back home.
Stay Tuned.