The bay is full! Boats anchored everywhere. Its a large bay, but deep, so there is a small bit of area in which to anchor around the sides. I made my way up to an anchorage near the main town area of Charlotte Amalie and proceeded to drop the anchor. Nothing!The windlass is dead!
I undo it and drop manually, praying that is sets first time. It does. I then power back down on it hard, to really bury it. The next morning I dinghy ashore and engage the services of Island Rigging and Hydraulics. Chris, the dude, comes out and dismantles the beast. And he's off to the workshop to strip it down.
I saw it today and its totally fried. Water intrusion will do this. So a new motor is ordered. To be flown in, overnight. I can't wait to see the bill for this! It should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday.
I'm anchored in what must be the most rolly anchorage I've ever been in. I'm sleeping in the saloon, wedging myself into one of the settees. In the morning, I feel as if I've played a game of rugby. Stuffed! And I can't pull the anchor to move as I have no windlass. I'm not pulling 125' of chain by hand and then hoping I can reset it again.
The town of Charlotte Amalie is full of duty free stores selling jewelery and the like. Cruise ship trade, I'm told. Not for me. Many of the stores are housed in the old buildings that were built by the Danish when they occupied the islands. Most have been very nicely restored.
Friday night and we've just had a little blow come through the anchorage. The winds, out of the north, were 40-50 kts! My dinghy was flying horizontal behind the boat. And that with the outboard engine on! It was a crazy 2 hours. Luckily, my anchor held. Some others didn't.
Tuesday came and the motor was fitted. It all works well, once again. To give you an idea of how rough the anchorage was, the guy, Chris, got seasick while fitting the windlass in the anchor locker. Luckily, he made it to the transom!
I won't mention the bill for this job. It still hurts too much.
That evening, I was invited aboard Escape Velocity, a Manta 40 Cat, by Jack and Marce for drinks. Jack made us Pain Killers, which are made of rum, orange and pineapple juice, coconut cream and topped with freshly grated nutmeg. My new best drink!
I spent the next day getting Golightly ready for sea. I also went ashore to get more fabric that I'm using to cover the upholstery as it's getting quite a bit warmer now.
Up anchor, with no problems, and heading east again.