The fridge is running a bit more efficiently. I am going to reduce the size again.
A week ago we went into Le Marin, Martinique, and completed the warranty claim on my anchor chain. Thanks Greg and Jenny for the help. The chandlery exchanged it after 16 months of use. Very good service I thought. I also picked up my wind transducer that had new bearings in it and a new wind vane put on. €40 all up! Very good service by Luke at Diginav, Le Marin.
Nebula and I cleared out of Le Marin on Saturday 6 April and sailed down to Marigot Bay, St. Lucia. Had a comfortable night and up at 5am. Sailed and motor sailed down to Bequia. All good. The chart plotter didn’t fire up first time I switched it on. Don’t know why. I hand steered from St. Anne to Castries, St. Lucia, before I got it going again. From there it a good full day sail down to
Princess Margret bay in Bequia. Here the water is clear and it’s usually very calm. It is also a lovely white beach and I anchor quite close to the shoreline. We, Nebula and I, caught up with a lot of friends, old and new.
On the island of Bequia, they are still permitted to hunt one whale a year. Traditional thing. They hadn’t been able to get one last year but this year they did. Great excitement around the island. Friends of mine, JK and Nelia on Windkat were given a piece of the cooked meat that they kindly shared with us. I can’t say it’s to my taste but others enjoyed it. I found it to fishy but the meat is like lamb or beef.
After a great stay there, it was down to the Tobago Cays which is always beautiful. Crystal clear turquoise water full of turtles and other sea life. We spent a few days there them sailed down to an anchorage in the lee of Union Island, Chatham Bay. It’s very tranquil here. From there we motored around to Frigate Island, on the east side of Union Island. Also a cool spot to watch the kite boarders do their stuff. From there it was a mile or two east to Clifton Bay where we anchored for a night or two. Greg and Jenny, Nebula, had their first roti here. A very good one too. Here we cleared out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and sailed across to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou. We check in here for Grenada and her islands. I caught up with friends on Kelly Down and they kindly offered me their mooring while they were haute out for summer. We had great afternoons swimming at the beach right in front of our boats.
Buy now my house bank of batteries were showing signs of giving up the ghost.
Here I reduced the size of my fridge again by moving the one side inboard by 14 inches. About 34cm. It’s the side that gets the afternoon sun. I also insulated it very well.
Gary, from Mystic Blue, came aboard and regassed the fridge compressor for me. What a difference it made! The drinks were now ice cold by 5pm. Sadly as the batteries were pretty shot, I couldn’t run it at night. But the new insulation helped keep things cool.
We had a lot of fun in Carriacou, making lots of new friends. Gary and Ang on Mystic Blue, Donna and Kevin on MaxScene, Ken and Susan on Whiskey Jack from Canada, who, after much consideration, were made honorary South Africans. We spent great afternoons down at Paradise Beach swimming and drinking the local beer. And having good times at Miss Lucky’s, DJ’s bar, Frogs bar and restaurant and of course a bar which we named 3 for 10.
And I sent Greg, Nebula, up my mast to put the repaired wind transducer back.
To be continued...