News

Saturday December 4, 2004
Position at 1100 hrs UTC ( 0700 local)
16 27 N
64 48 W
Cog 310
Sog 7 kt
Wind 16 kt
Wind from ENE
On a broad to beam reach, starboard tack.

A pod of 30 or so dolphins joined us briefly, spectucular display by some of
them jumping out of the water!! Shot video footage of them!
Smooth sailing the past 25 hrs. Wind is up again, so is the current.
Still bearing for the north side of Jamaica.
Also much cooler here now.
Had cold bully beef mixed with mayonnaise and crackers for supper.
Total daily run ( 25 hrs )-----170 miles !!!

Friday December 3, 2004
Position at 0600 hrs local time
15 08 N
62 11 W
Cog 315
Sog 6 kt
Wind 12 kt
Wind from the NE
On a beam reach, starboard tack.

Sailed a little too much in a northerly direction last night. Have since trimmed the sails and IT does not jaw anymore. Two Caribbean cruising liners passed us at midnight. Cities of the seas !!
The strong current did not last very long, it was probably the bottleneck caused
by St Lucia and Martinique????
Already 96 miles from St Lucia. Total time for this distance is 17 hrs.
755 miles to Jamaica.

Thursday December 2, 2004 pm - COMING HOME!!!
It is 0400 hrs local and I am already awake, waiting for first light to check the fuel filters to see why the engine just suddenly died. I am sure the filters are blocked up as I only had 5 gallons of diesel left in the tank. Anyway, after I cleared customs I went on a little shopping spree at the small supermarket here at the marina. Bought some bully beef, wieners, crackers, a block of cheese and magarine. Everything is here at the marina, sailmakers, laundry, banks, restaurants and bars. I took in my laundry and turned my mainsail in at the sail shop. It will be ready this morning. Paid my slip fees for one day and paid for 100 US gallons of water. The attendant went to open the valve at my slip and I filled up all my water tanks. Yes, here you have to pay for water!!! Also filled up my extra water containers and drinking bottles. Bought some Corona frosties and ice and stacked them into my refrigerator which is turned on at minimum. Had an English breakfast(I had to as England beat the Boks in a rugby match!!)at one of the restaurants for supper, flushed down with a couple of frosties!!(not English !!!)
Climbed up the mast and replaced the spinnaker halyards, found out the radar dome is loose. Will tighten bolts this morning. Picked up my clean laundry, slept well on clean linen again !!
The marina is huge !! It is not even half as full as I thought it would be, it is only one third occupied and they expect it to be full within the next two weeks as the season opened in the middle of November. There are hundreds of yachts on the way across the Caribbean and the Atlantic. I counted 100 yachts just on the dry docks(sat out the hurricane season) and there are hundreds more moored at anchor and docked at the marina. They expect 200 more in the few days to come. And this is just one of the four marinas here at St.Lucia. A Caribbean cruise ship is also at anchor outside. Thousands of people here already. The mega sunset cruising cats are booked full and they offer sunset cruises on a replica of one of Captain Blackbeards pirate ships too! Check out their website www.rodneybaymarina.com Looks like a millionaire's playplace!! IT just stands out as a toy boat!!!
Million dollar yachts all around us!! People I met ask me how big my boat is, I reply 37 feet, they respond " that small??"..........heh ..... heh
The marina is surrounded by beautiful houses. The place is green from the tropical rains. A tad too humid for me!!
From St Lucia you can see St Vincent to the south and Martinique to the north about 30 miles away. A lot of traffic out here!!
Almost light now, and have since taken off the water separator filter which was blocked up with muck and dirt. Will have to flush out the diesel tank once I get home. I have no spare filters so I will just flush them out with stove alcohol. Climbed up the mast and tightened the radar dome, got my repaired mainsail and after installing the slugs from the old main, got it into the mast again.
Have flushed out the filters with petrol and alcohol. Went over to the fuel depot and bought 10 gallons of diesel in jerry cans. Poured it into the main tank. Bled the fuel system and in a matter of minutes grandfather's 4-108 Perkins diesel was purring like a cat again. Did last minute shopping at the minimart and some bought some Heineken diesel for myself! Also some fresh bread buns, hopefully to last at least 3 days!!
Took IT over to the fuel station and with the last cash at hand managed to buy 50 gallons ( US) diesel. They use the British standard gallons here.
Soon after a sudden downpour left for the Caribbean sea.
Have been sailing for 4 hours now. Passed Martinique on the south side.
My response to Thomas' e-mail about the doldrums, Ja man, die "droldums" is kak !!!
The current is pretty strong and we are managing 8 knots plus.
Bearing for Jamaica, will decide later to take the island on the lee or weather.
Will update my position at first light tommorrow.
Already 25 miles from St Lucia.
Time of send ------17:40 local

Arrived safely at St Lucia!
Am safely here at the marina.
Cleared customs and immigration.Oh la la I needed a visa !! They waived it !
Very kind people !
Engine died while looking for a berth, threw a rope and docked myself.
Marina half empty.
Will take main sail in after lunch. No problems.
Frostie tasted gooooooood !!!
Later
Charl

Wednesday December 1, 2004
Position at 1000 hrs UTC (0600 local)
14 00 N
60 28 W
Cog 300
Sog 7
Wind 18
Wind from NNE
On beam reach, starboard tack.

Total daily run----151 miles
29 miles to St Lucia and Rodney's Bay and Marina.

Tuesday November 30, 2004 pm
2330 hrs UTC
On watch as we are passing Barbados just 20 miles on the north side.
At dusk I could see the outline of the island and at nightfall, a lot of lights too.
Can see airplanes taking off and coming in for landing at the airport on the south side of the island and that is 30 miles away!
IT is still galloping happily on a close reach towards St.Lucia, 90 miles away. ETA still around noon tommorrow.

Tuesday November 30, 2004 am
After the squalls dispersed yesterday morning, the NE trades picked up strongly again and IT was soon galloping and pounding the waves on a close reach. IT finally smelled land again! Waves were crashing on the deck, but IT kept her head high and took them proudly. The temprature also went down into the 70's and I must admit that I am very, very relieved.
Sailed all night on a close reach, full genoa and the old main which is starting to tear up at the top.

Postion at 1000 hrs UTC ( 0600 hrs local )
13 10 N
58 00 W
Cog 305
Sog 6.5
Wind 18
Wind from NE
On a close reach, starboard tack.
Total daily run ----147 miles
180 miles to St Lucia, ETA noon (local) tommorrow.

Monday November 29, 2004
At last! The trades picked up at 1800 hrs yesterday and I have never felt so relieved to feel the cool breeze on me again!
Never slept as well as I did last night!
A freighter passed us at midnight, coming from the NE.

Position at 1000 hrs UTC

12 13 N
55 41 W
Cog 308
Sog 5
Wind 10
Wind ??? Variable for now as we entered a squall.
Total daily run --124 miles
325 miles to St Lucia

Sunday November 28, 2004
Frustrating!! Sailing(drifting) at 3.5 knots!!
The heat, the terrible heat, impossible to sit back and relax with a book as I am always soaking wet from sweat.
To make it worse, the wind dwindled down to 5 knots. With the apparent wind at one to two knots, there is no relief for me. I have been soaking myself with saltwater ocassionally, but have to flush myself down with freshwater so the rash won't build up on my legs. With the freshwater almost out, I had to stop this habit.
Ran into a hell of a lightning storm last night. It kept with us for two hours and I watched the fires of god from front row seats light up the sky. It was a spectacular display and IT shook from stem to stern from the thunderclaps which sometimes went into a rhythm, like African drums, IPI TOMBI of the seas??
Position at 1000 hrs UTC (0600 local)
11 26 N
53 45 W
Cog 311
Sog 3
Wind 5
Wind from SE
Running(drifting)

Total daily run ---- 95 miles

15-May-2005   14-May-2005   02-Apr-2005   26-Mar-2005   26-Feb-2005   05-Feb-2005   22-Jan-2005   
15-Jan-2005   08-Jan-2005   01-Jan-2005   25-Dec-2004   18-Dec-2004   11-Dec-2004   04-Dec-2004   
27-Nov-2004   20-Nov-2004   13-Nov-2004   06-Nov-2004   30-Oct-2004   23-Oct-2004   16-Oct-2004   
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27-Mar-2004   20-Mar-2004   13-Mar-2004   04-Dec-1999