Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Author: KC2RIY

  • All at sea

    This morning we exited Simpson Lagoon through the 8:15 bridge opening on the French side. We waited outside for a final top off of cheap St Martin fuel following some o/n charging performed by Scott. We also filled the dinghy tank and a spare gas tank. Then it was back to Marigot Bay where we anchored to have breakfast (fresh croissant) and in order to perform our final prep and final provisioning.

    Customs were closed from 12 to 2 which I learned having arrived at 12:10 so this delayed things a little. I bumped into Des and Sue who were doing their laundry. I also found Eddie to pay him for his work installing the radar. Back at 2 I checked us out and by 3 we were off.

    We stopped at Tintemarre where we all went ashore. Helen, Sam, Ben and Jess all made mud and plastered themselves. We then swam back to Dignity where we had supper before setting sail for Antigua.

    We have chosen to go when the wind speed was low and the direction a little too far south to sail. Therefore we’re motor sailing. The forecast did suggest a better sailing window in 2 days time but one never can tell. In two days we may be back to the Christmas winds blowing in the high 20s from just the wrong direction. Folks got pinned for weeks last year so we’d rather motorsail than get stuck – particularly given our recent experiences.

    We instigated a watch system of two hour shifts. John -> Helen -> Sam -> Ben/Jess. Jess being the only one without sailing experience was paired with Ben. I don’t get a shift either as I’m on call to everyone for any questions, concerns or maneuvers. This keeps me rested as much as possible.

    Right now it’s shortly after 2am on John’s shift. We’re on course due west of St Kitts. 3/4 of an hour or so ago the wind shifted 30 degrees right onto our nose. Ben woke me to discuss. Tacking and pointing the boat to Barbuda was tried but speed was no better so we dropped the head sail and soldiered on to Antigua. I used the radar and spotted a squall about 5 nm ahead of us which maybe the cause of the windshift. We again adjusted direction to make our way around this. Perhaps the winds will shift again as we pass.

    It would have been nicer to have sailed here. If the wind had been stronger but from the wrong direction our plan B was to have sailed to Montserrat, visited the volcano there then performed a big tack upwind via Guadeloupe. Not to be. We have plenty of places to visit mapped out in Antigua from feedback from other cruisers so all is well.

    Another lesson learned yesterday. Our dinghy performance has been gradually decreasing which made me suspect the motor had an issue. I’ve been given all sorts of suggestions until the one (so obvious) that nailed it. The dinghy has two hulls and has a bung accessible from the outside to drain any water collecting between the two. We opened this drain today and it took nearly 5 minutes for the water to drain out. Brand new dinghy afterwards. Also explains why we thought it was getting difficult to lift it recently. Duh.

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  • Boxing Day and on

    Boxing Day (ie the day after Xmas) involved a trip into Marigot for the kids. They all walked from the road near where we are anchored. They wandered around the town and climbed up to the fort and saw the view. On the way back John didn’t feel too well so they requested a pick up in the dinghy. This was our first attempt with six in the dinghy and it was a bit slow.

    Boxing Day dinner was curried turkey. Very well done and big thanks to the chef Helen.

    The work installing the radar was also largely completed so now all our navigation aids are ready and rolling.

    Today the family went to Philipsburg to have a look around. The trip was quite short. John stayed back with me as he still wasn’t well but certainly improving.

    The weather remains windy keeping us here in St Martin. A number of boats have had issues out in the channel so we’re glad we’re inside in the lagoon. Progress has been made on the parts from the manufacturer but we’re not quite complete yet. We’re almost ready to go so eyes remain glued to the forecasts.

    While we’re excited about the prospect of leaving the old problem of leaving good friends will again present itself. It is part of the life and it’s never really goodbye – just au revoir – till we meet again.

    It’s nice now that I have email working so well over SSB. Contact should remain simple.

  • Merry Xmas

    Everyone was picked up ok and we celebrated Xmas by being awake at midnight. A feat for all of us in our various ways.

    This morning, I couldn’t resist it. While waiting for the younger ones to wake up I finished the wiring for the SSB power. This is my first transmission with the setup in full working order.

    Merry Xmas one and all.

  • Island Time

    I had high hopes for today. I had hoped to put most of the major items behind us. The big one being the radar install. Our earlier saviour, Eddie, was supposed to come round today to help plan parts shopping and assist in the install of the radar. I’m sure he had good reason but he didn’t show.

    I haven’t quite got in the groove yet so this resulted in my frustration rather than my relaxing. On the upside Helen and I working together managed to fish all the runs necessary for the radar install and the power lines for the SSB and leave bits of string permanently in place to pull wires through when we have them.

    Internet has been up and down all day. Mostly down. We wanted to get our Xmas email out today but this has been nixed by the outage. As a result I’m sending this by shortwave (still running off spare battery). At least I can do that.

    Replacement parts from Lagoon are making their way here via most continents. I have UPS tracking references so every now and then, when I can get on, I can see where they’ve ended up next. Not yet in St Martin.

    Weather forecasts show increasing winds into next week. We’re going to shift the boat into the lagoon tomorrow morning and settle down for the week. Hopes for resolving our o/s issues during Xmas week are getting low. Not that I mind hanging around but I had hoped to do better for when the family were here. That being said, weather down here around Xmas is predicted to be aweful so perhaps the best place is to be stuck somewhere well resourced and close to friends.

    I’ll go back to drinking my rum punch. Dignity back to one-four. Roger, Roger.

  • Blogging via SSB

    It’s been a long time since I’ve tested this. I tried earlier and it failed. Took me a while to figure out what was wrong. Hopefully this blog will get out there. It means we can continue to share what we’re doing when we’re unable to access the internet. Fingers crossed.

    The SSB setup has had a bit of a makeover. Jim kindly gave me some spare copper strip he had which I’ve used to create, hopefully, a better ground plane. I am still using the water cylinder but it’s now hooked up to the tuner via the copper ribbon rather than a wire. This is supposed to be better. We’ll soon see. Installing the copper ribbon was like working with razor wire. My hands are covered in little slices. I’m going to avoid after shave for a few days.

    Today was very calm so it was shopping day. We first went to Island Water World who had agreed to raise the handle on our dinghy where the seat is supposed to sit. This will stop it falling out. While this was done we did some major provisioning of the liquid kind. This involved two treks to the cash and carry. Hopefully the boys won’t go dry at Xmas. We also bought a barbecue cover which Helen has adapted to fit over the grill my parents bought us. That’ll keep the elements off it.

    It was overcast for much of today so the battle with the batteries didn’t last too long and a truce was declared.

    Tomorrow Eddie should be here to install the radar. We bought the mount today. I need to measure it against the Garmin template. It’ll probably need some form of adapting plate made. At the same time we can run cables through to power the SSB off of the main batteries. That’ll reduce the wires that dangle around and annoy Helen.

    The new parts from Lagoon, we now know, are on their way. The complication will be timing the install. The weather for next week forecasts strong winds – worse than we experienced when my parents were with us. This may make delivery more complicated as we want to duck into the Lagoon and get nearer the airport for when the kids arrive. We have a spot planned. This may also mean wet bums for the kids when we finally get them aboard the boat. All part of the fun.

    Soon the chores will be done. The light at the end of the tunnel grows closer and larger. Then we’ll be off and hopefully getting some island time in.

    FOOTNOTE: SSB sending still has an issue. All blog messages arrive pending when sent via SSB. Figured out how to solve it for other emails but not this one yet.
    FOOTNOTE2: Now sorted.