Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Category: Cruiser Connections

  • Looking like Saturday

    It looks more and more like we’ll be leaving here on Saturday. Beginning then is a sustained period when the wind is forecast to be east or north of east which is what we want to get to Port Louis. If it’s not Saturday then surely we’ll be off shortly after.

    Yesterday we took the offered shower in the apartment Elana and Dave are renting. We ended up staying far too long and drinking their beer and liqueurs. So in return we’re inviting them back to Dignity this evening for curry. Normally Friday is our curry night but we’re bringing it a day forward so we can have a beer or two. As we intend to sail on Saturday we’ll want to be dry on Friday night so we are fully ready for the sail to Guadeloupe and alert.

    That meant we failed to send our hookah which we must do this morning.

    We also took a dinghy ride and walk to the town of Falmouth. Turned out to be a grocery store. Well worth the trip as I found a packet of chocolate hobnobs. Result.

    Not sure what we’ll do today yet. Maybe we’ll go for a walk.

  • Waiting for a weather window

    This seems to be what I read about on a number of occasions. Each day we’re looking at the weather looking for winds the following day to be from the East or North of East. Like a carrot on a stick the weather window we’re waiting for always seems to be 2-3 days away. We were pretty sure, until this morning, that tomorrow was the day we’d leave for Guadeloupe. Now it’s looking like Friday or Saturday. We’ll need to think of things to do – more later. We’ve decided it’s ok to wait a few days more. If we don’t get the wind angle we want by earl next week we’ll skip the north side of Guadeloupe and head for Deshaies directly.

    Last night was a great success. I picked up Ed, Peg, Elana and Dave at the Antigua Yacht Club dinghy dock. They brought food. Elana had some delicious homemade goodies. Ed brought steak from New York which he cooked on the grill – heaven. We had a great evening together. They are all holidaymakers with rented accommodation on land. In return, Elana and Dave have offered us use of their shower. Can’t so no to water you don’t have to switch off – so that’s one of the things we’ll do today.

    Apart from that we have our scuba tanks to collect. We’ve had them inspected and filled ready for our visit to the Cousteau Marine Reserve off the west coast of Guadeloupe when we arrive there in a week or so (weather permitting).

  • Today. I am proud. To be an American

    Wow. That was moving (Obama’s inauguration). I sincerely hope the leadership of the American people and the people themselves can seize this moment in history and begin the building of the better future that appears possible to attain. It was amazing to sit in a Caribbean bar with locals and US citizens and still feel the immense power of this moment. Very moving.

    We shared the moment, and table, with a two American couple, Ed & Peg and Elana and Dave. We’ve invited them over for nibbles, beers (and some flag waving) this evening. Should be fun.

    In 2007 we became US citizens. At the swearing in session we had to listen to a very cheesy song : “I am proud to be an American”. For many in the room the occasion was evidently intensely moving as this must have been the culmination of many years of effort. For us, I have to say, it was a mere detail.

    Today though I finally feel I really can say I am proud to be American. In some ways it feels frustrating to be excluded from this (hopefully) historic renewal. We know our trip will end much sooner than we originally planned. Perhaps we’ll have our part to play sooner rather than later. Funnily enough, that doesn’t feel at all bad.

  • 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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  • Dinghies and Planes

    Today the combined inhabitants of Godiva, Bees Knees and Dignity all headed off into the lagoon in our dinghies to the Dutch side to walk Simpson Bay beach. As we had more crew our lot were distributed around the group. As ever, our dinghy was slowest – no idea why. Another thing to figure out sometime.

    At Maho beach we had burgers and beer for lunch. The great thing about Maho beach is it is right on the end of the main runway on the island. When the big jets take off, the blast blows anything by the fence into the sea. It is quite popular to stand here and brave the sandstorm. We found it more amusing to watch the victims of this behavior. One lot had put their belongings down on the beach which was all blown into the sea.

    Back on the boat we’re watching some comedy shows on John’s laptop. Nice relaxing day.

    Parts are arriving for the boat this evening. CatCo are really helping out so big thanks to them. Weather is rapidly improving. We could be off to Antigua fairly soon. Tomorrow could end up being a rush of final fixes, fuelling and provisioning.

    It would be nice to move the boat back out into Marigot a day before we leave so we can have fresh croissant for our final breakfast. We have to prepare for a long sail as the winds may not fully cooperate by moving enough to the NE. That means we could be under sail for more than a day maybe having to go as far south as Guadaloupe before tacking back to Antigua. We’re all getting quite excited about the trip.