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Eastern Caribbean « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

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Cul-de-Sac Marin

A day packed full of excitement. First order of the day was to replace the 2A anchor light with the 0.2A LED anchor light that Bob brought with him from the USA. I got the job of being hauled up the mast on the genekar halyard. Having got to the top I realized I couldn’t quite reach the top due to the pulley being a foot or two from the top of the mast. Fortunately I had brought the digital camera to take pictures so I used to to take pics of the top and to view them on the screen.

I managed to take the cover off but the bulb broke when I tried to remove it. We used the main halyard to haul up a couple of pairs of pliers. In order to see what I was doing I had to pull myself to the top of the mast with my arms, cling to the mast with legs and one arm while working with the pliers. Scary stuff. I tried this several times but all I succeeded in doing was mangling the base of the old bulb and tiring myself out.

On the way down I spent a bit of time taping up the radar cable, a long overdue task. While up there I did take some pics looking down which I’ll post when we’re next on the internet.

After breakfast I went up again, this time on the main halyard. I’d also fashioned some stirrups in case I wanted to stand up. Also taken was some WD40 to help unstick the base of the old bulb. This time success came quickly. We now have a low amp anchor light in place. Can’t wait til this evening when we can turn in on and look at it.

Helen then took everyone to the town to shop while Simon and I prepared the dive gear for a quick splash. Once the rest were back on the boat we assembled a party to go out. Bob and Sharon were to go snorkeling while Simon and I took our dive gear. We dinghied about a mile to a spot indicated by our dive book. The dive and the snorkel were successful and a lot of fun.

Back on the boat we had lunch then moved Dignity into the ‘cul-de-sac’ and anchored close to Marin. We’ve been ashore to look around. Simon, Bob & Jim have been left to look at the internet. Helen and I picked up some shopping and I’m using this time to blog and catch up on a beer.

Because of the continued northerly component of the wind there’s a good chance we’ll sail to St Lucia tomorrow. If we do end up in Rodney Bay Helen and I have decided to go for a curry shoreside. There is an ad in our four year old guidebook for an Indian Restaurant. It could just still be open.

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St Anne

This morning, after breakfast, we sailed to St Anne over on the south side of the island. Our original plan was to head north to St Pierre but the NE winds and, more importantly, the northerly swell prevented us. So we’ve gone south instead. We’ll probably stay here a couple of nights while assessing our options. One possibility would be to head over to St Lucia for a couple of nights while we wait for the winds to get back to the east.

We’ve been ashore a couple of times. Once to collect bread and once to look for a dive shop to fill our tanks. At this point in time Bob, Sharon, Jim and Simon (our guests) are all ashore exploring while Helen and I have a snooze.

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Guests aboard

All guests arrived aboard safely around 10am this morning. We spent about an hour going over the boat then set sail for Petite Anse D’Arlet. We arrived after a pleasant sail, anchored, swam, went ashore, drank beer, moved the boat and are now settled down for the evening. Probably off to St Anne and/or Marin tomorrow.

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Fort-de-France Day 2

Not a great deal to say. We shifted Dignity a little nearer to the shore today. Helen did a lot of clearing up and I assisted where I could.  I did the regular checks and improved the flow on our head a little bit.  I was able to confirm that the hotel where our friends will stay Monday night is indeed open and that taxis can be had from the airport.  Good news. Around town just a few bars and roadside eateries are open. A few folks I spoke to suggested more should be open tomorrow. As you may guess I am looking forward to fresh French bread.

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Fort de France

We left Roseau at 7am this morning heading for St Pierre, Martinique. The forecast was for NE winds which we didn’t see until 8nm south of Dominica. It was slow going for the first 2 hours but when the NE winds kicked in we had a flying sail to Martinique arriving at St Pierre around 12:20. We didn’t stop as a casual glance over the anchorage made it clear it was untenable. We later learned that everyone had cleared off at the crack of dawn as it had got quite rolly around 2am. We therefore sailed around to Fort de France to get some protection from the NE winds which are due to go further to the North over the next few days.

There were a number of boats anchored in Fort de France but we managed to squeeze into the anchorage and here we are settled. I walked round to the customs but found them closed. The guy on the gate said to come back tomorrow at 9am. I do wonder if they’ll be open but I may try.

Walking the half mile back to the dinghy dock I decided to check out the town. There were a large number of people milling around in red tee-shirts, clearly the aftermath of a demonstration. All the shops I saw were shut bar one little cafe. All the cash machines that I walked past had been smashed too. So it looks like the strike is very much on here. Fingers crossed for our guests who are arriving next week.

Fishing was not successful. In fact, something chewed up and bit right through my wire leader. So we must have had something for a bit. We never noticed. So we’re down one lure. Better luck next time.

Not sure what we’re going to do now. There are a few things to do on the boat and still plenty of books to read.

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