Ourselves and S/V Nemo set off for St.Vincent. We had arranged not to strictly sail together but rather meet up at the intended destinations. We slowly travelled northwards until out of the lee of the island and then we were in turn heeled over, close hauled making swift headway. We made it to Chateaubelair Bay first and anchored off the beach. By the time it took Nemo to arrive, the locals had been alerted and they were met and directed to a spot quite near us to anchor. We then had a few visitors come out to sell fruit or hats and baskets crafted from palm leaves. Then a fisherman paddled out to ask us to move to the northern side of the bay because if a shoal of fish arrive they rush out with nets and we would be in the way. We moved, directed by kids on paddle boards and anchored at this much preferred spot. Unfortunately on getting our anchor up, I pulled my back, trapping a nerve it seams...quite painful! Then we were surrounded by inquisitive kids, one selling fruit, the others just hanging on to the sides of our boat.....looking! We weren't armed at all with gifts for the 'natives' but managed to find packets of buscuits which they seemed to be happy with. After they left us a guy turned up selling fruit again and said to tell the kids we like a quiet time and not to bother us, but to buy all of our fruit off him, insisting on giving us his address and phone number for when we return....fat chance! I find it amazing that you can buy much of the fruit that grows here cheaper in the supermarkets in the UK. After a quiet night we left early the next morning.
St.Lucia
After a blustery, close hauled voyage we arrived at Vieux Fort, a big commercial bay however totally empty. We dodged a smattering of Coca Cola bottles acting as fish pot/net buoys and found a place to anchor on the east side off a small pebble beach, not great holding as we dragged a little before our anchor held. Nemo anchored off a sandy beach a little further out but said they too had dragged a little.
With St Lucia not too good a reputation, Chris & Alison went off to find customs, whilst Elaine & I stayed on our perspective boats in VHF contact...so as not to leave 2 women folk aboard. I ferried Chris & Alison to the fishermans harbour where we were met by some rough looking fishermen. Bit of a worry when a guy hoisted Alison out of the dinghy by her wrist whilst brandishing a large knife in the other hand, but was in fact only trying to be helpful...it turned out.
I returned to Artemis and waited for a VHF call from Alison whom had the handheld with her. Four hours later they returned by fishing boat. With a tale of woe of the long walk to the airport, unameniable staff at customs....until the boss man sorted it all out and then walking/hitching a ride back and then the VHF being out of battery!!!!
The next morning we weighed anchor again with Nemo setting off first. With the wind behind us and just the mainsail up, we were going like a train and so comfortable compared to close hauled. After a while we heard a banging on the hull and looked over the side and saw a couple of Coca Cola bottles on rope coming up from underneath the hull. I started the engine and used forward and reverse to activate our rope cutter and the offending bottles, rope, drifted off behind us. We had known they were in the bay but we were so busy raising the sail, that we didn't notice Artemis ploughing through the fish buoys....sorry fishermen but clear plastic is not very visible.
A hour or so later when one of us was downstairs, we could hear, yet again, knocking on the hull. We turned Artemis a full 360 and more bottles and rope came away.
Sailing up th leyward side of St. Lucia is very beautiful with the signature 2 pitons that is represented on their flag. These pitons are an impressive feature to behold!
With the Pitons blocking the wind, we had the engine on & off a few times and then it conked out. It started again but when put into gear, shuddered to a halt. Was there still more rope and bottles around the prop/shaft?
I checked the engine over and it now wouldn't even start in neutral. It was late afternoon now, we had kept Nemo informed over the VHF. They had reached our planned destination but not liked it,so came back out to find a suitable anchor spot to reach without engine. That line of the coast, on that day was one of the busiest with yachts and catamarans that we have ever seen, getting to the shore would be a problem with all the cross traffic.
Nemo anchored in Marigot Bay and gave us the lie of the land, over the VHF. We started tacking as Marigot was windward (of course). It was going to take a long time. Nemo said that the local mooring buoy guy had offered to tow us in with his dinghy. We decided to take the offer and after agreeing a price he came out to throw us a line (borrowed from Nemo). It was slow going but after about an hour or two, we were safely on a mooring buoy. Having done a good rescue job, our hero obviously wanted paying. I didn't have enough cash on board so he whisked me to the ATM close by. 'Out of Order' and the bank was closed until the next day. I promised to return to the bank the next morning but that wasn't good enough for him. Actually, as soon as we were on the mooring buoy, he turned from being Mr Nice guy into a greasy, slimy, lecherous scumbag. He kept trying to 'up' the agreed price, insisted we owe him beer ( supplied) and suggesting he deserved a considerable tip on top...we did not agree!
Anyway he said he would return at 6:30 pm and drive me to another ATM a few miles away. On the way back to Artemis he had a 'brainwave' and zoomed over to Nemo "Your friend will lend you the money!". I embarrassingly had to ask them and after a bit of discussion between themselves and me offering what I had in my wallet, as a starter, they came up with the rest. I apologized later as it was in no way my idea but we are so glad they could help. It got boyo off out back for starters.
The next morning we went to the bank...they don't advance money, only exchange and the ATM was 'kaput' for the foreseeable future. Ok! So wanting to pay our pals back asap, we enquired about a taxi to the nearest ATM, a few miles away. $50... Yes FIFTY US Dollars!!!! Hmmmm, seems a bit steep, let's do some negotiating.......they wouldn't negotiate on price. They were at least half a dozen taxis, doing nothing, I wonder why? Alison asked at the local shop about the local bus service. Walk up the hill, down the hill and there is a stop on the main road. Tough going in the heat, a taxi follows us and drops his fare by US$10....sorry not good enough! The bus cost us EC$4 for both of us ( £1:33) but unfortunately when we got there the ATM would not give me any money! Another bus ride, same price again, took us to Castries (capital) and we were directed to a street lined with banks. After trying a few ATMs, with no luck, I was beginning to think that I'd got my PIN number mixed up. It was Saturday morning so all the branches were closed. Eventually we went to a English (actually Scottish) sounding bank and my card worked....phew!!!
What a great town Castries is. Everyone is going about their business, with lots of shops, food outlets and nobody hassled us, despite being the only white people there. We did some shopping in the supermarket, the only one I think, and waited in a huge queue to be served ( like Christmas).
We then got the bus back and got talking to two lovely guys who make oak rum barrels for a living, who told us the bus driver would take us part way up the hill and drop us there....great! Not too much walking.
We paid Nemo back, together with a loaf of bread and a courtesy flag we picked up in town and invited them for dinner for the following evening. The next morning Alison dived down to inspect the prop. Yellow polypropylene rope, with a few plastic bottles were wrapped around and around the prop and I passed Alison a knife, then scissors but to no avail. I had a go and bit by bit I came up with more of the tangle until it was all off.....my turn to be the hero after Alison previously retrieved the sunken padlock in Carriacou.
Our rescuer of course wanted to organize a diver and mechanic for us but we said there was no need.
Next....the engine. After observing us from Nemo and previously giving us advice, Chris came over. We had filled the diesel tank which only took 30 liters, so a dodgy fuel gauge wasn't the problem. I got another masterclass from Chris on how to bleed a Diesel engine.....that's the 3rd masterclass I've had....all slightly different from the others. All went well and the air was purged from the system and the engine was running like an engine should. The cause seemed to be the copper washers at the banjo fitting and filter bleed screw. I later removed the washers, heated them over the hob until they glowered and then cooled them to anneal the copper and restore their effectiveness as 'crush' washers. A couple of bags of new ones are on the shopping list.
We stayed the second night on the buoy, out of laziness, but no one came to ask for more money...charge for rescue EC$350, buoy for one night EC$50, total EC$400 (£133)....sounds good value, especially compared to a local taxi.
Marigot Bay is a place of great natural beauty, gobsmackingly gorgeous! It was the location of the original Doctor Doolittle movie. The interior bay is a marina and they also have anchor buoys. Also it has reportedly a safe hurricane hole. You can anchor for free on the north side of the bay entrance. We aim to return one day.
