Three initial months of the year, we spent in St Anne, not moving Ruyam II unless it was absolutely necessary. Sounds boring? Not really, especially when sailors from Europe start pouring in. The European sailors who wish to go around the world stop at St Lucia or Martinique after the initial crossing of the Atlantic, before tackling the second leg to Panama.
It is quite interesting to watch them unloading heaps of garbage, washing multiple bags of laundry, and filling their multiple jerry-jugs with diesel, etc around town. Talking to them is always a delight, who have so many stories. They all agree that constant beating of the waves during the crossing was not easy, but apparently they get used to it. For me, the biggest hardship would be the feeling of utter loneliness and being away from any help. We are told that, every sailboat carry a spare of almost every part imaginable, that might break on the way. I presume there is a check-list of things to gather before starting on these long voyages.
We got to meet a new couple, who had sailed from Turkey; Atilla and Ayben of Pati. He was an engineer, she a doctor, in their early forties, who thought that the urban rat-race was too much, for life so short. They rented their respective apartments, and bid good-bye to their jobs. Commendable, but not easy to emulate before retirement. I am not sure if I would want to go gallivanting around the world at that age, but I loved my job. I could not even imagine retiring, until I hit 60. However there is no turning back, I would not start working again even if they begged me. This of course is a reflection of being able to live on warm waters, away from the bitter cold of Canadian winters.
Anyway, Ayben when confronted with a little health scare, found out about an affordable diagnostic polyclinic, where CT Scans etc were performed quite readily. We drove her in Levent’s car to the place, which turned out to be a huge complex, in the heart of Fort de France, but hardly accessible without a car. However, I am impressed with the availability of abundant health services for such a small population. It seems to be a good idea to be close to the French islands while sailing, especially for the white-haired majority, who mostly have the money and the time to live aboard.
INTERSTING PERSONALITY
We encountered another Turkish sailor, whose incredible story confirms my theory that, once a vessel is launched from the shores of Africa, it somehow crosses the Atlantic and, ends up here in the Estern Caribbean.
Cengiz of S’Boro recently bought the 28 ft mono-hull from Switzerland, which sailed quite some time on a lake, never seeing salty waters. He himself had never sailed before, but determined to learn by doing, so he hauled the boat on a truck, and brought it to Turkey. Cengiz was inspired by Sadun Boro, who was the first Turkish sailor circumnavigating the earth about fifty years previously; and decided to follow the same route.
After launching S’Boro in Karasu, which is a small Blacksea town in Turkey, he reached the island of Capri without much incident, and anchored at the mouth of the entrance to the harbor at night. In the morning, he was awakened by the harbor patrol, urging him to weigh anchor, so that the entryway would be cleared for bigger boats. After labouring for an hour to release the anchor, which was tangled in the multiple chains lying on the seabed, the patrol cut his chain, and sent him on his way.
Cengiz was able to reach the Canary Islands, where he met with Atilla and Ayben, who were waiting to start the crossing with the ARC. According to Atilla, he tried to give some tips about sailing and using the navigation instruments to Cengiz, which fell on deaf ears. Cengiz told me when we met in Martinique, that he thought he had some instruments on board, but he had no use for them (!)
Apparently, he started the crossing on his own, and decided to tighten the shrouds somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, and broke one of them, loosing the mast! It is a miracle that he was not plastered by the mast and the sail, and was able to get rid of it, which became a liability.
I have to give it to him, that he was ingenuous enough to devise a small mast and sail from the spinnaker gear that was in store. He had also ran out of fuel, trying to supplement the makeshift sail. While looking around helplessly, he spotted a large vessel nearby, and hailed them to lend him some diesel. Incredibly, they were able to send a jerry jug in a barrel!
S’Boro was able to reach Barbados in its dilapidated form. Miracle or what? After that St Lucia, where he inquired about a mast, but found it to be too expensive. A short time afterwards, he came to Martinique, where we listened to this fairy tale with open mouths. We are no authority on sailing, so we did not comment much, except among ourselves, about the bravery of ignorance. The only thing I said was that, he should try to tone his sailing and navigation skills before tackling the Pacific, which is more troublesome with shallow areas and currents etc. He expressed confidence that he learned everything on his way here, he had nothing to worry about. There is one word for it: “ignorance”.
We learned later on that he was able to get a second-hand mast from St Lucia, and started on his way westward. He stopped for some time in Venezuela, and reached Panama recently; however he had difficulty in passing through the canal. I think he is still there, trying to find a way around the regulations.
