tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45739511522579230172024-02-20T00:18:50.901-08:00Nel and Al's Caribbean OdysseyNilufer and Alpel's sailing adventures in the Eastern Caribbean. Stories of a lifestyle on a 38 ft Lagoon catamaran, covering from Portorico to Grenada, and from 2011 to date, with pictures.NILUFER and ALPELhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828810958270364566noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-29065450513277408322019-04-03T07:57:00.003-07:002019-04-03T07:57:46.087-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS VIST ANNE, OUR HOME<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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INTERSTING PERSONALITY<br />
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 (!)<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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”.<br />
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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.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-91848965168065496892019-03-21T10:25:00.001-07:002019-03-21T10:25:50.792-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS VCANADA AND CUBA<br />
It is always great fun to be with my brother Cihan and his wife Marlies. They arrived in Hamilton with a friend, Karin, who was celebrating her 60 th birthday, and wished to do something extraordinary that year. She did have her wish all right.<br />
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Karin was not a very considerate baby; she decided to be born right after Christmas! If we had gone to Cuba for her exact birthday, the cost would have been much more. We had delayed our trip to Cuba for a week and her birthday celebration started with a trip to Niagara Falls area, to gape at the mostly frozen, but really majestic scenery of the falls and to walk in the snow covered and desolate park of Niagara-on-the-lake (I could have sworn that the temperature was -50 degrees Celsius, but that was me). All the others were well prepared, and did not complain about the cold.<br />
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After also spending New Year’s Eve in Hamilton, Al drove the whole gang (eight of us) to the Toronto airport, to take off for Cuba. Then he returned to Martinique the next day. Lucky him!<br />
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Cuba was a disaster. Almost throughout the week, the temperature was between 15 and maybe 17 degrees C (in the sun with no wind), and at night about 10. The buildings were designed to keep the guests cool, not warm. The long open corridors to the room were the worst, the winds really blew hard at the fourth storey. The bedding did not include any cover other than a thin sheet, so even in bed one could not feel warm. We were lucky to have come from Canada, we had at least our jackets, shawls and socks etc. We talked to a couple from Argentina, who had nothing substantial to wear (coming from their summer), walking about covered in bath towels.<br />
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Some of our party got sick (Devrim and Jen, my brother), but not me, thankfully. The last two days, we were able to swim a bit; water being warm, and sun kind of relaxing when sheltered from the wind. However, I was a bit alarmed by the remnants of the sea creature called Spanish men of war (a dangerous jelly fish), covering the whole beach, not leaving much space to step around. I had never heard of them roaming the Atlantic, but they are mostly seen in Australia. When dead, they looked like blue balloons, separated from the tail, which resembled a long piece of seaweed. If we had been in water when the invasion occurred, there would have been casualties, much worse than a sore throat. Maybe the cold weather had been a blessing.<br />
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On the other hand, we missed the extremely cold weather in Canada that week; somebody had posted in Facebook that Montreal was colder than North Pole on one of those days. The people who had come to Cuba a week before us, had to return to the extreme cold in Canada. Small mercies!<br />
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Thinking about it now is amusing, but at the time we were quite frustrated. Coming back to Martinique after the whole ordeal was magical!<br />
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<br />Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-64449204082270198522019-03-21T10:25:00.000-07:002019-03-21T10:25:16.189-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS IVRETURN TO MARTINIQUE<br />
After I was free of the lung drain, Dr. Juergens suggested if I wished I could go to Martinique, and come back for treatments every four weeks. Three weeks there, one week in Hamilton. She thought it could be tiring but refreshing. I jumped on the opportunity, with no hesitation. Spending another winter in Hamilton was not appealing at all.<br />
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While we were debating, our sailor friend Sid of Liming Time, suggested that I should check with the Cancer Centre in Antigua, which was run by some Canadian doctors. Apparently he had used their service, and thought it to be a good establishment. I wrote to them from Canada with the consent of Dr. Juergens, and found them to be quite receptive. After calculations, we thought that the cost of airfare would be slightly less than the drug (when purchased from India though, the US price was 20 times more), administration extra. While I was contemplating, my brother (always adamant) begged me to reconsider, citing the drugs made elsewhere being unreliable; and told numerous stories. He really spooked me, and I decided against the idea. It could have been very convenient to anchor around Antigua and take the bus for the treatments! Possibly it was nothing but the arrogance of the European, badmouthing the drugs made to specifications, but sold at a lower price in the third world, which I think only reflects lower labour costs, not quality. Who knows? But at this juncture, I need full confidence in the treatment, even if it may be physically more demanding for my body to travel each month.<br />
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We returned to Le Marin in November, and took our baby out of the filthy marina, and anchored in our usual spot at St Anne. What a relief, to breath the salty humid air, after the dry and polluted one of Hamilton. However this visit was to be short, since my brother was to visit Canada during holidays to see me, and travel to Cuba for a week. Al and I returned to Hamilton right before Christmas, and after New Year’s, Al returned to St Anne, and we (the whole family with the children) flew to Varadero, Cuba.<br />
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CHRIS THE WATER FAIRY<br />
One day while whizzing by in the dingy, we saw a little yellow boat having a sign about delivering water, and a telephone number. We usually get our water from the service dock at the marina in Le Marin, every 10 days or so. It had started to become a burden to weigh anchor, motor half an hour, and wait our turn about the service dock, circling like sharks among numerous boats. I think the most stressful aspect of taking water was the waiting for other boats to clear a space (as soon as the boat gets tied, the world around them fade away, and life becomes slow motion). There is always plenty of wind, and not enough space to go around. So, seeing the possibility of such service was a happy moment for Al. He immediately started calling the number, at first without success, but one time it went through, and Chris came to our boat to discuss. We later learned that, we had been his first customer, and quite loyal too! Chris always talked extensively about his business aspirations, and St Anne politics while filling our tank. Apparently the mayoralty was in the hands of separatist (not Martinique separating from France, but small town of St Anne separating from all the rest). The absurdity of the scheme is not lost on Chris, and he was cursing the existing politicians with relish, accusing them of being against all business owners at the town and the sailors anchored at the bay. We usually just listened to his frustrations, in half English, half French, and expressed wonder.<br />
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Just before leaving for Canada before Christmas, Al mentioned our travel plans, told Chris his predicament of returning on a week day, and having no one to meet him at the airport and also give him a ride to the anchored boat. We had decided to leave Ruyam II anchored at St Anne, and not tied at the marina, which had no space during the holidays. Chris immediately offered his services, complete with delivery to the boat for a measly 50 Euros. He indicated that he was thinking of expanding his business, and hiring some people to free up his time. Well done Chris! He is such a personable and smart guy, albeit looking like a teenager. The lucky islanders, never show their age.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-38340220784103223372019-03-15T13:04:00.000-07:002019-03-15T13:04:48.881-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS IIIOUT OF HOSPITAL<br />
After three days in Intensive Care, and another in a normal room (only 1,000 Euros/day), and 2 liters of effluent off my lung, the doctors gave me the go ahead to leave the hospital. The morning of discharge, Al went to see the social worker who was supposed to help with the tentative invoice in his hand: 12,000 Euros. When he explained that we did not have that kind of money to pay off-hand, she asked about what we had been doing in Martinique. As soon as she heard about the boat, she dismissed Al as not being needy at all. So that was that; we had this debt which could not be disputed or negotiated down. However, all they had as security was our address in Canada and a copy of my passport, as well as our boat in the marina. They let us go, indicating that the real invoice was to be processed and sent to our address from a French government office.<br />
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I have to say that, I felt lucky that I had been in the best possible place to get sick. In my opinion, no other island can offer comparable service as promptly and efficiently, except maybe Grenada’s St George’s university hospital, but I presume that it would be more costly, since it is owned by Americans.<br />
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On our way out, Al assisted me to the car park, and almost got a heart attack seeing the car. While being parked, the car was hit by somebody, who did not bother to leave any contact information. Al was very angry, but confident that he had full coverage and completely blameless. He was told not to worry when he returned the car. Yea, they always say don’t worry, and stab you with the news later. After we returned to Canada, he was charged 300 Euros, which was the deductible portion of the “full” coverage. People have to make sure what they are getting into while signing rental agreements! Now, we pay a few extra Euros for the “full full” coverage, and rental agency does not worry about showing the existing numerous dents and discolorations around the car.<br />
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BACK TO CANADA<br />
While I was at the hospital, Al and Nejat brought Ruyam II to the Le Marin marina from St Anne, and tied it to a convenient dock tentatively, until our fate was to be decided. We left our keys with Levent, who promised to check on our baby from time to time, and flew to Montreal on December 13 th.<br />
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While he was looking at flight options, Al saw that there was one the next morning to Hamilton from Montreal, but we would have to stay the night for it. It was perfect for me, since it shortened the flying time for the day, and eliminated the one hour drive from Toronto. We notified our children, Devrim and his girl-friend Jen came from Ottawa, to our hotel in Montreal; and spent the night with us. They were worried sick, but were a little relieved after seeing that I did not look too bad.<br />
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Next morning, after arriving in Hamilton, my daughter Ayse and her wife Maggie met us at the airport, and drove us to St Joe’s hospital as instructed. Ayse had even gathered some necessities, in case I would be hospitalized.<br />
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The experience at the emergency was nothing less than awesome. We only waited an hour before getting my story told, seeing a doctor, having X-ray and CT Scan as well as ultra-sound performed. The longest wait was for the blood test, but the whole operation was finished before 4:00 pm. We had arrived around 10:00 am.<br />
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They told me that all appointments with doctors were going to be done by them, and I should just wait for calls from nurses, and let me go home. And they did. I saw three doctors before Christmas. There was some talk about taking a biopsy, but they decided against it, since there were enough of the cancer cells in the fluid. So the only intrusive procedure was pushing another drain tube to my lung to get a sample of the effluent for the lab.<br />
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CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S EVE<br />
The whole family gathered at Hamilton for the holidays. It was kind of bitter-sweet for me, but since diagnosis was not completed, it was not completely hopeless for the children. We had a great time, and I was able to cook and enjoy the company. We even visited Toronto for sight-seeing. I was having a little difficulty in walking fast, but feeling fine.<br />
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Right before the end of the month, I received a call from my lung specialist to see him first thing on January 2nd, 2017.<br />
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DIAGNOSIS / PROGNOSIS<br />
The lab results confirmed the existence of cancer cells, which appeared to have gone all around the body (stage 4), but not on any major organs. The doctor indicated that the chemotherapy was to be administered by an oncologist at the Juravinski Cancer Centre, and he did not have much to say about it. When I asked about prognosis, he asked me what I thought was likely to happen. I do not usually have too much confidence in most of the drugs anyway, but what I had heard about chemo was quite bleak. So I responded that my immune system was probably going to be shot without a cure, and he shook his head in agreement. He also said that I had heart disease on top of the cancer. I confidently corrected him, that it was not the case, my poor heart was as strong was ever, and that fluid had been the excess of the lung. I declared that the doctors at Martinique had assured me of that, and kind of prepared me for the diagnosis as well.<br />
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The way that the doctor handled the news made me so angry that, I swore to show him what I was made of. I did not believe that I could be dying before the end of the year.<br />
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ONCOLOGIST<br />
Dr Juergens at Juravinski is also a professor at McMaster, and doing research in immunotherapy. She decided to use conventional chemotherapy first, and maybe proceed to immuno later, if chemo failed. It has been longer than two years now (first administration was mid-February, 2017) that I have been receiving chemo, and I am going strong, thank god. The fist part of the treatment was full force for six sessions, three weeks apart. Two separate drugs were given over two hours, and the expectation was such that, the poison would affect one’s stomach, as well as all the renewed cells growing in the body. Hence, hair, nails, skin would be adversely affected, and nausea would set in. A battery of other drugs were prescribed for the side-effects. Thankfully, I had no need for the nausea pills, and reduced the intake of steroids to one per treatment.<br />
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Before the chemo sessions started, I got a very short hair-cut in anticipation, so that if my hair fell out, it would be easier. Didn't happen, and my hair grew back instead. I started to joke with friends, whether I was getting a placebo or what. Every time I see the doctor, first question is about appetite. Unfortunately, thanks to the steroids, my appetite is growing, so are my hips and tummy.<br />
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FLUID IN THE LUNG<br />
Unfortunately, chemo did not dry the effluent in my lung quickly as expected. In March, a surgeon in St Joe’s stuck a permanent drain to the lung, leaving the plugged end dangling, and arranged a nurse to come home and drain it three times per week. They said home care was more efficient and clean, and I tended to agree. My brother (doctor) was adamant that keeping the tube clean was utmost important, since it gave direct access to my lung, and any bacteria entering it, in my vulnerable condition, would be fatal. Moral of the story is to keep it and the environment clean.<br />
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I turned the sectional couch in our living room, and its coffee table, into our nursing station. First gave a thorough cleaning and sterilizing to the leather of the couch, and found a plastic picnic tablecloth for the table, which was to be wiped by Lysol before using. <br />
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Every time right before the arrival of the nurse, I would wash the floors, starting with the front door, all the way down to the station. I even washed the only piece of carpet under the coffee table. Fortunately for me, the draining operation was concluded without any incident. I was able to live my life between drainings, by covering the plugged tube, looped at my left side, by adhesive plastic. I even traveled to Linz, Austria with Ayse, on her business trip in June, 2017. She pampered me with first class tickets from Condor airlines (only $500 more than a regular Lufthansa ticket).<br />
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The best were the fully reclining seats during the long flight, and admittance to the lounge while waiting at the Frankfurt airport. Al and Ayse were trained by the nurse to operate the draining bottles, which gave me the freedom to travel wherever.<br />
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2017 WINTER AND SUMMER<br />
The whole time between February and September was occupied by visits to the hospitals and receiving nurses at home. The drainage operation was a success, after a while, every session was yielding a lesser amount of effluent, until it became negligible at the end. My surgeon decided to yank the tube out at the end of September, and we started thinking of reuniting with Ruyam II. <br />
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SUMMER IN MARTINIQUE<br />
In June, while I was away, Al decided to go to Le Marin, to effectively close the boat for the summer season. He got it cleaned, covered up all the hatches etc, and hired a guy to keep an eye on our baby while tied at the marina. Since we did not know when we would be back, we wanted to keep it safe.<br />
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Al always follows the hurricanes on the Internet. Every summer we had left Ruyam II at Grenada, and no major hurricanes occurred in the south Caribbean until 2017. The only year that we left it in Martinique, the major hurricane Maria happened to come disturbingly close. At the last moment it changed course to the north and hit Dominica instead. Even though its tail end created some havoc in Le Marin and St Anne, our side of the marina was safe from any damage.<br />
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Talk about a close call. While we were following its course, we were so anxious, that we called our guardian (in French that’s the title of the person looking after boats) several times during a day. He assured us that there were no loose objects lying around the deck, and the ties to the dock were tripled at every direction, etc. Last couple of days we were on constant watch, biting our nails. What a relief that it changed course, but also very sad for Dominica. Our hearts bled for the nice people of that beautiful island. In our opinion, it is one of the best in the whole Caribbean to spend time. And they are not rich, but independent, dignified and very industrious. They grow vegetables and sell in even in St Martin (not that close) and Martinique. We had bought from those merchants and talked to them about some vegetables we had never encountered before, got recipes.<br />
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Poor Dominicans were hit very hard that time, and once more slightly a year after. Apparently they started to recover, but what a blow to the people, who are trying so hard to carve out a living.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-35024042087656621902019-03-14T04:44:00.000-07:002019-03-14T18:28:03.136-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS IITHE BOMBSHELL<br />
In the morning, a group of doctors came to see me, a lung specialist among them. She bluntly advised that, the CT Scan showed a tumor in my left lung, and the fluid in the lung was my body's reaction to it. When asked, she speculated that the growth was probably cancerous, but she could not say without histogram investigation. She also indicated that, if it were cancer, the only treatment available was chemotherapy, since the fluid was saturated by the cancer cells, ready to invade the rest of the body.<br />
I can't explain the shock I felt. I did not feel sick at all, when did this happen? I felt young and strong, and could not believe that my days on earth were numbered. Until it was to be proven, I decided to keep the information to ourselves (Al and I), and not to alarm the children. It was my daughter Ayse’s tenure year; she needed to focus on her work, and not to be distracted. I even thought after returning to Hamilton to stay with a friend during the diagnosis process. But Al could not carry the burden of such magnitude, and sat down to share it with everybody!<br />
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That day was like a dream (nightmare) when my life turned upside down, and I did not know what to think. However, I took stock of my life and decided that it had been great so far. I had always been surrounded by love and did whatever I wanted. I have no regrets, and considered myself lucky. It gave me a will to fight this calamity to the end, so there!<br />
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That evening, one of the cardiologist declared that he wanted to drain the fluid in my heart, since it was not draining by itself. So, he inserted another tube to my chest and completed the procedure in a few minutes. Then I felt my heart beating like crazy, and told the doctor that it gave me palpitations. He laughed, saying that I just started feeling the beating of my heart, which had been buried in fluid until now. Wow! Talk about ignorance.<br />
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As it turned out, I could have died while walking up and down the stairs and hills from cardiac arrest, or from the blood clot, if it had not been disbursed into smaller parts in my lung. Lucky or what.<br />
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NEXT FEW DAYS<br />
Al rented a car, and started spending all his time with me during the day. The doctors were adamant that I needed to rest under supervision, until all the fluid was drained from my lung. Yea, but a night at Intensive Care Unit costs 2,200 Euros, who is going to pay for this? When I asked, the doctors dismissed the concern. They indicated that it was their responsibility to give me the best care and prevent any adverse effect of being discharged prematurely. Also, there were organizations who helped the needy. No need to worry. Yea, right!<br />
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DEALING WITH FAMILY DOCTOR IN HAMILTON<br />
They said I should make arrangements to get a hospital in Canada to admit me as soon as possible. So thinking of knowing the Canadian system, we thought the best way to ensure it was to call Dr Au, and get her work on our behalf. The conversation with her assistant was the second shock we had to endure. Dr Au did not have hospital admittance priliviledges, there was nothing she could do for me. End of story.<br />
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My curse for Dr Au to be in a situation where she would feel utterly helpless and alone in a foreign country some day!<br />
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Thank God for Internet. Al looked up for hospitals in Hamilton with thorax specialists, and found the telephone number for St Joe’s Hospital. The person who answered instructed Al to take me to the emergency immediately, and they would take it from there. Instant relief. Could not that damned assistant say this to Al, instead of dismissing him with not even a kind word. What do they teach these young physicians about humanity. Being a doctor is a calling, to serve other people. I come from a family of doctors, my grand father, my father, my brother, uncle, cousins. Never observed such utter disinterest about the patient, who is apparently only seen as dollar signs. The arrogance of the new generation of doctors is incredible. After returning to Hamilton, I immediately changed my family doctor, and talked to a few in the process. Afterwards, I learned from a professor at the Calgary University that the new doctors were not doing any rotation among the different clinics, so know nothing. What do they really learn? To push drugs, without really investigating the real causes of diabetes, high blood pressure etc. They prescribe tests, and give drugs. Period. No physical examination, listening to the heart/lungs etc. They seem to be afraid of catching a disease by touch. When we first met Dr Au, Al had asked about that, indicating that our previous doctor, Marc Langille of Ottawa, used to examine our bodies during the yearly physicals. Dr Au’s response: “what did he find?”. There was nothing to find at the time, but how did she propose to find anything if she did not look? I should have found somebody else at that instant, maybe I would have a better chance with the cancer. But I was invincible at the time.<br />
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I have another beef with Dr Au. Both my daughter Ayse and I needed a dermatologist, but she postponed referring us a year. Mine was a rash on my leg, so maybe not very important, but hers was a cyst on her back, around her shoulder blade. Apparently Dr Au looked at it, and declared that things like that were tricky, and she would not touch it. OK, send her to somebody who can. No, not until I put my foot down after a year, and got her to find a specialist. As soon as the doctor looked at Ayse’s cyst, she operated it out, saying that it was about to burst. Go figure!<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-53997312500788353072019-03-14T04:42:00.000-07:002019-03-14T04:42:54.454-07:00THE LAST THREE YEARS IThe last time I wrote was about our sail to Antigua in 2016. After returning to Martinique, we left for Grenada after a short time. We had decided to take advantage of the low prices offered at Clark’s Court marina, which was in the process of being established at the time.<br />
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After reaching the bay, we tied to Whisper Cove marina (across the bay) to get Ruyam II ready for summer, since Clark’s Court did not have good facilities to live aboard at the time. After a week or so, and having celebrated my birthday, we got the baby on ground and left Grenada for the summer.<br />
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SUMMER OF 2016<br />
After coming to Hamilton, Devrim, Ayse and I left for Turkey for a short vacation. By the time we were back, the summer was half way over, and I did not have the energy to renew my membership at McMaster University gym. I was feeling tired and started lazing around all day, and hence put on a little weight. Since it did not seem right, I went to see our new family doctor Emily Au to complain.<br />
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She asked what the problem was, and decided without any physical examination that I should start eating less, and exercising. Doctor’s orders, get back to work I said. Every morning, I spent an hour and a half, going up and down the two escarpment stairs (300+ steps), walking or biking in the middle. I don’t think I lost any weight, but I started to feel a bit better.<br />
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BACK TO THE CARIBBEAN<br />
Beginning of November 2016, we were back at Clark’s Court. We found that they had finished the small hotel building, and renting suits with a bathroom and kitchenette. That was convenient, and I spent most of my time reading in the air-conditioned room, while poor Al was getting the boat ready, almost broke a limb or head in the process. He fell from the make-shift ladder to the boat on hard, with the outboard engine. He is always so sure-footed that, it did not occur to him, or the helper, to secure the engine before bringing it down. Anyway, most to the damage was a scratch on his big toe. When I think about it I shudder. He could have broken his arm/leg or head, since there were big blocks of concrete near by, where Ruyam II was attached.<br />
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MARTINIQUE<br />
After a week of preparation and bottom paint, we went our merry way to St Anne, Martinique.<br />
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Around mid- November I started to feel out of breath while walking up the small hill passing by the cemetery. That was quite surprising, since I always walk up very fast and wait for Al at the peak. I thought I might be under the weather or something. After a week or so, I noticed that my left leg was swelling.<br />
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HOSPITAL<br />
On December 2 nd, my leg was double its size and hot to the touch. We thought that it was time to see a doctor. We jumped to the bus and went to see our friends Levent and Guylaine at their kebab shop. At first Guylaine took me to the doctor at the Marina in Le Marin, but it was closed. So she called a “mobile doctor”, and let me talk to him. He asked what my complaint was, and I said swollen leg and difficulty in breathing. Afterwards, the doctor told Guylaine that he did not think it was serious enough for him to come. Unbeknownst to me at the time, that this was the symptom of a blood clot forming in my leg, which launched itself into my lung. So much for the doctor. Apparently, he was listening to my voice, rather than my words. My voice was not faint enough and I might have laughed while talking. Al started admonishing me for not displaying a more patient-like way of speaking. Well, I did not know how to act, sorry.<br />
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It was obvious that the only help I could get was to be at the hospital. We took the car that was rented by our sailor friends Melike and Nejat of North. We got the directions for the university hospital in Fort de France, and went to the emergency. However, that particular emergency was for the children’s hospital, so I had to walk up a path to the real emergency. By the time I walked in, I was completely out of breath. The nurse saw me and asked if I had asthma. They told us to wait, it was noon (sacred in France). I watched the admission lady finish her foot-long baguette, and turn to me to fill my form. Immediately afterwards I was taken to a small room, where a doctor and nurse examined me, took a cardiogram, attached a drip to my right arm, put me on a gurney. She thought that it could be an aneurysm, so gave a shot of blood thinner. Then they put me in a corridor full of other gurneys, mostly old people. I was worried about Al, because he had no idea what was happening to me, left at the waiting room, without his lunch. So I got hold of one of the doctors running here and there, and with my great French, begged to tell Al that he should go and find something to eat.<br />
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Hours passed, but nothing happened. I got up, and dragging my ivy stand, walked to the bathroom. When I was out, a distraught looking orderly shouted that I should have waited to be wheeled to the bathroom. That was a surprise, I had no trouble walking!<br />
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It was almost quitting time, and I was still lying down, twirling my fingers. At last my doctor came by, and announced that I was not going anywhere that night, except the CT Scan room. They had an archaic machine, which made a lot of noise, but did the job. Al came to walk by me to the intensive care at the Cardiology department, and left.<br />
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The doctor informed me that my lung and heart was full of fluid, and they had to be drained. They placed a tube through my ribs to my lung, and started the process of draining my lung into a closed box. I was left alone for the night, but could not sleep. I was looking at my heart rate (over 120) on the monitor. Unbelievable, it usually 60 at rest.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-20825566427044022772016-03-18T13:13:00.003-07:002016-03-18T13:13:41.807-07:00TO JOLLY HARBOURAfter a week of twists and turns in English Harbour, we headed west. Up to Old Road Bluff, which is almost the mid-way, water is free of hazards 100 yards away from the shore; however almost after the bluff, a mile square of reefs lie to the south of the island, leaving a narrow channel to navigate through, in order to get to the west shore. It is possible to go from either side of the reefs, but the channel is more protected with calm waters, and south of the scattered reefs is exposed to the east winds and high seas.<br />
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Against my character, I insisted that we take the channel, against Al's suggestion to the other route, fearing that his patience might run out while making such a big arc, and run into trouble. After going into the channel, it became obvious that; first of all it was not very narrow, secondly, the reefs to the south were quite visible, and the rocks on the way to the north were avoidable, and not too far out of the shore. The most amazing part is the varying colours of the water, the shallow parts being a watery turquoise, navigable parts (mostly around 16 - 20 ft) a little deeper, but in no way dark. However, the water was calm, while the outer seas kept on roaring and breaking on the reefs in the distance.<br />
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After turning the south west corner, getting to Jolly harbour takes half an hour. The sea in the whole area is very shallow, with some even shallower points here and there. North of Jolly bay, leading to the harbour is protected by a cluster of rocks called Five Islands, and a connected bluff. A smaller mound to the south separates it from a long strip of sparkling white sandy beach, called Jolly beach, a famous destination for the cruise-ship passengers and vacationers. There are a number of resorts / short duration rental homes etc around the area, which drive prices high for the cruisers. The marina at the end of the harbour is popular, the long term storage fees for the boatyard is supposed to be competitive to Grenada and Trinidad. However, everything else is expensive.<br />
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We came to the Jolly Bay, and dropped anchor in 8 ft of water, close to the harbour entrance.<br />
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According to Doyle, a long and narrow channel was dredged in the middle of the bay to form the entrance to the harbour, which is well marked (intended for boats with deep draft). Of course we don't care.<br />
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We will stay here for a week and start our way back to martinique.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-46894834763222170252016-03-17T17:13:00.001-07:002016-03-17T17:58:32.425-07:00FINALLY ANTIGUAAl checked the forecast, and suggested to wait another day, to avoid the expected (for that day) 15 to 20 knots of winds, with some gusts. Seas were supposed to be the same either day. I was tired of swerving left and right with the push of the waves when wind was not strong enough to take us through, and thought that 40 odd miles would extend to eight hours or more if we would wait for calm weather. Moreover, the predictions for change usually do not come at the right time, and waiting another day may not help. Since the forecast did not predict dangerous weather, I pushed ahead as planned.<br />
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We raised the sail with one reef, and went under way at 06:10 hours. Clearing the top of Guadaloupe took us about an hour. Doyle warns about very strong wrap around winds, so we were cautious, but since the trade winds had not yet started at that ungodly hour, it was smooth sailing for a while. However, the wind and the seas picked up. Predictions were spot on (for the winds), we saw winds gusting to 25 knots now and then, but the waves were much higher, thankfully the swells were from north east, which hit the boat diagonally from the bow, instead of the side.<br />
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Nevertheless, the sail up was rough and tiring, but shorter than expected. We had estimated eight hours, but reached English Harbour, Antigua in less than seven.<br />
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English Harbour is long, extending from south east to north west, with a small bay to the east of entrance, which turns with a channel that ends with two smaller bays at the end like horns. There are two marinas on either side of the channel, and the inside bays are quite small, which accomodate a handful of boats. The portside marina (Nelson's Dockyard) is full of mega yachts, both motor and sail, and also house the Customs and Immigration office. Right across the channel, there is Slipway boatyard, with a good chandlery and a few spots for docking, but they sell fuel and water to cruisers.<br />
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We first thought of exploring the whole harbour before anchoring, but saw that the first anchorage (Freeman's Bay) quite crowded, Al decided to anchor immediately, instead of wasting time, because people usually start coming in the afternoons and jockey for the few spots.<br />
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While we were trying to get a good place, the boat in front signalled that they were leaving, so we waited five minutes and anchored in a place safely away from everybody. Doyle cautions about currents and tides in the bay, which require a lot of swinging room around the boats, especially in low winds.<br />
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After settling down, we dinghied to the Nelson's marina to clear in. We went straight in and saw some dock space next to a "no dinghy" sign, and got closer. I saw an official looking islander in a uniform, and asked if we could tie there, and he approved, taking the painter from my hand and tying us down. While we were getting out, some guy came along, and told us to get away, shouting something about some row-boats expected to come there in about two hours time. We excused ourselves saying that we just needed to clear in, and promised to come back shortly.<br />
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The uniform was watching, and encouraged us to follow him. On the way, he grumbled about "those people bothering everybody", and showed us to the Customs building. He went around the counter, and gave instructions to use the computer where clearing to be done through the "Easy clear" system. Apparently they insisted on using the initial electronic system which was being installed about five years previously in most of the Caribbean, but abandoned since then almost everywhere.<br />
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Now many islands use "Sail clear", a different system, which is very handy, since it can be accessed from one's own computer before reaching the port of destination. Antigua, unlike the others, decided to maintain the old system, and make it usable. It is hard to understand why the others started over, instead of improving an established system. But hey, who can bring so many heads together to agree on something?<br />
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During our first night at the anchorage, we heard poeple blowing horns, waving lights and cheering, welcoming the last rower into the harbour. We looked and saw the white row-boat that came in accompanied by a motor-boat.<br />
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The next day, we learned that twenty six rowers had participated in the "Atlantic Challenge" sponsored by Talisker Whisky. That is to say, that those incredibly fit and determined young men have started in Tenerife, Canary Islands and crossed the ocean in about three months, some a little earlier. The first ones were able to reach Antigua at the beginning of February. Why?<br />
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Antigua reminded us of Grenada in some ways; people are very friendly and happy, life is easy. It is a small island, with a small population, which seems to be more affluant and better administered. The roads are better, houses well maintained and covered with flowers, mini-buses more comfortable and crime non-existent. Our friend Sid of Liming Time, who came back from Canada for their second season in Antigua, declared that nobody was locking their dinghies, when left at the docks during the day. First time I ever heard such a thing! In Martinique crime reports talk about even gasoline being stolen from dinghies. People regularly take away their starter keys after locking their dinghy chains. Compared to the windward islands, Antigua seems to be the paradise of tranquility. However, prices are higher, water is scarce, landscape is desolate (until the rains came), without much of tall trees. There are more attractions in the water; everywhere except a portion of the southern shore, is covered with reefs, hence snorkelling and diving are popular. There are several interesting anhorages with clean waters. Sailing around the island is kind of challenging, but not dangerous (like the Tobaggo Keys in the Grenadines), since the problemmatic areas are marked. And flying to Antigua from Canada is easy, with direct flights from Toronto, Ont.<br />
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We spent more than a week in Freeman's Bay, and witnessed the boats swinging in circular motions around their anchors, each going a different direction, and at times colliding with each other, if not anchored properly. Wind helps to give direction, and swinging out of order does not happen, but when the wind dies down, nobody knows where one would be. Some bows come together, some sterns.<br />
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One time a boat almost hit us while weighing anchor, because its chain had wound around a block of concrete at the bottom (that happened to be there??), and did not come up without unwinding by motoring the boat around it. Our own chain got so twisted that, it was an ordeal to release the snubber hook, because the bridle lines got wound around the chain several times.<br />
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One night, we had to ask the boat next to us to anchor somewhere else, since it was swinging dangerously close to us. Everytime we looked up, it was coming towards Ruyam II from a different direction, either by its bow or stern. Poor guy, he was away from his boat for a couple of hours, while we kept watch. When he came back, he saw that his dinghy could not fit between our two boats, and he realized that he had to move, otherwise we would have to stay up the whole night. Anchoring in the dead of night is no picnic, especially in such a tight anchorage, so we felt really sorry for him.<br />
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Despite its drawbacks, English Harbour is convenient, because of the amenities in the two marinas, and easy access to the main road with buses to the city (St John). Also it is a picturesque and historical place, which had been in use since the late 1700 s, being a base for Admiral Nelson' s armada in his exploits against Napoleon.<br />
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We explored the island on land by taking buses to St John (the city) and to Jolly Harbour at the western coast, and liked what we saw. The city is languidly bustling, which harbours up to four crusise ships at a time. Jolly is another world, developed after the fashion of Florida causeways, with series of townhomes slapped on channels, with a boat slip in front. Apparently these condos are not very expensive to buy (around US$200, 000 as opposed to millions in Florida or any other Caribbean island). Is it worth it? Possibly for people who need a land base for their boats.<br />
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Jolly Harbour has a marina and dockyard, which were considered safe during hurricanes (however we could not see any protection around the outlying land, which seemed quite low with some small bumps of scattered hills.<br />
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The topography of Antigua and its the northern twin Barbuda is quite different than any of the other islands in the area. It appears that the two would have been connected if they had been pushed up a little more, since both are sitting on a very shallow shelf (20-30 ft with scattered reefs and solitary rocks in various sizes and shapes) for miles on end. No wonder there were two hundred sunk ships around Antigua, west of which is a shallow basin as far as the eye can see.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-23735769623509856812016-03-07T11:58:00.001-08:002016-03-07T11:58:22.528-08:00PIGEON ISLAND AND BEYONDNext stop Pigeon Island, a little over two hours motoring from Rivere Sens. The island was Jacques Cousteau' s base for his documentary productions. It is a popular diving and snorkelling destination, and there is a fair sized bay to the east. Last time we had passed through, it was nor very crowded, and I remember having an excellent spot for anchoring. This time there were more boats, and most of the shallow spaces were covered by small craft mooring balls. Since we came before noon, the boats that stopped just to have lunch made it a bit more crowded than usual. Anyway we found a spot close to two Canadians, and enjoyed the clean water and the sun. Our anchor and chain started to get cleaned. The water at the west coast of Guadalupe is amazing!<br />
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Third morning, we headed towards Deshaies at the North west corner, about an hour from Pigeon Island. Our timing was perfect (around 10:00 am when we reached there), we saw several boats leaving, which encouraged us, looking at the numer of masts. While getting ready to anchor, we saw that two mooring balls were available. Since we were to start early the next morning, taking a ball was ideal. A couple of hours later, we watched people dropping in, and frantically searching for a place to anchor.<br />
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It is not a bad anchorage, but the small town around it is pathetic - restaurants, dive companies and nick-nack shops for tourists. The only bakery was closed that day, but the post office instant teller was working, thank God. We spent some time on land, and came back on board to get ready for the long passage.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-38062333363999038592016-03-07T11:53:00.006-08:002016-03-07T11:53:59.802-08:00TAKING FUELIf one ventures to get fuel from Rivere Sens one should be ready to jump down from the boat (not too hard since there is no wind), find a bollard to tie (harder, since there are only two, one at the dead corner of the dock, where a big fishing boat was tied almost next to the fuel dock. The other bollard was at the opposite end but inside corner.) Morevover, get ready for abuse from the attendants, who do not speak a work of English themselves, and think that all English speakers are idiots. If you can past the hurdles, diesel is the cheapest in the Caribbean; 1.00 Euro a litre.<br />
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Since our helm is on the port side and Al wanted to see what I would be doing, he turned around and approached the dock from the port side. Our cleat for the back tie is almost halfway down the side, which would not give enough space to clear the stationed boat, if I used it, so I pushed the line through the dingy cleat at the stern to tie the boat, to keep the back flush with the dock.<br />
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After securing the boat, Al went up to inform the attendant. He came back, and went through the motions as instructed:<br />
(1) Release the nozzle of the left side of the left pump (located at the pier, three or four steps above the dock)<br />
(2) Take the nozzle of the corresponding long hose coiled around the drum on the actual dock<br />
(3) Press on the nozzle to fill your tank.<br />
<br />
When Al pressed the handle nothing came out. Al remarked that the pump was not working. So he went up again, came back with a Frenchman (some customer trying to help). Two of them prodded here and there, looked at the other coil of hose, but everything seemed to be in order. The good Samaritan went back up, and still nothing happened. After Al's third request, the attendant could not help but come all the way down, throwing up his arms, rolling his eyes, and shouting " le gauch, le gauch, mon Dieu". Well we know, we got the one at "le gauch", but there was no power. Poor Al was saying "n'est pa electricite", to no awail. But after seeing that it was not our fault, he went back up and dealt with the start up at his computer. At last it worked for the port tank.<br />
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When Al took the nozzle to the starboard tank the same story, no go. I told Al that the pump counter had not cleared, hence not allowing a second usage. Another trip up and down, finally we filled the tanks, which took us more than an hour (ten minutes tops in any other fuel dock).<br />
Ridiculous!Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-9380951840427998982016-03-07T11:51:00.005-08:002016-03-07T11:51:54.528-08:00RIVIERE SENS - ONE WORD TO SUM IT UP: RIDICULOUSThere is a small anchorage at the mouth of the little hole-in-the-wall bay, which is completely occupied by the Riviere Sens Marina. In order to clear the vessel into Guadaloupe on the west coast, everybody has to stop there and use the computer of one of the restaurants located in the marina. <br />
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There were two boats moored, and one big boat on anchor close to the entrance of the marina when we came. We turned around the small indentation of a beach, which was quite deep until very close to the shore, while the wind was blowing from West - Northwest. Al was reluctant to go too far into the beach in that kind of winds, so we anchored about 20 ft of water, not too far from one of the moored boats. Before we anchored, I tried to connect to the marina to see if we could get a berth for one night, to replenish our fuel and water. There was no response from the marina, so we had to venture anchoring in deeper and too-close-for-comfort conditions.<br />
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We left Ruyam II a little after the noon hour, in a hurry to clear in, and dingied to the marina from the narrow channel. I spotted the fuel dock on the right side of the channel, right before the marina docks started, which were full to capacity. There was a seasoned French couple in a dingy in front of us so we thought we should follow them to the dingy dock. They went up to the launching pad at the far corner of the channel, and the lady got her oar in hand, getting close to the ramp. We shouted at them about a dock to tie, and she said "this is it". Whaat?<br />
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All the docks were connected to each other by bridges, so there seemed no way of getting into the marina. We went to the east wall (made of big boulders, sloping out) and came up to the bridge, which had a locked gate at the end. There were some guys loitering around the gate, so we asked if there was a dock for us. The young guy got hold of my painter, and pulled the dingy (hard) over the boulders, and tied it to the gate frame. He said "you're good to go". Again, whaat? We used the boulders to step on to get to the dock.<br />
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Four years ago we had passed through this place, while the marina was being built (by a Canadian company no less). We had been helped the same way out of our dingy by an islander at that time over the same boulders, although the bridges and docks were not in place. Later on, we had gone by dingy to the north wall of the marina, where a nice dock had been installed in front of the strip of restaurants.<br />
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This time, since we had been tied already, we thought to get to the north side on foot, and deal with the clearing in, instead of bothering with the dingy into the unknown. On the way, we passed by the Capitainerie, and tried to speak with the dock master about water/fuel. The glass door was locked, and the inside deserted. It looked like a posh hotel entrance, very clean and airy. No wonder, nobody seems to use it!<br />
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We found the restaurant which clearly advertised itself as the customs clearence site, however the lady attendant said in her broken English "impossible". We must have shown despair, since she reluctantly smiled, and showed a small sign, denoting the customs clearing time; only between 15:00 and 18:00 hours. Al almost started an argument, but I interjected and assured her that we could come back. Apparently, she had only one computer, which she did not wish to be meddled with. She was the one entering the information, so needed the noon rush at the restaurant to be over.<br />
She had "reason" in her mind, understandable.<br />
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We had about two hours to kill, so we thought of dropping in the fuel dock to see if we could get fuel early next morning, before starting north. We then realized that the ridiculous fuel dock could be used for tying the dingy, but the space behind it was too close to the boulders at various depths of its wall. Scary, but we had to tie the dingy there, and walk up ten steps and some distance to the actual fuel station at the top to find a body. There was an islander attendant at the office, who informed us that they would be open at 6:30 am and would allow us to get fuel, but it was self serve. So we had to tie the boat ourselves, get the attendant turn on the fuel pumps, and do the actual filling ourselves.<br />
<br />
Can be done. In the meantime, we asked if they were also selling camper butane bottles, since we had finished one of ours, but had not been able to fill it in St Anne. Al is always nervous if we do not have at least two spare at the boat. Anyway, the attendant said he only had two left, so we should hurry to get it. We rushed back to Ruyam II, got the empty bottle, rushed back, and grabbed it. Al was happy, at least one thing accomplished, and we had killed almost an hour. Win-win.<br />
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After putting the bottle safely in the boat, we dingied back to the marina, this time using the western most channel leading up to the north wall, and found a spot to tie on the dock, which was almost covered by big boats tied stern-to. Tying the dingy was one thing, getting out of it onto the dock was another. The new dock was built much higher this time, to accomodate big boats. Nobody cares about outsiders with dingies; maybe it is a safety issue.<br />
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We had half an hour to sit at the veranda overlooking our dingy, and have some refreshments. We had earned it running around like crazy. The lady got our clearance paper from Martinique, and some more information, and filled the thing herself. That was good. The best part of French islands is the ease with which clearing in and out can be accomplished. As a matter of fact it can be done at the same time, as long as you know which day you are leaving.<br />
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Al further asked her what was up with the marina office, and she said something in French (which we did not understand) and after deliberation she remarked that they were "lazy". Okey, makes sense. VHF does not work, maybe the "capitain de port" has cell phones, and open up the shop when needed. All those boats must have come to the marina at some point in time, although most of them seemed to be long term residents.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-976336174925659352016-03-07T11:47:00.001-08:002016-03-07T11:47:15.615-08:00ON THE WAY TO ANTIGUAAfter staying in St Anne, Martinique for almost two months, we thought moving a little would do us good. Everybody was raving about Antigua, which we had skipped while coming down from BVI four years ago. Antigua is almost accross the sea to the North east of Montserrat, which we had favoured at that time (and for good reason, it was amazing!).<br />
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Anyway, we decided to spend the month of March around Antigua, taking our time going up and down, after which, it would be closing the season in and around Grenada. It is incredible how fast this year is going.<br />
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As always we watched the weather, which had been very stormy and wet for the last two months (where is the dry season?), but the weather started to calm down for about a week starting on the 27th of February, so we weighed anchor that day from St Anne at 7:00 am towards St Pierre, the North west corner of Martinique.<br />
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Selecting a mild weather to sail is contra-intuitive one can say, which forces one to turn on the engines to beat the waves. Even on the first portion of the way going directly west to the Diamond rock, the wind was not strong enough to push us through, despite having sails wing-on-wing. However, we reached our destination<br />
around noon, thanks to our Volvo s.<br />
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The passage to Dominica was likewise light on the winds, but with high seas, which again compelled us to use the engines some of the way. Boo!<br />
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There was not much change in Rousseau, Dominica, except that Pancho is no more. According to SeaCat (the Greg and Beanie duo), maintaining mooring balls required one to dive, and Pancho was more into land affairs than swimming lately. We had a nice chat with Beanie instead.<br />
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Portsmouth (anchorage at the North west of Dominica) was likewise unchanged, but we detected fewer boat-boys, but more professional service from PAYS (the co-operative that maintain and protect the mooring balls). Cobra is likewise seemed to be into bigger things (good for him).<br />
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Passage to Guadaloupe was also luck-lustre and tedious with mild wind/high seas. When we reached Rivere Sens, at the South west corner of Guadaloupe, we were quite tired from the constant beating of the waves from 90 degrees.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-77635919777562589552015-12-21T15:41:00.005-08:002015-12-21T15:41:51.237-08:00PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS AND MORE PROBLEMSFor the last month or so, I have been aware of an awful smell, whenever Al started pumping the head, even if just for water. As well, while sitting at the fore, I saw that refuse was coming out of a discharge hole above water. When I mentioned it, of course Al did not believe me, how is that possible? The discharge for head is under water. Well, I saw what I saw, and then, he saw it too! Odd, is it not?<br />
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It took us almost two months to put two and two together. First day free of commitments, Al sat on the toilet and started gazing at the system of valves which connect the discharge. The main discharge valve, which allows the flow from the head as well as from the holding tank through the sea-cock, was closed and stuck; that is to say, the pipe connecting it to the tank was full of refuse.<br />
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Last year, when Al opened that valve after the summer season, he had indicated that it was only half opened, but he had been afraid to force it open, lest he would brake the through hull fitting. This year, he said that he had no problem opening it, it was even too easy, and he thought it odd. Apparently he had not opened the valve, he just broke the handle and jammed the valve on that first day. After that, unbenownst to us, every time we used the toilet, we were pumping the discharge into the tank, without ever emptying it. When the poor thing was full, the refuse was over-flowing out through the aspiration line, the bulk of it getting concentrated in the holding tank.<br />
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First thing to be done was to empty the tank. So we looke in the Ti' Ponton (the register of all cruser related businesses in Martinique for easy access to sailors). Nothing about sanitation, pump out even no mention of plumbing. The only mention was of plumbing parts sale at Le Ship ( a chandlery in Le Marin). Even Doyle does not mention a plumber. However, a pump out station in St Lucia is advertised in his guide.<br />
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We discovered the problem late on Friday, and had to endure the week end contemplating and speculating. Should we buy a pump and long hoses, to clear the tank? They usually priced around 250.- to 300.- Euros. Go to St Lucia to use the pump out facility in Rodney Bay?<br />
<br />
It was a long two days. Lucky we have another toilet on board. Early in the Monday morning, we set out to Le Marin from St Anne. First we took water from the fuel dock, and anchored at our usual place. Al started with Le Ship, and Marianne (the nice sales attendant who can speak English) who suggested that we should contact Le Marin marina. After a couple of calls, we were told to speak with the marina dock master through VHF, channel 9 (they do not bother with listening to channel 16).<br />
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The dock master told us to stand by, they were to get back to us as soon as they were able. Listening to channel 9 for two hours showed that they were really busy, so we waited patiently. Around 11:30, Al tried again, and was told to come to the fuel dock at 12:00. We did, and told to get tied to the slip at the back of the dock and wait. There was hope, so we sat there, looking around at the activity.<br />
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It took them two hours to get organized to operate the pump-out, which had been installed new during the extention of the fuel dock this year. Now four yachts can get tied at the same time, a big improvement, because the dock is always busy (except when the oil/gas workers are on strike, a few time as year).<br />
<br />
Anyway, Al helped the agent, to use it the fist time. The twenty meter long hose, and it connectors were brand new, so Al had no scuples to assist. After waiting so long, the actual pumping out took ten minutes, the vacuum system being quite powerful. We pumped in some water, and were confident that it would be possible to dismantle the stuck valve without having a black shower in the bilge.<br />
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Next step to find a plumber. Our advisor in Le Marin, Levent the kebab man, asked around, and found out that there was one nautical plumber, Jean Claud, but he decided to hang his hat lately, and refused to work.<br />
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We went to the Carenage boat yard, thinking that they should have some technicians handy for the boats stored there. We talked to some people, and learned that only Caraibe Marine would have access to the repair guys. Caraibe Marine it is.<br />
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The attendant there, whom we know from our constant visits, indicated that he knew one plumber, and he called him. It turned out to be Jean Claud, who still refused to work.<br />
<br />
What to do? I suggested Le Ship, since they sell plumbing parts. Lo and behold, Marianne listened to our plight, and declared that she knew one guy, who might help, but he was always very busy. When I asked if his name was Jean Claud, she said no, just Jean. Oh good, another plumber exists in Martinique!<br />
<br />
Marianne called him, and indicated that he might pass by the shop the next afternoon, and she would call us as soon as he showed up. She reiterated that he was extremely busy, and did not speak any English. We assured her that we could manage to understand him, being armed with our reference book " French for Sailors". It is a must have for everybody.<br />
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Another day to wait, but we had other errands to run, and our place at the anchorage was not too bad. What else do we have to do. By the way, did I mention that the lock for the second head door was broken? It locks from the inside, but does not keep the door closed. Al dismantled it, and saw that one of the springs was broken. We had to order it on line.<br />
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The next afternoon, Marianne declared that Jean was not coming that day, but was going to come to the boat 8:00 am the next morning, and asked about the location of the boat. Had she mentioned how busy he is? It seems that one has to beg for service.<br />
We had little hope that he would show up, but started to be on the look out around 7:30 am. He did come almost on the dot, he was a small but very intense man, and very agile. He took a look, and declared that the job was not easy. Thank you, as if we did not know.<br />
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The first thing to do was to clog the discharge hole, which was under water. He jumped into his dinghy, and tried the multitude of wooden clogs that came with the boat. He found the one that almost fit, and used a piece of "chiffon" (cloth) to make it tight.<br />
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Then he tried to unscrew the valve. No can do. He said that he needed electricity to cut the outer ring, and hopped into his dinghy to bring a portable generator, which he borrowed from a friend.<br />
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Since the work area is too tight, by the time he finished, he looked like a veteran of combat. He had multilple cuts on his forehead and arms, his white t-shirt had blood stains and black marks. It was a good thing that Al had the foresight of placing a garbage bag under the connection to the valve. As soon as the valve was dismantled, the refuse in the pipe came wooshing down (some of it to the bilge, but not much). Al used the other head to get rid of it, which had half filled the bag.<br />
<br />
Al told him to close his eyes, and covered his face with antiseptic spray. But he refused to apply bandage to his cuts. He was a very humble and nice man, and lived through a tragedy in his life. Ten years previsously, he was a father of two, living as a jeweler in Bordeaux, France. Then his son died, and he, not abe to continue the status quo, started a new life in Martinique. He also mentioned that he was generally working as an electrician (much cleaner work), but since there were no plumbers available, he was taking that on as well. Well I tell you, it is a much needed service, and we were grateful.<br />
<br />
Poor Jean fought for 4 hours, and asked for 160.- Euros. With some parts that he had to buy in the meantime, Al gave him 200.-. I think he deserved much more, doing such a dirty job, so we did not grudge him for it. God bless him.<br />
Jean gave us his telephone number for any problems, but did not want us to advertise for him. He did not even made any business cards, fearing about more calls. He also made it plain that he would never work for the charter companies (who would need his services regularly).Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-66224021424599255612015-12-21T15:38:00.000-08:002015-12-21T15:38:04.516-08:00GOING BACK TO ST ANNEForecast was 15 - 17 knots east-southeast, with gusts up to 20. A friend of ours had cautioned us that at least 5 knots should be added to the forecast in making the sail plan. Well, we had our reef in the main sail, and we boldly started at 7:30 am from Rodney Bay, two days after our guests had left.<br />
<br />
Al was adamant that we should motor-sail along the north shore of St Lucia, before heading north, in order to gain wind advantage, sailing north east to St Anne. So we braved the choppy waves, going east, parallel to the shallower shelf underneath; however the wind was south-easterly, so helped a lot to motoring. We made record time reaching Al's way point before turning north. After turning, of course our speed increased as well, even with the reefed geoa. While sitting next to Al at the helm, the waves looked too unnerving, so I went (with difficulty) to my usual spot at the cock-pit table, looking out the back of the boat, which steadies my stomach (doesn't help if I am scared).<br />
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We made and average of 7 miles/hour, while flying through three rain-storms, and reached the calm of Saline Point in les than three hours. First time in our lives, we saw the eastern portion of Saline during our approach, so Al got his wish of getting the wind advantage, but set us into a mine field of the fishing traps in the shallows of Saline beach. I was on the look-out, to slallom our way into the Buccaneer's Beach, our usual anchoring spot.<br />
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Oh, home at last, but not for long, another visitor is expected on 3rd of January, 2016.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-54034333127304192142015-12-21T15:36:00.002-08:002015-12-21T16:08:24.274-08:00FIRST GUESTS ARRIVEOur first guests, Laura, whom I know from the gym at MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, and her mother Nina was to arrive in Vieux Fort, St Lucia on December 3rd. In order to get ready for them, we left St Anne, Martinique on the 1st, and made the passage in four hours to Rodney Bay. It was quite pleasent, with moderate winds and small swells. We spent more time trying to anchor in the bay; it was a record of three times that we pulled the anchor in a row to find a sandy patch to keep us in place. The bottom of the northern part of the bay is very uneven and full of weeds and rocks. From 30 ft of water, all of a sudden you hit a shelf of 8 ft, and if you are not careful, the anchor gets pulled out with a jerk. Although there seems to be a lot of space, all the good spots were taken by a number of yachts, hense our struggle. Anyway, the fourth time we went quite close to the sandy beach, and dropped the anchor into a turquoise pool among the weeds, which seemed to hold. Afterwards, Al dove and saw that the anchor was barely holding, half covered in a thin layer of sand over the rock bottom. Oh well, it was not very windy, and we were to tie in the marina on the morning of the guests' arrival.<br />
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What was important at the moment was to find transportation to and from Vieux Fort, which is at the diagonally opposite end of the island, about an hour of driving. We had done it last year, by taking two busses, first to Castries, then to the airport, at the outskirts of Vieux Fort, on the way. We had engaged Elvis, the taxi driver, who was the neighbour of our Canadian/St Lucian friends Ken and Diane, to take us back to Rodney Bay with the guests.<br />
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Of course, the first person to contact was Elvis, to see if he was available. However, Al did not think that he was very keen on taking us on, so we thought we could test the numerous taxi drivers stationed at the gate of the marina. I figured that it is always a two way ride for the drivers, whether they start from the airport or the marina. Elvis lived in the vicinity of the airport, which was the reason for us to get there on our own. If we engaged a driver from the north, we could tag along for free!<br />
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We went to the taxi stand, where most of the drivers were playing cards and having a good time, but one driver, Linus was loitering around the parking lot. We approached him, and haggled down to the price of one way (US$80.-), our ride included.<br />
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The guests were arriving at 3:30 pm, and we started at 2:00 pm. Linus gave us a story about his sister coming on the same flight, and we had space for more people anyway etc. I had anticipated that he might try to squeeze more people in the car, which had a third row at the back, so we did not argue.<br />
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We arrived in good time, and welcomed Laura and Nina into the car. Linus was agitated and constantly on the phone. He first mentioned that his sister had one friend who could still fit, along with the luggage. After five minutes of waiting, Linus appeared with a long face, and declared that the sister became a party of four people, so they engaged a local taxi.<br />
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On the way back, of course Al had to deal with Linus' complaints about being deprived of his extra cash, which had to be compensated by us. Al was kind of firm, but ended up giving US$100.- instead, but I was not impressed. Compared to Elvis, who was a gentleman, Linus was too vulgar and greedy. Note to self, do not engage people off the street!<br />
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After arriving at home, the visit went on famously. As far as we were concerned, we had a very good time, constantly talked for five days, while doing some sailing around the island for short periods. Both mother and daughter were adventurists, but Nina was not a sailor, or even a good swimmer. So she had been a bit apprehensive about our sailing agenda. We put her at ease, and assured her that we had always been fair weather sailors, and we were to keep moving in the lee of the island anyway.<br />
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We spent two nights anchored in the bay after leaving the marina the first morning. Since we were close to the shore, she was able to swim around the boat without getting scared. Laura was an athlete and trapeze artist, so she was at home in the water.<br />
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The third morning, we put up the main sail, and headed to Anse Al Raye, a small fishing village, situated at the south of Marigot Bay. We reached the bay in a bit more than an hour, and approached the anchorage, which was close to the dock. However, Al found the bay too small, without much swinging room from the reefs at the sides; and turned around. Our rule is, if one of us is not comfortable with any place or situation, we change our plans. So we ended up in Anse Cochon, which is a favorite snorkelling spot, with mooring balls. It was a small bay, half of which was shallow with reefs to the north, south side deeper, where a few white mooring balls were installed. We took the last one, and stayed the night. It was a bit rolly, since Coshon is not as protected as La Raye, being a small indentation on the shoreline which is jutting out. These pear-shaped islands transport the swells along the shore.<br />
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The cliff on the south edge of the bay was taken over by Ti Kaye Resort, with numerous bungalows and two restaurants. We had lunch at the lower restaurant, which was serving Sunday brunch buffet (the spread was not what one expects in North America) for US$25.-, which did not include any drinks (not even water) and VAT and service charge. The food and ambiance were not bad, but was not worth the price, especially with our weak dollar. However, it was an experience.<br />
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This was our first time in Anse Cochon, and I liked it. However, our encounters with the locals are losing their charm. Especially the boat boys, who seemed to be younger this year, and they appear to have no scruples or sense of fairness. In the past, getting their help to tie to a mooring ball was 15.- EC. This year, the first time Al had to argue with an insolent boy who wanted 30.-. Now, Al declares that he is not giving a cent more than 20.- EC up front, and they say OK, but demand other absurd things when they finish; such as gas for the boat, or beer or smokes etc. It seems that sailors spoil them by complying, and they get greedier.<br />
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We were low on bread, and asked one of the boat-boys to bring us two loaves. He demanded 50.- EC, arguing that a loaf was 15.- at the market. No sense of propriety! I would rather make pancakes everyday, than give $25.- Canadian for bread.<br />
The next morning we motored to the Pitons, which is a must see in St Lucia. The weather was overcast, and the mountain of the Petit Piton generated its unusual winds and currents, so it was a different experience for our guests. Laura ventured into the water with me, and we had a life-line in hand, so that the current would not carry us into the ocean. Let alone swimming, staying put was a workout, so we had a good time.<br />
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The visit was short, five days passed quickly, and it was time for them to return to Canada. Early in the morning of the 8th, we started the last leg of our trip, from the shouth west corner (Pitons) to Laborie on the south shore of St Lucia, halfway to Vieux Fort. Our guests saw the open ocean the first time, and experienced the waves coming at us, while we were struggling towards east. It took us 2 hours to cover 8 miles.<br />
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Another first; we had heard about Laborie from Ken and Diane, but had never ventured to get there. Other than being a safe place close to the airport, it is not a yacht destination. It is a small fishing village, but the people are nice and friendly, unspoilt by the outsiders.<br />
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The west side of the small bay is covered with high reefs, almost visible, but the east is sandy bottomed and shallow. The entrance is marked by two buoys, so navigating in is not hard, however staying there is debatable, since it is quite rolly in easterly swells, and untenable in south easterly. Best time for it is northerly swells, but this year they had not started yet, probably due to El Ninjo.<br />
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The only other yacht in the bay was a catamaran tied to a private mooring ball. So we anchored next to it, and went to shore to find a taxi, to take our guest to the airport later. There was a high dock, with a lower portion for the dinghies, but it was not well maintained, and seemed flimsy at places, and exposed to a lot of surge. Getting out of the dinghy was a bit tricky, but our guest had become pros by that time.<br />
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We walked on the main street, peeked into the church, which had a commanding view of the bay on an incline, and the door open to the east, taking in the constant breeze. Natural air conditioning.<br />
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On the main street, there was a line of minibuses awaiting customers for Vieux Fort. If we could not find a taxi, minibus could be an alternative; but a separate bus was to be had from there to the airport, which is at the other end of the town.<br />
While walking around, I stopped at a clean looking eatery/bar called Mama Rosa's. It was not yet lunch time, so deserted, and a nice looking young islander was in attendance. I told her that I needed some information, and asked for a taxi driver she could recommend. She told me to follow her, and found Wilson, probably a relative of her. He promised to pick our guests from the dock at 2:00 pm, to reach the airport two hours before departure.<br />
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Wilson turned out to be a nice guy, and punctual, who charged 50.- EC for the drive to the airport (40.- EC is the minimum). Wilson is our future driver if we get to Laborie.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-19729703205878061682015-11-27T09:33:00.002-08:002015-11-27T09:33:26.078-08:00BACK TO MARTINIQUEAs soon as the attendant came in the morning (7:30 am), we paid for the water that we filled our tanks, and got underway. We hoisted the sails with a reef, and started our three day treck to Martinique.<br />
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It was the usual route with stops in Bequia, in the Grenadines; Jalousie at the Pitons, St Lucia, and our destination St Anne, Martinique. Starting every morning around 6:00 am, stopping around 3:00 pm, get beaten by waves and wind in between. Quite tiring when there is no respite, but this year we were in a hurry to come to St Anne, because we have to go back to St Lucia to meet my friends coming from Hamilton, Canada. We will spend the week together there, since it is not worth sailing back and forth in such a short time. We will go on land to explore together, and maybe sail to different anchorages around the island to have fun. Making a passage and back within the week is too stressful, especially if weather does not permit. We shall see. <br />
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Isn't this uncanny, that after four years of not even seeing a cocroach in the boat, we should encounter two kinds of pests inside, and one outside at the same time? (The outside crustaceans are actually helping, not a pest I think, but still.) This season is marred with problems it seems, I hope it will not continue. Being a Turk, I can only think of the evil eye! In Canada we talk about our life on board with everybody, it sounds like boasting most of the time. Well everybody, you can see that it is not always a picnic, so please do not wish us evil!Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-42099812547292509242015-11-27T09:30:00.002-08:002015-11-27T09:42:06.012-08:00CARRIACOUWhile we were still in Canada, about two months previously, Al read somewhere that the submerged volcano in the middle of the way to Carriacou, Kick 'em Jenny, started some rumbles, and degassing activity. The underwater volcano is active and the peak is slowly rising, closer to the surface (500 feet since the last eruption). When any activity is detected in the volcano, the no-sail zone radius is increased from 1.5 miles to 5 miles, which obstructs the usual route, since there are a series of small islands on the edge of the small zone. In order to avoid the dangerous area, people have to take a route about 10 miles to the west of the normal one, and come back to Carriacou, which is a little to the north east of Grenada. Alternately, one can follow the north coast of Grenada to the east, and pass from the east of the small islands. This route is closer to Carriacou, however, getting there is the problem; wind, current and waves are on the nose. In normal conditions, the wind is quite strong, pronounced by the island effect, and boaters seldom pick that route. But this time, the wind and waves were the mildest we had ever seen, so Al did not change his decision of taking the easterly route, even though we saw at least 5-6 boats before us, picking the westerly one.<br />
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We were looking around to check out the eastern sides of the small islands (Diamond rock, Round Rock, Sisters, Les Tantes on the north, London Bridge on the southeast side etc) and taking pictures, having a good time.<br />
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Then I tried to wash my hands, and saw that there was no water at the tap. I asked Al if he had turned off the water pump, but he had not. Al looked around on the inside, switched the pump to the other tank, but got no water. Then he went to the lockers at the bow to feel the tanks. When he tapped on the tanks, he saw that they both were empty, and the bilge pump was also working. Mystery to the max, didn't we fill both of them the last thing the night before? having used up all the water was not a possibility. Since we were motoring all the way, we did not hear the bilge pump working, I only saw its light flashing while passing by the control panel. It appeared that we had emptied our tanks into the sea while motoring the last few hours.<br />
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The pleasent trip turned into another anxious wait until we reached Carriacou, where a boatyard is getting established in the recent years. I checked Doyle, and saw that there were a number of mechanics servicing big boats. I was sure that somebody would give us a hand to find the problem.<br />
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We reached Tyrrell Bay around 3:30 pm, and anchored. First thing to do is to clear out of Grenada. Luckily Customs and Immigration is next to the boatyard. The clearence procedure did not take long, and we managed to climb the second floor of the Customs building to speak with the boatyard office. It was 4:30 pm on a Friday. Half an hour later everybody would leave to party!<br />
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Anyway, when we explained our problem to the nice receptionist girl at the office, somebody sitting behind her told us to follow him to the boatyard. We found a small group of guys puttering about a shed. Our guide explained the problem to one of them, and he told us to weigh anchor immediately and get tied to the fuel dock, so that we could put some water into the tanks and see where it was disappearing to.<br />
We rushed back, I pulled the anchor, tied the fenders in a flash and gave the lines to the attendant. The problems are never ending, but thankfully the remedy is not too far off! I asked the fuel dock attendant if we could stay the night there, and he said yes. I hate anchoring in the dark, expecially at such a crowded anchorage like Tyrrell Bay! Who knows when the problem would be fixed?<br />
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The nice plumber/mechanic came to the boat, got us get some water into the tanks, and started looking systemmatically, at the tanks, the pipes, the bilge etc., discussing with Al. I was beat, and wished to splash some water and get away from the nerve wrecking situation. I gathered my tablet etc., and headed to the small restaurant beside the boatyard. Al knew where to find me when they finished.<br />
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I could see Al walking about the boat, and before half an hour, he came by, beaming. The problem was the hose, bringing water from both of the tanks to the hot water tank, being unhooked. Because the leak was before the lines reached the pump, it was not turning on automaatically to maintain the pressure; that would actually give us a clue of a problem with water systems while on the way. Why and how the water line to the heater disconnected? Nobody knows. Fixing it was the easiest thing in the world, all he had to do was to put it in and clamp it. He asked for 100.- EC ($50.- Canadian) for his trouble, but Al was so happy, gave him a tip. Phew, that was close.<br />
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One more night at a marina, listening to the lines being jerked about, and giving out those awful periodic sounds as the boat rolls with the waves. Above all else, the creshendo of the crackling. Tyrrell Bay was the worst for the noise coming from the hulls. According to the Internet wisdom, the crustaceans were rampant in shallow and warm waters. The boatyard in Tyrrell Bay is at the shallowest end, which could explain the activity.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-70138189362318287482015-11-27T09:26:00.000-08:002015-11-27T10:11:49.214-08:00THE WAY BACKAs usual, Al checked all the weather sites, and thought that Saturday night would be calm enough, 10 to 15 knot winds, 3 to 5 ft seas, ideal weather to sail. At that angle (almost 90 degrees), 15 knots is enough to push us 7 - 8 miles per hour (our absolute limit is 9 miles). Coming down was a bit stressful, but we managed to lower our speed by playing with the sheets. Al thought going back was to be easier still, looking at the forecast.<br />
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We hoistred the main and let the mooring ball go around 4:00 pm, and started motor sailing along the south west coast of Chaguaramas, toward the next small island on the west, and turned to the channel in between.<br />
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The wind was erratic due to the land effect, so we patiently passed through, and slowly started sailing into the open seas. Since the land mass was much bigger than all the other islands, the real strenght of the wind was not felt until after a few hours. By the time we got to the real open seas, it was pitch dark outside, and we started to fly on water. Letting out the sheets and the traveller, whatever we did was not enough to slow us down.<br />
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Al started the engines, turned into the wind, and ordered pulling down the sail to the first reef. Easier said than done; it was dark, we thought we pulled the first reef halyard to its mark while being beaten by wind and waves, and continued on. After ten minutes, Al saw that sail was not down enough, so we repeated the process. The waves might have been 3 ft, but the swells were much higher! Long story short, slowing the boat became a real ordeal. Both of us were out of breath and sweating buckets, until we came down to a steady manageable speed.<br />
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This time Al tried once to sleep a short while, but decided to keep going. I have to admit that my stamina did not last that long. I slept a few short periods during the dead of night. <br />
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We reached St George's around 6:00 am, in 14 hours as opposed to 15 on our way there. We had reserved a spot at the dock of the Yacht Club, but Keeron, the dock master would not show up before 7:00 am; so we motored into the bay, and turned the engines down, started drifting in the gentle breeze to wait. It was great, no sound, no waves, so peaceful. We had our breakfast, tidied around the boat, time passed quickly. Then Al called Keeron on the phone, and asked if we could come in to be tied up. Kiran told us to wait until 8:00 am, since our spot was occupied for the time being, but the boat was leaving. One more hour of drifting, and we went in, got tied in and relaxed.<br />
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I was planning on scrubbing the boat from top to bottom, which was the reason of coming into the marina again. Marina life is the worst life imaginable for me; usually it is hot, noisy and full of bugs, and there is no swimming; not the boat life we love. However, water is abundant and cheap at the club, and it is centrally located, close to the grocery stores we shop from. So we planned to endure three more nights to finish our chores, and get on our way.<br />
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The first night before we go to bed, I started hearing the old crackling sounds from the hulls. I almost fainted! After all the ordeal, were the damned termites still devouring our boat? However we listened carefully, and realized that they were coming from the hulls, and not from the bow or the inside of the boat. As a matter of fact, I could hear the noises from the open side hatch, which made me think that it was coming from the outside of the boat.<br />
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While we were lying in the bed, unable to sleep, Al searched the Internet, and found a lot of people writing about hearing noises in reference to pistol shrimps eating the nutrients stuck on the boat hulls, like barnicles and such. After reading some, Al opened the hull cover in our cabin, and looked all over. There was no sign of any activity inside, but the noise was more pronunced in the bilge area. We decided that it should be coming from the outside, and tried to get some sleep. It was torture, but we tried to beleive the other boaters' assessments. We even watched some videos, which depicted similar sounds as coming from the pistol crabs and other crustaceans feeding off the hulls. I was a bit relieved, but made a mental note to get the fumigators in Martinique to come and check our boat, if they could identify the source of the noise.<br />
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In the meantime, we did our scrubbing, shopping and laundry, filled our water tanks and got ready to start our trip north.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-12900631224018659582015-11-27T09:23:00.004-08:002015-11-27T10:14:21.548-08:00TRINIDAD IMPRESSIONSTrinidad seems to be more affluent than all the Caribbean islands we had seen, even Porto Rico (except French islands). Since it is almost connected to Venezuela, they have oil/gas production, and a rich soil that is not volcanic. They seem to be industrialized and sophisticated, offering any kind of marine service imaginable.<br />
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Power appears to be cheap, which translates into air-conditioning to the hilt in every enclosed area. One freezes one's butt staying indoors too long. Food prices are not too high, but not as cheap as Doyle suggests.<br />
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We visited the market in Port of Spain, by a maxi taxi driven by Jessie, who picked us up from Peake at 6:30 am on Saturday morning (!) It was about an hour away, but we were done fresh produce shopping before 8:00 am. They did not have a lot of vegetables; but our staple tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers were available, as well very good watermelons, so we were happy. However, I was expecting more I guess, compared to the market in St George's, it was not impressive. There were a small fish and meat market in the adjoining building as well. We thought of buying fish, which were plentiful, but carrying it seemed too hard. We ended up buying some fresh cut meat, which turned out not too bad.<br />
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We stayed in Trinidad about nine days, and endured two week-ends. The people in Trinidad seem to work hard and play harder. Saturday nights the pleasure rides in big boats start at different hours, to the sunset, later in the evening, and at 2:00 am, and continue until sunrise. The clientele constantly drink and listen to the deafening music. With them, everybody else in the harbour. What I could not understand was the reason of their boats coming to Chaguaramas and slowly going around the harbour, passing by almost every boat that was moored. The land around the harbour is solely industrial. When we walked for hours along the way to Port of Spain, all we saw were marinas and stores. Maybe that is the reason, disturbing the people in the residential areas was not allowed, but outsiders moored in the harbour do not count probably. Anyway, while we were trying to sleep in the never-ending kakaphony, we thought of Grenada, where people are so respectful towards each other, and strangers alike. Their pleasure rides (towards sunset) is a pleasure to watch and listen to from our own boats. I guess affluence brings self indulgence and egocentry!<br />
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All in all, this trip was different from any other that we had taken; we had not for a second contemplated about the long and ardous way; all we thought about was to get there as soon as possible, how did not matter. However, I would not attempt it again for just pleasure. I hope we would not be forced to do it again, for any reason.<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-17646852049503481322015-11-27T09:20:00.002-08:002015-11-27T09:20:27.718-08:00THE BIG KILLOn Wednesday morning we piled up the mattresses on the cock-pit table, rest of the perishable stuff (like pills, dental items, packaged food, water filters etc) under it, and covered the whole thing by two tarps (it rains in Trinidad several times almost every day). We started to work early in the morning, since Luke promised to come around 10:00 am. We got everything ready before long, took our suitcase and moved into the hotel facility at Peake Marina, which was the place to haul out the boat if need be.<br />
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The hotel rates were reasonable (US$88,- per night), for a clean, air-conditioned room with a mini fridge and electrical kettle. What else do you need.<br />
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Grenada Marine should learn from these guys how to operate a boat yard. Peake's grounds were as big, but the facilities much better, roads and buildings impeccable, and prices comparable. As well, Grenada Marine does not offer sleeping quarters for the sailors while working on their boats on hard. Although several years ago a crude complex of small cottages were available near by, their management was so bad and they were so overpriced that it did not survive and closed, rather than serve Grenada marine customers. The only place to stay around there is La Sagesse. Not very convenient and full of bugs! On the other hand, Trinidad prices were not cheap enough to tempt us to take the 14 hour passage twice every year.<br />
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After settling into the hotel, Al returned to the boat with Luke and his two guys, to seal the boat from the outside by covering all the wholes, to get it ready for "bombing". After the prep work was done, Luke was so impressed by Al's help, that he asked Al, if he would consider working with him as a fumigator! Al watched the guys empty 10 canisters of the gas inside the cabins and the galley through one of the hatches; and two more in the lockers outside using a specially designed system of tubes and can piercing apparatus. We had to leave all hatches closed but unlocked, so the boat could be aerated after 24 hours without entering the salon and the cabins. Before the fumigation crew left, they placed "Danger, Toxic Gas" signs outside the door and on the hull, to keep two-legged pests away from the boat, while the hatches were unlocked.<br />
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When Al returned to the hotel, I asked if the crew were wearing gas masks while working, and he said no. Poor guys, who knows how much exposure they are getting every day, even though they stayed outside when they pierced the canisters. Earning a living should not be so hard.<br />
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Next morning, Al took the guys back to the boat to open the seals and got it aired for us to move back in. Apparently the toxic gas was lighter than air and left no residue after proper ventilation. The gas had no odour, although deadly for insects as well as humans. So, in order for it to be detectable, they were adding tear gas to it, which had a distinct smell. It took Al two days to completely clean the air, by opening every window, door and hatch, while sitting at the cock-pit. Unfortunately leaving the boat unattended while airing out was not an option. It would have been easier if Ruyam II were on hard, in a secure atmosphere. Oh well, Al sat there for two half days, and got it done, while I languished at the hotel.<br />
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The whole operation cost us $1,000.- Canadian dollars. Tenting would have been triple that, so we felt lucky. I hope this will be the last time I see those unwelcome visitors!<br />
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Luke gave us a small sample of the bait for dust-mites, which we can use to spray the new larvae that might come out of the eggs if any, in about 6 weeks. We will check carefully, and apply the bait before the new year.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-42129116766076660212015-11-27T09:14:00.001-08:002015-11-27T09:14:48.154-08:00THE VERDICTThe best thing about Trinidad is Luke, the terminator! He was extremely professional, courteous and knowledgeable. When we called him first thing after settling on our mooring, he promised to come in the afternoon. True to his word, he came on time, and went around the boat, looked at all the storage areas, the woodwork inside etc., and declared that we had two types of pests onboard; the nest that we had demolished was the subterrenean type of termites, not the flying one, and the infestation was new and localized to the two lockers at the bow. The two places that we had seen some dust and small holes on the wood were done by dust-mites, which were not as dangerous, but harder to kill. He proposed to use gas on the inside of the boat and the bow lockers, as well a special bait for the dust-mites. He did not think that tenting or hauling the boat on hard were necessary, since we had gotten rid of 80% of the problem by throwing out the nest, as well as the wood partitions in the locker which they were eating.<br />
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Unfortunately, Tuesday was a new holiday (Hevali, apparently East Indian), so he would start on Wednesday morning, and open the boat after 24 hours. In order to get rid of the toxic fumes, we would have to air the boat for another day, before we could move back in. Luke thought that we could leave everything in the boat during fumigation, except high density foam (like our mattresses) and open food items.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-70166384331137098402015-11-17T09:43:00.000-08:002015-11-17T09:43:13.097-08:00PASSAGE TO TRINIDADThe next day at 4:30 pm, Al got Jerry, the master dock attendent, to give us diesel. He came to help with the lines, and directed us to the fuel dock, which was at the outer side of the docks close to the harbour mouth. We were ready to sail in ten minutes, and started out through the narrow channel between the reefs. The treck was well marked, so no problem! After passing by Tara shoal further on at our port and Porpoises at starboard, we were ready to hoist the main. Because of six months of idle standing, the reef lines were tangled stif and got stuck twice, but we were able to get them going by the help of the wind. That is to say, we made some zigzags while dealing with the main sail, but we managed in the end.<br />
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We got going on our route (190 degrees straight) around 5:30 pm. Winds were steady at 13 - 15 knots from between 60 - 45 degrees. Perfect, and pleasent, since the sea was at its tamest. No rain either, so we congratulated ourselves for avoiding the miserable conditions of the evening before.<br />
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This was our second long passage during the night; first being to St Martin in 2012. That had been such a pleasent trip, it cured us from all misgivings about night travel. However, this was our first night sail. As it turned out, nothing to it, as long as the wind keeps its promise of being steady and mild. Around mid-night however, we started to see steady 7 knots speed when wind picked up to 20+ knts, and I got a bit apprehensive, especially when we reached over 8 knot speed several times. Anyway, we played with the trim on the main sail and genoa, and were able to manage without reefing the main sail. After a while, I could not stay up, and slept a bit. But I could not get Al to sleep at all. I hope it was not because of any mistrust about my proficiency. Whatever he thinks, I feel much more confident now, as opposed to our first passage; and he had left the helm to me then for a couple of hours. That was scary, let me tell you!<br />
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Apparently while I was sleeping, the wind wound down and we slowed to 3-4 knots, and Al had to start the engines in order not to waste too much time. All in all, it was a 15 hour treck. We passed Hibiscus oil rig around 4:00 am, which is about four hours away from the north coast of Trinidad. It can be seen from a long distance, lit up like a christmas tree, and gives a lot of confidence.<br />
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When we got closer to Trinidad, it seemed that we were headed into a line of mountains. The island and several smaller ones to the west, along with the northern tip of Venezuela which appear to be connected, and the entrance to Chaquaramas is not visible until you almost hit the land. Thank god for GPS, otherwise second guessing oneself is very easy.<br />
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By the time we came to the channel, the sun had risen, so the short passage was easy. We saw that many boats were coming out, probably starting their long journey north, or east (to Tobaggo). So there was some competition in the narrow channel, but nothing scary.<br />
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Chaguaramas is the harbour, close to the northwest tip of the island, which is surrounded with a few island to the south and a peninsula to the east. It is not very long, but every inch is utilized by a string of marinas and docks, servicing pleasure and commercial vessels, since it is very well protected from trade winds.<br />
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Customs and immigration is located at the end of the harbour, along with the biggest marina (CrewsInn). Its dock also serves a small ferry. We thought that the ferry should be going to Venezuela, a stone's throw away, looking at the size of the ferries (as well as the language of the passangers).<br />
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Doyle warns sailors that arriving vessels were expected to come directly to Customs, without stopping anywhere. So we went all the way in, up to the red and white striped lighthouse, and tied to the dock, in front of the ferry, with the help of some people loitering about. When we entered the Immigration office (again warned about going there first before customs), we saw several people waiting to be dealt with. There was a sign on the wall, indicating that the office would open every morning at 6:00 am, but service starts at 8:00. I saw that it was 8:00 on the dot. The officer was busy with somebody, and the next person in line showed Al the forms to be filled in triplicate. Al got busy for half an hour. In the meantime, more people walked in, one asked the officer what to do. I noticed that the he did not mention triplicate forms, so I made a point of asking him about it, and he confirmed. Imagine, the poor man would have filled one form (who would think of multiple forms), and would be chastised for not doing it right. I think the man was grateful, and started talking to us. It was such a slow process, since the officer was taking the filled forms, and transfering all the detailed information into the computer (with his limited typing capacity). Why? We must have been spoiled by the lax attitude of French customs, where all one has to do is enter the information into the computer (no hard copies), and save! It is the most efficient system available. Most of the other Caribbean islands have started utilizing computer as well, with the Sail-Clear system, which is accessed by one's own laptop or mobile device. Trinidad is not a part of that system unfortunately.<br />
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I overheard the officer mentioning that he liked working on the week-ends, to avoid serving the crowds of week days. Apparently the overtime charge applied on week-ends deter a lot of people. When we were there, the workday had just started in the Saturday morning, but there were at least five people already waiting. We got out of there in about two hours. We shall see the situation while clearing out on a week day.Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-47230176887640035122015-11-17T07:36:00.001-08:002015-11-17T07:36:06.969-08:00SEASON FIVE STARTS WITH A NASTY SURPRISEAt the end of last season, we left Ruyam II in water, docked at Secret Harbour Marina, Grenada, after securing a promise from the dockmaster to start the engines for a short while every month. We also asked our driver Richard to take a look once in a while and make sure the engines were operational.<br />
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Al was in constant contact with the marina and Richard, and everything was in order until it was time to come back. Richard sent a message in October, complaining about the starboard engine. Oh well, we were going to take care of it. It sounded like the age old problem with the starboard battery draining when not in use, and reviving after the port engine generating enough juice.<br />
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We arrived in Secret Harbour around 10:00 am on Tuesday, October 27th, 2015, after flying red-eye to Trinidad. We were very happy to eliminate staying the first night at a hotel, which was not possible when flying during the day.<br />
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Everything was great, there was a bit of a moisture inside, but nothing major. I also saw some dust on all the doors, inside and out, which was odd. I had never witnessed dust when Ruyam II was left on hard at Grenada Marine, in the middle of a ton of dust and mud. I reasoned that the dust must have come from the marina, undergoing some renovations close to where we were tied.<br />
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During the night and next morning, I heard some noises coming from all over. At first I thought water was dripping, but soon realized that the sound was like the one coming from popping bubble wrap. It was strange, but we had a lot to do, no time to dwell on it!<br />
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I cleaned our side of the boat, emptied our three huge duffle-bags, and settled in. After all the work inside, I took the last bag to the outside locker, where we also store the water hoses, fenders, plastic stools and some other odds and ends. There were some old suitcases which we wanted to discard, so I took one out, and saw some white worms wriggling on it.<br />
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AAAALL!<br />
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Poor Al was busy with the dinghy engine alongside the handyman Devon. They both rushed to the bow, and after inspection Devon declared that we had termites. It was very interesting actually, the insects made tracs like highways from black, sand-like mud on the floor of the locker, as well as all around the top crevice. What's to be done? Devon thought that the tracks were going under the water tanks, so we should dismantle the tanks to see where they were heading. That did not seem like a good idea to me, and I thought we could find a bait or poison to get rid of the colony, like ants. So we took to the Internet, but what we found was quite disheartening, and outright scary. My spirits hit the floor, and I lost all interest in furhter clean-up.<br />
Since we were hearing the clacking inside, which seem to be coming from the hulls, we started to think that they were eating away the wood of the hulls, sandwiched in the fibre-glass. As usual, we thought of the worst possible scenario, and almost got convinced that our boat was damaged irrecovarably, and we would have to leave it. That was such a heart-breaking moment! We literally could not think of any other thing that we would do, if Ruyam II was out of our hands.<br />
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However, we came to our senses and talked to some people and learned that there was a remedy, only in Trinidad mind you, which was guaranteed to deal with them. Stephan, the carpenter working at the marina, stongly urged us to make the trip to Trinidad. Stephan said that even if the procedure should cost US$10,000.- we should have it done, speaking from experience. But he assured us that the insects would definitely be eliminated by the poisonous gas. Generally, the boat would be completely covered and sealed in a tent, and the gas would be applied to the inside under pressure.<br />
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We took to the Internet again, to find a company around Port of Spain, Trinidad. I dictated the telephone number of Trinidad and Tobaggo Pest Control (TTPC) to Al, and he immediately reached Luke to get an estimate. When Al explained what we had encountered, Luke confirmed that he would make the tent on hard, and suggested we contact Peake Marina in Chaguaramas, Trinidad to make the arrangements to haul Ruyam II out. Luke's ballpark estimate for the tent was US$2,000.-; hauling out, living off the boat at a hotel for at least 48 hours etc was to be extra. Who cares, as long as we could get there before it was too late.<br />
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In the meantime, Al was trying to find Mike, the mechanic to check the starboard engine. Al connected the portside starting battery, but was not able to start the engine. So he was convinced that the starter or something else was not functioning properly. We felt trapped, and were not sure about the integrity of the hulls to withstand the 14 hour journey to Trinidad.<br />
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The next day, we checked the other locker, where the anchor and some unused lines were stored. Despite being quite full of stuff, the presence of the insects there was more pronounced than the other locker. When I looked, the front of the locker was almost covered with mud. I refused to look at it, so Al went in, and started to pile the coils of lines on the trampoline. While I was inside, he discovered their main nest among one of the coils, and immediately threw it into the sea after tying the end of the line.<br />
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Later on I helped him to clean the mud from the locker, and dosed it with a lot of sea water, as well as break up the wooded partition between the anchor chain and the rest of the loker. When I threw the wood into the sea, I could see the insects floating away. Creepy!<br />
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However, the clacking sounds persisted, albeit somewhat subdued. We could not think of anything else, waiting for Mike to show up. He did come after two days (an eternity), and after tinkering with the engine a little, declared it to be perfectly operational. Starter was fine, nothing had to be changed, but he said that the engine choker was a bit stiff and hard to release. Al speculated that dockmaster and Richard must have tried to start the engine without fully releasing the choker, using up the battery (mistery solved). <br />
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Now that we were almost ready to sail, it was time to check the weather, and hoist the genoa etc. We got ready to sail overnight on Friday, November 5th., and sent out e mails to family and friends, got our clearance from Grenada, even prepared the sandwiches and tea, and sat to wait for the nasty rain to stop. It got worse instead. We had a window of an hour to get out of the harbour in daylight, which is almost covered by reefes and we had passed through it six months previously the first time.<br />
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It is not advisable to attempt a blind passage as experience had taught us. Both of us decided to wait the night, and make the passage the next day. Al had to notify everybody, including Luke, and got a promise from him to check the boat on Saturday afternoon. I felt relieved that we would not be miserable trying to deal with the sails in the downpour. Sitting at the helm in the rain is also not very pleasent. As I have mentioned before, we are in this for enjoyment, and any preventable hardship is unwelcome. I guess we are getting old and not up to too much adventure (and proud of it).<br />
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Al Turakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12510823665551687878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-18162432694853229732015-03-30T18:05:00.000-07:002015-03-30T18:13:41.900-07:00DEVRIM COMES AND MORE RAINDevrim made us very happy by buying a ticket for St Lucia (the first time during our four years of the odyssey) for the 2nd of February. We wanted to be there a couple of days before, so we started our preparations at the end of January. We wished to spend a few days in Le Marin, to give moral support to Guylaine, who was to shoulder the responsibility of serving hoards of kebab customers during her husband Levent' s absence.<br />
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On the morning of weighing anchor at St Anne, the starboard battery started acting up. Rather did not start when tried; however after the port engine ran about an hour, it collected enough juice to work sputteringly. I could not understand how that was possible! That battery was fine at the other side for the last two years, and as soon as we changed its place, it lost all its power. Anyway, we did not have time to deal with it, it was obvious that the engine was fine, but the electrical system needed some adjustment. We decided to get looked at at Rodney Bay, where the mechanics are reputed to be cheap.<br />
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Al started running the starboard engine every night to get the battery filled, so that it was reluctantly started to work when we needed it.<br />
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The weather had been quite pleasent for a couple of days, and the forecast was favorable, so we set sail for Rodney Bay on 30th of January. We did not know how to get to the airport in Vieux Fort, which is dead south of St Lucia, but decided to ask around when there.<br />
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The sail was great (only three hours to Rodney Bay, st Lucia from St Anne, Martinique), winds, although mild, was from east, so perfect on our south westerly route. We made good time, and anchored in front of Landings resort.<br />
Al changed his telephone SIM card, and decided to give a call to our friends Ken and Diane. He had sent an e mail previously, but had not heard back from them. Ken answered, and indicated that they also were anchored at the bay. On our way to the marina to get cleared in, we dropped at their boat, Lost our Marbles, and had a chat about our options of transportation.<br />
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It was so good to see them again after a year! Since they live in St Lucia, they had great connections. They suggested taking a taxi from Vieux Fort after collecting Devrim, and gave us the number for Elvis, who was Ken's neighbour, so somebody trustworthy. The price was to be US$85.- , apparently less than the going rate. All and dandy, but how are we going to get there. Ken suggested taking the minibus from Castries, which was very cheap, but a bit scary with the driving practices of St Lucians. We were used to it, so no problem (as Ken is Canadian, he is not comfortable in fast cars.) But at least we had a plan. Since we did not want to leave the boat unattended all day, we thought of tying at the marina the day before Devrim was coming, so that transfer of luggage etc would be easier.<br />
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On 1st of February we tied at a slip around noon for two nights, and got Internet access etc. The first message we got was from Devrim; there was a major snow storm in US, and his plane was postponed to 5th of February. Nothing to be done but wait at the bay on anchor. Marina life is both expensive and dull. We went back to the bay, and decided to get our electrical system to be checked in the meantime. Ken was instrumental also in getting a mechanic, who spent several hours tinkering with the batteries, but could not determine the source of the problem. He was adamant that the battery was at fault, and should be changed. After some further consultation with Ken, who came to visit, no other cause of the drain could be found. Oh well, we could buy a battery, but was it going to solve the problem?<br />
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When we asked Ken and Diane about the crime incidents in St Lucia, they downplayed them. Of course one had to be cautious, but recent reports did not show an extraordinary increase in the problems. They suggested we anchor close to their boat, so that they could keep an eye during our absence to pick Devrim. Aren't they great?<br />
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We found the bus stop for the bus to Vieux Fort airport in Castries (after several inquiries), and got into a minibus, which was comfortable (as opposed to Grenadian buses filled to the rim with additional half seats). The trip took about one hour. To tell the truth, the driver was much tamer than our dear Grenadians, and the road was decent, so we were not scared one bit!<br />
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It was great seeing Devrim. We had a good visit; after the first day, we set sail to St Anne. The weather was calm, so the three hour sail was smooth. As a matter of fact, weather cooperated during Devrim's stay, hopefully he was not scared from repeating the exercise in the future.<br />
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As suggested by the mechanic, we bought another gel battery from Mechanique Pleasence. It turned out that a much inferior battery in St Lucia was almost US$300.-, so European prices do not look too high anymore. Especially after the recent hike in US dollars, and dive of Euro, Martinique gets better and better for Canadians. Lets hope Greeks et al will keep up the good work of bringing down Europe.<br />
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After a couple of days in St Anne, we returned to Rodney Bay to send Devrim off. This time we decided to sail south to the Pitons for the last day, and call Elvis to pick Devrim up at the Jalousie Plantation resort located at the southern foot of the Petit Piton.<br />
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Three hours of motor-sail south was unevenful, we got there about noon, and grabbed one of the few mooring balls with the help of an islander. It was a nice enough day, so we all jumped into the water; however both Devrim and I were quite scared of drifting out into the ocean by the force of the current and wind. We stopped at this place 6-7 times in the past, but had never seen a wind coming almost from the foot of the huge conical mountain. I could swear that it was not coming from around or the top, but from the bottom, as if from a huge fan installed there. The experince of swimming in it became fun, after Devrim tied a line around his waist, and I held on to the rope, while the waves pushed us back and around the boat.<br />
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Next morning, Al called the resort to ask if we could use their dock to get Devrim to the shore, and they said no problem. However, I wanted to be on the safe side, and have our last breakfast there. Good decision! When we got to the dock (completely drenched from the five minute ride in the dingy towards the wind), the guy in charge reluctantly let us tie, despite our intention of spending money there.<br />
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The resort is five or more stars, but its employees have the attitute and pride of owning the place, looking down on the sailor riff-raff, who can't afford to stay there. Boo-hoo for them. The meager breakfast cost a pretty penny too, but it was worth it; we spent a couple of hours in the cool breakfast lounge on the verandah, while our clothing dried off. Then the driver came, and Devrim was off! A week is so short for a visit, we missed him terribly just after he left.<br />
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As soon as he was gone, we returned to Rodney Bay for the night and next day we were back in St Anne. We thank our lucky stars for the only window of good weather. The wind at St Anne started and kept on howling for a month and a half, with maybe a couple of days of respite here and there. Hopefully the week of March 31st is going to be calmer, when we will be on our treck back to Grenada. It is hard to beleive that this season is coming to its end!NILUFER and ALPELhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828810958270364566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4573951152257923017.post-86519113174646368152015-03-27T18:40:00.002-07:002015-03-27T18:40:30.221-07:002015 AND THE DOWNPOUR CONTINUESIt appears that this season is plagued by mechanical failures; one after the other, we had to deal with some repairs, most of them in Martinique.<br />
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On the very last leg of our Christmas trip, we had encountered some trouble at the starboard engine, and Al had shut it down while anchoring in St Anne. However, after the anchor was set, he started that engine, which came on without hesitation, and he even put it into gear for a second, and saw that it was operational. This relieved us considerably, but the next morning he was anxious to see if the propeller was entwined with the sea grass we came across earlier. He dived to check, and gave a clean bill of health to the propeller in the morning, and that was the end of that hick.<br />
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In the meantime, we had heard that Devrim was able to find a discount fare to fly to St Lucia in the beginning of February, and we started to plan for his visit. Needless to say that we were very excited, and was planning on our trip to receive him, and how to entertain him during his week. We had contemplated staying in St Lucia, in case of bad weather; however, the latest reports about the crime rates in Rodney Bay (at the north), and Vieux Fort (in the south, where the international airport is located) rendered us indecisive. We were afraid of leaving Ruyam II alone at either of the the ports while going to the airport, and staying overnight at Vieux Fort at the deserted anchorage. What to do?<br />
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At last we decided, that we would venture to St Lucia a couple of days before his arrival, and consult our friends Ken and Diane, fellow Canadians, who live in St Lucia (Ken being from a St Lucian family). Then we would ask Devrim his preference, whether he would like to make two passages to Martinique and back, or wish to idle around St Lucia.<br />
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Ten days into January (a Friday), we had to get water from Le Marin, so got ready to motor the short way. Al started the port engine, which came on immediately, but the starboard was not responding. It was grinding to start, but very slowly, and could not catch up. I proposed staying put, but it was not an option. Now it became imperative that we went to Le Marin, to employ the services of an engine mechanic. Al was adamant that the engine must have been gone, and the repairs would be astronomical. He is such a pessimist, and would jump to the worst conclusion whenever confronted with a malfunction.<br />
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Anyway, we went our way with one engine (thankfully port engine was fine, without which pulling or releasing the anchor is not possible). As soon as we turned into the channel, the winds hit us on the nose. Poor Ruyam II inched towards Le Marin, but since taking water was out of the question with one engine, we headed to the anchorage to the left of the channel, our usual place to anchor. Being a Friday, there was not one place left for us to stay. We tried a few spots, but keeping the boat steady against the wind turned to be too hard. We made one last ditch effort to find a place to the right of the channel, to no avail. I asked on VHF to the marina for a mooring ball, but the response was "No madame, no mooring balls." We turned around (with some difficulty I may add) and retraced our way back to St Anne. That was a first!<br />
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What a heavy heart we had, while anchoring there again. After four years, our son was to visit us the first time, and we did not know whether greeting him at St Lucia would be possible. I thought that surely something could be done in two weeks time. At least we were at the best place to get good mechanics and parts! Cheering Al up is not easy, but I try.<br />
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Early Saturday morning we hopped on a bus and went to the Volvo agent in Le Marin (Mechanique Plaisance), to ask about a mechanic. The attendant lady was very helpful (she speaks English, thank God), and took to the phone to ask if their mechanic was available. Then she pointed out that the boat had to be in Le Marin to be looked after, otherwise nobody would spare the time, being very busy. She also confided that if the mechanic should drive to St Anne, it would be very expensive for us. We tried to explain that it was also impossible to stay in Le Marin during the week end; but left the shop, somewhat down, but at least knowing that help is at hand.<br />
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Next stop Elite Kebap of course, to consult our friend Levent. He immediately offered to drive Al to the repair shop of Mechanique Plaisance at Carenage (near the boat yard), to speak face to face with the mechanic. I stayed back to chat with Guylaine, and check with the marina office if a mooring ball would get free on Monday. The lady at the office indicated that most of the balls were rented for the year, and the few available were to be asked from the capitannerie on the spot. Capitan (Gustave) is constantly on the move in his motor boat, and only accessible through VHF, which means that we had to be in Le Marin to inquire. Forget it!<br />
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When Al returned, things were looking up. Apparently he was able to speak with the mechanic Jean Paul, a very nice elderly man (who also spoke English), and accepted to come to St Anne to check the engine. After listening to Al, he thought that it could be the starter or the battery which was malfunctioning, and probably not the engine. That was a temporary relief, but Monday was the day to be the end of our worries.<br />
Levent drove us back to St Anne. Al started writing about his misfortune to his friends, many of whom suggested different sources for the trouble, but the main one was battery. So Al thought it prudent to check the starboard starter battery. It was almost totally drained (9 something volts, as opposed to 12-13V), so that boosted his morale a bit. He then called Jean Paul to bring a battery with him on Monday, since it seemed that the one at hand had to charged. It was the original (almost 10 years old), and it was about time to get a new one.<br />
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On Sunday we changed our place, and anchored almost next to the municipal dock, so that picking up Jean Paul would be easy. We were ready.<br />
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Jean Paul came at the appointed time, carrying a battery and a starter, just in case. He checked the engine, and found nothing faulty. It was time to try the battery; however the one he brought was top of the line (300.- Euros), a gel one; and Al was opposed to pay 130.- more (about $200.- Canadian) for it. So, he decided to use the port starter battery for the trial, instead of the new one. As soon as the port battery was connected, the engine started purring. Oh, what a relief. The culprit was the battery, afer all! We were so elated that no other expense would be involved, I urged Al to keep the expensive battery that was already brought up to the boat, rather than sending it back and trying to bring a cheaper (and not as good) one from Le Marin. Not worth the effort!<br />
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Jean Paul connected the new battery to the port engine, and gave his invoice. His visit cost us 80.- Euros, which included the delivery of a heavy item. Not at all expensive, and a life saver. Long live Jean Paul!<br />
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Next step was to take water. On Tuesday, we motored to the fuel dock to fill our tanks. After the hose was connected, Al turned on the tap, but there was nothing coming. Al asked the attendant, and he shrugged his shoulders "Pas d'eau!".<br />
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Apparently there was some problem with the city water system. Is this a nightmare or what? We were really low on water, although we had been careful in our consumption. I urged the attendant to check again after a moment, but nothing. Then I saw Gustave passing by in his motor, and it occurred to me to ask if there was a mooring ball available. He promised to look for one, and come back. We asked the attendant if we could stay put until Gustave came back, and he shrugged again. There was nobody else trying to tie to the fuel dock. While sitting there waiting, I urged Al to check the water again, and to our surprise it started to flow. We filled one tank, and it got cut again. In the meantime, Gustave sent his chronies to lead us to a ball nearby. I gave them our lines, but instead of making a slip line and giving the end back to me to tie to the boat, they tied the lines to the ball. Hey, how am I going to untie them to leave? The guy, who spoke good English, assured me that he would come to untie us as soon as asked. Really?<br />
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We went to the marina office to pay for the ball, and learned that for two days, we were to pay 40.- Euros. Oh my God, it was only 8.- Euros per day last year, are they out of their minds? Mooring balls are in short supply, so became expensive. Not again would we seek one in Le Marin in the future!<br />
<br />NILUFER and ALPELhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04828810958270364566noreply@blogger.com0