Trompeta ready for Hurricane season

Trompeta is finally secured in her cradle at Grenada Marine for the Hurricane season. We left Port Louis on Wednesday and had quite a tough sail into wind and tide to reach St David's Harbour so it took us 5 hours in total but at least we sailed and did not motor like the last time. Our intention was to pick up a mooring buoy in the harbour but when we looked around it seemed we would get more protection if we anchored so that is what we did - in very muddy sand - as we discovered when we came to lift the anchor on Friday! The two nights at anchor allowed us time to take the sails off in preparation for haul out. Friday morning dawned and we were in the slip for 9 am to get lifted out of the water. It all went very smoothly and the boat yard workers are clearly practised at what they do so it gave us confidence in what to us was an unknown place. Friday saw a team of people visiting the boat to agree what needed to be done whilst the boat is out of the water. Grenada Marine offer a full care taking service so we are having a monthly boat check and a fortnightly battery check initially. The yard will update us by e mail on a regular monthly basis so we know what work has been done and how much to pay. This way we pay as we go along and there are no surprise bills. Peter has arranged with the Volvo Penta mechanic to replace various things on the engine which is being ' winterised' as is the Generator. The water maker was pickled already by Peter and we have added water purifier to the water left in the tanks ( around 50 gallons!). Our plan is to leave the boat here in her cradle tied down until the end of November which is the official end of hurricane season. We get the benefit of full insurance cover this way. Grenada Marin will apply anti foul just before we come back so they ask for a couple of weeks notice so this can be freshly done for our return. Whilst the boat was in the boat yard we have been staying at a lovely hotel called La Saggesse which s a Nature Retreat and one of the top 10 places to stay in the Caribbean ( according to the Sunday Times). It was lovely t ave 4 nights of pampering and a beach right on our doorstep going to sleep at night listening to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach. The only downside is the sandflies which come out at dawn and dusk to nibble you! We had the company the first two nights of Tim who had an Oyster boat in Grenada Marine also on the hard. Tim flew back to London on Sunday so the last two nights we have had the place to ourselves. Today we took our final swim in the sea before lunch as we are due to fly home tonight so will get picked up from the hotel at 4.30pm for our 7 pm Virgin flight home.

Grenada

Hurrah we are finally here in Port Louis Marina Grenada having left St Lucia yesterday around 6am. In the end it was a fairly easy sail once we got some wind. The trip down th coast of St Lucia was slow as no wind so motor sailed for the first 3 hours but then once past the island some good strong wind down to St Vincent and we were making steady progress under sail alone. The engine behaved itself so fingers crossed all is well on this. Now we are here in the Marina we will take the opportunity to get the boat clean and tidied up before heading south to St David's Harbour where we are due to be hauled out of the water on Friday. The plan is to arrive there maybe as early as Wednesday so we can get the sails off and the deck cleared for lifting. There is a good chandlery here in St Georges so Peter will be able to stock up on bits he needs for the storage. We used a Damp Rid bag in each wardrobe and in the cabin whilst the boat was in Marigot Bay and these kept the inside nice and dry but as we only have on bag left it will be good to get some more here if we can. Although we do not have a cockroach problem it is always wise to set traps whilst the boat is in storage so we need to buy some of these also. Bedding and towels will be vacuum packed in a storage bag to ensure they stay dry. Clothes need to be sorted out as we have to decide which we carry back to England and which we leave here. Some of our clothes including our Moorings crew uniform are already stored in our lock up room in the BVI. There are probably lots more jobs to do but these are just some of the ones that come to mind now.

Ready to leave for Grenada

After a stressful few hours we are now all fixed and ready to sail. Peter has changed the raw water engine pump and put in a new impeller so she is all good now. We did go to the expense of getting the local Volvo technician to look at the engine and he supplied the new impeller but we already had a spare new water pump on board. So in the end it was a fairly straightforward fix and we are now good to go! Have moved off the dock again and we will leave at first light. There seems to be a little more wind today so hopefully we can sail rather than motor! Relaxing on board now with tea and cake.

Still in St Lucia

We set sail early Friday morning and had to motor sail as there was NO wind!! Unfortunately we only got as far as the Pitons when Peter realised the engine turbocharger was over heating and we were seriously low on oil. Topped up the oil and put in a call to the local Volvo Penta technician who was able to offer some advice and it seemed the mechanism that oiled the turbocharger may be sticking. So Peter decided the only sensible option was to turn around and head back into Marigot Bay Marina so a technician can check out the engine. Very disappointing that after all the miles we have done using the engine it should be a problem now. So to treat ourselves we booked into the Marina Hotel (discounted rate for boat owners) and had a good nights sleep with full AC for a cool night with no mossies! Breakfast was included so we have been set up for the day now. The Volvo technician is due at 11am to look at our engine and fingers crossed it is nothing too serious and we can get underway for Grenada tomorrow morning.

Back in St Lucia again

Flew back to St Lucia last night after a month gainfully employed in the BVI. A late night as we did not get onto the boat until well after 10pm but in bed by 11pm so not that bad. After a good nights rest we are now preparing the boat for her sail down to Grenada and Peter has been checking all the systems and engines. He discovered a coolant leak on the main engine and spent some hours trying to replace a broken fitting but has now managed to achieve a temporary fix which will at least get us to Port Louis in Grenada where there is a good chandlery. It is amazing we did not use a drop of engine coolant all the way around the world and now she is idle we discover a leak! Have turned the fridge back on and restocked for the short passage to Grenada (around 120 miles). The plan is to leave tomorrow after lunch and arrive in Port Louis by late afternoon assuming our normal cruising speed of 5 knots. There is a bit of a weather system going through at the moment with gusty strong winds and big seas so we aim to leave when the swell has subsided a little. We have to get Trompeta to the boatyard in St David's harbour by 27 June as she is being hauled out of the water on 28 June. The month in the BVI worked out well for us and flights and boat storage and Marina costs are now covered. It was actually fun to be working again and we had a good time with some lovely people.

Trompeta back in Marigot Bay St Lucia

It has been a hectic few days since the last blog. The sail to St Lucia was quite tricky with a head wind and swell so after we past Saba Bank we had adverse current which slowed us down somewhat. Having said that we made Rodney Bay anchorage on Saturday night so that was better than last time we did the trip when it took us 3 days. Sunday morning we sailed around to Marigot Bay and Trompeta is now safely tied up and all loose items on deck stowed below. We met another couple from Gainsborough whilst we were there who have a boat called Puddlejumper which is also registered in Whitby!! The boat was actually on the dock when we stopped in Marigot Bay with World ARC and we remarked at the time it was Whitby registered but there was no one aboard. The couple that own Puddlejumper are called William and Karen and he is actually a farmer too! We met William and Karen the day we arrived as they had just flown in from London Gatwick so were a little jet lagged. However we met up with them for drinks the following evening and promised to stay in touch as they are having a holiday now with friends flying in to join them but they will also be taking their boat down to Grenada for the hurricane season and do not fly back to the UK until 23 June. We have now flown back to the BVI but return again to St Lucia on 18 June to sail to Grenada. So now it is back to work again and soon getting into the swing of things here. It is lovely to be back amongst friends and we are enjoying the socialising!

On the move again

Have a couple of days on the Moorings dock again to finalise our preparations for going back to work and sailing back down to St Lucia for the start of the hurricane season (officially 1 June). We have rented a store room (or rather an attic above some rooms) for the princely sum of $30pm to store our surplus clothes and other equipment we want to leave in the BVI. Have been offered temporary work starting 23 May to 17 June on a crewed yacht so will fly back to the BVI from St Lucia to do this then return back to our boat on 18 June. Then sail to Grenada for storage in a cradle in Grenada Marine boatyard which is a designated hurricane storage facility and approved by our insurers. Met up with some old crew in Village Cay today for lunch (Peter and Bobbi) who are still working on the same yacht they were on when they were here at The Moorings but doing private charters now. Their boat looks very different as they have really implemented all the little comfort and design improvements we all talked about before. So tomorrow is our last day of preparation before setting sail again to St Lucia. It is about 310 miles so will probably take us a little over 2 days if we get some decent winds. Have booked into Marigot Bay Marina from 19 May. The Marina has good WiFi so will be able to report on progress when we arrive!