by Pam Graham
March 1993
In Part 4, Kapalua II‘s intrepid crew began their slow crawl through the Caribbean. This issue, we continue their adventures ...
Saturday 15 May, 1993: We left Antigua for Guadeloupe and the journey south, away from the threat of hurricanes. The situations one finds oneself in can be very surprising, like the one we came across on our way south from Deep Bay, Antigua. Over the radio we had heard someone asking the way to English Harbour as if it was not marked on his chart! This call was answered by a fisherman who recognized the vessel description given by the boat as the one that had just passed his fishing boat, so he gave him directions to carry on north. All this took place on Channel 16, of course. Imagine our surprise when a trimaran with blue and white sails exactly fitting the description, passed us going north in the opposite direction from English Harbour. How he missed the reefs on the corner we will never know, because when we spoke to him, the reefs were not on his chart, either! He called again and we answered, told him our position – on his starboard beam – gave him the coordinates for English Harbour when he requested them, and warned him to stay two miles offshore to avoid those reefs you could see and those you couldn’t. He came over to us, maybe for a closer look, and we discovered he was from New Zealand. We wonder how he’s managing.
We had enjoyed Race Week in Antigua from a spectator’s viewpoint and saw some beautiful yachts. We had missed the Classic Week as we were in Nevis, but many of the old boats were still there for Race Week and they were magnificent.
We had Kapalua hauled out at Jolly Harbour to deal with a stubborn grease nipple on the propeller shaft, which refused to accept any more grease and was letting sea water in. We inspected the mechanical log and, as Len suspected, found the cable broken, so we took it out and plugged up the hole until we could get a new one. We scrubbed Kapalua’s bottom and gave it another layer of anti-fouling to discourage barnacle and coral growth, though we have yet to find a successful bottom paint that lasts more than two months we had been snorkelling and diving every other day to clean the bottom).
Whilst in Jolly Harbour, we met a young American couple who had a broken gearbox as a result of motoring over a line joining two lobster pot markers. They were waiting for a complete unit to arrive by plane from America so they could resume their journey south. Another boat reported a bent propeller and rudder damage. Both boats had long keels and totally enclosed propellers. None of us are safe. We are sorry to say they were not the first boats to suffer in some way from fishing nets or makers and it is always costly in both time and money. Another reason for not travelling at night.
Sunday 16 May, 1993: Off again today for Iles Saintes, stopping on the way to snorkel off Pigeon Island in the Jacques Cousteau National Park – very beautiful with crystal-clear water and well worth a tank dive next time around.
We had some nasty squalls as we reached the southern end of Guadeloupe and reduced sail to cross to Iles Saintes, but we put the anchor down at 1730 hours in a delightful bay behind a rock called Pain de Sucre, having sailed most of the journey and motoring only the last mile or so.
Tuesday 18 May, 1993: Off again to Dominica, first of all to Portsmouth and then on to Anchorage where we renewed acquaintances with old friends also travelling south. We also saw the progress of the hotel being built in the mountains. Symes Zee’s Villa has had a few setbacks as there have been landslides as a result of the heavier rainfall there. The waterfall had enormous boulders in the upper pool, which changed the course of the fall, even in the short time we had been away.
Saturday 23 May, 1993: We followed the others in light airs to Martinique. We do seem to need a motor boat at times as the sailing is too slow and the anchorages are difficult to negotiate without any buoyage or light systems at night.
We had a lovely sail from St Anne, Martinique, to St Lucia, although the winds were rather light, the sea was so clear just to the south as we left, that we had a lovely view from the bowsprit before the water breaks against the boat and could clearly see fish and coral down to nine metres. St Lucia hadn’t changed and once again, we met Debbie and her family and friends. We had a day sailing with the family, who had entertained us last Christmas, joined them on another day for a beach BBQ and played sand cricket, fished and snorkelled.
We tried to organize our vaccinations for Hepatitis A, but found out they don’t have the vaccine anywhere in the Caribbean. Eventually, we faxed the UK to have the vaccine brought out and administered here. In Martinique, you can buy Hepatitis B serum over the counter at the Health Dispensary. Everyone goes to Martinique for health matters, hospitalization.
From St Lucia we journeyed on to St Vincent and were shocked by the extreme poverty. We were inundated by boat boys selling anything and everything fresh, wanting to do jobs for you, rowing out, canoeing, paddling rafts and sometimes, openly begging. It was uncomfortable and gave a feeling of insecurity. We did not enjoy our brief stay at Wallilabou and left the next day for Bequia in the Grenadines.
The sailing was in heavy seas, with swells of about 3.5 metres as forecast. Ugh! We needed the motor to keep close to 30° to the wind, but as we neared Bequia, the wind came more on the beam and we had a lovely sail right into the harbour at Admiralty Bay.
One advantage of the friendly contacts one makes is the spread of expertise and experience one finds. Here we gained news that the ‘best’ sailmaker and repairer in the Caribbean could be found on Barbados. We needed to modify our genoa and organize a fixed bimini for sailing as the sun is so strong in the middle of the day. Our genoa is too big and heavy; we need a higher cut ‘yankee’ to compliment the staysail. Our main is also too big; it is virtually always reefed, usually with two reefs.
Tuesday 22 June, 1993: Bequia to Carriacou and on to Grenada to pick up another friend, Roger, who joined us for two weeks. Since then, we have sailed and motor-sailed up through The Grenadines, at first in very poor weather conditions. We are constantly surprised by the changing weather patterns which have assailed us since our arrival. In December, it became quite dry; then, when it was supposedly the ‘dry’ season, we had almost constant rain and we were not geared to catch water from the bimini. In Antigua, it was wetter than they had ever had before and now we are in the summer months with the threat of storms and hurricanes, it is the wet season and although we have had some rain, it has not been enough to catch and we have been using the desalinator as we move from place to place.
Our first landfall with Roger was Carriacou, where the boat boys are very creative: Simon sells French wines, others promote the various restaurants; a Rastafarian couple sells jewellery made from coconut shell, shells, fish bones, etc. All kinds of arts and crafts are exhibited in the small boats, with the usual offers to take garbage, sell fruit, and deliver fresh bread and so on.
We enjoyed Union Island and found the people very friendly. We arrived on Graduation Day and were invited to the party to see some of this tiny island’s ‘young hopefuls’. The Education Officer, who had come from St Vincent for the occasion, explained that they are tending more and more towards the American system of education as he, having gained his BSc and MA at an English university, was appalled at the lowering standards of entry to our universities and the increasing costs to Commonwealth students. They are closer to America and there are advantages gained by adopting their system.
Thursday 1 July, 1993: Today we saw the real Caribbean – Palm Island has white sand, pale, turquoise sea, brown, yellow and green reefs with lovely coral heads, palm trees, of course, and clear blue skies with gentle zephyr breezes. Best yet! The anchorage at Tobago Keys is in the Atlantic Ocean, but hiding behind reefs which break up the swell to nothing, while keeping the steady trade winds which maintain the boat’s position. A strong current, freshening winds and the forecast that another Tropical Depression was on its way decided us to continue south to Petit St Vincent, which was yet another beautiful island, then Petit Martinique, where it was impossible to anchor, and return to Tyrell Bay on the island of Carriacou. We finally returned to Grenada by sailing all the way down the Atlantic coast and south west to Mt Hartmann Bay and Secret Harbour in time for Roger’s flight home on July 6.
We have been singularly unsuccessful in our attempts to fish, but on this day, we were successful. We caught a tuna – 29 inches from nose-to-tail, weighing about 12 lbs. It was a magnificent specimen and we cut off enough for us three for two days, and then shared some with two other boats. Len decided to use the smoker for the first time and successfully smoked half the remaining tuna; it tasted wonderful.
In light of these experiences, we have decided to return next year to see some of the many places we missed this year. We seem to have been travelling very fast over these last few days and will now prepare the boat for our sail to Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
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