Monserrat to Nevis

Clearing in & out at customs on the French Islands is a breeze.  You sit at the computer terminal & do their job for them, & then print it out & hand it in.  The British Islands on the other hand are archaic.  They want to know about your ship's stores, how much alcohol, tobacco, firearms, livestock, (LIVESTOCK??) you have.  Monserrat's big draw now is the wreck of the volcano, which we didn't go tour.   We opted to go looking for wifi instead.  We were told it was too far to walk, but we got there in 20 min. There are 5000 people left, & apparently there is no planning.  Wifi didn't work, surprise, surprise.  We left early, at 7 a.m. when they came to ask us to move to make room for a small cargo ship. 
We made Nevis before 2 p.m. thinking we had plenty of time to explore, HA.  After the customs clear in, we had to go to immigration, "2 blocks down the street, above the police station".  Well, 5 blocks later, we finally found it.  The officer could only stamp our passports, as "the computers are down".  From there we had to go to the Port Authority, a 10 square meter shack where we had to pay $60 for our stay on a mooring ball.  Serge needed to find a cash machine for Eastern Caribbean dollars.  The 1st 3 didn't work, so we paid in US dollars & euros.  After we got our receipt, we had to go back to customs to get our clearance.  Can you see how ludicrous this is?  We've already seen half the town by the time we've cleared in.  By then it was well after 4, & we have to move our boat half a mile to their mooring ball.  So much for getting an early start.
We decided to stay an extra day to climb the dormant volcano.  We ask at the dockside bar that we frequented where the trailhead is.  We were told Hermitage.  Tourist info office was closed on Sat. so no map.  A cab driver takes us to Hermitage & the desk clerk there says I could tell you where the trailhead is but you'll never find it.  Do you have a guide?  You need a guide.  Go to Golden Rock.  We yell at the retreating taxi & he stops & tells us it'll cost us a little more.  At Golden Rock the helpful lady in charge of activities at the resort gives us a map & tells us it's off the map, you'll never find it.  Do you have a guide?  She tells the cabbie to take us to Peak Heaven, but not all the way, stop at the little bar on the corner & if there is anyone there who isn't too drunk by now (it's almost 11) get them to show us the trailhead.   By now the cabbie is getting tired of us & just dropped us off at that little local bar & pointed up the road.  We follow the road up, up is good, & walk by Peak Heaven, where Herbert is in the garden & we ask him.  He says, "Do you have a guide?  You need a guide, the last guy who went alone was lost for 8 days in the rainforest, police & volunteers lookin' for him.  Ya, this is the trail"  So we follow the dirt road that turns into a trail in the forest, HOW HARD IS THAT?!  It's full of ropes, which you need, as it's mostly hand over hand vertical climbing.  It's muddy & slippery & there is only one trail but we put some markers down anyway, as going down never looks like going up.  It was a gas, & we got very muddy.

Starting up the trail

Lots of big steps

Real steep & slippery

A little crack

Still relatively clean

  On the way down Herbert told us to visit the canteen, so we did, as it was 2:30 & we were starved.  Serge finally got the burger he's been craving since Gran Canaria.  Later we stopped at the bar at the dinghy dock (why is there always a bar at the dinghy dock?) & went online until well after dark!  It's a long way upwind back to our boat with a 3 hp motor, especially when it craps out after 50 yards, right in front of the ferry leaving.  Did I mention we didn't have a light?  Serge starts paddling real hard & I'm waving at the ferry.  Serge thought we ran out of gas, but he just filled it up, someone must have taken our dinghy for a ride.  Serge keeps paddling real hard for another 5 mins.  It's a long way upwind & we're not making much progress.  Then a dinghy went by & I tried to hitch a ride.  They didn't see us.  Did I mention we didn't have a light?  We didn't expect to come back so late, after so many drinks.  Fortunately some locals must have seen our plight, & gave us a tow back.  Back to...where is our boat?  Did I mention we didn't have a light?  We didn't recognize any of our neighbours.  Is it that one?  No, over there.  Finally we found it, it didn't have a light.  Next day Serge investigates the motor, to discover the shut off valve was closed.  So no gas.  If only we'd had a light, lol

Pics from Martinique

Rainbow over full moon

Sea Cloud

A Star Clipper

Steam off volcano in Monserrat

Desolation of Jubilee Town

A week in Martinique flew by.  April is filling up with visiting friends & relatives.  We would like to do the race circuit & would like to have some paying guests for it.  We thought we'd let people book by the cabin & by the night, instead of the whole boat.  If anyone wants to know more, let me know. 
We spent a night an anchor in Dominica, there were 60 boats there!  & no marina, only locals in dinghies coming by to sell you something.  We saw 2 Star Clippers under full sail when we left in the morning.  Got drenched on the way to Guadeloupe where we are now.  Cute little town.  Tomorrow we go to Monserrat, where the volcano blew when we lived in Puerto Rico, we got covered in grey dust then.  Internet is very spotty & expensive.  Going to haul out & bottom paint in St. Martin.

There's a reason it's called "the high seas"

Left Tenerife at 9 am.  Sunny & good wind that kept increasing to 35 knots the next day.  We saw a ship on the horizon that would cross in front of us, until it turned & started to come straight for us, very strange.  In fact it got really close & flashed it's lights at us & hailed us on the VHF radio.  It had orders to change course & see if we were the white sailing vessel called "Mare" or something like that.  There had been a MAYDAY on the radio for a white sailboat earlier, but no name given. 
By the 3rd day the waves had grown to 4-5 meters.  Doesn't really sound very big, does it.  But try staring down a mountain of foaming, rolling salt water coming up fast on your stern.  The top speed we hit was 14.4 knots surfing on a wave.  I started to feel nauseous & had to lie down.  Eventually I threw up.  Oh boy, it's started.  I figured I may have 3 days of acclimating to the wave action.  I WAS WRONG.  I didn't feel any better on day 4, or day 5 or 6.  But we had a couple of low wind days where we only did 130 miles & the sea flattened a bit & I didn't barf.  I even managed to make lunch a couple of times.  It's hard to recover from mal de mer at sea.  When the wind & waves picked up again my digestion resumed lock down.  Luckily Vincent offered to take my watch & Francois was a whiz in the kitchen.  Vincent & Solene made a wonderful lunch & Francois cooked us a gourmet French meal every day.  Sometimes I got to enjoy mine twice, lol.  I learned to eat very slowly & was a familiar sight on deck w/my bucket.
One morning I tell Solene, "Let's catch a fish today.  Dorado."  Later on Serge interrupts me squatting in the shower & after making the usual lascivious remarks tells me we caught a fish. My luck that the 2 highlights of the day, taking a shower & catching a fish, happened at the same time. 
Late one afternoon we're suddenly surrounded by dolphins.  This time the waves are so high that they jump right out of them on their way to our boat.  Some flipped on their side in the air.  Flipper must have escaped from Marine World & given lessons because the show was as spectacular as I've ever seen.  One dolphin shot straight up in the air about 3 meters & landed about 10 meters from the boat.  Another time 4 simultaneously jumped clear out of a wave, again 10 meters away.  This was a show for us, we were thrilled.
Francois pointed out the jellyfish on the waves.  It took a minute to see them.  They send up a sail with a coloured line on the edge & coast along.  Think inflated Pringles potatoe chip make of a Ziploc baggie.

He was looking for somebody else

We had a few of these

Before she blew

Our 2nd dorado

Our merry crew, Vincent, Solene, me, Francois, Serge

We hardly see any other vessels but twice we had ships on collision course.  Serge hailed the first one, at night, he responded & changed course to cross behind.  The 2nd was in broad daylight & it took awhile for them to respond & when he did he said he couldn't see us!  We were 6 miles, 5 miles, 4 miles, waiting for this guy to see us, which he finally did at 3 miles.  Then he changed course the wrong way, so we didn't argue & also changed course.  He crossed in front of us about half a mile.  The whole episode took 15 minutes.  Can't afford to be sleeping on watch.  In fact, Serge can't afford to sleep at all.  He passes out on the couch once in awhile, but every little disturbance/change of course or wind wakes him up.  I try to sleep in our bed, it's like hanging on to a bucking bronco.
We flew the spinnaker twice & by late evening we decided to keep it all night.  Francois & I were on deck & the wind puffed over 20 knots.  We looked at each other.  I said, "I'm starting to get scared."  He said, "I've already been scared."  I go down to tell Serge to come up & assess the spinnaker, Francois & I are scared; but he's deep in calculating the exact halfway point of our trip, coming up any minute now, & Vincent & Solene are serving dinner, so I start to help, when BANG!! an explosion up on deck & Solene screams.  The spi is down.  Serge & I look at each other & then rush up on deck.  The spi & it's sock are being dragged in the water on the port side at about 10 knots.  Looks like the halyard broke.  Thank god the spinnaker is intact.  We try to pick it up but it's a long process as the sock has filled up with water.  Serge disconnected the sock from the spinnaker to bring them up separately. After much grunting effort we get it up on board & into the front hatch. Serge and Vincent got the sock out of the water and into the cockpit.  So no more spinnaker flying for the 2nd half, which was supposed to take 8 more days.  Each day the calculations are done for mileage done & mileage remaining...& time.  We saw another sailboat & hailed it, they were also from Bretagne so our Bretagne crew had a long conversation on the radio.  When I asked Serge if he included that event in his captain's log, he said, "No, it's too trivial"  I looked at him & wondered, "Who is this man I'm married to?"
We had a great crew, Solene is an animatrice, very animated, teaching kids photography, she took an average of 1 picture every 15 min. mostly of the sea.  The rest of the trip is eventless, & I MEAN BORING, good wind & good seas.  It was very exciting to finally see land, seemed we couldn't get closer fast enough.  We landed in Le Marin in Martinique after 17 days & 8 hours.  I'm not sure I want to do it again, lol

Gran Adventure starts from Gran Canaria

NOT!

Had to get around these guys at Las Palmas

& around this big guy

Marina San Miguel in Tenerife

After much excitement & fanfare from our new crew's friends, filling up MORE jerry cans w/fuel, & stowing everything away, we bid adieu.
More than 20 knots of wind to see us off, we were hitting 8-10 knots, it was a good omen...for 15 minutes.  Wind died & we motored on in the ship channel, can't dawdle there.  On my watch (0200-0500) Francois handed over the helm, having had to make several adjustments to it to avoid ships.  We were following the blue line set by the skipper on the iPad, everything A-OK.  As we approach Tenerife I'm seeing a lot of chatter in front of us on the radar, looks like we're heading straight for shore.  There's a BIG black headland sticking out just in front of the airport runway bright lights, & what looks like a ferry because it's also so brightly lit coming up behind me.  It's the 2nd one tonight.  I'm wondering what the best course of action is to avoid collision.  It seems like the shore is getting closer, & the chatter is still there, dead ahead, must be waves.  The ferry is getting closer on the other side.  I go to the radar to mark the ship, to see if it is indeed on collision course & press a button I think is "Marks". The screen changes completely & an alarm goes off.  oops.  Serge is sleeping & I don't want to wake him up.  I pace back & forth, like that's going to help.  Keep returning to the stupid radar & pressing buttons to get the picture back.  I decide to check the iPad & our course.  It seems like we are heading straight for shore because WE ARE HEADING STRAIGHT FOR SHORE!  I start to panic because changing course now could put us right in front of the ferry.  It's closing in on us fast (less than 3 nm) & now I'm wondering if it will turn in front of us to go into port.  NOW WHAT!   Finally I change Otto's heading & Serge comes up. "Why are we so close to shore?" he asks, "what's that alarm?" It's been about 45 mins. since it started.  I have some splaining to do.  He asks me, "WHY DID YOU PRESS THE MAN OVERBOARD BUTTON?"   Well, you'd think I'd just launched nuclear weapons into the free world.  It was marked MOB above the button.  I didn't have my glasses on, it was dark.  In truth, if there is a button to press, I will press it, it's a good thing I'm not in charge of nuclear weapons.  He frets & asks me exactly what I've pressed, as trying to correct it involved a lot of button pressing too.  He tells me, "The manual is 3 in. thick, what am I supposed to do now?"  At any rate, the ferry didn't pass in front of us, & there is still no wind, so we decided to ditch the crossing & pull into port.  "What a bunch of pussies" I think, we didn't even go 24 hrs. yet.