The morning after Thanksgiving at 0700, we raised anchor and sails, and left Bequia headed for St. Lucia. We anticipated a windy day but were hoping that the wind would be more south of east than north of east, but only time would tell.
Cuz John loves big sea swells and wind. So, this was his kind of day! We crossed the bumpy channel from Bequia to St. Vincent. The Bequia Channel was a fairly narrow channel with weird currents and multiple depths of water. Thus, the sea state always seemed a little confused and today was no different. Shortly however, we were in the lea of St. Vincent where high mountains block the wind, or erratically swirled what wind that came between peaks. So, we furled the jib, turned on one engine and motor sailed at about 6 knots to the north tip of St. Vincent.
We made good time, and before we knew it, we were sticking our nose out into the St. Vincent channel. What was it going to be like??? One never knew for sure, because of the confused winds coming through the Soufriere Mountains and the current rushing around the headlands. Nevertheless, we were ready with one reef in the main and one reef in the jib.
Daggers Down seemed to enjoy this sail arrangement as she began coasting up and down the waves at 7-9 knots. The 4–6-foot swells with wind chop required hand steering to keep us from heading up too high up or falling off the top of the waves. Nevertheless, John and Ben had a great time driving. John was in heaven. The breeze kept everyone from getting too hot and the conditions required attention. So no one was bored.
I was glad I had meal prepped ahead of time as it was easy to dish out some tuna pasta salad for lunch. Everyone drank loads of water to stay hydrated, and reapplied sunscreen whenever they could.
By 1300, we had crossed the channel and were passing the majestic Pitons. This was a St. Lucia icon, welcoming sailors to the island.
We now had our sights on Marigot Bay where we planned to settle for a few days. We anticipated arriving around 1530 which was perfect timing to navigate the narrow channel into the bay, grab a mooring ball and go to Dolittle’s for a quick dip in the pool and dinner.
The jib furled nicely, and it was now time to drop the main. I got the halyard ready, but we had noticed that the topping lift for the boom was separating. So Ben advised to “gently” drop the main. We tried to put some fenders under the boom in case the line broke but as we tried to slightly lower the main to rest the boom on the fenders, low and behold, the MAIN WOULD NOT COME DOWN!
We tried to raise it and let it drop again. The guys tugged on it. We checked all the reef lines, but nothing was caught. DANG!!! The main was more than 2/3 up. That was a lot of sail area!
WHAT DO WE DO?
It was now getting towards dusk. So we needed to make a decision quickly.
Options:
- Continue to sail to Martinique and see if we could find a rigger when we got there in the morning
- Go to Rodney Bay, anchor and hope we didn’t pop off our anchor during the night from wind in the sail. Someone would have to be on watch all night. Then maybe we could get help in the morning
- Call Marigot Bay Marina and see if there was, by some miracle, someone who could assist us in getting into the tight bay with our main up and onto a ball.
We decided to give option 3 a try. Ben called the marina, and I think God was smiling on us, because the words they said were, “We will send someone out to assist!” That was music to our ears!
We waited at the mouth of the channel until two guys in a dinghy came out and led us inside. Luckily the small bay was fairly empty of boats, and calm as the surrounding hillsides protected it from the wind. With their help, we snagged a mooring ball, and they came aboard to see what we could do.
One of the men went up the mast and discovered that two screws had backed out of the track which was what we had surmised. After removing the two broken screws, the main came down! What a relief! We would all sleep better tonight! Thank you Marigot Marina and Embert!
But wait, now what??? The water from the kitchen faucet was yellow….what the heck? We had noticed this in Bequia, but it had cleared once we cleaned the faucet head. Now however, the yellow water was back with a vengeance. I guess it was not the facet. I had read that yellow water means rust, but from where was it coming? The answer came when I decided to take a nice hot shower as the engine had heated the water. Only the hot water was yellow, ug! That meant the rust must be from the hot water heater or heaters???
WHAT DO WE DO?
Well first off, I took a cold shower instead of a hot one because the cold water ran clear. Then we went to dinner and brainstormed next steps.
- Could we find a car to rent?
- Would the marine store have the right water heater(s)?
- Do we need two water heaters?
- Could Ben and John install them, or did we need to find a plumber?
First things first, Ben looked the online inventory of the marine store and discovered that the store at Rodney Bay had two hot water heaters! Great!
Then Ben and John went to visit JJ, our friend who usually rents us cars, but alas he has gotten out of the car rental business. Except, we had been such good customers, he loaned us a car anyway! Yeah!
Monday, after determining what screws we needed to fix the main track and the length of the line needed to replace the topping lift, we took off to the marine store. Our only issue was the car was soooooo small that we were not sure how in the world we would get two hot water heaters in it!
Oh well we would figure it out or maybe they would deliver…
Island Water World
Well, $1600 US dollars later, we left the marine store with a new topping lift line, screws for the main track, other miscellaneous items and ONE hot water heater, because they only had one. This was just as well, because there was NO way we could have gotten two of them in the car unless I rode on top!
Now the decision was which hot water tank to replace, port or starboard. They were the same age, and we were not sure which one was the problem. The decision maker was that it was easier to get under John’s bed, which was where one was housed, than under our bed. Therefore, port water heater it was. Ben had buggered up his knee, and the space was cramped. We wondered if maybe Embert would rescue us again. He needed to help us replace the screws on the main track anyway. It never hurts to ask.
While Embert was in high demand and very difficult to track down, Ben finally convinced him to assist us once again. When Ben took John to the airport (as I couldn’t go because there wasn’t enough room for John’s few pieces of luggage and me in the car), Embert came to the boat and handily replaced the water heater. After looking at the old heater, it was obvious that it definitely needed to go! Now hopefully the starboard heater would hang on until we found another one—fingers crossed!
Yesterday Embert went up the mast again and fixed the main track and checked all other screws. John and Ben also had replaced the topping lift. Yay! Daggers Down was whole again!
If we were lucky, we would continue north across the St. Lucia Channel to Martinique sometimes next week. Let’s hope that the passage goes a little smoother—but you never know—It’s Boat Life!
That is what you do when problems arise…don’t panic (if you can), examine the options and start trying them until something works.
Yippee for Daggers Down crew—John, Kitra and Ben, we figured out what to do!!!
And of course, when all else fails and you find yourself in December—decorate! That always lifts your spirits.
Plus go to dinner, noodle exercise and have game night with your cruiser friends on SV Coin Toss, Elizabeth and David.
Happy Holidays Ya’ll from Marigot Bay, St.Lucia!
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