Info on POST

Hi everyone again
As I was posting my update this morning I found the post email to Susie hadn't been posted at all This was supposed  to have been posted on Tuesday 18th just after I arrived in the morning from St Maarten !!!

ROY

Julysecond post "email to Susie" sent today"

Instead of wring all this again please read on, St Maarten to St Lucia arrived yesterday morning.

Hi Susie,

I left St Maarten 4pm bridge Saturday afternoon 15th and headed on down Island with a clear 5 day Atlantic forecast for the next 5 days! Had a really nice evening sail, but the wind started to go into the SE and I had a problem getting to windward of St Kits and Nevis. After achieving that I didn't have a problem till clearing the bottom of Nevis. As that happened I was going to clear Redonda and Montserrat to windward with plenty of room steering 130 deg. but the wind veered back to the SSW by S giving me a course of max 225 deg going SW !!! I thought I dont't care about that as St Vincent is that way and could give you a nice surprise ! during the day (Sunday) the wind gradually backed round to the East and I was then going in the Lee of Montserrat, that continued to Guadalupe and then the wind increased to over 22knts and the seas became very rough and confused, I was onty doing 3.5 knts instead of about 8, so went up foreward and found my big jib ( which I hadn't put up yet) had untied itself gone over the side and had become a rather large drogue parachute !!! bugger, Took half an hour to sort that, found the clew reinforcement patch on starboard side had torn off but said I don't care and I put it up as well, boat don't like 22 knts without everything up!. continued then past Guadalupe doing 7.5 to 8.8 knots until I arrived next morning (Monday) at Dominica. That was when I noticed the Main Sail had torn on the leech in the middle of the panel, and only reason it hadn't gone and torn right to the mast was the No1 batten pocket which was sewn across that panel II

Just then I was doing 8 knts so started to slow the boat down a bit, THEN the wind just died completely! the waves disappeared and I was becalmed!! I had to motor the whole way past Dominica!!!! took all day, at the bottom again the wind was from the south and again I was going 225 deg and aimed directly to St Vincent !! so as it went dark Monday night t set Fred up and went to bed. When I woke up 3am the boat was again doing 7 to 8 knots and now doing 116 deg. the wind having backed round to the North East!!! I was now heading for the coast of Martinique and had to bear away back to my course which I was very high on. Rest of the night was a very gentle sail until about midnight when the thunder heads with lightening white out rain thunder the works, passed the bottom of Martinique at approx 2am into another storm, I was now very worried about the two sails both having damaged leeches and how I was going to get the main itself off without tearing the sail into rags, again I was having trouble with the wind as it had again gone into the South East, I was babying the boat towards St Lucia Tuesday morning and thankfully the wind went back to the East halfway across. I made Rodney Bay at about 8 am and then tried to down all sail !! only one more problem had come up wich again was the wind ! 24 knts in the Bay ! did the little Jib first no problem, tried to do the big jib and it just wasn't happening, I had to go down wind, the only direction I didn;t want to go. nearly got it down when the No.1 batten pocket failed, the Main gradually tore itself in half with me helpless to stop it. Managed to get the big jib off but by the time I went back round into the wind the main had taken 2 turns right round the mast, I had to go within 20 feet of the rocks out of the wind at Pigeon Island and turn the boat round twice with the engine to unravel it !! (during all this I was being watched by a young cruising couple on a boat, they waved, I waved back ! what else could I do?) I finally wrapped the errant sail around the boom, looked as if nothing was wrong with it. Called Rodney Bay and booked J13 for repairs and it was 1130am when I cleared customs ! Completely Knackered then went to Bosun's Bar until I was drunk.

you know Susie people shouldn't ask me how I'm doing if they don't want to read another novelette !!!

Love you but stuck here for a bit I think !!

Roy xx

PS in Bosun's bar last night they showed me the named storm Don. No wonder then I had all that crazy weather! on my trip !!!

Update

Hi Everyone
Just to say I found a sailmaker and he has repaired the sails, hoping to get them back today, I am outside at anchor in Rodney Bay St Lucia, sort of where I was this time last year, soon as I have the sails Ill be off to Carriacou only a year late! looking fwd to seeing all my friends again.
Hoping my next post will be at breakfast on the beach at Gallery Cafe Carriacou!!!
Roy

July first post

Hi Everyone,
Well all done, well when I say all, I mean all I was supposed to do except for the dam computer battery from my sister, Rowan will be pleased (joke) to know that the tech guy at Jolly Harbour took about 20 minutes to ruin the one she had acquired for me ! I only left him to have a fag!
Anyway have removed so many items from top and bottom priority lists waiting for my passport to arrive, a saga in itself.
Don't know if the guys remember at the classics but I had a horrible smell in the sink ! I was blaming bad seawater smell in English Harbour, but eventually found not the reason, it was the fresh water activated carbon filter had failed some how. it took 2 days and 450 ltrs of water + 32 ounces of strange chemicals to get it smelling and tasting sweet water again, first time its ever happened on any boat I have owned. ( I was still drinking it) tasted ok to me!
So I am already to go go go, only the customs to see and put everything, and I do mean everything back were it belongs, as small as I am just getting to the bog is a marathon obstical course! trying to get to bed is even harder, usually asleep before I make that.
So I am off on my travels armed with the new and improved work to do list.
will let you know when I find out
Roy