My new instrument...

What a lovely valentines day for me. I had my instruments installed and boy am I chuffed with them.

Having used Garmin before, I knew full well what they looked like and how they worked, however, I had not played around with one to see the full extent of its functionality.

All our instruments were in pretty dire condition. The depth sounder display was no longer readable , the cups on the mast head wind instruments had long since become brittle in the tropic sun and one of the cups had vanished meaning no wind speed. Wind direction still worked fine, however the display was starting to look a bit tired like the depth and speed display.

Rather than replace each one individually, I bit the bullet and replaced them all. We got a Tri-ducer (depth, speed and temp) – why have 2 holes in the hull when one will do...and the mast head wind direction and speed. As finances were a bit of an issue considering our recent acquisition (of the boat) we only got one display.

The main reason I went for this system was that it is a NMEA 2000 system. The latest marine protocol and therefore probably stay more current than a NMEA 0183 system that is being phased out. Being a bit of a computer guy, I could see all the benefits of the standardised links, protocols etc. It reminded me of the old token ring / coaxial networks we used to have in school, with T pieces that plugged in the network cards (before the days of ethernet and TCP/IP).

The nice thing about it was that the Airmar Triducer (Garmin range) was that it fitted exactly into the existing Airmar through hull. It even came with an instruction guide on how to retro fit it in the old style of through hull (AKA, the “one that does not have the quasi non return value that still leaks water but is better than nothing”). We fitted this in the yard to avoid messing around with getting a new triducer into a little hole while an ocean tries to make its acquaintance with the inside of your boat.

So, our first issue was replacing the wind instruments on the mast. We hired a guy to come and do the electronics as I am not very familiar with marine electronics and I wanted this done properly.

We sent him up the mast to remove the old instruments, set up the new one and chase the new cable down the mast by pulling it through on the old cable.

Old off, new on, cable in mast being pulled through and...

The splice came apart and I pulled all the old cable through minus the new one. SHIT!

Each minute this guy spends on the boat is costing me a hell of a lot of money!

Plan B – send a mouse down (not a real one...too hard to train).

Dangling a lead sinker and line from the mast head, I am trying to hook it with a coat hanger (ALWAYS have a wire coat hanger on a boat...Always!).

I hook it, and we pull it all through.

The lovely thing about the way Garmin has done this (other might have this too, but I will speak of their instruments), is that the wind instrument connects to the cable by way of a connector. If the wind instrument needs to be replaced one day, I can just disconnect the mast cable and put it on a new instrument. No need to replace the cable (or have a nasty splice at the top of the mast).

Not Orion's actual network (or devices)

Using the old power cable, we connect up the power straight into the network. No connecting power to each unit anymore! You connect one 12v power cable to the backbone of the network and all the instruments feed off it. The backbone in Orion consists of 3 T pieces connected together.

At the one end is the wind instruments cable connector where the female termination piece would usually go (this is the only one not connected as a T). The first T has the Triducer (with the end connected to the wind instruments cable and the other end connected to the next T piece).

The next T is the power and connected to that is the display T with a male terminator at the end to tell the system that those are all the devices in the network.

The absolute beauty of the system is that if I wanted to add GPS, another display, engine gauges etc etc to the system, it is as easy as removing the male terminator at the end and adding another T piece (no power cables, nothing!)

What was even better, and testimony to the electrician who was doing the work was that it all worked beautifully when we flicked the switch. Sure it cost me 6 hours of labour, but it is a good job, will last me a while and I know I can personally add further devices if I wish at a later date without having to hire a “sparky” to run power cables etc. 

So now you must be thinking...”only one display, how will you ever see all your data from only one measly display?”

“Simples!”, says I. Garmin systems use a series of pages that you can scroll through. We set our to have Apparent Wind (direction and strength), Depth and Speed pages.

“But sometimes you need to see all the data!” you cry.

So I set a custom page which consists of 4 mini screens. On it we have Depth, Speed, Wind Direction and Wind Speed (apparent).

It was so incredibly simple to set up and configure, it is like using many of the other Garmin products (car SatNav etc).

This is the first major purchase we have made for the boat (read upgrade) and boy are we happy with it. Time will tell if it lasts us, does not break and customer support etc, but for now I am one satisfied customer!

Garmin, I love you!

PS: There is loads of other data that we have on the system too. Barometer, Sea Temp, Air Temp, etc all additional useful stuff!

A Typical Day at Anchor...

Despite going to bed at 8pm I am still not a morning person, 12 hours sleep is typical for me now and I love the fact that I feel no guilt for doing this. Dylan rises early and potters about the boat trying to make minimal noise until I rise from my slumber. The cruiser's net goes on every morning at 7:30am apart from Sunday. The net tells us the weather forecast and we listen out for any activities that we may want to get involved in.

After the net has finished we get up and do a couple of hours of chores whilst the sun is still low in the sky. There is never a set routine for chores but there is always something to do on the boat. For example this morning we battened the mainsail and put in the reefing lines – having put the mainsail on whilst in the yard we realised after flaking that we had left out the reefing lines and the first batten. Other chores this morning included resetting the leather anti chafe device on anchor snubber, fixing outboard davit as it had a faulty block, cleaned the head and washed the dishes.

Washing the dishes is a major chore in itself. Watching our fresh water consumption onboard is one of Dylan's favourite pastimes. To fill the tanks we need to dinghy ashore with jerry cans and fill them up one by one as well as pay for the pleasure. With that being a pain in the a** we try and use sea water when possible. To wash the dishes we put a bucket over the side and collect the sea water. Next step is to soak the dishes and wash them in the sea water in the cockpit prior to placing them all in the sink in the galley. I then fill the sink with an inch of fresh water and rinse them off, putting them one by one on top of a tea towel. We have no drying rack so I can only rinse a couple of dishes at a time before I need to put them away making room for more dishes to come out of the sink.

Chores completed we usually reward ourselves with a couple of hours of sunshine reading the kindle, using the laptop, reading the local newspaper or reading the cruising guide to work on our upcoming passage plan.

When the midday sun arrives, we escape to indoors and make our breakfast /lunch. With the climate so hot and humid here, we eat very little as our appetite has almost vanished. This meal usually consists of fruit (oranges or mangoes) and a sandwich or pasta. Throughout the day we have dinghies visiting from other boats to say hi or invite us to drinks that evening or the next. It really is a social lifestyle and a knock on the hull indicates a fellow cruiser wanting to have a chat.

Around 2ish we usually take the dinghy ashore and catch a bus into either Grand Anse (beach and grocery shopping) or St George (market and sightseeing). A hardy big bag accompanies us as it is a lot easier to haul our groceries into the dinghy with a strong Samsonite bag than it is carrier bags!(courtesy of Doug And Sarah – we would not have bought a Samsonite bag for groceries!) Being so used to walking around in bare feet, we have forgotten our shoes on a couple of occasions and got no further than de Big Fish bar, enjoying a cold beer in the heat with our bare feet on their exposed floorboards looking like true 'yachties'.

One of the best parts of the trip ashore for me is the dinghy ride. Two people being powered by a 10HP outboard makes for an exciting ride where we plane, hair streaming away from my face with no splash to soak my clothes. Dylan insisted that I learnt how to use it the other day. In his usual fashion we were at a busy dinghy dock with people mulling around and he told me we weren't going anywhere unless I moved the dinghy. Being an independent woman, I certainly wasn't going to back down so I figured out how to put the wrist strap on the kill switch and set about trying to start it up. Well Dylan certainly makes it look easy, I had to use both hands and stand up in order to kick start the engine! Pride still intact I then tried to get my head around the steering rod / throttle which behaves the same as a tiller, this is where I went a little wrong....ramming the dock by mistaking reverse for forward. Giggles all round I managed to navigate us out of the dock and we zig zagged our way back to the boat. Although fun to do, I much prefer being the passenger!

Back to our typical day...once returning from our trip ashore hot and sweaty, we usually go for a snorkel. The spots around here aren't the best as the water is murky but we do see coral, sea urchins and colourful fish. Taking advantage of being in the water with our snorkelling gear we often clean any growth on the hull of our boat too.

Out of the water we then start the process of showering. We do have 2 showers on board – one in the head and one in the cockpit. However as mentioned earlier, we are tight on our fresh water usage so try not to use them. The process starts by hauling out a bucket of sea water from over the side. Already wet from the snorkel, we lather up as best we can with soap and shampoo then rinse off with the bucket of sea water. This is done naked, sitting in the cockpit. As we have weather cloths in the cockpit (canvas that blocks the view from chest down) we have relatively good privacy from other yachts, however any swells that come by would probably provide our neighbours with a good eyeful! Once rinsed off, we treat ourselves to some fresh water out of the solar shower (thanks Nicholas) that we tie to the bimini, this gets the salt out of my hair that left in turns my hair to straw.

By this time it is about 4pm and we start to plan what we are doing in the evening. Most days we finds ourselves at drinks on other people's boats in the bay. 'Sundowner' parties start around 5:30pm and involve a lot of rum and snacks. Being out on the anchor, the gusts of wind keep mosquitos at bay so we can enjoy watching the sun set with a glass in our hand and not be eaten alive. Getting back into the dinghy after copious amounts of drinks is always fun and so far neither of us have fallen in....

Getting back to our boat about 8pm we go to the loo and then to bed. Going to the loo is exercise in itself. Once you have done your 'business' the pump needs to be pumped about 30 times. Being an old boat, the pump is quite stiff and by the end of this trip I am going to have biceps the size of Popeye's!

We sleep up forward in the v berth with the hatch open (unless it is raining) and look straight up at the stars. With the gentle swell rocking us back and forth we are over looked by The Hunter and other constellations and fall into a peaceful slumber.

Peaceful sleep...

Not the bug spray, but ode to anchoring.

Prickly Bay is a pretty crowded anchorage. There is a fair sized swell from the South attacking the bay making it very rolly. Especially for our little shallow drafted Tartan.
The wind has been pretty stiff too these last few days resulting in good gusts of up to 25+ knots across the bay. (estimated as we don't have wind instruments)

After 3 nights of restless sleep, we decided to move (yet again - 4th time). This time closer in shore (towards the windward shore, not the leeward) in order to tuck in behind the reef for greater protection from the swell.

In doing so, we also came into the lee slightly and hence the wind lessened.

One of our concerns when we were moored in the middle of the bay, it is a deep bowl, with 15 or so metres under the keel. Being a little out of shape, getting my blubbery little, seal-like body down to that depth proved rather tricky. Sally's suggestion of tying some chain to my feet and plopping me over the side was met with scepticism.

Hauling myself down on the chain, I could see that most of the chain was hanging free in a large curve from surface to bottom. Most of it was not actually on the bottom so was not doing its job of increased resistance against dragging. Sure, I could have shackled the rope to the end and dropped all the chain overboard, but I could not go back any further for fear of hitting another yacht parked behind us.

Decisions, decisions!

Uncomfortable with the anchor, our position and uncertainty, we decided to move.
We first scouted out a good position nestled between some other yachts with our dinghy and then went in with the boat.
We took our time anchoring. Put her hard astern and pulled the chain tight.
Just as an extra precaution, I dived on the anchor. The water is still murky so could not see the anchor from the surface. I pulled myself along 140ft of chain to get to the anchor. However, once found, I had to pop to the surface. Diving down again it was difficult to find and a lot of energy (aka breath) expended trying to search for it.

So! Plan B - Tying a buoy to a length of rope, I made a loop around the chain and then chased the loop all the way to the anchor. This allowed me to pop up, catch my breath and then chase the line straight down to the anchor where i then bedded it.
This is not the process of tucking it in and reading it a bed time story, but rather working it into the sand to  ensure that it does not drag.

Where you going...NOWHERE!

Interestingly, although i had put her hard astern to try set the anchor, the anchor was on her side and I had to set her upright properly by hand. This goes to show that the only sure way to know that your anchor is properly set is to dive on it!

That night was a lovely peaceful sleep for the first time since we plopped in the water. Safe in the knowledge that my anchor is set well and there is sufficient chain on the floor. But I did still get up a number of times (and no, not due to bladder problems!) this is par for the course to check on things. Sweet dreams...

A proposed route...

With sailing, plans change with the wind, literally!
We have encountered so many cruisers that have made plans to meet friends and family in certain locations but have been unable to get there in time due to engine / repair issues or just for lack of a weather window.

As such, the best we can do is tell people where we think we will be going to and when and let them decide if they want to be there at a similar time. Fix a firm caveat on that though...we might not ever get there!

The issues with sailing in the Caribbean like many other places in the world is the weather systems. In the Caribbean, we have a good weather window from 1st December to 1st July. Then it becomes hurricane season and not so much fun being in your floating home that moves like a tortoise (relative to a hurricane).
So people tend to 'winter' their boats for hurricane season by pulling them out the water and going back to the US or Europe etc. The Caribbean gets a little quieter during the off season.

As such, our plan, now that we have splashed (yachtie talk for getting the boat into the water), will be to go up the windward islands, then as high up the leeward islands as possible in a 2 month period before turning around and coming south again. It would be good to get to the British Virgin Islands, but it is fairly tight considering we still have a lot of learning to do on the boat and would then need to get her back down to Grenada (ish) by July.

But it is not a race! Sally and I were thinking about going up there quickly and coming down slowly.

Without having given it too much thought, our proposed route is as follows:

Leave Grenada at the end of February
Carriacou for a few days
Union Island
Tobago Cays
Canouan
Mustique
Bequia
St Vincent
St Lucia
Martinique
Dominica
Guadeloupe
Montserrat
St Kitts and Nevis
Anguilla
British Virgin Islands in about end of April (although looking at the above list, we will probably never get there as we are in no rush and want to enjoy all the places we look to sail to)

Whatever we don't see on the way up, we will try see on the way down.

But as with all sailing, this is very weather dependent. If the wind decides to blow in the wrong direction for 2 weeks, we could spend 2 weeks there.

On the way back down, we would like to go to Barbados. I reckon that this will be in about July.

After that...who knows!

Afloat at last...

We are floating...my version of our launch.

My first taste of living aboard a yacht full time was in a dusty, hot, mosquito infested yard – only onwards and upwards from that situation!!

We had been waiting for our triducer to be shipped from America and paid priority shipping with fedex to get it to Grenada quicker. Unfortunately the parts we wanted were not in stock so we waited a week for them to get to the warehouse and then the fabulous fedex service got it from Las Vegas to Grenada in 36 hours!! Now THAT is first rate service. With the transducer now plugging the hole in our thruhull, we were good to launch. With this being Friday, we booked to launch on the Monday figuring all the wiring of the depth and wind instruments could be done on the water.

Monday morning we rose early and went on a hunt for outboard parts. We had yet to get our motor working and it required at least a new impeller and gasket. We were feeling rather anxious at this point thinking that we may have to result in rowing the large dinghy ashore considering the likelihood of this auto-parts firm stocking our Mercury specific items being very slim. Luckily, Prestige motors came up with the goods and with a little help from Desmond in the yard, we had her purring again and ready to go.

Fenders out, dock lines tied on the bow and stern we awaited for the travel lift to come and get us. We took this opportunity to run through our anchoring process, hand signals we would use to each other and who would do what role. As I was newer to this than Dylan, we decided that I would be on the anchor (we have an electric windlass) and Dylan on the helm. I practiced a good few times on the hard to build my confidence in locking and unlocking the windlass.

Tipping the yard boys, we managed to buy some time to drop the centreboard and give it a slick of antifoul whilst the boat was in the slings. Our hearts were in our mouths as the lift took the weight of our boat that represents all of our life's earnings and all our worldly possessions. Sure these guys do this activity every single day but it doesn't stop you from worrying and grimacing as the machine creaks and groans under the boat's weight.

Paint applied, we raised the centreboard and lowered her into the water. Myles, a guy we met at drinks nights earlier, agreed to come and help us anchor on our first time. We piled on board and slipped the dock lines whilst the engine started first time. We were finally motoring with no leaks and no hiccups so far!

Wind in our hair we navigated away from the shore and through the channel markers, I was on lookout for any oncoming traffic whilst Dylan headed for a possible anchoring spot – beaming smiles on our faces.

Puttering through the anchored boats we waved at familiar faces and were cheered on by fellow cruisers that had heard our story and were genuinely happy to see us finally out on the water.

Having eyed up a nice big space in the boats to attempt our first anchoring, Dylan put her into neutral whilst I lowered the chain and counted the markers (white paint every 20 ft). On our second attempt we were happy with our position relative to other yachts and cracked open the beers to observe the bite of the anchor.

Next step was to haul the dinghy over the side and put on the outboard. It worked first time – woop! Myles, Dylan and I piled into the dinghy and headed to shore, planing along in our big dinghy with a 10HP engine. No splashes, no wet shorts, no grumbles from me. Finding a tin flag of Grenada we hoisted up the flag and breathed a sigh of contentment. 

This evening we have enjoyed our spacious cockpit with no mozzies in sight, watching the sunset under a full moon. An activity we couldn't have done in the yard for fear of being eaten alive. As I write this it is close to bedtime (8pm!) and we are gently being rocked to sleep by the swell....heaven.

Splash day...

The big day of the launch.
We can't wait. Having spent 2 weeks on the hard, we can't wait to be on the water and bobbing on an anchor.

We have learnt something new every day that we have been on land, but now it marks a new set of things to learn. How to not block the head, how to conserve fresh water, how to not drag anchor, how to sleep in a rolly anchorage etc.

Getting her prepped for launch is an entire process in itself. Everyone has their own processes. We have seen a bunch of people come and go in the yard over the last few weeks and noticed a few things and learnt a few tricks. Lesson 1 - make sure your dinghy and outboard work as it is a long row into shore.

1. We pumped up the dinghy and made sure there were no leaks.
2. We prepped and tested the outboard engine. (it seemed to have a water pump issue which required spares to be bought)
3. Bought gasoline for the outboard
4. Mixed in the 2 stroke oil (at the right ratio!)
5. Put on all the sails (as you would need them if we had an engine failure)
6. Put on all the sheets
7. Made sure the anchor chain was marked (we did ours every 20 feet)
8. Filled the water tanks and solar showers
9. Do all the washing (sheets, towels, bedding etc)
10. Stocked up on large / heavy items (as heaving heavy stores in and out of a dinghy is not the best)
11. Toilet roll! (we did not have any as we used the yard facilities for ablutions) 
12. Charged up all our electronics as we will be 100% green once on the water (solar and wind)

The Kindness of Cruisers...

Dedicated to Vernon and Donna on Endless Love Too, Sarah and Doug on Mindemoya, Keith and Marcey on Mimi - fair winds.

Where to start.

It has been quite an eye opener for us London folk. We lived in one of the biggest cities in the world and did not even know our next door neighbours. We do not speak to people on the transport system and we most certainly do not go around asking random people's advice. Keeping our anonyminity was what we were used to.

But cruising is different. It is a community where every one knows what it is like to be novices and some
profess to still be learning after 20 years on the water (yes and on the flip side, a few do profess to know it all).

There is always common ground and a story that can be shared. Generally these are the frustrating ones of parts that once ordered, have never arrived or the hairy ones of being stuck in hurricanes or the usual story of charterers (or the French) dragging anchor into you.

We have met some wonderful people whilst getting the boat ready in the yard. They have taught us a lot and asked nothing in return. Most are cruisers that take a few months off every year to sail the Caribbean, some are just starting their adventures and some ending theirs, selling up and moving back to dry land.

To aid in our networking with salty folk, there is a daily VHF session every morning for cruisers to listen in and find out all sorts of info, ranging from weather to stuff for sale to when the next get-together / event will be. Cruisers ask questions and for help regarding all sorts of matters and the forum of listeners all too often has a useful phone number or post session call to discuss.

Regardless of the radio to hide behind, yachties are a social bunch. We have had drinks with a few people now despite being the 'new kids on the block' (figuratively and literally as we are most people's children's age...or younger). It is great to sit in another boats cockpit, admire their home and take note of the little tips and tricks they use. How to keep your head from blocking, best way to store fruit and veg in the heat, etc. Their stories are also inspirational as they tell tales of other beautiful anchorages and islands just begging to be explored.

We have received a few gifts from cruisers who are returning home and no longer had need for a few items. All that they ask in return is that we pay it forward. What a wonderful attitude to have to life...