Reggie music….at maximum volume pour out over Rodney Bay at night….all the time until 03.00 in the morning!  Marion is furious and cannot sleep. …..

With a fresh battery the next morning, Shawn and Garry finally succeeds.  The engine burst to life and sounds just perfect.  A new siphon break is not at hand but is ordered for next week.  We can use the engine as long as we close the inlet seacock immediately after shut down. Oh my….we recuperate over a cup of coffee and go and ask for the ferry schedule to Martinique.  Leaves at 16.00 every day.  We realize that Marion will miss her flight tomorrow if we do not sail to Martinique today (and we do want to spend the New Year’s Eve together).

So up and away…and we are quite relieved to be at large again. Same wind although almost due East today, which gives us great sailing.  Just as we arrive there is a rather intense rain/wind squall; we don’t see a thing for a while, then it eases off.  Motor into “the Cul-de-Sac” and on the right we see an inviting little bay; l´Anse Noir, which proves to be a romantic little paradise.  We anchor up. At the bottom there is a jetty and a Coconut groove and we find small, secluded “huts” of palm leaves (and some beams).  It is like a retreat.

Relieved……skipper’s foot.  The fan belt removed the engine would still not start, which now Gerry and Shawn find out. So what now? Telephone calls to Egbert, who orders new investigations: .....and it turns out that indeed the engine is full of of water.  Apparently the “siphon break” clogs up in the Carribean and does not work anymore.  Hence, after engine shut down a siphon exists since the engine is below the water level.  Water is simply sucked into the engine backwards by way of the exhaust manifold

A good days work exiting all injectors (6), drying and refitting.  Battery weak, engine complaining and burns fuses (200 Amp)….and when evening comes, still no working engine.  Oh my, will this engine ever come alive again?

A lot of anxiety.  Dinner ashore….!

At 08.30 skipper shall pick up Egbert on the dinghy pontoon…..oh, the excitement. Quick morning dip and a “full English” (breakfast, home made). Egbert is a social fellow with lot of baoting experience from many places.  He has been to Gothenburg a number of times fro Volvo training. I try to explain what happened.  “Get me to the boat and the engine will talk to me…” (alas, a motor whisperer, perfect!)

Egbert jumps right down to the motor, unscrews the starter and finds it in good shape.  Some burnt cables, that is all.  Also some burnt cables by the motor battery and eventually we can crank the engine:  So, starter is OK and so is the engine.  The culprit proves to be a broken generator band that has been twisted so hard around the main axis that the engine cannot turn.  Due to some protective screens in front of the engine this is hard to inspect and see. Tomorrow an electrician and a mechanics will wait to be picked up.  So this great big threat to the whole project proved to be, basically, nothing. Puuhh, skipper is RELIEVED!

We take a slow morning.  Today we only go to Rodney Bay, 10 miles to the north.  So dinghy in and a fancy breakfast + WiFi on the pontoon. We check into St.Lucia, make the pontoon up and down.  The very biggest boats (150 feet) lay closest to the mangroves.  Weird place really, but very charming.

Here I can finally call Ludomovic in Martinique and he is very professional indeed.  We finally decide that we should move to Rodney Bay where a Mr. Egbert Charles will visit the boat.  Very, very reassuring indeed that somebody competent should finally have a look.

So with somewhat lighter heart we hoist anchor and are promptly swept to see by strong winds that have been howling all night long.  The wind is quite strong also on the leeside of St.Lucia and it takes us only an hour and a half before we can drop the anchor again in shallow waters in Rodney Bay.  This is a sweet place with many memories.  This is where we made landfall last year after 19 days across the Atlantic.  We make contact with Egbert Charles and he will be available tomorrow morning.  We have a slow afternoon. Go shopping a bit of food stuff.  Leave stuff to the laundry.  Dinner ashore in one of the marina establishments. Sea food kebab for skipper…very yammy

From the neighbour boat we get advice to contact Mr Ludomovic at Volvo Penta, Martinique. “He is an expert and much better than the people at Marin…” they say.  The French people are kind enough to tow us out into the wind and they set of by noitor.  Soon the wind is up, same as yesterday (the trade winds are extremely dependable) and we have phenomenal sailing, doing 6,5 knots close hauled, spray flying everywhere.  The wind has veered just ever so little to the east so that we can reach St.Lucia without tacking.  Instead of Souffrière, which is not so great we aim for Marigot Bay, another favourite and a pearl.  Here we cast anchor just barely inside the bay, at 10 m of water, when the sun has just set but there is still some light. A lot of swell, but without a motor we have to stay put despite some attempts at towing with the out boarder.

Up and away, the winds have been high all night and we have no difficulties being swept away for sails. Same wind same sails and we have gorgeous sailing up towards St.Vincent. At 1400 hours we realize that St.Lucia is too far away and no anchorages to reach after Cumberland/Wallillabou bays, so we tack towards land a manages to reach the mouth of Wallillabou.  A couple of boat boys wait and they tow us in. 

In Wllillabou, you moor stern-to and it is not easy to turn a big boat without an engine.  A bit chaotic for a while but everything was eventually sorted by the helpo from some french people on a boat) and we were finally well moored.  The evening brought a constant flow of squalls and when it rains it rains, solid sheet of water.  So we were forced to stay on board (and remain in good standing since we have indeed checked out of the country…..) The Pirate Café here had to get by without us...

As soon as possible skipper calls Thomas in Malmö.  We try various things (with screw driver short-cutting the ignition...and some smoke and...well) indicating the the starter is OK.  Does the engine turn? Well, skipper certainly cannot turn it (big, huge diesel…) “That might indicate a motor full of water ??!!”  Apparently a vacuum can develop under some circumstances and water is sucked backwards up into the cylinders…….”The water needs to be taken out”…well, skipper does understand that, but how?  So, reach Martinique ASAP.  This could mean total engine failure and skipper does not even grasp the consequencies……SEK, time, etc

We set sails for Bequia.  Again an ENE, 25-30 knots.  Cutter genua + a reefed main and the going is good indeed.  We cannot quite reach up to Bequia but make a few tacks before we slowly and very dignified drifted into Port Elisabeth to cast anchor.  A first step to safety(?)! Port Elisabeth is a favourite. We check in-and-out St.Vincent to the tune of SEK 1000 (Christmas overtime…!!) and plan to leave early morning. Some shopping of fruits, main store is closed.  Dinner on board.

Christmas Eve, we decide for a walk in the morning.  Mayreau is the poorest place imagined.  Along the paved road up the the top of the island there are a number of “restaurants”, really shacks, with aspirations of attracting customers/tourists, the only income to be had.  On top of the island lies the church, a roman catholic one, the only one (?) in the Carribean.  After the church having been blown to pieces a number of times, father Charles of Belgian background we home Belgium for a month to learn masonry and stone work.  Upon his return, a stone church was build in the 30-ties, and this church still stands.  Behind the church there is a lovely spot, cool and windy and with a sensational view of Tobago Keys.  We continue the winding road to the north and finally finds ourselves at the northern bay where we tried to moor last evening,  It is a quite wonderful spot with a smooth beach and we make arrangements with Moses to return with the boat in the afternoon, snorkel a bit and then have Christmas grill evening at his place,

Back to the boat we prepare to leave, hoist the dinghy and start the engine and…nothing happens.  The machine is dead like a stone…..!!!!! What the heck? Worked perfectly last night and today completely dead.  It is 12 o’clock noon here and right in the middle of Christmas celebration in Sweden.  Can’t call my motor guru Thomas in Malmö. So worry is great on board and we decide to stay at Mayreau and have Christmas dinner at Dennis’ Hideaway.  Despite the height of holiday season the place is pretty much deserted. We eat reasonably well but very expensively to the tunes of  (much too loud) reggie…..

Back to the dinghy we find that it has been blown underneath the jetty och badly crushed from above.  Gear handle is broken, top cover burst…and half full of water.  Not a good Christmas Eve at all

A quick dash to the grocery store to “top it up” and then out we go.  We motor out of St.George and with the poor wind continue up the coast.  Early in the season, the trade winds tend to be on the East-North-East corner and going north has to be done close to the wind, even tacking. So in the strong winds, 25-30 knots we struggle up towards Carriacou, the northern-most outpost of Grenada, the rest of the “Grenadines” actually belong to St.Vincent..  Leewards of Carriacou, where the sea is smoother we acually motor up against the wind to gain windward “altitude”.  Pass right close to Union Island and up to Mayreau. Here we decide to make it a day.  The sailing is quite hard and wet and the distance up to Bequia is another 25 miles.

At first we try the northernmost bay but the wind is hard and the angle is poor so there is little protection until you get really close inside.  We turn and head for the southern bay, where the main establishment is. We anchor t about 18.00 and remain on board in the darkness.  Down here, at 11 degrees North, the sun sets promptly and straight down.  No Scandinavian long dusks here….

Day before yesterday at 1615 hours the boat was launched.   The engine started at once and we could motor out of the travel-lift lagoon and tied up to the harbour pontoon.  The dinghy had been launched on the beach so I went to fetch it.  The outboarder has been tended to and the “idle throttle” now works just nicely.  Generator also starts so it is “all systems GO”….and I go.  There is a terrible swell into the bay and the boat is bounced off the pontoon; better to catch a buoy and gently roll.  I mount two foresails and after that the sun is sinking and I am exhausted.  The big genoa must weight 50-60 kg.

Yesterday at dawn I was up and mounted also the new mainsail.  Quite easy actually, once you got at it.  At 0915 I let go of the buoy and motored out passed the reefs and tuned westwards. Winds directly from behind so a slowly let the engine bring us along the coast line, with a lot of houses, coves and marinas. Turned around the south-east cape with the air strip and up north-west into St.George.  Anchored up for a couple of hours just outside, took a bath, worked on the boat with the cooling winds coming in; once inside the harbour it would be sultry…..

At 1500 I motored into Port Louis, was duly assigned a mooring over the VHF.  Excellent and rather charming marina, exclusive and fees are quite exorbitant. A first visit to a super market followed, cleaning the boat, cleaning myself and finally dinner at the marina restaurant

..during the night a full 100 mm of rain fell on  the boat….!

All well

The boat is ready to hit the water.  The last couple of days have been “tuning-in” in the climate.  During mid-day you just have to stay out of the sun.  Too strong, you sweat no end and get dizzy in the process.  Better to take a siesta.  There is a lovely little terrace just by the beach, with a roof but no walls, so the tradewinds can cool you while the sun doesn’t get to you.  Very pleasant.  WiFi-availablity, so what else do you need?  The sunshine is intermittently interrupted by the most ferocious showers; it rains as if the heavens were open for, like, three minutes and then the sun is back again.  These islands are fairy high ? 1000 meters, so the constant easterly winds are force upwards, where they condense and let go of their load.  Vegetation is very lush, a formidable green-house.

Grenada as such seems to be very US-oriented.  The island became a sovereign country in  1975 and was rules by a number of dictators, ever more inclined to Marxism.  Maurice Bishop build a large airstrip outside St.Georg (capital) and in 1983 US with the help of 6 more island nations (?) invaded Grenada.  Now it is all restored to normal: On the radio nowadays you hear endless urgings of ”go shopping and be happy”, Christmas approaching…etc, etc.

New season 2017 and we kick-start a bit by returning to Grenada and Grenada Marine on December 15.  The boat has survived the windy season pretty well. The cotton cover (sun protection) is taken down - and is a bit shredded (I don't know when it came off) but the deck looks fine.  The yard paints the bottom and waxes the hull...I do the rest (cleaning, waxing the top sides, fixing rigging, prepare the prop (= getting rid of 1 million barnacles), more cleaning, drying out various stoving spaces.  She goes in the water on Tuesday (Dec 20) and only then do I know that the engines and toilets are OK (no reason why the shouldn't be OK).  Plans are that I will move around the south-western corner up to St. George in order to receive Marion in grand style at the marina there (which is pretty fancy....!) on the 22:nd.

Grenada is far south and as such well positioned to avoid the hurricanes.  Many boats are kept here over the windy season, on the south coast.  Here there are a number of deep coves.  Egmond Bay is supposedly the best "hurricane hole" in the Carribean, the yards on the coast are Prickley Bay, Clark's Court...and Grenada Marine.  The latter is perhaps the least fancy but apparently the best equipped to fix boats up - it is also the one furthest eastwards. The season has been calm this year.  There was a "low pressure" warning disseminated in October and some preparations were done, but then the path changed and Grenada was not hit at all.  "Andrew" was way up north.

So far so good.  More will follow.....