March 14 – Cruisers Tools and Dropped Anchor
Anse d’Arlet is a snorkeling paradise. Because of it, it is hard to find a place to drop anchor. We’ve read in some articles and Facebook (FB) posts that anchoring is not allowed at all, others say that it’s allowed only in specific areas; and when we got there, boats were anchored everywhere. I also searched in many websites to find the answer to “May we anchor at Anse d’Arlet? If yes, where exactly? So, I asked the questions on the FB Martinique Cruisers website. I guy promptly replied with a link to a website showing a map of the cove with colour-coded areas for anchoring. My questions triggered a lot of conversation among other cruisers on the subject of anchoring in Martinique. Cruisers group sites are a great tool to learn about everything sailing. To conclude, we did snorkel but didn’t stay more than one night. We sailed on to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia for a few days.
Another tool for cruisers in many locations is the Cruisers Net. Every weekday morning at a specific time on a specific radio channel, cruisers have a chance to share information. A “host” starts the talk with information such as weather forecast and upcoming events. Then, cruisers have a chance to sell and buy among themselves. Local commerce may advertise their sales, restaurants their menu du jour. Through the St. Lucia Cruisers Net as we were approaching the island, while I was having a nap, Frank heard that the Cruising Women Weekly Lunch was held at a local restaurant an hour after we planned to drop anchor. I met 8 very interesting women for a 2-hour lunch. When you’re on a sailboat for 6 months, it feels really good to have a chance to share a meal with many women. As we have a lot in common, shyness melts away very quickly. The subjects that are taboo: boat parts and boat maintenance. (When men are together, that’s all they talk about! LOL!)
Did you know that it can be challenging to find our boat at night? When we go ashore for dinner, we always come back to Komeekha in the dark as the sun always set at around 18h00. Imagine us leaving shore in our little dinghie, facing little white lights in a pitch black background. We only see the boats that are nearby. All the little lights are anchor lights on top of masts. They all look the same, except some are yellowish and others are bluish white. There are a few tricks to find Komeekha. 1) We note the names of the boats around ours; 2) We triangulated with 2 points ashore; 3) We added a blue light (or any other colour than white) on our deck. Even with these 3 tricks, it happens that we - and others - will argue about the location of our boat as we zigzag through the bay. Proof that we’re not alone: we can see some dinghies passing by Komeekha a couple of times before they arrive home. It’s really funny.
Time for a hair cut. Even though we could find a barber and a hair salon at every anchorage, Frank and I cut each other’s hair. Well, Frank cuts his own then he cuts mine. For Frank, it’s easy: one length from his chin, through his cheeks, all over his head. I’m only there to shave his nape and make sure he didn’t miss a spot ... he always does. Frank started to cut my hair a few years ago. At the beginning, it was all the same length. There isn’t much styling to this method. He then learned to layer the edges. What a difference! Even my hair styler back home was impressed!
We’re slowly making our way South to Grenada for the end of the season. We already booked our haul-out with Spice Island Marina – May 2nd. I bought my plane ticket to Toronto for May 4th, Frank for May 11th. We booked our usual AirBnb near the marina from May 1st to 11th.
We sailed for 16 hours from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia to Bequia. The winds were adequate, waves were normal (1.5 metres). Between St. Lucia and St. Vincent, we suddenly heard BANG ... BANG ... BABANG. The anchor had dropped a couple of feet, banging on the bow!!!! All the expletives that I won’t write came out of our mouths as I quickly put my life jacket and rushed as fast as I can on a bucking Komeekha to raise the anchor back in its well. After getting it back in, Frank secured it with a rope. In these waves, that’s all we could do for now. When we arrived in Bequia, in the dark, I couldn’t lower the anchor using the windlass. The windlass was broken. We swapped places: I steered Komeekha, keeping away from the other anchored boats, while Frank lowered our 45 lbs anchor and 125 feet of chain by hand. That’s a lot of physical work and restrained emotions in an intense half hour after a long day. A good conversation and a dram of rum helped us return our equanimity. That was 2 days ago. As of now, the windlass remote can’t be repaired. We’re waiting for the supplier to find one replacement.
An ongoing adventure! ....
