December 25
How far can dust travel? Within a room? Within a city? Within a country? How about across the Atlantic! Yes, the sand dust of the Sahara (Sahara Air Layer) is upon us again this year. This dust travels at 5,000 to 15,000 feet high, towards South America and Florida – the Caribbean Islands are on its track. The sun and the mountains on the horizon are hazy; there’s a yellow sheen on the water. Last year, our white sunscreen panels turned mocha; and some people had problem breathing or woke up every morning with a dry mouth. If you Google “NASA Satellite Tracks Sahara Dust to Amazon 3-D”, you’ll see an awesome video.
Our boat repair saga that started with our sailing season has not ended. The dinghie motor: after an indefinite number of calls, messages and troubleshooting with a mechanic in Bequia, it is the ignition coil (part of a kit) that is broken. Komeekha’s engine water pump: the lip seal needs replacing. It looks like an “O” ring. Waiting for the parts necessary for these two problems to be shipped from the States to Bequia, we got someone else’s dinghie part (another navigator in Bequia) and the wrong size lip seal because a staff missed a 0 typing the item number. Oh well, we’re all humans! When we left Bequia, the distributor on the island said he could send the dinghie part to a sister company on Dominica (??!?!), an island North of Martinique, but he couldn’t tell us the arrival date.
Sailing to St. Lucia 4 days ago, still with the water pump problem, we had to pump a bucketful of water from the engine compartment every hour. In the lee of islands, there is very little wind so we usually start the engine. Between islands, there’s enough wind to raise the sails and turn off the engine. Good news!: in St. Lucia, Frank found the perfect lip seal to repair the water pump. It’s now working! As of today, we now know that the dinghie part will arrive on Dominica “sometime after New Year’s”. Our dinghie motor is 4-strokes; it was bought in Canada where 4-strokes are used by most people. But in the Caribbeans, people use 2-stroke motors. Hence the reason we’re having such an issue getting parts in this region. We were planning on sailing to Dominica after Jan. 10th when Elizabeth (Frank’s niece) and Theo leave. So it works out well enough.
There’s a saying in the sailing community: Boaters helping Boaters. It is true. When we visited Falcon I, they offered us a spare dinghie motor; it’s electric. So, Frank is now zipping around the bay, instead of rowing. The motor is so quiet; at night we feel like we’re on a mission, stealthily passing by unsuspecting boaters. Cool!
Here in St. Lucia, we’ve had some fun with Laurie and Dawn (Cat Tales), Barbara and Andrew (Falcon I). It’s the usual happy hours or meals. We haven’t had time for hikes. Last night, Christmas Eve, we hosted the happy hour. (We call it Happy Hour but really is enough finger food for a meal and lasts about 3-4 hours. LOL!). Tonight Cat Tales invited us for a lasagna dinner. I’m bringing the garlic bread. Frank is baking today, Yessss!
Cat Tales and Komeekha are sailing on to Martinique tomorrow. The winds will be from the East at 16 knots, gusts at 21. If we don’t leave, we’d need to stay here for a week as the winds will be from the North. St. Lucia-Martinique is only a 4-hour sail. We’ll arrive at Baie Sainte-Anne by mid-afternoon. There, we’ll see Guy again, on Entomo. We met him in Bequia. He’s a cool guy (excuse the pun) who knows all about insects: he’s a retired entomologist. Aaaah Martinique! The land of soft cheeses, crisp baguettes, saucissons, good wines and proud people.
Merry Christmas to all of you !!!!
