On a beach in Mo’ Bay
I had to wait until Monday to leave Montego Bay to avoid
customs weekend overtime fees. Actually customs were a real pain – even though
I arrived on Friday at 2pm and had finished with immigration by 2.30, I didn’t
finish with them until 3.20. So they charged me a $68 overtime fee because I
cleared in after 3pm.
A diving pelican hits the water, Mo’ Bay
I left early morning and sailed round to Discovery Bay, the
first stop on my way to Port Antonio. Early on my engine broke down. I hate
working on the engine under sail, and I wasn’t able to fix it, but at least I
found the problem – air in the fuel line. It soon became a very difficult sail;
there was strong wind and big waves and it wasn’t long before more things
started to break under the heavy pounding. I lost the wind vane from the top of
my mast. Then I missed Disco Bay before dark, so rather than enter a new
harbour and try to anchor in the dark without an engine, I hove to and grabbed
a couple of hours sleep. Then I decided to carry on through the night. Eventually
I made it to St. Ann’s Bay the next morning.
Sunset in St. Ann’s Bay
St. Ann’s Bay was miserable; the channel marker buoys were
all missing. I had to surf in between waves breaking on reef, quickly drop
anchor and lower sail before hitting the beach – it’s a very small bay, very
exposed, and very rolly. There wasn’t anything on shore, apart from Jamaica’s
loudest sound system that went off all night. Just as it finished at dawn, I
pulled up anchor and motored through the channel, with my hopefully repaired
engine, before the wind and waves picked up.
Ocho Rios
Out in the open ocean, the wind was even stronger, the waves
even bigger. I decided to give up on Oracabessa and sail to Ocho Rios, the next
harbor along the coast. The cruising guide, which recommended St. Ann’s, had
not recommended Ochi – too touristy, but it’s lovely. A very sheltered bay, a
beautiful beach and lots of shops and restaurants. I will rest here for a few
days.
