16. Anguilla

Tom from Honey Ryder helped me take the wind generator down, and dingy it over to Mason, the wind expert in the lagoon, on his boat Out of Africa. When we got there, Mason pops up in round shades, his boat, like something from Mad Max, covered in machines and tools. A week or so later he came over and helped me reinstall it. He’d completely rebuilt it; changed all the bearings, cleaned it up, changed the blades. It’s much quieter, although it’s still a fairly noisy one, with low output. It’s all I have though, and should last a while longer now.

I made friends with Baxter and Molly, an American couple, and today I went aboard their boat Terrapin.  A Valiant 48, I think. They’re really fun, and their boat is one of the nicest I’ve seen. Inside is absolutely beautiful; double beds, showers, beautifully varnished woodwork everywhere. Outside was also immaculate, even the engine was shiny. Later they came aboard Sonic Boom. They gave me a chair.

They have a good blog:

http://sailingterrapin.blogspot.com

Sandy Island, on the way to Anguilla

I got another charter. This time two English guys, Gavin and Andrew want to sail to Anguilla. We left on Tuesday, and got back Thursday. We had smooth sail to Anguilla, passing Sandy Island, a beautiful, tiny, sandy island. There’s a small bar, and good snorkeling.

Road Bay, Anguilla

Road Bay is the place to anchor and clear in immigration. I saw Amaris and anchored next to them. Steven and Shawn from Amaris are awesome; we had some wine on their boat, and went for a hike. Amaris is the big catamaran in the photo. Gorgeous inside, very light and very fast. They bought it in France, sailed it across the Atlantic and are headed to Australia. This is their blog:

http://www.sailingamaris.blogspot.com

Sonic Boom next to my friends on Amaris in Road Bay

I met them on the cruisers net – which is a radio broadcast each morning on VHF channel 10. They’d radioed in an offer help with US tax forms, so I answered and we arranged to meet. We were both in the lagoon, near the Witch’s Tit. I said I was a little blue boat anchored next to a big catamaran. They said – we are that catamaran! So funny.

Road Bay, Anguilla

That charter means another couple of hundred bucks, and makes it a thousand dollars I’ve made in St. Martin so far. I’m just about managing to earn as much as I’m spending. Most goes on food, the rest on laundry, showers and dinghy fuel. And boat parts.

I came to realize that replacing the fuel pump gasket would have had no effect at all. The problem would have to be the diaphragm, so before we left for Anguilla I bought a whole new pump and replaced the old one. Budget Marine had one in stock for $90. Then I changed the oil and oil filter again, for the third time in as many weeks. At least now the problem is properly fixed. We motored into Road Bay, and Marigot Bay today and the oil is fine.

I think Tara is in St. Martin; I’m so excited to see Mark and Lisa again. They may be in Grand Casse. I will try and get in touch with them tomorrow and see them soon. Last time I saw them was Boxing Day in Leverick Bay.

15. Dutch Courage

I had my first charter yesterday. I took Chris, a German guy who lives here, for a sail in Sonic Boom. We sailed all the way around St Martin in about 7 hours. A great day’s sailing, nice wind, fairly calm sea, and I got 150 dollars. He’s thinking of buying a boat, but had only sailed Lasers, so wanted to get a feel for a boat my size. He’s thinking of another trip to St. Bart’s, which would be good. I suggested Martinique and take 5 days, stopping at Statia, Nevis and Guadalupe.

Simpson Bay Lagoon looking toward Cupecoy

We motored into and out of the lagoon and my engine was fine, having pumped out the oil with a hand pump, filled up with new oil, and changed the oil filter, for the second time. I noticed though we were going slower than we should have been. Today I checked my propeller and it was covered in barnacles so I dove down and cleaned it. After I stopped Dane’s on my way to have a hot shower, and cleaned his too. He offered me money but I will ask him to put it towards the cushion covers he’s making me.

On the way back I noticed a shroud had come free from the spreader, so we sailed the last part jib only, and came back into the lagoon through Dutch bridge and then through the causeway bridge. The other day Amanda went up the mast in the boson’s chair, to free a tangled line. I’m thinking maybe that dislodged or loosened a shroud fastening. It should be an easy fix.

I put my fridge up for sail on the cruisers’ net, run by Shrimpy’s every morning on the radio. I got one call, but sold it today to Jock for 100 dollars. I’m glad to be rid of it. It was way too big for this boat. I’ll get something smaller, that my wind generator can power. I’ll use the money to fix my wind generator, which was making so much noise, something was definitely wrong with it.

I think St Martin could be a good place to buy a cheap boat and do it up. If you’re careful and know about boats, there are some really nice little sailboats for sale; classics, that the owners just can’t look after any more. There’s one in Bobby’s Marina at the moment. It had been left in the lagoon, was covered in dirt and looked horrible. Someone bought it for next to nothing and hauled it out. It sat in the boatyard for a while, until the new owner Matt bought it for 3000 dollars, painted the bottom, and the hull a nice pale teal, redid the inside completely, really cool, and now it looks amazing.