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The killing fields……….. So here we are in
“sunny” Martinique after a slow-ish trip across the Atlantic and glad
to be here. We spent a couple of
weeks in the Cap Verde’s and found it to be a strange place. Very
bureaucratic and much of our tiny budget seemed to go an admin fees and
queuing. The first island we called at, Sal was described aptly, by an
acerbic kiwi, as a pile of dirt. Very run down and desolate with poverty
very apparent. Boa Vista much more pleasant and then onto Santiago the
islands capital and some way south. Almost as soon as we had anchored we
were warned by a Norwegian that dinghies should not be left unattended on
the beach, as many boats had suffered theft. He had been there 3 weeks so
felt he knew what was happening. Consequently we never really went ashore
together and our final view of the islands was certainly a dim one. On our
penultimate day we collected our departure papers and with the last of our
money bought 7.5ltrs of fuel. Actually we had intended to fill 2 jerry
cans but found that credit cards are not accepted and consequently would
cross with less fuel than we wished. All this time in the Verde’s we had been in company with a French couple, Jean Claude and Catherine. The morning of the 12th Dec. dawned and found them motoring by us, dropping off a gift, champagne and cheese, before we parted company
So we set sail soon
after on the start of a 2000+ mile journey. The end total was 2493 miles. From the beginning
things started to go pear shaped as the wind began to die and then backed
forcing us to head in the wrong direction. As the wind went altogether we
began to motor and it wasn’t long after that we found the engine
temperature had risen above norm. Yet another coolant pipe had been laid
too close together and the vibration had worn a small hole. Sorted it and
carried on. Eventually the wind came back and we progressed under sail
alone. Each day found us covered in a thin film of red dust that we can
only assume blew in from Africa and stayed with us for a week or so. It wasn’t long into
the trip when we came across flying fish. They really are amazing. I
thought they may skim the waves for a metre or so but they seem to be
capable of 50 or 100 metres of graceful flight. Unless they come
barrelling out of the water and find Hannah in their flight path. The
first one to come aboard did so by flying straight into the back of my
neck but later ones simply landed or hit deadeyes etc. Toots of course was
in her element, once she had assured herself they wouldn’t fight back.
Each evening as dark fell she would patrol her territory to see whether
lunch had been delivered. Later as she became attuned to the fish’s
noise as it hit the deck she would doze below until the landing alerted
her. Rushing up the companionway ladder she would seize the unfortunate
fish and carry it back to the cockpit for consumption. Consequently who
ever was next on watch would need to check carefully for left over bits of
fish, eyeballs, wings etc. Dreadful.
Toots perfecting her wedged in routine ...and a variation The days passed. The
wind was very light and days mileage poor. We had hoped for 130+ miles a
day but all too often it was 120 or less. One day saw us down to 75 and a
shortage of fuel meant we couldn’t really afford to motor our way out of
the calms. We made a couple of major errors on this trip and insufficient
fuel was one of them. The other was not having access to weather info. Our
short wave radio couldn’t pick up Radio France International, which
covers Atlantic weather, and it was only half way though the trip I found
out that it is possible to buy a SSB receiver only for something like £200.
With this we would have been able to see where the calms were and whether
any fronts were developing and where. The latter came to dominate our
thoughts and actions for several days and was a salutary lesson. For those
reading this who are not sailors there exists in the area we were crossing
something called a TRS, Tropical Revolving Storm. It will start of as a
depression and if certain criteria are fulfilled can become a full-blown
hurricane. They are unpredictable, although generally will start in the
east head west and then curve northwest. The trick is not to be in their
path. First you need to know what there path is. It is possible to make
judgements about the path but it helps beyond measure to have outside info
on what is going on. So…….. here we are sailing along and things begin
to happen. The setting sun turned the sky a lurid red and orange (that’s
a sign) the barometer began to drop (that’s another) a swell appeared
from a direction the wind was not blowing from (and another), the sea
temperature seemed warm (it needs to be 28 degrees). The stage is now set.
We don’t know how this thing is going to go but constant reading of
various pundits have warned us that life may be about to get nasty.
Consider these two extracts “…put your trust in fate, your god or
whoever rigged your boat…” and “..The chances of being caught..are
small. But make no mistake, if you are, the chances of your boat coming
through unscathed are even smaller and she will quite likely to be
sunk…..” By now our barometer had sunk some 5 points or so, which indicates we are about 200 miles from the eye and we are seriously concerned. At one point I had gone up to steer and found myself in awe at the violence going on around us, seas flattened and turned white by a pounding rain followed by a gust that was indescribable. A frightening time. Bee literally nearly wet herself, as we were both on deck thinking we were in the eye of a TRS. And we really couldn’t work out what was going on. In theory it seems straightforward but faced with the noise, movement and sheer power of the storm we could only do what we felt to be right. In the end, of course, it wasn’t a TRS but probably a depression that, had we been anywhere else and not subject to these hurricanes we would have dealt with in our normal manner. The legacy was that the fear it left us in, certainly me, meant that I was constantly scanning the clouds for the slightest indication of something on the way. But, as with all these things, the winds move on and we settled down to complete the trip.
2 seconds into a new year We managed to eat
well, including 27 packs of biscuits, drank very little booze but copious
amounts of coffee and developed a watch system that works well for us,
night shift was started at 10p m and saw us do 2hrs each followed by 1 hr,
followed by another 2 hrs. Saw perhaps 4 or 5 ships on the trip over so we
really were on our own. Oh yes the VHF broke down. It had been a bit iffy
whenever I had transmitted and then when I was asking the second ship we
ever saw, prior to the storm for a weather forecast it stopped working. I
have no patience with these things but Bee kept at it, dismantled the
phone, rerouted wires and eventually got us back on line. The result looks
like a crystal set of my youth and touching two wires together makes the
connection but it works! So after 23 days or so we sighted the island of Dominica and then Martinique. Finally made it to the anchorage around 9.30 local, ate the pasta and drank the champers donated by JC and Catherine. To be honest we were so tired it completely overwhelmed us and we collapsed for 12 hours kip.
First impressions
have been very positive and we’re looking forward to relaxing, unwinding
and then repairing all the damage done to Hannah. Not by the storm but by
the lack of wind as the slopping about in a swell plays havoc with gear
and shreds your nerves. Stanley, the life saving self steerer took a
hammering and at one point stopped working all together sending me into a
terminal decline. Bee, as ever, sussed the problem and we hove to and
sorted it. Stanley definitely prefers stronger winds and when he is on
form is absolutely brilliant. The only wildlife we
saw were pilot whales and dolphins, but we saw lots of shooting stars and
on the night of 19th Dec Bee saw a comet or something similar.
Anyone any ideas if one could be sighted that night? We intend to stay here for a week or so and then potter around before heading for Bequia and then to be in the USA by late April before heading for the Azores and Europe around July or August and meeting up with everyone for a party! |
