Banned from beauty and the beaches

25/01/2011

I have been instructed by Mary to apologize to any of my blog followers whose sensitivities were offended by my anatomical observations over the week end. She has further summarily banned me from walking on, swimming on, or even thinking about Nude beaches for the foreseeable future. I guess that put me and “perkins” in the same dog box, as it were. Some of you might remember that whereas some insensitive cruisers call their engines, “the Donk”, or “Koos Diesel”, we saw fit to bestow upon our engine, a more illustrious title, in the vain hope that by showing him some respect, he would behave himself. Well, after about his fourth round of irresponsibly bad behaviour…(.blowing a raw water pump, bursting badly designed expensive rubber elbows twice, throwing an electrical wobbly,… before destroying the fresh water pump !), we decided to downgrade him from “Lord Perkins Sir” to “perkins”. Perhaps he would see the error of his ways, and try to earn his title back
.
I think that this is the same disciplinary nonsense that Mary is now trying to impose on me!! As if, just because somebody is wearing a costume, I will simply lose my imagination, and therefore stop some of my more extravagant exaggerations! We’ll see about that, but right now I’m gated!

We have just come back from Grande Marche, which is a large and well stocked Supermarket, stocked with all kinds of tasty goodies, … even beer, which for some archaic liquor licensing reasons, still cannot be stocked in RSA supermarkets, despite being available to every illegal shabeen ! We bought a case of “Cotes du Rhone” wine, which as many of you wine lovers will recognize is a sneaky French copy of that FAMOUS Simonsig wine, “Goats do Roam”. The French one is even a lot cheaper than the Simonsig one! Can you believe it?

We are now beginning to stock up the boat for our time in the BVI’s where prices are in a different stratosphere. We would like to spend about a month there, before working our way back to Antigua, to watch some of Antigua Sailing Week. Thereafter we will go via Guadeloupe and the Saints, to St Lucia in April, where we would like to watch some of the West Indies vs Pakistan cricket. From there we will visit Mustique, and the Tobago Cays, before heading off to Barbados in May, to watch more cricket, and get our 10 year visas for the USA. After that we hope to visit Tobago again, before returning to Grenada in time for our haul out and home visit in September/October.

By then I’m sure Mary will have forgotten about the ban, and I’ll sneak another visit to Orient beach!

SXM-Boats,beaches and bollocks

24.01.2011

Sint Maarten, (Dutch), St Martin, (French), or SXM as it is also often called, has really grown on us. It is so much more than the smallest island in the world, controlled by two separate countries, which happens to be a duty free boating Mecca.
Only about 20% of the inhabitants were born on the island, with the rest being made up by “foreigners”, who have brought with them the skills and expertise that make things work.
Apart from the huge lagoon area, accessible to boats up to 200ft superyachts via two lifting bridges, it also has a huge Cruise liner docking facility in Philipsburg, which had 8 such vessels when we arrived before Xmas. The town of Philipsburg caters to these liners, with a top class beachfront lined with restaurants and palm trees, and one road back, with Jewelers and Electronic stores.
Thanks to a few island tours with Tom & Johness, we have got to see much more of SXM than many, including Grande Case and the big and beautiful Orient Bay, and its five beach areas of Kakao, Bikini, Waikiki, Coco Beach and Kontiki.
It was to this lovely area we were again taken yesterday. Yachts and Superyachts were anchored in the bay.

We started walking from the one end, with Tom and I discussing his challenges of starting a new business. I then noticed a fellow shuffling towards us, dribbling two coconuts with his feet. As he got closer, I could not help but detect that they were not coconuts, but two bloody great Brinjals in a floppy sack attached to his person where his legs met! Yes, we had just crossed over onto the Nudist, or “clothing optional” beach! I mean this poor man was in serious trouble! He either had had a transplant operation with a large bull, or suffered a serious medical problem caused by bruising as the brinjals were being kicked along the beach by his kneecaps! Now I have spent most of my life in clothing, and could not think of any pair of underpants, shorts or whatever, that could accommodate tackle on this scale. A babies pram, or a supermarket trolley could have done the job, but that would have looked equally silly on the beach.

All my life, I’ve always been a legs and boobs fancier myself, but its just not done, to stare and gape at the merchandise on display on such a beach! One has to adopt a carefree, nonchalant eyes down type of disposition. As such, it is only the extreme curiosities that one notices in ones peripheral vision. I was pleased to register that amongst the field of button mushrooms, there were only a couple of Boomerangs and Puff Adders. Most of what was on show , was fat ,floppy and flaccid , for both genders!

What did strike me as very unusual, was the removal of body hair….obviously an attention seeking highlighting technique. Now, many of us will have chuckled at the concept of an excited partner experiencing a “wide on”, but never had I imagined that it could be a physical reality! Normally such matters would be discreetly hidden behind a furry triangle, or carefully trimmed “landing strip”. But no, not here in the care free and hair free zone! What I had the misfortune to witness, was not so much a “wide on”, as a Dual Carriageway… ….Black River Pathway in Cape Town came to mind!

Thank goodness we soon made it back to Bikini Beach where we could sit down and have a quiet beer, lunch and a giggle, in a normal world. Even the pretty young mother, topless, walking hand in hand with costumed hubby and kids, looked totally “normal”!
My friend Etienne always believed that the designer of the bonnet on the old Volkswagen Beetle was inspired by women in bathing costumes. Truly, the sexiest costumes really are those that leave something to the imagination!

10 000 miles, as the sun sets on another year!

1.1.2011

Somewhere, between Antigua and St Barts, while the moon was hiding from the sun, Sheer Tenacity passed the 10 000nm mark since we sailed out of Hout Bay! To celebrate this milestone, as well as Christmas and New Year in St Maarten, we flew the 16 courtesy flags of the countries visited during this trip from our topping lift!

Keen observers might also notice the “at anchor” ball on display at the bow, in deference to the number of USA boats around! Legally of course, a 40 foot yacht, with sails packed away in a bright red stackpack, and secured to the seabed by 40mts chain, connected to a well set anchor, with a loop of chain hanging over the bow roller , and attached to the boat by a chain hook on a nylon snubbing line , in a designated and chart marked anchorage, with a tender hanging off the stern, cannot be assumed to be at anchor!!! Americans lawyers, in particular, need to see your black ball before they can be expected to know this!
Anchored here in Simpson lagoon, we are definitely one of the smallest yachts. Each day, the road bridge over the channel between the open sea and the lagoon, opens six times to allow incoming or outgoing boats. We had arrived in Simpson Bay at about noon, so we had to wait until the next Inward bound opening, which was at 17.30hrs. The St Maarten Yacht Club pub and deck area overlook the bridge , and channel, and the crowd gather on most nights to watch the procession. Our entrance was no exception, and we were one of about 12 to 15 boats entering the lagoon. This is accompanied by flashing cameras, vocal encouragement, and bellowed instructions from the Bridge Operator to …”Move along… little Sheer Tenacity, we haven’t got all day! “
We were sandwiched between a 170ft power cruiser, and a 70ft classic yacht, which was followed by a 140ft Peroni Navi schooner . Its enough to give a man a complex!
Tom & Johness took us on a drive around the lagoon, by road one evening. We stopped for a sundowner at the legendary “Sunset Beach” restaurant/pub, which overlooks the beach, and the end of the Airport runway. There is a nonstop stream of jets, from Jumbos to sleek private Lears, landing and taking off. The beach is only separated from the runway by the narrow access road, and a wire fence. It is quite something to see all these airliners coming in so low over the beach, and touching down just beyond the fence. Tourists line up on the beach, filming these planes as they approach, and skim just over their heads. Nuts! But not quite as nuts as the guys who stand on the beach behind the Boeings, as they build up their revs to maximum thrust for take off! The sandstorm blizzard, screaming jet engines and yelling from sandblasted bodies creates a most unusual form of entertainment! The only escape is to run/ get blown into the sea!
Being a duty free Island has led to St Maarten becoming a very busy and successful boating service, refit, and supply area within the Caribbean. Everybody with expensive boat work to be done, or equipment to buy, comes to St Maarten. The Marina’s all cater for the crewed Superyachts, and the salaried crews in turn spend their dollars in the local pubs and restaurants. The end result is a young, buzzy crowd, of relatively cash rich, skilled, and generally well behaved folk , living life like one big party!

Guadeloupe to Sint Maarten

22/12/2010

Little Fredlet enjoyed the new point of sail, and we covered the 50 miles from Deshaies to Jolly Harbour, Antigua, arriving shortly after lunch. One look at the entrance, the customs jetty, and we decided to save our time and money, and continue to St Barts, after a few hours rest.
We anchored around the corner in Five Island Bay, a beautiful big and protected bay, which we had almost entirely to ourselves, from where we watched the sunset, and, saw our THIRD Green Flash since we left home! Behind us, the full moon had risen, heralding the winter solstice, and creating a golden loom over the water.
After a light supper and a rest, we hauled anchor at midnight, and set off on the 80 mile leg to St Barts, taking advantage of the quieter 15knot breeze, and the full moon!
Unknown to ourselves, we were about to witness a once in 400 year heavenly spectacle! A total lunar eclipse, ON the Equinox! Our huge bright yellow moon slowly morphed into a big red/brown orb; the night turned dark, and all the stars brightened! An hour or so later, the whole process was reversed, and we watched the full bright moon setting in the west, shortly before the sun rose in the east. We could only imagine all the pagans, Stonehengers, Inca’s et al, sacrificing goats, chickens, as well as the odd child or virgin, to appease the gods, beseeching them to restore the heavenly bodies to their normal routines!
This little heavenly display played havoc, of course, with our watch keeping schedule.

We checked into St Barts by noon, knackered but elated. The upside was, that unlike all the Cruise Liner passengers, who we learnt later, had to pay mega dollars for tickets to be in this corner of the globe on this night….. we enjoyed it as Free entertainment while on night watch!
St Barts is known as the French Riviera of the Caribbean. It is the ultimate show off playground of the SERIOUSLY wealthy …. Those whose wealth exceeds most countries GDP ! This showplace, seemed to us, to be unaffected by the global financial decline and meltdown. All the Superyachts, both sail and power, all the Big Names, and Chartering “wannabe’s”, on show . with their big beautiful toys
Mary and I felt quite honoured to be able to show these poor misguided folk, what a REAL cruising yacht looks like, crewed by real old farts, in faded t shirts, instead of Hunks and Hostesses, wearing pristine white uniforms and gold braid!
I mean, Uplights to show how tall your mast/masts are, Downlights to turn the ocean into an Aquamarine wonder world, Wet Bikes and Jet skis for all the kids, the odd helipad , 35ft rubber duck tenders, powered by twin 350hp outboards, smaller tenders for the big tenders ..,the list is endless, but so it appeared, was the money!
Yet back in St Maarten, which is the refueling and restocking depot for the Superyacht industry, we were told that the numbers were down, the marina’s empty in comparison, local businesses that service and supply this market, are suffering. Where has it all gone? The answer it seems, is that when the USA catches a cold, the Caribbean gets pneumonia ! Not all is as it seemed in St Barts!

Our Route March North..............

20/12/2010

With “perkins” sporting a new water pump, we were now able to think about our trip north to St Martin, where we had arranged to meet Tom, Johness, Alex and Dom for Christmas. Only 400 odd miles….. a doddle! Well, I suppose it could have been, if we had decided to do it all as one passage …. 3or 4 days max, leaving two weeks to spare and get to know St Martin.

We decided instead, to island hop, and stop over at all the places we wished to see, so that we would have a better idea about where we would like to spend more time on the return trip. Suddenly, it becomes a very different exercise, with all the checking in and out, the customs hours, the queues…. As well as the socialising en route!

We left St Georges (Grenada) and beat our way up to Hillsborough in Carriacou, where we had to check out of Grenada. We then sailed round to Chatham Bay on Union Island, where we spent the night. An early start allowed us to do the 30 mile beat to Bequia, where we checked into St Vincent, and spent a great couple of days. Imagine our surprise to see another Shearwater, sporting an SA crew flag. It was Magnus Murphy and family, who now live in Canada,on “Losloper” , previously “Ithaka”, and before that, “Slivermoon” . Magnus started the Shearwater Owners Face book website a few months back, and was moved to feature “Sheer Tenacity” once again on this medium after our Bequia meeting!

Early on the 11th, we headed off to St Lucia, detouring around St Vincent, once again on a breezy fetch, where we anchored under the famous “Pitons”, ( EC $ 40 for a mooring buoy) where we checked in again.

The next day we motored up the lee of the island to Rodney Bay, where we anchored. While there we watched about 15 of the ARC boats finish their crossing from the Canaries, bringing up to about 120 of the over 200 boats taking part in this years ARC….. All of the yachts to have arrived so far make Sheer Tenacity look like a little day sailor! We liked Rodney Bay, and St Lucia in general, and look forward to spending a lot more time there.

We sailed over to Martinique on the 14th, and anchored at Anse Mitan, just outside Forte France. It struck us as being rather jaded and tired. Unlike the crime and grime of some of the Caribbean, the empty hotels, and half built and abandoned timeshare resorts, reflected a more global financial picture. The French shops, however, were certainly a pleasure, albeit rather expensive. Even the little ‘8 au Huit” supermarket up in St Pierre was fabulously stocked with treats and cordon bleu goodies!

Another 60 mile beat up to Portsmouth in Dominica, where we were approached miles out by “boat boys”, who now label themselves “boat services”. In fact, after anchoring, we welcomed the offer of their service to take us, in their boat, down to the customs office, and back. The sea was pretty wild, and there was no way we could have launched our dinghy and safely tied it up on the dock landing for the duration of our checking in process! EC $ 20 well spent!

During this leg, however our new Raymarine auto pilot died, so once again we had to pull out our trusty little “Fredlet”, the rubber band driven autohelm 3000, which served us so well from French Guyana to Trinidad. On closer inspection, it transpired that the failure was in fact NOT the Raymarine bits, but the hydrolic ram, which was the last remaining component from the B & G setup. I had this unit serviced and rebuilt, with new brushes and seals by a specialist in Trinidad. I had been concerned about the workmanship at the time, because when it was eventually returned to me, the only apparent sign that it had been worked on, was a half empty fluid reservoir, and a cursory wave of black spray paint! (When stripped in Sint Maarten, the B & G specialist confirmed that the unit had never been opened, let alone fitted with new brushes and seals ! I had paid US$200 for a spray paint con job!)

The next day saw us in another boisterous beat

up to the delightful “Saints”, (to which we will definitely return.) They are a quaint, very French little group of islands, 5 nm south of Guadeloupe, which was our next stopover, Deshaies, on the top NW wingtip of this butterfly shaped island, will also see us again. We liked the look of this town and anchorage and the surrounding wildlife attractions.

Our next leg is 50 odd miles to Antigua, past the volcanic Montserrat, and thankfully is also the leg, where our point of sail eases from a beat to a reach, in these fresh NE trades.