Bad Hair Day

(Photos purposely withheld)

I’m having a bad hair day. Make that a bad hair week, month, looks like this one could go on for a while. Now normally I wouldn’t bore readers with a hair problem, but I keep thinking about a question that was posed to me numerous times before we started this cruising adventure. Women wanted to know, “What are you going to do about your hair?” This was second only to “Husband and wife living together 24/7 on a 27 foot boat! I don’t think I could do it!” We’ve adjusted to living in close quarters. Apparently I still need to work on the hair thing.

Gone are the days of going to my hairdresser every five weeks for color and a cut. Gone, but not missed are the mornings spent blow drying and curling my hair before I set off to the office. Now I wash my hair in the ocean, give it a quick, fresh water rinse and let it dry in the wind. Most days I don’t care. Every once in a while I wish I looked better.

I went to the same hairdresser for almost 20 years following her to 3 different salons. I trusted her! She knew how I liked my hair. Now, for the last three years I’ve had to spin the wheel and see what I get, with varying results. I’ve had other cruisers give me haircuts and bravely walked into salons in the Bahamas, St. Lucia and Grenada. I’ve been pretty happy with the results up until now.

I figured that St. Martin was a good place to get a haircut. St. Martin is a cosmopolitan island of food and fashion, right? So when I asked another cruiser for a recommendation on a salon and walked through the door, I was confident I would walk out looking good. The salon was bright and clean, the hairdresser/owner was friendly. She asked how I wanted my hair and I thought I did a good job of explaining what I wanted. I just wanted a trim, just cut the same way only shorter. I figured she could just follow my old haircut like a seamstress follows a pattern. We chatted while she began working away on the back of my head but soon it became clear that she was taking a lot off. And by then it was too late! I have very little hair left! The back and sides are cut about as short as possible when using a scissors. The top is a little longer. It really isn’t a bad haircut (the hairdresser was very meticulous) if you look good with hair this short. I just don’t think I do. Besides, I liked my old cut. I’ll be growing this one out for a long time. So now when women want to know what I do about my hair, I’ll just tell them the truth. I wear a hat.

Renee and Mike on S/V Jacumba (very good friends who would never laugh at my hair!) arrived in St. Martin the other day. We have been having a great time. Yesterday was the day for the long overdue Domino rematch. You see, at our last domino game in Grenada almost 6 months ago, we awarded a booby prize to the biggest loser. The dreaded Domino Dunce Hat! Renee was the unhappy recipient and she has been dying to pass on the prize ever since. Armed with rum punch the battle began! Several hours later Renee happily gave up the dunce hat. Even better yet, it didn’t find its way to Merengue. Only nine points apart going into the final round Mike slipped past Renee to lose. We made him take a lap around the deck to show off his new hat! Cruel, I know!

After more than five weeks in Simpson Bay Lagoon we are finally back in the blue. The ocean swell is finally coming out of the east so we were able to move out to Marigot Bay on Saturday. We’re just rocking gently and we have this gorgeous turquoise water to look at and swim in. The prop needed a good cleaning after that much time in the lagoon. We had very little power when we motored out. And the dinghy bottom was looking pretty bad after all that time. So for now we’ll enjoy our surroundings until the northerly swell roles back in and drives us back into the protection of the lagoon.

Boat, Baguettes and Bailey

Life in the Caribbean is not all rum punch and sunsets! There's always work to be done on a boat. We've been making good use of the time between our friends visits to get some boat projects done. We oiled the interior teak, took the cockpit shade in for repair and have finally tackled the exterior teak. Back in Milwaukee, we would put a fresh coat of Cetol on the teak each year. But in the rush of selling our house and getting the boat ready to leave, we just didn't have time. It didn't take long for the tropical sun to take it's toll on the wood. Many people told us to just let it go grey but we're not ready for that. We think Merengue's a beautiful boat that deserves glossy wood on deck.

Here's the before and after pictures of the bowsprit.

It's worth every ache in our backs to see it looking this way again. We have 3 coats on already and hope to put on a few more soon.

We told you previously that we've been spending lots of time in restaurants that provide WiFi while we get our computer up and running again. Here's Jim in our favorite internet spot in Marigot. Great baquettes, pastries and free internet!

While Jim was downloading programs, I took a walk around Marigot and shot a few pictures of one of my favorite cities in the Caribbean.

One of the more picturesque restaurants in Marigot.

The main street, opposite the waterfront.

The waterfront along Marigot Bay.

Shopping area near the waterfront.

The colorful marketplace in Marigot.

Fruit and vegetable stalls at the waterfront.

We'd been spending so much time away from the boat that Bailey was starting to object.

We call this one "I had a few friends over for a party while you were gone."

Bailey said, "What mouse?"

Friends in St. Martin

St. Martin is always fun, but even more so when friends come to visit and share the experience with us. St. Martin seems to be a favorite destination. Last year it was Mike and Marcia from Milwaukee. This year it was Muff and Reed from Rochester, MN. Hmmmm, are they really coming to see us or to escape winter in the Midwest? Probably a little of both. We're just happy when friends spend their vacation with us. Their first day was cloudy, rainy and COLD! We haven’t had a day like this in months. By evening we all had to put on jackets, the first time we’ve done that since Florida in February 2007!

Jim was sitting at the helm and it kept raining in on him. Think the goggles help?

Enjoying the evening and watching the boat parade at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club.

Muff and Reed enjoying the view from the bow. To be honest, they were just trying to dry off in the breeze. It was a wet ride in the dinghy!

We had a great time touring the island, hanging out at the beach, eating at the restaurants and just spending evenings on Merengue. The week went by way too fast and I’ll admit to shedding a few tears when they left. We always have a great time together! Now we are counting the days until more friends come to visit in April. Jill and Kyle, only 2 weeks to go!

Back On-line!

Yes, we are back on-line! After weeks of a broken down computer, Jim has it working again. It has taken many, many hours and cost us a lot of money in beer. When you sit in a bar using their WiFi it would be rude to not buy drinks.

This is what the computer screen looked like as Jim was working on it. Windows crashed and it took a new installation disk to get it working again. After installing Windows there were 88 updates that had to be downloaded so that took another visit to the bar! Then all our other programs had to be installed because everything was lost. That was another trip to the bar! Luckily Jim had been backing up files to an external hard drive so we lost very little. The most important thing, the pictures from the past 3 years were saved.

In our last update we told you about the great sailing between Dominica and St. Martin. Here are a few photos of the trip.

Leaving Martinique.

The anchorage at Portsmouth, Dominica.

Monserrat looks different then a year ago. The ash flow continues to change with recent eruptions.

Merengue at anchor in Simpson Bay Lagoon, St. Martin.

Photo taken by Ann on S/V Fine Line.

So life’s a beach! Or whatever brings a smile to your face!

Dominica to St. Martin

Our last update had us trying to figure out why our engine wouldn't start. 40 minutes and over 100 pushes of the starter button before it started. We thought the starter might be going so we ordered a new one. Next time we tried the engine, it started right up! Same thing the next time and the next time! Now I know that's good news but it still makes us wonder what went wrong that one time? We did get some ideas from cruisers and readers of this blog. Thank you for your suggestions as they are all appreciated. One person said to hit the solenoid with a wrench (Jim thought a hammer would be more satisfying). The IP website had several people suggesting that the wiring to the starter button be changed to a larger size. Another person said to click the micro-switch a few times before trying to start the engine. This Jim is doing this each time he starts the engine and it seems to be working. He looks like a Major League ballplayer going through his routine when he's at bat. Click the switch, turn around in a circle, look up to the heavens, scratch something and maybe a shot of rum for courage. Can't break the routine or you might not hit a homerun, or in this case start your engine! So the new starter goes in with the other spare parts.

Now the reason you haven't seen more frequent updates. While we were still in Dominica our computer CRASHED!!! We haven't been able to get it running and have been without communications for 2 weeks! Not having internet and email is bad enough but we also get our weather reports from our Skymate system which downloads the info to our computer. So getting accurate weather while we've been traveling has been a challenge. We can always check with other cruisers but it isn't the same as reading it yourself to determine your plan. Cruisers have different ideas about what constitutes "a good window" so we like to decide for ourselves. Luckily the window we left Dominica on was a good one and it held throughout the week as predicted.

We left Dominica on February 27th for the 22 NM sail to Les Saintes. It was hard to stop knowing we couldn't stay as we really love it there. The aroma of bread baking coming from shore as we were lifting anchor didn't make it any easier! The next day was 32.5 NM to Deshaises, Gaudeloupe where we anchored for the night. The next day we headed to Monserrat but we were making such good time that we decided to push on to Nevis. This was 73 NM and a longer sail then we can usually achieve in daylight hours but we were averaging 6.2 knots and knew that if we didn't make it by nightfall we would be able to pick up a mooring along the west coast in the dark. We arrived with about 10 minutes of light to spare! This was a beautiful sail, one that reminds you why you're out here doing this. Then to top off the day, we spotted two humpback whales on our approach to Nevis. We spotted the waterspouts first and then watched them breaching which is a magnificent sight!

On Tuesday we headed to Ile Fourche (53 NM), a small island off of St. Barth's where we picked up a mooring for the night. This was another great sail averaging over 6 knots. Then the next morning we were off to St. Martin, a short sail of about 24 NM to Marigot. We arrived by noon which gave us plenty of time for a celebratory rum punch and a swim while we waited for the 2:30 bridge opening into Simpson Bay Lagoon.

It's good that we kept moving. The window held through Thursday and then as predicted, it slammed shut on Friday! The wind is blowing 15-25 with lots of gusts (every 30 seconds or so) to 30. The seas are 10-12 feet. Even the lagoon has a 2 ft chop. Boats are dragging anchor all over the lagoon. The Heineken Regatta started on Thursday and we had hoped to watch some of it but I think we'll leave that for the insane! We braved the elements today to get to this internet cafe. We're in for a very wet ride heading back to the boat.

So now we're just hanging out waiting for our friends Reed and Muff to arrive on the 15th and for them to bring us a new Windows installation disk (Bring Back Dos!!!). Hopefully we'll be up and running again soon and can bring you more frequent updates with pictures!

Dominica-nica-nica

Ha! Now you've got that song in your head! Just a short update on our travels. No pictures. We don't like to photograph ourselves when we're swearing and making faces! We left Martinique on Monday with a good forecast for the next few days. We planned to do a 55 mile sail to Portsmouth, Dominica, then sail about the same distance the next day to Deshaies, Gaudeloupe and then head to Antiqua on Wednesday. Our trip started out well with nice wind even though we were in the lee of the island. About 2 miles from the end of the island the wind clocked around to the NW, an on-shore breeze. A few minutes later it died completely. We told ourselves to be patient, we were in spitting distance of the channel between the islands where there would be lots of wind. But we were dead in the water, not a breath of air to be had. We finally decided to start the engine but the engine had other ideas, It wouldn't start! We must have pushed the button a hundred times! I concentrated on trying to keep Merengue from heading towards shore which seemed like it was getting closer and closer. Jim kept working on the engine, trying to get it started. About 40 minutes later, it finally did. It was hard to enjoy the sail after that as we considered our options. We wanted to have an engine we could count on for the trip to Antigua, but getting parts in Dominica would not be easy. There are not a lot of marine facilities here. After trying various things and reading Nigel Calder's "Marine Diesel Engines", Jim thinks it's the solenoid that is going bad.

We planned on calling Alexis, the water taxi/boat boy/tour guide we met last time we were in Portsmouth but didn't have to. These guys are watching for boats coming in and he met us when we were still several miles out. He found a mooring for us and once we were secure, he stopped back to say hello, greeting Jim with a handshake and a big smile and giving me a kiss on the cheek. How nice to be treated like an old friend! We told him about the problem with the starter and he told us about a new marine store that opened up last week. It was too late to do anything that day but he said he'd stop by in the morning and we could use his cell phone to call the store. The marine store could get the part for us from St. Martin in a few days (cruisers, they are a Budget Marine authorized dealer). The part should come in today and hopefully the repair will go well. Jim is not looking forward to it. Can you blame him? You've seen the pictures of him hanging upside-down over the engine. Unfortunately the good weather window has passed. There is nasty weather up north that is causing big seas to roll down through the Atlantic and Caribbean. Doesn't look like it will moderate until the middle of next week, so we'll hang out in Dominica for awhile. We'll let you know when we're up and running again.

Landfall Martinique - Sorry we're Closed!

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia is a favorite stop of ours. It's just an easy place for cruisers with great shopping and easy access to a marine store, hardware, fuel dock, etc. The Rodney Bay Marina was under renovation when we were here in June. All the new slips are completed including the new dock for the mega-yachts. The marina invited all the yachties to a customer appreciation party while we were there and even those of us anchored in the bay were invited. Free rum punch and beer gets any cruisers' attention. Those of you headed this way, they plan on holding these parties every other Thursday so don't miss it!

One of our island excursions was a trip to the Mamiku Gardens on the east coast of St. Lucia. Joe, Becky, Jim and I took a bus to Castries, then transfered to another bus that took us over the mountains to the east coast. The gardens are on the site of an old plantation. The flowers, especially the orchids were beautiful. Here's a glimpse of a few

Here's Becky and I checking the guide for the names of the plants.

February 7th we headed to Martinique. We didn't spend time on Martinique on our way south so we were really looking forward to doing some sightseeing with Joe and Becky. We planned to rent a car for a tour of the island, do a little rum tasting at the many distilleries, visit the museums, etc. Well, it was not to be. The citizens of Martinique were on stike! As we understand it they are protesting the high cost of living in paradise. I believe they are looking to increase the subsidy they receive from France. Apparently strikes happen from time to time and when it does, everything shuts down. When we went into the capital of Fort du France to clear customs everything was closed. Restaurants and stores closed, no buses or taxis running, garbage piling up on the street. We anchored several miles across the bay in Anse Mitan which is in the heart of a tourist area. The town is wonderful, full of sidewalk cafes, shops, a great bakery for fresh baquettes and a grocery. But by the time we left the strike had been going on for about 10 days. No ships were being offloaded so grocery stores and restaurants were running out of food. At one point the grocery store in Anse Mitan had about 20 people at any given time waiting outside for the opportunity to come in and buy food. They had to control the number of people going in and out because the store was too crowded. Remember, stores in Fort du France and elseware on the island were closed so I think people were traveling to shop in Anse Mitan. There was nothing available to buy but packaged goods and a few vegetables. The dairy and meat cases were empty. It was not a problem for us because we came well provisioned from St. Lucia. But imagine if you had flown in for a week vacation only to discover that the island is basically shut down and the restaurants are running out of food. It was really a shame. We stayed until the weather was good enough for us to move north to Dominica. The French islands of Guadeloupe and Le Saintes are also involved in the strike so we'll be skipping them this time through.

The view across the bay towards Fort du France. At night this is all lights. Fort du France is a large city of 130,000 people.

At one point there were 6 of these large ships anchored in the outer harbor waiting to either load or off-load their cargo.

We took a long walk one day to the town of Les Trois-Ilets seen here in the distance. This is the view overlooking a golf course. No golf today because of the strike. Today it's just a park!

We just had to show you these interesting cottages at the Bakua resort. They're built edge to edge in long, colorful rows. Nothing fancy. Just a bed and bath. They looked like a child's playhouse.

The view from the beach with the Anse Mitan anchorage behind.

That's it from Martinique. I guess we'll save our rum tasting for another time.

C'est la vie!