Reminiscing with Songbird

How about doing some reminiscing with us?

Our friends Pat and Carol on the S/V Songbird put together a CD with photos and a video of some of the great times we've spent together.  We sailed together for several months back in 2008 when we were all making our first trip through the islands.  Many of the photos were taken then when we hiked on Saba and celebrated my birthday on St. Lucia.  Last year we spent the holidays in Antigua and then hooked up again in St. Martin in June.  We sailed from St. Martin to St. Lucia together.  We have soooo much fun!

So sit back and relax and enjoy a recap of the adventures of Songbird and Merengue.  First there is a slide show of some of Pat and Carol's photos.  Second, there is a video of Merengue under sail between Bequia and Canouan in the Grenadines back in 2008.  Don't forget to turn up the volume as Pat even set them to music.

Blue Water Insurance Update

Time to give you an update on our communication with and from Blue Water Insurance.  Things are looking up.  Thank you to our readers who left comments and suggestions on the blog.  I guess this topic touches a nerve with many people.  One reader sent a letter to Blue Water.  I'm sure that helped move things along.  Another reader asked for the name of the company that insured the other boat with lightening damage.  We'll try to find that our for you.  We know it was another European company but don't know the name.

In our last update, we told you how we had sent 2 emails after a month of waiting to hear from Blue Water.  No response.  So Jim sent one directly to the insurance company in London with a copy to Blue Water.  The rep at Blue Water contacted us on October 5th and said that he sent us the approval on September 29th.  Hmmmmm?

We never received it.  We were checking email everyday anxiously awaiting the approval.  So, it either was never sent or its lost in cyberspace!  The important thing is the claim is approved!

Now, in the interest of fairness, here are good things about our policy with Blue Water Insurance.

Blue Water is not depreciating our equipment and only providing us with a partial reimbursement.  We are receiving replacement value.  That is a very good thing especially because we are replacing in the Caribbean where everything costs more.  They will pay us now or when the repairs are completed, our choice.  If we discover more damage we can notify them and the claim will be reviewed.  We do not have to sign off now if we accept the money now.  This relieves some anxiety because we have not had the boat surveyed and are concerned that we could discover more damage.

I was a little upset when the customer service rep said in his email; "It appears that you have not initiated the repairs with the questions you are asking?"  What!!! His email from August said "Send me the repair estimates before you do any repairs so the insurance company can review and determine if they need to assign a surveyor/adjuster to handle this matter."  Of course we didn't start the repairs, we hadn't heard back.  We were following directions!

Repairs will start in about a week.  We are waiting for a wind instrument to arrive as both marine stores were out of stock on the model we want.  They also didn't have the VHF radio we need and that will take 5 weeks to get.  Jim can install that himself later as the antenna and wiring will be done with the other repairs.  So I think we are finally back on the road to recovery.

Hopefully our next blog update will return to showing you the fun things we do accompanied by Jim's beautiful pictures.  But hey folks, this is real life on a boat.  As I've said before, it ain't all rum punch and sunsets!

Blue Water Insurance Doesn't Help!

We are Frustrated, Angry, Ticked-Off, Pissed!

Someone tell me why we even bother buying insurance?

Merengue was struck by lightening the night of August 26th.  We emailed Blue Water Insurance the next day to notify them of the situation.  They responded by sending us a form to fill out and instructions to get 2 estimates on repairs.  We were told we shouldn't repair or buy anything until we heard from them.  They also told us that the approval process could take about 7-10 days.  It has been almost 4 weeks since we submitted the forms.  To make matters worse, we sent 2 emails this week to ask for an update on our claim.  Blue Water Insurance hasn't even given us the courtesy of a response to either email.  

Our policy is now due for renewal.  Are they waiting to see what we'll do?  We refuse to throw good money after bad.  We have been their customer for 4 years and spent thousands of dollars on insurance, more then the repairs will cost.  If they aren't going to honor this claim why would they think we would want to renew our coverage with them?

Another boat was also struck by lightening on the same night we were.  They called their insurance company the next day and their insurance company called the marine surveyor in Grenada and scheduled an appointment.  They didn't have to do the legwork like we did and they are currently repairing their boat.  The survey showed they sustained $30,000 dollars in damage!  We can't even get Blue Water Insurance to contact us or approve a survey much less make repairs!  It's a good thing we are still planning on staying in Grenada for a while.  What if this happened while we were moving the boat south?  We would be without instruments and our system for obtaining weather reports.  This is a safety issue.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do?  Who's the watchdog for the insurance industry?  We need help!

Whisper Cove Marina

One of the first things we did upon arriving in Grenada was visit our friends Gilles and Marie France. 

The four of us became friends when we were in No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne, Florida (2007) before crossing to the Bahamas.  Gilles and Marie France decided to make Grenada home and last November they took over Whisper Cove Marina in Clark's Court Bay.

The marina sits in a beautiful, hill-side location.  Gilles has improved the landscaping and opened up the view.  There is a marina with water and electricity, free WiFi, a restaurant, bar and book exchange.  Gilles opened a butcher shop on site and added "the Little Store" where you can pick up meat as well as a few staple items like garlic, onions, tomatoes and wine.  What else does a good French chef need!

View from the restaurant towards Hog Island.

Marie France and Jim

 Gilles

 The chef at work!

Whisper Cove Marina is a wonderful place to enjoy good food and drink. 

Gilles and Marie France, we wish you much success. 

Bon Appetit everyone!

Natalie

We just spent a wonderful week with our niece, Natalie.  We've never had a guest on board before because, hey, there's hardly room for us.  Our friends on Kajun Diva graciously offered to store our junk in one of their cabins so we could clear out the quarter berth for Natalie.  Once we emptied it out there was plenty of room, about 6 ft deep with plenty of width, one porthole and a fan for air.  Not bad!

The day before Natalie arrived I came down with the flu. I'll spare you the gory details.  Luckily it was a 24 hour bug and I was in good shape by the time she arrived.  Unfortunately I gave it to Jim who woke up with it her first day here.  So Natalie and I headed out on our scheduled island tour without him.  Sorry Jim.

We visited waterfalls, Rivers Rum Distillery, a nutmeg processing plant, beaches and saw a lot of the island.  It rained the entire day but that didn't slow us down.

My stomach wasn't ready for Rivers Rum so Natalie was on her own in the tasting room.  If I'm being perfectly honest, my stomach wouldn't have been ready for that rot-gut even if I hadn't just gotten over the flu!  That's nasty stuff!

Brave girl!

Whew!  Natalie said it burned for a long time.

The beach at La Sagesse.

Off to watch the Packer game at Bananas restaurant.

Packers 27 - Eagles 20

Go Pack!

Beach day at Grand Anse.  I enjoyed watching the Grenadian men hit on Natalie and beg for her phone number to no avail.  Hey, you can't blame them for trying.

Rum punch at the beach.  Not bad!

Back at Merengue where Natalie figured out the whole float in the water with a beer thing.

She catches on quickly!

Last day in paradise and we couldn't think of a better way to spend it then with a trip to the Aquarium restaurant for more beach time, snorkeling and dinner.  This is a gorgeous spot!

We have to confess to a few tears when Natalie headed off in the taxi for the airport.  We loved having her visit and look forward to the next time when Jim said she has to come for 2, no that was 4, I think he ended up at 7 weeks.  

Postcards from the Grenadines

We took our time sailing south this year, spending a month in the Grenadines and Sandy Island, Carriacou.

We visited some new places and some old favorites.  Hope you enjoy our

Postcards from the Grenadines

Bequia

"The Pool", east-side of Canouan.

Anchored behind the reef.

Squall moving in.

Leaving Canouan

Saltwhistle Bay, Mayreau

Waterspout approaching Saltwhistle Bay

Chatham Bay, Union Island

Bollhead Bar, Chatham Bay

Sunset Beach and Eat

Union Island

Clifton Market

Fried Plantains onboard Merengue

Sandy Island, Carriacou

The beach at L'Esterre Bay, Carriacou

The Hardwood Bar

Off the Hook Bar.

Jim with Curtis, the owner.

Sunset over Mabouya, Carriacou