Rodney Bay North

Saturday, March 7, 2009

We are tucked up in the North end of the bay. The wind is cool and gusty out of the NNE, the swell curves in behind the point and tries to cast us up onto the beach. It comes in on our beam. We are fortunate to be on a cat. The monohulls are being thrown about, rolling through sixty degrees. Rodney Bay is no longer an attractive anchorage. All the boats have crowded up into this corner, hoping for a quieter time.

Last night was disturbed by rising wind and sea, down at the other end of the bay, my preferred hang out. The internet works down there. I was jolted up by the "runk rnk rnk" of anchor pulling loose from rock. We dragged a only bit, but clearly needed to rethink this position. What had been a quiet anchorage, protected by the shoreline, was now a lee shore with the wind whistling down the bay, kicking up a chop on top of the swell coming in from the Caribbean Sea.

Our intention yesterday was to bring aboard water and fuel and leave for Martinique. The wind was still ok for making western Martinique, but it was moving north and would trap us in that strike torn wasteland for up to a week. While the weather did for our plans to leave, we were still out of water, and I needed to tell customs about our changed plans, so in I went with Boffo to check out the situation before bringing Django alongside the fuel dock. Customs was packed with Martiniquais trying to get home before being shut out by the north wind, so that was postponed. The fuel dock still had no access to water and another long line of boats was waiting to fuel up, so I elected to fill up with jerry jugs from a standpipe in the boatyard, after paying for the mandatory minimum of 100 gallons.

The sun was hot and the standpipe slow. By lunch I had done two loads, or about 40 gallons. On my third trip in, the water had been turned off to the yard altogether. Lots of shrugs and mumbled references to this being St. Lucia and all.

We finally hooked up with water in the marina and completed the job. The customs office cleared out by 4:30 and the exhausted customs man told the exhausted me I could come back when we were ready to leave. In the evening, we fired up the barbeque and did for the loin of pork, marinated in soy sauce and ginger and skewered with garlic slivers, taking advantage of the last of the mild weather. Mashed pumpkin with butter and black pepper rounded out the feast.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Last night was much better, Django's motion easier and more comfortable. This morning the wind has veered more easterly, bringing the swell more astern. I have not managed an internet connection since moving across the bay and "Rainy Day", as well as being unhearable, does not transmit on Sundays. The earlier forecoasts showed the wind staying NNE until Tuesday at the earliest. The large storm south of Bermuda which is the cause of this mess may have dissipated earlier than expected. We live in hope. Later we will take the little Acer Aspire One laptop in to the "Jambe de Bois" and find out what's going on. We need a walk up the steep slopes of the park as well. The ship's aging Compaq Presario is in the shop being de-virused, and should be ready tomorrow. A and I took the bus to the Computer World shop half way between Rodney Bay and Castries on Friday, once we had determined that sailing was not in the cards for a while.

The Designer is making strides forward on the new collection. Its down to the detailed specs. She has been in contact with her man in India who will make up the samples. "Style Bermuda" has been onto her on Facebook, asking for a second interview. The editor will email her the questions.
I have done all the fixing and preparing and shopping, and now am devouring books and working on the guitar. I am interested by the rythm of life aboard Django, ruled by the weather, from busy and active to slow and restful, if somewhat disturbed by the moan of the wind and the roll of the swell. When the weather is poor, we tend to stay aboard with the boats all drawn up, in case we have to move in a hurry.

Having finished Margaret Atwood's "Moral Disorder", I am between books. Out with the guitar, then, and to work.