A few days ago Brenda and I rented a car in Le Marin and set out to tour the northwestern part of Martinique.   The island is too large to tour in a single day so we chose to focus on a loop that took us up about ¾ of the way to the northern tip of the island, near the summit of Mt Pelee.  The currently dormant volcano that last exploded in 1902 is the highest mountain on the island, nearly 4,000’ feet.  The eruption caught residents completely buy surprise  in nearby St Pierre, the capitol of the country at the time, killing every living sole with the exception of two, one imprisoned in a sturdy jail cell and the other on the edge of town who survived but was severely burned.  We did visit the town briefly on our way back to Pandora but I’ll save that for a subsequent post.

So, back to our road trip.

While the southern part of the island, where we have been staying, is more lush than Antigua and some of the other lower islands, much of the northern half of the island is more mountainous and home to spectacular rain forest, harboring lush and, thick with trees, vines, moss and wonderful orchids.

As we made our way north along the winding highway we made our way through mountain ridges and valleys, with constant switchbacks as we went up into the hills, higher and higher in elevation.  The temperatures decreased noticeably as the elevation increased and the vegetation lining the roads became thicker and thicker.It was great fun driving along, white knuckles and all, making what seemed like impossible turns as the road made it’s way through the mountainous terrain.   Suddenly, around yet another sharp bend in the road, we came upon a quick moving stream.  It was beautiful.  The waters rushing down from the mountains was crystal clear and wonderfully cool.  A bit farther up from the road was a family lounging in the river. One bather had impossibly long hair, reaching to the ground.  I’ll bet that he has wicked split ends.   I wonder if his hair was as long as our granddaughter Tori when he was born. At most any point along the way Pelee was in view, towering over the landscape, shrouded in fog.  As we approached the summit by road the view, well, there wasn’t a view.   I guess that’s why they call it a “cloud forest”. Along the way we happened upon Domaine d’Emeraude, part of the Martinique National Park System.   Good luck with the site, it appears to be available only in French.   I sure wish I had payed attention to French in High school.  It’s a part of the Martinique national park system.  The reception building was very contemporary. On site was an interpretative museum of the natural history of the island.  Unfortunately, like their website, all the information was in French but well done.  A beautiful setting.  Reflecting pools lined the front of the building.  As y0u entered the building you were greeted by a beautifully displayed 3D map of the island, displayed under glass on the floor.  It was a bit unnerving to stand on the glass.  The manicured grounds surrounding the main buildings were beautifully presented. Beyond the organized parts of the preserve were miles of trails, every inch paved with cement slabs.  I was told that the bags of concrete were carried in by hand and cast in place.   In spite of the near constant moisture the rough surface of the path offered sure footing.   I can not imagine the number of workers that it took to lay all of the pathways beginning in the 1970s, I believe. Some areas along the pathways offered dramatic views.
More often than not, the jungle was thick and you could see only a short distance.
I just loved the giant ferns that were everywhere, some 40′ tall. There are many species of orchids in the forest.   Most grow hundreds of feet up in the treetop canopy but some thrive in the deep shade on the forest floor.

Some are very showy.This one, I believe is pollinated by a moth at night and has a strong sweet scent in the evening. This orchid’s flowers were less than 1/2″ long.  This flower, not an orchid, looked more like a paper origami sculpture than a flower, tiny and delicate.
This one is in the lily family. Everything from the towering trees to the smallest twigs were a riot of growth.  This heavily laden branch was only about 1/2″ thick. Bromeliads were everywhere. Not your typical Chiquita banana.  As we walked through the forest there were a number of rough shelters where we could sit and enjoy the solitude and, I expect, escape the rain when necessary.  Tiny leaves carpeting the trunk of a tree.  The leaves are so small that you’d easily miss them if you weren’t paying close attention.Dainty leaves so fragile it’s hard to believe that they can compete for the available light.
A wonderful mix of textures.  Some not so dainty.   This showy bract stands nearly 2′ tall and a flaming red that stands out in the forest. A not so dainty emerging fern fiddle.  Of course, plenty of massive plants all fighting to reach the sun. After so many years with our own home greenhouse that required a huge amount of care it’s remarkable to see these plants in their native land, where nature does all her magnificent work.

What a thrill to see such a riot of life and to be able to savor the lushness of Martinique.  I can’t wait to go back soon.

Well, that’s about it for now.  Off to St Lucia tomorrow or Wednesday and I am sure that island will also have lots to share.

Come back soon.  Please.

While there was a weather window for heading south while we were in the US for two weeks, the trades are up again and it’s hard to know when we will be able to head south to St Lucia.  Beyond the desire to see something new, we are also anxious to get there to take delivery of the repair parts for Brenda’s head, or “potty” as some would call it, including Brenda.  Of course, it’s really a “head” but when pressed, Brenda will say “potty” with the cutest look on her face.

Anyway, here we are for a few more days in Martinique.   Yesterday I cleaned the bottom of Pandora and let me tell you, it was  a BIG job.   It’s been over a month since I did it and she has sat in a busy and “organically rich” harbor with well over 1,000 boats, without moving for quite a while.  I was stunned when I got into the water and saw the “fur” covering her bottom.  I normally use an aggressive Scotchbrite pad, the same sort that you might use to clean a grill and it usually works quite well.  However, the slime was so thick, think 3/8″, that it loaded up the pad almost immediately.  Fortunately, I was able to use a 6″ flexible putty knife and that took nearly all of the accumulation off fairly easily.

However, it turned out that I was in the water for nearly two hours and was completely pooped when I was done.  I also find that after a cleaning the bottom, as I spend so much time upside down, on my back, looking up at the hull, that I end up fairly nauseous and it takes a few hours to get over it after I am done.

Anyway, it’s mostly cleaned up now but the prop was such a mess that I had to get a really tough brass wire brush today and go at the prop and gear again as the paint failed.  It didn’t wear off, it just stopped working.  When I put on a fresh coat of bottom paint last fall I also put some special prop paint on the running gear.  What a mess.  Yesterday the scrubber just wore away before I was able to get all the growth off.   Don’t buy this product.With literally a thousand boats here in the harbor, let’s just say that the water is “rich”.   And, speaking of rich, when I got out, my shorty suit was completely coated with thousands of tiny shrimp.  It took quite a while to clean them all off.  Brenda wasn’t amused.

I should also mention that our T Mobile phone isn’t working very well as a WiFi  hot-spot here as the speeds are just too slow, at 2G, and WAY slower during the peak daytime.  Actually, it doesn’t work at all most of the time.  Calls are fine but that’s only something that we do occasionally as WiFi calls are fine too.

However, I may have identified a better option that’s available through Google.  It’s called the Google fi phone and has much faster speeds here in the islands and costs a bit less than T Mobile.   I learned about this as one of the cruisers here had asked me to take delivery of a phone for him and set it up while we were in the US.    I was impressed with it and am hopeful that this will pan out foe us as I’d prefer to be able to use a single phone in both the US as well as when we are traveling and not to have to switch back and forth, as we have for the last few years, between T Mobile and Verizon depending on if we are here or in the US.  I am hopeful that it will work well enough in the US so that I can just ditch the Verizon phone, once and for all.

So, with the strong winds and north swell from large storms in the North Atlantic, we are going to stick around here in Martinique but things could be worse.  I say that, in part, because our home in CT is without power for several days now.   Aboard Pandora all that we need is to have the sun come out and all is well with the solar panels doing the work.  And, if it’s cloudy, on comes the generator.  What could be simpler?

So, before I sign off, I’ll share shots of some neat boats that are here in the marina.   This one seems to be owned by a local business that’s listed on the stern.  A search on the name doesn’t yield much about the boat itself.  I’ll bet that she’s fast.  Not a lot of headroom and likely a really wet ride.  If Pandora were a more extreme design, she’d probably look a lot like this. There are two schooners in the marina, just about the only boats of a traditional design in the area.   Aschanti was built in 1955, me too, actually.  She’s as steel yacht and has gone through a recent complete upgrade.  Now that it’s all paid for, she for sale.  I’ll bet that there is an interesting story behind that.   “Clifford, Clifford, are you listening to me?  You can not spend a one more dime on that F%$#@^% boat.”  Click here if you are in the market, or not. Her varnish is beautiful.  Note the lines set, just so, on the stern. This video,of her recent transatlantic run, gives a pretty good feel for what a blue water passage is like, albeit on a much larger yacht, with a crew, than Pandora.  Love the gambled dining table.   In spite of her sales status, it sure looks like they had fun. Oh yeah, she has an awesome passerrele.   Love the coconut.  Take a look at this helm seat.  Very “Moby”. This one, yet another beautiful schooner, Neorion, left yesterday afternoon.   She is a classic in looks but is a totally modern yacht, built in 1999 and refitted in 2014 in the Netherlands.    This short video gives a nice tour.  There are very few really big yachts here but this, “mini mega yacht” the 108′ La Fenice, looks like she means business in her mat grey paint.   I’ll bet Darth Vador would feel right at home aboard her.   “Hey you, yes you, storm trooper, fetch me a run punch but make it with dark rum and if you tell The Emperor that I drink girly drinks, I’ll crush you.”She was built in 1962 and refitted in 2008.  She’s available for charter.  Need to know more, click here for lots of photos.  She’s charming but modest in her design.  I like the look.  Serious and not frilly.  However, now that I see her interior, Darth might feel that it’s just a bit too welcoming for his taste.  “I’m your father Luke! Go to bed, NOW!…” So, that’s about it on the “wow, neat boat” scene here in Le Marin.  Tomorrow Brenda and I are renting a car to tour the island.  Perhaps we will visit a few more rum distilleries.  Yes, that would do nicely.  

Yes, it’s plenty windy and with that north swell, we’ll just have to endure Martinique a bit longer.

Wish us luck…

Oh boy.  Brenda’s potty has malfunctioned and I am stressing out, big time.

As I have mentioned often, because Pandora is a 24v boat, with parts often hard to find, I keep lots of spare parts aboard, just in case.   However, I now know that there is yet another pump that is prone to failure that should have a spare aboard, but don’t.

It’s the “discharge pump” for our Raritan marine “elegance” head.    Believe it or not, this little not-so-elegant wonder has three, count em, three electric pumps and while I have spares for two of the pumps, not the one I need.  And, to make matters worse, it’s not the pump motor that initially failed, it was a tiny seal on the motor shaft that started leaking and flooded the motor with salt water, a decidedly unhealthy combination, to be sure.  I expect that the leak began prior to our trip north but it wasn’t obvious until the motor sat, unused, for the two weeks we were away with the salt doing it’s work.

Oh boy!  The really annoying part of all this is that the part that initially failed is probably worth a few dollars and there is no warning regarding an impending failure until the whole motor is ruined.  It’s a really bad design, to be sure.

As far as “potty chronicals” are concerned, I don’t know if this is common among other members of the “marine Admiralty” but Brenda is particularly sensitive about her “toilet” (say this with a French accent to get the full picture) and she’s not happy, at all as she listens to the roar of the failing pump and watches nasty fluids leak onto the floor when she flushes.

So here I am, ashore at a WiFi spot, working hard to find a source of “potty parts” here in Martinique.  It seems that my best option, after visiting all the possible parts suppliers her in Le Marin is to get it from Island Water World in St Lucia where we will be later in the week.   Wish me luck.

Ok, more than you want to know about “potty” perhaps so I’ll change the subject.

Our trip south from the US on Monday was uneventful and happily our Norwegian Air flight landed on time.  In keeping with a well worn cruising tradition of “planes, trains and automobiles” our journey here was complex, including a  car rental that I canceled when I found a Lyft taxi ride to the airport at the last minute, a flight, Martinique taxi and a friend who was waiting at the marina when we arrived to run me out to Pandora to get my dink.

Oh yeah, I should also mention our experience with clearing customs.  Immigration was swift and the agent didn’t even look up to see if we looked like terrorists and there was no customs at all.  I was told that the customs folks don’t stay late at night.  Isn’t that just so French?  I mention this as we have found this to be so typical of the French islands were checking in can normally be done at a kiosk in a T shirt shop with the payment of a few Euros.   Contrast that to Antigua where you have to go from window to window and back again in a process that can take for ever and cost many times more.   I guess that the French just want you to get on with it so you as the’d prefer that you just move on to buy cigarettes and wine.   Did I mention that it seems like EVERYBODY smokes in the French islands?

It was jolting to leave the cold and grey North East and arrive in humid Martinique a few hours later.  Who knew that you could fly direct to Martinique from Providence RI?  As we took off we flew over Narragansett bay, our local cruising grounds for so many years. Not a green leaf in sight and every boat was covered in white plastic. No wonder it’s so dreary in the winter with this thick cloud cover. As we winged our way south at over 500kts the sunset was beautiful with the contrasting deep blue of the stratosphere. Oh yeah, almost forgot.  We had such a terrific time visiting our family.   Our granddaughter is getting big and somehow just keeps getting cuter and cuter. And she loves books.  “Daddy, daddy, hold me on top of your head while I read my favorite.”Perhaps I’ll sign off now with a shot of the sunset last night aboard Pandora accompanied by some great cheese, a fresh baguette and of course, a nice bottle of French wine.    No, not the best shot but, trust me, it was a beautiful evening.  I am worried that the good times may come to a screeching halt if I can’t find a way to put the Pandora’s “potty chronicles” behind me.  Wish me luck.

Actually, it was the last post that I did a few days ago that was my 800th post on Sailpandora.com.   Not to put too fine a point on it but there were a few posts before that on a different URL that didn’t get ported over when I moved to Sailpandora.   However, I’ll go with 800+, a milestone in my book.   And, if my average post is something like 600 to 800 words, well, that’s a lot of words, perhaps over a half million words of sometimes “breathless prose”.   Yikes.

Anyway, it’s been a long time since October of 2007 when I did my first post the weekend that we went to Annapolis to check out a SAGA 43 that would become “old Pandora”.

At that time we still owned Elektra, our Tartan 37, a boat that I assumed would be our last. Back then I was still working and only dreaming of winters afloat and retirement seemed a long way off.   During those years, we spent a lot of time cruising Maine.  This shot of Elektra, one of my favorites, was taken in Damrascove cove, off of Booth Bay, Maine. I wrote about that visit to this charming historic island in this post seven years ago.

So, here I am, over 800 posts and now eleven years later, spending the winters in the Caribbean.  Who knew?  Let me tell you, Brenda surely didn’t!   That’s a lot of “water over the dam” or under the keel, whatever. 

And, speaking of water, yesterday was really windy as a massive winter storm churned through the North Atlantic.  Amazingly, the storm, literally thousands of miles from the southern Caribbean, will make passage, even as far away as South America, unpleasant with a large ocean swell.  Yes, the period will be long, 12-15 seconds, but it will be large, never the less.   Note the ruler crossing the storm, it’s nearly 2,000 km long.  That’s a huge storm.  That matters to us as we will only have about 6 weeks till Brenda flies out of St. Lucia in mid April and back to the US so we don’t have a lot of time to hang around Martinique waiting for better conditions to head further south.

It’s my hope that we will make it down to Bequia, as several of our friends have said that is one of their favorite islands.  We’d also like to visit the Grenadines and Grenada which are south of Bequia.   Making it that far would pretty much close the loop for us being able to say that we’ve” sailed the Caribbean” as we wil will have covered much of the ground from Cuba nearly all the way to South America.  And being at 12 degrees north from the Equator would put us farther south than we’ve ever been.   That’s a LONG way from here in CT at 41 degrees north.

As much as I had always dreamed that we’d someday sail to the Caribbean, I have to say that actually doing it is still a bit of a surprise.  Perhaps as much of a shock as realizing that I am into my 11th year of Sailpandora and more than 800 posts.

What’s next?  Well, at least a few more posts, for sure.  Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

It’s a dreary day (the weather not family) here in MD where Brenda and I are visiting.   I have spent the last few days helping our son Rob with a remodeling job in the basement, which has been fun but we will be heading north to CT tomorrow.  After a few more days there back to Martinique on the 5th and then south, with Pandora, toward Grenada before heading back to Antigua in April.

Even though I have been back north for more than a week now, it’s still a jolt to wake up each morning to cold and winter dreary verses sunny and balmy, the conditions that I have gotten used to down in the islands.   I prefer this sort of view to grey and rainy, that’s for sure. After much back and forth discussion we have decided that I will bring Pandora home for the summer as I have plenty to do before I take her back to Antigua again next November.  In particular, I am considering the addition of a wind generator.

I actually have plenty of solar on Pandora but as we have gone further south I have found that the 600 watts hasn’t been quite enough when we are anchored in the lee of some of the more mountainous islands.   You can see below the four 85w panels as well as the single 300w panel over the davits totaling 600w. In Antigua, where the maximum elevation is something like 1,300′ it doesn’t have much of an effect on clouds and precipitation with most clouds being small and moving over us fairly quickly.   However, as you journey further south through the Windward islands, such as Martinique, the mountains are three times higher and the mountain tops are constantly covered with clouds.  These clouds form over the peaks and run off to the leeward side of the islands causing there to be more cloud cover and showers than the islands with lower elevations.

It’s remarkable how much of an effect this has on production from the panels.    Besides, there is nearly always wind so even if a wind generator was only putting out a modest number of amps, the fact that it’s happening nearly 24/7 means that the amount of power can really add up.   In full sun, between say 10:00 and 14:00, the panels peak at about 30 amps although this quickly drops off to between 10-15 amps, or less, when it gets cloudy,  This isn’t not enough power to keep things up to snuff when it’s cloudy which has been a bit of an eye opener for me.

So, I am going to consider a wind generator over the summer.  I have also been talking to Hamilton Ferris about their new towable water generator and they have expressed interest in my doing a test for the unit so that they can see how it works in actual field conditions over a long run.  Well, we will see if they come through on that.

I have done a preliminary energy audit for our power consumption at anchor and underway with all the equipment running and the 150-160AH/24hrs consumption at anchor each day seems about right based on my experience.

Our largest energy user at anchor or underway is the fridge which burns 30A when it’s running.  I have a hour meter on the unit so I know that it generally runs for 2.2 to 2.5hrs/24hrs, which adds up to about 70-75AH/24hrs.   Half of my total consumption or more at anchor.  There is one particular unit on the market, made by Technautics that is a lot more energy efficient, so I’ll have to see what’s involved in switching out to those compressors.  I don’t know why this unit is better from a tech standpoint but I put one in my last boat and it was a lot more efficient, drawing less than 5A when it was running.  As it’s a smaller compressor it will run a lot longer as the fridge and freezer are larger and the holding plates are bigger too.   I guess I’ll have to do an audit and talk to the manufacturer about it when I get home. One way or the other, It’l cost a lot as we have two zones which means I’ll have to put in two separate units, a significant expense, even if I can us the same cold plates.   However, an added benefit is that the new compressors are nearly silent and the current one is really loud.  Additionally, the new unit will be air cooled which means that the risk of water pump failure is eliminated.  And, it’s failed already at least once since I have owned the boat.  I just loved cleaning out the freezer and maggot ridden spoiled food.  Yum!

As much energy as we use at anchor, our “under way” consumption is a LOT higher at perhaps as high as 400-450AH/24hrs, which is an alarming number and perhaps right based on my experience with the two plotters, instruments and autopilot on all the time.    As near as I can estimate, we generate perhaps as much as 150AH/24hrs at anchor and less than 100AH/24hrs under way.

We generate less underway because of the sails shading the panels.   This is particularly acute in the fall on the run south because the boat is generally on a port tack and headed south (of course).  As the sun rises in the east and runs through the southern part of the sky before setting to the west, this means that the sails, south of the panels in this scenario, block much of the sun.  Of course on the trip north, this is less of a problem with the boat on a starboard tack with sails set on the “northern end” of the boat.

All of this explains why we come up so short each day when we are under way and yet do pretty well at anchor.   One way or the other, I’d like to do something to improve our output when we are at anchor as well as underway so there’s lots to do to figure this out.

But, all those decisions are still months away so, for now, I’ll just focus on the coming two-plus months of cruising that remain this season.   So, instead of shots of compressors and water pumps, how about closing with a shot of the Pitons in St Lucia, the remnants of long extinct volcanoes, our next stop on our way south. I guess I’ll sign off for now.  The basement job awaits.   Besides, while I’m down there I won’t be reminded of the dreary conditions outside.   I wouldn’t want Seasonal affective disorder to kick in any time soon.