{"id":8403,"date":"2018-03-09T15:19:13","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T20:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2018-03-09T16:43:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T21:43:09","slug":"well-its-windy-again-oh-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=8403","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s windy again. Oh well…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Of course, it’s really a “head” but when pressed, Brenda will say “potty” with the cutest look on her face.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here we are for a few more days in Martinique.\u00a0 \u00a0Yesterday I cleaned the bottom of Pandora and let me tell you, it was\u00a0 a BIG job.\u00a0 \u00a0It’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.\u00a0 I was stunned when I got into the water and saw the “fur” covering her bottom.\u00a0 I normally use an aggressive Scotchbrite pad, the same sort that you might use to clean a grill and it usually works quite well.\u00a0 However, the slime was so thick, think 3\/8″, that it loaded up the pad almost immediately.\u00a0 Fortunately, I was able to use a 6″ flexible putty knife and that took nearly all of the accumulation off fairly easily.<\/p>\n

However, it turned out that I was in the water for nearly two hours and was completely pooped when I was done.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 It didn’t wear off, it just stopped working.\u00a0 When I put on a fresh coat of bottom paint last fall I also put some special prop paint on the running gear.\u00a0 What a mess.\u00a0 Yesterday the scrubber just wore away before I was able to get all the growth off.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>Don’t buy this product.\"\"<\/span>With literally a thousand boats here in the harbor, let’s just say that the water is “rich”.\u00a0 \u00a0And, speaking of rich, when I got out, my shorty suit was completely coated with thousands of tiny shrimp.\u00a0 It took quite a while to clean them all off.\u00a0 Brenda wasn’t amused.<\/p>\n

I should also mention that our T Mobile phone isn’t working very well as a WiFi\u00a0 hot-spot here as the speeds are just too slow, at 2G, and WAY slower during the peak daytime.\u00a0 Actually, it doesn’t work at all most of the time.\u00a0 Calls are fine but that’s only something that we do occasionally as WiFi calls are fine too.<\/p>\n

However, I may have identified a better option that’s available through Google.\u00a0 It’s called the Google fi phone<\/a> and has much faster speeds here in the islands and costs a bit less than T Mobile.\u00a0 \u00a0I 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.\u00a0 \u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 I say that, in part, because our home in CT is without power for several days now.\u00a0 \u00a0Aboard Pandora all that we need is to have the sun come out and all is well with the solar panels doing the work.\u00a0 And, if it’s cloudy, on comes the generator.\u00a0 What could be simpler?<\/p>\n

So, before I sign off, I’ll share shots of some neat boats that are here in the marina.\u00a0 \u00a0This one seems to be owned by a local business that’s listed on the stern.\u00a0 A search on the name doesn’t yield much about the boat itself.\u00a0 I’ll bet that she’s fast.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"Not a lot of headroom and likely a really wet ride.\u00a0 If Pandora were a more extreme design, she’d probably look a lot like this.\u00a0\"\"There are two schooners in the marina, just about the only boats of a traditional design in the area.\u00a0 \u00a0Aschanti was built in 1955, me too, actually.\u00a0 She’s as steel yacht and has gone through a recent complete upgrade.\u00a0 Now that it’s all paid for, she for sale.\u00a0 I’ll bet that there is an interesting story behind that.\u00a0 \u00a0“Clifford, Clifford, are you listening to me?\u00a0 You can not spend a one more dime on that F%$#@^% boat.”\u00a0\u00a0Click here if you are in the market,<\/a> or not.\u00a0\"\"Her varnish is beautiful.\u00a0 Note the lines set, just so, on the stern.\u00a0\"\"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.\u00a0 Love the gambled dining table.\u00a0 \u00a0In spite of her sales status, it sure looks like they had fun.<\/span>