Fah Kiew Tu
Curmudgeon, First Rank
And then it escalates and the next thing you know your boat has a hole in it or the mooring line is cut. Or something similar.
Better to decamp IMO. They'll get theirs somewhere down the track.
FKT
Chasing Elegua
- Thread starter Ajax
- Start date
Better to decamp IMO. They'll get theirs somewhere down the track.
FKT
Steam Flyer
Sophisticated Yet Humble
I thought that's why you had a steel one?
Fah Kiew Tu
Curmudgeon, First Rank
I can put a hole in other peoples' boats a lot easier than they can in mine, sure. Mostly anyway.
No protection against a dickhead that comes aboard and opens the main salt water intake though.
Were I going to fuck with someone else's boat I'd be more subtle. Lots of fish and fish guts on the deck hoping to attract cormorants & seagulls. With luck they eat the evidence and leave behind some tokens of their appreciation. Best case, they find a new place to roost and make a more permanent contribution.
FKT
Max Rockatansky
DILLIGAF?
- 4,030
- 1,102
Hear, hear
Elegua
Generalissimo
Oh no! I was probably on the bus to PTP picking up my son. Next Winter we’d like to be in the Pacific, so it could be some time.
Elegua
Generalissimo
I’m enjoying interacting with the French families sailing on medium sized metal boats. The cosmetics are often rough but if you look closely, some boats are very well set-up by some very accomplished sailors. My son and I helped a guy put his furler on and it turns out he’s a professional captain on a Wally 72. His wife delivered the boat they were going to sail around on in the Caribbean with Grandma and three kids all stuffed into a radius chined alu boat.
estarzinger
Super Anarchist
- 7,718
- 1,145
We had a lot of wonderful french friends we met out sailing - a lovely young couple, both phd's, who built a 35' stitch and glue boat and sailing down to and around chile. We spend a lot of nice evenings with them.
A middle age guy on a 45' steel boat in the azores, who had a 30-something girl friend on board. One day, in the morning the girl friend packed up and moved to a hotel, and that afternoon the guy's wife arrived
The wife knew about the girl friend and was fine with it so long as all her stuff was off the boat when wife arrives. Ve4ry civilized many others. French culture and priorities seem to suit the cruising life better than many others.
Elegua
Generalissimo
I agree. They have an appreciation for sailing I enjoy and also a streak of pragmatism I envy. Want to know where the cool stuff is? Ask one of these boats.
We’ll be back in Grenada mid March so possibly we will see you in the southern islands. Enjoy the great French grocery stores!
Elegua
Generalissimo
French grocery stores… Between the rhum agricole, the local rilettes, baked goods and two hour lunches, I’ve gained back most of the weight I lost when we started cruising. It is going to be hard to go back to the “English “ islands.
In case 80F degree water wasn’t warm enough, there is a town with a geothermal plant that exits into the beach for a 40C hot spring.
Boat work continues…. Added adjustable genoa cars. Cheap polyester double braid is a false economy - bought some low grade Liros 8mm rope for the life of me I could not splice it. The cover was too tight and stiff. In the end I did a sewn eye on one and did a halyard knot on the other. Reefed Genoa trim should improve. For reaching I use outboard sheets.
Nothing fancy on the bungee yet until I figure out the correct length or even if this configuration works.
In case 80F degree water wasn’t warm enough, there is a town with a geothermal plant that exits into the beach for a 40C hot spring.
Boat work continues…. Added adjustable genoa cars. Cheap polyester double braid is a false economy - bought some low grade Liros 8mm rope for the life of me I could not splice it. The cover was too tight and stiff. In the end I did a sewn eye on one and did a halyard knot on the other. Reefed Genoa trim should improve. For reaching I use outboard sheets.
Nothing fancy on the bungee yet until I figure out the correct length or even if this configuration works.
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TheDragon
Super Anarchist
I lost 22 pounds on my crossing from Panama to French Polynesia, and put it all back on in three months there. Food was just too good.
Cwinsor
Member
Interested in your experience with the bungee configuration. I installed adjustable genny car leads last season also and am having to pull the cars back manually when heading up higher and sheeting in no longer moves them. They work great to ease, but that's only half the purpose of having them adjustable, isn't it?
This is a problem with many systems that do not use ball bearings. Many times a small release of the sheet & then wind back in will get the car to move aft
Or you have used a car that is just under sized for the loads - this happened a lot when balls were used for #3 cars, there was just too much load, so these cars were retrofitted with solid rods instead of balls
And always test that the bals are still round - even good ones get flat spots when left loaded in one position for long use
Or you have used a car that is just under sized for the loads - this happened a lot when balls were used for #3 cars, there was just too much load, so these cars were retrofitted with solid rods instead of balls
And always test that the bals are still round - even good ones get flat spots when left loaded in one position for long use
Elegua
Generalissimo
We’ll see how well it works. And how long it lasts. To be able to reach the far end of travel, the bungee ends up too long for the near/aft end. I cut the baby in half so that it still had some tension where the Genoa car is most often, but is slack at the closest / farthest aft travel and also doesn’t quite stretch enough to reach the far end of travel.
Elegua
Generalissimo
So the spousal unit is headed home for a month to help her mom and I will be single handing.
Do I…
1) Do the North Coast of Guadeloupe, La Desirade and Petite Terre?
2) Backtrack to Montserrat?
3) Backtrack to Barbuda?
4) Find an anchorage I like to drink and eat myself to a foie gras goose
5) Move forward to Dominica, but then return or move on the Martinique because flights to Dominica aren’t great.
6) All of the above?
Anything I should be thinking of that I am not?
Do I…
1) Do the North Coast of Guadeloupe, La Desirade and Petite Terre?
2) Backtrack to Montserrat?
3) Backtrack to Barbuda?
4) Find an anchorage I like to drink and eat myself to a foie gras goose
5) Move forward to Dominica, but then return or move on the Martinique because flights to Dominica aren’t great.
6) All of the above?
Anything I should be thinking of that I am not?
Jud - s/v Sputnik
Super Anarchist
Wow, that is a list of very good options that, currently at 0350, waking up very early because I can’t sleep anymore for some reason and I have to be up at 0500 anyway to get ready to get on a ferry and go to work, I don’t have a clue on. They all sound good!
Thinking more seriously, I’d do whatever would give me more singlehanded experience. Invaluable.
Option 5 looks good to me. Because you're singlehanding, ease into things a bit. Flying in/out of Martinique used to be fairly easy, and it's a cosmopolitan island. Maybe a bit too cosmopolitan, but there are still places to get away.
Lots of good choices on your list. Barbuda and Montserrat might offer the more off the beaten path options, but the anchorages are primarily open roadsteads, as I recall.
Dominica used to have security issues, but my experience is out of date.
Caveat: I haven't been to any of these places in a number of years.
Kris Cringle
Super Anarchist
- 3,447
- 3,131
Take a break from your cruise and do some easy day sailing with some new anchorages?
estarzinger
Super Anarchist
- 7,718
- 1,145
How is the spouse's mindset & experience been - having fun on the boat?
When Beth went home, I tended to do short tricky singlehanded day sails (so fun but not too tiring) always to fully protected anchorages - when solo I did not want to have to worry at night when the 2am squalls came thru. I saved all the good 'see places and do stuff ashore' for when beth was on board.
