21 March 1995 Simpson Bay Lagoon
Glenys did school work while I cleaned the engine room – God, I hate that job! We went for a swim by “Tekaroa” to try to catch some lobster that Kirsty had seen. They turned out to be tiddlers – I caught one but it slipped out of Kirsty’s net bag. Obviously too small!
I stuck towing points on the dinghy with some 2-part adhesive that I bought in Marigot. I had to measure 7% activator to adhesive as best as I could with a spoon – it seemed to go off too quickly, but we’ll see. We went for drinks with Derek and Alison on “Kaliba” (UK) – nice couple.
22 March 1995 Simpson Bay Lagoon
What a night – no wind, boiling hot, mosquitoes everywhere and to top it off Brett wandered in at four o’clock in the morning all worried because he’d had a nightmare about Minotaurs – too many Greek mythology books! The towing rings peeled off the dinghy with very little effort, so I’ll have to rethink the adhesive! I went into town and cleared out. I bought some new 2-part adhesive for Hyperlon – the glue I bought the other day was for PVC.
I bought a pilot for Honduras and Belize which looks very good. It sounds like a beautiful area to cruise and I’m looking forward to it. Glenys did school work in the morning and ran around like a headless chicken in the afternoon, buying food and doing the laundry. I cleaned and painted 3 of our camping gaz bottles – with the enthusiastic help of the boys. Glenys was painting two flags in the evening, so I cooked dinner – much to the amusement of the boys.
23 March 1995 Simpson Bay Lagoon
Glenys did school work this morning – she’s catching up. They are on Lesson 68 and they should be on about 80. We’ll have to have a party when they get up to 80 because it’s halfway!
I ran around finishing a few jobs and tidying up ready to go outside the Lagoon tomorrow! It’s about time because we’ve been here over 3 weeks We received a fax from the Estate Agents saying that the tenants have finally paid their rent up to date and are willing to pay 3 months up front which is great news after 6 months of trauma!
We filled up with water and I filled 2 dive tanks. I stuck 3 towing rings on the dinghy with the 2-part Hyperlon adhesive – it was very sticky and went off in about 5 minutes instead of the 20-30 minutes as described in the instructions. It seemed to all go OK, so fingers crossed. “Kaliba” came for drinks in the evening.
24 March 1995 Simpson Bay Lagoon to Simpson Bay
Craig threw up in bed at about two o’clock this morning – don’t know why because he was fine when he got up. We filled up with fuel and water, went out on the eleven am bridge, anchored and jumped overboard – luxury!
I scraped the propeller and then started reading a book – I’ve deliberately not been reading books while we’ve been in the lagoon. I’m terribly single minded when I’m reading a book – I’ve just got to finish it! “Tekaroa” and “Columbine” came for farewell drinks. Pete and Kirsty stayed for dinner – Mike from “Columbine” is too tired after a hard days work at “Outfitters”.
25 March 1995 Simpson Bay to Anse Columbier, St Barts
We’re free! We actually left Simpson Bay! We chatted to “Morning Flight” on the radio, they will be in Antigua for the Classic Week so we might see them there. We stopped at Ile Fourche and Glenys and I went to do a dive which was nice after a lay-off of over three weeks! Glenys took the boys ashore for a scramble, while I had a nap after all that exercise.
We motored over to Anse Columbier. The boys went to the beach on the windsurf board while Glenys and I got on with our own things (clarinet for me!). It’s wonderful to be back cruising.
26 March 1995 Anse Columbier, St Barts
School work in the morning. I did a bit of epoxying. We went for a dive in the afternoon. A boat called “Pamina” wanted Glenys to modify a couple of tablecloths for her – it was a bit complicated but she earned $20. I decided to paint a watercolour map which was OK.
27 March 1995 Anse Columbier, St Barts
School work in the morning. I spent the afternoon painting another map which came out a lot better. It was a bit of a miserable day, so we played Monopoly for 4 hours in the evening.
28 March 1995 Anse Columbier, St Barts
School work in the morning. I filled 4 tanks. We motored around to Gustavia to clear in and out and do a bit of food shopping. We then went back to Anse Columbier. We went to “Cotton Club” (Can) for a drink with Phil, Sharon, Savannah (8) and Julian (4). We ended up staying for dinner and polishing off 4 bottles of wine!
29 March 1995 Anse Columbier, St Barts
Feeling a bit dull this morning, so no school work! We listened to Gareth and Fi chatting on the SSB – it’s very frustrating to hear them but not be able to talk! We think they are in Antigua until Fi goes back to the UK on the 14 April so we’ll see them in a few days.
Glenys and I went for a dive with Sharon. I filled 3 tanks. We played around in the afternoon, snorkelling etc. “Cotton Club” came for dinner and we polished off another 4 bottles of wine!
30 March 1995 Anse Columbier to Ballast Bay, St Kitts
Got up at quarter past six and managed to tidy up in 45 minutes. We had to motor all the way to St Kitts apart from about 15 minutes when we had big gusts down from St Kitts. We anchored in Ballast Bay which is very secluded. We were the only boat there for a while until 3 others showed up – I don’t think that we’ll ever have an anchorage to ourselves!
Glenys had a bit of a hangover and ended up being sick in a bucket on the passage – God knows what she would have been like if it hadn’t been flat calm! Craig caught too much sun and felt ill too! We caught a small 2ft barracuda which we had for dinner – I hope it hasn’t got Ciguatera. I think that it is only the large ones that build up the toxin.
31 March 1995 Ballast Bay to Pinneys Beach, Nevis
We motored round to Bugg’s Hole, a wonderful anchorage despite the name. Glenys and I went for a dive around the headland which was a bit disappointing. We had lunch and motored over to anchor off Pinney’s Beach. We ran out of water which was very surprising because it’s only been 9 days – perhaps we have a leak somewhere in the system – I’ll check when we get to Antigua!
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