LinoCat

Yes, it is rain on the picture. It rained heavily a few times during the night and day. WHat a relief for St Lucia! The same happened also in Martinique. Lets hope that the water problems will be solved by the rains. We started the crossing at around 1200 and the wind was OK and the sea state moderate. I was sleeping when Chris saw a whale just dissapearing right in front of our bows. The whale was then showing up once more behind LinoCat before it dissapeared. We arrived in Martinique at 15.00 but we had to wait until 1630 before a berth was assigned to us. So LinoCat is now back in a harbor since a long time. Martinique is as unfriendly as always and as expensive as always and we are looking forward to set sail again tomorrow. What we really love here is the water pressure to fill up the second tank and to rinse down the boat. (If it is just permitted)

Here some pictures taken a while ago from aboard Vanora. LinoCat left Tyrrel Bay 3 days ago and we then sailed to Bequia. The wind angle was always around 40 to 45 degrees so about the max which we can sail. Due to the strong winds we had a reef in the mainsail and still were doing more than 9 knots from time to time. Nice new antifouling! In Bequia we just took it easy, went to Doris for some shopping and left it the next morning after getting fresh and warm Baguette delivered to our boat. The passage to St Vincent was Ok but from St Vincent to St Lucia it was rough with a loft of changes in windspeed and direction and some unpleasant waves. It is said to be calming down in the next days and that would be nice for Andi, Anja and their girls. I filled up the gas tank for the Dinghyand we did some more shopping for food (Like 24 cans of Piton beer). Tomorrow morning we will head for Martinique. If you want to read more in german and see some pictures check out Vanors blog: http://bluewa...

We all met on the catamaran bagalut for a coffee at 1600. Like always there were plenty of things to eat and drink and everyone stayed until the sunset. Lani had fun with Tina and Brigitte and on the bow net we "solved" all political problems of the world over a few beer. Soem even met later for a BBQ on Bagalut :-) Peter caught a nice red snapper. The sunset was nice and pieceful. Despite the many boats the anchorage was quiet. Sandy island in front of Hillsborough. One of the fuel barges around. Yes, you can buy Diesel there and it around 30 cents per liter if not less. So we filled our tank on this one. The ham operators from Gambia, Volker and Oliver. Both are single handed on their catamarans and we met over a beer for lunch in Saline Bay, Mayreau. I said goodbye and swam back to LinoCat and then set sail for Bequia. We arrived in the afternoon in Bequia and i visited "BOMIKA" with Lisa and Charly and their two cats on board their boat. The sailing was fast, we...

Snorkeling on a sunny afternoon in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou. Tina searching for lobsters.... a huge stingray a small mooray eel and Walter looking for anything that fits on the BBQ. It was fun and part of a perfect day!

Always when there are many dinghies tied behind Vanora, there is a high chance that there is a nice and fun dinner going on. Yesterday evening it was a Pasta meeting but like always people bring much more, so there was Zucchini carpacciao, grilled bacon rolls filled with cheese, an indian curry, olives, sald, crackers and many other things. Different pasta sauces and a sweet dessert were also adding to the additional weight of the happy eater! As drinks there was a mixed fruitjuice with a "little" alcohol, some beer, wine and other stuff. Oliver from Tao played the guitar and so we had a nice evening with a good amount of Vanora feeling! Today afternoon there will be "Bagalut" coffee and tomorrow we will leave for Bequia.

The work done at Grenada marine was good! Nicolas the glassfibre guy and his people fixed the crack in the step and reinforced it. Price for that was 999EC Dollar. The woodwork done from the swiss carpenter and his team was 621EC Dollar. 1647 EC Dollar i paid for the bottom sanding, preparing and painting including both saildrives. The Zinc anodes were still good. 121EC Dolalr for the saildrive oil change. And 2069EC Dollar for the hotel. YEPP, that was the most expensive part. Good news abotu the boatyard is also that the cafeteria will be taken over by the marina people. Currently the do not sell anything besided beer and coke and the coffee sucks. So hopefully this will be much better in the future. The boatyard people are friendly and reliable and keep their promises and Francis car rental was also a very nice experience. To sum it up: The hotel near by is expensive and not up to expectations for that price. Grenada Marine is reasonable priced, work is good and a safe place to keep...

After all work was done: -cleaning of ship bottom -Antifouling hulls -New paint saildrive -Saildrive oil change -some woodwork on the teak grill -some fibre glass work on a step LinoCat was floating again and we directly sailed to Carriacou into Tyrrel bay. Peter, Tina and Chico with their guest Susanne and Walter and Brigitte were already waiting with dinner! Oliver was also there and we met him the first time. We had good food and even better drinks and it was midnight before it stopped :-) The approach to Tyrrel bay in the dark was a bit challenging but with the strong searchlight of Vanora we could circle around all the unlit boats anchored there. By the way, there is a HUUUGGGEEE internet problem, since a fibreoptic cable is broken. So if there is internet access it is extremly slow and often for a few minutes reachable at all