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Still in Cartagena!Still in Cartagena!
Big heat wave in Europe! We are glad that we have air condition on the boat! Little stroll in the morning!
Sailing to Bequia, St Vincent and the GrenadinesSailing to Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines
I’m trying something new in this post. Scroll or read to the end – there is a video.
Bequia is part of the Grenadines. It’s called St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We have already reached the southern part of the Caribbean Sea. Only 180 nm remain between us and the next continent – South America. See maps below.
Martinique to Bequia
But before we leave Martinique there is the curse of sailing: boat repairs. We had some rig maintenance ahead of us, plus, both raw water pumps on our Volvo Pentas had failed. The port pump was constantly leaking into the bilge = very bad. The starboard pump was crusted with salt at the bottom of the housing, but not leaking as of yet. We changed both. Good we had the special tools on board to change the pumps. The Admiral learned how to pull a helical gear wheel off with a puller tool. She had to wait decades to convert from a nurse to a boat mechanic – but it finally happened! The seals on the pump’s shaft seem to be the culprits.
The engines have only 850 hours each. The equivalent of 25,000 miles of a car engine and we are now on the third set of pumps. Each cost US$940. Are we being taken for a ride?
Ah yes, and then we found a thick salt crust hidden under the diesel tanks. This must have come from the leaking Goiot emergency escape hatches. Both we replaced 2021 in Portimao, Portugal. The job required half a day of fresh water flushing and cleaning multiple times. But after that and some minor other work we were ready to go the next morning.
(above pictures have captions, if you click through the gallery)
The sail itself was fast and uneventful until St Vincent. 15 hours at sea for 88nm topping 10kts sometimes, but averaging 5.8 kts in the end. During the night, in the wind shadow of St. Vincent, we had an hour no wind and the boat was drifting motionless in circles. We don’t like the engines on at night, but started one diesel to have some control over the boat. It lasted only an hour. After that we were gliding through the night with 2 to 3knots until we came free from the wind cover of the island.
At sunrise we entered Port Elizabeth bay and dropped anchor. These one night trips are the most exhausting ones. Hence, I slept until noon and then dinghied to town to clear in with customs and immigration.
Port Elizabeth – Dinghy Dock
New Family Business?
The Video
Bequia is off the beaten track when it comes to tourism. More picturesque, more relaxed, more what you imagine the Caribbean should be without the big resorts humbug. We will come back.