PART 3: ANTIGUA TO ST. LUCIA

5/18/92 Lat. 15 16.8' W 61 24.3' Reseau, Dominica


"According to the net . . ."

At 7:30 am, island time, all boats that have a single sideband radio turn to 6215 Mhz, and listen to the traffic between cruising boats.

I listen for "Butterfly, Butterfly . . .Nona Rosa," which means that the boat NONA ROSA, on her way across the Atlantic, is trying to reach me. And although I hear from other boats, I receive no word from her.

That’s pretty usual for my radio, still trying to recover from the soaking it took on the way to Bermuda. In St. Thomas a captain of a sailboat who made money by repairing electronics did a fair job. Yet I knew it would never be the same, it just did not have the range.

I did receive some interesting news:

In St. Martin they discovered a French boat leaving the harbor towing three dinghies behind it. The police, wonders of wonders, stopped it and found six more folded up inside. Cruisers can rest easier in Marigot Bay now.

Word comes that Guadalupe is stopping U.S. boats that are not documented and fining them. The fine is hefty too, one thousand Francs. They do not want U.S. Registered boats in their waters. We were lucky, and the officials at Dieheis admitted our crew but not our boat. I'm a bit worried about Martinique. Will we have trouble there? I can't afford a fine. So I radio a friend, in Fort de France to check out the situation for me. I really need to go there, as it is a mail stop.

There is a lot of discussion about Venezuela.

"I heard the state department is telling people not to go to Venezuela," says one man.

"I don't know. We were there last year and it was fine. Got my whole boat and bottom painted for $300," replies his friend.

"They do a good job?"

"As good as the States."

"Sure would like to go there, but I won't if it’s dangerous."

I also get a call from a friend in Bequia, who tells me he received word through another boat that Nona Rosa had made it safely as far as Bermuda. Good news!

I'm the independent type and a loner — as long as I have a working radio and a great crew like Judy.


5/19/92 Lat. N 14 35.3'  W 61 4.5' Ft. de France, Martinique,France

Anything To Get Mail

Mail has become very important since I've started cruising. I can't afford to make too many phone calls to the States, so I have to rely on the mail for news of our daughters and the rest of my family. And it's not easy to get mail.

It has to be sent to an address in the States, Judy's father who lives in Wyoming, and he mails it to predetermined place. If all works out, we are at the port at the same time as our mail.

When we get a packet of letters, we savor it for several days.

It had been set up for our next mail to arrive in Fort De France, Martinique, by May 15. However, word was out that even Martinique was giving U.S. boats troubles. So I was frightened to go there. If we wanted our mail, we had to.

What a dilemma.

I decided to go anyway, claim a mechanical problem and ask for the courtesy of the port. I spent hours last night thumbing through the French/English dictionary to see how to say I was having troubles with my stuffing box.

Early in the morning we went to the Immigration and Customs office. There I stammered and stuttered in French trying to explain the situation.

"You are having difficulties with your boat?" said the official in perfect English, and a huge smile on his face.

"Yes sir," I replied, "I had not intended to stop here, but I would like to stay only twenty-four hours to make repairs. Can you clear me in and out at the same time?"

"No problem," he said and started stamping our papers. As he did this I felt relief and more than a little foolish. I knew that the officer knew I was lying, and probably I would have had no problem had I just entered normally. After thanking him, we left in search of the American Express office to see if our mail was there.

The people on the island were very helpful, but we had difficulty understanding the directions they gave us waving their arms and pointing fingers. In order to get our bearings we had to stop at all the little bakeries we discovered to taste the great French pastry. Judy said she was happy we couldn't stay longer as we would probably get fat just trying to find places.

When we arrived at the American Express office, we found that it would not open for another fifteen minutes. This meant we had to eat more cream filled goodies. Drat!

Our mail was here. It is hard to describe the feeling I have when I get mail. Elation and fear. That's as near as I can put it. Elation if there are letters from family and friends, fear if there is bad news or huge bills.

This batch, which we took to a restaurant to read, had both. The family was doing fine, and no one was sick. However, there was news that my supply of money was beginning to run short. That was frightening. Guess I'll have to figure some way to earn some more.