10 November Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe

It's a Sunday lunchtime arrival for us in Les Saintes, the small group of islands south of the big island of Guadeloupe and it is quiet. There are more free mooring balls than moorings with boats on them and we are able to have our pick of the field at our favourite Ilet de Cabrit site.

We left Grenada at 8am on Friday morning which was a week later than we had originally planned but it was the first time the weather forecast showed enough wind to sail. The forecast also showed some rain. However, the forecast was wrong. We were able to sail until sunset and then the rain clouds formed on the horizon and the wind eased. By midnight we were motoring past St Lucia in heavy rain with lightning and thunder behind us. At dawn with 70nm to go to Dominica the rain had passed and the wind had filled in together with a lumpy bumpy cross sea. It was not an easy motion and for the first time ever Polly was sea sick. I heard her yowling downstairs and arrived to see her puking on the carpet in the pilot berth. She felt better. I had to clean it up.

preparing for arrival in Dominica

We arrived into Portsmouth Bay on the NW end of Dominica at 5pm, 33 hours after departure after a lovely day 2 sail (why couldn't it have been like this on day 1?). We were surprised to find that more than half the mooring balls managed by PAYS had gone. PAYS member Elvis, yes he is alive, showed us to a ball and told us that whilst hurricane Beryl destroyed Carriacou and the Grenadines the westerly swell reached far up the island chain. Big waves slammed the bay breaking moorings and putting a yacht and a big fishing boat on the beach.

This happened four months ago and it doesn't appear that the Professional Association of Yacht Services who earn income from renting the mooring balls to visiting yachts have any plans to reinstate the lost moorings.

We had one quiet night in Dominica and next morning completed the last 20nm of the passage into Guadeloupe where we plan to stay until January, first a month in the Saints and then a month in the marina in Pointe a Pitre.

31 October Action!

Sometimes things just happen and I like to think we are flexible to be able to accommodate change.

On Wednesday, two days before we are due to leave, we received an unusual offer, but it would mean staying longer. For the last 2 or 3 weeks a UK television company has been on island filming a reality game show called The Fortune Hotel. We saw last years' show, also shot on Grenada, earlier in the year in which ten couples compete in games and trials to take possession of a briefcase containing £250k. It's a knockout, last pair in get the dosh.

The final day of competition is Monday and the charter boat that was going to be part of the location filming dropped out at short notice and the production company are now scrambling to find an alternative boat...

filming in the marina

Which is where the unusual offer came in. A mutual friend who has supplied a safety support boat for filming suggested Jackster as the alternative. We, or rather I, was interested in a bit of fun and the weather forecast for sailing north on Friday shows very light winds, so we invited the location manager to come and have a chat and a look.

She thought Jackster would be perfect for what they wanted; a boat at anchor in the back of shot in a bay a mile north from St George as the winners are crowned. These winners would then arrive at Jackster as passengers on a two chauffeured jet skis. The winners alight on board to be met by the show's host and with glasses of champagne. The final shots of the show would to be the winners on the foredeck sailing away (if there was sufficient breeze to fill the sails). We were told the timings were cameras to be set on Jackster in the morning, leave the marina before midday with camera person and a production person, possibly the presenter and motor up to the anchorage. We'd sit there in the background while filming took place, the winners arrive and we'd be back at the marina at 6pm, possibly some pick up shots next day. For this we would be paid U$1000 / £800 for what the location manager said was half a days work. A long half day.

David and I thought we could do this. It would mean extending our stay in the marina for a week and renewing the cruising permit and David's visitor visa (I got a new 3 month visa when I came back from UK). Approximate cost £350 but it could be fun thing to do and we'd then leave when there was more wind.

Same day that this was happening was the last Wednesday of the month drinks at the Victory Bar hosted by the marina. When did you last hear of a cruiser passing on a 'free' drink?

We had just arrived at the bar and picked up a rum punch when I got a phone call from the location manager to say she had come back with three producers to show them Jackster. The producers wanted to have a look see and take photos to show the director. We had explained that we needed a definite decision no later than midday tomorrow, Thursday, because if we were going to leave as planned on Friday we needed to complete our Customs and Immigration clearance on Thursday afternoon.

The producers were three very pleasant people, but they added a list of extra wants to what we had initially been told. They would want us to 'lose' the dinghy and kayak by leaving them in the marina and to take down the bimini to allow drone shots into the cockpit. Mmmm. Our workload and the required time were expanding. The fee wasn't. The inconvenience of taking down the bimini is an hour to take down and store and another hour to put it back up. We know because we did it for hurricane Beryl.

After the producers left we both had our doubts; David about the time, effort and inconvenience involved for some pocket money, me about whether a 53' ketch was the glamorous, high end image they were trying to portray. A big power boat, or a huge catamaran might have been more that they wanted and I think they were still looking.

Next morning we didn't wait for the show people to call us. We called them to say no, Jackster doesn't need to feature on a TV show to be a star – she already is one in our eyes.

28 October F1 and Halloween at the Brewery

D day, aka departure day is approaching fast. Our last paid day in the marina, our cruising permit and David's visitor visa all end on Friday, 1 November.

Our last weekend in Grenada coincides with the Mexican Grand Prix so we head to the West Indies Brewery to watch the race on the big screen and have a full English breakfast. We caught up with other motor head friends, admired the Halloween decorations, watched a rain soaked and delayed race, paid for two cases of IPA to be delivered next day and said au revoir.

Monday was a busy day. We still needed to put the head sail back on the forestay. It was taken down ahead of hurricane Beryl at the beginning of July and stored in the sail locker until we were ready to leave and no wind. After a rain storm early morning we had that hour of dead calm needed to put the sail up. Being a ketch the headsail is the largest sail on the boat. It is big and it is heavy. David does the pulling and winching. I stand at the foot of the forestay and feed the bolt rope into the bolt rope slot endeavouring not to be whipped off the deck should we get a gust of wind to whip the sail across where I'm standing. So far I've not gone overboard...but there's always a possibility. But today we are lucky and now have all three sails ready to go.

When we go the plan is to head directly north from Grenada to Iles des Saintes, Guadeloupe. The distance is 230 miles, usually too far to comfortably complete the journey in two days and one overnight so we spend one night in north Dominica (210nm) and continue on next morning.

24 October Cats and vets

Of the four resident marina adopted cats we have a favourite, a 3 or 4 year old ginger male called JJ. When he first arrived to take up residency by the swimming pool 3 years ago he was in bad shape, perhaps he'd been hit by a car as he had wounds, an abscess on his head and, probably through in breeding, an undershot jaw.

This summer we've been helping out with feeding at the weekends and had noticed he has been suffering with an infection in his mouth causing him to drool and has made eating painful. Vets on the Go attended gave him antibiotics for abscesses in his gums but he's not been getting better, bad breath, eating is difficult and he can't clean himself. So we offered our help to the marina manager. Would she like us to take him to another vet for a second opinion? She said yes and we took JJ to the GSPCA to see what they recommended.

JJ with teeth & Honey & Bob

Zara lent us her car to take both JJ and Polly. Polly was due her annual vaccinations plus her three yearly rabies shot. She was quiet in her carry case on the short ride, poor JJ yowled stuck in the boot in his travel case.

When we went in to see the vet it was Polly howled like a cat possessed. The practice in Grenada follows US method of injecting in the hind leg and not in the back of the neck. The reasoning is that injections can very occasionally cause cancer at the injection site and it is easier to remove a leg than a neck. But for Polly who was traumatised with the amputation of three toes on her rear foot after a crush injury a few years ago it was the worst place possible. It took 2 vets with towels to wrap her head (and teeth) to hold her. Next time we'll take the chance and insist on injections in the skin on her neck. It was awful to see her so scared.

JJ on the other hand was the quietest, most compliant patient while having his mouth exam. The immediate recommendation from the vet is removal of all his teeth. Many of them are already dead at the root and the rest have abscesses in the gum. It must be very painful for him.

Two days after our first visit we returned with JJ for his surgery and because he is a feral cat, to give him the best chance of recovery he was kept in for three days while he healed and was given antibiotics.

When we collected him he looked so much better. Still purring loudly, his coat is fuller, shinier. His breath is sweet and he is still the sweetest cat but toothless. In a short time we were told his gums will harden and he'll be able to eat both tinned cat food and kibbles. Without abscesses his general health will be much, much better.

Our history with JJ goes back three years to when we first met him at the marina. Then we sponsored the removal of his testicles, now we've sponsored the removal of his teeth. What next? He won't be trusting us again!

go on, show us your gums

15 October Seating upgrade

It seems that all we're doing at the moment is giving Jackster upgrades. The next upgrade was replacement seat squabs for our seat at the chart table. Again, a flex of the universal tool, aka credit card, and a very generous offer from a fellow cruiser on our dock, Darrell, to carry it back from the US fixed it.

Our seat was fitted by the previous owner and over the years the cover had cracked. I found the supplier in the States online and tried to order for international delivery, but the computer said 'no', no delivery available outside the US. The pads cost $80 plus $45 to ship to a US address. However, if we spent $100 we would qualify for free shipping. It was a no brainer to find three beer bottle coolers on their site to qualify, two for us and one for Darrell.

new

old

11 October Fuel injector nozzles

David has been replacing all the nozzles in the fuel injectors as part of preventive regular maintenance. The tips wear out before the rest does and I was able to buy them in the UK and bring them back. I ordered them from Parts4Engines.com when I was home and they were delivered in less than 24 hours. It's taken David all week to strip and service both the generator's three injectors and the engine's four injectors because of the need to remove the various pipes to give a clear view of the injectors, to replace them and then to bleed the fuel through so it was a real bummer when neither generator nor engine would show any sign of bursting into life when pressing the starter buttons.

engine injectors removed

David suspected he had disturbed some of the wiring harness connections that he had had to move to one side to reach the injectors on the engine. He started investigating ground earths and various relays and, peculiar to Amels, the negative ground system. By now the sun had set and he decided to sleep on it and begin afresh next morning. This worked with a 3am light bulb moment when he realised that one of the few components common to both systems is the shared starter battery.

Could it be as simple as a flat starter battery? It was working fine a month ago when we changed berth.

dead starter battery

A quick check with the multimeter revealed the culprit as a flat starter battery. A call to Budget Marine, a flash of the credit card and a new battery charged and delivered next day solved the problem.

Yet another upgrade David was able to do with parts I'd brought week was to replace the old digital engine hour counter incorporated in the Volvo rev counter which had faded to grey many years ago. We haven't been without an engine hour counter – there's an inexpensive mechanical one which he uses to know when the oil, etc needs to be changed. The beauty of the new digital display in the Volvo rev counter is that it shows the true lifetime hours of the engine. At 6,000 hours it appears we still have plenty of life left. Just like David :) 

6 October The return of the Admiral

I arrived back last night with my three bags now filled with goodies for us, for Polly and for Jackster. It's good to be home.

David's so happy to have his early Christmas presents and has already fixed our tide clock with a new movement I brought back. This clock was a wedding presents from my London friends 16 years ago. David also fitted a new under sink inline water filter, fitted a ventilation grill to the door under the sink to vent hot air from the fridge, fitted a new inclinometer in the cockpit (like every other Amel, we still list 1 degree to port), fitted 5 very neat LED reading lights in place of the old lamps with shades. The new lights are touch sensitive on/off and have USB ports. A marvellous upgrade.

All I did was laundry, clearing up and putting the travel bags away.

Poor Polly got to use her present immediately; a soft padded collar which stops her licking the nick she has under her tail. We can't decide whether she looks like a sunflower or a daisy, but it works better than the plastic cone of shame.

sunflower or daisy?

25 to 30 October A Roman Holiday

It's been a magical, wonderful trip to Rome and a big bucket list tick. I went with my best friend Isobel. 40 years ago we met in a flat share in Balham, south London and have been besties ever since so we felt it was the right thing to mark the event with a special holiday to see the history and art of the Eternal City. Since studying art history at school I've always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. And I've always wanted to see the Roman ruins.

In five days of a Bunty got-to-see-everything tour we 'did' Vatican Museum (the Sistine Chapel didn't disappoint),Vatican, Colosseum, Forum, Palatine, Pantheon, Castle San Angelo, Museo Borghese and the over hyped (IMHO) Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, walked everywhere and ate pasta and pizza to maintain our energy. Fan-bloody-tastic.

the Pantheon

author with St Paul's behind

Colosseum arena

David by Bernini

at the bottom of the Spanish steps

crowds at the Trevi

Isobel at the Trevi

the mouth of truth (as seen in Roman Holiday)

10 September Fly away

This evening I'm off to the airport to fly home. David is staying to look after Polly and Jackster. Over the last 3 weeks I've been stocking the freezer with 24 frozen ready meals for one; David wouldn't bother to cook for himself and I don't want him to starve. Polly has plenty of fish and kibbles.

In return David's been busy online shopping, filling the Amazon cart with essential boat needs. I've been shopping too. There'll be boat bits from specialist suppliers in the UK, such as new nozzles for the fuel injectors in both the engine and the generator.

I toddle off at sunset with three almost empty bags; I'm taking a side trip to Rome with my best buddy and will need my hot weather clothes for that. While in England I expect to be wearing jeans and jumpers as autumn begins.

2 September A regular week

It's now been two days since the last of our malady symptoms cleared and we've been able to get back to regular life. Such as when the cooking gas bottle runs out on Friday evening and you can't get a refill service until Monday which will then take two days to turn around. What do you do? David does a refill from the spare 20lbs tank we keep in the cockpit locker. We bought this tank in Panama City in February 2010 as a supplement to the two 10lbs tanks in the gas locker in preparation for our crossing of the Pacific. It's been very useful to have.

Having cooking gas meant I was able to cook a special anniversary dinner, better than a sandwich!

David continues to be niggled by sciatic pain and our mattress has begun to sag on his side of the bed so it's time to invest in a new one. We have a choice of two suppliers, both have the same quality foam, but one costs 60% less than the other and can deliver same day. No prizes for which supplier we chose. Now we have a lovely new mattress without a dent.

I went to the dentist for a regular check up, but it was a new dentist to me. First she told me I grind my teeth at night and need to be fitted with a dental guard. What? No-one, no other dentist has ever said I grind my teeth before or that I need a dental guard. Then she said I needed to having two fillings redone or risked the teeth falling in half. To cap it off she gave me the most brutal and painful clean I've ever experienced and shouted at me to keep still. I didn't like her, didn't trust her diagnosis. It felt like she was creating business. Luckily we know an excellent French dentist in the marina in Guadeloupe and we'll be there in three months.

But to finish this blog with a positive. The West Indies Brewery delivered a fresh case of IPA to Jackster and took the empties away. Wonderful service and a happy, hydrated Captain.