Day in a Life: Passage to Martinique

Most passages on Two Fish start when bakers and armies are at their busiest. Before the sun had risen, the crew of Two Fish was removing a sail cover, unfrapping the main halyard and turning on the chart.  We were tied to a mooring ball owned by the legendary hiking guide Sea Cat, aka Octavius.  Even though we were only staying one night, I had donned my scuba gear and rigged a back-up line in case the mooring rode failed. The back-up line was actually two docks lines connected by a double sheet bend, that was too large to pass through the concrete block’s loop.  In the 5:30am brain fog, it took a few minutes to ascertain which side of the line to bring on board first, but I remembered not to let go of either end until I had solved the puzzle.

Passages in the Caribbean are broken into two sections:  in the lee of the island and in the exposed ocean.   Gail is our captain when we are travelling in the lee and yesterday helmed for the length of Dominica.  In the lee, the wind seems random as it can quickly go from zero to thirty knots in the lee of a large mountain. The lee-side marketing guys over-promise on light air, but they do deliver on flat seas, making Gail happy.

Today’s mostly ocean passage was projected to have lumpy seas, so Gail took her Sturgeron and I prepared to do most of the passage.   Shortly after releasing the mooring ball, the main was up with a single reef.   We motored for a while in fluky winds.  It is tempting to hoist the entire inventory of sails, but a patient captain waits until clearing the end of the island, where winds can sometimes peak.   Our patience was not necessary as the breeze only rose to 18 knots.   The full genoa was unfurled, as I kept a look out for any remaining fish pots.

The passage was short but plentiful of exciting moments.   A pod of whales passed, but did not linger for a photo opportunity.  Later, dozens of white flying fish began exiting the back sides of the waves and travelling twenty yards before re-entering the water.  I presume they were in search of a breakfast of bugs.  I watched them too intently, as I should have been scanning the radar for boats.   After 15 minutes of this show, the second part of the act arrived.  Four grey birds with black markings started to circle Two Fish.  The began to play a game of who can get closest to the genoa. I think the sail blocked the sun, improving their view of the flying fish.  Moments later, I saw the breakfast-eating fish become breakfast for the birds. I watched as the fish repeatedly exited the wave only to be captured by a bird mid-flight.  I was enjoying the show much more than a Phillies game.

The breeze had freshened and I switched from auto-pilot mode to hand steering so as to take advantage of the puffs.  The autopilot can steer Two Fish very well in every condition, but hand steering is worth 0.3 knots and keeps me on my game.   In the lulls I hardened up a bit and in the puffs I bore off.   The true key to beating the autopilot is to hold the helm straight; Two Fish then tracks nicely.  If the weather helm (tendency for the boat to head up) builds, consider shortening sails and adjusting the center of effort. I grinned as the boat exceeded 10 knots in 3 foot seas.  Ten  miles from the lee of Martinique, the clouds to windward had me concerned.   A high level cloud had a dirty bottom and a low level cloud was raining.  The weather guessers had predicted squalls with 30 knot winds.  I had a full genoa and 1 reef in the main.  I warned Gail I might need a hand in a half hour; as luck would have it, we threaded the needle between the two ominous clouds.

During the day, I adjusted the sail trim a half-dozen times.  Each time I would pause my podcast.  I listened to a comedy show on NPR (“Wait Wait Don’t Tell”) and a BBC show about the many languages of Myanmar.   By the way, Myanmar is an adjective in the Myanmar language but the military government insists that Myanmar is the English name for the country.  Learning while sailing.

As the wind went aft, I decided I needed to move the jib car forward. This a ten minute process, because I need to tie a second line to the active sheet, to temporarily take the load, then adjust the car, and then carefully shift the load back. After 15 minutes the wind changed back. Repeat process and remember we are cruising not racing.

I sometimes take photos of passing boats. I then call them on the VHF radio and offer to email the photos.  Sailors love their boats and it is hard to get a shot of your boat, in its native element.  I was taking photos of an English monohull when the VHF called out “Two Fish Two Fish”.  The caller was my photographic subject.   Four years ago, a work colleague resigned.  I never knew her reasons.   Fast forward to last week’s beach BBQ and who did I see?  Amanda, the colleague from 4 years ago.  It turns out that we both left work and went sailing.   Now, a week after our chance meeting, we met again at sea.

Gail took over as we reached the lee of Martinique; I decided to take a nice hot shower and shave to prepare for landing on a French island.  Our motors were needed for the remainder of the transit.   We were headed for a small fishing village, where cruisers are not invited, as the limited anchoring is for the fisherman.  We had reserved some dock space from the Volvo mechanic.

We put the boat to bed, adjusting the fenders, putting on the sail cover, raising the aft shade, changing the courtesy flag, and covering the instruments.  As always, a bonus job appeared.  When Gail was at the helm, in the lee Martinique, the boat seem slower than what we would expect.   A quick glance at the port stern revealed a small tree had become hooked on the rudder.  I dove in and easily removed the arboreal terrorist.   No damage except the benefits of my shower were lost.

We have come to the Volvo mechanics for our 1,000 hour service.  We prefer to overdo it on maintenance.   Replacing a part while at the Volvo dealer is much easier than mid-ocean, so we have created a long chore list:  valve clearance, injector spray test and coolant flush are just of few of the tasks.   I also have a few questions.   Do I have glow plugs?  Why does the manual refer to transmission oil as reverse gear oil?

With the boat secure, and our appointment with Volvo set for the morning, we went for a short exploratory walk.   The joy of the French islands is that every village has a boulangerie.   Quiche and salad is for dinner.

And that is what a short passage day is like aboard Two Fish.