Quick Update....

Persephone is currently moored under the Twin Pitons of St. Lucia.  The sail from SVG to St. Lucia was aggressive with winds averaging 25-28 knots with gusts to 32 knts (Read: very windy).  Waves were between 6 and 10 feet, which frequently broke over the boat.   One particularly large wave submerged the boat and my mouth flopped open as I watched green water wash down the companionway stairs flooding the galley.  (I should have known better to keep the hatch boards in.....dumb !!)  But during the fury, I was able to pull in a nice 12 +  pound yellow fin tuna.  Sushi anyone ??

Next blog....how Persephone sailed into Port Royal Sound in search of  the "Pirates of the Caribbean"...but you will have to wait ! 

  

Back in Bequia.....

For the past month the cruisers have been calling Grenada "Hotel California"....as Don Henley sings...'you can check out, but you can never leave'.  Well, we finally broke out and are on the way north for the winter. (North for the winter....sounds strange !!)

On Sunday, Persephone had one of the best sails in a long time; voyaging from Chatham Bay, Union Island to the island Bequia in the country of SVG.  Arriving in Bequia was like coming home after spending nearly a month here in July.   It is nice to know where all of the services are located upon arrival.  This is Admiralty Bay where Persephone is anchored.... 

Boats sailing in and out of Admiralty Harbor

The inner harbor, unfortunately it was misting when we were overlooking the harbor.
 Persephone is just off camera to the right.

Turtles are everywhere in Admiralty Bay.  It seems every time you look out from the boat, you see a turtle bobbing to the surface for air looking back......

The turtles come in all sizes...from the size of a baseball, to nearly TWO feet across.  The turtle pictured above is about a foot long.

            The colorful roofs of the home which ring Friendship Bay, Bequia with their boats anchored in front.

Union Island....

We left Carriacou yesterday morning and had a delightful sail up to Union Island. (Union Is is in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines i.e. "SVG" ) We are in Chatham Bay on the west side of the island. What a great, quiet place with a terrific beach (tog with several beach bars). We planned on stopping here only overnight, but enjoyed it so much, we decided to stay another day (today, Saturday). The water is the clearest since the Bahamas...we can see the bottom clearly at 18-20 feet.
As soon as we anchored, some local boat boys came by with fresh King fish and lobsters. "A pound of King fish, and two 2 lb lobsters, please". "Yeah, mon...no problem"..... Had a fresh lobster dinner on the grill last nite and saved the fish for tonight. This place is incredibly quiet...no phone service, no internet....no nothing....just a million stars. Interestingly, we are on ONLY US flagged boat here. (there are about 15-20 boats here...several of which we know). Similarly, I saw only one other US flagged boat at Tyrrel Bay of about 50+ boats.....where are all the US cruisers ??
Plan on beaching, and snorkeling today and will move up to Bequia tomorrow am. Will keep you updated on our voyage. THE CREW
P.S. We are back to using amateur radio (HAM) as our only mode to communication. Kind of a culture shock after being in Grenada with semi-reliable internet, and phone service....But, I am sure we will survive !! LOL.

Enjoy Some Pictures of Carriacou Island, Grenada

Sunset at Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou Island, Grenada

Dock in the Town of Windward, Carriacou.  Petit Martinique is in the background.

In Carriacou, they build their workboats in the traditional way....by eye.  There are no plans,  it just has to look right.  Here is a boat whose wooden ribs were recently layed.  The boats are built of wood all grown on the island.   It is due to be launched in about 6 months.

 

Overlooking a meadow on Carriacou's north coast.  Union Island, of the country of

 St. Vincent and the Grenadines is in the background.

Carriacou......

     Our guide book describes Carriacou as an island "with over a hundred rum shops, and only one gasoline station ".  Sounds like they have their priorities straight; if you ask me.  On a short walk to the beach, here are a couple of signs of note....

What are 'spiritious' liquors ??  To bad the rum shop was closed, I would have asked....>>>>>>>>

Uncle Tom's must be a religious retreat...featuring 'spiritiual' liquor...alter wine perhaps ?


This is the sign at the entrance to a beach bar.  How subtle is the graphic ??  HARD wood ???  Yikes !!

Here is Paradise Beach, which is right in front of the Hard Wood Bar.....

This beach is so pretty, maybe the bar's name is appropriate...

Drums in the Night....

Just before leaving Grenada, it was announced on the morning radio net that there would be a drum concert at Grenada's National Museum.  A drum concert ??  What's that all about??  Well, we had to check it out....especially since it was free !!

What a fantastic evening  !!  Highly decorated drums with the performers in  African/Carib costumes (with faces painted in Grenada's national colors of red, yellow and green)  performing traditional drum music.

The drum on the left is over 5 feet tall !!



Phil Collins would be amazed !!

Join us at the concert:



On the Move.....

Persephone arrived in Carriacou (an island in the country of Grenada) after a "spirited" sail.  (Read:  22+/- knots, gusting 28 with 8-10 foot seas !! on a close reach).  Perhaps 'spirited' should be changed to 'wet and wild'.  But, we got here without incident, and most importantly didn't break anything.

Will be in Carriacou for at least a couple of days.  Internet is intermittent at best.  We will try and keep you updated with what's happening as conditions with the net permit.

THE CREW

Back in the game.....

Persephone is back in the water at Mt. Hartman bay, completely repaired.....but I am getting ahead of myself.....

We were hauled from the water early last Friday morning (Jan 7th).  The work immediately began.  The challenge was to remove the propeller shaft from the transmission, and then removal of the flange (a metal piece that permits the round shaft to be bolted to the transmission).  The shaft flange and the transmission flange separated in about 10 minutes.  BUT, and this is a HUGE BUT....there was NO room for me to put a wheel puller in the space behind the transmission....so removal of the flange from the prop shaft was a monumental problem.  I read books, and got advice on line....after 12 hours of backbreaking labor (literally) I was able to free the shaft from the flange.  Suffice it to say, this was THE most difficult project I have ever attempted on Persephone.  Brutal ! My hands are still healing from the cuts and bruises......Re-assembly with the new shaft seal was a breeze.  So the problem that caused us to be hauled out was finally resolved.

While  'on the hard ' the decision was made to redo the antifouling paint on the bottom.  The entire bottom of the boat had to be sanded smooth before applying the paint (which cost $329.00 per gallon times 3 gallons !!!)  A coldie at the end of a hard day of sanding:

On Thursday afternoon Persephone got her feet wet:

Persephone being lowered into the water.....

Spice Island Marine was terrific and reasonably priced.  The weather was awful, with rain everyday.  The yard was a mud bog, so everytime we went up and down the ladder, we tracked gobs of mud aboard.  It took us two days to clean the mud off the the decks. (In fact, the travel lift got stuck in the mud while moving the boat immediately prior to our launch.  I was holding my breath that we would not be delayed due to a mud-stuck travel lift....But, we launched right on schedule and motored around to Mt. Hartman. 

We are ready to go !!  All we need is a weather window to give us moderate trade winds to move north to Carriacou.  That window may be as soon as tomorrow.....six month ago today, Persephone sailed into Grenada...it's time to boogie !!

THE CREW

Still floating.....

This is just a quick update on Persephone's situation. 

On Monday,  the parts were ordered from the manufacturer in Seattle, Washington via Fed Ex.  Unbelievably, the parts arrived in Grenada on Tuesday afternoon and were cleared by customs first thing on Wednesday.  (guess it is not so 'third world' here !!)   Persephone is due to be hauled out this morning at 8:30 am at Spice Island Marine which is situated in Prickley Bay.  Prickley is the bay next to Mt. Hartman Bay where we have spent the last six months. 

The shaft seal is being held together only by a couple of pieces of tape.  The concern is that the tape will fail while we motor the couple of miles over to Prickley.  Eric of 'Compass Rose' is going to accompany us for the trip so we have an extra pair of hands in case the situation worsens.  Spice Island Marine will be ready with the travel lift (4-wheeled craine type device for lifting boats from the water) to immediately haul Persephone if the tape fails.   We just have to get her there.

Keeping our fingers crossed and the bilge pumps ready !!

THE CREW

Madison Violet....

     When only a couple pieces of tape are preventing your boat from sinking while waiting for parts, there is only one thing you can do to relieve the stress... go PARTY!!  But first, kudos to Glen at Sabre Corp (the builder of Persephone) who was able to quickly identify the exact part number of the shaft seal used, and to Fred at PSS Shaft Seal for Fed Exing the part to us in Grenada.  The package is on its way Priority Fed Ex and should arrive in a couple of days.  Thanks guys...great job !!

     Yesterday was the first "dinghy concert" at Clark's Court Bay.  The band Madison Violet set up on a tug boat which was anchored in the middle of the bay.  At 4 pm, dinghies rafted together behind the tug to enjoy the music, munchies, and of course a couple of coldies....

Here are the dinghies arriving at the tug and rafting up just prior to the start of the concert....


Madison Violet entertains the crowd....



Dinghies everywhere.....









That Sinking Feeling....

     The holidays are over and Persephone was being prepared to leave Grenada.  The weather guru advised that there is a weather window for Tuesday-Wednesday this week for heading up island.  In preparation, I was scuba diving to clean the prop.  I tried to turn the prop shaft, but it seemed stiff.  I attributed the stiffness to barnacle/bio-growth on the shaft.  So, I applied a little more pressure to shaft.  Finally, it turned....but not freely.  I continued to clean the prop and bottom of the boat.

BEEP>>>BEEP>>>BEEP>>>     Even underwater, I could hear the bilge pump alarm activate.  This alarm only sounds if the bilge pump (capable of pumping 50 gallons per minute !!!)  is having difficulty keeping up with the inflow of water.  HOLY S**T !!  Its got to be an error.  As I surfaced, I could see the bilge pump tube sticking out of the stern, and water was gushing out of it.  No error....Persephone was taking on LOTS of water.  She was sinking !!!!

I ripped off my dive tank and threw it into the dinghy, and literally ran up the boarding ladder.  I pulled up the floor boards and immediately saw that water filled the bilge and was just below the floor boards.  The bilge pump was barely keeping up with the inflow. "Gotta find the leak, and FAST !!  I immediately started to close every seacock (shut off valves that are fitted  where each hose enters the boat). There are nine seacocks on Persephone, and as I closed each one the water flow continued unabated.  Closing all of the seacocks made no difference !!  Where can the water flow be coming from....there are only two other options...the prop shaft or the rudder shaft.  I grabbed a screw driver and opened the access hatch to the prop shaft.  Water came shooting out of the access hatch....the rubber bellows surrounding the drive shaft had separated from the boat and had torn; leaving a TWO INCH hole open to the ocean !!  This is serious....REAL SERIOUS !! 

    I rushed to the radio and called Eric on 'Compass Rose' who is anchored about 150 yards from Persephone.  "Eric....gotta a major leak,  get over here fast !!" I shouted into the mike.  Back to the leak....how to stop it...or at least slow it down?  Eric must have flown threw the water because he was aboard in seconds.  Together we were able to pull the bellows over the shaft log (hole where drive shaft exits the boat) which slowed the leak.  But, there were still several splits in the bellows letting in a significant amount of water.  Eric suggested we try "Rescue Tape".  I had never heard of the stuff, but why not....   Eric went to Compass Rose and promptly returned with the Rescue Tape.  This a a tape that only sticks to itself....it worked like a champ.  We wrapped it around the bellow and the leak immediately stopped.  VICTORY !!  Emergency over !!

"Hey Eric...need a cold one?"...."you bet" !!  Two coldies were immediately downed to settle our frayed nerves !!  ......

POST SCRIPT:  Persephone is fitted with a PSS Dripless Shaft Seal.  The leading edge rides on a stainless steel donut which surrounds the prop shaft.  The bellows has a graphite seal that rides on the donut.  Apparently, the graphite seal froze to the stainless steel donut.  So, when I turned the shaft, I rotated the bellows, and pulled it off the shaft log, and tore it.  (This should have never happened....I had motored the boat with no problems only 2 1/2 weeks ago)  The Shaft Seal needs to be completely replaced.  This requires the boat to be hauled from the water, and the entire prop shaft removed.  Read:  Major Job.  So, today, I will be contacting Sabre Yachts to find the proper size of the Shaft Seal, and see if one is available on the island.  In addition, reservations will have to be made at Spice Island Marine to have the boat hauled.  This could take weeks to repair, depending on availability of parts, and the ease of removing the shaft.

Thank God, I added the bilge pump alarm just before we left Connecticut !! (Boaters:  Install a LOUD bilge alarm as a winter project...it saved Persephone)   Otherwise I would be swimming home.....

Wish us luck !!