T&T: Cruising update Swan Song Rodney Bay, St Lucia

[Dave Cooper]

Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Lat N14 04.603
Lon W61 57.501
Logged 118.7

Ya snooze ya lose ;-)

We did a few quick miles as we need to get down to St Lucia for some fuel
and also make more miles south. Hurricane season is starting to roll and
Swan Song can't outrun one so we need to be proactive about mitigating the
risks.....while still being in the alley enjoying the scenery.

We stopped in Roseau, Dominica on Sunday Night...picked up a mooring as the
water where there isn't any moorings is 150 ft and dropping fast to 1500' No
more stern to the beach as in the old days. The boat "helpers" have taken
all the good spots and installed mooring and "staked" there territory. So we
hung on a mooring and listened to it bump all night as the swell and the
wind couldn't agree where we should be.

An early start across Nancy's most unfavorite piece of water, The Martinique
Passage was pleasant...till we broke the lee of Dominica and then it turned
the forecast of 4-5 into a mogul filed of 6-8 from everyway but the west. We
never rolled more than 10 degrees nor pitched over 20 but the wave periods
were 2 secs at times and the boat was trying to move in 6 directions at
once. Sort of like bulldozer soccer and we were the ball.

After 5 hours of that we were across and in the lee of Martinique. A planned
stop at St Pierre was bypassed as the winds were from the southwest and it
is an open harbor to the west. Anchoring is on a small shelf that drops off
quickly to the depths or comes up to the beach. With a SW breeze the rudder
would be in the surf line. Normally with winds from the east you are in deep
water with the anchor on the shelf. So this visit is postponed till the next
time.

We continued on to Anse Mitan which is an anchorage across the large harbor
of Fort de France, Martinique. We cleared in/out at the Le Pontoon, Nancy
did a little shopping and a couple of paintings while I played on my
maintenance chores. We are down to 250 gals of diesel and my nervous muscle
is starting to twitch. If we need to make a run from an impending storm our
reserves are to low, IMHO.

Tuesday, today, we left Anse Mitan for Rodney Bay St Lucia. Arrived here at
1200 after an interesting occurrence about 1/2 way between the two
countries. The normal 3-5' seas were coming from the NE to SE and the wind
was about 15 kts. Our speed was 7.0 at 1200 rpm. The depth was 6500 ft
according to the chart. Ahead one could see some rougher way similar to an
increase in wind speed. Then we noticed a current line and a significant in
crease in wave height. Lots of flotsam in the line. When we hit it the speed
dropped 1/2 kts and the sea was really churning. We're used to seeing this
kind of thing in water of a few hundred feet deep, in the gulf stream or
around underwater obstacles but never in water this deep. Just shows how
nature is always trying to add to your knowledge base ;-) This lasted about
1 1/2 miles and then returned to as it was before.
We are now anchored in Rodney Bay and have cleared in. Checked the fuel
prices here and they are US$1/gal more than down the way in Marigot Bay. So
looks like we are off to another anchorage.

........Break Break....the first Tropical Depression may be forming at 9N35W
today. Gulp. The current model tracks are in agreement that it will come
thru the Eastern Caribbean but at what Lat they are in disagreement. Two of
the model runs have it passing directly over us as a Tropical Storm. Others
as a TD and others have it as a normal Tropical Wave. Here's where the
knowledge of all the pundits and historical track gets brought out and
dusted off. For us we'll take a look today and tomorrow. Get our 300 gallons
of diesel and hole up in Marigot Bay if we need to, then get out and
continue our cruise south. After all these things are just a couple of days
of tough sledding in the way of great cruising......if your heart can stand
the suspense ;-)

As always YMMV....

Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
Caribbean Cruise '07