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La Boatique Races for the First Time
January 21 and 22 were predicted to be perfect days for sailing, good wind with diminished seas. But we did not cruise to Martinique as a sensible cruiser would. We were game for high adventure. La Boatique would race for her first ever race in a Heineken International Regatta in St. Lucia. Pete would take the helm. David Bell from the yacht, Wind Spirit would be the tactician and man the starboard jib sheet. I would man the port sheet and the mizzen sail. Brenda Collins from Wind Spirit and Susan Abel from Abel Lady would handle our mainsail.
Before the race we unloaded our biggest anchor and 300 feet of chain along with an assortment of other items. Pete attended the skipper's briefing. We checked to make sure everything was carefully stowed.
For our first race we had our mainsail, mizzen, and jib fully raised. La Boatique was like an Arabian mare in a horse race with thoroughbreds. She was beautiful and fast but not competitive against sleek racing yachts. After all, we were racing our house. We were in awe as the 63-foot swan, Eva, galloped past us. Then we were embarrassed as a tiny 21-foot local sailboat somehow got ahead of us by sailing close to shore. After 10 hours at sea racing we were dead tired and poor La Boatique was a mess. That night we went to the yacht club and watched the video highlights of the day. There was La Boatique looking as pretty as could be as the racers sped on by. Our energy was renewed.
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For the first time in a year and a half we were to have an overnight guest. The last guests were with us in Baltimore before we had set sail for the Caribbean. Back then we were preparing for the unknown, for an open ocean adventure. Now we were seasoned blue water cruisers. Now we knew what we were doing. Now for the first time right before our guest arrived I found cockroaches on La Boatique. We thought we were being very careful. We thought we could avoid those terrible bugs. During the entire visit we were at war with the roaches.
Our guest, Pete's brother Bill, was to arrive early in the afternoon on March 17 at the Saint Maarten Airport. Pete and I waited at the uncomfortable airport as close as we were allowed to the arriving passengers. We stood in the hot sun nearly surrounded by concrete walls. Little air moved in this enclosed space. There were no chairs for resting. We could not see the planes landing or taking off. We could only hear them. Groups of passengers arrived but Bill was not among them. His scheduled flight arrived without Bill. I finally walked back to the American ticket counter and found out that Bill was now confirmed on the last American flight arriving that night.
We rode the dollar bus back to the boat. I checked our Sailmail e-mail when I got back to the boat. (We retrieved our e-mail at the boat through single side band radio.) Sure enough, there was an e-mail from my mom explaining that Bill would be arriving later. Pete finally met his brother Bill at the airport around 10:15 p.m.
Bill's visit gave us a reason to act like tourists. We took a bus to Philipsburg to see the cruise ships and the expensive boutiques that they attract. The next day we dinghied the length of Simpson Bay to visit the French town of Marigot. We walked by stands selling exotic tropical produce and then on to stands selling T-shirts, jewelry, and artwork. We had an elegant French lunch on a balcony overlooking the yachts at anchor.
On April 20 we decided to go for a day sail. La Boatique inched away from her slip of two months like a bed-ridden patient trying to walk. The steering squeaked. The propeller shaft squealed. Black smoke came out of the exhaust. La Boatique shuddered. She had very little power. Because the wind was on our bow, we motored. We dropped anchor off a tiny uninhabited desert island called Ill Fourche. The salty turquoise water looked so inviting. Soon we were all snorkeling around the boat. Pete found out why La Boatique was so sluggish. Around the propeller and shaft were parts of a rope, a black plastic bag and an orange bag. Pete dove down and with hard work cut the propeller free. Bill and I scrubbed black scum from the hull. Pete scraped away the few barnacles. Swimming in the clear water felt great.
After a quick lunch on deck we set sail back to Saint Maarten. While Pete and I were on the bow untangling the jib sheet lines a wahoo struck our lure. We never heard the fish line roll out. Later I saw the fish dragging behind the boat on the ocean surface. Bill reeled it in and Pete gaffed it. While we had been dragging our fish another fish had bitten off our fish's tail. There was still plenty of fish for us to eat. Just as I finished cleaning our fish Bill said, "Fish on." I thought he was kidding. But sure enough his pole was bent over and he had another fish. We landed a lively three-foot long barracuda, which we released. Later we caught a small wahoo, which we also released.
For the rest of the story, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.