tcm
...
Nearly every type of even-slightly-atlantic-capable boat is jammed into rodney bay marina, and very fluttery and smart they all look. It's almost like a boat show, and certainly worth a visit.
The arc boats all get a dock space, but anyone can anchor in the marina for free and whizz about in the dinghy. Actually i spent the first two days not even cleared in, but unless you have a bit of paper you can't buy chandlery so I cleared in . Then found the chandlers is shut from saurday lunchtme to monday morning. Bit daft eh? I can't imagine a better market for flogging nearly everything, but the shops are shut.
I am going off the idea of doing an atlantic wth the arc. I mean, amongst other stuff the arc organisers claim to smooth the clearing out of canaries (eh? there isn't anything to do) and clearing into st lucia - but everyone still has to fill in a form and show passports etc. sothey can't have done anything, realy other than tel you where the office is located, duh. The guy clearing out i nthe same office went mental at the amount of form filling and protestd that since he was with the arc surely he should be exempt? The customs guys laughed.
Arcies also seem to need to be tied up in a marina cos otherwise they will obviously die, but it's nicer out in the bay bit cooler in the breeze - some arcies are actualy rafted on the fuel dock, urgh.
I am a bit leery of the notion that the arc thing makes things in the least bit safer, but there seems to be that mood over the whole thing - that because people buy tickets and there are organisers and t-shirt each, then it's all much safer than otherwise. I had one guy on vhf complaining about the weather not being as advertised. I can easily imagine that people (ok, probably crew really) who otherwise would not go find temselves doing the crossing merely because of the illusion of safety in numbers and it being a Properly Orgainsed Event. Welll, maybe.
There are several tpes of arc participant, and a very common one is the quite ancient city type who wears the blimmin arc t-shirt or crew t-shirt all day so four or five of them together look like a gay wedding, and they wear belts on their shorts too, with the t-shirt tucked in. One german crew has t-shirts with Skipper and Crew printed onnem, and they wear them every day.
I didn't see much of the inter-boat camaraderie, really. I imagine this would be more in evidence if you helped neighbours at the start fr example, but otherwise most crew who have spent 2-3 weeks talking to each other carried on doing the same, unwinding gently as part of their crew group rather than gregarious mingling with others.
Even as non-arc, you can trot into the arc office in the marina and askem about where to find stuff, so they are jolly helpfl, which is nice. I found a sail loft cos we neded a rigger, and the sail loft man pulled a long line for me with a rigger caled Philip tied to the other end, and he nipped up the mast and sorted the lines for me for fifty quid.
Swmbo tells me that the arc prizegiving thing is next friday, but we'll be gone by then - the French islands such as Martinique 20nm away are much more sorted and less knackered than the ex-british ones which bumble along, partly supported by public school brits who seem fine wth overpriced manky food and dog-slow service.
For most brits (and the magazines, have a look at YM which simply ignores the possibility of martinique being visited in its list of carib places to visit) the french carib doesn't seem to exist , and vice versa. But martinique s a department of France, pukka supermarkets and restos and chandlery exactly the same as france, just a bit more laid back, and lotsof it subsidised by the er EU, or that's what t says on lots of the signs about the new roads or buildings...
The 15 mint plants are one their last legs really, it think we might call it a draw todaywith final mohitos, and find new plants in martinique . Menthe in french, i think. Hope marlon is doing better than these guys, but i believe he hasn't had various arms and legs ripped off him every other day.
Medium term plan is to cruise up to st martin and return to canaries for summer. I had one german guy wanting to come along, excellent chap, but he can't make it due to busy work. Wel, ok, i sent him an email saing we were planning t be at the boat by VE day (may 8th) and he should be ok to be back at work shortly after anniversary of Dday landings so if he could let me know in 10 days then that would give him the chance to run it past his boss, and invade poland or france as well. But anyway he said he unfortunately couldn't make it, can't imagine why. Perhaps he can't stand Pat's essex accent, that could have been it...
Oh yes, and Pat says she is right up for the return trip, meaning that her first sailing trip apart from day racing will be an atlantic circuit. And we all got on jolly well with stingo, so he might come again too, maybe. Having Keith (racylady) as director of food was another bonus for the rest of us slightly-rubbish cooks, but i think we might have another volunteer for the fourth slot, perhaps.
Boatfixing now, bit of sail bodging this morning I think. I tried to fix an interior light as well but the bits flew apart so i'll have to buy a new unit, damn. Hope all fine at home but swmbo says Gbrown is busy papering over the cracks.
The arc boats all get a dock space, but anyone can anchor in the marina for free and whizz about in the dinghy. Actually i spent the first two days not even cleared in, but unless you have a bit of paper you can't buy chandlery so I cleared in . Then found the chandlers is shut from saurday lunchtme to monday morning. Bit daft eh? I can't imagine a better market for flogging nearly everything, but the shops are shut.
I am going off the idea of doing an atlantic wth the arc. I mean, amongst other stuff the arc organisers claim to smooth the clearing out of canaries (eh? there isn't anything to do) and clearing into st lucia - but everyone still has to fill in a form and show passports etc. sothey can't have done anything, realy other than tel you where the office is located, duh. The guy clearing out i nthe same office went mental at the amount of form filling and protestd that since he was with the arc surely he should be exempt? The customs guys laughed.
Arcies also seem to need to be tied up in a marina cos otherwise they will obviously die, but it's nicer out in the bay bit cooler in the breeze - some arcies are actualy rafted on the fuel dock, urgh.
I am a bit leery of the notion that the arc thing makes things in the least bit safer, but there seems to be that mood over the whole thing - that because people buy tickets and there are organisers and t-shirt each, then it's all much safer than otherwise. I had one guy on vhf complaining about the weather not being as advertised. I can easily imagine that people (ok, probably crew really) who otherwise would not go find temselves doing the crossing merely because of the illusion of safety in numbers and it being a Properly Orgainsed Event. Welll, maybe.
There are several tpes of arc participant, and a very common one is the quite ancient city type who wears the blimmin arc t-shirt or crew t-shirt all day so four or five of them together look like a gay wedding, and they wear belts on their shorts too, with the t-shirt tucked in. One german crew has t-shirts with Skipper and Crew printed onnem, and they wear them every day.
I didn't see much of the inter-boat camaraderie, really. I imagine this would be more in evidence if you helped neighbours at the start fr example, but otherwise most crew who have spent 2-3 weeks talking to each other carried on doing the same, unwinding gently as part of their crew group rather than gregarious mingling with others.
Even as non-arc, you can trot into the arc office in the marina and askem about where to find stuff, so they are jolly helpfl, which is nice. I found a sail loft cos we neded a rigger, and the sail loft man pulled a long line for me with a rigger caled Philip tied to the other end, and he nipped up the mast and sorted the lines for me for fifty quid.
Swmbo tells me that the arc prizegiving thing is next friday, but we'll be gone by then - the French islands such as Martinique 20nm away are much more sorted and less knackered than the ex-british ones which bumble along, partly supported by public school brits who seem fine wth overpriced manky food and dog-slow service.
For most brits (and the magazines, have a look at YM which simply ignores the possibility of martinique being visited in its list of carib places to visit) the french carib doesn't seem to exist , and vice versa. But martinique s a department of France, pukka supermarkets and restos and chandlery exactly the same as france, just a bit more laid back, and lotsof it subsidised by the er EU, or that's what t says on lots of the signs about the new roads or buildings...
The 15 mint plants are one their last legs really, it think we might call it a draw todaywith final mohitos, and find new plants in martinique . Menthe in french, i think. Hope marlon is doing better than these guys, but i believe he hasn't had various arms and legs ripped off him every other day.
Medium term plan is to cruise up to st martin and return to canaries for summer. I had one german guy wanting to come along, excellent chap, but he can't make it due to busy work. Wel, ok, i sent him an email saing we were planning t be at the boat by VE day (may 8th) and he should be ok to be back at work shortly after anniversary of Dday landings so if he could let me know in 10 days then that would give him the chance to run it past his boss, and invade poland or france as well. But anyway he said he unfortunately couldn't make it, can't imagine why. Perhaps he can't stand Pat's essex accent, that could have been it...
Oh yes, and Pat says she is right up for the return trip, meaning that her first sailing trip apart from day racing will be an atlantic circuit. And we all got on jolly well with stingo, so he might come again too, maybe. Having Keith (racylady) as director of food was another bonus for the rest of us slightly-rubbish cooks, but i think we might have another volunteer for the fourth slot, perhaps.
Boatfixing now, bit of sail bodging this morning I think. I tried to fix an interior light as well but the bits flew apart so i'll have to buy a new unit, damn. Hope all fine at home but swmbo says Gbrown is busy papering over the cracks.
