A day in the life

I was chatting to a friend on Messenger a week or so back and she asked “So what do you do all day besides clean?” A very good question I thought. Granted there is a lot of cleaning involved but much else happens. Thanks Cath for the question.

I thought I’d share a couple of examples. There is no typical day on board. It really depends what ‘mode’ we’re in. Boat project mode, on the dock mode, on anchor mode, on holiday (need more of this), provisioning, planning etc etc etc.

One thing I hadn’t expected was just how social every day would be. Wherever we go we have friends, whether we’ve met them yet or not. We belong to the Amel community. Amel owners are generally very friendly and helpful. We all love our boats and our boats are very similar. There were not so many changes made in the 480 hulls that where made. We belong to the Ocean Crusing Club (OCC) and can recognize each other by the burgee (flag) with the flying fish which we fly on our port side. Flying the burgee is an invitation for people to drop by and say hi. We also find the Aussies and Kiwis afloat a very welcoming group. So whenever we see an Amel, an OCC burgee or an Aussie or Kiwi flag we pop over to say hi. That is if they haven’t beat us to it.

In fact yesterday while we where below decks we heard the familiar “Coooooeeee”. We went topside in time to hear “Aussie Aussie Aussie” to which we dutifully replied “Oi Oi Oi”. The boat that passed by was a Polish registered boat with an Aussie on board.

But I digress, here are some examples of how we spend the day. To make it more interesting, I left out all the cleaning.

Day on the dock in Martinique – Hurricane Season – Typical Day

0700 Dave heads up to the Marina precinct at the end of our dock (a 5 min walk) to get Internet and download the weather. He monitors many sites and uses the Internet of a closed restaurant, which has good bandwidth. We don’t feel guilty about this as last year we regularly emptied our wallets at this place.

0730 Baguettes Cereal (wholegrain baguettes) are freshly baked and available at the boulangerie. We collect the still warm baguette and bring it back to the boat. Stopping along the dock to chat with John & Colleen on SV Annie to hear about how their boat projects are coming along, which tradies turned up yesterday, which ones did not, where they ate last night, how the food was, how their dog, Kellie is adjusting to Marina life, etc. SV Annie is a Super Maramu and similar to ours so there’s heaps to talk about. John was on the dock last year in Martinique when we were and has owned his boat for about the same time as us. He is also doing all the refits that we’ve been doing. Much to discuss.

0815 Back to the boat for coffee, baguette with vegemite and discuss the plan for the day. I am going to go through the bailout bag in preparation for our three-day passage to Curacao and Dave is going to change the anchor swivel and remove some of the links at the end of the anchor chain. We have a galvanized iron chain and stainless steel swivel and anchor. Because of the dissimilar metals we get a galvanic interaction so this is part of our regular maintenance schedule.

0930 We get started. The teeth on the zippers of our previous bailout bag had deteriorated and our temporary substitute waterproof bag had split at the seams, so we needed a new one. That aside I still needed to go through the contents, fresh them and add as necessary. Not surprisingly this involves the use of a spreadsheet (yes you can take the accountant our of the office, but once an accountant, always an accountant). We already have a substantial bailout bag and procedure to grab what’s needed should we need to evacuate the boat, but there’s no harm in giving it a bit more thought and supplementing our bailout bag. I refresh all the food, reorganize everything so that most things have their own waterproof bag, I add toothbrushes, toothpaste, chap sticks, more sunscreen, disposable flannels, microfiber clothes, double sided velcro and start to make a shopping list of extras I think we should have.

Meanwhile, Dave’s progress on removing the anchor swivel is slow. He has broken two drill bits and needs to run to the Chandler for some more. He returns just before lunch with said drill bits and a new bailout bag. Good score. Great new bag, fit for purpose and not too expensive.

1200. The rest of the baguette beckons and I make ham and salad rolls with mayo for me and dijonaise for Dave. Yumm.

Martinique is French and as is the way of the French everything shuts for lunch and reopens about 1400. We also stop for a repose in the Saloon.

1400. We get back to the mornings tasks. Dave enlists the help of our neighbour, Sean from SV Triton (also a Super Maramu). Together they are able to get the swivel off but need to resort to using a hacksaw. I repack the new bailout bag.

1630. Time to go shopping for 30 metres of 9mm line for the bailout bag, a dedicated bailer. We also head to the pharmacy to get a few extras for the first aid kit.

1700. Tools down. We shower and return to the boat for a sundowner.

1900. We meet up with Sean, Charlie & Jade from SV Triton and John & Colleen from SV Annie and walk over to the restaurant Ti Toque for Pizza. As this was not a Sunday, this was the atypical part of the day. We generally eat on Perigee for most meals. Venturing out on Sundays for Pizza – as is our 20 year tradition – or to a restaurant for special occasions.

2115. We’re back on the boat and prepare for bed.

Living the dream ;-)

Day on the dock in Martinique – Hurricane Season – Atypical Day

0700 Dave gets the weather. Hurricane Beryl has been looming and we discuss our hurricane plan. The probability of Beryl reaching Martinique with winds over 50 knots is less than 20% and this is within our decision criteria to stay put. But Beryl is small and unpredictable; she has sped up, slowed down, turned south, turned north, intensified & weakened. Our next appointment in Martinique is 5 days away so we have no reason to stay. We decide to leave.

Hurricane Beryl. First Atlantic hurricane for 2018

0800. I go to the boulangerie to stock up on baguette cereal – as much as I can fit in the freezer. Happy to leave but don’t want to leave behind this great bread.

0830. Start preparations for the boat. Stow everything below. Prepare snacks for along the way. Luckily we have left over Pizza for dinner so main meal taken care of. Rerun the lines for easy exit off the dock. This involves our neighbour on our starboard side, SV Triton, as their lines are on top of ours. Triton are also preparing to leave but their boat is more of a project boat with new instruments not yet installed.

Olaf from SV Sayonara II (another Super Maramu) comes over to see how we’re doing. We say we’re preparing to leave and plan to refuel at the fuel dock, then go to Saint Anne an anchorage about 3 nm away to finish preparing the boat. Olaf currently owns two boats. His new to him Super Maramu and his Amel Santorin - currently available for sale. He has two boats to prepare. He decides to leave the Santorin in the Marina and leave with his Super Maramu. Alex from Amel Nikimat is in town and staying on Olaf’s Santorin. Remember Alex from St Martin. He lost his Amel during hurricane Irma in September last year.

Olaf helps us remove one of our bow lines and I rig a breast line ready to slip to the bow of the boat on our port side. I prepare dock lines for the fuel dock. We empty the diesel from our spare jerry cans into the tank and prepare the cans to take fresh fuel.

1100. We call the Marina office and inform them we are ready to leave and require assistance to release the remaining bow line. We’re informed that they we be right along.

1130 Still waiting.

1145. John from SV Annie turns up and volunteers to help us with the remaining bow line. We drop the dinghy in the water and John agrees to take the dinghy to the fuel dock and meet us there after he has untied our line.

1150. The guy from the Marina office turns up and unties our line. I slip the breast line. Dave slips the lazy stern line, I slip the port stern line and we motor slowly out of our berth. Charlie from SV Triton calls out “Wow, you guys made that look so easy”. Thanks Charlie.

1400 We arrive at St Anne. Dave starts the water maker to fill our tanks and provide ballast while I make another really tasty ham and salad baguette. No repose after lunch today as we must get Perigee ready for the 100 mile passage to Bequia in the Grenadines. We raise the outbaord motor (Harry Honda) and secure it to the rail starboard side. We raise the dinghy, let out some air and secure it to the foredeck, we secure all the halyards, Dave runs the jack lines. We lash down the solar panels and secure the now full diesel jerry cans in the port locker. When everything is ready we take a shower, I reheat the pizza, which we enjoy in the cockpit, wash up the dishes and get ready to weigh anchor.

1430 Olaf on Sayonara II sails on by before turning south.

1830. We weigh anchor. Surprisingly the wind that had been building all day had dropped down to 5-7 knots so we head out under motor. Dave takes the first shift.

2200. I wake for my shift. We have a lovely point of sail with the wind aft of abeam. The seas are regular, less than 1.5 metres also aft of abeam. There are a few squalls and some traffic so I need to wake Dave a couple of times.

0100. Dave's been up and down so I decide to stay on watch while it is quiet.

0400. Not much has changed, except now I am ready for a break. Dave has had a good 3 hours uninterrupted sleep so I wake him. We put out more sail and I turn in.

0700. Back on watch. We see SV Sayonara II approaching from our starboard. Olaf must have taken a course further offshore. We’re happy to see him and try to get some photographs but he never gets close enough for a good shot. I decide SV Sayonara II is a little camera shy.

0845. I turn the water maker off. We now have a full 1000 litres.

0900. Dave joins me in the cockpit; we slow down hoping that Olaf will catch up for that photo opportunity but he never does. We’re both tired and decide to make for the anchorage.

1040. We anchor off Tony Gibbons beach in Port Elizabeth,Admiralty Bay, Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

1100. Olaf anchors on the opposite side of the bay.

1200. I make bacon and eggs. This time we do repose after lunch and in fact do not wake for 3 hours.

1500 We see Olaf has re-positioned and is now close behind us.

1700. We drop the dinghy back in the water. Drop Harry Honda back on and Dave goes ashore to check us in through customs and immigration.

1830. We enjoy the sundown from the back deck. Finish the remains of the pizza and turn in for an early night.

Day at anchor – Bequia

0700 We awake and go topsides where we are greeted by a local in his bakery boat. He is selling croissants and baguettes. We decide on both. Coffee made, we sample the local croissants which are more like a sweet bread compared to the buttery flakey croissants we’re used to from Switzerland. Good none the less.

0830 Shortly after breakfast Dave notices a dinghy drifting out of the bay. There is no one in it so we decide to mount a rescue. Dave drops the dinghy into the water and I grab a tow line just in case. We jump in the dinghy and start the engine and turn in the direction of the runaway to see Olaf headed in the same direction. He makes it there first. We both grab the runaway dingy and start to chat about our sail south. 20 minutes or so later we see another dinghy with two occupants approaching; one of them is the owner so we no longer need to consider what to do with the dinghy. We return to the boat and get ready for a trip to shore.

1030. We venture into the little town of Port Elizabeth. First stop the tourist office, where we discover it is Carnival on St Vincient (the mainland) so most things are shut or will be by the afternoon for the next two days. I remember from our time here last year that there is a supermarket called Doris' Fresh Food and Yacht Provisioning that sells almost everything including vegemite. We’re down to our last two jars and since we’ll be heading west soon with extremely uncertain opportunities for resupply, we decide to restock here. Lucky Doris has some in stock. We also find New England Clam Chowder so buy a couple of tins. It makes a great meal on passage. Easy to heat and eat, delicious and not too heavy (for those of us that get sea sick).

1200. As the Whaling and Maritime museum is closed we decide to take a hike along the foreshore to one of the beaches. Along the way we stop and chat to a few local taxi drivers, buy three different types of local mangoes. Stop and chat to another local at a lookout. The trail is busy with many people having come over from the mainland by ferry to enjoy the beach. It is warm sunny day so the pace is slow.

1500 On the way back to the boat we spot a catamaran flying the OCC burgee so we stop by to say hello. Turns out Rick and Helen on SV Symmetry are also joining the Suzie Too Rally in November. Rick is an avid kite boarder and wake boarder and Helen is a passionate quilter. They have a dinghy with a 40hp outboard for wakeboarding. For reference Harry Honda is a 9.9 hp outboard, which make a 40hp a monster. It’ll be fun to spend some time with them in the Western Caribbean.

1730 Olaf comes around for sundowners and shares with us photos from a recent 4^th of July beach party we where all at. We talk about all things Amel, the weather, boats and beautiful place we have been.

2000. Dave grills Lamb chops on the BBQ and I make a Tabouli with the most aromatic fresh parsley home grown in the luscious Martinique and tasty local tomatoes. We just hang out on the boat chatting till bed time.

A day in the life.

Here are some photos from Olaf from the July 4th Party. You'll recognized some of the characters.

Amel owners. L to R John & Colleen SV Annie, Alex SV Nikimat, Sean SV Triton, Olaf SV Sayonara II, Jade SV Triton, Leanne SV Perigee, Charlie SV Triton and Dave SV Perigee