Location: 14° 32N, 61° 08W
Wednesday, 04.09.2008

At noon on April 9th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 14° 32N, 61° 08W. We were sailing on a close reach in 15-20 NE’erly Trades along the Caribbean Coast of Martinique. At noon we were just about

directly off Fort de France, the capitol and main port. It is sunny with only a few rain showers around. Martinique is protecting us from any Atlantic Swell.

Headed to Les Saintes

We are headed to Les Saintes, which is an island group just south of Guadalupe, and have about 80 NM to go. We should arrive tonight about 2200. Antigua is only 45 NM from Les Saintes.

Update on the J-Prop

I previously reported that something has gone wrong with our J-Prop feathering prop. On arrival in Cul de Sac des Marins, it would not give any pitch in reverse. We worked on it in the anchorage, lubricating it and trying different pitches and it just got worse. Finally it would only give forward or forward (either way the shaft rotated, we got forward propulsion) and then it stuck in position. We have a spare fixed prop, so we got to work to remove the J-Prop, which only took an hour in the water (using the Hookah underwater gear). Then we installed the spare fixed prop, which only took 1/2 hour. It fit perfectly on the shaft. Unfortunately it did not fit in the opening, having a shorter shank than the J-Prop. The blades would touch the wood of the hull. But we were ready for that. The prop shaft is in two sections, with a massive coupling. All we had to do was open the coupling and slide the prop shaft out a bit and reclamp the coupling. It only took an hour to get the four nuts off the coupling. But the shaft had long since fused to the housing and no amount of force, lubrication or heat guns could persuade it to slide.

So, now we have discovered another good reason to have a wooden boat. You can cut into the hull in the water and open things up enough to allow the prop to turn. Only took another hour in the water. We now can motor both forward and reverse! It will be one more thing to fix when we get back to Lunenburg. We can feel the drag of the fixed prop. We are guessing that the feathering prop gave us 1/4 to 1/2 knot more speed, which after 34,000 NM adds up.

When we put the main sail up this morning, we found a two foot rip just below the second reef luff cringle. So we quickly adapted and set the main only to the second reef. Hannah will have busy fingers tomorrow in Les Saints. We are also going to try to get professionals on it when we get to Antigua, though we would need a quick turn-around.

Cul de Sac des Marins was a lovely little harbor. Only slightly marred by 1000 rental catamarans. The restaurants were great (fresh vegetables!) and even the little supermarket had 200 different cheeses. But everything was very expensive, a combination of the weak dollar against the Euro, and the generally high living costs in Martinique. The ship stores are well stocked and have knowledgeable staff, something we haven’t experienced since New Zealand. Isle des Saintes should be a lovely break for a day or two and then we jump into the craziness of Antigua Classic Race Week.

All is well.