I have not had too many miserable days since I retired but the last three have sucked donkey breath. I was up in St Pierre when it started to roll. Now I use Windguru to forecast both wind and swell and they were both OK. However it is still rolling and it is not a place I am happy using a stern anchor so I head for Grand Anse d'Arlet, which is one of my favorite anchorages.
On the way my ear which has been niggling starts to pound a bit and I use my usual ear drops.
I settle down in Grand Anse d'Arlet, giving Dizzy some attention when it starts to roll. Now it almost never rolls here, but I am soon going whack whack whack. I think about Trois Islet but it is a slightly fraught entrance and relies on several lit markers so I decide to stay put, set up the lea cloth and retire but my ear really gets going.
Next morning I am shaky, running a temp, 102 f according to my forehead thermometer, I can't face coffee and there is gunk pouring out of my ear which really hurts.
So I need a doc. No doc or pharmacy in Grand Anse d'Arlet. The guide says there are both in the next bay so I motor round and visit the clinic.
The doc. confirms what I know, I have a bad ear infection and she prescribes some serious antibiotics both aural and by mouth. Glory be! in an hour things are settling down and I feel like my morning coffee. Which was a bit of an epic because it is now rolling in this anchorage. I have to get out the non slip and field things that are sledging around.
So I decide to motorsail to Marin where it is sheltered and definitely flat water. The wind is not favourable and I know from experience it will be bang on the nose all the way to Marin even when we turn at Diamond rock. I use the main sheeted slightly to windward to keep things steady and bash upwind with spray flying and Dizzy complaining LOUDLY.
Entering Marin I check out the topless volley ball court [ this shows I was feeling much better ] but alas the strapping Club Med lasses of the 90s have disappeared and there was only one couple using the beach.
But it is quiet and flat here and Dizzy seems to have finally forgiven me next morning for going sailing three days in a row.
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Must have been bad weather if you used the iron sail. Hope your infection is all cleared up. How do you manage to cook when everything is rolling around, A sharp knife could be a real liability when nothing is staying still. Pasta in a pressure cooker with stir in sauce?
ReplyDeleteHave fun.
The ear is much better thank you. Not all the way back but better. The stove is on gimbals, it has fiddles and I use a pressure cooker without the weight because if it does jump off the top stays on. I suppose we get a bit less adventurous with the menus but Lorrie was able to conjure up amazing dishes on passage. But it is so much easier when we are not rolling. I saw your FB post on commuting hell. Not fun.
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