Refit, Refit and Work on the Boat

 

Martinique still has a few pirate ghosts around to harass Maria.

The St. Pierre, Martinique Zoo was an unexpected delight.  In all these years visiting St. Pierre it took us so long to discover this amazing place with crumbling colonial ruins and lots of animals.

Walking among flamingos at the St. Pierre, Martinique Zoo.

 

 A kind of stationary animal at the St. Pierre, Martinique Zoo.

Now we know where Castro escaped to – Gros Ilet, St. Lucia.

Our friend Gaza in St. Lucia waiting for some wind to blow his paddle board to the next boat job in the Marina.

Another Island Packet owner we met up with.  Tom on Ad Astra in St. Lucia.

Sailing off Fort de France, Martinique.  Our friends on White Pearl snapped this picture of us.

Our new Hydrovane self-steering gear mounts firmly in place on the stern of Savannah Sky.  This intense job only took two days and a lot of lost sleep worrying about everything.

S/Y Savannah Sky – March 2, 2026 – Log #26

Savannah Sky Position: 14 degrees 04’ N, 60 degrees 57’ W

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia Caribbean

 

Refit, Refit and Work on the Boat

 

As I said in the last missive – The work isn’t finished yet on Savannah Sky.

 

Exiting through the Dutch Side bridge on Sint Maarten brought back bad memories of our Covid Days imprisoned on that rock.

 

Dutch soldiers patrolled the entire island and no one was allowed on the streets or anywhere outside their homes.  It was like a futuristic movie gone bad at that time.

 

It took us over three months to get permission to convince the authorities to allow us to exit this same bridge we were now motoring under.  Three months that seemed like an eternity and paying nearly $1,000 USD for an agent to arrange for our escape.

 

Unfortunately, the agent did little more than hand us a piece of paper as he took our money.  The agent was supposed to arrange for the bridge tender to open the bridge so we could sail away, but that never happened.

 

Luckily, I saw the bridge tender at the Coast Guard dock as we motored around the Lagoon and asked him to open the bridge for us.  He only said yes because he recognized us, luckily.

 

This time was different at the bridge exit from Sint Maarten’s Lagoon.  Mega Yachts were lined up behind us as traffic was halted for the bridge opening.

 

Off we sailed south, past St. Barths, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis and even beyond Guadeloupe to Portsmouth, Dominica.  It was an overnight sail beneath a large bright moon to guide the way.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that when we exited the bridge on Sint Maarten our engine alternator decided not to charge the batteries.  Sint Maarten didn’t want us to leave once again.

 

Luckily, Maria and I know the drill about sailing with limited battery power – hope for sunshine to power our solar panels and wind to turn the wind generator for energy.

 

At daybreak the next day our batteries were low but not low enough to force us to stop yet.

 

We pressed forever onward, beating into Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth, Dominica.

 

An old friend and boat boy, Bounty, came out to greet us and he said he had a mooring ball we could use in order to make repairs to our charging system.  Yea Bounty!

 

At least it wasn’t quite dark yet as we tied to Bounty’s mooring ball.

 

However, four sweaty, dirty and bloody hours later our spare alternator was cranking out amps once again.  Why do they make boats so unfriendly to fix?  Oh well, a day in the life of sailors is what it is all about.

 

We yellow flagged our stay in Dominica for one overnight on the mooring ball.  Dawn saw us motoring out of the bay headed to St. Pierre Martinique.  Ah the French!

 

We had an appointment in St. Lucia to get to the Marina so a Hydrovane self-steering device could be installed.

 

It was a quick trip from Sint Maarten to St. Lucia via Martinique this time.  We’ll take a more leisurely pace when we sail back north in about a month.

 

But for now, we had a brutal Hydrovane installation waiting for us at St. Lucia.  Brutal???  Oh yes.  I detest and fear drilling holes in our boat or any boat for that matter.

 

After two days of sweating and lost sleep worrying about the installation, our local friend Robin and myself successfully drilled holes in Savannah Sky and bolted three large support brackets onto the stern.

 

Maria, who was supervising the installation activity, quickly realized that our dingy could not occupy the same space on the back of Savannah Sky at the Hydrovane. 

 

Luckily, I was able to dismantle the Hydrovane and store it safely down below, until it is time to cross another ocean.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…

 

Steve and Maria

PS - 

1.     You can follow Savannah Sky’s route here, once we leave the dock: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SY_SavannahSky/

2.     Or here: https://share.garmin.com/SYSavannahSky

3.     www.savannah-sky.com for more news about The Longue Route 2027 voyage visit this website

 

Back in the Caribbean Again

 

                                                        Sunset at Great Bird Island, Antigua

                                                            Orient Beach on St. Martin

                                                    The Quay at Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua

                                                            Savannah Sky’s mast coming off

                                                        Savannah Sky’s mast coming off

                  Maria and Patty modeling new fashions to support The Longue Route voyage

                      Maria and Patty modeling new fashions to support The Longue Route voyage

        

                                                                    Captain Steve and Patty

                                                            Jolly Harbour Marina in the night

                                    Sint Maarten’s Greenhouse Restaurant with two-for-one drinks

            The French decided to damage the French Side Bridge once again in a protest.  Ah the French…

S/Y Savannah Sky – January 23, 2026 – Log #25

Savannah Sky Position: 17 degrees 04’ N, 61 degrees 54’ W

Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, Caribbean

 

Back in the Caribbean Again

 

Arriving in Antigua, Caribbean we found Savannah Sky just as we left her last April, waiting serenely on land for our return to Jolly Harbour Boatyard.

 

We flew from Denver with eight bags of boat parts.  I think that is a record for us.

 

Da Customs man in Antigua politely asked me to put the largest checked bag on his table and open it.

 

With a knowing smile he said, “What do you really have in all these bags?”

 

Oh boy.  In Grenada we would have been moved to the dreaded “Something to Declare” area and forced to pay a LOT of duty on boat in transit parts.

 

Yet in Antigua I told the Customs Mon, “I have clothes and LOTS of boat parts”.

 

Smiling at me once again, the uniformed man flipped my bag shut and said, “Welcome to Antigua” while waving me through and away from the Customs area.

 

Antigua is one of our favorite islands!

 

Seeing Savannah Sky at Jolly Harbour Boat Yard after seven months brought butterflies jumping in my stomach.

 

New bottom paint had already been applied to help control growth of aquatic life on the bottom of Savannah Sky while sailing in the tropical waters of the deep blue Caribbean Sea.

 

That dirty paint job was done before we arrived, something very different than down island too. 

 

A day later, the gigantic Jolly Harbour travel lift gently pulled Savannah Sky into the air from her solid supports, moving her to the slipways and lowering her into the water once again.  Savannah Sky floats!

 

Now, will the engine start?  That is kind of an important part as you might guess.

 

Yes!  The engine immediately turned over and we were on our way into a berth at Jolly Harbour Marina, about a 1-minute quick motor away.

 

Now the fun(?) began.

 

Several weeks were spent preparing Savannah Sky for sailing amongst the tiny latitudes of the Eastern Caribbean.

 

During this time in Antigua our good friend Patty joined us for Christmas in da islands, escaping winter’s grasp in snowy Colorado, spending her time snorkeling, exploring beaches and enjoying ginger beer with spectacular sunsets sailing around Antigua together.

 

Magical places like Falmouth Harbour, Nelson’s Dockyard and even remote Great Bird Island gave Patty a taste of Antigua’s treasures.

 

With the dawn of a new year, Patty was gone and Savannah Sky was sailing off the coast of St. Barths.

 

St. Barths, where the beautiful people and billionaires gather to enjoy a place like no other in the world.

 

The Christmas party at St. Barths that Jeff Bezos threw on his yacht Koru was legendary, or so we heard.  I guess typical sailors such as us were not invited, for some strange reason, haha.

 

We kept sailing on by.

 

Maria and I sailed Savannah Sky to a place we have known for over 37 years, Sint Maarten/St. Martin, the island where two countries sharing the same piece of rock in the sea, France and Holland. 

 

There was so much work to be done in Sint Maarten that we had reserved six months before we arrived.

 

Savannah Sky’s mast was pulled off and new stainless-steel rigging installed, a downwind whisker pole was mounted, new safety lifelines were put in place and a Code Zero sail was fitted for extended light weather sailing.

 

A new Raymarine autopilot was installed as well, something that is essential for ocean sailing.

 

Ah, the list of work was long and essential for a successful journey across the Atlantic to Portugal this spring and of course during the Longue Route 2027 I will be sailing solo.

 

Ah but the work isn’t finished yet. 

 

Next, we’re sailing south and down island to St. Lucia.  But that is for another day and another time.

 

Sint Maarten is the winter home to the massive mega and super yachts of the world.  So much wealth lines all the berths at Sint Maarten’s Lagoon Marinas that it is becoming another billionaire’s showroom, seeing so much stainless glistening in the morning light.

 

I promise to post more frequent updates as we sail down island, enjoying the beauty in these little latitudes, one day at a time.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…