When we got into Point a Pitre I was not in a very good frame of mind. 

Not only were we about to lose our cruising buddies but the boat was in trouble. The engine oil pressure light and alarm kept coming on which could have indicated a catastrophic failure. Not an engine rebuilt in France, puleeeeeeese! Also, the stainless steel ladder had separated at the welds, due to someone’s extreme weight. Don I think.

Don and Pat were to leave at 3PM on Thursday so we went over in the morning to scope out repair possibilities at the marina complex. Found english-speaking Eugenie at Fred’s Marine and Mr. Welder just outside Fred’s. Eugenie told me that the earliest they could help would be next Tuesday but Mr. Welder said au demain (tomorrow.) The next day I got the ladder in the morning and in the afternoon as we were loafing around, Fabrice the mechanic and his apprentice Sloanne arrived at the boat.

They quickly determined that the engine oil pressure was fine but the sensor was shot. One hour labour and a €20 part. Who has ever heard of a Yanmar part costing €20? Awesome. We are back in business! And kudos to Fred’s Marine in Guadeloupe. Highly recommended by me.

Yay Fred Marine

Yay! Supplies at our local grocery.

Watching Fabrice and Sloanne

We are going to hang around here and get some more, minor boat chores taken care of. Also spend some time visiting the city. There is a giant “Geante Casino” grocery store that is one serious, bad-ass grocery store. Need to spend considerable time in there. 

OMG, rollmops. Love those things. I'll take a case.

Mmmmmm, whole lamb. Betcha can't eat just one.

Back at the marina we are killing time, waiting for someone to install some stuff up the mast. We replaced our reefing lines and what a mess that was. They were always hard to use... and no wonder. Two of the lines were rubbing against each other in a slot in the boom made for one line while the other slot was empty. And instead of riding over pulleys, 3 of the lines were riding under the pulleys over a metal extrusion. We raised the sail to adjust the lines and it went up unbelievably easily. Yay us!!!

Yesterday and today we replaced the reefing lines.

Lunch at a local pizza joint

Checking our our little grocery again

Hmmm, haven't seen this in a grocery before. Don't you love France?!

All reports are that Dominica is improving and wants our tourist dollars but many things, including fruit, supplies and internet are in very short supply So we are lounging around, exploring... just spending more time other places before heading south to Dominica. We will probably shorten our time there to a week instead of the 3 weeks we have before starting to head north.

So, excuse me while I bounce below to see how our loin fillet is doing on the grill.