We started in the marine district near the marina across the channel. We started in the marine office and got a lead to a few places. We walked to "Fred's Marine" and found someone there who spoke borderline English and with our French words written out and the broken part in hand, we were able to find out they couldn't help us but gave us the name and address of a hydraulic shop. It was across the harbor in the "Industrial Zone." We did some more exploring on the marina side - found a good grocery store, a small chandlery (the large one that was supposed to be terrific burned down last month - bummer) and a bank machine for more euros. We picked up a few things and went back to the boat - having walked a few miles in the process.
We then headed over by dinghy to the Industrial Zone and hunted out a place to tie up the dinghy. We found a small dock and luckily there was a worker around (it was lunch hour and everything closes for two hours at lunch time here). He gave us permission to tie to the dock for a few hours and also directions to the street we were looking for. Off we go on foot. Michael loved this part of town!! All sorts of manufacturing, parts and various stuff. We found the street and panicked a bit when the address we had was number 23 Rue de la Chapelle and the first number we see on Rue de la Chapelle is 977! The sounded like one long walk - but the numbers went down quickly so it was a tad long - but not too bad. Of course, they didn't have exactly what we needed - it seems there are THREE standards for sizes, threading etc. One is the American (what our system is - though we thought it was British), one is the British and one is the French. Of course, being a French island, all they carried was the French standard. So Boris, the nice man who spoke a little English, sent us to another place about 2 kilometers away. So we walked more of the zone and found the place and of course they didn't have it either - so we went back to Boris and had a hose built - hoping we could make it work. We walked back to our dinghy - another hike - Barbara grateful none of it was hilly!
On Tuesday, we got up early to hit the hydraulic shop at 7 am before heading out on an island tour. We needed to pick up the hose they were making. Another couple - Byron and Lynn Nelson from the motor yacht Voyager arranged a driver Allain and an all day tour of the island. We left at 9:30 in a van and went through some beautiful countryside seeing lots of interesting trees and plants - including mahogany, breadfruit, almonds, flambeau, cashews, cocoa, mango, camphor, and cinnamon. We hit a waterfall and a few rivers - one with a cool suspension walkway. We got into the rain forest mountains which had some great vistas. We took a tour of a chocolate making shop in Point Noir with some good sampling. We also went through a rum museum (with more sampling). Had a nice lunch on a beautiful beach in a very good restaurant. It was a good tour and nice to get off the boat and off foot and see some more of the countryside. Lynn and Byron were nice people and interesting. We got back to the boat and all was well - it's always a tad nerve-wracking leaving the boat at anchor all day unattended.
It's Wednesday and another holiday in the islands. It's end of slavery day. Michael is attempting to fix the hydraulic hose today (language aboard not so pleasant) and we're hoping he has great success.
Success! At least temporarily. The board is up, no leaks (so far) and the pressure seems to be holding. So we are back to being a shallow draft vessel, which means we can anchor closer to shore and not put out nearly as much chain, which saves us both, especially Barbara on the fore deck with the windlass.
Happy Emancipation Day!
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