Each of the Caribbean islands, so it seems, is its own country. Clearing in and out of each is quite a hassle and wastes lots of time. On my trip north to Martinique I would have to clear in and out over five times. So I decide to take a little liberty and make an unofficial visit to St. Vincent. I clear out of Grenada with destination St. Lucia. On the way I stop twice in St. Vincent: yesterday in Bequia and today on St. Vincent’s main island. I raise the yellow Q flag (the international quarantine signal) which is used to indicate that you have not yet (but will) clear into the country in which waters you sail. Only I don’t intend to actually do that and tomorrow morning will leave St. Vincent for St. Lucia. I might play the same game there but still need to decide. What a rebel, no?

After the long sailing day yesterday, today’s trip is short, just 20nm. I take it a little bit easier in the morning. Before leaving, I inquire at the fuel dock about Diesel. I am down to a 1/4 tank and want to avoid any risk of running out. But the Bequia fuel dock is out of diesel. The same happened down in Tyrrel Bay in Carriacou where I tried yesterday morning. There I even moved JACE and docked her at the fuel dock (my second solo docking without land-side help), just to find a paper note at the dock saying “No fuel”. Not sure what’s happening but hopefully in St. Lucia I will succeed.

The sail is fast and short. For a change I am not beating upwind but have a nice beam-on reach, the fastest point of sail. In 15-20kn of wind JACE reaches over 8kn of speed. Just before I arrive, we pass the bay where one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” was shot. I have not seen that movie but maybe some of you will recognize that big rock marking the entrance of the bay.

My stopover for tonight is called Cumberland Bay, a wonderfully green and lush natural harbor. It is so protected and still in there that you don’t feel any of the wind I was just sailing in 20 minutes ago. It is wonderful in here and I enjoy the very different scenery.

But I think I will pay the price tonight in form of a warm (no wind to cool the boat) and mosquito-rich night. But it is worth it.

After coffee and banana bread (my goto substitute for cake; gotta have cake, am I right?) I turn my attention back to my fridge. Yes, the saga is far from over.

Remember that the holes I drilled were completely stuffed with ice and therefor no cold airflow from freezer to fridge possible. In a text exchange with my friend Jeff he reminds me that we have two Dremel tools onboard. Those come in extremely handy now: I decide to brutally cut away the metal plate between the five holes, creating a pentagon-shaped big opening on the freezer side. The Dremel makes surprising short work of it.

Now I peel all the insulation and some old copper pipes (part of the old evaporator plates that are no longer used) out until the backside of the fridge’s metal wall is fully exposed from the freezer side.

Mission accomplished. My hope is that this hole is too big for any ice to build up and clog the five holes in the fridge wall. Now I will give the fridge 24hrs and see how cold it gets. By evening it is down to 12C; still a bit too warm but not too much. After this I have two more moves, to drill more holes and to rewire the fridge fan. But more on that in the next episode of “The Fridge Saga”. Be sure too tune back in for that!