61) Martinique

Marina du Bakoua, Pointe du Bout, Martinique

14° 33.382 N 61° 03.265 W

Almost everybody left the dock and moved on.

Today was a very lazy day.  It is now the night of the 31^st and I am trying to remember what I did yesterday.  All the days run together. 

I remember that it rained last night in the wee hours and my roof hatch was open.  Yes, the rain wakes me up quickly.  I did get wet and since I was up I listened to the rain.  When it pours it loads up the mast and rigging and then giant drops fall on the roof.  It’s pretty loud. 

I used up the air in the tanks yesterday and needed to fill them.  I set up the compressor and it blew the circuit on the boat.  We are plugged into shore power and it should have worked.  The U.S. is 60hz and pretty much everywhere other than the US is 50hz.  That’s cycles per second.  U.S. appliances can run on 50 but they might run slower.  It will not destroy them.  Then it blew the circuit on the dock.  The other day the washing machine blew the dock circuit and then we had to ask the restaurant to turn it back on.  So, we then unplugged from the dock and fired up the generator.  The compressor showed an initial spike of 50amps and then blew the circuit multiple times.  It appears there is an electrical anomaly.  As soon as Alan fixes the water maker the compressor is next.  The washing machine is not as important anymore for some reason. 

I was pretty bummed that I could not fill the scuba bottles.  I took one to the local shop and she said they could fill the bottle when the dive boat got back.  I asked when that was and she said, could be now could be later.  I swear that is what she said.  So, I go to the boat and get a bottle and go back.  And, they were closed!  

I go back to the boat and read and did stuff and then walked thru the town and went back to the boat and did stuff…  around 4 I decided to head back up there with a bottle.  I talked to the owner of the dock on my way for some advice on alternate dive shops and after asking a few questions he tells me they won’t fill the bottle.  Nobody will.  This bottle did not have a current VIP (visual inspection of the inside of the bottle that is done yearly and then given a dated sticker) and it was out of hydro.  A hydrodynamic test is done to all compressed air tanks every five years.  They submerge it in a tank of water and fill it to almost twice its rated pressure.  Then they measure the expansion of the metal and the contraction.  If it is in the range then it gets a stamp that is good for 5 years.  A ‘plus’ rating means that the bottle can safely be filled 10% over its rated pressure.  All divers like to have tanks full of lots of air.  Most new tanks are + rated. 

So, the tanks are out of VIP and hydro.  Nobody will fill them because of that and they are aluminum.  It appears, according to Philippe, that the Caribbean does not favor aluminum tanks because they corrode too quickly.  After the 5-year mark they get rid of them.  They prefer steel tanks because they are of the best quality.  But, steel costs more than 3 times what aluminum costs.  I personally have the highest quality steel available at the retail level.  There is a reason why some dive operations use aluminum.  And that is because they are cheap. 

With that said, I moseyed on down to the local dive shop and put my money on the table.  I knew I paid money because I signed the credit card slip.  But, her French and my English told me I didn’t really know what I got.  She said be at the dock at 9.  Easy enough.  At least I had plans for a long day tomorrow.  Cause, uhm I’m going just a teensy bit stir crazy not having scuba at the ready. 

This is the favorite restaurant.  Pizzeria L’Embarcadere.

John, Nancy and I headed to the restaurant that Clive and Rhonda took me to.  This is the favorite spot of all of us.  Good, non-French food and the prices are fair. 

And now a funny little side note about the French.  Across the bay in Fort de France tonight they had a fireworks display celebrating the New Year.  Uhm, it was a day early.    As it turns out, city workers put on the display and they have New Year’s off.  No kidding.