A couple of strong squalls went by overnight. They were strong enough that I
started to doubt whether we would actually leave in the morning. When we awoke,
the winds were much lighter and although the seas have not had time to settle
down yet we weren't concerned. We were only travelling about 11 miles up the
leeward side of the island to be in position for calmer seas tomorrow. We
couldn't leave too early as we needed at least mid-tide to be able to go through
the gap in the reef.
It was 9AM when we let go of the mooring lines. The tide was incoming so it almost swept us around the south end of the island with no effort on our part. It was a beautiful day and it would have been nice to have kept going but we're hoping that the seas between St Vincent and St. Lucia settle a little more before we cross tomorrow. When going north, this passage between islands is normally the worst. It gets better after St. Lucia.
We were the first boat to arrive in Wallilabou. It was Shaun, who met us and
became our boat boy/line handler. He helped us pick up a mooring ball and then
tied the stern of the boat to some pilings near shore. As soon as the boat was
secure, we had a vendor selling trinkets. This bay was becoming costly. It was
$15EC for our line handler. We initially gave him $10EC but he told us that the
rate now is $15EC. I bought a trinket for $10EC, which I bargained down to half
price from $20EC. The cost of the mooring is $20EC but that is refundable if we
have something to eat at the Wallilabou Anchorage Restaurant. The water is over
40 feet deep near shore so the mooring and line ashore are much better than
trying to anchor.
The movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed in Wallilabou. The sets are
still in place and as we sat at anchor, we watched the tour buses arrive with
movie fans taking pictures of themselves in front of the buildings. We didn't
come by bus but we did much the same thing, played tourist. While walking around
the sets, we commented that the structures would probably not be standing by
this time next year. They are starting to fall apart and no one seems interested
in trying to maintain them.
The passage between St Vincent and St. Lucia when heading north is normally the worst. The guidebook says that when travelling north between these islands it is hard on the wind and hard on the body.
We did everything we could to ease the pain. The forecast was for 15 knot winds from the east with 5 to 6 foot waves. It wasn't going to get any better than this for a long time. We left Wallilabou at 6AM to ensure that when we reached the tip of St Vincent we would have slack to incoming tides.
As we pulled out of the bay we saw Duane (Tortilla Flat) and Marilyn (Kamani) crossing just in front of us. We spoke on the radio and learned that they had spent the night in the bay 1 mile south of us and we were all headed to the same place, Rodney Bay St. Lucia.
Tortilla Flat is a catamaran and faster than Wind-Borne and Kamani. Duane was almost at the end of the island when he called to Kamani to tell Marilyn that he was looking at a magnificent waterfall of lava. Wow!! I thought the volcano (Souffriere) had not been active for over 50 years. We changed course to head closer to shore to see this spectacular sight. When we arrived where Duane had been we searched up and down the mountain and finally sighted what he had seen. Someone up in the mountain had a fire going, the downdraft winds pushed the smoke slowly down the sharp little valleys toward the water. This appeared as something burning and flowing down but it was just smoke. We chuckled and decided to save this storey for later.
Our timing was perfect, we hit the end of the island (Cape Roll) at slack tide. It was quite rough but our main sail as usual was reefed. We decided that a stay sail rather than full head sail would be appropriate but when we unfurled it we found the car on the rack was positioned incorrectly and the fairleads were against the shroud. All of this to say that we had to furl the sail until someone went on deck and moved the car.
The waves were pretty awesome but finally I agreed that Rick while clipped onto the jack lines (to stop him from being tossed or washed overboard, could crawl (not walk) forward on deck to move the car. With that task complete we could relax and enjoy the ride.
The worst part only lasted for the first 8 to 10 miles the next 20 miles were rough but comfortable.
Duane called again with another sighting. This time it was a whale. Now a whale is much more possible and plausible than lava flow. I believe the whales migrate south at this time of the year and St. Vincent actively hunts whale. They have a whaling station on Bequia. We watched but never saw the whale. We decided that to go along with Dwayne's other sighting he was probably looking at flying fish through his binoculars not a whale (ha ha).
We had beautiful blue skies until we reached the lee of the island and while we were sailing between the Pitons huge black clouds started coming toward us. There is a good side to this. All of the salt was washed off of the boat and the sails. Since we were in the lee of the island the seas remained flat and the boat picked up speed.
We arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia at 3:30PM. We had travelled 54.2 miles in 9.5 hours and we commented that it had been a good sail. Not Bad!
We owe our thanks to "Ray de Pilot" who was at the helm the whole way.
It rained off and on all night long. When it wasn't raining, the breeze coming through the hatches was wonderful. We were up and down all night long closing and opening hatches. The final squall came through as we awoke in the morning. At least we have a nice clean, salt free deck.
The weather forecast was still good and it wasn't that far to Martinique so we decided to keep moving. The edge of a small squall helped to push us out of the bay toward the open water. The seas were higher than we expected and the winds were up a little as well.
Our timing with the tide was good it was just changing from slack to incoming as we arrived in the passage between islands. The waves were on our beam and made it a little rolly at times. In fact, the waves looked like walls of water coming at us but Ray handled them very well.
We normally keep a large gallon of water in the cockpit to ensure that we are drinking as we sail. It keeps us hydrated in the heat and we feel more refreshed when we arrive at our destination. The waves this day made it difficult to pour the water into our glass and worse than that, it was difficult to try and take a sip without slopping it all over the front of us. This wasn't all that bad because if we had been able to drink more then we would have had to go below to the head more often. Life was better on deck than it was below.
We arrived in Ste Anne, Martinique a little after noon. We had travelled almost 23 miles in 4 hours.
We anchored off the beach and just relaxed. We sat and looked at the white buildings with red roofs along the shore. We could hear the hourly chiming of the church bells. Customs is only open until noon so we'll check in tomorrow.
We got ready and went by dinghy into Marin to check in with customs. It is
one stop shopping in Martinique, customs does it all and there is no need to
visit the immigration office. Not only that, there were no charges at all even
though this is Saturday. Many islands charge overtime fees on weekends and
holidays and after hours.
As soon as we were legally checked in we visited the automatic bank machine to pick up some Euros. The EC dollars that we have become so accustomed to are useless here.
We had a small shopping list as Marin is better than Trinidad for purchasing boat parts. A few items that we had our doubts about were specialty items and would have to be shipped in. Those items can wait. We were able to purchase a new membrane for the watermaker. Normally we would have to have it shipped in but one store had a great supply of all different sizes.
It was a good time to sit out a little rain shower at a French patisserie.
When the rain stopped we dinghied to the other side of the Bay in Marin where
there is a refrigeration company. We were able to get another spare thermostat
for the fridge. We can't risk being without ice cubes.
We raced a rain shower back to the boat in Ste Anne, dropped off our purchases and headed to the town dock. Ste. Anne is a very pretty little town. We had lunch at Poi et Virginie, which is right on the waterfront and specializes in French and Creole food.
After lunch, we walked around town. I picked up some French sun protector at a pharmacy; at another store, we found aluminium foil cooler bags that we like to keep in the back pack for when we go grocery shopping. Finally, we picked up a baguette, cheese and some wine and headed back to the boat.
It continued to rain on and off all night. The rain never lasts long but it's
a pain opening and closing hatches. If we were going to stay for any length of
time we would put up the squall proof wind scoops.
After breakfast, we installed the new membrane in the water maker. While we were at it, Rick went ahead and changed all of the filters as well. We will soon have the purest water available again. Meanwhile I decided to use up some of the existing tank water to wash our laundry.
It was noon when we finished making water and running the generator. The stores close at noon on Martinique but we decided to go ashore and walk through Ste. Anne . We stopped at another beachfront restaurant and had a lovely meal. Our waiter who was from Paris had only been in Martinique four months but already he has decided he is not going back to Paris.
After lunch, we walked through the north end of town and down a hill to the
public beach. Since it was Sunday, the beach was quite busy. There were more
nice restaurants along the beach and just to try another one we stopped for a
drink. Their meals are all so wonderful; I could hop from restaurant to
restaurant here for a whole season.
Eventually we returned to the town dock where our dinghy was tied and made our way back to the boat.
When we finished breakfast we made our way from the anchorage off of Ste. Anne beach into the harbour of Marin. It was just a little over two miles between the towns but provisioning will be much easier from Marin. We need to carry cases of wine, champagne, pate and cheeses from the stores in Marin. It's just a little too far to carry all of this in the dinghy.
After we arrived and anchored, Rick went ashore while I rinsed and hung the laundry on deck. When he returned, he had a new fuel pump for the engine. This is exactly the fuel pump he had been looking for but until now the only way to get one was to have it shipped from the States or Canada.
We both went back ashore to one of the large grocery stores. Again we bought some wine, cheese, pate a nice fresh baguette along with some beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables. We have bought a few different French wines to sample. We started with the ones that were $1.50 EU and we are now up to $3.00EU. We don't recognise many of the wines because these wines are grown in small vineyards and not necessarily exported outside of France. We have been trying a different wine at each meal (other than breakfast) to find one that we think our guests may enjoy at Christmas. Neither one of us is satisfied that we have found the right one yet. We'll have to keep trying.
We went ashore and roamed around again today. We found another grocery store with an even better selection of wines than the previous ones we had visited. Dominic from Tyrrel Bay (who is French) said that when he brings his family to Martinique, they go ashore, buy some bread, pate, cheese and wine, return to the boat and talk about leaving. The next day they go ashore and do the same thing. It's very difficult to leave Martinique.
We found a good supply of cheeses and pates in the grocery store today and actually did stock up on those but we still haven't made a selection on the wine yet. We bought a couple more bottles to sample.
We visited an outdoor chicken barbecue rotisserie last time we were here. Initially we were just going to pick up a rotisserie chicken there to take back to the boat but it started to rain so we instead stayed and had lunch in their covered eating area.
In the afternoon, Rick picked up some fuel so we are topped up and ready to go.
After dinner, we agreed that we had found one wine that we would stock up on but we should find some others.
This will be our last day in Marin. Rick checked the fluid level in the batteries and changed the oil in the generator. These were good rainy day projects and that is definitely what it did all day. We kept waiting for the skies to clear a little so we could go ashore and roam the streets some more but there was always another dark rain cloud on the horizon.
In the late afternoon, Rick went ashore with garbage and picked up our first small supply of wine. We will keep tasting and probably buy more in Fort de France. In fact, Guadeloupe is also an offshore Department of France and so is St. Martin so we can always buy more there but we felt a need to begin the testing process here in Martinique.
What a difference a day can make! After raining all day yesterday and almost all night, we awoke to a clear blue sky and small puffy white clouds.
When we had anchored in Marin, we picked a nice empty spot with almost no boats anywhere near us. There are hundreds of boats anchored in Marin but they are crowded into areas where the water depth was about 15 feet. We anchored in 30 feet of water which gradually became shallow behind us where there was a reef. It's almost like the spot we like to anchor at in Bequia. Our thinking is that it is difficult to drag an anchor uphill. Well when we went to lift the anchor we found we weren't going to drag anywhere. It had buried itself in a very heavy mud and it took us quite a while to get it to budge. Finally, we were on our way. I was at the helm and Rick was swabbing the mud from the deck.
When we got out of the channel, we were hoping for a nice run along the south
end of the island until we reached the western shore. Well the fifteen knots of
wind from the east was less than 5 but the seas were the 5 to 7 feet that we
forecast. It was still a nice ride and once we turned the corner into the lee of
the island we had a lovely steady 10 to 15 knots of wind with no waves.
We were only travelling 22 miles from Marin to Fort de France so the dinghy was left in the water and towed behind us. We arrived at the anchorage by noon and dropped the anchor just off the wall of the old fort. We are the only sailboat here. There are many at the far end of the bay near the mangroves and beaches but we wanted to be right downtown.
Some small ferries that run back and forth across the bay dock a little way
to our stern. They don't seem to cause much wake. There is an inter island high
speed ferry that docks much further into the bay than where we are and although
we did notice some wake from it I think it only runs a couple of time a day. So
we're not sure why there are no other boats here but we like it.
Next to the fort where we are anchored is a small park and beach. The main waterfront road of Fort de France runs past the park and around the fort.
When the anchor was set, we broke out the cheese, pate, baguette and another bottle of wine to try. This was another good one so again we will stock up on more of the same.
We rested for a while after lunch. I'm not sure if it's the fact that we are a couple of degrees further north or whether it is the change in season, it feels cooler and is such a comfortable temperature. Neither one of us felt like doing much in the afternoon so we just relaxed, read and enjoyed it.
We were up and ready to explore Fort de France today. On our way ashore we stopped to say hello to Coram Deo, the one other boat that joined us last night. Chuck and Micki who we met briefly in Carriacou last year, invited us over for sundowners this evening.
In town, we noticed the traffic congestion, which is bad in Fort de France.
This is the largest and busiest city in the Windward Islands. I think we got
around town much faster walking than the people driving their cars.
We roamed up and down the side streets looking at the shops and the buildings housing the shops. The small balconies and large French doors that looked across the street into neighbours apartments above stores, were everywhere.
We stopped at a patisserie for a snack in the morning and later had lunch in an upstairs restaurant overlooking the waterfront area. Both were great people watching locations.
My French although not great, has been getting us by without a problem. Today however, in the restaurant, I asked what the special of the day was and could not quite get what our waitress was saying. I did get the fact that it was a three-course meal and was $12EU per person. The price was right so I went for it. Well, no wonder I didn't understand what she was saying, the main course was pigtails. I tried but could not eat them. The appetizers and dessert were good and that was more food than I needed anyway. Rick made a good effort at eating most of his pigtails.
We left the restaurant and went to the grocery store where we stocked up on the last type of wine we liked, and a few more cheeses before returning to the boat.
There was just enough time left to defrost and clean the fridge, run the generator, make some water and have a short siesta before going to Coram Deo at 5:30PM.
We had a very enjoyable evening and a wonderful tour of their boat a Halberg Rassy 49.
Remembrance Day at Home and Armistice Day in France We didn't realize it was a holiday here and went ashore in the morning to first go to the meat market and then to check out. At first, we thought everything was closed because it was too early (8:30AM) and went into an internet café that was open, just to kill some time. When we emerged, everything was still closed. We met another couple walking down the street and it was they who told us it was a holiday.
The big downtown grocery store was open so we stopped in a picked up some chicken for the freezer and made our way back to the dinghy dock.
All along the waterfront, booths and temporary outdoor restaurants had been
set up. Rick took the food back to the boat and I waited ashore for him to
return.
Very large transport trucks were delivering French traditional boats to the waterfront. These boats are about 30 feet long, with no keel and huge square sails. Wind-Borne had the best view in the house. The race markers had been set just beside our boat. We watched the men offload the boats and put them into the water.
The Armed Forces, brass band, police and boy scouts were all present across the street for the Armistice Day Service. We watched it for a while and then returned to the waterfront where we sat in one of the small restaurants that had been set up and had drinks and then lunch.
We watched the race begin while we were at shore and then made our way back
to the boat for our front row seats. Two boats ran into each other rounding the
mark beside us and then on the final lap, one actually tipped and we watched
everyone land in the water while they waited for the rescue boat and a tow to
shore.
It was a great day and I'm glad we weren't able to check out.
The festivities, music and races continued in Fort de France for the second day. We enjoyed them but we are getting antsy now to move on.
We will be able to check out tomorrow morning, which should work out perfect for us.
We went ashore to check out and found we were a little too early for Sea Services. They open at 8:30AM and it was just a little after 8AM. We killed some time in the internet café and then later arrived just as the doors were opened.
After checking out (France gives you 3 days to leave from the time you officially check out) we stopped one last time at the grocery store. There we purchased just a little more pâté, cheese and a few baguettes to hold us over for a couple of days.
We only traveled 12 miles from Fort de France to St. Pierre but it was a very
slow 12 miles. We hugged the shoreline and checked out the scenery as we
travelled. We had started the trip with the headsail but the winds were so light
they shifted from east to northwest all morning so we just furled and motored.
The area between Ste. Anne, Marin and Fort de France is littered with fish traps. Travelling through there is like trying to get through a minefield. The floats are everywhere and although we try to avoid them occasionally Rick asks if a float is following us. That means he has not seen it in time and wants to make sure that we haven't caught it on the prop. The only other place we remember as having as many traps was the Chesapeake Bay. Travelling there was just as hair raising.
We arrived at our destination at noon, had a quick lunch and talked with Bill
(Domoi) who rowed over to say hello. Bill is a Canadian who works for Budget
Marine. We know him from Grenada but he is transferred and will be working at
Budget Marine in Antigua this year.
After lunch, we went ashore to explore. St. Pierre lies at the foot of the
Mt. Pelee Volcano. In 1902, St. Pierre had a population of almost 30,000 people.
When the volcano erupted on May 8th, everyone in the town was killed except for
two people. One, a prisoner held in the dungeon of the jail and the other a
cobbler who was in his cellar at the time. Many of the buildings were built of
stone and although charred and damaged some of the original walls still stand.
Twelve large ships were destroyed at anchor in the bay.
Today, the countryside
around St. Pierre is very scenic and the rich farmland reminds me of what I
would expect to find in a picture book of the countryside in France. The
population in St. Pierre today is only 5,000.
We returned to the boat but Rick offered to take me out to dinner later. Believe it or not, I decided I would rather eat on board.
We had a short siesta, listened to weather, prepared the boat for an early departure and then had dinner.
I slept very well last night until a charter boat pulled in beside us at 2AM and dropped his very loud anchor chain. I had a difficult time getting back to sleep and when I heard the church bells go on and on I thought it must be 6AM. Wrong!!! It was only 5AM and immediately after the church bells all of the vehicles in St. Pierre started up. There were cars and large trucks rumbling down the road.
I gave up at 5:30AM and got up. At 6AM we watched Bill (Domoi) leave the anchorage. It was a little too early for us. We finished our breakfast and got ready to leave. It was 7:30AM by the time we raised our anchor.
The sea was flat as we motored along the coast. Soon we had a call from Bill who had just left the end of the island. He let us know that the seas were still flat but that there was no wind at all. This meant it would probably be a long day.
We reach the end of the island and at first it was so calm and flat that Rick went below and brought out his book to read. I dug out the fishing gear and put a line overboard. This lasted less than 30 minutes and then we both looked at each other and at the tell tales on the shrouds. There appeared to be a little wind on our beam.
The mainsail was up and now we put out the headsail and found that we were
moving along nicely. Next, we added the staysail. It's not often that we have
all three sails up but today was perfect. Rick continued to read and I continued
to fish. It was noon when we pulled into the lee of Dominica. We were both
pleased with the progress and decided it was much too early to stop so reset our
course for the north end of the island. Our enthusiasm lasted as long as the
wind did which was less than another 30 minutes. The wind dropped off to almost
nothing and we were making less than 5 knots under motor. Our revised
destination was now Castaways resort in about the centre of the island. It was
3:15PM when we arrived and anchored near Domoi. We had travelled 42.5 nautical
miles today and it had been very enjoyable.
This was a very significant passage. We crossed the 15 degree latitude line that separates the Windward and Leeward Islands. It reminded me of our first trip to Northern Ontario when we drove by the French River. I had never looked at the other side of an Ontario road map before but it all happens at the French River. The map must be turned over. It's the same when you leave Martinique the last of the Windward Islands and reach Dominica the first or the Leeward Islands. I had to put away my guide for the Windward Islands and take out our old ragged one for the Leeward Islands.
We left Dominica at 6:30AM knowing we had a long day ahead of us and unsure exactly where we were going. If there was no wind and the passage was very slow we thought we might stop in The Saints, which is a small group of Islands that we would pass on the way to Guadeloupe.
When we reached the passage between the islands there was no wind and the sea was extremely flat. We opened up all of the hatches, I sat up on the foredeck and watched for whales, Rick put out the fishing line and hoped to catch dinner. This lasted for about 10 miles then the ocean swells were starting to make the foredeck a little rolly so I returned to the cockpit. Rick, looking to the east noticed some whitecaps on the water a long way out that were starting to spread in all directions. He asked if I thought it might be wind. I looked at the clock and noticed that the tide was changing from incoming to outgoing so I thought it could also be that. We continued to keep an eye on it and sure enough, it was wind coming our way. I think we both let out a little cheer. I ran below and quickly closed the hatches. We both put on our life jackets and harnesses (which we normally wear when offshore). The mainsail was up and we unfurled the staysail as we waited to see how strong the winds were going to get. We seemed to have enough sail up to keep us moving comfortably at a good clip. I say comfortably with tongue-in-cheek, because the wind was from the east and we were headed in a north west direction. This meant that the waves were aft of the beam providing my least favourite corkscrew action. The last time we had seas from this direction, Rick was hanging over the side in the dark being sick and I was proclaiming that this was not the trip I had signed up for. Since then however, we acquired Ray de Pilot, who was currently steering the boat.
Rick and I relaxed and ate potato chips and commented on how great a crewmember Ray had become. The wind only lasted a couple of hours but of course, it then takes the sea a little longer to die down.
Since we had made good time, we decided to skip The Saints and continue to Guadeloupe. As we passed behind Terre D'en Bas (the most westerly Island of The Saints), the sea settled down and we had a couple of dolphins arrive to welcome us. We unfurled the headsail, furled the staysail and proceeded to Basse Terre in Guadeloupe where we were going to anchor.
As we got close to Basse Terre, which is near the south end of the island, we commented on the fact the wrap-around, waves were still very strong here and it could be a very rolly night. (I don't know what the correct term is but at the ends of each of the islands where the ocean swells and waves come around the point the seas can often become very confused for a little way up or down the leeward side of the island. I call them the wrap-around waves.)
Rick asked if we had any options other than Basse Terre, I quickly gave him
(really I gave it to Ray) a new heading for Anse a la Barque which was supposed
to be a small protected anchorage that we could get into. We would have had to
anchor in 30 to 40 feet of water behind the fishing fleet but it was only 10
more miles (2 hours) to the north. As we got near the entrance, it was very
narrow and full of tiny little fishing boats. Oh well, there was another bay
just a few more miles, so we continued on. When we arrived there, the bay was
very open and again would have been rolly. It was certainly a good possibility
but just another few miles and we would be at Pigeon Island where there is a
very good little bay across from it. If we kept this up for a couple more hours
we would be at the north end of the island.
We steered into the bay across from Pigeon Island (a Cousteau National Park) and arrived at 4PM, just in time to mix the cocktails for George's cocktail and weather net on the SSB at 4:30PM. We had travelled over 50 miles today.
We both had one of the best nights sleep in ages. There were no church bells ringing at 5AM, no traffic on the roads, no loud engines from fishing boats leaving the bay at dawn. In fact, there wasn't even the chirping of the Coqui ((Ko-Kee) Porto Rican tree frogs that are found on almost every Caribbean island).
After travelling so far yesterday, we were only nine miles away from Deshaies,
which is the northern most town on the west side of Guadeloupe. We want to stage
in Deshaies for our departure to Antigua.
We left Pigeon Island at 7:30AM and arrived in Deshaies a little after 9AM. Rick lowered the dinghy to wash the bottom. He topped up the fuel tank. We have been doing a lot of motoring and motor sailing. We ran the generator, turned the water maker on. I took a nice French stuffed chicken out of the freezer for dinner.
We talked about going ashore but dark rain clouds arrived at noon and lasted a couple of hours. By then, we were very comfortable so we stayed onboard and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
I went to bed last night thinking only of the passage between Guadeloupe and Antigua. This passage is over 40 miles of open ocean sailing. If the conditions are not exactly perfect, it could be very uncomfortable. We awoke to a cloudless day but from within the bay we were unable to see the sea state.
We were up and ready to leave by 6AM. Bill on Domoi had already left the bay when we were lifting the anchor. As we rounded the corner of the bay, all of our sails were raised and we were off. The end of the island was very close and the sea appeared flat beyond the point but it is difficult to tell until you actually get into it.
When we got there, it was as flat as we could have hoped. Our course was almost directly north. The swell was about 6 feet from the northeast. It was a gentle rolling swell that didn't affect us at all. The waves were less than 3 feet and in the same direction of the swell. The wind ranged between 10 to 12 knots and very rarely made it to 15 knots. I guess a little more wind would have been nice but then we would have to deal with the higher waves as well.
We left the engine running and had a fast and comfortable passage. I spoke will Bill on Domoi as we passed him halfway to Montserrat. He doesn't carry enough fuel to motor sail so had to drift along making only 4 knots. It was going to be a long day for him.
We saw only two other boats during our passage and absolutely no freighters, tankers or container ships. The only thing keeping us company were the flying fish. They were out in mass. Our conversations regarding the flying fish ranged from whether they traveled in schools or flocks. Maybe below the water they could be referred to as in schools and when flying they could be in flocks. Whether they are caught using hooks, nets, or butterfly nets. I think when we have WiFi again, we'll have to investigate the world of flying fish as they have become one of my favourite meals.
We watched as the Soufriere volcano on Montserrat spewed high columns of steam. There was probably ash in the steam but we had no way of knowing. In the past, friends of ours who have passed well to the south western side of the island have complained of the ash all over their deck and canvas. We were well upwind to the east of the island. Although the island was 20 miles away, through the binoculars we could see the huge ash flows that devastated the island. The volcano is still active and not really a place we would like to take the boat. There are helicopters in Antigua that provide fly over tours and there is a high speed ferry service between Antigua and Montserrat that we might think about in the future.
During the passage, I was offering Rick snacks at 10 mile increments. This
gave us a reason to watch the miles tick by and provided something to do.
Finally, I offered him an early lunch at the last 10 mile mark. Wouldn't you
know it, the winds picked up at 13 miles out and although it was still very
comfortable, there was too much motion to start setting the cockpit table.
Instead of chicken and potato salad, he got potato salad only, served in a bowl
that could be held in one hand and the fork in his other.
We arrived at English Harbour at 1PM. This is such a historic and interesting place we thought we would stay for a couple of days before changing anchorages. As well, at this time of year, we have found all popular anchorages that are normally packed with boats have been almost empty. English Harbour was no exception. It is too early in the year for many cruisers to be this far north (we are cheating). We motored through the different bays within English Harbour and decided we preferred the outer anchorage by the beach and with an ocean breeze away from the mangroves.
When the anchor was set, we sat and relaxed with some of our remaining French
wine, pâté and cheese. We had to rough it with crackers instead of Baguettes
because they were long gone.
The British Islands and the French Islands are very different in their approach to checking in. In Deshaies, Guadeloupe, there was a box of forms that were available for cruisers to fill out and put into another box to check in or out when the Douanes (Customs) were not available. In Antigua, they want you to come immediately to customs and immigration upon arrival at the island.
We made ourselves presentable, splashed the dink and went ashore to check in. Sitting just outside the Customs and Port Authority building we found Mrs. Baltimore. She has been the laundry lady in English Harbour for years. She asked if I had any laundry for her and I assured her that I did but being unsure of how long we would remain in English Harbour, I was hesitant to give it to her. She assured us that it wasn't a problem if we moved over to Jolly Harbour (which we told her we planned to do), she would deliver it to us there. Wash, dried, folded using her detergent $10USD a load. I had so much laundry for her, she would be rich and I would be happy not to have to do it. We promised to bring it to her tomorrow morning.
We made a short stop at Catherine's Café where Rick had a beer and I had a Cappuccino before returning to the boat.
After a wonderful night sleep, we had breakfast and went ashore with our
laundry for Mrs. Baltimore. She was there sitting in the shade of a large tree
with her driver (maybe grandson in-law) waiting for us.
We left Nelson's Dockyard and walked down the road toward Falmouth Harbour. There is a water maker place there that we wanted to visit. We arrived at the harbour, walked around the Yacht Club and then continued down the road. We eventually found the place we were looking for but being Saturday it was closed. Having had enough exercise for the morning we turned and headed back to English Harbour.
Once in the dinghy we went across the bay to Catherine's Café again. This time we had a piece of Apple Flan. The bakery is part of the Antiguan Slipway. It is very French, located in a very British Harbour and they play American Country and Western Music. I guess you could say it's very international.
Back at the boat, we cooled off for a while. Rick went back to shore at lunchtime to the bakery for some fresh baked bread.
In the afternoon, we jumped overboard for a swim and then had our afternoon cocktails with the Cocktail and Weather net.
I finally took Rick up on his offer that was made days ago in Martinique for dinner out. He suggested the Inn at Nelson's Dockyard but I wasn't after a big heavy meal. Instead, we went to Pagopoco, which is a pizza place. It was very nice and truly Italian. We had a nice dinner and returned to the boat for the evening.
It was Sunday morning and we had a very relaxing breakfast in the cockpit. A large yacht about 60 feet, arrived and anchored next to us providing our breakfast time entertainment.
There was a crew of four, three men and one women. They first anchored a little too close to us but then moved back behind us. It was not yet 7:30AM. They were flying a "Q" flag (yellow quarantine flag) and the vessel appeared to be registered in Bermuda. Whether they were arriving from there or from the Virgin Islands, we have no idea. Before doing anything, the four crew members washed, rinsed and polished the deck, stainless and canvas at least 3 times. Once they were satisfied that the glare was blinding all other cruisers in the anchorage, two of the men got into the dinghy and washed the topsides of the hull. The third man was standing on deck with a hose that had been churning out a large stream of fresh water for well over an hour. He now held the hose down continually rinsing the topsides as the other men scrubbed. There was a short pause while a different soap was acquired to wash a little grime off the waterline before proceeding. We were finally exhausted just watching them and went below so I never got to see if they went over the topsides with the chamois to establish additional glare. They were all young and probably well paid for what they were doing but it was hard work. Although the captain went to customs sometime during the morning, the others didn't leave the boat until after 2PM when we were returning.
We went ashore about 10AM and stopped in the visitors center to register for an organized tour of the dockyards. Clara met us there and asked what time we would like to have the tour. It was our understanding that the tours took place between 9AM and 5PM so we were willing to go at any available time. She offered to take us immediately. We questioned the fact that there were no other tourists, just us. That was not a problem, instead of waiting for a busload of people to arrive we would be given a personalized tour. Once she learned that we were on our boat, anchored in the harbour, the tour became free (we paid her anyway). She was excellent. She provided a brief history of Horatio Nelson, English Harbour, and Nelson's Dockyard as well, She was able to describe the use of the structures and buildings in the past and now.
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After our tour we stopped at the Seaman's Galley for refreshments. I had a
nice mango, banana fruit drink while Rick went for his regular. There we met two
young girls who were sailing on training ship for 80 days. They were rescue
divers learning navigation. We also met a tourist who was on the Mandalay
(Grenadian charter tall ship) that was anchored with us in Deshaies. I was
telling him of the Kingdom of Redonda, the island visible from here that is
located between Montserrat and Nevis. I mentioned that the King of Redonda was
supposed to keep his boat (Flagship of the Redonda Navy and the only ship),
anchored in English Harbour. I had been looking for it but hadn't yet found it.
It's fun sitting at a bar, the man next to him interrupted to tell us that it
was here and then proceeded to point it out.
When we left the Galley we headed for the Museum, but we got waylaid. We were looking for the Scrimshaw Studios and asked the manager of the HQ2 restaurant where the studio was and he mentioned it has moved. Seeing as it was lunchtime, we stopped and had a wonderful lunch in the building that at one time was the officer's quarters. After lunch we made it into the museum and then finally back to the boat.
We had forgotten all about last night being Sunday evening and the fact that everyone goes to Shirley Heights for the steel band music on Sunday night in Antigua. Since we were anchored just under Shirley Heights we were able to enjoy the music from our boat and it was great. At this time of year, the steel band was playing Christmas Carols.
The winds overnight were very strong and gusty from the southeast. This made the anchorage extremely rolly but we didn't mind too much as that was our last night in English Harbour and the previous nights had been comfortable.
We went ashore to pick up our clean laundry from Mrs. Baltimore. She ensured that we had her home telephone number so from Jolly Harbour or anywhere else we could call and she would come for our laundry.
Jolly Harbour is only 12 miles from English Harbour (by sea) so we towed the dinghy and left immediately. The sea had built overnight and it was a following sea for the first leg. When we turned north from the south coast of the island, we took the passage inside the reef where the sea flattened down nicely.
When we pulled into Jolly Harbour, we were hoping that one of their few moorings would be available as you are not allowed to anchor in the harbour and it's expensive to stay on a slip at the marina. It was a nice surprise to see all of the mooring balls but one available when we arrived. The marina here was as empty as everywhere else we have visited lately.
Once we were secure and tidy, we went ashore to the marina office to let them know we were using a mooring. After we finished in the office, we walked through the complex ending at The Epicurean, a large grocery store with meat cuts and products we haven't seen for a while. We shopped for a few days worth of meals and returned to the dinghy.
On our way out of the marina, we stopped to say hello to Bill (Domoi) who was now settled in to a slip next door to his new job location, Budget Marine, Antigua.
The winds started to get very strong. The central and western Caribbean had gale force warnings. We sat tucked in comfortably with not even a tiny roll.
It was time for an oil change and engine maintenance so I made my self available but mainly I just stayed out of the way.
When the morning chores were finished we went ashore and roamed some stores. We came across a liquor store, which is unusual because liquor is available in the grocery stores. The selection in this store was much more extensive and wouldn't you know it, the store is run by a Canadian. A lady who moved here from Kingston Ontario. Since we have a reasonable supply of wine on board we thought we might check out the champagne. We will probably find it less expensive in St. Martin but it's fun trying different ones in different places. A brut sparkling wine from Chili was recommended so we took one bottle to chill and test sometime tomorrow.
We met Bill (Domoi) for happy hour at the Dogwatch Tavern. Although there aren't many boats or tourists around, the tavern got busy during happy hour. Afterward we went a few doors down and shared a pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow is the American Thanksgiving and because we missed both the Canadian and the Grenadian Thanksgiving, Rick wanted to make sure that this one didn't slip by. We went ashore to the grocery store and found a "Butterball" turkey breast, some fresh baby spinach and real yams, not to be confused with sweet potatoes that are available in the islands. We will have a mini Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.
We were back at the boat for lunch and it was an extremely weird lunch. Something Rick doesn't get very often but craves once in a while as his comfort food is Kraft Dinner. He was craving it today but this was also the day we were to test that bottle of Champagne. Therefore, Kraft Dinner and Champagne it was.
In the afternoon, we (a royal we) topped up the fuel tank and took the jerry cans in to have filled.
It rained all night with thunder and lightening. The lightening at times was non-stop but I don't think it got any closer than 10 miles from us. As each storm cell passed us the boat swung 180 degrees from north to south setting off the anchor alarm.
We had turkey dinner with almost all of the trimmings in the afternoon. It was good but strange because we didn't have anyone to share it with.
It was another night of rain drills with lightening well off in the distance.
We went ashore in the morning and completed a few chores. On our way back to the boat we stopped at Customs and Immigration to see what there hours were if we wanted to leave early Sunday or Monday morning. It's a good thing we checked! Port Authority is closed on the weekends and in Antigua we have to first check out with them. They gave us the ok to come back in the afternoon today and check out with them.
When we returned to the boat, it appeared that we would have no rain for at least a couple of hours and Rick wanted to make a small adjustment on the staysail furler (up the mast). He went up and I operated the safety line. It was perfect timing because shortly after he finished it rained again.
November is one of the rainiest months in the Caribbean and until this week we had been very lucky because the rain seemed to fall everywhere else except where we were.
There was only one rain shower early in the evening and no lightening or wind all night long. In fact, when we awoke, the harbour was as calm as a millpond and looking out our port we could see a dolphin playing around the boats by us.
According to the weather forecast, if we leave tomorrow morning and hop over to St. Kitts and Statia before going to St. Martin. we should just make it before the Christmas Winds start again. The seas and the winds are forecast to be down for the next few days but will pick up very strong with large swells from the north on Wednesday.
We checked out with Customs and Immigration in the afternoon and we thought we had everything ready to go when we realized that all of a sudden, the refrigerator wasn't working. Using both of our extensive (not) knowledge of refrigeration we added a little Freon. It didn't help. Tomorrow is Sunday and we wouldn't be able to get anyone to fix it so we're just going to ignore the issue and eat a lot of food.
We couldn't get the tide right on this passage. If we wanted to leave and arrive in daylight hours we had to travel on an outgoing tide. It wasn't bad. It would have been better with a little more wind. We had a sea that was trying to be a following sea but it wasn't doing a good job at it. The 6 foot swell was from the southeast but the winds were so light we were just doing a lot of wallowing. One grey cloud went over us and brought enough wind that when we unfurled the head sail, we imagined ourselves arriving on the other side in no time. That was a tease and it didn't last.
We were about 10 miles out and there was a lovely view of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Redonda, Antigua and Nevis. This beautiful view lasted all of an hour. Some very threatening dark clouds formed behind us and we watched for a long time to see if they were going to get us. I think some dissipated and the others headed for Guadeloupe.
We arrived at the shelf just off Nevis at slack tide. It was perfect. We were gently lifted from the deep water onto the shelf and then we worked our way up the windward side of Nevis behind the protection of a couple of reefs.
As we travelled between Nevis and St. Kitts to the leeward side of the island, we finally saw another boat. The only other boat we had seen anywhere this day had been a tug pulling a barge going in the opposite direction from us.
We rounded the corner of St. Kitts and sailed into a nice private anchorage (Ballast Bay). Again, we were all by ourselves. We travelled 48 miles today. We were anchored just off the salt flats but didn't see any flamingos. The sunset was magnificent and Basseterre, the capital of St Kitts, which we could see from our anchorage was lit up beautifully.
After a wonderful night sleep with not a sound anywhere to waken us, we found the same thing when we went to depart. Not a sound! As Rick turned the key in the engine, it sat there quietly. I'm sure glad he is better with diesel engines than he is with refrigeration systems. He gave the solenoid on the starter motor a little tap with the hammer and we had a nice purr sound happening.
He doesn't realize it yet but I am working on his Christmas list. 1 new solenoid for the starter motor, one new dryer for the refrigerator. He has already mentioned a new pump kit for the head along with his much-desired electric windlass. It's sure a good thing that St. Martin is duty free.
We raised the anchor at 8AM and travelled along the coast of St. Kitts. Basseterre appears very nice and modern. The north end of the island appeared more interesting to us. A small railway goes all around the island. It was built long ago for use with the sugarcane industry. We saw many sugar mill chimneys and in some cases the buildings that were associated with the mills. The towns in this area seemed to have more of the older or original buildings. Fort Charles sat up on a hill and appeared to be one of the largest and best preserved forts in the islands. It's difficult to say when we were looking from the water but sometimes you can get a better view from the water than when standing too close on land. We'll have to visit St. Kitts again a spend some time.
Coming up the island chain what we have really noticed are the large houses that are being built. We were aware of this in Grenada and Carriacou but it seems to be happening everywhere. Expats who have worked all of their life in either England or North America are returning to family land on their islands and building huge houses. It won't be much longer and there won't be any small wooden gingerbread homes left. The new homes are much more substantial and they will sustain a lot less damage from storms but the little houses had a lot more character.
There was absolutely no wind. We had heavy rain clouds to our port and to our starboard. They weren't moving but they seemed to expand to the point they were just about to dump on us and all of a sudden, they would dissipate. Rick started talking about how lucky we were because the rain seemed to be avoiding us. I told him not to count his chickens before they were hatched, and please don't say that until we've reached our destination.
We arrived in St. Eustatius (Statia) by 12:30PM and picked up a mooring. The Island of Statia is a national park and they charge you to stay regardless of whether you anchor or take a mooring. Since the moorings are maintained by the park and they appear to be in good condition, it makes for an easy getaway in the morning, so we chose a mooring.
I roasted a small but nice roast of beef for dinner. Just as it went into the oven, the sky opened up and it rained heavily until we had finished eating and cleaned up. At times, everything disappeared around us because it was raining so hard. The boat had a nice fresh water rinse, we as well as the meat, roasted inside the boat with the oven on and the hatches closed.
Well today, we felt we were heading out to conquer the seas. The original weather forecast for today said the wind would be 10 knots or less with seas of 4 to 6 feet. We were moaning about the lack of wind. Last night before going to bed, we picked up an updated forecast. All of a sudden, we were going to have seas building to 8 feet and 20 knots of wind. Because we had no idea of what the conditions were to be, we felt that whatever it was, we were ready to conquer, as this was the last leg on our trip to St. Martin/ Sint Maarten.
St. Martin applies to the French portion of the island and St. Maarten applies to the Dutch portion of the island.
Since we are a little wimpy when it comes to heavy seas, we decided to leave as early as possible and let the seas build after we were out in them. Rick tapped the engine to awaken it in the morning. As it purred, the sails were raised and everything readied for departure. Although we had discussed leaving in the dark it no longer seem prudent. Sometime during the night a lot of humongous tankers anchored nearby so we had not only many mooring balls to watch for we now also had the bright lights from these tankers blinding us.
We sat on deck waiting for 6AM when the sun rose and we had more than enough light to work our way through the moorings, 5 tankers, 2 barges, and many many tugs assisting the ships.
The winds were still light maybe 10 to 15 knots, we had 4 to 6 feet or less. The wind and swell was from the northeast and we were headed a little west of north. It was beautiful! We were having a wonderful sail but had to leave the engine running as we're not sure how many more starts we can squeeze out of the starter solenoid. As the morning went on, the wind dropped to about 12 knots and the sea became 4 feet or less. We couldn't have asked for nicer conditions.
We arrived in Sint Maarten and anchored in Simpson Bay by 12:30PM. After the anchor was down, we had to wait for a small squall to pass by before going ashore to check in with customs and immigration.
When we went to the ATM for cash similar to when we were in Bonaire the machine asked if we wanted US dollars or Dutch guilders. We took the guilders because in Bonaire, regardless of what money you used, your change was always in guilders so it was easier to deal with one currency. Not so in Sint Maarten! Here although the official currency is the guilder, the preferred currency is the US dollar and all change is given in US. As well, we became accustomed to saying Bon Dia to everyone in Bonaire. Here, no one (very few) speaks Dutch. The island is very Americanized to what we have been used to. This is not bad, just different. The advantage is that everything you could want or need is available (duty free).
We went to the diesel mechanic actually to see where they were located and ended up ordering a new solenoid. While there, Rick asked about a small $16 part he has needed for the engine. At other islands, we would have to order and have it shipped in by Fedex, which would have added $50 to the cost. The dealer here had a used one (perfect condition) that he sold to us for $10. The solenoid should be here by the end of the week.
We were amazed at the number of mega yachts in the lagoon. We knew that there would be more than we have seen in other locations but this was ridiculous. Then we learned that there is a Charter Yacht Exhibition on December 2nd to December 5th and that's why many of them are here.
We picked up some ice and returned to the boat. The refrigerator problem can wait until tomorrow.
It rained and the wind howled off and on all night long. We slept very well. In the morning, we listened to the local net and learned that many boats dragged within the lagoon after dark last night. There are some large northerly swells headed our way over the next few days with winds around 25 to 30 knots. Where we are anchored, I don't think the swells will affect us and we have such good holding here we may not go into the lagoon. In addition you wouldn't want to swim in the lagoon but the water and beach in the bay where we are located are lovely.
Before we left the boat to go ashore today we watched five cruise ships arrive in Phillipsburg. That's a lot of people for one city to handle all at once and they do this almost every day. When we get brave we will take a bus into town and watch the ships arrive.
Our first task when we entered the lagoon in our dinghy was to find Kiana. Lynn heard me on the SSB in the morning and called to let us know where they were located. We found their boat but no one was on board when we went by.
Next stop was Shrimpy's a local restaurant and bar that has free WiFi located on the shore in the lagoon. We stopped there for lunch and we are tempted to eventually move the boat closer if for no other reason than the free WiFi. The lady that served us and the other ladies that work in Shrimpy's are from Dominican Republic so we talked for a while about the DR.
Next we wanted to get a new sim card for our phone. The phone company that was recommended was closed for lunch until 2Pm so we killed time at Toppers where they advertised 2 pina coladas for the price of one. There we met Julio who is Cuban, he lived in the States for many years and now worked at Toppers here in Sint Maarten. He introduced us to Uncle Harry, who owns "Uncle Harry's Restaurant" famous for their lobsters. Harry was originally from Aruba and helped establish the marine park in Bonaire.
In Grenada when we purchased our current phone from Cable and Wireless, we bought the more expensive one because it is supposed to be able to accept sim cards from any of the Caribbean Islands. It would have but Cable and Wireless locked it. Eventually I tried to purchase a new phone but there had been a sale last week and they were totally out of phones. The lady suggested that if we returned next week they should have a new supply. I was anxious to have one now so we stopped by Toppers again and asked Harry where we should try next. He recommended Telcell so that's where we went. The phone we purchased will only work on Sint Maarten but our other works in all of the other English Islands.
After the phone was taken care of we stopped at the refrigeration place where we found John (Drisana) who we met at the Turtle Dove in Carriacou. When he's not cruising he works as a refrigeration man. He very nicely gave us a few things to try ourselves and suggested if all else fails, bring the evaporator into the shop. Their hourly rate is very expensive as this particular company usually services the mega yachts so he his suggestions were saving us quite a bit.
We stopped at the little (really in Carriacou standards it's very large) convenience store and got some more ice. The cashier remembered us and when I picked up a couple of mangos (imported from Ecuador) which are out of season and not available on the other islands we talked about the different types of mangos. I then learned that she is from Dominica. We are beginning to think that Sint Maarten is a very international island. No one we have met was born here.
We returned to the boat for the rest of the afternoon and evening where the wind is still blowing 25 knots and gusting much higher.
It was an unbelievable night. The wind was continually 25 to 30 knots and gusting almost hourly much higher. As the gusts came through it sounded like a jet aircraft was about to land on our deck. The boat would swing hard to the side and heel over. There is a chop in the bay but the 13 foot seas are not affecting us (yet).
Neither of us slept very well so other than doing the basic things we have to do during the day we slept when we had the opportunity. The only job we did accomplish was to remove the evaporator from the refrigeration system. We decided to wait until tomorrow to take it ashore to the shop. The wind and gusts continued all day and are forecast to entertain us again all night. Tomorrow the wind should be back down to 15 to 20 knots (we hope).
We didn't expect to see any boats underway today and so we were surprised to see quite a few arrive. Granted, they had triple reefed their sail and once their anchor was set we realized they were offloading passengers. Obviously, they were chartering and had to have their customers back in time for a flight.
