This morning Peter and Nancy-June invited us to their boat Step Three. I was to help Peter change his email configuration and Rick was to help fix his WiFi antenna. We both failed miserably, they had the same problems when we left as they did before we arrived. Nancy-June however served some extremely good croissants while we were there and we finished them off without a problem.
We spent the rest of the day shopping. Rick bought lots of new clothes at Club Nautique. That was just the beginning; we left there and continued shopping until we could carry no more.
We returned to the boat and passed on the Regatta get together that was held at Port de Plaisance tonight. We could hear the music and an auction that went on long after our eyes had closed.
We went with Max and Kristen (Kandu) to Fort Louis in Marigot. We picked up baguettes, cheese and water before climbing up to the fort. It was a steep climb but not a long one. When we reached the top there was a nice bench in the shade where we could sit and watch all of the boats (over 200) in the Heineken Regatta as they passed by Marigot between St. Martin and Anguilla on their way to Phillipsburg in the around the island race. It was a perfect race day with blue sky and good winds.
When we walked back down from the fort and made our way back to the dinghy dock at Marina Royal I found my legs weren't working all that well. I guess I should climb to the fort a few more times as my muscles haven't had that much exercise in a while.
The wind blew like stink off and on all last night. It would die to almost nothing and then suddenly a gust of 30 knots or more would come charging through the lagoon heeling the boat over while at anchor. The gust would only last a few minutes and then it would become calm just long enough for our eyes to close. Then wham, another gust!
Since we have no more shopping to do before departing, we did boat chores during the day. Rick scrubbed the cockpit while I cleaned and organized more lockers and drawers.
We had purchased some new sound proofing for the engine compartment, which we installed in the afternoon.
We went to Peg Leg's Pub for dinner with Peter, Nancy-June their son Mathew and his friend Sara (Step Three). It was a great evening. We arrived at the restaurant between rain showers and found that when we went to leave, it was pouring again. There was a full lunar eclipse tonight but since we couldn't even see the hills on the other side of the lagoon because of the heavy clouds, there was no way we could see the moon. We waited until the worst had past and then raced for Step Three. Really, only Rick and I raced to outrun the rain cloud. Step Three's dinghy was loaded down with four of them so they weren't really up to racing. We were invited onboard for after dinner special coffees (butterscotch liquor) that Peter and Rick put together.
The regatta was still underway, in fact today was the final race. We talked about going to Kim Sha Beach for the final race and party but the seas even in the lagoon were so choppy that we would be soaked by the time we reached shore. Instead, Rick went in the dinghy alone to the Sunday morning Flea Market at Shrimpy's. He was attempting to sell some of the items we had cleaned out of the lockers. He didn't sell much but while there he got a haircut and had a free beer.
We signed up for a day of WiFi and in the afternoon we took turns surfing the net. I checked the weather on the internet and it appears that although we're ready and willing to leave the weather isn't going to cooperate for at least another week.
It was another night of strong gusty winds. When the wind did finally settle down, it began to rain.
In the morning, we ran the engine for a while just to find out if the new soundproofing made it quieter down below. It did, so Rick was a happy man.
I continued cleaning; today's task was the nav station. It is unbelievable how much can be stored in the desk portion of the nav. I removed everything, sorted and tossed a lot of items. Obviously Rick had to browse the "to be tossed" pile but he approved of almost everything.
We remained onboard for both lunch and dinner.
We turned the fridge off to defrost first thing in the morning before Rick even made the coffee. Today is a provisioning day and I wanted to clean the fridge first.
We are still watching for a nice weather window but there doesn't appear to be one this week.
Our grocery shopping expedition started and ended at the Gourmet Marché where we found almost everything on the list and ran out of cash. It seemed like a good time to stop.
It took two trips back to the boat. During the first trip the dinghy was completely full with groceries leaving just enough room for Rick but not me. When Rick returned from the boat to get me I was glad it was done in two trips because the water was very rough in the lagoon.
We had a nice dinner onboard. We had just finished eating when the winds went crazy. They were so wild that we had 1 to 1 1/2 foot waves with whitecaps racing by in the lagoon. The sound of the wind was almost as loud as the planes taking off overhead. Usually when the winds are so strong they don't last too long so we got ready and went to bed while trying to ignore them.
So much for short duration winds, they howled all night long. We were both up a few times during the night awakened either by the extremely loud winds or by the jerking of the boat as it was thrown from one side to the other with the gusts.
There is no improvement in the forecast until the weekend so we just relaxed in the morning with a nice breakfast of mangoes and bananas with bacon, eggs and a fresh baked round loaf of country style bread.
By the afternoon, the wind although still strong was nowhere near as gusty as it had been. Peter and Nancy-June (Step Three) picked us up and chauffeured us ashore in their dinghy where we met Max and Kristen (Kandu) for an evening out.
We went to Bamboo Bernies, a sushi bar in Maho for Happy Hour and dinner. They advertise that ladies drink for free every Wednesday, they do but only from 11PM onward. That didn't matter because their happy hour started at 5PM and drinks for everyone were free for the first half hour, after that they went up in price by 50 cents every half hour. Similar to Fathoms, we found their happy hour was great but we were disappointed in the meal. We each ordered a few sushi dishes but somehow the order was lost. It took well over an hour before we finally received our dishes. What we received was not what we ordered however, everyone was starving so we ate and still had a good time.
When Peter and Nancy-June delivered us back to our boat, we invited them aboard for a little more to eat as we were all still hungry. Rick made us some of the special coffee drinks as a nice end to the evening.
We had a few last minute things to buy like 50 lbs of dog food for our friend Fitzroy on Carriacou.
Dorothy and Brian (Sea Marva) invited us to their boat for sundowners. Not knowing what else to take I baked some Papaya and Banana muffins (one of Receta's recipes "Embarrassment of Mangoes") since I had all of the ingredients on board.
This was the first time we had been on Sea Marva and we were extremely impressed. The boat is a 34 foot Baba Panda which is a good quality boat to start with but add to that, Brian is a cabinetmaker, the boat is immaculate. Sea Marva is for sale and Rick tried to consider how he could purchase it. Just what we need "his and her" boats.
It was a lovely evening and Dorothy put out a spread that could feed have the anchorage.
Just a few more last minute items to buy. (There always will be a few more items until we actually lift the anchor).
We were invited to Step Three for dinner this evening and the appetizers that I wanted to make require soft flour tortillas. All of a sudden, there is a shortage of tortillas on the island so I had to make them from scratch.
We went to the yacht club for a final Friday night wave and afterwards joined Peter and Nancy-June on Step Three. Nancy-June had spent the day making a huge pot of homemade spaghetti sauce that was wonderful. After an excellent meal, Rick and Peter prepared special coffees for us. I think everyone here has become hooked on these special coffees.
Ok, this is it, our final day in St. Martin. Our first chore was to go into Marigot and check out with Customs however, someone advertised on the net this morning that they had a clothes ringer for sale. I called them and asked them to consider it sold and that I would pick it up at the Flea Market this morning. So, our first stop was the Flea Market.
After the Flea Market we left the dinghy at Marina Royal and walked toward the waterfront. On our way we had to pass by Sarafina's our favourite French bakery. The smell of the bread baking in their ovens was tempting but we continued on our way to Customs with a promise to each other that we would stop on the way back and purchase bread and sweets to take with us.
There was no one else waiting to check in or check out when we arrived at the Custom office so it only took us a few minutes. We raced back to the bakery, stocked up for tomorrow and had a little snack while we waited for the wine store to open. We bought a case of French red wine to take with us as back in Carriacou, Simon only provides us with Chilean wine.
We returned to the boat and found the winds had picked up to the howling state again. Although we had planned to go out the bridge at the 4:30PM opening it was crazy to go out in rough weather so we relaxed and waited for tomorrow.
The forecast was 8 to 10 foot seas and 15 to 20 knots of wind on the nose. A couple more days of this weather and it then looks like a very nice weather window will appear, so we were willing to plough into the waves and make our way the 16 miles to St. Barts until then.
It was a beautiful sunny day but the captain didn't notice. He hadn't taken any sea sick pills because he was sure he would be alright for a few hours. Well, we climbed a few sea mountains on our way and it took us 4 hours rather than the normal 3 hours. We only had 5 miles to go when he decided enough was enough and began to feed the fish.
Just before we arrived at the anchorage we heard Windmiller (Marci and Rod) calling us on the VHF. We haven't seen them for over a year. They were about 18 miles from St Martin and we were just arriving in St Barts. Ships passing at sea however, it was nice to hear their voice.
The water in Anse de Colombier seemed such a gorgeous turquoise after being in the lagoon for so long. We were able to just jump overboard and swim from the boat again. First, we needed a nice cup of tea, a little rest and then a swim. Well the swim never happened. We started relaxing and just never stopped.
Anse de Colombier is supposed to be a very protected anchorage however we rolled along with every other boat all night. In the morning after a nice breakfast we finally went for our swim. The water was beautiful. We were anchored in 30 feet and below us was all white sand sprinkled with large starfish. After a short swim we had a nice shower, lifted anchor and headed around the corner to Gustavia. I think that there were as many boats anchored in Gustavia as there were in the whole Simpson Bay Lagoon. We had planned to take a mooring for the night. As we were making our way into the harbour we noticed a free mooring. I tried to call the Port Authority (as the guide book says) but after many tries and no response we went ahead and picked it up. The dinghy was lowered into the water and we were discussing the fact the mooring didn't seem to be tucked into town as indicated on the charts. I think we had picked up a private mooring. With the dinghy in the water we made our way deeper into the harbour where we found the correct moorings. There were a few free and they were tricky. You had to pick up two moorings, one bow and one stern. After we struggled and secured the boat nicely, we went into the Port Authority Office to check in. When I told them that we had picked up one of the double moorings he said we couldn't stay on it as they were all booked and he had a waiting list. Oh well, it was still only noon and we had lots of time to pick a good spot to drop anchor.
We were finally settled in and decided to stay onboard in the afternoon and complete our chores. We needed to make some water, I wanted to make some salads and prepare foods for a few over night passages. I cooked and prepared all afternoon and then made a nice pork roast for dinner. We have enough food for passages and probably enough to keep us for a week at anchor as well.
The roll at anchor in and around Gustavia is very bad. It might be because the winds are extremely light or it could be all of the boat and dinghy traffic. Whatever the cause, I hope the town of Gustavia that we plan to see tomorrow is worth it. The roll here is so bad we discussed using seasick pills overnight.
It was a very overcast day. There is a trough in the area and I think it's right on top of us.
We went into Gustavia after breakfast and roamed up and down the streets. I think the attraction in St Barts along sometime spotting famous people here is shopping and eating out. The stores are magnificent with a wonderful variety of European fashions. There are many very nice restaurants but we were leaving before dinner which is good because couldn't afford them.
As we were walking around it started to rain so we slipped into a place on the waterfront and had an ice cream. When the rain stopped we continued exploring until it started to rain again. This time we stopped at a Patisserie for a Café au Lait.
We walked to Shell Beach where it appeared that every other tourist went as well. We also walked by "Le Select" in town which was where Jimmy Buffet composed his song "Cheeseburger in Paradise". Of course, the place was packed and everyone was eating cheeseburgers.
Finally, we stopped at Cantana, a small restaurant on the waterfront and had a nice lunch.
It was 1:30PM when we returned to the boat. It took us a few minutes to take the outboard motor off the dinghy and raise and secure the dinghy in the davits for an overnight passage to Antigua.
It was still overcast and we expected to have a little rain on the way but the winds have now switched from southeast to northeast and although they are light, they are at least in our favour for heading southeast.
We listened to the 4:30PM George's cocktail and weather net and then attempted to lift anchor to leave. At that time a nasty squall came across the sky with both strong winds and heavy rain. It seemed wise to wait until it passed. It was 6:30 PM when it stopped raining. The wind was still a little gusty but we decided to leave while there was still a few minutes of daylight left.
When we departed St. Barts the sky was darkening and the winds were freshening and we were on our way. It wasn't the most comfortable sail, there was a 7 foot swell from the east and our waves were about 5 to 7 feet and the wind was only 10 to 15 knots. We needed less seas and more wind.
The sky was totally black with not a star until about 9:30PM when one or two stars became visible. By midnight the sky was covered in beautiful bright stars. We had either sailed out of the trough or it had moved on.
Since it's after midnight, it must be the next day. Neither Rick nor I have had any of the meals I prepared. The only thing we've had is a seasickness pill and lots of water. The motion of the ocean is not currently conducive to eating and keeping food down.
We were both getting tired and took turns sleeping for a while. It was around 3AM when the small portion of a moon started to rise. It was only visible for a short while and then it and the stars seemed to disappear behind some clouds. We weren't in total darkness as we had been able to watch our progress as we motor sailed past the lights on the islands of Saba, Statia, St. Kitts and finally Nevis. We didn't see any other sailboats out there but there were a couple of cruise ships travelling along about our speed. They were on their way from St. Martin to Antigua and had to go slowly so that their arrival would happen around sunrise.
Finally, it was almost 5:30AM and daylight appeared. It appeared without an actual sun because the sky was completely overcast again. We were only about 20 miles from Antigua when there was a vicious looking squall line in front of us. It was a few miles long and slowly moving across our path. Although the radar indicated it was only a couple of miles across, those couple of miles were absolutely black from sky to water. Rick chose to slow down and let it pass. It decided to slow down and wait for us. It was too long to attempt to go around it so we played the waiting game. It rained itself out and before it had a chance to rebuild, we raced through like a herd of turtles. The wind in the squall line and after it changed from our wonderful northeast to an "on-the-nose" southeast wind. The wind, waves and current almost brought us to a complete halt. We ploughed into the nastiness and finally got our first sprinkling of rain. It didn't last long, just long enough to rinse the salt off the deck and sails.
The visibility was terrible. Finally about 8 miles from Antigua we could finally see the island. By 11:30AM we had dropped the sail in the lee of a small island (Maiden Island) in Five Islands Harbour, Antigua. It was a perfect spot to anchor, we were by ourselves and there was no roll. When the anchor was set, we went below for a bite to eat and a snooze. At the same time the clouds rolled in and gave us a wonderful huge rainfall with absolutely no wind. The boat was definitely washed this time and probably not the last. We had travelled 75 miles.
We discovered why there are very few boats in Five Islands Harbour. Although it is a beautiful anchorage, good holding and a variety of beaches to choose from, it is also downwind from the garbage dump. We had a whiff of it after dark.
Although the sky was very overcast, we made it right through the night with no rain drills. Who knows maybe it did rain and we didn't notice because we were both in such a sound sleep.
I was supposed to set the alarm for 4AM because Rick wanted to leave at 5AM. The alarm went off and we were both up and getting ready to greet the day. Rick was in the process of making coffee when he happened to look at the clock and notice that it was 3:15AM. Oops, I guess I blew it. We didn't leave earlier instead we just had a relaxing breakfast. At 5AM when Rick was lifting the anchor there was a little glow of daylight off of our bow. We took our time getting out of the bay and as we turned toward our first waypoint, the sky was light enough for us to see the shore and large rocks.
When the sun finally rose, the first thing we saw seemed to be a major event happening at Montserrat. I had read that the volcano has been very active lately and the dome has increased in size, but this morning sure looked to us like a volcanic eruption. There seemed to be a large plume of smoke that was rising very high and at the same time we could see what appeared to be either steam or ash running down the mountain in a few areas. We continued to keep an eye on it but later there were tall spiky white steam clouds growing from the top third of the mountain to well above the normal cloud height. From within the tall white clouds every so often a smaller black cloud would rise and drift away with the wind. So the volcano could have been just spewing it's normal ash but to us, it gave us something to discuss and watch all morning.
There was still a large northeast swell but with a long interval between swells and the fact that we were headed south, they didn't hinder us in the least. We didn't see many other boats but that was probably because we left so early. I put out my fishing line with a brand new lure and I even spit on it, just as Steve (on Receta) told me to do. He said this would guarantee a catch. When I wasn't watching the line, I was either sleeping or eating. Rick finally took off his jacket that he has been wearing since leaving St Barts. He read his book and every so often he would sleep or ask for more food.
There were some very large rain clouds heading from Guadeloupe to Antigua (good thing we left). We were able to skirt the edge of each cloud picking up the wind for an extra boost of speed but bypassing the rain. This worked well until we reached our anchorage at Deshaies Guadeloupe. There was a big black cloud sitting right over the anchorage. It moved a little to the north as we arrived but we did get a sprinkle with more to follow once the anchor was set. I left my fishing line out until the very last moment before dropping the sail and still didn't get a bite. I might make Rick spit on the lure tomorrow.
As soon as the anchor was set but before we even turned the sailing instruments off, we had a visit from Ross and Beverly (Raft). They are heading north to Antigua in the morning. They stopped for tea, and as we were all sitting in the cockpit a couple of good size turtles kept circling our boat and almost smiling at us as though they were looking for handouts. I didn't happen to have any turtle grass onboard so we just smiled back at them every time they came around again.
It had been a perfect day. Although each time we have made the passage between Antigua and Guadeloupe going in either direction has been pleasant. The route is directly north or south so there is no trying to beat into the wind. It was a 50 mile trip today.
We were up on time today (4:30AM) and we left the anchorage at 5:45AM. It was a wonderful trip down the lee of Guadeloupe. The seas were like a millpond but the wind was strong. When we had just about reached the south end of the island we could see the beginnings of white water or a lot of white caps. This was no surprise because the gap between Guadeloupe and the Saints is only about 8 miles. There are high mountains on both sides of the gap so the wind always seems to funnel through. It slowed us down a little until we were well clear of the Saints. It was a nice passage from there to Dominica but the wind (15 to 20 knots) was almost right on our nose, which meant we had to pound through the waves.
The sky was clear until about 10 miles before we reached Dominica. It's a good thing we had been able to see the island before the black curtain of cloud and rain fell, obliterating the whole island. Dominica is a very large island to have it suddenly disappear. There was no skirting around this rain cloud it was huge and black. We just continued toward it ready for the rinsing. The sky was black everywhere and as it came over us it suddenly dissipated and we only received a little shower rather than a deluge. The island was still not visible, it was 9 miles away and our visibility was about 2 miles. As we approached the anchorage, a hole developed in the cloud providing clear blue skies above while we dropped our anchor. It was another 50 mile trip today but listening to the forecast we may just stay here a couple of weeks. We haven't spent any time in Dominica so I'm looking forward to exploring the island.
It was another rolly night and since it was Friday, there was entertainment on shore. It sounded like a great local band that played until (the last time I heard them) 4:30AM. However, regardless of the rolling and the music, it was so nice to be awakened in the morning by the sound of the fisherman's conch horn rather than the roar of jet engines taking off over our head and fast dinghies whizzing by the boat of cruisers racing to work as they did in St Martin.
I made a quick breakfast of arepas before we went ashore to check in with customs and explore the Saturday market.
We tied the dinghy at the Custom's dock, which is really not meant for small dinghies. As I was climbing out of the dinghy, the local security man came running down the dock telling me to wait so he could help me. It was Saturday and the customs office is closed on Saturday so he pointed down the road a little way where we found Richard, the Customs Officer, in his home. We sat at his kitchen table and filled out the necessary forms. We then had to go to the police station rather than immigration, again because it was the weekend. Richard walked to the road with us and pointed out the building. It was easier to go by dinghy so we returned to the dinghy but stopped to talk to security men on our way. These are the people who control the purchase of duty free fuel but you need to request it in advance. We told them that we would like to purchase some on Monday. They took our boat name and said that they would remember us when the fuelling station called them on Monday.
We tied up our dinghy near the police station that filled in for immigration on weekends. Once we were finished there, I stopped at a Cable and Wireless office to top up my cell phone. We arrived at the market much too late as there was very little choice left. I did purchase some nice Mahi Mahi from the fisherman with the conch shell. I also found some homemade coconut oil for cooking. There was a lady with fresh homemade bread as well as pumpkin pudding which is one of our island favourites.
We stopped for lunch at a local snack place for chicken and chips with plantain and a Johnny cake. We even tasted Kubuli, the local beer. We both mentioned that here in Dominica we are starting to feel that we are back in the real Caribbean Islands.
On our way back to the dinghy we met Mary and Rena, local ladies who have a little shop near the dinghy dock. Mary was selling homemade mauby juice. I have tried the commercially made mauby drinks before and I wasn't all that crazy for it but I thought I had better give the real mauby drink a try so I purchased some from her. During our conversation, callaloo came up. I didn't see any at the market but Mary says that she has some. She'll bring some in to town on Monday and put it in the shop fridge for whenever I come back into town.
Later in the afternoon, we saw a large replica type of tall ship arrive. We later learned that it was for the filming of the TV show "Survivors". The survivors of the show paddled up the Indian River which is where we are going tomorrow.
Although Lawrence is our "man" or "Boat Boy" here who arranges just about anything we either want done or want to do, we also have Bogart (who I now call Humphrey) who is keeping us supplied with fresh fruit. Humphrey came by with mangoes which are just about finished on the island but he sold me 7 sweet, not stringy mangoes for 5EC.
Humphrey will be our tour guide tomorrow because Lawrence likes to take Sundays off.
We told Lawrence we would like to go up the Indian River very early as the guidebook says that is the best opportunity to see the wildlife. Well, Lawrence picked us up (door-to-door service) at 7AM from our boat and took us ashore to the mouth of the Indian River. There we changed boats and Humphrey took over. Only motorless boats are allowed up the river so poor Humphrey was to row while Lawrence went home for the day.
It was an interesting trip with mangroves, Bloodwood trees, birds, fish and crabs. The crabs from this river are a delicacy on the island but they are only allowed to be caught on November 3rd each year. November 3rd is Independence Day in Dominica and on that day people eat only local traditional food. One of the local food items happens to be this crab.
When we reached a point in the river that was too narrow and shallow to go any further we went ashore. Humphrey led us along a trail describing different plant life as we walked. Eventually we reached a plantation growing everything from bananas, cocoas, pineapples, grapefruits, mangoes, guava, lettuce, carrots and local root vegetables. He picked a few items for us to taste along the way. One of the things he gave us was lime bay leafs. These looked like normal bay leafs but had a citrus smell to them. I'm going to try making some tea with a couple of leaves back at the boat.
It was almost 10AM when we returned to the boat. Rick wanted to pour diesel into the tank so that he could have the jerry cans filled tomorrow morning.
Later in the afternoon, Humphrey came by for a visit and brought us more mangoes and sweet little rock fig bananas. He started drinking rum shots (as all islanders do) but he quickly switched when Rick made special coffees for us.
We learned that although he is a Dominican he lives and works in Amsterdam Holland. His real name is Reginald but just as in Carriacou everyone here has a nickname, his is Bogart. He is here in Dominica at this time on a working vacation. The tour guides love to have him around when the cruise ships come into port as he speaks English, Dutch and French fluently.
I showed Humphrey my calabash collection and he has a friend in town that carves calabash and will arrange to have him make me at least one.
We had a few rain showers overnight but in the morning, the sky seemed to get darker by the hour. Humphrey showed up just before a huge downpour. He had come to get my laundry and take it into a local lady (his mother) to be washed. Instead, he stayed a while and had a cup of tea with us until the worst of the storm passed. Then I chased him and Rick out of the boat telling them that they wouldn't melt. Rick raced Humphrey and the laundry ashore in the dinghy even so he was still drenched when he returned.
His next chore of the day was to get fuel at the dock but he decided to postpone that job to avoid having fuel full of water. He didn't have much choice as a small cruise ship came in to use the docking facility and as long as the ship is there, the duty free fuel dock is closed to the public.
The wind picked up and howled at well over 30 knots for a few hours so we just stayed below had lunch and read. Since the wind has picked up there is no roll in the bay, it's quite comfortable.
Humphrey came back in the howling wind and rain delivering the first calabash I had requested.
Today promises to be as windy as yesterday however, we didn't have as many dark clouds around. Rick rushed over to get his fuel in the morning before the winds had a chance to build to their maximum.
I tackled a computer problem which took me most of the morning to resolve but all's well that ends well. I promised Rick that someday we will have his and her computers so that he can only mess up his own.
It was another day of just relaxing and waiting for weather. We want to take a bus to the other end of the island but when we do this our plan is to leave early in the morning. Maybe tomorrow.
It was a perfect day for going to town. The sky was lacking the dark clouds and the winds at least in the morning were a little lighter. We went ashore and left our dinghy at the Purple Turtle, which is a restaurant on the beach beside us. It is also the WiFi provider that I used the other day.
Bogart came by the boat just as we were leaving so he met us ashore and walked a little way toward town with us. We hadn't walked very far when he asked a bus driver who hadn't left home yet if he was leaving soon. Right now, was the response so we climbed in and had a ride into Portsmouth. From Portsmouth we took another bus that went all of the way to Roseau at the south end of the island. It was about an hour ride along the coast and we passed through a few towns, some quite large. The road from the north end of the island to the south end was built in the 50's. Prior to that the only way to get from north to south without going all around the island was by boat. By island standards, this is a fairly new road and we could tell the difference. Instead of climbing up, down and around every large hill, the hills had been cut and the road passed right through.
When we reached town, we roamed up and down almost every street. I really liked the souvenirs on Dominica as the majority are woven from reeds by the Carib Indians. I bought a lovely large basket to use when I go to market and on the boat (although it's a little large for the boat), I can use it as a fruit basket. As we went into different stores after purchasing the basket I watched as the storekeepers eyed it. I asked them if my new basket made me look like a local lady and they assured me that with it, I now blended right in.
I also found some more carved calabash that I liked so added to my collection. There were bottles (probably empty rum bottles) that the Indians had covered by weaving the reeds around them in various designs. I had to buy some of those as well. All of this to say, it was a spectacular souvenir day.
We did pick up a few basics like milk bread and junk food for passages. It doesn't matter how much good food I pre-prepare for passages, shortly after we are underway Rick (and I enjoy it too) wants potato chips, cheesies, nuts or popcorn. These are things we never think to eat at other times so I don't usually have a supply on board.
We had a nice lunch in Roseau and it was early when we returned to Portsmouth. The wind was howling and we got soaked returning to the boat but as other recent nights, the wind eased off in the evening. After a nice afternoon of reading, checking weather (which assured us we weren't leaving tomorrow) we to return to the Purple Turtle on shore for dinner.
In the morning we did the regular boat chores. We ran the generator and watermaker. Rick took the garbage ashore since none of the boat boys came by to pick it up.
After lunch, we went ashore. This time we left the dinghy at Big Papas, which is another restaurant and bar on the beach. We walked from there to the Tomato Café and Deli. According to the map, it should have been a very good walk but it turned out to be an even better hike. I swear we walked at least 5 miles. Granted it was probably just a little over 5 kilometres but in the hot sun it felt like we had been walking forever. We eventually found the deli down a road near the medical school. (http://www.thetomatocafe.com/) It was worth the walk, we each had a large frosted glass of Kubuli beer and I was able to purchase real marble rye bread, ham and swiss cheese to take back to the boat. The deli was a very neat place to find on any island but so unexpected on Dominica. It is owned and run by a Canadian couple, Whitney (Nova Scotia) and Rob (Alberta).
I insisted that the return trip be by bus as I was anxious to be back onboard before dark. We had the bus driver take us well passed his normal turn-around spot so he could deliver us to the doorstep of Big Papas.
We sat at the bar there and had a nice cool drink (not cold, the power on this part of the island was out) and spoke with some of the cruisers.
Dinner was onboard and we prepared for an early morning departure to Castaways, which is just a little way down the island. We're moving on but remaining in the lee of the island until Tuesday. It appears we might get the weather we're looking for (15 knots of wind from the northeast and 5 foot seas, it doesn't get any better) on Tuesday but that's quite a way off so we'll just take our time and meanwhile enjoy Dominica.
It was an extremely rolly night and neither of us slept very well. We started to raise the anchor in Portsmouth a little after 7AM and motored down the coast. By 10AM we had dropped anchor in Mero (Castaways Resort).
If we thought it was rolly in Portsmouth, here we were rolling gunnels to gunnels. We tried to relax and read. I made lunch but finally by 2 PM I had had enough. Since we planned to stay here for a few nights we would not survive like this. It was time for a stern anchor. Rick used the dinghy to deploy it and finally by 2:30PM we were able to relax and not be thrown from side to side. In fact, we were quite comfortable.
A strong storm went through around midnight. The stern anchor kept us comfortable with the bow into the swells but the howling wind woke me. I noticed some strange lights near the point of land on the north side of the bay but in the storm it was difficult to determine if the lights were on land or at sea.
We awoke in the morning to a beautiful rainbow over the sea. The total rainbow was visible and the colours brilliant.
In the daylight, we could see what the lights were just north of us on land. It was the Survivor ship again. They were anchored at another river for more filming. They have been in Dominica about as long as we have so I have been able to determine the difference between "Survivors" and "Cruisers". Cruisers travel in their boat and use a dinghy to get them ashore for shopping and necessities. Survivors have a huge tall masted ship with crew, tenders (larger dinghies), a barge, helicopter and the coast guard present for support. I'm not quite sure how they obtained a title of "Survivors."
In the morning, Rick worked on rewiring the ignition switch. It had been on his to do list and now it was giving us problems so he took care of it today. In the afternoon, we walked through the little town of Mero and then went to Castaways resort for happy hour and dinner. The dock where we tied the dinghy is almost not a dock. There were very few boards left to walk on. It is easy to see why, there is a terrible surge at the shore that rips the boards out almost as fast as they nail them down.
We met an American couple at happy hour staying at Castaways and since we were the only four people eating dinner we sat together. It was a fun evening.
Not one rain drill overnight so we both slept well. In the morning after breakfast we got ready to leave for Roseau. I sure glad we weren't going any further, Roseau is 8 miles. Rick used the dinghy to retrieve the stern anchor and then we put it back in place on the bow. The dinghy was secured for towing and then Rick raised the main anchor. The wind was very gusty and strong so he had to work to get the anchor up. Finally, at 9AM we were underway.
Dolphins accompanied us almost the whole way. They weren't playing or jumping, just swimming along side.
By 10:30AM we had picked up an mooring just off the cruise ship dock in Roseau. There was no roll and seemed like it would provide us with an easy departure in the morning. No anchor to raise, just let go of the mooring line.
In the afternoon since WiFi was available, I updated the web site pictures and prepared our route for tomorrow. We still have some chicken stew but I also made some baked macaroni and cheese for backup. Before going to bed, the outboard was removed from the dinghy and the dinghy raised into the davits.
So much for no roll! The wind died about 2AM and we rolled continually until a little after 4AM when the alarm clock went off. We raised the sail and let go of the mooring line at 5:45AM. There was a cruise ship coming into dock just as we were leaving. The seas were a little rough when we passed the south end of Dominica. Martinique was quite visible and there are only 25 miles in the gap between the islands and as we got into deeper water, the rhythm of the waves became constant and the ride comfortable. The forecast was for a swell from the southeast. Winds east to southeast and waves of 5 to 6 feet. It was right on.
It was 3:30PM when we dropped anchor in Grand Anse D'arlet at the southwest end of Martinique. We had travelled 51 miles. We are just staying for the night as the weather window continues for a few more days so we are making waves while the sun shines.
Now that we are in the Windward Islands again our heading will be more southerly than south easterly which should make for easier passages.
This morning, the alarm clock did it to us again. I had set it so that we would get up at 4:30AM. It stopped working a little after midnight. So, we awoke on our own at 5:45AM with a planned departure of 6AM in jeopardy. We put a move on and had a quick breakfast before lifting anchor at 6:30AM.
As we left the coast of Martinique, we saw three tropical birds overhead. We don't see these birds often and they are so beautiful with their long white tail. We both watched them for quite a while.
The crossing from Martinique to St Lucia is normally a little rough. A few boats have lost their masts in this gap during rough weather. We had perfect weather this time although the large southeast swell was still with us. The winds were from the east southeast and our course was directly south. We were rollicking along at 7.5 knots. This is a great speed for us and we were quite proud of it until a catamaran came up from behind and passed us. I think he could have made it appear to be a difficult passing but no, he had to whiz right by.
The engine was idling while we were having a great sail because the ignition switch is faulty. Until we can get a new one, Rick has to plug in the new relay switch by the starter motor prior to starting the engine. Then he has to remove it afterwards. The loose ignition switch tries to start the engine once in a while when its already running.
We were almost across the gap when I mentioned to Rick that I thought the water coming from the engine exhaust sounded a little different than normal. I'm a little conscious of the engine sound because the last time we came south from Martinique to St Lucia, with all of the pounding, the engine got an airlock and overheated. We didn't know at that time about airlocks and Rick back then was down below pulling the engine apart and throwing up in a pail because being below makes him seasick. Rick has since then become quite intimate with and knowledgeable about his engine and assured me that probably what I was hearing was the water coming out of the exhaust from underwater as we were healed over quite a bit. This made sense to me until the engine alarm went off a few minutes later.
Most things no longer seem to be too big an issue on the boat. We both knew exactly what the problem was and how to correct it. We quickly turned off the engine and left it that way until we were in the lee of the island where the seas would be a little flatter. We continued on at our amazing 7.5 knots.
When we did find ourselves in flatter seas, Rick reinstalled the ignition switch relay (15 seconds), opened the engine strainer (cleaned it while he was in there) and the airlock was broken (2 minutes). We restarted the engine to ensure that all was well and immediately turned it off again to save having to remove the relay. We were still flying and continued to do so until the last 5 miles of our route. As we got closer to shore and to the south end of the island, there was very little wind and big rollers coming in. The last 5 miles seemed to take forever. Still we arrived at the Pitons and picked up a mooring by 1:30PM. Actually it was Sylvester, our boat boy who passed us the mooring line and took a stern line ashore for us. This is a guaranteed good night sleep. We had travelled 40 miles and made up for our late departure.
Later in the afternoon, a boat "Knotts Gypsy" moored beside us. We recognised the boat but not the people. We asked if they knew Trevor and Trish. They did and that's who they purchased the boat from in Turkey. We met Trevor and Trish in 2002 when they were going to sail Knots Gypsy to the Mediterranean.
Before dark last night we had a visit from Gary, Jeanie, Cheryl and Randy (Latest Caper) they had the mooring on the other side of Knotts Gypsy. We also noticed Skitter Scamp a Canadian boat we know, was on a mooring on the other side of us. It seemed like old home week except we weren’t lowering the dinghy and couldn’t say hello to anyone.
We had arranged for (and paid) our boat boy Sylvester to release our lines from shore at 6AM. It was 5:50 when we started the engine to let it warm up. 6AM came and went, 6:30AM came and went and we were still tied to shore. I was becoming frustrated, Rick calmly jumped in the water and swam ashore to release the lines himself. By this time it was 7AM. Not a good start when we wanted to do over 50 miles.
It was an almost perfect day even though the forecast was off again. The original forecast was for northeast winds, which were only a dream. Yesterday the new forecast was for east winds. What we actually had were still the same old southeast winds and the southeast swell had not diminished.
We raised the sails just outside of the Pitons, today we took a different approach and turned the engine off immediately, and put the ignition relay back in place should we need to start the engine again for any reason. The engine wasn’t required, we were averaging 6 to 7 knots on one tack the whole way from the Pitons until we were into the lee of St. Vincent.
Rick made a decision to spend the night at Wallilabou on St Vincent rather than risk arriving after dark at Bequia. We had travelled almost 40 miles and I was in total agreement.
We pulled into Wallilabou, our boat boy Ashley, took our bowline to a mooring and tied our stern ashore. His assistant John (who was a little stoned), welcomed us to Wallilabou. We didn’t have any small bills to pay Ashley so we asked him to go and buy us and himself a beer to make change. Meanwhile John went to purchase some bread for us. A boat boy came by selling fruit but I had just bought mangoes, bananas, limes and grapefruit from a boat boy in St Lucia. I think we are set until we reach our destination of Bequia tomorrow, which is only 15 miles from here.
Rick was up and eager to go. We both had a great night sleep. At 7AM, as requested, Ashley arrived to release our stern line from shore. We set out toward Bequia with very little wind. This was not necessarily a bad thing today because crossing the little passage between St. Vincent and Bequia is normally referred to as “the Bequia Blast”. By the time we were in the passage the wind had picked up a little but the seas, which can get very choppy, were still reasonably flat. It’s only 10 miles from island to island but we were still able to make 7 knots. We arrived in Bequia a little after 9:30AM but it was 10:30AM by the time we finally anchored (3rd time). Rick knew exactly where he wanted to be, it was just tricky making it happen.
I had a quick shower while Rick tidied the mainsail. We were just about ready to leave when we both stood and looked at each other. We were doing nothing but the perspiration was beaded on each of our faces and our clothes were already damp. I knew that the time had come to put away the long sleeve tops and jackets again. We went ashore to check in, have a nice lunch and buy a few groceries.
Bequia is the most northern of the Grenadine Islands and Carriacou (our home away from home) is the most southern of the Grenadines. Being back in Bequia feels as though we are almost home. We haven’t been here for a while and plan to stay at least a week. The problem with staying only one week is that the Bequia Easter Regatta begins at the end of that week.
I called Daniela in Carriacou to ask who was coming from Carriacou to the Easter Regatta. Everyone is coming! Don’t leave, we were told, just stay and prepare to party. We sure couldn’t argue with that.
About 4AM we were awakened with a wonderful downpour. It was interesting that since leaving Dominica it has been overcast everyday. The lack of sun was nice for travelling because we didn’t have to worry about getting sunburned while underway. Now, when we needed to get the salt off the boat, Mother Nature was doing a great job of it with no effort on our part. It was still pouring at 6:30AM when we got up. There wasn’t any wind with the rain so Rick unfurled the sails one at a time and let them have a nice fresh water rinse.
While he was taking care of the sails I was busy preparing an international breakfast. We had grapefruit from St. Lucia, mangoes from St Vincent, fresh bread from Bequia and English cheddar cheese from Dominica.
We both spent the rest of the day, running the watermaker, catching up on some of our emails and watching World cup cricket. England playing against Ireland on TV. I had originally wanted to clean the inside of the boat today but it was a little too warm with all of the hatches and ports closed against the rain. That sounds a little wimpy after Arlene (Tiger Lilly II) paddled over to our boat on her kayak and invited us to dinner. She was turning on her oven and making lasagne. I had the nice fresh veggies purchased yesterday, so I supplied the salad. I’ll clean the boat tomorrow.
We had a wonderful evening onboard Tiger Lilly and returned to our own boat well after dark.
Today I bit the bullet and washed walls and louver doors and anything else that was in my way. Rick cleaned the screens and fans. I did everything but wash the floor which I will save for tomorrow.
