Barbuda

Well we have not moved much, but what a treat. Barbuda, geologically different than most if not all of the rest of the Eastern Caribbean, is a limestone up cropping rather than a volcano, the same as the Bahamas. Barbuda's main export is sand.... to the rest of Caribbean. So if you step on to a beautiful beach somewhere in the Eastern Caribbean and feel a soft texture and think you have seen nothing better... it was imported from Barbuda.

We anchored off of the 7 mile beach, and visited the 11 mile beach. While we were there a north swell build up to about 13 feet, which crashed onshore. Jake and I swam ashore to body surf two days in a row. We are still cleaning sand from our ears a week later, marvelous fun.

The waters around Barbuda are teaming with fish life and the coral is outstanding. We landed a tuna on the way up and had 5 hard strikes on the way back to Antigua but landed nothing.

Barbuda also houses one of the 4 frigate bird mating colonies in the world. The season was in full swing when we visited, with the males puffing their throat area into huge red balloons to attract the females. Birds everywhere.

The most charming thing about Barbuda, however, and probably directly correlates with the magnificent wild life we observed, is the people. There are only 1,500 people living on the island, the vast majority descendants of the Corrdington slave estate. Barbuda, having no good natural harbor and poor soil for cane growing was forsaken by the British, and leased for the price of "one fat sheep" to Lord Corrdington. After Lord Corrdington passed away the estate was given in common to the slaves he was using on the island. They heirs continue to hold the land in common, with no private ownership today. Development is frowned upon, the locals have gone so far as to push the construction site/vehicles of a to be foreign hotel over a cliff into the water, stopping the development permanently.

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New Photos

We have added a new photo album for the Windward Islands. There are also additional new photos in the Leeward Islands photo album.

Antigua

We have been enjoying Antigua, one of the few islands in the Caribbean that has several different good anchorages which allow a near circumnavigation of the island while stopping every few miles. We are currently in Jolly Harbor having been in English, Falmouth and Green Island. Green Island was fun as it is protected by a barrier reef and has very little development. There are quite a few reefs in the area, that netted two boats while we were there, that we assisted off. One of the boats that got stuck on the reef as a charter boat. The captain of the charter boat had the engine in full throttle forward for about 45 minutes as he was trying to get off. Word to the wise never buy a used charter boat.

We plan on staying around Antigua through the holidays. A very festive atmosphere with all of the large mega yachts moving around, many of which are about 5 times larger than us.

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Stuck in English Harbor

As we went to leave for a trip around to the east of Antigua we found that we could not raise our anchor. I donned my snorkeling gear and grabbed a dive light. We had hooked an old anchor chain.... a really old one. About 6 inch by 3 inch links. We worked a line around the chain then lowered the anchor again, swimming it forward and then raising it. It only took about 5 minutes but was intimidating because of the size of the chain we had hooked. I guess that is the danger of visiting ports that have been used for the last 200+ years for shipping and bases for war ships.

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Antigua

Well is was a difficult and dangerous run, but we were able to beat past the gun batteries and anchored caravels to make a successful landing a take, without a shot fired, Nelson's Dockyard. The dockyard and fort areas have been fabulously restored and maintained in the English Harbor area of Antigua. The buildings now house various businesses and services. The park service maintains great trails to allow hiking to all of the various fort, gun encampments and look outs. We are anchored in English Harbor about 50 yards off of the dockyard.

We left Dominica on a disappointing note. There was a tremendous southerly flow in the winds and seas ultimately leaving us rolling gunwale to gunwale in the anchorage there. So after another hiking expedition around the former English fort in the Cabrits we upped anchor and headed north. The sailing was tremendous with a nice beam reach all the way up Guadalupe. We were running for much too early arrival in Antigua, which has several reefs to navigate so we stopped for about 5 hours in Guadalupe, then carrying on at 1:30am arriving in Antigua at 8am, again with nice sailing though a bit more on the wind as we were making quite a bit of easting.

We are planning on staying in Antigua for 4-6 weeks enjoying the sites, sounds and many anchorages. So far we have felt that it will be too little time.

On a side note, I am amazed at the number of forts built by the British/French/Dutch in the islands. Two out of three of these never saw a SINGLE shot fired. I guess an early demonstration of deterrent force. The French forts are usually high on a hill, small and all enclosed. While the British had spread there defenses out, always with several gun encampments, look outs, commandants quarters etc. The islands, no doubt in an effort to improve the tourist trade, have made great efforts to maintain and restore these forts. They are a fun part of exploring each island, picking up a bit of history, a bit of exercise through hiking and expanding the imagination with respect to life styes of 200-300 years ago.

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Antigua

Well is was a difficult and dangerous run, but we were able to beat past the gun batteries and anchored caravels to make a successful landing a take, without a shot fired, Nelson's Dockyard. The dockyard and fort areas have been fabulously restored and maintained in the English Harbor area of Antigua. The buildings now house various businesses and services. The park service maintains great trails to allow hiking to all of the various fort, gun encampments and look outs. We are anchored in English Harbor about 50 yards off of the dockyard.

We left Dominica on a disappointing note. There was a tremendous southerly flow in the winds and seas ultimately leaving us rolling gunwale to gunwale in the anchorage there. So after another hiking expedition around the former English fort in the Cabrits we upped anchor and headed north. The sailing was tremendous with a nice beam reach all the way up Guadalupe. We were running for much too early arrival in Antigua, which has several reefs to navigate so we stopped for about 5 hours in Guadalupe, then carrying on at 1:30am arriving in Antigua at 8am, again with nice sailing though a bit more on the wind as we were making quite a bit of easting.

We are planning on staying in Antigua for 4-6 weeks enjoying the sites, sounds and many anchorages. So far we have felt that it will be too little time.

On a side note, I am amazed at the number of forts built by the British/French/Dutch in the islands. Two out of three of these never saw a SINGLE shot fired. I guess an early demonstration of deterrent force. The French forts are usually high on a hill, small and all enclosed. While the British had spread there defenses out, always with several gun encampments, look outs, commandants quarters etc. The islands, no doubt in an effort to improve the tourist trade, have made great efforts to maintain and restore these forts. They are a fun part of exploring each island, picking up a bit of history, a bit of exercise through hiking and expanding the imagination with respect to life styes of 200-300 years ago.

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Dominica

It has been a busy week. Isabelle turned 4, collecting enough princess, fairy and doll house loot to keep her quite busy and happy. Jake has lost his first tooth, which had been loose for about 2 weeks. He is very proud of his hole.

We sailed to Dominica from St. Lucia and nice 100 mile leg. We took off again for an overnighter, though suffering some rougher seas this time, had great sailing conditions under the still nearly full moon. Fishing has been a bit of bust lately, netting only one barracuda on this last trip.

Dominica is an exceptional island, having been much slower in development of the tourist industry than the other islands. Now with the agricultural base eroding due to competition/changing importation tariff protections from Europe they are feeling the economic pitch resulting in lots of land being sold to developers. The island has 11 volcanos, 7 still active, 365 rivers, lots of water falls and some interesting geography resulting from the volcanic activity such as the red rocks. The island also protects about 60 percent of its forest as national parks maintaining very nice hiking trails and informational stands at the more interesting sites. The island was th site for several of the scenes from the second Pirates of Caribbean movie; 1) the Indian River, which you go up in a row boat, was the site for the visit to "Tia Doma" 2) Hempstead beach where the Black Pearl was beached 3) the area where they battled on the water wheel and fought through the grove of palms.

Guide books lead you to believe that the last of the Caribe Indians live on Dominica, those same Caribe's that were to have been wiped out by Europeans, many jumping to their deaths from cliffs into the sea to avoid forced labor in the plantations. Well supposedly Dominica was just to wild with all the mountains and river gorges so a handful were able to hold off the Europeans and survived. We went to tour their village. It was a made for tourist reproduction, we were led by a tour guide and met several people who did look "different" from the average Dominican of African decent. We were also told that the Caribe's did not practice cannibalism, even though the history of the Arawak Indians tell a different story. The tour guide actually said "the bones that the Europeans saw hanging in our homes were from those that died naturally but were so revered in their life times, like great warriors, we would keep a bone from their body before burying them." Lets say I am a sceptic on many of the Caribe accounts provided in the "tour".

Needless to say we have had some fun exploring thus far on the island.

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The Wait for Weather

We are now in St. Lucia, Rodney Bay. We had decided to stay in Bequia through Jake's birthday and at the time (Monday) had a favorable weather forecast for the passage to St. Lucia which is 70 miles, but very much to windward at about 35 degrees. Jake's birthday was a hit with too many presents for him to even play with them all. His favorite are the legos now that he can build with them more easily. We had a nice pizza party with some cake back on the boat.

Then Wednesday morning the weather forecast, due to a slow moving tropical wave, went pear shaped. With our morning weather guy admitting Thursday morning he had no confidence in the forecast beyond 12 hours. Anyway we were patient (trying to apply those lessons from last year) waiting first for the seas to decline, then ideally a ESE wind, and finally a low chance of strong squalls. We waited until Friday night then took a chance leaving at 5 pm for an overnighter. The seas had settled, which was the only real known, but the wind initially was ENE, which was fine to go across to St. Vincent from Bequia. However, as we came around the north end of St. Vincent we got an ESE wind at 12 knots.... 4 foot seas.... a near full moon and one of the best sails we have had. I was reluctant to give up my watch, making coffee and giving Rae Ann an extra couple of hours of sleep. The squalls even stayed away moving around us but never over us.

Our insurance company says hurricane season is over on November 1. Some say December 1. Though what seems to be the most important is that we were blessed with a very light season this year. So we cross our fingers as we move north that we do not get any late season blows.

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Bequia

It has been a relaxing week in Bequia. We have got to do some very nice snorkeling, seeing many small and unusual fish but nothing big (read edible). We did see 4 eels and an octopus near Petite Nevis which was fun. Jake and Isabelle discovered a beach with caves along the rock cliff, so that is nearly a daily routine now. Bequia is a nice stop from a cruising standpoint with a very protected anchorage, lots of services, food, beverages and generally just very hospitable to boat people.

This is a big week with Jake's 6th birthday on the 27th. He is very excited. Isabelle announced that she would like a baby sister for her birthday, unfortunately with that only 3 weeks away we probably will not deliver. Fortunately Jake is focused on his fishing pole, which I have stashed on board so at least there we will deliver.

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The Race

After motoring clear of Horseshoe Reef, The Race, was on. We had given 2 miles to the boat in front of us, having raised anchor later and following it our through the reef. Winds were 15-19 knots out of the ENE, finish line was 18 miles away bearing 27 degrees, seas were running 4-5 feet in a NE swell. The competing boat, and the one in the lead at the start due to their earlier anchor ups, was 40 feet in length and carried a cutter rig.

Given we are still a cruising boat and the kids were below watching movies, we had to be careful about the angle of heel as we made this beat to windward. Thus we began flying a single reef in the main and a triple reef in the genoa, effectively cutting the sail to a 95% jib. Our competitor was flying full canvas, main, jib and cutter. We were easily making 5 knots with the gusts pushing us to 6 knots. For the fun of it we were also fishing as well as for the electric energy towing our water generator. The first hour yielded very little change in the relative position of the two boats.

As we came out of the lee of Canoan, the wind dipped ever so slightly, and we shook out a reef in the geona. Suddenly we were closing the gap. We gave them a faint, showing a pass on their lee side, then hardened up, took yet another reef out of the genoa and ran up onto their stern, barely a half a boat length away. After a momentary stare down, we effortlessly moved up their windward side. We put them in our wind shadow and our lead quickly grew.

The the squall came. 35 knots of wind, lashing rain. We reefed ourselves back down, slowing to 4.5 knots. The competitor still slogging after losing their wind to us, took in their jib.... and turned on their engine! Powering forward dead into the squall. Needless to say our lead vanished and we were again behind by 1 mile, with only 11 to go. We knew though from watching the squalls pass while we were anchored in the Tobago Cays that the strong one brought a temporary but nice SE wind shift. We prepared and when the shift hit, we let out our reefs and pointed up to 50 degrees, picking up speed to 7 knots.

The wind slowly shifted to the ENE again, settling just below 15 knots. We shook out the remaining reefs, working now under full main and genoa. We rounded Admiralty Point 1 mile in the lead.

We are now anchored in Bequia, enjoying this beautiful island and its favorable orientation towards boats of all kinds, having formally a successful whaling station, a strong fishing tradition and a good boat building tradition.

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Return to Mopion Island

After a nearly 10 year interval we return to Mopion Island. A 50 foot square patch of sand, surrounded by coral reef nearly too shallow to get the dinghy over and sporting nearly all the comforts of civilization; namely it has one 5 foot circular thatch roofed, single pole dwelling.... and nothing else. Bordered on all sides by the Caribbean sea, which breaks up on the island, moving it each year to the left or right. This time rather than the aforementioned "dwelling" was well to the east of the island rather than in the middle. The kids had a blast playing in the sand, getting crashed by the waves and generally running around the island as many times as possible.

This week we left Grenada/Carricou and moved up into the southern Grenadines, visiting Petite St. Vincent, Petite Martinique and Union Island. The fishing has been thinner though I was able to get one more lobster.

We did have a near scare. The water maker failed due to excess salinity above the preset threshold. Running through all the possibilities, bad salinity probe, membrane in need of cleaning, bad membrane or loose connections, I only had the ability to look into the last item, having no membrane cleaning supplies or salinity testing equipment. Very fortunately another cruiser came to our rescue, notably having both cleaning supplies and a hand held salinity probe. We ran the water maker, bypassing the automated salinity alarm and tested the output with the hand held probe .... the water quality was excellent, alas only a faulty automated salinity probe. We have water, which I find better than the alternative .. rum rations only.

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Farwell to Grenada

We left Grenada this week for the southern Grenadines, Carricou to be exact. Even though we had spent the better part of 6 weeks in Grenada it feels like we left many things unexplored. It is truly a magnificent place to hang out. We wonder if we will be back?

The sail up to the Grenadines held a little bit of everything, no more than 30 minutes out we were hit with a squall that kept building until we had 30 knots of wind and a downpour of rain. Quick work was required to get the sails reduced as we had a full main up. We then had little wind and motored up the coast hugging the depth contours, which rewarded us with a Black Fin Tuna. This was the first fish we have caught trolling, Jake and Isabelle had a blast helping us land the fish. As we left the coast of Grenada the trades began to fill giving us between 13-19 knots of wind. We set sail with a double reef in both main and Genoa making good between 30 and 80 degrees averaging 5 knots, depending on the wind flow around the islands. Our course took us right over Kick'em Jenny and undersea volcano that last erupted in 1989.... but still. We were able to make Carricou in one tack, pretty good for the easting we had to do. We are now anchored off of Sandy Island, which as one would guess is very sandy, though only about 100 yards long.

The fishing of late has been outstanding. I finally found a clean reef on the south side of Grenada (they tend to be covered in algae, which I understand is seasonal, e.g. it is warmer now so more algae) and was able to take a nice sized lobster. Then on the sail up in addition to the Black Fin Tuna we also caught a Mahi Mahi, both smallish, but good fish none the less. After we had anchored we cubed the tuna and ate it raw, a fabulous treat.

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Sharks and Wateralls

As we finished our annual maintenance items we have had more free time to play. We went on a hike to the Seven Sisters falls in Grenada, which was steep but well maintained and relatively easy for the kids, who immensely enjoyed the hike. The waterfall and pool at the end was the best we had been to yet, with cool refreshing swimming. One is suppose to be able to see monkeys on the hike, alas we were not so lucky. To get to the falls and back we took the local bus system, with a record for us anyway of 24 people in one 15 foot bus. Yes there was alot of lap sitting going on. This as we careened down the mountain at top speed.

We were also able to get out a do a little spear fishing, though with limited luck. The fish and lobster were all very small. I took a shot at one lobster expecting to have to let this one go as well. I was surprised as it fought vigorously nearly pulling the spear from my hands. I fought with him pushing back into the cave and trying to drive the spear tip deeper. Finally when I thought that I had the spear well buried I began to pull the lobster out. Well it still had significant fight left in him. As I got it closer to the edge of the cave I noticed that the spear tip was clean through the lobster into a grey mass, which turned out to be a 2 foot reef shark. I pulled both out wedging the shark on the coral so the spear exited. The shark gave me an annoyed look and swam off. And of course the lobster was too small so back it went. I think next time I am going to keep the shark.

Another cruiser hosted a dinghy float chili feed. All we had to do was show up and tie our dinghy off and he served chili, well prepared I might add. There were about 15 dinghies that attended all tied and floating together eating, drinking and eventually swimming and splashing. Good fun and kudos to the hosting cruiser, very brave to offer free food to a bunch of poor boat people.

Isabelle has fully taken to swimming without a life jacket, even diving under water and looking around. She is very proud.

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Slow & Hot

We continue to wait out hurricane season in Grenada, shifting anchorages once a week to change the scenery. It does afford a great opportunity to get ahead in the kids schooling, tackle a bunch of boat projects and read, so no complaints. Many cruisers are starting to return and everyone is beginning to feel the itch to be on the move. We are planning on the end of the month, as long as the tropical weather systems remain benign, to start moving north among the islands.

Isabelle has decided to give swimming without her life jacket a shot the last two days. We always let the kids decide when they are comfortable on these type of things. She is doing very well, a natural really, so I suspect she will be off and going pretty quickly.

An unfortunate story, but last week a Hallberg Rassy 53 (so about 13 feet longer than us but otherwise very similar to our boat) went up onto a reef here in southern Grenada. They were on the reef for about 4 hours give or take waiting for the tide (which is not much down here) to give them a little more water. While we did not see it, apparently they used halyards off the top of the mast tied to anchors to heel the boat and provide the leverage to pull her off at high tide. The damage did not sound terrible, maybe a loose keel bolt or two and some damage to the rudder. The boat was anchored next to us and left about 4 in the afternoon, I thought naturally making the run towards Trinidad. Instead they moved about 5 miles along the coast. At that time the sun is to low to see the reefs in the water.

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It was Painful

I developed a swimmers ear infection this past week. It had me curled up in a fetal position nearly in tears. Very painful. Now on antibiotics from the local clinic, which seem to be slowly solving the problem.

We moved about 5 miles along the coast of Grenada to Prickly Bay, mostly to enjoy some new scenery and explore a different part of the island. The water in this bay is cleaner as it is more exposed to the ocean. A couple of boats we have met along the way are in here as well. Everyone just chilling and enjoying Grenada until the end of Hurricane season, which thankfully thus far has not been traumatic.

While Rae Ann schools the kids I am working on and endless list of boat projects, endless because at least two new ones get created each day. It has been fun to explore Grenada as you use the local bus system, which charges about .80/per pax for any distance. The busses stop everywhere and anywhere.

Well time to go put more drops in my ear.

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New Photos

Links have been added for photos from the USVI's and Leeward Islands, enjoy.

Back in the Saddle

We returned to Grenada last week from our six week holiday in the U.S. Yes we took a vacation from our vacation. We had a marvelous time with family and friends. I was able to go fishing in Alaska with my best friend, his brother and father, a first for me but hopefully not last. The four of us brought home 300 pounds of salmon and better stories.

We went camping on Lake Roosevelt with my family, where upon arrival my brother decided to open a box of beer with a knife, instead opening his finger, necessitating a quick run to the hospital for stitches. Apparently the knife is standard issue from Washington State University (WSU) as their most popular major is 'Widdilin'.

We spent a week on Camano island with Rae Ann's family where I collapsed a deck while working the BBQ. I swear the wood was rotten.

I got in several rounds of golf, consistently getting my monies worth by hitting the century+ mark each time. Though the last round with a surprising 98 I won two bets which are yet to be paid.

Needless to say returning to the boat we needed much sleep to recover. The heat in Grenada has required a big adjustment. When we arrived none of the work scheduled on the boat had been completed. Though as it was a bottom job, the yard was able to hustle and complete it with just a one day delay in our launch. It also gave me a chance to complete a number of projects in the yard, and take advantage of the air conditioning and cold shower in our hotel to cool off.

We were back in the water on Wednesday afternoon in a rather lumpy St. Davids bay. Rae Ann was on to sea sickness remedies within 10 minutes of hitting the water. Nikita looks nearly new with a sharp bottom job and a full wax of hull and cabin. I have a handful of other projects to complete over the next couple of weeks as we wait out the remainder of hurricane season. Rae Ann has started both kids in home schooling with Isabelle in pre-school and Jake starting first grade. Both kids are having fun with the schooling.

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Hurricane Season

We arrived in Grenada 10 days ago and have been in a fast paced race to get ready for our haul out on July 16th and our flight to WA state the following day. In reality we gave ourselves plenty of time, we just did not realize how cool and fun Grenada was going to be. The island is beautiful, with mountainous country, white sand beaches and clear water. Friendly open people abound, ready to help as well as form friendships. We have saved all of our touring for when we return as we will have another 30 days or so before we can safely go north in the Caribbean again.

Many many cruisers, particularly those like us that are going to be on their boats either part or all of hurricane season, have chosen Grenada. As a result the cruising community is large and active. This has consumed much time, albeit with much fun had by all, with BBQ's, impromto beach parties, card games etc. It is also a cross roads as several cruisers currently here will move south and west thus we will not see them again. So .... many farewell parties.

Grenada has everything a cruiser needs with marine services abundant, many very protected anchorages and most importantly for this time of year is just enough south (12 degrees) to qualify as out of the box for most insurers during hurricane season and as well have a good track record of not being hit. Though when Grenada has been hit it has tended towards devastating. So we all cross our fingers.

We have also spent much time thinking about the new cruising season. The early part is easy, back up the Caribbean to pick off those islands we missed on the way down. Then what? Right now the South Pacific is tugging hard... will the Nikita crew have "deh Belle" to make the jump?

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Pitons Still

We spent a week in the Pitons, what a glorious place. We took the opportunity to snorkel every corner, play endlessly on the beach and tour about the country side. We hiked to the volcano, which is collapsed so you can go into the cone and see the sulfur, water and steam being emitted. Further down the volcano you could bath in the pools of water that are black from all of the mineral content. We then hiked into some natural water falls with the same original source, but by then cooler and purged of the mineral content so crystal clear.

We left the Pitons at about midnight to sail to the Grenadines, having one of the best sails we have had in a long time, perfect winds and very light seas. We in fact skipped our initial destination and sailed another 30 miles to the southern Grenadines settling in the Tobago Cays. The Tobago Cays are a set of uninhabited cays that are protected by the Horseshoe Reef to the east, such that you literally anchor with full exposure to the Atlantic ocean with only the reef breaking the seas. The snorkeling has been outstanding. There are several small beaches, we have been on a mission to visit each. There are several turtles here that have been relaxed in their feeding so you could snorkel quite near them.

Beyond Horseshoe Reef to the east lies, Worlds End Reef. Conditions were clam enough for us to snake the dinghy through Horseshoe Reef and make it out to Worlds End for a snorkel. Great barrier reef that clearly sees little activity given its exposure to ocean swells and the difficulty of getting there through the other reefs. After we finished our snorkel we turned around and headed back to the anchorage, quite frankly we dared not go any farther.

Well weather and time close in now. There is quite a wave forecast for later this week (waves become depressions become storms become hurricanes). This one is the strongest we will have seen yet but not nearly strong enough to move into depression category. We have a haul out date in Grenada mid July so we will likely let this wave pass then make the last miles to Grenada.

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The Most Beautiful Spot

We are in St. Lucia at the Pitons. We had spent 4 days in Rodney Bay on the northern end before moving down to the Pitons. Rodney Bay is a great anchorage with beach, some hiking in the park hosting the restored British fort on Pigeon Island, and way too many boating services. The last item caught our attention resulting in the addition of some LED lighting (a great investment as it reduces electricity consumption by 90%) and a Honda generator. Several other cruisers swear by the Honda's as a means of generating electricity efficiently. Unfortunately with our wind/water generator out of commission again, though the winds are fluky enough in the anchorages to mute it anyway, we were using our main engine too much to charge the batteries. So it was happy fathers day....

The Pitons rise 2,500 feet straight out of the water. Petite Piton, because it is skinny, to the north and Gros Piton to the south book end a small indentation on the coast. A marine park was established here many years ago with conservation responsibilities, the upside being they maintain moorings thus simplifying the anchoring in the limitless depths. There is a small but perfect beach at the base of Petite Piton and good snorkeling all along the coast line between the Pitons. In the evenings the stars seem to rise out of the Pitons as everything goes perfectly still. A very magical place that is difficult to capture in words or even pictures.

Looks like we have some nasty weather for the rest of the week so we will be staying put in the Pitons.

I promised not to blog this, so I will. When we were on Pigeon Island visiting the British fort we landed our dinghy at a park dock. As we were getting set to leave, Jake after having removed his shoes, went to the other side of the dock. Isabelle suddenly gasped "jaaake" Rae and I turned our heads not seeing him, then he let out a small cry for help. Rae rushed over and plucked him out of the water on the other side of the dock. He was wet head to toe, and a little scared, though with his swimming abilities now, in no real danger. He later explained that he was trying to wash his feet off.... well I guess they were clean as well.

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Martinique

We have spent the past week in Martinique covering three anchorages, St. Pierre, Fort de France and Marin. St. Pierre was the most interesting though somewhat exposed. For history buffs, they will remember that in 1902 Mt Pelee erupted burying St. Pierre, killing between 30,000 and 40,000 people leaving just one survivor, and jailed murder convict. The ruins of the theater and the jail are well enough preserved and very interesting. The convict was then taken by an American circus operator so that he could be displayed in the freak show with all of his burns. Not sure if jail would have been better in the Caribbean.

Fort de France is one of the largest cities in the Caribbean, very busy with traffic, shops and restaurants. The anchorage is right off the downtown quay side so is rather neat, though you suffer through many ferry wakes during the day. One day was sufficient for a walking tour and some play in the park.

Marin is on the south east coast and a bit of beat to get to, but once in a very well protected bay with much anchoring room and alot of boats. We rented a car for a couple of days and drove through the islands rain forest, stopping for a couple of hikes. One to a set of waterfalls and the other to summit Mt. Pelee. Unfortunately the Pelee hike was about 5 miles each way, so long for the kids in any event. The hike was also very difficult with very little but straight up including a scramble for 100 yards up a lava flow that was very steep. The clouds were blowing all around sending cold winds and rain on us. The kids were very upset that we turned around, they were having a blast and wanted to make it to the top. Rae and I knew there would be a breaking point on the way down if we went too far so we came back down with everyone still in great spirits if not exhausted. All the people we met on the trail told us in French we were crazy for hiking this trail with children. Of course since my French is terrible, they could have been saying "Hi" but their body language betrayed their amazement.

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The Cake

We have spent the past week exploring Guadaloupe. We spent the first few days in a fishing village, Deshaies, and then moved down to the Saints, where we are currently. We had the chance to visit an amazing botanical garden, hike to some great black sand beaches and do some very nice snorkeling. We have also become addicted to French pastries in the morning along with a baguette for afternoon consumption.

Guadaloupe as a French territory, is rather relaxed about the customs process. In Deshaies it was four days before the customs office was open. A bit annoying in that I would stop by (a short walk) to see every few hours, until Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 when suddenly four officers were in. Unfortunately the rest of the islands in the Caribbean are a bit stricter so one needs to keep the trail of check in's and check outs up to date and realistic otherwise suspicions will be elevated.

Jake finished home schooling, his kindergarten program. We are very proud of him as well Rae Ann for her diligence and effort. Rae Ann baked a cake to celebrate. It was a rather rainy squally day so everyone was in their own corner reading or playing. We were then hit by a sudden squall with a blast of wind, the boat heeled over and something crashed. Neither Rae or I could determine what had caused the crash. A while later Rae went to frost the cake and could not find it. She started accusing me... of course. She looked high and low, once lifting a pillow in our cabin, another time opening a cupboard which was about a third of the size of the cake. Still reading I helpfully suggested that it would not fit in that cupboard. Rae became frantic as the search dragged to the 10 minute mark. Saying "I can smell it but cannot see it", she looked behind the stove and sure enough that was the crash, the cake had slid off the counter behind the stove. For everyone except Rae Ann this was an enjoyable event.

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St. Martin to Guadeloupe

We stayed in St. Martin for three days, spent mostly recovering from the long motor sail from St. Thomas. We also caught up on home schooling and a couple of boat projects. St. Martin has numerous boat related services, about anything anyone would want, and also has a well protected lagoon that you enter via an opening bridge through a small channel. The downside of this is a very commercial atmosphere, with the assorted pollution, not to mention the airport with the flight path right over the anchorage. All said not one of our favorite spots, but if one is in need of a protected anchorage and or boat repairs, it would be hard to beat.

We now have a deadline, a haul out date of July 16th in Grenada with flights back to WA state on the 17th, so with this in mind we started to make some tracks. We have seen some amazing islands but unfortunately are just filling the list for things to do next year as we spend a night at each island and then push on south again.

We stopped on the northwest corner of St. Barts in a marine park, very dry area with nice snorkeling, beaches and hiking and a nice remote feeling after St. Martin. We then sailed to St. Kitts and Nevis, the islands being separated by only a narrow channel. The islands have huge mountains nearing 4000 feet, that plunge right to the ocean. There are not very many good anchorages unless conditions are settled, which fortunately they were. We anchored for the night on the north west coast of Nevis. Both islands are very lush as they get frequent rain storms from the mountains trapping moisture. We then pushed on to Guadeloupe, but not before passing Montserrat.

Montserrat was and remains a stunning island, but in 1997 the volcano erupted on the southern end burying the town of Plymouth as well as several residents. The volcano remains active. We sailed down the west coast going within a quarter mile. The north remains lush with beautiful houses then suddenly gives way to a barren brown landscape, with the town of Plymouth only visible as the roof line. As we passed sulfur was being vented providing a sharp smell for the crew. Jake wants to be the first people to step foot on the island (ignoring that people still live there) and hike to the top of the mountain to determine whether "it is a volcano or there are bad guys pouring lava down"

We are now anchored in Deshaies Guadeloupe, a picturesque fishing village that is quite possible the most beautiful anchorage we have seen.

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A Year of Cruising

We have been out one year, actually one year and a few days as I write this. We have always maintained that we will cruise as long as we are having fun and able to cope with the kids schooling, assessing it at each critical juncture. As we approach our first hurricane season in the tropics we feel very confident in continuing for at least another year, even talking more and more openly about the South Pacific. Which we find ironic given what I am going to say below.

The one thing that we significantly struggle with is passage making. Specifically, the upwind variety. Even our last trip from St. Thomas to St. Martin was a struggle, though only in 4 foot waves and light winds, we still slammed and banged around enough to make us uncomfortable. The point is that it has not been fun. While the comfortable runs are fondly remembered, they have been to far and few between. Usually involving protected waters (BVI's, Bahamas) or downwind (Maine and the US East coast) sailing angles. Clearly the upwind stuff has got us a little rattled, and sitting in St. Martin we have done nothing but this since Clarence Town Long Island in the Bahamas, nearly 750 miles. We hope that now running up and down the Island chain we will get more comfortable sailing angles, thus some relief and renewed confidence. It is hard to be a cruiser if you do not move your boat after all.

What we have really enjoyed, the Bahamas, with the spear fishing, snorkeling, great beaches and great friends. Maine, the Chesapeake and the Virgin Islands have been quite enjoyable as well, though the perfect mix yet remains the Bahamas, with the sense of remoteness, and self sufficiency the other places do not offer.

Raising the kids on the boat has been a challenge, but this is a grass is greener issue, as every parent says the same about young children. Rae Ann and Jake have done great with home schooling, making all of us very proud. We do wish there were more families out cruising allowing for additional playmates, maybe the coming cruising season will offer more opportunities.

So last night I asked myself, why keep doing it? Surprising myself with a rather strong response, was first I get to see my kids grow up and be a true partner with Rae Ann, something special to this lifestyle.

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BVI's

Ok so I have been a bit lax about posting. So this will be a catch up week. We are now in St. Martin having had a great week with my parents in St. Thomas. The grandkids/grandparents got along famously allowing Rae and I several nights of couple hood - so we slept alot.

Prior to my parents visit we spent 2 weeks in the BVI's. Visiting all but Aneganda, and enjoying each island for its differences, from the endless beach bars, great snorkeling, artist colonies and fabulous sailing. Yes you do share the BVI's with many charter boats, but we found that they were friendly (as most boaters anywhere are) and there to have a good time which is always a bit infectious, especially at a bar like Willie T's (I can say no more given Rae will read this and she was boat bound with a flu ridden Isabelle). Rae Ann made it a personal mission to not pick up a mooring while in the BVI's. As these are everywhere filling nearly every anchorage, made it no small feat. We succeeded, sometimes by being on the outside looking in with a rolly swell and others, we got a front row seat, tucking right up in front of everyone next to the beach. Our favorites were Jost Van Dyke for the snorkeling, North Sound for its calm anchorage, and Normans for Willie T's. The only downside, cost, clearly the market is made by the one week charter guest, pricing long term cruisers out of the market.

The sailing, given all the protection and short distances, was outstanding and real treat after so much motor sailing to windward over the previous couple of months. Though we did get a bit of retribution as we slogged down to St. Martin nose on the wind and seas again. We will be making fast tracks through the leewards and windwards on our way to Grenada for hurricane season, though we plan on coming back up island nest season we will spend our time as the islands deserve.

A Dinghy circle of life. The replacement dinghy we acquired in the Bahamas was sold to another cruiser when we got our new one in Puerto Rico, who with the similar designs used it temporarily and has since resold it. Well we have been carrying our old 5hp outboard engine looking for a buyer... and behold the buyer was no other than the same person who now owns the old Bahamas dinghy. I had the pleasure of reuniting the engine and dinghy last week. Really quite funny given the probabilities....

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New Photo Albums

Two new photo albums were added, Puerto Rico & Spanish Virgins, and the BVI's.

The Odd Stuff

Some odd occurrences as of late:

The Seven Dollar Black Hole - Back to St. Croix again. The first Seven Dollar Event was for a rental car, quoted at $38 and I paid $45 (not taxes or insurance, that was all after, just base rate here). The second Seven Dollar Event was during our drive through the rain forest, when we stopped at a highly recommended place for "the best mixed fruit smoothly you have ever had". When I went to pay I was asked for $14 dollars (Rae and I each had one). I replied "four dollars" and with a sly smile the attendant said "no $14 dollars".... well it was the best and only $7 smoothy I have had or will have. The third Seven Dollar Event occurred when I received a haircut. Working on local advice (guys hanging out at the bar) I inquired at the local internet shop and sure enough the proprietors sister would be in within the hour and she does cut hair. So I had a fairly decent hair cut sitting next to the computer terminals. This haircut cost me $20 dollars.... however the local bar guy told me be prepared to pay $13 dollars. I really thought nothing of it, maybe a tip, maybe inflation.

But when one puts the three events together you have to wonder about a conspiracy.

Update on the national parks permit for Buck Island - seems to still be in process.

Super Stingray Attacks Speeding Boat - While anchored at Marina Cay in the BVI's this week, I was enjoying a cup of coffee during the early morning, while reclining in the cockpit, not an uncommon event it should be noted. A local boat about 17 feet in length came flying through the anchorage - say 25 miles an hour - quite fast for the number of boats around and the potential, although a little early, for people swimming off their boats. Apparently the captain and crew were unaware of the patrolling Super Sting Ray, which leapt about three feet in the air just as the speeding boat went by landing on the boats windshield and bouncing off, seemingly unharmed. The boat came to a sudden halt as the captain and crew collect their wits and cleaned their shorts. They then proceeded to their destination at a much more reasonable pace.

Fighting Octopus - While spear fishing at Culebrita I came across a rarity, an Octopus fully out in the open on top of the coral bed moving about. Usually these guys, with the exception of nocturnal forays, stay holed up in a cave of some sort and one must be quite lucky to find one while snorkeling/diving during the day. Well I decided to have a go at him. First I touched him with my spear to see what his reaction would be; he grabbed on and started pulling. I yanked hard and got the spear away. But the Octopus stayed there eyeing me, daring me if you will. So I slinged the spear and took a shot, of course missing in my excitement. He moved into a nearby hole in the coral, but still exposed and still giving me the eye. Well my next shot was on the mark and brought about a ocean load of ink. I went to pull him out, thinking about what an interesting dinner he will make, when... I could not get the spear back. The Octopus really had a hold of the spear now. A battle of wills, endurance, breath holding ability, wits and ink occurred, with me losing on all counts. I did claim a tie in the end getting my spear back but no Octopus for dinner.

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New Photo Albums

Two new photo album links have been added on the right hand side: Turks & Caicos and second the Dominican Republic.

An Open Letter to St. Croix

The cruising guides suggest that St. Croix is seldom visited because it is so far off the beaten track of the rest of the virgins. This has some truth, 40 miles of good but rough sailing, but let me suggest some other issues. First the main anchorage in Christiansted has a mean roll that one cannot get away from. Now there is a solution to this; the inner harbor has enough room for a handful of dedicated transient moorings in among the local boats. This would require cleaning out some of the junk on the bottom and brining order to the current mooring/anchoring chaos that exists.

Second and at least 50% of the reason for going there was to visit Buck Island, a national marine park. We arrived smack dab in the middle of a bureaucratic special as they had just changed the process to acquire the necessary permit. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, dutifully inquired on Saturday, returned Monday as instructed, completed all necessary paper work including three different offices to visit. We were then told that a notice of their decision would be mailed to us in 4 days.... I returned on Tuesday just to make clear that we would not likely be at our U.S. mailing address, to which I was assured that we would receive it via email. As I sit here in beautiful Cane Garden Bay Tortolla I am still without my permit, long past 4 days, and unfortunately long past our visit to St. Croix.

Lastly, while not the fault of St. Croix, and not one easily remedied is that it was a difficult place to get around. As without anchorages one was required to move about the island via car. Too bad because the one day we took a rental car the stunning beaches, snorkeling and diving opportunities seemed to abound.

We are now in the BVI's along with the charter fleet, which now doubt is at an off season low. Just so they swarm about and provide some good entertainment, particularly during anchoring.

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Swimming in St. John

We have spent the past week working our way around St. John, stopping in most of the harbors, even though they are only about 4 miles apart. The beaches have been very good, the snorkeling average and the sailing quite nice. St. John is nearly all national park. The facilities include hiking trails, underwater snorkel trails, mooring balls and moorings for dinghies at the dive/snorkel sights.

We ran into a cruising couple who we had previously met in Long Island in the Bahamas, but had not seen since. We were preparing to go over to their boat for evening drinks and eats. We had all showered after a long day of beach and swimming. Our contribution to the food was prepared the dinghy loaded. The captain went to step down into the dinghy, wearing a backpack with all of our stuff, including dvd player for the kids entertainment, just as Isabelle moved and stepped in front of me in the dinghy. I began to lose balance tipping backwards in slow motion, quickly acknowledged the situation and mentally prepared for the scamper up the boarding ladder. Fortunately noting was damaged by the salt water bath, except of course my humor. The crew was concerned only about the dvd player.

I got even, taking the family on a 4.5 mile hike in the St. John mountains that they are still complaining about ... it was hot, steep and not very worthwhile.

We are now in St. Croix, which is a bit off the beaten tourist track so a little quieter, unfortunately with a bit of bumpy anchorage.

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St. John

AhHA - this is why you do it. Rae Ann spontaneously says "this is better than the Bahamas...". The 350+ miles of beating into trade winds, seas and the equatorial current are now forgotten (not really but I get it now). I was very skeptical for a while there, even from the Spanish Virgins to the USVI was a miserable beat, in calm conditions no less.

We left St Thomas in the morning for a trip to the north side of St. John, 15 miles in all. The seas were flattened by the surrounding islands. The BVI's, Jost Van Dyke is close enough to touch, the islands are absolutely gorgeous - stunning mountains and beaches. The wind was 10-25 knots, sometimes a cay got in the way so we had to tack around it.. what pure enjoyment. We now have about 6 weeks give or take in this playground, and that is what it is a playground for boaters.

St. John is 70% national park and beautifully maintained. No one is allowed to anchor any longer, but there are plenty of park provided moorings, costing $15/night, which I am happy to contribute as it seems that it goes only back into the park. We will spend the next week or so circumnavigating the island to check out the beaches, hiking and snorkeling from as many anchorages as possible.

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Now We Go Fast

We left Culebrita on Friday morning for the trip to the USVI, goal St. John, about 30 miles. Well we got out in the Virgin Passage between Culberita and St. Thomas and got all shaken up by opposing winds, seas and currents. Not alot of fun but only about an hours worth of discomfort. However, it was long enough for Isabelle to get sick. So as we came closer to St. Thomas I asked if she wanted to stop and get a new outboard engine, something we have been talking about as our 5hp is just over matched now. She said yes that would make her feel better. So we detoured to Crown Bay, anchoring up against the west side of Water Island. We are now the proud owners of a 15hp Yamaha, and boy do we go fast. Jake gets a concerned look on his face and says "he worries about stuff flying out of the dinghy"... probably him. Isabelle holds on to the painter and laughs the entire time, only wanting to go faster.

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Culberita

Culberita is a small uninhabited island just to the north and east of Culebra. It has a beautiful beach, a well protected if somewhat swell ridden anchorage, some good reefs for snorkeling and fishing. It is also a turtle reserve, and as we are here it is egg laying season, so there are many many turtles swimming around the boat.

We came in here on Sunday, and while less than Saturday, there were about 75 boats in - all just for the day - celebrating the Easter holiday. Most of the boats were power boats that came over from Puerto Rico. The would anchor stern to the beach and jump off into the water. All having a very good time. Now mid-week it is just us cruisers - 4 boats in all.

We will leave Culberita for the USVI's later this week after the east winds lay down a bit.

Jake has been working on his swimming and is doing quite well. He also caught his first fish yesterday, a Remora (they have suckers on the top of their head, which they use to attach to sharks, rays, turtles, boats, divers), unfortunately not an eating fish so we let it go, but it played and fought quite a bit so Jake had a nice time.

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The Rescurers

We took our dinghy about 2 miles to the north of Cayo Luis Pena for a snorkeling adventure, after seeing a dive boat stop there earlier in the morning. We were rewarded with a great reef - very long - with some great formations and several fish including a 3 foot hog fish. The kids did great and have really become very good at snorkeling.

Just after we started our trip back, two people who were snorkeling just to the east of us, on a rocky point were waving. We went over to them and they frantically hailed us to get in our dinghy. We obliged. They were in Puerto Rico for their first wedding anniversary and had taken a plane to Culebra for a day in the sun and water. They had snorkeled off a beach just to the south and east of the point. They got caught in the north flowing current and could not get back. They had then panicked, trying to get up on the rocks they had scraped themselves up pretty bad and lost one of their snorkels. We gave them a ride back to the beach for which the were very grateful. I tried some good natured advice, like "do not fight the current, just ride the current then head towards the nearest beach and walk". Needless to say they were shaken enough to suggest that I was wasting my breath as they were never going in the ocean again. The asked what we were doing in the Spanish Virgins, so we very briefly explained our cruise, which given that they did not ever want to see the ocean again, really did not register as even possibly true.

Anyway, it was good to be in the right place at the right time to lend a hand. The kids were clearly impacted by the panic of the rescued couple but recovered quickly.

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Sailing into the Spanish Virgins

We left the south coast of Puerto Rico in the early morning of Monday (3 am to exact). We attempted to make Vieques but were fighting wind, sea and current. By the way the sailing directions for the Spanish Virgins clearly note this, suggesting an alternative route. We broke off to the north sailing along the east coast of Puerto Rico, the wind veered to the south east and we laid a course for Culebra, tacking a couple of times to make it but enjoying a long 6 hour sail in great conditions. We anchored on the north coast of Cano Luis Pena, a nature reserve for turtles, and just as we set the anchor a rather large turtle (Hawksbill we think) came to take a look. Culebra and its surrounding islands are very pretty.

So our pounding to windward is done, yes we do have make a few more miles east, but that is all within the Virgin Islands which provide tacking angles and nice lees to use. I can say that it is a big relief to not have to repeat the route along the DR and PR coasts. We really enjoyed Puerto Rico and is a great cruising area itself. Until the last leg, leaving between 3-4 am did work on the PR coast as the nocturnal wind made things much calmer for easting. The last leg I think ultimately is too close to the eastern end of the island so the seas and winds are not dampened as much.

With respect to the Virgins I have high expectations for the Spanish, am intrigued by the British, and think unlikely for the U.S.

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Caja de Muertos

This past week has been very interesting and frankly productive. We came into Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico. The anchorage is deep but well protected. We had to run our two anchors in series to get good holding. We used Ponce as a base to re-provision, which went very well with good grocery and hardware stores. We also took a day to tour the rain forest, which was very cool, with some nice hikes to waterfalls which all enjoyed.

We left Ponce for Caja De Muertos - Coffin Island - so named for its appearance of a person laying with arms crossed over their chest. The island is a park with a hiking trail up to a defunct light house. The water is stunningly clear with a nice beach to enjoy it from. The anchorage is good in sand but with a slight roll as we are much more exposed to the ocean swells.

We will continue to take advantage of the excellent weather (light winds and seas) and continue east toward the Virgin Islands. We were able to find a home for the old dinghy with another cruiser, which was a relief to get it out of the way from a storage stand point. No decision yet on the new outboard, but prices and availability have been researched.

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La Parguera

We continue our march east in March. All told we will have done 350 miles of motor sailing from Luperon in the Dom Rep to arrive in the Virgins Islands, where we will have a chance to sail again.

We give high marks to Puerto Rico thus far. We spent a few days in Boqueron before moving around the corner to the south coast stopping at La Paguera. La Paguera has a great anchorage in among the mangroves, with beautiful snorkeling offshore, great mangrove creeks to explore via dinghy and a nice town. There is a little mangrove island just offshore from the anchorage that is split into thirds by two narrow and shallow waterways, both perfect for snorkeling, especially for children. Jake and Isabelle really enjoyed snorkeling through there checking out all of the marine life.

We could have spent even more time than the 4 days we did there relaxing and getting back into cruising mode.
Alas Gilligan's island beckoned a mere 12 miles down the coast. The only connection to the TV show is a similar appearance on shore, which we can confirm does have some similarity with neat lagoons surrounding the island.

The big big news, we acquired a new dinghy. A 9 foot hard bottom Caribe. Very cool, though expensive and always on the foredeck when making passages, even short ones. Though our 5hp engine now is a little light....hmmm it could be very expensive in Puerto Rico!

We will continue to coastal hop in Puerto Rico, which is best done in the early morning hours (4am - 8am) before the trades come back in full force. Fortunately the next harbor is always close at hand. We have some re-provisioning to do in the next couple of towns and then off to the Spanish Virgin Islands, likely by the weekend if all goes well.

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Puerto Rico

Well we have left Luperon arriving in Puerto Rico after about 1 week of pounding winds and seas. The trip down the north DR coast and the crossing of the Mona Passage are held to be the most difficult legs of the thorny path to the Caribbean Islands. The trip lived up to its reputation, though we did have relatively good conditions, the reality is that it is dead to windward against the trade winds, seas and currents. We saw as much as 10 foot seas, 20 knot head winds and 2.5 knot adverse currents. As much as possible we sailed at night stopping during the day, as the winds along the coast of the DR get suppressed in the evenings, which seemed to work. Others traveling at about the same time as us did more traveling during the day and did have worse conditions. Anyway, in Rae Ann's words "lets just get it over with". That we did and now we can island hop through the Caribbean.

Upon review I wish we would have spent less time in Luperon, which we found to be an average stop at best - no doubt great protected harbor but not alot else on offer - and spent more time in Samana, where there is a national park, a few more islands to see and more activity in the larger town.

We are now anchored in Boqueron a party town on the coast for college students on the weekend. Very friendly people, nice beach and pretty scenery. Weather permitting we will move slowly down the south coast during the week.

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Luperon

Well a rather relaxed couple of weeks thus far in Luperon. We had a small window to exit for points east this past week, but the DR Navy had closed the ports due to swell, though seemingly unevenly applied as boats in harbors further east were allowed to depart. There were several boats that wanted to leave and were very upset they were prevented. However the following day everyone was allowed to leave.. but then the window was to short so only about half left. Long story and much drama for a cruising community. We had already decided not to go anyway so we took on an amused observer roll.

We went out to La Isabella and Castillo, where the original Spanish settlement was located. Though obviously not much left there, the effort to preserve what remains was impressive. The drive out along the north coast was breath taking. The northern DR is very rural, rugged and green.

From a cruising perspective Luperon has much to offer, save for clean water to swim in, which we miss and sorely need to keep the kids entertained. Otherwise the community of boats is nice, provisioning cheap, beer extremely cheap and plenty of nice people to help with any needs. There is also a big shoal area right in the middle of the anchorage. So nearly every morning, including today, we retire to the cockpit about 7:00 am with a steaming cup of coffee, sun slowly rising, temperature perfect and watch the boats coming in.... and .... running on to the shoal. I guess we could warn them, but that is much less fun, and the shoal is just soft mud so everyone gets off with out much problem.

We did have one exciting moment as a boat in front of us began to drag the other day. The owner was away, so it was up to the cruisers to get the boat re-anchored. The windlass had been left on, but there was not key for the ignition. So about 8 dinghies were pulling and pushing and I and another cruiser ran the windlass, chain and anchors up onto deck and then reset two anchors. The boat seems to sit fine now, either that or we put it to close to the mangroves and it is actually now aground... We plan to leave next week.

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Waterfalls

We ventured inland from Luperon to the mountains to visit the much hyped waterfalls. After a hike of about 40 minutes, which required fording the downstream river from the falls about 10 times, we reached the base of the falls. There are 27 falls in series running down the mountain. With the significant help of our two guides we climbed up through seven falls, which have cut a deep narrow canyon, smoothed by thousands of years of water rushing trough. The highest falls were about 15 feet high, while the average was about 5 feet. Once to the top the only way down is to jump or slide. Absolutely great fun and stunning beauty.

Jake and Isabelle had a blast on the hike, though Isabelle insisted on a shoulder ride for the trip back. The falls were too much for the kids to climb do to the combination of strong current that you had to swim against in between the falls and the steep, jump/slide down. They were quite content though playing in the pool at the bottom.

Luperon has been a nice stop, with inexpensive provisioning, a good spot to catch up on things like haircuts and dental checkups ($15 for dental a check up) and to just relax prior to pushing on along the north coast of the Dominican Republic.

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Found: Beautiful Protected Calm Anchorage

We arrived in Luperon, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday morning after an overnight sail from Big Sand Cay in the T&C. The last two days in the T&C were very nice with the weather settling allowing us to do some great snorkeling and hiking in South Caicos and then moving on early in the morning to Big Sand Cay. The name does not lie. The beach is an easy 3 miles long with perfect sand, that runs out to the anchorage at a very steep angle. The water clarity is hard to the describe and the best I have ever seen. You could just see forever. From above each step lower in the water brought a slightly different color until the deep blue of the Turks passage. The kids raced up and down the steep beach into the water and enjoyed being crashed around by large breaking waves.

The crossing to Luperon brings closure to one of the more difficult legs of our journey so far, and it went out like a lamb. We had a nice sail which is unusual for the passage and a break from lots of motoring lately into the trades. There were several squalls on route requiring several adjustments reef adjustments to the sails. The seas were reasonable and the crew was comfortable. Rae Ann tried a new sea sickness medicine given to us from another boat, Bogus (Dennis and Renee, thank you), that worked very well. We have met so many great people lately, forming a real comraderie with people even if we only spoke to them on the radio. You realize that the cruising community is your only support network and everyone becomes quick to pitch in.

When we were arriving in Luperon there was a boat putting out a Mayday on the DR coast about 30 miles from us. There was no one to respond to this other than the cruising boats, unfortunately almost all of us seemed to be too far away for what the captain of the stricken vessel was describing as an imminent threat of losing his boat on the rocks (remember best speed is maybe 7 knots, so most of us were 4 hours away, which the captain of the struggling vessel would be too late). I do not know the fate and in fact a rescue may have been organized. It just highlights the point made in the previous paragraph.

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WANTED: Comfortable Anchorage

Will pay in seashells, sand or salt water. The Turks & Caicos have been interesting, though mostly because we cannot find a comfortable anchorage. Either one is open to the wind or open to the ocean swell, and in some places both.

We arrived Monday morning a week ago as I write this to Provo. We came in the south side onto the Caicos bank to Sapodilla bay after a very uneventful 18 hour crossing from Atwood harbor. The first thing that struck us was how much more substantial the investment in properties is in the T&C verses the Bahamas. The construction quality is much much higher. Provo itself has some good provisioning and some good restaurants. However, all things are very spread out and thus always require a rental car/taxi to get around, which is a bit expensive and inconvenient. The T&C are renown for their diving, and while we have not had an opportunity to go diving owing to an inability to rid ourselves of Jake and Isabelle, some of the snorkeling has been very good.

We were presented with a weather window to go onto the Dominican Republic on Thursday/Friday. Alas we thought that was too little time in the T&C and decided to use the nice weather to explore some of the small uninhabited cays. We stopped at French Cay, Ambergris Cays and then at South Caicos. South Caicos was once the economic hub for the T&C owing to its salt production, however, with that industry shut it is essentially a fishing village in some disrepair with very nice people. In retrospect the lack of any really suitable anchorage throughout the T&C has us pining for Luperon in the Dominican Republic where we can rest peacefully.

We are now in the mating grounds for the Humpback whale, which stretch from the Mona Passage up through the Turks Passage. We had arrived to early at the Sandbore channel to head into Provo so waited deep water. At about 6:00 am Rae Ann heard a very loud whoosh, about 100 yards from the boat a whale surfaced a couple of times then showed us his tail as he dove into deeper water. We look forward to seeing several more on our voyages farther south.

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Out of Clarence Town

The weather turned quite nice on Thursday with a good forecast through Monday. We let the seas calm down and left on Friday for Atwood harbor on Aklins Island. We plan to push on to the Turks & Caicos later today.

So three weeks in Clarence town was a little longer than necessary, however, there were many highlights: cliff jumping into the blue hole, a cave tour with lots of bats to scare the kids, great spear fishing in the harbor, a very accommodating bar, Rowdy Boys, which let the kids use their pool, great friends made among the many cruising boats stranded, the farmers market for fresh produce. Overall Long Island is quite diverse and the only island we had been in that was not solely dedicated to the tourist trade. The people were very friendly, open and helpful. So as time wears away the memory of feeling a little stuck, all will be remember quite fondly.

Atwood harbor is a complete uninhabited crescent indentation on the north coast of Aklins. The bay is absolutely pristine, with a barrier coral reef that yielded a monster lobster for dinner. Other than its lack of protection from anything northerly this could be a harbor one spent much time in. Alas by Monday night we will have strong northerlies so we have to be pushing on. Our choice was to stop in Mayangua, the last island in the Bahamas chain or go straight to the T&C. Given the extremely comfortable sailing conditions we have elected to go to the T&C, so within the next 12 hours will be departing after nearly 3 months in the Bahamas, seems like a long time, but we left dozens of places unexplored.

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Back to Clarence Town

We did our best to leave but ultimately were pulled back, this time by the forces of nature. The nature of seasickness that is. We left on Tuesday with a 24 hour window, trying to run ahead of a strong cold front. The winds were as forecast if not a bit lighter clocking through the south and west, ideal for going SE. The problem was the seas, which were residual from the east at about 6 feet with a 7 sec period. As we were headed right into them, Nikita had a fair amount of action. Isabelle succumbed very early and vomited for about 1 hour, eventually bringing Rae Ann and Jake down with her. Mutiny was at hand so the captain turned the vessel around. Our plan was a 30 hour trip to the Turks & Caicos... for another day now. We left with 2 other boats, one sail and one power. The sail was also a family, with the same sea sickness issues. They elected to push on and made it safely, though told us via the radio that the seas actually got worse rather than better. All in all a good decision to turn around and wait for much calmer weather.

We have made the best of Clarence Town though, meeting up with another set of cruisers as well as our friends whom were on vacation. We snorkeled the Blue Hole and cliff jumped from about 30 feet into it. We also visited a very large cave formation with numerous bats, to the immense enjoyment of the kids.

It looks like by the end of the coming week we will get a period of lighter winds and more settled conditions, if so we will revert to our original plan of harbor hoping down to the Turks & Caicos rather than one long passage.

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A New - Very Old Dinghy

We are back in business. The cruiser network is quite awesome. Last week on the run down from Rum Cay, Free@Last blew and mainsail and we lost our dinghy. Well within 24 hours we had found a sewing machine and sufficient supplies to repair the mainsail to almost new condition. As well we found a cruiser in Georgetown selling their second dinghy, which we were able to meet them and pick up on Saturday. Really quite amazing.

Now the new/old dinghy is very old, but has been well cared for but does show its age. I have done some minor repair jobs today and have a couple more to do that will help in the short term. The dinghy came with an engine, a 1978 25 hp Evinrude. Well that is nearly as old as me and I know I am not that reliable anymore. The engine though does run well, but is just too large for us, so we will find it another home, probably a local fisherman.

We are still in Clarence Town and likely to be here through the next week as well waiting for better weather to go south. Long Island and Clarence Town are interesting though, so a fine place to be stuck.

For the Superbowl will cheer for the Cardinals. Part of this is that I am a Seattle Fan, and so still sting from the loss to the Steelers. The Cardinals are just to good a story.

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A Pub Crawl to the Tropics

We left Rum Cay after spending 6 days there. We hooked with another cruising boat, Homeward Bound, and had a great time rotating between our boats for evening dinners of freshly caught seafood, and guitar playing. The seafood being much better than the guitar playing, but after enough beer and rum everything started to sound good. During our stay in Rum Cay a front came through with a strong westerly, which resulted in us ducking into the marina there for three days, as there is no protected anchorage for western quadrant wind. This was a welcome change and our first Marina since Nassau at the end of November. The batteries definitely appreciated the three days of charging. Rum Cay has a very small settlement, probably 50 people, with some scattered resort/villa/marina development. The people were extremely nice, but clearly under pressure as the only game in town is tourism and there was nothing happening on that front. Like a strong U.S. cold front, the economic chaos is moving south east and engulfing the Bahamas. One curious defensive habit has developed; prices for goods and services are not published and to get a quote one must beg, the preference is to provide the goods and services and then make up the price afterwards, at a much inflated value. This leaves a bad taste for everybody involved, and I think creates only a small short term gain.

We left Rum Cay, with Jake saying "I really enjoyed that place", to head for Clarence Town on Long Island. The cruising guides were mixed on Clarence Town, as an east coast anchorage it is very exposed to the large swells from the Atlantic ocean, essentially coming unchecked for Europe/Africa, however the town itself is to contain some fascinating history. Well after 12 hours we have found the anchorage comfortable, more so that Rum even, and can see that the town will hold a great deal of interesting exploring for the next week or so.

One very troubling event, on our sail down from Rum, I made a terrible error. The trip is about 35 miles, so a 5 hour run for us. The winds were on our port quarter at 20 knots and seas on the beam running 4-10 feet in swell and wind chop. A nice, fast and comfortable sail. Alas not one that you should tow your dinghy through. This is what I did and we lost it off the cleat at some point, even though I was trying to keep an eye on it. Now a dinghy is the most important piece of equipment in an anchorage after a good anchor. It is your car; grocery getter, beach and snorkeling trips, visiting other boats and shore side attractions. Without it one is stuck on the boat. We are fortunately still buddy boating with Free@Last so can now buddy dinghy. The replacement though shall be a challenge as we are far enough into the out-islands that it shall be either very expensive or impossible, likely both. Wish us luck.

The Pub Crawl; Hammish and I attempted a pub crawl on Rum Cay. There are three bars, however one was closed. We made it to all of them, the best being Kayne's which was proud of its "Sand Bar", which upon close inspection was a simple two room structure with a bar made out of wood and sand on the floor. Good fun though. The locals were watching "Trading Places" when we walked in. We finished the pub crawl with a few more on the boat. Lastly, on our trip from Rum to Clarence Town we crossed the Tropic of Cancer, so we are now in the tropics!

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Escaping Chicken Harbor

Well we made it out of Georgetown, leaving on Thursday. We had little choice but to wait that long as the propane fill was Wednesday. We almost clucked though. As we sat at the bar on Chat N Chill beach we were told that the coming cold front and winds were going to be to strong, that our intended destination would provide no protection - just stay they said, leave next week. The famous Georgetown refrain. We did enjoy Georgetown, the provisioning is absolutely first rate, probably dangerously so as you can find things you do not need. The gatherings on the beach each afternoon were fun as many kids (all older unfortunately) were there for Jake to try and run with. The adults found their way to the beach volleyball afternoon. It is clear that the semi-permanent community, the organization and perceived stability - purely the numbers as we estimated 150+ boats - provides an important backstop for many people. That said the downside is some very poor water quality, well overfished reefs and a pattern to each day that does not vary from the previous or the next.

We left Georgetown bound for Conception island, arriving after a long motor sail in very light wind in seas. Conception is uninhabited and absolutely pristine. Rae Ann commented that the beach was the best she has ever seen. The water clarity was crystal clear, absolutely unbelievable. The afternoon was sunny, dinner was scrumptious bounty of the sea, the drinks free flowing ... too free flowing and the company (Free@Last) outstanding. The winds built as forecast during the night, but we were protected. However, as Conception is a very small island any large swell wraps around the island, thus our anchorage had a fair roll to it. Reluctantly we left paradise and ran for Rum Cay. We had a brisk beam sail in 20 knots of wind and 6 foot plus seas. We will stay at Rum for the next couple of days, looking forward to the snorkeling and spear fishing here.

A spear fishing update. After procuring new spear tips in Georgetown we, Hammish of Free@Last and myself have become even more deadly. My latest was a lobster so large that it fed four adults, and was so heavy it kept pushing my under water filling my snorkel as I swam it back to the dinghy.

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Georgetown

So we have arrived in the cruising mecca of the Bahamas. Elizabeth harbor is formed by Great Exuma and Stocking Island (and other cays) running parallel roughly in NW/SE direction. The harbor is about 10 miles long and 1.5 miles wide with many shallow areas. The easterly trade wind pattern results in most boats anchoring in the lee of Stocking island. Stocking island sports the Chat n Chill beach bar and volleyball beach, where all cruisers gather for their afternoon of play. The town of Georgetown on Great Exuma is then a somewhat long and very wet dinghy ride. However, we found all of the re-provisioning that we needed plus some. Very welcome as we expect to head to the Bahamas Out Islands where supplies will be thin to say the least.

There are several cruisers who departed the U.S. on the same day we did, who came straight to Georgetown. There are even some who do not leave. All told there are about 100 boats here right now, but that greatly increases the farther you get into the season.

Georgetown is also known as chicken harbor, as many arrive with grand plans of moving farther south, but few actually go. The reason being is that going south is then almost all open ocean sailing and within 15 miles one is in the tropics crossing the Tropic of Cancer, thus one becomes quickly exposed to the trade winds with little relief in the easterly flow of both wind and waves. The route south is mostly direct into this flow.

We are hoping that we do not turn into chickens.

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Black Point & Beyond

We have been moving slowly south in the Exuma Chain, stopping at Black Point, White Point and are now currently at Little Farmers Cay. Black Point and White Point are both on Great Guana Cay. Black Point is a large, for the Bahamas. settlement supporting a local community. It is basically a one road town. Very friendly to cruisers with the best Bahamian bread yet. White Point is sans settlement but had some very nice coral and beaches nearby. Little Farmers was essentially founded by four people several generations ago, with most of the current population descendants of these four people. A small community but very inviting. Most importantly with a good east side anchorage to wait out the current cold front and its westerly winds. From here south the bank side of the Bahamas begin to run out of water so to speak. We were sailing in about 8 feet of water, near high tide, yesterday with our 6.7 foot draft. So from Little Farmers we will go out into Exuma sound for a run down to Georgetown, about 40 miles to the SE. This is usually a manageable distance for us, however, it seems somewhat intimidating right now as it will be about 8 times longer than any passage we have had in the last six weeks! Oh how we have been spoiled by this section of the Exuma chain.

Jake tried swimming sans life jacket off the back of the boat while we were in Black Point. I went in with him showing him how to tread water. He was able to start swimming without much fuss. Now he believes after one afternoon that he is an expert so we now need a very careful eye that he just does not jump in.

On the spear fishing front, our technique (Hammish from Free@Last and myself) continues to improve as does the variety of our catch. I am still using a spear without tip, so more or less bludgeoning the fish. The downside of this approach is that I loose my share if I hit them in a non-fatal place, like the lower belly, as they can easily slide off, being there is no spear tip with barb to hold them. Just increases the degree of difficulty. Our catch list now includes, sting ray, lobster, trigger fish and grouper. Of the fish, while the trigger is held to be the best tasting, our current vote is for the grouper, which we prepared by rolling them in a spiced flour and lightly frying. The lobster was a close second. We have also started to purge lion fish. Lion fish are very interesting, almost seeming to have feathers that fan out, are a very nice black and white color, one might suggest beautiful. They are also extremely poisonous and not native to the Bahamas, having no known predators here. They were introduced accidentally a couple of years ago, and now are almost everywhere. They like to hide under ledges in coral, but are very docile and not aggressive. I guess not having predators makes you pretty confident. Their favorite fish is the Nassau Grouper which is under immense pressure from over fishing already. We now spear and kill any lion fish we see, doing our part to reduce the scourge. Oh yeah and it is pretty fun.

Last note, we have uploaded our first set of Bahamas pictures, see the link to the right.

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New Years Eve in the Bahamas

Start as with anywhere with good friends, ours came courtesy of the s/v Free@Last comprised of two adults and importantly one 3 year old boy. We have been sailing with them off and on for the last few months and the kids absolutely go nuts for each other. The adults get along famously as well.

Next add fresh fish, this is courtesy of a 3 hour spear fishing expedition by myself and captain Hammish of Free@Last. Now not all of this is spear fishing, a big part is just going about in your dinghy to find a good place (there are no signs!), there is also a fair bit of avoiding giant Great Barracuda, two different black tip reef sharks and a sting ray that was very mad - because we decided to shoot it with our spear, causing not a bit of harm though the spear stuck momentarily, he was sleeping though in the sand so rudely awaken. My aim put the spear in his wing rather than head, so he flapped twice dislodged the spear and took off. One note of cowardice, after discovering said sleeping sting ray, we retreated to the dingy and shot the spear from there. Our catch ended up being one Squirrel Fish (bait only, but also has poisoned barbs around his gills which we were unaware of), one crab and one Bar Jack. The Bar Jack was actually caught at the boat after we had returned from the hunt. I was snorkeling about Nikita as the wind had shifted and like any good captain wanted to see where we were lying as compared to our anchor. The Bar Jack stared to follow me and as I free dove down to him let me come eye to eye. Big mistake, I swam back to the dinghy and retrieved my spear sans any tip (more on this later) and swam back. There he was still curious though a little less brave, I think all Bahamas fish know the color of the pole spear, gold, and know what to do. Anyway I free dove again, and again he let me come right up to him, Rae Ann thinks given the absence of any other fish he wanted to make friends, I did not. AS we cam eye to eye, pole spear cocked, I let fly - bam right in the head, instant kill. The Bar Jack and the crab made very good eating.

The pole spear is a two part arrangement - a pole with rubber tubing for creating the sling shot like action and a screw on tip. There are different types of tips and I bought only one a trident type. I was told this was the best type, and it may be, as it has a shot gun like effect, e.g. you can have bad aim, as a result of its three barbed prongs. Well I like adventurous spear fishing, so will free dive down until I am positioned under a wreck for instance (where the big fish are) and shoot kind of blindly. This is rarely successful and leads to hitting solid objects. This approach broke two of my three pronged trident. As it did not shoot straight any longer we eventually broke off the third prong. Now it is essentially a bludgeoning type spear, but shoots straight!

After a clean up and some organizing we retired to a nearby beach, played, gathered some drift wood and ultimately built a nice fire. The kids ate roasted weaners, three a piece while the adults consumed adult type beverages. Then back to Free@Last for real dinner more adult drinks, observing fire works and laughter. Eventually the wall was hit at 10 pm (late for cruisers by the way) and kids needed their beds so off we went to Nikita.

At 2:30 the wind shifted again and came up to 22 knots, putting us on lee shore with quite a bit of wave action. One hour of anchor watch, looking at worst case escape routes and the wind died, though not the crazy bouncy waves.

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