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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