March 12, 2008 The Saints (Les Saintes)

We sailed into the Saints at about 2 p.m. finding a large anchorage full of boats. It took several tries for us to get the boat anchored--most unusual. Of course, our windlass is not working properly; Mike has to let the anchor down by hand. (Fortunately, it works well when pulling up the anchor.)
The Bourg de les Saintes is a charming little village with shop-lined streets but also many residences. It seems to be a tourist haven despite many residents. After strolling the main street, we stopped in a lovely modern French hotel called Le Hotel Bleu for a glass of wine. Chatting with the waiter, we learned that he had left Montpelier in the south of France to raise his three small children in Les Saintes. Of course, he has found the island to be very small and may not stay here forever. He was very nice and spoke very good English. Most people we have run across since Guadaloupe only speak French and maybe a smattering of English. Of course, that makes me happy as I’m really getting a workout on my French, something I’ve longed to do since minoring in it college many eons ago.
This morning we went into town at 9 a.m. for some croissants, which we’ve been enjoying since Guadaloupe. However, we were too late for the bakery. They were gone. However, there were still some chocolate doughnuts--pain de chocolat--which of course we bought. Delicious! Tomorrow we’ll have to get into town early to get some croissants.

March 5 - Deshaies, Guadaloupe

Finally, we made it. After a wild sail, we were happy to find a delightful fishing village of Deshaies (day-hay). It is a picturesque village with around 25 sailboats in its harbor. It feels very European as opposed to the other islands. Of course, French food abounds. We plan to stay here a few days enjoying the town.

In the first picture, you see tourists standing in line to buy a hunk of fresh fish on the main street in Deshaies. The next picture is a scene at the dock where we tied up our dinghy along with local fishermen. Third is Mike enjoying a glass of wine at one of the beachside bars on a very hot afternoon. And last is a shot of S/V Jus' Now through the trees at Deshaies.

February 19-March 3 - Montserrat

We left Nevis early on Friday morning heading for Guadaloupe. However, it turned out that the wind and waves were from the east, not the northeast, making a sail onto Guadaloupe more difficult. Instead we opted to stop halfway at the island of Montserrat. We headed first for a small bay at the base of the volcano, Soufriere. However, as we neared the bay, great whorls of dust were blowing off the mud flows left by the eruption in 1995. We had read that this sometimes happens and can leave your boat very dirty. So we changed direction and headed north to Little Bay.

On Saturday, we had planned to leave bright and early only to find that the weather was going to be worse than Friday--lots of hard sailing into the waves and wind. In fact, we went out for a quick look, but decided not to go further and returned.

Instead, we hiked into the town. What a hike! Montserrat is a very small, mountainous island. The roads are very steep; the climbing was tough going. We met some sailors on the way who were parked near us--Dan and Jean Osborne, from Punta Gorda. They told us about a little restaurant up the hill so we proceeded there since we were is search of a bite to eat. Ingrid, the owner, introduced herself and served us what she had: curried mutton. It was delicious. Ingrid, as it turned out, is also an Osborne--not related, of course, to Dan and Jean, but very friendly.

We had a pleasant evening with the Osbornes and German neighbors, Willie and Uta, on another boat.

On Sunday, Mike worked on our battery charger which has a habit of acting up quite regularly despite its being brand new. No sooner had he finished, when the alternator on our generator failed. He thought it would be a quick fix, but not so! It was going to need some parts. Big question: could we find these parts on this tiny island??? Mike hailed a local on a passing jet ski who said that he and his seven brothers all worked on cars and mght be able to help.

So on Monday morning, Mike pulled the alternator and went to meet Ol' Jack at the appointed time of 10 am. Around noon, when Ol' Jack still hadn't turned up, a fellow named Tom offered to call him. When Ol' Jack showed up, he took Mike to his brother's auto repair shop where they took apart the alternator and after much searching around found the parts for repair. Mike returned about 3 p.m. a happy man with some new friends to boot.

On Tuesday morning, we were able to leave for Guadaloupe. We were really happy to have had such a great time in Montserrat.

February 25, 2008 - St. Kitts

After a couple of days in Nevis, we had a gorgeous sail to St. Kitts, a few miles north of Nevis. We anchored just outside the town of Basse Terre, its capital, in what turned out to be a miserable anchorage. It was very rolly and unpleasant. However, we decided just to stay there overnight so that we could enjoy the town for a day and then move on.

The people in St. Kitts were very friendly. The town is modeled after London in some respects with a center square called Picadilly Circus(pictured above). It is much larger than Charlestown and to us lacked the charm of Charlestown. The town has a new area where cruise ships arrive under construction to appeal to the masses. There are lots of new shops being built. The area reminds me of the open-air malls now common in the US. I guess this shopping mode is designed to appeal to the cruise ship clientele.

After roaming the town for awhile, we returned to our boat to spend a very unpleasant rolly night. In the morning, after obtaining fuel and water, we moved to a lovely anchorage a mile or so south called Whitehouse Bay. We spent a day there hiking the main road in search of monkeys that we heard are very prevalent there. We did see one, finally. We saw lots of goats and cows, though. Apparently, the island is preparing for some development in this area. Workmen were checking the water pipes; there were dump trucks moving loads of dirt. Things will be changing this pretty countryside soon. Pictured above is the salt pond area where we hiked.

We left for Nevis to clear out, another necessity, before moving south.

February 23,2008

We set out to sail to Nevis and St. Kitts on Tuesday, Feb. 19, but somehow didn't realize how long a trip it was--7 hours--and realized we needed to get an earlier start. So instead we sailed up to Jolly Harbour, a pleasant sail but with big, 7-10 foot waves and plenty of wind. When we arrived, our starboard motor failed to go into gear. Uh-oh! So, Mike decided we'd spend Wednesday figuring out that problem before we could go on to Nevis.

Luck was with us, though. Mike soon discovered that the cotter pin had broken and with a new one on board, we were in business in no time. However, we still needed a full day of sailing, so opted to spend another night in Jolly Harbor.

Thursday morning, we took off at 6:30 a.m.--quite early for us. There was a little wind and the seas were calm. Unfortunately, that meant we had to motor a good way before the wind built. Plus there were squalls all around us meaning we couldn't use our spinnaker. However, we enjoyed our day arriving in Nevis about 2:45. We located our friend Clark, who was parked just south of Pinney Beach, without difficulty and enjoyed a pleasant evening with him. We had met Clark in George Town, Bahamas, last February. He has since been down to Grenada where he spent hurricane season and is on his way back now.

Friday we went in to Charlestown (pictured above), the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton and the capital of Nevis. It's a charming little town with colorful buildings on the waterfront and friendly townspeople. We did the obligatory check-in--one can't anchor a boat without ensuring they've let the customs/immigration officials know they're there. Usually there's a fee involved as well. This was no exception. In fact, once again, there was a lot of paperwork to fill out followed by a four-block trek to the police building to have our passports stamped. Oh, well. It was worth it. We are very impressed with Nevis. We lunched at a place called Unella's (pictured above) with a beautiful view of the coast with sandy white beaches and palm trees. Then had dinner with Clark aboard our boat.

Today we moved from Pinney's Beach to Cades Point, three miles north, with plans to snorkel. Because the ocean was a bit choppy, we put off our snorkeling till tomorrow.

February 17

On Saturday, February 16, we enjoyed an unusual event at The Catamaran Club, outside of whose marina we are anchored. They sponsored a Build Your Own Boat (BYOB) event where different teams from the Wobbly Club competed. All had about two hours to build a small boat of particle board, duct tape, glue, etc.--spartan equipment, you can tell. There were about 10 teams. At 4:30, time was called and the boats were divided into two categories: those that would sail their crafts and those who powered their crafts other ways such as rowing or motoring, etc. There were numerous spectators sharing opinions and watching avidly as the participants hustled to finish their boats. There was even a kids' entry. All had a great time, even the two boats that got dumped in the drink after taking off on the brief path to the finish line.

Above are some pictures of the event as well as one of The Catamaran Club.

Antigua, Feb. 17, 2008

Sticking to the busses is not without risk. Bus drivers seem to compete with each other on speed, how close they can come to each other without missing a beat, and how close they can come to individuals walking in the street. That said, I'd rather take the bus than a car. The bus system works very well. One just needs to hail a bus which come every few minutes. The price into St. John's is $3, Easter Caribbean, which they state as "3 dollars." One must always make sure that the price quoted is US dollars or EC dollars, as 1 US dollar equals about 2.70 EC dollars. The bus goes to a central bus station across from the market although people get on and off all the way there.

Yesterday we made our second trip into St. John's primarily to go to the market for fresh vegetables. Our trip was fun. There are tons of vendors inside an old concrete hall-like building with a myriad of tomatoes, cucumbers, bora beans (not unlike green beans, but longer) and other assorted known and unknown vegetables. We bought a few things, not much because things don't keep well in this climate and we don't like to throw away food. There were also many vendors set up outside around the market and up and down the streets. Many street vendors are selling CDs which blare on outdoor speakers on each and every corner. St. John's is a busy, busy place with lots of locals and tourists milling about in the streets, vying for space on the limited sidewalks or trying to stay out of the paths of cars, trucks and busses.

After buying a few veggies, we hopped a bus to a large shopping center a little north of town called Woods Center. There is a large, well-stocked grocery store there called Epicurean. We were very glad we'd gone. We were able to get some pork chops, chicken, bacon and other foodstuffs that we hadn't seen in Falmouth Harbor, where we are anchored. There was also a Radio Shack where we searched for a battery charger without luck. After shopping, we hopped the bus back to the main station in St. John's to change to the bus back to Falmouth Harbor. A successful, enjoyable day.

Pictured above are the marketplace and a statue there of the famous Antiguan founder, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird.

Feb. 12,2008

Since our Christmas and New Year's holidays spent in St. Maarten/St. Martin and Anguilla, we parked in St. Martin to await the arrival of Colorado friends, Larry and Dana Darien. Sue went to Maryland to help her mother move to a retirement home then returned in time for a sail to St. Barth's and on to Antigua.

The Dariens arrived on Jan. 24th. Unfortunately, we had to stay put in the St. Martin area because of weather and waves which prohibited safe travel onward. However,we spent a couple of days in a favorite spot, Grand Case, sampling Germaine's fried chicken and ribs and lounging at the Calmos Cafe, a great beach bar. Finally on Feb. 3 we were able to move. On St. Barth's we visited a couple of favorite haunts from a trip five years ago with the Dariens--a boulangerie with great pastries and a restaurant that promised the Superbowl for Larry and Dana, but in the end couldn't deliver.

A night sail to Antigua proved challenging with higher than expected waves and wind, but we made it. We rented a car which Mike agreed to drive to see the island. Poor Mike! Driving Antigua's twisty, pothole-filled roads fighting the speed -crazed Antiguan drivers took its toll. Mike and I couldn't wait to get rid of the car. We'll stick to busses from now on.

St. Maarten - December 18-23

St. Maarten is an island half Dutch and half French. We sailed into Simpson Bay Lagoon where many sailboats are anchored and many more megayachts are docked. We had a number of repairs to make on our boat as the crossing from Norfolk the previous month took its toll. One of the most important things to do was to get a new dinghy. The glue holding the pontoons to the base of the boat has been working loose and can no longer be repaired. However, it turned out that there were no dinghies to be had--sold out--of the size we needed. We were stunned. With Ray & Lou, Mike's brother and sister-in-law, arriving for Christmas we surely needed a decent "car" to get around in. Fortunately, two were due in shortly after Christmas, so we put our money down not wanting one to be sold out from under us.

We also needed things like batteries, so we spent the days before Christmas mostly getting our boat "fixed." On the 23rd, there was a dinghy drift where 25 dinghies hooked up to float in Simpson Bay Lagoon singing Christmas carols. Great hors d'oeuvres were passed around too. We ended up at the cruisers' hangout for food and drinks. Lots of fun.

Tortola/Virgin Gorda - December 14-17

We stayed at Norman's Bight a bit longer than we'd planned because of the threat of Olga. Moved on to Tortola's heading to the west end for continued protection just in case. Spent several days there renting a car one day to see the island. One day on advice we hitched a ride with a neat couple--yes, there was a Colorado connection. It turned out Betsy currently living in Montana and Rick from Seattle could tell we were yachties when they saw us materialize out of the mangroves with our backpacks...What does that say??? Anyhow, they gave us a ride to Road Town, the main city on Tortola and filled us in on how things work on Tortola. Later we rented a car to see for ourselves. Tortola is a beautiful island with an interior of mountains and spectacular views. Although we could not get to Cane Garden Bay, an old haunt, by boat because of the weather, we drove there and were surprised to find that it had not changed a great deal. Stanley's Welcome Bar, the scene of a lot of partying, thirty years ago, was still there as was the local rum distillery--now basically a museum for tourists.

From Tortola, we sailed to Virgin Gorda to prepare for the crossing to St. Maarten, which would take approximately 14 hours. We joined forces with 4 other boats heading there on Monday, December 17. Steve, on Clear Day, hosted a net so that we all communicated at regular intervals to ensure all were safe. We had been hearing Steve over the SSB radio checking on the weather for the crossing. We were happy to see him pull into Virgin Gorda shortly after we did.

Our crossing on the 17th and 18th was okay, but the wind and waves were on our nose the entire making it less comfortable than we would have liked.