LIFE: Part 2

Current Location: Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Current Position: 14 5.42 N 060 57.67 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 1 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

People say that cruising is actually better described as ‘fixing boats in exotic locations’. We can attest to that. Since we got back three weeks ago we have been steadily working through a huge to do list. I don’t know my the list is so long this year, but it is. In fact, here is the list as it stands:

1. Windlass not working – fixed. There were two broken wires, plus a dodgy connection between them, plus the main 200 amp breaker switch on the battery seems to have started to trigger at around 50 amps. don’t know why that is, but I suspect that it was this that has caused many of the other electrical issues below. That means that whenever the windlass has to work a bit, it was tripping the master breaker switch. I have just bypassed it. We still have a 300 amp ordinary slow-blow fuse in place, so it is still protected.
2. Anchor light not working – fixed. This entailed a climb to the top of the mast. It looks like the LED just burned out from being on continuously for the past 4 years or so. A new fitting cost about USD 300.
3. Navigation light not working – bulb burned out. I replaced it with the tricolor that I took from the top of the mast (the anchor light). Although the anchor light part of it has died, the red and green still work fine, so I have moved them to the bow where, hopefully, they will last forever, as we don’t use them very much.
4. Main halyard chafed through. We did get a short sail in – we went down to Marigot Bay and back again. On the return trip the main came tumbling down as the halyard had chafed through. Really annoying as I failed to inspect it when I was up the mast just the day before removing the non-functioning anchor light. Had I done so, it would have been a simple matter to shorten it by a foot. Instead we then had to reeve a new halyard down the mast which actually went surprisingly well. I used the boom lift as a hoist instead of the halyard as I normally would. Incidentally, the chafe was NOT on the part of the rope on which I depend when I am being hoisted up the mast.
5. The zipper on the front of the cradle cover had degraded in the sun and needed replacing. There were two options – take off the whole cradle cover (a huge job), or find a way to sew on a new zip with it still in place. We did the latter – just balanced the sewing machine on top of two rubbermaind containers and with one person holding the machine and the other sewing, we were good to go. While we had the machine out, we also replaced another zip on the bimini side panels, and Ceu sewed us some new curtains for the starboard cabin.
6. Dinghy inflated tubes are leaking air. Not fixed yet. We need to take the engine off, paddle it ashore, and try to find the leak. In the meantime we have to pump it up every two days or so.
7. Both inverters not working. Don’t know why. We are now using our small backup 140w inverter which at least allows us to run our laptops. /li>
8. Autopilot control panel had a short in it. Managed to find someone ashore to fix it, but it took him all week to get it back to me. It just needed a varister to be replaced. No charge for that, so that was nice.
9. Zinc anodes on the props need to be replaced. This is just normal maintenance every couple of years. Yet to be done. Involves getting out the hookah diving gear, at which time we will also clean the bottom of the boat, which is in a very sorry state.
10. Kill switch on the dinghy was broken, had to get a replacement and fit it, which took about three hours to achieve, in the end.
11. Dinghy painter had to be replaced. That, at least, is a quick job.
12. We have some padding around the spreaders that protects the spinnaker halyard from chafing. That padding needed to be replaced, so that was another quick jaunt halfway up the mast.
13. Engines need an oil change. Maybe will do that tomorrow.
14. The accent lighting in our salon consists of two strips of LED lights, which all seam to have died. I think we can get replacements in Martinique, if we ever get there.
15. The starboard engine alternator is not charging. Don’t know why yet. Needs to be looked at, which will probably be a full day job.
16. The port engine starter battery had died. Now, here is the rub. When we returned to the boat, the house batteries were also low, and the master breaker was tripped. That means the batteries are disconnected. But the solar and wind are still providing energy for the circuit, so in the daytime it is not obvious that the breaker has tripped. Also, this leaves the wind generator with no real load on it, which can quickly result in high voltages. My suspicion is that it was these high voltages that maybe burnt out some of the electrics. In any case, it is not a good situation to have the master breaker remaining off with the wind still on. Which is why I decided to bypass the breaker for now.So, we couldn’t start the port engine because of the low battery and, while we could start the starboard engine, it wasn’t charging anything, so that didn’t help much. And we needed to go and fill up with water! With a new starter battery for port, we were back in action again.
17. While hoisting me up to fix the anchor light, the bracket on the front of the mast got pulled of. So then we had to find someone to straighten that and rivet it back onto the mast.
18. The car FM radio that we use for playing music off our ipod also had died. We bought a cheap replacement. But that too didn’t work and had a short in it. so now I have another replacement that, hopefully, will work. But each time it means a few hours to buy it and install it.
19. Our chartplotter/vhf radio is on its way out – the high power radio no longer works. While in Canada I bought a Raspberry Pi which is a barebones mini computer, and also a new VHF radio. Together these will replace the chartplotter. I have installed the Raspberry Pi and our fancy new movie projector that Josh bought us, but have not yet done the VHF radio. I will do a separate post on our new home theater!
20. Our course computer, which works in conjunction with the autopilot needs some fixing too. This is not new, and it mostly works, so we aim to do that in Martinique.
21. One of the toilet has a crack in the plumbing, so I have a new fitting (for USD80) that I need to install.
22. I did, however, replace the hinge on the bathroom cabinet door that had corroded to bits.

So know, instead of wondering what we do all day, just take a look at the list and you will know. Actually there were various other jobs not on the list. Bear in mind that even a simple job usually takes at least an hour, and more if one has to go ashore to buy a part. Today, for example, I spent the entire day fixing the windlass connections and moving the old tricolor to replace the burned out navigation light on the bow. Everything always takes twice as long as you would expect. Plus I caught a bus to replace the car radio that wasn’t working. Oh, and we had to pick up the cockpit table from Elvis who was refinishing and painting it. That involved our fifth dinghy ride to the boat yard.

Well, that is the ‘fixing boats’ part. The exotic locations part is St. Lucia, where the water is warm, the locals are friendly, and the rum is cheap. And I did get in a couple of days of windsurfing.

Ceu’s ankle, which she sprained while skiing, is still not great, so she went to the physio today. We also went to the Digicell store to try to get our internet working better. Still seems to be very unreliable. Most of the time we have trouble just sending emails, never mind trying to skype.

Anyway, that is where we are at. We hope to go to Martinique in the next day or two, so that we can continue fixing our boat in a different exotic location 😉

Current Location: Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Current Position: 14 4.34 N 060 57.48 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 0 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Yes, we are back. After a very pleasant 6 months in Canada, including canoeing, hiking, an Alaska cruise with my Mum, and skiing, we are now ready for another season of Caribbean cruising.

Aye, it is a tough life. The sun is shining, the water is warm, the rum is cheap and the fishing is great.
Well, it will be when we get to it. At the moment we are still doing some cleaning and fixing of a few things, so we haven’t got out sailing just yet. But the sun IS shining, the swimming is great and the rum, well, you know about the rum already.

Watch this space: we will soon be catching some big ones. And this year I am DEFINITELY going to write my novel. In fact, I just wrote the first chapter today. So there! And now you can hold me accountable to getting the rest of the book finished.

Plans for this season? Pretty undecided at this point. We want to spend a month poking around Antigua, apart from that? Well, we shall see.

PS Ceu wants me to tell the world that she is slaving in the kitchen over a coq-au-vin while I am swinging in the hammock looking at the sunset and writing to you. Life is good.

For the past week we have been canoeing in the Bowron Lakes in mid BC. What an awesome week, even though we had all sorts of weather, including rain – but thankfully no mosquitos!

Meanwhile Life Part 2 was sitting safe and sound in St. Lucia. When we left for Bowron we knew that Irma was on her way to the islands, but the forecast was for her to pass well north of St. Lucia. And we had Simon to look after her, so we were not worried.

But, goodness, we never expected to see such scenes of total destruction through the northern islands. We were just looking at our photos of Barbuda and comparing them with the photos online of the devastation post Irma. Just incredible. It is going to be a long time before those islands recover. And to think we were there just a few months ago. Our hearts go out to the thousands of people whose lives have been destroyed.

 

Current Location: Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Current Position: 14 4.32 N 060 57.52 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 214 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

In Barbuda our windlass gave up on us. Well, actually, it was a combination of two things: our anchor chain was rusty and wearing out. It was on our list to be replaced on our next visit to Martinique. And then the gypsy wheel has gradually worn down. The gypsy wheel is the wheel that grips the chain to pull it up. The combination of the two, a worn chain and a worn gypsy was too much, and so the chain would keep slipping.

We did end-for-end the chain, so that we were operating on a less used stretch of it, and that did work better, but even so it wasn’t great. In addition to that, the metal tab, by which the windlass is bolted to the floor, also broke off, making it even less usable. So, in Barbuda we used our secondary anchor.

Thus our next stop from Barbuda was Martinique again. Here we managed to find a second-hand windlass that had a case in good condition. We switched over the motor, as we knew our existing one was good, installed a brand new gyspy wheel and clutches, and bought 50m of new chain.

And so we were good to go – and $1000 poorer. Could have been worse; a brand new windlass is $1700 by itself never mind the chain! 

Can we Fish? You Bet!

Following some new fishing tips from cruisers in Antgua – thanks Jadge! –  we bought some wire leader for our fishing lures. Maybe this time we would stop loosing lures all the time.

And so it was – the sail from Barbuda to Martinique provided us with a fish! And not just any fish – this wahoo, with very sharp teeth that did NOT cut through the wire leader, was 23 lbs (10.5kg) AFTER removal of head and guts! Even now we are still eating it 🙂 My guess is that all those lures that we have lost in the past have fallen prey to a fish such as this – or even bigger. 

It was caught on an 8-inch soft squid with two #10/0 hooks. That is big hooks! It was on a #11 wire leader. We had dubbed this lure ‘The Killer’.

And yet, still we lost a lure. In St Lucia we had bought a 4 inch stainless spoon lure that we have nicknamed ‘The Catcher’. It rapidly paid for itself in Spanish Mackerel but, alas, despite the #9 wire leader, it too vanished. What is nice about the Catcher is that it seems to shrug off all the sargasum weed that is all over the sea. So while the other lures, such as the Killer, need to be constantly cleaned of weed, the Catcher stays remarkably free of it. 

More discussions with fishermen revealed the astounding fact that Wahoo and Barracuda can even cut through the wire leaders! I guess the #9 was just too light, so we bought another Catcher, and installed it on a #12 wire leader. We were worried about visibility, but soon enough we had another Spanish Mackerel on board, so I guess the visibility is not so bad after all. In fact, just yesterday we caught another fish, but even as we were bringing it aboard it was itself attacked by something bigger – perhaps Wahoo or Barracuda – and so we ended up with just 2/3 of a fish. Oh well, that and the previous one were donated to the local beachside grill, as we are still working our way through the Wahoo.

And so, after 5 years of trying to figure out this fishing business, having dragged some stupid lure halfway across the Atlantic in 2011 (until it disappeared) and losing countless other lures along the way, maybe we have finally got there! Finally I have a sense that I vaguely know what I am doing and what lures to put out. And, finally, we have more fish than we can eat, and we can give them away to friends and neighbours. In fact, those two fish we just gave away were, according to the owner of the grill, worth a couple of hundred dollars!!!!!

Almost Time to Leave Paradise 🙁

We are now back in Rodney Bay, St Lucia. It really is nice here. People are friendly, the weather is fantastic (with some occasional rain), the sea is warm, and the sailing is just perfect.

We took some day trips down to Marigot Bay and also to Anse La Raye for their traditional Fish Friday. But now time is running out. We are due to fly back to Canada on Wednesday. We will drop off bags, renew Ceu’s driving licence, and re-establish our medical coverage. And then we fly to Portugal for a month, where Allisen and family will join us for a couple of weeks while we visit with Ceu’s mom who is in a convalescent home recovering from multiple broken ribs from a fall. We, that is what happens when you fall off the terracing while doing some farming at the age of 82!

Life Part 2 will remain in St Lucia, being looked after by Simon Handley, an experienced skipper and charter boat manager. 

We might return for a month or so in November, or else maybe not until after Christmas – after all, we do have some skiing to fit in. And my mum wants to see the polar bears in Churchill in October.

It is a shame to have to leave here, as it really is VERY pleasant. But we have things to do and family to see in Canada.

We shall be back, as the Terminator said.

Current Location: Cocoa Point, Barbuda
Current Position: 17 32.95 N 061 46.18 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 32 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Although we spent quite a bit of time in Martinique we didn’t write much about it, only a few photos of the Carnival and announcing that we had left for St Lucia where Heidi joined us for a couple of weeks.

The French island of Martinique deserves its’ own blog post as well. We had a great time there.The island has a mix of French and West Indian influences. It is a French overseas department. The island has much history, lush vegetation, and nice white sandy beaches and the North  reveals some black sandy beaches due to the eruption of Mont Pelle in 1902.

Also a few rum destilleries, with a rum route. Its largest town, Fort-de-France, features steep hills, narrow streets and many shops. Their official lunguage is French and the currency is the Euro. We sure have missed all the french products you get here, especially the cheese! 

More on Carnival parade:

 I know we posted many of the fancy Carnival costumes, beautiful ellaborate costumes.These were a bit more plain but got just as much attention. So many guys dressed as women. They were just having so much fun and  were not shy at all to pose for photos. This one got all the ladies having a good time taking photos of him.

The local TV

 

I wonder what the priest thinks of it all.

Noel’s sister and her husband David arrived on the last day of the Carnival.

After enjoying the last day aof the festivities, we set off cruising South.

A stop in Saint Anne, a delightfull town with surrounding green hills, and nice town beach. Here one can stock up with meat and vegetables and also has a  fish market. Supermarket for all your needs and the bakeries with the french breads and pastries. Lots of shops, popular with turists, and a huge bay popular with yatchs.  It was from here that we set off on our La Trace des Caps hike.

 

 

Martinique has such a great diversity of beautiful beaches, mountains and rain forests. We did a hike Les Traces Des Caps, started in Saint Anne that took us all around the South of the island, up the Atlantic coast, past some wild beaches popular with kite surfers, and a variety of landscapes and loop back inland to Saint Anne 

 

Les Salines, claims to be one of the best beaches of Martinique

Beach des Les Salines

 

 

“Martinique’s little desert” Petrification Savanah. Atlantic coast

This amazing landscape,once including fossils, such as petrified wood, this place is now completely desert and rock.

 

 

 

Anse D”Arlet was another favorite little  fishing village, picturesque with a Church right by the beach and a great promenade along the seafront.  It also has some great snorkeling just off the beach, or a short swim from your boat.

 

Anse D’Arlet

 

A nice cruise up the coast this time north, to Saint Pierre. A nice change from  Fort de France, a busy city with cars people and shops.

Nice sleepy charming village  of Case Pilot, South of Saint Pierre

 

The village of Le Carbet, just south of Saint Pierre. The black sandy beaches quite the contrast to the ones we are seeing now in Antigua. 

They also have a square dedicated  to the Landing of Christopher Columbus in June 1502, who landed here during his fourth voyage to the New World and stayed a few days.

They also have a square dedicated  to the Landing of Christopher Columbus in June 1502, who landed here during his fourth voyage to the New World and stayed a few days.

 

 Looking across a picturesque bay with a black sand beach and the striking backdrop of Mt Pelée sunrise and sunsets are a special time of day in Saint Pierre.

Noel and I had visted this place about 7 years ago, but we were happy to visit it again this time with Noels’s sister Mitzi and her husband David.

St Pierre lies at the foot of Mt.Pelee volcano. It used to be the capital of Martinique and a wealthy place with multi milionaires plantatiom owners. Ships came  in to take rum, sugar coffe and cooa. It was the commercial, cultural and social center of Martinique.The whole estate was destroyed in 1902 from the volcanic explosion of Mount Pelee killing all but 2 people from the 30,000 population. Leaving it all burried with mud, lava, rocks and boiling gasses.

 

 

A few ruins still remain. Perhaps the most significant of these is the historic theatre, a magnificent building seating 800 people, in its time the venue held host to theatre and musical companies from France.

Beside the theatre, where the prison formerly stood, you can see the cell which held one of the 2 survivors of the 1902 catastrophe, Cyparis, saved by the thickness of his cell’s walls. Noel is checking it out.

Throughout the town you can see many of the new buildings built on top of the ruins from the eruption. It’s busy with tourists, but mostly on days the cruiseship is in. We took the bus up from town into a village in the mountains for out little hike. When we finished our hike we made a stop at the tourist shop and she informed us there would be no more buses running back to Saint Pierre, but she quickly called someone and he gave us a ride to town. No money asked, although we did give him a tip. Friendly people!

 

 

Basilica Sacre coeur de la Ballata, a short ride up from Fort de France. it was worth a stop on the way to the Botanical Gardens. It’ts supposed to be a miniature version of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris. Construction was finished in 1915 The volcanic eruption that destroyed Martinique’s former capital, Saint-Pierre, gave rise to Fort-de-France becoming the island’s principal city, but not without some growing pains.

The thousands of inhabitants formerly living in the outskirts of Saint-Pierre in the north descended upon Fort-de-France in the south, another church was needed.  It has survived 2 fires and it is now in need of some TLC. 

Not quite as decorated as the one in Paris yet simple and peaceful.It was a nice surprise stop, including the beautiful views of Fort de France

 

Botanical Gradens

 Balata Gardens, is one the famous things to do in Martinique. It is a short drive from Fort de France and you can take taxi or bus number 25.  Is a private botanical garden, just north of the city with many begonias, bromeliads, bamboo and about 200 different types of palm trees.  They told us you can buy your bouquets there and they will even arrange special packaging to facilitate bringing your flowers on the plane.

 

 

 After the visit, we set off from there on a hike that took us through some beautiful luscious green forests, with creeks and waterfalls and signs advising not to touch the water.  Not really knowing how long this hike was gona take and where exacly we were going to end up,(map was not too helpfull) we enjoyed the hike very much and were happy when it ended at a main road, with signs taking us to the Basilica, Sacre Coeur for a visit and then took a bus from there to Fort de France.

It was a great day out and thanks to Mitzi for navigating with our poor map!

 

 

We sure had a lot of rain during our visit in Martinique. It’s no wonder everything is so green around here!

Haha…We had much umbrella trouble trying to keep dry! We decided that some tropical showers would not keep us from going to do a hike above Saint Pierre. We set off with 2 umbrellas,which one of them was thrown into the garbage bin as soon as we hit town. They dont get used much so they get corroded. We walked past a chinese store and decided 2 more umbrellas would be a good idea. As soon as we opened them we realized, corrosion does not only happen in the boat, the 2  brand new umbrelas were all rusty too! We were dispointed but were busy having a good time and  a good laugh trying to keep them from flipping in the strong breeze.

 

 

 Update

Wow….I started this blog almost 2 weeks ago and so much has happened since then. Well, since we left Antigua after the racing week , much needed non drinking, non party time was needed. We headed to Barbuda. The land of deserted beaches and peaceful bays. Wow, loved it

Here is a glimpse

Stay tuned for more on Barbuda later

 

 

Current Location: Falmouth Harbour, Antigua
Current Position: 17 1.14 N 061 46.36 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 183 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

She is 78 years old but, as befits her name, still as hot and sexy as a prom queen. Helped, no doubt, by the extensive makeover she had a few years ago. And we got to ride her for a whole week! Her name is Eros – Greek god of love and passion – and the occasion was the 30th annual Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta.

So how does one get to sail on a beautiful multi-million dollar yacht for a week? Well, you could charter her. Or you could walk the dock during the days running up to the event and just ask all the skippers if they need any extra crew. Surprisingly the answer is often yes. We had 20 crew on board. Most of the other boats are similar, some have even more. It is hard to get that number of people together, so often they are short a few.

As it turned out our boat was full of newcomers! Cameron, the proud new owner of sailing yacht Eros, a 105 ft staysail schooner built in 1939 and previously owned by Greek billionaire shipping tycoon, Stavros Niarchos, was very pleased to be able to share the experience with  five of his friends from California friends. Most of them had never sailed before, but they were a great crowd and quickly got the hang of things. There was also, of course, the Captain, Michael, the first mate Wilson, who has been with the boat for years, and one other paid crew, Adrian, who had only been onboard for a few months, plus Oli, the tactician, brought onboard just for the racing. And all the rest were volunteers like us! We even had a couple of children join us for the last two days. These volunteers were mostly other cruisers who had walked the dock like us.

The Antiqua Classic Yacht Regatta is a spectacular event. 50 large yachts arrive from both sides of the Atlantic to take part. Some are over a 100 years old. Others are brand new, but build to classic designs. All are owned by individuals with a deep love of the beauty of the old designs.

The event is, of course, structured as a regatta with one race each day for 4 days. But it is light-hearted racing and, as far as I could tell, almost everyone won a prize of some sort – and certainly had a full mention at the prize giving. We came a very respectable 3rd in the Vintage Class A division. The other boats in the division were Marriette of 1915, and Mary Rose, both even older than Eros. Each evening there was a bar and some music but, truth to tell, everyone was pretty tired, so no one was staying up late. And at the end we were even called up to the stage to receive our prize for third place! A proud moment for Cameron at his first ever yacht regatta.

We all went out for a practice sail on Thursday. That was a little chaotic, considering the brand new crew. But each day got better. On Saturday Oli nailed a perfect start for us at the windward end of the reaching start, bang on the line a the gun.

On Sunday we tried out the Fisherman sail which no one, apart from Wilson, had used on this boat before. It was rigged wrong on the first attempt, but flying nicely on the second, and added a nice knott to our speed. We used it again on Monday for one leg, but then a shackle broke, and so that was that for that sail. Oh Well.Despite the huge forces on all the rigging that was our only breakage for the week, so pretty good going. Better, anyway, than Adix and Spirit of Bermuda who both tore their downwind sails.

 

Each of us had a specific job to do. Mine was to ‘blow the jib’. That meant that when we tacked it was my job to first let the jib fly, so the boat could round up into the wind, then bring it back in again so it wasn’t flogging about, then hold it in while it was backed briefly, to push us through the wind onto the new tack, and then to let it fly again so the jib trimmers could tighten it up on the new tack. Similarly I had to let it off when we gybed.

That was it. Considering there were only about 10 such manouevres during the race, there wasn’t much for me to do!

Ceu’s job was to release and tightened the running backstays on the foremast. The leeward one had to be slackened so it wasn’t interfering with the sails, and the windward one had to be tight, to hold up the mast. Of course every tack and gybe meant loosening one and tightening the other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great week! Many thanks to Cameron, Capt. Michael, and Wilso for pulling together such a fun crew.

Now the race is over, we will spend a couple of weeks exploring all the bays and beaches of Antigua and Barbuda.

Current Location: Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Current Position: 14 4.34 N 060 57.53 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 36 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Enjoying Saint Lucia

We are delighted with beautiful sunsets every evening from our anchorage in Rodney Bay. Noel enjoying a nice swim

After a tropical shower we had a nice rainbow too.

 

Ahhh..now, this is the real Caribbean! Mum enjoying fresh coconut water at the beach bar. She was spoiled with so much attention from the locals. All the locals are very respectful towards the elderly.

This is how we buy our fresh veg. Saves going ashore to the super market.

Lobster was sold to us at our boat. This time we didn’t let it jump out of the pot. It was yummy! We found out later it is not quite the season yet. Oops. I guess it explains why they were a bit small. Not buying again for awhile…. Unfortunately, however, there don’t seem to be any boats coming by to sell us fresh fish, so we will have to go and find the fish market.

We enjoyed Mum’s visit for the last 2 weeks. She also had a great time. Here we are getting ready ready for a snorkle in Reduit beach. You can see Life Part 2 in the backround. In the far background is Pigeon Island. The historical site was first a fortress for the English against the French, and then in WWII it was a US radio station. There is a good hike up the hill to great views.

 

We rented a car and did some sight seeing

The busy Harbour of the Castries. On our first day of the tour there were 3 cruiseships. You can imagine the traffic in this small island. Took us forever to return home in the afternoon

 

 

Browsing through the market in Castries. Their Market is one of the best and most colorful of the islands.

 

 

We visited a Creole Parl where they showed us all about some of their local fruits and root vegetables

Nutmeg and mace

 

Grated cassava root makes great bread. Baked on top of a leaf in an open fire. We really enjoyed the demo and the tasting. It was yummy served with a cold tamarind juice from the garden as well.

 

 

A stop at the view point above the  beautiful Marigot Bay. Lined with expensive Restaurants and fancy yachts.

 

And a picnic stop and some great snorkeling at Anse Chastanet.

 

Bellow is the view of the cute town, Soufriere. Very picturesque and home to the famous twin peaks known as the Pitons, Unesco Heritage Site since 2005.

Impressive volcanic spires  rise dramatically from the sea. Gros Piton (the one in the background) is 786m high and petit Piton is 739m high.

 

The so-called drive-in volcano – sulphur springs and boiling water, though not as impressive as Desolation Valley in Dominica

 

We were happy to bring Mum aboard Life Part 2 a couple of times. She was staying at a nice B&B near us, as she is no longer mobile to be on the boat full time. She is a real trooper.

 

The nice thing about anchoring here in front of the Resorts is that even the  posh Sandals Resorts beaches are not private. Sandals in Rodney Bay. Here Heidi enjoys a nice pina colada, and at her age she can sit wherever she wants! This beach at the one of the three Sandal Resorts here in the island, has cute chairs and love seats all along the beach.

 

We rented a car again, but this time, we rented on a Sunday, less local traffic and also there was only 1 cruise ship in town. 

Our first stop was at Sandals Resort La Toc where we picked up cousin Lynda and her husband Frank. Coincidentally they were here from Ottawa on a holiday! We kept it as a surprise for Heidi who had no idea she would ever meet her niece here.

 It was sure a surprise, all she could say was ‘What you doing here”. It was a sweet surprise and visit.

We had a nice day out sight seeing. We spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening at the posh Sandals Resort with Frank and Lynda.This one is in La Toc, near Castries. We enjoyed a nice swim and  drinks in the beautiful pool, complete with bridges and water falls and pool sit up bars. On one side is the sea  and nice turquoise waters, and sandy beach and the other side is backed by bars and restaurants to suit all  taste buds.

 

 

 

After Lynda and Frank went back to Canada, we still had a few more days with Heidi – a nice lunch at the Yacht Club, and a final road trip, visiting some waterfalls on the way to the airport. It was a great two weeks with her staying here.

Her flight was in the evening, so we rented a car did some more sight seeing including a nice (early) Birthday Lunch on the way to the airport. It was a beautiful spot overlooking the fishing village of Dennery. 

Heidi’s birthday lunch – with birthday ice cream!

She loves nature. She insisted she could make down some tough steep stairs to the water fall. She did find it too much work to change into her bathing suit though,  instead she had a nice rest soaking her feet the cold water and admire the natural beauty. We sent her home very tired. 

 

 

 

But now that she has gone, we are getting back in gear- the island of Antigua is hosting the annual classic yacht race week, which starts on April 19th, so we are dashing up north to watch that and – we hope – to be able to get a crewing job on one of the yachts as they are often short of crew. That would be so cool!

Current Location: Case Pilote, Martinique
Current Position: 14 38.48 N 061 8.41 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 114 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Well, here we are still sitting in Martinique! Ceu has been to Canada and back to see the grandchildren. Now my sister, Mitzi, and her husband David are visiting for two weeks. And I have been busy doing some website programming. So not a lot of sailing going on. However, we did enjoy the big carnival here.

As for our crossing, the question everyone asks is ‘How was your crossing?’

As you can see from our daily satellite updates, there is not a lot to say about that either! The wind was steady trade winds the whole way. It started off with a good force 5, and gradually dropped to force 4 as we went west. We did motor twice: once for an hour to clear the wind shadow of Brava, right at the beginning. And then again for about 3 hours when the wind vanished about two thirds of the way along. Then it picked up again, we put up the spinnaker, and didn’t touch anything until we reached Barbados.

But we did catch some fish, and just to make you all jealous, here are some pictures.

Current Location: Mid-Ocean
Current Position: 13 20.24 N 059 42.9 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 6 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Just left Barbados for a quick over night reach to Martinique. Will do full update when we get decent internet

(Sent by InReach satellite connection)

Current Location: Mid-Ocean
Current Position: 13 15.93 N 059 38.81 W Click to view map.
Distance sailed since last post: 19 nautical miles. View the map of our voyage track here

Arrived in Barbados . Drinking wine.

(Sent by InReach satellite connection)