Grenada to Carriacou

We’ve been on Callisto since the 7^th of November.  The time has passed quickly, we’ve been working hard (at least David has been) and having some fun as well.

First of all, yes, the weather has been quite good.  Some hard rains, but WARM…30⁰C (86⁰F).  That is also the temperature of the ocean.  It is good to see Grenada looking very green and lush.

David had a very bad cold when we arrived, and is still coughing a bit, but carried on in spite of feeling cruddy.  He installed a new solar panel, skills needed--carpentry, metal working and electrical expertise.  No parts fell in the ocean and we now have a total of 495 Watts of solar power.  Yippee!  

Last week we worked with “Hands Across the Sea” in the Boca Secondary School library.  The library has received over 1,000 books that needed to be catalogued and receive “check out” cards.   “Hands” delivers NEW books and we were very impressed by the topics for all reading levels.  Carlene, the librarian seems to have a good relationship with the students, and all seemed eager for the books to be ready for use.

We moved from Prickly Bay to St. George’s bay this past Tuesday in anticipation of sailing up to Carriacou.  This takes a little time off the trip, plus we wanted to make sure that the first time of putting up the sails was not under any time pressure.  We left about 8:30 with the weather a bit iffy in terms of rain showers.  We managed to scoot along just in front or just behind them.  

We’ll be here until Monday or Tuesday, and then move on to Bequia.  Yesterday we went snorkeling, since David’s sinuses are not yet up to a scuba dive.  I finally learned how to “duck” down with my snorkel to get closer to the underwater sights.  

This afternoon David and I are helping Diane at the Lumba Dive dive shop with swimming lessons.  She teaches swimming to Carriacou children and is helping prepare some of the kids for competition.  In the summer she had over 60 children participating.  We are expecting about 30 today.  Should be fun, and we’ll see if photos are ok to post.  

PS--we have been struggling with slow internet, here's what someone else thinks, too.

Potpourri

We have been so remiss in posting to our blog, so tonight I have decided to offer just a glimpse in some of our recent experiences.

Location--St. Lucia
Topic-Local music, local charities

It's Friday night!
Country western, reggae, hip hop, merengue steeldrums, what more....at least 4 different dj's in action as we sit on a mooring ball not 100 feet from shore.  Why country western?  It all goes back to WWII when US GIs were posted here and the only radio entertainment was country.  Local musicans quickly learned the "twanguage" and songs, and the tradition remains.  It is definitely old timey music--fun.

Tonight we are in Soufriere after spending 15 days on the dock Rodney Bay Marina.  We replaced our navigation system, recertified our life raft, fire extinguishers and MOM (man overboard modulae).

We avoid marinas whenever possible, but to get work done on the boat, it's pretty much required to be on the dock for workers to easily access us in stable sea conditions.  We had lovely neighbors on Clara, who quickly introduced us to yoga morniings, volunteer opportunities and charity concerts.

Amy WInehouse spent about six months on St. Lucia, and after her death the Amy Winehouse foundation has sponsored a music program for both disabled youth and wards of the court.  We went to a concert on the beach featuring the music students supported by Amy's foundation.  Fitting first song `Back to Black" by the kids.  The venue and meal were donated, all proceeds to continue funding for the music programs.

Our volunteer activity was sponsored by the marina, all the IGY marinas designated the 20th of February as a community outreach day.  We signed up for a day at the "Boys Training Center".  This is a residential facility that houses and educates both youthful legal offenders and wards of the court (read abused and neglected).  The main acitivity of the day was painting the facility.  Most of the boys signed up fo this duty.  We had dressed for painting, but it became clear that there were way more painters than rollers, etc. and a need for diggers....the other opportunity was to work on raised beds and planting sweet potatoes.  HARD WORK, very compacted clay soil.  Pick axes, shovels and rakes in poly tunnel and a very sunny day.  Lots of water and a nap!

The other charity I learned about was called 100 women of St Lucia.  They meet once a quarter for lunch.   Everyone brings a charity, and all the charities are put in a hat.  Each participant brings 100 dollars (40 US).  3 charities are picked from the hat, and the sponsor give a presentation about the charity, and then the group votes on the best of the three.  No overhead, all money direct to the charity.  They have regularly exceeded the 100 women and the 100 dollars.

We are always asked what is our favorite island.  St. Lucia is near the top of the list, the Lucians remain extraordinarily outgoing, genuine and friendly in spite of pressures from rude tourists, uncertain weather events, and world politics taking tourists to other locales.

Here are a few more St. Lucia pictures:

Nevis and an Overnight Passage

We simply love the island of Nevis.  It is one of two islands that together make up the Nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.  They couldn’t be more different.  St. Kitts is populated and the main town is bustling.  They have invested in the infrastructure to accommodate cruise ships, and the get a lot of big ones.  Our experience is that the islands that are infested with cruise ships just aren’t very pleasant for cruisers.  The interactions between visitors and local people become strictly a matter of moving money from one person’s pocket into another’s.

Nevis, on the other hand, is small, rural and peaceful.  They get a few very small cruise ships, but they haven’t affected the atmosphere much (except for raising taxi prices).  There is a big Four Seasons resort with a big and expensive golf course (we’ve never played it).  In addition, several old plantation houses have been turned into high-end hotels.  These are just lovely—we make a point of visiting a different one for lunch each visit.

The beaches on Nevis are outstanding.  We often take advantage.

The only downside to Nevis is the infrastructure for landing your dinghy.  They have a large and very busy ferry dock, since the main way to get to Nevis is a ferry from St. Kitts.  Next to this is another dock mainly dedicated to fishermen.  In between these is the space for dinghies.

There are two big problems with this arrangement.  First, the space for dinghies is sometimes usurped altogether by boats landing passengers from the occasional cruise ship, or by fishermen landing their catch.  Second, and even a bigger deal, is the surge.  This space is situated so that large waves come crashing inside, and ricochet back after hitting the shore.  It could be swell from the far ocean, or it could be wake from a ferry or other boat.  In either case, it sends your dinghy smashing and bashing into the dock, into other dinghies, into other boats.  We have seen a person’s dinghy completely destroyed as it was forced under the dock by the surge and then caught on a rising tide.

We cope by using a stern anchor with a long rode, and by simply avoiding the dock when things are particularly bad.  We have sometimes had to land on the beach and take a long walk to town, though this year that wasn’t necessary.

A friend we met on Bonaire, Margie Benziger, found out we were on Nevis and got very excited.  She had spent time there, and worked on public relations for the island.  A good friend of hers is still on Nevis (most of the year), working for The Hermitage, one of the plantation hotels.  Helen Kidd is a Scot, extremely friendly, and also excited that we had come and introduced ourselves.

The Hermitage is a lovely place.  It still has the original plantation house, built in 1670.  This is constructed of wood and is one of the oldest wooden structures in the Caribbean.  The grounds are beautifully landscaped and all of the buildings are in the traditional Caribbean style.  We had a very pleasant lunch there, and spent some time exploring the grounds.

One of our favorite activities on Nevis is hiking.  In the past we have taken a couple of hikes with a guide.  Nevis is shaped more or less like a sombrero – A tall peak in the center surrounded by a large flat area around it.  This time we decided we would try hiking to the top of Mt. Nevis.  That’s 3200 feet above sea level.

We inquired at the tourist office and they hooked us up with a guide.  We didn’t realize it at first, but they had called Reggie Douglas, who took us for a mountain bike expedition a couple of years ago.  It was great to see him again.  He runs Nevis Adventure Tours and Green Edge Bike Shop (greenedge2011@hotmailcom)

The “hike” to the summit is better described as a “climb.”  It is entirely natural, no steps or guard rails.  It is steep, it is muddy, and it is slippery!  The only aids to climbing, besides lots of roots and branches, are many ropes that have been installed by the handful of guides who lead people up.  Think steep like climbing a ladder.  A muddy, slippery ladder.

Reggie was great.  He has gotten many, many people (even beginners) up to the top and back down again.  It seemed he had a pre-thought-out plan for nearly every step of the way, and he was with us and coaching us all the way up and all the way down.  The round trip took about four and a half hours.  We were tired when we reached the bottom, but it was a fantastic experience.  The scenery is breathtaking, even though our view at the summit was blocked by a dense cloud.

 A final cool thing about our visit is that we saw the Green Flash three times!

After several excellent days on Nevis, it was time to continue our journey down the Caribbean chain.  Our next stop was to be Guadeloupe.

This is a passage of more than 70 nautical miles.  At 6 knots, that’s a long day.  In the past, we have tackled this by leaving well before dawn, sailing hard on a single tack, and arriving just before dark.  That left us competing with other boats for the limited anchorage space.

We didn’t like leaving in the dead-dark morning hours.  There are fish trap buoys everywhere and even some fishing boats anchored without lights.  Its nerve wracking until you get several miles from Nevis.

This year, we had another problem.  The weather forecast was for light winds from an unfavorable direction, which means tacking.  I guessed we might sail as far as 100 miles to reach Guadeloupe.

So we decided to do another overnight passage.  Funny how something that seemed so scary a couple of years ago now seems pretty normal.  We left just before 4 pm, figuring on a 15-16 hour passage given the forecast.  As it so often happens, the forecast was wrong.  We had quite strong winds, and from a relatively favorable direction.  Oh no!  What would we do if we arrived at 3 in the morning?

Well, not to worry.  As we passed the island of Montserrat (with its active volcano and intense sulfur smells), the weather returned to the forecast.  We had light winds, ended up having to tack, and arrived just at sunup.  A passage of 85 miles in 15 hours.  We finished a second time very tired, but happy to have made the journey.

Moving on and close calls

Location--Grand Case, St. Martin

Just 30 minutes from Marigot Bay, we arrived on the afternoon of Jan 2nd.  Lots of boats were finishing their holidays, so the harbour was fairly full.  It's a great town, full of excellent restaurants, beach bars, rib joints, all the way to gourmet.

When we anchor or pick up a mooring, we (meaning David) puts on his goggles, and snorkels to inspect how we are attached to the bottom.  A critical factor is called "scope", or how much anchor chain or mooring line there is from the the boat to the bottom.  The factor we use is usually 5 x the depth.  Not everyone does, this, and for many the amount of chain or line they let out to anchor is not sufficient, especially if there is a lot of wind or wave action.  Hence, the close call...

We were eating lunch in the cockpit (at the rear or stern end).  The boat points forward into the wind.  I heard someone playing music, and it kept getting louder.  I looked towards the front of the boat and saw a large catamaran not 10 feet away.  Since there was music playing, we assumed there was someone on board and they were manouevering (badly)--NOT!  Within moments, the boat was slipping sideways along our side.  David rushed for our dinghy and I went forward to try and push them away.  The solar panels from their boat started overlapping our side lines.  I quickly changed my position, getting between two several on boats grinding together is not a good idea.  At that moment one of our neighbors arrived on his dinghy, and with a fortunately swing in the wind and a push from his dinghy, we were free.

The catamaran continued to be blown out to sea.  The rescuer attached his dinghy to the catamaran, started the engine and found the controls for the anchor.  One thing the "sailors" had done correctly is leave the keys in the engine, an important safety precaution for just this kind of occasion.

David radioed a "Security" call about the boat adrift and then went ashore from bar to bar asking (unsuccessfully) for anyone on the boat "Blue Cat".   About half an hour later, the crew returned to the boat.  We assume that the charter company heard the radio alert and phoned the charterers.  We expected a visit from them to inquire about our well-being or for them to visit the rescuer on his boat, but no such thing.  Oh well...

A little adrenalin at lunchtime goes a long way.  We ended the day in Il Nettuno, with a nice bottle of Bordeaux and an excellently prepared seafood dinner.

Wednesday we leave for St. Barth's, we may be there for a few days, the wind is going to be very light (either too much or too Little!) and from the southeast, not the best for moving on to St. Kitts-Nevis.   We should be able to be online in St. Barth's, so until then!

It's New Year's Eve in St. Martin

We have had quite a go of it in 2015...hopefully the weather will calm down just a bit so that our journeys to the next islands are not so boisterous.

While we were in Virgin Gorda, we met up with three other Outbound yachts, the broker from Barrington RI and the owner of the Outbound company.  It was the first time we have seen another Outbound in the same harbor since 2010.  Quite a nice reunion...

We left Virgin Gorda on Monday the 28th at noon in a tiny weather window with slightly reduced winds and waves.  The way from the British Virgin Islands to St. Martin is pretty much directly into the wind, so in order to sail we have to tack back and forth, or else crash and bang at a slower speed with the engine.  We sailed 130 miles to cover a 75 mile distance, at just about 24 hours at sea.  Luckily we did not encounter any squalls during the night hours, but boy at 5 am did the wind start howling and the rain start slashing...the only advantage to the hard rain is that the salt we accumulated got washed off nicely...

Anyway, we are now in Marigot Bay on the French side of St. Martin, using the internet in Shrimpy's laundry, a well-known boater hang-out.  We had a lovely lunch yesterday in Marigot, full-service midday meal for 12 euro each, including the wine and beer.  

Today we are grocery shopping and then planning on a quiet evening on the boat, until the fireworks from shore wake us up.  We should have an excellent view of any displays in both Marigot and Simpson Bay.

Our next stop will be St. Barths, and again our departure is completely weather dependent...

Best wishes to all for 2016.  

Gretchen

HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL

This post is short and sweet

We have had a great time in both the US and British Virgin Islands.  At the moment we are in the North Sound on Virgin Gorda, waiting for cooperative winds and waves to make our way overnight to St. Martin.  We have spent a lot of time away from the interweb...and also out of cell phone range.  Hiking, snorkeling and of course, going through the boat chore list.

In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy time with friends and family, with a farewell to 2015 and best wishes for 2016.

love to all
David and Gretchen

More Vieques on to Culebra

08 December 2015

Puerto Rico continued….

The Ponce Fishing and Yacht Club hosted a sailboat regatta the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Our fellow crew member, Bill is an avid racing sailor and inquired about entering the races.  The yacht club scrambled and came up with a Sunfish, put together with borrowed pieces from various boats in the club—showing once again the generosity and friendliness of Ponce.  Bill’s borrowed sail was not a racing sail, and was red and white striped.  Almost all of the other sails were mostly white, so we were able to see how Bill was doing from Callisto, about a mile away from the race course.  Close to us were the youngest sailors, on Optimist Prams.  They were very competitive, yelling out the rights of way and taking their penalty turns without complaint.  What was very impressive to me were the adults on the race committee, I am sure they were hoarse for days afterwards..they encouraged each sailor throughout every race.  I was also pleased that there were both boys and girls in the class.

If any of you are familiar with Sunfish, you may think they are a “kid’s boat”.  They are well suited for young, agile sailors, but people well into their 60’s and 70’s can compete at the world level.  Bill did fairly well, learning a lot in two afternoons from his fellow racers. Sunfish photo

Now for the food…Ponce has built a public park along the waterfront near the working harbor.  There are 18!  little food kiosks along the boardwalk.  One of them, Tango, is known to the cruisers as the place for internet and very cold local beer.  We discovered Raul’s, where Raul and his wife (both well into their 70’s) cook and serve…A lot of the kiosks just have microwaves heating up things put together elsewhere and frozen.  Raul’s the real deal, his own hot sauce, and very generous portions.  I had a shellfish mofongo (mashed fried plaintain with spices) mixed with conch, king crab, lobster and shrimp…so much I had enough for two more meals back on the boat.  The guys had carne asada and for an appetizer we had a Puerto Rican version of nachos.  I had no idea so much garlic was part of PR cuisine.  The space in the grocery store for garlic, both fresh and in jars is about the same as that devoted to potatoes.

After six days in Ponce we moved east a short distance to Patias, Esperanza and then to Ensenada Honda, still on Vieques.  Both Patias and Esperanza were very “rolly”, meaning large swells curling around the protective reefs in the bays rocked the boat, just enough to say let’s not stay here more than two nights.  Esperanza is noted for its gorgeous beach and the bioluminescence in the small bays nearby.  http://vieques.com/

Next time..Ensenada Honda Viequez and then Ensenada Honda Culebra

Gretchen, s/v Callisto, Ensenada Honda Culebra