We have traveled to many places since Dahaies so will try to capture some of
the highlights. Unfortunately our internet connection is slow so no photos for
now.
Guadalupe
In Guadalupe, we visited the Botanical Gardens. Jan, a florist who studied
under a Dutch master, was a walking encyclopedia of flora facts, so we received
a lesson in tropical botany. As you can imagine, the colors and shapes of some
of the plants were unbelievable. Many, however, were familiar as "house
plants" back home. And so many varieties of bananas.
One afternoon several of us snorkeled the nearby rocky point. Darrell and
Ann are master divers who until recently owned a dive shop in
Florida. They are naturals in the water and
move calmly and gracefully. Darrell can hold his breath for what seems like an
eternity. He showed us so many small critters that we would have normally
overlooked. One was a crab that resembled a daddy long-leg spider with small
purple claws. Later I noticed something long sticking out of a rock. It was a
golden moray eel. When it saw us, it popped back into its hole so that only
about the front six inches were sticking out. A nice find. Dave saw an octopus,
but it scooted away by the time the rest of us came over. Darrell said that he
enjoys showing people critters and we appreciate it.
We needed a little sail repair so Linda went just a little ways up the mast
to sew some new webbing on one of the slides and replace a nut on another. Sat
in the bosun's chair so I could use both hands. Kind of fun actually.
Iles des Saintes
Sailed to and took a mooring ball off of Ilet Cabrit near Bourge des Saintes
on Iles des Saintes. What a quaint and artsy village. We read that because
there was no agricultural potential on these small islands, that there were no
slaves hence no slave descendents settling the islands as most of the others.
Bourge des Saintes has evolved into an artist community. Wish we could have
spent more time here.
We celebrated Dave's birthday with, what else, a sundowner on our boat. The
treat was bananas sauteed in butter, brown sugar and rum. Yum!
Martinique
We sailed in brisk and bouncy conditions and motor-sailed behind the lee of
Dominica where the winds all but died to Fort de
France,
Martinique.
Celtic Rover and
Bella
Blue stopped over in
Dominica
for a few hours of sleep. My "rage de dent" was really bothering me
so we opted to continue overnight so as to arrive in Fort de France on Friday
morning, hoping to clear in and get to a dentist early. Didn't want to have to
wait through the weekend, espcially as it was Bastille Day on Saturday. The
night sail was glorious with perfect conditions. Scooted right along. Made it
to the dentist, got treatment and meds and felt much better. We walked to the
open air market where we bought bananas and treated ourselves to the creole
chicken special for lunch washed down with a guava and passion fruit smoothie.
It was delicious and a lot more expensive than we expected. Ah, well.
Fort de France is a bustling small city with a lovely boardwalk and park
where families, swimming kids and smooching couples spend their time. It is
alive. We shopped at the local Leader Price market where we were often the only
white people in the busy store. Got some good deals. A favorite was Bibb
lettuce with the little root ball still intact. So sweet and tender. One thing
I noticed was that each of the three times we were there, at least one person
dropped a glass bottle on the tile floor causing a big mess. Curious, that.
There were several "five and dime" stores with all sorts of plastic
stuff usually run by a Chinese family. In one, we found some interesting
potions -- Jinx Removing sprays and Do As I Say bath liquids. With the bath
liquid, you are supposed to read a psalm whilst soaking. Wonder how they work?
On Sunday afternoon, Dave and I enjoyed a walk along the promenade where
everyone was out enjoying the sun and rain shower. We heard what sounded like
live Cajun music and found this human powered carousel. Wonderful.
St.
Lucia
We expected 6-foot seas and instead found 2-foot seas and 12
knot winds for a beautiful sail. Dave
caught a small Jack along the way. We
sailed to Marigot, St. Lucia where we picked up a
mooring ball in the protected inner harbor.
Bella Blue and Wayward Wind shared a mooring ball and Celtic Rover got her own mooring ball
nearby. All three rafted together which
was fun as we could just hop aboard each other’s boats, if needed. Kim offered to cook up some chicken curry,
Jan made a salad and I made rice and brought chocolate chip cookies, so we had
a delightful dinner aboard Bella Blue. Bags of books were brought out for sharing,
and we planned our next moves.
Men paddle over in small boats to sell fruit, bread and
woven baskets. One was sporting a Latitude 38 T-shirt. Latitude
38 is the SF Bay Area boating magazine, so we got a chuckle out of
that.
As the weather was still good before the next tropical wave,
we decided to press on. On the south
coast of St. Lucia
lie the striking Pitons. Stunning!
Wallilabou, St. Vincent
Had another lovely sail to St. Vincent. Dave tried to outrun a squall but we were
caught by the tail end of it. Had a gust
or two up to 30 knots but not a problem.
We’d read about the “boat boys,” actually men who approach
you in their small boats to “help” you to a mooring and handle your lines. There is always a fee and you never know the
condition of these private moorings.
We’d seen the photo and recommendation of Bagga, a dread-locked guy, so
went with him. Since the anchorage is
tight, we had to stern tie to the dock piers as well, so Bagga helped with
that. We paid $8 US for his
service. I also bought a beaded bracelet
and an enormous avocado each for $4 US.
Part of the deal with the moorings is that thet cost $8 US
but if you eat at the restaurant (owner of the mooring balls), you don’t have
to pay for the mooring balls. We enjoyed
mahi mahi, plantains, a fried vegetable that was good but I don’t remember what
it was called, along with rice and carrots.
Everything was delicious. I also
had the strongest rum punch I ever had and was smashed after only drinking
half. (Probable cause of aforementioned
memory lapse.) The view was beautiful as
we watched the setting sun.
The film Pirates of
the Caribbean was filmed in Wallilabou.
The film company built a building set which now houses a gallery of
glossy photos and artifacts – coffins and such – from the film.
In the morning, we intended to have Bagga take us for a hike
to the waterfalls, but it rained all morning so we decided we needed to bag
Bagga’s hike and head south. I hope that
we can return to these lovely islands to do more exploring. Alas, hurricane season is nigh.
Bequia
After the rains stopped, we traveled the 15 miles to Port Elizabeth, Bequia where we anchored in Admiralty Bay, a slightly rolly anchorage. Post Elizabeth
is a small town where local boat builders ply their trade on the beach.
Needing to get some exercise, yesterday we went for a walk
up Mt. Pleasant and had a sweeping view of the
bay. Treated ourselves at the top to the
local ginger ale. Lots of lovely flowers
along the way including the fiery flamboyant tree and the fragrant frangipani
used in Hawaiian leis.
After lunch we snorkeled Devil’s Table, the reef off of the
nearby point. It was especially nice
because it was rocky with various depth levels and little canyons. Saw a bulbous balloon fish. Other than that, many small reef fish and
abundant coral. Afterwards, Kim and
Scott who have been sailing these parts over the past 23 years and Dave
commented on how few large edible fish there are such as groupers and flounders
compared to years ago when they were here.
Twenty-three years ago, Scott had visited a local hardware store here
and been sold a lure with which he successfully caught many fish. It was pink.
He said that within thirty minutes, he’d have a fish on the line. The day before yesterday, Scott visited the
same hardware store which had changed locations and spoke with the very same
proprietor. They discussed this lure and
the man said that the pink lure doesn’t work anymore. He also said that there are no more big
fish. At another dock, Scott had seen
the locals cleaning an eel and we’d heard that they’d been cleaning rays which
supposedly taste like scallops. It is
sad to know that the fisheries are being depleted. Fortunately many countries are setting up
marine parks with no fish zones. These
are wonderful places to explore by snorkeling.
In many, you must take a mooring ball because anchoring chains scour the
bottom as the boat swings. We have seen
evidence of this. Most likely the
problem lies with the large commercial fishing vessels. It is a dilemma.
Today we will head for the Tobago Cays. It is a favorite spot of Scott and Kim as it
is remote and the snorkeling is incredible.
We’re looking forward to this.
Better get ready.
