February 9th
2017
06.00 left Anse de
Arlet for Portsmouth, Dominica. Saw 2 Whales spouting around 2
o’clock.
Engine off and
anchored by 17.41 p.m. Anchorage very crowded we had a calm and
peaceful night, although one flying fish was on deck in the morning
and there had been showers to wash the salt from the decks.
After checking in we
took part in various activities including watching the pre-Carnival
parade in town.Sunday was the start of Carnival. We sauntered into town and watched the celebrations go by. As usual there was a fairly long wait and plenty of opportunity to buy street food and drinks.
The crowd was in party mood and all was right with the world. We also booked for the Boiling Lake Hike later in the
week.
Boiling Lake Hike.
I started off with
good intentions but after I hit my personal ‘wall’ I decided that
I’d had enough. However I did see the Valley Of Desolation and
Malcolm shared his snaps of the Boiling Lake with me on Facebook.
Peter even made a U-tube video of the trip. The hike back from the
Valley of Desolation was sufficient to finish me I never want to see
another walkway made of tree trunks. I was in no mood to do anything
for the next two days! Even Malcolm said it was a tough one!
Here are some snaps.
The week ended with
another meal and speeches Dominican Style , Coconut curry, fish stew,
salad and cole slaw. With over 100 participants there was plenty of
noise and humour, we were all made ambassadors for the next year so
that the week would hopefully be even better attended.
19th
February,08.55 set sail for Point a Pitre, Guadeloupe. This was
another fast ( 6.1 knots average) and comfortable sail arriving 15.52
pm in time for sundowners. The next day we toured the main town :
22nd
February, we motored round to Gosier (20 minutes) and had a few days
snorkelling and enjoying the town life of a typical French resort.
This included a very nice steak at the local steakhouse.
Saturday 25th
February, with a full rig we sailed from Gosier to Pigeon Island, an
old favourite of ours. By 15.00 we were anchored in Malendure ready
for Tea! The anchorage was almost empty but quite rolly. We took
advantage of this opportunity to dive the reserve and check out a sea
full of tropical fish just off the underwater cliff. Malcolm also
used the last of the tank to clean the prop and new anti fouling wire
which were quite thick with growth
Thursday, 2nd
March, we motor-sailed with just the staysail for a 2 hour trip to
Deshaies, we picked up a buoy inshore and went shopping for
croissants and veg then to check out.
Friday, 3rd
March we sailed for Jolly Harbour starting at 06.30, lunch aboard
while underway - a quiche I’d knocked up the day before and fresh
salad. This was another cracking sail (taking just 5 hours at 7
knots) already there were our friends on S/Y C- Drifters, and S/Y
Quicksilver. Saturday we motored round to Hermitage Bay for the wifi!
But it was quite windy and we all thought to move upwind (so a
shorter fetch) across the bay to the shelter of Mardai Island.
Monday, 10th
March we checked out of Antigua and by late afternoon we sailed for
St Martin. Dare I say again another fast sail- we could have been in
St Barths in 11 hours! We arrived just in time for Mikes morning net
and announced our arrival. While here we did a massive shop on the
new Island Water-world shopping bus and stocked up with lots of
goodies including a few drinks in preparation for the arrival or our
visitor.
Wednesday,22nd March
back to Jolly Harbour on an overnight sail arriving for breakfast the
following morning. We took a buoy in the marina entrance channel so that we could
pick up Maria easily. She arrived four days later and we immediately
allowed her to unpack and stow her gear.
29th
March we sailed for Falmouth Harbour and anchored in 3m of water. A
wind sift during the night had swung us towards shore and the
following morning we were touching the bottom. Neat that we could
kedge off and re-anchor in a safer 4m. Maria was quite happy having a
beach to swim from and a BBQ with friends. Note the use of the new
Cobb!
Saturday 1st
of April after putting Maria on our crew list we checked out of
Antigua and took Maria to St Barths. Full sails and we even got the
MPG set.
Maria was impressed
with the pretty colours.
Arrived 21.30, and
anchored in Anse de Corossol, we checked in the next day and did the
tour of Gustavia but both Maria and I wanted to look at Haute Couture
so begged another day with the shops open.
Tuesday we picked
up a buoy in Columbier Bay which was very crowded and then slipped
for Marigot the next day.
St Martin
Maria sailing holiday in
the Caribbean, 2017
I
have just returned to London after an extraordinary month long
holiday in the Caribbean staying with my friends Malcolm and Sue on
their S/Y “Piano”. During this time I have clocked up
530 miles and on one occasion sailed for 34 consecutive hours from
the British Virgin Islands to Antigua.
I
joined my friends in Jolly Harbour in Antigua and sailed with them
and visited St Barths, St Martin/Sint Maarten, Prickly Pear, Virgin
Gorda, Little Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and back to Antigua. We sailed
past Necker Island with her 3 fake palm trees which can be flatten
down so that its owner can land his helicopter and Mosquito Island also owned by Richard Branson. Also past the
various “Dogs” Islands and between Beef Island and Little
Camanoe, Guyana Island to Little Jost Van Dyke. We also circled with
our dinghy the coast line of Jost Van Dyke. There are so many
islands, some uninhibited, some privately owned and some as small as
a rock or a patch of sand, with names like Saba Rock, Sandy Spit,
Sandy Cay and Green Cay. I walked around the perimeter of Sandy Spit
in less than ten minutes; that is how small some of these islands
are. Some islands are hilly with goats scrambling over the steep
slopes and venturing down as far as the beach below.
St
Barths with name streets in Swedish and French, has still a few old
buildings from the Swedish era but now is French and exclusive with
grand houses owned by the likes of Rockafellers, Rothschilds and one
or two Russian oligarchs. It is the French Riviera of the Caribbean
and attracts the rich and famous. Its shops and boutiques reflect
the elegant setting with “Bonjour, Madam” and “Merci”
greetings and very expensive prices.
St
Martin/Sint Maarten is half French and half Dutch. There is an
amusing story of the French man and the Dutch man who instead of
fighting over the island, decided to split it between themselves with
a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin respectively and then united
against the English who wanted their coffee.
One
Tuesday evening we experienced the carnival atmosphere of Grand Case,
the picturesque and more ethnic part of St Martin with the boulevard
that runs along the sea front closed to the traffic and the local
bands playing and the people dancing
.
We
sailed to Marigot Bay next and visited Fort Louis dominating the bay.
In the market the day after I met an Italian lady selling small tiles
painted by herself with beautiful scenery of the island. She told me
that she had been living in St Martin for 16 years after getting
tired of Rome, its traffic and the mass of tourists. She had felt
suffocated and had decided to emigrate to Costa Rica but life brought
her to St Martin instead and she has never even visited Costa Rica.
She has become an artist by necessity or maybe inspired by the beauty
of the island. In fact she confessed that she could not even draw a
simple figure before.
Over
to the Dutch side there is Philipsburg, the capital, with an
international airport separated from a narrow road by only a wire
fence and next to the beach
over which jumbo jets roar and skim over
the heads of the bathers. It is one of the “must feel” thrills.
Cruise liners dock here and spill thousands of tourists into the main
street full of expensive jewellery shops owned and manned by handsome
and smartly dressed Indian men. They have also emigrated to Sint
Maarten directly from India and not from British Guyana like I had
mistakenly assumed. They live there with their families and their
business is selling gold and diamonds.
Antigua
with a multi coloured “V” (for victory) crowned by the sun flag
has never been conquered by any other European nation but the
British, who built forts and watch towers all over the island to
defend it from the other fierce contenders. It has Nelson's Dockyard,
the oldest Georgian harbour in the world still in use and as relevant
to-day as at the time of Admiral Horatio Nelson. We took the local
mini bus one day to St. John’s, the capital. The driver was
munching a tamarind fruit and offered me a pod. It is sweet and
slightly sticky and I kept the seeds. They reminded me of the film
“The Tamarind Seed”. It is a spy thriller set during the cold
war period and the tamarind seed that sparks the romance and binds
together the two lovers from opposite side of the red curtain. My
friend Sue has recommended that I also read the book entitled
“Nathaniel’s Nutmeg” by Magnus Mills and I have been wondering
what kind of marvel that is.
This
brings me to mention the numerous spices and juicy fruits grown in
the Caribbean: mango, papaya, coconut, guava, star fruit, pineapple
and bananas. Vegetables like christophene (sounds like the name of a
little girl), bread fruit, cassava, plantaine, squash and avocado. The
flowers are fleshy and almost sensual with vibrant colours of warm
yellow, orange and red. Here, familiar succulents that never flower
in England explode in glorious blooms under the hot and persistent
sun.
The
West Indies have a rich and interesting history from the
Pre-Colombian times of the Arawaks and Caribs to their discovery by
C. Colombo, the rush for gold and riches, the warring European powers
snatching islands from one another, slavery, plantations and
emancipation. Ships carrying sugar, rum, cotton, tobacco and slaves.
The names themselves of these islands, like Jost Van Dyke, Norman
Island, Sir Francis Drake Channel, Dead Chest conjure up exciting
stories of the real pirates of the Caribbean with swash buckling
rogues, treasure hunts and shipwrecks. We ourselves saw a not so
ancient shipwreck in Deep Bay, Antigua. It sunk in 1905 after an
explosion and consequent fire. It sits up-right with the stump of
one of the masts protruding out of the water. We circled around it
in our dinghy. Its dark shape not so far down from the surface. It
is a shelter for schools of small fish and other larger reef fish.
Sometimes jelly fish gather here.
I
liked the sailing at night with the full moon and the numerous
brilliant stars in an unpolluted clear sky. Calm and silence all
around apart from the familiar noise of the water flapping against
the boat. Far away, over the horizon, the bright lights of a cruise
liner, the barely visible white sail of a boat, the faint dark shape
of a fishing vessel. Fellow sailors, mute, distant and unknown, going
their way.
By
day there was a bustle of activity, sightseeing, swimming,
snorkelling, sailing to the next bay or taking the dinghy ashore to
the laundrette or do the shopping, meeting friends. Or just staying
on the boat, taking a rest, sitting on deck reading a book and
waiting for the split second “green flash” at sunset. I have
seen beautiful sunsets, all different, different light, colours,
brilliance and feelings.
The
beauty of these islands sometimes moved me because their verdant
hills sloping down the sea reminded me of Genoa, my home town in
Italy, as it would have looked before it was developed and built up.
I remember the marvellous sight of Colombier in St. Barths from up
the hill. A calm blue and aquamarine expanse of water scintillating
under a cloudless sky and interrupted here and there by enormous
brownish-red rocks.
Another
marvel were the Baths in Virgin Gorda, these being big natural
boulders that cascading on one another over the centuries have formed
caverns, grottos and pools big and small were you walk through by
crouching, climbing or wading.
People swim and snorkel in these
pools and look at the colourful fish. Also the “bubble” pool in
Diamond Cay, Jost Van Dyke, where the waves crush in over the rocks
and the pool erupts in froth.
Adults and children enjoy watching
that and wait for the next wave to be bigger and more spectacular.
Walking back to the dinghy, along the path we passed groupings of
mangrove and there at the sea’s edge I spotted a baby shark. It
was swimming alone and unconcerned. I wondered where his mammy and
daddy were.
Spotting
animals was a big thrill for me. But we did not see many, they are
most elusive or maybe they are not so numerous nowadays. There were
intelligent big fish at Saba Rock that would gather at the same time
each afternoon to be fed by the staff of the holiday resort there.
Scores of tourists went to watch how the man dangled the food in
front of the fish who would compete with one another in jumping up
higher and quicker to snatch it.
There were also some pelicans on
the jetty waiting impassively to target a fish, dive and catch it,
all in a matter of seconds. The frigate birds with their large wing
span sometimes flying in groups, maybe on their way to a fishing
boat where they would steal a fish or two.
I
saw my first sea-turtle in St Barths when it came up to the surface
for air just a few meters from our boat. Also here I spotted three
goats on the hill side. One of them was bigger and was followed
around by the same smaller goat, which I heard bleating. Maybe they
were mother and baby. I saw goats in other islands and I guess it
must have been just past the time of the “goating” season,
judging from the number of the cute little creatures. Two of them
stopped as I passed on my way up to a fort and looked at me as if
they were curious to know who I was.
The
British Virgin Islands especially have many natural parks and
reserves to protect and encourage the growth of their fauna and
flora. There are guide lines for visitors, divers and snorkelers to
behave responsibly in order to avoid damaging or destroying the
fragile habitat of the coral reefs.
I
liked sailing, perched up on deck, looking out at the sea and then at
the map in my hand,
guessing the name of the island we were passing.
Observing the land, we were bound to, approach slowly before entering
the bay. We would then anchor and raise the courtesy flag of the host
country. The skipper would check us in at the Customs Office and I
would hope to get another stamp on my passport.
I
liked being surrounded by other boats with flags from different
countries, Australian, Canadian, American, Norwegian, Dutch, Irish,
British and others I did not know. Sailing boats, catamarans,
schooners, motor boats and big yachts. I also was fascinated by the
names given to the boats. Names of women mostly and of loved ones,
but also names that suggest freedom, relief, visions of an easier and
happier life or the speed and strength of a beautiful animal. Each
boat has an intriguing story behind its name.
There
was a regatta in English Harbour, Antigua. One day was for the race
of the classic boats and we went to see them.
Beautiful boats, some
as old as 1905 and 1945, lovingly maintained by their owners, with
polished wooden decks, gleaming brass and yards of canvas. They
were well kept and loved like elegant and expensive vintage cars. The
crew were celebrating at the end of the race when family, friends and
sympathizers gathered to congratulate them and look at the beautiful
array of these old venerable vessels.
I
have learned a few simple things about sailing. I know for example
on which side of the boat is “port”, the names of the sails;
there is one called “MPG” for Multi-Purpose Genoa . Piano has one
of a bright yellow colour like sunshine. (See above)What “Down Wind” and “Up
Wind” and “to tack” mean. Where is the rudder, the different
types of moorings, the channel in the bay. I was allowed to take the
wheel a few times when it was easy and safe, pass the winch handle and
switch on the engine. I learned to go up and down the steps of the
hatch gripping firmly the handles to avoid falling or being hurled
against the furniture when the boat is sailing and the sea is rough.
I
met some new people, strangers who have shared a few moments of their
lives with me, informed and enriched me with new knowledge. And all
of this thanks to the generous hospitality of my friends Malcolm and
Sue who took great care of me to make sure that I was safe at all
times at sea and in the sea, gave me the best seat on deck and did
not eat all the salad in the bowl so that I could finish it off.
The
skipper honoured me by cooking “spaghetti alla Bolognese” on my
last evening aboard Piano and hoisted up the must the Italian flag
the next morning. Malcolm and Sue accompanied me to the taxi that
would take me to Antigua airport for my flight back to London.
