Admiral 40 catamaran
09/02/2010, Bequia, St Vincent & the Grenadines

Sunset, Bequia

At the latter end of last week, we found ourselves making the 70 mile trip southbound returning to the island of Bequia. We had planned to leave two days earlier but decided to wait for a more appropriate weather window - and it seems we were right to do so. We lifted anchor at 05:00 and arrived in Admiralty Bay just after lunch. Our passage took us across the 26 mile gap between St Lucia and St Vincent. Here we first came across a large pod of dolphins we were sadly, more intent on fishing than entertaining us! But their presence alerted us to keep a watchful eye and soon there was another cry of "dolphins"! As we got closer we realised these were not in fact dolphin, but a pod of about 20 pilot whales that appeared to be intent on making their way out to the Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea. They crossed just in front of our bows and all too soon were gone - hence the lack of photo! We continued our sail down the west coast of ST Vincent which unfortunately is off limits due to frequent thefts from anchored yachts. As we passed the southern tip, the island of Bequia was just 10 in the distance and with a good breeze and a gentle sea, we averaged 8 knots on this final sector. It is good to be back in Admiralty Bay. We're anchored in just 2 metres of water and within just a short dinghy ride to town.


Oceans Dream, Admiralty Bay

As we went ashore and began recognising faces from our previous visit, we truly felt part of the 'live-aboard' crowd as we were welcomed back by our veggie lady, the lady in the laundrette, 'African Pride' (a local Mr Fix-It!) and the girls at the Gingerbread cafe.

On our second day we were taken aback by the cry of "Ahoy Oceans Dream" and moments later we were inviting Bob, Captain of Lady Liv on board. He and M had charter guests who were spending the day ashore and so an al-fresco lunch followed aboard Oceans Dream. This took us through to mid-afternoon. The really good news was that Lady Liv's guests had decided to eat ashore that evening so we also got together in the evening (aboard Lady Liv this time) for a very enjoyable supper.
On Sunday we stretched our legs and walked across the island to Friendship Bay which overlooks the Atlantic and the island of Mustique. A very enjoyable walk but at times, hard work in the heat.


Friendship Bay, Bequia

Yesterday was a day of chores and eventually we managed to secure a spot in the laundry. Whilst we were waiting for the washing to complete, we were enjoying a shandy in 'De Bistro' next door and low-and-behold, we saw friends from Trini walking by. Keith and Marcy own Mimi, a Lagoon 38 and we'd met them whilst on the leatherback turtle trip in May of last year.

Tomorrow we continue our journey south via the Tobago Cays.

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Admiral 40 catamaran
30/01/2010, Rodney Bay, St Lucia

We sadly left Dominica and made our way south to the town of St Pierre on Martinique. St Pierre has become one of our favourite locations. From the anchorage the view is stunning and the town, whilst small, provides everything we need.


Sunset in St Pierre

As we look up at Mount Pelee we continue to wonder how the whole town could've been destroyed with only a couple of survivors but in the light of recent events in Haiti and the Cayman Islands, natures power can never be underestimated.

Whilst there is a small market each day, Saturday is a special event where local people sell their produce and the fishermen, their most recent catch. We were amazed by the size of the marlin being butchered and sold off. There was high demand, so we quickly joined the queue and for 5 Euros we purchased 4 large and beautifully prepared marlin steaks. As we made our way back to the dinghy, we noticed the fisherman was disposing of the guts of the marlin but was saving the stomach from which he retrieved 3 or 4 large and completely whole fish! These had clearly been the marlin's last supper!


Marlin steak made for a delicious supper

After a couple more days we made the 35 mile passage to Rodney Bay in St Lucia to catch up with our single-hander friend Frank to say farewell - as he heads north and we shall be heading south.

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Admiral 40 Oceans Dream
23/01/2010, Roseau, Dominica

but this cat-burglar certainly could.

It was our second night anchored off of the town of Roseau, Dominica. Having had an enjoyable and somewhat tiring day we went to bed as usual. Whilst there was a bit of a 'jump-up' (party) going on on the beach, we soon fell asleep. At about 04:30 Adrian was awoken with a thump on the side of the hull. The first thoughts were that it might have been a log but shortly after, there was a different kind of splashing sound which alerted his suspicion. He got out of bed and peered through the cockpit windows to see a local man crouching on the sugar scoop at the back of the starboard hull. He'd obviously pulled himself on board and was clearly taking a breather following his swim from the shore. He certainly wasn't a training athlete, more intent on breaking in and taking his ill-gotten gains ashore. Unfortunately this is not uncommon in these parts. Insensed by this intrusion, Adrian unlocked the door and rushed out shouting obscenities at the man. By now Jackie was thinking this was more than just a pee-stop(!) in the middle of the night and donned some clothes and followed screaming similar obscenities - having now appreciated we had a burglar on board. All this commotion clearly shocked our "tief" who lept back in the water and broke into a fast crawl in the pitch dark. Our search light picked him up a couple of times but he was soon lost. Boats nearby were woken by the events and one suggested there had been an accomplice. We searched the deck and between the hulls but guessed he must have got away too.

We are extremely security conscious and always close the hatches and lock the doors at night - with only the small hatches and port lights open for ventilation. Nevertheless, it has forced us to think about adopting some additional security measures which we won't write about here for obvious reasons!

The next day we (along with everyone else in the immediate vicinity) left for anchorages new and we returned to St Pierre on Martinique. Sadly, this single incident has tainted our view of Dominica which from our brief exploration is clearly a very beautiful and fertile island with many, many happy and friendly people - albeit very poor.

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Admiral 40 Oceans Dream
23/01/2010, Roseau, Dominica

Following in the wake of some American friends we have made, Greg and Vicky we departed St Pierre at 07:00. They were some two miles ahead and updated us on the weather. Whilst they were heading for the northern end of Dominica as their next port of call, we decided to stop at the capital, Roseau on the south of the island. Here, there are a number of local 'boat-boys' who provide moorings and act as agents for tour companies.

Dominica is a very poor country but blessed with fantastic scenery and natural resources. There main export is bananas along with a whole host of exotic fruits. In addition, Dominica has become a frequent stopping place for the large number of cruise-liners transitting the Caribbean. From October to May there are on average, two cruise ships a day. We were told that the Dominica government has heavily sponsored these visits and there appear to be a well orchestrated arrival and tour programme.

Having anchored securely off of the Anchorage Hotel, we dinghyed into town and decided to walk to the botanical gardens where we were politely accosted by Joey who was looking to fill his mini-bus of cruise-liner passengers. He offered us (at the third attempt!) a knock-down price. We joined six Germans and one American lady on, what turned out to be a fascinating and informative tour of some of the local rainforests and waterfalls.


Our Tour Guide, Joey

We boarded the minibus at the Botanical Gardens and drove up the hill that overlooks Roseau.


Town of Roseau, Dominica

From here we made our way up into the rainforest to a sulphur spring site. There are numerous bubbling and hissing sulphur pits which spew steam and sulphurous gases. The rocks are too hot to touch and the water is heated to almost boiling point in many places. We were offered sulphur mud products to "make us look young" which Jackie declined on the grounds of natural beauty and Adrian on the grounds that "it would need a miracle"!


Bubbling sulphur pit!

There were numerous stops en route where Joey's friends offered us the opportunity to purchase local goods. At one of these stops, were we torn as to which of the advertised locations would be the most exciting ... Adrian wanted to go to the left, and Jackie to the right . in the end we did neither!



On up we went through the rainforest with Joey our guide pointing out the wild nutmeg trees, avocado trees and cashew nut trees. The highlight of the tour was the Trafalagar Falls. Here two major waterfalls cascade side-by-side. The taller 'Father Falls' drops 125 feet and the shorter 'Mother Falls' flows down 75 feet.


Father Falls

As we followed the trail through the rainforest to the falls, we crossed a warm spring with deep orange coloured water caused by iron compounds in the clay. We also spotted a number of land crabs lurking in the undergrowth.

The scramble down to the base of the falls revealed the majesty of the scene and many enjoyed a dip in the pools created by the falls.

Our return journey took us some 45 minutes but not to miss an opportunity, Joey put on his own single track CD at a mere US$5 a shot. He might have been a crooner once but we judge this was some years ago or perhaps the acoustic system in the minibus didn't do him justice!

We said farewell to our cruising companions but were happy to return to Oceans Dream rather than the gigantic townships afloat.

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