Hello Folks,

Well, we have made our first real move of the season covering about 200 hundred miles and four countries in six days. The picture above shows the view we enjoyed this morning off the back of the boat as we had our coffee in Fort de France, Martinique. Bit chilly though as the temperature was down to 27C and there were a few rain showers, but don't worry we managed. A couple of other pics showing the new neighbourhood. There is a different cruise ship in here every day as one leaves a new one takes its place.



Not sure what these guys are doing exactly as their boat looks like something we used to rescue when I was in the navy but they were fun to watch as they sailed around the anchorage.



After meeting up with Dustin, as shown below, on the 5th of Feb we left Prickly Bay, Grenada on the 7th with our destination Carriacou, Grenada distance of about 40 miles.



From there we moved onto St. Vincent and St Lucia for one night each and arrived in Le Marin, Martinique on the 10th. We actually spent a night in the marina at Le Marin in order to get access to water to clean the boat and fill water tanks before our next guests arrive. This was significant as this was the first night we spent in a marina since leaving Puerto Rico during our first year. Marinas are expensive and usually a hassle so we prefer anchoring (free) or mooring balls (cheaper then marinas).

The seas were rather exciting this trip as the winds were consistently in the 20-25 kt range just forward of the starboard beam, with approximately 6-8 ft seas, 30-50 degrees off the starboard bow. To non sailors these statistics may not mean a hell of a lot, but to folks that sail you get the picture. SeaSparrow handled these conditions well as we averaged over 7 kts each day and often sailed at speeds of 9 and 10 plus knots with reefs in the main and genoa - we were moving. The thing about these sort of speeds when you have waves such as we had is that you also get bounced around a lot. Dustin loved the rough ride and speed and I also enjoyed the trip, although Debbie was a bit less enthusiastic but handled everything like a seasoned sailor that she is now becoming. We did have one experience that was really not fun for anyone which occurred when we arrived in Carriacou after a very long day of rather rough conditions. When we finally arrived at our anchoring position, which is a normally very protected spot named Tyrell Bay, we were given a rather rude welcome. When trying to anchor the winds picked up to over 30 kts consistently and gusts up near the 40 kt mark. After trying for about an hour to get an anchor down in a crowded bay, we bugged out and went around the corner to a place where I knew there were mooring balls. Thankfully there were balls available and the moorings were very secure as the winds did not let up that evening. Roughest night we have had on a mooring ball as the boat moved so much it felt like we were still at sea in rough conditions. Welcome back to your first real day of sailing this season SeaSparrow and crew.

The next day we did go back around to Tyrell Bay and enjoyed a couple of days in Carriacou waiting for the winds to come down a bit. We managed to take Dustin over to one of our favourite spots anywhere in the Caribbean, which is Paradise Beach. This is the place you can buy a beer beside the beach and go for a swim without any hassle. I love this kind of stuff. Here's some shots of Debbie, Dustin, and I along with friends Dev and Joanne from Spray. Dev and Joanne live on Salt Spring Island in BC and own a winery called Salt Spring Vineyards. Nice folks that know their wine - I'm more a drinker than a taster but I get by.




And of course the obligatory bean bag pic. Dev and Joanne come to Nova Scotia every year so hopefully we can catch up with them again in Liscomb this summer.



So here we are in Fort de France, Martinique and what will we do next? Right now Debbie and I have been cleaning like fiends since Dustin returned home a couple of days ago. We have our friends Kevin and Sue and their children Gael and Leigha arriving in a couple of hours. Today is Kevin's 50th birthday and I can think of no better way to spend it then sharing a rum or two onboard SeaSparrow in the Caribbean. Debbie even put the oven to work on a cake.



The MacDougall gang will be with us for a week or so and we plan to hit a few spots here in Martinique depending on the weather. Max flex. After that Debbie and I will continue to make our way north with stops in Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Antigua in the immediate future eventually making our way to the BVI's for the full moon March. Stay tuned.


Jeff