04/10/2012
Benares Bay
Norman Island, British Virgin Islands.
A gorgeous Easter Saturday, hot cross buns baking, Alan off diving...a peaceful hour or so. I have dragged myself away from watching the pelicans fishing in the bay. They fly high up onto the land side of the water so their shadows don't frighten the fish then dive in scooping up the fish darting about in the crystal clear edges of the bay. I suppose they don't really dive they swoop down then at the last minute they blunder into the water with a huge splash. The little shags following in their path dive elegantly right under the water and pick up the left overs.
After leaving the lovely Barbuda we went up to St Barths where we spent a night anchored amongst the beautiful large sailing yachts gathered for the St Barths Bucket a regatta for yachts 100ft and over. The next day we continued on to St Martins/St Maartens, a small island with French govern on one side and Dutch on the other with a huge lagoon in the middle. The lagoon is accessed through an opening bridge on both sides. The Dutch bridge is busiest as it is wider and accesses the deepest part of the Lagoon which has several marinas and every service that you need for yachts and motor launches. You could say St Maartens is the Marine shopping mall for the Caribbean. The Dutch side is for chandleries as well as all things practical the French side as you would expect is for food, clothes and laundry.
We followed a large superyacht through the bridge, he had centimetres to spare, we had metres to spare. I am not sure how much he had under his keel at most we had 2 metres in the channel. We gingerly went around the channel and found a spot to anchor on the Dutch side but shifted the next day to the French side as we needed to check in and be legal. The French side costs 5 Euros for the official procedure of clearing customs the Dutch charge about 40 Euros consequently the French portion of the Lagoon is packed with cruisers leaving ample room on the Dutch side. The Super yachts fill up the marinas. There seem to be two types of cruisers in St Martin Lagoon , those who come to access the chandleries and many services before continuing on with their dream and then those who have arrived, found a job and stayed, the dream shelved for years if not permanently. The unfortunate thing is that many of these working "cruisers" have forgotten to keep up the boat maintenance. There were many abandoned looking boats but in reality most had someone living on board. The state of their boats is probably due to spending time helping those of us who are passing through. The Chandleries and many businesses are staffed by these knowledgeable people who will freely tell you where to get something if they cannot provide the item you need. Every morning there is a Net on the VHF giving information for yachties, where anything can be bought, sold or traded. Want a wind generator rebuild? One of the permanent yachties says yes he can do that. Where to buy a whosit for a whatsit? Someone replies and says yes he has one of those things where he works, go and see him.
We were joined at St Martin's by Yindee Plus, Tactical Directions and Innamorata all having dragged themselves away from Barbuda a couple of days after us. We hadn't seen the Yindee family since Las Palmas so great to catch up and note the boys had grown another inch or so. After a week of shopping and fixing it was time to leave. A forecast of no wind stretched well into the following week so no point delaying the overnight motor sail to the British Virgins. Tuatara followed Tactical Directions and Innamorata out of the bridge, waved to the Happy Hour drinkers at the St Maartins yacht club and turned north. Well the other two did, I decided my stomach cramps that had been bothering me since lunch( dodgy Chicken ???) weren't good for an overnight passage so we anchored in Simpson Bay to see what would happen. Near us was another Kiwi boat, Muskatelle with Barbara, Peter and Wifi the cat. We had emailed and talked on the radio but never met. The next morning I felt a lot better so Barbara and Peter came over for a long morning tea, which filled up a chunk of the day before we left for our overnight passage to Virgin Gorda.
We motor sailed through the night across the unusually smooth Anegada Passage. Lights of yachts, cruise liners and fishing boats floated past in the dark. By 7am we were entering Necker Island passage just 3 miles from our anchorage in North Sound and the wind came in! We decided to forego calling in to enjoy breakfast with Richard Branson on Necker Island instead we furled in the genoa and motored into the Sound to catch up with our Aussies and Brit friends. Sid and Wilf (Yindee Plus)gave us a cheery wave as their dad hauled up the anchor, they assured us they would be back for Carols(Innamorata) birthday the next day.
North Sound is home of the Bitter End Yacht club as well as Saba rock which is a very small island covered in resort buildings. The most buildings I have ever seen on such a small island, just a rock really. The wind was zapping in through the gap past Saba rock, the kite surfers were having a great time. Our anchorage off Prickly Pear Island was calm and we had front row view of some yacht racing. Tuatara and Innamorata were obviously anchored in the territory of a large turtle. In the space between us he would pop his head up every half hour or so give us a leisurely look and just as I got my camera focused he would disappear into the blue.
We gathered for Carols birthday a nice celebration but also a little sad as it was to be the last time we would see the Yindee Plus family for a while. They are heading off to America for the summer, hopefully our paths will meet again next year.
We left North Sound and headed to the Baths just south of Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda Island. The Baths is a national park. Huge boulders along a sandy beach create a maze of paths and tunnels through shallow pools. There are mooring buoys in the bay for the big boats to pick up then another set of buoys for the dinghy and you swim the last 30 metres to the golden sand. The Virgin Gorda Baths are in my book of 1001 natural wonders of the world... so been there ticked that off. They are worth the listing.
The BVIs have been a pleasant surprise not as crowded as we expected. There are lots of charter boats and some very popular anchorages but there is plenty of room to spread out and lots of nice places the charterers don't venture because there are no mooring buoys. Alan has also been enjoying some diving and snorkeling. He has company of other divers and it helps that Tactical Directions has a compressor to refill the bottles. They have dived on the 150 year old wreck of the mail ship the Rhone as well as off Deadmans Island and the Indians. A mix of wreck and coral dives. Alan also snorkeled into the caves on Norman Island, where pirate treasure was supposedly hidden by Blackbeard and some of his mates.
Our favourite place here has to be Deadmans bay on Peter Island. A couple of lovely sandy beaches, clear water for swimming, good company and the all important free Wifi. Deadmans Island off the bay is where the piratical saying.. "fifteen men on a dead mans chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," comes from. Blackbeard upset with his crew marooned 15 of his errant crew with their sea chests and a bottle of rum.
Peter Island is privately owned with a resort amongst the palms, a few discreet Villas spread over the hills and some walking tracks for all including yachties who are welcome on the island. The charter yachts are told that it is really only a lunch stop so they all come at 11 and go at 3 leaving lots of room for those of us who stay the night.
Today is now Tuesday time to get this completed and posted before we head off to Culebra Island, one of the Spanish Virgins(Puerto Rico) tomorrow. This morning we have picked up a mooring in Grand Harbour on Jost van Dyke Island where we will check out and have a drink at the famous Foxy's Bar. Tuatara is going to be a few days ahead of Innamorata, Tactical Directions and Eye Candy, not sure if we will catch up with them again this year as they are all heading north to the US. It has been great traveling with them all, Alan especially has enjoyed their company for diving. This time we have had in the BVIs has been like a lovely summer holiday, a bit different than the usual cruising. We have had lots of sun, sand, diving and swimming. We are looking forward to the Spanish Virgins as they are reputedly lovelier than here, so tomorrow afternoon we will see for ourselves.
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03/28/2012, British Virgin Islands
Beautiful Barbuda
Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, St Barths, St Martin, Virgin Gorda, I see we have covered a few islands since I last wrote, time for a catch up.
When we were in Isle de Saintes the weather was windy and a bit wet, we had time to look at our schedule, the miles to go, places we wanted to see and the time we had left before flying out of LA on the 14th of May for NZ. We came to the realization that covering the 1500 miles to Florida in time to leave Tuatara was just about impossible as well as stressful, whereas cruising north and enjoying the islands as far as the Virgin Islands then a 500 mile hop down to Trinidad seemed much more inviting. After making the decision we've been able to relax and stop calendar watching but in doing so I have forgotten to keep up the blog!!
We left Isle de Saintes in a brisk 30knots which sent us flying across the small gap to Guadeloupe and as we got in the lee of the big Island we came to a halt on a flat windless sea. The three nights we had on the coast of Guadeloupe were a mix of gusty wind and peaceful calm. Unfortunately the windiest day was at Pigeon Island where there is a Jacques Cousteau Marine park with reputedly excellent diving and snorkeling. With no diving partner handy Alan went snorkeling but the choppy sea and overcast weather meant a not very exciting experience. After clearing out at Deshaies(Deyhay) we had a great sail over to Antigua where we were looking forward to seeing Mike and Carole on Tashi Delik, last seen in Cape Verdes. English harbor and Falmouth Harbour on Antigua are the two of the main centres of yachting in the Caribbean. Antigua race week at the end of April is one of the biggest sailing events in the Caribbean season. We were rather early to see all the race yachts but the two harbours were still full of fabulous vessels of all sizes and propulsion. English harbor is home to the historic Nelsons Dockyard, a tourist destination, a marina with related services, customs offices and when we arrived a hive of activity preparing for the visit from Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. Tashi Delek had prime viewing seats they were in the marina with unimpeded views of the dock where Leander the large motor yacht bringing the Royals was to dock. Being Brits, Mike and Carole were hoping the marina would not move them, with confidence that they would still be there they invited us for breakfast on the Tuesday morning to watch the pomp and ceremony.
Nelsons Dockyard and English Harbour were important servicing areas for the English sailing ship fleet from the early 1700s until the mid 1800s. The English saw the advantage of the harbor as a hurricane hole and a place to hide ships as the entrance is hard to distinguish from seaward. Nelson was Commander there in his late 20s before he returned to England in 1787 and higher things. Nelson did not seem to have a happy time as commander as the locals wanted to keep trading with their American cousins but as Commander he had to stick to the English law and forbid trading with the Rebels, consequently he was not overly popular. It is said he never slept ashore in the official residence because of this but maybe he was just more comfortable in a ships' cabin. When the English Navy decided that they did not need the facilities, the dock yard fell into disrepair but in the 1950s renovations gradually began and now today the area is a charming mix of historical tourism and working marina. I am not sure whether it is always the case but when we were there all the beautiful old style yachts were moored at Nelsons Dockyard and the modern glitzy vessels were over in the more modern surroundings at Falmouth harbor. Nelson's was all varnish, teak decks, wooden spars, sweeping bowsprits and flags dipping off elegant sterns. Falmouth was sleek modern low profile cabins with shiny stainless, large communication domes balancing on 100ft masts, one way glass for anonymity, huge hydraulically lifted chunks of deck and hulls silently opening to reveal an array of toys. Some of these modern vessels wish to be so sleek that their anchors are laid out from underwater trapdoors in the bow.
The place to be in Antigua on a Sunday night is the Jump up at Shirley Heights. Alan and I joined Carole, Mike and their visiting American relatives for the experience. Sunset high above the two harbours accompanied by a steel band, with a plate of fried chicken and salad in hand, magic. A more refined atmosphere than the Gros Islet Jump up at Rodney bay. Both enjoyable in their own ways. After a visit to St Johns on the Monday we checked with Tashi Delik to see if they had been moved, and no our viewing platform was remaining in place for the Royal visit the next morning.
We walked over to English harbor, through the gates no security checks on foot traffic just cars. Wandering across the parade ground to Tashi Delik we mingled with military uniforms, TV presenters and last minute tidy uppers. The long dock that 250ft Leander carrying the Royal couple, was to dock on had been built specially by its owner Sir Donald Gosling so that his boat had enough depth to anchor in. Leander is generally chartered out at the amazing sum of about 440,000, not sure if dollars or Pounds(that's a lot whichever), a week plus fuel. However as this is the Queens Jubilee year and as there is now no Royal yacht, Sir Donald has made Leander available this year for Royal use, completely free of charge to the Queen and the British tax payer. Now that's a seriously rich and generous man.
As our gathering of Brits, Americans and Kiwis ate croissants and sipped coffee, the shiny blue Leander docked a 100 metres away and we watched the crew scurry around washing the back deck ready for the Royal feet, the ship was dressed with flags, a few last flicks of the polishing rags just before the Lady Governor of Antigua went on board to welcome Edward and Sophie. I did note Sir Donald on the top deck checking the proceedings. Once the local dignitaries and military personal lined up, the army band and military guard of honour had shuffled their feet into the correct places we knew the show was about to happen. The Royals and their entourage walked down the dock and the Prince gave us a wave. He also gave us a cheery good morning as he walked past Tashi Delik's stern, in fact I am sure Prince Edward would have rather come and joined us in the shade for coffee instead of inspecting the guard in his hot suit. Although we would have had to squash up a bit as the cockpit of a 39ft yacht is slightly smaller than that of luxurious Leander.
We enjoyed a couple more days in Falmouth harbor before we moved north for a night at Jolly harbor on our way to Barbuda. Beautiful Barbuda is 30 miles north of Antigua. A low flat island, for 150 years was leased by the Codrington family for one fat sheep a year. When King William III awarded the lease it was conditional on the family looking after the inhabitants who were mostly slaves. With emancipation in 1834 the slave became tenants of the land they had worked on for years. To this day only Barbudans have the right to work and live on the land. The Codrington family benefited from the sailing ships which came to grief on the Atlantic coast reef, some say lured onto the reef by the family , there are supposedly around 300 wrecks around the coast of Barbuda.
There are only a couple of resorts on the island, the people of Barbuda like the island the way it is .beautiful and unspoilt. We anchored at Low Bay which is an 8 mile long vision of blue azure water and pink sand. The day we arrived there were only 8 boats, so not exactly crowded. One day there was 20, spread along 8 miles we still had plenty of swinging room. We stayed 7 days and every morning I looked out and said, "isn't this glorious" to the frigate birds flying past.
Barbuda has a large lagoon separated from the sea by a narrow strip of beach. The northern entrance lets in the sea water but is too shallow for all but small fishing boats to access. A portion of the extensive area of mangroves in the north is taken over by the largest Frigate bird colony in the western hemisphere. Water taxis run across the lagoon to the main town of Codrington where yachts clear customs and have lunch nothing else to do there, shopping is limited, "supermarket" shelves were reasonably bare and restaurants limited. Be well stocked if going to Barbuda for a few days, was good advice given to us. One day we arranged for JR to take us to visit the Frigates then into town for a couple of hours before returning to our side of the lagoon. JR gave us a potted history of his adopted home, he came from Antigua 23 years ago but can never have the same rights as island born Barbudans. The Frigates are used to visitors and did not stir as he quietly poled the open boat around the mangroves past nests with fluffy white chicks. The breeding season is coming to an end a few hopeful males were still puffing out their red chests. In a month or so the males leave the females to finish raising the chicks and fly off to Galapagos Islands to start another family. We had seen nesting frigates at Chesterfield reef but it was interesting this time to hear all the information JR had to tell us about these large black birds. For example their legs are only about 3 inches long they never walk only land on branches or their nests. They scoop fish out of the water with their long beaks as they never dive in the sea. Frigates do not have the oil glands other sea birds have so cannot dive into the water.
The taxi boat dropped us in town for our visit to customs and immigration to clear out as well as a lunch. We enquired at the Green door Pub about lunch but he directed us to the restaurant recommended by JR. The score of the Australian/West Indies match was passed on to us as we walked past the bank. Everyone in the Caribbean is cricket mad and they know all the happenings of every cricket match happening in the world at any one time, including the dismal NZ scores against the South Africans.
We had the company of Tony on Tactical Directions and Bruce and Gina of Wyuna while at Barbuda. Both aussies and catamarans not that we hold those things against them especially as their big back decks were ideal for sundowners. The Canadians from the motor vessel Mariner Sojourner joined us on our Frigate bird tour and invited us for drinks aboard. We had been sharing anchorages off and on for weeks but had never met. The men loved the opportunity to look around the Nordhaven, admiring engines, talking about fuel consumption and trim tabs. We agreed Mariner Sojourner was lovely, but we all came back happy with our own boats and the simple systems of sailing boats.
Beautiful Barbuda our top spot so far in the Caribbean, it will take a lot to beat it. We reluctantly up anchored and headed for St Martins the incentive of well stocked marine chandleries and some retail therapy made leaving the blue water and pink sand a little easier.
Sorry about lack of photos. will put some on at next internet stop.
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02/23/2012, Iles De Saintes in the Caribbean
Tuatara and crew are slowly wandering our way north, we have put away the Windward island cruising guide and are now thumbing through the Leeward island guide. The sailing is easier as the Leeward Islands curve slightly north west so the NE wind now means slightly eased sheets. The days of banging into a head wind have gone for now. The blustery Christmas winds have eased slightly and 15 to 20 knot trades are more established(except for yesterday a 20 mile trip with around 30knots), the seas in the gaps are still lumpy but manageable. So sailing wise we are enjoying the Caribbean a little more.
As I write this we are in Petite Anse in the Iles de Saintes, the French flag is flying once again EC dollars have been put aside and left over Euros from Martinique retrieved from their hiding place. Changing flags is easy but the money is another story we just get our head around exchange rates then the currency changes plus we have to also know the US dollar rate as lots of things ashore, no matter the country , are quoted in $US. The reason being that the main tourists are from Cruise ships and they deal in US$. For us the ATM spits out Eastern Caribbean dollars or Euros, depending on the country so we are forever saying , "No no what is the price in EC/Euro we don't have dollars, we are not off the ship."
"we are not off the ship, we are off a yacht" are magic words to get rid of a persistent tout, they know we are not prepared to pay the high rates they quote the ship tourists. We have just spent a delightful 10 days in Dominica, the nature island covered in dense rainforests, mountains, waterfalls, hot springs and winding scenic roads. At Roseau we wanted to go and see the Trafalgar falls just about 20 mins out of town, we walked into town noting it was a non cruise ship day so things should be a little cheaper. A taxi driver spotted us as potential customers and said he would take us for a bit of a tour including the Trafalgar falls at the small cost of $150 US. We said ridiculous and walked away to ask about buses at the tourist centre, the lady there was not helpful she just wanted us to take a taxi. Our man was hanging around waiting for us and eventually agreed to a price of 80EC/30US. At the Trafalgar falls we walked the few minutes in off the road to find water gushing down over rocks through the lush green rainforest. The water coming over the rocks is hot, Dominica has a lot of thermal activity. Fred took us down the road a bit further and we had a spa at the nearby sulphur springs. A hot spa on a hot steamy day seemed a bit of a strange thing to do but it was surprisingly enjoyable despite the tropical heat.
Dominica is a beautiful green island full of Eco tourist activities but what we had really come for was Carnival. After Trinidad the Dominican Carnival is supposedly the best in the Caribbean to see. Actually you don't watch a carnival you join in, the people and music surround you so the spectators and the official participants become one big moving, dancing, throbbing mass. Carnival lasted for 2 days in Dominica, but there had been events for weeks leading up to the big party. There were Calypso competitions, Miss Dominica in every form from Ms Plus Size to Miss Teen, Mr Dominica, a children's carnival and these all culminated in a wonderful 2 day party starting at 4am on a Monday morning. The pre carnival events had even reached out to us in the anchorage. Friday and Saturday the music from the street party boomed out over the bay, the problem was that the party started at 2am and on Saturday continued until 10pm at night. Thank goodness Sunday night was quiet, we got a good sleep so we could get up for the 4am start.
As with all things Caribbean the start time was island time, so we could have stayed in bed a little longer but it was fun walking around the streets seeing people dressed up ready for the party to start. We met up with Lofty a London based Dominican home for Carnival and he wandered the streets with us as well as insisting that pre breakfast rums were all part of the Carnival experience. Lofty had been swimming around our boat every morning so we had a local guide. We met lots of his local friends and many from abroad who had also returned for a family visit at Carnival time. Carnival is about fun, loud music, dancing and partying but is also about competition between bands, groups of people who choose a theme and a song. On the first day they parade around the streets in team tshirts bopping along to their music which is booming out of massive speakers on their following truck behind the music truck is the drinks truck which dispenses the sponsors product mainly Kubuli the local beer plus lots of rum and a little water. The team tshirts had been adapted by the ladies to suit their own style, slashes, sleeves cut off, sides and hems trimmed and tied , except for the wording many did not come close to resembling the original product. My whole body vibrated with the pumping music as the parade stalled while the huge music trucks slowed to negotiate corners, deep drains and crowds in the narrow streets of Roseau. The parade went around and around the circuit gathering more and more people each time. Eventually things slowed a bit by 8 am so we took a break and went home for a sleep.
There was more parading in the middle of the day but we went back late afternoon for the evening to see the early morning revelers start all over again. By the time we had watched the parade gyrate past on its third circuit, we were ready for a sit down so we retired to the nearby Ruins Rock café an oasis of relative quiet, a few metres further from the parade we could now just about hear ourselves talk. As the sun disappeared and the street lights came on the parade had grown into a mass of people moving together as one, when the maneuvering trucks stalled the mass still swayed together stopped but not stopping.
Day two, Tuesday, was a more respectable start 10 am. This last parade was more structured the bands were dressed in their themed costumes. Every Miss Dominica, winners and fellow contestants came out in their finery. THE Miss Dominica, beautiful in shimmering rainforest green, had a personal attendant to wipe her brow and give her water. Little girls and boys shimmered in sparkling costumes accompanied by a bevy of water bottle carrying parents. This was a more formal parade after all the bands were being judged so not just any one could join off the street, but it didn't stop the band members stopping and chatting with friends and wandering back to their accompanying drinks truck for a top up. The music trucks were still vibratingly loud, the steel band truck bounced and the stilt walkers danced around the streets. The bands were made up of old and young and the underlying theme of some was the controversial topic of Chinese investment in Dominica. No matter the theme the costumes were spectacular, colourful and well planned. Planning for next year starts straight after Carnival. The winning band, the Thunderbirds had 150 people in it including some of the visiting Chinese workers.
When the parade came around the second time mayhem was starting to take over, obviously the judging had finished. Parents had squeezed into their childrens costumes, the many Miss Dominicas were resting their high heeled feet, Mr Dominica in his African inspired zebra costume had found a lovely young lady to dance along with and the music still boomed out. Once again the Ruins Rock café came to our rescue and provided a welcoming resting place and a cold beer. The Carnival kept going and going, but for us it was over. We had eaten bbq chicken and plantain for two days, our bodies had vibrated with the music and we'd had early morning and late evening rum, it was time to go back to Tuatara for a swim and a rest. We just don't have the stamina of the people of Dominica. The whole population of Dominica is less than 100,000 and its one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean but boy do they know how to party.
The next day Roseau was back to normal, streets clean and swarming with touts selling tours of the island to the cruise ship crowds, the souvenir sellers had reclaimed the waterfront , the custom officer was back in his office. After 6 days the locals were beginning to recognize us it was time to leave. We got our cruising permit and motor sailed the 17 miles north to Prince Rupert Bay where we wanted to see more of the Eco side of Dominica.
The boat boys motor out to meet the yachts as they arrive in Prince Rupert and can arrange a mooring or show you where to anchor as well as suggesting tours they can arrange. The most popular being the boat trip up the Indian river into the rain forest and past another Pirate of the Caribbean film location. After some negotiation 9 yachties were rowed up the river deep into the mangroves, the boa constrictors were elsewhere thank goodness, I did spot a humming bird, a heron and an iguana. The next day we all got together again plus another 4 yachties and toured the northern half of Dominica. More rainforest, fantastic views of the Atlantic coast, the Emerald pool and water fall then back north along the west coast.
The weather forecast was for developing strong winds so we decided as beautiful as Dominica is we needed to move on up to Iles des Saintes. The Saintes are a small group of islands 20 miles north of Prince Rupert bay and just south of butterfly shaped Guadeloupe. The 30 knot wind had already developed but we reefed down and had a quick sail. We are now tucked into Petite Anse, it's a bit breezy , still it's a nice bay for a quiet Sunday, time to get out the Leeward Islands Cruising Guide and see what is ahead of us.
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