Theo
06/30/2008, St.Lucia

We got up early in the morning to climb the Petit Piton which is 2,468 feet high. We had two local guides whose names were Lucius and Bertram. It took us five hours to make the climb to the top and back to the boat but it seemed like forever. My favorite part was when we got to the top and could see the whole island of St.Lucia,even the volcano of Soufriere (Sulfur). I also liked the rock climbing and repelling at the top. When we got back to the bottom we were very tired and it was like walking in an oven.

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Lucie
06/23/2008

We left the BVI and decided to skip St-Martin as John and I had been there before and the wind was more favourable to go south.
We headed towards Saba, it was just dark when we pass the steep east side of the island. We continued overnight and landed in St-Kitts in the early morning. We went to shore to check-in and explore. It was not too exciting especially now being low season, a lot of shops and restaurants are closed. The anchorage in the main town of Basseterre was a bit rolly so we decided to check out the beaches to the south.
To our disappointment we decided to continue to Nevis. We crossed the channel between the 2 islands and anchored in front of the Four Seasons resort. Nice beach, the kids particularly enjoyed the Aqua-trampoline.
At that time the weather started to deterior. The winds grew stronger and the rain storms were daily. We strolled around Charlestown in Nevis, went to the market for some fresh produce and also the regular ice cream treat. We left the next day for Montserrat.
The sailing was rough, seas were rollie and the whole family was on drugs...We encountered a pretty good thunderstorm of the coast of Redonda, had lightning striking not too far from us and consisdered ourselves lucky to escape without any big scare. We arrived at Montserrat for dinner. The harbour there is quite uninviting, somewhat industrial so we decided not to disembarked and not deal with the immigration and customs. We continued on the next morning. We sailed around the south end of Montserrat. It was great to see the volcano and all the smoke surrounding it.
Rounding the southern tip we changed our plans to head to Guadeloupe and went to Antigua first. It was an easy sail to Antigua, broad reach in 20 knots of wind. We also caught a barracuda and had fish and chips when we got to the anchorage. English Harbour is a beautiful harbour on the south coast of Antigua. John and I had been there in the early 90's and it was great to return to familiar setting. We spend a couple of days there. Our next stop was Deshaies Guadeloupe.
Funny how are the culture differences between all the islands. We went to check-in. We got there late just as the agents were about to leave. No problem! All smile, the lady went in the back and came back with a branch of Pomme Malaka, a small fruit that taste a bit like watermelon. It was quickly done, one stop, no charge. Vive la France! Quickly after walking in town we saw the difference. Everybody with a baguette under the arm and the smell of fresh pastries in the air. The wine, bread and cheese are cheap, everything else not. That was just fine with me. After all I am somewhat french... We bought lots at the bakery and savoured all as we had not had some for some time. The English or Spanish can't bake!
We continued our journey south to the islands of Les Saintes. A beautiful little bay! We spent a couple of days there in a village that used to be a fishing village but is now very touristy. With the wind diminishing a couple of knots, we then headed for Dominica.
We had decided to stop for an overnight at Dominica without checking in and continue on to Martinique before the next big winds.
As soon as we arrived in Dominica, we were greeted by Poncho who wanted to know if we wanted his services and a mooring. We did not know that it was really deep (100ft or more only a few meters from shore) so we tried our best to anchor but it was too close to shore and we finally decided to hook up with Poncho. We were glad we did, that night we had a major thunderstorm and it came from the southwest which would of blown us into the coconut grove. We still did not sleep very much, watching and listening for the next big bang. We got up and lifted anchor hoping that the storm was over. En route to Martinique!

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Theo and John
06/15/2008, Antigua

Antigua was the place Lucie and John saw both the Caribbean Islands and sailing on boats for the first time. It was great to return to historic English Harbour 17 years later and show the boys.
The first morning we got up early before it was too hot and hiked up a goat trail to Shirley Heights. This lookout was used by Admiral Nelsons soldiers to watch for ships. We lost the hiking trail( not quite up to Parks Canada standard) and ended up just following the goats. The biggest hazard on the route other than the plentiful goat droppings were the sea urchin sized cactus thorns. We had many stops to pick these out of our flip flops. The last part of the ridge to the lookout got very steep and Lucie was very nervous, but the boys loved it. We were rewarded with a great view of English Harbour and Nelson's Shipyard.

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Lucie
06/12/2008

We sailed out of Cruz Bay by mid-afternoon and sailed in 15 knots of wind pass the northern shore of St-Johns.Our first night in the BVI was at Norman Island. We picked up a mooring in the great harbour, being it was deep right to shore.
The next morning, we went to explore the caves located at the entrance of the bay. The snorkeling was not superb but the cave formation made up for it. We had fun swimming in the darkness of the cave, smelling like bat droppings. The kids were imagining some great treasure chest hidden at the end. Stories of fierce pirates came to live. We swam back to the dinghy disappointed in our lack of finding jewels but the sparks in Simi's eyes were good enough for me. We got back to the boat for breakfast and then off to Road Town to check-in with the authorities. Roadtown harbour is the major central for charter boats. Companies like Moorings, Sunsail, Footloose and many others have bases that occupy most of the harbour. i had never seen so many rental boats in my life. As far as the eye can see, thousand of boats lined up. We went to shore,filled up the papers, John found some fuel filters and the boys an Italian gelato Shop. Everyone happy! We had a short lived internet connection and were able to connect with the Suchovs for a few minutes and get some news from home. We picked up the anchor and left the rollie city harbour for a more quiet one. We found it at Peter Island, in Deadmans Bay. A beautiful place. The next morning, we hiked up the hill to get a better view of Sir Francis Drake Channel. Islands are everywhere, no wonder it is considered by many the best place for sailing in the world, great anchorages are only a few miles apart. We then continued our journey to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. The shore was busy, boat and people everywhere. June is considered slow season...how lucky are we? We went and anchored a bit north all of the moorings and to our surprise everybody left for the night. By dinner time, we were the only ones there. We had a good time snorkeling but the best was the next morning bouldering expedition. John had the most fun of all of us, remembering that he was once a climber. A great granite boulder field lined the shore with caves and tunnels. The colours are spectacular, blues, browns, greens;an earthy mix at its best. We paddled the kayaks back before the crowds resurfaced. We made our way to Spanish Town to check out of BVI and also to get some water. After filling up the tanks and doing a few loads of laundry we left for our last port in the virgin islands. We motored up to the North Sound, the wind not existant. We came into the harbour and went to the eastern side to the Bitter End Resort. The last spot before leaving for a longer passage to St-Martin, Saba, St-Kitts or the Med.

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Lucie
06/11/2008

It was a bit sad to leave Culebrita on a quiet Monday morning. The week end had been busy with motor boats coming as far as the mainland of Puerto Rico. Latin music blasting away...not quite the paradise, but on a nice morning Culebrita shines. A very nice island!
En route for the Virgin Islands. Bill, Maria and Sofia are still with us and now that the sailing is a bit better, the girls are a bit more lively. The short distance between Culebrita and St-Thomas made for a nice sail. Tacking back and forward as the wind was still on our nose. It had been hard the last few weeks from the DR, pounding into the waves. Finally we could manage to sail. We also try our luck at fishing. After getting everything organized, so we did not have to waste any time pulling our dinner in, we put the lines out. John was just asking how the fishing was when it hit. The excitement was short lived, we did not see the fish. It broke the line as soon as I got to the reel. It must have been too big for us to want to pull it in. We did not get another bite...
Dinner would have to be in town that night!
We sailed into the busy harbour of Charlotte Amelie where we had to check-in with customs and immigration. The harbour is humming with traffic. Boats of all sizes. John went to shore to deal with the paper work while I took advantage of some time to clean up. When he got back we went to the marina for some fuel and water. Under the nose of the great cruise ships we fill up our tanks. We then went back to the anchorage and then out to town. We were very surprised to see that all the shop were closing for the night but the cruise ships left taking away all the duty free shoppers with them. We still manage to find a nice restaurant on the waterfront and enjoyed a meal with our friends.
The next morning Maria, Simi and I went to shore for some shopping while John and Bill went to Frenchtown for some propane. We had fun checking out expensive jewelry and designer clothes. We left the harbour after lunch and continued easterly to the tip of St-Thomas. Christmas bay was a beautiful little cove on Great St-James island. The next morning we dove in for some snorkeling around the cay in the middle of the bay. The coral formations were beautiful and thousands of bait size fish were everywhere. it reminded me of the movie Finding Nemo, when Dora ask a school of fish for directions. We did not stay too long as a boat full of tourists probably directly off the cruise ship came storming in on our turf. We continued over the channel to St-Johns.
Cruz Bay, a quaint place that reminds me of Fulford Harbour on SaltSpring Island. The same laidback feeling with lots of artsy farty people...A great place. The anchorage was not as good. John stayed on the boat while we toured town. We decided to continued north of the island to the National parks. A friend of Bill's had mention not to miss Cinnamon Bay. So we decided to go there. It was totally breathtaking. One of the best places I have been so far on this trip. Beautiful sandy beach with coconut trees and rain forest. We all loved that spot, especially the showers that the campground provided. We played baseball on the beach, snorkelled and kayaked and visited ruins of an old sugar mill.
The next morning, we went to Watermelon Bay, on a recommendation from the clerk at the National park office in Cruz bay. The snorkeling was quite nice but the anchorage was a bit rollie so we went back to Cinnamon Bay for another shower... Friday was the last day with our friends, we took them back to Cruz Bay so they could catch a ferry back to St-Thomas and get on a plane back home to Prescott AZ. We also had to go back to Cruz Bay to check out of the US Virgin islands. After some lunch, Bill, Maria and Sofia jumped on the ferry and we shopped for some fresh produce, and off we were to the British Virgin Islands.

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Lucie
06/03/2008

We picked up Bill, Maria and Sofia on Sunday, did a few chores and off we were Tuesday morning, just in time for the wind. It had been calm while we were at anchorage in Salinas, a nice hurricane hole in the mangroves south east Puerto Rico, but the morning we left the winds came up of course right on our nose blowing 20 knots. After venturing out for an hour of pounding with some freshees ( Maria and Sofia were a bit green), we decided to go in Boca de Infierno and hide out for thr remaining of the daylight hours. At anchor, we enjoyed some swimming and playing games hiding out in the shade. At dusk, after a nice dinner, we quickly cleaned up the galley and headed out. Taking advantage of the night lee, though that night it still blew 15 knots, we motored up the coast in the dark. John, Bill and I shared the watches, John doing a better part of it.
We arrive at Vieques, Sun Bay around 6 am, a beautiful beach by the town of Esperanza. We mainly rested and enjoyed the beach on Wednesday.
The next morning, we left to hop a short distance to Puerto Mosquito. A mangrove hole where the bioluminescent is supposed to be the best in the Caribbean. The entrance of the harbour being 5 feet, we tried to venture in but bottomed out. We decided to continue eastward to Puerto Ferro only a mile away where the phosphorescent is apparently just as good. There the harbour was deeper and the narrow entrance was manageable. Maria, Bill, Simi and I went on a little bush walking expedition to the top of the harbour entrance where we could get a good view of the shoreline of Vieques. John took advantage of the calmest of the Puerto to fix the VHF aerial which had gotting loose in all this pounding of the last few runs coming from the DR. We waited for night fall to see if the stories were right. John jumped in first from the back of the boat. Theo wanted to jumped from the front so I joined him. At first, it was quite something until the jelly fish attack! I got it first but did not dare mention it to scare Theo. I just slowly swam back to the ladder calling Theo to follow. It did not take too long and the screams...They got him, it made it back to the ladder with promises of never swimming again. It was lucky that last summer, we met Mike and Jake who told us to use meat tenderizer on stings. We quickly got it out and sprinkle it on Theo's arm and on my leg and chest. The bioluminescent were not worth it...
The next morning we left Vieques for Culebra. We had 10 miles to go to the end of the island and then once we rounded up the tip, the sails came up, the motor was quietened. What a relief! We enjoyed the sail to Culebra even if it was a short one. We put out the fishing lines and got a nice tuna that we had to share with a shark. You have to be quick at pulling in your catch otherwise bigger ones get them.
We arrive at Ensenada Honda and the town of Dewey before lunch time. We went to shore for a bit of exploration and of course some ice cream. We also bought some more fresh produce for the next few days. We lifted anchor and headed for the entrance of the harbour to a small bay (Dikity) protected by the coral reefs. There we picked up a moorings which are set by the DNR (Departement of Natural Ressources???) to protect the reef from the anchors. Sofia had a frist experience at snorkeling and she did great. The reefs are not as good as in the Bahamas but we still enjoyed them. Culebra is a turtle refuge and I was lucky enough to see one while snorkeling.
The next day we made it to Culebrita, a short distance away. There was really pretty. The photo here shows it. Beautiful anchoring beach, nice coral reefs and a surf beach on the other side. Unfortunately we had to share it with the local boats. We got there just in time for the weekend crowd, motor boats coming from Fajardo, Culebra and St-Thomas. Our timing was not so good but just the same, we still had a great time. Our next stop Us Virgin Islands.

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