Lucie
07/15/2008

Bequia is the biggest island of the Grenadines and has a beautiful anchorage in Admiralty Bay. We spend a few days exploring the island. We pulled the bikes out of the locker and went touring. The kids were keen on a turtle sanctuary localed on the windward side of the island. Hawksbill and green turtlles eggs are taking from the beach and then when the turtles are big enough, they introduced them back to sea. It was great to see them so close. We them continued our bike ride to the other side of the island to a whale museum. It's a local retired whale hunter's house. It is really small with a few pictures but the stories the old guy has to tell are worth the trip. We went back to town and were rewarded with an ice cream treat. We went back to the boat and stayed in the water for a good part of the afternoon.
We left the next day for the Tobago Cays. The cays are the most prettiest of the Grenadines. They are unhabited islands with beautiful sandy beaches and good snorkeling. The islands are protected by a great horseshoe shape reef. We swam with some green turtles and after seeing them in captivity in Bequia at the sanctuary , it made it even more special.
John hooked up with some Norwegian guys on the beach who were trying out kites. They were very nice to show him what they knew and John was finally able to fly the kite. A few more days of practice are necessary so we hope to find a school where he can take a course.
We then went to Mayreau Island, we got there early and spend the day around the bay but by dinner time we got invaded. The bay became the most popular anchorage around. The following day we made to Union Island where we needed to go to check out. We stop at Palm Island for a swim on the way there. A nice resort island with beautiful beaches but the current keeps you from having a relaxing swim. At Union, we anchored by the reef and went snorkeling but it was not too spectacular. Lots of little fishes but most of the coral was dead. We checked out the nurse sharks that are caged in by the waterfront resorts, good entertainment. The next day we bought some fresh produce from the locals and went to Customs fro the legalities. We then left for Petit St-Vincent in a bit of a storm. The anchorage was pleasant and we met the Norwegian there again. That was the last of the Grenadines. We then continued to Carriacou, a Grenada territory.

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Lucie
07/14/2008

We made it to Grenada. Now we feel that we can slow down a bit. We wished that we could of spend more time at some of the islands but we wanted to get farther south before the hurricanes began to form. We already had Bertha which zoomed by Bermuda and now Cristobal is on its way. They say that anyone north of Dominica should get going...
Martinique was lovely, we had a good time strolling the streets of Fort de France. It is a very colourful city a la francaise. It smells European and it costs it too. The only bargain in town is french wine, fancy cheese and dried meat...we stocked up. We spend a few days in the harbour across to Anse Mitan where the swimming is cleaner and then we sail south to Marin. Marin is a major boating centre. There are quite a few chartering businesses and any yachting services needed is available there, hundreds of boat summerize in this protected harbour. We got a few parts there and then spent a day just at the mouth of the harbour where a Club Med is stationed.
We then left for St-Lucia. We first arrived at Rodney's Bay where we checked-in. It is a total protected lagoon at the north end of the island. We climbed up to Rodney's Fort which used to protect the entrance to the harbour. The fort is on Pigeon Island which has been linked to the main island by a causeway. On the causeway now sits Sandals St-Lucia, a very nice resort where windsurfing is popular.
We continued down the island to Marigot Bay. Upon arrival in the bay we were "attacked" by 3 boats who wanted to sell us a moorings, 2 of which started fighting amongst them and the third help us hook the buoy. They were very agressive and the guy that help us wanted more money then everyone else. We got totally turn off and decided to unhook and keep going south. We might of missed out on a nice place but the people greeted us terribly and we wanted nothing with it.
We arrived at Soufriere, where there too were lots of people wanting to help and make a few bucks. Finding you a mooring, tying up your boat, keeping an eye on the boat or your dinghy...lots of help you don't want. We arrived in time for carnival. Small town party where lots of people get totally wasted and the music is so loud that even anchored 3 miles away we can hear it just fine. Soufriere is a bit rough, lots of poor people amidst some wealth. The resort close by are totally first class.
After getting information for how to get to the Botanical Gardens we were stopped by an older church lady who redirected us to the right path. Some parts of town did not seem to welcoming. The gardens on the other hand were totally wonderful. After getting back from the jungle we stopped at the Hummingbird resort for lunch. They have a pool where the kids could go for a dip while waiting for lunch. There we met our waiter Lucius who became our guide for the climb to the Petit Piton for the following day. We set up to meet with Lucius bright and early the next day.
We met on the beach at the base of the climb at 7am. Lucius had asked another man to come along for security reasons. Bertram, a quiet but hard looking man guided us up the mountain. Soon after leaving the road Bertram took off his shirt and flip flops. He continued the way up barefeet. The path was not easy, very steep, rocky and jungle like. We did not see anyone else on the trail. We were proud of the boys who made it up without too much whinning. The view from the summit was superb, we could see the whole island and beyond. We made it back to the boat by lunch time,very hot, very sweaty and very tired.
It was a great adventure!
In the afternoon we moved anchorage to go between the Pitons and when swimming at the Hilton, where a beer costs way too much but the pool is a nice change from the salt water. The next day we rested our legs from the hard climb. We left the following day for the Grenadines.

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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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