Almost There

Family on extended circumnavigation

Vessel Name: Almost There
Vessel Make/Model: Dean Catamaran 1981 Ocean Comber
Hailing Port: Durban South Africa
Crew: Albert Cathy Michelle Daniel Samantha Alchin
About: Family travelling around the world together. Presently in Mill Creek Annapolis
Extra: On an adventure to see as much as we can and make friends wherever we go
18 September 2009
18 September 2009 | Antigua to Dominica
27 August 2009 | Dominica to Grenada
Recent Blog Posts
18 September 2009

January to April 2009

We have snatches of signal so I don't know when you will get this. It was midday Saturday 16 May when we were in the Saints, a group of 4 islands just less than half way between Guadeloupe and Dominica. 15 52 27N 61 35 10W if you are on Google or looking at a map. But now it is Tuesday 19 May and [...]

18 September 2009 | Antigua to Dominica

April May 2009

The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta is an international regatta and took place from the 16th to the 21st of April. There were about 70 yachts participating. Michelle and I were involved as volunteers and manned the hospitality desk each day and then helped with other activities before and after the 'normal' [...]

27 August 2009 | Dominica to Grenada

June July 2009

Part of the rest of our time spent in Dominica was taken up by a lovely walk up into the mountains to the source of a small river where we had our picnic lunch in the shade of some very large wild fig trees growing on the edge of the riverbed. While we were there the farmer through who's property it [...]

June July 2009

27 August 2009 | Dominica to Grenada
...and there was a landslide!
Part of the rest of our time spent in Dominica was taken up by a lovely walk up into the mountains to the source of a small river where we had our picnic lunch in the shade of some very large wild fig trees growing on the edge of the riverbed. While we were there the farmer through who's property it runs came by and invited us to walk with him higher up the mountain where he had many of his vegetables growing. So we had an interesting tour of his 'fields'. Here they just make holes in the ground in the steep mountain side and plant their root crops. There are no beds or clearly defined fields. You have to be very careful where you walk because there are plants everywhere. They were clearing another section of rainforest for more crops on the opposite side of the valley so there was a lot of smoke to add to the intense heat and humidity.
The end of the same week we hired a car as we had to take Daniel to the airport at 4am the following morning. So to make the most of the opportunity of having a car, we explored the northern end of Dominica and drove along a very bad road for quite a distance then walked about a mile downhill into a river valley to have a swim in the Chaudierre pools. There were two small 'waterfalls' and a couple of beautiful pools below them in which we swam. Except for another couple who were leaving when we arrived, we were totally alone there and it was extremely peaceful... but we didn't see any parrots as I had hoped. After trudging with much effort back up the hill to the car we spent the rest of the day driving around and enjoying the lush forest and coastal scenery.
That night we arrived back at the anchorage in the pouring rain and had to wait a while before we could go back to the boat. All tired and ready for a rest we ate and went to bed reasonablly early as we would have to be up before 4 the next morning....well as luck would have it, one of the beach bars had a party and the noise started just after 10pm...the 'music' was so loud that the boat vibrated and thumped even though we were quite a long distance away from them...but what was worse was that it went on all night and was still going strong when we got up at 4. Needless to say, none of us was at all impressed. It is the kind of music that has an irregular beat that you cannot fall asleep to. So tired and frustrated we drove these windy steep dangerous roads back across the island to the airport and dropped Daniel off.
He was flying to St Martin to join the Broadreach Group for the summer as a skipper on a 46 ft catamaran taking teenagers on 2, 21 day sailing and diving excursions from St Lucia to Grenada, and the second group from Grenada to St Lucia.
Most of the islands have very narrow, steep and dangerous roads and the local bus and taxi drivers are often quite reckless... we know, this is the transport we use to see the islands!
While still in Dominica, we enjoyed the company of some church members who visited us on the yacht and brought us some really lovely fresh produce from their farm.
Since being in the Caribbean, we realise just how much can be done with a green banana! In SA you just enjoy them fully ripe, but here, the green banana and the plantain are more important/useful. They are used like a potato, boiled, fried like french fries, and made into crisps.
From Dominica we moved on down to St Lucia, the crossing not to bad...either I am getting more used to it or it wasn't too bad...who knows.
In St Lucia we anchored in Rodney Bay just outside the lagoon where there is a large beautiful marina.
Our time in St Lucia was very pleasant. The anchorage is just off a long white beach which is kept very clean and neat. Inside the lagoon are many shops and a supermarket close to a jetty...so you don't have to carry groceries too far. We met up with church people there and attended one service with the really friendly and welcoming group. We spent one evening with a group of church people who provided us with a lovely dinner of traditional local foods. Salt fish, fried sweet plantains, chicken, lentils and rice and a crisp lettuce and tomato salad. They also make the most delicious fresh fruit juices that anyone could ask for.
We took buses around the island to get an idea of the landscape. We had some good drivers that day and a pretty bad one that had Michelle 'seasick' in the bus. It is scary flying around corners on blind rises on steep mountain passes, on the wrong side of the road! By the end of a day of bus rides, all the muscles ache from having to hold on tight to avoid being thrown off your seat as you travel around the corners.
The islands all have lush forests in the centre on the higher ground and it is incredibly pretty to drive through them. There is always a fresh cool breeze as you pass through the forests. Although we see quite a few little black birds somewhat like the indian minahs / spreeus and golden doves there are not many other animals or birds to be seen. There are apparently still quite a lot of birds up in the forests, but we haven't seen this when driving through.
During the second week we were in St Lucia, Daniel arrived with his two divemaster crew members and had three days to stock up the boat and get ready before the first group of teenagers arrived. So when he invited us to go waterskiing with him, we decided we would give it a try... been just more than 27 years since we last tried to ski. But surprise surprise I actually managed to get up after two attempts and went probably for my longest ski ever! Al also got up without any trouble and had a long ski too.
We also enjoyed having the three of them over for dinner and to play dominoes on the 3 open evenings before the kids arrived.

From Rodney Bay we sailed on down to Marigot Bay which is a beautiful small bay - claimed to be the prettiest bay in all the Caribbean - where there is a small marina and some shops and a VERY steep hill leading away from it that we trudged up... looking for a mango tree that we were told about.... didn't find the tree but passed many beautiful flowering plants on the fence of the marina property. From the top of the hill, it was possible to take photos of the whole bay. Fortunately too there was a little tearoom at the top or Michelle and I would have 'died' of thirst before we got back to the bottom of the hill! Though it is so humid the heat makes you very thirsty here, especially if any physical effort comes into the equation. From Marigot we sailed on down past the two majestic Pitons to Laborie on the south coast. Here we anchored in a small bay all by ourselves. The only noise was the lapping of the water on the shore, though there was quite a swell that rolled us a little.
First thing next morning we left for St Vincent...me, the doubting Thomas that I am (repenting of) saw that there were clouds that looked ominous and so was very concerned for the first while, praying all the time...then had to stop myself from being so silly when it turned out to be a really pleasant crossing. In fact is was so good and the weather so pleasant that we decided that it would probably be quicker to go on the windward (east) side of the island. Anyway, we continued towards the east side of the island only to see as we got closer that there was a long line of white water from the top of the island as far as we could see to the east... Al thinking it was just a gust of wind decided to continue, but when we got to the white water there was no wind but the waves were steep and ugly and came crashing over the side of the boat...so we turned tail and went west instead. It is a current that is strongest just before and after a tidal change and churns the sea up terribly. It is hard on the boat and the crew when the sea is like that so to please us girls, Al decided we would go along the leeward side instead. This change gave us an opportunity to see the northern end of the island which is really pretty. As soon as we went west the sea became calmer till we were motoring as if we were on glass the sea was so calm. The sun was getting low on the horizon casting a redish glow on the island making it even prettier. After motoring around Chateau Bellair past the only yacht anchored there and being reminded by a little boat boy about the attacks that had occurred there last year, we decided not to stay and continued on down to Barouallie (bottle and glass rocks). Just before our anchorage we passed Wallilabou which was one of the Pirates of the Caribbean sets with the stone arch where the bodies were seen hanging and that crane like 'thing' that Jack Sparrow swung on. We were going to anchor at Barouallie but as Al had a really bad cold and wasn't feeling very well we decided to pick up a mooring that was being offered to us by another 'boat boy'. Next morning before 6 the local fishermen had already pulled in a net of fish and were selling them noisily on the jetty. This is one bay where you see many fish jumping and when speaking to the chap who rented us the mooring he told us that there were still plenty of bigger fish in the St Vincent waters. On many of the other islands the fish are scarce and the people are catching tiny things of about 10cm. They span nets across harbour entrances and have fish pots out along the coast and catch all the little fish....not much thought about what they will eat in the future.
From Barouallie we motored down the coast almost to Kingstown before turning for Bequia and had agan a really pleasant crossing. As we entered the bay on our way to anchor in front of the town 'Port Elizabeth' we passed Daniel's boat which was moored at a dive site just outside the bay.
Bequia is an interesting small island with a pretty, tidy little town. Here we had to book in to St Vincent and the Grenadines as we did not go on land and do so on the main island of St Vincent. Included in this booking in are Bequia, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays and Union Island amongst other smaller ones.
We met another SA couple on a catamaran named "Free to Be". Joe and Mercia crossed the Atlantic with the ARC rally and are now cruising the lower islands during the hurricane season. Daniel visited us a few times while in Bequia. He too had the same bad cold that Al had and Michelle picked it up too so for a few days we didn't do much.
We decided to head for Canouan next but as the water was calm and the wind was good we decided we would continue on to Mayreau but just before Mayreau we changed our minds again and headed for the Tobago Cays. The Tobago Cays are a group of small islands protected by a reef that almost circles them on the east which leaves the water pretty calm and very clean. (From Bequia down to Grenada the water is very clean and warm and the islands are very close together) As we motored into the anchorage at Tobago Cays we found Daniel was also there so we anchored next to them and spent the daylight portion of the next 24 hours snorkelling in water so clean on a reef so alive that you could imagine you were in an aquarium. We also walked around and explored one of the islands and when just about to go back to the yacht were caught in a squall and hid behind some trees to try and avoid getting soaked. It helped a bit but not that much... so we hopped into the dingy and by the time we reached the yacht we were well and truly wet. But as fast as the squalls come they leave so while Michelle dried off and warmed up and made lunch, Al and I went for another snorkel. As we had only paid for one day in Tobago Cays - quite expensive as it is a marine park that is being well looked after - we left after lunch and after an hours trip anchored in Salt whistle bay at the northern end of Mayreau. This too was a really pretty bay with a long white beach and palm trees planted around some bungalows belonging to a hotel. Here we also went for a walk to see an old raincatcher... a large area on the side of the hill that had been cemented many many years ago with a gutter at the bottom leading the water into a stone water tank via a pipe. While it appears that it is still being used, the two square stone structures next to the water tank have been used to dump rubbish in which spoils the whole area. This bay also has a long steep hill leading away from it and we had to climb that one as well! From the top of the hill you can look down on the pretty bay, see Canouan and the Tobago Cays if you look north and see Union, Carriacou, Palm Island, Petit Martinique and Petit St Vincent. The other intersting thing is that like the southern end of Antigua and many other islands, the vegetation is like Vanwyksdorp. Scrub, thorntrees, cacti and other small leafed trees. If you found yourself there and could not see the sea, you would think you were in the little Karoo...home from home. From Saltwhistle bay we sailed around to Saline bay at the southern end of Mayreau and spent a night there. This is the bay below the only little town on Mayreau. Next morning we sailed to Union Island and anchored in a quaint little harbour surrounded and protected by reef. The town is old fashioned and clean and made us feel we would like to spend more time there but we decided to just book out and head for Carriacou. As we were on our way to the customs office we met up with Kristen, Daniels crew..so we got to see them again and had a lovely chat. Unfortunately, it happened to be a public holiday so when we went to book out, it cost us an extra 64EC dollars just to book out. From Mayreau we sailed on down to Carriacou and anchored in Hillsborough so we could book in to Grenada. With the swine flu at present Grenada only allows entrance at two harbours. Hillsborough in Carriacou and St George in Grenada. So with Al and Michelle still coughing when no officials were around, we booked into Grenada, took a walk around Hillsborough, another pleasant little town then headed back for the boat. Daniel arrived a little after us and had quite a job getting booked in, as he now had to get all his group to fill in forms and sign them to say that they were not sick. So as it was the end of the day, he had to take the forms back to his boat and get the rest of the crew to fill them in and complete the booking in the next morning.
After breakfast the next morning we sailed down to Ile Ronde, small islands just more than halfway between Carriacou and Grenada and with Michelle at the helm, anchored close to shore in the little bay.
There are only about 20 people living on this island. We went snorkelling along the reef on the edge of the shore and saw quite a variety of fish and coral. Unfortunately it was overcast and the visibility wasn't so good but it was still a pleasant snorkel.
Next morning the skies were black and it started to rain, so we waited for the shower to pass then left for Grenada. As we entered the channel I noticed that the skies were even darker to the east and was quite concerned about what was coming.... but there was no wind, only heavy rain which doesn't bother us at all when sailing. So we continued on our way to Grenada and after a very pleasant motor sail we dropped anchor off St George. We had passed Daniel at Mouliniere Point where their group was diving on the statues. We spent a few days outside St George before heading for True Blue Bay where we spent a night on a rolly anchorage. We walked around a bit and found a quiet little beach with a big thornless acacia growing in the sand casting a welcome shadow and providing seating for the hot people.
From True Blue Bay we moved on to Prickly Bay which is 'just around the corner' and anchored just off the beach at the head of the bay. There we get good internet signal!(So we can keep in contact with Samantha who is now in Nantucket - an island to the east of New York)(And my computer has crashed again so I at least still have the use of Daniels old computer in the meantime) During our time in Prickly Bay we had Daniel Kristen and Matt spend a few evenings playing dominoes, went out with them on their boat to look for the wreck of the Bianca C where all but Michelle and I went diving to a depth of 115 ft.. unfortunately the visibility was not good and they were unable to find the wreck. However they enjoyed the dive and I got to 'drive' the big boat and pick them up after the dive - the sea was quite rough that day and there was a current which moved the boat away from the dive site. On our way back to Prickly Bay we were entertained by a pod of at least 50 dolphins. Some swam beside us - younger ones with light pink bellies and in front of us, larger ones that jumped out the water and played in the wakes formed by the hulls. One even came out the water in front of us and did a corkscrew performance before slipping back into the water. Others did somersaults....and to make it even better they stayed with us for more than an hour...what a blessing to be able to enjoy the beauty of nature as we are able to. (Not to forget the hundreds of flambuoyant trees in full flower all over the islands). We attended church twice, went for a long walk from the chandlery almost back to St George exploring what was available in the area, had Joe and Mercia and their guests over for dinner and did a lot of sewing.
Al replaced the accelerator cable and caught some fish for us, and does the usual exercise of scrubbing the bottom of the boat...making friends with all the little fish that come to eat what he has scraped off!
On Friday afternoon with Glenda and Aaron Marshall and Marilyn on board we sailed in rather rough water around to St George where we are now anchored. They had dinner with us then we took them back to shore at the yacht club where someone had left their car for them.
Yesterday we enjoyed church again, singing our lungs out and being spiritually fed, then fed lovely local food and fresh fruit juice after church with the rest of the congregation.
We are anchored in front of a cliff that has vegetation hanging over the top and this morning we heard a wave break there, and thought it might be the northerly swells causing that unusual occurence but the swells are not that big, anyway. A few minutes ago Michelle called us to have a look.... there was a major landslide and a huge chunk of the top of the cliff had slid down into the sea!
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