Janice & Mick on Zoa

20230330 Prince Rupert Bay Dominica Lat 15 Deg 34.763'N Lon 061 deg 27.719'W

It was good sailing up here yesterday, pretty fresh in the Channel between Martinique
and Dominica, there was a bit of a rain squall approaching Dominica which caused it
to be windy for a while, but generally good sailing in the lee of the island, calm water
with the occasional bullet coming down from the mountains.
We arrived at about 17:30, we are on a mooring, I dived down on it and it seem OK.
There are a lot of boats here which makes anchoring a pain, but otherwise you don't
seem to notice that many people in the towns.
Saint Pierre was a nice place, there was some interesting ruins, and a Museum about
the Volcano erupting in 1902.
A lot of the buildings still have a wall or two from before the eruption that are still
standing and in use, its a nice little town.
The anchorage was pretty tight, we were anchored on the drop off, I was a bit worried
but we stayed put.
We will probably stay here a few days, we will see, there seems to be a lot to do.
Jan's rib is pretty sore, but we don't think it is broken.
She can still cook OK so that's the main thing.
Apart from that all's well, a bolt fell out of the Main Sheet traveller yesterday, but it
was easy to fix.
She might not see the funny side of the Crack about still being able to cook, but we
will see how it goes.

20230326 Saint Pierre Martinique Lat 14 Deg 43.823' N Lon 061 deg 10.953'W

We had a nice Sail here today, in a solid 20 knots, running square at first, then
reaching, it died about an hour out.
Its a tight anchorage the bottom comes up fast and are anchored on a bit of a ledge.
But it seemed to hold OK, we dropped in 13 meters with about 0.3 meters of tide,
there are a couple of Cats near by and we are swinging around differently, but I think
we are ok.
We had a nice time at Sainte Anne, we were there for a while, we were on the boat a
fair bit at times when the weather was bad, but got a few things sorted, when it was
fine we went on some nice walks, had a swim most afternoons.
Generally pretty laid back.
Martinique is a pretty place, it was quite scenic on the way up here.
Not much else to say, all's going well, though Jan slipped and hurt her rib today, I
think its only bruised.
We probably wont be here for too long, but will wait long enough to get some good
weather to go to Guadeloupe.

20230308 Martinique Lat 14 Deg 25.885'N Lon 060 deg 53.567'W

We had a nice time sailing here to Martinque, arriving at about 03:30 this morning.
We anchored out wide in the dark, and moved in closer at sunrise.
We are both pretty tired.
Yesterday was a mixed bag of sailing with some motoring, it was windy at times but
last night was quite light, with a full moon, so quite pleasant.
We had a great time at Bequia, it is a really nice place and great anchorage, we did
some touristy stuff, and went on some nice walks.
Hopefully its the same here, there are hundreds of boats in the anchorage, but its a big
area, and everyone seems to have plenty of elbow room.
So all's good, just tired after being up all night.
No idea how long we will stay, or where we are off to next.

20230221 Bequia Lat 13 Deg 00.135'N Lon 061 Deg 14.756W

We arrived in Bequia yesterday afternoon at about 17:00.
We had a nice time at Mayreau, its pretty small and we explored a lot of it, went for
swims, read our books ect.
It was quite a nice sail here in about 18 knots with 20+ in rain squalls.
It was to windward but mainly on starboard tack, probably 25% of the time on Port.
It was about 25 miles as the crow flies.
Bequia seems to be a very pretty place, quite hilly. We are in Admiralty Harbour, there
are a ton of other boats here, its a bit rolly at this spot, but not too bad, it would be
better further in, but it was getting late when we arrived and its very crowded so we
just anchored here in about 6.5 Meters, it looked to be sand, and the anchor pulled up
ok.
Not much else to say, we are both fine, and the boat is good.
There looks to be a lot to see here so we might be here for a while.
Although the wind seems to be veering around to the East on Sunday, so may leave
then, but we are in no hurry at all so we will see.
Goodness knows where we will end up, we will just keep island hopping north until
hurricane season starts to get close then turn around.

20230216 Saline Bay Mayreau Lat 12 Deg 38.027'N lon 061 Deg 23.955'W

We arrived here yesterday after a nice Time at Tobago Cays.
This is also a very nice Anchorage, we are out the back as usual we anchored in a bit
under 8 meters, you can go in a lot closer, but it is very crowded, even out here is is
shoulder to shoulder.
So many boats is a bit new to us, but we have to get used to it, at least out the back if
our anchor drags we just go out to sea and don't bang into anyone on the way. on the
down side its a bit more of a drama getting in and out in the dinghy.
Jan gets a bit cranky about it, but I like it out the back.
We went for a walk across the island yesterday, it was pretty steep, but nice views. Its
pretty peaceful, with lots of restaurants.
We will probably be here for a few days, the next stop is about 25 miles to windward,
and its forecast to be over 20 knots for the next couple of days, so we will wait for
that to drop a bit.

20230214 Tobago Cays Lat 12 Deg 38.220'N Lon 061 Deg 21.728'W

We arrived here in Tobago Cays yesterday afternoon.
It is a very nice place, we had a bit of a look around yesterday and will stay today.
There are lots of boats here, everywhere we go its very crowded.
There is a turtle Sanctuary not to far away, so we will go and
have a look at that and do some snorkelling with the Turtles.
There is an outdoor restaurant on the beach which put on a big spread last night, we
decided to go and had a nice night, most people have crayfish, but they must have run
out so we had fish, it was very nice.
We shared a table with a couple from Denmark, and another couple from Ireland, they
were very nice and we had a good time.
We will probably head around to Saline Bay on Mayreau tomorrow.
So all's well and having a nice time.