We had cruised the Caribbean in our prior boat, “Purrrfect”, before and after both Atlantic crossings. So this time, we planned to go quickly. However, our stop in Trinidad got us accustomed to “island time” and we slowed down enough to stop and enjoy some of our favorite places. We also visited one island which was new to us (See blog on Saba).
Our Caribbean itinerary included:
Trinidad – where we made landfall after the 6000 Atlantic Ocean southern crossing from Cape Town
Grenada – snorkeled over the underwater sculpture garden (several new sculptures since our last visit)
Carriacou – Enjoyed dinner ashore at Paradise Beach…same great little restaurant as last time
Bequia – One of our favorite islands – walked to beach and had lobster dinner ashore
St Lucia – Picked up a mooring at the famous Pitons, visited the town of Soufriere, took taxi tour to warm waterfall and the rainforest; Stopped for two nights at Marigot Bay, one of our favorites, where we splurged and stayed at the Capella Marina. HAD THANKSGIVING DINNER AT THE CAPELLA HOTEL and even had two boxes of left-overs of turkey with trimmings to enjoy back on the boat.
Iles des Saintes – Another one of our favorites. Little French islands south of Guadeloupe. Small French town. Rented scooter, visited museum in Fort Napoleon, stocked up wine at reasonable prices, ate bagettes for 3 meals in a row, and bought croissants for breakfast on passage. (See Linda at view point)
Guadeloupe – northern town of Deshais where we anchored, went ashore and enjoyed our last French meal.
Saba – new island to us (see blog posting about this unique little island)
All in all, a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean. Hurricane damage? We didn’t visit the islands hardest hit like St Martin, St Barts, and Dominica, mostly because of our limited time and because we had enjoyed these islands on prior voyages. However because most of the Caribbean Islands depend on tourism, it is essential for tourist to return to help the islands recover.
For the islands we did visit that had some hurricane damage, much of the clean up had been done, except for lots of rubbish of unrooted trees and branches. Several islands, like Iles des Sainte and Saba, had many new red roofs.
In the US Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico, we saw many places where boats had been pushed ashore.