Saba
24 January 2018 | Saba
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Half way down, out of the clouds.
Last week we sailed downwind for 45 NM to visit the Island of Saba, basically a volcano of five square miles rising 3,000 feet high. Not so long ago the only access to the Island was to climb a staircase with 500 steps carved into the rocks, now they have a 'harbor' only 2 Miles by dinghy from the best anchoring spot. The Island is beautiful and not much visited by cruisers as the anchorage is pretty exposed and rolly.
We hired a taxi guide, Wayne Peterson, to take us around. A 6th generation Swede on the Island, he grew up before many of the roads were build and you still had to climb 'the ladder'. Now there is a small airstrip and narrow, steep paved roads connecting the small, Dutch villages of 'The Bottom' and 'Windward Side'.
Wayne told us that on a clear day you can see a string of Islands from the Top. Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barts, Antigua, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis and even on a perfect day Montserrat.
Judy had smuggled our hiking shoes into her backpack, and somehow convinced me that a little walk to take in the views would be worth the effort. Actually, I should have been suspicious as she had made a big deal out of charging her Fitbit! From 'Windward' to to top, she explained, had a well maintained path that included 1,064 steps. Yes, it was rated as difficulton the trail map and Yes, there was a little cloud cover, but since we were not starting from shore but from the village, it was only about 500 vertical meters and.......
So up we went through the rain forrest, each 'step' at knee height, covered in moss or slippery wetness with the occasional rain shower to cool us off. Half way up, we got into the clouds, but surely, they would magically lift by the time we got up the, I was told.
When we finally made it to the radio tower almost at the top ( the final 1/10 of a mile to the very top was a muddy mess ) the visibility did not quite allow us to even see half way up the tower, but, as Judy told me, 'tomorrow might be better'
Did I mention that going down was just about as painful as going up, it was really a miracle that we survived and got back down to Wndward and a couple of Heineken's.