tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85203334596946077762024-02-07T18:59:46.119-08:00Where II.... That's the QuestionKaren & Matt's Soggy Adventure Aboard SV Where II
Lagoon 420 Sailing CatamaranAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-68273450011938873962014-03-15T06:17:00.000-07:002014-07-16T06:23:27.993-07:00Cuba sounds too hard, we’re going to Mexico. Mexico sounds too hard we’re going to Cuba....We listen to people, read Noonsite and follow blogs and Karen (the Admiral) came to the conclusion that cruising in Cuba, particularly on the North coast is restrictive, difficult and not worth the hassle even though it was one of the destinations that we had longed to visit since arriving in the Caribbean all those years ago. So, always one to follow orders (in fact the only one on the boat that seems to understand that concept, but that is another story and not one for the internet), I set up a plan to cruise the Keys and then head across the gulf to Isla Mujeres to cruise Mexico and Belize on our way to Guatemala for the hurricane season.<br />
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Well, the Admiral then continued her research and found out 300 odd foreign vessels had been impounded by the Mexican Government for lack of correct paperwork, so now Mexico is too dangerous, so following orders I work out a plan to cruise the Keys to Key West and then across to Marina Hemmingway just west of La Habana (Havana to us Gringos) and then developed a list of ports and anchorages to visit on the north west and south coasts to take us to the Caymans, the Bay Islands in Honduras and onto the Rio. This would allow time for the Mexicans to sort themselves out and we would do Belize and Mexico next year.<br />
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So after waiting to get everything sorted in Miami, here’s what happened... The Admiral forgot that we like 15-20knots and less than that this puppy does not fair so well, and to avoid the 6ft seas an order to delay departure came down from the Admirals stateroom and we set off under motor to Rodriquez Key on the way to Marathon, hoping to gain a nice beam reach from there to go to Varadero, Cuba. On waking in Rodriquez (which was quite a nice little anchorage) however, it seems that the wind gods do not always get the Admiral’s orders and the Captain (that’s me who is supposed to be responsible for all sea going decisions) check out sea states and wind decided to turn to port (left) and head straight for Varadero under motor against all recommendations from sailors on how to cross the Gulf Stream to Cuba (the green line on the chart plotter below).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtcl8zhIZwiuah0omOiUYhorO0G4VkkQQIDOJ5qqqIl0DRSZ_epCCuL34OGZTaszWBGFbnFKsxuwYgsGjvrns84y97pD4zqApPQvuBrVJaDOLcU9FutGSpteVO7xE8JBzvx3TH8ePlFt1/s1600/1.+Miami+to+Cuba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtcl8zhIZwiuah0omOiUYhorO0G4VkkQQIDOJ5qqqIl0DRSZ_epCCuL34OGZTaszWBGFbnFKsxuwYgsGjvrns84y97pD4zqApPQvuBrVJaDOLcU9FutGSpteVO7xE8JBzvx3TH8ePlFt1/s1600/1.+Miami+to+Cuba.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Chartplotter Screen Capture! Very Cool!!</td></tr>
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All in all a great decision (in fact the best decision of the cruising season so far and the only one made by me, but maybe I am biased) as we arrived in Varadero, to a Harbour master speaking English and about 20 people to take our lines in a very protected harbour and a secure marina.<br />
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Of the 20 odd people, we found 2 Cubans, the rest appeared to be displaced Canadians doing a ritual we later found out was called a boat dance. Then we were told to stay on the boat while the officials were called to clear us in. This we had heard was a long winded process involving doctors, veterinarians ????, customs, immigration, port captain, Guarda, boat searches etc and something we were sure would cause some difficulties and possibilities of expectations of “tips”. After 20 minutes, the immigration officer arrived and asked for our passports and visas. After we explained we were coming direct from Miami, he looked at us a bit suspiciously (no one comes direct from Miami in a sailboat across the Gulf Stream) and departed. 20 long minutes later he returned with our passports and gave us our tourist card and explained “no stamps” in the passport for which we were a bit disappointed. Next the Guarda officer turns up with a trainee, fills out some paper work, does a quick search of the boat (to make sure we are not smuggling Americans in I suppose) and after asking us if the boat was new (which made house proud Admiral puff up her chest and explain it was almost 7 years old) says we’re done, all good free to enjoy Cuba etc.<br />
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We sat on the boat for a while longer waiting for more officials, when the harbour master and his off-sider arrives to complete our docking contract and it appears that we were indeed cleared in! We then could choose our own berth and move from the customs dock. We chose the first dock, which apparently our friends on Quetico had only just left from days earlier tied up and started to get to know a bit about the place from our new friend Robby, a German single hander who helped us tie up and drink our “We’re Here Beer”. He then took us by the hand and lead us to the Cadeca to change some money and a tour around Santa Marta ending up at a nice little restaurant with $2 prawn cocktails and “Chicken Gordon Blue” for lunch and of course the local beer. With that the sun went down over the harbour entrance on our first day in Cuba.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from Where II</td></tr>
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Next day we took the $5 Hop on Hop off Bus down the Varadero strip to the one destination Karen had been hanging for since our departure from Miami. That’s right, the Plaza America shopping mall. Well it had been like 5 or 6 days since her last mall....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karen at Plaza America - Shops at Last!</td></tr>
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Of course, she wasn’t the only one having fun, I was like a pig in sh!t with all the classic American cars around. Unfortunately, I had a techno melt down and deleted the photos from this day, but I have managed to put together a bit of a collection since.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Convertible Alley - Varadero</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Buick</td></tr>
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While in Miami, we took delivery of some Generator parts for Rob and Cathy (Quetico) which we were keen to get to them, but as usual, their agenda got them to Cuba 2 weeks before us and they had moved on to Marina Hemingway just outside of La Habana. So we spoke with Robby and got instructions on how to get to marina by bus and by the old American peso taxis and so we walked up to the bus station (about 45 min) and booked our tickets for the next day, hoping they would be there as neither of us had a phone or internet. Robby had also kindly given us his phone card number to ring the local taxi in the morning to get to the bus station.<br />
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So we were up and trying to ring at 7:00am for the 8:00am bus. Of course, the reason we don’t plan is it never really happens like that and this was no exception. Firstly we had got the phone card instructions wrong, so after unsuccessfully trying to get a taxi we headed off by foot at 7:15. Yes that’s right with just enough time to make the bus. Now it was just starting to warm up, but if that was not enough, God put on a little shower to lift the humidity and by the time we made it to the bus station with 3 minutes to spare, we were hot and sweaty and hoping that this would be the worst of the day.<br />
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<b><i>Wishful thinking!</i></b><br />
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We made it to La Habana with no problems (we were on a bus for god sake) and even managed to get off at Habana Vieja (Old City) even though we could not figure out what the bus driver was telling us. We walked past the Museum of the Revolution and the Edifico de Bacardi and even found the Capitol Building just as Robby had described. Yes!<br />
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Then things started to go down hill...<br />
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From his description we could not tell which old American cars were what. (Did I mention, there are a lot of old American cars here)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-unfELqiA09H2Ql9JZC3OOeoNhg8JCo1p9_VUBzYmsVhcdaNxBbhQTdsiPrFcwjhJlHmx_XUMmfUQcH6e5tC9EcKVrxL5bovfzrEP3TSaSCJHfpoi4YH4qXtoLId089BeZVqfbfimtCw/s1600/6.+Car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-unfELqiA09H2Ql9JZC3OOeoNhg8JCo1p9_VUBzYmsVhcdaNxBbhQTdsiPrFcwjhJlHmx_XUMmfUQcH6e5tC9EcKVrxL5bovfzrEP3TSaSCJHfpoi4YH4qXtoLId089BeZVqfbfimtCw/s1600/6.+Car.jpg" height="338" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Immaculate Chevy</td></tr>
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We walked around the capitol looking at cars we suspected were taxis (due to the taxi sign in their front window) and we even spoke to one of the drivers but when we heard he wanted 15CUC (about $15) each and Robby said it would cost about 45 pesos (I think about $2) we kept walking, and walking until with paper in hand, I finally asked a driver if he was indeed a peso taxi going to where Robby had written on our instructions. Well, my Spanish and his English were on par, so after a couple of minutes of frustrating non-communication, he told us to just get in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our First Peso Taxi Ride through La Habana</td></tr>
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Once he had dropped everyone off on the route (these guys are more like the mini buses in Grenada and can almost fit as many people in their cars as the Grenadians do in their vans – some even have a 3rd row of seats in a sedan), the driver said for $20 each he could take us straight to the marina. But being the smart travellers we are and not wanting to be ripped off, we said we just wanted to go to the Playa which was the end of the route and should have cost 20 pesos. He tried to explain something, which kept sounding like he was trying to rip us off (but probably wasn’t) so we ended up getting off God knows where and walking, I mean how far could it be?....<br />
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<b><i>“A long way”</i></b> is the correct answer when you don’t know where you are in a strange country where you can’t speak the language....<br />
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We walked for about an hour when I finally succumbed to Karen’s numerous requests to ask someone for directions, I mean I know how to say “Where is..?” but to try and work out the forthcoming directions from our saviour is very difficult. Luckily for us it was just go back to the street you have just passed and turn left, “it is just down there” seemed to be the implications.<br />
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After about ½ hour more when we came to a T intersection, I got up the courage to ask an armed guard the same question. Same answer and same implication, “Down here turn left”- implication –“It’s just down there”....<br />
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About another ½ hr of walking through the Embassy residential area and the same question. This time the answer was simpler – it’s just down there, but the implications of the tone of voice seemed to be more “My God, you could not possibly be thinking of walking that far....!!” But bugger it, after walking 2 hours we weren’t giving in now!<br />
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15 minutes later we arrived at the entrance of the marina, but wait, that’s a factory or something and the guards helpfully point us in the right direction, and no, neither one of us are stopped at the gate mistaken for a jinatera/o! Now let’s just hope Rob and Cathy are there and have a cold beer... Thankfully, they were and I think, being dehydrated as I was, I drank all Rob’s beer (using the fact that they said they were in no hurry for the part and our sweating body and sore feet to guilt them out). So it was off to the Yacht Club where I developed a passion for Mojitos and photos of Castro, Che, Hemmingway and a famous fishing rod adorn the wall. Of Course I bought a burgee to add to my collection.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fidel and Friends</td></tr>
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Dinner was at Don Tiburon (the Shark - as any Australian Hyundai fan would know). This is a small paledor (private restaurant run in one’s house) near to the marina that is highly recommended and after eating there is certainly recommended by us! The menu was extensive and the prices in pesos (21 to the dollar)...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtaDa053UDbsuCq2IHZcCQdrs5V1m4Db_EPUrI-USScTCLnwqvBmCs0OWkUYe3cnmPLnFwt8VOx0GPklePwGanD2r21bS88GpLt-j0RjcfugjQ2Gp5rNaCm62RPaAhaG9i94f456RavjR/s1600/9.+Tiboron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtaDa053UDbsuCq2IHZcCQdrs5V1m4Db_EPUrI-USScTCLnwqvBmCs0OWkUYe3cnmPLnFwt8VOx0GPklePwGanD2r21bS88GpLt-j0RjcfugjQ2Gp5rNaCm62RPaAhaG9i94f456RavjR/s1600/9.+Tiboron.jpg" height="640" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eat like a King for under $5</td></tr>
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We ate langosta (lobster tail for about $3.50) and were entertained by Don Tiburon himself, a catcher of some renown in Cuba, telling us stories and showing us photos, including some of Castro himself.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJev7_l1O57UOEo9DAyp62dY0g0p7eB_slCroxquUqx5TMPjdq-4QZ_EQiXF_QkMqzUTVSH-w0K_L1usrKZxZkSB_8NdXCy2nsmr62vz0SvXiZCQYy5DW8uiSjWXPFHSagZ1__W6bo0Ms/s1600/10.+Don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJev7_l1O57UOEo9DAyp62dY0g0p7eB_slCroxquUqx5TMPjdq-4QZ_EQiXF_QkMqzUTVSH-w0K_L1usrKZxZkSB_8NdXCy2nsmr62vz0SvXiZCQYy5DW8uiSjWXPFHSagZ1__W6bo0Ms/s1600/10.+Don.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Don</td></tr>
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He then drove us back to the marina proudly in his Jeep... with the Ruskie motor!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Cuba23.039297747769726 -82.35351562519.281964747769727 -87.517089625 26.796630747769726 -77.189941625tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-34065093233903650332013-07-13T12:25:00.000-07:002014-07-16T07:16:43.978-07:00Matt has left the MarinaFinally, after almost 6 years on the boat, I have left Where II safely tied up at Brunswick Landing Marina (henceforth The Marina) and Karen and I are slowly making our way back to the best place we have been so far...Australia! I say slowly because we are flying out of LA on the West Coast and The Marina is in Georgia on the East Coast. So we have 5000 odd miles to drive in Debbie the Dodge to make our flight.<br />
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Now this did not start so good... Having had a AAA check on her last year before heading to the Bahamas I decided to do a little bit of work on her and keep her for this trip (Debbie, not Karen what are you thinking). So on our return from Eleuthera, I set about buying the parts to replace the front brake pads and rotors and sway bar linkages and Karen and I spent a day fixing her up. Not too hard and she was ready to take us to LAX.</div>
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Or so we thought... Friday after dropping our sail off to Stitches by Ruth for a new sun strip and repairs, Debbie conks out at the intersection of L St and MLK and of course we didn't bring a phone. We wandered over to a car wash and rang the AAA and five hours and $600 later with a new fuel pump and filter she really is ready to go.</div>
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Saturday we packed up the boat and packed the car, so that with one load of washing to do, we should be able to leave by 10am. As expected, the morning did not go as expected. First, with the recent repairs to the car on my mind, I forgot to put the comb on my clippers and proceeded to now a strip through my beard (Karen was very impressed with her observation skill when she noticed it 20 minutes later! So the trip begins without beard, well when the new-fangled washing machines and dryers decide to return our clothes.</div>
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Anyway at noon we finally wave goodbye to WhereII and head north. We will not see her again until late November.</div>
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Our first day on the big road trip was pretty simple. Leave Brunswick, turn right and go fast... Sort of a simpleton's NASCAR..... Only one turn and in the wrong direction. We ended up in the Econolodge in Macon with the rain set in. Not a good start to our camping trek across the States but we were dry. Oh and the air con fan is starting to make some noise..... Just what we will need when we cross the desert.</div>
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Monday morning we woke to the sound of heavy rain outside and prepared for our first day of site seeing. We arrived at Stone Mountain and it was still bucketing so we decided to get Debbie's fluids exchanged, something that we had not had a chance to do before we left. So we gave Jessica (our Aussie chick nav package on the new nexus) the task of finding a Jiffy Lube. They were a bit expensive but the discount lube across the road filled our needs and as a bonus had a 36 Dodge coupe in the shop- bonus!</div>
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It was for sale but they wouldn't do a swap for Debbie and despite it being purple (Karen's favourite colour) she would wouldn't let me fork out the 40 Gs for it so the road trip continues with the Grand Caravan.</div>
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With the oil change out of the way, we risked being wet tourists and headed to the Stone Mountain Park... Still raining so we parked ourselves in a shelter and made lunch.</div>
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In a break in the weather we made it bake to the car and started driving around the mountain. We got to see the covered bridge, quarry exhibition and grist mill and then finally a clear view of the monument.</div>
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Not quite the stay we had planned, it would have been good to spend a night and do some walks and see the laser show but God had other ideas so we headed to Alabama and spent the night in Pell City.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-40793422200166358072013-06-25T23:31:00.000-07:002014-07-16T07:18:37.365-07:00Adrian and Jenny's (Really) Soggy AdventureHi Matt and Karen,<br />
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we just want to write a simple blog & say thanks for the sensational sailing trip holiday in the Bahamas. As you know, we had not thought of ever going to the Bahamas and when the opportunity arose via your unsolicited November email which you ultimately admitted you were only half serious, we could not knock it back, even if we didn't know whether or not we'd be sea sick! <br />
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Well it started with a bang after flying onto the island of Georgetown on March 30th, 2013. Matt’s wonderful project manager skills were on display right from the start with the scheduled car to meet us at the airport not arriving (always the other person at fault).<span style="color: #1f497d;"> <span style="color: red;">(Ed Note: Adrian, it's the Bahamas, you're lucky the plane turned up to get you)</span> </span>We then stocked up with the necessary tailored essentials (dozen reds plus “a couple” of beers) and took off for his famous dinghy ride to the Cat that was 500m offshore. Well that went okay but the next day we almost sank the dinghy doing the same trip. Matt had this theory of Karen being in the front to balance the load but with every wave, Karen gave Matt the evil glare to which Matt slowed down & which caused us to get swamped again...and this continued until Karen & Adrian were furiously bailing out the water with the non swimmer amongst us not too comfortable about what was about to unfold. Well Matt finally remembered he had not opened the dinghies one way venturi valve & with a bit of gusto, we took off & made it, finally being able to laugh at was a slightly nerve racking moment. At one point there was at least 12 inches of water in the dinghy & the remnants of it can be seen in the attached pic once back at the boat which shows all our thongs floating around (PS Thongs as in sandals & not the lingerie type!. <br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA030.JPG?a=81" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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The accommodation was great <br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA053.JPG?a=37" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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although it took us a couple of nights to get used to the howling wind generator & the diesel tank swishing noises on our side of the boat but the night caps & Avomine sea sickness tablets made us soon doze off & overall we both slept well for the eleven nights. The food on board was delicious courtesy of Karen’s culinary skills (more surprising as she favours Vegetarian dishes) and much appreciated when compared to the alternative of when Matt tried to be useful in the kitchen as can be seen when cooking chicken on the BBQ!<br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA114.JPG?a=75" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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In fact the 5.00pm happy hours & nightly dinner parties<br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA043.JPG?a=24" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA057.JPG?a=97" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA097.JPG?a=48" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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where we chatted over quite a few drinks until the wee hours for eleven successive nights was a definite highlight. With music setting the scene (rotated each night due to our different tastes such as Neil Diamond vs Nick Cage) <span style="color: red;">(Ed Note: Nick Cage is an actor, Nick Cave is the singer....)</span>we all got on exceptionally well & testimony to this was how quickly the holiday went, at least for us two intruders.<br />
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The sailing experience was fine, a bit rocky crossing the deeper water, but nothing to fear even for a non water person such as Jenny. Thanks for all your hard work in plotting the route and checking weather reports to make sure we sailed safely.<br />
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We were both amazed at how beautiful the waters of the Bahamas are. The crystal clear waters and the different hues of blues were truly amazing and inviting.<br />
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The sailing part of the adventure was a bit delayed due to the weather forecast which had Adrian pacing up & down on Day 7 in Georgetown due to his anticipation of seeing more of the Bahamas & wanting to inch closer to the drop off zone at Staniel Cay for which flights had already been paid. We kept busy reading, swimming, playing games, visiting bars and going to different spots in the always exciting dinghy rides which Matt had almost mastered by then & in hindsight staying at Georgetown for the full week worked perfectly as there were much more varied things to do & the water in Elizabeth harbour was as good as it gets anywhere.<br />
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It was nice meeting your friends Jim & Dinah and playing bocce on the beach & the snorkelling near the St Francis resort was a good beginners run for Jenny. On departure from the harbour we sailed to Farmer's Cay achieving a healthy 15knots <span style="color: red;">(Ed Note: 15 knots was the wind speed, we only go 15knots down 6m waves. We were actually doing well at 6 knots) </span>according to Captain Matt & the small two metre <span style="color: red;">(Ed Note: 2 foot not 2 meters but choppy none the less, sorry but been hanging with Americans too long and have unit dislexia) </span>seas kept us two visitors on alert ensuring the seasick tablets were close by but we got through unscathed. We went ashore to the island and walked around and were amazed to see the stingrays so close to shore. The following day we sailed to Little Bay, the water was so calm making the sailing so incredibly smooth. We loved the sand at the beach it was like fine powder, it felt great underfoot & made for a perfect day of chilling & wondering what the rest of the world was doing.<br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA133.JPG?a=69" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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The following day we sailed to Staniel Cay & stayed at Big Majors & rode out on the dinghy to see the pigs but they were not around so headed to Thunderball Grotto for some snorkelling which was truly fantastic. The coral was beautiful as were the fish & Adrian could have spent hours snorkelling there.<br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA142.JPG?a=45" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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Staniel Cay is a pretty town with some beautiful houses. We loved all the pastel colours of the buildings which make the town look inviting and homely. On the way back to the boat we went by to see if the pigs were around and saw two, one of which swam towards us<br />
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<img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/BahamasUSA159.JPG?a=35" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 454px; width: 605px;" /><br />
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The following day we had to leave & we were sad as we had had such a relaxing and entertaining time with our generous hosts, Matt and Karen. Once again they do not disappoint us in the effort to leave us with a long lasting memory. Our trip in the dinghy across to Staniel to catch the plane left us breathless and saturated. Even our luggage had a good soaking! It was really quite funny. Karen had hinted at maybe getting a water taxi but being the good tight arse Italians we are, we opted for the daredevil dash & even with Matt's friends (Jim & Dinah) carting our luggage to make our dinghy lighter, well....it did not help! We had lunch at the yacht club and hung our clothes around the veranda to dry! <br />
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All in all, if we had to do it all again, would we? A resounding 'yes' as we had an absolute ball and the above summary cannot do justice to all the lifelong memories the trip has provided! Thanks so much guys & we hope we weren't too much bother & you were finally able to get back to your early nights & peaceful days of reading, sleeping & not being hassled about entertaining the Melbourne tourists!!<br />
Jenny & Adrian Castagnini<br />
Melbourne, Australia<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Exumas Bahamas23.506070586170843 -75.79605102539062523.389631586170843 -75.957412525390623 23.622509586170843 -75.634689525390627tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-30846639142068136092013-03-23T20:07:00.000-07:002014-07-17T05:59:50.671-07:00Finally – a weather window to leave Eleuthera.<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">Finally, 3 days after we had planned (actually a long time after we first planned) we got a weather window to move to the Exumas. It wasn’t easy and it was only on the Tuesday morning when I got up that we finalised our planned destination – Waderwick Wells Cut and then as far south as we could get in the day. Now I say planned destination, as the forecast large swells were only just receding, so we were unsure what it was going to be like once we got out of the shadow of Eleuthera, so we had entrances planned as far north as Ship’s Channel. The winds however, should just be strong enough for us to sail at 10-15 knots and we may even get a beam reach...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />Now to execute a first light departure, we do as much preparation the night before, but we still have to get up before the sunrise to get this to happen. Now this always makes me nervous, not because I’m scared of the dark, but because I have to wake Karen. On these occasions she never really has a problem with getting up early, but I am nervous that one day I will wake the beast and it won’t be pretty. Luckily, not this time.<br /><br />Well when we got out, the 6 foot seas were still there but receding and not on the nose and the wind was more than expected, running 18 – 20 gusting to 23 but unfortunately they were at about 45 degrees and were supposed to go further south (on the nose) as we headed down. Nevertheless, we managed to keep pointed towards Waderwick, making speeds up to 8knots.<br /><br />A couple of hours into it, we started to see lots-a-yachts on the horizon. Given the poor weather in the Exuma Sound, it seemed like today was the day that everyone was moving and we must have passed at least 25 sailboats heading to Eleuthera on their way north. You would think that would put a hole in the yacht population in Georgetown where we were headed to pick up our friends from Melbourne, but we had heard that there were close to 400 or more boats there, so we weren’t that enthusiastic.<br /><br />We struck up a conversation with Blue Planet on the way and they had a later tide prediction for the Cut at Waderwick Wells, so we chucked in a reef and tried to slow Where II down. In the meantime, the wind came round on the nose and we then had to start an engine and motor sail the last hour or so to the cut. We hit the cut as close to slack as we have got and glided through, but decided to spend the night at Emerald Rock and followed Blue Planet in. We took the first mooring in for an early start the next morning. Unfortunately our method for picking up the mooring needed a bit of polishing and Karen got her hand caught in the mooring line and skinned her finger so it was not a comfortable carefree night as planned. It did however mean she had to take the helm and for me to do the heavy work up front, which I was hoping would become our new modus operandi. <br /><br />Next morning up early again, but with no wind, it was a 4 hour motor down to Little Bay, Great Guana Cay to hide for the next front. We were planning on trying Black Point and most of the blow was coming from the North with very little west, but it was a bit crowded where Little Bay just to the south had better protection and only 4 boats in there when we got there. However by the end of the day, 14 more boats had arrived but decided to stay clear of our fat cat. Yeah!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1LittleBay.jpg?a=87" style="border-bottom: #002060 4px solid; border-left: #002060 4px solid; border-right: #002060 4px solid; border-top: #002060 4px solid; height: 178px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="color: #548dd4;">Little Bay – Where II on the right</span></em> <br /><br />Little Bay is a pretty little bay with two houses on it and once the blow had subsided a bit, a lot of the boats departed. We took the opportunity to walking into Black Point (about an hour away) for some shopping and lunch (I was hanging for a beer out of glass) and we were glad we chose Little Bay as Black Point was still very choppy and uncomfortable and more crowded. After a second unsuccessful shopping trip into town at about lunchtime Sunday (of course everyone was at church) we organised to catch up with John and Jeri (Ahyoka) at Little Farmers Cay.<br />The sail down on Monday was pretty good, the seas were flat and the wind light (about 13 true) but on the nose (30Deg apparent) but ended up getting about 7knots over the ground, sails up from anchor to the entrance to the anchorage at Little Farmers. A quick motor over the sand bar (that was on the charts but not on the bank) and we dropped anchor a couple of minutes ahead of Ahyoka. Our friends from Brunswick Landing Marina, John and Jeri, are one season veterans, and unlike us are not adverse to inches under the keel, had anchored a bit closer to the point which looked a bit more protected, so we thought we would be more “go hung” and head in next to them, but after an exploratory trip paste their boat we turned Where II around and headed back to where we were, not that they were in dangerously shallow water, it was just shallower water.<br /><br />We re-anchored, had our (my) “We’re here beer” and made up a batch of my world famous rum punch with a twist of coconut rum and headed into town, unsuccessfully shopped again but did pick up a couple of nice conch shells from the scrap heap to add to the collection. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2conch.jpg?a=91" style="border-bottom: #002060 4px solid; border-left: #002060 4px solid; border-right: #002060 4px solid; border-top: #002060 4px solid; height: 603px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />It was then off to the Yacht Club for their rum punch (for later comparative purposes only) then it was back to Where II to introduce our friends to my rum punch. Tuesday was bocce day - a game new to John and Jeri, so we were pretty sure we had that won. The first game we won convincingly, but Jeri (apparently always the most improved) picked it up quickly and we only narrowly grabbed victory. Our planned victory barbeque had to be cancelled unfortunately as the swell was pretty bad as we were heading back to the boat, so next time we get to see our friends will be back in Brunswick where they will be preparing to sell their Lagoon 37 Ahyoka and buy a land yacht to continue their adventure. (anyone interested in a good example of these fast cruising cats, I can put you in touch).<br /><br />We took off early (again and no beast yet) and headed down towards Cave Cut, but as we got to Galliot, the tide seemed right so we ducked out and started motor sailing south to Georgetown. As we passed each cut, the flotilla got larger – it reminded me a bit of the start to the Texas Ranger series on TV when I was a kid. Now Karen had bought me a new fishing rod for my birthday last year and I thought this would be a good time to start fishing (particularly since I had finally put a lure on it) so out she went, bottle of scotch at the ready (to kill the fish or sedate Karen, which ever was more necessary).<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3fishing.jpg?a=99" style="border-bottom: #002060 4px solid; border-left: #002060 4px solid; border-right: #002060 4px solid; border-top: #002060 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Unfortunately, after almost 21years of marriage, Karen is really rubbing off on me and all I could think of as the lure skipped through the water was killing the fish, so I reeled it in without a strike. Man does this hunter need a good bloody dose of testosterone!<br /><br />The seas were calm and with only one donk on we averaged about 6.5knots and made it into Georgetown on slack high tide at the northwest cut. Thankfully none of our cut entries were like our entry here last year at the southeastern cut where we rolled through with breakers on either side and the admiral downstairs “doing admin tasks”.<br /><br />Georgetown is Georgetown, so we have picked up the real estate brochure again, gone shopping at the market, dropped off rubbish and recycling etc etc. More importantly, we caught up with Jim and Dinah on Evergreen and they were on our boat the first night for an impromptu barbeque and yesterday it was bocce day on the beaches of Stocking Island. Unfortunately despite our practice, they had the home ball advantage and beat us 2 nothing.<br />We also celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary at St Francis Resort on Thursday night with the best calamari we have had in ages a nice bottle of South African Wine.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4dinner.jpg?a=12" style="border-bottom: #002060 4px solid; border-left: #002060 4px solid; border-right: #002060 4px solid; border-top: #002060 4px solid; height: 473px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The long romantic dinner (we had to order over the radio, show up at 6pm and were back on the boat by sundown) was completed with a couple of episodes of Dexter!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5sundown.jpg?a=28" style="border-bottom: #002060 4px solid; border-left: #002060 4px solid; border-right: #002060 4px solid; border-top: #002060 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Georgetown will be home for the next week or so as we wait for Adrian and Jenny from Melbourne who will be joining us for a sail back up to Staniel Cay over a couple of weeks in April – the start of our trek back to Georgia. Of course, there will be more bocce, Mexican train dominos, sundowners and wet trips to town before then.</span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Rock Sound, The Bahamas24.879051 -76.15808520000001624.821431 -76.238766200000015 24.936671 -76.077404200000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-87252384979866460102013-03-09T12:59:00.000-08:002014-07-17T06:06:27.963-07:00Eleuthera – Stay for a day, maybe a week, maybe a month... <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">Eleuthera, the large island south of the Abacos and east of the Exumas seemed like an easy stop over on our way south to the Exumas. But if the Sahara is the land of shifting sands, Eleuthera is the isle of shifting wind or so it seems. Don’t get me wrong, we have enjoyed our mostly tranquil times here, alone in tranquil bays surrounded by nothing but beautiful turquoise water and until the other day in Rock Sound, we hardly have seen another boat, having at most only two other boats in our bay. And of note, we have only seen 2 motor yachts which is very unusual in our experience in the Bahamas and the States.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />So we left the Berry Islands at 0815 on Wednesday 13th February and had a ripping close hauled sail east to North Beach on Eleuthera dropping anchor at about 1615. Seas were a bit rough but not uncomfortable and we had no engine noise – a free trip - a bit unusual of late but much more enjoyable and not as boring. As the winds were blowing from the south this seemed like a nice place to wait for the winds to shift to head through Current Cut and find somewhere to hide for the next front.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1Northbeach.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We had a day to wait for the wind to change so we hopped in Muriel (the new dinghy) and headed to shore trying to find a spot on the beach with no rocks so we didn’t scratch her virgin bottom and about 20 minutes later we landed and looked for somewhere to lock her up – no such luck. Now my Caribbean experience left me nervous about wandering off and leaving Muriel to fend for herself but here in the Bahamas, no one seems to lock their dinghy.<br />We wandered through the settlement and the southern beach hoping to find a bar where we could quench my thirst for Kalik, but to no avail. <br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2Settlement.jpg?a=9" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So to get a bit of exercise and see what we were up for the next day we headed out to Current Cut. This is an interesting waterway, with people reporting up to 10 knots of current when the tide is running, which is about 2 knots faster than I can motor at full throttle, so it is important to time your passage for slack tide. We arrived about an hour before slack and you can still see the tide rips as the water exits the cut (the darker rougher water).<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3CurrentCut.jpg?a=68" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now most reports say that slack tide is 2 ½ hours after Nassau at the cut, although in one of our guides it says 1 – 1 ½ hours but strength of numbers we were looking at the 2 1/2hrs. We had just got back on the boat by then and sure enough 2 boats arrive and start heading through the cut. You could see them slow down sharply as they entered and I didn’t know if that was deliberate or if it was the current. Next day we hang around until 13:30 (slack high tide supposedly at 13:45) and we head in. As we approach you could still see the current ripples as we entered but we were committed so off we went. Well I think the 1 ½ hour prediction was correct as the tide had definitely turned and we had 3.2knot against us. It made the passage a bit slow but controlled and after a tense half hour we had made the turn and were clear to head to what Active Captain calls the Cove anchorage (which we later found out was Gaulding Bay) which we felt would provide us with some NW protection for the upcoming blow.<br /><br />We anchored in about 3meters of water, which meant at low tide we had about 0.9m under the keels. Karen wanted deeper water, and I wanted protection so this was our compromise.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4GauldingBay.jpg?a=5" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />As it turns out, the compromise was not so good, as it would have been nice to have more water under us as we bucked in the swell and more protection would have stopped the bucking, but not through the worst of it – the western fetch was just too big and the westerly winds lasted too long. But we were safe, didn’t hit bottom and didn’t spill a drink so in the end we were just a bit uncomfortable.<br /><br />While hanging in the bay, we heard our friends, Terry and Julie and their son Owen from Melvin (Lagoon 37) on the radio hailing another boat in Hatchet. They were waiting out the blow and in search of the elusive Bahaman surf and after watching the weather a bit they decided to head up to Gaulding for a visit and my famous rum punch was to be broken out for the first time. In the meantime we started our hitch hiking adventures in Eleuthera by striking out for Gregory Town – about 3 miles away by sea and about 4 by road. An hour and a bit later we finally walked into town – not one ride! But just then someone pulls up and asks us if we needed a lift and I stifled my “bit late now buddy!” comment and instead responded with a “Thanks but we are just heading into town”. After a look around and the coldest beer I have had in a long time at Rachel’s Place, we decided to have lunch at the Laughing Lizard – a bit back out of town. Just as we were just about there, a lady pulls up and asks if we needed a lift and again we politely turned it down, mumbling to ourselves as she drives off. Now the lunch here was fantastic and gave us the energy for the rest of the walk back – again with no offers of a lift!<br /><br />After and enjoyable night catching up with the “Melvinites” we all decided to try our luck with the hitch hiking again and headed into Harbour Island. This time, although there were 5 of us we were much more successful, being picked up twice by pickups (utes to us Aussies)– ladies in the front and blokes in the back. We caught the ferry (really a water taxi) that takes everything across from the main island and wandered all over town and down to the long pink beach before enjoying lunch back at the dock.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5harbourisland.jpg?a=45" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 379px; width: 650px;" /><br /> <br />We caught a lift back with one of the girls on the ferry and finished the day up with a game of Mexican train dominos. <br /><br />Melvin took off the next morning for current cut and Spanish Wells and we decided to spend the day sightseeing around Gaulding Bay. We jumped in the dinghy and headed to the Glass Window Bridge which has the raging Atlantic on one side and the serene banks on the other. An interesting view but hard to photograph the effect unless you are in a plane.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6bridge.jpg?a=76" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Then it was past the local houses (one with a fantastic pool house and an array of water toys although why you need a pool here unless it is heated I don’t know)...<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7pool.jpg?a=80" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 481px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />...and off to the beach to play boules.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8beach.jpg?a=93" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I was playing pretty well but Karen was on fire and we lamented it was a shame Jim & Dinah or Jim & Wendy weren’t here as we would have whipped their butts.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9boules.jpg?a=70" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />With the weather starting to build towards the next front which we did not want to ride out here after the last one we decided to defy common wisdom and go to Hatchet Bay and instead hop down to Alabaster Bay where we were planning a night out at the Italian Restaurant at Coco Di Mamas which is reportedly very good. We started off anchoring just of Coco Di Mamas giving us good protection from the upcoming southerlies and relaxed after the 5 hour motor.<br /><br />Next day we were up and into the resort to check out the restaurant menu and then head into Governor’s Harbour for shopping. Unfortunately everything was locked, so we thought maybe, possibly they opened later. As soon as we got down the steps of the resort a car pulled up and offered us a lift towards Governor’s Harbour. The couple were German and had owned their property on Eleuthera for 33 years. They said that it took their German sensibility a very long time to get use to Bahaman “Island Time”. I wonder how they would cope in the Caribbean as I think the Bahamans are punctual compared to some islands down south.<br /><br />Despite not having to go to town, our kind friends went the extra miles and dropped us at the supermarket. We wandered around town taking in the sights and sounds and were amazed to see the raft that we saw come into St Marteen after following the course of the “Contiki” (I think) across the Atlantic.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10contiki.jpg?a=18" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 4px solid; border-left: #548dd4 4px solid; border-right: #548dd4 4px solid; border-top: #548dd4 4px solid; height: 479px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We completed our shopping and Karen was surprised to find a small cafe offering spinach and fetta quiche but as her salivations dripped onto the counter she was informed that they had sold out and it was back to the boat for cheese sandwiches. We were lucky enough to get 2 rides back to Alabaster Bay – both by the same driver in a little Daihatsu van. The passenger next to us was eating chicken wings – boy did they smell good particularly when we had missed out on lunch in town!<br /><br />The next couple of days we played bocce and sanded and re-varnished the cockpit table enjoying being – for the most part anyway – the only boat in the bay. It is hard to believe that only 60 odd miles away is Georgetown with over 300 boats in it and we are alone for almost 2 weeks!<br /><br />We also ventured out hitch-hiking again to see the south of the island – we had read that Tarpun Bay was a quaint little settlement with an artistic community and a couple of restaurants. Four rides later (Gov Harbour, Palmetto Point, somewhere past Savannah Sound and then on to Tarpun) we arrived in town and quickly looked around to find .... well not much. So we decided we would try to get to Rock Sound for lunch but the rides seemed to have vaporised and with the threat of rain we decided to head back to Governors Harbour and see about that spinach quiche. Two informative rides later we hit the cafe and Karen got her wish while I had the Lasagna. <br /><br />With the winds starting to clock to the west we moved up to the north of the Bay behind Pelican Cay and rode out the front. All in all, we spent about 5 days on the boat due to the weather and despite the pretty sunsets and the green flashes (yes I have finally seen the Green Flash!), we were keen to move on to Rock Sound and get off the boat.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11sunset.jpg?a=69" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 4px solid; border-left: #548dd4 4px solid; border-right: #548dd4 4px solid; border-top: #548dd4 4px solid; height: 404px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Rock Sound is a big settlement with a large supermarket, a couple of hardware stores, bank, couple of gas stations and restaurants, the day after an uneventful motor south we headed across the harbour to visit town and check out the food. Karen took over navigating and displayed her unparalleled ability to read arrows back to front and took us out of town away from Sammy’s Place! After realising there was no more to be had to the south we turned around and eventually asked a local, John, sitting on the side of the road where it was and he guided us to the spot and he joined us for a drink before we decided to head back to the boat for lunch.<br /><br />Next day it was shopping at the market which is pretty impressive, although fresh was a bit wanting in variety and the wettest dinghy ride back to the boat since Mayaguana last year – yes the winds had shifted west as predicted and the chop was testing Muriel out. With the strong winds and sunshine accompanying the passage of the front, we have abundant energy on board, so the bar fridge is on and the polisher is out as we work through the time where getting into the dinghy and going ashore is not that appealing.<br /><br />The weather however is not being cooperative and we now think that we would have to wait over a week for the seas to abate in the passage to Cat Island which, with guests arriving at the end of the month is too long to stay here. So this afternoon we are heading into 4 Points Bar and having a late lunch then tomorrow it is off to the Exumas and do some exploring there – maybe even the Jumentos Islands before heading to Georgetown... but then again none of our plans to date have really worked out.<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: 16px;">STOP PRESS</span><br /><br />As we go to press, the plans have changed (this is tomorrow morning from above) – we did wander around Rock Sound yesterday and checked out the Ocean Hole – a 600 odd meter deep hole with connections to the ocean. Interesting but still to cool for a Queenslander to swim here.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/12hole.jpg?a=25" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 4px solid; border-left: #548dd4 4px solid; border-right: #548dd4 4px solid; border-top: #548dd4 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We did also go to 4 points and have a late lunch – very pleasant surrounds with a good view over the harbour. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/134pts.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 5px solid; border-left: #548dd4 5px solid; border-right: #548dd4 5px solid; border-top: #548dd4 5px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We did not however head off to the Exumas – the weather forecast has the 1-2m waves curling around the bottom of Eleuthera and may make it to the cut we were planning on using so we have decided to wait it out here for a while and see how it shakes out.<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: 16px;">QUIZ</span><br />Here’s one to see if you were paying attention. Look at the photo below showing the sign to the restroom and leave a comment on which way Karen went to the restroom – Left or Right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/14Restrooms.jpg?a=25" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 4px solid; border-left: #548dd4 4px solid; border-right: #548dd4 4px solid; border-top: #548dd4 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Rock Sound, The Bahamas24.879051 -76.15808520000001624.821431 -76.238766200000015 24.936671 -76.077404200000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-58114959245596384972013-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:002014-07-17T06:09:30.772-07:00Berry Islands – Berry Nice<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Berry Islands is a convenient start to a Bahaman cruise, particularly from Lake Worth. It is around 24 hours and you are greeted by a large, easy entry anchorage in Bullock Harbour on Great Harbour Cay. The trip was an uneventful one thank god as I am not sure we could have handled anymore surprises. <br /><br />We started off motor sailing across the Gulf Stream in light winds and light seas gradually moving to a more direct path to our destination. By midnight, out of the stream, both motors were off and we were sailing like we are supposed to and sailed right up to the bank. Given it was our first shallow water passage in 12 months we decided to drop the sails and motor the last 2 hours on the wavy line recommended route. Sorta glad we did, because at one point we had the depth alarm going off with less than 3 ft under the keels. This is something that apparently you get use to – we’ll see. We dropped the hook in a big sandy bottomed bay with no other boats and decided to rest for the afternoon before checking in with customs on Saturday morning.<br /><br />Bright and early on Saturday morning (we are talking Karen time bright and early so it was about 9am when we left the boat) we jump into Muriel and head into Great Harbour Marina to clear only to find that we have to bring the big boat (that’s Where II - even though there are bigger boats, she is our big boat) into the marina to clear customs. They don’t mind you tying up to clear and leaving and they didn’t mention a marina fee, but I have had enough of docks for one year so was disappointed to find out we had to do this, particularly as there was a very narrow cut in the cliff we had to use to get in. We hauled anchor after considering heading off to clear in somewhere else and headed for the cut. At this stage, my fearless crew decided that it was too narrow to get through and headed below to hide leaving me to get through it alone, only to re-emerge once we were through!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1Cut.jpg?a=71" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Once tied up, the dock master rang customs and was told they would be right down in a few minutes, so we tidied up the boat and waited a few island minutes. About an hour later, the customs officer boarded the boat (something that hasn’t happened since Morocco) and set about clearing us in after accepting our offer of a cold beverage only after enquiring what type they were. Well, here we think our hospitality got us stung as the officer not only charged us the $300 cruising permit fee but also a $50 transport fee for which he was unable to give us a receipt as head office had yet to issue a receipt book... But how do you argue? So Karen has sent an email to the head office telling them the officer’s number and to please issue him with a receipt book...<br /><br />After we were cleared we decided not to waste a docking experience and wait out the next blow on the dock and explore the island particularly when the dock master said that the town dock wasn’t really secure enough to leave a dinghy (which we later found out wasn’t strictly true).<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2Marina.jpg?a=1" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="color: #0070c0;">You can just make out the nice new grey boot stripe on Where II here- going grey gracefully just like the rest of us.</span></em> <br /><br />So over the next two days we walked around the island, into town, down to the beach and of course to the beach bar. It was nice to be in shorts, a t-shirt and thongs (flip flops) again with the sand between the toes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3beach.jpg?a=87" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We also had our first Pot Luck of the season and met a fellow cruiser, Adrian on SV Dolphin from Brunswick. But the highlight of the marina stay was a visit by manatee and its calf. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4calf.jpg?a=69" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />For those in Aus, this is a manatee calf – head to the right and tail to the left. One thing you find out quickly with these mammals around your boat if you have a watermaker running – they like fresh water. Adrian turn on the dock tap and directed it to the calf. After a quick drink it was nudged out of the way by its mum who had a long cool drink.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5manatee.jpg?a=14" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 3px solid; border-left: #0070c0 3px solid; border-right: #0070c0 3px solid; border-top: #0070c0 3px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Monday with the blow over we headed out to anchor trying to decide where to go next. Based on what a few of the guys leaving the marina had said Hoffman’s Cay provided a good anchorage on the way to Nassau or Eleuthera so we decided to be one of the gang. But as we got closer and still had time to go in daylight we decided to go a bit further and be solo and we made for High Cay, a private island on the south east of the Berries. Being private we could not go ashore so it was a pleasant evening before heading off to North Beach Eleuthera and put off the decision of where we are really going a bit more.</span></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Berry Islands, The Bahamas25.7236234 -77.83101039999996825.2654319 -78.476457399999973 26.181814900000003 -77.185563399999964tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-4321687407039329582013-02-07T20:50:00.000-08:002014-07-17T06:16:27.041-07:00Leaving America <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">Sounds like an easy thing to do... unless you own a boat, particularly one with a mast greater than 65 feet, which by the way ours is. So anyway, after watching almost all our new friends depart via the inter-coastal waterway and day hop down the coast. It was our turn to go. Lines slipped at mid-day by Bob and Cindy - Eventyr (one of the few boats left in Brunswick) we left a day ahead of plan as the weather window looked like it was closing ahead of forecast. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />All morning we were getting snatches of a Securite announcement from the coast guard about a hazard to navigation in St Simon’s Sound but could not hear the details. So we motored out of the harbour and under the Lanier Bridge (at 165ft we still think this is a bit tight) calling both marinas, Coast Guard and Seatow to see if we could find out what was going on. With no answer we started to question whether the VHF was working when Golden Isles Marina answered but could shed no light on what was happening. We then switched on the AIS and found out that the channel into St Simon’s was being dredged so I call up the Captain to ask if we could pass and if so, did he have any special instructions for us in passing. He politely explained his dredging course and then in special instructions told me just to “stay well away from him”. Thankfully our departure plans were not thwarted and we were away!<br /><br />Two days later after a long and expensive motor we were coming up to entrance to Port Canaveral with a chart plotter that had given up the ghost at the helm and a “US War Ship” on the AIS! True that is the description given. So out come the new binoculars (another purchase at a reduced price under warranty in Brunswick) and Karen spots it – it is either sinking, the smallest War Ship in the world or we are being tailed into Canaveral by a submarine. Now I know there are rules about sailing around the US Navy so I get my rules of the road book (yes that is what they call it) and find out we cannot go within 500 yards of it, so we decide to stand off the entrance to the channel and wait for it to enter.<br /><br />Now this is not a fast process apparently. Firstly 2 Florida State Police boats come and standby the entrance of the channel, a tender is launched from Papa 2(the sub) and it dances around with the State Police Boats and they all go to channel 12 for a pow wow. Papa 2 then makes its way to the channel entrance and I think we will be able to <br />start moving soon. Wrong. It stops for some reason so I decide we will try and go ahead of it. Just as we are getting close to the channel I notice it start up again (AIS is wonderful) and start heading in so we stop turn around to let it go again. According to the chat on Channel 12, the State Police alerted Papa 2 of our presence and that they were monitoring us to ensure we weren’t going to be any trouble.... “Just hurry up will you guys” I think to myself, what threat is a Lagoon 420 to a nuclear powered (my guess) submarine??? Really???<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1Sub.jpg?a=32" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 364px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Anyway, Papa 2 gets met by Mike and Elizabeth (two tug boats) at the turn of the channel and the manoeuvring begins all of it broadcast on Ch 12 and viewed on the AIS. Gradually it moves into the sub basin and we eventually tie up at Scorpion Marine at 9:25am and await the haul to work on the thru hulls and more. Did I mention at this is the third time we have hauled in 14 months in three different countries about 1400nm apart– St Lucia for a bottom job, Freeport Bahamas for the sail drive and now only 5 sailing days later Cape Canaveral for the thru hulls. Cruising – fixing your boat in exotic places.<br /><br />Just before lunch we are on the hard and blocked so we decide to treat ourselves to lunch out (although we probably should have has a shower after 2 days at sea before heading to the pub but what the heck). We ended up down the road at Millikan’s reef and enjoyed a nice meal and a welcome cold beverage or two. <br />Then it was a call to Duy’s Electronic Services to see getting the faulty Chart Plotter looked at. He said he was very busy at the moment but would call back the next day.<br /><br />I had asked the Yard Manager, Eric, to come and see me about the thru hull repairs but he seemed to be avoiding me, so I started dismantling the current thru hull fittings. I had decided to replace both port and starboard fittings with bronze as I could see the original set up had a design flaw in that each time you open and close the sea cock you are torquing the thru hull bedding and ultimately this will fail as the port one had (original set up below with the water weeping in).<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2Seacock.jpg?a=7" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 609px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Yeah I know you want to see pictures of sandy beaches, bikini clad girls, guys in budgie smugglers but if I have to spend days looking at toilet valves, I can at least share the experience. By the way the cable tie is to try and meet US regulations that the holding tank seacock be locked.<br /><br />Anyway, it took a while to figure out how to get this out as it appeared that the valve had be glued (not with a mastic but with something hard like an epoxy) so I ended up cutting the valve off and then knocking the thru hull fitting out of the hull. Still no work from Eric so I chased him up when I saw him walking past, he said he would be over at the boat soon.<br /><br />Day 3 and I’d dropped the chart plotter off with Duys because he hadn't rang back or made it to the boat and still no Eric at the boat. So I corner him. He had been under the impression from an email I sent asking if owners could work on the boat that I was doing all the work myself and was just looking for free advice, because if it leaks on splashing the boat I’m up for another $500 to rehaul. By this stage, I had just about decided to do it myself, but after talking to him about his approach to the job which was different from my plan and I thought a little less permanent, I decided that I would do it myself anyway.<br /><br />So I set about shaping the backing plates and epoxying them into the hull. This was a little difficult as the nuts were already embedded in them, I had to align them with the hull to minimise the gaps between the hull and the fitting, but after two days (we are up to day 5) in the bilge I was pretty happy with it as a dry run – it even fitted together with the existing metric pipe so it was time to assemble with 4200 sealant. This is a messy process with Karen on the outside and me on the inside yelling at each other to co-ordinate the twisting, moving and tightening of the fittings. Fortunately after 5years of anchoring, we are now very proficient in the skill of “yelling at the spouse”.<br /><br />So this might sound like a long time to take to do this, but you have to let the epoxy dry, the 4200 dry etc etc. So in the meantime Karen got to polishing the hulls and preparing for the new grey boot stripe and I started pulling the props off to replace the anodes with split units I could replace in the water. Unfortunately the port prop was not cooperating and after trying all my tricks I relented and asked the service manager to send over a mechanic to get the prop off for me. Well when he turned up, he finally resorted to the butane torch, burning off half the coating from the prop, breaking the conical nut and butchering the retaining thread. When I saw what he had done I couldn’t believe that I would have to pay for something that I could easily have stuffed up myself. The service manager tried to convince me the nut was an anode (not even close buddy) and I should replace it annually (not even maybe buddy), so $100 in service fee and $200 in new parts that he broke, I had the new anodes on. Yeah! <br /><br />The next couple of days we polished, applied the boot stripe and got ready to go. Then Sunday, 10 days after we arrived we stood nervously as the travel lift operator told us stories of new thru hulls leaking on splashing. Karen was very confident that I had done a very good job and they weren’t going leak (or at least that’s what she said to me). The boat went in and I madly raced from port to starboard to make sure all was good and it was. So here is another picture of a toilet valve for y’all!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3Seacock.jpg?a=94" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 811px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We fuelled up to make up for all the fuel we used on our way down and headed out of Canaveral, a few days short of the next rocket launch but we were on a mission to Leave America. On exiting the channel, I made the mistake of saying “It’s a pond” to Karen as there was no wind and no sea. <br />A mistake I say because it certainly picked up by night fall and we were motor sailing in 6ft 6 second chop. Although it was light, we knew it was going to pick up so we already had a reef in the main at night fall as is our standard practice. Then at midnight we decided to put in a second and we started to see 28 knots. Not scary but bloody uncomfortable with the short period waves.<br /><br />Then at 0200 we heard a bang and looked around to see our new second hand dinghy that we had spent close to a week in Brunswick repairing hanging by only 2 of the 3 new harness straps and dragging (and banging) in the water! Now Karen will be the first to tell you that she told me not to use the steel lifeline wire for the harness but I did it anyway. So just as we had started to sail we now had to drop the speed to about 3 knots, and we could only do that by dropping the sails and motoring – even more uncomfortable!<br /><br />I spent hours looking at the dinghy and the emergency ropes I had put around her before we left Brunswick, trying to figure out how to get her up and out of the water, and just before dawn I had finally got her out of the water so we picked up a bit of speed. We arrived in Fort Worth at about 11:00am but by then it became obvious that Debbie 2 was severely damaged and on inspection, I felt she was beyond salvage. This was when we questioned what the hell we were doing this for – almost $20,000 spent in the last 6 months and still things keep going wrong and the sailing wasn’t even enjoyable.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4debbie1.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 529px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5debbie2.jpg?a=43" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After we calmed down, out came the computer and internet research was on – find a new dinghy cheaply, quickly and cheaply (did I say that twice?). After having the Caribe for only one 5 minute run we were keen to try and replace it with new, but with a couple of calls, it appeared the local agent was not keen on selling them and offered me different brands. Then we kept coming back to the Mercury 10ft Hyperlon dinghy which at 100lb seemed attractively light (just the way I like my girls). We found a local dealer and set off Tuesday morning to see them, dropping our floppy Debbie off at the marina we stayed in on our way up to Brunswick. We found the dealer, and with absolutely no haggling on our part, he offered to sell it to us at cost just to get their sales numbers up (and they were a Beneteau dealer so the mark up on a dinghy probably would not hit the P&L. In the end, after a call to Mercury, we ended up with a 2012 Hyperlon 310 at just under $2000. To put that in perspective that is about what we paid for our 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan that we did over 6000 miles in over the summer – does that sound right?<br /><br />So, with a 2 day delivery time, we thought it was about the best deal we would get, so we took it and then decided to relax a bit and wait. Unfortunately, where we had anchored was subject to some eddy currents from the inlet, so it was a bit hard to relax with nearby boats swinging in strange directions, so being the last to anchor, we did the right thing and moved further down the anchorage. Here we hooked well and relaxed... until during a tide change, the wind shifted and just about every boat in the anchorage dragged, so we moved. <br /><br />This time we headed down towards the golf club and went past the Rybinov marina where we were neighbours to the Megayacht “Venus” that Steve Jobs had commissioned prior to depart to the next cyber life. Unfortunately he never got to take delivery and now this interesting piece of naval architecture is caught up in an estate battle from what I hear. Luckily, I retired early and was able to take delivery of my yacht before I kicked it. Ok so it is a little bit smaller, not as flash, but I own it and it has got me 1/3 way around the world so far!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6yacht.jpg?a=82" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 440px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />From here the relaxing got a bit easier, but we were a bit limited as to how far we could go from the boat as Debbie 2’s port pontoon was gradually filling with water. We did manage to get down to the Town Docks in West Palm Beach and wander through the markets, explore the town on the trolley and watch the belly dancers – yes belly dancers.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7bellies.jpg?a=68" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 445px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="color: #d99694;">There girls in bikinis!</span></em><br /><br />We also visited Peanut Island. This is a manmade island just near the entrance of Lake Worth from the dredging that made the entrance and cleared the intercoastal waterway and the port of Palm Beach. Sounds nice huh, but believe it or not it was very nice. The Park has been done really well with nice beaches and facilities and we were even able to observe a manatee lumbering through the channels under the bridges.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8peanut.jpg?a=98" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="color: #d99694;">There you go – a beach<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9peanut1.jpg?a=81" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /></span><span style="color: #d99694;">Sorry – no budgie smugglers on me....</span></em><br />On Monday we got a message that our new dinghy – the Mercurial Muriel – was stuck on a truck in Atlanta Georgia and we saw our next weather window closing to move to the Bahamas and get out of the States before our cruising permit expired. Matthew, the sales guy said he would keep on the freight company and the next morning he called back and said it was in the local warehouse and if we wanted he would get a truck and take us out to pick it up. Which he did and then delivered it to the dinghy dock at the marina. He and colleague helped us dispose of Debby 2 (who hopefully with some solid repairs will have another life) which was no mean feat as by this stage she was half full of water and nowhere near her svelte 156lb which she started out life at.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10Muriel.JPG?a=82" style="border-bottom: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-left: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-right: #b2a2c7 4px solid; border-top: #b2a2c7 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So by Wednesday lunchtime we had our new dinghy on the davits with a new ROPE harness and no real plan except to leave America on the next window. We had been in touch with friends in the Abocos, on Grand Bahamas and in the Exumas to let them know we were coming to somewhere.... Then it struck me that we had not been to the Berry Islands so Thursday lunchtime we haul anchor and head out into the Gulf Stream and to a place where none of the friends we notified of our pending arrival were...</span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Palm Beach County, FL, USA26.766545334061334 -80.04410488564451526.738192334061335 -80.084445385644514 26.794898334061333 -80.003764385644516tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-9344758194021992522013-01-15T21:35:00.000-08:002014-07-17T06:31:24.032-07:00BOAT – Bring Out Another Thousand<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">So here we are back in Brunswick, working on the ever expanding task list to get Where II ready for another season of cruising (ie not sitting at dock). I have learnt two things over the past month – It is easy to go broke by saving money and whoever said BOAT stands for “Bring Our Another Thousand” hasn’t worked on his boat for quite a long time! It should be BOATT – “Bring Out Another Ten Thousand”!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />So here’s what we have been up to: <br />First of all it has started to get a little cold over here, and being a 240v 50Hz boat we are not able to run any of the 4 of our very expensive 18000BTU reverse cycle air-con units without running the generator, so one of the US cruising couples we has met here (John and Jerri – Ahyoka) took pity on us and gave us their electric heater as they have just installed their reverse cycle air. (Nancy and Judy on Makara had also offered us an air-con unit but as we were getting colder and had nowhere to really store it so we had to decline). <br /><br />Well that was fine and dandy, but of course this meant I had to run a dedicated 110v circuit within the boat so I could run it and the chargers without running extension cord through open doors or windows (sort of defeats the purpose of a heater), so two days later after 2 trips to Home Depot, lots of grunting and swearing as I pulled wires from the back of the boat to the front, and one worrying moment as we flicked the breaker, we now have heating on the boat and loving it. Cheap, at only $50 in wiring and fittings.<br /><br />We also successfully negotiated a outcome with our water-maker manufacturer – Dessalator to replace our pressure vessel ends and fittings at a much reduced price even though it is well out of warranty – so spent a quick thou’ there. Bought the new membranes and now have to try and put it all back together.<br /><br />As we started to get ready to depart, we turned the Freezer back on and started having problems with it over night, like we did in Grenada. “Low voltage” kept dancing through my brain and I had a nagging suspicion that our batteries, which we wanted to get one more year out of might be dying. Well with a bit of investigation (open circuit voltage testing, load testing, capacity testing) with help from Nancy from Makara my fears were realised – batteries were shot. With a bit of research and phone calls I managed to get a good deal on 4 Lifeline 4D batteries effectively doubling our capacity for only a grand and a half! Yeah! Then of course there was installation which you would think would be straight forward – throw out four old batteries and put in four new ones....<br /><br />Well not quite... The terminals on the Lifelines are not the same as my old Exides, so new lugs are required and to fit them in and do a neat job, I need to build a new harness. Not too hard. Nancy and Judy had all the good gear (crimpers etc) to do the job and recommended the appropriate lugs. Nancy also recommended to up the wire size to 3/0 for the long leads and 2/0 for the short runs to optimise charging. Fortunately for me I found out that when Lagoon did the conversion they left a long length of 3/0 for the inverter in place. So with a day’s work, I rewired the inverter and saved myself a couple of hundred dollars in wire. But the lugs seemed elusive... everywhere I ordered them from came back a week later and said they were out of stock. Meanwhile Nancy and Judy are preparing to depart and take the good tools with them. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for them, they had a water leak just outside the channel and had to return to Brunswick and I got a reprieve. The batteries finally installed and charging beautifully!<br /><br />We bit the bullet and decided to replace the dodger/clears as they were basically falling to bits and had been restitched once already. We got Jeff and Ruth (Stitches by Ruth) down to the boat, discussed a few ideas and signed up for another quick thou’ and a bit. They are back on the boat, integrated into out cockpit enclosure and look and work great – three more smiles on the boat and little flaps over our genoa sheaves! There’s a thou and a bit out of the old wallet!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1dodger.jpg?a=42" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 322px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I also learnt about repairing fibreglass – had to repair the narcelle (middle pointy bit on the boat) where the trampoline anchor bolts had vibrated and cracked off chunks of fibreglass. To access this I had to remove the anchor roller (which also had cracks around the bolt holes, so I had to repair them and also two bonus holes where it had obviously been drilled incorrectly at the factory??!!) Before I could do that however, I thought I should stitch the few small holes in the trampolines so I didn’t fall through while working on the fibreglass. Half a day later I have stitched the port trampoline. We need to get another year out of this.<br /><br />So I start dismantling the tramp supports, lying with my feet on the repaired tramp and I feel movement – a new hole forms around my big toe, so I move it and another hole forms. Didn’t even get another day out of the tramps, so Karen’s research was ramped up and new tramps were ordered, measured and delivered by Mum’s birthday 5th December! So looks like we aren’t leaving in late November!<br /><br />Anyway I started work on the narcelle and the anchor set up. To ensure this didn’t happen again, in consultation with another Aussie, Tim on Dominion, I decided to screw stainless steel plates on the front of the narcelle and wrap them around the side and have the tramp attachment eyes captured by it. This was a slow process, rebuilding the fibreglass, shaping and polishing it and then installing the plates and reassembling. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2narcelle.jpg?a=35" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />While I was doing that I also redid the anchor set up to cope with the larger Rocna anchor we had bought in Grenada. In the end it was a nice job with a new scratch plate for the anchor chain that Karen ordered from Amazon.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3Anchor.jpg?a=74" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 352px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Meanwhile the new Tramps arrived from Sunrise Yacht Products in Florida and we got our first door to dock delivery from Sherri, the dockmaster – I think she was trying to convince us to come back next year. It did not take long to get the new tramps on and the boat was looking good.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4Tramps.jpg?a=25" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 789px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />A couple of other things we did, that I don’t think we mentioned was to put a TV on the boat – yes after 5 years of watching movies and TV series on my computer, we succumbed to the draw of the United States of Retail-land and put in a gigantic Naxa 12v TV DVD combo measuring a whopping 22inches! Yes Andie, if you are reading this, my new TV is only half the size of the one you bought off me back in Elsternwick – oh how I have come down in materialism! <br /><br />The installation of the TV was no mean feat! We often watch movies in the cockpit but in the colder weather we like to snuggle up on the couch in the salon and watch in there. It also had to be connected to the stereo (yes not surround sound with a big sub-woofer like back home) so we could hear it over the sounds of the anchorage or marina. It also had to be hard wired to a switch in the control box as well as be out of the way and secure underway. Easy huh! So after a while Karen suggested to mount it on the ceiling in the doorway and we found a mounting bracket on Amazon for $14! After a couple of days swearing as I was running wires through the ceiling, under the floor and from one end of the boat to the other it was installed and working brilliantly!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5TV.jpg?a=18" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We also built new book cases in the owners cabin. Very similar to the ones that are offered as standard on the 420 replacement the 421. We spent weeks trying to source timber from France through the local Lagoon dealer, who was very helpful. In the end we found a local veneer and got it laminated in Florida and shipped to Brunswick. The packaging was extensive on the 8x4ft piece of laminated marine ply – so much so I used it on several projects, as templates for the construction of the cabinets and on jobs on other boats on the dock. In the end, the timber matched well, but we have not yet found a matching finish and we are not sure we ever will, but we are very happy with the results.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6cupboard.jpg?a=90" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 505px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Anyway back to the story. We finally get everything done, new mixers on the exhausts and engines serviced etc and it is just the watermaker to put back together. The new controller is in – tick. It is almost Christmas by now and next I get the pressure vessels apart and start to plan the installations of the new membranes. When I start to reassemble with the instructions from France I notice one of the end caps is cracked. Luckily at this stage I had not opened the membrane packaging so they were still good. But now we had to get the replacement endcap from France replaced by France. Dessalator, once they got back from the holidays and understood the problem, were as usual very quick to sort out the replacement to be shipped from France but we are having a Georgian Christmas! And guess what I got (apart from more boat problems)?<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7Christmas.jpg?a=32" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 524px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Ok a couple of things you might notice about this pic, yes we still get up early to open the pressies, hence the messy hair and the closed eyes, yes we still have champagne with the pressies and yes I am wearing long sleeves – it if bloody cold in Georgia at Christmas. For a while I thought we might have a white Christmas. Oh and I got a Guitar that I now need to learn how to play.<br /><br />We also had the pleasure of watching the Christmas boat parade in Brunswick, which include a lot of local and a couple of cruising boats as well as the local coast guard boat! The winner was a floating Christmas Tree!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8tree.jpg?a=82" style="border-bottom: #ff0000 4px solid; border-left: #ff0000 4px solid; border-right: #ff0000 4px solid; border-top: #ff0000 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So Happy New Year everybody – it is now 2013 and we wait about a week for the replacement part and successfully (we hope as you can’t test the watermaker in the marina) so it is looking like a mid-January exit from Brunswick right? No I got another Christmas present. Karen was doing a stock-take of supplies under the floor (yep that’s where we store stuff – not in the double pull out pantries of old) when she noticed water. That’s right one of the holding tank’s thru hull fitting was weeping, not taking on heaps of water but enough to not want to go too far in too rough conditions. Of course we are too tall to take advantage of the Inter-coastal Waterways so we do have to put out to sea so now I have to find a yard to haul us, organise temporary repairs, figure out how to replace the thru hull fitting and with what and with what dimensions (being in an imperial country with a metric boat). <br /><br />On the advice of the local Lagoon dealer, we find a yard in Cape Canaveral. I do a lot of research on the web and talk to as many people I can, including Tim from Dominion I figure out what to do. I have to make backing plates and epoxy them, I am replacing the Marelon (plastic) thru hull fitting with 2” bronze fittings and hope like hell that this matches up with the 50mm existing piping to the tank and I order everything to be shipped to Brunswick. Meanwhile I get the local dive guy, Lee, to put epoxy putty around the current fitting to get us through to Canaveral (a 2 night sail from Brunswick).<br /><br />We get the parts and spend a couple of days making the backing plates with embedded nuts to mount the sea cock to and wait for weather. We make a couple of trips to the shops and then pack up the van to leave in Brunswick and we plan a mid January departure. Then I look at weather and that mid January departure is today –so we say goodbye to one of the few people still in Brunswick, pay the bill, give up on getting my boat licence from Aus and slip the lines! We really are leaving Brunswick!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Brunswick Landing Marina, GA, USA31.168755494721523 -81.52307509335940931.060049494721522 -81.684436593359408 31.277461494721525 -81.361713593359411tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-39443979245863217952012-10-19T22:33:00.000-07:002014-07-19T07:21:52.146-07:00Back on the Water<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">Due to popular demand (ok 1 complaint on the blog) and after 9 weeks on the road through the Eastern US and Canada we are finally back on the boat and on the blog. It was a great trip, but being on the go just about every day, meant we got back here knackered (for those with limited Australian that means tired). It took about 3 days but then we started compiling “The List”. </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-right: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />Now the boaters will know what the list is – it’s the things we have to do before we can move, and those things we should do before we move and those things we would like to do before we move and those things we are unlikely to do before we leave and those things Karen wants me to do before we leave (and I am unlikely to get round to and will never be forgiven for not doing...). Anyway this is a perpetually growing list and no matter how many things you cross off in a day, there seems to be more on the list at the end of the day! <br /><br />To give you an example, on our list was replacement of our watermaker membranes which meant finding a local supplier (Karen’s job) of the membranes. While Karen was doing this I decided to pull the membranes out from under the guest head (bathroom) floor to make sure there was nothing else I needed – an easy but uncomfortable job requiring 7ft arms. Well to cut it short, yes the end caps were totally corroded and unserviceable. So, on the list simply:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<li>replace the membranes </li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
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became: </div>
<ul>
<li>discuss problem with manufacturer of water maker (as this shouldn’t happen)</li>
<li>argue with manufacturer that there agents installed the membranes under warranty and as this caused the failure repairs should be at their cost</li>
<li>research possible local replacements for the membranes and pressure vessels as the French ones were very expensive</li>
<li>research the possibility of replacing the whole unit with a new one</li>
<li>negotiate an agreeable outcome with manufacturer</li>
<li>order parts</li>
<li>rebuild pressure vessels </li>
<li>replace membranes</li>
</ul>
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We had a similar issue with our last warranty claim with Lagoon – I thought would just be a trip to St Augustine with the boat on our way south to repairs some small cracks in the narcelle (small middle pointy bow of the boat) has become a dismantle of the trampoline and rebuild of the fibreglass work and some stainless reinforcing which will be done here – with me doing a lot of the dismantling and reassembly work. I also noticed that the tramps were starting to fray so Karen got a job of sourcing new tramps for next year while I stitched up the old ones!<br />
<br />
Needless to say, with the other items on the list (maintenance on the engines, replacement of mixing elbows, building new cabinets in the owner’s hull, maintenance on the sailing gear and rigging checks, cleaning and polishing etc etc) it is unlikely we will be leaving Georgia until late November, and then it will be back to the Bahamas for winter.<br />
Meanwhile we are trying to make the most of our time here partaking in the First Friday night entertainment and learning new ways to drink rum aboard John & Jeri’s boat SV Ahyoka. Also, the wayward traveller who went further north this year are on their way south, so we may have visitors.<br />
<br />
The first of them came through this week in their land yacht. Guy, Christine and Princess dropped in and spent 3 days with us with their friends Marcel and Joanne. Guy and Marcel were one of the first people we met when arriving in the Caribbean almost 4 years ago in Martinique. At first I thought they were a gay couple (well there were no girls on the boat at this stage and Guy is a really good cook). But Christine put that thought to rest on Guy and now that I’ve finally met Joanne, Marcel is now in the clear. We spent the weekend touring St Simon’s and Jekyll Island, having a few quiet drinks, lunch at Fins and of course playing Dominos.<br />
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<img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/IMGP3460.jpg?a=56" style="border-bottom: #548dd4 4px solid; border-left: #548dd4 4px solid; border-right: #548dd4 4px solid; border-top: #548dd4 4px solid; height: 423px; width: 650px;" /><br />
<br />
So over the next month I will update the blog for the time between when we left The USVIs. I might do this in a random order as the mood takes me so check the blog out occasionally. </div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Brunswick, GA, USA31.1499528 -81.49148939999997831.0412468 -81.652850899999976 31.258658800000003 -81.330127899999979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-77433727529560853312012-10-04T16:29:00.000-07:002014-07-17T06:44:59.696-07:00Nashville – I could spend forever here (or at least a week or two)<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">It’s been a long road trek and by now we are getting tired of living out of the van and tired in general, so we have decided to leave Graceland and Memphis until next year and concentrate on Nashville before heading home. Karen spends most of the night on the internet in the hotel room searching for a hotel room in or near the centre of Nashville, for a couple of nights, cheap of course but cannot find anything suitable, meanwhile I help out by watching HBO (which I have now decided I am pretty good at).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Next morning, we pack, have breakfast and while Karen has her shower, I take up the task of finding a hotel room for tonight and within 10 minutes I have found the answer, close to town, reasonably priced, and it is “where the stars stay” – the Drake Motel. So I book it for 2 nights – I am not missing Friday night in Nashville...</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1drake.jpg?a=68" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 441px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Not a bad job eh? Historic site etc etc.<br /><br />Anyway after a short drive from Bowling Green we arrive early afternoon and check in next to Dolly Parton (well a life-size signed cut-out of her dedicated to the staff of the Drake anyway) and the girl behind the counter is very friendly and helpful and tells us how to get into the city, and since it is a Jim Beam party weekend, we should wait until a bit later and catch a cab in to see some of it. So we decide to chill in the room and catch up on internet time, some laundry etc before heading into town.<br /><br />The room is unique – Room 107 – “Thing Called Love” Room...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2Drake.jpg?a=93" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3Drake.jpg?a=99" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 442px; width: 650px;" /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">So we decide to find out a bit about this place, what movies where filmed here etc. The first site we hit on was the Trip advisor review site (apparently Sheryl Crow stayed here) </span><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g55229-d98141-Reviews-Drake_Motel-Nashville_Tennessee.html"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g55229-d98141-Reviews-Drake_Motel-Nashville_Tennessee.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> and we were a bit worried about what we had paid for – particularly after reading the one titled “Creepy”, but we payed our money and we thought we would give it one night at least, particularly since we had the room where Sandra Bullock had shot “Thing Called Love” in what I believe was River Pheonix’s last movie. (Later we watched the movie and I can’t say I recognise the room and I thought she stayed in 108, but we had the sign).<br /><br />After getting over the reviews, we caught a cab into town and stopped to check out the prices for the Jim Beam festival – about $80 a day we decided to see what was in town first before committing the cash. We wandered up 2nd street and started our introduction to Nashville in the most appropriate place I could think of – a pub with live music @ 5:30 in the afternoon – The silver Dollar Saloon.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4Silver.jpg?a=42" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5Silver.jpg?a=88" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now the band was okay, the bar wasn’t packed so we thought it had to get better, so we kept wandering past other likely named bars such as The Wild Horse Saloon (where Air Supply with be playing in early October??), Wild Beaver Bar, Doc Hollidays, Coyote Ugly, Buffalo Billiards and BB King’s Blues Club.<br /><br />On the way we hit Rosie’s Bootery to do the necessary boot review and hat try on. I almost cried when I saw the price of boots (3 for the price of 1 or 2/3 off if you didn’t want 3) and thought of how much I paid for my vintage boots back in Prahran that I had just got rid of due to mold, rust on the point and the fact that after 5 years of not wearing shoes they didn’t fit any more.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6boots.jpg?a=88" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I could have had both these snakes skin and alligator boots for less than I paid for my ones back home – but Karen talked me out of buying things that are going to rust and mould on the boat whilst never being worn. A hat now, that’s a different story...</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7hat.jpg?a=69" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Well try as I might, I couldn’t find just the right hat – people always told me I have a big head (my wife in particular), but it is only when you try on 20 hats, that you start to realise what they mean.<br /><br />We skipped BB’s Blues Club as we were in “Country” country after all but did have a look at Coyote Ugly but there was nothing happening there, so we stopped in at Hooters to rest our feet and quench our thirst (mind you my eyes got a fair work out). They must teach the bar maids to lean over every time they talk to you or give you a drink. Fortunately their uniforms are well engineered and nothing falls out.<br /><br />The next bar we saw going past us (yes that’s right – going past us) is, I would have to say quite unique – but seriously seems like just too much work to get a drink. In fact I would expect to get the drinks for free doing this much work!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8peddle.jpg?a=86" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The music coming out of the Benchmark Sports Bar behind us as this was going by sounded quite good so we settled in at the bar to have a listen. I was keen to try the local drink, but thought I had better leave that til later at night.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9moonshine.jpg?a=20" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Well, the music was so good we moved from the bar, to a table and then eventually a booth. We even grabbed a meal while we listened.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10Band.jpg?a=78" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now I swore I would remember these guys were, but it ended up being a long night, so all I can tell you is the two on the left hand end were a couple of song writers, the bass player sorta looked like Bruce Willis and the guy on the cut out acoustic had a name starting with something like R maybe. Anyway, they did have Tex come in and jam for a bit on his sax and his voice would have made Johnny Cash proud.<br /><br />After their session was finished, it was about 10, that’s right already after cruiser’s midnight, so we decided we had better venture down Broadway and visit the honky tonks down there. We queued for a while and made it into one honky tonk just in time to see the band pack up and wait for another to arrive, the second was pretty much the same, but in the queue we did hook up with a bachelorette party from Alabama. A bit disheartened we headed across the road to the Wheel to maybe have one last drink and here we were not disappointed – the band was great and the singer was a very talented and looked a lot like a girl I had a crush on in high school (heck maybe it was her grand-daughter), so we stayed there until they were packing up.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11singer.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 379px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />But now that I look at the picture in the light – she looks nothing like her....<br /><br />Now you are probably think old folk like us would be ready to head off to bed by now , but when we left the Benchmark, we were told that the best drummer in Nashville was playing in the next band Chris Somebody or other. Now being an ex-drummer from the Toogoolawah State Primary School Recorder Band, I thought it was a must we went back and saw him perform. So well after normal mid-night we trekked back to 2nd Street.<br /><br />Here the band was more metal than country, so it wasn’t what we came for but the drummer did give a 10min solo in the song or two that we caught which was pretty amazing. I tried to video it but the pocket camera didn’t really capture it well. When he played just the bass it was pretty unbelievable.<br /><br />Anyway then it was time to stroll back down Broadway and catch a cab home. Needless to say, I slept well, never felt like people were looking over me nor did I hear the hookers next door – if there were any.<br /><br />Saturday, after a gradual rise from the comfy bed, we decided today was the day for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and Studio B, maybe the Ryman. Before we left we checked out what was on at the Grand Ole Opry and found Loretta Lynn playing so I spent some time trying to get tickets but lucked out. So it was onto a bus and into the city again.<br /><br />We hit the museum and was told that the Studio B tour was full so we booked for Sunday and took off through the Museum, which believe it or not was full of country music memorabilia, guitars pianos, costumes and of course boots. There was even the Man in Black’s black stuff. Luckily, to keep Karen interested there was also Elvis’ Solid Gold Cadillac.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/12elvis.jpg?a=61" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 454px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />And Webb Pierce’s customized convertible – check the silver guns out!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/13webb.jpg?a=84" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After the museum we decided to just check out a couple of bars and get a bite to eat before having a quiet night in at the Drake so we headed to Hooters for a drink (don’t know why Karen wanted to go there again), then a couple of sets at BB King's Blues Club and had some Mexican on 2nd Street after trying to find just the right hat for me. No luck with the hat unfortunately.<br /><br />Sunday it was up early and into town for the Studio B tour – there was some sort of football game on so parking was a bit hard but we managed and arrived with plenty of time for the tour bus walking past bars that were already open, full and with live music. Now Studio B is nothing to look at, but it has a pretty amazing history having seen Elvis, Dolly, Waylon, Willie, Charlie and the Everly Brothers record here. Over 35,000 songs recorded and over 10,000 of those Top 10. Elvis alone recorded over 100 hits in this little space. A lot of the equipment is still in place and it is still being used today. In fact I got to sit at (and pretend to play) the same piano that Elvis used in all his recordings!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/14piano.jpg?a=31" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 640px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Nashville was great, could have spent a lot more time here, but it was time to move on to get to Chattanooga by sunset. We tried a couple of camp sites on the way as it was getting warmer again but we didn’t do so good and ended up in a hotel room just north west of Chattanooga near Ruby Falls.<br /><br />Ruby Fall is an underground water fall, about 1000 feet below the surface. We took a lift down to the falls in a small group of about 12 people and trekked underground to the falls. You can tell people that cave obviously are very special when you look at the named formations like “Donkey”.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/15Donkey.jpg?a=77" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 853px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Apart from that Ruby Falls was pretty spectacular – particularly with the lighting in the chamber.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/16RubyFalls.jpg?a=62" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />From there it was onto Chattanooga to check out the Choo Choo (apparently a significant part of the Civil War). We arrived at the transit station to get the electric shuttle into town and it was then I realised I truly was in America.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/17America.jpg?a=76" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 438px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />$345 for a basic divorce and it is done – just dial 1-800-DIVORCE!<br /><br />Chattanooga was a pretty little river town, but after lunch there was not a lot to keep us there with the boat calling out to us, so we hopped the shuttle back to the van and started the last leg of the trip to Brunswick – of course there was one more hotel room and just one little margarita on the way<br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/18margarita.jpg?a=57" style="border-bottom: #244061 4px solid; border-left: #244061 4px solid; border-right: #244061 4px solid; border-top: #244061 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /></span> </span><br />
COMMENT:<div>
AUTHOR: paula </div>
<div>
DATE: 11/19/2012 10:11:22 AM </div>
<div>
Thanks Guys for the blog makes me want to go to nashville. hey Matt r u still listening to 3RRFM as you have been mentioned on Brian Wise's show recently <br />
take care Pxxx</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Nashville, TN, USA36.166667 -86.78333299999997135.756567999999994 -87.428779999999975 36.576766 -86.137885999999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-7664653887666109392012-07-31T16:56:00.000-07:002014-07-17T06:49:42.669-07:00Road Trip America <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">Right, got the van with a mattress in the back, a tent, an esky (cooler for the local folks, chully ben for the kiwis and I don’t think the poms need one for warm beer) full of food and bevvies and a plan! We’re off to see 6000 miles of East Coast America and Canadia! Head south down the I95, turn right to Louisiana, north to Memphis, up to Wisconsin across the border to Canada across to Quebec and down through Maine, NY, DC and the Carolinas. We’re gonna see it all, Graceland, Corvette Factory, Manhattan, the Smithsonians – the lot. Everything that pops up in popular novels is on the list.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />So we get about 10 miles out of town at the junction of the I95 and stop for petrol (gas for the local folks) and it is still bloody hot – over 100F and we muse – “do we really want to head south in this heat??” A quick show of hands and our plan has gone out the window – that’s the driver’s side window as it is the only window that opens on the van – and we decide to turn right on the I95 and reverse our trip. Now this won’t surprise anyone who knows us or has been following the blog, but really 10miles out of 6000 – that’s 0.16%???!!! But if we had of stuck with a plan we would have turned left in the St Vincent Strait into the Med 5 years ago!<br /><br />We bypassed Savannah (been there, done that) and headed straight for the Carolinas –first stop Hilton Head Island SC, a resort island with long beaches and a nice village. So nice beach, hot chicks<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1chick.jpg?a=29" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 896px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /> ... but when you are greeted on the beach by a sign like this, we didn’t feel like staying (notice it doesn’t say no fire arms).<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2sign.jpg?a=94" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So we took off in search of more gas and ended up staying our first night in Hardeeville SC in a Cleanstay USA which was anything but. Fortunately $30 is not much to pay for grime. <br /><br />Things started looking up on day 2 as we headed into Beaufort (pronounced Boofort) SC, not to be confused with Beaufort (pronounced Beaufort) NC. This is a pretty little Southern town with history surrounding you, with cast signs indicating when went on when. The old houses, some dating from around 1810 seemingly inviting you onto the porch for an iced tea – although I ended up paying for mine in a cafe in town.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3house.jpg?a=3" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 570px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Of particular interest was St Helena’s Church which was established in 1712, but suffered badly in a Yamassee Indian attack in 1715 (now we are talking – Indians!) and was rebuilt in 1724. It was then used by the British as a stable in the Revolutionary War and a hospital in the Civil War and the graveyard houses 2 British officers and 3 American Generals. Indeed in the graveyard you see American and Confederate flags flying side by side on the graves.(American’s history seems dominated by wars... )<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4grave.jpg?a=36" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 730px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />From Beaufort we continued heading north and set up camp just south of Charleston, trying out the tent we had bought with us from Aus, which still seemed to be waterproof and yes - that is Karen in the wilderness on the internet.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5tent.jpg?a=97" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 443px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We spent a day wandering around Charleston – so much history and grand houses, it was amazing. We toured 2 of the houses, The Rhett-Aitken house (c1820) and one other. There truly are so many sights that in the end they all melded into one and I can’t recall the name of the house we saw, but it did have a nice garden if that is a clue to anyone. In fact I can’t even recall lunch or what beer I had with it – but I am sure that happened too. No wait, we went to an Irish pub in town and had some great fish and chips (fush & chups to the Kiwis) and of course a pint or two of Guinness – well Karen had a Sav Blanc actually. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6Rhetthouse.jpg?a=73" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 445px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The Rhett house was in pretty much original condition (i.e. it had not been renovated so we saw potential) and came complete with stable and a lady’s and a gentleman’s buggy and reasonably intact slaves quarters, so it gave a reasonable impression on how the other half lives in the day. <br /><br />We wandered the waterfront and took the free bus rides and were fairly tired by the time we made it back to the campsite (via Wal-Mart to buy a fan as it was still stinking hot). But of course no day would be complete without a game of Mexican Train Dominos!<br /><br />Well our strategy of heading north to get cooler wasn’t working so we took to the hills. The Smokey Mountains in fact. It was a long drive up the hills from Charleston to Cherokee, but one that did achieve the aim – cooler weather. Cherokee is on the western end of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and an interesting town for a boy who grew up on F Troop, Dan’l Boon, Tonto and Kimosabi (apparently meaning “chicken shit” is some Indian language I am lead to believe) but not really knowing a Cherokee from a Sioux. This really was an enlightening place – the home of the Cherokee. Now what I knew from TV looked like this...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7Indian.jpg?a=56" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 640px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />... and there were a couple of guys dressed like this singing and drumming for the tourists (sorry about the quality of the photo). And I wanted one of these to fight the Indians...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8holster.jpg?a=6" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />... the holster, not the beer gut. Although it doesn’t look right with boardies and thongs (flip flops for the locals, Jandels for the Kiwis and from my experience the Poms only wear sandals and socks) although the beer gut does sort of fit in. But here in Cherokee we learnt about the “Trail of Tears” when the Cherokee Indians were marched (displaced) to the plains and about Sequoyah, the Cherokee that developed the Cherokee alphabet which if I am correct is one of the few, if not the only written First Nation Languages in existence.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9Sequoyah.jpg?a=39" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We also saw the modern side of Cherokee, visiting Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort where Kenny Rogers still performs...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10Casino.jpg?a=41" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 981px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />By this stage we are following one of Lonely Planet’s “USA’s Best Trips” and since were so close, we should take a trip through the National Park to Tennessee and visit a must see town of Gatlinburg “where Heidi meets Hillbilly” and “Dollywood” and at least see the sign (as I couldn’t convince Karen that we really needed to go there). We visited the town, couldn’t find a park, and couldn’t see what the fuss about a fake looking Alpine town in the middle of America was so headed onto Pigeon Forge for Dollywood. We went up Dollywood Ln, Dollywood Blvd, past the Dollywood Express (steam train) and found the Dollywood car park but alas no sign, so it was back to the caravan park.<br /><br />Unfortunately, we learnt a couple of other things in Cherokee that were not really so much fun. Firstly our tent, carried from Australia and stored on the boat for 5 years and despite several coats of silicone spray, did in fact leak... a lot... no a real lot. Secondly Karen and Matt were the names of our seemly unusual camping neighbour’s “mortal enemies” – her words not ours... a little bit kooky, a little bit spooky... Time to move on we thought – and probably stay in a hotel to dry out the tent.<br /><br />Before we left, I did something I had not had to do since I owned my first new car – a Seat Cordoba no less – and that was to check under the bonnet (hood for the locals and I have no idea what the Kiwis call it) and bugger me (don’t know if the locals have a term for that or if I just made them blush, the Kiwis will understand it and I think the Poms invented it) the coolant expansion cap had gone walkabout (not there for the locals, gone to Bondi for the Kiwis) so it was off in search of a wrecker (junk yard for the locals and “the backyard for the Kiwis – boy am I gonna be in trouble if I ever stop in NZ) to replace it. But apparently, since the cash for clunker program, these are a bit rare so we had to head to Ashville to try and find one. In my second unsuccessful visit, I noticed that they had a full set of Australian number plates (tags for the locals) 1 from each State including the ACT. Now I was impressed and asked Karen to go back in and take a photo for me. But Karen was more impressed by the Taxidermy and this is what I ended up with.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11heads.jpg?a=81" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So our first week on the road ends up at the beginning of our Blue Ridge adventure in a Dodge dealer, buying an expensive coolant cap, trying to convince them that we don’t need a complete service on our 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan (complete with mattress is the back and close to 200k miles on the clock). </span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Blue Ridge Parkway, Vinton, VA 24179, USA37.2896554 -79.852971934.0295374 -85.0165459 40.5497734 -74.6893979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-19653904577706745662012-02-16T13:16:00.000-08:002014-07-17T07:04:59.774-07:00Finally we are going to the BVIsNow we had heard a lot about them – the British Virgins, but we had never met them. They are supposed to be beautiful full of nice little cosy places to hide away... but you will never be alone, there is always someone coming along to snuggle up to these beautiful British Virgins, and from what we have been told – it is mainly charterers with all the known dangers associated with them – poor anchoring, aggressive mooring techniques and a certain agenda that doesn’t warrant or care about making sure their boat is securely hooked before departing for the bar.<br />
<br />“Not to worry” we said and invited Jon and Sam (Imagine of Falmouth) over for drinks and nibbles to tell us all about it – and it did sound nice. So the first good weather window we checked out of St Martin and did an overnight to Virgin Gorda. It was a beautiful, fast, downwind sail with a couple of gibes thrown in to keep us on our toes during the night and we arrived at Spanish Town Virgin Gorda and dropped anchor in a notoriously “bad holding” anchorage. Then we sat down and waited our hour to see we were holding before we headed ashore to clear in. So as not to waste this time, we checked for internet and got our emails. We got one from Rob and Kathy (Quetico) who had arrived in Virgin Gorda a couple of days ahead of us. It said BVIs are nice but crowded with charterers in every anchorage they tried to visit so they took off to St John’s USVIs.<br /><br />As we were reading this a charter boat came in to the anchorage, proceeded to the small opening in front of us, threw all their chain over the bow, turned the engines off without pulling back, got in the dinghy and went ashore without even looking behind at us.<br /><br />Well this and Quetico’s email convinced us this was not the place for us and we hauled anchor and motored around to the leeward side of St John’s and took a mooring in Caneel Bay. It was peaceful heaps of room and we knew that we had made the right decision, despite having only motored through all the beautiful British Virgins.<br /><br />We got Debbie down and hightailed it around to Border Protection offices in Cruz Bay and checked into the US Virgins instead. After checking in, we decided we deserved a nice cold Margarita to finish the day off nicely and we did.<br />The next two days were spent exploring Cruz Bay (shops and restaurants). We thought the church parking bays we particularly well signed.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1sign.jpg?a=97" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 1024px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After lunch we ran into Dave and Colleen (Promise) and we all caught the bus around to Coral Bay and watched Colleen and Dave have their lunch at a bar there. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_promise1.jpg?a=97" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />There was not much else to see there, so having been there, done that and bought the T shirt, we headed back to our boat and got ready to head to St Thomas for some more shopping.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_tshirt.jpg?a=77" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />In St Thomas we did the usual, Kmart, Home Depot and Cost U Less and relaxed a bit at the bars at the Marina, where we caught up with Rob and Kathy. Then before we left there was one more unusual stop... an Ice Bar! If anyone had told me I would be dressing in a parka in the tropics, I would have thought them mad... but here I am.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Ice1.jpg?a=44" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 1112px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The bar was full of ice sculptures, of both local legend, Pirates and Nordic Adventurers (including Santa Claus) and all bathed in an eerie purple, blue and green light.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_ice2.jpg?a=53" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 546px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Karen was lining up next year’s presents with Santa whilst I was checking out the mermaids. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Ice3.jpg?a=21" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 1047px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Of course it was only right that we sampled the local flavoured rum (it was included in the price of entry) so we selected the vanilla rum which even Karen enjoyed.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_Ice4.jpg?a=35" style="border-bottom: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-left: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-right: #00b0f0 4px solid; border-top: #00b0f0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
COMMENT: <div>
AUTHOR: Silke & Patrick </div>
<div>
URL: http://www.la-palma-sailing.com </div>
<div>
DATE: 5/13/2012 8:02:05 AM </div>
<div>
great to hear from you guys! keep on posting!</div>
<div>
<br />
we'll leave for Azores next week to spend our "summer hols" there (till beginning of August), if you like - follow our blog. great waters! <br />
"big plans" are still on for beginning next year.... keep in touch! XX<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Andrew & Janice<br />
DATE: 10/15/2012 8:29:05 AM<br />
So...where are you now, how are we going to sail vicariously if you are not blogging - hope all is well Janice and Andrew (Melbourne)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0St. John 00830, USVI18.349033074082303 -64.78059024218748618.318892074082303 -64.820930742187485 18.379174074082304 -64.740249742187487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-20642993875505102732012-02-09T13:05:00.000-08:002014-07-18T05:44:02.120-07:00Sint Marteen or Bust... and Bust it was!Well we
finally made it to Sint Maarten after a fantastic overnight sail from Guadeloupe where
we spent New Year. The wind was on the beam for the whole way and shifted with us as we
turned around the top of Nevis. If not for the fluky winds (it varied from 4 knots to 30
knots over the night) and the bumpy seas as we left Deshaies it would have been a
perfect sail!<br />
<br />
Now I will be upfront here and say, that since I didn’t write a
blog about Sint Marteen or St Martin last year, when we had spent 2 months there, this
blog will combine some reminiscing from our previous visit.<br />
<br />
Also you must know
something about Sint Marteen and my wife to understand why we stay so long. St Marteen
is duty free on the Dutch side and the winter home for a lot of cruisers getting work
done on the boat. It is also easy to shop in the States (say on eBay) and import them at
very low cost. Karen is a shop-aholic. She doesn’t have to buy big or expensive or
anything sometimes, just to be shopping is the need. Barely a day goes buy where she
can’t find a reason to try and buy something. So we have lots of friends here and good
happy hours and you can shop alot...You can see where this is going can’t you.
<br />
<br />
So let me give you a brief look at our stay last year (on the way south from
Barbuda). We got here with the plan to spend a couple of weeks here before heading west
to BVIs, Cuba and Louisiana and onto the Western Caribbean. We decided to stay in
Simpson Bay outside the bridge for 2 reasons – one it is pretty, clean and you can swim
and make water, two we have an aversion to anything solid (like a bridge) near our
boat.<br />
<br />
Well within the first week we found out it was easy to import stuff using
Safe Cargo Services at the airport so we headed out and set up an account. We then spent
our mornings in McDonalds using the internet and eating hash browns ordering anything we
could think of off ebay and Amazon and various other vendors and had them shipped in.
This included:<br />
<br />
* An extra solar panel<br />
* A new solar hot water collector<br />
* A
new recirculating pump<br />
* A cruising guide to Gulf of Mexico and one for Belize and
Mexico<br />
* A set of radio headsets so we don’t have to yell at each other (which to
date we don’t use as we must like yelling at each other too much)<br />
* Ink for the new
wireless printer (which we bought locally)<br />
* A new internet booster antenna (the
bullet) and associated bits and pieces<br />
* A new central vacuum for the cleaner
in the family<br />
* Some new downlights<br />
* A chain stopper<br />
* A new fan<br />
<br />
And
they’re only the things I can remember 9 months later. We also bought Karen a new
computer and the printer, went shopping in back street and bought shampoo, hair
treatment, conditioner, placenta (don’t ask me what that is about – but it is necessary)
and vitamins to name a few. So all this shopping and waiting for deliveries extended our
2 week stay to two months and we decided to skip heading west and head back down to
Grenada for another season.<br />
<br />
Don’t get me wrong, we did do other things than shop
– but I just needed a bit more time to remember them as they weren’t quite as
significant as the shopping or so it seems.<br />
<br />
We did to Sunday lunch with Ricky and
Colin at the Sunset bar watching the planes land over the beach. When I saw the internet
pictures of this beach / airport combination, I thought they were photo-shopped – but no
it is true. The planes land just over the beach.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicblTShevIr4nrfdgnLAcXCdWVuvoccbShnbjfQRsAtbj0Q44Ib3eJuyFRivkwLXl8FjVHhhxtsiJ4WVE2hjhdiW9klaHHXMfgiwjUgzX-qSDPzO_7jbTZepj96Dl2fjIUDX3K9pa-PSG_/s1600/1.Airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicblTShevIr4nrfdgnLAcXCdWVuvoccbShnbjfQRsAtbj0Q44Ib3eJuyFRivkwLXl8FjVHhhxtsiJ4WVE2hjhdiW9klaHHXMfgiwjUgzX-qSDPzO_7jbTZepj96Dl2fjIUDX3K9pa-PSG_/s1600/1.Airport.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
People hang on the fence or stand on the beach to take photos in the jet
wash. I even saw people park their cars on the road between the beach and the runway and
get them sand blasted in the jet wash (rentals obviously). What idiots! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vMnK6jEzidppBrNJQJ1pMlelJGd1RRQeJpmr81Hf_ls4A-kekhRRtLGb_J4GIqn_sFuPw7LTf56ivX3LyAEG4Y-tA0Kcv84An-drRErC8ImZ9QE1j3pzQDSwS5lGsLuKqUUzl9mEd3XT/s1600/1a.+Airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7vMnK6jEzidppBrNJQJ1pMlelJGd1RRQeJpmr81Hf_ls4A-kekhRRtLGb_J4GIqn_sFuPw7LTf56ivX3LyAEG4Y-tA0Kcv84An-drRErC8ImZ9QE1j3pzQDSwS5lGsLuKqUUzl9mEd3XT/s1600/1a.+Airport.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So I had to try it.... I stood just over the road from a smallish jet and
had my camera at the ready. As the plane took off, unfortunately my hat and then my
sunglasses got blown off but I toughed it out and snapped away and this was the
result...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR8xnUVmH36K587OGik37VaJE5Qg70GTiB9JZbdQ2YO9-WY4NDM4uxmWORohezXJb17y9CfwvaMoiANwlpLySZ9rpsZUYEx28Qxw1ikZDnMelm9D9tifE-YCgK5qivVAtfpC1KXKzWxd6/s1600/2.+Airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR8xnUVmH36K587OGik37VaJE5Qg70GTiB9JZbdQ2YO9-WY4NDM4uxmWORohezXJb17y9CfwvaMoiANwlpLySZ9rpsZUYEx28Qxw1ikZDnMelm9D9tifE-YCgK5qivVAtfpC1KXKzWxd6/s1600/2.+Airport.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Yes that is my stomach and foot. I did get another
clearly focussed photo of just the sand but I thought this one was more interesting...
Anyway lunch was good and if the girls drink topless at the bars they drink for free.
But alas there were no game birds there this day.<br />
<br />
We also hired a car and tripped
round the island, visiting Cost U Less, Back Street, Ace (there’s that shopping again)
and Orient Beach where all the beautiful people go. I found one beautiful person there
(apart from Karen) and unfortunately she was the only one with her clothes on.
<br />
<br />
We also were lucky enough to be there for Carnival on the French side, and
although it was much smaller than the Grenada Carnival, the fun was still
there.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzufxYllYWcOoqsaToy-1Z_1B0L39MnuyuXx_T9-Ed1co82YTQZKZxeubKwJcLl__QJF2wPRdKrIlSRK_tsiQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Karen was also big on Sunday
Dominos with the ladies (where she managed to organise the sale of Libertas to one of
the yacht club members back home) and I went wandering through the streets and up to
Fort Louis.<br />
<br />
The Heineken regatta was underway when we arrived so we managed to
watch bits and pieces of that as well.<br />
<br />
With all this under the belt on our first
visit, I thought that we should be right for a quick visit, but shopping got in the way
again. Apart from stocking up on rum, wine, cigarettes, which is a must in St Martin, we
managed to need new anchor chain which we got shipped in from Sherri at Wholesale Yacht
Parts in Grenada (cheapest chandlery in the Caribbean and servicing all islands <a href="mailto:sherri@wholesaleyachtparts.com">sherri@wholesaleyachtparts.com</a> ) and
charts for our trip to New York. So the quick visit ended up lasting a month. And with
the sightseeing out of the way there was only one thing to do (apart from shop) – party!
<br />
Friday night bridge openings at the yacht club, dinner out every now and then, happy
hours at Barnacles and Lagoonies, lunch at Buccaneers and of course Dominos every Sunday
(or any day Karen could fanangle it) on Princess of Tides with Christine, Guy, Bill and
his girlfriend Princess.<br />
<br />
There was of course Australia Day as well. Overseas,
this appears to be a day were everyone excuses Australians from drinking lots of beer
and being boisterous – actually that sounds like every other day since I hit the
Caribbean. But no – this was even bigger! The mega yacht marina held a night at the bar
(probably because so many of the crew are young Australians just like me) which included
pie eating and beer eating contests! I missed the pie eating contest, but my English
mates Steve and Sim entered but I think they missed the point (or did they). Disregarding
the objective of eating two pies and downing a pot of beer as quick as possible – these
two sat back and had a leisurely free dinner.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94Ev4NflVhmp1Eyqy5GvpZE5R9waZ0R37ZBG4QfFLMRwE4IJkkMJ73VZYw0wRAYB2EiEaGmgg78eA086MXaQ8bQRU9t37cRk35AVktRi6peMRrZaSI7pqBWhG3XQ3enCNqd7gcSMyfTqn/s1600/3.+Pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh94Ev4NflVhmp1Eyqy5GvpZE5R9waZ0R37ZBG4QfFLMRwE4IJkkMJ73VZYw0wRAYB2EiEaGmgg78eA086MXaQ8bQRU9t37cRk35AVktRi6peMRrZaSI7pqBWhG3XQ3enCNqd7gcSMyfTqn/s1600/3.+Pie.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I got serious and recruited a fierce team for the beer drinking
competition, Steve, Rosie, Jon, Sam and Captain Matt<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZKhkWnsc9wNR5E6bvV5L59stEylkJc01FR_boq_levmRlvp0_y5dUdsOhVIO53KXxNrekqzxn4e-j2Hc1ShNdZXK1x3l8GtwgALiNagBxl8erpFjufMONceoGWPMAAYEcbDnBuI27lPa/s1600/4.+Team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ZKhkWnsc9wNR5E6bvV5L59stEylkJc01FR_boq_levmRlvp0_y5dUdsOhVIO53KXxNrekqzxn4e-j2Hc1ShNdZXK1x3l8GtwgALiNagBxl8erpFjufMONceoGWPMAAYEcbDnBuI27lPa/s1600/4.+Team.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Well despite all the team talks, warm up beers, and many more years of
experience than our opposition we lost. Sam(antha) and Rosie put up a good show but of
course us boys let them down....<br />
For some unknown reason (mainly because I instigated
it) I got recruited into another team to challenge the winners, but somehow I got stuck
with this attractive, blonde, well endowed team mate, who said she had never drunk beer,
doesn’t like beer, can’t imagine why she would want to drink beer but was oh so keen to
be in a beer drinking competition. (She’s the one next to me on the right if my
description is bit off)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnHuDt6lyta3APcuAEHaSNOrQvIr5Zqm6735U12LdYGRW5aV07JOnvllKduVMt4efm-4x6SiXVoPxYOByC8r_GYXIbiGF73PgVV_dNGjNgjgdCtJDESn4UERMdVq2dP70aY5px6uz2qwfo/s1600/5.+Team+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnHuDt6lyta3APcuAEHaSNOrQvIr5Zqm6735U12LdYGRW5aV07JOnvllKduVMt4efm-4x6SiXVoPxYOByC8r_GYXIbiGF73PgVV_dNGjNgjgdCtJDESn4UERMdVq2dP70aY5px6uz2qwfo/s1600/5.+Team+2.jpg" height="258" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Well we lost again, although she seemed to have a
lovely time and hugged me forever after we lost – in fact I had to tell her my wife had
a knife before she would let me go – I haven’t lost my charm – drunk girls still like
me!<br />
<br />
After 2 dismal showings in the beer drinking competition (4 free beers), we
decided to call it a night (but not before Karen lifted the “Wombat Next 5km” decoration
to be used on our boat next year.<br />
<br />
St Martin is a very easy place to stay,
particularly for a shopaholic cruiser and just as difficult place to leave. But we have
many miles to go to get to the Bahamas and eventually to New York this summer so all
good things must come to an end so it is off to the Virgin Islands again. Here is
something to ponder until the next time I write...<br />
<br />
If this is my second time in
the Virgins, can they still be Virgins?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0St Maarten18.035139375547342 -63.09677279453126217.914350875547342 -63.25813429453126 18.155927875547341 -62.935411294531264tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-31411504698971562642012-01-08T09:40:00.000-08:002014-07-18T05:51:48.478-07:00New Year in Guadaloupe.... again<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">That’s right, we have only had half a holiday season in an English speaking country since we left home, (Year 1 – Baiona – Spain/ Cascais - Portugal, Year 2 – Canary Islands – Spain, Year 3 – Puerto Rico, Year 4 – Dominica (English with a twist) / Guadaloupe, Year 5 – French West Indies), but everyone still enjoys it much the same way with fireworks on New Year’s Eve and lots of partying. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><br />One downside to cruising is cruiser’s midnight which falls at 2100hours when most cruisers fall asleep. This does tend to preclude at least some from truly celebrating NYE properly, and again I was alone on deck to watch the fireworks in the Saintes harbour. We had planned to be well north of here for NYE but we decided to hide from a largish NNE swell here on the new mooring bouys (€60 a week for us) but did not dodge the swells at all! This resulted in a rather bumpy week where a lot of reading and not much else was achieved.<br /><br />The Saintes is a pretty little group of islands south of Guadaloupe with a character all of its own. Definitely French, with baguettes and accras de morue for lunch and the harbour neighbourhood starts to get dotted with small cruise ships many of them sail powered and some square rigged. <br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1boat.jpg?a=50" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1aboat.jpg?a=21" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 402px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="color: #548dd4;">Staadt Amsterdam<br /></span></em>They did make me appreciate just how easy it was to sail our boat – certainly couldn’t do what this lady did!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2sail.jpg?a=30" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 975px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3sail.jpg?a=91" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 975px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So we had a restful week, dining out, and relaxing and as a challenge I baked a banana loaf using Dinah’s (Evergreen) recipe and boy was it good!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4bread.jpg?a=89" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />On the sixth day we could take the rolly anchorage no longer and dropped the mooring lines and headed for Deshaies. As usual the winds were fluky coming up the lee of Guadaloupe, motoring, motor-sailing and sailing at various time. But of course the wind shot up to 30knots as we rounded up into the bay and after a quick and nervous once round the anchorage we anchored out the back in about 10m of water. Our new Rocna grabbing quickly, thank god!<br /><br />We decided to wait for a nice weather window to go straight to Sint Maarten as it looked like the swell and predominant winds was going to rule out the planned visit to Monserrat again – so we sat back and relaxed, taking advantage of our familiarity with Deshaies to do very little. The most adventurous we got was to dress up in our new Christmas presents and head to Grand Anse for lunch and a day on the beach. The swells were large and breaking on the beach, so a swim was crossed off the agenda and a longer lunch was the order of the day! And we deserved it as the walk to the beach took about an hour each way (and there were hills in both directions!)<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5Karen.jpg?a=60" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />On the way to the beach we did stop in the local supermarket for a bottle of water (yes I do drink water as well) and were surprised to find a familiar advert – kinda makes you homesick doesn’t it...<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6smokes.jpg?a=96" style="border-bottom-color: #ffff00; border-left-color: #ffff00; border-right-color: #ffff00; border-top-color: #ffff00; height: 493px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /> Anyway, it looks like tonight is the night we bid farewell to the Guadaloupe for the last time (probably, maybe, who knows...) and head off to St Maarten.</span><br />
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COMMENT: <div>
AUTHOR: Silke </div>
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URL: http://www.la-palma-sailing.com </div>
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DATE: 2/7/2012 5:01:10 PM </div>
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great post - great to hear from you! all the best and please keep posting! huge hugs from La Palma xx
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COMMENT: </div>
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AUTHOR: Mum </div>
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DATE: 2/9/2012 1:18:57 AM </div>
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Great to get your BLOG Matt. Great photos as usual</div>
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COMMENT: </div>
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AUTHOR: Alison </div>
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DATE: 2/10/2012 6:37:51 AM </div>
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Love the Christmas outfit Karen, it looks almost like winter gear for cruisers. Al x</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Deshaies, Guadeloupe16.305641395576814 -61.79946899414062516.244674395576812 -61.880149994140623 16.366608395576815 -61.718787994140627tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-21830942776216229372011-12-23T09:58:00.000-08:002014-07-19T10:53:48.097-07:00So it is Christmas, and what have we done<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">It has been awhile since I have written, as (the) one avid reader pointed out to Karen in his Christmas email, but you must understand that it has been hurricane season in the Caribbean and that means just one thing – lots of parties with friends we may have only seen once or twice over the past twelve months. But I am probably jumping ahead of myself, there were a lot of miles covered between Guadaloupe and here so I will give a quick rundown on our trip before explaining Grenada in Hurricane season.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE31dm3GDkglPj7S0_wFLhUxHCCTGqdQR0WDtSIvQo5ypvW0uYOxHtvGzHMTG_a_CcYVbCB2_AlZUOBBKuSIcdh8GhFI2_h2uf4n_un2cqlLsQWHLJqrwNN8pAIAjKu-EU6I9efG64s8cs/s1600/6.+Suzie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE31dm3GDkglPj7S0_wFLhUxHCCTGqdQR0WDtSIvQo5ypvW0uYOxHtvGzHMTG_a_CcYVbCB2_AlZUOBBKuSIcdh8GhFI2_h2uf4n_un2cqlLsQWHLJqrwNN8pAIAjKu-EU6I9efG64s8cs/s1600/6.+Suzie.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suzy in action</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><strong>Dominica</strong><br /><br />Dominica was beautiful as always with the added bonus of duty free fuel! We checked into Portsmouth and ordered fuel for Tuesday morning at the cruise ship terminal. They recommended taking the boat over but one look at the dock told us we were not going to do that. It had big black tractor tyres and I have a little white boat (at least compared to the size of the dock and the tractor tyres). We dinghied over to the dock with our 220l of Gerry cans at the allotted time and waited... and waited.... Thinking this was just island time, we weren’t too distressed but after half an hour we found the security guard and he called the fuel guy. The fuel guys was looking for our big boat and failed to see little Debbie from his pushed back chair at the main commercial dock on the other side of the bay (no wonder) so he would be there in an hour (as the clouds started to build over the island). It poured down as we waited for the fuel guy to arrive and fortunately it stopped while he filled the 10 gerries, but then it bucketed down while I ferried the 2 loads of gerrys (and Karen) the ½ mile back to the boat.<br /><br />Once we were fuelled and stowed it was off to Roseau to snorkel Champagne, an underwater gas outlet for the local volcano. Unfortunately after three days waiting for clear weather to be able to see the bubbles we gave up and checked out to head for Martinique. <br /><br /><strong>Martinique</strong><br /><br />We high-tailed it down to Grande Anse on the south west coast and found a nice spot to anchor. Dived the anchor and it looked set to hold so we hunkered down for a nice night and then to see if we could check in there the next day. The quiet night was not to be. A 54ft motor boat came and anchored in front of us (not to close so no problem), but at 4am I woke and looked up to see it’s stern swinging about 4ft from our starboard bow. Jocks on, yelling at Karen to help, I was up on the bow holding the boat off and we tried to wake the occupants. We managed to wake the crew but not the skipper before it had smashed into both bows and got its stern-drives caught inside our anchor bridle! By this stage I had climbed down onto the other boats swim platform to keep it off our boat so the crew could wake the skipper who was locked inside the boat!<br /><br />By carefully driving forward with one stern drive and then stopping, we were able to take the tension off the bridle and let it drop before motoring away from our baby and re-anchoring the stink boat. At this stage it was too dark to see what damage the loud crack I heard was associated with so we agreed to meet the next morning to look at the damage. I then asked for a lift back to my boat as I was sure Karen might be a bit anxious on the boat alone with a possibly compromised anchor. The skipper, looked a bit put out by my request but acquiesced and told his crew to lower the dinghy and take me back. After checking the track I managed to get back to sleep to be awoken by Karen at 6am (yes I said Karen woke me at 6am) telling me that the motor boat had done a runner! <br /><br />Well no getting back to sleep then, so p!£$€d off we had breakfast, checked the damage (which was only two small chips in the gel coat) and headed for Le Marin to see our favourite Lagoon Dealer, Hubert to pick up some parts and discuss some minor problems with the boat. Hubert as always was very helpful, had the parts ready and bought a technician out to the boat the next morning and we were ready to go. That is after we had been to Leader Price to stock up on French ham and cheese, red wine and beer!<br /><br /><strong>Bequai</strong><br /><br />Stocked up, we did a two day (over-nighted in the Pitons in St Lucia as Australians still required US$50 Visas to enter St Lucia) sail to Bequai, one of our favourite islands. Of course Evergreen, our Canadian buddies met us in Bequai as they always do. This year we had however radioed them in Rodney Bay St Lucia and they sailed down to Bequai with us – so we now know they don’t just sail around Bequai. We got our dodger (windscreen) repaired here and were shocked by the timeliness of the repair – we took it into Grenadine Sails at 10am to get the zipper replaced and asked how long it would take. Expecting an “Island Time” response we were very pleasantly surprised by the “can you come back at 2” response. I almost let out the “which day are we talking about?” that was in my mind, but sure enough, at 2pm the windscreens were repaired at a reasonable cost and ready to go. I highly recommend these guys!<br /><br />We ate rotis at the Green Boli and celebrated “Canadia Day” by playing Boules (petanque whatever) on Princess Margaret Beach with Evergreen and Quattico wearing Canadia stickers and a moose (Maximillian brought back by Jim and Dinah to travel the world on Where II) on my head! Unfortunately Max got pretty wet as the skies opened up and called the game short due to weather. (Either that or we lost again – can’t quite remember....)<br /><br />Drinks with those guys and Cajun Diva, Daniel Story, Melvin (Aussie Lagoon 37’) and Puddle Jumper on the same beach were also interrupted due to rain – but funnily enough all my rum punch was gone by the end of it.<br /><br />We also ran into a nice couple from Florida (or did they run into us???), once again Where II’s magnetic bows were active at about 0400 in the morning. The bazaar currents had us swinging in one direction and Dave and Colleen swinging in another. I must have had a feeling ‘cause once again I woke just to see their boat cross our bow. Colleen and I managed to keep the boats apart while Dave started the boat and moved to a new spot. We both checked our tracks and neither of us had dragged, but the current had bought us together. Next day, two more boats came and filled the spot Dave had vacated, leaving us with some stressful, sleepless nights.<br /><br /><strong>Union Island</strong><br /><br />From Bequai, Evergreen and Where II sailed us to Chatham Bay in Union Island where we anchored smack bang in the middle of the bay, a little bit away from the resident moored charter boats (This charter company has taste – they are all Lagoons). Despite the offer of free moorings and water if we ate at the resort, we declined the free mooring. A couple of days later, Where II’s magnetism started to show again... The Lagoon 500 moored next to us seemed to be getting closer by Karen’s estimation. We checked our track and we did not seem to be moving, so I jumped in the dinghy and went and had a look - but it was still tied to the mooring so we decided to up anchor and move to a safer distance. While we were doing this, the boat boy looking after the charter boats came and said we were dragging. I told him that I didn’t think we were, but were moving anyway and he should check his mooring. In quick time, he looked at it, shot into shore to get some help to move it to another mooring. He then came back to pick up the mooring line which was attached to nothing!<br /><br />We spent a week in Chatham playing boules and drinking rum punch at Vanessa and Seekie’s beach bar before hauling anchor, checking out and heading to Hillsborough.<br /><br /><strong>Carriacou</strong><br /><br />Once in Hillsborough, we decided to stay put until the Carriacou Regatta week and join in some of the festivities. We also, against common cruising wisdom decided to stay in Hillsborough anchorage as opposed to around the corner in Tyrrel Bay or our favourite, Sandy Island. This seemed fortuitous, as we ran into an Aussie bloke we met 3 years ago at the St Lucia Yacht Club, Edgar Roe. Edgar had taken me sailing on his J24 – Loose Cannon, which had now been sponsored by IGY Marinas – Rodney Bay and had a sparkling new paint job. Edgar asked me to crew for the races which I quickly agreed to. <br /><br />The first race was an around the island 2 handed race, so it was just Edgar and I. I packed up my sailing gear (big floppy hat, sun screen and ½ case of beer – yep I forgot things like gloves deck shoes) and caught a bus round to Tyrrel. I hitched a ride out to Loose Cannon with Terry (Melvin) who had decided since there was only one other multihull in the race to enter his house in the race and at least get a place. Edgar supplied me with the Red team uniform and we did a couple of timing runs to the line and when we had it down pat waited for the hooter and we were away, the first across the line – and then the first beers were cracked!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Edgar.jpg?a=66" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now you can see from the above photo, Edgar is a fairly experienced racing sailor – just by the way he holds his beer - but I should have reminded myself I as a cruiser (on a go-slow catamaran), not a racer as Edgar’s boat did tend to bounce around a bit and lean over making it difficult for a fat slow man to move around and hold his beer at the same time. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_racing.jpg?a=58" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 696px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="font-size: 10px;">Photo courtesy of Dave Wiatt –SV Promise</span></em><br /><br />Never the less, by following one of the locals to find the good water and riding Bloody Mary’s wake we were able to stay with the big boys right up until the windward side of the island, where they started to gain a bit on us, and despite the handicap Edgar had bundled himself with by inviting me along, the J24’s time adjustment meant we won the race by about a minute!</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_Finish.jpg?a=62" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 406px; width: 650px;" /><br /><em><span style="font-size: 10px;">Photo courtesy of Dave Wiatt –SV Promise</span></em><br /><br />As we were sailing through the anchorage (no motor on this boat) we were met by Stefan one of the other crew members who towed us back to his boat with his dinghy. Edgar meanwhile lost his hat (see above picture) and as it was so nice jumped overboard to reclaim it leaving me with a tiller and a dinghy on the hip driven by a German whose second language was English to conduct a man overboard manoeuvre in the anchorage without hitting Spirited Lady. It was a close call but I got Edgar and the hat back. After a bowl of peas soup and a few celebratory drinks ( the half case was gone about ¾ the way round the island) we headed off to the Yacht club for the annual Children’s auction. <br /><br />After checking the weather that evening, Karen and I decided that we should head south on Sunday and needed to get the boat ready on Saturday, which meant missing the second race. But as Edgar pulled Loose Cannon up to Where II he convinced us that, and I quote “But I need the fat boy up the front!” so there was no option and I raced a second time. Unfortunately, the weed that got caught around the rudder negated the benefits of a fat boy up front and we failed to win the second race, narrowly missing out (I am sure). The race around the south of the island was exhilarating, often coming within meters of reefs and at one marker buoy, within millimetres of Bloody Mary and the Robin of Bequai’s boat. I am not sure if Edgar has nerves of steel or is short sighted but it convinced me that I will never take Where II in a race that he is in.<br /><br />Sunday, we packed up and left for Grenada, in what was supposed to be the only wind for the next couple of days. Needless to say, that wasn’t the case and we ended up motoring all the way to St Georges.<br /><br /><strong>Grenada</strong><br />Back to Grenada, our hurricane home for the past two years. We had timed our arrival to coincide with Carnival and had booked in to Port Louis Marina for the carnival special for 5 days to allow our friends Graeme and Linda who were arriving from Aus via the States and Canada to get use to the boat and see as much of carnival easily before taking off back up the Grenadines for a sailing holiday.<br /><br />The first part worked well, be berthed on the super yacht dock (because Where II is super and it gave me more space not to hit anything) and went to check out the pool and surrounds. This was our first relax in a marina since leaving the Canaries and I was looking forward to it. Grae and Linda arrived on schedule with the devastating news that our TimTams had melted on route and had to be thrown out (I still think that the temptation may have been too great for them) but all else was good and they were ready to relax.<br /><br />Linda immediately got into the spirit of things, enjoying the rum punches and the local wild life at Jouvet... what are those two young boys looking at?<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Linda.jpg?a=28" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 735px; width: 650px;" /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst I set Graeme to work on the boat...</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Graeme.jpg?a=66" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />That’s when it had all gone horribly wrong... While we were enjoying carnival, a small sore I had developed on my leg was deciding to have it’s own tropical experience and develop into a boil. So while I was hanging to use the pool and go sailing, my leg had other ideas. After carnival, a trip to the doctor confirmed my diagnosis and I was to be treated every two days for the next two months while this horrible thing grew, festered, was lanced and sucked out then healed. The doc said to keep it dry and stay out of the dinghy as if it gets wet with the warm salt water it will get re-infected. So we were dock-bound, with beautiful showers that I could not enjoy properly and a pool that I could not swim in and a leg with a hole in it the size of Calcutta! Karen wanted me to take some photos, but honestly when I saw what came out of my leg, I didn’t need any photos to remind me.<br /><br />So Linda and Graeme’s sailing holiday turned into a holiday in a marina. Not all was lost, they did get to motor from the Super yacht dock to the main dock on Where II and John and Nancy on SV Silver Seas (a half boat) did take them sailing round to Prickly Bay. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5a_SilverSeas.jpg?a=0" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 3px solid; border-left: #0070c0 3px solid; border-right: #0070c0 3px solid; border-top: #0070c0 3px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Of course the holiday wasn’t a total loss, they did get to met some great people like the intrepid Carnival player Suzie, (See photo at beginning of blog)</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Have barbeques on the beach (we let Heff the Irishman come because he could build a fire and cook the food)</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_BeachBBQ.jpg?a=35" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 466px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />...and general relax and explore Grenada. They said they had a great time even if we didn’t leave the dock – I hope they did.<br /><br />A lot of the rest of the season was spent working on the boat and worrying about the results of the world cup. I was elated when England got on the bus to go home, but was devastated when Australia suffered the same fate. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_Jersey.jpg?a=51" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 416px; width: 650px;" /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">I bought the Jersey off the back of an Englishman’s wife, who refused to wear it once they lost. It cost 50p at auction. Don’t worry Mal, I haven’t forgotten that I owe it to you.<br /><br />Unfortunately the most famous Australian Rugby player in Grenada has a first name of Bloody and is entirely held accountable by everyone in the Port Louis Marina and Prickly Bay as the reason for this unfortunate outcome.<br /><br />The work on the boat comprised finishing the projects that we had started (by purchasing the parts in St Maarten) and not finished on the way down, the major one being the solar hot water heater. Our prototype that we built in St Thomas, worked but only provided warm water and a failed pump, but the new improved one provides hot water and so far no leaks.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9_Solar.jpg?a=82" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Of course living in the marina does have some advantages, the social life was rampart, with dock parties, pig roasts, movie nights and of course the Halloween party. Now being an Aussie and really not all that familiar with Halloween parties, Karen and I got costumes with a horror theme – Karen went as a witch (yes starting with a “W”) and I had a zombie mask. But apparently in North America, it is just a fancy dress party. Sunny from Texas was the most imaginative as a “Tropical Depression” (ie storm)</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10_Sunny.jpg?a=1" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 1139px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />But Richard was just down-right disturbing</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11_Richard.jpg?a=38" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 1197px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />And then there was the Aussie Chicks – Karen, Lou and Suellen. They came as Aussie Chicks inclusive of stubbies!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/12_AussieChicks.jpg?a=15" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 546px; width: 650px;" /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">Grenada would not be complete without Dominos and Cricket. Cricket was played again at Clarke’s court but we had only a smattering of Aussies so our season was not as successful as last year. Karen’s Domino season was in full swing though. Having beaten Kim at de Big Fish on a couple of occasions, Karen whipped Nahani River’s (Doug and Wendy) collective butt, so much so Wendy made Karen a Dominos tiara (seen on the witches hat in the above photo). But introducing Jon and Sam (Imagine of Falmouth) to Dominos took it to a new high with no-one leaving until 11pm at night.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/13_Dominos1.jpg?a=28" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 450px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/14_Dominos2.jpg?a=25" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I don’t know about you, but I can’t see any dominos and Karen’s tiara does seem to get around!<br /><br />So once we blew the cruising budget by staying in a marina for 3 odd months it was time to head north again. We found out that St Lucia is now Aussie friendly and haul out rates were not too expensive, we high-tailed it to Rodney Bay, via Chatham Bay and Keartyon’s Bay in St Vincent. Jon and Sam had recommended the Rock Side Cafe there so we stopped for the night. We tied up to a mooring and organised to be picked up at 6pm for dinner. The message taker fell asleep and forgot to tell the Restaurateur about the arrangements so we got picked up but no food and just a little rum punch. I think we were a little early in the season but it was a nice place</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/15_KeartonsBay.jpg?a=12" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 178px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><strong>St Lucia</strong><br />We arrived in St Lucia on Friday evening and went into check in on Saturday morning and were pleasantly surprised by the friendly officials (this wasn’t the case 3 years ago). We then went and checked in with Edwin Chavas at the boat yard and tentatively arranged to haul and paint on Monday or Wednesday and then decided to relax, as Sunday was the ARC flotilla and we were crewing on Princess of Tides with Guy, Christine and Princess (and her boyfriend Bill).</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/16_Flotilla.jpg?a=1" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The 0800 departure seemed early, but Guy and Christine got us there in time for delay in starting so we milled around in Castries Harbour while the rest caught us up. There were 50 odd boats in the Flotilla which made an impressive site heading out of Castries.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/17_Foltilla2.jpg?a=92" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We of course then joined in the celebrations for the start of the 2011 ARC and I met Adam Foster, the Aussie General Manager of IGY Rodney Bay who has been pushing for the removal of Aussie Visa requirements – Thanks Adam.<br /><br />Monday morning at 0730 (after a few more drinks on Princess and a game of Dominos), Edwin called me and said there was a cancellation on the lift and could we come in now. “No Problems” I said thinking this gives me no time to panic about getting into the slip. Unfortunately, just as I was about to enter the slipway, I was told to turn around and come in backwards!!$%! Which I did with the calm air that did not reflect the inner turmoil I was facing – but I did it like a pro! We met Dave and Colleen who were being launched when we were out of the slings and then we were into it. 3.5 days to sand, paint, raise the waterline (it had always sloped forward since the new engines were installed) and change the sail drive seals (with the help of Alwin of Quick & Reliable Mechanical Services ph: 1-758-520-5544 e: </span><a href="mailto:alwinaugustinengineer@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: Arial;">alwinaugustinengineer@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> who I would highly recommend). Alwin also instructed me on how to change the seals in the future.<br />Once the boat was back in the water we did the island tour with Dave and Colleen (Promise), Mark (Sea Life) and Al and Michelle (Tarantella). This was a full day road trip quickly seeing the sights such as the Pitons and the volcano as well as enjoying a nice local meal (chicken and ground provision or if you are Karen – ground provisions) in a local restaurant in Vieux Fort. <br /><br />We also spent a day in the Pigeon Island National Park where Karen actually made it to the top of the Fort!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/18_FortRodney.jpg?a=38" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Evergreen arrived from Venezuela, so there was more than a bit of catching up to do before they headed south to pick up their daughter and grandson and we headed north to Martinique, supposedly on our way to St Martin for Christmas. We had said goodbye for the last time so many times over the last couple of years that this parting was a bit of an anti-climax.<br /><br /><strong>Martinique</strong><br />So here we sit in St Anne, just some 30 miles from Rodney Bay two weeks later and only a tick of the clock until Christmas. Santa Claus (yes he does exist Tina) is climbing our mast, our Christmas tree is up, decorated with presents from the Hully’s and Evergreen and it is laden with goodies<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/19_Tree.jpg?a=0" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 593px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />and we even have festive (solar) light hung in the cockpit.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/20_Lights.jpg?a=49" style="border-bottom: #0070c0 4px solid; border-left: #0070c0 4px solid; border-right: #0070c0 4px solid; border-top: #0070c0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We will be spending our 5th Christmas far from our family and friends and our old home, but you are not far from our thoughts. Nor are all the new friends we have made on our new home. Fear not, we will not be alone, some of those new friends will be on board on Saturday night and Sunday. So we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.<br />Karen & Matt<br />SV Where II<br />Martinique FWI</span></span><br />
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It has been awhile since I have written, as (the) one avid reader pointed out to Karen in his Christmas email, but you must understand that it has been hurricane season in the Caribbean and that means just one thing – lots of parties with friends we may have only seen once or twice over the past twelve months. But I am probably jumping ahead of myself, there were a lot of miles covered between Guadaloupe and here so I will give a quick rundown on our trip before explaining Grenada in Hurricane season.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Janette Boluch
EMAIL: janetteboluch@gmail.com
IP: 114.76.51.180
URL:
DATE: 12/24/2011 8:54:18 PM
Great Post. Have a wonderful Christmas enjoyed your Blog. Glad 2011 is over it's been a s£!+ of a year. Bring on 2012. Keep safe and healthy.<br />
Janette xoxo PS I still owe you an email Karen.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mum
EMAIL: nmdonovan@bigpond.com
IP: 124.185.149.245
URL:
DATE: 1/11/2012 6:28:51 AM
It's a bitlate to be reading this Matt butI really enjoyed it and the photos are great. Still getting back to normal here in Brisbane with a heat wave this week. Take care, happy sailing.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paul and Barb
EMAIL: queimarla@hotmail.com
IP: 101.169.3.236
URL:
DATE: 1/30/2012 4:45:25 AM
yo ho ho!! good read guys!! ahh the itch is back. wouldn't take much to cut the rope and reach outa here!! Say hi to the puddle jumpers!! met them in Trini and Grenada too if I remember correctly. All good here, I O, I O, and off to work we go. Remember those days? Ah yes. close encounters of the anchoring kind. Maybe not so bad living in a house! We dream on. don't be so tardy with the posts! We need the motivation!!! Hugs from across the seas! Barb n PaulAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Martinique14.444793328411087 -60.90881755468751613.953164328411088 -61.554264554687514 14.936422328411087 -60.263370554687519tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-61808546235685084792011-06-13T10:41:00.000-07:002014-07-18T06:16:29.219-07:00Ah Guadeloupe – You’ve done it again!Previously in Matt & Karen’s Soggy Adventure... (bugger it, read them yourself). So we checked in at Le Pelican and everything in Deshaies was as we remembered it (except Harold no longer was delivering bread, which is why we came back – fresh baguettes and croissants in the morning without leaving the boat – how civilised!) Anyway, there was not much we needed to see since we had been here before, so it was a relax station, with a dive thrown in.<br />
<br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Deshaies.jpg?a=10" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />So that was how it was. When we got back to the boat, Mike and Cheryl from Happy Times, whom we had met checking in, dropped by and asked us over for sundowners.... so the relaxing started. We arrived and met Mikayla, their daughter, and were introduced to Bob (a high school headmaster), who he ditched his sick wife Janice for the night and Johanna and Martin from Swedish Sailing Vessel Snowbird (you really need Cheryl’s Swedish accent to understand why it is Swedish Sailing Vessel Snowbird, not just Snowbird). We had a fun night, particularly when Bob described a real life High School Musical. I am sure that is why he left his job!<br /><br />So after we got home and got some rest we decided we wanted to dive Jacques Cousteau’s marine park so we went and tried to book in at Blue Pearl <a href="http://www.bluepearl.gp/">www.bluepearl.gp</a> run by Relio and Stephanie, but they were doing what they do – diving. But through the miracle of the internet we made contact and organized the dive. We couldn’t do Jacques’ place but on Saturday we dived the reef just off Anse Paul Thomas. The price was reasonable and all inclusive and Stephanie spoke English! When we arrived there were 2 other couples diving with us, but they went with Relio doing a Baptism of Diving and we got Stephanie to ourselves. The dive was fantastic ranged from 2-18m, although Karen didn’t have enough weights, so she hogged Stephanie and I had to try and keep up to see what she was being shown. We swam with a hawksbill turtle, saw fish fighting, unique sea shells, heaps of vase coral of so many shades and colours. It was great. I managed to last 45 minutes before I blew my tank. We then hauled ourselves onto the boat, ate ananas (pinapple) and bananas (bananas) and drank planteurs punch (rum punch) before heading back to the shop and having more planteurs and finding out what we had seen. It was a great day. Highly recommend doing a dive with them!<br /><br />After the dive we relaxed and then motored to Le Saintes at the southern end of Guadaloupe. We tried to check in here on our way north... you would have known that if you had read the blog... but it was too crowded. This time we headed straight for Pain du Sucre (sugar loaf) under motor. All was good until 10 minutes from the anchorage when the oil pressure alarm from the starboard engine came on... what the..!!!! <br /><br />We motor in on the port engine and literally dropped the hook like a charterer! 30m and probably all in a heap. I had a feeling I knew what it was and when I opened the engine compartment, I was right. My oil filter wrench had scrapped the paint on the oil filter and it rusted, pin-holed and sprayed all our engine oil around the engine room! It was the quickest oil change I have ever done – no need to pump the sump – it was empty! I changed the oil filter, filled the engine with oil (or up to the full mark anyway for all the girls out there) and tested my work – all good! So I did the Heinrick Manoeuvre (Boofa – you know what I am talking about) on the anchor and found it resting on its side on the sand below. Time to re-anchor! We test the motor and reset the hook and relaxed for the night.<br /><br />Next morning, we decided to move into Grand Bourg so up came the pick and we headed on in and decided to drop the anchor near the fishing harbour where Merengue told us to. As we were setting the anchor we look over and all the other boats in the harbour were on moorings. So the hook came up again and we moved over to mooring number 47, nice and shiney new and free until 1 July (apparently). They are everywhere in the harbour which is notorious for deep anchorages and poor holding to the north, so we were happy to be on the mooring! I have heard they will be €25 a night soon.<br /><br />Anyway, after deciding to never do a fort again in the Caribbean, we set off the next morning to Fort Napoleon on an overcast but humid day. It was a reasonably easy walk and the views over the harbour were great.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_Bay.jpg?a=32" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I hate to say it, but the fort was in excellent condition and was well worth the walk.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_Fort1.jpg?a=49" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />It was then back to the boat with baguette in hand and back at the boat we met Terry and Julie on Melvin and talked about having drinks the following night and maybe staying for the fish festival on the weekend. Now I am sad to say, we have met a couple of pretenders along our travels (Boats flying the Aussie flag, but the owners having funny South African accents – obviously they have seen the light even tho’ one who will remain nameless still barracks for the Boks), the situation on Melvin is worse... Terry is an Aussie and Melvin is flagged with a red southern cross and no Fed star (Kiwi). I will work on him on the way south and see if I can straighten him out!<br /><br />Next day we catch up with Happy Times and invite them for drinks, only to find Melvin has done a runner for Pointe a Pitre – they must of heard of my rum punch, so we delay drinks for the a day and I get to work on Debbie’s old donk. To fix the gears, the whole motor head needs to be removed, and after inspecting it, this does not seem hard. I remove all the visible bolts, spill engine oil over Karen’s nice white deck, but still I can’t get the motor off. Before I resort to a hammer, I do a web search on the problem which I find is very common. The solution was to hit it with a soft hammer, which I did and it worked. The engine is apart and next step is to fix the gear shift – but we don’t want to rush things so that can wait a while.<br /><br />Melvin arrived back a couple of days later, and I told them that we had had drinks without them, but the fish festival was on. So Saturday it was off to Plage de Pompierre for the concourse de culinaire (or something like that). The bay, an easy walk from town, is beautiful so we found some coconut palms (which Terry checked out for dangerous appendages) for shade and sat down to listen to the music.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Pompierre.jpg?a=43" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 174px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />As they were still setting up the stalls, this situation didn’t last long, we hopped up and headed to a restaurant close by to have a cool drink, taking in the wildlife on the way.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Iguana.jpg?a=78" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The restaurant was packed with locals and the food looked quite nice, but we restrained and headed back to the fish festival – there had to be food there. And there was – fish no less! So we grabbed some fish skewers (and Karen went outside to the sandwich vendor for her cheese sandwich) and settled back under the coconuts and gorged ourselves – there is no such thing as a small helping in the Caribbean! <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Festival.jpg?a=56" style="border-bottom: #ffff00 4px solid; border-left: #ffff00 4px solid; border-right: #ffff00 4px solid; border-top: #ffff00 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Sunday came around quickly so it was sails up and off to Dominica, with winds on the nose and seas on the side, but we made good progress with the winds shifting to the north as we came into the lee of the island and we sailed on into Prince Rupert Bay with plenty of sun and Karen at the helm (for some of it at least)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Deshaies, Guadeloupe16.3108369 -61.78973650000000416.295596900000003 -61.809906500000004 16.3260769 -61.7695665tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-48952895586778081692011-06-06T11:48:00.000-07:002014-07-18T06:24:56.256-07:00St Kitts & Nevis – Not a lot to say...In our task of ticking off as many islands in the eastern Caribbean before we head a little west later in the year, we motored our way south to St Kitts and Nevis in a manner that is not honing our sailing skills at all. Kitt’s is only about 22 miles or 3 ½ hours from Statia, but when you arrive at the marina and walk through the Cruise Ship terminal to customs and immigration, you could be light years away from the tranquillity and simplicity of Statia.<br />
<br />We anchored in Basseterre, just of the new marina in nice sand and a fairly gentle roll coming from the south west into the harbour. We were one of three boats in the harbour, so a nice easy anchoring job. We waited until we were sure the anchor was set before heading into Customs to clear in. Of course I continued the “we’re here beer” tradition passed down to us by Jackster in Venezuela before I left. This is one reason I don’t leave the boat before 2 hours after anchoring – a very good, safe and pleasing practice.<br /><br />We arrived at customs at 3:00pm, just as the officer was stepping out and were told to come back in an hour and a half and that in the mean time we were free to wander around and have a drink if we so desired – so we did. When we got back we cleared customs, paid our harbour fees and were told to come back in the morning to clear immigration. So we weren’t really in the country just yet.<br /><br />When we got back to the boat we found out our friends on Evergreen who were looking to catch up with us, sailed right on by with our new sheet and anchored in Whitehouse Bay without even waving. They took off the next morning for Guadaloupe so we had no time to catch them up!<br /><br />Next morning we wandered around the town doing “Tommy Tourist”. The museum was very interesting and gave a good sight into St Kitts and Nevis history and slave trading in the Caribbean in general. Whilst that is perhaps a sad part of history, it is very definite that the Caribbean would not be what it is today without it. Particularly in the British Islands, the Africans are now the dominant population. As Boofa said, he now knows what it feels like to be a minority.<br /><br />Basseterre is a quaint town and we wandered through the town and visited the Catholic church. On our way there we wandered through independence square, where all the school kids hang out (and make out) at lunch time. We were approached by a man you sought support for a program to take some local kids to the Special Games, which of cause we gave to, but it did bring me back to Antigua where I bought a very ordinary CD to support another disabled program...must be the current trend. Anyway...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_fountain.jpg?a=66" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 860px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />By the way I had problems with the camera, so independence square is all you get.<br />
<br />After doing the sight-seeing, having lunch and buying some fresh food we decided that we should make our way down to Whitehouse Bay ourselves for some R&R. I t was an uneventful motor and we set anchor in amongst the local and transient boats. It was not picturesque, but tranquil. There is a dinghy dock and rubbish provided by the developers who plan to put a marina in somewhere nearby so it is good for a couple of days.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_WhitehouseBay.jpg?a=97" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />While we were here we snorkelled the wreck which was pretty good – sorry no photos, you know the story – and took the weather window or no weather window to install our 5th and final solar panel! This gives us 695W of solar power and 400W of wind power (when Wally wants to work) which should have us diesel free at anchor in most situations!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_solar.jpg?a=2" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />As you can see it is a slightly different installation to previously, hanging off the back of the bimini (roof) and mounted on stainless steel brackets I got made by “Terry on the French Side” in St Martin. If you are looking for stainless work, he is good, quick and reasonably priced. <br /><br />So anyway, the was no wind and no waves – perfect, and to appease the faint of heart among the crew, I decided to tie a rope around it as I was mounting it so it would not fall in the drink. We agreed roles and went to it. Karen would hold the rope and anchor the solar panel (even though it weighed as much as her and probably pulled her into the drink if it got away but don’t tell her that) and I would drill, glue (with our favourite body art material – 3M 5200 marine adhesive) and screw it. Well, perhaps I overemphasised the “Hold on and don’t let it fall in the water” instruction because for the next hour I struggled against Karen’s tight hold on the rope to try and get the solar panel out over the edge and into position. Once there it took 4 minutes to drill, glue and screw it down. This may be an exaggeration, but I do it only for illustration purposes as I had not camera or video. It did remind me of when Karen and I were renovating the bathroom and trying to lift 4m lengths of plasterboard (dry wall) up ladder and fix it in place near the ceiling!<br /><br />After a couple of days relaxing, it was time to head to Nevis, a 5 mile motor from Whitehouse so not real exciting. We arrived on Saturday and were thinking about doing dinner in town, but when we realised that you could not lock the dinghy on we were less excited about it. Debbie had a new donk and we did not want to leave this hanging on a bowline in the dark. So we ate on board and decided we would hit Sunshines on Pinney Beach for Sunday lunch and a game of Bocce.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Sunshines.jpg?a=77" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We met Sweet Pea, a local vendor shading herself in the outside area, who welcomed us to Sunshine’s and pointed us in the direction of the bar (like I need any help in that area) where we were greeted by Sunshine himself. He mistook me for an English chef who has his own show on the cooking channel (must be my slender physique) and showed us to a table. We went out on a limb and ordered the house drink – d’ killer bee rum punch, which must of been good as Karen had ordered a second by the time we finished lunch. I of course, being responsible, ordered the lower alcohol beer to play Bocce with. Ok Karen had blown all our money on the Shrimp Salad so I could only afford beer...<br /><br />After my whipping Karen’s butt at Bocce with our new larger and much more slippery bocce balls like Merengue’s, we headed back to the boat. After the 2 killer bees, Karen took us of the beach with the new motor like a professional!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Driver.jpg?a=55" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 817px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We spent the night umming and ahhing about whether we would stop in Montserrat. The website suggested that the areas that we would want to see by tour would be closed so we decided that Monday afternoon we would check out and Tuesday motor through the coral banks of Redonda and then try and sail into the wind past the Windward side of Monserrat to at least see the scenery of the volcanic plains.<br />Monday was a pretty simple day. We checked out with the port office, tried to find somewhere to hve a drink while we waited for Customs to open and gave up and walked to Fort Charles ruins and figured out we are done with forts in the Caribbean. We strolled back along the beach checking out before heading back to the boat for an early night, because...<br /><br />At 0400 Tuesday morning we were on the deck, and dropping the mooring lines for our full day trip to Guadaloupe. We slowly made our way out of the harbour, with Karen on the foredeck spotting boats and buoys until we had rounded the long pier and dawn started to break at 0500. The buoys did not stop however until we were at Redonda! By the way – what a rock, it would hold its head high against Uluru (Ayers Rock) back home.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Redonda.jpg?a=24" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Karen, of course, maintained her navigational duties, studying her tools religiously throughout the trip<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_Nav.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We tried as hard as we could but we could not get consistent wind in the right direction to sail (heaven forbid someone mention the word “tack”) but it meant that the planned 14hour sail was reduced to 12. The view of Monserrat was magnificent – clear until the very peak, with long volcanic slopes to the shore.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_Monserrat.jpg?a=50" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 183px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />At 4:00 in the afternoon we were relaxing having a “we’re here” in Deshaies, Guadaloupe!<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Alison<br />
DATE: 6/10/2011 5:12:19 AM<br />
I just noticed the drop sided outdoor table - very snazzy guys!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Saint Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis17.3433796 -62.755904317.1008356 -63.0786278 17.585923599999997 -62.433180799999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-13578585636816144602011-05-16T11:02:00.000-07:002014-07-18T06:39:53.523-07:00St Bart’s – The big boats, the big brands and a new donk for Debbie!We finally escaped the clutches of St Marteen / St Martin and dragged the anchor up after 9 weeks anchored in Simpson Bay (yes we are a bit unusual in that we never went in through the bridge to the lagoon with the big boat, but enjoyed the bay and suffered the roll and the fees) and headed east to St Barts. We were on a mission... All the brands are in St Barts, Hermes, Cartier, Ralph Laurent, Yamaha etc etc. Yes you heard right Yamaha. We had ordered a new 15 HP outboard to replace Debbie’s 6HP Suzuki donk that has started to seize up in places you would not expect.<br />
<br />We arrived in St Bart’s and anchored outside in Gustavia harbour, but were surprised when we went in to clear in to find that no matter where you anchored from shell bay to effectively the Columbier Bay, you were up for harbour charges – effectively about €19 per day – more than we had paid in St Marteen for a week! We had plans so we checked in and paid for 4 days and made our way round to the Yamaha dealer Chez Beranger (<a href="mailto:chezberanger@wanadoo.fr">chezberanger@wanadoo.fr</a>), introduced ourselves to Marie-Marcelle, with whom we had been dealing with over the past two weeks to secure their last 15HP engine, and made arrangements for the delivery of the outboard in the morning. We did pick up the harbour authority’s magazine that should have given us a clue to the prices – it was a publication that looked at home on any Toorak coffee table. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/0_harbour.jpg?a=13" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 246px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We then went back to the boat mumbling our discontent and settled in for the night or so we thought. When we got back the wind had shifted and we had swung within a boat length of the bow of a French Boat (huh - got them back!). The owner emerged as I was looking around the anchorage for somewhere else to anchor and suggested politely we were too close so we moved and re-anchored next to the channel marker and hoped like hell we didn’t drag into the channel in the middle of the night.<br /><br />After a night of numerous anchor watches by captain and crew, we arose anxiously awaiting our new purchase – the new donk. We made our way in slowly and took delivery of the new motor, unpacked it on the dock and reverently lay the new Yamaha 15HP Enduro motor onto Debbie for the slow trip out to the boat. We then spent the day changing the motor, reading the manual (yes Karen now forces me to read all manuals before I can play with my new toys), figuring how to mix 2-stroke oil and getting familiar with the run in instructions. Finally it was ready to go. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Donk.jpg?a=86" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 570px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Well almost, it had to run on fast idle for ten minutes before we did anything else! So we waited....<br />And finally it was ready to go ... slowly... for the next fifty minutes we ran it just above start trying to get it up to 50% throttle, but it went so fast that we had trouble getting there. That’s when we wondered how we would get it to full throttle for stage three, <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">we asked our friends Guy and Christine on Princess of Tides and Guy’s recommendation was and I quote “Get Karen a Snoopy the Red Baron leather hat and goggles, sit her in the bow with 6 cases of wine and let it fly!” But</span> </span>I saw only one way – Karen would have to leave the dinghy and Evel Knevel here would have to do the hard work on that himself. <br /><br />Anyway enough about the engine, what about something for the girls you say. Ok shopping. Our first trip with the new motor was in to do some shopping. If you are reading this Andy, you would have loved it – all the big names in about 100 yards. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_Shops.jpg?a=53" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 529px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />And boys, you would have been proud of me – all of those expensive shops and my wife wanted to hit the chandlery and the hardware! How well have I got her trained? In fact, she had to grab me by the arm several times to stop me drooling over the €26,000 watches! We walked along the harbour to the Industrial Zone, found the champagne shop, decided not to buy the Tattinger and then found numerous homeware shops and the hardware, but as it was after 4:00 and this was France most things were shut so we took the scenic route back to the harbour (up over the hill) and had a magnificent view of the bay from the lighthouse.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_Harbour.jpg?a=43" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 429px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Lighthouse.jpg?a=32" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Next morning we were up and did the historical tour of Gustavia, taking in the museum (not worth it), the old fort (nice view over shell beach), shell beach and a very nice bar there where we stopped for a breather, the churches, the old town hall and basically everything in the brochure and that was before lunch! We stopped at Le Select for a cool drink before Karen decided it was shopping time again. You guessed it, back to the chandlery, hardware and home shops where we bought new coasters and a beach umbrella and anything else we could think of – it was after all over a week since we had left St Martin.<br /><br />We paid another day to anchor in the crowded harbour and then, after watching the Maltese Falcon unfurl her sails and sail off into the sunset, we took off north to Columbier to relax (and not spend anything) for a week. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Maltese.jpg?a=43" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 753px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We had planned to do a couple of jobs like install the new inverter, while we were up here, but we read the park guidelines and found we could not work on the boat. This did not however stop us from employing some of the locals to clean the bottom of the boat – and they worked for food alone!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Fish.jpg?a=16" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Columbier is a beautiful bay at the north end of St Barts and a popular overnight stop between St Martin and Antigua, but we got hold of a buoy there and stayed a week. We walked up to the hills surrounding the bay and did a bit of exploring.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_Columbier.jpg?a=5" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 177px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We did however get stopped by the gate with “Beware of Dogs” sign before we got to the old Rockefeller house<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_Rockerfellers.jpg?a=61" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />I also amazed Karen with my culinary skills making fresh roti for dinner!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9_Roti.jpg?a=58" style="border-bottom: #17365d 4px solid; border-left: #17365d 4px solid; border-right: #17365d 4px solid; border-top: #17365d 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />As our week of swimming snorkelling, reading (I polished off 5 novels in a week) and relaxing came to an end, it was time to put Debbie’s new donk to the test – dinghying down to Gustavia to check out. Fortunately I, for some reason, had the foresight to put the boat papers in the waterproof bag, for when we turned through the dinghy channel we saw that this was probably going to be a rough trip. It only took twenty minutes, but we were both wetter than if we had swum to town! The donk went superbly, still yet to get it to full throttle but it was an exhilarating ride none the less!<br /><br />We did the last chandlery run (in case we had missed anything) bought some fresh food and it is on to St Eustatius tomorrow! <br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Boofa<br />
DATE: 5/29/2011 11:06:04 PM<br />
Congrats on the new Yamaha Matt. I know you've had HP envy for quite a while.<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Janette Boluch<br />
DATE: 5/30/2011 12:11:53 AM<br />
As usual a great blog Matt. Wish I was there. JB<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Mum<br />
DATE: 5/30/2011 10:13:32 AM<br />
Loved these pictures Matt. Looks a beautiful part of the world.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Saint Barthélemy17.923209396902255 -62.87063598632812517.862773896902254 -62.951316986328123 17.983644896902256 -62.789954986328127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-31684027793036218092011-05-02T17:54:00.000-07:002014-07-18T06:31:41.036-07:00St Eustatius – Statia for those who can’t spell big wordsOur plan all along was to make it north to Barbuda, across to St Martin, West to the Virgin islands and then back down through Saba, St Eustatius, St Kitts and Nevis and then back to Guadaloupe for our trip south – well that was one of the plans anyway when we decided not to go north this year. And we pretty much did it, with the exception of Anguilla and the Vis so we were pretty pleased with ourselves when we arrived in Statia. According to Doyle there may or may not be mooring buoys when we arrived and after tooling around the anchorage we decided to go with the option of No buoys as they all looked light weight and private so we dropped the pick in nice clean sand just off the old wharf ruins. The anchorage was picturesque with the fort and village decorating the cliffs above Low Town.<br />
<br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Town.jpg?a=57" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We checked in at the main port, paid for 3 days at the port office and mosied on down to the park office to pay or marine park fees for a week. The whole island is a marine park so no matter where you anchor you are up for the US$30 ($10 a night or $30 a week). We then thought we would take a short stroll up the old slave path to town to have a look around. Well those old slaves must have been pretty fit ‘cause that path was steep and both of us were blowing by the time we reached the top. Perhaps we should spend less time reading and relaxing and more time exercising – yeah right!<br /><br />We wandered around town, which was quaint and marked with history, but we took only a little of it in as we strolled and decided that tomorrow would be our historical tourist day so we headed back on down to low town to have a sundowner at the old gin house. We took a detour half way down the Slave Path at some stairs and we caught a glimpse of a young Green Tree Lizard – I think one of the prettiest reptiles I have ever seen – greens, blues and aqua – the photo really doesn’t do him justice (and this is the best of 5 shots.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_Lizard.jpg?a=76" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 788px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Sitting at the Gin house, watching over the bay, we decided that we should check out the diving here. Although we have been gathering diving gear since the Canaries, the only time it has been used was to repair or clean the bottom of the boat. Karen and I hadn’t done a recreational dive for almost 19 years. Unfortunately by the time we left the bar (only one and a half drinks each – ok I had 2 , Karen had 1) the dive shops were closed so it was back to the boat.<br /><br />Next morning we got up at a leisurely pace (as we do these days) and then headed up to town to explore properly. We started at Fort Oranje and visited the tourist office that explained a bit about the islands history and gave us a pack including a very interesting and interactive CD. The Fort itself was in excellent condition and from here, in 1776, the first official acknowledgement of the US as an independent nation in the form of a gun salute was made. The decision to do this by the then Governor de Graffe was unfortunately a career ending one for him, but placed him in the annals of American history.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_Fort.jpg?a=34" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 388px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We then toured the museum, housed in an old plantation house that dated back to about the same era (prior to 1775).<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Museum.jpg?a=51" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />There was also interesting archaeological info on the Carib Indian inhabitation and believe it or not an early Jewish Synagogue dating back to 1739. Apparently the Jews were persecuted here as well with the population being exiled after the British invaded expecting great riches from the merchants, but found none. That was until they found a lot of funerals occurring and the riches were being buried in the coffins!<br />During the tour of the town, we were joined at first by one dog, and then a second, who no matter how hard we tried stuck to us like glue all day. We even tried locking ourselves in a cemetery, but somehow they found a way in. We stopped wrote postcards and they just lay at our feet then followed us as we left.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Dogs.jpg?a=31" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />No matter where you go in Statia, the dormant volcano is dominant in the background, so over lunch we decided that the next day would be a hiking day – yes you heard right – Karen agreed to hike up to the crater of the Quill!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_TheQuill.jpg?a=42" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After a day on the go we stopped at Scubaqua and spoke to Marieke and explained our experience (6 dives 19 years ago)and that we wanted to do a nice easy dive with a dive master very close. Marieke was very understanding (I mean she didn’t go “You want what?” or “ How long?” or “ I wasn’t out of diapers then” or “How was it diving in those brass helmets?”) and said that they could do that and put a dive master right next to us the whole time, and the price was reasonable. We also stopped at the other dive shop and there solution was a bit more complex requiring reintroduction type course and hence was a bit more expensive. We decided that night we would go with Scubaqua.<br /><br />Next morning I donned my x-country thongs (flip flops not underwear) and Karen put on her deck shoes (for the first time since she went home) and we took off for the hike. I have by this time learned how to get the dinghy to full throttle – but it is not a thing Karen enjoys, but it was a good way to start the day. We stopped by at Scubaqua and booked our dive and headed up the track to The Quill (music should go in here – Da-na-na-na... try and imagine it please).<br /><br />By the time we had made it up the cliff track we were perspiring (me) and glowing (Karen) and the pace was set for the walk – slow and hot. The track was well marked and had informative signage along the way as we searched for the Killi Killi Kestral and other exotic wildlife. The best we saw was a lot of hermit crabs, a blue throated dove and a Red Bellied Racer Snake of which we saw three.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_Snake.jpg?a=15" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 550px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now, those of you who know Karen know that she is a city girl right? You can take the girl out of the city but not the city out of the girl – hence her desire to shop and her fear of snakes. Well, the first snake she saw, she observed inquisitively, but the second- for some reason she went all girly and jumped around squealing etc – very strange, but on the whole she did well in the bush – but more on that later.<br /><br />After about an hour we made it to the rim of the crater and relaxed for a while, while some American tourists took photos and seemed to talk really loudly. I took some photos but the size of the crater really could not be captured by my lens. So I took a shot of Karen instead (She respectfully ask that you not look too closely at this as it is not her best shot).<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_Top.jpg?a=26" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />From the rim of the crater, it was a 45min walk down into the crater .... with a warning....<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9_Warning.jpg?a=83" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />...So of course I, not being a city boy, leave Karen at the top and head off down the trail. Well down the nice steps with the railing that started the trail, then when it got a bit steeper, I thought I had better do the right thing and go back to my wife and protect her in this wild place.<br /><br />The Americans headed back the way they came, and in a bout of madness and a desire for tranquillity in this beautiful spot, I convinced Karen that I would be just as easy to branch off on the round the mountain path and work our way back into town from the other side – besides it would be a well marked trail, just like the one we came up....<br /><br />Wrong!!! About 2 hours later, I found the fork in the trail which was marked sort of, after climbing over rocks most of the way down with City Girl, complaining of sore feet. We gambled and took the fork even though we could make head nor tail of the way the signs pointed and finally came to a fence, an overgrown field and what looked like a road beyond. Karen wanted to jump the fence and make straight for the road (trespassing I say and most houses here have dogs...) so the Harry Butler in me opted for divining my way through the field, what looked like lantana and finally I found our way to the road! The Leyland Brothers would have been proud!<br /><br />Fortunately there was a park bench about 20 m down the road where we were able to stop and rest for a while (have the obligatory cigarette to clean the lungs of the fresh air), ‘cause by now, not that I mentioned it to Karen but my feet were hurting as well. Here we were guarded by the friendly tree, so we were safe and sound!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10_tree.jpg?a=88" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We took off the shoes and x-country flip flops and strolled back to town and past a bull grazing on the road. He kept a good eye on us until we came to the end of the long paddock and turned left. I thought it was a bit odd, until I realised the whole time we were walking past him and on down the road, I was waving a bright red Digicel bandana around (red rag to a bull and all that). <br /><br />We made it back to the boat, exhausted, hot and sweaty where I found out that perhaps there was some basis to Karen’s complaints about her feet – blisters and most amazingly blood blisters under both her big toe nails – these shoes are really dangerous implements!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11_toes.jpg?a=91" style="border-bottom-color: #548dd4; border-left-color: #548dd4; border-right-color: #548dd4; border-top-color: #548dd4; height: 527px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Next morning, after wondering whether Karen would be able to put flippers on, we hauled our dive gear up to Scubaqua ready for our first dive. Marieke was was replaced by Mike as our dive master and we explained again our situation. (I thought maybe Marieke had wized up to us and palmed us off to an unsuspecting newby, but it turned out Mike was one of the owners of the business and very patient as he explained how he was going to approach the dive and the rules. He then checked our gear and one of the hoses on my octopus burst and Karen’s BCD was self inflating. So we hired some gear for the dive.<br /><br />Diving was everything I remembered, anxiety as we sat on the side of the boat ready to flip into an almost raging sea (2ft wind chop) and then the exhileration of being able to breathe underwater. Mike was fantastic (for a one handed diver – his second hand belonged to Karen and she wasn’t letting go of it) and coaxed Karen down the mooring line until we were on the bottom at the humps – a volcanic outflow and reef to the south west of Statia. We both adjusted our buoyancy and Michael continued to show us the sights including a young trumpet fist and snails. We lasted 40 minutes before I had blown my tank and we had to surface. Mike had managed to pry Karen from his arm and the last 10-15 minutes we swam by ourselves. I am sure Mike will be nursing his arm for a while. You should check out their website <a href="http://www.scubaqua.com/">http://www.scubaqua.com</a> particularly the photos and video of the humpback whale that visited them recently and if you get to Statia (Patrick and Silke, I am talking about you at least) stop by and dive with them.<br /><br />After 4 full on days we decided to spend the weekend in Statia and relax so in the end it was a six day stay in one of the nicest islands in the Eastern Caribbean!<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Patrick & Silke<br />
URL: http://www.la-palma-sailing.com<br />
DATE: 6/1/2011 6:41:06 PM<br />
Great post - again! Well so plans are meeting you in Cuba next year and go for a scuba dive together, right?! We'll love it and are looking forward to meeting you again. Meanwhile we'll leave for Azores next week....just to keep us trained sailing wise (will try to do a blog)<br />
<a href="http://quetzalsailingblog.blogspot.com/">HTTP://quetzalsailingblog.blogspot.com/</a><br />
as well. Big hugs!!!
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Mum<br />
DATE: 6/2/2011 1:01:05 AM<br />
Wonderful blog, really enjoyed it and the photos. Great to see you are so adventurous and still safe.!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Sint Eustatius17.4890306 -62.97355500000003317.4284541 -63.054236000000031 17.5496071 -62.892874000000035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-20414493016078281052011-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:002014-07-18T06:44:37.903-07:00Saba Sidetrip – All Cruisers take ferries sometimesDuring our one week stay in St Martin (which lasted 8 – the subject of another blog) we heard a lot of people talk about Saba and the alternatives for getting there. Very few people take their boats due to the unprotected nature of the harbour and the deep water. Saba has remedied part of this by putting deep water moorings down, but there ain’t alot they can do about the roll. The other option is to take a fast ferry across from St Martin on a day trip for about US$122 including taxes, lunch and a tour. After much deliberating about the cost and the fact that the ferry is known as the vomit comet, we decided that this was what we would do.<br />
<br />We rang the booking office (yes we have a phone in St Martin – when you are staying so long and buying half of America’s gross exports – you need one) and they said that they could only make reservations in person so next day off we trot to the office in the Pelican Resort and reserve our seats. The nice lady behind the counter instructs us very clearly and firmly to arrive before 0800 the next morning with our passports to finalise the tickets and the ferry would depart at 0900. <br /><br />The day of the big trip arrives and we struggle up, get the dinghy down, splash through the bay and tie up at Simpson Bay Marina and walk to Pelican Resort. This is all pretty difficult to do when you’re half asleep (or half of you is half asleep) but we manage to arrive before 0800 to find the office door ajar, but a closed sign on it – it doesn’t open until 0815! Why make us get there before 0800 – is this island time thinking or what? Make sure the tourists get to experience waiting even though the office is efficient or something?<br /><br />Anyway we get processed and wait....................... and then at 0915, our ferry is called (it is the only one of the day and, like the old Jewish ladies in the Elsternwick cinema, I make my way to the front of the queue dragging Karen behind as I want to get the best seat on the boat, and I come face to face with the Vomit Comet!<br /><br />To say that the Vomit Comet (you can see I like this name) is an interesting boat or deserving of its name is an understatement. Check it out – ugly huh – like a caravan strapped on pontoons? And this was supposed to deliver us safely and swiftly to Saba...<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Edge.jpg?a=82" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 401px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Once we were inside and settled with our seats (with ventilation) the briefing by the captain gave me no more confidence. He explained that there were only 2 rubbish bins on the boat (fore and aft in the centre of the boat) and that the other 20 or so waste paper bins with liners were for personal use should the trip not agree with one’s stomach..... hence the name.<br /><br />As it turned out the trip was fast and smooth, and if there had of been a good time to take the big boat to Saba, today was the day as there was no seas to speak of and when we arrived in Saba the mooring field was devoid of yachts almost completely. Oh well, this was our adventure.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_Saba.jpg?a=40" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />As you can see in the above photo, Saba is not your palm lined sandy Caribbean island and is really inhospitable to human inhabitation, being steep to, few “beaches” and very mountainous. It is however a story of man’s pig-headedness in making harsh environments their own. The first hint of this is Ladder Bay, a small harbour with 524 steps up the side of a cliff, up which all materials bought to Saba where man handled until about the mid-1900s.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_steps.jpg?a=54" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 975px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now Saba is part of the Dutch Antilles (or was until recently and I am unsure what it status is currently), but in the 40’s they sought assistance from the Dutch Government to build a road across the mountainous island and were told it was impossible, so a local dude took a correspondence course in road building and over the next 20 odd years the locals built their road across the island using only hand tools and wheel barrows... The road up from the port gave us an idea how hard this would have been.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_road.jpg?a=95" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 481px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Anyway enough of the history, on arriving on the island and clearing immigration, we met our taxi driver, Gloria – the lady with the smile – and hopped aboard her taxi and commenced a very informative tour that showed us:<br /><br /> 1. The hospital<br /> 2. The old people’s home (that is attached to the hospital and serviced by the same medical staff)<br /> 3. The post office<br /> 4. The two banks with their ATMs<br /><br />And a host of other uninteresting stuff like :<br /><br /> 1. the church with the painted ceiling<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_church.jpg?a=93" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 821px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /> 2. The glass blowing studio<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Glass.jpg?a=33" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 975px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /> 3. The Airport (another piece of tenacious engineering) The story goes that the locals hired a pilot from St Barts to find a piece of the island he thought he could land on, they flattened it and he landed and so began the construction of their airport!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_Airport.jpg?a=19" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 344px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /> 4. Before delivering us to Mount Scenery for the hiking part of the tour. We walked up about 200,000 stairs (ok maybe 200 meters and 50 stairs) before deciding that a trip in the downward direction was more to our liking so we sweated our way back down to town before lunch.<br /><br />We thought that we would while away the time browsing through gift shops with local embroidery (yeah I’m really into that) and stroll through the museum but the museum was closed and the 2 gift shops took 10 minutes so it was off to the pub! (now that is my sort of tour). We scored the last table outside at Scout’s Place and enjoyed fish and chips in beer batter and a quite lager whilst advertising our friend Ricki’s bar in Grenada for those passing through. <br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_Beer.jpg?a=12" style="border-bottom: #00b050 4px solid; border-left: #00b050 4px solid; border-right: #00b050 4px solid; border-top: #00b050 4px solid; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We thought we may have missed something so after lunch we headed back out into town and after 20 minutes of searching we were again back at Scout’s Place enjoying the magnificent scenery and another cool lager.<br /><br />Gloria arrived abit after the allocated time but hey, we are on island time and we were sure that the Vomit Comet would wait on us…. We hoped.<br /><br />We arrived back is St Martin safe and sound after a quick trip back, and while I may sound a bit sarcastic in this blog, we had a fantastic day on the island and the tour was very enjoyable. If I was to do it again, I think I would do an over nighter so we could maybe fit in a dive as well.<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Janette Boluch<br />
DATE: 5/18/2011 11:52:05 PM<br />
Loved your blog<br />
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Silke<br />
URL: http://www.la-palma-sailing.com<br />
DATE: 5/19/2011 12:02:35 AM<br />
It's early (very early :o)) morning here on the Canaries, just wanted to shutdown the old computer and got stuck with our post. Just great! Thanks a lot for keeping us updated, loved to hear your voice after such a long time the other day (thanks Skype - even though connection was poor). Anyway looking forward to meeting you next year on Cuba.....Keep on going with your blog. Big hugs Silke XXAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Saba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba17.6354642 -63.2326762999999817.5749332 -63.313357299999979 17.695995200000002 -63.151995299999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-30728367855313186572011-03-02T14:17:00.000-08:002014-07-18T06:48:40.149-07:00Ah Barbuda At Last!! <em>*Author’s note: There has been a delay in posting this blog for two reasons:</em><br />
<em>1. Since leaving the deserted island of Barbuda with it’s excellent wifi , we have been in St Marteen, one of the most developed islands in the Eastern Caribbean that has no wifi unless we take the computers into McDonalds and there are only so many Macca Breakfasts I can handle; and<br />2. We promised a fellow cruiser who provided directions for us safely navigate the wreck and reef strewn waters of Barbuda that we would tell no-one of the true beauty of Barbuda so others would not follow and ruin the tranquillity that is Barbuda.... so you will have to judge for yourself whether I am telling the truth in this blog or just dissuading others from following...<br /></em>After much nail biting and “discussions” on which parts of Barbuda I was allowed to take Where II (Coco Point in, Spanish Point is out, Low Bay is questionable or so the missus thinks) we were ready to head north to Barbuda. We spent several hours pouring over the charts and Doyle’s guide chartlets to define a safe (read very safe) course to Barbuda. This was not easy as no two charts agreed, however we had been told that Doyle’s charts were pretty much as good as they got. WE were concerned that they did not show a large submerged rock close to where we wanted to anchor in Coco Point that was on our Navionics electronic charts, but as they say, your eyes are the best navigational tool so we set sail with a little bit of trepidation (Of course I try and hide mine so Karen doesn’t realise that I don’t really know what we are getting ourselves in for, but what the heck – you only live once and we have survived the rocks once before in our rock solid cat!)<br /><br />The sail was uneventful with the sails up 45mins after we left Dickenson Bay getting ever closer to those reefs until about an hour from our destination we turned to wind and dropped the sails for the motor in through the rocks and reefs (okay – there weren’t that many but we didn’t want to add to the 300 odd wrecks that are scattered around the Barbudan waters. The motor in was also uneventful, keeping close to the route we had set. We saw some of the reefs, but never those submerged rocks so we thought Doyle must have been right and the rocks displaced in a hurricane (we have since been told that they are there so I am glad we didn’t anchor too close!)<br /><br />Coco Point is just stunning – a long pinky white beach with coconut palms (planted around the two resorts) and nothing else but the hint of the private airstrip that services the one working resort (Coco Point Resort – such imagination with the names). Once anchored I did the Heinrick Manoeuvre (diving on the anchor to see that we were set – naming of this manoeuvre is another long story that I won’t get into here) and relaxed to check we were set and of course got out the wifi antennae and hooked up to the world while taking in the glorious surrounds, with only 2 other boats at anchor.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1_Cocopoint.jpg?a=33" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 482px; width: 650px;" /><br /> <br />There was a prediction of northerly swells a couple of days out that could possibly turn Coco Point into an untenable anchorage that we needed to watch but other than that it was relaxing in Paradise, until...<br />Just as we were settling in to this beautiful bay, a new Leopard 46 arrived and I couldn’t believe it, it turned directly in front of us, stopping what seemed a couple of boat lengths away, dropped the pick and started backing up on us. “Bloody Frenchmen” I thought as I picked up my bitch wings and headed to the bow.... But no! It was an Aussie flagged boat!!! After I picked up my jaw from the deck, they looked back (I am sure with a smile on their face) and picked up their hook and moved. “Must have been taking the mickey” I thought giving them the benefit of the doubt...<br /><br />Well by the end of the day there were about 15 boats at anchor so I don’t feel so bad about telling people about Barbuda, because obviously a lot know.<br /><br />Next morning we went and visited the jokers on their very nice “Scolamanzi” and found the second joke they pulled was their accents. The Queenslanders, Henriette and Johann invited us aboard with very noticeable South African accents. And despite having been in Aus for over a decade, Johann inexcusably still barracks for the Boks....<br /><br />After a tour of the boat (which resulted in an order for a Intervac central vacuum by the cheese and kisses as a result of BE – boat envy), and discussions on the weather (which resulted in Scolamanzi upping the anchor and heading to Spanish Point to avoid the northerly swell) we headed into the beach for a stroll and swim. The swell was a bit unpredictable but we did manage to put ashore near the K Club (now defunct, but apparently Princess Di’s favourite resort, which Karen tucked away in the gossip filing cabinet) and enjoy the beach. As we approached the other resort, the resort security approached us and explained we were welcome to enjoy the beach, but could not enter the property above the beach line. I am not sure the photos do it justice, but the beach is beautiful, with a tinge of pink from the broken shells. <br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2_cocopoint.jpg?a=42" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We continued down the beach to the point and looked across to Spanish point to gauge (or at least I was) how difficult it would be to navigate the reefs safely if required.<br /><br />Back on the boat and another check of the weather confirmed that our options were to bug out of Coco Point for Antigua, or buzz round the corner to Spanish Point to hide from the oncoming swell. Well after a lot of discussion, a quick call to our new friends on Scolamanzi and some very detailed work on the charts, we agreed that next morning we would become experienced reef navigators and head into White Bay at Spanish Point! (See I knew I would get my way)<br /><br />The sun was up and the sky reasonably clear the next morning so at noon we upped anchor to head round with the sun almost directly above and moving behind us. We had a very detailed route on the chart plotter and a very nervous reef spotter on the bow and an only slightly less nervous helmsman as we motored around the corner.<br /><br />We slowly and carefully worked our way around the point and zigzagged our way through the reefs, Karen very competently spotting all the reefs and Bommies (coral heads) with ample time to ensure we safely manoeuvred towards the reef (her very dry mouth made competent communication of these facts a bit more difficult but flailing arms and nervous steps can say alot). As we were nearing White Bay, I made a mistake, instead of following our route, I decided to head towards Scolamanzi, despite a couple of “obstacles” on the chart. These ones were actually there, but as I approached, my spotter kindly indicated my error, and with an “all Astern” I backed out of the reef with no contact at all – luckily as I would never have lived it down, nor been allowed to go within 100 miles of a reef again!<br /><br />We dropped anchor exactly where we planned, but with rocks close by the next 24 hours was a bit nervous as we constantly monitored our track and watched how we swung in relation to these “Navigational Hazards” in the photo below – things looked the same from all sides of the boat!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3_Bommies.jpg?a=91" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 140px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Well it seemed that the northerly swells were set in and we were stuck in White Bay with strong winds, lots of sun, waves crashing over the point and clear, clear azure waters. We were in about 15 feet (yes I have succumbed to talking in the ancient imperial measurement system due to the abundance of North Americans down here) and you could see the ripples in the sand from the deck! (You may need to look very closely at the photo tho’)<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4_Bottom.jpg?a=4" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We spent 11 days in this delightful place – no shopping, no bars, just beaches, reefs and water. We caught up with some friends from Grenada (Hummingbird, Act 3) and met new ones as we enjoyed a impromptu pot luck on the beach one night, dinner on Scolamanzi and drinks aboard Hummingbird. We met the owners of a Canadian 42 PDQ catamaran that had designed his own hybrid system using Fischer Panda technology (including litium Ion batteries worth $25,000). It was a different design philosophy to the Lagoon , but he loved it even though it did take him two attempts to get the system to work properly on a cruising catamaran.<br /><br />We snorkelled, walked along the beach, played bocce (although the beaches in White Bay were narrow and you had to watch out for the donkey poo obstacles) and of course worried about when the swell would drop and how we would get the hell out of the reef obstacle course. The island is interesting in that it is small and inhabited by only 1600 people who effectively live in one village, Codrington, and the rest of the island is uninhabited so you could go for walks and be totally alone with only the sounds of the waves. <br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5_Windward.jpg?a=0" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We saw lots of evidence of wildlife, past and present in the form of the above mentioned donkey poo, vacated land tortoise shells, interestingly coloured conch shells and other stuff. We were a little disappointed in the snorkelling as the reefs appeared a little dead compared to other islands we have visited.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6_Fan.jpg?a=64" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6a_Conch.jpg?a=22" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Apart from enjoying the beauty of the island we also to a stroll to windward side to the surf beaches and were absolutely amazed at one low swooping white sandy beach. From a distance it looked stunning and very inviting – and we had it all to ourselves. However, when we got up close and personal, it became obvious, that all was not as it seemed. <br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7_GarbageBeach.jpg?a=46" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><span style="color: #d99694;"><em>Garbage Beach<br /></em></span>Strewn along the beach was more garbage than I had ever seen – gin bottles, rum bottles, old buoys, crates and all manner of flotsam – all apparently wash up from being discarded or washed overboard from passing ships – it made us vow never to throw any rubbish overboard. It also instigated our cruising garbage collection system – now we use my finished 1.75l rum bottles (there are an abundance of those aboard) to collect all our packaging material. You would not believe it but in that one little bottle I fitted over 1.5 weeks of garbage, excluding organics and recyclables! We also did our bit and took away what we could carry (ok it was two nice packing crates that fit nicely in our front locker).<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8_garbage.jpg?a=27" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After 11 days it was time to say “Hasta la Vista” to White Bay no matter how idyllic our surrounds we, and following our track in (except where that little mistake was made) in reverse, we slowly made our way round Coco Point and headed north to Low Bay for a couple of days (an unfortunately short stay as beers were running low).<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9_WhiteBay.jpg?a=17" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Low Bay is another 16 mile pinkish white beach with a couple sparse resorts on in (one near Codrington and one at the southern tip). We anchored near the Light House Bay resort and again got good wifi!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10_Resort.jpg?a=57" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 185px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />We spent the afternoon relaxing, watching the anchor track and of course taking advantage of the wifi – Karen even rang home on skype. We also organised to be picked up the next morning to visit the frigate bird rookery. We were in two minds if it would be worth the US$50 but thought it would probably be one of those things that other people would rave about and we would be disappointed if we didn’t go.<br /><br />Next morning we were up early and went to meet our water taxi on the strip of white sand south of the resort.... have a look at the photo and imagine that beach went on for 16 miles then you tell me where you think we were going to meet him.... Well it turned out to be easier than we thought, another taxi driver was on the beach on at the resort and he called us in and then pointed us in the right direction and our guy appears on the beach and helps us haul Debbie up the beach to the fence.<br /><br />Our guide, organised through George Jeffrey, was a professional power house operator who did tours and water taxi work part time to make ends meet. He was very informative about the island and the frigate bird rookery. In fact we learnt more about frigate birds than anyone really has the right to know!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/11_guide.jpg?a=48" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 410px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />The blokes do all the hard work, puffing up there bright red neck to attract the female. After she has checked him out and decides if his bright red neck is sufficiently large, his real estate, nice enough and he won’t embarrass her with her friend’s, she sends him out to gather building materials and build the nest. If he does a good job, he is rewarded with sex (does this seem familiar to you guys). She then gets up the duff and sends him out to get the food.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/12_male.jpg?a=60" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 395px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />This story does have a familiar ending though. After about 2-3 months of this the bloke gets to leave for another colony and the girl has to stay behind and look and he gets to do it all over again!<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/13_chick.jpg?a=78" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 434px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />After the tour we headed back in to Codrington to clear out.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/14_headingin.jpg?a=60" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Now checking out in Codrington is not something you want to do by yourself. Yes, it is a safe place and the people are friendly, but it is complicated and it is very difficult to find the customs and immigration offices. Customs is near the airport, in a house and I could not see the sign until it was pointed out to me by our guide. After about 1 ½ hours, all was done and we just needed to do some shopping for fresh and beer (I had run out!) and we were done. Unfortunately I forgot to tell the taxi driver I wanted beer and we missed that stop and not much fresh in the supermarket so not much shopping done.<br /><br />The taxi driver suggested if we wanted a beer, we could stop at the resort before heading back to the boat which we did. It is a beautiful resort with the bar overlooking Low Bay and Where II.<br /><br /><img border="4" src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/15_lowbay.jpg?a=44" style="border-bottom-color: #d99694; border-left-color: #d99694; border-right-color: #d99694; border-top-color: #d99694; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />In addition to the US$20 beer and juice, the manager gave us a tour of the resort rooms, which were fantastic. Full suites with huge bathrooms, a full kitchen (with wine chiller but no cooking facilities) and large bedrooms. At $1500 a night, I suppose it is what you would expect as I have never and will probably never pay that for a room, but all food and drinks are include at that price and if you stay 3 nights you get a complimentary one way helicopter transfer from Antigua!<br /><br />After that it was back to the boat to prepare for tomorrows trip to St Bart’s and onto St Martins the next day. We tried to sort out our Gennaker but had no luck so it looks like it is a motor sail west for us.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda17.626798 -61.77072880000002917.384681 -62.093452300000031 17.868915 -61.448005300000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-89377881795343559262011-02-16T12:58:00.000-08:002014-07-18T07:01:09.022-07:00Antigua or Bust! And that we did....We have been hanging out to reach Antigua – it is supposed to be fantastic. Mega yacht capital of the Caribbean.... beautiful beaches etc etc. But our arrival there was anything short of horrific. And this is how Karen described it in an email to friends back home ....<br />
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<br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>“We have had an interesting time in the Leewards. You knew the starboard engine failed in Dominica, but that was ok as we were on a mooring, sorted out the fuel intake thing and we have it working.<br /><br />We had a rough sail to Antigua, waves breaking over the bimini into the cockpit. But quicker than we thought, arriving in tiny crowded English Harbour around 2pm. I put out 10 metres of chain when the windlass died completely. I had just enough out to get the anchor wrapped around an old mooring line (we didn't know it at the time) so I had to take the helm and Matt struggled to pull it up by hand. My helming was all panic, which made it harder. Matt almost got it up but didn't have the brake on at it all fell back in! After another 20 minutes he got it up, and we saw the old mooring ropes tangled around the anchor. He went back to the helm and flagged down a dinghy and got them to release it and we headed out and to the next bay Falmouth, with Marinas. I wasn't going to anchor again until we had it working. Well the $100US a night for 2 nights was beyond our budget, but while on the dock we were able to ascertain it was the circuit breaker that had failed. We walked for hours to every Chandlery, hardware and electrical shop to no avail. Matt jury rigged it with the Circuit breaker for the electric winch and we went out to anchor in Falmouth. <br /><br />Meanwhile, my computer was losing the date & time, so we took it to an IT shop. They said no worries, it will be the motherboard battery, come back in an hour. Well when we went back my computer no longer worked, the guy was talking Bios upgrades, and a week later he was unable to fix it and gave it back, dead. Meanwhile Matt’s computer decided to join it and kept freezing up, then gave up. So with the only one IT shop we knew about, we had no choice but to give him Matt’s and keep our fingers crossed. He reckons Vista was corrupt, and backed it up and reinstalled everything and (touch wood) it seems to be working. So we spent 2 ½ weeks waiting on computers. Matt pulled mine apart to see if he could fix it and really put the nail in the coffin, so I am waiting until St Martin to see about a replacement.<br /><br /> But our sagas continued! We decided to leave Falmouth for Jolly Harbour. I had almost got the anchor up when the windlass shut off again (this time because the chain was backed up in the locker and wrapped around the Gypsy). As it was only a couple of feet above the water I put the brake on to stop it falling back in, when the port motor died. The winds were gusting up to 25k, there are mega yachts anchored all around us and we only have the one engine. I tried to release the brake and drop the anchor, but the damned thing was jammed. Matt was having a hard time keeping us off other boats, so I managed to flag down John from Millennium who came on board and helped me release the tangled chain and we dropped the hook in a hurry, hoping like hell we were set.<br /><br /> It turned out to be the fuel intakes pipe – the same as happened on the starboard engine in Dec. On reflection we should have changed both then.<br /><br /> So we waited a couple of days for my nerves to calm down, then headed to Jolly harbour. Nothing broke down; the holding was good and a big supermarket like IGA in Spiceland mall.<br /><br />In the meantime our friends, who had been stuck in Martinique for 6 weeks waiting on mail, started the mad dash to catch up with us, doing day trips 4 days in a row to finally join us in Jolly. We had not seen them since pre Xmas, so it was nice to catch up.<br /><br />They had friends arriving on Thursday to sail with them for a few weeks, It was really windy here, but about a week later it was agreed that the 2 boats would head 3 miles around into Deep Bay, then start making our way to Barbuda together. <br /><br />Well they took off ½ an hour before us and we followed. As it was only 3 miles we were prepared to motor, but they sailed and went offshore a bit more, so got more wind & waves. Just as we rounded 5 Islands they radio us and say they have lost steerage and propulsion, they are heading back and may need a tow in. What!?!?! We have never towed a boat before and there are reefs everywhere, but we slow down for them to return. Next they radio and say they have blown out there main, and they want a tow through the cut back to Jolly. They had the Genoa out and looked like they were sailing ok, but they asked us to come alongside and take their line. Of course the wind and seas picked up, and when they threw the line it hit the Genoa, so Matt had to do a quick U-turn, missing them by a foot. Second attempt I got the line and managed not to drop in and tied in onto the Port rear cleat. Steering with their boat wanting to go in other directions was difficult, and Matt & I decided to forget the cut, and go outside the rocks and back into Jolly. The noises their lines made were scary, as was trying to control our boat. I was so relieved when they finally dropped the anchor and the tow line and we were under control again! So now they are looking for a replacement transmission coupling and sail repairs, and I am trying to get up the courage to sail again.<br /><br />So if you thought I was “Nervous Nelly” before, you should see “Shaking Stevens”. I am going to look for herbal valium or start drinking with breakfast!<br /></em></span>But it wasn’t all bad. After we sorted out the windlass and were waiting on computers, we did enjoy Antigua. We spent a day exploring Nelson’s Dockyard in English harbour. <br /><em><span style="color: #1f497d;"><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/1Nelsons.jpg?a=77" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br />Officer’s Quarter’s<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/2Museum.jpg?a=46" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /></span></em><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>Lord Nelson as you have never seen her<br /></em></span>We took in the history including a nice little museum, a wander up to Fort Berkley (where we watched a mega yacht struggle to pick up its anchors amid all the yachts crammed into the anchorage one of which got towed out of the way by the marina tender!) and a T Shirt shop where Karen bought 5 pairs of board shorts – yes that is five pairs.<br /><br />We also enjoyed the traditional Sunday evening at Shirley Heights – steel pan band and reggae band with a great barbeque and view of English Harbour. <br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/3ShirleyCrowd.jpg?a=89" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br />The Crowd at Shirley Heights was almost as big as the Island Population<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/4ShirleyView.jpg?a=66" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /></em></span><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>English Harbour with Falmouth Harbour in the background<br /></em></span>We met up with another Aussie boat Alexes (although Dave was an impostor with an English accent) It was Dave’s birthday so the rum punches flowed freely.<br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/5DavesBirthday.jpg?a=94" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br />Karen Jenny and Dave (Alexes)</em></span><br />We caught a taxi up to save the walk there and back (which is essential as rum punch makes rubber legs!).<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/6Taxi.jpg?a=53" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 867px; width: 650px;" /><br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>Our Rasta taxi</em></span><br />Of course the neighbourhood we were staying in was none too shabby either. When we went into the marina, we were the second smallest boat there – not something I normally brag about!<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/7MalteseFalcon.jpg?a=33" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 445px; width: 650px;" /><br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>Maltese Falcon – just one of many mega yachts we were hanging about</em></span><br />We lazed around Falmouth, enjoying lunch at the yacht club and dinner at the Mad Mongoose where the served Calamari and fat chips and EC$5 rum punches – it was not bad at all. Australia day was coming up and there was a Barbie being held on Galleon beach that we thought we might attend, but in the end we were invited by “Gone with the Wind” (Aussie) to celebrate it with some Canadians and Americans. We gathered up John and Nat from Millennium and met them all for drinks at the Mad Mongoose. As the others left for dinner down at Nelson’s we decided to enjoy the calamari and chips (with a half price bottle of Babich NZ Sauvignon Blanc) once more at the mad mongoose. I could not tear Karen away from the Calamari!<br /><br />Now it wasn’t all just eating and drinking, we did venture in to St John’s – the capital and wandered the streets. We were caught by a disabled guy who was selling CDs to raise funds for his school. We decided on the reggae CD (Onyan “Baby Food”) and parted with our cash (not cheap but a good cause and local music I kept telling myself). We explored the Cruise dock terminal where Karen found the Body Shop and bought some eye gel, but best of all we found The Australian Ice Cream shop down near the dock. I am not sure what differentiates “Australian” icecream, but it was fantastic! (On our next shopping trip into St John’s we had to go back to introduce our friends to Aussie Ice cream). <br /><br />You will be disappointed to hear that the CD I bought was effectively a donation, as I think we have listened to the CD the one and only time – it was not that great... I would have preferred to find a copy of “Drinkin’ Rum and Red Bull” and part with my cash for it. I am sure that with a name like that the proceeds go to a good cause!<br /><br />We spent a couple of days exchanging files and movies with John and Nat and a club burgee with Antigua Yacht Club.<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/8AYCBurgeeWhereII.jpg?a=76" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 551px; width: 650px;" /><br /><span style="color: #1f497d;"><em>Elizabeth Jordan, the Commodore of the AYC swaps burgees with yours truly</em></span><br />Next we headed up to Jolly Harbour where we relaxed and enjoyed the excursions to Epicurean to shop while awaiting our friend’s arrival. There is a nice beach with white sands, a beach bar and thousands of tourists – we fitted right in. We noted it was perfect for Bocce, which we played later in our stay!<br /><br />Jolly Harbour itself is like a canal development on the gold coast with every unit having its our dock. I was keen to check them out, ‘cause if Karen wanted to give up the sailing, it seemed like a nice place to park the boat and live out our retirement. Karen thought it was a stupid idea so she will have to keep sailing!<br /><br />After about 2 weeks at Jolly we started heading north to Deep Bay, which is a nice protected harbour with a white sand beach (you may think I am going on a bit about the white sand beach thing but we haven’t seen too many in the Caribbean – maybe we Aussies are a bit spoilt), a quite resort, a wreck into the entrance of the bay and an old fort on the hill. So there was a bit to do. Fort Barrington was a bit of a rock climb, so Karen made it only half way, meaning sundowners up there were out of the question<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/9FortBerkley.jpg?a=82" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 488px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />But the view of Deep Bay was magnificent<br /><br /><img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/0/7/1/9/0/116943-109170/10DeepBay.jpg?a=45" style="border-bottom: #7030a0 4px solid; border-left: #7030a0 4px solid; border-right: #7030a0 4px solid; border-top: #7030a0 4px solid; height: 184px; width: 650px;" /><br /><br />Given we couldn’t have sundowners up at the fort and there was a nice white beach, we mixed up some rum punch (I think my recipe is getting quite good now) and headed into the beach and had a game of bocce! Nature of course had its own plans, and while I was whipping Karen’s but, the clouds built and we headed home without Karen’s inevitable defeat!<br /><br />Next morning we headed out to the Andes to snorkel the wreck, but alas visibility was 0 and you could only make out the top of the mast, the bow and some of the deck structure. So back to the boat and some forward planning. It looked good for a short hop to Dickenson and then up to Barbuda over the next couple of days so we had an early night (probably watched an episode of Love My Way which Al and Boofa introduced us to last year).<br /><br />Next day it was off to Dickenson, a nice white sandy beach surrounded by a couple of all inclusive beach resorts and expensive beach bars. We thought about going out for a special Valentines dinner, but in the end we decided to cook up some garlic prawns, have another bottle of Babich and enjoy a quiet romantic night on the boat. All that came off except the quiet bit! The resorts kept the music coming ‘til late at night which encouraged us to head off to Barbuda today!</div>
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COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Janette Boluch<br />
DATE: 3/16/2011 11:23:12 PM<br />
Loved catching up with your blogs, which I have missed reading. Footy season is about to begin again - go bombers. The mighty Sir James Hird is now our coach and big things are about to happen!! Footy will be interesting as the Gold Coast Suns with Guy McKenna as coach enter the competition this year and North Sydney with Kevin Sheedy as Head Coach enter 2012. Gary Ablett Jnr left Geelong as did Campbell Brown Hawthorn to join Gold Coast but if you have internet you probably know all of this. Karen send me your email so I can write to you.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda17.0746557 -61.81752069999998916.8318102 -62.140244199999991 17.317501200000002 -61.494797199999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-40591081983776393592011-01-09T12:15:00.000-08:002014-07-19T07:33:36.072-07:00Like I said, We’re off to The SaintsSo we got up early right,
headed north right, had a beautiful sail right, noticed a cruise ship off our port stern
right, started to head into the channel to The Saints right, still under sail right,
noticed that the cruise ship was gaining on us fast right, and heading into the channel
right – so much for sailing vessels stand on rights – we turned to starboard and dropped
the sails looped round and followed it into port. Welcome to the Saints!<br />
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That
was just the start of it – there were 2 more cruise ships at anchor in the harbour and
about a thousand other boats taking up the two small anchorages near Grande Bourg so
after one aborted anchoring attempt we gave up and decided to head on to Guadaloupe –
say Pointe-a-Pitre. That wasn’t to be either as the wind had turned more to the North
making a sail to Pointe-a-Pitre on the nose and with only 4 hours of light and a tricky
channel entry we turned to the west to head to the anchorage at Basse Terre – the
capital. Well I think Doyle got it wrong when he said there was an anchorage there – the
shelf looked about 12ft wide and the wind was blowing from the west so we had a lee
shore full of rocks! Bugger that we agreed as the starboard engine failed, got a rope
caught. We powered up on port and headed north to Pigeon Island. Along the way the rope
seemed to clear itself and we were able to start starboard as well to make better time.
We made it by sundown in time to see a beautiful sunset over the island.<br />
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We woke up in the morning and the north east swell had arrived in anger.
We watched as the waves crashed onto the dinghy docks that suggested that we may not get
ashore here easily…. which was an understatement. We dropped Debbie and thought we would
see if we could find a way in as we had to check in to the country. We tried to find a
river that was a bit to the south but with no luck so we tried the floating dinghy dock
which looked interesting to say the least but the waves weren’t breaking over it
anymore. As we neared we met a local dive instructor swimming to his boat and he
suggested out best bet was to leave Pigeon Island and head north to Deshaies and check
in there. It was an easier harbour to get ashore in this swell. So we upped anchor and
headed north.<br />
<br />
We arrived in Deshaies and anchored out the back as we always did
and sat on the boat making sure we were dug in watching the waves crash against the
walls of the beachfront restaurants. “How the hell are we ever going to get ashore in
that – hopefully we can get in at the fishing harbour” I was thinking when we heard
“Where II” being called from a rowing dinghy fighting the wind and swell. It was a guy
named Indie from the yacht Pegasus anchored ahead of us. He gave us the low down on the
dinghy dock and Customs so we could clear in. Customs were helpful but made it clear
that really they didn’t want to waste time with yachts – better for us to clear at the
local cyber café (Pelicans). We wandered around the village checking out where
everything was and getting a baguette before heading back for the night.<br />
<br />
The
weather was crap for the next couple of days windy and raining and we stayed on the boat
and even though there was bugger all sun so solar power was low, Wally the Wind
Generator certainly made up for it and we were living off free energy for most of the
time.<br />
<br />
There is a variation on the boat boy in this harbour, in true French
style…. Harold the bread boy! Each afternoon he comes round and takes orders and the
following morning we get fresh, hot baguettes and croissants and pain au chocolate! With
the bad weather we were even having hot coffee for breakfast (infused with local vanilla
beans – very continental!)<br />
<br />
Indie came and visited (I get the impression he was
kicked off the boat as his partner Natalie was studying for some exams) and we decided
to have New Years Day lunch on our boat (well really Indie did and we went along with
it) So Indie and Natalie were bringing a French Ham, and wine and we did the quiche,
salad and Champagne.<br />
<br />
So New Years Eve was spent on the boat, we put champagne in
the fridge and hit the sack early with the alarm set for 2350 so we could see in the New
Year. Good in theory, but when someone is so tired that they can’t get up – the practice
was not quite there. Anyway there were fireworks from shore and the boat next door was
letting off flares so it was a bright welcome to the NY – I won’t say which one of us
saw it in….<br />
<br />
New Year’s lunch was delicious – the ham and potatoes baked to
perfection and the company great. Although we hadn’t met them before, we had realised
that Indie and Natalie were anchored not far from us in Brewer’s Bay St Thomas last year
( there were only 4 boats there) and knew our Bocce tormentors - Jim & Wendy on
Merengue.<br />
<br />
Once the rain stopped we decided it was time to see some of the island
and headed to the bus stop to get a bus to Pointe-a-Pitre. Waiting, waiting, waiting…
but no bus showed so we headed to the car hire and got ourselves a little ford and
headed into town. We stopped at Grande Anse which was pretty and within walking distance
of Deshaies, and went onto St Rose where we stopped for morning tea (pastries off
course, we are in France) and headed onto Pointe-a-Pitre (missing the Rum Museum - can
you believe it!?)<br />
<br />
On the way in to town we passed a huge mall with a hardware (Mr
Bricolage) and sports store (Decathlon) so we made a point of planning a return visit
here on our way home so Karen could shop. The way in was busy and it reminded me of
traffic jams back home which I don’t miss and didn’t expect to see on an island this
small but there you go.<br />
<br />
Pointe-a-Pitre is a pretty town with some distinct
architecture – starting with the grand Tourist bureau. <br />
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We strolled along the streets and through the market stalls, buying
the local vanilla beans very cheaply compared with other islands before heading to the
Schoelcher Museum. <br />
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Victor Schoelcher was one of the first advocates of the
abolishment of slavery in these islands and the museum has a collection of slave
exhibits including slave neck collars, models of slave ships and even what appeared to
be a slave sales registry or cargo list (I am not quite sure as all the explanations
were in French). We finished off the visit here looking for handbags (as you always do
in a tropical island).<br />
<br />
Next we checked out the marina complex and then headed
home via the mall (where we got drawer rails for Karen’s new shelf in the galley – my
next job) and face cream from Carrefour. We then did the shopping run to Leader Price to
refill my Brie, ham, beer and wine stock as my vegetarian partner has been quite taken
by ham baguettes since we have been in the French Islands. <br />
<br />
Next morning we were
up early as we had the car until noon and took off for the hills. Our first stop was a
lookout at Morne Louis which was up a tight little road littered with the results of mud
slides. We made it to the top to be greeted by comms towers and absolutely no where we
could get a view through the foliage! Not much of a look out! Another car was arriving
as we left but I did not have enough French to say “Don’t bother!”<br />
We then made it to
Maison du Foret – an early picnic ground next to a fast flowing stream. This is a
beautiful little area with heaps of picnic pavilions and further along the road, an
interpretation centre (known as this obviously because we non-French speaking people
need an interpreter to understand any of the signs), a suspension bridge across the
stream and a 20 min walk which we decided to do (hiking again!). <br />
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<br />
The rain forest was wet and slimy and full of big trees and stag horns
(some of them with name tags in French) – it was pretty whatever it was we were looking
at. We made the hike in 24mins (an extra 4 for a detour around a fallen tree) and if you
know Karen, crossing the suspension bridge was a great achievement too!<br />
<br />
We headed
back to Deshaies and dropped off the car, deciding that if tourist information was open
we would head up to the Botanical Gardens. It was (first time in two weeks) and we did.
They call the gardens and a bus will come down to town and pick you up which, although
it is only 1.5 km it is all up hill so it is worth it. <br />
Entrance fee was €14.50 each,
which standing at the gate seemed as steep as the ride up, but we swallowed it and paid
(we had just got a free ride up the hill) and were greeted by a thousand odd 35 lb koi
carp. You could buy food and feed them but they looked fat enough and we needed some
money over to buy our own lunch. The gardens are beautifully laid out and include not
only the carp, but lorikeets (from Australia), flamingos, blue parrots as well as
thousands of trees, flowering plants (half not flowering at this time of year but they
had photos of what they would look like if they were flowering), orchids, waterfalls and
even a Norfolk pine from Australia!<br />
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And of course we finished off the day taking the
obligatory photo of me and my headless friends.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Big
day, but we decided that we should forego the free bus ride back down the hill and then
headed back to the boat.<br />
<br />
After all that excitement, the next morning we decided
that we would take a good weather window and head north to Antigua. If we missed it we
would be stuck in Deshaies for another week at least, so the diving will have to wait
for our return trip this season. So we checked out, and spent the afternoon doing
maintenance on the boat (Engine checks, re-stitching the trampoline and finally clearing
the rope from the Starboard prop). <br />
<br />
Tomorrow we head for Antigua!<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Mum<br />
DATE: 1/30/2011 10:57:23
PM<br />
Really enjoyed this blog this morning, Matt. Fantastic photos.<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR:
Anne Foster<br />
DATE: 2/3/2011 12:29:32 PM<br />
G'day WhereII and Happy New Year, I found you again after a long absence-good to hear
how things are going Matt, you are obviously far too relaxed and at ease with the world.
The blog is great-it all sounds magical and I love that Karen is eating ham, those
French foodie influences are hard to resist! All is well here. We are leaving Melbourne
town soon, alas not for Caribbean waters but for the sunny climes and brilliant beaches
of Perth. Dave is working on an alliance over West (at my restless insistence of "c'mon
let's do something new now that we've conquered the child rearing thing") and we will be
there for 1-2 years at this stage. Sol and Elsa are 2 and 1 and full of fun and I should
probably consider working again but I'm hoping to become a beachcomber and get a tan to
rival Karen's... watch out for Pirates and I'll check in on you again soon. Cheers, Anne
xx
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Îles des Saintes, Guadeloupe15.8552127 -61.63627359999998115.794115199999998 -61.71695459999998 15.9163102 -61.555592599999983tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-8978545892013253452011-01-07T05:11:00.000-08:002014-07-19T07:19:57.795-07:00Stuck in Martinique – There are worse places to be…. STATUS: publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Travel Diary
DATE:
12/13/2010 5:11:00 AM
-----
BODY:
<br />
Well we have been in Martinique a month and it
started pretty much to plan as you saw in the last blog, but things have slowed down a
bit since then. The weather has been doing crazy things with strong north easterly
swells and some strong gusty winds, so we have pretty much decided to just stay put in
Le Marin. Also the cable I bought for the VHF didn’t seem to solve the problem so I took
it into Jacque at Diginav for him to have a look at it. Friday afternoon was when he
said it would be ready, but we must keep in mind that this is “Island Time with French
Attitude” and so…. it was not ready. “Tomorrow” they said, then rethinking it they said
“Monday”. With this in mind we relaxed into the bay and hit the Beach Friday night in
search of Pizzas and ended up at a restaurant with Evergreen eating the local curried
Dorado which was very nice.<br />
<br />
Saturday was the starboard engine service (sometimes
I wish I had a monohull – one engine – one service, but this is rare) and Sunday wasn’t
Dominos day as is the usual plan but we tried out the new bocce set and got our butts
whipped 3-0 by Jim & Dinah – it must have been the lack of Sand Bar Rum Punches!
<br />
<br />
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<br />
We gave Diginav until Tuesday morning before checking back and they had
good news! They knew what the problem was – the cable they sold me was no good so I just
needed to get another one! Fantastic… except they didn’t have one, but Jacques was
heading to the Paris boat show and could get me one. The bad news was it was another 2
weeks away. We decided to bite the bullet and wait as Jacques is probably the most
competent Raymarine technician we have dealt with – albeit a little slow. With this news
Evergreen decided to get their mail sent to Le Marin and we settled into Le Marin for
the wait.<br />
<br />
Over the next two weeks we hired a car with Jim and Dinah twice for 2
days each time. The first time was for 1 day shopping and one day touring, and the
second time was for touring Fort de France. Well it seems Karen can manipulate things
such that we did shop on all four days…. I am wondering the wisdom of letting her read
Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series! I am also wondering whether the French really want
to share their island with the rest of the world as most of what we had decided to visit
was closed (from parks to museums to rum distilleries) with the exception of Karen’s
shops….<br />
<br />
So anyway what did we see: We started off with a tour around the
south West peninsula taking in Les Anses d’arlet stopping at the pretty little bourg of
Petit Anse d’Arlet for a snack at the patisserie <br />
<br />
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<br />
On to Anse Noire ….<br />
<br />
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<br />
…
and up to Trois Ilets before Karen decided that it was enough touring and we had to
shop. So it was off to Champion and Intersport in Dillon where Jim and Dinah bought a
nice expensive set of shiny boules (apparently our kiddies set was not good enough to
beat us with). Then we headed east to Francois and Le Vauclin looking for somewhere to
have an early dinner or at least a drink. Whilst the scenery was nice, our quest was
unsuccessful and we ended up back at the Mango in La Marin where we all partook in
the moulles et frites (mussels and fries in a white wine sauce). Delicious way to end
the day.<br />
<br />
Day two was supposed to be all shopping, but by consensus (can’t say
which way Karen voted or whether or not she was pouting in the back seat of our Peugot
307) we decided to be Tommy Tourist again. We headed off past Fort de France to the
north west of the island for our first stop if the day – the Museum of Gauguin at
Carbet. This is where the disappointments started – after 20 minutes of looking, we
realised that it no longer existed, so it was onto St Pierre at the base of Mt Pelle.
The prior capital of Martinique was the victim of the 1902 eruption of Mt Pelle when
only one resident out of the 130,000 survived (of course he was a drunk in jail for
disorderly conduct – who says drinking is evil?) We started at the commercial
centre,<br />
<br />
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<br />
visited the museum, toured the grand old theatre (a copy of one in
Bordeaux) that was destroyed in the eruption)…<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
…and then had lunch at various outlets around town before heading further
north.<br />
<br />
Here the disappointments continued to mount. First stop was the Tomb of
the Rebels where legend has it the last of the Carib Indians jumped from the cliffs
above to avoid being enslaved or massacred by the pursuing French – couldn’t find it.
Next it was onto Habitation Ceron - an old plantation with apparently beautiful gardens
– shut. Always chipper we headed back to the DePaz Rum Distillery and we found the tomb
of the Rebels !<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
The cacti were in flower there as well.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Then we hightailed it to DePaz because by now it was bucketing down. We
dashed across the car park and sat outside the store to wait for the rain to abate to do
the tour which is mostly outdoors. <br />
<br />
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<br />
Half an hour later we gave up and went into the store to sample the rum.
After trying a couple of different rums we purchased a few of the specials (yes
shopping) we checked the rain and gave up, thinking we might make it back to the Dillon
distillery for a tour there. Wrong, this distillery is shutdown and it is now made at
DePaz which we had just left! We did get the education video and bought some white rum,
shrub rum punch for the girl and a bottle of very old rum for special occasions (more
shopping – the girl was happy).<br />
<br />
Day two did however end on a brighter note as we
found the seaside bar restaurant in St Luce on the way home. Unfortunately our
budget extended only to a drink. Jim and I tried the Desperado Tequila beer –
don’t bother!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
The next week or so we relaxed around the boat, played dominos and boules (with
Evergreen’s new boules and they still whipped our butt) and waited for mail and parts.
We decided to do another couple of days with the rent-a-car when we found out it was
almost as cheap as catching the bus to Fort de France. <br />
<br />
The plan was to spend 2
days in Fort de France taking in the history and doing some shopping. We headed in with
a plan to visit the fort, the library, a museum and the shops. So this is how it went
down….<br />
We lucked out and got a free park near the old post office and visited the
fort to be told that it was not doing tours as it was a strategic defence location. No
problem, plenty more to see like the park with the beheaded statue of Josephine…. Fenced
off for renovations (as it was when we were there over a year ago). No problems lets do
some shops and then the Library and the museum.<br />
<br />
The shops didn’t take long
(believe it or not) with the exception of a liquidation centre Karen wanted to find (but
no longer existed). We grabbed lunch in a Gyros shop (as you do in a French Island) near
the market and kept going. Next the Schoeller Library, a unique structure designed and
built in Paris around the same time as the Eiffel Tower, dismantled, shipped and rebuilt
in Martinique. We were concerned that it might be closed as it had scaffolding around
the front (picture below from last year) but we found a side entrance and got some
cultural experiences.<br />
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<br />
<br />
We were however not so lucky with the museum and with time to spare we started
heading back, but of course we had to hit the hardware on the way back (as close to a
Bunnings as we are going to get south of the US Virgins) but alas it was closed. Karen,
being the opportunistic shopping that she is took us across the freeway to Gallerie de
Lafayette! Here we hit Hyper U, a shop not dissimilar to RG Maddens and a great sports
store where Jim found shiny boules for a quarter of the price they paid – much to their
horror! They finally told us and we were now the proud owner of grown up boules!
<br />
<br />
After shopping it was back to Marin and onto the boat for an early
night.<br />
<br />
Next day it was up and heading to the north-east, via InterSport to return
Evergreen’s new boules. Luckily the guy in the store had been to Canada and chatted with
Jim while he gave him his money back. On to the other store to get the cheaper boules
and then up to Robert and places north to find somewhere for lunch. The scenery was
idyllic <br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
But alas nowhere that struck our fancy for lunch! So it was back to Le
Marin to have pizzas at a place we tried and liked last year but guess what – it
was closed! We found another placed and enjoyed the pizzas while the skinny French woman
next to us and her friend ordered the largest steak I have seen that wasn’t part of a
cow! I assume it was to share…<br />
<br />
So by now we were just waiting for Jacques
(Diginav) to finish his olives – his choice not mine - and champagne at the Paris boat
show and get us the cable so what did we do – play boules of course.<br />
<br />
Guy
(Princess of Tides) suggested we dinghy over to the beach past St Anne have a picnic –
it was only 20 minutes away. Sounds good in theory, until we realise that 20 minutes is
in a dinghy with a 15hp outboard… we have 6 and Evergreen 8, so even when we rode
Evergreen’s wake it was slightly longer than 20 minutes <br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
but it was a nice beach and we did enjoy both the picnic and the boules
(although we got our butts whipped again)<br />
<br />
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<br />
Next with Christmas coming up it was time, for the first time since
leaving Aus, to decorate the boat. We splashed out and bought a Santa on a rope ladder
for the mast and a Christmas tree for our pressies. So we carefully decorated the tree
with the 2 hand painted bells my sister had given us last Christmas out and only now had
a tree to hang on!<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Well Jacques finally returned but it didn’t appear
that he had the part but he assured us if we came back early in the morning it would be
there. Not only was it there, it was installed and he charged us no more than the second
hand part we already paid for! Big thanks Jacques.<br />
<br />
Now all we needed was
Evergreen’s mail and some good weather and we were all off with my Christmas leg of Lamb
in the freezer. Well the weather came but unfortunately the mail didn’t and we took off
without our sailing buddies to St Pierre to wait to cross to Dominica, hoping they would
catch up before we left.<br />
<br />
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<br />
After another day wandering round the
town, dinner on Princess of Tides and it was time to go it alone – we are off to
Dominica for Christmas!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Le Marin, Martinique14.4694 -60.86580000000003614.4079035 -60.946481000000034 14.5308965 -60.785119000000037tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8520333459694607776.post-7446650963001349132010-12-28T21:13:00.000-08:002014-07-19T06:44:39.871-07:00Italians really do say "Mamma Mia"…. And the world’s most expensive rum punch! Okay, the sail from St Pierre was good, not
great but good. We left Martinique in light winds after clearing out first thing in the
morning, so out came our new favourite sail –the Gennaker, however once we got just
north of the island, of course the wind picked up and I went forward to furl the sail in
rough seas and winds gusting over 20 knots. Not too bad, but a little interesting for
the first time. The furler kept slipping and in the end, it was in but messy and making
a lot of noise against the now unfurled genoa – so it had to come down in those same
conditions – interesting…. But do-able. After this struggle it was a calm sail into
Dominica where we were met by Pancho the boat boy’s offsider Julian. He helped us tie up
to the Marine Centre’s mooring buoy and we took in our surrounding in the bay just to
the south of Roseau, Dominica. Julian was quite helpful, friendly and unlike some boat
boys – did not hassle us at all so it was a nice intro to the country.<br />
<br />
We relaxed
on the boat for the afternoon then headed in to the dinghy docks the next morning –
first we headed to the Marine Centre’s dock but it looked a bit high (too challenging
with the swell that was running from the north west), so we turned round and headed to
the Fort Young Hotel dinghy dock in town which turned out to be much lower and easier
access, but we still had to tie off the stern of the dinghy due to the swell! There was
a cruise ship in, so the town was pumping and we had tour guides galore telling us of
the pleasures of the island. We just wanted to clear in and relax around town – which we
were told was a waste of a day for us, but we had the time.<br />
<br />
After a stroll round
town we headed to the Botanical garden and viewed a famous cricket ground (what it was
famous for I don’t know but it was smaller than most country grounds in Qld) and headed
up Jack’s track to Morne Bruce, the cross overlooking the city and a panoramic view of
the city. Notice how the city is dwarfed by the cruise ship. As a matter of interest in
a week we saw 7 cruise ships arrive, with 2-3000 passengers each, so say 20,000 people,
just under 1/3 of the population of Dominica transited Roseau in that 1 week!
<br />
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<br />
<br />
We also saw the power of Cyclone David in our stroll through the Botanical
Garden in the form of a fallen African Boabab tree – luckily the bus was empty!
<br />
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<br />
<br />
We wandered round town and enjoyed a Kubuli beer (or at least I did) and
went in search of the elusive lime. Another point of interest – Dominica used to be one
of the world’s largest producers of limes in the world, but we struggled to find enough
to flavour my rum, apparently the annual crop or limes has been replaced by bananas
which produce year round.<br />
<br />
The following day was to be relaxing, snorkelling or
touring but the starboard engine had other ideas. Whilst charging the batteries that
evening, the engine slowed and stopped. We tried to restart it but to no avail! So the
next day was a work day!<br />
<br />
Our first assumption (Karen is really starting to
understand some of this stuff) was that the dirty fuel we got in Trini had fouled the
filters, so I drained the pre-filter and changed it – it was dirty, but it was hard to
say if it was clogged. I had to fill the pre-filter and filter with clean fuel so we
took off in search of a small gerry can with which to buy some. This we thought would be
easy but it was challenging enough just getting the stern anchor set on the dinghy
(never done that before) and climbing onto the fuel dock at the marine centre, but then
finding a small gerry was also challenging – a walk into town in my smelly work clothes
got us a gasoline gerry, which the service station attendant was reluctant to fill with
diesel!<br />
<br />
Anyway with clean diesel we filled the filters and tried to bleed the
system which seemed slow but the engine ran…. For 10 minutes before it stopped again….
Obviously used up all the fuel from the filter. So my assumption was that it was a fuel
filter issue or I wasn’t bleeding it properly. I remembered a tip from Danny (Magnum in
Grenada) to put a fuel bulb in line from the tank to prime quickly, so next morning I
found one and cut it into the line and pumped away. The effect wasn’t how I imagined
with still only a little fuel coming out when I tested it, but fuel was making it to the
fuel filter so I gave it another go with the same result… A little frustrating but
narrowed it down to the fuel pump or so it seemed to me – tomorrow’s job to try and find
a pump.<br />
<br />
As I agonised over the problem in my sleep (Karen by now was a sounding
board only) I remembered John’s (Stevee Jean) problem with a split fuel pick up line on
his 420, so at 6:00am I was up and pulling apart the starboard bed and fuel tank. Sure
enough, the copper pick up line was split from a$%*hole to breakfast! Well that
should be cheaper and easier to get than a fuel pump – one would think. However tomorrow
was Sunday so it would have to wait a day….<br />
<br />
So Sunday, we decided to take the
snorkelling gear and grab a bus down to Champagne to snorkel the underwater volcano
vent. Wrong! Sunday is dead, no cruise ship and no buses. So not to be put off we stroll
down to the anchorage hotel to check out the whale watch centre. We had seen our first
whale between St Vincent and St Lucia - we wanted to learn how to identify them and how
we should sail the boat in their presence. When we arrived, we were told that there was
a whale watching expedition that day and so as a Chrissie pressie to ourselves we booked
ourselves on after checking the likelihood of seeing a whale (95+% and they had seen
whales all of the last 11 days). So for US$57.50 each we would get served fruit juice, a
rum punch and see thousands of whales. <br />
<br />
We rushed back to the boat, got the big
camera and rushed back to their dinghy dock for the briefing – which was very
informative but we could not wait for our 3.5hours of dodging whales, identifying them,
learning what their tails looked like, how to track them etc etc. We did learn how you
can track them, had our US$57.50 rum punch and 3.5hours later we returned to dock to
check out the pictures of whale tails. Little did we know that on the 12th day the
Whales rest….so we saw nothing, not even a dolphin. We did see some nice rainbows
though. (Sorry no photos of whales – check elsewhere on the internet)<br />
<br />
Monday we
went to the Yanmar dealer, who sent us to the chandlery, who sent us to the Yanmar
dealer, who sent us to a hardware in Pottersville, who sent us to Valley Engineering,
who sent us to a building supplies centre, who sent us to another hardware (we walked
from Newtown to the docks) all to no avail. On the way Karen had spotted an agricultural
supply store who had irrigation supplies so as a last resort before swapping the
generator pickup for the engine pick up we tried there and I hate to admit Karen was
right, but we were able to pick up 16mm HDPE garden irrigation pipe that looked like it
would do a good temporary job, which it did that afternoon. So after 3 days we were back
in action!<br />
<br />
Tuesday, with a new cruise ship in dock we headed into town and
bargained our way into a tour with a bunch of Italians and Slovenians from the ship
(well all we did was wait until a driver told us he would give us a tour for US$10 and
we were in- how bad could it be for $10). This cruise started in the Med and 19
days later had seen most of the Caribbean – what are we doing wrong that that has taken
us 3 years?<br />
<br />
We headed off to the botanical gardens (and the squashed bus) and
Morne Bruce (which I had to walk to) and then it got interesting. <br />
<br />
We hit the
highlights of the south as the Italians were saying “Mamma Mia” as we took the hills and
corners at a reasonable pace…<br />
<br />
Trafalgar Twin Falls (notice there are 2)
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Wotten Waven Sulphur Springs<br />
<br />
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<br />
Freshwater Lake (very cold – yes cold and cloudy) and back to town.
<br />
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<br />
We could have continued to Mero for a few extra
bucks but we planned to sail there and do a distillery tour. <br />
Next morning it was up
and off to Salisbury for an overnight stop and a distillery tour. <br />
<br />
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<br />
We anchored south of the dive dock and were promptly told by the operator
that he had moorings available if we wished to use them – he later told us they are free
of charge as he is trying to discourage anchoring to re-establish the sea grass. We
splashed off the back of the boat and enjoyed the cooling water. The water in Dominica
is so clear it is really like swimming in a pool back home!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Next
day, as it was still a few days before Christmas and he had some spare time on his way
to Aus, we left Santa on watch and headed to Macoucherie Rum Distillery. <br />
<br />
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<br />
Unfortunately, after a bit of a hike we found out the tour guide was not
there so a tour was out of the question. So we kept walking, thinking it was not far to
Mero, but an hour later we realised it was. <br />
<br />
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<br />
However it was a lovely little beach and we stopped at the new Romance
café for a refreshing grapefruit drink, before hiking back to Salisbury.<br />
<br />
Having
hiked all we were going to we packed up that afternoon Portsmouth, a quick 2 hour (after
the Minnow, nothing is a 3 hour cruise on Where II just in case) sail north. We were met
outside the harbour by Alexis – one of the Portsmouth boat boys, who introduced himself
and then headed back in to harbour leaving us to find a spot and anchor. He visited
later to say hello and we said we would talk to him over the coming days once we decided
what we wanted to do.<br />
<br />
Over the next couple of days we were quite busy, running
into Aussies everywhere, and at one stage 50% of the boats in Portsmouth were Australian
registered! Friday we took the Indian River tour with Alexis which included a tour of a
plantation and 2 backpacks of fresh fruit and 218 different ways to make rum punch! The
others on the tour were from another Melbourne registered yacht! Notice the entrance to
Indian River where the swell is breaking just in front of the wreck! Alexis did a great
job of rowing us up the river and explaining the wildlife and his links to Johnny Depp
(Pirates 2).<br />
<br />
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<br />
Saturday was Christmas Day and I discovered how to get Karen out of bed
before 8:00am. The night before Christmas, when all through the boat, not a creature was
stirring except for me about 2:00am. I wrapped Karen’s presents and carefully placed
them under the tree. (The good thing about a small tree is it makes the pressies look
big!)<br />
<br />
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<br />
Karen got up at about 4:00am to steal orange juice and check the anchor
track and saw Santa had been and from then on she had trouble staying asleep! (Who says
I’m the big kid of the Family?) So we got up at 7:00am to open the presents and then
have breakfast in true Donovan style followed by a feast (unfortunately as Evergreen
could not make it, my lamb roast shrunk to shanks but it was delicious none the less)!
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
With the festivities over, we got onto the serious stuff, we went hiking
(yes hiking) through the Cabrits and the ruins of Fort Shirley which was hot, tiring but
very cool, especially when you got to the ruins of the old northern gun battery. This
took us the best part of the day covering the west battery all the way back to
town.<br />
<br />
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<br />
After this strenuous activity we decided we should probably start to make
our way to The Saints, a small group of islands just south of Guadaloupe and as soon as
we made that plan it changed. Alexis came by the boat and asked us if we wanted to do a
tour of the north part of the island as he had another boat interested. We apologised
and said we had planned to depart and that we would do it on the way back down the
islands in May. He went off and explained to the other boat that it wasn’t going to
happen. 5 minutes later our plans had changed and we called him back and said we would
wait it out another day and do the tour…… So he had to go back and tell the other boat
it was now on. You can see our quick decisive skills and planning capabilities are still
there!<br />
<br />
At 8:00 the next morning, Alexis picked us up and dropped us with Geoffrey
who first took us to the bank and to customs for the other boat (Ascension Gordon and
Ginny) to clear in and we cleared out at the same time – not the fastest process –
we were there for about an hour. While we were there Geoffrey realised he had lost his
phone so when we came out we were in the hands of 62yo Winston. The tour started slowly
with Winston never being at threat of breaking a speed limit, but he was very
informative along the way. We headed east past Morne aux Diables through the town that
was home to the world’s oldest lady (128yo) until she died.<br />
<br />
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<br />
From here we made for the beaches of the north east (Batibou Bay, Woodford
Hill Bay, Marigot and Pagua), all the time with Winston giving us up to date political
announcements from the Skerrit administration and trying to sell us real estate on the
island! We stopped at one of his girlfriends’ place and the beach, which he said was
available for the right price! <br />
<br />
The scenery was fantastic and his local knowledge
great. He showed us an old sugar mill and explained the construction (using molasses in
the mortar to guard against hurricanes etc) rivers, plantations and even the old
Methodist church where he went to school! <br />
<br />
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<br />
He
gave us the option of doing the Carib Village – a model village on the only Carib Indian
reserve in the Caribbean. This was something we were keen to do. On the way there we
stopped on the side of the road at a Cassava bread bakery where we sampled the bread and
bought some for the trip the next day. Winston had to buy four for another girlfriend he
would see later on the tour! (no wives, just girlfriends – less trouble)<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4oWP31rq59ICj1kuH0ltGPrURrrIrNLgL_Ob4YEc-ukwVcb0yoazKwVeQUu10HCb351uw3B1lOrl_3kGmV9OcsZgDGl5GvQP3HyIEtaLZmiDuE5PUnc9MJqL7DoczZ-JCYEMthRfVu5D/s1600/bakery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4oWP31rq59ICj1kuH0ltGPrURrrIrNLgL_Ob4YEc-ukwVcb0yoazKwVeQUu10HCb351uw3B1lOrl_3kGmV9OcsZgDGl5GvQP3HyIEtaLZmiDuE5PUnc9MJqL7DoczZ-JCYEMthRfVu5D/s1600/bakery.jpg" height="400" width="353" /></a></div>
<br />
The village was interesting and well laid out, but I did expect to see
some traditional costumes as you see in the brochures, but everyone there was in jeans
(what was I thinking?) The tour was interesting, but not as interesting as I had
hoped.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmA59B8GGeGsk8tnHLU6KWtLXNkhyphenhyphen5tiIfDsu7rDk5QyNOuP2L0z0WbXY2OAlHXM8x5IPbdG7crA7KelrsRHRah2-lOAyH_Mni-UQu7B3QkJvWTKQo4RB51sqPe24zbF9sc7vWae4I0F2/s1600/village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmA59B8GGeGsk8tnHLU6KWtLXNkhyphenhyphen5tiIfDsu7rDk5QyNOuP2L0z0WbXY2OAlHXM8x5IPbdG7crA7KelrsRHRah2-lOAyH_Mni-UQu7B3QkJvWTKQo4RB51sqPe24zbF9sc7vWae4I0F2/s1600/village.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
From the village we continued south in the reserve, stopping at a road
stall to buy a woven basket from a young Indian girl.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9SPh5Zx7dIvfdQxrpISPBoV33DcFxwdnGXbVaTzfkn1w00a8DQtQxsswQfNpClb8LrL-e5Lcj8dKce-8CvZDVUCUkWV0912JGrVnSHrRHWRcwc53h9UpxqYXLNWyoSPxyURutrx0oe-P/s1600/baskets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9SPh5Zx7dIvfdQxrpISPBoV33DcFxwdnGXbVaTzfkn1w00a8DQtQxsswQfNpClb8LrL-e5Lcj8dKce-8CvZDVUCUkWV0912JGrVnSHrRHWRcwc53h9UpxqYXLNWyoSPxyURutrx0oe-P/s1600/baskets.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The tour continued on through the centre of the island where we hiked up
to Spanny Falls. Unfortunately, it was getting late, cold and it was raining, so none of
us felt like going for a swim, although the water did look quite refreshing.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuR7Qie_m3_HO2r7Sje4WnbDrn5MD4LhT1YhHCO1lBfOObjB8Fy8ojJlXBoxIqBzlBeNYLz2EtPF53CvhP_DgaYD9HvTlO2MWTvaKDvnp9KXUgwKfn1LUZh2VHPsYvI1nYpRwdGIUYP5Rl/s1600/spanny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuR7Qie_m3_HO2r7Sje4WnbDrn5MD4LhT1YhHCO1lBfOObjB8Fy8ojJlXBoxIqBzlBeNYLz2EtPF53CvhP_DgaYD9HvTlO2MWTvaKDvnp9KXUgwKfn1LUZh2VHPsYvI1nYpRwdGIUYP5Rl/s1600/spanny.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />
By
the time we got back to the van we were wet and quite exhausted and we settled into the
long trip back to the boat. We passed through Mero and Salisbury on the way and realised
just how far we had walked the previous week – I don’t know what we were thinking!
<br />
<br />
By 8:00pm we were back on the boat (a 12 hour day) and ready to head off to the
Saints tomorrow morning!<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR:
tina<br />
DATE: 1/9/2011 9:25:35 PM<br />
liked
it<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Mum<br />
DATE:
1/12/2011 5:04:16 AM<br />
This was a great blog Matt and I enjoyed reading it but I did not
get any pictures. Hope you can keep safe in Antigua until you get the anchor fixed.
-----<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Mum<br />
DATE:
1/12/2011 5:08:14 AM<br />
Now I have the pictures. Great. Wonderful to see you had an almost
traditional Christmas!
-----<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Patrick and Silke<br />
URL: http://www.la-palma-sailing.com<br />
DATE: 1/13/2011 10:56:03
AM<br />
Wow ... I think this is all we can say at the moment. Thanks a lot Matt and Karen to
keep your blog running, we enjoy it so much! And next year around this time we are
preparing Quetzal to cross the Atlantic and find you somewhere over there :o). Big hug
and hope your family in Australia is fine (news here about the flooding are not
nice...)<br />
<br />
COMMENT:<br />
AUTHOR: Levin<br />
DATE:
1/15/2011 2:38:47 PM<br />
Hi Karen and Matt!<br />
all your blogs have been so fine to read. Even as we are not close friends (yet) I feel
close to what you do. <br />
Look. I finally made it over the Atlantic. <br />
Since Rubicon Lanzarote (where we found each other) my boat was damaged in big storm FEB
2010 year. After a lot repairings we arrived to Medregal and JeanMarc 2 Jan 2011. Jemilo
is now standing on the hard. Its a big Swedish colony in Medregal but I tell everyone i
got the info from Where2!!<br />
All the best to you both.<br />
Keep on mailing your blogs please.<br />
Yngve Levin @ JemiloAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08167763633342594344noreply@blogger.com0Dominica15.414999 -61.37097600000004114.925187 -62.016423000000039 15.904811 -60.725529000000044