St Martin and Sint Maarten,
One Island Two Countries.
4th – 8th April 2011 
This island has two names, Sint Maarten  on the Dutch side and St Martin on the French side,  with the border running straight through the middle. It has the best of both worlds one could say. Wonderful French cuisine and bakeries and  just a dinghy ride over the boarder to the up market vibrancy of the Dutch side. A huge inland lagoon forms part of the border, with each country having a lifting  bridge to provide access for the yachts. We chose to anchor in Bay De Marigot outside the lagoon on the French side as we preferred the clear water for swimming.
Staying  only five days we were very busy and made  many dinghy trips across the lagoon to the well stocked chandleries on the Dutch side . We met up with friends whom we’d not seen for months and also met knew ones who were heading down to Grenada for the hurricane season.  We enjoyed sunset drinks, aka rum punches,  at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and in keeping with local tradition, clapped  and waved at the yachts and huge powerboats that made their way through the rather small lift bridge and into the lagoon.For some of the bigger boats it was quite a squeeze.



One evening there was a large crowd gathered at the club and it turned out that a small raft named Antiki with 4 people aboard  was about to arrive.They had  just crossed the Atlantic Ocean and Sint Maarten was their first landfall. The passage had taken around 65 days and to us it sure didn’t look a very comfortable mode of travel, still they had made it and what a huge achievement it was .

                                
Another popular meeting place was Lagoonies cafe on the waterfront  over at the aptly named Lagoon Marina.The cafe is famous for it’s great food, live music and this is where i enjoyed the  best Pina Colada I've ever tasted .
It is easy to see why some  cruisers stay  here for years, the island is very easy going and you can come and go as you please to either side  by bus, car or dinghy. There are great supermarkets, both  French and American, the currency is Euro and/ or  US dollars and there is a plethora of big chandleries, marinas, and  yachting infrastructure and as an added bonus,everything, even boat parts are duty free on the Dutch side. The island  also has a number of  daily airline services to the USA and Europe. So we soaked it all in during our short stay and have put it on the list for a second visit next year.
With the weeks disappearing and the British Virgin Islands beckoning it  was, as always, time to move on.
Cruiser Info :  St Martin: Check - in at the Capitanarie office at Fort Royal Marina,inside the lagoon. Fee was Euro 5.10. The office is closed on Sundays and from 1200 –1300 Mon – Sat(lunch). Free Wi–Fi  and dingy dock at the office. No charges to anchor on the French side of the lagoon. A small annex of Budget Marine is located just before the French opening bridge on the ocean side. Scrimpies laundry is opposite.
Supermarket (large) with dock on the lagoon side just behind the fuel dock.Giante supermarket is 10min bus ride from the office , ask for a map when checking in. 
Cruiser VHF net on ch 68 @ 0800 Mon – Sat.
 Sint Maarten  : Check in /out with customs alongside  the Dutch bridge. Fees are high AND  there is a weekly fee to anchor on the Dutch side of the lagoon.
Chandleries: Budget Marine, Island Waterworld, Electro Marine,  Ace Hardware ,Riggers, sailmakers etc,etc
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Barbuda : laid back and beautiful

2nd-4th April 2011 
 
If you are looking for a place to “get away from it all “,  then Barbuda is it.  The lagoon supports loads of Frigate birds and that is about the most exciting thing on this island. A few of the enterprising locals arrange boat tours to the bird colonies for a cost of around $60 USD. After seeing lots of birds in Trinidad we decided not to take the tour. The anchorage at Low Beach with  it’s beautiful eleven mile stretch of pure white sand and aqua water, has only peace and quiet to offer the cruising sailor and it was a nice change from some of the other busier and noisy Caribbean islands.
            
               
The small  town of Codrington has zero hustle and bustle and only one grocery store. The Green Door pub, reputedly the centre of the universe,as really a “Clayton's pub”. It had no beer,no spirits, no coca cola, no tonic water or white wine. This had to take the award for the most non bar bar we’d ever been inside and it was painted red not green!.Liam certainly had the dress code right though. During our rather short visit into town we enjoyed a lunch meal at one of the islands few eateries, Pam’s Grill. Pam does a very good chicken curry and a few veggie dishes and lucky for us she was just opening up when we arrived.. A couple of young boys on their  donkeys wandered past while we ate our lunch and on our way back to the dock we spotted the immigration office sporting a closed,closed, closed sign in the window and this completed our perception of the place.. .nice but  a tad dull.
           
But what this little island did have was lobster! Some were ocean size ( big) and some were lagoon size (small). We opted for the smaller ones and ended up buying ten which easily fitted into our freezer.
                          
After a quick afternoon snorkel on a nearby reef, later that evening we were invited  onboard  an Aussie flagged cat named Never say Never, Kerrie and Neil were the owners. After about an hour of pleasantries and with  Annie racking her brain as to where she might possibly know Kerrie from, she asked the question ... have i met you somewhere before ?. From that moment it took all of 5 minutes for the two  to work out that they had gone to school together, for 4 years way back in the 70’s. What a small world this is.!
Two days later it was time to move on again.  Our destination was to be the island of St Bart's, but as the wind angle was so good we bypassed it and continued on to St Martin.
Cruiser info :  No check in or out required in Barbuda. Just ensure that you tell customs that you wish to go there when clearing out from Antigua.
The supermarket sells bread, limited veggies and basic supplies.
Lobsters,(13 EC per pound) are available from a local fellow named Goldilocks who also organizes tours of the Frigate bird colonies($60 usd) and provides a water taxi service ($40 usd return per boat) into Codrington town from Low Bay.           
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DOMINICA

Rainforests and Waterfalls

2nd - 5th February 2011

If you listen to all the negative reports about specific countries that float around the cruising circles then pounds to peanuts you will miss out on seeing some fabulous places. This is what nearly happened to us in regard to the island of Dominica. After reading reports of theft and break-ins on the various cruising websites, the thought of stopping here was the furthest thing on our minds. Admittedly these things have happened in the past and may well again in the future, but the people of Dominica, in particular those of Portsmouth, have taken the bull by the horns and are actively trying to attract the passing trade of the yachting fraternity, and clearly it’s working. The boat boys have implemented security patrols on the water at night and so far there do not appear to have been any further incidents  

Our friends from Tehani-Li and Mindemoya had been singing the praises of this small island and encouraged us to stop there on our way south, and we are so glad that we did.

We knew that fellow cruisers on  Samsara and No Rehearsal were heading north to the anchorage that we had just left, and  we figured that they would only be  a couple of miles out from  island. Like us, they were not planning on making a stop here either but after a chat on the radio and sharing what we’d been told about the island, they too changed their course and headed into the bay.  

When we rounded the bluff to the north of Prince Rupert Bay we were very surprised to find at least 40 yachts anchored in the bay. Motoring in we  were greeted by the friendly faces of the local boat boys asking if we would like to pick up one of the moorings, we declined their offer as we prefer to use our own anchor. The bay is very large and the northern end, away from the town of Portsmouth, is an idyllic anchorage, very calm and protected from the northerly swell. The bay has a very tropical feel with a lovely sand beach and swaying palms.

 Further to the south of the bay the shore is littered with rusting hulks that were driven ashore when hurricane David hit the island in1979.

The anchorage (above) &  the remains of the ships

after hurricane David devastated the island. 

The name boat boys is the term used throughout the Caribbean  to describe the local folk who offer  an array of services, anything  from selling fruit, bread or fish to organizing tours or taxis. Theses people on the most part are not young as the name implies, but are family men trying to make a living so it’s nice to help them out and buy a little something from time to time.

After settling in we had a quiet afternoon catching up with friends that we’d not seen since Barbados.

The following morning we decided to try and organize an island tour. Unfortunately, our timing was terrible as a cruise ship had come into port early that morning, and the price of the tours had sky rocketed, obviously the increase was directly related to the depth of the pockets of those aboard.

So along with Samsara and No Rehearsal we opted for the cheaper way of touring and caught a local bus to the island’s small capital, Roseau, with the intention of having a look around and maybe catching another bus up to one of the island’s many waterfalls.

The drive down to Roseau took about 40 mins and although we traveled on the coast road it was easy to see that Dominica was a very lush, wild and mountainous island.

In fact it has the highest peaks and the most rainfall of any island in the eastern Caribbean. Apart from the odd cruise ship which only stays a few hours, and the yachts, there really is no tourist industry; the throngs of holiday makers pass by this little piece of heaven. There are no big hotels or resorts anywhere and when visitors do come it is to enjoy hiking in the rainforests and the peace and quiet nature itself.

Whilst walking around the town and ambling along the waterfront area we were approached by a fellow offering to drive us around the island. The price was much less than we’d been quoted earlier that morning so we agreed and hopped into his van. The terrain of the island is incredibly steep and at times we thought that the van may not make it up the hills. As we climbed higher the rain came tumbling down, luckily it stopped just as we arrived at our first stop, Trafalgar Falls. After a short hike through lush forest we arrived at the viewing platform, the falls cascading down in front of us from a height of 200ft.

Due to the muddy terrain we resisted the temptation to climb down to the rock pools below the falls and instead returned to the van making a quick detour for a beverage stop at a cute restaurant overlooking the lower falls.

Our tour took us on the winding roads through the central part of the island and along the edge of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park where most of the island’s main wilderness sites are to be found. A visit to this area takes many hours and requires a guide, and as we were short on time, we gave it a miss and headed over to the eastern side of the island.

 The scenery was stunning with rainforest and thick jungle all around. Our driver was very knowledgeable, stopping to give us samples of lemongrass and other herbs growing along the roadside We passed a few villages tucked away in the hills but they were few and far between, this was one place you wouldn’t want to break down!

Once back on the coast we made our way north stopping briefly to chat with an elderly woman selling fruit and to have a very late lunch at the Bamboo Restaurant in the seaside town of Calibishie.

                                                                  This lady loved to talk! 

                        The east coast was more tropical looking  and there were some gems of houses.

Although the island is only 29 miles long the terrain makes driving rather slow, so it’s hard to see it all in a single day.

Arriving back at the boats just as the sun set we decided that we may well have to stop at this lovely island another time.  

Dense vegetation of the Indian River                                            Everyone was happy and smiling

CRUISER INFO     

Local Tours: Cobra tours will take you up the Indian river and has been recommended by   some cruisers as a worthwhile outing.

Boat Boys BBQ: Held every Sunday $ 15US pp and the proceeds go to fund the security patrols, a worthy cause for sure!

Formalities: Customs are located in the large silver roofed building at the far end of Portsmouth bay. Take your tender over or ask one of the boat boys to take you as it is a long way.

SOUTH BOUND IN THE LEEWARD ISLANDS

Guadeloupe : Deshaies,Pigeon Island & Isle de Saintes

29^th January 2011

Anse Deshaies

What a relief it was to be heading south and have the wind with us, such a contrast to our trip up from Barbados. Crossing the strait between Antigua and Guadeloupe was a dream run which saw us sitting on a very comfortable boat speed of 10kts most of the way. The seas were calm and a lovely 15 knot nor’easter was pushing us along. It was a rare trip indeed as we were actually sailing with a full mainsail (no reefs) and our screecher, which is a large reaching sail.

Rounding Pointe du Gros Morne the pretty and well protected anchorage of Anse Deshaies came into view. There were around twenty yachts already anchored in the bay, this being a very popular stopping point when traveling either north or south.

After dropping the hook we headed into the small village to check in with customs and have a look around.   The village was on the small side but quite adequate for a stay of a couple of days. The clearance formalities took about 10 mins max. You’ve got to love the French, no stuffing around,  it’s all done by computer and is a walk in the park so to speak. Apparently the customs officers are only in attendance in Deshaies for one hour per day, so in their wisdom they decided to hand over the reins to the proprietor of a local souvenir boutique named “Le Pelican”.

This gent  who has installed a couple of computers  prints the completed entry form for you, stamps the document, charges 3 euro for his service and then wishes you a pleasant stay in Guadeloupe. This is an inward and outward clearance and negates having to visit the officials again when you leave the main island or the satellite group of Isle de Saints further to the south.

After a walk up the main street and checking out a few menus we settled on a small restaurant with a terrace over the sand and had a lovely dinner ashore. Having arrived late in the afternoon (1600) we unfortunately missed the boat boy who takes orders and delivers fresh baguettes and croissants to your boat around 7am the following morning, what a service!



Dinghy tie up  in the fishing harbour











One of the local sailing boats

                                     

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30^th January 2011

 Pigeon Island & Anse a la Barque

 As we had only planned on staying in Deshaies one night (another place that we’ll pick up at a later date), we made a quick dash into the village to the Casino supermarket and then we were off  for a whopping 3 mile  sail south to “Pigeon Island” for a swim and snorkel. This area is a marine park and has only a couple of yellow buoys for yachts, so we anchored inside Pointe Malendure (23ft sand) and took the dinghy back over to the islands. It was nice to get in the water, but the snorkeling was rather disappointing compared to the fish life & coral that we had seen else where in the world including Barbados.

We did hear later from some of the other cruisers that the better snorkeling was on the Pointe Malendure itself, oh well.

Continuing further down the coast we stopped for the night in “Anse a la Barque”, a small bay with a coconut tree lined shore.

We caught up with fellow Aussies Sandra and Peter (Bondi Tram) and had a delightful evening with them before heading back to GWTW for an early night and a peaceful night’s sleep  in the nice calm anchorage.

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31^st January 2011

Isle de Saintes  

As we had about an 18 mile sail ahead of us we left the anchorage mid morning as we wanted to arrive at a reasonable time at our next destination, the small group of islands at the bottom of Guadeloupe known as "Isle de Saints". This group comprises of three islands with Terre de Haut being the larger more popular one. We anchored at the northern end of the main bay in a small cove named Anse a Mire. The shore line here was very picturesque, being lined with colourful houses and a lovely shaded sandy beach.

This area was a lot less crowded with boats and is well away from the small ferry wharf that offloads the day trippers who come across from the mainland of Guadeloupe and the other French island of Martinique to the south.

Our stay in these islands was short, only two nights this time. Ashore the pretty little village was bustling during the daytime but quite the opposite at night. There are a few restaurants and bars but nothing over the top and I guess that just adds to the laid back charm of the place. The main attraction here is the well preserved  19th century "Fort Napoleon" with its naval museum and sun basking Iguanas. 

                      The fort was very well maintained and the views of the bays below were lovely

         

 Unfortunately for us most of the exhibit signage was written in French, but we did manage to get the gist of it. The road up to the Fort is quite steep, they tend to build forts on the highest point of land, so most people rent a scooter, but at 40 euro for the day (the island isn’t that big) we decided the walk would do us good. The views from the top were great. Looking down on the clear waters of the surrounding bays and all the red roofed houses and green hills made us appreciate why people come to this little group of islands. On the way back down the hill we even spotted one of the Iguanas making his way across the road so that made Liam very happy as he is quite partial to reptiles in general.

After our little burst of exercise a swim was in order once we were back on GWTW. Donning the snorkel gear we were quite surprised to find an old tractor engine quite close to our anchor. We had done the usual anchor swim the day before but with the fading light and being at a depth of 50 feet  had not spotted the highly potential  anchor snare.

This was not marked on the chart so we warned any other boats that came near us to find another spot. Luckily when it was time to leave the following morning we had no dramas, but we sure won’t anchor in that part of the bay next time. The small beaches off Ilet Cabrit and Anse a Cointe have been earmarked for a stop next time we are here.

 Some  houses were quaint & then there was the one that looks like a ship, and it has anchor chain! 

These Islands make a lovely laid back stop over and we’d thoroughly recommend them for a few days.

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 CRUISING INFO :   ANSE DESHAIES

                                      Checkin /Out  @ Le Pelican, cost 3 euro.

                                      Hours 0800 – 1800 Mon –Fri,  Sat not sure of hours   

                                      Supermarket - Casino (small) plus a few others.

                                      Eating – Good selection on main street near beach.

                                      Dinghy- Tie up in fishing harbour if space available.

                                      PIGEON ISLAND

                                      Supermarket – A few available in Pigeon village.

                                      Can wheel trolley to dinghy dock near fishing village.

                                      Laundry Facilities available in village.

                                      ISLE DE SAINTES

                                      Anchorage at Anse a Mire :

                                      Tractor  engine located at 15.52.3 N / 061.35.0 W  @ 50 ft depth.

                                      Veg  market at south end of town Mon –Sat 0800 -1200

                                      Bakery near veg market.                     

ANTIGUA

Antigua : Old friends and steel pan bands

18^th – 29^th January 2011

While we were in Barbados we’d pretty much mapped out this years cruising season. The plan was to leave Barbados mid January and mooch over to Bequia, turn left, dawdle down through all the postcard type islands and hit Trinidad for the carnival in March.

Then we’d head back up the chain and cruise up and down the east coast USA till the end of the hurricane season in December.

Sounds like a good plan we thought, yep that will work we said BUT, and there is always a but when you are cruising, we forgot the old cruisers adage, “you write your plans in the sand and then the waves come and wash them all away”.

Receiving an email from our good friends Gordon and Ginny (Ascension) asking us to “pop on up to Antigua” for a visit, aka a 300ml sail in the opposite direction to where we were planning to go, saw us dismissing the idea at first. Then after chewing it over for about a week  it dawned on us that if we didn’t  “pop on up” we may not see them again ‘till who knows when, as they would be transiting the panama canal later this year and heading back to the greener pastures of Canada. The last time we’d seen them was in the small Greek anchorage of Trizonia in June 2009 and it sure would be terrible if we let this opportunity slip by. So there went our plans. It was time to bid Barbados goodbye.

With a careful look at the weather forecast we decided the best time to leave would be the afternoon of the 15^th January. We would sail through the night and aim for the southern tip of St Lucia 90mls away, then sail up in the lee of the island and stop the following arvo at Anse de Grand on the island of Martinique and the night after in Friendship bay at Isle de Saints, the south end of Guadeloupe .

The lovely anchorage of Anse de Grand

The whole trip once we rounded St Lucia would be lovely day sails until we reached Antigua. Another good plan, or so we thought.

 In years gone by all the articles we’d  read on sailing the Caribbean   spoke of  flat water, fast sailing, blue skies and steady breezes. Well we think that all the authors must have had way too much rum when they put pen to paper. Our introduction to Caribbean sailing was far from the pictures painted in those glossy magazines. In fact at one stage we began to question our own sanity!

The night passage from Barbados was pretty good and as a bonus there was a full moon, but as we approached St Lucia it was a whole different ball game. The sea state became very confused making for a lumpy, salty and uncomfortable ride. The heavens opened and the rain came pouring down, not just drizzle but heavy, can’t see the land anymore type rain. What had happened to our sunny Caribbean sea?

Rain, rain and more rain !

After rounding the southern point and once in the lee of the island the waters were much calmer, and at last the sun began to shine. The hills of St Lucia looked extremely lush and were dotted with homes that reminded us of Queensland, many of the houses perched up on stilts. The high hills and deep valleys allow “bullets” of wind to come racing down and out over the flat sea. As we would soon learn, the standard sail configuration here in the Caribbean is 2 reefs in the mainsail and a jib as the trade wind blows at 20 to 25 knots most of the time.



Sailing up the leeward side of the islands was exhilarating to say the least, but the passes between the islands, usually around 20 miles or so of open water were unbelievably rough.


 After a few days of this type of sailing we really were beginning to think that heading north to Antigua was not a smart idea. Still we petsisted. 

Knowing that we could take our time coming back down the chain at a later time we fast tracked to Antigua , stopping only once more before our arrival.    

We made landfall in Falmouth Harbour, and were greeted by the smiling faces of Gordon and Ginny (Ascension) and Sarah and GB (Djarrka). Bob and Becky (Stardust) were also there so it was just like old times again and we were glad that we’d made the effort to sail up. Over the days that followed we caught up with our old friends over many a meal, shared many a joke and generally had a wow of a time.

Gordon & Ginny



Sarah & GB



 We strolled around the historical grounds of Nelson’s Dockyard with its immaculate lawns, gardens and restored buildings, hiked up the hill to Shirley Heights where we enjoyed a Sunday evening BBQ and listened to a fabulous Steel Pan Band while we took in the sunset and views over English and Falmouth Harbours and the distant island of Montserrat.



         Above (L) Nelson's Dockyard & above (R) Shirely Heights bands and views over  the harbours 

During our stay we also made a couple of trips into the main town of St John’s for shopping etc and we also took the bus over to the resort area of Jolly Harbour but saved the lion’s share of the islands sightseeing until our next visit later in the year.

 Boat chores as always swallow up a lot of time and energy and Liam spent a lot of time up our mast fixing our jib furler that decided to come apart when we tried to pull our sail down for some minor repairs. A quick little job turned into a major headache that took 4 days to fix, and he managed to jam one of his fingers in the foil  during the process  and ouch was definitely not the first word that sprung into his mind when that happened!.

Falmouth Harbour is home to the Antigua Yacht Club and attracts some of the largest yachts on the planet. The marina is quite small but the combined wealth of the yachts tied up there was just mind blowing The fact that you could just stroll the docks and get up close and personal with the likes of The Maltese Falcon and Mirabella V, THE biggest sloop in the world with a rig that stands 84 m tall, then of course there were the smaller ones coming in at 120ft – 180 + ft like Twizzle, Salperton, Tiara, and Lady B just to name a few.

                 The size of the masts were incredible..Maltese Falcon  left & Mirabella V on the right

 

There were also a goodly number of big power boats as well including Eric Clapton’s Vabana. Sadly whilst we were in the anchorage we watched the beautiful “Salperton” limp back to port as a motor boat after she was dismasted in a gentle 12knot breeze when her carbon fibre rig failed.

Apparently it will take 6 months to build her a new rig in New Zealand so for the owner and crew this seasons racing and cruising plans are now sitting on the sea floor just off the coast of Antigua.

Clearly Antigua is a hangout of the rich and famous and as Liam likes to put it “we fitted in well”!

Australia Day saw the majority of the Aussies from the cruising boats at anchor as well as some of the younger ones working on the super yachts gather at the popular watering hole “The Mad Mongoose” bar for drinks and a little socializing. The Mongoose was also running an appeal for the relief fund for the Queensland flood victims, so we were all very happy to be patrons at the bar that evening.

A few days later it was time to think about heading south again. The farewells were sad, as they always are but we know that our paths will cross again somewhere in the future.

                                                                                                                                                                           

On the 29^th January we pulled up the anchor, pushed out into the open water and pointed our bows towards Guadeloupe and places beyond.

Above (R), the unassuming Antigua Yacht Club

(L) Maltese Falcon , there's a guy hanging just above the second spreader , now that's a BIG mast!

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CRUISER INFO:

WI-FI. We bought a prepaid $ 50US one month subscription to “Hot, Hot , Hot” which                                      

  is a network available throughout a lot of the Caribbean Islands and it has worked well for us.

                                       

SUPERMARKETS: “Epicurean” a short bus ride from St John’s and was very good                                 there is also one at Jolly Harbour.  There is also quite a good one for daily needs at the dock at Falmouth Harbour.

WATERMAKER FILTERS: “The Watershed” with its red door and dinghy dock at Falmouth Hbr sells the paper filters for $7 us each, cheapest around by far.

VHF: CH 68, English and Falmouth Hbrs for any type of service from taxis to riggers to laundry.