St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica

Today is Wednesday February 29th. My wrist watch doesn’t even do the 29th of February, proof that we are in a time warp. I do know we are in Prince Rupert Bay Dominica. Jim and Sharon R. just arrived for their visit on Heron. (Together with Emily, Pete and Jay, we are now five strong.)  Their adventure began yesterday, when their flight from Boston-San Juan-Antigua was cancelled to Dominica (Doh-mi-NEE-kuh). Even though they have just extended the runway here on Dominica (an understandable source of national pride), they cancel night landings when the winds are too strong –which they were. But the early morning flight came in on time despite heavy squalls, mountains downwind, ocean upwind. And here they are, safe and sound in Jurassic Park.

We arrived with a deep sigh on Monday after one of the most spectacular sails I can recall, coming 67nm North from Anse Mitan Martinique, near Fort De France, crossing the Dominica Channel. We spent Sunday night there after a short 24nm sail along the West coast of Martinique from Le Marin. We had spent two nights –Friday and Saturday, in an incredible marina there, after a hardy 25nm crossing of the very boisterous Martinique Channel from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. We had spent Thursday night in Rodney Bay after a long 74nm passage that crossed both Bequia and St. Vincent Channels. Blah blah blah. Just look at the track from the SPOT tracker that is visible on the link on the right-hand side of this web page. Hell, you can see which slip we were in, if our anchor was down is sand or grass, and every other detail visible when you zoom in on the satellite image. Amazing.

We are still in the strong wind pattern mentioned in the earlier post, so have adjusted to sailing in the strong tradewind –very different from what I know from home. Using the last hop as an example, we depart early with a single reef and #4 (85% FT) jib, gliding at 9+ knots in flat seas in the lee of Martinique. Sweeet. We are always fighting a current of around 1 knot that is usually on the nose when we are running North along the islands, then on the beam setting us to leeward when we are sailing across the open channels. But we know what is coming. As we approach the northern end of the island, in goes the second reef, up rolls half the jib, hatches closed, vests and tethers clipped on.  We’re goin’ in. The seas start to roll to the 7 to 11 ft, as forecast, frosted white in the increasing wind. Squirly and gusty, it’s always interesting near the ends of the islands. As we separated from Martinique, a blast at 41 knots apparent took the windex off of the top of the mast. Ohhh Kaay. But with a double reef and tiny jib, the boat just cranks down the line of waves with no stress, nice motion. It’s really fun to be sailing a 53 footer like a dinghy in big seas, threading our path around the nasty bumps, heating it up down the long swell at speeds in the 10’s and 11’s. But that’s too fast for the 3 hour channel crossing, so we push the power winch button and furl in more jib and slow down to 8’s and 9’s. Then the wind drops to 18 knots just to frustrate us.  That's when we start the "five minute rule".  "Be patient; it's coming." as Pete says.  A glassy patch off the bow moves to our starboard side and a 24 foot smooth gray shape surfaces –a whale with a squarish head –a baby version of a bigger one that must be around here somewhere. Awesome. When we finally pass into the lee of Scotts Head, Dominica the seas get huge then later go flat. Jib out, hatches open. Dozens of dolphins swim in lines, some going airborne, seeming to leap with glee. Wicked awesome.  We are greeted by "Andrew", who was to be our boat escort for the next few days, and taken to a mooring near the Purple Turtle restaurant.  We are there so Emily can have good wifi --a necessity for 16-yr-olds to survive.  We purchase a bunch of locally grown bananas from another 'boat boy" and call it a day.

We’ve got wifi again, so more posts and some pics to follow. Right now we’re off on a boat tour of the Indian River with Andrew.

Bequia and the Tobago Keys

It’s Wednesday night February 22nd. We are in Admiralty Bay Bequia, prepared to depart at dawn for Fort de France, Martinique. We arrived here on Monday after spending Sunday night in the Tobago Keys, following Saturday night at Union Island, following Thursday and Friday nights at Carriacou. I have to say all that to figure out what day it is and where I am. I swear, a few days ago I woke up in the middle of the night and for a few minutes had no idea where I was. That’s the downside to the quick tour plan. Spending six days in the Grenadines gave us a great sense of this beautiful area. But it’s time to move on.

The forecast isn’t good. A high pressure building to the north is setting up gradient winds that will reinforce the easterly trades for the next several days. We’ve got to get to Dominica by the 28th to meet Jim and Sharon R. So we are picking the less windy days to get closer. Don, Ed and Hank on Freestyle left yesterday for the same reason. They need to get to St. Martin by the 2nd or earlier, and we are still 329nm away as the crow flies. That’s normally plenty of time, but big seas and strong winds are a real influence. We haven’t yet “turned the corner”. Once we get to Martinique, the wind angle moves aft, making the miles much less weather-dependent. But tomorrow we’ll be on or close to a beat as we run NNE up the coasts of St. Vincent and St. Lucia before turning more N to Martinique. We’ll be crossing passages between those islands with currents that set strongly to the west, and with concentrated winds that tomorrow will be in the upper 20s, seas 7-9’ on top of long period swells that are 9-12’. We’ll see how far we get toward our goal of Fort de France, Martinique --100nm. Rodney Bay St. Lucia is closer to the wind, but is a shorter distance and offers the lee of St. Lucia.

There will be three things that I will remember about our overnight in the Tobago Keys. First, we went snorkeling with the green turtles. They were beautiful. They look like cows grazing on the sea grass in ten feet of perfectly transparent water. They’d pop up for a breath of air every few minutes, swimming with a grace that was wonderful to watch. At one point I saw six of them around me at one time. Second, it was freaky to be anchored in the lee of Horseshoe Reef with nothing above the surface between you and the Azores. The full force of the trades flowed through the several dozen boats anchored there. Third, we had a great evening on Freestyle. We grilled the breaded turkey breasts that Jon left us, had an amazing salad full of fresh onions and tomatoes that Ed made, and washed it all down with a nice cold beverage and animated conversations.

Rumor has it “the queen” (of England) might be coming here this weekend. They were cleaning the waterfront today to get ready. Some very big (over 100 and 200’) yachts have been arriving. If so, it will be a strange situation. I have heard anger and frustration from the residents of these island toward their government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is located on the island of St. Vincent. They don’t feel that it has been doing much to help the Grenadines, e.g., by increasing property taxes drastically to a market-value-based assessment supposedly to raise money for an airport on StV. Politically, the prime minister has aligned himself with Castro and Chavez, presumably to the dismay of the US and EU. He was also accused of rape and of doing things like paying cronies huge salaries to do nothing as long as they kick back large contributions to his campaign. It’s depressing and hard to unravel. Unemployment is huge. There is little economic base (bananas are gone, only tourism remains). Land costs have skyrocketed as foreigners buy huge areas of the island for cheap then develop and sell lots to foreigners at prices that locals can’t imagine. Fuel prices have climbed and a shortage is expected from an announced strike in Trinidad. And on and on. Things are difficult in this paradise. Maybe the queen can help!

The “boat boys” here are terrific. Unlike at Tobago Keys, here they visit your boat with a smile and hand you a leaflet that describes their services. No pressure, no repeated solicitation. As I mentioned, I was happy to support them and they were happy to have the business. Ashore, on several occasions locals actually initiated a “hi” and smiled. In contrast, I was surprised to rarely receive a response from my greetings to the numerous European cruising folks. It appears that there are many Americans here who own property here. I think they were all at Mac’s Pizza when we ate there last night, having lobster pizza. The food and the people were both great.

The dinghy is secured on deck. The grill is stored. A first reef is in. I made 75 gallons of water (from seawater) today, charged the batteries and cooled down the icebox. The boat boys dropped off our re-filled propane bottle and our clean laundry. A fellow finished stripping and sealing and varnishing the swim platform on the stern. The boat is ready. We had a 4 hour tour of the island including the turtle research station and a model wooden boat building shop. I cleared customs and immigration, took trash ashore, and picked up fresh tomatoes and lettuce from the rasta market. And it was hot hot hot. What a day.

Hoping for another good day tomorrow.

PS  I'll add pics later.

Union Island, Grenadines

Yesterday, Saturday February 18, 2012, we continued our slow migration north to Clifton Harbor, Union Island in the Grenadines.

The day for me began, as usual at 0630. I grind and brew a pot of coffee then do my daily check-in to the Caribbean Maritime Mobile Net at 0700 on 7.250 MHz. It’s a nice ritual to give net control George our weather report and to listen to the other regulars provide theirs –from Trinidad, to the ABC islands, to Puerto Rico. George then reads various marine forecasts, the weather synopsis, and the solar flux forecast (radio propagation stuff). I could get the same stuff over the wifi booster (in most harbors), but I am an old fart and enjoy the retro aspect of ham radio. (I’ve been a ham since 1969.) Pete gave me the ultimate “dis”, saying that ham was a notch below facebook on the useless drivel scale. Hey, at least I can “raise the mainland on the wireless”.

Customs and immigration is a strange thing (saying it politely). Pay fees, plus overtime on weekends. Complete big forms, making multiple copies with carbon paper. I thought they stopped making carbon paper when the IBM Selectric typewriter went extinct. The web-connected computer sits next to them on the desk, doing nothing. They copy the list of names into a huge leger book that looks like it came from the Gutenberg press in the 17th century. OK, I like nostalgic technology. But not if it means waiting, re-doing, re-copying, stamping, etc.

Like the books say, etiquette is very important. Shirts with collars, light pants and shoes are preferred. The Grenada customs agent was ranting to his fellow officer about the disrespect the earlier visitor from a 120’ power-yacht showed when he came into the office in a bathing suit and dropped his papers on the desk. They sent him off. The officer rambled back and forth between English and angry patois. (I think that was the local language.) Twenty minutes later, while I was still being processed, a very well dressed native Grenadian crew from that yacht returned to the officers. He carefully delivered a big envelope,offering apologies in island English and patois. The wrong was righted and off he went to his launch to the waiting yacht.

We encountered another drama when we checked out of Grenadian water at Hillsborough Caricaou. Though they open at 08:00, we knew better than to show up before ten. But after we cleared customs at 10:15, a frustrated French woman came in to report to the officers that she had been waiting for immigration to open for over two hours. That’s in a different building at a different location, of course. She told us that she lived on the island, and that because of Carnival, the immigration officer might decide to not show up until Wednesday. No one could reach her by phone. Anyway, Don and I enjoyed a papaya smoothie while looking out over the bay at our two boats, remarking how amazing it was to be here. When we passed customs, there she was, ready to stamp and hand-write forms.

One of the reasons that we were headed to Clifton Harbor on Union Island was to clear into the waters of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Drop the Grenadian flag. Raise the “Q” flag (quarantine flag). Clear in. Raise the St. V. and Grenadines national flag. Clear out. Clear in. Clear out. Etc. Lots of flags. These locations nail down stops along the route and influence travel timing, where provisioning happens, and where time is wasted. There is a common currency in most of the Caribbean (the E.C. dollar), but there is no unification of customs and immigration. Maybe it’ll happen when the world supply of carbon paper is finally consumed.

The sailing has changed since southern Grenada. The anchorages in the Grenadines are exposed to the trades. So although reefs protect us from wave and swell, it seems to blow a constant 18 knots all night and morning, easing to about 15 knots during the day. Being in the constant wash of wind has a definite effect on sailors. It might be a more edgy awareness of sounds and motion, of the set of the anchor and the quality of the ground tackle, of weather and next-plans. It might be reminding us to stay tuned in.

Here in Union, we definitely see the appearance of growing mega yacht traffic. $million launches run by white shirt crews attend the obvious commanding owner or guest in the power seat. There are some huge-money haunts around here, like Mustique. Small islands are exclusive resorts. Europeans from the airport are dressed in fine white clothes and are followed by piles of ritzy luggage. Pleasure yacht density is definitely increased. It’s all good, interesting to see.

I finished my latest book, “Wherever You Go” by Joan Leegant. For the most part, it is beautifully written. Some of the passages are so gorgeous that I had to read them twice to make sure. It is a contemporary novel by (I think) a Boston area write (got a signed copy at New England Mobile Book Fair) about contemporary Jewish life in Israel, about settler extremism and secular self-doubt. It’s good read. Next I’m reading something on my Kindle Fire so that I don’t have to run the cabin light when I’m reading at night. Boat life permeates everything.

Pete made egg-in-the-hole for breakfast. I’m going ashore with Emily on a photograph hunt get a few provisions. After that we move ten miles or fewer to Tobago Keys or Mayreau... whichever seems best.

Carriacou

On Thursday morning we said good by to Jon G. and Betsy K. and raised anchor in Prickly Bay Grenada. Jon and Betsy had joined us almost a week earlier in St. Croix and had been great shipmates for that exciting passage. Further, never before has Heron had such fantastic meals. Jon and his brother Dan love to cook good food at home and on boats.  Jon cooked a few wow meals on a few Marion-to-Bermuda Races on Heron, but this week was over-the top. He showed up from the airport with entrees that he had partially prepared at home. We ate incredible crab cakes, chicken, turkey breasts, steak, and other meals that I can’t recall --all glutin free to cater to Emily's diet. We are still finding amazing stuff in the freezer.

So we started our return trip north. OK, so it was a mere 29 nm of the 600 left until we get back to St. John, but it was a start. We motor-sailed in light air up the west (leeward) coast, passing all the bays that we visited by taxi. Rain clouds sat over the mountainous island and occasionally we’d get a blast of wind. As Chip J., mentioned about his visit, you can get wind from opposite directions within a short distance when in the lee of these islands. The trades come over the tops, bend around the ends, and funnel down the valleys. So you read the water to see what’s coming.

To get to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, we had to cross the open passages north of Grenada. There is an exclusion zone around the active underwater volcano called Kick ‘Em Jenny, and we were trying to get to windward and up-current. So the cruise guide recommend beating east along the north coast before easing off to cross the passage. After seeing nasty conditions there on the way down from St. Croix, I was expecting double-reef conditions. Nope. The wind actually became lighter when we rounded the headland. I’m not complaining, but it reinforces what I’ve experienced so far –expect the unexpected.

Approaching The Sisters

We squeezed between “The Sisters” and Ronde Island, and hugged Diamond Rock before entering the second open passage to Carriacou. Frigate birds soared from the vertical cliffs and ocean swell crashed on the faces of these immense rocks. We sailed up into Tyrrel Bay and ate dinner on Freestyle -- fresh sushi and grilled skipjack tuna that they had caught only an hour earlier. You can’t get any fresher than that. I told you I was going to stick close to Don for some very good reasons!

The "boat boys" were great.  This was the first harbor where we encounter them.  "20 EC" is our standing joke.  Whatever you want.... 20 EC.  Ice, lobster, fish, limes, wine, bread.... Whatevuh you want mahn.  That is twenty Eastern Caribbean dollars, that exchange to 2.6 EC dollars per US dollar.  They take either dollar.
I counted boats from ten different countries within a short distance of us.  Most of the boats were from Europe.  A few were from Canada and the U.S..  It was very cool to see all the different styles--from a Brit single-handing a C&C29 to a Swedish family partying it up on their large Swan.  Only one boat out of a few dozen appeared to be a charter boat.

On Friday we took a taxi tour all over the small island. Carriacou is very different than Grenada. We were getting just a glimpse, but it seemed hotter, drier, less developed, more lazy, less tropical and less dramatic. There was less buzz and more people just seemed to be hanging out. The area called Windward was where they make traditional wooden sailing and motor craft on the beach. There was a power sander and a chain saw, but there was also an axe and an adze to fashion the beefy white oak ribs and keel. The fellow was working on his fifteenth hull (as I recall), building out the lines from five carefully measured ribs. He could finish the hull in as short as 1.5 months if gets the help of his buddies, working as a team. The process is the kernel of a very close seaside community and quite a lovely lifestyle.

The Carriacou car-nee-vahl was starting Friday night, and the steel band music from the beach went late into the night. It was ethereal to hear the surf on the reef and the wind-carried music under the star-filled night. The hatches stayed open all night –the very first night that we didn’t have a tropical downpour. But on Saturday morning, off we went. We checked out in Hillsborough and headed to Clifton Harbor, Union Island in the Grenadines. We were anxious to make tracks, so we opted not to stick around for the next event –the crowning of the island queen.

Grenada Update 2

We have been in Grenada for four days and are enchanted by the Spice Island. If we don’t leave tomorrow, you’ll have to send in the blackhawk helicopters to extract us from this spell. We’ve spent the last two days touring the island in van cabs and can’t begin to relate much of what we’ve heard and seen. It is rather overwhelming, so different, so beautiful, so friendly, so culturally rich, in such transition. 

“Rock”, our first cab driver and tour guide (473-459-1971 fyi), is a wonderful historian and teacher. For five hours as he drove us from one amazing place to another, he delivered a personal account of the island’s history of brutal conquest and bloody revolution. Wow. As I recount it here at the Tikii bar hotspot, the historical narrative in a nut(meg)shell goes something like this:

- peaceful Arawaks are conquered by warlike Caribs, hypothetically enslaving the women and eating the men and boys,

- French colonial rule after extermination of the Caribs, who chose a suicidal leap off of the northern end of the island over enslavement,

- African slave trade and sugar cane and spice plantation economy,

- unstable post-war economic disparity under British rule,

- independence in 1974 with fascist greed and repression under Gairy (complete with rigged elections, power-control patronage, police and paramilitary brutality, executions and disappearances and the flow of money to Swiss bank accounts), to

- the 1979 coup by the socialist New Jewel Movement under Maurice Bishop that instituted significant reform in labor and land ownership, to

- the 1983 coup by his communist Deputy Prime Minster Bernard Coard, the proximal support of Cuban and Soviet military, that executed Maurice Bishop and his cabinet and a slaughter of something like sixty of the 10,000 supporters by the military in (Soviet-made) armored vehicles, to

- a social democracy that seems to be stable and supported by the people, but that also seems to frustrate them with lack of “doing more” to improve things.

The bloody political events of the past twenty years seem to have generated a very positive community outlook. There is a vibrant expression of national pride and unity, of social and economic progress, and of hope. The three Rastafarian colors of gold, green and red are the colors of the Ethiopian flag and are also those of the Grenadian flag. They are pervasive in the form of fluttering pennants on houses, schools, churches, clothing, head scarves, clothing, sandals and sign posts. Depending on what you read, they symbolize bloodshed for liberation and social justice (red), wealth (gold), and beauty (green). If my memory serves me, Rock said that here they stood for justice, love and hope. Our second driver, “Crabby” Arnold Charles (473-414-4832) and our guide “Arthur” mimicked the same sentiments about a progress that departed from the kind of power and greed of the past.

From conversations and from signs posted on buildings, Grenadians are thankful to the US for the 1984 intervention by the forces of the U.S., Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean states.  It's complicated, though.  I heard on more than one occasion that when the NJM ousted Gairy, Fidel’s Cuba stepped in with help when the US didn't, and built a much-needed airport. But then bad things began to happen and the rest is history. USAID appears on tarps and building materials that I’m guessing remains from US contributions after Hurricane Ivan that devastated the island in 2004. There are relatively few tourists on this island (as compared to the Virgin Islands) and most of them seem to be from Europe, mostly from the UK. We’ve met few Americans, mostly boaters or past-boaters. Arthur reported that as many Grenadians are living in the U.S. as are living on the island.

We visited two nutmeg processing facilities,that were operating they have done so for two hundred years. It was a photographer’s heaven with amazing light and visual textures. Emily and I took many pictures. The smells were amazing. We brought some of those with us as samples for Mindy back home.

We visited the Grand Etang rain forest, and the next day we hiked to the Seven Sisters waterfall. We expected brontosaurus heads to appear above the lush tropical growth. Mountain streams flowed down ravines and brilliantly colored flowers and fruits were everywhere. It is supposedly still recovering from Ivan, but I had never seen anything even close to this. More on this later.

Off to Cariacou tomorrow if the northerly swell subsides, as forecast.

Grenada

After departing Christianstead St. Croix on Thursday morning, we arrived at St. Georges Grenada on Saturday morning.  It was a fast passage, completing the 385nm rhumb line distance from the E. end of St. Croix in 49 hours.  We were under single reef main and #4 (85%) jib most of the way, then went to double reef and half of a #4 as the wind picked up to 24-25 kn True range.  Apparent wind angle ranged from 38 to 55 degrees, with 43 degrees AWA most of the trip. Adjustments were for the purpose of speed control in the choppy seas.  When they were spaced apart, we cranked up to over 9 knots; when the ride got rough, we throttled back to 7s and 8s.

We were somewhat surprised to see no dolphins or turtles, few birds, and very few other boats.  We saw one sailboat, a few ships, and that's it.  It was surprising like the trip from Hampton to the USVI.  Don on Freestyle was never more than 4nm away.  When we were ahead, we throttled back.  When we were behind, we trimmed up.  It was easy to stay together.

The full moon on Tuesday lit up the ocean a few hours after sunset.  It was spectacular to see all the stars in the sky until the moon came up, then to be able to see the ocean crests rolling by.

The strongest weather was the final 8 hours on approach to Grenada.  It was howling up to 30 kn true on gusts, but with the partially rolled #4 jib and double reefed main, we just glided along at 8-9.8 kn SOG, occasionally taking spray over the entire boat.  It was a salt cake when we arrived at St. Georges.  It's no fun going off watch with wet salty hair and dropping into your bunk.  Even after just two days, we were happy to get there.

After a loop through the inner harbor to check things out, we motored for an hour around the SE point of the island into Prickly Bay, where we are now.  Nice.  Very very nice.

Jon served up leftovers --homeade crab cakes and salad that he had prepared in Boston.   They were probably the best crab cakes we've ever tasted.  Jon is an awesom cook, and loves to prepare food in any conditions.  Wow.  I'm the opposite, happy to have a peanut butter spoon for a meal.

Everyone pulled their weight.  We had no passengers aboard.  Even Emily, who is a challenge to awaken on a normal school day, rose on time to stand her watch --4 on, 6 off, rotating through the day and night.  It's tough to show up for a watch at 0200.

Safe and sound.  400nm out of the 1000nm of this cruise completed.  Checked in to customs.  This is the farthest and most southerly (just below 12 degrees N lattitude) extent of our trip.  After Prickly Bay, we are now headed home to Marion.... after a few months in-between.  Let the adventure continue.  Jay

Hi from StX

Greetings from Christianstead Harbor, St. Croix. This is a narrowband connection, so no pics. All is excellent.

On Sunday, the Heron crew (Emily, Pete and Jay (me)) flew into StT along with the Freestyle crew (Don and his gang Ed and Hank). We weren’t so thrilled to be stuck in Philly for 2.5 hours while US Air found a plane that could fly, but we made it just in time to hit the Westin beach buffet and wide screen superbowl party. With our toes in the sand and palm trees all around, we watched one of the most exciting superbowl games I’ve ever seen –right down to the hail Mary pass. The Pats lost, but it was a great season. The NY Giants fans were, shall we say, over the top. But that made it fun too!

On Monday we had one of the nicest ocean sails I can recall. We made the 34nm crossing from St. John to St. Croix in E15, 055 AWA in exactly four hours, under single reef and #3 working jib (average SOG 8.5kn), Occasional rain showers drifted down on us, usually carrying a wind shift and a few more knots of wind. Flying fish leaped out of the waves as the bow surged in the swell. Bright sun on blue-green water with mountainous green islands in the distance, shrinking off the stern and growing off the bow. The autopilot did the steering. Pete and I tweaked the sails while Emily (16) slept off her end-of-semester exhaustion. Freestyle was right behind us. We dropped the hook in Gallows Bay, then changed our minds and picked up the tee head at St. Croix Marina so we could top off tanks and provision without needing the dinghy. (I hate dinghies.) My in-laws of 30 years, Sam and Shirley picked us up and took us to their condo for dinner and great conversation, overlooking an ocean sparkling with the light of the full moon. Ahhh. Are we having fun yet? Oh ya.

Tuesday we provisioned and did boat chores in preparation for the 400nm trip from here to Grenada, scheduled to depart Thursday morning. To give you an idea, boat life is full of chores, just like at home, but more so. It’s hot here at mid-day, so you do chores in the morning and in the evening. We changed the oil in the genset and the engine, filled water and fuel tanks, organized and stored gear, got the wifi booster going, downloaded the weather grib fils, checked out the ocean buoy along the route: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42060

checked into the Carib Maritime Mobile Net (7250 kHz at 0700 AST, changed jibs to the #4 (better for 15-20 kn close to the wind—our next leg), provisioned $700 worth of food and drink, etc., etc. I was hoping to do nothing. I’ll have to wait.

We went to lunch with Sam at the Golden Rail Marina Café, a wonderful but out-of-the-way place that the locals love. Sam is one-in-a-million. He has been a professional musician and entertainer all of his life. He will strike up a conversation with anyone at any time, and it will often lead to a change in the space-time continuum. I’m not kidding. So it went this day. As we stepped into this marina open-air restaurant, he was well into a conversation with two couples when lightning struck. It was Henry and Judy Paap, who live a few miles from me in Wellesley, and who are recent BYC members with a boat in Marion harbor! You’ve got to be kidding me. 2000 nm under the keel and here we are having lunch in the same place as the same time as folks from home. Again on Wednesday, we ran into them at Whim Great House, a historical sugar plantation on St. Croix. I’m telling you, Sam makes these connections all the time. It’s just weird.

Wednesday, today, we rented a cab for five hours and the six of us went touring. The Cruzan Rum factory was an amazing place, as was the Whim Great House. I’ll post pictures when we get broadband. We bought more food and did more to prepare for the 400nm leg to Grenada, and welcomed Betsy K. and Jon G. aboard for the next week. We now have five aboard, and are ready to leave tomorrow at 0800 for Grenada with Freestyle and the three aboard. As we did on the trip down, we will use AIS to stay within a few miles of each other for the next seven weeks –about 1000 nm. The forecast is great. Here we go.

February-March Cruise Itinerary

Seventy-two hours from now the crews of Heron and Freestyle will arrive at the pool-side widescreen TV at the Westin Hotel in Great Cruz Bay StJ, to cheer on the New England Patriots as they battle the New York Giants for the Superbowl. Win or lose, when the sun comes up on Monday February 6th, we'll drop our mooring lines and head S to St. Croix --the first hop in our cruise to Grenada and back --  seven weeks, at least 17 islands and 1014 nautical miles. So begins Jay and Emily’s Excellent Adventure. 

My daughter Emily (16) will be an active member of the crew for the entire trip (sound of whip lashes in the background).  She is taking an independent mod (a 6-week semester) from her high school, the Cambridge School of Weston, studying Caribbean literature, the history of slavery in the Caribbean, and digital photography.  Thanks to her wonderful teachers and administrators for actually encouraging such a life-widening experience!  Thanks to Mindy and Julia (12) for holding the home fort.

We will be accompanied for various parts of the trip by friends Peter B., Betsy K., Jon G., Jim R. and his wife Sharon, and by my sister Marie and friend Dave, her son Adam, and my son Ben and his friend Nina.  We will sail in the company of Freestyle, with Don C. and his crew catching fresh fish, smoking fine cigars and generally holding our feet to the fire.  We are bubbling with anticipation!!

Screen Shot of the Route

Summary of Feb-March Cruise of the Lesser Antilles:
Week 1: St. John to Grenada via St. Croix.
· Feb 6: Sail to St. Croix, Christianstead Harbor. 35nm, 174M.
· Feb 9-11: Sail to Prickly Bay, Grenada. 393nm, 169M.

Weeks 2-3: Southern Windwards:

· Feb 15: Sail to Carriacou, Grenadines, Tyrrel Bay. 39nm.
· Feb 17: Sail to Union, Clifton Harbor. 11nm.
· Feb 18: Sail to Mayreau, Saline Bay. 4nm.
· Feb 19: Sail to Tobago Cays. 4nm.
· Feb 20: Sail to Bequia, Admiralty Bay. 26nm.
· Feb 24: Take a ferry over to St. Vincent for the day.

Week 4-5:  Northern Windwards, Eastern Leewards

· Feb 25: Sail to Martinique, St.Ann/Marin. 93nm. (Or 55nm to Soufriere St. Lucia.)
· Feb 28: Sail to Dominica, Prince Rupert Bay. 87nm. (Or 64nm to Soufriere Dominica)
· March 3: Sail to Les Saintes, Bourg des Saints. 22nm.
· March 4: Sail to Pigeon Island Anchorage, Guadaloupe. 24nm.
· March 6: Sail to Deschaies, Guadaloupe. 9nm.

Week 6: Western Leewards

· March 7: Sail to Antigua, English Harbor. 43nm.
· March 10: Sail to St. Barts, Gustavia. 85nm.
· March 11: Sail to St. Martin, Simpson Bay. 18nm.

Week 7: Cruise British and US Virgin Islands

· March 15: Sail to Tortola, Road Town. 91nm.
· March 17-24: Sail BVIs and St. John

The above schedule is a prototype. Actual mileage will vary as we experience whimsy, weather, wanderlust, etc. I'll try to keep the blog going. Track us if you wish using the link in the right-hand column of this page. Stand by to stand by. We're goin' in!

December 27-29, Leinster Bay St. John

This is the fifth and final post on the December Cruise in the US Virgin Islands.  On Tuesday December 27th, we sailed from Francis Bay to Watermelon Bay, then on Wednesday to Great Cruz Bay, then on Thursday to home (Boston, by plane).

On Tuesday we had a marvelous sail eastward up The Narrows on the N side of StJ, into Sir Francis Bay Channel. It was a hardy beat against the wind but with the current, sending sunlit sparkles of spray flying as we clipped off the tops of the choppy waves. For sport, we totally smoked a 60’ catamaran. Just sayin’. Not having any plans to clear into BVI customs, we banged a 180 in Flanagan Channel --mid-way between the E end of StJ and Norman Island (BVI), and gybed back down our track to Watermelon Bay. I can’t get enough of this warm water sailing.

Picking up a National Park Service mooring inside of Watermelon Cay, we found ourselves a mere few hundred feet from one of the best snorkeling spots on StJ (as reported by the Rum & Reggaes’s “Caribbean”). If our flight wasn’t leaving on Thursday, we might still be there. We all agreed that this was the most gorgeous spot we’d been to. As you swim into Watermelon Cay, the bottom is littered with 6-10 inch starfish. The reef was loaded with fish of all types. Amazing beauty in a very protected spot.

Heron at Watermelon Cay, Leinster Bay St. John

On Wednesday we went ashore in the dinghy and hiked a great shore-side trail to Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins. http://stjohntour.com/AnnabergSugarPlantationRuins.html

The guides served us the local sweet tea and freshly split coconut and cut us a piece of aloe plant to squeeze on our cuts and burns. Walking around the ruins high above the bay, we seemed adrift in time, surrounded by history and cellphones.

Two Bugs Dancing:

Huge Termite Nest in Tree: 

Gecko Standing Watch: 

Tourist Trio: 

On Thursday, our last day aboard, we sailed back to the mooring in Great Cruz Bay. Under jib alone, we slowly slid close by Francis Bay, Trunk Bay, Hawksnest Bay, Caneel Bay and Cruz Bay. The slower the better. We were soaking up the rays hoping to stretch out the experience. The Bostonian in the Red Sox cap drifting beside us on a Hobie Cat felt the same way.  Twenty-four hours later we were shivering in a Boston cab, ready to plan the next cruise.