Tropical waves, which are similar to cold fronts in effect, are now our main concern when we travel.  There are now brief showers almost every night, sometimes during the day, too.  We’ve learned to “close the windows” before we go to bed if we don’t want to get up in the middle of the night!   

One night was spent in a bay on Vieques where we were hoping to see lots of bioluminescence so along with Casa del Mar, we went to shore in our dinghies for a swim in the dark, the better to see the underwater sparks.  Much to their surprise, Linda and Mike saw two pair of eyes when they shined their flash light in the water.  Just as suddenly there was only one pair of eyes.  That almost scared them off!  Then as we approached shore, again shining the flashlight on the water so we could see where we were going, we saw dozens of fish leapfrogging out of the water all over the place.  It must have been dinner time for the large fish – like barracuda!

Culebra was a picturesque place that looked a lot like southern California with the houses on the hillsides.  Having drinks at the Dinghy Dock Bar and Restaurant, with its resident gecko, we talked with the bartender who had eight years ago had come to the island for three days, stayed three weeks, and moved there three months later.  That’s the way it is in the islands – people visit and don’t want to leave!

The next stop for us was St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, where we were married five years ago.  We walked up the hill to see if the hotel we stayed at was still open and it was.  There is a replica of the Liberty Bell in Emancipation Park neat the waterfront.  We wandered around the shopping area one day, buying midmorning drinks at Wendy’s, eating lunch at Subway, and going to K-Mart for a few things.  Sounds like your typical day back in the states, doesn’t it?   As we walked back from K-Mart, we were startled when some water came flying at us from the local open-air bus going by.  And much to the surprise of the teenagers on the bus who had laughed uproariously at seeing us get doused, a police car also saw what happened, stopped the bus, removed two of the female occupants and apparently took them directly to the police station with lights flashing.  We’re sure the water wasn’t meant for us, but it seems the police thought it was serious enough to give those girls a scare.

Another stop was Little Lameshur Bay on the south side of St. John where we did some snorkeling and swimming.  It’s part of the national park so we had to take a mooring rather than anchor.  Paying for the mooring balls is done on the honor system where you leave your money in an envelope in the box on the beach.  There we saw sea turtles again, as we have in several other places.

When we left there, we were hoping to get to St. Kitts in an overnight passage, but after three hours of beating into the wind and waves, we diverted to the B.V.I.  We revisited the Baths on Virgin Gorda, and then spent a few days in the Bitter End in Gorda Sound to stage our next trip.  The night before we left we were anchored off Prickly Pear Island, and were treated to the sight of wild goats grazing on the hillside.

St. Kitts was good for a couple of days, but had we known the marina there was so inexpensive we would have put in there instead of rolling back and forth in the swells from the sea.  The city of Basse Terre, while not large, was interesting to walk around.  Lunch at Ballahoo’s restaurant was fun as the waitress was very friendly and talkative.  That has not been our experience in other places.  We had goat water for lunch!  Really it was Irish stew, but instead of lamb we think it was goat meat.  Whatever it was, it was delicious.   Every morning there is a cloud hanging over the top of the mountain, and every evening there is another cloud hanging over the mountain!

Passing on the east side of Montserrat was awesome!  The volcano erupted a couple of weeks earlier, but there were still many fissures bellowing steam and belching ashy smoke as we sailed by.  The maritime exclusion zone is a couple of miles out around the entire southern end of the island, but we stayed out about five miles.  It’s amazing to see what Mother Nature does.  The most recent eruption was 1995 when several villages were buried in ash.  You can still see the roofs of many of the houses above the ash line, and you can also see the new settlements on the northern hills where people have been relocated.  Bulletin, announced yesterday: The Montserrat volcano has rebuilt most of its dome and is still active.  Another eruption is likely only a matter of time.

Next stop was Guadeloupe but only for a night.  The island is shaped like a lopsided butterfly and looks like a great place to spend a month!  There a lots of little bays along the coast that beg to be visited and explored.  Next time!

Approaching the north end of Dominica, the engine suddenly stopped!  A quick check of gauges down below showed the main fuel tank on empty while the auxiliary tank remained half full.  Sailing the rest of the way and anchoring in the dark was not too difficult.  It just took a lot of time!  So the next day was spent replacing filters, and getting the tanks filled, and the engine started again (bleeding a diesel engine is a pain!).  Since Dominica is a longer island than most, we spent a second night closer to the southern end, before going on the Martinique the following day.  One overnight was all we had time for as we wanted to get to St. Lucia the next day so we didn’t even check into the country.

Ah, vacation time!  Rodney Bay Marina at the north end of St. Lucia, very inexpensive as the “high season” was over.  We thought we’d take four showers a day since there were showers for the marina guests.  However…..the facilities were sooooo bad that we were inclined to use the swimming pool more, and wash up at home.  Can you imagine having hooks on the outside of the swinging café style doors to the showers?  You could lock someone in the shower, but the person using the shower couldn’t keep someone out.  The hooks for clothes were in the back by the toilet stalls, and there were no hooks inside the showers to hang anything and nothing to put soap and shampoo on except the floor.  It is highly doubtful that anyone working at the marina had ever had the occasion to use the showers!

Each day the “Fruit Man” came by in his boat selling fruits and veggies.  The Sparkle Laundry boat took the bags of dirty clothes and returned them clean and neatly folded for EC$25 a load.  That’s about $10 US, much more expensive than Luperon, but there are no laundromats on most of these islands.  Our laundry came back the day after it was promised as there had been a holiday, and some problem with gas.  We’re not sure what that was about.  We also had someone else’s clothing mixed in with ours so we had to sort it out and return some to the laundry guy.  And now we know why some people make a list of what they send to the laundry service….we were missing several pair of underwear, but they were returned the next day.  To be honest we don’t know if anything else was missing!  One night we had a potluck dinner at picnic tables next to the pool with four buddy boats.  Heather and Scott, S/V Scott Free, home port Ludlow, VT, are friends we met last October in Annapolis at the Seven Seas Cruising Association get-together.  Sheila and Paul, S/V Que Rico, are new friends from Maine.  They are accompanied by their Lab, Katie, who does quite well as a boat dog.  Jaime and Dan, S/V Nereia, and Mike and Linda, S/V Casa del Mar, are great traveling companions.  Being like-minded about the weather, and when to travel, make traveling together easy.

A short hop down the west coast to the Pitons for a night had us ready to head past St. Vincent to Bequia.  That night we took a mooring ball, and were right there between the two landmarks for which St. Lucia is famous.  This is another island that deserves to have a few weeks to visit.

A very early start, 2 AM, got us across the passage between St. Lucia and St. Vincent, past the island, and across the passage from St. Vincent to Bequia, a total of 37 miles.  We haven’t heard too many good things about visiting St. Vincent.  Apparently it is better to take a ferry from Port Elizabeth, Bequia, to Kingstown, St. Vincent, if we want to do some sightseeing.  That fact was brought home to us when at 10 PM we heard a charter boat call the St. Vincent Coast Guard to report an intruder who stole several items from their boat.  Some of the local boys apparently have nothing better to do which just reminds us that we need to close and lock the boat when we leave.  Some places just feel safer than others, but one must always take precautions.

Bequia (pronounced BECK-WAY) is also on the list!  Admiralty Bay was a favorite with the British Navy in the 1800’s, and today is busy with sailboats, catamarans and trawlers, both anchored and moored.  The town of Port Elizabeth is charming with lots of shops offering local crafts, and restaurants with local food and “American” food.  Who needs a cheeseburger when you can buy lunch from a vendor set up under a tree on the beach – lunch consisted of BBQ chicken, rice, potato salad, carrot slaw and plantain slices.  Good stuff!!!  It would have been nice to stay there a few more days.

And….here we are in Tyrrell Bay, town of Harley Vale, island of Carriacou.  We arrived yesterday afternoon after first stopping in Hillsborough Bay to clear in with Customs and Immigration.  It was a short 4 mile motor around the “corner” to the spot where we are now.

Here are a few of the things we have noticed most recently:

1.  The wind comes from the west on the leeward side of the Windward Islands sometimes!

2.  The current, wind and seas in the passages between the islands don’t like each other!  It all gets pretty confused at times. 

3.  It’s best to travel early in the day before the wind comes up too strong, but then the wind funnels down the hills or mountains into the bays when we are anchoring, sometimes gusting as high as 35 knots. 

4.  The wind does die down a lot at night, but the breeze makes for pretty pleasant sleeping.

5.  The humidity seems to be lower, meaning more comfortable days and night.

6.  Salt slime is the pits.  A daily wipe of most outside surfaces with soapy fresh water is necessary. 

7.  Most of the brands in the grocery stores are American, even in the smallest places.

8.  Fresh bread will last only a couple of days before going moldy – no Wonder Bread here!

9.  Boat boys will come by offering all kinds of things for sale – fruits, veggies, wine, oysters, hand carved plaques, etc.  Also garbage pickup for a price, ice, water, fuel, and laundry.

10.  Clearing in with Customs and Immigration can take five minutes or twenty, but it still takes time to get anchored, get the dinghy and outboard in the water, get cleaned up to go ashore, get to town and find the buildings.  All that other stuff sometimes takes a couple of hours and may include a taxi ride.

We continue to be impressed with the camaraderie of the cruising community and the friends we have made.  Certainly we all have a lot in common – a sense of adventure, a desire to explore in our own ways, and a willingness to help each other for whatever reason.

Tomorrow we’ll explore Carriacou!