Guadeloupe to Saint Martin, all the French Islands, Oh la la ...

It is now May and we are in St. Martin on the French side of the Island: this little island is divided in half – French and Dutch.

On February the 17th we left Grenada after six very nice weeks there. We went 140 miles North to St. Lucia. Our attempt to go straight to Guadeloupe failed since our board computer died. This little device powers also our Radar, GPS and Navigation Software. After a night sailing completely “blind” we decided that it’s time to “find” some land. Our good friends on “Eyes of the World” who sailed with us were our eyes and ears on the ocean, they told us when big ships approached or if we got too close to land. It was a very rough night; we had water coming over the bow and into the cockpit all the time, so we had to stay inside, which is quite scary if you don’t have any electronics that tell you what’s going on outside. But we made it and we stayed in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia for almost a week. We found an absolute fabulous Indian Restaurant which we visited four times in that week. That means something… stunning food and great service. If you ever get to St. Lucia you HAVE to go to Razmataz – Have to, have to.
We loaded all our software onto our Laptop, installed Radar, GPS and Navigation aids and left for Guadeloupe another 115 miles away. We love it in Le Saints, a small group of Islands South of Guadeloupe. We spent two weeks there snorkeling, walking up to Fort Josephine, finding treasures from the 17th Century (mostly broken china, but very beautiful), taking the dinghy to the main town to eat Noisette ice-cream and just simply enjoy life. We had a wonderful time and Jackie enjoyed her freedom after being confined to the boat on the English Islands. So many crabs to dig out and chase along the beach.
On the 10th of March we went to Marina Bas-Du-Fort where we spent last hurricane season. We cleaned the boat for almost a month, it was soooo clean, we had dinner almost every night down in the bilge – just kidding. The boat was loaded up with 300 bottles of wine (now I am not kidding) and lots of French food. We had to stop shopping for food after our waterline was too low in the water.
Guadeloupe is usually described as two islands in the shape of a lopsided butterfly with its wings separated by the Riviere Salee (a salt-water “River). When we left on the 8th of April after long weeks of very stormy weather (and lots of cleaning); we had to rise early. The Riviere Salee has two bridges that open at 5:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. respectively. So, getting up at 4:00 a.m. was a piece of cake since we really wanted to finally leave. We were the 4th boat on a line of seven and had an uneventful trip along the “river”. Coming out of the river the body of water was very wide and VERY shallow. All of a sudden every boat started to head in a different direction because the marker buoys were miles away and very unclear. Somehow we managed to be the lead boat and everybody followed us – what do we know, right! We managed to run aground once in sandy bottom but everybody was far enough behind us to avoid the shallow water. After about 10 miles we were able to set sail and head for Antigua about 55 miles away. Antigua has new regulations regarding dogs and we were not allowed to check in without seeing a veterinarian. Everybody was very helpful and very polite and we were allowed to have the dog on board without problems.
We took the little public bus to English Harbour, Antigua's graceful and evocative historic district. About fifteen square miles of Nelson's Dockyard National Park is developed as a base for the British Navy in the great age of sail, the harbor served as the headquarters of the fleet of the Leeward Islands during the turbulent years of the late 18th century. Although the dockyard was greatly expanded at that time byHoratio Nelson, it was gradually abandoned in the nineteenth century and was closed in 1889. Today Nelson's Dockyard has been completely restored, and it is now the only Georgian dockyard in the world.

fter a week in Antigua we set sail for St. Kitts. For the first time since almost two years we had the wind behind us, not enough to sail but a very pleasant day and we managed to stay completely dry – imagine that! Since we left Guadeloupe we have spent more and more time being “real” tourists. We visit all the sites, take pictures and enjoy ourselves. So we took the St. Kitts Scenic Railway, which offered a nostalgic and somewhat romantic way to tour the island and learn about Caribbean culture, history, and economy of yesteryear. Billed as "one of the most beautiful train rides in the world," the St. Kitts Railway was built between 1912 and 1926 to deliver sugar cane from the fields to the sugar mill in the capital city of Basseterre. Today, it's been re-invented as "a fascinating way to see the entire nation of St. Kitts," in the words of the operator, from a vantage point that is historically authentic yet modern, entertaining, and eminently comfortable. Well, there you go…
We stayed at Port Zante, which is a brand new development that caters to the very large cruise ships so they can dump all the tourists to spend lots of dollars at all the jewelry, liquor and other “duty free’ shops. Of course we had to leave some money there as well, since it’s so cheap!?On the 22nd of April we arrived in St. Martin and we are here now more than two weeks to get “our” bottom completely cleaned off of twelve years worth of antifouling bottom paint, sea critters and other things I don’t want to know what they are. It is getting summer here in the islands and it’s very hot on the “hard” without any air-conditioning. We can’t run our A/C or freezer because we have no water to cool the pumps. But it has to be done and we are happy when it’s over.

Murphey and other stories ...

I haven’t written in a long time, this has maybe something to do that we did NOT have an absolute disaster every time we picked up our anchor or left a dock. We have a NICE time for a change. How scary is that? We think Murphy might have been washed over board at one of our wild sailing moments. But saying that would tempt Murphy to swim back to Lucky Star and move in with us again. Frankly, all three of us have decided that we have no space on Lucky Star for Murphy.

The toilet

Before we left Chicago we have read so many “horror” stories of people with toilet problems. We have never had any problems, but our toilet, which is a vacuum toilet never worked. That said, we did not pee in a bucket for the last two years but we used the shower faucet as our water flushing source. Which is not such a problem if you don’t have to MAKE your water, but water on a boat is quite precious so we would rather us the salt water that was supposed to be sucked in via our vacuum toilet seat. We blamed it on the French – the maker of this miracle toilet. We should have blamed it on our ability to install a gasket the right way. Per accident when I cleaned our great toilet the gasket fell off and Chris put it back in – neither of us could remember which way but it looked all right the way he did it. Well after that, our toilet flushed like a hurricane in a bowl. Murphy is gone.

We spent Christmas in Chatham Bay because Bequia was too roly. We had a great dinner with our friends from “Eyes of the World”.
Our menu was as always delightful:
We had a starter of Smoked Salmon Canapés with some lovely Drappier Champagne, an Amuse Bouche of Fried green Mango slices with Balsamic Reduction a salad of Asparagus Cucumber Boat with (stolen) St. Lucian, Piton Limes, and as a main course Magret Duck Brest with Potato Gratin and Crème de Cassis foam. The wine from the “bilge” was a Chateuuneuf-du-Pape Le Vallon Des Grives, 2002. As the Christmas desert we had Mince pie with ginger cream and a De Bortoli Noble One Batrytis Semillon 2000, Australia. So I still think Murphy has left – maybe he hates good food? I hope so…

New Years – also our anniversary; we spent in the Tabago Keys – a National Park with crystal clear water and lots of wild life. We got cooked by “Eyes of the World” for our anniversary. A cooked to perfection Pork Roast with a Prune Armagnac sauce, veggies and Apple pie for desert. Of course with great wine and a magnum Champagne. Murphy hates food.

From the Tabago Keys we sailed to Carriacou where they made some scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean. A lot of smart entrepreneurs try to make a dollar or two by selling fruit and vegetables, try to sell you hand made necklaces and carvings or anything that did not walk fast enough away from them. It was quite a pest and we were happy to leave there. After that we went to Sandy Beach Island which was wonderful. White sand and a great beach. From there we went to Grenada – the first island in more than two month that allowed dogs on land. Now Jackie definitely thinks Murphy left us.
It took a lot of stress from us as well. Since we are traveling with three dogs – two on “Eyes of the World” and Jackie we had to be quite invent full about how and where the girls can go ashore and do what dogs do best. Chase sand crabs and other critters…
Freedom for the dogs!

The last ten days we were at anchor at a small bay in Clarks Court Bay, Grenada. Most of the time is was just us two boats and we had a very relaxing time exploring an island called Hog Island.
WE got a present from a friend of ours before we left. A little book called “Embarrassment of Mangoes”. Which is a book about a couple of cruisers from Canada – they did the same route as we did and spent quite some time in Grenada – at hog island. It was very nice to get here and know things already. Somehow it felt all so familiar. The Canadian couple did this trip in the early nineties and went back to Canada for work two years later. The interesting thing was that when we were in Carriacou, the Canadian couple on their boat “Rosetta” stayed there as well. Unfortunately we did not realize it until we just lifted the anchor to leave. Bu who knows – we might see them again and than we can talk about her book again. Which is, by the way a very cute little read. It seems that Murphy must have stayed with them on their boat for a while as well.

We are staying at True Blue Marina in True Blue Bay, Grenada for two weeks with our friends – after that they will go back up North to go back to work in June. We are off to Venezuela – we are planning on going to the islands first and than see. Who knows – it all depends on what Murphy’s plans are.

Merry Christmas to Everybody

We are in St. Vincent and heading for Bequia tomorrow, December 22. Bequia is one of the Grenadine Islands and is supposed to be very pretty. We have decided to spend Christmas there.
We did lots of shopping in St. Vincent, Wine, Champagne, Cheeses, Duck, Fish; we should be all set for three days of Christmas celebration. Margit’s Christmas eve on the 24th, Chris Christmas day on the 25th, and than there is always Boxing day on the 26th. We are not running out of things to celebrate. And than there is New Years just around the corner.

We wanted to wish our family and friends a wonderful happy and healthy Christmas time and a blessed 2008. May the angels be all around us (and Murphy move to China or off the planet…)

Lots of little stories

Injuries

Neither Chris nor I had ever an injury on the boat – in all this time – a miracle considering the places poor Chris had to crawl into, weights he had to lift, electric cables he had to fix – a miracle, as I said. Well this does not include the land injuries we had – Chris fell of the bike once with Jackie in his kangaroo pouch he carried her in, I fell once on the street – with NEW pants of course, I fell once on Christmas over a sprinklerhead in St. Petersburg – also with new pants. I fell off the bike once into a two lane highway loosing some skin on my knee and arm; and there is of course the time I tried to separate Jackie from our friend’s dog when they were “discussing” their territory. In that little fight I lost a 1 inch piece from my lip and chin, which got stitched back on by a master. After a ride back with the boat from a little island, a dinghy ride and an ambulance ride across the island of Guadeloupe we found “my hero” – a vascular doctor at the hospital who took more than an hour to sew the missing piece back onto my face. After two months it looks already great and I am so thankful that the doctor was diligent.
No more injuries – we say – and hope that Murphy will listen!


November 22 THANKSGIVING


Thanksgiving for non-American’s is not quite the same, or so we assume, but we did our best to celebrate Thanksgiving in style; maybe not traditional but never the less with lots of wonderful food and great company. We spent the evening with our friends from “Eyes of the World” eating duck (we called it a turkey in the making), Scottish Salmon, great fresh veggies from the island and of course, French Champagne and Wine.
We are in Martinique since about a week now, enjoying the second French Island on our trip. We just don’t seem to get away from them. We LOVE everything about the French people; their wines, their food and of course their bread. The marina we are in is next to “Paul’s”, a bakery that has been in business for more than 150 years, the bread is to die for – we are in heaven. We have to stay here for a while because we are waiting for a spare part from France – poor us, but we will suffer through it.
The hurricane season went by so quickly; the four month in Guadeloupe seemed like we were only there for a short time. We miss the new friends we made there - we felt that we had a new home for a while. Even our French was getting a little better. Since Guadeloupe we are traveling with a second boat, “Eyes of the World”, a Catamaran, with Rick and Jim and their dogs Coco and Cooper – we have been very lucky to have met them and enjoy their company very much. It was been very nice to share new adventures together or have the “occasional” drink and dinner together.


Earthquake on a boat

We stay at the marina in Martinique for a few days to get laundry done and enjoy a little more of the French islands – we are worried we are running out of wine and cheese – so we actually stay almost two weeks. One afternoon around three the boat starts to shake violently – we run outside and see that the two feet in diameter steel pilings shake like crazy and the very long and wide floating dock was going up and down like a snake. Wow – we had a 7.4 earthquake. I have never been in one – very strange and “cool”. I think Jackie knew for a few days since she was very scared and skittish and did not want to go outside.

Josephine Bonaparte

We visited the home of Napoleon’s Josephine, originally Marie Joseph Tasher, who was born right here in martinique. The main house was destroyed by a hurricane in 1772 but the kitchen was renovated and made into a museum. What a lovely place. We had a very nice person giving me three books, novels that are the “diaries” of Josephine. I love them – and now I can picture all the places she talks about, the places she grew up and spent her youth; what a women.

November 31, our first Christmas party

Since neither of us is in the corporate world anymore, we rarely get invited to Christmas parties, so we decided to have one on Lucky Star – a very early one. We had a great standing rip roast with wonderful local veggies, smoked trout from France, scallops in garlic butter and fruit and vanilla yoghurt for desert. This of course with lovely French wine and a beautiful Martinique aged rhum that tastes like any great brandy. It was a blend we bought from the Clement Estate and it was the 1952, 1972 and 1976 vintage. What a life!

St. Croix, Saba Island, Monserat to Guadeloupe

July 2nd, we leave Ponce in Puerto Rico and leave for St. Croix (which is a US territory). After 116 miles and 24 hours of mostely motoring we arrive in St. Croix and decide to go to Buck Island about 5 miles south of the main town, Christiansteed. We have a few hours sleep and dinghy to the little island, which is quite nice and pristine - we go for a snorkel and enjoy island life. In the evening we have dinner and get ready for another nightsail to Statia. About four hours into it, we are taking in water through our "new" window hatches by the cup full (thank you Crowley's boatyard!). The waves are so bad that we can barley stand up - we decide to go back to Buck Island - arriving again in Buck Island around 3:00 a.m. the next morning - completely exhausted. What a nightmare. We stay at Buck Island for three more days to wait for the next weather window and head off again for another night sail to Statia. This time it was even worse and after six hours we are back at Buck Island - drying out the boat AGAIN.Since we have not checked in to St. Croix we are feeling a little "illegal" and decide to head for the main town and clear customs. Since it is US territory, the customs people just looked at us strangely, say thanks for coming in and send us away - so much for "doing the right thing". Christiansteed was a quaint little town - we hired a car and toured the island. It was a quite nice island, we did some shopping at the local fruit and veggie market - we bought a yellow fruit called egg-fruit which made a most delicious milkshare; bought some soursop which also makes a nice milk shake and tastes like fruitsalad - but has a "strange" texture; both milkshakes are greatly improved by the local rum in the evening! We found a large supermarket that also caters to a lot of Middle Eastern people on the island - St. Croix has the largest US oil refinerey - who would have thought - we had lots of curries - mhhh.Third time is a charm - we left for Statia again on July 14th. This time we just stuck it out. Chris siliconed and duck taped the windows shut in hope that they won't leak anymore. Well they did, but we did not have to put a bucket under them - so it was quite all right.After about twenty hours our engine had some trouble getting enough fuel and we got very worried that in the huge seas we will loose the engine completely - the winds picked up to about 25 to 30 knots and of course, as always straight on the nose. Chris tried to be a trooper being seasick for hours trying to do his shift. I had to wake him and tell him that I did not think we would make it to Statia. We changed our course and went for Saba which was about fifteen miles closer. The seas were rough and the waves were huge, no stars, no moon and we are in the middle of a busy shipping lane. About twelve miles before Statia a large Tanker crossed our pass and we slowed down - it was very doubtful that he even saw us on his radar.The wind is blowing a steady thirty knots and we have the main sail double reefed - trying to find a mooring ball (as per crusing giude). Chris is in the front with a big light trying to "see" a little ball in a pitch black ocean. A very impressive unbelievable steep Saba island just a few yards somewhere in front of us, Chris finally spots the one and only vailable mooring ball and grabs it with the boot hoock. I have never tried to drive the boot while we moor, so I guess I did pretty well for the first time since I did not miss, but I also did not stop in time and by the time Chris Yelled reverse, he almost lost an arm trying to hold on to the rope attached to the ball. Well, we have another go, this time he sits on the back on the sugar scoop trying to hold on to the ball with his hands - he lost the boat hook when we overtook the ball in a blinding rush. The current is strong, the boat is still in gear and Chris swoops of the boat on his backside like he is waterskiing. It is still pitch dark but the winds are kind and stopped blowing like crazy, Chris swims like a mad man and Jackie thinks it's all a great game and get's her ball and throws it in the water. The third time we manage to moor sucessfully and get the sails down - low and behold, the minute we have the sail down the wind is back at thirty knots and continues to blow all night. The next morning Chris spots the boot hook in sixty feet and dives for it sucessfully. Just as well, because we will loose our second hook about a week later on our arrival in Guadeloupe - but that's another story.
We stayed two days in Saba to wait for the weather to get better and for our fuel to settle down. And finally we are off to Statia. Statia is a very cute Island with lots of history. In Oranje Baai (Orange bay; it's a dutch island)at the base of a cliff are old stone ruins tumbling into the sea. On top of the cliff the present small town peaks through trees. A 2000 feet volcanic cone makes a perfect Kodak moment. In it's golden era during the mid to late 1700's, Statia was the trade capital of the Indies and they cleared more than 3.000 ships a year - it was the busiest harbour in the world. The dutch who owned Statia remained neutral and opened Statia as a free port whilst European powers were fighting with each other.We visited the island, walked the slave road, drank the ginger beer and enjoyed a few days there while waiting for the next weather window. We read that the anchorage was rough during certain conditions - little did we know. The third night we were there, the winds and the seas picked up and at 10:00 p.m. it was so bad that the entire inside of the boat was flying around. We must have tilted about 40 feet at the top of the mast. It was terrifying. The most terrifying thing was that we could not do a thing about it. All we could do is spread our arms and legs so we did not get thrown out of bed holding on to the dog who was so frightend that I thought she will have a heart attack. It was all over about 3:00 a.m. and we got a few hours sleep - the next night was rolly but doable. We left the day after to head for Nevis about 32 miles away. As usual we had high seas and strong winds and stayed for one night at Nevis which has a 3.000 feet volcanic peak. We did not go ashore because it was Saturday night and it sounded like the whole island is getting together and listening to about as many different songs as they have people all at once. We took Jackie to the beach and had an early dinner and went to bed to head out the next day to Monseratt. We stayed at the north-west end of Monseratt because the South is still off limits for anybody. The southern half is a harsh terrain dominated by the Soufriere Hills volcano, barren and smoking agains the skyline. The remains of the ruined capital, Plymouth are a humbling reminder of nature's power. Everything is burned or burried in ash and boulders the size of large houses spewed out by the volcano lying everywhere.
Off to our "final" destination - the island of Guadeloupe. A thirthy five mile trip to Deshaies a little fishing village and the first sign of "french culture" for us. We are in heaven. Just listening to "bonsoir" and seeing all the cute restaurants made us feel "home". All we could talk about was fresh baguette, cheese and wine. What else does one need in life?It says in the cruising guide that Deshaies acts as a giant windscoop and the wind howls in an alarming manner. And did it ever - we had 40 knots of wind blowing high over us - but the water was calm and we had a good night sleep. We got up early to head for the Marina about 48 miles away, but we have round the island of Guadeloupe. In the first ten minutes our engine did not want to work anymore. The fuel line problem finally caught up with us. Chris had to take all the floor boards up while I tried to sail the boat - of course - for the first time in six months there was no wind - I took the sails down and we drifted for about two hours until Chris connected the fuel tank directly to the engine. It worked like a charm - just as well - because once we got around the west corner of Guadeloupe around the bottom part - we thought we are at Cape Horn. It was blowing a steady thirthy five knots and the waves were huge and of course, right on our nose. Every two minutes we spoted a crab trap that was "very well marked (not?!)" with a clear see-through plasic bottle. A huge wave hit us from the side and for the first time our little gardens (large pots with Basil, chives and parsley) flew across the boat. So not only were we soaked in saltwater, now we also had some dirt mixed with it - it was just one lovely trip. About a mile before we see the first marker to the channel Chris climes up the radar arch and gets our fenders ready - the boat is going up and down in waves that hit us now hard from the side and while he climes down we loose our beautiful mahogany boat hook that had a nice "Lucky Star" engraved plate on it - oh well, it was just not our day.
We reached east coast of Guadeloupe late in the afternoon on July 24th of 2007. We were absolutley shattered but happy and relieved that we finally made it to our hurricane destination. We are staying at a nice marina in Pointe-A-Pitre a large town in Guadeloupe. The people here are very nice and shops and restaurants very plentiful inside the marina/apartment complex; all is within walking distance, including a supermarket and of course, the boulangerie!! We had our first real French baguette the morning after we arrived - and it was wonderful. The boat took quite a beating getting here, so we have a bunch of things to fix over the next few weeks. The hatches the boatyard in Chicago replaced began leaking badly just after Puerto Rico, so things got a little damp during the really big seas (of which there were many in the last month), despite our extensive use of silicon and sealing tape.
We have started to take French lessons and our teacher, Christelle is very patient with us. She comes to the boat three times a week and we feel that we make good progress. After all, we do love the french language - and oh, did I mention the food and the wine?
Guadeloupe has a population of 330,000 and is a part of France. They grow a lot of sugar cane - for their rum which everynbody seems to drink in great quantities (why bother if you can have french wine?). It is composed of two islands; Basse Terre and Grand Terre. Between those two islands is the Riviere Salee (Salt River) which is not really a river. Great protection for boats during a hurricane because of the mangroves. We really hope that we will never have the need to go there. But today, August 13th, the first hurricane (Dean) is already threatening to come and "visit".

Mona Passage to Puerto Rico

June 21st, 2007. The dreadful Mona Passage. We have read lots about it and nothing was good. The wind and the current in that 150 mile passage from the north east end of the Dominican Republic to the west side of Puerto Rico.
All day I had butterflies in my stomach because in the evening we are off to cross the Mona Passage. We are using a weather router whom we have learned to love and obey – who told us that this is the night – it will be great to cross and we could not ask for anything better. Well some things came to mind, like an airplane that will take us there, or a big cruise ship with cabin service air-condition and cable TV… I am still asking myself over and over why we are doing this?
We are leaving Escondido at 9:00 p.m. and again, it’s pitch dark. Not only that but the guide books says to hug the mountains as close as we dare, like a boat length apart. Easy said when you can’t see a thing. That’s why God invented radar – and we watch the screen carefully as we hug the cliffs for hours. Why are we doing this again?
I pretend to be very tired and make Chris do the first watch, so I don’t have to see (or not see) the cliffs at arms length. After two hours I get up and take the wheel. An absolutely wonderful night with little wind and some long interval swells that made the ride quite comfortable. I know I read somewhere that it will get rough around here or was it in a few miles, there has to be a rough bit since it’s the Mona passage. Has to be … Nothing happens all night and for some reason we have settled into our routine and we are not as tired as we were the first two nights and we actually enjoy the ride. Our weather router (AKA the “only man” on board who HAS to be obeyed) was absolutely right. It was the perfect night to cross. During the day Lucky Star got greeted by five or six huge dolphins riding our bow. What a welcoming committee.
Calculating the time and distance we have to go we realize that we are positively “flying” and we will be in Puerto Rico in 25 hours rather than the calculated 32 – 35 hours. We arrived at 10:30 p.m. in a bay called Cabo Rojo and it looked on the chart we can enter in the dark without risking our or Lucky Star’s life. Still quite dark with a little moon and no clouds we throw our hook in the water and anchor in the little bay which has some swells but seems otherwise safe. We turn everything off and go to bed, still dreaming that there has to be a rough spot in the Mona Passage – but it never came. How lucky are we. Sleeping like the dead we got up at 5:00 a.m. to round the bottom of Puerto Rico towards a town called Ponce. The weather man told us that we have to expect a tropical wave (these create hurricanes) hitting within the next 24 hours. So we are in a rush to get to a safe place where we can clear customs. The four hour ride was very choppy and windy and I kept thinking how lucky we are not to have had that weather on our way over from the Dominican Republic.
Welcome to Puerto Rico! We arrived at 10:50 a.m. at the Ponce Yacht and Fishing club which seems to have been established in the 70’s and not much has changed since than. The local people who are members of the club come on Saturday evening to listen to Latin music and have a BBQ with all their kids. It’s a bustling place and we are very happy to be here. We have air-condition and are tied to a concrete dock waiting for the tropical wave to hit, and we are not a bit disappointed that we don’t have to leave the next day – we sleep a lot and smile a lot. We have not had any alcohol to drink within almost a week and the two Gin and Tonics we drink the second night we arrive smash us – and we are still smiling.

Turks and Caicos to the Dominican Republic

May 21st we leave Emerald Bay, Great Exuma to cross over to Long Island about 40 miles away to sleep a night at Calabash bay, swim in the evening and have a wonderful dinner at a star and moon setting. From Calabash Bay we head south to Clarence town – we had good weather and we decided to go further south, we are in a bit of a hurry – hurricane season is around the corner. So we make the 52 miles and on the way we hear that the weather is deteriorating and is supposed to be bad for at least a week. Just as well we are trying to go further south. We have been trying to call the only marina within 50 miles (which for us a ten hours run) but they don’t answer the radio and so we are heading to Clarence town hoping that they have a docking available.
We finally reach them about 20 miles before we get there just to hear that they are booked solid for the next two months. What to do, I am panicking because the weather report is getting worse and we have no place to go. This has been the first time that we had no plan B and we had to press on or go back for 30 miles not knowing if the marina at Rum Cay has anything available. And it would have meant that we have wasted at least two days towards Antigua; so we decided to press on. The guide book had four anchorages suggested but only one for the conditions we had to expect arriving tomorrow. Well, the weather was getting worse and the wind picked up considerably. When we arrived in Clarence town we went in circles for two hours to see which was the best anchorage. I wanted to the one close to shore so we can go to town and visit the two churches which looked very picturesque and we don’t have to go far with the dog. Of course I had not considered waves or wind that would come within the next ten hours. So Chris decides to go to the one suggested anchorage which looked positively scary. VERY close to a reef and very close to a beach. Just the sound from the reef made me scared to think what is to come when the wind doubles and triples. We spend there the first five days with 40 knots wind and at least 4,5 knots current that held us nicely off the reef but made sounds that went through your bones. Once a day Chris and sometimes me took the dinghy down and went to the beach for a doggy walk and to stretch our hurting bones. We ate fresh green coconuts from the island and made rum drinks with them – delicious. One morning I clean the floors and take all the mats and carpets outside to give them a shake – I loose a mat and scream for help. Help is there and Chris decides to jump right after the mat when the dog decides to throw her favorite ball in the water to play with Chris.
Chris did underestimate the four knots of current and lets the mat go to make some headway towards to boat as I am watching him all of a sudden I realize what is happening. At the same time he shouts that he needs help. Great – what to do – jump also in the water and drown – so I though a line in the water which gets nowhere even close to where he is, try to tie a life ring to a rope which did not reach him either. Our dinghy was tied to the davit loaded with our bikes, fenders, fishing gear and all sorts of stuff, just in case we had to leave from the anchorage in a hurry. Now I had to put the boat in the water in a hurry or loose my husband. It’s hard enough to this task with two people, without legs and arm feeling jell-O from fear and thinking what to wear at the funeral. The dog of course also went crazy not because she will loose her Chris but because Chris did not retrieve the ball in time and its floating very rapidly away.
Chris finally changes his course and swims towards the beach and gets out of the water to wave to me that all is OK. I finally get the dinghy in the water and even manage to start the engine and somehow also manage to drive the boat in the wild current and wind towards the beach where I hug my husband ten times with tears in my eyes. The mat was gone but I did not have to wear a black dress to any occasion and I was very happy and hopefully we have learned a valuable lesson and never do such a thing again.
After five nights in our anchorage we saw a few power boats leave the marina and called them to see if we can have a dockage – they had something available and we went there, happy to have some air-conditioning and a washing machine. I could even use a vacuum cleaner for the mats now, so Chris doesn’t have to risk his life again. We stayed another eight nights at the marina, had a chance to visit the two churches and go to the local packing house where we bought for the first time in the Bahamas, local fruit and vegetables; they were cheap and delicious.
We have met two couples from France and Belgium who just purchased boats in the US and are on their way to St. Martin where they live since a few years. We decide to buddy boat to the Turks and Caicos and go all the way – 188 miles – our longest trip ever. We would have made a few shorter trips, but we had to run to get away from the ever threatening hurricane season. One of the boats had an engine problem and we decided to pull into a Harbour about 50 miles way but then after a few hours they told us all is good and they decided to head towards the Turks – on the way we lost radio contact and we thought we would see them on the way – they never arrived and a few days later somebody told us that they had seen them about 100 miles north at an anchorage. Well at least we know that they are OK. We stayed for three nights at the Turks and Caicos Shipyard and Marina – which was more or less an old rundown boatyard with not much comfort but out of the weather and it was good to get some A/C and some sleep. We met a guy from Australia with his Japanese girlfriend who took us in their rental car to town. We had a nice lunch and a great few hours at a very well stocked supermarket. A nice thing after the Bahamas – food is not very high on their priority list, especially if you are not too fond of conch and white tasteless bread.
From there we went to a private Island called Ambergris which was a giant development with an airstrip, lots of nice houses and a Marina to be built – lots of investment money there. We had a nice snorkel before sunset and enjoyed the anchorage after a ride across the Turks and Caicos banks in very shallow water. I spend the better part of eight hours standing in the heat looking out for coral heads. My head was hurting like I hit a coral head. Not one of my favorite days. The next day I said to Chris it’s an easy ride of only 32 miles. No big deal. Well how wrong was I – the Turks Passage to Big Sand Cay was absolutely horrible. We were pounding into the waves and very strong winds for eighth hours, our windows decided to let the salt water in whenever and wherever they pleased. We had every available towel out to catch the water so we had a dry mattress. The dog was terrified and sat under the table not moving for the entire time. I was not much moving because my body was so stiff from the bad ride and fear that I sat mostly in one spot; praying that it will be over soon.
It was over at 3:15 p.m. when we arrived at Big Sand Cay, which was just that, a big sandy Island covered with green scrubs and thousands of nesting birds. What a site – it was beautiful. We went to the beach and stretched our legs (after we hang all our wet towels outside and washed the salt of the cushions as best as we could. We turned on the generator and cranked the AC down to 72 degrees. What a luxury; we are almost smiling again. The next day we go swimming naked at the beach and go for a long walk. We have a fuel problem and the engine doesn’t like it. Chris tries to find the cause of our air in the fuel line problem. We think we fixed it. Let’s hope… We leave at 5:30 p.m. for a long 90 miles run to the Dominican Republic. About half way through the engine plays up again and we use our sails only to save the “good tank” which is almost empty to get into the Marina in the D.R. The trip takes forever but we had a wonderful sail and the weather was pleasant – we turn the engine on for the last hour and make is safe to Ocean World Marina at 2:00 p.m. the following day.

It is a very nice and quite expensive (for D.R. standards anyway) Marina. The people there were exceptionally friendly and helpful, including Customs, Navy and the Health department people who were efficient and friendly. Ocean World is a water park where you can swim with dolphins and play at a casino that looks like it’s out somewhere in Las Vegas in the 80’s.
We have purchased some provisions which were very reasonable and the supermarket had a good selection on French cheeses and GREAT Sorrano ham that is made in the mountains of the D.R. The “ham makers” were originally trained in the mountains of Spain – and the result is fabulous. We bought mangoes, fresh pineapples, big hands of bananas, green beans and a few snack items for our night sails. We only bought little meat since our freezer is still full from our Florida Costco shopping six month ago. We substitute our meals a lot with fresh caught fish but we’ve heard that the meat is very good here – so we got a nice beef filet for US$ 3.00.
The mountains in the D.R. are picturesque and we wish we could stay a few months and enjoy the country. Instead we hire a driver for a day and see some of the interior.
When we leave on the 20th of June it is midnight and pitch dark when we are making our way out of the marina – no moon, no stars, a very eerie feeling. We head east towards a place called Rio San Juan – the country looks even prettier and we have a nice long walk at the beach and a lot of naps during the day. We leave that night at 9:00 p.m. to sail to place called Escondido – again pitch dark – where is the moon when you really need it? We arrive in Escondido at 8:00 in the morning very tired but happy to be there – it was an absolute wonderful place with mountains and cliffs, a great beach and a few fishing huts and fisher man in their skiffs. Everybody was very friendly and we enjoyed our day napping and a long walk at the beach where Jackie met a new boyfriend who seemed to have liked her just as much – he walked with her (and us) the entire time and seemed sad when we headed back in the dinghy to Lucky Star. He seemed a little like us every time we have to leave a nice place where we meet new friends.

Bahams April and May 2007

April 11th - we head north and out into the Atlantic (our first time in a big ocean) and toward the Abaco Islands up north above the Bahamas. The weather was deteriorating, so we headed in behind some barrier islands at a place called Frozen Cay on the Atlantic side of the Bahamas; the water was still 84 degrees despite the name of the place! While Chris was diving to check our anchor was secure and find some conch (big shellfish) for dinner, he came across some old WW2 disarmed sea mines; very heavy cast iron, circular and with large holes where the detonator spikes had been removed.
We spent a couple of days here enjoying the snorkeling while the weather did its thing in the Atlantic. The weather was forecast to improve, but only for a day or two so we made a long day run north to a great all-weather protected anchorage called Little Harbor, a place made famous by a couple who did total loss life-sized bronze casting of different sea creatures; Both have passed away now, but his gallery is still maintained by their son.
We were safely anchored by sundown and visited the only other place ashore called Pete's Pub; a great beach bar, no walls, sand floor and stiff drinks plus a burger to die for. Weather kept us in Little Harbor for a couple of days, then we headed north again to Marsh Harbor, Treasure Cay and ultimately Green Turtle Bay to pick up Chris’ friends from Australia; Diz and his lady Sue. They spent a couple of days in Green Turtle bay getting over the "other side of the planet" airplane ride and then joined us on Lucky Star. Together we sailed further north and spent some great days sailing around the Abaco's, mainly in the area of Manjack Cay, caught more fish, captured some conch and generally had a pretty fine time; the depleted wine cellar is testament to the fun we had together. Diz & Sue were to leave us in the Abaco's at Treasure Cay, but we decided to change flight plans and sail south to the Exuma's so they could see more of these beautiful islands; just a couple of hundred miles south. On the way down we re-visited Marsh Harbor to pick up some spares for the water maker and some more wine.

Sailing south took us back out into the Atlantic and water over 3 miles deep, but the weather was great so we fished and motor sailed our way to Eleuthera Island. On the way across, Diz caught the biggest fish of his life, so he was pretty pleased with himself. We had only just landed and cleaned that Mahi Mahi when the second reel came to life as a big (40 to 50 lbs) bull Mahi Mahi decided to see if he could tow us out in the Atlantic. We would have let him go, but unfortunately he had swallowed the lure so deep, there was no chance to free him; we now have Mahi Mahi out the ying yang, but it is great fish to eat and Margit has been doing wonderful things with; even Jackie Dog likes it!

Diz & Sue have flown out now and life aboard Lucky Star is returning to normal; the laundry is all done, cupboards re-stocked (including the wine) and we are planning our next journey through the Exuma Banks towards Georgetown.
While waiting out the effects of a tropical storm off the US east coast, we met two couples in their eighties who had us over for drinks and told us about their first circumnavigation in their sailboat which they began at age 70; one couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary mid way across the Atlantic having sailed from Africa. The stories they told were very funny and heartwarming; pretty bloody good for seventy year olds’. They have now sold their sailboat after 23 years aboard and bought a motor boat so they can continue to visit the Bahamas each year.
Now we are further south and off the beaten path a little, fresh local mangoes and bananas are relatively cheap and delicious, so we are off to the market to replenish our fruit stocks and visit the old museum in Spanish Wells for some local history. Life is good…

May 18th and we are waiting again for a better weather window. We are about ten miles north of Georgetown on the Great Exuma island and had very heavy squalls for the last five days, so much rain and wind – our Lucky Star is getting a bath twice a day and our plants look a little sad while they slowly drown. Jackie doesn’t like the rain and thunder very much, so we have a lot of quite time on the boat – but we don’t seem to have much time for anything – what’s going on here?

The marina we are in is very pretty – owned and operated by Four Seasons. They have free laundry (which is absolutely unheard of!) with the greatest washing machines; internet access so we can use our Skype phone (and it works great!); a shuttle service to a grocery store and a liquor store (just in case we run out of wine again) – so again, life is good!

The Islands April and May

April 11th - we head north and out into the Atlantic (our first time in a big ocean) and toward the Abaco Islands up north. The weather was deteriorating, so we headed in behind some barrier islands at a place called Frozen Cay on the Atlantic side of the Bahamas; the water was still 84 degrees despite the name of the place! While Chris was diving to check our anchor was secure and find some conch (big shellfish) for dinner, he came across some old WW2 disarmed sea mines; very heavy cast iron, circular and with large holes where the detonator spikes had been removed.
We spent a couple of days here enjoying the snorkeling while the weather did it's thing in the Atlantic. The weather was forecast to improve, but only for a day or two so we made a long day run north to a great all-weather protected anchorage called Little Harbor, a place made famous by a couple who did total loss life-sized bronze casting of different sea creatures; Both have passed away now, but his gallery is still maintained by their son.
We were safely anchored by sundown and visited the only other place ashore called Pete's Pub; a great beach bar, no walls, sand floor and stiff drinks plus a burger to die for. Weather kept us in Little Harbor for a couple of days, then we headed north again to Marsh Harbor, Treasure Cay and ultimately Green Turtle Bay to pick up Chris’ friends from Australia; Diz and his lady Sue. They spent a couple of days in Green Turtle bay getting over the "other side of the planet" airplane ride and then joined us on Lucky Star. Together we sailed further north and spent some great days sailing around the Abaco's, mainly in the area of Manjack Cay, caught more fish, captured some conch and generally had a pretty fine time; the depleted wine cellar is testament to the fun we had together. Diz & Sue were to leave us in the Abaco's at Treasure Cay, but we decided to change flight plans and sail south to the Exuma's so they could see more of these beautiful islands; just a couple of hundred miles south. On the way down we re-visited Marsh Harbor to pick up some spares for the water maker and some more wine.

Sailing south took us back out into the Atlantic and water over 3 miles deep, but the weather was great so we fished and motor sailed our way to Eleuthera Island. On the way across, Diz caught the biggest fish of his life, so he was pretty pleased with himself. We had only just landed and cleaned that Mahi Mahi when the second reel came to life as a big (40 to 50 lbs) bull Mahi Mahi decided to see if he could tow us out in the Atlantic. We would have let him go, but unfortunately he had swallowed the lure so deep, there was no chance to free him; we now have Mahi Mahi out the ying yang, but it is great fish to eat and Margit has been doing wonderful things with; even Jackie Dog likes it!

Diz & Sue have flown out now and life aboard Lucky Star is returning to normal; the laundry is all done, cupboards re-stocked (including the wine) and we are planning our next journey through the Exuma Banks towards Georgetown.
While waiting out the effects of a tropical storm off the US east coast, we met two couples in their eighties who had us over for drinks and told us about their first circumnavigation in their sailboat which they began at age 70; one couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary mid way across the Atlantic having sailed from Africa. The stories they told were very funny and heartwarming; pretty bloody good for seventy year old's. They have now sold their sailboat after 23 years aboard and bought a motor boat so they can continue to visit the Bahamas each year.
We are further south and off the beaten path a little, fresh local mangoes and bananas are relatively cheap and delicious, so we are off to the market to replenish our fruit stocks and visit the old museum for some local history. Life is good…

May 18th and we are waiting again for a better weather window. We are about ten miles north of Georgetown on the Great Exuma island and had very heavy squalls for the last five days, so much rain and wind – our Lucky Star is getting a bath twice a day and our plants look a little sad while they slowly drown. Jackie doesn’t like the rain and thunder very much, so we have a lot of quite time on the boat – but we don’t seem to have much time for anything – what’s going on here?

The marina we are in is very pretty – owned and operated by Four Seasons. They have free laundry (which is absolutely unheard of!) with the greatest washing machines; internet access so we can use our Skype phone (and it works great!); a shuttle service to a grocery store and a liquor store (just in case we run out of wine again) – so again, life is good!

Bahamas - we are here

The big day was finally creeping up on us. We really had to do what we said we are going to do. Cross the big oceans and see the world. So we had to leave the world as we knew it and started our Gulf Stream crossing on April 3rd, 2007 from Marathon, in the Florida Key’s. Being out there for about five hours we had to face the weather god – and return to safe shores and wait for less than 6 to 8 feet of waves. It’s a tricky river this Gulf Stream and we have read so much that we did not want to risk it. We went again the next morning and had a wonderful trip with less than three foot waves – but no wind, so we had to motor the entire time. We arrived in the Bahamas in less than 18 hours, which was quite a good speed for us. We checked in with customs at Cat Cay at a very friendly marina without any problems and very little bureaucracy. The fist day in the Bahamas we had a long shower; a walk at the beach, a nap and visited the little grocery store (just in case we did not have enough food!!) and enjoyed the euphoria of our big achievement.

The weather caught up with us that night and we had a huge thunderstorm with great rain – it helped to wash the boat after all the salt we had on it. After that one more day of big winds; so one more day of relaxation and to get ready for Easter. It’s dangerous to hide Easter eggs on a boat – what if we can’t find them? Well, Jackie got a little Easter rabbit that got its ear bitten off instantly. So we had a happy dog but a not so happy bunny.

We left on April 8th, 2007 to head for Chubb Cay about 75 miles across the Bahamas banks. The water was about 10 to 15 feet deep and crystal clear – like driving in a pool of mineral water. We were able to count the sea stars from the deck while we were motoring (no wind to sail again, but also not a ripple on the water). After about 60 miles we went from 12 feet to 1500 feet in the Atlantic Ocean. Chris caught instantly a 30 pound Mahi Mahi bull. We ate three days and gave some away to friends. What a wonderful fish that was – who needs cows if you can have fresh fish?!

Some very friendly and generous people on “Bold Pursuit” invited us to a fabulous dinner after a twelve hour trip when we arrived happy but tired in Chub Cay, which is part of the Berry Islands. We can’t say this enough. The biggest and most wonderful part about cruising is to meet fellow cruisers and share some very happy moments together.

Today is April 10th, 2007 and we are about 10 miles north of Chubb Cay to hide from a low pressure that should arrive late in the evening. They are expecting winds between 30 and 50 knots sustained. We are getting some more anchor gear out and make sure that nothing is flying off the boat. Let’s get that bottle of wine out we have saved for a while!! Maybe it would be better not to have a weather forecast so I could enjoy paradise until the bad stuff hits – at least then I would not be in fear for 24 hours before it all happens. I am sure that I will get better about this and maybe – who knows – I will sail on a spinnaker at 30 knots one day? But until than, I will bite my nails and hope for the best.

Bahamas - here we come!

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an English-speaking nation in the West Indies. An archipelago of 700 islands located in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida, north of Cuba and the Caribbean. We are planning on leaving from Miami to cross the Gulf Stream and head for the Northern Bahamian island group called the "Abaco's". The boat is loaded so much so that we can't fit a roll of toilet paper anymore. We purchased a marine first aid-kit, cruising guides, and lots of meat for the freezer - there is NOTHING we can possible have forgotten. We ARE READY...