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!