Yep, we are in Guadeloupe!  I had to practically drag Christine away from our friends and St. Martin, kicking and screaming all the way - fingers dragging through the beaches splashing into the water and hoisting her aboard.  "One more week, one more week.",   But I pulled the anchor before dawn and slipped away.  When she woke up we were passing St. Barts.  Of course she tried to make me stop at St. Barts to get more wine, but I refused.

It was a really nice 30 hour sail, into the wind of course, but my timing to leave included a 10-12 hour ENE wind that I took advantage of and pointed her up to Antigua.  We made Antigua before I fell off the wind a bit and comfortably sailed on into Guadeloupe.  It was a wet ride, but we made it in one tack and didn't have any squalls along the way - just some brief rain showers.  I fished the first day, but we only "caught" 5 flying fish that leaped into the cockpit.

Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly with a mangrove river running through it.  I wanted to explore this river as a possible place to run should a hurricane come down.  Sure enough it has some great little holes to tie up in.  Passing through this river you have to go under two bridges.  They open at 4:30AM and 5AM, so we did that.  Skipping the mainland, we sailed on south to a small, beautiful group of islands called "The Saints", where we are now.

 First, we had to find a good spot to anchor (look for internet).    Hmmm, this looks like a good spot.    Then we wandered around the town.        Then dinghyed around exploring.    Then off to the beach!       Here is where we are going to move the boat in an hour or so.    It's called Pain de Sucre.  Nice eh?!

August 10, 2009 Dominica
 

The Saints to Dominica - three hours!  And that was on a close reach with seas around six feet with an occasional 10 footer - one of which broke over the cockpit and threw a huge wall of water everywhere.  A really nice, fast, and wet ride (It almost woke up Christine at one point).  I had a line out but again did not catch any fish. : (

We anchored just offshore a beautiful black sand beach in Portsmouth.

Clearing into Customs was the usual Caribbean affair:  Walked into the Police station and asked the officer if I was at the right place (he had his finger up his nose almost to the second knuckle).  He pointed next door (which was wrong), then I was redirected the other way by someone else.  BUT, that was only Immigration so they redirected me again to the real Customs which was a long walk away in the middle of nowhere in a shack that might have doubled as a meat packing joint.  Taking out his calculator, the Customs officer pounded away at the keypad "calculating" my fees.  After what seemed about a minute, I leaned over to look at what he was punching in, and noticed that he was hitting the "clear" button every few entries.  Hmmm.  Finally, with an official aire, and then a look of bewilderment, he leaned over and peered at the calculator.  8 bucks.  Surprised that I was then going to Immigration afterwards, he asked me if I would take his paperwork to them as I was going there.  Sure.

Dominica is known for it's lush scenery, rivers and falls, and it's fresh produce.  So, first thing was we hiked to the Chaudiere falls.   I found a rock to jump off (I am in the top of the photo).    Christine slept.    Saturday morning is the once a week fruit market, so bright and early, guess where we were?        And this was our "haul":   So, we've been eating GOOD!  Starfruit, watermelon, sugar cane, papaya, mangoes, bananas, plantains, eggplant, coconuts, limes, peppers, and avocadoes (big one's were about 15 cents each).  Along with fresh ginger "beer", fresh cinnamon and spices.  Later, thanks to Bogart, we learned how to do breadfruit.  You throw it in the fire and roast it and eat it with fish.  So, we had a beach bonfire and yummmm. 

Christopher Columbus and European settlers pretty much wiped out the local populations of the islands a few hundred years ago.  The Carib Indians that survived over the years have the largest existing population (of about 3,000) on the east coast of Dominica.  We walked around the territory and found dugout canoes   cassava bread (yummmm) lots of handicrafts, beautiful scenery and attractive and interesting people.  Dominica is another big favorite in our book.  But why can't I catch a fish like this?  

August 16, 2009 Martinique

Another nice, easy sail to Martinique.  No fish though.  First stop was St. Pierre in the north.  This is at the foot of the still-active volcano Mont Pelee that destroyed the town in 1902, killing 30,000 people in a few minutes.  It was the center of French West Indies culture at that time and you can still see some of the ruins that remain.   Martinique is very French.  See...    It is just like Paris or the south of France except the people are nice, there isn't dog crap everywhere, and it doesn't smell like urine.  It's great here.  Viva la France!  The beaches to the north are black sand , while the beaches to the south are white sand.  We did some minor inland sightseeing admiring the flora and fauna , and then went "Anse hopping" stopping in a lot of little nooks and crannies.    Oh, the snorkeling is great too.  We did some "Anse hopping" by foot checking out six of the "Anse's" (beaches) all along the south side (where the island's best beaches are), about a 12 mile round trip walk/hike.  We stocked up on more great French products and filled our dive tanks at Kalinargo dive shop. (Short plug here).  I asked if they took credit cards to fill our dive tanks.  I told him I had no cash on me.  Nope, no cards taken, but he filled them up anyway and said I could pay later if I liked.  Wow.  Just great people.  Only 4 Euro per tank, and all smiles. 

A short rain fell this morning while I was there and dinghying back to Gypsy Cat this was my view. 

August 18, 2009 St Lucia

One last thing about Martinique - it was the easiest, fastest, smoothest Customs and Immigration yet.  You don't even need to see an official.  You go into the local marine store with no paperwork or documents (if you know your numbers and info) and type in the form and print.  The guy at the counter gives the paper an official stamp, and you are done - and it's free.  I have to give the French top honors for friendly no-hassle Customs.

From Martinique, it was a light wind, calm, almost downwind sail to St. Lucia.  Tropical storm Anna sucked wind up neutralizing the eastern trades as it passed well above us.  We pulled into the lee of Pigeon "Island" outside Rodney Bay, and dropped anchor there. 

The next day I dinghyed into the harbor to to check into Customs, saying hello to Gregory in his dinghy along the way .  Uh oh.  I walked in the door and found a small room crammed with people.  A small television was set on CNN, and as reception was really poor and full of static, they compensated by turning the volume on high.  After filling out my form, I got a free lecture on how to fill out forms.  Seems my old habit of putting in the name Chris instead of the "full legal name" of Christopher was completely out of line.  I was informed that it was a legal document, and if someone wanted to track me down and take me to court, they would have problems as it could be proven that the first name was recorded differently.  Uh...sure.  Stifling my desire to laugh out loud, I listened respectfully to his diatribe.  It went on for 20 minutes.  No wonder the line was getting to be so long.  He even made me change my Martinique clearance papers to show my "real" name.  Playing with him a bit, I pretended to be afraid to change a "legal document" after it has been recorded and that I might get in trouble with the Martinique officials if I did so.  He then lectured me on the poor French system where they are "careless" and do not do a "proper" job.  I bit my tongue trying hard not to joke a little more and say that they are the BEST!  Then it was off to Immigration (the lady three feet away), and then to the Port Authority (another three feet away) to pay for clearance and pratique as well as their navigation lights.

Rodney Bay was considered an excellent hurricane hole, but it is now wall to wall development and slips and unusable.  Good thing Hurricane Bill is passing to the north away from us right now.  So, if something came down the line I would just have to run south as there is nowhere to hide in this area, except for a couple fair spots in Martinique.  After seeing the town, which was an odd mixture of overdeveloped corporate or shanty town (per guidebook - "on the north side...which can be a hotbed of crime, including violent crime"), we headed south.

I was looking forward to seeing Marigot Bay as I saw great pictures and it looked so beautiful.  It was used at one time by a British Admiral who hid his fleet in here.  The Moorings company (a giant charter company) now hides a gigantic fleet in here taking up every available square foot, so it is unusable as well.  Gone is the beauty inside, but you can still see it as you go in or out. .  Sailing down the coast further while reading the regulations, Christine and I were both confused as to all the rules about anchoring, fees, locations, times (some are only daytime, some only nighttime), etc.  Even our guide book says, "The situation is complicated by an archaic and restrictive customs regulation that states that if you wish to moor or anchor outside a port of clearance, you must get, and pay $25 for, a permit to moor for the particular night you want to go."  Further, "Absurdly, you are supposed to pay not only the permit to moor but also the park fees."  And they have hiking fees and diving fees (and you can't go on your own).  Well, the only time I want to take up and pay for a mooring, is when there is coral that an anchor would endanger - then, I happily take up and pay for a mooring.  So, we went straight to Soufriere, where the Pitons are, to moor.  The Pitons are a spectacular set of twin towering mountains rising up dramatically from the sea.  It is just as stunning underwater as the whole area is full of coral and marine life.

Looking to starboard, this was my view coming in.   Fending off the "boat boys" (locals that come out in boats selling things and "helping" with things), we got the closest ball next to the Bat Cave.  Dinner was served on the bow, and we had quite the scenic backdrop.  That night we watched scores of bats flying in and out of the cave.  Also, we had an amazing natural light show.  Not only was the water twinkling with phosphorescence,  but the cliffs were also twinkling with little lights sometimes stationary, sometimes moving, but only a few seconds each.  There were dozens at any given time.  Very surreal. 

The town of Soufriere is pretty rough - I was surprised.  Passing a crack deal going down, and the poor little kids running around it was a bit depressing.  I dared not take a photo in town.  Christine almost got pulled away by a drug dealer when I went to clear out of Customs.  She actually wanted to go with him to see his "homemade baskets".  And that was after telling her all about his drug dealing. 

Well, we went off to snorkel under the Pitons as the snorkeling is outstanding.  And it was.  It was like a swimming pool and you could see forever and right down the drop offs.  We saw Moray eels (3 of them), lobster, barracuda, tuna, sea snakes, garden eels, and the normal host of Caribbean fish and corals.  It is a Marine Reserve so it is protected (except for the local fisherman dropping heavy fish traps, anchors, and lines into the middle of the coral reefs).  If you need a spare tire there is just about every size there as well.  I filled up my pockets with plastic bags that were stuck on the coral but could only watch the fast food containers float by on the surface.  I asked the Marine Park Ranger if it ever got cleaned.  Yep, one guy - two times a year.  Guess it might be good to give some people there a little edjakashun about not throwing trash there too.  But, it is a beautiful place anyway.

August 24, 2009 St Vincent

We left St. Lucia at dawn, coming out from the Pitons when a very suspicious fishing boat came out and tried to intercept us.  There can be aggressive "boat boys" when you arrive, but when you are leaving, they should not be chasing you.  I got the binoculars out and noticed 4 guys in it heading our way - two of which seemed to be hiding as I could only see the tops of two heads.  I noted down the name of the boat, (Dolphin 1), woke up Christine, got the machete and flare gun ready and stood by the VHF (ok, I might have been over-reacting, but my "something ain't right" radar went off).  When they approached, the two guys inside were ducked even lower while one of the other guys was saying he was lost and asking me where they were.  A) It was a local fishing boat, so they were not lost, B) We were just outside the Pitons, St. Lucia's most obvious landmarks, so again - not lost, C) Guys crouching down in the boat hiding as they approach, is not a good sign.  They eyed me and the boat, as I pretended there were several more crew inside, while concealing half my body which was near the weapons.  They backed off and left, but it was very strange. 

After that, we were clear of land and had a nice, easy, and fast sail to St. Vincent.  Yet another lush volcanic island.  We wanted to anchor in Chateaubelair, but as we came in it looked really rough and guys were stopping what they were doing and some were paddling out towards us quickly.  It was probably well-intentioned boat boys just trying to sell things but I wasn't in the mood, so we continued on down the coast to Wallilabou, which was a good choice.  They hold on to their claim to fame as one of the movie sets from "Pirates of the Caribbean" (we have been by a lot of them along the way).  It was low key and the boat boys were not too aggressive.  It is a charming fishing village and we liked the people.  .  Early in the morning, one of the fishermen came by a bit too early trying to get my attention.  When he held up a tuna, he got it.  Hey, if you can't catch your own, support the guys who can catch 'em.  So, soon we were the proud owners of a beautiful 8lb tuna   But I also got the "bait" as he called it, or homemade lure that he caught it on.  I had him show me his bag, and he had about 10 baits in it - all the same two different colors.  Asking his advice, he told me my baits were too big, and that I was going too fast.  Tuna like the smaller ones and a slower speed.  Ohhhh.  "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for the day.  Teach him how to fish........"  These guys are amazing.  They row out and around for miles dragging these baits all over.  Very hard-working.  No motors.  Wow.  They also use a huge net that they row around the bay and with several boats, snorkelers, and line pullers, they haul in thousands of little fish.  I jumped in and helped when they got going, being a "tankman" as they called it - snorkeling down to the bottom and pulling the net off the obstacles like logs and things. 

Next stop was Buccament Bay which was recommended as "hassle-free", and it was.  We anchored in our own little man-made cove.  as   The snorkeling is fantastic around there.    We explored the area by dinghy and in the water.  We saw four more Moray eels, a scorpion fish, and the usual cast in the clearest of water.    There was another bat cave here, that we swam into.  Tons of bats everywhere, of course.  But this cave had a fissure that you could swim out through on another side of the point.  It was spectacular.

A short ride down the coast (up current and upwind) had us in the Blue Lagoon.  Every square inch was taken up by the Sunsail charter company and the marina there.  But we fit.  How?  We anchored bow to stern in two feet of water!  Why?  Because we can.  Ha ha.  With our centerboards up and our rudder up we draw only 18".  This really pissed off this couple people trying to sell their only empty slip.  They were gyrating around and gave me the "What are you doing?" pantomiming and scowling as I went into the shallows.  They  threw up their hands when I put down my first anchor.

Next day, we took the local bus, (which is the privately owned minivan system) over the rugged windward coast to Georgetown.  We were packed tighter than tight, and there is always room for one or two more.  With 19 passengers the poor van tore along the winding roads.  It was full acceleration, or full stop - no in-between.  With 90% of the van's value being in the stereo, the "music" coming out of the sub-woofers had everything vibrating mercilessly.  Georgetown was, yep, a town.  Christine was not too comfortable there.  We stayed about 5 minutes, which was plenty, and hopped on the next bus, taking the interior route.  This time we had 21 passengers.  Broad shoulders and gigantic asses all competed with space.  Going uphill, the van screamed and revved like the little engine that could. Downhill, there was no stopping us.  It was really fun, but such a relief to be dropped off in Kingstown. 

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