Nevis

Our sail from Montserrat was with another great broad reach. We were able to sail directly to Nevis on one tack with winds between 15 – 20 and seas a maximum 2 meters. The 30 mile crossing was pleasant and uneventful except for the fish that got away. We lost one fish and something (big we think) ate two thirds of the next fish leaving us the head and a bit more.

We met our good friend from Hornby, Donna Du Plessis on Sunday at the airport. She is here for only a week and we know this will fly by far too quickly, so we are trying to convince her to stay longer. It is great to have her here as she is an avid swimmer and I have burnt everyone else out snorkelling with me. On our first snorkel at the breakwater in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, we saw a number of new species including a Queen Angel Fish, Southern Stingray, Tarpon and a number of large Balloon Fish. These were amongst the schools of Blue Tangs, Chromis, Grunts, and Parrot Fish.

Nevis is a quiet and peaceful small island with a lot of history. Alexander Hamilton (one of the USA founding fathers) was born here and Admiral Horatio Nelson married Nevisian Fanny Nisbet here as well. We took a taxi tour of the old plantations and large hotels while Jenessa managed to finally get horse back riding. We also did a walking tour around Charlestown (capital and only town) visiting the museums. The beautiful old structures from the 18th century mixed in with colourful Caribbean buildings make this a feast for the eyes.

Montserrat

The 40 miles across from Guadeloupe to Montserrat was the best close reach so far with a fairly steady speed of 8 knots. Seas were almost non existent (Kelli you would of liked this) unfortunately with no opportunity for bow riding. We went up the east side of Montserrat to avoid ash fall from the volcano and adhered to the two mile exclusion zone. The view of the volcano held our attention for most of the trip. As a matter of fact while I was getting the binoculars for a closer look, we had an opportunity to practice our man over board drill as my pillow went overboard.

Every time we leave an island Jenessa is quick to put out the fishing line and she has high hopes of providing dinner. This time she was actually at the line when the bungee stretched out. As she reeled it in, we discovered a dolphin fish (not the mammal) with an estimated length of 3 feet. Ron took over for her as it got close to the boat and tried to bring it up over the dinghy and unfortunately it shook loose.

We had the most amazing tour of Montserrat with taxi driver/tour guide, Joe Phillips. He is the driver recommended in our cruising guide and I am very happy we were able to go with him. Montserrat is an active volcano that started erupting in 1995 and continues still. It actually has the record of being the largest recorded dome to collapse. Joe was able to explain what it was like to live in a community that had to be evacuated with all of the residence being temporarily relocated and then permanently relocated. He also had many before and after photos for us to see the startling changes. It was very profound to walk through the town of Plymouth. People were forced to walk away from their business, schools, churches and homes leaving most things behind. Ash in some locations in the town was piled 10 feet high. Houses with asphalt shingles had intact roofs but buildings with metal roofs were eaten away by the sulphuric acid.

Montserrat seems to be rebuilding with their population back up to 5000 from the low of 3000 but still along way to go to the original 11000. Tourism, agriculture and the exportation of building sand are three side effects from a volcano and Montserrat is benefiting from these. Now this was a great way to learn about volcanoes.

Next stop Nevis.

Passage to Guadeloupe

On our last day in Iles des Saintes we rented a pair of scooters and spent our afternoon being chauffeured around by Alex and Jenessa. We were on the island of Terra de Haut and I am guessing there are about 15 kilometers of road and I think we probably covered 50 kilometers that seemed like 250 to Ron and I and about 5 to Alex & Jenessa. It is a pretty fun little island, very clean and feels very safe.
We left for Guadeloupe early on the 17th and had a great sail. Kelli was almost totally relaxed and even ventured out to the trampoline to sunbathe. We cruised up the west side of Guadeloupe and arrived at Pigeon Island home of Jacque Cousteau Marine Reserve and again met up with the sailing vessel "Gava". The owners of this boat are Linda & Michael, a delightful couple from the Salmon Arm area.
It was pretty amazing snorkeling in this area with very clear water. Some of our new finds were Cornet fish, Trigger Fish, Spanish Hog fish, and Black Durgeon. Besides these we saw many other fish and some very beautiful coral. This location is very popular for diving and there are 4

or 5 dive shops at the head of the pier. On a couple of our walks by we stopped and investigated the possibility of the girls doing an introductory dive. Alex was definitely keen for this so we arranged for her to go. She had a great time and is looking forward to going again.
This was Kelli’s jumping off point so we rented a car to get her to the airport and to be sure we could get her there on time, we did a dry run and got completely lost. Driving the crazy narrow, windy roads with other drivers who think they are rally driving was quite an experience. I believe, having all of the traffic signs in French contributed greatly to us getting lost, so we decided that we would drive her across the island and just get her close enough for a taxi. On the morning of her departure we left extra early to allow for the unexpected and surprised all of us by getting her directly to the airport. It was fun having Kelli aboard and it seems everybody doesn’t come for long enough because the time goes by far too quickly.

Sunset at Pidgeon Island, a British tall ship anchored astern of us.

Isles des Saintes

We crossed over from Dominique to Isles des Saintes on the 14th of February with another great sail. We like to go forward to ride the waves on the spreader (bar between the two hulls) but luckily Jenessa and I were on the trampoline when we hit some waves that managed to give us air and completely drench us. Alex came forward and joined us but donning her mask (without snorkel). This didn’t last too long but was great fun. This lobster picture was taken in Dominica, Kelli had this guy for dinner.

Kelli brought some fishing gear down courtesy of our brother in law Gary and we put it out on our sail to Dominica and we caught something that looked like a tuna, but it slipped the hook as we tried to bring it in over the dinghy. Then while we were in Dominica, Ron cut Jenessa a “Cuban Reel” which she painted it up with a Hammerhead shark and other fish and did a great job on it. She was anxious to get fishing again, so it wasn’t long before she had the gear out the back. One of the things that Gary sent was a rubber bungie thing that he insisted we have so that we wouldn’t have a stantion or a cleat pulled off. While lying on the settee, I had my hand on the bungee and was trying to imagine what it would feel like if a fish was on it, when all of a sudden it started to stretch way out. I hightailed it away from it in case it came flinging back and hollered for Jenessa who was reading in her bunk. Alex and Kelli started to reel it in and when Jenessa arrived they had it close enough look that Alex and Jenessa were sure we had a shark, as a matter of fact Alex identified it as a black tipped shark, with that announcement both Alex and Jenessa took evasive action and bolted off the transom screaming. Ron finished reeling it in and discovered we had a billed fish, which we later identified as a blue marlin. We estimate it was about 35 – 40 pounds and about six feet in total length from tail to bill. Jenessa did a great job cleaning it and we ended up with enough fish for several meals

Iles des Saintes is a group of three larger islands and five smaller islands and like Martinique is part of France. These islands have a very interesting history with Columbus coming here on his second voyage in 1493 and as a base for the French during the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. There is an amazing fort on the hill about the town of Bourge des Saintes where we cleared customs, so the girls had a choice of doing school work on the boat or visiting the fort. An easy choice for them or so they thought. It was quite a hike up to the fort which is on the top of a hill overlooking the islands and off to Guadeloupe. Fort Napoleon was originally called Fort Louis and rebuilt in 1846 and then again renewed in the 1900’s. Fort Napoleon is a “Vauban” type of military structure; it follows the curve of the land and has a moat with 11 meter high walls and two drawbridges.

The town here is a lot of fun with very narrow streets, many people on scooters and wonderful seaside restaurants and specialty shopping boutiques. It was difficult jogging through the streets this morning to the smells of fresh bread, so on my way back I brought everyone breakfast of fresh bread and butter and chocolate croissants

Dominica

We arrived in Dominica after a great sail across from Martinique, it was the reach that we were waiting for. Seas were less than two meters but if you asked Kelli it was the roughest thing she had ever been on. For you sailors, while we were sailing up the west side of Dominica, we experienced 30 knot blasts coming down the valleys and managed to hit 11 knots. During one of these bursts we broke our out haul line and took this as a message that it was time to reef. Kelli being an all-inclusive holiday’er is pushing her envelope, though at anchor she is right at home.
Dominica is the first of the Leeward Islands and has 7 active volcanoes and according to our guides there are 365 rivers. We had the most amazing day today with a tour up the Indian River & the Rain Forest. This river is in a park and motor boats are not allowed on it, so we had a handsome young guide with the nickname of Mosquito guide us in his rowboat. We were able to see an iguana sleeping in the tree top, fish and the most wonderful canopy of trees and ferns with tangles of roots lining the river bank. After leaving the river we headed off in a taxi-van to go up to the rain forest and a waterfall. Our guide’s name was Winston and he gave us the best tour by far. This guy seemed to know everything about the local agriculture, flora and fauna. We tasted and saw how sugar cane, white grapefruit, pink grapefruit, oranges, mandarins, and bananas. We smelled and saw growing pineapples, guava, avocado, mango, bread nuts, coffee, nutmeg, thyme, dasheen, lemon grass, citronella, cinnamon, patchouli, bay leaf, and many more that we can’t even remember the names of. We saw beautiful parrots called Jackos flying in the forest and a funny little hummingbird with a Mohawk along with many other birds.
We hiked through the rainforest and arrived at a magnificent waterfall of about 80 feet that cascaded into a pool. We went for a swim and we were even able to get behind the waterfalls. It was very refreshing.
We purchased a new Tohatsu 18 hp outboard (don’t ask) for our dinghy in Martinique and we are enjoying this new toy. After our wonderful land tour, Ron and I and Jamie (son-in law of Michael & Linda on the Gava from Salmon Arm) went snorkeling in the next bay over. I love snorkeling and this was a great location with turtles and a multitude of fish in a setting of a colourful corals and large vase sponges. On the way back we stopped off at a cliff and snorkeled the face. The colours were brilliant.
From here we head to Iles des Saintes apart of Guadeloupe. These are supposed to be irresistible islands with a stong link to the North of France.

St. Pierre, Martinique

Ron’s sister Kelli arrived on February 5th into Fort de France, Martinique the day after we said good bye to the Fowlers. We had a lot fun with Fred, Kendra, Dylan & Justine and even with eight of us on the boat it didn’t feel crowded or too small. It was great having them aboard.
Our sail from Fort de France to St. Pierre was very pleasant with very little sea. Even though the winds were light we managed to sail most of the way (15 miles). Along the way we were entertained by a pod of about 100 dolphins. A number of dolphins performed aquabatics. They jumped doing flips and twists in the air and standing on their noses with their tails out of the water.

Alex and Jenessa purchased a double air mattress while shopping in the Caribbean's biggest mall and pumped it up while enroute. When the sailing slowed down to about 1 – 2 knots they strung out a couple of lines and jumped on the air mattress to be towed behind us. There was lots of screaming and giggling as they figured out the best position and method of being towed. This kept them amused for quite awhile.

We are anchored approximately 100 yards off shore and have had Kelli off snorkeling already. The water depth under the boat is about 15 feet and Alex spotted a shell she felt she had to have. We were able to get it after a few taxing descents. Even though the bottom is sandy and fairly devoid of life, nearer the dinghy pier we were able to spot juvenile French anglefish, a spotted moray eel, balloon fish, and many more of our regular species.

St. Pierre is the site of Mt. Pelee. Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902 killing all but two of the thirty thousand inhabitants. We did a walking tour of the town and were able to see the prison cell where one of the survivors was found 3 days after the eruption. He survived because he was in solitary confinement in a very small cell that looked almost like an oven. We are off to do a hike that will take us to a statue on a hill and into a butterfly garden. We also hope to get up to Mt. Pelee and to an equestrian centre to give our horse addict a fix.

Martinique O'o Lala

What a delightful island Martinique is. Martinique is the most northerly and largest of the Windward Islands and has been French since it was colonized. It is a part of France and feels it. It has excellent roads and government docks and appears to have a thriving economy. Unfortunately our sail from St. Lucia did not have favourable winds and we ended up motoring (Ron calls this his anti-mutiny mode) all of the 24 miles. The winds were around 25-30 gusting up to 45 and the seas were 2-3 meters with the occasional 5 meter swell, so it was an interesting ride. We had a number of crew that suffered from sea sickness, but I don’t want to name who. I will say that Fred is my hero as he would smile before feeding the fish and surprise us all by coming up smiling after.

We have had lots of fun trying to speak, understand and read French. Alex figures this would be a great place to come and live and do French Immersion. We have very much enjoyed the food; French bread, baguettes, chocolate croissants and chocolate bread, though it is feeling like too much good food.

Ron has spent a couple of days doing maintenance on the boat and we have spent some time on a wonderful white sand beach and exploring ashore shopping. Martinique has a lot of history with Mount Pelee at the northern tip. Mount Pelee erupted in 1902 killing almost 30,000 people. Jenessa has decided this would make a great social studies/science research project. So we hope to go explore the town of St. Pierre where there is still a lot of evidence of the explosion. Also Martinique was the birth place of Empress Josephine (Napoleon’s beloved) and there are tours of her family’s estate.

We will be sad to see Fred, Kendra, Justine & Dylan leave. We have had a lot of fun together and their visit was much, much too short. One of the things that we had a lot of fun with is riding the cross beam at the front of the boat while sailing in medium sized swells. It has been agreed by all that it compares to rides at Disney World. Alex has a pretty good sized bruise from sliding sideways and she is enjoying showing everybody.