tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772869794294426272024-02-19T08:21:02.597-08:00Sailboat Discovery"
The tales of Bob and Anita Willett's passage thru Paradise"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-87812684885614991212016-10-24T10:21:00.000-07:002016-10-24T10:21:19.966-07:00Back to the Leewards!<div style="text-align: center;">
Our second trip thru the Leeward Islands</div>
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Last season (2015) on our way down to Grenada we traveled thru the Leeward islands, these islands start with St Marteen and end at Dominica. This season we are on our way north back up the chain and after a great time in Martinique we left St Pierre and made the 31 mile trip to our first Leeward island of the season Dominica and its lush tropical mountains! Because we found the mooring field off of the capital Rousseau questionable after seeing a boat break free of its moorings next to us we decided to travel all the up island and anchor at prince Rupert Bay and the town of Portsmouth! We love this anchorage because its protected and safe, the boat boys here have organized and provide great service that is helpful but not pushy, they also have created a safe anchorage because they patrol the area and because of this there is very little crime here! The bay is a great jumping off place for exploring the island, the fort on the northern side of the bay is a great hike and well worth the effort to get there. It has been restored and there is lots of history lessons to be learned at the fort. Also there are many hikes that can be started from near the town that led up into the pristine rain forest that surrounds the bay. Perhaps the highlight of a trip to Prince Rupert is the guided boat tour up the Indian river that empties into the bay. We took the tour with perhaps the most famous boat boy in the bay, a young man named Martin! Martin is a Botanist and seems to know every plant, animal or birds in the forest! the tour takes about 2 hours and winds back into the rain forest following the Indian river. Its so shallow that the boat has to be rowed and since its a pretty large wooden boat its a testament to Martin's upper body strength that he can get us all the back up river with no motor! One of the high lights of the river tour is the set for one of the scenes from pirates of the Caribbean, its the shack where Elizabeth meet Calypso! Very spooky! On our way across the bay to the river we were lucky to see a baby whale who had lost its way, the fisherman in the bay were trying to guide the whale back out of the bay, apparently the baby whales are blind for a while and wander off from their parents often.</div>
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As always our time was to short and off we went next headed to another favorite spot of our the islands just south of Guadeloupe, the Saintes! These three islands are the textbook examples of French fishing islands in the Caribbean. Bourg Des Saintes is the main village amongst the three islands that make up the Saintes. There is no anchoring in the Saintes now but the moorings are well maintained and the proximity to the village and the wonderful bakery make up for the cost. We love this village and the vibe you get here, its alive when the ferries bring the tourists and slow and quiet in between. We rented a motor scooter and toured the entire island and its numerous beaches and snorkeling sites. Pain de Sucre is a small cove and mooring field on the south west corner of the island and it provides a great snorkeling site as well as a mooring field. We took our snorkel gear with us on the scooter and enjoyed this spot again! We soaked up the Saintes charm, ate more Chocolate Croissant's, dined on french baguettes and cheeses, doing what we did on the way down, having a great time. But again it was time to move on up the island chain and leave this wonderful place so at first light we pointed Discovery northward again and sailed the 35 miles or so all the way to the northern western tip of Guadeloupe to the harbor at the village of Deshaies another of the wonderful French fishing villages we enjoy so much! In addition to being a fishing village just oozing with the charm that these French islands are famous for, but this village is know for something else, its famous for the winds that rush down from the mountains that surround the anchorage and call for careful anchoring and sleepless nights for the captains! We are lucky that we upgraded to a 65 pound Mantus anchor before leaving the states , its one of the newest and best of the new age anchors and with it even in Deshaies we sleep well at night! Another thing we love about this village is the red Cherry beer they serve, we haven't found it anywhere else but its a treat that we never miss when we come ashore here!<br />
As always it came time to make for yet another island and we made plans to sail to a new island for us ... Antigua! We missed it on the way south last season so were excited to make landfall there and see what it has in store for us!<br />
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At anchor in Portsmouth Dominica<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-56027793362634188392016-10-21T12:53:00.003-07:002016-10-24T11:26:22.692-07:00Saint Lucia here we come<div style="text-align: center;">
Leaving Bequia</div>
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So at 3am we left Bequia and sailed up the coast of St Vincent and then across the channel to St Lucia and up its coast til we got to Rodney Bay. We arrived at Rodney Bay mid morning. We anchored off of Reduit beach and rested after a long passage! We enjoy Rodney bay and especially like the IMG marina there, this trip we learned that the marina was offering a slip for 35 bucks a day so we took advantage of the cheap price and spent a few days in luxury! This was especially handy since we were picking up a motor for the water maker that replaced one that had failed a few weeks before! Regis electronics at the marina is a spectra dealer as well as a great place for Raymarine and most any other electronics problems to be fixed. We also were having a problem with our VHF radio so they came out and diagnosed the problem and fixed it! Hurah! We decided to do a tour of the island we visited the Pitons the pointed mountains jutting straight out of the ocean, which are the signature image of the island! On the way we stopped for some cassava bread which is a yummy treat made from the cassava root and is more like thick tortilla than bread. On the trip we got a chance to see many of the sights and small towns on the island including Soufriere the fishing village nestled between the Pitons! We also stopped at a plantation and did a tour of it and the coco growing process as well as coconut harvesting etc.</div>
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So after getting all the issues off our checklist and touring the island again by bus, we made plans to make our way to our first French island of this trip... Martinique!</div>
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Back in France Martinique that is!</div>
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We always look forward to making landfall on a French island, the bread, the pastries, the wine, the topless beaches, and Martinique is our favorite of the French islands. On the way down we skipped La Marin and St Anne on the far south end of the island because its so far east on a trip south. On the way north its much easier to sail to St Anne so we headed there first and we were rewarded with a tremendous visit. St Anne is a charming French fishing village with beautiful clear water over sand. The village has a great bakery, a wonderful fish market, and a charming church as well a a great dinghy dock neat shops and a passable grocery! After we explored the village we next took the dink the 2 miles up the harbor to La Marin and the amazing ships stores and restaurants that surround the harbor. We shopped and ate and shopped some more then made the trip back to St Anne by dinghy.</div>
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Eventually it was time to move further north and our target this time was the Fort Defrance area but unlike our trip down we decided not to anchor at Fort Defrance but across the harbor at Anse Mitan. We decided this because of the added protection it afforded us from swell and waves, as well as the proximity to the bakeries and beach! We also knew we could take a ferry over to fort Defrance for a nominal fee to shop and explore there also! Anse Mitan was a great decision, the anchorage was calm, the snorkeling around the three artificial lagoons that were remnants of a destroyed resort were great for snorkeling on the rocks that made up the wave barriers.</div>
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It wasn't long till it was time to move again and with a favorable weather forecast we made our way to St Pierre the original capital of Martinique. It was the capital until the volcano that looms over the town erupted and destroyed most of the town back in the 1800s. Its a good place to clear out of the country and makes for a good day or two of exploring the ruins of the town. Stocked up on Baguette's and cheese and prepared for the next leg of the journey this time to Dominica!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the road on our island tour of St Lucia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassava bread roadside bakery</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anse La Raye a village just before the Pitons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view from the road on our tour</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posing in front of the Pitons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donkey power for the sugar cane presser, he gets some raw sugar cane after a trip around</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anita posing at the Plantation<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling the raw coco logs</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We walked the Nature trail above the Pitons to get the best view</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down on the anchorage between the Pitons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coconut husking</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anita in fromt of the truck that was used back in the day to bring fruit to the market and people too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our guide doing his thing</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our intrepid group at the Pitons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also visited the largest drive in volcano in the world here in St Lucia, can you say sulphur</td></tr>
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Anse Mitan in Martinique<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Group at the plantation in St Lucia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lagoons at Anse Mitan</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having lunch at Anse Mitan</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another view of the beach at Anse Mitan</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-55089303334537207392016-10-21T09:11:00.001-07:002016-10-24T12:18:44.644-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
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Big Square rigger at Chatham Bay<br />
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Fruit Hammock loaded up after a visit to Clifton<br />
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New Year -New Islands</div>
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After a spectacular New Years Eve night 2016 dawned and it with a good weather forecast it was time to shove off and sail north up the coast of Grenada and then across open ocean to the island of Carriacau, although a separate island its still part of Grenada. Our destination is Terryll bay a great all weather harbor that also has a customs office so we can clear out of Grenada and continue on to the next country St Vincent's and the Grenadines. Our sail the thirty five miles or so to Carriacau was as expected, the Christmas winds were abating but we still had a fresh breeze with a steady 20 knots with gusts to 40! After a full season in the Caribbean we were ready for the conditions, we had about 50% of our main out and only staysail on the bow, we were a little underpowered in the lee of the island but once we broke out into the open ocean between islands Discovery powered up and galloped its way north. As we passed between islands we had to take a slight detour around a marine exclusion zone that surrounds a underground volcano called Kick em Jenny, its a active volcano and it acts up occasionally so its best to circle around it. The issue if it decides to misbehave is that the bubbles that would come to the surface would change the displacement of your boat and perhaps sink it! </div>
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We arrived in Carriacau after a great sail, anchored in our normal area just off the beach as close as we could get in around 10 feet of water. We spent several comfortable days in the bay strolling the main street and doing a little shopping, finally clearing out at the customs office located at the marine haul-out. We had another good weather forecast calling for settled weather and normal trades for the next few weeks. So it was time to jump off and take the short sail up to the Grenadines and visit to one of our favorite island groups in the entire Caribbean!<br />
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Our first landfall after Carriacau is Union Island, its the first island in the Grenadines on the way North, and because it has a customs office at the airport its the natural place to clear in to St Vincent's. We do not like the anchorage at Clifton the main town on the island and home to the airport, so we like to anchor just a few miles away in behind Frigate island. Frigate has a tall hill that does a good job of breaking the strong trades so its calm and quite there in strong east winds. Also the snorkeling is good and the holding is great! We normally dingy in to Ashton, the small fishing village<br />
at the head of the bay, Ashton is a very small and poor fishing village, the cement docks offer few places to lock your dinghy but you can find them and when you do its a short walk to town and then you can wait for a bus or walk the 2 miles or so into Clifton. Although we don't care for the anchorage at Clifton we like the town very much, it has one of the best outdoor fruit markets we find in any of the islands! Also there is a bank with a ATM, several good places to eat and a great little bakery!<br />
After we cleared in and visited the fruit market, we sailed around to the north to one of our favorite places in the Grenadines, Chatham bay! Chatham is a large very well protected bay with great snorkeling on either side, and at least a half dozen beach bars and restaurant's on the beach that runs the entire eastern side of the bay. We had a great week here on the way down and were looking forward to our return! We made a good friend in a fellow named bushman, he was working for Baldhead beach bar when we first arrived, this year he came blasting out to see us in his new boat and announcing he now has his own beach bar along with his new girl friend who was the cook at Baldheads! We had another great time, eating at Bushman's new place and snorkeling the coral in the bay, in addition we had the treat of seeing a large square rigger cruise ship that anchored in the bay while we were there.<br />
Alas it was time to move again and make our way the short distance north to Mayreau and the Tobago Keys, the closest place to the Bahamas in the West Indies. This year we were hoping to get into both Saline bay and famous Salt whistle bay. Saline is a nice anchorage but Salt Whistle is on of the most spectacularly scenic anchorages in the world! But its also one of the hardest to get into because to the high number of charter catamarans that visit this area both from St Vincent's and Grenada! As last year we found a place at Saline but next day could not get into Salt Whistle it was just to full, so we went around the corner and traveled the 3 miles to the Tobago Keys and anchored there for a few days! we swam with the turtles and we visited the small island called Petite Tabac, this was the island they filmed the marooned scene from Pirates of the Caribbean 1, the one where Capt Jack and Elizabeth are left on the island with the rum cache and Elizabeth burns the rum on the <br />
beach! The island is gorgeous and it was cool to stand in the exact same locations that the movie filmed in! It didn't hurt that there were a dozen wind surfers zipping around to add even more color to the island charisma!<br />
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After too short a stay in the Tobago Keys we needed to head to our next destination and last stop in the Grenadines Bequia and Admiralty Bay! But before we arrived in Bequia the Grenadines offered up another gift, a 30 pound Wahoo hit my lure after just leaving the Keys! Fish on and fish in the boat! We had another pleasant sail up to Bequia and with the fish cleaned and in the freezer we found a nice spot just off of Princess Margret beach and dropped the hook! Lucky for us because the anchorage was busy due to the annual jazz festival that was going on! We have learned to love Bequia and we savored every day in the anchorage! This year we discovered the devils table point for snorkeling and we could not get enough of this great spot! While in Bequia we meet up with a buddy boat we had seen the last season, Vision Quest a Saber 42 out of our home port Kemah Tx! We knocked around this wonderful Anchorage for almost a week until it was time to make our way north, we decided to travel for a while with Vision Quest and since neither us or Vision Quest had a interedt in stopping on the island of St Vincent's due to crime issues, we planned a trip all the way to St Lucia and Rodney Bay! This would be about a 70 mile trip so we scheduled a 3 am anchor up so we would arrive mid morning early afternoon to get a good spot to drop the hook!<br />
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Scene at Terryl Bay Carriacau</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At The Dock at Clifton Bay Union island</td></tr>
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Another pic at Clifton on Union Island</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruit market in Clifton!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another tall ship comes to call at Chatham</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petite Tabac wind sufers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petite Tabac beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing in the spot Capt Jack found the rum!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copping a feel at Tabago Cay turtle beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic from the top of the mast between islands at Tabago Cays!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Had to take the shot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off the stern pic in Tabago Cays</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-5403351618016325752016-10-20T09:30:00.000-07:002016-10-20T09:30:16.281-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy New Year in Grenada</div>
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After saying goodbye to our guest Dawna in mid December we returned to getting the boat prepared to head north up island. We had to provision the boat and boy was it a different process then when we did it in the states for the trip down to the Caribbean! you cant just run to Costco and load up the car and be done with it, although St Georges does have several real grocery stores, you find that some things just can't be found and no matter what the prices are sometimes double or more of what you would pay in the states! But thankfully on the way down we realized that loading the boat up with provisions like we did for the Bahamas is not necessary when your in the Caribe! Three important points to remember, 1. The islands generally have pretty good groceries so you can easily provision if needed when you arrive, 2. the food on the islands is reasonable and especially on the French islands, not to be missed so you will be eating out more often then you think. 3. The price of food is generally the same on all the islands... Expensive... so it really doesn't matter where you purchase it!</div>
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One interesting thing about spending the Christmas season down island in Grenada is the culture shock of hearing Christmas tunes everywhere, in the grocery stores, shops, and even in the buses we use to move around the capital, St Georges. They sound familiar but they all are done in a reggae twist that really lets you know you're not in Kansas anymore Toto!</div>
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After Christmas we decided to move around from the south side of the island back to St Georges and take a slip at Port Louis Marina so we could do a few last minute items on the boat and enjoy the new years fireworks at the marina. We took the opportunity to check the rigging, I went up the mast and polished all the turnbuckles and tangs on the mast and spreaders, checked the standing rigging and generally gave everything aloft a good look see. I also spread the anchor chain out on the dock and inspected it, oiled it and washed out the anchor locker, We filled the tanks up with water and then enjoyed the evening and toured the marina and enjoyed the many super yachts that had all their cool lights on both above and below the water! Nothing says I'm rich like a few thousand watts of blue light piercing the clear Caribbean water at night! The marina had quite a big party going on, the tickets were over a hundred bucks each so we just wandered around and enjoyed the free light show on the docks and the fireworks that came after the clock struck 12! 2016 here we come!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding this beautiful yacht to my wish list for Santa next year!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Never get tired of seeing a beautiful boat lit up at night especially the underwater lights!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovery trying to hang with the big boys!</td></tr>
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How about this big boy! must be about 200 feet long!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-35604982809110867402016-10-19T19:18:00.001-07:002016-10-20T09:37:00.808-07:00Return to Grenada<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Back to Grenada Again!</i></div>
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We flew out of Grenada originally July 23 after hauling the boat out of the water at Spice island, the boat needed a new bottom job and we felt that up on the hard would be the safest way to store Discovery. After spending almost 4 months crisscrossing the country visiting our son, daughter, grand kids, aunts, nephews, niece's, parents, sisters, brothers and friends we left Ft Worth and flew to Miami, there we caught a Caribbean air flight to Trinidad and then finally on to Grenada arriving at 945 pm! Still seems crazy that it takes us 6 months to cover the 2500 miles by sailboat but only 4 hrs by the big bird! We checked into our apartment that night and got a good nights sleep and then headed out for the 3 block walk to the yard and our home that's now up on stilts. We clambered up the ladder and noticed a pretty think coat of dust and dirt on deck but everything seem in order. The shade was still covering the cockpit and all looked I order so we opened the companionway and descended down into our salon, or as we learned to call it afterward 'THE MOLD FARM". Just about every surface of the boat had some level of mold growing on it! The leather salon cushions were originally tan, now a light shade of green, mold was on may of the wall surfaces also. As we investigated we found mold in many lockers, most of the bedding was in zip lock bags but still we had mold, the top surface of the memory foam topper was green also. We had someone change the damp rid we positioned in the boat before we left but as it turned out changing it every 2 months was not enough. </div>
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So began a 10 day battle against the mold and the weather, it was hot and it was rainy both conditions did not make the process of cleaning the interior of the boat a easy chore and it did not make for comfortable working or sleeping conditions! Because we had such a easy time of finding a apt when we arrived in June for the haul out in July we didn't make a reservation for November till October and guess what.... no room in the inn, so we had a couple of days of air conditioning and showers before we had to move aboard our hot , muggy, mold encrusted home! </div>
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We set about washing every thing down with a water vinegar mix, then Murphy's oil soap on the wood work, and followed that with lemon oil. We did our best to launder all the towels, bedding etc. and then set it out in the sun... here lies the rub because we seldom got more than a few hours of sunshine in between the monsoons! In addition other chores needed to be done. the new Mainsail we had ordered had to be braced on, the head sails that were re-sewn had to be put back up, all the gear stored below needed to be replaced up top and the boat needed to be polished and waxed before going back in to the water! Needless to say we were very busy for the 11 days we spent in the yard before splash day! We were very lucky, aside for the hard work it took to clean the mold the boat looked good as new inside when we got finished! The above jobs and many more were eventually done and on November 27th Discovery felt the warm waters of the Caribbean tickle her keel again!</div>
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We spent our first night in the water actually in the slipway at Splice island and then next morning we shoved off to find a spot out in the roll of Prickly bay to continue the fitting out process for this next 7 month voyage up island! But before we leave Grenada we have a guest flying down to spend a week with us, a friend from our live aboard days in Kemah Texas at Waterford marina, Dawna!</div>
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Our Guest Arrives</div>
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We had invited a friend we made on the docks of Waterford Marina while we lived in Kemah Texas, Dawna was on a Nordhaven 55 just down the dock from us and we shared many great times around the marina and at the local watering holes that surrounded the marina. Kemah is a amazing place to live aboard, there are about 10 large marinas within a five mile radius that host over 5 thousand boats, mostly sailboats. The Marinas are some of the best we have seen in our travels both in the USA and overseas, there are several west marines, and other ships stores within walking distance and home depots, super targets etc. Dawna flew in to St Georges and we picked her up at the airport in a car we had rented for a few days and brought her back to Prickly bay for a good nights sleep and began her tour of Grenada the next morning!</div>
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Tour begins with Rum </div>
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After a morning swim and breakfast our adventure began, our plan was to first hit a rum factory and then travel further up island with our destination to be Belmont plantation and the chocolate factory there. We arrived first at Westhall rum factory and toured the ruins behind the factory, the grounds are simply gorgeous, beautiful flowers, mango trees, breadfruit trees, Bougainvillea and the huge metal work that dates back to the mid 1800s, large water wheels really make for a great pictures, just the ruins are worth the trip but there is more... In addition to the grounds there is a small museum that has many artifacts from the rum factory but also historical items from all around the island that are interesting in and of themselves. But finally its about the rum isn't it! We stopped by the office and were given a taste of the many different rums that they blend here at Westhall, yes blend they no longer manufacture here, its more cost effective to purchase the ingredients from Trinidad and blend the finished product here at the factory! The prices are right and our guest of course was able to pick a few examples to try and bring home!</div>
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Death by Chocolate</div>
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After our close encounter with the rum gods we were headed north to Belmont Plantation, the island is only 25 miles long and Belmont was about two thirds of the way up island, every drive on the island is a adventure very unlike anything we experience in the states, in Grenada there are no yellow lines in the center of the roads, no white lines on the edges, many hairpin turns, no highway signs pointing you to your destination and sometimes very little road at all. The road map is actually just a tourist map that has very little detail. We relied mostly on stopping and asking the many people that are always walking along the road, they always are willing to point you to your destination. After a two hour exciting trip we arrived at Belmont ready to show our guest this very interesting attraction.</div>
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First your struck by the beauty of the plantation and the smells, on this rugged hillside you can see the mango, papaya, banana, coconut, nutmeg, star fruit, cashew, breadfruit, and many other tropical fruit trees that are among the coco plants, They are cultivated here because these many fruits add flavor to the coco beans! After arriving we proceeded to the tour that starts with a detailed explanation of all the fruits and nuts that are grown at the plantation with examples of each for us to examine and in some cases taste! especially fun is tasting the raw coco beans right out of the pods, they are covered in a white goo that tastes like citrus! </div>
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After the explanation of the different fruits and nuts grown on the plantation we moved on to a tour of the plantation, we saw the fermentation process for the raw coco beans that are harvested and placed in bins, then they are put outside on drying racks to dry. After seeing how the beans are processed we visited the store and sampled the finished chocolate bars with many levels of coco content. The Belmont plantation is a can't miss destination in Grenada.</div>
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After our road trip we returned to our boat and prepared for our sail around the south side of the island over to St Georges and the anchorage just outside. The next morning we had a great sail to St Georges. While at St Georges we spent some time on the beach at Grand Anise, and then snorkeled on the reef just off of the beach. Saw some of the best stag horn coral in the Caribbean. The next day we sailed over to the other side of the harbor and had a chance to snorkel on the famous statues that are on the floor of the cove on that side of the island. Quite a kick to see those statues on the ocean floor.</div>
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After another great day we sailed back around the southern edge of Grenada this time anchoring in Secret harbor and enjoyed the calm waters of this protected anchorage and the wonderful bar and restaurant at the marina at the back of the harbor. A week went by fast and sadly we had to say goodbye to Dawna but she's agreed to come visit us again in the future.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main Retail shop at Belmont Plantation (where you get the yummy Chocolate)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPJytCwuB9t-u5DKU9-vz5Vp227JtcQl3ZmyKAPYhz0GekOQTqA9Otlqv-3K36PX8i9XdsZTn1CVPpbAVUM86TC70B_fWT3YT8qWLHwZ2tubWrqCuNP2wBVxupe6lST8QJ7LjbKyAhVwW/s1600/olympus+camera+pic+Nov+2015-dec+31+2015+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a><i style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Guest Dawna O'neal and Anita at Grand Case beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girls shopping at the crafts shops just off Grand Case beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlk_7ZLoncPqne40olo4D7DYxs9bbDjnpsAawOVJFqDhjYz5PE0mZHl7WNgRnsMovkvvZMf4tXwQTi1fQpVM7_6I-EmY_GD-2jjQ4glroSE68PhO4D3Wcd0IheQnyCCxnCYwRYdWC3UxPR/s1600/olympus+camera+pic+Nov+2015-dec+31+2015+099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlk_7ZLoncPqne40olo4D7DYxs9bbDjnpsAawOVJFqDhjYz5PE0mZHl7WNgRnsMovkvvZMf4tXwQTi1fQpVM7_6I-EmY_GD-2jjQ4glroSE68PhO4D3Wcd0IheQnyCCxnCYwRYdWC3UxPR/s320/olympus+camera+pic+Nov+2015-dec+31+2015+099.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Coco beans drying at Belmont Plantation on our trip up island with our guest</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down on the inner harbor on our bus ride up to the Church for Xmas carol night in St Georges</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bell tower is all that survived hurricane Ivan, church has still not been rebuilt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down Grenada's finest beach Grand Case</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene at church for our carol Night</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some great Stag horn coral just out from Grand Case in St Georges</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coco beans fermenting at Belmont Plantation</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The anchorage off of St Georges</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-76474297186369766812016-07-22T08:45:00.002-07:002016-07-22T08:45:23.571-07:00Grenada<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Finally.... Grenada</b></div>
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We left Miami Florida on January 14, 2015 with our final destination Grenada so we could be out of the hurricane Zone! The trip was close to 2,000 km, it saw us clear in and out of 12 countries and visit 18 islands. Now just before June 1 we make landfall on the island of Curracou the northern most point of the country of Grenada. On Curracou we anchored at both Anse Roche and Terryll bay,the first a small but wonderful little hole in the wall bay located on the northern most point of the island, its a turtle beach with beautiful white sand with 10 feet of water almost right up to the beach. It has great snorkeling on both sides of the anchorage and seldom have we had to share the spot! Terryll bay on the other hand is a large protected anchorage on the south end of the island. It has a customs office and is a great place to clear into Grenada! Its a handy place to stage to make the final trip to the main island.</div>
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After spending a couple of days clearing in and enjoying the island we left early in the morning headed for the Main island of Grenada and the port of St Georges the capital. We anchored just off from the channel into the harbor and explored the town of St Georges! The best beach on the island Grand Anse, is just south of the anchorage and it makes a great playground to beach walk and snorkel on the reefs just hundreds of yards off the beach!</div>
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We spent a couple of days off of St Georges and then sailed around the south point to the first of the main anchorages on the south end of Grenada, Prickly Bay. The south end of the island is home to most of the protected anchorages, Prickly Bay, Mt Hartman, Hog, and Clarke,s court. Prickly is the home of two of the most prominent cruising spots on the island, Prickly Bay Marina and Spice Island Yard. The marina has a few slips and a great restaurant along with a bandstand and a tiki bar. They have pizza night specials, sponsor domino tourneys and great live entertainment! Spice Island is a large and very secure place to haul your boat for repairs or a hurricane season. It also is the location for the largest budget marine chandlery on the island and a great place to eat called timbers! Its also has a great dinghy dock and its a short walk to a main street to catch a cheap bus to get to just about anywhere in the St George area! We spent a couple of weeks here to arrange for the haul out of our boat and move around town to both sight see and get some work done on the boat. </div>
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The only down side of this anchorage is the rolling that occurs on a regular basis, It can get so bad that sleep is difficult so when we got our projects done and had enough of the rolling we moved south one anchorage to Mt Hartman, wow what a difference its protected by several reefs that cut down the swell and make this a quiet anchorage, sleep is much easier! Its also a scenic place with beautiful mountains surrounding it and a wonderful marina called secret harbor, It has a number of slips , dressing rooms, laundry etc. It also has a great restaurant and bar that provides a great overlook of the harbor! It requires a pretty good walk to get to Prickly bay marina and a even longer walk to get to a highway where you can catch one of the great buses to take you into town cheap. But it makes up for this by being such a pleasant place to drop the hook!</div>
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The cruisers have developed a very full list of options for those that drop the hook around the south end of the island, they have arranged for buses that will pick up at all the major anchorages to take you to the groceries, the shopping mall and the chandlries. Also by listening to the cruiser net on channel 68 you learn of the sightseeing trips that the bus drivers promote, some of the trips are to the turtle beaches on the north east side of the island to see the leather-back turtles as they lay their eggs in the early summer, and the interior plantations like the organic chocolate factory at Belmont plantation, as well as the many rum tours to the rum factories, and lastly the trips to a small fishing village on the west coast called Quave and their Friday block party called fish Friday. We did it all and had a great time. </div>
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We arrive in Grenada on June 1st, we finally hauled our boat out on July 12th and spent 4 hectic days getting the boat ready for its 5 months on the hard! Finally it was time to turn the page on a fantastic adventure and return back to our family and friends in the states and reconnect with our loved ones. Discovery will sit patiently until we return in November to begin another chapter in our Caribbean discovery!</div>
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Waterwheel at the Westerhall rum factory</div>
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What a coco pod looks like at harvest</div>
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Coco out to dry</div>
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Raw coco beans right after harvest as they are put in the bins to ferment</div>
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One of our boat friends at the Westerhall rum factory</div>
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Downtown St Georges</div>
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The fruit market at the center of St Georges</div>
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The monkey lady at Etang lake</div>
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One of the many waterfalls in Grenada</div>
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Happy adventurers</div>
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At Etang crater lake with the monkey lady</div>
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Etang crater lake </div>
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Yours truly snorkeling in the Grenadines</div>
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Closer look at one of the 100+ yr old wheels at the Westhall rum Factory </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-21376942845057271892016-07-16T18:43:00.000-07:002016-07-16T18:43:29.089-07:00St Lucia and the Grenadines<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>St Lucia and the Grenadines</b></div>
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<b>After our stay on Martinique as interesting as it was, our focus went back to our deadline to get down to Grenada and out of the hurricane box by June 1. So we left from Grand Anse another one of the wonderful french fishing villages at first light with our destination to be Rodney Bay the northern most anchorage with customs so we could clear in. Rodney bay is home to a wonderful IGY marina with facilities for mega yachts all the way to cruisers like us! It has a great group of bakeries, stores, marine stores, a sail loft, electronics service shop and several restaurants! The floating docks are great and the prices during the cruising season are very reasonable. We anchored off the beach that is home to Sandals and several other lage resorts! It was a easy dingy trip into the visitor dock and then we had access to all the facilities at the marina. We also took the dink thru the marina to the lagoon that is further in island and that gave us access to more stores, groceries etc. We took advantage of our time and did a tour of Pigeon island and the British fort that overlooks the anchorage, its a very well preserved example of the types of fortifications that dot the Caribbean islands. We also did a tour by bus of the island, this gave us a chance to see the famous Pitons up close with out having to take our boat to this less area that has a history of boat boarding's and robberies. The Pitons are two volcanic mini mountains that rise straight out of the sea and are spectacular! </b></div>
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<b> We decided to bypass the southern part of St Lucia but the entire island of St Vincent the next island south. On our way we changed our mind and after the 40 mile passage from St Lucia to St Vincent we stopped at Chandebilar the Northernmost anchorage on the island. As it turned out it was a mistake, when we arrived a boat boy came out and meet us , he showed us where we should anchor, then he took us ashore to find the customs house and clear into the island, the customs office was closed and no one knew when they would open. So we returned to the beach and our boat boy took us back to the boat. The village was clearly very poor even by Caribbean standards, very quickly we had two fellows paddle out to our boat begging for food, batteries etc. Also we learned that one of the three boats that were anchored in the bay was broken into 3 days prior. The robbers beat up the boaters, stole money, passports and the dingy. This pretty much sealed the deal and we decided that we would stand watch that night and leave at first light. If the robbery wasn't enough the swell was so bad we could not sleep even if we wanted to!</b></div>
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<b> So at first light we were off to Bequia, a island just 5 miles south of St Vincent that is the gateway to the Grenadines! The Grenadines is group of small islands located just south of St Vincent, they are part of the country of St Vincent and are positioned on a shallow bank of wonderful white sand and coral reefs. Included in the Grenadines is the Tabago Keys, islands that have perhaps the best combination of sand, clear water and beaches in the entire eastern Caribbean!</b></div>
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<b> Bequia is the first stop coming from the north to the Grenadines. Its the largest island and is home to great eating places, good snorkeling and the best sail loft in the Caribbean to get chaps or other canvas work done on your boat! The snorkeling on the point that's located on the north edge of Admiralty is spectacular! Its also a convenient place to clear into St Vincent from the North and clear out when traveling from the south! We spent a few days enjoying Bequia and then headed to Mayreau and the the Tobago Keys! </b></div>
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<b> Maryeau is a cool island with two really special anchorages, Salt whistle on the north edge and Saline a little further south. Saltwhistle may be the most photogenic anchorage in the Caribbean if you like south pacific looking beaches! Saline bay has a great beach and its less crowded than Salt Whistle. It also is well protected to swell and offers a peaceful night sleep! And unlike Salt Whistle you can anchor here instead of being required to take a mooring ball. There is a small village at the top of the hill with small grocery store and a few restaurants!</b></div>
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<b> From Mayreau its a short 4 mile sail around the top to the Tabago Keys, these small islands are scenic and along with the reefs offer just enough protection to be comfortable. There is a section between the islands that is a turtle sanctuary with area roped off to protect them, it makes for a great place to snorkel and get up close to the turtles! In addition there is a small island just beyond the turtle area that's called Petite Tabac, it was used in the first Pirates of</b></div>
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<b>the Caribbean movie, its the one where Captain Jack was marooned and where Elizabeth built a bonfire and burned the rum, its a wonderfully beautiful island and cool to be on one of the sets of that movie!</b></div>
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<b> After our visit to the Tabago keys we headed south to Union island, the last of the Grenadines islands and the place we can clear out of St Vincent! We anchored at Chatham bay a large very well protected bay at the northwest side of the island! Chatham is surrounded by tall hills and anchored up next to the north hills we were snug as a bug in a rug.... until the gusts started rushing down the mountains, the wind would be light and then all of a sudden wham 25 knot gusts come rushing down, not really a big deal but we needed to make sure the anchor was well set in the soft sand! We had a great 5 day stay in Chatham, our first day we were greeted by a boat boy named Bushman, he was representing a beach restaurant called Boll heads, we told him that we were good for dinner that night but we would consider him in the coming days. The next day he came by again but this time with another fellow in a differnt boat, he explained that his boat was broken and he couldn't work, he asked if he could borrow our dinghy, not sure why but i said ok, he told us if he was successful in getting customers for dinner we could come and have dinner for free! He did find customers and we were invited to dinner and had a great meal! This arrangement lasted several days and we either ate at the restaurant or had dinner brought to the boat! We snorkeled and ate like kings during our 5 days at Chatham, but we needed to move on to Clifton the village at the south side where we could clear out of St Vincent and leave for Grenada! The day we left Chatham our new friend Bushman came by in the morning to take me fishing, I envisioned rods reels etc! But instead we took my dink just 100 feet from our boat and Bushman jumped into the water and came up with a rope, we then pulled up a huge fish trap loaded with fish! Bushman picked out several big ones, scaled and cleaned them and we put them in the fridge! We gave our new friend some t shirts and exchanged hugs and promised to visit again! Next day we sailed to Clifton cleared out and made our way to our final destination for the season Grenada!</b></div>
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The sail maker at Bequia</div>
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Admiralty Bay in Bequia</div>
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On Saline bay beach on Mayreau</div>
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Anita on the beach on the north east side of Mayreau</div>
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Tommy's restaurant at Bequia</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admiralty bay</td></tr>
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Anita on the west beach at Mayreau</div>
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Looking toward Discovery anchored at the Tobago Keys </div>
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More Tobago Keys</div>
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View from Discovery anchored at Chatham bay looking toward Bollheads</div>
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Our Friend Bushman</div>
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Anita at Bollheads</div>
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Snorkeling at Chatham</div>
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View from Discovery at Palm Island beach</div>
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Pic of a Flying Ganard fish</div>
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Turtle at Tabago Keys</div>
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<b>Beach life !</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-77135327683541405392016-07-14T09:19:00.002-07:002016-07-14T09:19:14.702-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
South to Dominica and Martinique</div>
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Our stay in the Saintes was short but very pleasant, but our June deadline to reach Grenada meant that we need to keep moving. So we made the 15 mile passage from the Saintes to Dominica the Mountain island! Dominica is a lush and mountainous island, perhaps the most lush and most mountainous one in the entire Caribbean! We stopped first at the northern harbor of Portsmouth. This anchorage is the best and safest on the island. A group of boat boys have unites and formed a group called PAYS, they are polite and work hard to make sure the anchorage is safe and that cruisers can access the interior by sponsoring tours of the interior and also the Indian rive that flows into the anchorage and is a great eco tourism site, its even the site of a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean.</div>
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After our visit to Portsmouth we sailed to the southern end of the island and the city of Rousseau the capital of Dominica This anchorage is a roadside anchorage without the protection of Portsmouth, the water is hundreds of feet deep right up to the shore almost! We saw a neighboring boat drift away with its mooring attached! luckily the owners were taking to us and were able to rescue their boat!</div>
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We didn't stay long here before we pushed on the 40 miles to Martinique and the anchorage at St Pierre! St Pierre was at one time the capital of Martinique and was called the Paris of the Caribbean before the neighboring volcano Mtt Pele erupted in the early 1800s and destroyed most of the town and its people and many boats in the anchorage! We toured the town and sailed on to our next anchorage at the capital of the country Fort De France! This is the largest town in the country and perhaps the largest town in the entire Caribbean! Martinique has the most people of any island in the Caribbean almost 300,000! We anchored in the shadow of Fort De France a fort built by the French t protect the Harbour! The town bustles with activity, any kind of produce can be found at the largest market in the Caribbean and the architecture is amazing</div>
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Looking at downtown Ft De France from the anchorage</div>
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Discovery anchored under the French Flag at Ft De France</div>
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Cathedral in Ft DE France</div>
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Downtown Ft De France</div>
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Perhaps the Caribbean's largest market</div>
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Scene from Rousseau in Dominica</div>
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More Rousseau Dominica</div>
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Catholic church in St Anne Martinique</div>
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Looking towards anchorage from church in St Anne Martinique</div>
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Diamond Rock The island the British occupied and made a part of the British navy to pester the French</div>
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Another shot of the roadside anchorage at Rousseu Dominica</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-59253549175806234362016-07-14T08:36:00.002-07:002016-07-14T08:36:23.187-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Sailing South to Guadeloupe</b></div>
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After our tour of Montserrat we were off to the French island of Guadeloupe, its the largest of the islands in the west indies and home to what would become two of our most favorite spots, the small fishing village of Deshaies and the beautiful islands of the Saintes just off shore on the south end of the island!</div>
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Deshaies is the northern most harbor on the island and a secure anchorage. Although the small harbor is a good place to escape the swell and waves, its also one of the most windy spots in the Caribbean, its known for the amazing gusts of wind that funnel down the mountains and blow thru the anchorage. But its a handy place to clear into t</div>
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he country and has a charming village with great bakery and restaurants. It also is the home of a great Botanical garden which is a cant miss attraction. The Saintes is a group if three islands that lay just 6 miles south of the main island. the main island is Terre de Haute and it again is a charming fishing village replete with dress shops. restaurants and French bakery! We rented scooters and toured the entire island in a few hours, The island has several great beaches, good snorkeling and of course good food. </div>
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Its also the site of a very well preserved fort, and inside is wonderful display of artifacts that describe the big naval battle that occurred between the French and the English just north of the Saintes, this battle was the defininative battle between the Fench and English for domination of the Caribbean. The English won the battle of the Saintes and pushed Franch out of the Caribbean dominace for good.</div>
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The fort should not be missed on any trip to the Saintes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wonderful church in the Saintes</div>
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Mahogany dress shop in the Saintes</div>
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Street scene from Deshaies</div>
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Entrance to Botanical gardens in Deshaies</div>
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Parrot cage in Deshaies Botanical garden</div>
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More Parrott funny business</div>
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View of the anchorage at Deshaies from the Botanical garden rd</div>
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View of the beach at Dehaies</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-89929580790252358682016-07-13T07:18:00.002-07:002016-07-13T07:18:32.807-07:00St Eustaces,St Kitts, Nevis and Monserrat<br />
We set out at first light heading south towards our first destination Saint Eustace<br />
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Entry to the old downtown of Basseterre</div>
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Old Basseterre</div>
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more old town</div>
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Anchored off of Basseterre</div>
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Whitehouse bay with Salt page in the foreground</div>
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Resort at Christophe</div>
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St Kitts monkeys</div>
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Hiking thru the development</div>
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Christophe harbor resort beach in background, that's Nevis in the distance</div>
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Sign just outside of port at Montserrat</div>
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Mountain approachin St Kitts</div>
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Ashore at Nevis</div>
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Pool full of ash at resort abandoned in Montserrat</div>
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Black beach</div>
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Sign just outside port complex</div>
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Mountain Stream we drunk from</div>
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Volcano shrouded in clouds always</div>
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Photo of a photo of the eruption</div>
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Helicopter at pad at the volcano observatory</div>
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. Although we were now heading more south it still had some east to it and the trip was tolerable because it was so short, we had to motor sail again but happy to be making our way south for a change! St Eustace's is a convenient stop on the way south, not much to see and the anchorage is what's called a roadside anchorage because it affords no real protection form any direction except east. This means its rolly, and rolly has become a term we have grown to hate as we cruised south. Swell from the west or other directions can make a nights sleep impossible as the boat rocks sometime violently side to side. Avoiding swell became one of our prime concerns as we spent more and more time in the Caribbean.<br />
After a less than pleasant night we were off to St Kitts! this island offered us our first glimpse of the tall mountains and rain forests they promote in the Caribbean islands. The deep green foliage and striking cloud enshrouded mountain peaks were a sight to behold as we approached the island and sailed south in its lee! Of course the wind is blocked by these tall peaks but the flat water and easy travel make s up for it! <br />
We headed for Basseteree the capital and only clearance port on the island. Unfortunately it also is a roadside anchorage so as we arrived at dusk we had to spend another unpleasant evening before we went ashore to clear in to the island! The town is quaint once you get past the made for cruise ship fleecing area full of all the stores that are designed to relive the passenger's of as much money as possible. We headed south that afternoon and dropped anchor at Whitehouse bay, its on the southern end of the island which is arid since it has no mountain! It has more protection and we finally got a good nights sleep. Whitehouse is home to a neat beach bar called the salt page, it has a cool ambiance and its fairly new as its a part of the Christophe marina project that is just around the corner at ballast bay, ballast bay is another the second decent anchorage on St Kitts! We went ashore at the marina and hiked around the real estate development that is in progress, very big deal here n the island, beautiful homes, a great beach resort and restaurants! Best part of the trip was sighting some of the monkeys that inhabit the island, there are more monkeys than people here on St Kitts!<br />
After a couple of days we on our way south again, we sailed the 5 miles to the next island named Nevis, its part of St Kitts so we would clear out here and head to our next spot Monserrat! Again its another roadside anchorage and one night was all we could handle in Nevis!<br />
Another short trip and we were at Monserrat, this is the island with the active volcano, it erupted several times in the last 30 years the most recent 2005, the eruptions in the 90s killed many people, buried the capital in ash, and forced half the islands 10000 inhabitants to flee to other islands! The island is coming back, it has a new capital and the tour we took of the devastated area was amazing! it was like being in one of those apocalyptic movies! We toured a five star resort that was destroyed by the first eruption then rebuilt and destroyed again and abandoned, it is the exclusion zone where there is no one but tours allowed! The island has many mountains and is a rain Forrest for the most part, very lush and full of mangos, breadfruit, papaya and bananas! The beaches are black because of the volcanic material and that takes some getting used to! We stayed for a couple of days and then prepared for another passage south this time to a much larger island, the largest island in the Caribbean Guadeloupe!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-17620328797441379972016-07-13T06:22:00.003-07:002016-07-13T06:22:26.729-07:00St Marteen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Saint Marteen</div>
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After 10 days in the BVI we were excited to visit our first French island ( and Dutch), but that meant making the almost 90 mile passage across the Anagada straits. Its a shallow area that is know for some rough seas and since you are still doing some easting it can get very uncomfortable. We were lucky to catch a good weather window and had a rather pleasant motor sail! we left Virgin Gorda at about 1am and arrive in daylight at the port of Margot on the French side of St Marteen. Margot is a large moderately protected harbor on the French portion of St Marteen, it offers the easiest and cheapest way to enter the island. We cleared in at budget marine for only a small donation to the youth sailing program! At last we were in the land of Baguettes, croissant's, and cheap wine and cheese! Every day we were tempted by the smells of fresh bread and pastries, there is nothing like to taste of a fresh made chocolate croissant made by people who really know how! And since its a French island and the government subsidizes bread , cheese and wine its really cheap like on euro for a croissants and the same for a baguette!</div>
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We took the dink into the lagoon and explored the shopping and French food that it had to offer, eventually we took the dink all the way across to the Dutch side to ogle the huge mega yachts both sail and power that hang out at the marinas on the Dutch side of the lagoon. Some of the yachts are so large that they barley fit ( some by mere inches) thru the opening bridge!</div>
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St Marteen has the best chandleries in the east Caribbean, both Island Water World and Budget Marine have their flagship stores on the Dutch side of the lagoon. The island is a great place to buy a dink if your in need of one, the duty free aspect means that a top flight dink can be had for thousands less than the states, and its a easy task to sell your old one thru the cruisers net or to a local fellow named shrimpy who buys and sells used dinks!</div>
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Alas we needed to be heading south so our stay only lasted five days and when we got a weather window we were off to the islands of St Eustace's, St Kitts and Monserrat!</div>
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The Drawbidge leading to the lagoon on the French side of St Marteen</div>
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The Dutch side draw bridge</div>
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View from the Port Louis fort looking over Margot and the bay</div>
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Street scene in Margot</div>
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Sign for the walk up the hill to the fort</div>
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Market (better said cruise ship tourist trap) at Margot</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-6275944492292767792016-07-11T09:44:00.001-07:002016-07-11T09:48:02.672-07:00Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-57978153476812747502016-07-11T09:44:00.000-07:002016-07-11T09:47:55.555-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
Zipping thru the BVI</div>
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After having such a great time in the US Virgin Islands we were anxious to move on to the BVI just a few miles east of St Johns! Back in Arkansas during the 15 years we spent on Greer's Ferry lake friend after friend would come back from chartering with stories of their week in Paradise. We on the other hand would comfort ourselves with the promise that we were saving and moving up to bigger boats so we could live the lifestyle permanently. Finally our time had come and we could not wait! First stop was Soupers Hole on Tortolas western tip, its was the charter boat central for a while in the BVI and is home to Pussers Bar, we took a mooring ball and spent a day and a night soaking up the ambiance! As ever mindful of our need to reach Grenada (some 500 miles south) by June 1, we moved on, next stop was trellis bay and the Full Moon party!<br />
Every month during the season the bars and restaurant's have a big [arty the night of the fullest moon, the highlight of which is the lighting of the wood filled steel sculptures that are all about the beach and even in the water. it makes for a spectacular sight to see these flaming balls and other sculptures blazing in the full moonlight. <br />
Equally exciting is the show the charter boats put on in their attempt to take one of the dozens of moorings in the bay. This was our first real opportunity to sample the wild and sometimes very scary show that inexperienced captains put on, both in racing to the ball and then the often times futile attempt to pick it up. These weekend cowboys send us to the rails to fend off the boats or to alert them to how close they are to running over our mooring line (or Anchor chain)! Seeing these 50 foot catamarans racing thru a mooring field at 7 knots to beat another 50 foot catamaran to a mooring ball sends shivers down the spine of those of us who do this full time! we have seen our share of near misses but thankfully no actual catastrophes'! <br />
After the full moon party we headed off to the next stops in our journey thru the BVI, Jost Van Dyke and the famous Soggy Dollar bar and its gorgeous beach and the beautiful people that populate it! We also hit Foxy's bar another BVI icon and great example of Caribbean beach bar!<br />
We did the snorkeling at the Indians, the Caves where we enjoyed some of the most fishy reefs and walls that we saw anywhere thru-out our first trip thru the Caribbean.<br />
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Racing thru the BVI we finally reached our final destination, the island of Virgin Gorda, home of the Bitter End Yacht Club, this is another center for chartering and a really wonderful place to finish our time in BVI. This would be our jumping off point for our sail across the Anagada passage to St Marteen. We had a great time exploring all the neat bars and eating places that populate this protected spot. The Bitter end Yacht club is not to be missed, but we were looking forward to missing the 30 bucks US that it cost for a mooring ball every night! Next trip thru here we now know that we can anchor in many of the areas and have just as good a time so hopefully we can do the BVI with out so much pain to the pocket book! Oh well on to our first French Island ST Marten<br />
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Anita getting read to snorkel the Indians<br />
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Bob at the Famous Baths</div>
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Discovery on a ball in the BVI</div>
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Hanging at the famous Soggy Dollar</div>
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The beach behind Soggy</div>
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The iron sculptures at Trellis Bay for the Full Moon</div>
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Another sculpture to set a blaze tonight!</div>
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Anita snorkeling the Indians</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-44973096660205336742015-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:002015-12-23T15:53:18.463-08:00US Virgins Finally!After what seemed like a Eternity we were finally in position to make the short windward leg to St Thomas and St Johns from Culebra! The wind was on our nose as usual and blowing around 20 but we knew we only had 20 miles or less to reach the protection of St Thomas! It was a spirited motor sail but in no time we were anchored up in Linbergh bay and drinking libations at the beach bar there. Linbergh in just south and a bit east of the airport, actually the runway goes parallel to the bay, so lots of jet noise on takeoff! <br />
We spent a couple of days there did some shopping, as it turned out they had the cheapest rum prices of any of the islands in the entire Caribbean! Cruzan was 7 dollars a fifth, Pussers was 12 bucks! a couple of days here and we were ready to move on to honeymoon bay, a neat little anchorage just south of Red Hook. had a wonderful two day stay here, lots of snorkeling and the pizza boat was really cool! there is a sailboat anchored in the bay that was outfitted with a pizza oven and they make and sell great pizza!<br />
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After our stay here we were off the 3 miles or so to cruz bay St Johns, this island is fantastic, it might just be the most beautiful island in the Caribbean if you are judging by the beaches! The island was owned by Rockefeller and he gave it to the US on the condition it become a state park, so its got very few developments and lots of prestine undeveloped waterfront! Another great thing about this island is the senior discounts on mooring balls, 62 or older us citizens get a mooring for $7.50! that sure beats the heck out of the 30 bucks in the BVI! Francis and Majo are our fav anchorages, we stayed at Majo for two weeks!<br />
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Cruz bay is just kinky enough to be interesting, and just big enough to get most of what you need in the way of provisions etc! Caneel bay is the site of rockefellers resort and its the nearest mooring field to Cruz bay, just a short dingy ride in! the bay was way to crowded to find a spot plus the all the other bays are way more cool!<br />
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We really enjoyed our stay in St Johns but it was time to keep moving east, some of our last eastng til we finally get to sail south. Next up, just a 5 mile sail to famous Sophers Hole and the BVI!<br />
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Cruise Ships at St Thomas</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cruz Bay, St Johns</td></tr>
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Approaching Francis Bay in St Johns</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ferry from Cruz bay to St Thomas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52_l2Ca9x5EgglDBzi6ZkHp2hiCjua7oWR_hhYpMi_wocOonX_ynJee-R4BEDjd7C8lnXYMFoynwuPrvEoonCkY8T5D_i-zXRAmsRxPwUFhzK5qmzs5KDLloFnCosUTG4fHONNfrvHJlz/s1600/april+8+2015+carribean+trip+197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52_l2Ca9x5EgglDBzi6ZkHp2hiCjua7oWR_hhYpMi_wocOonX_ynJee-R4BEDjd7C8lnXYMFoynwuPrvEoonCkY8T5D_i-zXRAmsRxPwUFhzK5qmzs5KDLloFnCosUTG4fHONNfrvHJlz/s200/april+8+2015+carribean+trip+197.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The busses that ran from Cruz bay to the beaches were like thrill Rides up and down the mountains at breakneck speeds!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgYd71afP9zCCSGT5OubjElYPmJNsPUMk_VBKvNd6OT40qjLy3bMdIcWaxRKwqPerLSpefho70QOznsQBN6Ms0nPSdbevF5KYhMKYXRINL4LOf0N4NntvoEYXxhQDu65O2JIxkhlxwCdQ/s1600/april+8+2015+carribean+trip+186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgYd71afP9zCCSGT5OubjElYPmJNsPUMk_VBKvNd6OT40qjLy3bMdIcWaxRKwqPerLSpefho70QOznsQBN6Ms0nPSdbevF5KYhMKYXRINL4LOf0N4NntvoEYXxhQDu65O2JIxkhlxwCdQ/s200/april+8+2015+carribean+trip+186.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down on Majo Bay! Discovery is in the center!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-3890594653820889532015-12-23T15:03:00.001-08:002015-12-23T15:03:25.761-08:00East down the Puerto Rico coastAfter a enjoyable time in Puerto Real and topping off our fuel tank with every drop of cheap fuel we could take on, we needed to begin our passage east toward the Spanish virgins! Unlike our other passages we weren't going to get a unusual beneficial weather window, forecast was the normal one for this time of year, wind out of the east 20-25 knots. <br />
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Reality hit us as we rounded the point at Cabo Rojos and the lighthouse guarding it, bam 4-6 ft waves and 20 knots on the nose! So we started a seemingly endless series of tacks out to sea and then back toward shore, motor sailing our way east carving out eating careful to stay just enough off the wind to avoid the bashing and the filling loosening battering that heading to close to the wind produced with our flat bottom production boat! <br />
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We decided after 6 hrs of this beating to tuck tail and head for a he safety of a anchorage about 19 miles from Cabo Rojos called Gilligans island! Protected from the waves by mangroves and reef it would allow us to rest and rethink our plan to sail the south coast of Puerto Rico toward the Virgins. But before we made it a combination of a gust ( around 25knts) and a big wave, was too much for the sun rottened straps attaching the clew car on our deeply reefed roller furling main, it blew out sounding like the report from a shotgun! We took here up into the wind ( easy because we were motors ailing like usual), we quickly rolled the sail up and continued toward our next anchorage.<br />
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We huddled with our buddy boats and mapped out a new strategy, we would take advantage of the catabatic winds coming off the mountains at night that knocked down the east wind and waves, this should make for a tolerable motor sail overnight to our next anchorage Salinas.<br />
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Set the alarm for midnight and we snaked our way out the anchorage and we're happy to encounter much better sea state than the day time. This made for a beautiful motor sail down the coast with the lights from the shore only a few miles away!<br />
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We arrived early the next morning at daybreak with plenty of light to find our way into the salinas anchorage, and a busy one it was, but as usual there is always room for a few more boats and morning found us well hooked and beginning to look for a sailmaker to repair the damaged mainsail!<br />
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Light House on the far south western corner of Puerto Rico!<br />
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The busy anchorage at Salinas with the mountains in the background!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-47747349717594407422015-12-23T14:59:00.001-08:002015-12-23T14:59:36.225-08:00DR to Puerto Rico Via the Mona Passage!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anita and I at the outfitting shack at the Dominique Cascades Waterfalls!</div>
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Anita taking the plunge at one of the waterfalls we could not slide down! This was not the tallest waterfall we jumped!</div>
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We had a great one week stay in Luperion the people and the waterfalls really made it special and would have enjoyed a longer stay but a weather window presented itself, a mild cold front predicted by Chris Parker would give us beam seas and brisk but safe wind conditions so off we went! </div>
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We left Luperion at first light and managed to negotiate the tight channel out of the harbor with no issues and found the conditions off shore to be as expected so on we pressed, sailing on a beam reach under full main and staysail for almost 24 hrs! we reached the eastern point of the DR and turned south til we were around the hourglass shoals. We were able to sail all the way til we reached the red sea bouy marking the entrance to Samana bay! We motored the rest of the way until we reached our destination Bahi Puerto Marina!</div>
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We had a great stay in Samana. I would highly recommend the Marina over staying in the harbor at Samana. Very safe and great accomodations! Five star resort and only 75 cents a foot! We had heard about issues with theft and such in the harbor which is too bad, but the town is delightful and the Marina is the best choice.</div>
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Again were were on a tight schedule and another weather window came up that promised a quite passage across the Mons passage so we had to take the shot, but the down side was only staying in Samana 2 days!</div>
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We arranged for the commandant to meet us at the boat at 6 am so we could get a early start. <span style="background-color: yellow;">You must </span> be aware you pay to get into the DR and you will pay to leave, it was the most expensive of all the Caribbean countries we visited, we paid about 125 US to clear in at Luperion, and 20 US to exit Samana.</div>
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Our trip to Puerto Rico was another great one . We were treated to a whale watching fest on the way out Samana bay, its noted as a great place to see whales and it sure lived up to its reputation! The 100 miles or so to Puerto Real was very uneventful, we arrived mid morning and dropped the hook and enjoyed a peaceful stay in this great little town! Besides the normal stuff its got the cheapest diesel fuel in the Caribbean!</div>
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We took a field trip to Ponce , its a city with perhaps the best examples of Spanish architecture in the Caribbean. The girls are standing in front of the firehouse in Ponce this is one of the oldest structures on the Island!<br />
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One of the beautiful beaches on the Island!<br />
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Another shot of down town Ponce!<br />
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Discovery on a mooring at Culebrita, a great little Island off of Culebra, Spanish Virgins<br />
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Anita posing in front of the old fire station now museum in Ponce<br />
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Walking thru the rainforest state park in Puerto Rico<br />
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Anchored off the south Puerto Rico coast on our way east<br />
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Record Shop in downtown PonceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-50047830851007106502015-03-11T09:22:00.001-07:002015-03-11T09:22:39.927-07:00Turks to the Dominican RepublicAfter a week or so in the Turks we headed off for the passage to Luperion and the DR. We had a good forecast, 15 knot winds from the NE and mild seas! Also a full moon to boot! Left big sand cay in the Turks at 6 pm so we would arrive at daylight after a expected 25 hr trip.<br /><br />Had one of those magical night time passages, warm air, full moon and a gentle ride all the way til daybreak. We arrived off shore at luperion at about 6.30 and the smell of cool air, first and the mountians was almost entoxicating!<br /><br />We could see the 3 thousand ft high peaks in the distance and the Palm tree covered hills surrounding Luperion are spectacular. I was not prepared for the assault on my senses that was the DR!<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/322.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_322.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Our first look at the DR close up<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/323.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_323.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Luperion harbour<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/324.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_324.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Girls waiting outside the immigration building(shack), second from the fight was Gladys, see just sat down and became part of the group, following us to lunch, sitting next to us and was brought a glass by our waiter and ended up drinking some of our beer! Ends up she Aldo showed up as part of the agriculture party and asked for 20 bucks! Learned after the fact that she moonlighted doing more sexy pursuits😫<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/325.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_325.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Waiting on the guys<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/326.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_326.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Discovery on her ball at Luperion harbour<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/327.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_327.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Wendy's was our place to sample presidente and also it had good Wifi<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/328.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_328.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Anita strolling the streets of Luperion.<br /><br />We took our time negotiating the narrow entrance to the harbour, and once in were surprised how crowded and small the anchorage really is. We eventually took a mooring ball from our boat guy, his name was popi and he was the jack of all trades we had heard about, water taxi, delivery guy, enterpter, rental car, waterfall trips, you name it Popi had his hand in it!<br /><br />After spending a few hrs with the litany of people coming out to the boat in the clearing in process, or should I say the cleaning out process, as everyone had there hand out! First 93 bucks for immigration, then 20 bucks to the tourist guy, then 20 bucks to the "agricultural" people (at least they took our trash). Then the port authority wants 20 bucks for being in the harbour. After finally filling all the hands with cash it was time to go into luperion and have a beer!<br /><br />And what kind of beer, El Presidente of course, the national beer of DR! And what a beer it is, first they come in the grande size, approx two reg beers, second they cost only 100 peso, or about 2 bucks American, third they serve their beer at freezing or just above! Many Presidente's were consumed during our stay! <br /><br />Then there were the two main staples of life, rice and beans and plantains! They have the best rice and beans here, but the plantains are my fav, green, yellow, ripe, smashed, fried, it don't matter I love me some plantains!<br /><br /><br />The DR was great, the people are poor but happy and friendly. The countryside is spectacular, the sights and sounds are too, on the roads you see people finding ponies, donkeys, they carry metal milk jugs on their donkies, you are likely to see a roadside butchery, fresh vegetables every where and sweet potatos the size of footballs!<br /><br />The motorcycles, everywhere, loaded with people or stuff, we saw a guy blasting down the road with a bail of hay the size of a refrigerator on the back of a 125cc cycle.<br />Any trip on a highway in the DR is like a thrill ride, people pass you on the right side, two cars might be traveling abreast on the same side of the highway, motorcycles flit in and out of traffics like Mosquitos! There seem to be no rules of the road in the DR just guidelines like they say I'm the Pirates of the Carribean!<br /><br />The highlight of Luperion was the trip to the waterfalls. The Cascades! We took a van about 35 miles up into the rainforest and then donned life jackets and helmets and were led up a trail by our two guides to the start of our 12 waterfall adventure. There is a very narrow gourge carved out of the rock in the mountain side by a stream. It had rained the night before do the stream was really a raging mini river! This area had been know to the locals for hundreds of years but recently opened to tourists. The water was cold eventhough it was 80 plus degrees. The initial falls required us to sit and slide down into the pool that forms below the fall, like natures own water slide! The current was so strong that the guide below had to make sure you didn't end up slushed all the way down the mountian. Eventually we came to a fall that we could not sit and slide do we waked out the edge of the gourge and stood and jumped 30 feet down into the pool! You could never do this in the states, there aren't enough release forms in the world to make this work in America ! But it was the most challenging thing I have ever done and so proud Anita did it with me!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-3772815122468546012015-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:002015-03-11T08:26:07.929-07:00Bradenton, the Bahamas and Beyond 2015Wow, what a month, since we left Bradenton xmas day, we have been almost constantly in route heading south to the Carribean. Finally getting a chance to slow down and update the blog.<br /><br /><br /><br />Bradenton to Marathon<br /><br /><br /><br />Had a great sail to Marathon, we had a 6 day weather window and we took it! Left xmas day and arrived marathon the 27th, anchored and headed to Rodriquez key, then to Dinner key where we hung out for a couple le of weeks waiting on our buddy boats Stargazer and Casa Blanca.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/270.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_270.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Visited by some paddleboarders while on the ball at Dinner Key<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/271.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_271.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />The light house at Key Biscayne on our way into Biscayne bay and Dinner Key<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/272.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_272.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Inspired I try out the new inflatable paddleboard we bought in Bradenton<br /><br /><br />So after we met up with our buddy boats we waited for a weather window and we were off on the adventure! We left dinner key mooring field and anchored off of Key Biscayne near the sailing club so wrong could get a quick start to out crossing. We left at 3 am and were greeted with calm wind and seas, they built as the morning cane in until we were beam reaching in 17 knots on the beam from the north! We sailed all the way across the stream, arriving in Bimini at about 11am. We decided on Bimini Sands marina so we took slops there and cleared in at the airport.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/273.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_273.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />At the dock at Bimini Sands<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/274.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_274.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />More Bimini sands, got to love floating docks<br /><br /><br />Weather kept us in Bimini for 3 days, when we got the chance we scooted around the north side and headed to Frazier hog. <br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/275.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_275.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Fishing was good on the way to Nassau, caught 2 Mahi and one Wahoo!<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/276.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_276.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Love those Mahi<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/277.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_277.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />More for the freezer!<br /><br /><br /><br />As the weather was pretty calm we decided to anchor on the banks near the north west channel light and spend the night. Up early the next morning we sailed across the new providence channel to west bay whet we anchored up for another night before heading to Normans cay into the Exumas. <br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/278.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_278.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />West bay Nassau , calm in a east wind!<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/280.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_280.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />West bay, Nassau, our buddy boats in the distance<br /><br /><br />Had a brisk east wind do it was a 6 hr motor, not much fun but you got to endure some pain every once in a while. From Normans we headed south to a Staniel cay form fuel, then down 5 miles to black point for Bread! Next morning off again out the cut and had a fantastic 45 mile beam reach in the sound down to georgetown!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We stayed in Georgetown several day waiting for a window to head to the a Turks! We got a great opportunity with a cold front so we took the shot and were able to sail, no motoring except the 40 miles from Georgetown to the north tip of Long Island, 240 miles yo the Turks! Beam reached down Long Island then dipped south under the Aclins then se to the turks!<br /><br />Got to Wrst Cacios at 11 pm and dropped the hook. Tired Cowboys after about 34 straight hrs of passage making in big wind and following seas.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/282.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_282.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Anita puts up the Turks and Cacios courtsey flag after we cleared in!our<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/283.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_283.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Marina at Provo, we couldn't stay there, too shallow, ran aground on our way in and had to be pulled off.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/284.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_284.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />First meal in the Turks! Really beautiful view<br /><br /><br />Next day we headed to Sapadillia bay and spent a night there before heading east to the Provo area. The Turks are sure a lot more prosperous then the Exumas! The water I'd just as clear though!<br /><br />After spending 4 days in the probe area off we went south east to the south Cacios area to,prepare go jump to the DR!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/285.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_285.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Dingy dock at south Cacios <br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/286.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_286.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Pretty laundry at south Cacios <br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/287.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_287.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Those out of focus pink things are flamingos.<br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=15/03/11/289.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/15/03/11/s_289.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />The south Cacios are famous for there flamingos and whales and we saw several breaches as we approached the entrance to the Harbour.<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-83792625392135642902015-01-14T17:41:00.001-08:002015-01-14T17:41:32.160-08:00<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-28005400623752336542014-12-25T14:54:00.001-08:002014-12-25T14:54:22.022-08:00First night at Anchor Since June !Anchored for the night after escaping the clutches of Twin Dolphins Marina, been there since October 5, it's time to stretch our sea legs again. If all goes well were headed for the lesser Antilles, BVI,Grenada and Trinidad!<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/12/25/506.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/12/25/s_506.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />Pic off the back of Discovery facing west, Christmas Day sunset<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/12/25/507.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/12/25/s_507.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- <br />Pic of Wild Dolphin, our buddy boat going down to Marathon, it'd a Island Packet 40.<br /><br />Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pics%20from%20Elliot%20Point,%20Bradenton&z=10'>Pics from Elliot Point, Bradenton</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-59443037201753854272014-12-25T14:46:00.001-08:002014-12-25T14:46:51.153-08:00Well episode 3 of the S/V Discovery mission to go places we never gone,see things we've never seen, explore galaxies we've ..... Oops that's another series . Well we have left the marina and are anchored at the mouth of the manatee river ready to head offshore to run down to marathon. Ultimately are destination is Miami and we appear to have the mother of all weather windows! Let's hope it holds, Christmas 2014 will be remembered for a easy exit from the marina and a quiet nite o our new super anchor, PM as we call it short for Preying Mantus) has quite a bite! Will sleep safe and secure knowing he's on the job! Merry Christmas everyone! More soon<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Discovery%20is%20off%20on%20another%20adventure&z=10'>Discovery is off on another adventure</a></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-16548053404106600662014-12-10T07:40:00.000-08:002014-12-10T07:40:16.982-08:00New Year.....New Adventure<b>Caribe .....here we come</b><br />
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<b>Looks like we are headed this winter to the Caribbean</b><br />
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<b> WOW! But more on that latter, first things first?..</b><br />
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<b>Well the holidays will be here before you know it, and it's time to turn our attention to the next chapter of our adventure on Discovery! It's been a busy 5 months since we put Discovery on the hard in St Pete and set off on our summer tour to reconnect with our family! Thankfully our visit with our kids, parents, aunts, sisters and brothers all went very well and we found everyone in good spirits and good health!</b><br />
<b>We returned to Discovery in early October and got there in time to see her bottom get a fresh coat of paint and her cutlass bearing get replaced! After some touch up on her boot stripe she was splashed and we motored her across Tampa Bay to Twin dolphins marina where we began the process of putting all the gear we stowed for hurricane season back on her. Boy was there a bunch of stuff to put back together, dig out of lockers and carry up on deck to make her a fully functioning cruiser again! Thankfully the buckets of damp rid we left below decks did the job and we didn't come back to a mold farm like I worried about while we were away!</b><br />
<b>After a week of endless trips up and down the companionway steps we finally got Discovery back to the home we remember, but then the dreaded to-do list popped it's ugly head up..... All the things that broke during our last trip to the Bahamas, all the wish list items we wrote down last season, all the deferred or reg maintaince that needs to be done to systems on the boat, all take their place on a seemingly endless list of things that need to be completed before we once again cast the dock lines off here at Twin Dolphins!</b><br />
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<b>With only about 3 weeks to go before we fly back to Ft Worth for the birth of our daughters first child, we set about punching each of about 30 items off that list!</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-24533870847871626232014-11-06T07:04:00.001-08:002014-11-06T07:04:29.242-08:00It's a girl!!Our Daughter Alissa became a mother one week ago today! Little Lilly Renee Bloch came into our lives weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces at 6:35 AM! We are currently in Ft Worth soaking up baby time. The adventure will continue sometime mid December we will be back on the boat heading to Miami and a crossing early in January!! <br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/116196303814996429331/SailboatDiscovery?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDU8-b6kvX8hAE#6078607813557526610'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIng6Dx5JkyWSOcKup_n41D6OZabwhN2WTjLqasRRg3jG63Ir6YdjfH6YV1APawV2VWdFFLqyvohTTM8a3Ky4nMowCmUZLbkUjwL-R-6TN3tPKmQodPMVeuzXTlWS3pbVceTa6Pz7J-6W/s288/45.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/116196303814996429331/SailboatDiscovery?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDU8-b6kvX8hAE#6078607890481017202'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrHyJpDqZtttZa0faLAtwcx5RoIspnzNnKkk1HI8ghNRJkKpqVNiqWHSpxj0Sm41EQkHnpr569Dm8eDI2SOJDFYcL7koFcBxzAnUxPV5r72SZles4pglwNxhOvtMmWTdUfDcA4FPex6hp/s288/46.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/116196303814996429331/SailboatDiscovery?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDU8-b6kvX8hAE#6078608147326973250'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMGSGeTWqeozvZiWPXJ03whLN3OgDwJuuDSCq0Ni0OOQNARSDnph56bdRCsW_86_t8UmFZFjBsapiF_PN0OWOYJsOwhxac3CsscIscHZkqoguEcTOnzAxJLrx7Yq8vbviX9nL5qMej5wv/s288/47.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/116196303814996429331/SailboatDiscovery?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDU8-b6kvX8hAE#6078608225675978274'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZRzcZAFoL8vKdFT3QeN3TGoyyBv29R8ryXs6AB17fUaoNM8PhM3z7e5yUq-WGaO-oNlzC58gCdiKmsa-ZMJg87DvHY5gc7OEmVgkT3wxlwFrewA7hluhyN-Rem77XxhkMBL5phzj3ZaLD/s288/49.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-35167369812524810432014-06-11T10:17:00.001-07:002014-06-11T10:17:51.753-07:00Return from the Bahamas<br />After our kids flew home from Staniel Cay we bounced around the central Exumas for a few days till our friends on Stargazer and Casa Blanca and Tis Good returned from the Turks and we had a reunion at Big Major! We all messed about around Big Major and then spent a few days at Cambridge Cay on the moorings! It was early May now and we all were ready to head North and point our bows to the good old USA! We jumped off from Normans Cay and sailed to Nassaus' west bay? We spent one night anchored there and then off across the New Providence channel to Frazier Hog. <br /><br />Again one night at anchor and then head east for the over niter to Bimini, we anchored up on the west side just off the beach hoping for a good nite sleep and then the jump across the Gulf Stream to Miami. Unfortunately the wind and surge prevented much sleep, so at first light we were off, it blew 25 knots from the south east and we sailed with 5-6 ft waves on our stern quarter, our most exciting crossing so far and our least comfortable. All went well though and we hit Biscayne channel at about 3 pm that afternoon and were anchored up on the west side of Key Biscayne and enjoyed a calm nights sleep finally!<br /><br /><br />Next morning it was off to the Dinner Key mooring field and the delights of a Coconut a Grove, one of our most fav stops on the east coast.<br /><br />After a week at Dinner Key we were ready to continue south to Marathon, our plan was to hang out on a ball at the mooring field and then continue or journey back up to Tampa where we planned to leave the boat for the summer while it waited out hurricane season and we visited friends and family in the SUV we left at Twin Dolphins Marina. While in Marathon I was able to arrange to have all 4 of our house batteries exchanged for new ones at West Marine. It worked out well since the boatyard was right next to the west marine. It's great to have 4 fresh batteries to start our next journey!<br /><br />Eventually we got a window to head north. Like last January we made the overnite trip from Marathon to Venice and spent a night on the face dock at Crows Nest. <br /><br />We were Refreshed after a good night sleep and the first day hooked up to shore power in 5 months! (It was hard to believe we had managed to spend only 2 nights in a marina since we left twin dolphins Jan 7th!) And the two nights we spent in Nassau we didn't hook up to the shore power! <br /><br />We got up the next morning to a strong wind so we decided to use the ICW and head for Sarasota and their mooring field. It was only a 3 hr trip and we got the ball with no issues and put the dink down and off for lunch and shopping in Sarasota.<br /><br />Next morn we set out for the last leg of our adventure, the trip back to Twin Dolphins! It was non eventful and by lunchtime we were safely back tied up at twin dolphins in a slip just one boat away where we left from, over 2 thousand miles slipped under our keel since that morning 5 months ago!<br /><br />At this writing were busy washing the accumulated sand and rust that a boat builds up after 5 months in the tropics!<br /> <br />Playing golf living in air conditioned comfort and running errands in our car is a real adjustment from the life we just left in the Bahamas!<br /><br />Below are some more pics from the last parts of our trip<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/585.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_585.jpg' border='0' width='209' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- <br />The last Barracuda caught on the trip, this one between nassaua and Bimini<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/586.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_586.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />While in Marathon the wind cooperated one day and we took the dink the 2 miles out to Sombreo Key light and had a great snorkel trip, the reef and the water were every bit as good as the Bahamas .<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/587.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_587.jpg' border='0' width='209' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />Out with the old in with the new, batteries that is!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/588.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_588.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/589.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_589.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />While at the boatyard in Marathon changing the batteries we were busted by these guys, we always see Manatees in the boatyard there!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/590.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_590.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='280' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />This trip to Marathon we rented a car for a day and went up to key largo and islamoralda, we spent a few hrs at the dolphin research center, the dolphins there are amazing and they preform almost constantly,could have taken hundreds of pics!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/591.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_591.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />While in marathon we caught up to friends from Kemah, on Daddys Money a 57 ft Nordhaven, they were dock mates of ours at waterford marina, Joe is pictured at breakfast with his drink of choice while at the stuffed pig, the bacon Bloody Mary !<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/06/11/593.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/06/11/s_593.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />Sunset on our way from Marathon to Venice.<br /><br /><br /><br />Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-877286979429442627.post-19830020506315575952014-05-10T14:08:00.001-07:002014-05-10T14:17:57.892-07:00After the Ragged IslandsWe returned to the southern Exumas after our 3 week adventure in the Jumento and Ragged island chain. Our friends Mark and Kathy from Nancy Lu joined us on a week of exploring Cambridge Cay area! After they left for Eluthera we bounced around the central Exumas between cambridge and black point until our Daughter Alissa and her hubby Jason flew into Staniel for a weeks visit. We had a great time showing them our favorite spots around the central Exumas. We visited Wardrick, Cambridge, Staniel, Big Major, and Black Point. Had a great Time! Pics below<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/715.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_715.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/716.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_716.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/717.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_717.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- <br />Above pics are at the Staniel Cay Yacht club, just walked back from the airstrip after the kids flew in!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/718.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_718.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/719.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_719.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=14/05/10/720.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/14/05/10/s_720.jpg' border='0' width='280' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><br />Pics from a snorkel trip at Cambridge Cay! These were taken at the sandbar that's next to the aquarium snorkel sight at Cambridge! Alissa found some beautiful conch, and her and Jason posed with the squall in the background. That squall had just finished dropping a water spout!<br /><br /><br /><br />Posted using BlogPress from my iPhonevg<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422063866188515641noreply@blogger.com0