Our Passage South 2014

June 20^th 2014

Position 14° 26.357’ N
               60° 52.899’ W

View Larger Map

Every time we get ready to make passage it is a bitter sweet affair, we are leaving the safety of a port which we have become familiar with and are heading out into the unknown again so there is the excitement too which is always experienced and associated with going to sea! Les Saintes are a special part of the Caribbean, small islands, civilized and sophisticated. Part of Guadeloupe, the small collection of islands are situated just to the south. They are west of Marie Galante, the other bigger island belonging to Guadeloupe, and north of the next island to the south which is Dominica. Our stays here are always pleasant and provide a break from the more underdeveloped islands and the more blatant and desperate behaviours demonstrated in their people’s quest to both survive and develop. I refer, for example, to the boat boys of Union Island and St. Lucia’s Pitons Bay at Soufriere who are aggressive in their quest for your business, they almost fight among themselves in order to gain the right to assist one to pick up a mooring.  

This young cruiser woke up to his dinghy sinking so he
quickly swam ashore towing it to the beach! 

A change also from the commerce of the British Virgin Islands where a mooring ball will cost you US$35 per night, this is not to mention the compulsory necessity to buy another parks permit to allow the use of the daytime moorings at the must-see venues, expensive! The French islands are inexpensive to visit although many commodities are a little more expensive…but, oh the food! We look forward to visiting every island and enjoy all their unique experiences; don’t misunderstand me we are not deterred from visiting any of the islands because of the poverty we encounter or because of boat boy behaviour, once the tussle between them is over and we have our assigned ‘boy’ everything calms down and we are fine. On Union Island we were harassed ashore by an individual who insisted on disposing of our garbage and then had to introduce us to his Aunt who ran a local fruit and vegetable stall and then a friend who ran the local rum shop and on it went, we couldn’t deter him from following us everywhere and found it very unpleasant.


From our mooring - Les Saintes

Ann & Steve from s/v Receta
in Les Saintes

In the bay where the mooring field is situated the water is deep, 40’ or more but a beautiful deep blue. We swam daily from the stern of the boat. Of course one does have to witness the daily nude displays from the French sailors while they either just take their daily swim or perform their evening bath routine! The island of Terre-de-Haut, the main island of the group, is hilly but not to challenging to be walked. We did explore and visited some of the recommended spots. Les Saintes are a tranquil destination and we find it easy to relax here and enjoy the ‘flavours’ of France. The people seem to have time for you and are friendly towards cruisers and tourists. Martinique and Guadeloupe on the other hand are bustling large islands with much more of a feeling akin to mainland France. Don’t misunderstand me we love the bigger islands too, I am just explaining the differences. As cruisers we need all the islands, each one offers a different set of services ranging from good provisioning and sophisticated marine services on the larger islands to locally grown non GMO vegetables from a small roadside grocery store and eggs from the free range chickens which we find on the smaller less populated islands.  The locally grown food reminds us of a time when the quality of food was better. The bright yellow yoked eggs instead of the milky white tasteless ones that dominate the shelves in most large supermarkets nowadays are like the ones our mothers used to get when we were children. The smaller islands give us a ‘getaway’, a relaxing aura where we can walk deserted beaches, snorkel in coves and on reefs where we are the only people. At happy hour we can visit the local watering hole, where we invariably see familiar faces from what is really a small cruising community. The proprietors in most of the establishments make time to talk and remember our names from the last time we were there, six months before…   

Slipping the mooring lines we left Les Saintes and headed south toward the western lee side of Dominica. Again we are not stopping in Dominica. We are told that Dominica is the poorest but most spectacular island in the West Indies, it is nature’s wonderland. We are told too that the people are special and the most ‘generous’, not materially but in their attitude and demeanour, just wonderful people. We will visit, maybe next year… 

A green flash in a about minute!

Our next stop is Le Marin, Martinique where we will stock up with great French provisions at Leader Price our favourite grocery store in the Caribbean! Not only is the food good but the selection is wonderful too; the wine shelves offer a good and inexpensive choice. Leader Price has a dinghy dock which makes the whole experience easy, no buses or long walks with arms being pulled out of their sockets, just cart to dinghy and dinghy to boat, perfect! Our course south will take us along the west coast of Dominica which is a mountainous island and thus offers considerable lee. We will enjoy this for about 4 to 4½ hours when we usually use the time to cook and eat a meal, filter fuel and refill our day tank, not because we have to but it is just easier in the calm lee waters. At night, especially if a moon is shining brightly, one can see the silhouette of the tall mountains towering skyward, it seems we are much closer to the land than we are, all a little eerie but nonetheless spectacular. In the channel between Dominica and Martinique the equatorial current is fierce and is running in a northerly direction so we can take up to 5 hours to cover the 21 miles between the two islands. Once behind Martinique again we are in calmer waters until we round the ‘corner’ at the southern end of the island and head windward for the last 9nm to the channel leading into the protected enclosed harbour of Le Marin. Le Marin is at the SE corner of Martinique and is protected well by a large spit of land extending southward for about 3 miles. The area of protected water in the bay is huge and there are many places to anchor. We usually start off close to Leader Price and then once our shopping is done move to a more remote location within the harbour or we cruise a few miles to Sainte-Anne where the water is so clear and there is a beautiful sandy beach. Le Marin is still accessible from Sainte-Anne in JP our fast dinghy and takes about 20 minutes. Le Marin also has every tradesman one might need and all seem very qualified. Having had a repair done here on a previous visit highlighted to me that sometimes it is better to pay a higher price and have the job done right first time and in half the time rather than have the job attempted by a lesser qualified person who is unpunctual and may or may not do the job correctly; often the case on many islands. The difference in cost at the end of the day is minimal. One doesn’t have to chase the workman either, he is usually there when and at what time he says! Surprise! After two years here in the Caribbean we are leaning and have a good handle on which islands are good for what. We even long for individual locations on certain islands where we can buy great locally baked bread!  

Sainte-Anne is a small quiet town, more a village actually, it is touristy and has all the little shops that sell trinkets and souvenirs. It is a popular cruisers haunt and is blessed with a great dinghy dock, a beautiful beach and a selection of small restaurants. We always make water here as the water is so clean and clear. Once we have negotiated the reefs that are between the main Le Marin channel and Sainte-Anne one can anchor in 8’ – 18’ of ‘swimming’ water! We usually choose to anchor near the beach which offers a lot of wind protection. Most of the sailing boats especially those that have wind generators anchor further out where there is more wind but the water is a little choppier. One can clear in now in Sainte-Anne, one of the local bar restaurants is now authorized and has the familiar computer in place. The cost here is 2EU’s compared to the 5 charged by the marina in Le Marin. The French islands cater well to cruisers and welcome us everywhere.

During our visit to Le Marin we made a reservation in the very nice marina to meet with the Victron Energy distributor, who we know; Frédéric Moser came on-board to look over the new wiring we had done in BVI’s and also to re-programme our Victron inverter/charger so it could work to its full capability, remember we had thus far only been able to charge at a reduced rate of 80 amps rather than the full 120 amps which it is capable of. We also had Frédéric install a Victron monitoring gauge so we can see exactly what is happening with our electrical system. Finally six months after the installation of our new inverter we have everything working properly! I cannot describe the wonderful feeling that having reliability in the electrical department provides…we are relaxed not worried about our generator breaking down, not always being required to check the temperature of the wiring, worrying about fire! We have a freedom now that you would’ve had to experience our previous problems in order to appreciate.   

Cruising past the Pitons

St. Lucia, the next island south, is our next stop. Our plan is to spend a short time in Rodney Bay and wait for a good weather window to make passage to Bequia, one of the Grenadines, where friends, who we haven’t seen in a while, are anchored. In Rodney Bay we met up with Bruce on ‘Wild Matilda’ and Dave and Trudie on ‘Persephone’. We only spent a few days here but unfortunately during those few days we were robbed one night! Two nice folding teak chairs were taken from our aft deck. Another boat in the anchorage fared worse than us and were boarded and lost money, credit cards and passports.

Passing a beautiful yacht on a beautiful day.

St. Lucia, sadly, is now the leading island for this type of crime. The island authorities are stepping up security in the hope of curbing the crime. We, along with other cruisers, are hoping that there will be an improvement as currently we are reluctant to visit. From St. Lucia we passaged overnight to Bequia, another small island that we like. We first visited Bequia 20 years ago when we were married on Young Island, St. Vincent. The island has changed little and the same laundry boat and other waterborne vendors were present. The island is quaint, there is a stone and concrete walking path along the waterfront which connects shops, watering holes and restaurants. A choice of beaches abound. Les on ‘Golightly’ was there and Dave, Trudie and Bruce followed us down from St. Lucia. We also met two French cruisers Sylvie & Rene. We all had a get-together one evening at the Whaleboner for cocktails with pizza afterwards at Macs which was a fun time. 


Bequia

Friend John's boat 'Stingo'

By now it is July and hurricane season is upon us, it is time to head further south once more…our next stop is Mayreau a small island that is the gathering place for exploring the Tobago Keys, one of the most beautiful areas in the eastern Caribbean. We only stayed in Mayreau for one night but did go ashore with Les from ‘Golightly’ and met some great people, South Africans from Cape Town. They, along with their two grown-up children, had taken a sabbatical from their lives in SA in order to cruise the eastern Caribbean for a year. We became friends and have stayed in touch ever since. We have just learned that they are planning on returning in three years to resume their eastern Caribbean cruising!

One of the beaches we visited every
day to swim in Bequia.

From Mayreau we continued on to Carriacou an island just north of Grenada and part of the Grenadian archipelago. Carriacou, as I have probably mentioned before, is definitely one of our favourite islands. Tyrell Bay, where we choose to stay, is a superb anchorage, it is calm with nice clear water for water making and swimming. Around the bay are bars, restaurants three small grocery stores. One can buy free range eggs, chickens and locally grown vegetables. We feel healthy here and have grown to love this place. We know some locals, some ‘Belongers’ as they are referred to, and feel safe here. There is no crime that we have heard of and we can leave ‘Partners’ unlocked most of the time. Many of our closer friends spend time here and the local bars are always patronized by familiar faces…Ms Lucky’s on a Saturday night is the place to be, a small restaurant where Ms. Lucky barbeques chicken, pork and potato wedges for a mere EC$12 or US$4.50 and the beer is cheap and ice cold.
  


'Partners' our trusty steed.


Our trip from St. Lucia to Mayreau and on to Carriacou was uneventful. The weather at this time of the year provides longer periods of calm seas which make it easier for us to go to sea.

Always hard to leave, Carriacou yet again has provided our fix for relaxed quiet island living. Grenada was 6 hours south, we headed out accompanied by our friend Les, to where we would spend three months until our final trek south to Trinidad where we would be hauled out for bottom paint and some other minor jobs. We have had an expensive year this year what with a new generator, radar and new battery and inverter/charger wiring, so to anchor in Grenada as opposed to berthing in a marina will give us an inexpensive summer to replenish the cruising coffers.  

Carriacou 'Fun Runner'.

Our Bengy Bay anchor buddy,
friend Terry on Libertad

A female Frigate bird.

A typical Carriacou scene.

Arriving in Grenada we entered Prickly Bay where we cleared in and were granted a three month stay. After a day of rolling badly we moved east round to Clarkes Court Bay and Bengy Bay where we like to anchor. Our good friend Terry on board s/v Libertad anchored next to us and we spent the next three months swimming, fishing and having fun in the bay. Of course we explored parts of Grenada that we hadn’t seen before. We had a good time, dinghy concerts, BBQ’s on the beach at Rogers on Hog Island and weekly music jams at Whisper Cove Marina. Grenada is a fun island with plenty going on! 

Crews Inn Marina, Chaguaramas,
Trinidad and Tobago

Your truly!

At the beginning of October we sailed south to Trinidad. We had made a reservation in Crews Inn for just three weeks before our haul-out at Peake Yachting Services on the 5^th November so we were looking forward to some shopping in town and some soaking in the marina pool. We quickly discovered who was here and reunited with many other cruising friends. We spent time with Chuck and Barb on ‘Tusen Takk II’, another Kadey Krogen, enjoying several get-togethers and meals together. Chuck and Barb have been cruising the Eastern Caribbean for 8 years and are a wealth of knowledge. They introduced us to their friends Michael and Roberta on s/v Celilo’ and we enjoyed several outings including two ‘dinner and a movie’ excursions. Trinidad has it all, malls, restaurants galore, everything, it is like a mini America. Our haul-out went well and we left Peake’s on the 25^th November after three weeks on the hard...