Montserrat Coastline & on to Guadeloupe

June 1st, 2008 The Montserrat Coastline

0540…We've had another early start. Randy has read via Navtex that there is a tropical storm off Belize that may play havoc with us here on the other side of the Caribbean---higher seas and winds. We’ll see. We may have to turn back.

Where are the East winds?? The winds are in fact coming from the South.. Both sails are up; wind then no wind.

0620 hrs. Motor off, we’re doing up to 7.2 knots. I can smell ash in the air and then we can see it.
We have read the volcano is in fact active right now and we need to keep a good two miles off the island.

0700 We’re off Plymouth which was destroyed in 1997 when the Soufriere Hill Volcano blew. We can see the remains of some buildings. It is quite eerie.

Our trip across the Guadeloupe Passage was quite uneventful. We tried on and off to sail with not much luck. The seas were a gentle5-7 foot swell and the wind, what wind we had was on our nose. We were doing 2 knots. We figure at this speed it would take us 15 hours to get to Deshaies (pronounced DAY-hay). Not a good plan. So, by now you know the drill….motor back on.

By 1345 we are in Deshaies, Guadeloupe anchored in 18.4 feet—

George: N16 degrees 18.451; W61 degrees 47.836

Deshaies is definitely a picturesque fishing village. We’re on the NW coast of Guadeloupe. To-day we traveled approximately 44nm.

Guadeloupe was known by the Caribs as Karukera; Island of Pretty Waters. It is part of France and has a population of 330,000. Guadeloupe is in fact two islands shaped like a lopsided butterfly with a river; Riviere Salee separating each half. For whatever reason Basse Terre (meaning lowland) is mountainous where as Grand Terre (large island) is actually smaller in size and not mountainous.

We are most impressed with how clean Deshaies is.

Manon checking out the shops.

Incredibily tidy homes.

Stopping for a little French Cuisine.

Gervais, Randy and Manon

Monday, June 2nd.

0900hrs and we are on our way to clear customs. We find the office and it is not open until 1300hrs.

We walk through town with Manon and Gervais, checking out all the fabulous little shops, plus we check the weather at a WIFI stop.

1300hrs. Back we go to Customs and Immigration which turns out to be very simple and straight forward.. There are no fees.

We tried to get some produce at the local grocery but it was closed. We assume it will reopen sometime between 1400 and 1500hrs after siesta time. So we decide to go for a nice cold drink and enjoy the scenery.

Back to the grocer and it is still closed. Meeting a lady on the sidewalk she explained there had been a funeral to-day and many shops would stay closed for up to nine days. Well, I guess we won’t be getting any fresh fruit or vegetables.

The guide book is correct---the wind is funneling down into the baie---keeping the bugs away…Hooray!!

There is very,very little English spoken here in Deshaies. Business is all in Euros. Thank you to Manon and Gervais helping us translate. We will have to come back to this pretty spot for a longer visit.

We have decided not to stop further down the Guadeloupe Coast but head directly 28.9nm to Les Saintes.

The Islands That Brush the Clouds

May 26th—St. Kitts
0700hrs. I awoke to Randy starting the motor. Time to leave the fuel dock. We actually managed to walk the boat down the dock and tied her stern too. This marina is in fact not that large. It is a 25 acre site that they reclaimed from the sea. There is a lot of construction going on, but most of the buildings are empty and not too many tourists. To us it looks really over built. A cruise ship does come in once a week.


"Historical Society" Building

We were up all last night, Randy chasing mosquitoes. We’ve put the mosquito netting on all the hatches.

0900hrs. We went to check in at Customs and Immigration. No one was there and we were asked to come back in about an hour. So we went exploring and had a bit of breakfast at “Ballahoo’s” which is a restaurant overlooking the “Circus”.

01030hrs. Back at Customs and Immigration; everything very easy and straight forward. I think we were keeping the Customs official up. He couldn’t stop yawning.

Back at the boat Randy hooked up power so we can treat ourselves to air conditioning. The power will be 30 cents a unit and the water 10 cents a gallon.

May 27th. We’ve gone on long walks today and probably will rent a car tomorrow.
Getting back to the boat around 1800hours, we look out into the Baie and who do we see but La Bete…We hailed them and they’ll come by tomorrow for a visit.

One of the many narrow streets in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts.

May 28th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN. We love you and miss you and hope you have a wonderful day...We bet you are having Dairy Queen Cake???

La Bete decided to come into the Marina as they had such a rolly night. We met for lunch and on our way back to the boats ran into a tour guide. We will probably go with him tomorrow instead of renting a car. We found out where to do the laundry so that is our main task for today.

1800hrs. We’re ready to move on. What has been a good experience is starting to deteriorate. We can’t sit in the cockpit without locals “hanging” off the rails. It is surprising really because there are always two security guards on at all times and you would think they would ask the people to move on....Oh; one of the guys is a security guard.

May 29th. We’ve had a great island tour with our guide “Junie”. Manon and Gervais (La Bete); along with Steve, Odelkis and Isabela (Seven Bridges) joined us.

St. Kitts is known to the Caribs as Liamuiga; the fertile land.

Junie started our tour in the capital city of Basseterre showing us the highlights which included the prison right down town. We went around the “Circus” which is in the center of town. (Like our old round about that we had at Douglas, Government, Gorge and Hillside intersection) Basseterre has a tall Victorian Clock in the center.

Our first stop was Romney Manor which is a historic 17th Century sugar plantation. We saw the largest tree on the island; a 350year old Saman Tree. The tree covered half an acre. The five acres of garden were gorgeous. We had to watch our step when we got out of the van as it was “raining” Mangoes. The Manor is occupied by Caribelle Batik.

What a great idea for an old wagon wheel.

We watched a demonstration on how the Batik is done. It was not only amazing but truly beautiful.

And then of coarse we had to shop!! The prices were incredibly reasonable.

And for those of you who know me best and my love for gardening I continue to gather ideas.

We could of spent at least another hour in these beautiful gardens.

Our next stop was the Brimstone Hill Fortress; “The Gibraltor of the Caribbean”. It was incredible. We could see Statia to the North but with all the cloud cover it was difficult to see south of Nevis. The fort is now a National Park and is in the process of being restored. It encompasses 37 acres and is the second largest fort (to Haiti’s Citadel) and the most complete in the Caribbean. Junie said we may see the shy green velvet monkeys that had been imported by the French and then released. Junie said there are more monkeys on the island than residents, and there are 33,000 residents.

Unfortunately we did not see any monkeys.

But we can see Statia off in the distance.

St. Kitts is 18 miles long by 6 miles wide. Some say it is shaped like a chicken leg. St. Kitts also has a volcano Mt. Liamuiga which is 3792 feet high and the last stop of our tour was at the “Black Rocks” which are huge lava formations in the sea from Mt. Liamuiga’s eruption.

With me here is Manon, Steve and his family, Odelkis and their daughter Isabela (Seven Bridges) and Gervais.

Friday May 30th.

0800hrs. Went to the Marine Office to check out. No one there. (Yes we checked yesterday to see what time they opened.)
0810hrs. Next on to Customs, no one there. “Try coming back at 0845” we're told. OKAY
Off to the Royal Bank where yesterday when I thought we were getting US dollars we had in fact got EC’s (Eastern Caribbean). Then back to the Marina office and Customs. By 0910hrs we’re leaving the dock and on our way to Nevis.

We’re traveling 7 plus knots (port tack) with La Bete on our starboard beam.

By 01130 we’re on a mooring buoy in 18.7 feet of water
Sorry George lately I have been forgetting to put the lat and longs in for you, so here they are: 17degrees 08910N 62degrees 37895W
There must be 70 mooring buoys here and only five boats. We have taken down the St. Kitts flag and put up the Q.

Nevis looks like a spot we should come back to if we head north next year. We’ve read the island can easily be seen by bicycle. Christopher Columbus named the island Las Nieves because the clouds clinging to the volcano he claimed looked like snow. Nevis’ volcano is named Nevis Peak and stands 1049 meters high. Nevis is almost 15 miles square. The sea island cotton is grown on Nevis and is used in the Caribelle batiks on St. Kitts. Nevis also exports ginger and they still grow sugar cane. It looks beautiful and lush from our mooring.

Sat. May 31st.

0520hrs and we’re up and the coffee is on.
0600hrs. Leaving the buoy under sail for Montserrat.
0610hrs. Rats---not enough wind---motor on
0630 Main and foresail out, motor off and doing 5.8knots. We’ve got gentle rolling 1 to 2 foot seas and the winds have picked up
0700 Seas are rising; winds are dying---go figure. We are down to 1.7 knots. Yes, time for the motor.
0945 We went around one squall… Not exactly great out here today. After such a great day sailing yesterday today is reminding us it was not the norm.

Tacking to Redonda

1500hrs. We are in Little Bay in Montserrat. Port Authority have advised La Bete and ourselves we must move; we are in the ferry channel….No markers, but we will move.

We actually are a little disappointed we will not have enough time to do some sight-seeing here. If we go to shore it will be at least $100US for maybe 3hours of sightseeing. So instead we will fly our Q flag and leave around 0500hrs tomorrow for Guadeloupe.

Will it be St. Barth or St. Kitts???

May 24th, 2008---Heading for ??

May 23rd. Our last happy hour at the Yacht Club with La Bete (Manon and Jervais)and Rum Runner (Jay and Jen).

May 24th.

0630 We’re on our way.. The bridge on the Dutch side of Simpson lagoon does not open until 0930 so we have time for a leisurely coffee and bit of breakfast.. Winds should be 10-15 knots seas around four feet. Both from the ESE, We are still being flexible -----do we go the 25 nm to St. Barth (St. Barts) or the 55 nm to St. Kitts. We’ll wait until we’re out in the channel to decide. It is cloudy this morning….We are having to do a bit of a “dance” with five other boats waiting to leave the lagoon

0940 We are through the bridge ….Au Revoir St. Martin/St. Maarten

We have a gentle swell ; the motor is off and the main and foresail are out…We are doing 4 knots.

1400 hours.. We managed to sail only 1/3 of the way. Winds totally died off and then came back on our nose. St. Barts it is!!!

We’re in St. Barts and we have our Q flag up. We’ve decided not to go to shore.

1900hrs. Really a rolly anchorage primarily due to boat traffic. We hope to leave as soon as there is enough light.

Another beautiful sunset.

Sunday May 25th PICS

0500hrs. We’re up as we want an early start…Ohhhh Ohhh---We can see squalls out in the channel ---we will sit tight

0600hrs. Sure enough we are getting rained on in the Baie.

0630 A Mooring 51 has come and anchored right beside us. Like 20 feet a way…Time to go.
0645 Our anchor is up …Had to use a bit of reverse to keep away from the Mooring 51. It’s definitely brighter looking the way we are headed.

Both sails out and we have 6 foot swells. We are doing anywhere from 4.2 to 7.2 knots. If the swells would only settle down we would have a great run.

1030hrs. Feels like we are finally making headway. Swells continue to be 6 feet plus.

1100hrs. We have reduced sail as we are going between St. Lucia and St. Kitts and there is some ugly weather ahead of us.

1230hrs. Rand tried to go around the squall and we almost made it. This channel which is to the north of St. Kitts is full of short interval high seas. The bow constantly is crashing into the seas.. We’re also starting to see fish traps. We have to keep really close watch now so we don’t get them caught in our prop.

1500hrs. We’re in the bay off Basseterre and it is really rolly. We can see a breakwater and sailboats behind it. This is the new Port Zante Marina. Hailing the Marina they have said they have room for us. We decide at 75 cents a foot we may as well treat ourselves and get out of these swells. We have not been in a Marina since last June. We’ve been put at the fuel dock for the night. The people seem very friendly.

1700hrs. We’ve already enjoyed the amenity of the long, yes nice and long warm showers. Because of last nights poor sleep in Anse du Corossol-North of Gustavia on St. Barts, we both are more than ready for a relaxing evening. We can not leave the marina grounds until we check in with Customs tomorrow morning which is fine with us.

Randy helping out in the galley.