In lieu of actually writing…

Compared to the tropical langour that set in during our 5 week stint in St. Martin, we’ve kept up a lightning pace. We’ve taken a more “check it off the list” approach, rather than trying to steep ourselves in the every nuance of each place we visit. While I think there’s a lot to be said for the latter approach, right now we’re getting the most pleasure out of movement. The downside is that sitting at my computer and writing has fallen by the wayside. The desire to write is confined to the morning hours, but those are also when we tend to sail or go exploring on island.

The last blog post left off on our first night in St. Kitts, all the way back on January 3rd. Trying to recap everything that’s occurred seems like it would be both painful to write and for anyone to read – “and then and then and then.” However, it seems worthwhile to at least document our movements, so I’m copying the month of January straight from my personal trip log. It’s not interesting and provides no context for most of the individual notes – it’s intended audience being myself alone – but it’s better than nothing for now. You’ll at least know where we are now and where we’ve been.

Trip Log – January 2016

1st – Gustavia, St. Barth – Left GC around 10:30am and spent some time tuning rig while under sail before heading to St. Barth. 20+ kts and occasional 8ft seas under double reefed main and small reef in jib. Mega yachts in full force. Anchored next to Cheeky Monkey, the Turf to Surf boat. Had drinks at Shell Beach with Ryan and Tasha and their guests. Had dinner and many more drinks on their boat afterwards.

2nd – Columbier, St. Barths – Went to town and sat at coffee shop interneting during day. Checked out and motored to Columbier for the night. Prepared boat for morning sail to St. Kitts. Ate steak, grilled veg and mashed potatoes for dinner and watched Hunger Games.

3rd – White House Bay, St. Kitts – Woke up at 5am and left Colombier at 6 headed for St. Kitts. Wind started light so motored south in lee of St. Barths where waves are minimal. Started with single reef and 15 kts when heading offshore. Waves 1m. Wind steadily increased out of ESE. Close reach to close hauled. Averaged well over 6 knots. Got squally so double reefed with reefed jib. Still doing well over 6. Wind went to 30ish for 2 hours but waves stayed less than 2m. Rounded St. Kitts at noon. Wind on nose so motored until we got to Basseterre in afternoon. Checked out Frigate and Friars bays but both were rolly so went south to White House. Excellent. Saw green flash.

4th – Ballast Bay, St. Kitts – Motored to Basseterre to check in and walked around town. Motored back to Ballast. Anchored in 25ft in sand right next to reef. Good snorkel – snared one lobster (but let it go) and speared one lion fish. First kill with the spear.

5th – Ballast Bay, St. Kitts – Motored to Frigate Bay in morning and took bus in to Basseterre. Ate chicken lunch from street vendor then took local bus around to St. Pauls. Walked couple miles then caught bus the rest of the way around the island back to Basseterre. Walked back to Frigate then motored to Ballast Bay.

6th – Ballast Bay, St. Kitts – Engine did not start in morning. Replaced both filters and bled lines and then she started. Long hunt in the afternoon. Cat and I each shot multiple lion fish.

7th – Pinney’s Beach, Nevis – Sailed to Nevis in morning. Caught barracuda on the way and released. Relaxed rest of the day.

8th – Pinney’s Beach, Nevis – Took buses around Nevis, picking up school kids along the way and dropping the off at their homes. Funny look at island life.

9th – Little Bay, Montserrat – Motored in light breeze from Nevis. Found anchorage to be calm with 4 or 5 other cruising boats. Paid $120EC over

10th – Little Bay, Montserrat – Great snorkel in morning. Toured island with Wilfred. Dove again in afternoon and shot lion fish and fed them to eels.

11th – Deshaies, Guadeloupe – Beautiful motor sail in extraordinarily calm conditions via windward side of Montserrat. Tried anchoring 5 times before giving up and tying on to an old mooring. Saw Spirited Lady of Foweyanchored but didn’t have time to say hi.

12th – Deshaies, Guadeloupe – Lazy day. Went spearfishing on north side of bay but visibility was only 20′ and we were diving in 20-30′. Shot one lion fish. Met up with Bill and Tinka (daughter is Cora) of CS 40 Proud Mary for drinks in town. Also met Paul and his wife of Day Star.

13th – Deshaies, Guadelupe – Another lazy day. Went on shore for a sandwich from the boulangerie. Walked a little way up the river. Had Bill and Tinka over for drinks and tour then we went over to their boat for more.

14th – Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe – Sailed down in morning. Dove around the islands in afternoon. Excellent sea life. Freediving was good – 40ish feet repeatedly. Ended with nose bleed.

15th – Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe – More diving. Ears a big problem so mainly just swam. Went around entire big island.

16th – Les Saintes – Sailed to Les Saintes, stopping at Basse Terre for fuel and water (separate slips, annoyingly) along the way. 3 tacks to get there, really good sailing on last one in 20kts. Came into Les Saintes at 7 knots on port tack. Walked around Terre De Haut in afternoon.

17th – Les Saintes – Hiked to top of tallest hill on Terre de Haut and climbed around in fort. Spearfished at the reef by Illet Cabrit in the afternoon. Shot a couple of lion fish and ate them for the first time.

18th – Les Saintes – Walked up to Fort Napoleon then over to Baie Pompiere. Spearfished outer reef in afternoon. Shot one grunt, one lion fish, and one grouper and ate them.

19th – Portsmouth, Dominica – Really nice sail down in the morning. A little squally at first then perfect 15-20kts on the beam the rest of the way. Put in a tack inside Rupert Bay and sailed right up to anchorage in front of Big Papa’s. Walked down to customs through town. Went out in the evening to Champs thinking there would be trivia but turned out to be dead. Still drank a ton of Kubuli and ate mediocre cheeseburger and quesadilla.

20th – Portsmouth, Dominica – Lazy morning then hired Lawrence of Arabia to take us up the Indian River. Marginally interesting.

21st – Portsmouth, Dominica – Rented car and drove clockwise around north half of island, taking much longer than expected. Visited cold sulfur springs, “Number One Beach” and a lot of good views. Ate at Shwarma King.

22nd – Portsmouth, Dominica – Went looking for waterfalls by driving around south end of island but were met with washed out roads. Eventually made it to Emerald Pool and then took the road along the Layou River, which was barely functional, but beautiful. Grilled chicken and made our own version of shwarma.

23rd – Portsmouth, Dominica – Boiling Lake hike with Bolo. More Shwarma King.

24th – Portsmouth, Dominica – Slow morning, really sore. Returned car and sailed down to Roseau and prepped boat for passage to Martinique.

25th – St. Pierre, Martinique – Dropped mooring at 0500. Squall at dawn just south of Scott’s Head. Lots of wind and rain. Sky cleared up but wind never abated for rest of passage. Double reefed with scrap of jib we were still overpowered as we neared the north end of Martinique. Cat saw 10.4 knots on the GPS. Greeted by dolphins as soon as we got in lee of island. Arrived at St. Pierre at noon. Took a nap, wandered around town, drank Lorriete beer. Planned for pizza but nearly all restaurants in town were closed, apparenty simply because it was monday. Ended up having a pretty good creole meal directly in front of where the boat was anchored. Squally night. Nearby boats hit each other. Woke up to find flying fish flopping around in salon at 0230.

Cat filets lion fish in Les Saintes