St. Martin to Saba

We had great luck in the Anegada passage (the stretch of water between the British Virgin Islands and Saint Martin), sailing all the way. For a change our biggest problem was slowing the boat down so we didn't get there in the dark. The first part of our trip, down Drake's Passage between the Virgin islands to Virgin Gorda was one of the prettiest we've seen. We had our motor on 1/2 hour out of 20! During the night we talked to Dreamtime, Vagamundo, September Song and Evening Star. We anchored at Marigot Bay on the French side and it's lovely.

That first morning, still early, Scott was in heaven when he noticed our neighbors skinny dipping. His clothes were off in a flash and he was overboard!
Everything is colorful and combines the Caribbean and French culture to perfection. Our French is so rusty but unlike the Parisians, everyone is very kind and encouraging. An inlet with a small draw bridge leads into a huge totally protected lagoon. This picture shows a small marina with boats permenantly on the hard. Many had families and retired couples living on them. We went into the open air market Saturday morning, shopped and took lots of pictures. Clothing, fruits, vegetables, every kind of fresh spices in profusion, meat, fish, and unbelievable bread and pastries - all in very attractive and clean stalls along the waterfront. And the supermarket has a wall of cheeses, pates etc. that make picnics inevitable.

Sunday we rented a car for the day and circled the island. The weather wasn't great, mostly overcast, but our lunch at a beachside French resterant was fabulous! On another note, it's true that "naturalists" (nudists to us) are everywhere - including our own boat. We, of course, visited the nude beach after that wonderful lunch.


We also drove over to Philipsberg on the Dutch side of the island. There's a big difference between the two halfs. The Dutch side is packed with condos, high rise resorts and the capital city, although charming too, is frantically busy with tourists. The cruise ships land on this side!
As soon as the weather calmed down - it has been very squally - we headed southwest to Saba.The island is so small and yet so tall that it seemed to take forever to get there - we saw it from far away! We had an amazing time in Saba - this is my favorite island so far. It's a fantasy novel setting - a real Shangri-La. We spent two nights on a mooring at Wells Bay - gorgeous site, cliffs straight up around us. Saba is only 5 square mile but reaches 3000 feet. Houses perch in seemingly impossible positions on the edges of precipices. Until the early 40s Saba was almost inaccessible. Everything had to come and go via a set of 800 steps cut into the rock face.
Men stood chest deep in water to unload cargo, including a bishop and a piano (fun fact). In this last picture, especially if you double click on it to enlarge, the stairs run diagonally right about two thirds of the way below the white customs house, then drop straight down. That customs house is half way up the stairs! Until a small harbor was built in the 50's where you can land your dinghy, very few boats came there. Even today there are only five moorings in deep water off the island for cruisers. We tried to land our dinghy at that rocky beach shown in this picture but it was so steep the waves swamped it. Scott stood in that chest deep water holding the dinghy while I pumped out the water. It took a long time.

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Viequez, Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands

We then sailed to Sun Bay on the south coast of the PR island, Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands. On the way we caught a four foot Dolphin Fish, a brilliant bright green and blue color and delicious eating. This was another overnight sail, livened up by conversations with Diesel Duck and Dreamtime. Nearby phosphorescent Mosquito Bay was spectacular! Dreamtime (that's them below with Scott) and ourselves took our dinghies over there, had drinks and a picnic supper on the beach. Impromptu sculptures made of flotsam and jetsam are a fun happening on many beaches (see above).
After dark we took our dingies into the bay and swam. Amazing! We lit up like fluorescent bulbs as we moved through the water and when you lifted your arm, the drops of water ran off sparkling back to the sea.

At that point the gremlins arrived. Our transmission oil cooler sprung a leak so we had salt water in the transmission and the impeller on the gen set went too. Then the engine itself wouldn't pump water; it turned out it was sucking air through from the generator, but we didn't figure that out for a few days. So we were without power and were worrying about our batteries. Luckily, we found parts over the phone in Fajardo on the main island and the shop drove them to the air port where the little airline flew them in for $5. It turned out that one needed an adaptor so Scott got up a 4:30 AM to catch a local bus to the 6:30 ferry to Fajardo, got the adaptor and then rather than waiting for the 3 pm ferry flew back for $23. We at least got the engine working then and took off. On the way a whale passed in front of us, evidently on a mission because it didn't slow down or pause - we sure did - it was only 50 feet away. Our boat brakes for whales! Once in St. Thomas, USVI, with much help from Benno on Diesel Duck, the generator went back together and all is now well.

We spent two nights in St Thomas provisioning and doing laundry, and three nights seeing friends on St John. Bill and Suzanne Osborne have been living and working there since we last visited them in 1987 with our family.
They have built a spectacular home high in the hills overlooking the British Virgins (see photo just above showing their hot tub and the view). They treated us to dinner two nights and came on board for a sail one day (Bill and Scott above) - a lovely visit.

Puerto Rico

We left just before dawn the next morning and had flat seas until we turned down the coast past Punta Nisabon, DR. The wind came up that afternoon and the seas were a little rough but calmed down as the sun set. We were able to keep the main up the whole way and shut the motor off for a while. We angled across the hourglass shoals and took one tack to get out across the narrow section. The next morning we were off Cabo Rojo, the southwest corner of Puerto Rico, motor sailing in calm seas all the way to Ponce. Thirty two hours to do just over 200 miles!

Ponce is a terrific provisioning spot. Benno and Marlene on "Diesel Duck" (that's it above) were already anchored so we arranged for a one day car rental from Popular Car Rentals for $39 (they picked us up at the Yacht Club and dropped us off) and shopped at Sam's, Wal-Mart and Pueblo Supermarkets.

We had to make two trips we got so much stuff! That night there was a sundowners party for boaters in the harbor at a small park. At least twenty boat crews were there - great food.
Diesel Duck and ourselves left Friday morning at 4:30 AM and had a beautiful sail down the coast to Salinas. This is a lovely protected spot but if we'd followed our charts' advice, we would have had
to skip it - they all showed much to shallow water The Salinas Marina has a Laundromat ($1 per machine), pool and snack bar which they let all the anchored boats use.We met up with friends from Columbia, Luis and Natalia, on Vagamundo and rented a car with them for two days to see some of the island. Ponce on the south coast was very different from San Juan. We appeared to be the only non Puerto Ricans in the city. The Museum of Art there was world class! The Castillo, built in the 50's for a prominent family that is now available for a tour is build high up on the mountain overlooking the city. The gardens and view were worth the trip alone.

San Juan was beautiful and at least until later in the day, not crowded. Once the cruise ships empty, the streets load with
tourists. We walked all around the city and toured the fort. Unfortunately I had a bad case of the stomach flu and was a bit of a party pooper. We found a very nice restaurant however with something for everyone. We drove through the island on the way there and back along the east coast - a very twisty road with lovely views.

Los Haites National Park, Dominican Republic

We left Luperon Thursday night April 13 in marginal conditions with our friends Ed and Linda on "Dreamtime" around 5:30 PM with northeast swells around 5 - 6 ft. and NE winds 10 knots. We were able to keep the main up most of the night and the waves moderated as the night went on. The winds shifted more to the west by morning and we were downwind sailing as we approached Escondido where we had thought to anchor. We had made such good time that it was only 8 AM and we talked it over after speaking to Chris and decided to go directly to Samana. The cliffs of Cabron were so beautiful and the scenery down the east coast lovely. Added to that, after making the turn south, we were on a beam reach and of course that's a sailor's definition of perfect. Jurassic Park was filmed in this area and it does look like that.

We anchored in Samana Bay at 3 PM and were almost immediately boarded by four men; the "Harbor master" who spoke very good English, the assistant commandant, and two other "officials". They asked for drinks (we gave them fruit juice and soda) and tips. There is a $15 port fee. The harbor master came back out with another "dispachio" and receipt for the $15. We were very annoyed by the whole process but talking about it together with other boats we learned a lot from the experience.

We thought the harbor was very pretty with lots of room to anchor. Steep hills with multi color homes surround the anchorage on two sides and on the other was a long footbridge connecting a series of islands. We took our dinghy in the next morning and hired a motorcycle with two person carriage to take us to the market. He waited and took us back. The open air market was really interesting and we got some vegetables and fruit. We took a nice walk along the harbor too. A boy "watched" our dinghy for a small tip.

We sailed across the bay to Los Haites National Park at Bahia San Lorenzo and that was a really beautiful location. This was one of our trip highlights so far. The anchorage was gorgeous and unique.
Lumpy green hills with caves and cliffs line the bay. Our guide book said it was as similar to Bora Bora as you can get in this hemisphere. A ranger hut with one official who comes in by boat each day is on a small beach. There are interesting caves nearby that he took us through which were extensive and had Taino Indian carvings.

The next day all six of the boats in the anchorage took our dinghies up the narrow (at times only 12 feet across) winding Rio Chiquita, an amazing and lovely trip, to the end. This felt a bit like a Disney ride but much prettier and without the animatronic animal figures. There is a substantial dock to leave the dinghies with an armed guard, then we walked to Paraiso Cano Hondo, a eco-resort with a series of little waterfalls made from a stream diverted throughout the facility.
As it was Easter Day lots of families were spending the day here swimming in the pools. We wished we had worn our suits. The food was good. You chose your meat/fish and then the side dishes came family style. Natural materials are used very artistically in the construction and the twelve of us had a great lunch. We met the owner, a Cuban American from NJ who has a ranch nearby.

After lunch there we climbed a steep path and staircase up the mountain behind the last hotel units to a pretty view. The construction of all this is amazing. We all agreed that this was what cruising was all about!

The other four boats left on Monday night but another boat we're traveling with, "Diesel Duck", and ourselves waited for the light and variable conditions on Tuesday to cross the dreaded Mona Passage. Monday was my birthday and Benno and Marlene came over with some fabulous food for a celebration.

The Dominican Republic

We really enjoyed the Dominican Republic and it was great seeing it with Mitch (shown here with Scott and looking like he's enjoying life!) and Diane Korbey. We did the famous all day waterfall trip out of Luperon and that was really fun. The first part of the day was really a glorified shopping expedition but the wood/stone carving cooperative was interesting, we did buy one, - and the villages on the trip up into the mountains were a trip back in time, even in the DR. Later in Santo Domingo we went to the Museum of Anthropology and what was in the exhibits was on display in reality in the mountain villages.

Picture below show us at the museum and a carnival costumer. The falls themselves were very exciting and challenging. There are 16 different levels of falls to climb and on the way down you slide or jump the up to 20 foot drops. The women in our group made it to 4 and the men to 7. This attraction couldn't exist in the States, the liability issues would be too great!

Our trip to Santo Domingo was great. The Zona Colonial is mostly 1500's buildings and churches and reminded us of Rome and San Juan. We ate at two great restaurants in the evening and saw several interesting museums. Mostly we just walked around and took it in. We stayed at the Duc de Wellington, Bruce's favorite. After we upgraded our rooms, it was very nice ($61 cash), but the standard rooms were small and dark. We took the local buses both directions. They pack these buses like Japanese trains - seats fold down to load the aisle. Diane and Mitch flew back home from Santo Domingo. We were so sorry to see them go.

Georgetown to Luperon, Dominican Republic

We stayed in this lovely spot for a week and met many other interesting cruisers. A group of south bound boats had had several meetings already and we joined them for several more. We had "Lioness III", "Nereia" and "Casa del Mar" came over for drinks one night and all had dinner together another night. Diane and Mitch Korbey flew in on April 1 with twenty pounds of meat, assorted groceries, lots of boat supplies and our mail. It was so great to see them and we decided against the big "Bob" party on the beach in favor of a quiet dinner together. The next morning most of the boats in our group left for Conception Island.
There were eight boats in a convoy behind us going out the North Channel Rocks cut at dawn. It was pretty rough and many had to use the full strength of their engines to maintain headway. This is one of the many times we are thankful for our big diesel motor. We spent the day motor sailing into the wind and waves - even though the wind wasn't that strong, it feels that way when you're headed directly into it. Three of the boats peeled off near the end of Long Island and either anchored there or headed south down the east shore; Dan and Jamie on "Nereia"(that's Jamie on the left in the second picture below with Dan in the middle between Terry and Marietta), Ed and Linda on "Dreamtime", and Alistair and Joy on "Seagulls". Terry and Marietta on "Lioness III", Mike and Linda (on the right immediately below with Benno) on "Casa Del Mar", Mick and Jill on "Nortada" and Benno and Marlene on "Diesel Duck" followed us. Conception was amazingly lovely, the water crystal clear and the anchorage surrounded by reefs and beaches. We celebrated on the beach with drinks and food and snorkeled the following morning after a long walk. Around 2 PM we started for Rum Cay and we at least sailed the whole way making up to 7 knots with fairly large seas. Near Rum at 4:30 PM we tried to start the motor and couldn't see any water discharge. We'd had problems with our impeller before and assumed we'd blown another one. This meant sailing into the reef entrance in rough seas and over 15 knots of wind. The easier entrance was 10 miles away but we couldn't sail direct but
had to make long tacks to position ourselves. It was almost dark when we finally crossed the reef and pulled down the sails as the sun set. Three dinghies from our fellow sailors appeared, roped themselves to us and motored us over to the anchorage. We really enjoyed our "sundowners" and dinner that night!
The next day Scott tore apart the engine while Diane, Mitch and I dinghied into the small village for some provisions and a walk. The engine checked out fine and the weather was looking great so we decided to sail the 140 miles directly to Mayaguana and spend a night there. We had a meeting aboard our boat to discuss everyone's plans. "Diesel Duck" decided to sail direct for the Turks and Caicos. The rest of the boats decided to sail two separate nights with shorter distances and join us there.

The first night the seas were rough enough that Diane and Mitch couldn't sleep in their V berth and had to share the salon seats. The next day it smoothed out some but we cleaned up the lower bunk bed and that made a quieter berth for Diane. It was a lovely evening and so easy with four of us to share watches. We stood two hours watches with six hours off. The next morning we spoke to "Dreamtime" who were now ahead of us and had decided to sail directly for Luperon. We had never considered that option but had always planned to go through the Turks and the Caicos. When we looked at the charts and spoke to Chris Parker about the weather, we realized it was a great opportunity.

The weather was going to disintegrate in two days time and we'd be stuck in Provo for most of the next week. We needed to arrive in Luperon in the erly morning and according to the bible "Passages South" by Bruce Van Sant, the anchor had to be down there by 8AM. That gave us some time to spend in the idyllic anchorage at Mayaguana tucked into the reef for the afternoon snorkeling, napping, and having an enormous late lunch. We did have showers briefly and a gust of wind that generated a water spout which looked like a thin tornado coming down from the clouds and roughing up the water at it's terminus. Near sundown we carefully retraced our path out of the reefs and set sail for the Dominican Republic. It was a lovely trip, 2 nights and one day of good seas and wind enough to mostly sail. We saw very few boats, mostly sailboats heading north from Puerto Rico. These three nights in a row sailing was a record for us and with a fabulous crew, lots of fun. Diane and Mitch are such great company and of course, much more experienced sailors than ourselves. They cruised the Caribbean and South America for eight years on their boat, "Segue". One unusual occurrence was the appearance of a Coast Guard helicopter which flew out just to circle us and then disappear on the horizon. Another was stopping the boat while out to sea and in pairs being towed behind the boat on a long line - the water was wonderful, a deep clear sapphire blue.
At 4AM we could see a faint glow on the horizon and the smell of land, quite distinct, was lovely. Soon the high mountains of the Dominican Republic loomed up and so did a series of showers that thankfully didn't contain gusty winds. At 6:30AM we were off the entrance to Luperon and called "Seacomber Mike" as advised. He came out in a dinghy and led us through the sometimes narrow channel into the anchorage and then found us a good place and advised us on the process of setting the anchor. At 8AM as ordered by our guru Bruce Van Sant, our anchor was down (and set opposite to the direction of the other boats and towards the prevailing winds)! The four of us celebrated with a big breakfast.
Luperon is a hurricane hole, surrounded by deep mangrove lined channels. High mountains stretch off in the distance on three sides and over one hundred boats shelter within. There is a small marina and a "yacht club", really another small marina, each with a bar and restaurant. The yacht club sits high on a hill and has a beautiful view of the harbor. The town itself is small and simple, two main streets with small stores/cafes etc. lining them. There are several locations with intermittent internet access and tiny grocery stores with various choices. Several open air restaurants are in town as well. This is a town with a lot of "expats", known as a black hole, where cruisers come and often, never leave. The Dominican people are very nice and the scenery everywhere, beautiful - and of course, things are much cheaper than the states. We met a number of former cruisers, some still
living on their boats, others that have bought property, that now call Luperon home.

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Staniel Cay to Georgetown

It was a lovely sail down to a one boat anchorage off a white beach near the Galliot Cut into Exuma Sound. Scott and Sean circumnavigated the island snorkeling (until they saw a shark) and exploring the high cliffs on the east side. Then we sat on the beach and watched the sun go down with drinks and snacks. The next morning early we carefully went through the cut and sailed down the sound to Georgetown. The fishing was fun but again we caught only barracuda, a fearsome looking fish and unedible in this area due to cigatera contamination.
Conch Cut into Elizabeth Bay was easy and calm and the sail down Stocking Island pretty with over a hundred boats anchored all along the beaches for miles. The channel into Georgetown harbor was very shallow and no one seemed to know anything at the Marina. They didn't even know it was high tide (it was). We went aground just off the docks and after a very scary fifteen minutes managed to get off and find someone to point out a way into a slip. There were only inches below us, if that, at low tide. Still it was very helpful to get water, groceries and settle Sean's
flight. We found a travel agent to help us and discovered he couldn't leave the next morning as planned, the timing was too short. This was very disappointing and meant he had to leave in just a couple of hours and spend the night in Nassau. The agent made reservations at a motel that Sean later reported was his first experience seeing cockroaches where he was about to sleep. They didn't wake him in the morning as requested but luckily the cab driver whom Sean had befriended the night before came up to his room and woke him up (at 5:30 in the .morning).
We left the marina at high tide the next day and anchored off Volley Ball Beach. There are many volley ball courts there and at least one was in constant use. A small beach bar, Chat and Chill, and a conch stand round off the facilities. Many hiking trails wind all over the island and there are only a few small homes and one brand new tiny hotel. The beaches on the east side have breakers crashing on them and coral reefs off shore while the beaches on the west side are quiet - all are dazzling white and the water every shade of blues and green. We hiked up and down the hills in between - cruisers have placed benches facing lovely views and the vegetation in between is cool and restful out of the sun

James Bond and the endangered Iguanas

From Allen Cay we motor sailed down the chain of islands in brilliant
sunshine and light winds. We called the Exemua Marine Park officials on our VHF and checked in. Unfortunately the best anchorage there was filled up, so we continued to Emerald Rock and anchored. We were still within dinghy range of the park headquarters. Sean and Scott went in to the cocktail party on the beach later while I vegged out on the boat. The next day we hiked up Boo Boo Hill with Doug and Sandy from "Interlude". A collection of hand made signs painted or carved on wood or stone decorate the top of the hill.
Hundreds of cruisers have left their mark here and it's very picturesque. We went back to the beach for a swim and snorkel and then hiked all around the south end of the island. The views were amazing but we wished we had taken water by the end of the trip!
We left early the next morning for our next destination. The entrance into Staniel Cay was only guaranteed at 6 ft. so we timed our arrival for close to high tide. Near the yacht club the channel turns dark blue and deep. It winds around a series of small cays and into a harbor where an inlet empties into the Exuma Sound. The currents were very strong and we argued a bit about an anchoring spot. Sean pointed out a deep channel through two of the small cays which led to a good looking area surrounded by the pale blue sandy shoals. After setting the anchor Scott and Sean dove to check it.

One of the close by cays contains Thunderball caverns where the Bond movies Thunderball and Never Say Never were filmed. We explored them three times over the two days there, both at high and low tides. Several entrances on three sides lead into a series of chambers, one of which was lit dramatically from above by several openings. Under the water schools of fish surrounded us - many visitors feed them. Outside around the cay were some great coral heads. From under the water inside the caverns windows of light indicate the exits and highlight the underwater landscape. Next we walked around the island exploring and trying to do some grocery shopping.

This is a much different process here. There are three "grocery" stores here on Staniel. Each contains various canned goods, several each of medicinal and cosmetic products, a few potatoes, onions, carrots and occasionally a forlorn head of iceberg lettuce. A freezer contains some frozen meat and ice cream products. A refrigerator contains eggs, two types of cheese and butter. There is no fresh milk for example or any other vegetables. One big plus is freshly baked bread - a few loaves at each store. That's about it. The prices are very high naturally. We assume the local people do a weekly trip to Nassau or Georgetown for their shopping.
The Staniel Cay Yacht Club (really a marina) has some charming multicolor cottages for rent and several huge motor yachts are tied
up there - along with a classic wooden sailing yacht that took all of our breaths away. The restaurant and bar ceiling is hung with boat flags from all over the world. There is free internet service for customers so this evening we're going in for dinner with the computer. It's a single sitting and you order your meal in advance. Tomorrow we're sailing south around 20 miles and anchoring close to the reasonably deep Galliot cut through the islands into the Sound. We'll then sail 40 miles on Thursday down the coast to Elizabeth Harbor and Georgetown. Conch Cut into the harbour is a tricky entrance so we're planning to do it early in the afternoon and get settled in a slip at a marina. Sean has a very early plane flight to Nassau on Friday morning and we need to buy his ticket Thursday afternoon. It is going to be very hard to say good-bye.