Guadeloupe Continued

Guadeloupe Continued
Monday 2 April – Friday 13 April

After a quick dinghy trip into town Monday morning Ocean Star & Wild Thing are on their way to the Island of Marie Galante by 11:30. We have a pleasant sail east in calm seas, approaching the island we feel like we are back in the Bahamas with the turquoise shallow waters. Marie Galante looks flat as you approach from the water, but has lovely rolling hills 300 to 600 feet in elevation, with very rich soil making it very green and great for growing sugar cane, still a major crop here. We first go to see the anchorage by Grand Bourg inside a break-wall so well protected. There is a marina here with limited anchoring space right off town, but NO room for us so we head up to the main anchorage off the town of St. Louis. With the light winds and calm seas this winds up being a perfect anchorage, and we are anchored by 3:30. We chose this weather window to come east to this open anchorage, and it worked out great. Boats are able to anchor any where along the western shore with it so calm. We go into town around 4:30 to see what is there, not a lot open at this time on a Monday but we do make a car rental reservation for the following day. Back to the boats where Jan & George bring their leftovers to have with our leftovers for dinner and to plan what we want to see of the island on Tuesday. We get an early start and are at the dock shortly after 8, as we are walking towards town several people are walking out asking if we want a car rental. We realize we just beat the ferry in and all the car rental people are there to meet visitors to rent them cars. We get a better deal than the quote from the day before, so go with this lady and get a nice little MANUAL 4 door Hyundai. I Started to drive, it's been a while since I drove a manual shift and after about an hour of Steve not liking the way I was driving and Jan & George were not being entertained by us discussing my driving abilities we stopped and let Steve drive. Sugar cane is a big crop for this island and with that they have several rum distilleries that you can go visit and of course have free tastings. By 11:30 we had hit all 3 of them and decided we were ready some lunch. Finding a nice little beach restaurant south of the town Capesterre, we enjoy a great lunch with a great view. We have fun driving the roads, most of which do not have street names so we were never quite clear if we were going the right way. But we got around the Island and saw most of the sights. In addition to the 3 rum distilleries, a huge 200 foot sink hole on the north end open to the sea, an ox driven cart that is still used on the island to deliver the sugar cane, and a local honey making shop. She reopened for us since a local Jackie from a bar down the street told us about her wonderful honey. Back to the boats by 5, relax a little before going back in for dinner at 7. Our 1^st choice place was not open, so we walked around checking out a few menus. I do not eat fish, a main dish for this island, and Jan & George try to stick with a plant based diet with fresh local fish, and Steve likes unusual dishes, so finding a restaurant is not as easy as it sounds. We find one and Jan & George & Steve are very happy to hear that Dorado is the fish of the day. We are the only customers and there is only one man running the place, who speaks NO English. Steve does very well ordering in french, so he orders an appetizer and the fish, Jan & George both order the fish and I order chicken. One man operation, so we understand it taking a while to prepare our meals. What a surprise when we finally were served 3 chicken dishes and 1 appetizer and NO fish !!! LOL Trying to correct the meal was out of the question so we all enjoyed what we had, not knowing where the translation went wrong. Wednesday we head out around 8:30 and have a great sail over to Pointe a Pitre the capital of Guadeloupe located on the Grande Terre side of the island. As we are sailing over from Marie Galante, Ultra is sailing over from The Saints. We all arrive around the same time Ultra anchoring out Wild Thing anchoring for lunch before going into the marina, and Steve & I just heading straight into the marina. We tried calling the marina several times on the VHF radio but no one would answer. We pulled up to the fuel dock so we could talk to someone about getting a slip. The harbor master is there so he points over to a slip and tells us to head over there and he will help pick up our mooring line. The marina is all Med Mooring, so you back in in between 2 other boats, tying your bow line to a mooring out in front and your 2 stern lines to the dock. So I throw him the bow line and he secures it to the mooring and we are backing up BUT our bow line is not long enough to get us to the dock. The harbor master is leaving to go help with another boat, I have to yell at him to come back, mean while the wind is pushing us forward over the mooring lines. We get a longer bow line on but now we have to be careful not to catch any lines in prop or bow thrusters. All goes well and we get backed in, a little harder throwing the stern lines with the new arch and dinghy behind us but we finally get settled. The main reason we are coming in to the marina is to have power to equalize the batteries again. Makes it a lot easier to do laundry also and we have a lot of it. Steve is happy to find out that the for the 37.50 Euros a night ($50) INCLUDES water and electricity !! You almost NEVER see a flat all inclusive rate at a marina down here in the Caribbean. So we get to run the AC for a couple of days and give the boat a really good wash down. After lunch Wild Thing comes into the marina and Bill & JoAnne come in by dinghy and stop by to say Tomaz & Lilly on Heron (met over in The Saints) are also anchored out and have invited us all out to their boat for HH. Steve & I do a quick walk around finding the self serve laundry and bathrooms at the marina and the full service laundry up by the marine store and grocery and all the restaurants. I find a hairdresser and make an appointment for the following morning to get a hair cut and touch up of color that is now 7 months old. Thursday morning drop off several loads of laundry at the full service place, I go for my hair appointment while Steve goes for a walk with George to see what else is around before going back to the boats to work on boat projects. Some things are just easier done at the dock than at anchor so most of Thursday is spent trying to do boat projects. It is surprising how quickly the day can disappear with only a small amount of things getting done. JoAnne & Bill came in for a few errands and to make arraignments for a car rental the next day or so. We all wanted to do some exploring of the islands interior and this weekend was a holiday weekend so we wanted to get something set up. It did not go as smoothly as they had planned and the guy did not come through so another rental agency was found and a cars booked for Saturday through Monday. Which worked out well giving us Friday to finish all the boat projects we did not get to on Thursday. Saturday morning we leave the marina and go out to anchor by Ultra, then back in to get rental cars and we are on our way by 11 heading back over to the mountainous side of the island Basse Terre and drive along the scenic road of Route De La Traverse. This road runs through the national park and has several hiking paths along the way. First stop, just a very short walk but one section had a picnic area where we had lunch. The 2^nd hike we got a little more exercise with the 45 minute de Bras David (Davids Arm) trail. Next stop Le Tapeur, Parc Aventure en Foret Tropicale AKA Zip line & obstacle course in the trees !!! This is the best zip line we have been to, good price and they just let you loose to do it on your own. What a blast we had !!! You will have to take a look at a few of the pictures to see, words can't do it justice. After this we are very close to the western shore and our former anchorage off Pigeon Island and the next days planed adventure. So we drive over there to be sure of the location and talk to the guide. I am 98 % sure that I will NOT be able to do the hike up the canyon river and rappel down the canyon walls but we asked the guide and he said you needed to be very sure footed and able to easily climb over the rocks on the canyon floor. With my left knee acting up this is definitely not for me. As the sun begins to set we make our way back across the Island not wanting to drive these winding, unlighted roads in the dark making it back to the marina just after dark. Stop at the pizza place for dinner then back to the boats for a good nights rest. Steve, Jan & George & JoAnne & Bill have a 7:30 am departure Sunday morning to go back across the island to the canyon adventure. They have a wonderful day hiking up the canyon and rappelling down, once again words are hard to describe so take a look at some pictures. I have a quiet day back on the boat. Monday is a sleep in late day for the hikers but we still have the cars so we get underway and head to the beach section along the southern coast of the Grande-Terre ½ of the island finding a beautifully shaded beach for lunch. A swim and walk along the beach, a short nap for some and then continue the drive east along the coast to Pointe des Chateaux. This is at the end of a peninsula where on this holiday Easter Monday the locals have come to spend the day / long weekend along the beaches that border both sides. We spend a short time looking out at the rock formations and beautiful beach but don't do the short hike up to the cross on one of the bluffs as it is getting late and we do not want to be stuck in the line of traffic when all the locals start to pack up and go home. Life is good in the islands. Tuesday cars need to be turned in, still some site seeing we want to do but Steve needs a break from driving the last 2 days, he is not use to it anymore. Boat projects and Wild Thing finally breaks away from the marina to come out to the anchorage. Jan & George & JoAnne & Bill come over to Ocean Star for dinner that evening. Wednesday a few more boat projects and we made arraignments for another car rental for Thursday to go to another section of the national park to see the waterfalls known as the Chutes De Carbet. Thursday we pick up the car as Wild Thing stays behind to finish up on a sewing project while they can still use Ultra's sewing machine. Fill up the little car with back packs, cooler and 4 people & we are under way by 10:30. Guadeloupe has some great roads and we are on the N1 “freeway” heading to the southern part of Basse Terre and the rain forest of La Soufriere mountain. After turning off the main road we wind our way up the very narrow D4 until it ends at the main entrance to the paths to the waterfalls. A 20 minute walk along a path brings us to one of the tallest waterfalls around, at 325 feet, a beautiful sight. But a little disappointed as due to falling rocks you can no longer get close or swim under it, you just see it from an observation platform. There is another slightly taller waterfall but it is a 3 hour round trip hike over some very difficult terrain so we opt to do another 20 minute hike down to a river bed and small waterfall and swimming hole to have lunch by. Driving back down the road we stop at Grand Etang (Big Lake) to hike around the lake. As is typical with island hiking there is NO easy way around a lake or up a hill, this one is no different. A lot of climbing up and down along a path lined with tree roots, rocks and mud. We get a great work out with this hike and are ready to call it a day afterward. Back towards Pointe a Pitre and the boats we make a stop at the near by HUGE Casino Supermarket, think super super Walmart. Our rental car is a very little Chevy Spark, with 4 people and hiking gear not a lot of room left. But we just had to check out the store and being cruisers once inside had to buy stuff. So loading all our purchases into the little car & then into the dinghy was quite a site. Dropped Ultra and thier goods off at their boat then back to Ocean Star to unload and rest our tired bodies. Ocean Star will be heading out Friday morning to go off shore around the island back up to Deshaies before crossing over to Antigua on Saturday. Wild Thing spending Friday finishing up boat projects then taking the short cut through the River Salee that runs between the 2 islands of mainland Guadeloupe on Saturday to head over to Antigua. We are parting ways with Ultra for now, as they will be spending more time in Guadeloupe before heading south to Dominica where we hope to catch up with them again. SO glad we got to explore so much more of this beautiful country and to be able to do it with good friends made it that much better!! Next stop Antigua with my sister Carol coming to visit and Classic Regatta week followed by Sailing week.

Link to a few pictures;  https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/GuadeloupeContinued?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJPd5u6H5-HrUw&feat=directlink

More from Guadeloupe

 Monday 19 March – Monday 2 April

After Sunday's birthday celebration for Jan, Steve & I were trying to sleep in Monday morning. First Ultra called 6:30 ish to say they were getting under way when Steve got up about an hour later Wild Thing was already gone so we got ready to leave also and are underway by 8. We are motoring in very light winds on the nose, as we round the north end of the island and are passing the one town on the east side of the island when I look back to our port side and see Wild Thing whom we thought was in front of us. Hail them on the radio and they say yes that's them they had been hanging out in a bay waiting for us and we hadn't noticed as we went by so they were now just behind us and they say Ultra is actually sailing so they are tacking way out trying to get a good angle on the wind. A final look at the volcano as we pass the south east end of the island, once again in awe of the impact to this little island. Once off shore the winds pick up and the angle is better so sails are up and we have a great sail east to Deshaies (Day-ay) Guadeloupe and are anchored by 2:30. Steve & George go in to check in to find customs is closed until 4:30, by which time Ultra has arrived and settled into the anchorage also. Everyone gets checked in and we make plans for the following morning to hike up the Deshaies river to a waterfall. JoAnne & Bill have done this hike several times before so will be our guides. We head out shortly after 9:30 making our way up the river bed along the shore line if possible but mostly going from rock to rock. The few times we do make our way along the shore you can tell how few people do this hike as the trail if there is one is very overgrown. But we have a fun time watching our footing as we make our way up the river. By noon we are at a good size swimming hole, so break for lunch and a refreshing swim. This is where we (Steve & I , George & Jan) learn from Bill & JoAnne that this little 45 minute hike up to the waterfall might take a little longer with this group as we are only about half way there. We gear back up after lunch and push on, when we finally get to a road and car park Jan & I get very excited thinking we made it and Bill tells us it is only another 10 minutes to the waterfall. 10 minutes later with no waterfall in sight and the rocks we are having to climb over getting bigger and bigger Jan & I decide to sit and wait while the others hike on to the waterfall. As Jan & I sit on the rocks in the river we are entertained by some fish in a little pool, and are happy with our decision to sit and wait as it is quite some time before the group returns. Steve & George are glad we stayed behind also as the trail did prove more difficult the closer they got to the waterfall. They all had fun swimming under the waterfall, and Jan & I got to look at the pictures without any injuries. We hike back to the road and walk back to town via the road. “Next Time” we will get a ride up the road and then hike to the waterfall instead of starting all the way down at the bottom. It was a lovely day with a lot of laughs and plenty of exercise to make up for the baguette and cheese we ate for lunch. Wednesday some snorkeling and boat projects, dinner on Ocean Star. Thursday more snorkeling on the way back see another Texas boat, stop by and talk to Melanie & Casey on Bliss from the Austin area. They agree to meet us later at Hemingway's for a drink, and realize Steve & I had briefly met them in Grenada. We all decided to go to the Botanical Gardens the following day. It is not that far but it is straight up a steep road and they provide free transportation so we make arraignments to be picked up 10:45 Friday morning. We love to visit the botanical gardens on the different islands we visit, and are always glad we do. This one Jardin Botanique, is just absolutely beautiful with the added attraction of a koi pond, and a bird section where you can feed the parrots and have them stand on you. They have a fancy restaurant with a great view and a snack bar serving sandwiches, which we choose and it also has a great view from the shaded picnic tables making for another wonderful day in paradise. The walk down the road is not bad, so Steve George, Melanie & Casey tell us, as Jan, JoAnne, Bill & I got a ride back down in the van that picked us up. Meeting back up in town and a short walk up a street on the other side to a grave yard. Not just any grave yard, I have never seen so many mausoleums in such a concentrated area. It stands out so that you see it from our boats so we just had to get a closer look. Saturday all 3 boats depart Deshaies for the anchorage at Pigeon Island, a popular snorkeling and dive spot along the western coast of Guadeloupe. Plenty of room to anchor so once settled in we load snorkel gear into the dinghies and head over to Pigeon Island to snorkel. Steve & I had stopped here on the way down island the first time, it is surprising how few fish there are here in this national park. Slack tide this time so we got to swim around most of the island(s). George was towing our dinghy as he swam along so when Jan & I got too cold we were able to climb out. JoAnne & Bill carry tanks on their boat and wanted to do a dive the next day, saying we would be able to see a lot more. Steve & I would use 2 of their extra tanks and dive with them on Sunday, George came along and snorkeled above us towing the dinghies once again so when we came up we could just climb in, what service !! Sunday was Bills birthday so another celebration on Ultra that evening joined by Marilyn & Kent on M/V Cardena friends Bill & JoAnne met in Grenada. Monday we had 3 snorkelers & 3 divers go around the north point of the anchorage to check out another dive site. This location, still part of the marine park, had a good selection of things to see by both snorkelers & divers. Once back to the boats we noticed that the anchorage had gotten rolly. Poor Jan who had stayed on Wild Thing and gets sea sick at times was ready to get someplace calmer so they headed down to another anchorage. After lunch and getting the dive tanks refilled Ultra and Ocean Star went down to join Wild Thing at Anse a La Barque anchorage. Just a little less rolly and we just barely fit all fit in as it is a very small bay. Tuesday we were underway early for the short trip down to Isles Des Saintes anchoring in the bay behind Pain de Sucre, a short dinghy ride around from the town BUT no mooring balls so still a free anchorage. Wednesday Steve & I moved over to the town mooring field so we could get internet, Wild Thing came over for one night but it was too rolly for Jan so they & Ultra hung out in the other anchorage. Meeting up for snorkeling reefs, diving caves, shopping and hiking excursions over the next few days enjoying all the beauty these islands have to offer even a few boat projects got done. Over to Fort Caroline and de Pompierre beach one day and to Fort Josephine over on Ilet A Cabrit on another. Steve & I can now say we have been to all the forts in The Saints. Sharing many laughs, some at my expense like when I was trying to gear up for a dive in the dinghy and with the weights in my BC & the tank as I leaned back just a hair I fell backwards to the floor of the dink unable to get back up like a turtle on it's back. Thankful George was still in the dinghy and helped me up and into the water. On another dive I came up early getting cold and leg cramps so George used my BC and remaining air and I was going to stay near by for pick up with the dinghy. BUT the motor flooded out and I could not start it so I am drifting further & further away. I'm thinking they have to be almost out of air and will be coming up soon and see I am drifting away and come get me with the other dinghy. Well I was almost to Terre D'en Bas (next island over) when Bill finally got to me. There is a song WHO the F@!% is Alice, they were all saying WHERE the F@!% is Alice when they came up looking for me and the dinghy.

So glad we are getting to see so much more of Guadeloupe this time around and having so much fun doing it with friends. Monday the “plan” is to run into town for a few things and then head over to Marie Galante another Island part of Guadeloupe about 20 miles east of here that we have not been to yet.

link to pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/DeshaiesGuadeloupe?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP3HmuSAzpe0ugE&feat=directlink

link to more pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/MoreFromGuadeloupe?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMj64r7yhsnnRQ&feat=directlink

Montserrat

Montserrat
Saturday 17 March – Monday 19 March

We left the anchorage in Nevis at 6 and made it to the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean by noon. Just in time to celebrate St. Patrick's day, a national holiday on this island. We meet back up with S/V Ultra who we ran into in St. Martin after meeting them down in Grenada, another Texas boat form the Kemah area. They had made arraignments for a taxi ride up to the village of Salem where the days celebration festival will take place. A quick clean up and lunch and Joanne & Bill pick up Jan & George and us with their dinghy and into the dock to meet Sam our taxi driver. Joanne & Bill had done an island tour with Sam the day before so on our drive up to Salem they are filling us in on some island history they learned the day before. Of all the islands we have visited, Montserrat as one of the more interesting histories, due to a still active volcano Soufriere Hills on the southern end of the island. In 1995 it erupted destroying the capital of Plymouth and surrounding area. Years later several business were starting to rebuild when in 2006 and 2008 the volcano erupted again causing the government to permanently close off the southern end of the island. Montserrat gets it's strong Irish heritage from the Irish Catholics settling here after fleeing problems from the Protestants of near by St. Kitts. Then another wave of Irish came over when England invaded Ireland, leaving their mark before many years later returned to Ireland. So St Patrick's day is a big celebration here, and we thought it would be fun to celebrate with them. We arrive at the fair grounds in Salem and the area is starting to fill up with people, with local vendors set up in booths selling food and a few local crafts. Several parades and just about everyone dressed in green. A fun filled day. Sam drives us back to the dock and Steve & I with Jan & George set a time for 9 Sunday morning for our Island tour. Sunday we know some things will be closed BUT they will also be closed on Monday since it is a holiday so either way we will miss out on a few things. Sometimes timing works for you sometimes not. Unlike many islands where the towns are along the coast line, Montserrat has most people living inland in the lush mountains sheltered from the volcano. We go to Old Road Bay where the river has been filled with mud and ash washed down from the volcano. What once was a golf course with a club house, a hotel and homes is now buried under 30 to 60 feet of black sand, the shore line is now a ¼ mile further out. Next stop is St Georges Hill looking down at the ruins of the former capital of Plymouth. Seeing the homes, and businesses amongst the trees it is hard to believe they are all abandoned. Just past that you see the ruins of the capital hard to tell the difference between the burned out buildings and huge boulder's from the volcano. There is a small area of the Exclusion Zone that you can visit after signing a waiver. Being Sunday this is one of the things that is closed. Joann & Bill told us what a surreal experience it was, walking through a hotel with everything in place covered with ash blown in over the years. The exclusion zone covers ½ of the island where no one is allowed to go, no new construction, no renovations, no one allowed to live an amazing sight. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory, also closed on Sunday, has another great view of the volcano and surrounding exclusion zone. The government is trying to build a new capital over in Little Bay where we are anchored. Trying to convince the < 5000 residents (12,000 pre volcano) that this is a good spot to build. There is very little work on the island, they export the volcanic ash which is very fertile, other then that they are trying to build up the tourism trade. Back down by the bay where we are anchored we go to Ponts' restaurant for lunch. The open-air restaurant is filled with plants and things washed up on the beach below, it's like having lunch in a conservatory. Soft smooth jazz in the background, a beautiful view of the bay and our boats, hummingbirds and lizards to entertain us, and a barbecue lunch before we go back to the boats. Today is Jan's birthday and Joanne & Bill invited us all over to their boat for dinner and Joanne generously offered to make a cake to surprise Jan for her birthday. We have a wonderful dinner followed by a delicious chocolate rum cake. Monday morning we will all depart to head over to Deshaies (Day-ay) Guadeloupe.

link to pictures:  https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/Montserrat?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOLz_sK-otuZSQ&feat=directlink

St. Maarten / St. Martin

St. Maarten / St Martin
Tuesday 21 February – Friday 16 March

Well I think St. Maarten was just as sad to see us leave as we were to leave, we spent A LOT of MONEY while we were there. The new dinghy and outboard motor which we are loving. A life raft and BBQ grill both of which we did not have before. Numerous miscellaneous boat maintenance parts from both Budget Marine and Island Water World (IWW). Several trips to the grocery store to provision since they have such a wonderful selection. A trip to Cost U Less a big box store, and several stops at Ace hardware which is more like a small home depot with home furnishings down here. Not to mention eating out more than usual, since they have so many good restaurants to choose from it was a hectic but fun 3 + weeks. We first checked into Lagoon Marina since it is located between Budget & IWW the 2 marine chandleries we needed to visit that 1^st week. Friends George & Jan arrived the evening after we did, George had recently delivered their boat Wild Thing to Lagoon Marina, and now flew back with Jan to start cruising for a few months. We first met Wild Thing back in July 2010 in the Bahamas then cruised with them up in the Chesapeake and then back down the east coast to Florida and back to the Bahamas that 1^st year. We were looking forward to meeting back up with them to start buddy boating again. The 1^st week in St. Martin at the marina was busy getting the new boat things mentioned above, but we also mixed in several fun events. Finding my favorite spot in the Caribbean the Carousel, a Bar & Gelateria, we you can get the BEST Italian gelato !!! What a fancy place, never knew there was this much profit in selling ice cream but glad to make my contribution for them to stay in business. We rented a car for 2 days and on the 1^st day drove around the island stopping at several spots along the way. The 2^nd day (Sunday) we went to Loterie Farm to do another zip line, only this one had an obstacle course of hanging logs, rope ladders, or cables suspended between the trees and the zip lines that you had to walk across. It was a great time in a BEAUTIFUL setting. Loterie Farm is a privately maintained nature reserve with hiking paths, zip lines, a pool and bar lounge and a restaurant , a great place to visit. That Monday we moved out of the marina to anchor, while Wild Thing moved over to Simpson Bay Marina as they were having guests arrive that evening and wanted shore access easier for them. We talked to the dock master at the marina and he showed us a spot close by that he said we could anchor in, so we took the portable depth finder and went out to make sure where we could anchor. It turned out to be a great little spot, only enough room for 1-3 boats to anchor right outside the channel in front of IWW where we could pick up their WiFi signal and be close to the Simpson Bay marina. That week was busy running around with Jan & George and their guests Linda & her sister Debra. Hanging out at the St. Maarten yacht club watching the boats come and go timed with happy hour it is the place to be. 

The Heineken Regatta was upcoming so a lot of events were focused on that and geared to all the boats and crew coming for this event. George got on a boat as crew, and that boat Chillin the Most wound up winning a couple of awards in their division. We also ran into quiet a few people that we had met down in Grenada, so it was fun catching up with other cruisers we knew. Another fun filled busy week went by before we knew it. The following week was a slower pace and we made several trips to the different stores stocking up on supplies at the duty free prices of St Maarten. Making plans to go to several anchorages around the island before leaving the next week. On Sunday Steve was greasing the bearings on the main sail when he discovered some wear & tear on the leech line at the reefing points. First thing Monday morning we take it into the sail maker to see how quickly he can get it repaired. Not for a least a week he says, so our plans of leaving are not looking good. We decide to still go and anchor off Grand Case on the French side Tuesday, it is just a short distance ½ way around the island. We make it out the 11 am bridge and are able to sail with just the Genoa sail getting up to Grand Case by by 1. Have lunch on board and Steve goes in to clean the lagoon scum off the bottom of the boat. He is surprised and disappointed on seeing we also have quite a few barnacles even with our new bottom paint job. Tuesday night we go into Grand Case for their Tuesday night street festival, still hard to decide where to eat so many good choices. Fun walking the streets and looking at the street vendors and shops and restaurants. Wednesday morning Steve & George want to rent tanks to finish cleaning the bottom of the boats but we find out the French will not rent you a tank. So we motor sail back down to Marigot Bay and anchor, Steve goes into the lagoon to the Dutch side and rents tanks. And Wednesday afternoon is spent cleaning the bottom of the boats. The original plan was to leave Thursday morning to start to make our way to Montserrat where we wanted to be on Saturday for St. Patrick's Day. With our main sail in for repair that plan got canceled as Steve did NOT want to travel 90 miles south and then 90 miles BACK north with out a main sail. So Thursday morning we went in for a few errands and to get internet access and stopped by the sail maker just to check on our sail. To our great surprise the sail was ready !! So change of plans again, we go to have lunch with Wild Thing as planned to get internet and decide we can now still make it to Montserrat by Saturday. Back to our boat get the main sail back up, Steve goes and checks us out and we are underway by 3. A fast motor sail to Anse Du Colombier on St. Barts arriving just before sunset. Predawn departure Friday morning, thinking we can make it all the way to Montserrat by sunset but the wind and waves were making for an unpleasant trip so we bear off and head for Nevis where we spend the evening at anchor with a 6 am departure Saturday morning for Montserrat to make it in time for the St. Patrick's day celebration.

Link to pictures;  https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/StMaarten?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMWEld-RwoHrEg&feat=directlink

Island Hopping North

 Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Nevis & St. Kitts, St. Barts

Saturday 4 February - Monday 20 February

We have the anchor up by 10 and make a quick trip into the lagoon to go to the IGY marina's fuel dock to top off on diesel and fill the extra gas can for the dinghy, leaving Rodney Bay, St. Lucia and heading almost due north to Martinique, YEAH no more easting, the worst point of sail heading east into the wind & waves. We are sailing, no need for the motor, double reefed in both sails with 20 knot winds on the beam doing 9 + knots corkscrewing through the 8 foot seas hitting us broadside. We are anchored in Grande Anse D'Arlet, Martinique by 1:30. It is a beautiful bay and one we have not been to before. We go through our desalting routine of washing the salt spray off the stainless, windows, the cockpit, anything we might touch, as much as we can with a few buckets of fresh water. This helps a great deal with keeping the boat a little cleaner. Many times as soon as we are done we get a rain shower which is always appreciated, washing off the deck and giving the areas we cleaned a 2^nd rinse. We are in the dry season and have noticed rain showers are getting fewer and less intense, many of the islands already having grass & plants drying out. The French islands make it SO easy to check in !! In this bay you go to a little cafe right at the end of the dinghy dock. Using their computer, preset form, you fill in the boxes and print 1 sheet (your copy), take it to the person on duty and they stamp it for you and you are cleared in. This cafe charged nothing, sometimes they will charge a $1 the most we have paid was $5. The “English” islands could really use some help in simplifying their customs forms. A stroll down main street which runs along the beach checking out the little cafes and shops. Small place so does not take long, stop in for a drink on the beach and just enjoy the French atmosphere. On Sunday we hike over to the next bay Anse D'Arlet, another beautiful small bay / beach town, also an anchorage but with no place to clear customs. Mostly a rock path that has many inclines and declines before you finally get to the ridge to head down into the other bay. We enjoy the exercise and the beautiful views, have a nice lunch before climbing back over to our bay. Monday we are under way shortly after 7 am, motor sailing in calm seas up the western shore of Martinique. By 10 we are leaving the coastline and heading out into 6 foot waves as we make our way across to Dominica. By 2 we are picking up one of Sea Cats moorings again just south of the capital city of Roseau. Steve takes the dinghy down to town to go clear in while I stay on the boat to desalt. We have a lovely dinner at the Ever Green just a little south from where we are and right next to a dive shop dinghy dock we can use. Tuesday early morning we did get a nice rinse from a short rain shower, and the clouds hung around until noon. We went into Roseau to walk around and have lunch, refreshing our memories seeing what we did or did not remember about the town. Wednesday we are underway again by 7 AM motor sailing up the west coast of Dominica. As we near Portsmouth on the north end of Dominica the seas start to build and the winds pick up, one reef in the main and 2 in the genoa, sailing towards Guadeloupe at 9 + knots. We are stopping at the south end at a group of islands called Les Saintes. We are moored by 12:30 off the island of Terre-De-Haut. Clean the boat off, have lunch and go in to clear in. It is 3:30 Wednesday afternoon and many places are closing up. Island thing / French thing / no cruise ship in / break before dinner crowd or combination we are not sure. Steve goes to where the guide book says the customs office is but they are closed. So we walk around checking out menus at the many restaurants, Steve translating as best he can with the words he knows. Stop by the tourist office to pick up an island map showing hiking trails and points of interest. The main form of transport on the island are motor scooters, they have plenty to rent to zip around & tour the island but you can also just walk anywhere on the island as it is small enough. Thursday morning we decide the mooring we are on out in the middle is too rolly so we find one closer into shore before going in to check in with customs. The place is open but we learn that it is no longer the place to check in. We find the right place, go to the computer, Steve types our info in and pays $1 and now we are officially checked in. Go for lunch then take the walk / hike up to Le Chameau where there is an old lookout tower. The climb up is on an old road now closed to all but foot traffic, so other then the elevation (for me) a pretty easy hike. The views on the way up and the views from up on top are spectacular. Back down and to the boat and we go for a cool refreshing swim in the beautiful blue water surrounding the boat. Friday we have an earlier start to walk up to Fort Napoleon, a much easier walk but they close at noon. More great views and the grounds to the fort are beautiful. They have a really nice museum, even if everything was in French I was very impressed at how much they had. Back down, lunch in town at one place, made reservations for dinner at another place then back to the boat for a swim. Saturday we go into town early as I need to go by the post office to get stamps to mail my postcard and they are only open for a few hours in the morning. The town is nice and quiet, just a few shops starting to open and a few people out. Get to the post office at 8:30 and there is already a line, some post office's in the islands are like banks and handle a lot of different transactions. Wait in line and get my postcard stamped and mailed, Steve meets me out front with a fresh pain d'chololate, its a good morning. As we walk back to town 2 ferries have already arrived and the streets are full of people we walk around a little then Steve goes back to the boat and lets me really look in the different shops. I'm not a bigger shopper, no room to put anything new on the boat w/o getting rid of something old. BUT it's fun to be able to take some time once in a while to see if I do find something new that would work better then what I have and the French islands are a good place to look for such an item. Can't do that with Steve waiting out front, so we agreed to meet later for lunch. Back at the boat later we get ready to leave in the morning. Sunday, 7 am departure, sailing down wind with just the genoa out up the south coast of Guadeloupe in 3-4 ft. seas. Once we turn north to travel up the west coast of Guadeloupe we have flat seas with winds changing every 10 minutes. We are trying to motor sail, genoa in & out ½ dozen times, on shore breeze & off shore breeze, lulls of 5 knot winds to gusts of 20 knot winds. It's a calm slow ride up to the west coast of Guadeloupe, anchoring off the northwest town of Deshaies (Dey-Hey) by 1:30. We went in that evening just to walk around and to see what else was new besides the great new dinghy dock right out in front of town by the dive shop. For such a small town Deshaies has many good restaurants to choose from. It was Sunday night and many islanders were winding up the weekend so the streets were relatively busy, a favorite spot for islanders as well as us visitors. Another early departure on Monday from Guadeloupe heading west past Montserrat to Nevis. Montserrat, has an active volcano, so you can't sail too close (exclusion zone) but you can see it from over 30 miles out and come within 2 miles. You can also anchor and visit the island's north side, volcano on the south end, but the anchorage is not good for the northerly swells we have this time of year so we are unable to stop at this time. As we get close it is such an impressive sight, you can see the ash flow and ruins of the old capital city, hope we can stop here on the way south. We have an easy motor sail the whole way with light winds and calm seas and are moored off Nevis by 4. The mooring field is about a ½ mile north of the capital town of Charlestown out in front of the beautiful 3 ½ mile long Pinney's beach. Tuesday we go into town to check in, 3 places to go and $62 US later we are checked in to Nevis for 2 days and St. Kitts for 2 days. A little more paper work and $ than the French islands but the people were all very friendly. After check in was complete we walked around town, then went for an early lunch so we could do an afternoon Island tour. They have a beautiful Botanical Gardens, with many Asian statues amongst the plants from all over the world that we walk through. Finding out too late that they have a wonderful Thai restaurant. Then we visit a few of the old plantations that have been remodeled into first rate boutique hotels, it is fun to see how they have kept the old plantation style mixed with the modern. Up in the cool hills overlooking the islands mountains and sea, beautiful places on a beautiful island. Back to town around 4, since we had an early lunch and the place we ate was having burger night and it has been a while since I have had my burger fix, we thought we might do an early dinner. Dinner did not start until 6, and there is not a lot to do for 2 hours in this town so we went back to the boat and once back on-board we did not feel like doing another dinghy ride back to town so dinner on the boat. Wednesday we want to walk the beach, they do not make it real easy for boats anchored out to get onto the beach right in front of us. You can either go to town and walk the ½ mile back to the beach or you beach the dinghy. Beaching the dinghy is not usually a problem but most of this beach has waves crashing ashore steep to, so getting on to the beach would be easy getting back off the beach not so easy. We talked to the boat next door, who had the problem getting back off the beach the day before, and they said down by the Four Seasons Hotel they put some breakwaters in so the beach is much calmer to get the dinghy on & off the beach down there. We were worried they would not want us leaving our dinghy on the beach but they said it was OK. Great beach to walk up and down, then we stopped at Sunshine’s for lunch. The sign says it is home to the Killer Bee drink, so of course we have a couple each. No idea what was in these little drinks BUT they were killer !!! The food was good also, back to the boat for a little R&R. Thursday just a short 2 ½ hour trip over to St. Kitts, where we go into the marina at Port Zante. Reasonable rates and just easier to walk off the slip into town right next to the marina & cruise ship terminal. As we are tying up to the dock we see Kathy & John from Oceana whom we first met back in the Bahamas and they also spent the summer down in Grenada. They are making their way north also, checking out of St. Kitts as we check in. Checking into Nevis is good for St. Kitts also BUT you still have to go by customs to officially let them know you are here and give them a little piece of paper from Nevis. After lunch Steve goes back to the boat to give her a good wash down since the marina only charges $15 for all the water you can use. So even though we do little desalting after trips to be able to hook up a hose and really scrub the deck free of salt is a treat. I go and check out the 100 + shops around the marina, just trying to find a postcard !! Never thought finding a postcard could be so hard ! They have plenty of duty free diamonds, liquor, & cigarettes but VERY few postcards. Tons of t-shirts, shot glasses, beach towels and everything else you can engrave with the islands name, but only a handful of postcards at 3-4 shops ?? Guess cruise ship passengers don't send postcards. I did manage to find a couple to send off to my nephew so my shopping was complete. Taking advantage of our walk on walk off status at the dock we go out for dinner. Friday we made arrangements to do an island tour so we meet up with our taxi driver / tour guide at 9. In the islands most taxi drivers are also licensed as tour guides and the rates are fixed by the government. 1^st stop is the old Romney Manor, old plantation grounds turned into botanical gardens and now home of Caribelle Batik. They show you how they make the prints and have many wonderful

things to choose from in their gift shop. I wanted to just get a throw pillow COVER not another pillow (Steve thinks we have too many already) but we could not agree on a design. Leaving empty handed, next stop is the Brimstone Hill Fortress & Fort George Museum. They have done a wonderful job restoring the fort and the museum is very well done. Once again the views are spectacular. Next stop known as Black Rock, where when the islands volcano last erupted a 1000 years ago the lava cooling in the ocean waters made these rock formations. Pick up some BBQ chicken & pork to eat in the van on the drive back to town, back to the marina by 1:30. We make use of the duty free liquor store and load up on good cheap liquor, clear out from customs & immigration as we will be leaving Saturday morning. And once again later in the evening because it is so easy we walk into town for dinner. Saturday Steve checks us out with the marina and we are underway by 8 with light winds and flat seas as we dodge the fish pots on our way past the island. Once we clear the island and turn north we have PERFECT sailing conditions, with just 2 foot swells and 10-15 knot winds just aft of the beam it is a GREAT sail all the way over to St. Barts. One of those sails you wish everyday on the water could be like. St. Barts main anchorage is outside the main town of Gustavia. They have an “inner” port and marina area, where many mega yachts tie up stern to the dock, with their anchor lines dropped way out in the harbour. Many small power boats along the wall with stern anchors plus moorings in the middle that you have to tie bow & stern to. A very busy area. There are also anchorages outside the port area all along the the north side and all along the south side of the channel, they even have one “section” where the super mega yachts (too big to go into the port) seem to anchor out. All the areas seem crowded but we find a spot on the south side right by friends Linda & John on Kool Kat and are anchored by 2:45. Go to check in stopping by Kool Kat on the way, John & Linda have been here many times before so we make plans to join them for dinner as they will be leaving the next day. Checking into St. Barts, a French island, is still easier then the English islands BUT it is St. Barts so it does cost a little more $53 US for 3 nights -yes they charge to just anchor here. Took a little longer as it was busy, but the guy who was doing 5 things at once was very helpful and happy doing his job. Walk around town a little then back to the boat to clean up for dinner. We go in with Linda & John and they point out a few good restaurants and we enjoy the stroll around town reading menus before picking a place to eat. Stopped in at Le Select for a drink learning that this is supposed to be the place Jimmy Buffet wrote the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise”, the place sure is paradise but I saw a guy with a hamburger and I was not impressed. Sunday we go into town thinking we will take a taxi tour that Linda & John recommended or rent a scooter & do our own island tour. It's early 10 am, and nothing is open except a couple of bakeries and a couple of restaurants but NO taxis at the taxi stand and no open scooter rental places. So we decide to walk along the waterfront to the other side and go up to the Fort Oscar overlooking the harbor and the anchorage. We get up there and find out it is the national police headquarters and you can not visit (we overlooked this bit of info on the map). Walking the street up there trying to find other views, we make our way to the south headland where the ruins of Fort Karl are. Great views of harbor, town and shell beach just not of our anchorage. Still the weather is great warm but with a nice breeze so a great day for walking and exploring the town, even if everything is closed. Have lunch along the waterfront then take a walk up the east side headland to the lighthouse and Fort Gustave, now a weather station. More great views of the harbor, town and our anchorage. Not much more has opened, still no taxis at the taxi stand and we noticed there had not been any ferries, so I guess Sundays are quiet days. Back to the boat relaxing watching the boats come and go, dinner on board. Monday we are up and see a cruise ship coming in to anchor, so we hurry and get into town by 9, before too many passengers get in. We decide to rent a scooter for the day at 30 € instead of the hour taxi tour for 65 € (taxi can be up to 8 people), which at the time seems like a really good deal. Steve has not driven any vehicle in almost a year (11 months) and a lot longer since he has driven a scooter. We were not too concerned it was an automatic, and very heavy which made for a comfy ride with the 2 of us on it. The problem was it was under powered with the 2 of us on it (kind of like our dinghy). So going up hills we could not go very fast and cars started to pile up behind us. Steve trying to be nice and courteous would move over as much as he could and try to let people pass. But the side of the road was where most of the cracks and holes were so if we needed to get back over some drivers did not want to let us. Then we had side street traffic that you could not tell if they were going to stop until the last minute, so if we slowed down and it happened to be on a hill it was hard to get speed up again to get going. Pulling over to a look out spot, as we are stopping we hit dirt & gravel and the bike skids out from under us and we go down. Of course I wind up under the bike, but just a few scrapes and sure to be bruises. Wipe the dust off and get the map out to see where we want to go for lunch. On the way there going down to the hotel / restaurant we go over a speed bump (NOT the first of many we went over this day). We were going downhill, so Steve had his hands on the brake, and when we hit the unexpected bump, his hands reflexively hit the brakes, the front one harder than the rear, causing the back of the bike to jump up, my helmet hits Steve's helmet and I get launched off the bike onto the ground AGAIN ! Just another little scrape on my other elbow, back on the bike and continue to the restaurant. We sit and relax and have a nice leisurely lunch putting off getting back on the scooter as long as possible. We make several more stops and go up and down many more hills just one time the hill was too steep and the bike came to a grinding halt so I got off & walked up a little ways. Finally between my legs hurting from squeezing Steve so hard hanging on and Steve's hands cramping from holding the handles so hard we decide to call it a day and return the bike by 3:30.   I think this was the scariest thing I have done since we left Kemah.  Back to the boat hot showers, some aspirin for me, relax a little before going into town for dinner. St. Barts is really a beautiful island we can see why it is so popular even if you have to put up with a VERY rolly anchorage. Tuesday we will make the short trip over to St. Martin where we will be for a few weeks.

Link (s) to pictures;
https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/StBarts?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMXrhrbMjbLscQ&feat=directlink


https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/NevisStKitts?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO6U4Lif_oqr4QE&feat=directlink


https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/LesSaintes?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJPZz6euxuij1gE&feat=directlink


https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/MartiniqueDominica?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCL3Bit25_r3k9QE&feat=directlink

St. Lucia 2012

 Monday 30 January – Saturday 4 February

We had a decent motor sail up from Bequia to St. Lucia. The short distance between Bequia & St Vincent the winds were as predicted 20 – 25 with gusts up to 30 so we were double reefed on main & genoa sails, seas 6-8 feet with a lot of 10 footers thrown in. We were not pounding into the waves as they were 20° off the bow but still lots of water & spray over the boat. Couldn't keep our sunglasses clean. Once in the lee of St. Vincent the waves were knocked down, winds stayed pretty steady with a few fluky dulls or gusts. Approaching the north end of St. Vincent the waves began to increase again but they were only 4-6 footers making the 30 miles in open water up to St. Lucia a little better. Not the smoothest sail but not that rough, we made good timing so went all the way up to Rodney Bay on the north end of St Lucia and were anchored in Rodney Bay by 4. Steve had read an article in practical sailor about equalizing AGM batteries so he decided we should go into the marina for a couple of days so we could hook up to shore power and do a full equalization of the batteries. Tuesday morning after listening to the cruisers net we go into the marina. We had announced our arrival, during the nets they have a section for boats arriving and leaving, and afterward friends Maria & Maurice from Cattiva, whom we had met down in Trinidad and again in Grenada called us and said they were here in the anchorage also. They were leaving the next day to head back to Trinidad for Carnival so we made plans to meet for lunch at 1. Lunch lasted till 4:30, so we got back to the boat put the dinghy in the water and went over to the grocery store. Even though we are in the marina it is easier & shorter to go to the grocery store by dinghy instead of taxi or bus. Just have time to go to the one store, picking up a few things then back to the boat as the sun is setting. That evening Steve gets everything ready to do the equalization, as he plans to do it overnight , getting up every hour to check that all is okay. Shut everything down at midnight, and start the process. Left a lantern on and had flashlights close by, Steve set his watch and went to bed, getting up every hour through the night to ensure the batteries are not overheating or voltages too high. All went well.   Wednesday morning out on the dock we run in to Horst & Shariffa from Sunbourne again, they are here awaiting guests arrival the following day so we make plans to meet for dinner later. There is a ladies luncheon that afternoon over at the lovely Bay Gardens Beach Resort that I attend. A big group of lady cruisers just getting a little time off the boats away from the men. After lunch we can swim in the nice pool but it clouded up & rained a little so I just put my feet in and still felt cold but a lot of the others went in swimming. Back to the marina and relax a little after the drinks from lunch. Go to dinner that night with Shariffa & Horst, they have some fabulous restaurants on St. Lucia and the ones by the marina are pretty good and VERY convenient so we eat at one close by the marina. Thursday we leave the dock around noon, go back out and anchor and have lunch. I had a pedicure and foot massage appointment that afternoon so took the dinghy back in. I made it into the lagoon and heading toward the marina the engine dies ! It did sputter & die so my first thought was something to do with the fuel, so 1^st thing I check is the plug connecting the gas can to the motor but it's connected. Mean while the winds are blowing 20 knots so I am drifting, luckily towards shore and I wind up against the dock of a beautiful home. Also had an anchor in the dinghy so if I had been drifting out to sea I would have thrown that out. Open the gas can and see its empty ! Call Steve on the hand held VFH radio I was carrying with me, I knew we had some gas in the internal tank but I did not know how to switch it over. Steve could not believe we were out of gas since we had just filled it in Bequia but I assured him the tank was empty and he told me how to switch over tanks – just a little lever on the side. We will check the gas can a lot more frequently from now on you can bet on that. Still make it in time for my foot massage & pedicure. Later back on the boat fill up the gas tank from the extra tank on board. Friday we had made arrangements to go up to the rain forest to finally do a zip line. One thing we have learned that if you want to do any kind of island excursion to call and make sure there is NOT a cruise ship in town as then the places you might be going to get too crowded. So we are being picked up at 8:20, as I am getting out of the dinghy at the dinghy dock it floats away from the dock and I loose my footing and into the water I go !! Steve pulls me out but I am soaked from the chest down, with not enough time to go back to the boat to change. As we go around front to the parking / pick up area I am trying to stand in the sun thinking maybe I can dry out a little. Then I see a little gift shop store & tell Steve I am going to look in there to see if they have a pair of shorts I can buy. I was worried that they would not let me in since I was still dripping but they were very sympathetic and said I could try them on and gave me a roll of paper towels to dry off with. I wound up buying a pair of $20 men’s swim shorts since I did not want to spend $50 for the ladies shorts. Not the most fashionable outfit I have ever worn but they were dry & got me through the day. A group of 6 in our van for the 45 minute ride up to the rain forest, where we joined 3 others. They split us into 2 groups 4 & 5 and told us about how crazy busy it was the day before when the cruise ship was in. After gearing up, an explanation and practice run we take the 40 minute tram ride up 1200 feet. As we go higher into the different levels of the rain forest our two guides are giving us insights about the different trees and plants. Moving into higher grounds you go from silence to sounds of birds. Off at the top, and a short hike down to the 1^st platform, The group of 5 goes 1^st then our group of 4 each group with 2 guides. One at a time we get hooked on and go flying through the trees, from platform to platform. This one is in a U formation so the distance and slope between platforms is not very long or steep. Just a fun ride through the tops of the trees. They do have a more extreme version, and this same company has sites on different islands through out the Caribbean so maybe next time. After the last platform a little hike back up to the tram station for the ride back down. Seeing the island through a bird's eye view is breathtaking. Complementary rum punch at the gift shop and back in the taxi for the ride back to the marina. So what started as not such a good day turned out to be a wonderful time. Weather is looking good so we will be heading up to Martinique Saturday morning.

link to pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/StLucia2?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPjkhcj8-YvTQQ&feat=directlink

Bequia

Friday 13 January – Monday 30 January

We are anchored on the north side of Admiralty Bay almost in the exact same location as we were back in July when we were heading south. It is SOOOO nice to be in a calm anchorage. NO rolling back & forth, just a little when the ferry goes by. Christmas winds are still with us so plenty of breeze to keep us & the boat cool. All the restaurants are open and the streets are full of fruit & veggie vendors, and what a marvelous selection they have. It feels like a different island “in season” then it did in the summer “off season”. It is fun to get off the boat and just walk around “town” picking up the veggies we will need for that nights dinner or checking on the specials of the different restaurants to see if anything appeals. Living on a boat we just go to town to walk :). Several boats we knew from Grenada are already here and we get together with them again. Later the following week we see Sunbourne ,whom we had met down in Trinidad, come into the anchorage. The next day we go by and say HI and visit. Steve & I wanted to take an Island tour, and even though Shariffa & Horst have been to Bequia several times and done an Island tour they are up to going on another with us. Linda & John from Cool Cat had done one and recommended a taxi driver so we found him and booked an outing for Friday morning. Bequia is a beautiful island and it is always fun seeing the different areas away from where we anchor. The highlight of the tour is the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, where Mr King takes care of Hawksbill turtles. He dedicates his time taking care of baby and young turtles until they can fend for themselves out in open waters. A few injured ones that can not fend for themselves he keeps there. It is a really wonderful set up to help increase the turtle population. Back to town for a late lunch enjoying the view of our boats out in the anchorage. Nothing had broken or had to be fixed in a while so we knew it was just a matter of time. On Thursday our dinghy motor started acting up !! Steve tried to fix with no luck. Friday we got a ride in with Sunbourne for the island tour, then that afternoon Steve cleaned the carburetor AGAIN but it still kept stalling out. We found the # for the local outboard motor specialist Kerry and called him, he says he can make it out in an hour. He had been working on another boat, when he finished that guy dropped him off at our boat. We all asked how he was going to get back to shore and he just patted our dinghy and smiled – confidant that he could fix it – and he did. Steve learned a new thing to check if the outboard acts up, seems the float valve was letting too much fuel in and flooding it so just a tiny adjustment and shes working fine again. On Sunday Steve's computer was locked up and he was trying to do everything he could to get it started to no avail. He gets on the VHF radio to call around to see if there is a place that works on computers on Bequia thinking he would need to bring it in to get fixed on Monday. After many attempts he was finally able to restore to the last back up the week before so just missed a little of info that he was able to go back in and recreate. Then the generator water pump belt broke, which would not be such a big deal as we have plenty of spare belts. But the problem was caused by the generators alternator bearings being shot and seizing up the alternator so it would not turn the belt. So now a little problem is a big problem. Run into town for a late lunch stopping by Sunbourne on the way back to tell them of our new problem. They point out a boat behind them and say to go talk to him as he has a shop and is known as Mr Fix It. We stop by and Steve explains our problem thinking it can not be rebuilt but he says he can fix it and tells Steve where his shop is and to bring it by in the morning. So by Monday morning 2 of the 3 problems have been resolved and we are hoping the 3^rd one gets fixed as fast. Mr Fix It orders some bearings from St. Vincent and they arrive on the Tuesday morning ferry as we are boarding for a day trip over to St. Vincent, Mr Fix It is there getting his package with our bearings to re build the alternator. So Steve & I head out on the hour ferry ride over to the main island of the Grenadines St. Vincent. As soon as you walk off , no actually one taxi driver was walking on to the ferry asking if you needed a ride. We must have said no 50 times in the first 30 minutes we were there. We just wanted to walk around the town of Kingstown and see what the “big” city was like compared to the little towns on the smaller islands. Turns out to be just a lot more of the same, fruit & veggie stands & markets every where. We later asked who eats all this stuff, looked like way too much for that size town. We were told that when the locals get off work they go by all the different stands and pick up what they need, we still think a lot must go bad before it can be bought. We did find Steve a new cup, he has a favorite that had broken and rather then use a different one he just kept gluing that one back together. Now I got to throw it away :). After walking around town and having lunch we did find a taxi driver who took us up to the fort which gives the most stunning view of Kingstown and the harbour. Part of the OLD fort is still used as a woman’s prison, the guide did say their part has been updated compared to the old section we saw. Then we went to the Botanical Gardens and walked around the beautiful grounds, then up to Belmont Lookout overlooking the Mesopotamia Valley, known for its fertile soil where many of the wonderful crops grown on St. Vincent come from, another stunning view. Back in the taxi and back to the ferry dock to catch the 4 pm ride back to Bequia. A couple of days later walking down main street we run into Jan & Larry from Sea Bear whom we had met in Grenada. They are also here for the music festival and meet up later for pizza at Mac's. Thursday and Friday afternoon the boats keep pouring into the harbour, luckily it has plenty of room and the north side where we are is not as crowded. Friday night we made arrangements to meet Jan & Larry at 8 pm to take a taxi down to De Reef on lower bay where the festival is being held. Bands started around 9, first 2 were not very good BUT the following acts were great and we had a good time dancing and listening to music until 2 am. Saturday they had 2 events, the afternoon show over in Friendship Bay (east side) at the beautiful Bequia Beach Hotel, and another evening event at De Reef. We had Terrance our helpful taxi guy drop us off about 1 at the Bequia Beach Hotel and the music was already playing. We found a spot on the grass in the shade and spread out our towels and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon listening to music. We wore bathing suits as the event was right on the beach but it was pretty rough, the waves crashing on shore – not too many people went swimming. Jan & I did manage a little dip in the hotel pool. In addition to selling alcohol drinks, the Mount Gay Rum ladies were there roaming the crowd pouring shots – as many as you wanted. They also had a table set up in case you wanted a little ice or juice to go with your rum. Had to pace ourselves as we still had the concert to go to later in the evening. Back to the boats around 4:30 and told Terrance to pick us up at 8:30 giving us a little time to clean up and get ready for the night. We knew Saturday night was the bigger event but were very surprised when we had to be dropped off down the street as it was already getting crowded and the music was playing. The main room was already almost wall to wall people. Where the night before they had tables & chairs set along the outskirts tonight all tables & chairs were removed and put on the beach. Both nights they also had a huge screen outside visible to a large area for people to see. Steve & I were lucky and grabbed 2 chairs outside in the 3^rd row, later moved up to the front row right in front of the screen & behind the stage. So we were able to watch the bands on stage and also the backstage area where the musicians came off stage and watch all the people coming in, many decked out all dressed up. Later heard 600 people were there, It was another fun night. We left a little earlier and were back to the boat by 1:15. Sunday we were to be picked up at noon, in the dinghy on the way in Steve remembers we need to check out ! As we plan to leave Monday morning. We did not think that customs would be open but as we walk by they are, so Steve goes back to the boat to get our papers and I go meet Jan & Larry to take the taxi back to De Reef for the final days concert. We joined another couple who had already gotten a good table (tables & chairs back inside) and enjoyed another fun afternoon listening to music. Steve & I left early around 4 since we had to go back and get the boat ready to leave early the next morning. Bequia is a great little island, plenty of good restaurants to choose from, great fruits & veggies available, decent shopping (provisioning) , good anchorage, and friendly people, we are glad we got to spend more time here getting to know the island a little better. Next Stop St. Lucia

link to pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/Bequia?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPmiua_UouHm3wE&feat=directlink