More Virgins!

After Thanksgiving Susan and I flew back to Tortola.  Usually the blog photos are from both of us, but my contribution for December drowned along with my Samsung Galaxy S6.  Have I heard of waterproof phone cases?  Insurance? Backing up photos to the cloud?  Yup.  Did I do any of that? Nope.  And to make matters worse, the second half of December I was here by myself since Susan went back up to the Northeast for the holidays. So all of those "solo" shots went a gurgling.  Fortunately my memory still serves me.  What month are we talking about?




We left Nanny Cay for the USVI''s and met up with our friends Josh and Tiff, and Jacques, who are aboard a very slick, and very fast, catamaran called Occam's Razor.

Josh, Tiff and Jacques

Occam's Razor

We met up with them at Christmas Cove and shared our respective passages south. Also did some nice snorkeling on the reef at the anchorage, and had awesome pizza made on the boat "Pizza π."

Pizza π, right.  Hungry customers, left.

 After a couple of days there we moved to Honeymoon Beach on the west side of Water Island.  Considering how close it is to the hustle and bustle of Charlotte Amalie it is a surprisingly laid back place. 

Honeymoon Beach on Water Island

Cruise ships sneak in and out, just astern of us.

 

Josh and Jacques out for a "dog paddle"



The Kon Tiki gets a bit closer to us than we'd like!

After Susan went home I hung out with Occam's for another week and through Christmas.  I had some really great photos of those two weeks--Did I mention the pictures all drowned? 

We sailed east to Coral Harbor St. John, which was another funky place. Then we crossed paths with Geof and Talya aboard Wynot, as they were headed to Caneel Bay.  Fun hanging with them, and they always know where the best dining is!  One photo is salvaged by having previously sent it by email:

Geof and Talya aboard Wynot, sailing downwind in the Drake Channel

Last stop before splitting up was in the North Sound, Virgin Gorda.  There we met up with long-time Outbound owners David and Gretchen aboard Callisto, and new Outbound owners Kurt and Pamela on Big Frisky. Visiting Occam's Razor from Florida were Phil Lambert of Outbound Yachts and his wife Monica.  That was a nice surprise for all of us Outbound owners!  Also in the North Sound for the holidays were Michael and Nancy Keyworth aboard their very pretty Swan 44 Chasseur.  I had some nice shots of all of them, but, you know . . .

The Chrismas winds were really howling that week, and the next.  Despite all the wind Jacques kept Santa in the saddle!

Jacques and Santa

After Christmas I sailed solo for a few days, shooting into Spanish Town and taking the dinghy over to The Baths (which although Susan, Jason and Rachel had all been to, I hadn't).  Then on to Marina Cay, and then to Penn's Landing, East End and finally back to Road Town.  There, just after New Years, I met up with Sam, who sailed down with me this fall, and his chef/hostess friend Alex, to join me for the sail to Antigua.  By January 4 the Chrismas winds settled just a bit for the passage, but the seas were still pretty lumpy.  We got to Jolly Harbour by dusk January 5, anchored out a night and then put the boat to sleep for a couple of weeks at Jolly Harbour Marina. 

Next blog:  Susan and Bennett return to Jolly Harbour, Antigua at the end of January.  Bennett is armed with a new (well not so new) phone for more photos.  Anyone have a waterproof case for an old Iphone 5?

All the Rest of 2015, then South 2016!

OK, I admit it.  I lost posting momentum.  There, I admit it. So lets just summarize the whole rest of the year with a few highlights, and move on . . . .


April in Antigua and Barbuda: Awesome!







We watched the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta:

We visited the Donkey Sanctuary!

Robert and Sally visited for a week! Lots of fun with them:

Barbuda was spectacular--the highlight of which was the Frigate Bird colony:

In May, Pratique got hauled in Jolly Harbour for a fresh coat of bottom paint.  When I got back to Jolly, Hank joined me for the Spring, 2015 return trip to RI.  We took the boat to Nanny Cay to meet our new crew Mike Vohs and Greg Neely.  Fantastic trip home with the other Salty Dawg Rally boats. 


We spent the summer in our new apartment in Providence, enjoying the city for the first time. Fast forward to October and it was time to move south again to Hampton VA for the fall SDR rally.  We spent a leisurely 3 weeks to go from Barrington to Hampton via the Long island sound and New York City, then up the Delaware and through the C&D canal for a really nice week in the Chesapeake. 


November 1 we departed once again from Hampton to Virgin Gorda, BVI.  This time more than ever having a great crew was crucial because I had some kind of pneumonia/bronchitis that would not quit.  Thanks to Hank, Tim Metcalf and Sam Dickson for making the trip happen! 

Sam

Hank

Tim

So that brings us back to the Virgin Islands to begin 2015-2016 season in the Caribbean! I flew home
for the Thanksgiving week, then Susan and I returned to Nanny Cay to throttle up and out. Trouble was, the throttle mechanism failed! So we quickly learned to manually push the cable to get into forward gear. No worries, as a new throttle was to arrive soon and we were able to enjoy December in the Virgin Islands--which will have to wait for the next post!


Happy New Year!

Isles des Saintes

On the way to Antigua we stopped back in Iles des Saintes. This time we picked up a mooring in Bourg des Saintes. The main island Terre-de-Haut is perfectly sized for a golf cart tour.

Wonderful views can be had when visiting Fort Napoleon, and the museum and the gardens are also great.

View from Fort Napoleon

Pratique off the port bow of the big ship

We also realized we were low on gasoline for the dingy engine, so we figured we'd bring the gas canister with us in the golf cart.  First chance we would get, we'd fill her up for the rides to come.  So for future generations of visitors we are, like others before us, presenting our albeit belated "Words to the Wise."  Fill up before you get to Les Saintes.

We quickly learned that the only fuel available is on the east side of the Baie de Marigot, on the north end of the island. So we took the golf cart to the small village at the head of the bay, and started asking questions of the locals.  My French did not fail me, and it wasn't long before I was able to ascertain that there was a trail through the woods that led to the Marina.  "Great, let's go," I told Susan.  The local suggested that I wait for a scheduled boat to arrive around noon that would shuttle my tank to the marina for me and then return it same time the next day.  But I had a "better plan" which was to walk the trail to the pumps and then take the fore-mentioned boat as a ride back.  So off we went.

"Don't follow us to the gas station.  We don't know where it is"

"Ou se trouve l'essence?"

Half hour or so in to the hike, with the steep slope of the trail going down to the water to the left, I was happy to be carrying an empty tank, and excited to know that I'd be avoiding the hike back with a full tank in tow by getting a boat ride back.

Then we hit a dead end:

"OK, who put the chicken coop here?"

Dead End

So we turned around and hiked back down the trail and found it again.  Time to get moving, since I didn't want to miss the boat ride back, or have to wait for a two hour "closed for dejourner" to end.

Almost there! Hope that isn't the ride back!

Ha!  Made it!

Indeed, I was able to fill up as advertised!  And our ride back was right on schedule, so we did manage to avoid the hike back with a full tank!

On the ride back I mentioned to Susan that this experience was reminiscent of a blog I thought I had read a long time ago.  So later that afternoon I Googled it, and sure enough Skip and Maddie had published one of the more descriptive posts of a similar (but less productive) experience on their blog.  Fortunately for us, notice the pump on the left is, at least in 2015, standing!!

Part III: Dominica

Dominica was as far south as we had planned for this season, so when we dropped anchor in Portsmouth we experienced a definite sense of accomplishment.  This beautiful, lush island is another Leeward Islands "don't miss."

Here are our Top Five Dominica highlights:

#1.  Portsmouth and the PAYS:   Like other cruisers before us, we were told about the local guides who are members of a very well organized group called PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services).  They do a great job of introducing themselves by sending one of their guides on their brightly painted wooden boats, often before you have even dropped anchor! Knowing of their m.o. in advance was helpful, as was knowing that you really cannot go wrong with any of them!  And in fact when the boat ahead of us was greeted, but we weren't (yet), I felt a bit like how it was as a kid when choosing sides for basketball:  "Isn't someone gonna pick me now?"  But it wasn't long before we were greeted by Alexis, who by the end of the week had helped us with local trip planning, shopping, getting fresh water, and just generally making us feel welcome and safe.

Portsmouth, with Dominica's natural beauty as a backdrop

Future guide in training?  "The wifi is better over there"

Easy water fills!

                                                                                .


#2. Trip up the Indian River.  No motors allowed, so one of the PAYS takes you up river for a scenic half-day round trip.

Up the creek without a paddle, at least not by us!

Witches Hut from the Pirates of the Caribbean

Tied up at the rum bar up river. 

#3.  Rain forest hike:  Another of the guides took a group of us on a half day hike into the Syndicate Rain forest and to the Milton Falls.  A pretty easy hike and well worth the effort!

Red Sox Nation is everywhere!

Milton Falls

#4.  Hike up into Cabrits National Park and Fort Shirley.

Fort Shirley

Protecting Portsmouth since the 18th Century!

Ruins of cannons deeper in the forest

Looking north back towards Guadeloupe

#5.  The market in Portsmouth:  First we tied up at the dock and were greeted with some lovely Caribbean lobsters.  I much prefer eating the Maine variety, but these Caribbean lobsters were going to be someone's meal

In town, the market was in full swing:

Yummy salted fish treat

It wasn't easy leaving Dominica, but it was time to start back north.

On the way back north to Les Saintes