Saturday, May 31, 2008
To Dominica and beyond...
We had such a fabulous time in The Saintes, Guadeloupe, that we felt hard pressed to leave. Our friends, Richard and Laila on Nebula finally caught up with us and we had a terrific reunion beach party and dinner aboard A2C the night they arrived from Guadeloupe. It was, indeed, good to be us, once more! Before their arrival, we enjoyed a couple of nice days in the main harbor of the Saintes, Terre des haut. This thoroughly French village really caught our attention and if it weren't for the ever present roll in the harbor, we might still be there. Fortunately, the roll drove us out of the main harbor and into a beautiful anchorage just around the bay from our original spot and we found a nearly deserted spot with some of the most beautiful beaches of our trip. There, we would spend our days snorkeling and our evenings on the trampoline, watching shooting stars above, before sliding into bed. It has quickly become our second favorite place after Antigua.
Although we really loved the anchorage, and even with Laila and Richard back in the fold, we knew we needed to put some water under our boat and begin to move south soon. So after our "welcome back to the group party, Windfreak and Allergic to Cities, yanked the anchor up the next morning and sailed off to the next island, Dominica. Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Dominica is a rain-forested island of significant beauty. Most recently those of you whom have seen the Pirates of the Caribbean II and III movies, will recognize this island as the location for that filming. We arrived after a 6 hour sail across open water in near perfect conditions, to the port of Portsmouth. This was originally designated to be the capital city of the island, but due to early outbreaks of Malaria and Dengue fever, from the nearby swampy areas, the capital was moved south to another port, Roseau. These problems have all but disappeared and today, this port is an active eco-tourism destination.
We took advantage of the tourism offerings one morning and went with a local guide in his small rowboat up the swampy river into the mangrove area. We saw many large iguanas and fish, and he was hoping that along with it being a good iguana day, that it would also be a good snake day. We kind of looked at each other in a bit of shock as he explained that this area was the natural habitat to Boa Constrictors as well as several other exotic vipers. We didn't get to see any snakes but non-the-less, had a fabulous experience on the river with this guide. Incidentally, some time ago, the country realized that tourism was to be a big part of the countries economy, they set out to certify guides to be able to offer qualified tours with expert guides. Our guy, Albert, was on of the first to pass the certification, and his knowledge was in depth and very complete in all details. He could describe, at length, the various flora, and fish species we would see and easily answered our more scientific queries. Yet his formal education was clearly not likely to be beyond what we call grade school. He rowed the boat up the river several miles, as to not disturb the beautiful natural habitat of the jungle, and for this was paid the equivalent of about $20/US.
We moved on down the coast to our next stop, Roseau, the next morning and found the anchorage to be, unfortunately, as rolly as the last. We were met, as we entered the mooring field, by a small, colorfully painted fishing-style boat, manned by a guy who introduced himself as Dexter. We found that once we got to this island, "boat boys", as they are referred to, make their living "helping cruisers, with chores like mooring, fruit sales, garbage disposal, and arranging for tours, taxis, and rental cars, and such. It is quite a contest, between them, to see whom each boat would select to be their helper. Somewhat pesky, but not threatening at the least. We're told, this will be the way it is the rest of the way down island.
After we hooked up to the ball, a necessity at this anchorage, we headed into town to have a look around. This, being the capital city, was supposed to have some nice shops and things to see. We didn't find a lot of nice stores, although we did find a descent grocery, and we did find a really good outdoor farmer's market. There were many vendors with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, many of which are so foreign to us. Lots of rooty looking things which we only could imagine were to be boiled and served like a potato. One vendor lady was particularly helpful in describing what each thing was and how to prepare them. We nodded and said "thanks" but couldn't force ourselves to buy any of them. Probably our loss.
We returned early to our boat for the night as David and Vicky had arranged for a rental car the next day so we all could travel around the inner-island and see some of the spectacular natural sights. That night we decided it must be the national law for everyone on the island to own at least one mangy looking dog and then to tether them on a short leash outside their homes where they would be encouraged to howl and bark unmercifully, all night. Then, if the owner were to try to quiet the mutt, they would be subject to additional fines and be forced to wear a bight bright yellow smiley face t-shirt as an additional penalty, for trying to be nice to the boating community. Sarcasm aside, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night.
We arrived ashore the next morning, however, ready to explore the island. Dominica is a very rugged island with mountains raising up to 5,ooo ft. from the ocean.They are all lush with vegetation and beautiful assorted plant life. Since David rented the car, it was, fortunately, his responsibility to do the driving. They drive British style on Dominica, opposite side to American traffic, and mostly was over any reasonable speed around mostly blind corners, up and down treacherous hillsides. The habit is to honk the horn when approaching a blind curve and hope someone coming the other direction hears you coming. Most of the roads are badly pot-holed so they are very rough and driving involves lots of swerving around on the roadway. We did, however, envoy a fun day traveling about the island, stopping at a couple of notable waterfalls for a relaxing cool-down.
Everywhere we drove we found fruit trees growing along side the roads. Mangoes, Papayas, breadfruit, grapefruits, bananas, plantains, and more were everywhere. Tempting as it was we didn't stop to help ourselves as we figured these were probably owned and tended to by some local farmers. We returned to our boat dock after stopping at the grocery for a few provisions, and made it out to the boat just in time for another glorious Caribbean sunset. They decided to stay another day and enjoy more of the island in the rental car, but we had decided to move on the next day to Martinique. That night all of the dogs must have been holding a convention on the other side of the island so we got a good nights sleep.
We left Dominica around 7:30AM Friday and raised the sails about a mile out into the bay. The winds were to be at a good angle and a reasonable speed so we planned on having a nice day of sailing. We were not to be disappointed. Although we saw a few gusts over 2okts,; the winds stayed consistent and we made terrific time in our Manta 42. At times we had her up over 8.5kts which is moving right along. Because of speeds like this, we made the 35 mile passage in great time and arrived at the island of Martinique around 1:00.
Geographically similar to Dominica, Martinique is a larger island, with a greater population. The cruisers guide says it this way: "When you've had enough of deserted beaches and raw nature, Martinique is the place for a breath of civilization." It is VERY French and the towns are scrubbed clean and offers almost anything a cruising boater might need in the way of repairs or mechanical services. The shops are European and the restaurants are frequent and breathe wonderful aromas out onto the walkways.
The town we arrived at is called St. Pierre, and, like many of the island towns, has a notable history. Empress Josephine was born here and Napoleon spend much of France's naval wealth here, trying to protect the island from the superior English Navy. More notable is the historic eruption of Mt. Pele in 1902. This volcano nearly wiped out the entire population of the city of St. Pierre, except for two survivors. One was a prisoner in the local jail who survived due to the thickness of his cell walls and later became pardoned and traveled with the Barnum and Bailey circus, in the freak show.
When we went ashore to check in with customs, we found the typical French laid back system and were not able to find anyone able to do the paperwork. The customs office was closed and a note directed us to the internet café where we were told we could check in. The café was also closed, so we must go back in this morning and try again. It is quite comical to compare the systems between some islands and others. The British islands are very strict and official about customs, while the French ones, seem to almost care less.
We shopped a bit and had a humorous time trying to explain to the pharmacy what we wanted. They spoke only French and our French is very lacking. We finally were able to communicate well enough and purchased some Echinacea liquid for our fiend David, who is suffering from a upper chest cold. We also sat at a sidewalk café at happy hour and enjoyed a couple of the local beers. Not bad beer for French stuff, I might add.
Today, David and Vicky and Richard and Laila are expected to arrive here from Dominica. We're not sure if we'll still be in this anchorage, yet, at we would really like to move on down the island to find something less "city-like". After all, you know we really are allergic to cities! We may have to wait to reconnect with them further on down the island.
Although we really loved the anchorage, and even with Laila and Richard back in the fold, we knew we needed to put some water under our boat and begin to move south soon. So after our "welcome back to the group party, Windfreak and Allergic to Cities, yanked the anchor up the next morning and sailed off to the next island, Dominica. Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Dominica is a rain-forested island of significant beauty. Most recently those of you whom have seen the Pirates of the Caribbean II and III movies, will recognize this island as the location for that filming. We arrived after a 6 hour sail across open water in near perfect conditions, to the port of Portsmouth. This was originally designated to be the capital city of the island, but due to early outbreaks of Malaria and Dengue fever, from the nearby swampy areas, the capital was moved south to another port, Roseau. These problems have all but disappeared and today, this port is an active eco-tourism destination.
We took advantage of the tourism offerings one morning and went with a local guide in his small rowboat up the swampy river into the mangrove area. We saw many large iguanas and fish, and he was hoping that along with it being a good iguana day, that it would also be a good snake day. We kind of looked at each other in a bit of shock as he explained that this area was the natural habitat to Boa Constrictors as well as several other exotic vipers. We didn't get to see any snakes but non-the-less, had a fabulous experience on the river with this guide. Incidentally, some time ago, the country realized that tourism was to be a big part of the countries economy, they set out to certify guides to be able to offer qualified tours with expert guides. Our guy, Albert, was on of the first to pass the certification, and his knowledge was in depth and very complete in all details. He could describe, at length, the various flora, and fish species we would see and easily answered our more scientific queries. Yet his formal education was clearly not likely to be beyond what we call grade school. He rowed the boat up the river several miles, as to not disturb the beautiful natural habitat of the jungle, and for this was paid the equivalent of about $20/US.
We moved on down the coast to our next stop, Roseau, the next morning and found the anchorage to be, unfortunately, as rolly as the last. We were met, as we entered the mooring field, by a small, colorfully painted fishing-style boat, manned by a guy who introduced himself as Dexter. We found that once we got to this island, "boat boys", as they are referred to, make their living "helping cruisers, with chores like mooring, fruit sales, garbage disposal, and arranging for tours, taxis, and rental cars, and such. It is quite a contest, between them, to see whom each boat would select to be their helper. Somewhat pesky, but not threatening at the least. We're told, this will be the way it is the rest of the way down island.
After we hooked up to the ball, a necessity at this anchorage, we headed into town to have a look around. This, being the capital city, was supposed to have some nice shops and things to see. We didn't find a lot of nice stores, although we did find a descent grocery, and we did find a really good outdoor farmer's market. There were many vendors with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, many of which are so foreign to us. Lots of rooty looking things which we only could imagine were to be boiled and served like a potato. One vendor lady was particularly helpful in describing what each thing was and how to prepare them. We nodded and said "thanks" but couldn't force ourselves to buy any of them. Probably our loss.
We returned early to our boat for the night as David and Vicky had arranged for a rental car the next day so we all could travel around the inner-island and see some of the spectacular natural sights. That night we decided it must be the national law for everyone on the island to own at least one mangy looking dog and then to tether them on a short leash outside their homes where they would be encouraged to howl and bark unmercifully, all night. Then, if the owner were to try to quiet the mutt, they would be subject to additional fines and be forced to wear a bight bright yellow smiley face t-shirt as an additional penalty, for trying to be nice to the boating community. Sarcasm aside, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night.
We arrived ashore the next morning, however, ready to explore the island. Dominica is a very rugged island with mountains raising up to 5,ooo ft. from the ocean.They are all lush with vegetation and beautiful assorted plant life. Since David rented the car, it was, fortunately, his responsibility to do the driving. They drive British style on Dominica, opposite side to American traffic, and mostly was over any reasonable speed around mostly blind corners, up and down treacherous hillsides. The habit is to honk the horn when approaching a blind curve and hope someone coming the other direction hears you coming. Most of the roads are badly pot-holed so they are very rough and driving involves lots of swerving around on the roadway. We did, however, envoy a fun day traveling about the island, stopping at a couple of notable waterfalls for a relaxing cool-down.
Everywhere we drove we found fruit trees growing along side the roads. Mangoes, Papayas, breadfruit, grapefruits, bananas, plantains, and more were everywhere. Tempting as it was we didn't stop to help ourselves as we figured these were probably owned and tended to by some local farmers. We returned to our boat dock after stopping at the grocery for a few provisions, and made it out to the boat just in time for another glorious Caribbean sunset. They decided to stay another day and enjoy more of the island in the rental car, but we had decided to move on the next day to Martinique. That night all of the dogs must have been holding a convention on the other side of the island so we got a good nights sleep.
We left Dominica around 7:30AM Friday and raised the sails about a mile out into the bay. The winds were to be at a good angle and a reasonable speed so we planned on having a nice day of sailing. We were not to be disappointed. Although we saw a few gusts over 2okts,; the winds stayed consistent and we made terrific time in our Manta 42. At times we had her up over 8.5kts which is moving right along. Because of speeds like this, we made the 35 mile passage in great time and arrived at the island of Martinique around 1:00.
Geographically similar to Dominica, Martinique is a larger island, with a greater population. The cruisers guide says it this way: "When you've had enough of deserted beaches and raw nature, Martinique is the place for a breath of civilization." It is VERY French and the towns are scrubbed clean and offers almost anything a cruising boater might need in the way of repairs or mechanical services. The shops are European and the restaurants are frequent and breathe wonderful aromas out onto the walkways.
The town we arrived at is called St. Pierre, and, like many of the island towns, has a notable history. Empress Josephine was born here and Napoleon spend much of France's naval wealth here, trying to protect the island from the superior English Navy. More notable is the historic eruption of Mt. Pele in 1902. This volcano nearly wiped out the entire population of the city of St. Pierre, except for two survivors. One was a prisoner in the local jail who survived due to the thickness of his cell walls and later became pardoned and traveled with the Barnum and Bailey circus, in the freak show.
When we went ashore to check in with customs, we found the typical French laid back system and were not able to find anyone able to do the paperwork. The customs office was closed and a note directed us to the internet café where we were told we could check in. The café was also closed, so we must go back in this morning and try again. It is quite comical to compare the systems between some islands and others. The British islands are very strict and official about customs, while the French ones, seem to almost care less.
We shopped a bit and had a humorous time trying to explain to the pharmacy what we wanted. They spoke only French and our French is very lacking. We finally were able to communicate well enough and purchased some Echinacea liquid for our fiend David, who is suffering from a upper chest cold. We also sat at a sidewalk café at happy hour and enjoyed a couple of the local beers. Not bad beer for French stuff, I might add.
Today, David and Vicky and Richard and Laila are expected to arrive here from Dominica. We're not sure if we'll still be in this anchorage, yet, at we would really like to move on down the island to find something less "city-like". After all, you know we really are allergic to cities! We may have to wait to reconnect with them further on down the island.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Volcanos, British Admirals, and French pasteries
Montserrat is a beautiful small island with roughly 4,500 inhabitants eeking out a meager living from the fertile soil left behind from the ash flow of a volcanic eruption. We sailed there from the island country of Nevis, just to the south of St. Kitts. We found the local people to be very friendly and welcoming and eager to show us their island and it's laid back lifestyle.
Much of these islands economy is based on tourism so they understand the necessity of courtesy and safety to the visitor. They have broad-based public transportation in the forms of taxis, gua-guas (small private busses), and public busses, which seem to be privately-owned small businesses of the driver. Many times these small busses are elaborately painted and personalized with anything from religious themes to fantasy animals or natural visions airbrushed completely over the outside of the bus. Other times, one fears they might not make it to the next street corner without a mechanical breakdown of some sort. But that has yet to happen to us. I hope I'm not putting a jinx on that by discussing! We often take an afternoon on the public transportation to ride around a new island to try to get the lay of the land and experience a bit of the local culture. Other times, we'll split a private van or small taxi to give us a personal tour to something of particular interest. This was the case of the volcano tour.
The six of us still together (Jake/Carol, David/Vicky and Suz and Rick) all wanted to see the volcano on the island and so we negotiated a driver to give us a tour up to the viewing area so we could see what it looked like. The volcano on Montserrat is considered still active even though it is not currently spewing anything but steam and smelly sulphurous gasses presently.
Up until the last eruption in 1995, many wealthy American, Canadian, and Europeans invested in island homesites and build luxury villas and vacation places on the lush hillsides and in the fertile valleys of this beautiful tropical island. Then, unexpectedly, in 1995, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted, sending a terrible ash and water flow down the valleys and into the capital town of Plymouth, destroying it under several feet of protoplastic debris. Almost daily, continuous eruptions sent volcanic dust into the air, further polluting the area. Many of the luxury homes were destroyed and the islands residency dropped from over 11,000 to its present day 4500. The government closed off the areas most effected by the debris and declared those areas unsafe to live within, yet many owners still found a mortgage booklet in their possession which the bank needed kept up to date with payments. What a horrible situation these folks have had to endure. Most insurance companies don't cover such "acts of God" on their homeowners policies so even the homes which were left untouched by the direct damage were deemed unsafe to inhabit by the local Government.
In 2003, the huge volcanic dome collapsed and this sent some hope to the island people that the worst was over. The government has slightly eased restrictions on habitation of these homes but much of the area is still not habitable. It is such an eerie feeling to visit the area, see beautiful homes with manicured yards, obviously kept up by someone who cared, next to a place completely destroyed by the previous ash flow. As you might expect, there is a major volcano observatory near the mountain to "keep and eye" on seismic activities, and so far the volcano shows little sign of re-igniting.
We were taken down a road near the flow area, and walked through an abandoned home. It was very surreal as there were still books on the bookshelves, some dishes in the kitchen, receipt books from bank activities, all dated prior to the eruption. There was evidence of some looting but much of what was left was of little value to anyone. We thought we were entering the home on the main floor until we realized we were actually walking into the house through a second floor balcony porch door. The entire first floor was under a sea of dried mud and completely invisible. Even inside the home where the stairs went down to the first floor, the mud had filled in the stairway so one couldn't descend. We were told by our driver that the owner of this particular home had "gone mad" after loosing everything to the volcano. It was very sad, indeed.
Within a couple of days, one boat in our group (Jake and Carol/Offline) decided to continue to move south as the other two boats sailed from Montserrat to the island of Antigua. We had heard that Antigua is one of the most peasant and beautiful island in the Leeward chain and we weren't disappointed. The sail was a bit "on the nose" as we had to travel into the northeasterly winds a bit to make landfall, yet we arrived after a days sail from Montserrat to find a perfectly secure harbor and anchorage on the northwestern shore called Jolly Harbor. We stayed in Jolly Harbor for a couple of days enjoying the boatyard, purchasing and making minor repairs to our boats, before heading on down the coast to the most famous harbor on the island, English Harbor. This harbor is steeped in history and filled with historical buildings and remnants of the earlier days on the seas.
Antigua, formerly British controlled, is independent yet fiercely proud of its colonial heritage. The famous British Naval hero, Admiral Lord Nelson, commanded this port's harbor for several years in the mid 1700's when the island was the main hub for the lesser Antilles. We spend a day wandering about the harbor enjoying the restored buildings and well versed placards explaining the various sites. The harbor was extremely well protected from the seas, as you might expect, and was highly defensible because of its narrow entrance. Because the harbor is so well protected from the seas, and it is surrounded on three sides with mangroves, it is considered a substantial hurricane hole and many boats chose this harbor, as well as others on Antigua, to leave their boat for hurricane season. Some just put down a couple of stern anchors and tie the bows into the mangroves, hoping for the best, while others actually have their boats hauled out and welded and chained to steel frames on concrete pads to try to protect from a possible hurricane. We investigated the costs of doing so as we had heard that this island has a terrific record of protection and minimal damage overe the years because of their preventative techniques. This may be a place we choose to put our boat some summer, "on the hard", as it is called.
Antigua is the sailing center of this region and hosts several notable races/regattas over the season and the final one, the Antigua sailing week, is considered the last event of the winter sailing season. After which, the shops, restaurants, and tourist related activities consider closing or discounting their products into "low season" pricing. We found the best grocery store since we left Miami on the island, the biggest chandlery (boat supply store) and the prettiest yachts to be seen anywhere we've traveled so far. One of the islands most famous events is the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April. We just missed it but were pleased to see so many of these fabulous old wooden yachts still around various harbors. Their sleek lines and gleaming woodwork is a sight to behold.
After a couple of more days on the island we decided to move off down island again to Guadeloupe. We had the absolutely best sailing day of the entire trip coming form Antigua to Guadeloupe. The winds were perfect, about 15-20 knots, from the right direction, off our starboard beam, and the seas were relatively calm with negligible swells or wind chop. We averaged around 6.5 knots and made well over 7 knots for prolonged periods. This is what sailing is meant to be! We made the trip 42 mile trip in just under 6 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the day afloat. After having several days when one does more bouncing and bashing, it is a day like this which keeps your spirits high. Kind of like how that one perfect golf shot reconfirms one's interest in continuing the game's efforts.
Once we arrived at Guadeloupe, we headed to a small harbor on the northwestern corner to clear into customs. This is a former French controlled island. It is remarkable how different cultures approach the bureaucracy surrounding customs and immigration. Each country has it's own twist on how it must be done, some much more formal than others. The French seem to take a more laid back approach to this procedure. When we sought out the customs official at the harbor, we found his office closed with a sign saying, in effect, don't worry, you will have other opportunities to check in. We didn't worry and wandered about the small town for the rest if the afternoon.
The hnnext morning, we went back ashore and sought out the first bakery we could find for fresh croissants and baguettes, after all, we were in French country! The pastries didn't disappoint and we enjoyed a morning ashore shopping and poking about in the little tourist shops along the main drag. Just before noon, we decided to move along and headed back to the boat to make way down the coast toward the southern end of the island. There is a small island offshore of Guadeloupe, called Pigeon Island, which is home to the Cousteau National Park. Yes, that "Cousteau". We decided to stop there and jump into the blue to take a snorkel stop and were not disappointed. It was as one might imagine, the coral and fish life were abundant and stunningly colorful. David and Vicky donned their scuba gear and did a dive while Suz and Rick snorkeled above. We spent an absolutely special day off that island and recommend it to any underwater enthusiast. From Pigeoon Island, it is a mere stone's throw to the mainland again, so we motored across to the harbor and dropped the hook in about 12 feet of water for the stay. We went ashore and, naturally, found dive shop after dive shop along the beach. We decided to do some more investigating into purchasing somje used dive equipment to add to our almost complete set ups and found a really good buy on a couple of dive vests (BCD's) to add to our dive locker. Soon, we'll be able to join David and Vicky down under at these sites.
There remains more to see on this island, and although it is not promoted as loudly as others along the chain, we are starting to figure that they want to keep this place a bit of a special secret. There is a rain forest with 300 foot waterfalls which we would like to see and other natural attractions to be enjoyed. Time will help us decide what we will get to complete this trip and what will have to wait for another day.
One issue is beginning to re-surface. "Time" is beginning to become a factor in our travel plans. It has not become a major issue, yet. But it is something we are becoming more aware of as the days continue to click off. We will need to be out of the hurricane zone before July 1, and that means a couple of hundred miles further south within 5 weeks. Not a big undertaking, but something we are becoming more acutely aware of. Then, we'll need to decide what our next move will be. Plan I: has us staying afloat in Venezuelan waters and exploring that region for the summer. Then heading back up the chain slowly investigating everything we missed on the way down. Plan 2: has us putting the boat up on the hard down there this summer and returning to Steamboat Springs to do some building on our property on Deer Mountain, to return next winter to continue sailing north. Plan C calls for us to put the boat on the market this summer, return to SS and do the major build-out on the property, awaiting our little Allergic to Cities company to mature into a going enterprise, when we could purchase a different boat later to return for more cruising life. All have desirable appeal to us for various reasons. What to do.... what to do.
Found an interesting quote in one of the cruising magazines:"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did. So throw off your bowlines, sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream."
Mark Twain
Sounds like good advise from a sage storyteller, to me. Perhaps those of you considering doing something "out of the ordinary" might re-read the above and give it a moment of reflection. Can't hurt.
Much of these islands economy is based on tourism so they understand the necessity of courtesy and safety to the visitor. They have broad-based public transportation in the forms of taxis, gua-guas (small private busses), and public busses, which seem to be privately-owned small businesses of the driver. Many times these small busses are elaborately painted and personalized with anything from religious themes to fantasy animals or natural visions airbrushed completely over the outside of the bus. Other times, one fears they might not make it to the next street corner without a mechanical breakdown of some sort. But that has yet to happen to us. I hope I'm not putting a jinx on that by discussing! We often take an afternoon on the public transportation to ride around a new island to try to get the lay of the land and experience a bit of the local culture. Other times, we'll split a private van or small taxi to give us a personal tour to something of particular interest. This was the case of the volcano tour.
The six of us still together (Jake/Carol, David/Vicky and Suz and Rick) all wanted to see the volcano on the island and so we negotiated a driver to give us a tour up to the viewing area so we could see what it looked like. The volcano on Montserrat is considered still active even though it is not currently spewing anything but steam and smelly sulphurous gasses presently.
Up until the last eruption in 1995, many wealthy American, Canadian, and Europeans invested in island homesites and build luxury villas and vacation places on the lush hillsides and in the fertile valleys of this beautiful tropical island. Then, unexpectedly, in 1995, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted, sending a terrible ash and water flow down the valleys and into the capital town of Plymouth, destroying it under several feet of protoplastic debris. Almost daily, continuous eruptions sent volcanic dust into the air, further polluting the area. Many of the luxury homes were destroyed and the islands residency dropped from over 11,000 to its present day 4500. The government closed off the areas most effected by the debris and declared those areas unsafe to live within, yet many owners still found a mortgage booklet in their possession which the bank needed kept up to date with payments. What a horrible situation these folks have had to endure. Most insurance companies don't cover such "acts of God" on their homeowners policies so even the homes which were left untouched by the direct damage were deemed unsafe to inhabit by the local Government.
In 2003, the huge volcanic dome collapsed and this sent some hope to the island people that the worst was over. The government has slightly eased restrictions on habitation of these homes but much of the area is still not habitable. It is such an eerie feeling to visit the area, see beautiful homes with manicured yards, obviously kept up by someone who cared, next to a place completely destroyed by the previous ash flow. As you might expect, there is a major volcano observatory near the mountain to "keep and eye" on seismic activities, and so far the volcano shows little sign of re-igniting.
We were taken down a road near the flow area, and walked through an abandoned home. It was very surreal as there were still books on the bookshelves, some dishes in the kitchen, receipt books from bank activities, all dated prior to the eruption. There was evidence of some looting but much of what was left was of little value to anyone. We thought we were entering the home on the main floor until we realized we were actually walking into the house through a second floor balcony porch door. The entire first floor was under a sea of dried mud and completely invisible. Even inside the home where the stairs went down to the first floor, the mud had filled in the stairway so one couldn't descend. We were told by our driver that the owner of this particular home had "gone mad" after loosing everything to the volcano. It was very sad, indeed.
Within a couple of days, one boat in our group (Jake and Carol/Offline) decided to continue to move south as the other two boats sailed from Montserrat to the island of Antigua. We had heard that Antigua is one of the most peasant and beautiful island in the Leeward chain and we weren't disappointed. The sail was a bit "on the nose" as we had to travel into the northeasterly winds a bit to make landfall, yet we arrived after a days sail from Montserrat to find a perfectly secure harbor and anchorage on the northwestern shore called Jolly Harbor. We stayed in Jolly Harbor for a couple of days enjoying the boatyard, purchasing and making minor repairs to our boats, before heading on down the coast to the most famous harbor on the island, English Harbor. This harbor is steeped in history and filled with historical buildings and remnants of the earlier days on the seas.
Antigua, formerly British controlled, is independent yet fiercely proud of its colonial heritage. The famous British Naval hero, Admiral Lord Nelson, commanded this port's harbor for several years in the mid 1700's when the island was the main hub for the lesser Antilles. We spend a day wandering about the harbor enjoying the restored buildings and well versed placards explaining the various sites. The harbor was extremely well protected from the seas, as you might expect, and was highly defensible because of its narrow entrance. Because the harbor is so well protected from the seas, and it is surrounded on three sides with mangroves, it is considered a substantial hurricane hole and many boats chose this harbor, as well as others on Antigua, to leave their boat for hurricane season. Some just put down a couple of stern anchors and tie the bows into the mangroves, hoping for the best, while others actually have their boats hauled out and welded and chained to steel frames on concrete pads to try to protect from a possible hurricane. We investigated the costs of doing so as we had heard that this island has a terrific record of protection and minimal damage overe the years because of their preventative techniques. This may be a place we choose to put our boat some summer, "on the hard", as it is called.
Antigua is the sailing center of this region and hosts several notable races/regattas over the season and the final one, the Antigua sailing week, is considered the last event of the winter sailing season. After which, the shops, restaurants, and tourist related activities consider closing or discounting their products into "low season" pricing. We found the best grocery store since we left Miami on the island, the biggest chandlery (boat supply store) and the prettiest yachts to be seen anywhere we've traveled so far. One of the islands most famous events is the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April. We just missed it but were pleased to see so many of these fabulous old wooden yachts still around various harbors. Their sleek lines and gleaming woodwork is a sight to behold.
After a couple of more days on the island we decided to move off down island again to Guadeloupe. We had the absolutely best sailing day of the entire trip coming form Antigua to Guadeloupe. The winds were perfect, about 15-20 knots, from the right direction, off our starboard beam, and the seas were relatively calm with negligible swells or wind chop. We averaged around 6.5 knots and made well over 7 knots for prolonged periods. This is what sailing is meant to be! We made the trip 42 mile trip in just under 6 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the day afloat. After having several days when one does more bouncing and bashing, it is a day like this which keeps your spirits high. Kind of like how that one perfect golf shot reconfirms one's interest in continuing the game's efforts.
Once we arrived at Guadeloupe, we headed to a small harbor on the northwestern corner to clear into customs. This is a former French controlled island. It is remarkable how different cultures approach the bureaucracy surrounding customs and immigration. Each country has it's own twist on how it must be done, some much more formal than others. The French seem to take a more laid back approach to this procedure. When we sought out the customs official at the harbor, we found his office closed with a sign saying, in effect, don't worry, you will have other opportunities to check in. We didn't worry and wandered about the small town for the rest if the afternoon.
The hnnext morning, we went back ashore and sought out the first bakery we could find for fresh croissants and baguettes, after all, we were in French country! The pastries didn't disappoint and we enjoyed a morning ashore shopping and poking about in the little tourist shops along the main drag. Just before noon, we decided to move along and headed back to the boat to make way down the coast toward the southern end of the island. There is a small island offshore of Guadeloupe, called Pigeon Island, which is home to the Cousteau National Park. Yes, that "Cousteau". We decided to stop there and jump into the blue to take a snorkel stop and were not disappointed. It was as one might imagine, the coral and fish life were abundant and stunningly colorful. David and Vicky donned their scuba gear and did a dive while Suz and Rick snorkeled above. We spent an absolutely special day off that island and recommend it to any underwater enthusiast. From Pigeoon Island, it is a mere stone's throw to the mainland again, so we motored across to the harbor and dropped the hook in about 12 feet of water for the stay. We went ashore and, naturally, found dive shop after dive shop along the beach. We decided to do some more investigating into purchasing somje used dive equipment to add to our almost complete set ups and found a really good buy on a couple of dive vests (BCD's) to add to our dive locker. Soon, we'll be able to join David and Vicky down under at these sites.
There remains more to see on this island, and although it is not promoted as loudly as others along the chain, we are starting to figure that they want to keep this place a bit of a special secret. There is a rain forest with 300 foot waterfalls which we would like to see and other natural attractions to be enjoyed. Time will help us decide what we will get to complete this trip and what will have to wait for another day.
One issue is beginning to re-surface. "Time" is beginning to become a factor in our travel plans. It has not become a major issue, yet. But it is something we are becoming more aware of as the days continue to click off. We will need to be out of the hurricane zone before July 1, and that means a couple of hundred miles further south within 5 weeks. Not a big undertaking, but something we are becoming more acutely aware of. Then, we'll need to decide what our next move will be. Plan I: has us staying afloat in Venezuelan waters and exploring that region for the summer. Then heading back up the chain slowly investigating everything we missed on the way down. Plan 2: has us putting the boat up on the hard down there this summer and returning to Steamboat Springs to do some building on our property on Deer Mountain, to return next winter to continue sailing north. Plan C calls for us to put the boat on the market this summer, return to SS and do the major build-out on the property, awaiting our little Allergic to Cities company to mature into a going enterprise, when we could purchase a different boat later to return for more cruising life. All have desirable appeal to us for various reasons. What to do.... what to do.
Found an interesting quote in one of the cruising magazines:"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did. So throw off your bowlines, sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream."
Mark Twain
Sounds like good advise from a sage storyteller, to me. Perhaps those of you considering doing something "out of the ordinary" might re-read the above and give it a moment of reflection. Can't hurt.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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