Martinique and Grenada

The Battle of The Saintes
 

Hello Again
 

It is grey and overcast as we raise the anchor from Terra D’en Haut, The Saints. We had rain before dawn, and it looks like there are more squalls about. We are about to enter the Dominica Channel. It is only an 18nm run to the north end of Dominica, but these waters saw one of the great sea battles between the English and the French. There must be many a wreck sitting on the sea floor in these waters.

Local sail boats, Marin
 

It was called “The Battle of the Saints”. The year before – October 1781, Count de Grasse, commander of the French fleet, plays an important role in the war of Independence of the U.S.A. His victory at Chesapeake, shared with George Washington and others, leads to the surrender of Yorktown by the British. England has now lost its American colonies.

Forward to April 1782 and once again Count de Grasse and the English come face to face in yet another sea battle. The English had 36 vessels and a total of 2,640 canons, the French 31 vessels and 2,558 canons. The battle begins at around 0700, and is all over by about 1300. It takes until 1830 for the French to officially surrender. 7,000 men died in the battle. 22 English ships suffered a lot of damage, and France lost 7 of its ships. There is a magnificent painting in Fort Napoleon on the Saints of the battle.

Antigua, Guadeloupe and The Saintes

 

Sargasso weed off Antigua
 

Back again and still weather watching.

Friday 17^th August we leave Montserrat and sail the 32nm to Antigua. Well that was another interesting one. Not only were we contending with ESE winds, but also tons more of the dreaded Sargasso Weed. Again it was clogging the rudders and props slowing us right down at times. It has been interesting reading in the local yachting papers and the different Islands newspapers, how it is impacting the Caribbean this season. The wild life such as turtles are having trouble reaching the beaches to nest, and the baby hatchlings can’t make it back to the sea. The fishermen are also finding it affecting their catches. No wonder, as we can’t troll a lure without it becoming entangled every few minutes.

Nelson's Dockyard

Nelson's Dockyard
 

We arrive into English Harbour at 1400 and drop anchor in Ordinance Bay. Wow we have arrived in one of the most famous and historical harbours in the Caribbean. English Harbour, the historic home of Nelson’s Dockyard, to modern day and the famous Antigua Sailing Week which draws yachts and crew from all around the world. Well, where is everyone. The place is positively dead!! Nearly all the facilities are closed. Yes it is summer – the low season, but this is ridiculously low. We go ashore to check in with customs. They obviously want a short day as it is half an hour before closing, but we are told to come back tomorrow. We may wander around ashore, but not too far – really, thanks. Well there are plenty of opportunities to take photos with no one in them. Also we find the bank to top up the kitty with EC$ - that is the Eastern Caribbean dollar which is used on a few of the Islands we will be visiting.

Montserrat

Little Bay
 

 

Hello Again



New Town above Little Bay
 

This was an Island which had not been on our itinerary. We wanted to go out to Antigua, and after reading the cruising guide were advised to sail down to Montserrat to get a better angle on the wind to head out to Antigua. Also it would make the trip shorter. Oh are we so glad we did this. Leaving Nevis we sailed out down the Islands eastern coast taking advantage of the winds, and not on the western side in the lee of the Island.

The 34nm leg was a good one and we dropped anchor just after lunch in Little Bay on the north western side of the Island. Plymouth, the old capital, and the waters around it and to the south of it – in fact over half the Island and its waters - are now in the exclusion zone due to volcanic activity. Little Bay in the north has now become Montserrat’s main port. The anchorage gave us excellent protection, but I understand it can be uncomfortable if winds are from the northeast.  Clearing in was nice and easy here.

St. Bart's (St. Barthelemy) St Kitts (St. Christopher) and Nevis

Hello Again

SHAMAL at anchor, St. Bart's
 

 

Hello Again



Fort Oscar
 

This delightful little French Island lies just 15nm slightly to the south east of St Maarten. For us – 30nm tacking on a close reach in winds of 25kts and 3mt seas, but a lovely warm sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. Just us, the frigate birds and the sapphire blue ocean with sparkling breaking tops of waves. Oh there are a couple more sails off on the horizon.

Gustavia Harbour
 

Gustavia
 

But once there it is well worth the visit. It is claimed to be the party Island for the very rich and famous who bring their super yachts into the picturesque harbour of Gustavia to spend Christmas and New Year here. High-end boutiques and upmarket restaurants line the quaint little streets, but for us as it is now the down season, much was closed while their owners take their summer breaks. We found a lovely restaurant for coffee and Wi-Fi. We must keep a very close eye on the weather. Our coffee was 8 euros each! My Nespresso machine on board makes a nicer latté. The whole place is lovely and clean with sidewalks, so one is not run over while browsing the shop windows. After walking right around the harbour, we climbed to the lighthouse at Fort Gustav which has lovely panorama views over the red-roofed buildings tucked around the harbour. Fort Oscar stands on the opposite side of the harbour, and one can see back to St Maarten and out to the Island of Saab to the South West.

Sint Maarten/St Martin

 

Leaving Leverick

 Bay
 

Hello Again

Thursday 21^st June. 0600  We up anchor from Leverick Bay, Virgin Gouda in the BVI’s, and motor on out passing between Prickly Pear Island and Necker Island, the Island  owned by Sir Richard Branson. We are heading out across the Anegada Passage to St. Maarten, a leg of about 80nm, but with our familiar E. and E.S.E. winds we know the trip will be longer.

Sunset Anegada Passage. Virgin Gouda behind
 

Bridge opens into Simpson Lagoon
 

 It is not until after 1100 the next day with 156nm passing under the keels, that we drop anchor in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. The following morning we enter the lagoon at the 11.30 bridge opening and drop anchor in the rather murky waters. There are not too many boats in here now as we are in the low season (hurricane season) and most have moved on to destinations further south.  There will be no swimming in here. As it is now the weekend we will have to wait until Monday to see about getting our boat jobs started.

Puerto Rico and The Virgin Islands

Not sure this beats flying?

 

 

Thursday 24^th May

We go ashore again to download yet another weather forecast – which again gives us winds out of the E. or E.S.E. somewhere between 10 – 20kts. Nothing new.  We collect our clearance papers from the Navy, have another coffee, then, return to SHAMAL.  Our plan is for a mid-afternoon departure.  According to our cruising information this should be a 36 hour run following the Dominican Republic coastline, crossing the Mona Passage, then running down the west coast of Puerto Rico. It is overcast and humid as we raise the anchor from Samana Harbour in the D.R.  A huge thunderstorm is passing just to the south of us.  As we head out of the bay, and start the run following the coastline, the seas are short and sharp, and on the nose.  By the next morning we start our tack out to sea to round the Hourglass Shoals. We can tell already this is going to be a long slow trip. By evening we are sailing with a reef in the main and full jib. I have been trying to fish, but there is just too much Sargasso Weed about. It gets very frustrating having to wind my line in every few minutes to clear it.  The clumps of it seem to be getting bigger and thicker.

A Small patch of Sargasso Weed!

Evening – I have just come on watch.  We are still under sail with the good old auto pilot on. Then just before midnight we have yet another squall line passing through. The winds are all over the place.  Then they drop completely.  Unbeknown to me we have also sailed into a humongous patch of Sargasso Weed. The current is now pushing us backwards, and the weed is starting to pile up on the back steps. I wake Alec who can smell the weed.  He says we will just motor out of this, then be on our way again.  He starts both engines but the weed is so thick the Port engine stops pumping water. We turn that off so not to do any damage, and ever so slowly edge our way out using the STBD engine only.  I tell you it was like a scene from a horror movie. I thought we were going to be engulfed by the stuff. When it is daylight Alec has to clean both salt water inlet filters to the engines, which are clogged with weed. This is something he now keeps an eye on and cleans out regularly . Also when motoring the weed gets caught around the props which slows us down and causes the props to vibrate. To clear it we have to put the props into reverse. In certain areas this was quite often.

Boqueron

By dawn we have crossed the Mona Passage and are running down the west coast of Puerto Rico. It is midmorning when we finally dropped anchor in Boqueron Harbour on the south western corner of Puerto Rico.  Log 185nm. Here I am able to make a phone call to Customs and Border Patrol to say we have arrived. This is a USA territory. They take our details and tell us we will need to go back to Mayaguez – back along the coastline we have just come along – to complete the paperwork.  It is now Saturday and everything is closed till the Tuesday as Monday is a holiday being Memorial Day. Thankfully it is not too far, and we can take a cab there. There is no way we are backtracking in SHAMAL. This beating into the wind has truly lost its glamour!!! Also they have told us we can go ashore over the weekend thank goodness.

The Dominican Republic - D.R.

 

 

Farewell Jamaica

Hello Again,

 

Monday 7^th May 2018 Time to say farewell to Jamaica

 

We wake early, and it is still raining.  Low cloud hangs over the hills around the bay.  It is 29.6deg.c. Rather humid.  But the winds are forecast to be easterly to south easterly, just what we need as we head up towards the Windward Passage which will take us between Cuba on our Port, and Haiti on our Starboard. This stretch of water is known for fluky, or, extra strong easterly winds, and strong currents.  Let’s hope we time it right. We have the Sierra Maestra mountain range rising to 1,972mts along the Cuban coastline, then dropping dramatically into the sea with depths reaching to 7,239m in the Oriente trough.  Close to the coast one can take advantage of the katabatic effect of the winds in the early hours of the morning if we strike the calms.  On the Haitian side we have the Golfe de la Gonave.

 

Shamal in Luperon
 

Luperon

Even though we are ashore early to collect our clearance papers, the boys don’t arrive until 1045.  By the time all is completed, we arrive back on Shamal, take down our shades and make a coffee while the last of the rain passes through. It is  midday when we lift anchor and move out of Port Antonio.  Three other boats were going to leave with us, but have decided to wait another day.  By 1300 we are sailing along very nicely under full main and jib, then a line of squalls shows up on the radar, so we reef down.  They don’t affect us too much, and we are still moving along at 6kts. Our run through the Windward Passage turns out to be a broad reach with wind gusts only to 22kts.  The tide is in our favour and by early morning we have turned the corner and are running along the north coast of Haiti. A few hours later the winds have come around to be on the nose again.  This makes for a long slow passage for the last 60nm towards Luperon on the north coast of the Dominican Republic.  It is not till the following morning that we slowly motor into the wonderfully sheltered harbour and pick up a mooring buoy.  We are surprised by the number of yachts in the bay. Many have been closed up for the coming hurricane season, but we soon learn there are others like us, just stopping off for a few nights before heading out again.

Jamaica



Jamaica

Hello Mon

 

Da mon on da big tourist boat, he talk too dam quick to understand. Da reggae music blast too dam loud for ya to talk, and da smell of da jerk chicken wafts across da bay make ya hungry.  Yes this is da Jamaica, home of Bob Marley, dreadlocks and beach partying till the wee small hours of the morning. Lively to say the least.

 

The Island was first populated by the Arawak Indians.  Christopher Columbus discovered the Island in 1494.  The Spanish arrived in 1510 and introduced sugarcane using the Arawak as slaves.  By the end of the century the Arawak Indians had been entirely wiped out from ill-treatment and European diseases. New slaves are now brought in from Africa.  In 1654 the English arrive on the scene, and take control of the Island. Autonomy from Britain was granted in 1947, and full independence in 1963.

Return To Cayman Islands

Hello Again To You All At Long Long Last

Beautiful Caymans
 

Well, this is our third visit to this beautiful corner of the Caribbean, George Town, Grand Cayman. Yes it can be glitzy, commercial - say like a mini Florida, and, very expensive, but it is an excellent stop for yachts to take that break after a rather hard slog here, as we were  against the trade winds on this leg.  It also makes a great break for those traveling on to Central America. Check in is free, the waters are crystal clear, and one can have those spare parts flown in from anywhere in the world knowing they will arrive – yes we are waiting on some!!

Easter on the Rio
 

 

Easter on the Rio

 

Firstly back to our last days on the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. As we waited for that weather window to depart, Alec and I filled in time making “SHAMAL” ready for her first ocean passage of the season – well so we thought!  Also  we had the Easter week break.  We watched as the locals gathered on the Rio for what is considered one of their most important festive seasons of the year.   Things got a little crazy on the water.  Villages arrive in Frontares by boat and whatever means they can to join family and friends.  The rich, famous and stupid arrive on the river and out come all the water toys.  Easter here was a week of craziness.  There was one accident, which Alec and I did not see, where two local lanchas ( they are the local motorised small boats about 7mts long with an over powered motor on the back) hit each other, one cutting the stern off the other!!!  On Good Friday morning the local Priest came around the river with a flotilla of boats all dressed in purple cloth, to bless the boats.  They stopped at twelve marinas – stations of the Cross - to give the Blessings. It was rather a grand site watching the parade and see the spirit of Easter celebrated here.

 

Guatemala

Spanish Fort entrance Lake Izabal

Hello Again

 

Where are we, and what are we up to???

Spring is on its way

 

Yes it has been a very long break away from SHAMAL this time round, but we are now back on the Rio Dulce, Guatemala, and SHAMAL is about to be put back in the water at long last.

Fonteras

 

Fronteras

We departed New Zealand on the evening of 24^th January and flew to Houston, then on to Newark to visit with our family and see the Grandchildren again.  On the 6^th February we flew down to Miami, then on to San Pedro Sula in Honduras.  This airport is closer to the Rio Dulce than Guatemala City.  We had booked a shuttle to take us from the airport directly to the Marina, a trip which is done frequently by this company.  We were to be met at the airport by one of those guys holding up a sign with our name on.  Ha Ha.  Something went wrong as he had been double booked, we found out later.  Having no phone contact with the company, we were able to email them to be told, don’t worry, someone is coming.  Two long hours later a woman arrived in her own 4x4 to take us – well that is what we thought.  Off we set.  About an hour into the drive she pulls off the highway and informs us that this is as far as she is going.  Well that is what we think she said as she only spoke Spanish, and our Spanish is less than limited!! We are to wait and someone else will take us.  Thank goodness she did not just leave us on the side of the road.  We sat for another hour in her 4x4 till the next driver arrived in his minivan.  This is when we found out about the double booking.  The company had forgotten to inform him of our arrival.  Oh well never mind – all part of life’s little adventures.