Favourite Islands Part 2: Anguilla to Dominica

Still on a quest to see if we can figure out our favourite East Caribbean island - here's the second instalment.  Here's the first instalment if you missed it.

Anguilla
Just a scant 6 miles north of St. Martin, Anguilla is a low-lying limestone island that is quickly making a name for itself with high-end boutique resort and villa tourism.  There is one main anchorage on the north side, Road Bay, and a number of small fishing harbours scattered along the coast.  Getting to the shoals and islets that lie along the north shore is an expensive proposition (extra cruising permit required) and is really only enjoyable in calm weather.  We have been to Anguilla twice and both times have enjoyed the island more by car than for its water-based activities.  The history of Anguilla is quite interesting with their relationship with Britain and we enjoyed speaking to a passionate local historian and learning a bit more about this island.  The locals are friendly, understand tourism and there are many opportunities for great eating.
     Love:  Small and easily accessible by car
     Hate:  Not much to do if you don't have a car

Road Bay is the main anchorage

The little museum makes for an interesting diversion.

Fishermen bring in the catch at Scilly Bay.

Sint Maarten / St. Martin
Sint Maarten (the Dutch side) the mecca of all things boating related and it's island neighbour St. Martin, the first of the French islands.  The two halves are so different and yet exist so well side by side.  We come to Sint Maarten to do boat work, buy stuff for the boat and have stuff easily shipped from the States.  We then go and drop the hook on the other side and enjoy a much more relaxed stay with all the benefits of the French territory.  The lagoon is one of the most amazing features since by dinghy we can access so much on both sides.  We love playing on St. Martin with friends since there are many great bars and restaurants, pretty beaches and usually so many assembled cruisers that just hanging out on each others' boats is a great time.
     Love:  You can get anything you need for your boat here
     Hate:  This island is BUSY!!

A parade of boats entering Simpson Lagoon under the lift bridge on the Dutch side.

Mega yachts and big sailboats - all part of the scenery.

On of our favourite hangouts - Lagoonies.

On the French side, the fun little town of Marigot with the lagoon in the background.

Ladies of the tourism office dressed in traditional Creole costumes.

St. Bart's
We haven't spent a huge amount of time on St. Bart's but what we have felt here was that we could be in the French Riviera.  High end shops and boutiques, a charming little gallic town, well dressed residents and visitors - this place exudes luxury.  Anse Colombier at the north end of the island is the perfect stop-over spot with free mooring balls and beautiful clear waters.  We've heard that this is THE place to be on New Year's Eve.
     Love:  Perfect for a short visit
     Hate:  The anchorage at Gustavia (we stay in Colombier.)

The pretty little town of Gustavia is wrapped about the inner harbour.

This is probably the only real Louis Vuitton shop in the Caribbean.

St. Bart's is one of those islands with a crazy little airport - just look at this approach!

Antigua & Barbuda
Two islands ...

Barbuda is one of the most isolated, barren islands you will have the pleasure of visiting.  Miles and miles of white sand beaches, the scantest population, an interesting topography with an inner lagoon, relatively flat island, rising to low cave-studded cliffs overlooking the Atlantic.  Visit in the winter months and you will be amazed by the Frigate Bird nesting colony - it is a sight to see!  Plan on being there in calm conditions and with a well provisioned fridge so you can stay a few days.  This is the place to achieve your inner peace.
     Love:  Peace & serenity
     Hate:  Water-taxi ride or a long wet dinghy ride to get to Codrington

The beach on Barbuda - really, there is nothing here!

Except of course the Magnificent Frigate bird - you have to go see them.

Antigua is the complete opposite - this is a busy island and in the winter months hosts a number of top-notch regattas.  What is amazing about Antigua and sets it apart from most other islands is that with its extensive reef and island system, you can find anchorages on all sides of the island.  After the hustle and bustle (and regatta party time) in Falmouth and English Bays on the south side, heading around to Nonsuch Bay on the east side is much like turning the clock back to some untold time, or instantly finding yourself on vacation.
     Love:  Multitude of cruising opportunities
     Hate:  Don't let vendors confuse you with USD vs. ECD - that's a 270% ripoff!

No charge, just stand on the beach or the cliffs and watch these incredible speed machines race for the start-line.

The colours of the water fill the spectrum of blue.

Lots of resorts on Antigua - this is a high-end one on Long Island at Jumby Bay.

Catch some wind action on the east coast at the kite school on Green Island.

Back in Falmouth, the Classics are lining the docks.

    
Guadeloupe
The biggest of the French islands and the seat of the Antilles Administration offices.  It is not however the most 'French' of the islands - it is the most 'Creole'.  Here you get the most in-depth feel for the French Caribbean and the island-style cooking is delicious.  Guadeloupe is made up of two bridge-joined islands, each with a very unique character.  There are also a number of outer islands including Marie-Galante and Les Saintes.  There is so much to see and do on all these islands, many rum distilleries to visit, ruins - old forts - history galore.  Point a Pitre (the biggest but not the capital city) is a gritty working class place with great energy in the daytime, not sure I'd want to be out on the streets after dark.  One of our favourite hikes of all time is on the south-west end of the island - Souffriere Volcano.
     Love:  Diversity - so much choice
     Hate:  Difficult and sparse anchorages, language can be an issue if you have no French.

Pointe a Pitre on Guadeloupe is a totally cosmopolitain city.

But the outdoor market is still the place to get the best fruit and veggies.

Ah - what's not to love about French Creole cooking.

Welcoming you to Les Iles des Saintes - the doctor's house.

Learn your history of the pivotal Battle of the Saints at Fort Napoleon - this one didn't go so well for the French.

Wander the quaint streets of Grand Bourg des Saintes.

Dominica
Ah, the nature island.  Dominica is like finally getting to the cottage for that long anticipated summer wilderness vacation.  Everywhere you go on Dominica is like walking through a tropical nature conservancy or a garden.  Take your pick - literally.  Fruit drips off the trees, lemon-grass grows everywhere, the farmers will give you roots from their gardens.  The lush forests that cover most of this island, clinging to the steep slopes of nine volcanos make for the most excellent hiking along the Waitukabuli National Trail.  Some of the friendliest people you will meet live on Dominica and hiking along the roads involves a multitude of stops along the way just to lime with the locals.  It's irie mon!
     Love:  Getting in shape - hiking on Dominica / PAYS organization in Portsmouth
     Hate:  Breaking my personal rule here to write more than a short phrase because this is a complex topic.  When we first visited Dominica we saw poverty everywhere.  To our North American eyes, these people lived in poverty.  What we now see is a population that lives close to nature.  No-one is starving on this island.  There are some individuals who are poorly clothed and wander the streets but there is usually an underlying issue of physical or mental illness and we see this every place we visit, including back home in Canada.  What has created the greatest need on Dominica was Tropical Storm Erika that devastated the island in August 2015.  Villages and roads were wiped out and people lost everything they owned. So I guess what I 'hate' about Dominica is actually my own interpretation of what I see on the street and I really need to get over myself.

Dominica is rugged, green and wet.  Magnificent waterfalls carve their way through the landscape.

The Waitukubuli National Trail encircles the island in 14 segments.

Following the trail and getting close to nature.

From the largest tree...

To the shiest bird...

To the power of Mother Nature in the Valley of Desolation, you can see it all on Dominica.

And then finish it all off with some delicious hand-made chocolate.

So that's instalment two - stay tuned as we look at the inner Leeward Islands from Saba to Montserrat.

A Final Good-Bye to Antigua for 2016

With our previous visit in February and now another three weeks on Antigua we've spent over six weeks on this delightful island, discovering many of its secrets but knowing there are many more to find.

Before moving on, we had a fun day with the race-crew from Ottawa.  They had one day between races and flights so we headed up to Nonsuch Bay.  We gave them the option to turn around with the wind and swell on the nose but this intrepid crew pressed on and we had a delightful time once we made it to the anchorage.

It was definitely a bouncy ride!

Settled in Nonsuch Bay we filled the cockpit with good food, good friends and good stories.

Cold beer and rum punch :-)

The clear waters beckoned Renee for a relaxing float off the back of Mowzer.

While Eva went for a paddle and ended up comfortably on the beach.

Back on Mowzer, more relaxation.

Unfortunately the day quickly marched on and the crew had to head back to Nelson's Dockyard to make flights in the morning.

George, on Wildcat, joined us in the anchorage and we spent a number of days just relaxing, snorkelling and sharing meals, and making plans for our next few weeks.  The plan has been formed and we are taking a trip over to Nevis and a chance to meet up with Wendy and Bill who are currently living there, then we will start heading south and perhaps make it to Dominica in time for the Jazz Festival on May 15.  Of course, being cruisers we are at the complete mercy of the weather but this year looks like it will be a bit less windy than this time last year, which is a nice turn of events.

Yesterday, we made our way round to Jolly Harbour to look after customs, provisioning, fuel and a few repair parts for the boat.  We were rather amused to watch a young guy on the Swedish flagged vessel behind us pump up his dinghy and then raise it onto the foredeck of his boat - all in the complete buff!  The best action seemed reserved for the derelict boat beside us that has been taken over by laughing gulls.  The entertainment, accompanied by mush load squawking went on pretty much all afternoon!

Say no more, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

This morning we were off bright and early heading directly west to Nevis.  This is our last downwind sail in a while so we thoroughly enjoyed it, even though the winds were fairly light.  It made for a very relaxing sail.

Approaching Nevis - with it's customary cloud-cap, not like the last time we were passing by.

We even got to do a bit of wing-and-wing sailing (boom to starboard, headsail to port) which had us zipping along.

A little tuna picked up our lure just an hour out of Antigua.

And another little (return to the sea) fish as we approached Nevis - almost exactly where we caught a yellow snapper when we left last time.  Must mark this spot on the chart!

Our final destination - Charlestown, Nevis.  A picturesque little town with a pretty waterfront.

Can't wait to meet up with Wendy and Bill and see a little bit of an inside view of Nevis.

Race Week Special

At this point we have been to a number of regattas over the last couple of months, and we figured we'd finish up the circuit with Sailing Week in Antigua.  After The Classics, there wasn't as much eye-candy at the docks but the activities and fun atmosphere is infective so we just couldn't tear ourselves away.

Henry spent a bit of time reviewing the results of day 1 racing and noticed a number of Canadian skippered boats on the lists - interested, he dug a little deeper and then to our great surprise said, "Hey, I know this guy!!"

It turns out that a friend from racing days at Nepean Sailing Club was down here skippering a Jeanneau 40 in the bareboat class.  Now we had a mission - find Mike Nahir in the  crowd of hundreds of sailors spread out across Nelson's Dockyard and Antigua Yacht Club.  Well, we must be pretty good sleuths because by early evening we had found him and the crew of Summerwind and made arrangements to meet up the next day.  Team "Les Voyageurs" made us a wonderful offer and invited us to come out racing with them!

Easy winds and a relatively flat sea made for a great day out on the water.  I can't remember the last time we just went for a sail, and on someone else's boat no less - so relaxing in many ways.  Relaxing?  A race??  Well, okay, moments of intense excitement followed by just taking in the joy of sailing across the intensely varied hues of blue as we hung on the rails. 

Skipper Mike has his race-time face on - the crew preps during pre-race manoeuvres.

Eva relaxes on the foredeck while the jib is still furled.  Our bareboat class was the last in the start sequence so we had a little time just to hang out.

A little more intensity at the start-line.

Oops, Erin administers some first aid to Scott when he ended up with a bloody finger.

Downwind leg and holding our own against Maxwell.  Hey, toss us a beer!!

Steady on Captain!

Beer transfer complete - let's round the mark before these guys!

Such tourists - lounging on the rail!

Me too - happy grin.

And with that our first race was done.  Couldn't believe how quickly two hours had passed.  We were behind but managed to finish ahead of Maxwell through some well thought-out tactics that found us a bit more wind and perhaps a little less current.  After a quickly shared lunch of bread, cheese and apples, we prepped once again for the afternoon race.  Being the same course as the morning, we figured we'd learned a thing or two.   Henry happily took a turn at winch-grinding for the race while I, just as happily, remained on the rail lending ballast against the heel.  Mike got us in position for an exciting, close-quarters start and we were off.

Oh no! - rounding the second mark and easing the sail for the downwind leg, the topping lift evilly wound itself around the fitting at the split back-stay.  Nothing would release it until Scott wrangled it free while Mike carefully played with a jybe.  For those that don't sail, this little feat was pretty scary to watch because Scott could easily have been thrown off the back of the sail if Mike allowed the wind to flip the sail to the other side.  If we couldn't get the topping lift free we couldn't use the sail to it's full advantage with the wind behind us.  For those that do sail - it's amazing how limited you are in options when there is no extra line available on the boat.

Miraculously, Scott freed the sail as everyone watched with baited breath.

Unfortunately at this point we had lost too much time to make up the rest of the fleet but the afternoon unfolded with a glorious sail and in fact we didn't come in last so all was not lost.  Also unfortunately, my camera went on the fritz so I lost a number of mid-race pictures (perhaps we should be thankful) until I got it back in action just before the finish.

The end in sight - just coming up to the finish mark.

Now lets go for a fun sail!  Mike eased his shoulders from race tension while Michael took a turn at the wheel.  Eva, Jane, Ian, Frans and Henry relax in the cockpit.

Making our way into English Harbour to take up berth at Nelson's Dockyard at the end of the day.  Frans is on anchor duty.

To round out the evening we shared a delightful meal and are busy making plans to meet up on their day off.  What a wonderful day and thanks to Les Voyageurs for inviting us aboard.

Cheers to you and fair winds for the last two days of racing!!