St. Lucia to Bequia

With a favourable weather report for the next few days we prepared Mowzer to start moving south again, but not before the weather gods had one last kick at the can.  Thursday morning brought on the most intense storm we’ve seen so far with heavy rain, thunder and lightening.  I’m sure that just as we’ve acclimated to the heavier winds, we will get more used to this type of weather this summer but it feels pretty intense when it is so new to us.

Once again, we are so thankful for our heavy duty Rocna anchor and are reminded afresh of just what we need to do to stop a few drips and leaks around the place.

Our first stop down the coast of St. Lucia was Marigot Bay.  This palm-fringed hurricane hole has been described in the past by James Michener as one of the most beautiful bays in the Caribbean, and more recently as Mosquito Bay by a fellow bar patron.  I would have to say that both are correct.  The bay is surrounded by rainforest tumbling down the steep sides of the valley and despite the plethora of buildings also tumbling down those hills, the little lagoon is idyllic.  I also have a wonderful collection of most itchy bites from our one night spent in the anchorage.

Our "backyard" view in Marigot, with the sounds of soothing jazz wafting across the lagoon from Rainforest Hideaway - a restaurant on the edge of the water.

Before leaving we treated ourselves to a hike up to the ridge above the lagoon for some wonderful views of the surrounding area.

Should we not disturb the dog, or be cautious because there is a bull mastiff?  Regardless we saw no evidence of the scary beast so on we proceeded.

I might need a few more rum punches before diving becomes a risk.

And up we go... note the solid ropes for hauling ourselves straight up this trail.

Yucca's in bloom.

Slip-sliding down one of the slopes.

Location or instruction?

Lots of choice at Fork Thomas, which way to go?

We headed to the lookout and were rewarded with this beauty of the lagoon and the beach.

On the descent we entered the Oasis development, a quiet haven of tropical lushness.

This little funicular awaited to glide us to the bottom of the hill.

Down, down, down we went...

And once at the bottom headed back to Mowzer in the lagoon.

We then moved on once again just a little skip down the coast to Anse La Raye for the night and preparation for a travel day on Saturday.  This would lead us past the southern end of St. Lucia. past the island of St. Vincent and into The Grenadines with Bequia (pronounced Bek-way) at the northern end of the island chain.

Sunrise saw us lifting the anchor and as we headed south the magnificent pitons came into view.  Under some wispy cloud and the morning sun these iconic hills rise up as a protective bastion, not unlike something seen in Lord of the Rings!

Sunrise? Sunset?  This one is sunrise just as we're leaving Anse La Reye.

In the growing light we discovered the flying invasion we gained overnight.

The Pitons coming into focus.

With the sun risen just above the tip of Petit Piton to create the most majestic effect.

As the day unfolded so too did the most perfect sailing day.  We had 60 nautical miles (111 km) planned with the passage to St. Vincent, down the coast and then a shorter, but more notorious passage to Bequia.  I guess many others had the same idea as we saw numerous boats making the same passage.  Our patience of the last few days had paid off with the seas settled to just 3-4’ and the winds in the 15-20 knot range.

No pictures of us today, but this boat is the a sistership and looks quite happy in these seas.

The last jaunt had us arriving around The Devil’s Table and even the notorious Bequia Blast was settled to a sedate ‘blow’.

After 11 hours to the dot we arrived in Bequia with the anticipation of a few weeks of exploration in the islands know as The Grenadines.  This chain spans the distance between St. Vincent and Grenada and like the BVI is a huge cruising ground for charter boats.  Pulling into the anchorage last night we felt like we’d arrived back in a cruising haven with so many boats in the anchorage.  Our arrival beer after checking in with Customs & Immigration however was had at Papa’s Bar with a couple of local business owners who gave us the quick run-down on the local scene.  Fun getting the inside scoop from a British ex-pat and a guy from New Jersey who both run businesses in this small Caribbean enclave which sounds like small-town politics on steroids.

Arrival beer and wifi - ahhhh, got all the bases covered :-)

Hello St. Lucia

Before we get to St. Lucia ... we connected with Teoula who sent us some great shots of Mowzer underway between Dominica and Martinique that I just have to share.  It was a grey and squally day and as you can see we were sailing well reefed, but Mowzer was handling it all beautifully.

Now on to St. Lucia ... 

As we departed from the south shore of Martinique we had a good view of HMS Diamond Rock.  Way back, when the French and English just couldn't decide who should have which bit of island down here, the English actually commissioned this chunk of rock and stationed sailors on it to keep an eye on the French.  It is just a few miles offshore so that must have irked the French.  Reverse the Monty Python skit of the French in the fort and you might get the picture - said in a haughty English accent, "I relieve myself in your specific direction!"

HMS Diamond Rock

On the other side of the crossing we were treated to our first view of the magnificent St. Lucian Pitons.  They are down at the south end of St. Lucia but distinctly visible as we arrived at the north.

Petit Piton, with Gros Piton shrouded in cloud behind.

And then, just before finding our way into Rodney Bay we navigated around this freighter sitting at anchor.

The backside of the Alpine Duke!  Even though the aft end, still glad it's at anchor :-)

We arrived in Rodney Bay and anchored out just a bit from the lagoon entrance to the marina.  We'd heard concerns about security here but in this bay there are still lots of boats coming and going, quite a bit of charter activity and lots of folks zipping about from the resorts dotted around the bay.  We lock up the dinghy when we're not in it and have added a good noisy chain at nighttime, we close and lock any opening someone could get through and have not yet felt threatened in any way.

The marina at Rodney Bay is accessed by a long channel, and I keep having throwbacks to Jolly Harbour on Antigua - even the placement of the marina in the lagoon is similar!  We've made ample use of the facilities and are getting to know some of the cafe staff and of course Sophie in Island Water World too, so we will have to be careful not to settle in too comfortably.

Dinging down the lagoon channel

Past the fishing fleet

And arriving at the marina, still somewhat full of sailboats on this side, although the other side of the docks are pretty empty.

The north end of St. Lucia is dotted with resorts and guest villas, along with some pretty nice shopping areas - yay, more nice grocery stores, so there are many amenities to be found.  Just next to Rodney Bay is the little village of Gros Islet.  This is the main party town in the evening and music can be heard most evenings wafting / blasting out into the anchorage.  At first glance it looks a little ramshackle but on taking a walk through there are some charming little spots.

Interestingly, we seem to have also landed in the wild, wild, west.  We have heard more radios tuned to a country station and seen more horses being used both for tourist attraction but also personally, than since Dominican Republic and south-western Puerto Rico.  In fact, other than the English language, there is much of St. Lucia that reminds me of these areas.

Taking a stroll down to the dock in Gros Islet - there's Mowzer out in the bay.

Mowzer on the right, along with a number of other cats in the shallow part of the bay.

Believe it or not, Bernard actually takes this boat out around the anchorage to sell fruit and veg to cruisers.  He's got a whole garden on top (look out for bugs!) and a shady fruit stand below.

There's one of those horses I mentioned, patiently waiting for the guys to finish limin'.

We headed off for a morning stroll round to Pigeon Island, a National Trust site with old British fortifications, but when we arrived on Sunday morning we found the gates closed in preparation for a Soca Festival later in the day.  Hmmm, maybe we should return later, or just listen from the bay?

Nothing daunted we returned to Gros Islet and then followed the signs for Cas En Bas where there is a beach on the Atlantic side of the island.  We followed the road up and down the hills, then a dirt track up and down, and finally arrived at what is apparently a very active kite surfing beach.  The kiters were out in force in the 20 knot breeze and we were treated to a front row seat of some of the stunts.

I didn't get them in this shot, but there were probably a dozen kiters in the little bay.  Not sure how they didn't tangle their kites together.

Following our little explorations we've puttered around Rodney Bay doing the odd boat job and enjoying the scenery, including watching the floating fruit stand go to and 'fro in the anchorage.

He has a definite list to starboard!

Little blue heron on the water's edge.

More views around the marina.

Good night St. Lucia.

More to come on St. Lucia as we wait out yet another tropical wave.  No worries, we are settled in nicely on the hook and enjoying the local vibe completely!

Alas, Farewell to Dominica

Finally, a lovely break in the windy weather and a forecast almost perfect enough to weep over - for almost an entire week!

So, move on we must after a final evening in Roseau where we saw it as a good omen to be blessed with such a beautiful sign from the weather gods, as the sun finally burst through the clouds above.

Next morning we pointed our bows southward and waved good-bye to yet another colourful village nestled under the verdant, green hills.

The channel between Dominica and Martinique, our next destination, is about 20 nautical miles.  We saw lots of boats on the move taking advantage of the good forecast and we would then loose sight of them in the frequent squalls that passed right on through.  Guess a little deck wash to keep the salt at bay was okay.  As we made our way along we could see another catamaran coming up behind us, both visually and on our AIS.  They were gaining on us, being a bigger boat and finally about half-way across the passage passed us.  They came on close behind and were definitely seeking the photo-op as we busily snapped pictures of each other and then with contact on the radio agreed to send each other copies.  Hopefully they got some good ones of us!

With our departure of Dominica, we have now traversed the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, the idea that we now turn the corner and are in the Windward Islands.  Truth be told, we won't be at our most eastern point until St. Lucia, but none-the-less we cracked open the new cruiser's guide to check out the details for our next landfall.

There was no 'official' guide for the south shore of Dominican Republic so we downloaded as much info as we could off the web, after that we had guides to help us along the way.

At the northern end of Martinique lies Ste. Pierre, now a sleepy little tourist town.  At the beginning of the 20th century it was a bustling port of 30,000 souls who had little inkling and abysmally inept leadership that led to their demise with the eruption of Mt. Pelee.  Can you imagine, 30,000 people died because even though there were warning rumbles, no one would make the difficult decision to evacuate the isolated town and get them out of harm's way.  All but two people died - one a cobbler hanging out in his cellar and the other (famously or infamously) a convicted murderer serving time in a small stone-walled jail cell.  The town now consists of narrow little streets with new (and some older buildings) built up on the burnt remnants of the old town, since everything burned (people and buildings) on that fateful day in 1902.

Ste. Pierre was our destination to check into Martinique but with the favourable forecast we decided to move on down the coast to the capital city of Fort de France.  So much in contrast to the quiet northern town, FF (as it's usually abbreviated) is a busy metropolis of approx. 100,000.  We haven't seen skyscrapers like this in a long time (barring our visit to Canada.)

We dropped anchor right in the city harbour under the walls of the old French fort and in the evening enjoyed the lights of the waterfront. 

Funny thing, when we checked in with the usual French efficiency of their wonderful computer kiosk system, we asked how much and the lady at the desk said she really didn't know and we could pay "prochain fois".  Sweet - free check-in.  For all that though, the security forces were out early in the morning checking the anchorage; each and every boat got a thorough review by helicopter flying just a few meters above - quite a bit of excitement for sure!

Our goal in Martinique was to do a quick exploration and a bit of shopping and although we would love to stay and see much, much more we feel we should be moving on.  Hate to think of the season we are in, but we definitely don't want to be caught too far north in the islands now.

We headed into town to find a chandlery for a few boat supplies, a grocery store and definitely some good lunch.  The only thing we really couldn't find was good wifi - oh why do the French do everything else so well???

The Riviere Madame flows through town with lovely bridges joining the two sides.

There's a pedestrian street joining a multitude of busy commercial cross-streets.

Wandering through the park I found this feather (sorry for the focus) and would have loved to see the bird it came from.

The old French fort that dominates the harbour.

Couldn't resist cracking a few jokes about the 'short bus'.

The architecture of FF is an interesting mix of colonial to modern, many of the buildings being government related.

The grandiose Town Hall.

I loved the red shutters / shade providers on the modern Appeals Court.

And right across the park was this much older, classic Arts / Culture Centre.

Once again, old and new juxtaposed, with the reflection of the cathedral mirrored in this modern edifice.

 Finally, as our legs were tiring we headed out of town on a Mozaik bus to La Galleria - a huge mall with many French and American stores and a mega supermarket.  In St. Martin we had ooh'd and aah'd over the wonderful selection in the Super U grocery store.  This one had to impress since it was a notch up, called the Hyper U!

Catching the bus in FF.  The one thing I remember from when I briefly lived in France is that the concept of a line-up is completely foreign.  Here, in this little departement, the tradition continues as everyone clusters around the bus before the door is opened.  Relax folks - there's room for everyone!

Yes, those are escalators, in a mall no less!

Shopping done, garbage dropped off, lunch and dinner enjoyed, it is now time to continue our track south - next stop St. Lucia and Rodney Bay.  Martinique beckons for a much more extensive visit on our next time through.