Kalunamoo

We have a sign in our salon that reads “Friends welcome, Relatives by APPT”. Cruiser friends laugh when they read it as most assume we discourage, or at least put obstacles in the path of visiting relatives. This is completely not true. The fact is that “friends”, specifically “cruiser friends”, can and do drop by any time they drop anchor in the same harbor where we are. The longer we are down here, the more we run across these fellow cruisers no matter what harbor or anchorage we are in. No APPT needed to share sundowners, just dinghy on over!

Relatives are equally welcomed. However, the difference is that they live thousands of miles away, book air tickets weeks in advance and have to know when and where, we will be. The latter is not easily discernable far in advance. This is not by design, but it does depend on air currents, weather and sea conditions, and in the general direction we are traveling. So APPT’s are definitely needed, so that we both arrive on the same island at the same time.

Our oldest daughter Melanie and son-in-law Dave flew to Martinique just on schedule. We sailed up from St. Lucia as mentioned previously and we were at the right place at the right time to greet them. It so happened that the week before, when we were at a beach BBQ, a fellow cruiser had his daughter and boyfriend on board. They happened to be flying back to Montreal the day our daughter was flying in from Montreal. He was also expecting his brother on that same flight from Canada. That made arranging one taxi to the airport to transport family to and from convenient.  All went well and nobody got lost in the shuffle.

We stayed in Ste. Anne a day so that Melanie and Dave could get their feet wet and hike around to Salines Beach. The next day we sailed around Diamond Rock up to Anse Chadiere. We did encounter a good 30 knot squall just before Diamond Rock that tested their commitment to sail but other than some black and blue marks, we survived and carried on.  

Chadiere is just south of Les Anses D’Arlet and is a good snorkeling spot. The weather was fine for that and then we had a late lunch at one of the many beach front restaurants. Back on board we looked forward to showing them a Green Flash sunset. This was not to be, as “feather canyons everywhere…got in the way”. A minute fine green flash may have occurred, but it was not convincing. Well, we had four sunsets to go.

The next day we sailed up to St. Pierre. Melanie and Dave are hikers and so they set their sights on Mt. Pelle. The night before we had dinner at L’Alsace a Kay, a great French/German restaurant with a great view of the setting sun. The dinner was great but, again, clouds got in the way of a Green Flash.

On Wednesday they set off by bus to the trail for the climb up to the top of Mt. Pelle. Actually, the bus stop is a considerable distance from the trail head, but they managed to hitched a ride for part of the way and then they hiked the trail to the caldera. The weather was great for the hike, no squalls and good visibility at the summit. They did admit it was not a walk in the woods. More like a Goat Trail and more of a challenge than expected but they had a great time. The view from the top was clear all the way down to St. Pierre.

That night after another disappointing No Green Flash Sunset, Mexican Train dominoes and Rhum samplings were had. No, the rhum does not enhance the sighting of the Green Flash. The next day we went to the Depaz Distillery to resume the sampling.

By Friday we sailed (motored) back to Fort de France. Since it was Good Friday, the town was deserted, and everything was closed. Clouds descended and no Green Flash would be seen that night either. But a JAM and Train session was had on our final night together.

Saturday, breakfast ashore, which took an exceeding long time at a small kiosk by La Savanne, completed the visit from Melanie and Dave. A taxi arrived and they were off to the airport and on the way home.

It was a great week that we all enjoyed and hope that we can continue to arrange these APPTs for relatives. Now only if we can arrange a Green Flash APPT!  

Maureen announced “I made a dentist appointment”. It was an announcement that many people make, usually for a cleaning or other routine checkups. A few months ago, I lost two fillings and needed some “repairs”. The fillings are at least 50 years old, if not longer. When you think about that it is really amazing they last that long. What other things did you buy 50 years ago, used heavily every day, and didn’t need repair? Soon after another filling came out and it sems like a chunk of the tooth came with it. Ok, too much detail but Maureen had a good experience with a dentist in St. Lucia – an implant – so off to see the dentist.

Dr. Glace in Rodney Bay is only about 25 miles away. But since we were in Martinique and he is in St. Lucia, that is about a 4 hour ocean sail. But that depends on wind and sea conditions. It also means customs clearance in Martinique and Customs, Immigration, Health and Port Authority clearance in St. Lucia. In other words, it’s not a hop in the car for a 15 min ride to the dentist.

It was an easy sail south to St. Lucia in northeast winds and typical trade wind seas. We sailed on a Friday to avoid over time charges when clearing in and anchored in Rodney Bay. We tend to ignore the old sailors dictum to “never sail on a Friday”. I don’t think old sailors worried about overtime charges. We also came to St. Lucia for a quick “shuttle” trip to New York (by air) for a week. I had some tax work to do, and we promised our daughter to do some babysitting for a few days.

Monday morning, I saw Dr. Glace who quickly filled the cavities and we decided to have a cap done for the third. On Wednesday I was back to be “fitted” with a cap which will be ready in about 3 weeks. Later in the week we brought the boat into Rodney Bay Marina and prepared to fly back to New York for a week. Seeing cruiser friends and others in Rodney Bay made us feel like being in a “home base”. It seems like Antigua, St. Lucia and Trinidad are becoming our “home base” islands or nexus islands to conduct boat repairs, doctor visits and air travel arrangements.

We did fly to NY for a week, completed the tax work, babysat for a few days, saw family and friends, celebrated St. Patrick’s day and then flew back to St. Lucia. The weather was ok but considerably colder than the 80 degrees in St Lucia. A few snow flurries and cold winds greeted us but we survived! The only problem flying off island in St Lucia is that it is at least an hour and half taxi ride to the airport. This time it took two hours and as we arrived at the airport just as they started to board. The one flight a day cannot be missed!

We few back to St Lucia with another couple that were going to sail with our cruiser friends Bob and Brenda on PANDORA who were also in St. Lucia. The six of us took a road trip the day after we arrived and had a great lunch at Ladera’s. Ladera is a high-end resort overlooking the Pitons. St Lucia is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean and the Pitons are two of the very impressive “pointy” mountains of the island.

After the short visit to St Lucia is was time to sail back to Martinique as our daughter Melanie and husband Dave will visit and stay with us for a week. The sail back on Friday was not as good as the sail down as it was an upwind sail and head seas. Maybe those old sailors knew something. But now we are back in St. Anne planning a week with our daughter and son-in-law. We are looking forward to that. Besides beaches and sun, sailing and restaurants, they want to climb the volcanic Mt. Pelee. Well, they are young enough. This three-quarters of a century body is not up to that task. I’m just grateful my teeth are still in my mouth. We sail to St. Lucia after a week with Melanie and Dave to get a cap.

Around 130 AD the Arawaks arrived from South America and settled in Martinique. There was no custom or immigration forms to complete, they just came and set up shop near Mt. Pelee. Maybe that was a mistake. Mt. Pelee erupted (didn’t like the immigrants?) around 295 AD and nearly wiped out the Arawaks. The Arawak’s luck wasn’t any better when the Caribs landed on the island around 600 AD. They nearly wiped out the Arawaks also. Christopher Columbus charted the island in 1493 but didn’t land on it until his 4^th voyage in 1502. He came, he saw, and left some pigs and goats and then left. Apparently, the Spanish were not impressed with what they found. One hundred and thirty-five years later, 1635, French citizens from St. Kitts arrived and set up shop near Mt. Pelee. They liked what they saw and expanded their agricultural products while pushing the native Caribs to the east side of the island. By 1660 the pesky Caribs were no more. Twenty-five years later, 1685, the local crop was sugar and it was so profitable they brought in slaves (nothing like cheap labor to make it profitable) to “help” with the harvest. Sugar was more valuable than gold (or diamonds). This attracted the attention of the Dutch and English like bears to a honey pot. Needless to say, this resulted in typical human actions, namely multiple military actions.

In 1672, Louis XIV built a fort, Fort St Louis, at Fort Royal Bay (it’s good to be king and name a fort after yourself). The town, Fort Royal, was built in a malaria swamp. At least it wasn’t near Mt. Pelee. In any case, the next 200 years saw military actions, multiple Anglo-Dutch wars, the Seven Years Wars, revolutions, the Napoleonic Wars, slave revolts, hurricanes, rhum, pirates, yellow fever epidemics, and the birth of Josephine in Les Trois-Ilets. By 1848 Fort Royal became Fort de France, slavery was abolished the malaria swamp was filled in and the town competed with St. Pierre (in the shadow of Mt. Pelee) for commerce and population. Paul Gaugain came and painted some great works. The great iron and glass Schoelcher Library building was disassembled in France and reconstructed in Fort de France. It is still there despite a fire in 1890 that destroyed much of city. The balance was done in by a hurricane the next year.

Not to be outdone, Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902 killing 29,000 people. The island survived, hurricanes came and reshaped the land, World Wars occurred (the movie “To Have and Have Not” was based on Hemingway’s story of a fisherman in Fort de France) and today, as a French Department, it is subsidized by the national government and developed into a great French tourist destination. Some regard this French subsidy as reparations for its involvement over the last 500 years. Others thank retired French chefs for the restaurants they open here.

All this is to say we first landed in Martinique in March of 2015 at St. Pierre and find the history of this island very interesting. The specific history of the islands explains a lot about their current affairs and circumstances. This year we stopped at St. Pierre, Trois-Ilets, Grand Anse, and St Anne. We will return in April when our daughter and son-in-law visit us. I only wish I could speak French, although buddy boating with ROXY has been a great help. Lynn has perfected her French to the point that we know what to eat, where to find things and, in general, don’t act like ugly Americans. Thanks Lynn!

After we went to the Carnaval in Fort de France and sailed from Trois-Ilets, we spent a few days in Grand Anse D’Arlet, a small picturesque sea-side French village. Beautiful Les Anses-D’Arlet is just a dinghy ride around the headlands away. Both feature beach front restaurants, good swimming, snorkeling and great sunsets. The day before we sailed out, light winds and currents brought in mats of Sargassum seaweed. The last time this happened to us was in Joist Van Dyke in the BVI’s. Fortunately, the mats do move on but eventually come ashore and present a real problem for beaches. Presently there is no solution to this problem.

On the way to St. Anne, you have to sail around the south-west corner of Martinique and round Diamond Rock. If you are sailing south, you may have some good wind until you round Point du Diamant, then head winds for 10 miles to St. Anne. If you head west from St Anne, you have a down wind run to Diamond then you have head winds after rounding it. Diamond Rock is named, obviously enough, because it looks like cut diamond from a distance. Having rounded this a number of times, I thought of other things about this rock other than diamonds. How the British lifted cannons up to the top in one of the many Special Military Operations at the time is one of them. But much like looking at clouds, Diamond Rock seems to have many faces imbedded into it. If only they could talk! Maybe they would fill in some interesting historical details of Martinique that I may have left out. Next time we sail by I’ll look for more and maybe ask them some questions.

Well, we had French Sailors Night Sun Downers on the beach front bar with cruising friends on ROXY, PANDORA and MARIPOSSARAH II.

It was a fun time with a great Green Flash sunset! I’m convinced, that if Columbus stayed longer, he would have enjoyed Martinique as much as we have.

We made our way from Dominica to Martinique, in time to participate in the Fort du France Martinique Carnaval. “Participation” means being part of the crowd. This was our third time participating and it is much like being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. I posted video on Facebook.

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Before going to Fort du France, we stopped in St Pierre and anchored in the shadow of Mt. Pelee for two days. This gave us an opportunity to go up to the Depaz distillery to sample some of their wares. Agricole rhum is not my favorite, but I did buy a bottle to sample aboard. A swell developed and so by the second night we moved from a stage 2-3-4 swells to frequent stage 7’s. That prompted us to move on.

We motored to Fort du France but knowing the small anchorage would be crowded, we kept on and anchored in Trois Ilets. This is on the other side of the large bay. The anchorage is fine except it is open to the east. The only time there isn’t wind blowing down on you is for a few hours in the very early morning. Otherwise, a good chop develops which makes any dinghy ride very wet. There is no swell, so the boat doesn’t roll but going ashore can be a challenge. That, combined with the lack of a proper dingy dock, does not lend itself to a popular anchorage for cruisers. The up side is that a convenient 20 minute ferry ride brings you into Fort du France (7 EU round trip).

Obviously, living on a boat makes one very well aware of the water surface conditions. Maybe Predict Wind can get their computers to report roll stage conditions at anchorages, that would be great. They “predict” for passages but not for destinations. Boats, yachts, and ships all react like corks and reflect those conditions. It is only a matter of relative size of the craft to conditions that determines survivability. The trend toward catamaran for cruisers, in large part, can be attributed to their ability to be “less rolly” than monohulls.

All this led me to consider waves. Certainly the waves of people at the carnival jostles one around and waves of covid 19 cases demonstrated how individuals can be affected. Ocean waves have been the objects of fascination for centuries, certainly by those ashore, no less than those afloat. Dramatic paintings and photographs of the crashing, churning white foamed “angry sea” abound. Not to mention the scene of the Andrea Gail desperately climbing vertically over a wall of water. Most dramatic are the images of the exploding water along rugged coastlines, themselves shaped by the very same waves. Artists have long been fascinated by this phenomena and perfected the art of glass and resin manipulation to freeze these images into 3-D sculptures. All of this seems reactive. Humans are nothing if not proactive in affecting their natural environment (by design with their cleverness or inadvertently by their stupidity).

With that in mind, I have searched in vain (on Google) for things that can produce these artistic images using real waves in real time. I call them Wave Sculptures In Real Time. WASIRTs (pronounced “wa-certs”) for the easily pleased. The drawings here are some ideas that I had that may qualify. The thought is that these could be constructed of reinforced concrete and placed in appropriate locations for natural wave actions. They could be staged at different levels to operate at different tide levels. More portable units could be constructed for an ongoing “tour” of WASIRTS at different locations. Smaller versions could be marketed to beach goers as attractive beach play things. Clearly, they may inspire others to utilize what nature provides and turn lemons (waves) into lemonade (WASIRTs). Yes, I know there are some useful things waves are already doing (wave motion to produce electricity, etc). But wouldn’t it be nice to sit on your rolling stage 5 anchorage and watch those swells and wave explode into majestic displays of spent energy and knowing that it was a human designed effect instead of heading toward a calmer anchorage? I’m receptive to those who would answer a RFP to participate in these WASIRTs.

Major hurricane Maria devastated Dominica in September 2017 when Kalunamoo was in Trinidad. Afterwards we sailed to Dominica in February 2019 and in February 2020. On both of our visits, the evidence of hurricane destruction was clearly evident. Large sections of forest were leveled, houses were ripped apart but the population was coping and rebuilding efforts were seen. New bridges and roads were being built (with aid from many countries, especially China) and so the country was slowly getting back to what it was pre-hurricane.

This year we visited again and spent almost 2 weeks there when the Salty Dawg Sailing association scheduled a rendezvous of their members. We are also members, and our good friends Lynn on ROXY and Bob on PANDORA (president of the SDSA) did a great job of organizing activities for the 25 or so member boats that joined in. This was all done in conjunction with the local Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services (PAYS) who really appreciated the appearance and support of the cruisers at the rendezvous. Dinners on the beach at night, live music, island diving, tours and hikes, were offered every day and it was great fun, if exhausting, for everyone. One acitity that was planned was an organized visit to the local Saturday market to buy local produce followed by a cooking demonstration. It was a great way to learn about the local cuisine and enjoy local produce. A dinner serving Lion fish helped keep that invasive fish in check.

We took two “easy” hikes, one thru a rain forest (yes it rains there!) and a one to the Syndicate Waterfalls. Both tested our endurance. The first for the wet terrain and the second was for the eight quick water calf high streams, that that had to be forged to see a very Caribbean waterfall. Both well worth it.  But exhausting (at least to these two of a certain age). We also took a van tour to Red Rocks (unique red clay like landscape), the Chocolate Factory (a locally grown and produced chocolate) and the Cold Springs (a pond bubbling with foul smelling sulfur).

All of this was great fun and highlighted how Dominica is quite different than most of the other Eastern Caribbean islands. The reason stems from colonial times when Dominica and St. Vincent were the only 2 islands in the Lesser Antilles that were not “dominated” by European powers at the time (Spanish, Dutch, English or French). These two islands were left to the natives as the other islands were exploited for their agricultural riches (mostly sugar). The rugged topography, rich volcanic soil and ample rainfall all lent to maintain the natural beauty of this tropical island. Of course, eventually even European agreement fell apart and Dominica did become a pawn in the English/French rivalry and was somewhat developed, but not to the extend of the other islands. All this to say that Dominica was “on its own” for quite some time and perhaps that left it much like the islands before Columbus – without the imperative to develop for European’s benefit. The veneer of modern civilization certainly covers the island, cell phones are ubiquitous, a few high-end resorts are here, decent roads, but I get the feeling that modernity is not at the heart of the island. More importantly, they realize that their natural environment requires protection from the encroachments that would destroy it.

This is certainly true in the town of Portsmouth and Prince Rupert Bay where we, and most cruisers anchor. The big cruise ships dock on the other end of the island in Roseau, Dominica’s capital. The original site of the capital was Portsmouth but the threat of malaria from the surrounding mangroves was too great to ignore. Fortunately, that threat no longer exists. So, oddly enough the only “cruise” ships that visit seem to be tall ships.

In addition, marine areas are set up – Cabrits/Toucar Marine Park – which restricts water access to only guided tour boats. No dinghy or anchoring by cruisers are permitted. This enhances and supports the local economy and controls the impact on the environment. The dependence on small local operations, such as the PAYS organization demonstrates this. PAYS provides moorings while it’s two dozen or so members provide tours and other services on an individual basis.

We have seen this also when we took a tour through the mountains. As I wrote at the beginning of this blog entry, major hurricane Maria devastated tracks of forest with its winds and rain. Since then, the government took advantage of nature’s “clear cutting”. It encouraged and sold these parcels to locals to farm these areas and produce fruits and vegetables both for local consumption and export. Dominica does export to other islands now and this will add to their exports. No one expects this to develop into a “United Fruit/Chiquita” type economy but these small scale local initiates may be a good way forward for the island. Keeping profits on the island to reinvest for themselves seems the best way ensure a more stable and prosperous future. Eco tourism will continue to be a major influence and, of course, foreign investments, will also play a part. One hopes that with more income locally generated, Dominica remains one of the more unique islands in the Caribbean. Dominica is truly the Nature Island of the Lesser Antilles.

A question that often comes up among the “newbie cruisers” we meet (and some friends ashore) is “don’t you get bored seeing the same places all the time”? I can understand the newbies concern. After all, they are out cruising to see new destinations every day. It a big world and there is not enough time to see it all. I’m amused about the question from friends ashore. These people lived in the same house or neighborhood almost their entire life and never complained about being bored with that.

I bring this up as, yes, we did go cruising to see new lands (or islands). Its 12 years in and we certainly only “scratched the surface” of the earth seeking new lands (or islands). But a funny thing happens while cruising, you get to really like certain areas and no one gives you a gold star for the number of places you stepped foot on. In our case, the neighborhood is almost 500 mile long, contains over 10 different countries, various cultures, food cuisines, languages and personalities. And no snow.

So, after 12 years island hopping our neighborhoods, we came to like them all. We just traveled up to St Maarten/St Martin for 3 weeks after a 5 year hiatus. It felt like visiting an old friend. The shawarma vendor, Little Jerusalem is still there, although a new place seems to offer better fare. Lagoonies is still the hangout for cruisers although the Naked Pirate is eager to offer some competition. The same Dutch priest still says the 5PM Sunday mass with a musical track provided by the keyboard player. Other locals are still around, both on the French and Dutch side of the island. Some things did change. The old carousel ice cream place (with a real Carousel) no longer has a Carousel. Some French restaurants haven’t recover from the hurricane a few years ago but Thursday nights at the French town of Gran Cas is resuming after the hurricane/pandemic interruption.

But the point is that far from being bored with the island, it was hard to leave after only 3 weeks. We do call ourselves cruisers but living in a neighborhood nearly 500 miles long is not boring. And did I mention that there is no snow?

The cruising part is the sailing between islands. These sails can last 6 to 12 hours and can entail ocean type seas and weather. Jumping over islands can be overnight sails or a few days. That brings me to our sail from St Martin to Antigua. The winds were again forecast from the North East, but like the sail to St Martin, the wind was more like East North East. This meant we were sailing more directly into the wind and seas. Not terrible, but not a walk in the park. With these winds, sailing further west to the U.S.V.I. is not attractive. As much as we like the U.S.V.I, we will forgo them at this time and decided to head south.

We again stopped in St. Barts overnight to cut down on sailing at night. After we left St. Barts heading to Antigua, Otto (Otto, the Dark Lord of Direction, Ray, the Guiding Hand of the Helm and the Lady of Perpetual Steering, that I wrote about previously) kept tripping the circuit breaker. Remember we had trouble with the breaker after leaving St. Anne, Martinique. This time I couldn’t switch it out for another as I was not sure that was the problem. It only tripped when it was steering, not on standby. In any case, we faced sailing for at least 10 hours hand steering in lumpy seas with head winds.

This was the first time we faced a long passage without the auto pilot (ok, 10 hours is not really that long – unless you have to steer constantly). But I was pleasantly surprised when Kalunamoo decided to steer herself. Balancing the sail trim, Kalunamoo can stay on course indefinitely with only minor tweaks on the wheel. One of the benefits of hydraulic steering is that the rudder is constantly “locked” by the position of the helm. No break or securing the helm is needed to lock the rudder. Turning the wheel can easily tweak a degree or two of rudder angle and keep the boat on course. Actually, our track was much better steering this way than with Otto in control. And it was not tiring at all.

Before arriving in Antigua, I noticed a small diesel fuel leak by the injector pump (we did some motor sailing in and out of port). Our intended over night stay in Antigua and then a sail to Guadeloupe became a formal check-in and two-night stay in Antigua. Both issues were resolved. Gordon on COHO had a spare circuit breaker which was the problem (I hope, as a real test is when we sail “out there”) and the fuel leak was fixed by new copper washers at one of the fuel lines. We are now ready to continue to sail south and meet up with other cruisers and revisit our other neighborhoods. The Salty Dawgs have plans for gatherings in Dominica and then Martinique. Well, welcome to the neighborhood.      

Vacation in New York was wonderful. It was cold, but still wonderful. We are now back onboard to return to the drudgery of relentlessly warm Caribbean sun, the absolute perfect water temperatures, the rhum that’s always smooth and potent, and the pleasures that always flow (mostly).

Kalunamoo received from Santa over 70 lbs. of adornments. These were carried in our luggage and back pack on the flight from New York to Antigua. One of the good things about Antigua, there are no hassles when you bring things like chart plotters, electric cables, diesel engine parts, generator mother boards, propane tanks parts, refrigerator parts, oil and fuel filters, computer printer, can goods, electrical relays, timers and meters, microphones, microphone stands, amplifier speaker, solar panel controllers, and boat fenders. They are all routine personal items in our luggage. Just like what other tourist bring on their vacation.

Other countries are not so accommodating when arriving with stuff like that. Grenada, in particular, was upset one time when we flew in with one small outboard motor propeller in our luggage. Besides the paperwork that is required, an import tax is assessed on things like that. We pleaded that it was just a poor refurbished propeller that somehow got mixed up with our underwear and so sorry we didn’t declare it and hoped that it would not impact the Grenadian economy by not paying the import fee. They let us go through. Trinidad wouldn’t impose any import tax, but the paperwork and procedures is enough to give one pause before bringing things in (although we do it all the time).

Santa was very generous and Kalunamoo really appreciated the thoughtful gifts that arrived. Like all other dads and moms, we spent days reading instructions and putting things together so that Kalunamoo could fully enjoy the assembled presents.

While in Antigua, we spent a few days in Jolly Harbor Marina installing those presents . We were awakened at midnight on the 31^st as we understand that the New Year brings out those who like to see and hear fireworks at midnight. Odd. We went back to sleep. We then moved out to the anchorage for a few more days and then sailed north.

The easterly trades were moderate but they tended to clock to the south east on the day we sailed. The seas were still running 6 foot short swells from the east from the previous week’s stronger trades. What this meant was that the sail up toward St Martin was with wind well down on our quarter with a cross swell. It was not a terrible sail, but neither was it particularly enjoyable. At times, with the wind shifting dead astern, we needed to jibe to maintain any speed. We anchored in Columbier, St. Barts at sunset and the next morning made the final 2 hour sail to St Maarten (the Dutch side) in the same weather conditions.

Coming from New York, bridge tolls are the norm. Any substantial waterway that a normal car can’t traverse without sinking has a toll bridge. This is not strictly true as the city fathers know that knowledgeable New Yorkers could always find a way not to use a bridge and so not all bridges have tolls. But, of course, New York City is made up of islands and is not connected to the mainland (the rest of the United States). Therein, tolls are ubiquitous and not cheap.

I write the above because when you sail to St Maarten (the Dutch side) there are two bridges that vehicles use to traverse their island. These bridges need to open to let boats taller than about 15’ pass under. The bridge toll, however, is levied on the vessels, not the vehicles using the bridge. Now, remember history. New York City (New Amsterdam) was founded by the Dutch. Somewhere along the way, someone decided to toll cars vs. boats in New York but not here. The British, of course, were involved in this history at some point and the revolution etc. so I’m not sure who’s to blame. In any case, to make a long story short (too late!), you need to pay a bridge toll here, not to go over it, despite the fact it is designed to specifically accommodate vehicles, but to go under it. To add insult to injury, they made it so low that it must be opened so that most boats can go through. In other words, boats pay not to use a roadway but are charged for the engineer’s neglect to make it high enough to go under! It cost us $21 each way not to drive over the bridge. In New York, the Verrazzano Bridge cost $10.17 to drive over it and nothing to sail under it. We have not been here since 2017 but when we paid the toll, the receipt showed that we last paid the toll in 2017. Apparently, they keep good records. But the big story is not the tolls. The bridge is famous for watching the big boys go thru it. It’s a spectator sport.

As you can see the bridge is not that big and yet mega boats have to navigate them. Some of them not so successfully. Here is one video of what can happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRVWr4sIyCs

We anchored in Simpson Bay Lagoon in St Martin (French side) after paying the toll. This saved us Customs and Immigration fees to the Dutch authorities (after all, they got the bridge tolls). The Lagoon is completely protected from any swells. Unfortunately, it is not recommended to swim in it so we dinghy to the outside to go swimming. The bay on the French side is better for swimming. You have to go under the French bridge, but there is no charge – viva la France. The problem is that there is a very narrow and shallow channel beyond the French bridge to the anchorage area.

We haven’t been here in about 5 years and in the interim there was a hurricane that caused substantial damage. Most damages have been repaired but there are still some businesses that have not returned. There is plenty of restaurants (both on the Dutch and French side) and, ship chandleries with tax free supplies which are always welcomed.

While here we are meeting cruisers that we haven’t seen in years, (Wahoo, Persephone), Salty Dawg cruisers we met recently (Fayaway) in Antigua and the musical family we have known from New York (Stell N Snuggs).

We plan to sail to the U.S. Virgins but are awaiting a good weather window. We don’t want to replay the down-wind sail that we had to get here. No rush to move on, especially going west which means that we will eventually need to go east – basically upwind! Maybe we will stay long enough to do some Out and About here.

It’s time for a vacation. We will be flying up to New York for two weeks to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. This vacation from the drudgery of living in Paradise is much anticipated. The relentlessly warm Caribbean sun, the absolutely perfect water temperatures, the rhum that’s always smooth and potent, and the pleasures that always flow is wearing.

We were warned that retirement is a dangerous time. More so because you have more time to do what you will, which apparently, is dangerous. Unless, we were told, you had “something to do”. The “something to do” was a directive that seemed at odds of what “retirement” seemed to entail. Nonetheless, we heeded this advice and decided to live on a sailboat in Paradise when we retired. That was almost 13 years ago. Well, the “something to do” is named Kalunamoo.

I have written extensively about those something and somethings that occupy our time aboard and we don’t hold a grudge against Kalunamoo. After all, we are abiding by the prime directive of retirement – have something to do. No regrets, and we are thankful for the constantly evolving somethings.

But this is not about that. This is about vacations. Vacations are the requisite pursuit of a change of circumstances, temporarily replacing the routine with novel surroundings to reclaim a certain psychological adjustment and acceptance of an otherwise, at best, mundane or at worst an intolerable life venue.

It comes to this. Our life venue, as mentioned above includes the relentlessly warm Caribbean sun, the absolutely perfect water temperatures, the rhum that’s always smooth and potent, and the pleasures that always flow. What adjustments are needed? But that is not really important. What is important is the substitution of your routine with novel surroundings.

So with that in mind, we are off on a vacation. We will find that these novel surroundings require quite a bit of adjustments on our side. The first that comes to mind is the amount and type of clothing that is required. I understand that outside air temperatures may actually be below 70 degrees. It will indeed be odd wearing footwear (in itself odd) that you can’t see your toes in. I hope my feet can take the loss of sand as well as I can take the added weight of heavy outerwear. The thought of lying in bed without the possibility of being tossed out of it because it tilts will be interesting. The fact that the house probably will not wander off with us in it may keep me up at night. We are not sure if the sound of rain wouldn’t compel us to close every open window, especially those on the roof.

Of course, we will be with family and friends that we do miss (Disclaimer – the previous statement, although accurate, implies a certain negativity on our part that may not apply at all times). Christmas and New Year’s is a wonderful time that we love sharing with loved ones (Disclaimer – we are flying back before the New Year). But the time we are there, our vacation will recharge our mental state to face the rigors of life in Paradise – the relentlessly warm Caribbean sun, the absolutely perfect water temperatures, the rhum that’s always smooth and potent, and the pleasures that always flow (Disclaimer – sometimes the rhum is not that smooth).

No doubt we will enjoy our vacation and wish we could spend more time with those who live so far away. But, like all vacations, their end is always bittersweet. The return to the drudgery of relentlessly warm Caribbean sun, the absolutely perfect water temperatures, the rhum that’s always smooth and potent, and the pleasures that always flow will be faced with stout perseverance and forbearance. When is the next vacation?

We had a good sail up from Trinidad to Antigua although we did take our time – 2 weeks! The cruisers we were meeting in Antigua, the Salty Dawg Rally boats, were delayed for two weeks due to the adverse weather conditions they faced on the sail down from the U.S. East Coast. By November 1, when many cruisers start heading to the Caribbean from up north, the weather systems become more active. Everyone knows about the summer – hurricanes – but the fall and early winter storms by far have delayed sailing and sailing plans by far. Think of the Perfect Storm! This year’s rally was the largest ever and so many plans had to change including who would sail to Antigua, or the Bahamas or even Bermuda. In addition, two weeks of social events scheduled for the rally’s arrival all had to be rescheduled. As of today, at the end of November, there are still a few boats yet to arrive.

Our friend Bob on PANDORA, who is the president of the Salty Dawgs, and along with other organizing members (Lynn on ROXY!) did a good job and managed to salvage most of the activities which we are now partaking in. It is now an active social scene here in Antigua as the “season” started by the mid November.

We have not been with our family for the last number of Thanksgivings but of course video calling does keep us advised as to how their “turkey” day is progressing. As always, we will fly back for the Christmas Holidays as we always try to be there at that time. In the meantime, we did have a great Thanksgiving dinner with cruiser friends at the Antigua Yacht Club. We have been “socializing” with dozens of cruisers, both those we have known and “newbies” since we all arrived here and expect this will continue until we fly to New York in mid-December.

Of course, it is never all social as the boat, despite all the work done in Trinidad, still manages to give us things to do. We had to stop in St Lucia on the way up as our generator decided to give us 150 volts in lieu of our requested 120. This was not appreciated by the battery charger, the refrigeration nor any electronics on board. Fortunately, Egbert at Marintek in St Lucia was able to replace the voltage regulator over the weekend so that worked out fine. It was an unexpected expense, but unexpected repairs are always expected. Stopping here also gave us a chance to catch up with some friends in St. Lucia and even had a visit from our NY friend Elaine who happened to be on a cruise ship docked in Castries. Our daughter and family were also in St. Lucia at the same time but they were all the way on the other end of the island and it was impractical to meet up at that time.

We then sailed to Martinique to deliver some teak wood to our friends who have been in Martinique for quite some time (health issues). The teak wood was much cheaper in Trinidad. That also gave us an opportunity to stock up on some French wines for our wine cellar. Upon leaving Martinique we had an issue with a faulty circuit breaker for our auto pilot.

The auto pilot is our unpaid third crew member who never sleeps and guides us about 99% of the time when we are sailing. Some call this third crew member Otto, the Dark Lord of Direction, the Guiding Hand of the Helm, the Lady of Perpetual Steering, or whatever. We just pray he/she/it works 100% of the time. On the way to Diamond Rock from St. Anne the pilot went blank and Kalunamoo steered a course of its own. In this instance it was not Otto’s fault but a simple faulty circuit breaker. A simple fix – just switch out to another circuit breaker. Of course, the breaker was on a small auxiliary panel with limited access, and when other things removed to get to it, the tiny little screws drove Maureen and I  crazy trying to swap out the breaker. And yes, they dropped out and were easily lost. Then besides losing one screw the other refused to seat. A jury rig wire tie sufficed until we arrive in Antigua and Otto performed professionally. In Antigua I found that same size circuit breakers have different size screw connections. Amazing how ingeniously diabolical some engineers are.

We anchored in English Harbor, for a few days until the Salty Dawgs and others arrived. English Harbor is a beautiful, cute anchorage but notoriously swirly. Nestled close to the high hills, the currents swirl the anchored boats hither and there when the wind dies. Last year we found ourselves butt to butt at 2AM with our friend’s boat, Roxy. In other words, when it gets crowded, we move over to Falmouth.

In Falmouth, the scene of last year’s lost anchor adventure, we felt secure. That is until we were ashore enjoying an evening “happy Hour” during a strong squall. We dinghy back to and noticed it slipped back about 5 boat lengths and was close to another boat. Sure enough, we dragged but seemed we hooked up as backing the engine didn’t move the boat. No use resetting the anchor at night unless we need to (did that, done that). The next morning, I raised the anchor and saw a chunk of the coral bottom of Falmouth Harbor a whale could have chocked on. After some time it was finally dislodged and we were able to reset our anchored position.

The work continues as I repair a one-foot square of cockpit enclosure overhead. It is being re-cored and glassed over (think a leaky roof) as the plywood core was rotting. The Furuno navigation station chart plotter is being pulled and FedEx’d to Virginia for a new screen. We will bring it back when we fly back to the boat after Christmas. During this time we will be without a chart plotter or depth indicator. We only need to sail to Jolly Harbor, which we have dome many times, and is not a critical navigation problem.

But we are enjoying the social scene here. Dinner with the Minister of Tourism at the World Heritage Sight of English Harbor, Thanksgiving with all the trimmings at the Yacht Club, Happy Hour and Open House gatherings at the sail loft with a live Jazz Band, and the Big Arrival Dinner at the Admirals Inn.

Boat repairs in Exotic Places never displaces The Social Season.

Well we really don’t know anyone like Madam Ruth,
And never liked tattoos or any golden tooth.
Well, we left our family home and were really really keen,
On starting the voyage with
voyage number thirteen.  

Well, it’s not far up to paradise, at least it’s not for us.
And if the wind is light there is the engine to push us frequently.
Oh the boat does provide miracles when nothing really fails.
Believe me.

Well miracles never happen, no reason to pretend.
And repairs are just a way of life so just learn again.
That paradise is a state of mind, just wait and see.
Believe me.  

Wise men say
Sailing is a dream.
But I can’t help,
Sailing with my love of life.

Shall we go?
Would it be unwise?
If the weather really does not provide?

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea.
Darling we will go
Somethings are meant to be.

Take the helm
Pull the sheets up tight.
For I can’t help,
sailing with my love to night.

With thanks to Harry Warren, Jack Brooks, Wayne Carson Thompson, Si Siman Christopher Doheny, Hugo Paretti, Luigi Creatone, George David Weiss, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It is people like them that give song to the heart, even if we adopt our own lyrics.

And if you can’t recall the singer, you can still recall the tune, Neil Diamond, Robbie Robertson