Yesterday was a fantastic sail; made more so because our
weatherman gave us expectations of sea-state that should rattle your teeth.
We woke up at 5:45 am in St. Pierre, and, with s/v Aspen,
were underway at 6:15 when we could finally had enough light to see the fish
traps to avoid them. It was a half hour
of motoring through flat calm water, while we straightened our lines and sails,
then we started the 25 - 30 miles of open water with a beam reach. Surprisingly, the big, square waves turned
out to be rather benign, and the wind seldom got up over 16 knots. With it curling around our loose sails,
however, we reached along at 5-8 knots all morning. The afternoon was even more pleasant, as most
of the waves disappeared behind Dominica, and the wind was constant for 80% of
the trip up to Prince Rupert Bay. We had
a lovely lunch of chicken and cheese in a fresh baguette, enjoyed a coffee, and
later a nice cold beer; all the while chatting to Steve and Maria on Channel 6,
VHF. (I took a video, and hope to share
it if we ever get good bandwidth) We
arrived at about 3 p.m., and have had the opportunity of saying hello to a few
of our old PAYS (Portsmouth Area Yacht Security organization of yacht service
people) friends.
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| s/v Seranada as we passed them heading to Dominica |
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| s/v Seranada as it looks like it's being swallowed up by a swell! |
We left St. Pierre to Lorna and Brian from s/v Peace and
Plenty, who had large plans to explore the region after the rest of us sung its
praises probably too much. Hopefully,
they will be posting an entertaining blog about the visits to the Earth
Sciences Centre (where the Mount Pele Explosion is so well explained), the
Depaz rum distillery (where they get a great tour and possibly a lunch), and
the numerous hikes in and around the old town.
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| The group of us enjoying a meal at a beach restaurant in Anse a L'Ane, Martinique |
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| A 'ti punch party on Cat Tales; French rum, sugar cane syrup to taste and lime! Brian and Catherine are out of camera range. |
Martinique was a lot of fun, enjoyed with s/v Peace and
Plenty, s/v Charlotte D., s/v Tarentella, and s/v Aspen, with hiking,
sundowners, lunches ashore, etc; in three different anchorages. We also spent time with s/v Aviva, and a few
others. Among the pictures in this
weblog are some of a party on s/v Sitatunga with Dan and Cindy, while we were
still anchored in Rodney Bay. The
pictures are not here just to show how much fun we are having, but because
Sitatunga is an interesting boat. She
was welded together in the Rift Valley of Africa, and named after an African
marsh antelope. Dan found her many years
ago in a boatyard in Ontario, all rusty and with significant vegetation growing
on deck and out of the scuppers. When he
attempted to purchase her, he found out that the boat was snuck into Canada
without duty being paid, and she apparently was used to get a family's wealth
out of Africa during tough times. He has
a lot of experience in keeping the old girl going (the boat, not Cindy - who
goes and goes just fine) and in sailing her around this big Caribbean
pond. The interior of the boat is lovely
dark wood and good joinery.
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| The Mighty Sitatunga |
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| Dan and Cindy aboard their boat, Sitatunga |
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| Eating area of s/v Sitatunga! Looks like we're in a restaurant! |
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| Steve and Maria (Aspen) and Brian (Peace & Plenty) |
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| The sun spoiled this picture of Cindy, however, it shows off their really neat boat! |
We are enjoying a quiet, rainy day here in Dominica, waiting for the evening,
when the locals have a big barbecue party arranged for us. Our other plans for
the weeks here just are not yet made. By the way, Sitatunga just showed up out of the fog, after sailing all night.
