We hiked the Cabrits National Park yesterday from noon until happy hour. Here is a little movie we put together!
Click Here: Cabris National Park
Dawn
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Canal of Slaves
This past Monday, we joined together with Jill and Tony from the Guernsey, England, vessel “Nychea” to hike the Canal des Esclaves. They had heard us transmitting on the morning SSB net called the “Coconut Net” the day before, and decided to introduce themselves. We met them at the Tourist Bureau in the morning, and used our best French to get information on transportation. The info was hard to get, and was actually wrong. We ended up travelling by public bus to a coastal community as directed, then asked for a bus to either end of the canal. We got the French equivalent of “You can’t get there from here!” Undaunted, we decided we would find the right road and hike up to the bottom of the canal. It must have been at least 4 miles, with much of the slopes about as steep as a car could drive. Still, we found the canal at the end of a road, and could start along it. There was a sign promising a restaurant with juice, beer and even a lunch at the end of the canal trail. With this in mind, we began our walk.
Waterfalls we saw along the way:
Dawn on the rock wall:
A view of a town, a way down there!
Jill and Tony from s/v Nychea
Dawn is installing pictures of the canal and the views, but I’ll still try to describe it. Most of the time, you are walking along an 18” bit of rough concrete, sometimes slimy and slippery, with a 2’ wide canal on your left. You can lean in at times and touch the mountain beyond, and sometimes the foliage has you leaning out. At least a third of a time, there is a deadly drop to the right. Indeed, at least a fifth of the time, you would have a 200’ free fall, then 300’ of steep foliage before finally hitting 500 more feet of barely sloping cliff. We actually couldn’t make out the rest, and would not know where to look to see the body. What fun!
However, we were deep in the mountainous rain forest and the scenery was fabulous. We looked down into beautiful valleys, across to steep mountains and cliffs, and even a very tall, but low volume waterfall. The canal walk itself took about 1.5 hours, and covered approximately 3 miles; with the canal only rising 7 metres or so over the distance. The purpose of the canal, of course built by slaves motivated likely by whips and the hope of being fed, was to bring water to a small valley that, unlike everywhere else on this end of Martinique, did not have its own source of water. Its economic value must still be proven, as it is being maintained in reasonable order.
At the end of the walk, we caught a glimpse of the promised restaurant with beautiful flowered gardens, and shady, cool sitting areas. We arrived at the gate, but alas, the gate was closed and the restaurant was NOT open!!
In this photo, we finally see a hint of civilization and our mouths begin to water...
The restaurant or is it a mirage? Shame it was closed!
At the upper end of the walk, there was no town, although after 20 minutes of walking even steeper roads, we found three elderly locals in the tiniest of stores who sold us some fabulously cold Heineken and would talk slowly enough that we could make out a promise of a bus about a mile uphill. The uphill roads were so steep that we could reach out with our hands and crawl along! We found a beautiful little village, with a bus stop with even some shade, and the bus arrived right on time. However, the bus driver stopped, and yelled “Je vais a manger”, meaning; “I’m going for lunch”. When we tried to find out when or even if he was returning, he just repeated himself louder and angrier before driving away. So… we sat down and waited almost an hour. It was now approaching 3:30, we were high in the mountains, Dawn had stubbed her toe on the steep walk upwards and could not walk further, and there was no hope of a taxi. We started to walk, but had only walked 10 minutes when the bus returned and picked us up. No apologies, no communication. Well, that’s the Caribbean for ya.
Inside a little store (shed), we purchased a cool one to keep up our spirits for the walk to the bus stop.
We see goats everywhere, but this new baby, less than an hour old caught our attention! Born right along the roadside!
After rushing to get to this bus stop on extremely steep roads, this was to be our digs for the next hour and a half:
The rest of the time in St. Pierre, we did some local sightseeing with our new friends from “Jackfish” (Vancouver), and simply lounged and read.
We left yesterday for Dominica at 6:15 am, even though the forecast was for 20 knots, a bit much for us. We had the boat well reefed down, and simply hung on. We averaged almost 8 knots in the straight between the islands, and it passed quickly. The sail up the coast to the north end was very lovely; but with 9 hours under way, we were truly tired. However, Dawn cooked a great lasagne, and we had a very nice evening on the boat. The boat took a couple hours of cleaning due to the heavy amount of salt water shipped into the cockpit and over everything outside. . We’ll tell you more about Dominica soon. Dawn just purchased internet wifi, so communication for the next little while will (should) be good.
On a completely different note, while in St. Pierre, Laurie enjoyed a little shopping in this store. The lady in charge giggled when he kept sizing me up!
Waterfalls we saw along the way:
Dawn on the rock wall:
A view of a town, a way down there!
Jill and Tony from s/v Nychea
Dawn is installing pictures of the canal and the views, but I’ll still try to describe it. Most of the time, you are walking along an 18” bit of rough concrete, sometimes slimy and slippery, with a 2’ wide canal on your left. You can lean in at times and touch the mountain beyond, and sometimes the foliage has you leaning out. At least a third of a time, there is a deadly drop to the right. Indeed, at least a fifth of the time, you would have a 200’ free fall, then 300’ of steep foliage before finally hitting 500 more feet of barely sloping cliff. We actually couldn’t make out the rest, and would not know where to look to see the body. What fun!
However, we were deep in the mountainous rain forest and the scenery was fabulous. We looked down into beautiful valleys, across to steep mountains and cliffs, and even a very tall, but low volume waterfall. The canal walk itself took about 1.5 hours, and covered approximately 3 miles; with the canal only rising 7 metres or so over the distance. The purpose of the canal, of course built by slaves motivated likely by whips and the hope of being fed, was to bring water to a small valley that, unlike everywhere else on this end of Martinique, did not have its own source of water. Its economic value must still be proven, as it is being maintained in reasonable order.
At the end of the walk, we caught a glimpse of the promised restaurant with beautiful flowered gardens, and shady, cool sitting areas. We arrived at the gate, but alas, the gate was closed and the restaurant was NOT open!!
In this photo, we finally see a hint of civilization and our mouths begin to water...
The restaurant or is it a mirage? Shame it was closed!
At the upper end of the walk, there was no town, although after 20 minutes of walking even steeper roads, we found three elderly locals in the tiniest of stores who sold us some fabulously cold Heineken and would talk slowly enough that we could make out a promise of a bus about a mile uphill. The uphill roads were so steep that we could reach out with our hands and crawl along! We found a beautiful little village, with a bus stop with even some shade, and the bus arrived right on time. However, the bus driver stopped, and yelled “Je vais a manger”, meaning; “I’m going for lunch”. When we tried to find out when or even if he was returning, he just repeated himself louder and angrier before driving away. So… we sat down and waited almost an hour. It was now approaching 3:30, we were high in the mountains, Dawn had stubbed her toe on the steep walk upwards and could not walk further, and there was no hope of a taxi. We started to walk, but had only walked 10 minutes when the bus returned and picked us up. No apologies, no communication. Well, that’s the Caribbean for ya.
Inside a little store (shed), we purchased a cool one to keep up our spirits for the walk to the bus stop.
We see goats everywhere, but this new baby, less than an hour old caught our attention! Born right along the roadside!
After rushing to get to this bus stop on extremely steep roads, this was to be our digs for the next hour and a half:
The rest of the time in St. Pierre, we did some local sightseeing with our new friends from “Jackfish” (Vancouver), and simply lounged and read.
We left yesterday for Dominica at 6:15 am, even though the forecast was for 20 knots, a bit much for us. We had the boat well reefed down, and simply hung on. We averaged almost 8 knots in the straight between the islands, and it passed quickly. The sail up the coast to the north end was very lovely; but with 9 hours under way, we were truly tired. However, Dawn cooked a great lasagne, and we had a very nice evening on the boat. The boat took a couple hours of cleaning due to the heavy amount of salt water shipped into the cockpit and over everything outside. . We’ll tell you more about Dominica soon. Dawn just purchased internet wifi, so communication for the next little while will (should) be good.
On a completely different note, while in St. Pierre, Laurie enjoyed a little shopping in this store. The lady in charge giggled when he kept sizing me up!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
St. Pierre and lots of pics
There has been no Internet available to us here in St. Pierre from the boat. We apologize for the delay in our updates! The French certainly know how to lock down their wifi!!
We left Grande Anse D’Arlet on Friday morning at 9:00, after the radio nets. We motored around the headland to a little bay called Anse Noire, with a black sandy beach and high sides. It was supposed to be interesting snorkelling, and we did our best to discover it. The rocky edges had some colourful sponges, but the few reef fish were small. However, closer to the boat was an amazingly large school of fish, all about 4 inches long. We think they were reef silversides. They filled an area about 400 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, making swirls and amazing patterns as they moved around us. We see fishermen from time to time netting these “bait fish” to take out to deeper water.
We carried on from Anse Noire after lunch, setting up double reefs in both main and jib as we crossed the broad expanse of Fort-de-France Bay, heading directly north for St. Pierre. Fort-de-France Bay gave us about an hour of 23 knots right on the beam, so we were happy we were reefed. It was a nice ride, with waves much smaller than the open ocean, reminding us of Grand Lake at home. Once past the larger bay, we had a lovely coastal cruise for about another hour and a half, enjoying the lovely green scenery provided by the northern mountainous area of Martinique.
The volcano Mount Pelee came into view just as we turned the corner to enter St. Pierre. This volcano caught the 30 000 people of St. Pierre in church on May 8, 1902, killing everyone but two people. A prisoner in a thick cell and a cobbler in a very deep, low basement survived to be dug out days later. The mountain is now quiet, green, and beautiful.
Mount Pelee in St. Pierre, Martinique
We anchored in the shallow water close to the wharf, and lounged away Friday night, declining to go ashore. Saturday, we went to the tourist bureau for some information, and set out on a great hike up one side of a cliff and down the other, finishing up in a butterfly garden filled with flowers, curious bits of building and crafts, and of course, lots of butterflies. Next door to this garden was “Restaurant 1643”. A little more expensive than our normal lunches, but we went for it, and enjoyed a most fabulous meal of salmon and vegetables, done with true French culinary attention.
You can see Cat Tales sitting here in the bay (third from the right)
This is where we had lunch today and bought an hour worth of Internet for 5Euros...I'd better type fast!
We returned to the boat to find a friend anchored nearby. Mike and crew aboard a monohull called “Jackfish” joined us for drinks, and then hiked the “urban ruins” of St. Pierre with us. It was a nice easy day after the previous day’s hike.
Here is Mike from s/v Jackfish. We affectionately call him Mike from Canmore. You can imagine why!
Here's the boat Jackfish out in the bay beside us:
Here is the salmon dinner we enjoyed at the butterfly garden after a long hot hike!
Musical instrument made of bamboo! Beautiful tones
This is where one of the only 2 survivors were found after the tragic eruption in 1902. Solitary confinement has some advantages afterall!
We left Grande Anse D’Arlet on Friday morning at 9:00, after the radio nets. We motored around the headland to a little bay called Anse Noire, with a black sandy beach and high sides. It was supposed to be interesting snorkelling, and we did our best to discover it. The rocky edges had some colourful sponges, but the few reef fish were small. However, closer to the boat was an amazingly large school of fish, all about 4 inches long. We think they were reef silversides. They filled an area about 400 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep, making swirls and amazing patterns as they moved around us. We see fishermen from time to time netting these “bait fish” to take out to deeper water.
We carried on from Anse Noire after lunch, setting up double reefs in both main and jib as we crossed the broad expanse of Fort-de-France Bay, heading directly north for St. Pierre. Fort-de-France Bay gave us about an hour of 23 knots right on the beam, so we were happy we were reefed. It was a nice ride, with waves much smaller than the open ocean, reminding us of Grand Lake at home. Once past the larger bay, we had a lovely coastal cruise for about another hour and a half, enjoying the lovely green scenery provided by the northern mountainous area of Martinique.
The volcano Mount Pelee came into view just as we turned the corner to enter St. Pierre. This volcano caught the 30 000 people of St. Pierre in church on May 8, 1902, killing everyone but two people. A prisoner in a thick cell and a cobbler in a very deep, low basement survived to be dug out days later. The mountain is now quiet, green, and beautiful.
Mount Pelee in St. Pierre, Martinique
We anchored in the shallow water close to the wharf, and lounged away Friday night, declining to go ashore. Saturday, we went to the tourist bureau for some information, and set out on a great hike up one side of a cliff and down the other, finishing up in a butterfly garden filled with flowers, curious bits of building and crafts, and of course, lots of butterflies. Next door to this garden was “Restaurant 1643”. A little more expensive than our normal lunches, but we went for it, and enjoyed a most fabulous meal of salmon and vegetables, done with true French culinary attention.
You can see Cat Tales sitting here in the bay (third from the right)
This is where we had lunch today and bought an hour worth of Internet for 5Euros...I'd better type fast!
We returned to the boat to find a friend anchored nearby. Mike and crew aboard a monohull called “Jackfish” joined us for drinks, and then hiked the “urban ruins” of St. Pierre with us. It was a nice easy day after the previous day’s hike.
Here is Mike from s/v Jackfish. We affectionately call him Mike from Canmore. You can imagine why!
Here's the boat Jackfish out in the bay beside us:
Here is the salmon dinner we enjoyed at the butterfly garden after a long hot hike!
Musical instrument made of bamboo! Beautiful tones
This is where one of the only 2 survivors were found after the tragic eruption in 1902. Solitary confinement has some advantages afterall!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Back to Martinique
We left Rodney Bay at 9:15 this morning and anchored in Anse D'Arlet at 2:30. We had intended to go further, but thought better of it when I got antsy to figure out what was wrong with the starboard engine. It made a hollow sound on our way out of the anchorage in Rodney Bay, and we shut it down after realizing it was not spitting out any water in the exhaust. After anchoring and before "Douane" (that's Customs in French), I took out the impeller. This brand new, Johnson impeller, the most expensive fuddleduddler in the stores, had disintegrated, with the rubber coming off the little brass hub. Here I am, thinking how smart I am by changing these buggers at the start of each year even if they show no wear. I might be saving myself from normal failure, but I guess I increase the opportunities to find the faulty ones.
The crossing was just fine, with 15 to 20 knots of wind just as advertised. Two reefs in the main and varying the amount of jib made for steady speeds between 6 and 7 knots. Significant water onto the bows, but none into the cockpit.
We once again provided bling to the fishies. This time it was a 4 foot marlin. He was so upset he jumped out of the water until he was totally out of sight, showing off the squid every time. 
Here is the same shot, but cropped down so you can see the fish!
Nothing for the plates for supper.
Tomorrow, we're going to snorkel in Anse Noir, pick up bread and wine in FdeF, and head up to St. Pierre.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Back on the Caribbean Sea
We set sail tomorrow. We have a working watermaker, and all other systems are "go". Wind is expected to be anywhere between 15 and 20 knots; and we already have a double reef in our main. Our proposed track takes us to the west side of Martinique, so we are hopeful that we can reach near Diamond Rock without having to tack or pinch too hard.
We will bypass Le Marin, Anse St. Anne, and Anse D'Arlet; planning instead to go in to Fort-de-France. If the weather is good, we'll have lunch and a snorkel at a little, even tiny, bay called Anse Noire. The black volcanic sand of the beach sinks down into great snorkelling, according to the guide. After lunch, we'll go across the greater bay and check in. The next day, we hope to go all the way up to St. Pierre.
People who know this area, or have read past blogs, will know that St. Pierre was the former Paris of the Caribbean until in 1902, Mount Pelee caught the full 30 000 people in church, and wiped them off the earth with a great explosion and flow of volcanic gas. We hope to take in some restaurants, some museums, a volcanic observatory, an old plantation, a rum factory, and 2-4 hikes - one of them the great old volcano herself.
Please stay tuned.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
St. Lucia pics
Dawn took a picture of me up the mast a few days ago and suggested she wanted to post it. I was just fixing some bungie cord that the sun rotted away, but the pic also shows a New Brunswick flag up on the courtesy halyard. Well, here is the story. We began noticing that many Canadians from Quebec place the Quebec provincial flag on their courtesy halyard. Indeed, some of these sailors use a large Quebec flag as their stern or country-of-registration flag. We also notice that many Quebecers keep their courtesy Quebec flag up when in French territory but put their stern or Canadian flag away. Obvious and curious.
It appears that they don’t wish to be mistaken for an Anglophone, but maybe I’m too sensitive and they just are very proud of their province. Assuming it is just provincial pride, I have brought down the New Brunswick flag, and put it up in the halyards whenever one of these Quebec boats come near. They have a lot in Quebec of which to be proud, but golly, I’m proud to be a New Brunswicker. I have had no comments about my flag.
Laurie
Dawn here:
Doug and Wendy from the boat "Nahanni River" sporting new hats and a t-shirt given to us by my sister Lorna and her friend, Linda Spence, from their sailing club back in Port Stanley. Mount Gay hats and t-shirts are a coveted thing here as Mount Gay rum supports many of the big regattas, and wearing these hats and t-shirts suggests you participated in the racing - the only easy way to get them. Doug had been showing off his "rum" shirts from each island and was tickled when I came out with the Mount Gay shirt in just his size. Wendy was too tiny for a shirt, but the hat fit just right!
Yesterday, Laurie and I hiked up to the top of Pigeon Island to take photos of the end of yesterday's St. Lucia Yacht Club race to and from Martinique. While up there, I took these photos, this one includes Sandals in Rodney Bay.
Imagine, going to bed at night only to wake up in the morning to see this monster anchored behind us! It happens more times than I can count!
At the end of every hike, there is often a bar or restaurant willing to provide you with a cool refreshment. We headed into one of our favourite spots, "Jambe de Bois" and found this kitty asleep in the washroom. There was no waking her up until she decided to wake up!
Outside, a rasta gentleman left his post where he was making necklaces to sell the tourists from the cruise ship you saw above. This healthy kitty resident investigates!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Back in St. Lucia
Back to Normal in Rodney Bay
We’ve been back in St. Lucia since Saturday. We sailed in blustery winds all the way, with seas building, lowering, and building again. Most of the time, the seas were just a large swell, and the wind was 23 knots, almost on the beam. It was not a bad sail, but I reefed too late and not enough. I have to learn that this boat goes just as well with a double reef most times, and the extra sail just causes anxiety and a rougher ride. As well, a reefing line hit the windmill and the tips of two of the three blades blasted off into the wild blue sea. Still, we arrived at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and John and I went in to clear Customs and Immigration. John got an extension of 6 months on his stay, which pleased him greatly.
Laurie and John enjoying a meal on the waterfront in Martinique. The server, Monique seemed to enjoy the boys attempts at speaking to her in French!
Saturday night, John and his Aussie friend Edgar (who captained Loose Cannon in the Bequia races last year) came out to our boat for a feed of barracuda. I’m unsure if we told you that we caught a big old 2 foot barracuda on Friday when we motored into Fort de France. It is a big thing for us, as we have done so poorly fishing this year. We have lost about $50 dollars worth of lures to these monsters, with nothing to show for it until now. The evening was lots of fun, but Dawn and I retired early, and slept soundly.
Since back in Rodney Bay, we have done the usual boat maintenance, including: replacing the blades on the windmill, gluing down some flooring on a step, engine checks and cleanup, freezer defrosting, and the like. We’ve also checked in with friends from Silver Seas and Nahanni River.
Also, we’ve been on a hike to a bay on the east side with two girls from some other boats: Selinda from the German 37’ Privilege catamaran Mupful, and Mary from a Swiss 39’ Nautitech catamaran who’s boat name we don’t yet know. Delightful girls with whom to spend the morning. Mary and her husband are from Switzerland and bought their boat on eBay!!
Here is Selinda while out for our walk over the island to a bay called Cas en Bas. She is standing in front of a runaway rocket booster!
An earlier walk to Cas en Bas.
Here is Arlene from "Tiger Lily II", along with Kristin and Terry from "Silk Pajamas", and Jenny from "Hidden Falls" is on the far right.
We are now committed to staying here until a watermaker membrane arrives from Trinidad. We’re hopeful it will arrive before week’s end. (One definition of cruising: waiting for boat parts in exotic locations) At that time, we’ll take the first weather window north. We are not sure about our schedule yet beyond that we shall spend a week with Ron and Judy Roy in Antigua at March Break. There is so much up at that end of the chain that we have not explored fully, so it will work out great. We have been thinking about going to the BVIs and the surrounding area, but that is way downwind from this island chain. We’ll see, I guess.
In the meantime, Dawn has a date for lunch and drinks and a swim at a local resort tomorrow at noon with the cruising ladies who tend to stay here the most. It may be a crowd of well over 20 people. She is looking forward to it. I’ll likely renew some wiring at the base of the mast while she is gone – although there is a chance that a large crowd of men, just set free, might congregate at the Boardwalk Bar, in the Marina, so that’s an option as well.
Dawn said she will decorate this entry with some pictures.
Although this is an old shot, it is a nice picture of John Fallon and Arlene Webster from Tiger Lily II enjoying New Year's Eve at the Yacht Club here in Rodney Bay
Oh, I’d like to comment on a controversy in home town Fredericton of which I read on the Internet today. People seem to be blistering City Council regarding the refusal to pay an unbudgeted amount to the cost of restoring the Bobby Burns statue. The poor Council is forever being asked or told to give money to special interest groups, money that came from the general public. Can you imagine the other ethnic groups reacting if the Scots got some of this money? Fredericton is a small city, underfunded by the province. They cannot and should not play a role that should be filled by philanthropists like the Irvings or McCains.
We’ve been back in St. Lucia since Saturday. We sailed in blustery winds all the way, with seas building, lowering, and building again. Most of the time, the seas were just a large swell, and the wind was 23 knots, almost on the beam. It was not a bad sail, but I reefed too late and not enough. I have to learn that this boat goes just as well with a double reef most times, and the extra sail just causes anxiety and a rougher ride. As well, a reefing line hit the windmill and the tips of two of the three blades blasted off into the wild blue sea. Still, we arrived at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and John and I went in to clear Customs and Immigration. John got an extension of 6 months on his stay, which pleased him greatly.
Laurie and John enjoying a meal on the waterfront in Martinique. The server, Monique seemed to enjoy the boys attempts at speaking to her in French!
Saturday night, John and his Aussie friend Edgar (who captained Loose Cannon in the Bequia races last year) came out to our boat for a feed of barracuda. I’m unsure if we told you that we caught a big old 2 foot barracuda on Friday when we motored into Fort de France. It is a big thing for us, as we have done so poorly fishing this year. We have lost about $50 dollars worth of lures to these monsters, with nothing to show for it until now. The evening was lots of fun, but Dawn and I retired early, and slept soundly.
Since back in Rodney Bay, we have done the usual boat maintenance, including: replacing the blades on the windmill, gluing down some flooring on a step, engine checks and cleanup, freezer defrosting, and the like. We’ve also checked in with friends from Silver Seas and Nahanni River.
Also, we’ve been on a hike to a bay on the east side with two girls from some other boats: Selinda from the German 37’ Privilege catamaran Mupful, and Mary from a Swiss 39’ Nautitech catamaran who’s boat name we don’t yet know. Delightful girls with whom to spend the morning. Mary and her husband are from Switzerland and bought their boat on eBay!!
Here is Selinda while out for our walk over the island to a bay called Cas en Bas. She is standing in front of a runaway rocket booster!
An earlier walk to Cas en Bas.
Here is Arlene from "Tiger Lily II", along with Kristin and Terry from "Silk Pajamas", and Jenny from "Hidden Falls" is on the far right.
We are now committed to staying here until a watermaker membrane arrives from Trinidad. We’re hopeful it will arrive before week’s end. (One definition of cruising: waiting for boat parts in exotic locations) At that time, we’ll take the first weather window north. We are not sure about our schedule yet beyond that we shall spend a week with Ron and Judy Roy in Antigua at March Break. There is so much up at that end of the chain that we have not explored fully, so it will work out great. We have been thinking about going to the BVIs and the surrounding area, but that is way downwind from this island chain. We’ll see, I guess.
In the meantime, Dawn has a date for lunch and drinks and a swim at a local resort tomorrow at noon with the cruising ladies who tend to stay here the most. It may be a crowd of well over 20 people. She is looking forward to it. I’ll likely renew some wiring at the base of the mast while she is gone – although there is a chance that a large crowd of men, just set free, might congregate at the Boardwalk Bar, in the Marina, so that’s an option as well.
Dawn said she will decorate this entry with some pictures.
Although this is an old shot, it is a nice picture of John Fallon and Arlene Webster from Tiger Lily II enjoying New Year's Eve at the Yacht Club here in Rodney Bay
Oh, I’d like to comment on a controversy in home town Fredericton of which I read on the Internet today. People seem to be blistering City Council regarding the refusal to pay an unbudgeted amount to the cost of restoring the Bobby Burns statue. The poor Council is forever being asked or told to give money to special interest groups, money that came from the general public. Can you imagine the other ethnic groups reacting if the Scots got some of this money? Fredericton is a small city, underfunded by the province. They cannot and should not play a role that should be filled by philanthropists like the Irvings or McCains.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Martinique
We're watching the sunset from Grand Anse D'Arlet, after a nice sail back from Fort De France.
We've been in Martinique since Monday, when we sailed over with the best sail of the season, and anchored in a little cove near St. Anne, outside of Le Marin. We had a quiet night, then went into Le Marin to look at the chandleries and to do the Customs work. After that, John bought us the first of three fabulous lunches. We investigated some new chain before returning to the boat, and after some quick checking for size and price, it was purchased for pickup the next morning. I, Laurie, did just that, dinghying in and loading a hundred feet of chain into the dinghy. Ten minutes later, Cat Tales sucked the chain out of the dinghy, while at anchor. We then left and sailed downwind, around Diamond Rock, and into Grand Anse D'Arlet. John had some quiet time on the boat, while Dawn and I enjoyed some snorkelling. Sadly, the number of fish traps along the south wall of the bay were up, and the number of fish were down sharply. Nothing really to see besides some spotted snake-eels.
Thursday, we enjoyed a slow day on the waterfront of the Bay, then John bought us a nice lunch. We finished the day aboard Cat Tales, trying different rums in 'ti punch. All worked!
John bought us our third lunch today when we ran over to Fort de France, and visited the main market. The girl, "Dudu", at Chez Hector, remembered John, and was sad to hear that John Sinclair (Speed) was not well. (For those of you who know Speed, he had a mild stroke in December, but is now much better, we understand). Speed, if you're reading this, John says it is good you're up (and out of the tub). As well, Speed, Dudu gave John a hug for you, but John says he'll be damned if you'll get it.
We have a good weather window for a sail back to Rodney Bay, tomorrow, and will very likely check out first thing in the morning, and make the 4 hour trip.
We're also happy to report that our friends Sue and Maurice, aboard the monohull Strider, are going to make landfall in Los Roques, to the west of the island chain.
Hopefully, there'll be pics for you folks soon.
We've been in Martinique since Monday, when we sailed over with the best sail of the season, and anchored in a little cove near St. Anne, outside of Le Marin. We had a quiet night, then went into Le Marin to look at the chandleries and to do the Customs work. After that, John bought us the first of three fabulous lunches. We investigated some new chain before returning to the boat, and after some quick checking for size and price, it was purchased for pickup the next morning. I, Laurie, did just that, dinghying in and loading a hundred feet of chain into the dinghy. Ten minutes later, Cat Tales sucked the chain out of the dinghy, while at anchor. We then left and sailed downwind, around Diamond Rock, and into Grand Anse D'Arlet. John had some quiet time on the boat, while Dawn and I enjoyed some snorkelling. Sadly, the number of fish traps along the south wall of the bay were up, and the number of fish were down sharply. Nothing really to see besides some spotted snake-eels.
Thursday, we enjoyed a slow day on the waterfront of the Bay, then John bought us a nice lunch. We finished the day aboard Cat Tales, trying different rums in 'ti punch. All worked!
John bought us our third lunch today when we ran over to Fort de France, and visited the main market. The girl, "Dudu", at Chez Hector, remembered John, and was sad to hear that John Sinclair (Speed) was not well. (For those of you who know Speed, he had a mild stroke in December, but is now much better, we understand). Speed, if you're reading this, John says it is good you're up (and out of the tub). As well, Speed, Dudu gave John a hug for you, but John says he'll be damned if you'll get it.
We have a good weather window for a sail back to Rodney Bay, tomorrow, and will very likely check out first thing in the morning, and make the 4 hour trip.
We're also happy to report that our friends Sue and Maurice, aboard the monohull Strider, are going to make landfall in Los Roques, to the west of the island chain.
Hopefully, there'll be pics for you folks soon.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Martinique
We're sitting in Grand Anse D'Arlet today and will enjoy lunch on the beach with French wine! Wifi is a little tough to pick up, so we'll just send this tidbit to let you know that we along with John Fallon are still alive and well aboard Cat Tales!
Dawn
Dawn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)