Unforgettable Montserrat

Often cruising plans get changed mid-stream as weather conditions shift or we gain more knowledge, Our initial plan was to head to Barbuda, a small Antiguan island. Our plans shifted after learning of the complicated customs procedure and Montserrat became our next destination of choice.  We knew that Montserrat was not a well-traveled cruising destination as there is now only one anchorage on the entire island… As it turns out, Montserrat was unforgettable.

Gorgeous Guadeloupe

We spent a few days checking out a couple of anchorages in Guadeloupe. We checked into customs at Terre de Haute, a town in the archipelago of the Iles des Saintes, a group of islands located on southeast side of Guadeloupe

and checked out at Deshaies, an anchorage on the Northwest side of the island.

Like Martinique, Guadeloupe is a French territory and again we had an easy schmeezy electronic check in/out.  While it has limited anchorages on the west side of the island, thus not known as cruiser friendly, it has the best mooring balls we’ve ever seen. They were high enough out of the water that Jeff could easily reach down and run a line through the eye. Even the seagulls agree!

When we dove on our mooring ball, we saw a huge block of concrete onto which was secured a steel cable mooring line.  SWEET!!! And they were free!!! SWEETER!!! However a lot of cruisers don’t venture to Guadeloupe because of the limited anchorages and the “rolley” conditions. And yes it was rolley! But knowing we were securely tethered definitely helped. It gave us ample opportunity to explore…

Ooh La La Martinique!

The Islands of St Vincent, Part 3 of 3 or Anchoring Angst in Bequia

Bequia is the second largest island in the Grenadines and quite well known for its long tradition of whaling as well as the building of whaling boats. Today natives of  Bequia are allowed to catch a maximum of four humpback whales a year using only the traditional hunting method of a hand thrown harpoon in an open sailboat. Apparently this limit is rarely met and if exceeded a heavy fine is incurred.

 When we stopped briefly in Beguia in May of last year it was a very quiet little town. I think we were the only tourists around at the time. Uh not so this time around...

The Islands of St Vincent, Parts 1 and 2 of 3

Part 1: Union Island

This one's for you Jonathan!

Last year, on our way down to Trinidad we stopped for one night at Union Island. Apparently Union Island is one of the meccas for a relatively new extreme sport known as Kiteboarding. As soon as Jeff saw it he was hooked. 

A lil' more big Grenada and a LOT More lil' Grenada - Carriacou!

So we stopped for a week or so and checked out the scenery and a few anchorages around the big island of Grenada.

Trinidad and the Return to Grace

We arrived in Trinidad early November. 

Will GRACE still be in good shape after sitting in 90 degree plus temperatures in water-engorged air that often explodes into torrential tropical downpours? Well we did have an air conditioner running, all surfaces had been vinegar-washed, all foods removed and we had hired someone to check on her periodically … But I was still visualizing the worst case scenario… something like this on the inside of our boat...

We opened up the companion way and held our breaths…