May 9, 2005
Crown Bay, St. Thomas
We only stayed in Antigua a couple of days; it was our least favorite island. As we sailed from Antigua to St. Kitts, Mike
caught his first fish.
We were sad to discover that it was a barracuda and inedible for fear of ciguatera. St.Kitts was pretty but the harbor
was very rolly so we only stayed one night. From St. Kitts we headed to St. Barts. We loved St. Barts. The harbor has some
fantastic rocks.
The buildings were lovely.
This is Shell Beach, so called because you can collect as many shells as you can carry.
From St. Barts we went to St. Martin / St. Maarten where we spent three weeks in Simpson Bay Lagoon. We also loved this
island, for many reasons. Here is Mike at our favorite bakery in Marigot, on the French side.
The produce and crafts markets, also on the French side, were terrific. The statue is called “Market Woman”.
We motored overnight from St. Martin to the Virgin Islands – we’d been looking forward to a good downwind run
– the only one this year – but the wind died on us!
Our friend Pat Eagan flew down to the Virgin Islands to sail with us for a week, but owing to a freak accident (fouled
the propeller with the dinghy painter) the boat was on the hard the entire time she was here! But we visited The Baths and
St. Johns and snorkelled in Sapphire Bay, a good time. (We have some photos but they're on the other computer, so I'll have
to post them in a week or two.)
Merrie will fly back to the U.S. tomorrow, giving her a few landlocked weeks to concentrate on her writing. Cathy Monaghan
and Bruce Halley will fly down here, to crew for Mike on his return passage to Rhode Island. They’ll stop in Bermuda,
where Clay Stalker will join them for the rest of the passage. Mike expects to be home around the 1st of June.
March 14, 2005
Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, West Indies
We returned to St. Vincent and The Grenadines after visiting Grenada and spent several days in Tobago Cays, with only
a large expanse of reef between us and Africa. The snorkeling is fantastic in water that is this blue:
and the sunsets over the islands to the West are lovely.
We visited Mustique, an island beloved by the rich and famous, and spent another week in Bequia before returning to St.
Lucia to catch a flight to San Francisco for daughter
Christina’s wedding. Here we are with Ann and Christina:
(Thanks to Todd Rosnov, Ann’s husband, for the photo!)
From St. Lucia we sailed to Martinique, the first of the islands we’d bypassed when we left St. Croix for St. Lucia
in December and our first French island. In Marin, we watched local craft – yoles – head out for a regatta.
These are traditional fishing boats, now used for racing. They have round bottoms, no keel, no rudder.
The men sit on hiking poles and steering is done with an oar.
Our next port was in Dominica, the ecotourism island. We took two tours. On the first, our guide rowed us down the Indian
River:
Those are some friends with another guide, coming up the river as we returned downstream.
The tree roots make a tangled mat along the river banks --
We heard and saw many birds under the canopy of trees; it was magical. At the end of the tour our guide cut us
a bouquet of ginger lilies and ferns.
The next day we toured the rain forest.
Here is Mike trapped by some tree roots:
The tour included a river hike to a waterfall where we swam. This is our friend Ann in the pool:
and you can probably recognize these folks:
On our way to Iles des Saintes the guys spotted a couple of square riggers.
Bourge de Saintes in Iles des Saintes was a charming seaside village.
And now we are in Antigua, where we’ll stay for a week or so before the final legs of our return trip to the Virgin
Islands, ETA April 19. Happy spring!
