While in Dominica, Sue booked flights for Andrew and Doug to Puerto Rico for their Christmas break. Now we are sailing on a schedule to make it there by Dec 20th. With that in mind, we said our goodbyes to Ian and Tracy and departed from our all time favorite tropical destination. Our next stop, Iles de Saints, a small cluster of island 10 miles south of Guadeloupe. In the mean time, the Loon crew was heading south for the season. The wind forecast for the day was 15 to 20 knots. What we actually got was 25 to 30. It was a spirited sail for us, but a short one since Iles de Saints is only 20 miles from Dominica and has somewhat protected seas. Loon on the other hand had a much longer crossing to Martinique with open ocean waves. Here is the excerpt of their crossing from an email we received from them.Mike should read this aloud in the style of the Norwegian Chef from the Muppets!!
Fewrst wee puut the sail uoop... then wee took the sail dooown. The seeee wus like a rowler cooste... fewrst wee went ooop tyhen wee went dune...ooop and dune, ooop and dune, bouncy bouncy bouncy like the chicken in the busket. A man stood on the dack throoowing wurter at us awl day. we wur wet wet wet wet wet und cold ..... Brrrrrrrr.
Funny, funny, funny. We will miss them.
We reached the Saints before lunch, but chose to stay aboard to recuperated from the super active schedule we had with Loon during the past week. The following morning we ventured into town to clear customs and shop for French baguettes and Brie. Yummy Yummy. It was a drizzly day, so we spent much of it aboard the Adamo. The following day, we rented scooters and explored the island. Phil road on the back with me while Sue rode her own. I did let Phil take it for a short spin on his own. He loved it. It reminded me of myself when my parents let us ride mopeds in Bermuda at that age.We took the scooters up the hill to Fort Napoleon. The fort is in excellent condition and is built like a medieval castle, including a mote and a drawbridge. It was very impressive and was in the best condition of any of the forts we have seen in the Caribbean. Inside was a museum displaying 18th century dress and weapons, model square-rigged war ships, local fish and traditional tackle, and a section on the Carib Indians.
A French tour guide was explaining a naval battle which was won by the British. I got a chuckle out of hearing her tell the tourists that “the wind was in favor of the British and unfortunately we lost the battle.” The French tourists let out a little “auuh”. It was painful for them to hear the story. I guess centuries of fighting over territory with the Brits is difficult to overcome.We left the fort and toured the rest of the island, driving down every road we could find.
By 11:30 we had seen all there was to see. We stopped at a quaint water front restaurant for appetizers and a glass of wine, then proceeded in search of a grocery store to stock up on dish detergent and more baguettes.
Phillip has spent the last few evenings rebuilding a Penn Senator Real he obtained from a salvage job by Ian. After having disassembled and reassembled it 3 or 4 times, he came to the conclusion that several parts were seized up and needed replacing. Once something is in that boy’s head, you can’t get it out. So he researched the part numbers on the web, called Penn, ordered the parts for delivery to Gandmom’s and Grandpa’s house so Doug can bring them down for Christmas.We departed the Saints on Thursday Dec 4th and sailed to Montserrat. The capital city of Plymouth was destroyed in 1997 by a massive volcanic explosion. The volcano still spews ash and small rocks. As we approached we could see the mountain smoldering. We passed on the West side of the island through the ash cloud. When we hit the middle of it, small bits of Earth’s debris rained down on the Adamo. The boat looked like it had been sand blasted by ash on the windward side. Thankfully it all washed off with our pressurized saltwater hose, because the first mate wasn’t too keen on the captain’s decision to pass that close to the “Ash Hole”. But how often do you get the chance to see an active volcano and smell the sulfurous, molten rock scent emitted by the Earths core? Needless to say, the cleanup was up to the boys. While we were scrubbing the decks, Phil found a small volcanic Rock lying on the coach roof and added it to his “Box of Treasures” he keeps in his cabin.
Our intention was to anchor on the north side of the Montserrat, but the northeasterly wind had whipped the calm bay into a rolly respite. We continued on to Nevis which we knew would be better protected from the wind. In addition, Nevis has installed a huge mooring ball field, making it an easy spot to rest for the night.
The following morning, after updating the blog with photos from Dominica, we set sail for St.Croix. The crossing to St. Croix is a major one. We departed at 12:00pm. Phil had been rigging his rods all morning and was determined to hook a marlin. I had purchased a copy of “Marlin”, a fishing magazine, covering the latest techniques for landing the big one. Son of a gun, he hooked one. Unfortunately, it was on the smallest of the three rods he had set. We watched the marlin hit and re-hit the rig, his dorsal fin piercing the aqua-blue ocean surface. He batted at the bail over and over again until it hooked up. Then, zing as he pulled on the drag. The fish pulled all the line off the reel as well as the pin that the bitter end of the line is tied to. With a sharp snap, the excitement was over. Hats off to Phil for figuring out how to angle for the king of sport fish.
The Adamo sailed downwind for 18 hours to Christianstead, St. Croix. It was a new motion for us since we are so accustomed to beating into the wind or occasionally sailing beam reach. It almost was a new learning experience for us to get the boat going with the wind. We did make good time and actually arrived before sunrise, so we sailed around in front of the island to kill time until it got light out. We did not feel comfortable entering the harbor in the dark because it is a tricky entrance. Particularly in light of the fact that they had sustained hurricane damage from Omar and we did not know if the navigation markers were still intact.
On Dec 6th we arrived in Christianstead and it almost felt like home. As Phil and I walked through town, we greeted and spoke with people we had gotten to know during our last visit in June. It really did have a small town feel to it. We ran into Nancy, the regional HR director of the company I have been interviewing with, at one of the outdoor restaurants on the waterfront boardwalk. At first Phil though I was goofing around and had simply overheard her name from the waitress. As the conversation proceeded and she invited us to sit down with her, he realized who she was. Now, Phillip has good manners, but he cranked it up a notch, removing his sunglasses so he could look her in the eye as he shook her hand. Yes, I was proud. By the way, the status on the job is they liked me and are looking for a good fit for me in the company, either in the Caribbean or in the US. It will take time though, so we are not counting any chickens and are proceeding with our journey.
I would have liked to have spent more time in St. Croix. Sue noticed and commented that I look happy here, but the weather forecast was predicting a shift in the wind that would make the crossing to St. John more difficult, so on Sunday we set sail. We knew that our friend Chris on S/V Christa was moored up in Coral Bay on the east end. (Chris is the guy we served the grouper eyeballs to after his initiation into spear fishing in Rum Cay in the Bahamas last year). He has temporarily relocated there and is a captain on a tourist boat.
As I sit in the cockpit writing this blog, I would have to say the St. Croix to St. John crossing ranks among the top crossings since we left the States. 19 knots of wind, beam reach, perfect temperature (82 degrees), low humidity, calm seas and we’ll be arriving in the daylight for anchoring; though it is a little strange to hear “Silver Bells” and other Christmas carols playing on the radio in this tropical setting.
