O is for One More Entry on Haiti

I really got into the Protestant Church festivities. Before I was through I had a ring of locals cheering and laughing as we danced. I just did what she did and created quite a stir.

The village people were singing and dancing as part of a religious celebration. Lots of drumming and singing and one costumed dancer climbed a tree. The town of Cacoq has both Protestant and Catholics along with a group who practise voodoo. We could have gone to a voodoo evening or a cock fight if we had wanted. We preferred this celebration which has similar aspects to voodoo without the blood.

He climbed to the top of a very high tree.

Carma and Ashley brought us bananas, tomotoes and delicious bread.

Isle a Vache means island of cows in French. The owner of the little house in the hills demanded money for taking a picture of his house.

Isle a Vache is a very beautiful island.

The Hotel Port Morgan is a beautifully built stone structure.

A paddle was a welcome relief to the heat.

We had to walk to the local school. Unfortunately school was done for the day when we got there. They teach both English and Spanish at the little school. All the children have to pay to attend school so many families don't have the money to send their children to school.

More scenes taken from the hotel.

A tranquil scene in the village.

The last of the Haitian hills as we sailed off to the Dominican Republic on our overnight passage.

O is for Once in a Lifetime Experience

Our first views of Haiti.

The boat boys come out in full force to greet you on entering the harbour at Isle a Vache, Hait,

We arrived in Isle a Vaches on Sunday March 18th after 40 hours of sailing and motorsailing. The trip took us from Great Inagua, Bahamas, through the windward passage between Haiti and Cuba and around to the south coast of Haiti. The ocean was much calmer, so much so that with Anthony's new intake valve we were able to run the watermaker for 12 hours in the windward passage. It was tiring but a much easier passage than our sail down to Great Inagua. We were greeted by many boat boys in dug out canoes as we arrived in the harbour at Boie a Fete. It was a little disconcerting to be trying to anchor and get settled while being pursued by umpteem boats. Of course the next challenge was trying to speak French after 40 hours of ocean travel; however most of the fellows speak enough English that between our French and their English we can figure things out. I had brushed up on my Spanish this fall in case we returned to the Dominican Republic but my French is pretty rusty. We can hardly believe that we are here as it seemed that this winter was not the year to push to the Caribbean. Tired as we were we rowed into the hotel Port Morgan to learn what we could about the island. As it turned out no one could speak much English so we sat down and had a glass of wine and a beer. That put the finishing touches on our tiredness and we ate baguettes that Ashley had brought to us and tumbled into bed for 11 hours. This morning we rowed over to a another boat to see what we could learn. As it happened the folks on the boat have been here for many years and spoke both French and English. Jeneu had even printed out some local information to help cruisers when they visit. It turns out that if we are only here for a few days the Haitians don't even hassle you to clear in. We had hoped to sail along the DR coast and get to Barahona before Doug and Jane, our cottage neighbours left but unfortunately the weather is not going to let us leave here until the weekend. Isle A Vaches is like stepping back in time. It is a tropical paradise that is unspoiled. There is no hydro or water on the island and the people live very simply. Once it is dark it is very dark in the village. The night we went to Jean Jean's bar he brought out a flash light for dinner lighting. The people in the village walk to the town well to get their fresh water and the local women wash their clothes in sea water. The two adorable girls have plastic jugs and were on their way to the well to get water. We thought it best to hire a local guide to show us around the village and so we chose Carma, a gentle man whose English was better than some of the other boat boys. He is married; however he lives with his mother because he and his wife do not have enough money to build their own house yet. She and his adorable daughter live with her mother. His wife did our laundry for us....by hand and gratefully not in sea water. He took us through the village and it was like reading a National Geographic magazine. It was hard not to take dozens of pictures; however many Haitians do not want their photograph taken as in the voodoo culture they believe it removes one's soul. I asked people in my best French if I could take a photo and in most cases I got lots of smiles. In the evening we went in the hotel for dinner hoping to do some internet but as is often the case their Wifi signal was not working. They said that I could come in the next morning and use one of their computers which I did but it was painfully slow and of course I could not post any pictures or do the blog. We had a delicious shrimp creole dinner and listened to Emmanuel on the keyboard singing local music. It was a lovely evening in a beautiful setting. The hotel is all stone and just beautiful and very intimate.

The next day we spent jerry jugging diesel from the hotel in the morning and paddling the kayaks in the afternoon. Ashley, one of the boat boys who has been going to the "boulangerie" bakery for us had asked if he could try the kayak. We were a little worried that we might be inundated with other boys wanting to do the same thing but Ashley obviously handled the situation well and we did not get a stampede. I asked him if I would try his dug out canoe at the same time. The canoes are hollowed out of mango wood on the island and the paddles are solid mango wood as well. Ashley usually uses a coconut tree palm frond for a paddle; however he borrowed a paddle for me. I think I would have preferred the palm frond because the paddle was extremely heavy. If you think a canoe is tippy you have not paddled a dug out canoe. The boat boys make it look easy but it is definitely a skill.

In the evening we went to Jean Jean's place for a conch creole dinner. We had met him on our tour with Carma and he is trying to start a little business.

Jeneu, the cruiser that had helped us the other day had recommended eating there. There was just Rob and I and one table. We asked he and his wife, baby and young son to join us. It couldn't have been more at the other end of the continuum from our night at the hotel. That being said we enjoyed the food very much; however the next morning was a different story for me. I was so sick that I completely passed out twice, was totally incoherent and the second time hit my head so hard that I made it bleed. Needless to say I gave the captain quite a scare and he went to the hotel to get help. Kiki, one of the local boat boys who speaks good English went and brought the nurse to Celebrian. She didn't speak English but Kiki did the translating. She seemed to feel that it was a severe reaction to the conch meal that I had eaten at Jean Jean's and said that there is a lot of oil used in the local creole cooking which can cause some people dsyentery. I am on antibiotics and several other medications to get my strength built up. My fever broke over night so I am feeling much better but still very weak. The captain ate the same thing but had no ill effects...thank goodness.

Every day the boat boys come by to try and sell you things or try to get you to give them things like diving masks or money for school etc. but we are gradually learning who the scam artists are. Yesterday Rob was so frazzled when he was being bothered with passers by that he said in his best French "No merci...mon fille est morte." "No thank you...my wife is dead." I managed to raise my head enough to say...not morte yet...but definitely malade.

We had planned on going to the market in Mme. Bernard today. |It is supposed to be quite the experience, but Rob did not want to go without me. We will be leaving on Saturday afternoon if the forecast remains the same so unfortunately will not get another opportunity to see it. Our plan is to motorsail the coast of Haiti and the DR and go around the points during the night when the wind is down. This passage of two nights and a day will take us to Boca Chica, just the other side of Santo Domingo where we will clear into the DR.

These happy little girls were on their way to get water from the well.

Our walk with Carma, our guide took us to some beautiful beaches.

This is the local bakery in Cacoq....and the bread was delicious baguettes.

We met Carma's family and his pretty daughter.

Boat building is all done on the island. Our stay in Isle a Vache was truly a once in a lifetime eperience. More scenes from Isle a Vache.....

It is quite amazing what the Haitian women are able to carry on their head. It certainly makes for good posture.

N is for Never Leave before a Good Weather Window

The waves were 10 feet plus on our trip down from Mayaguana to Great Inagua.After a week in Mayaguana we were getting anxious to leave but it is never good to leave before a good weather window. The weather was a window in terms of wind 17-22 knots and the direction was good; however we learned just how big 10 foot plus seas are. We had moved to the other end of Abraham's Bay and anchored behind the reef in preparation to leave for Great Inagua...a distance of ninety miles. We had planned to get into Great Inagua in the early morning but we sailed so fast that we were anchoring at five am in the dark. At least we knew that we could get safely in to anchor even if we had to do it in the dark. Celebrian was amazing in the waves and kept us safe; however we were exhausted from steering, the extreme motion of the boat and it was difficult to rest off watch. The good thing was that we had planned on stopping at Great Inagua and the passage was only sixteen hours. Once anchored we slept for several hours and spent the day recovering. We have decided that we will press onward to the Dominican Republic but we will wait for the sea conditions to be a little milder. This winter has been difficult for moving east and south and the windows have been short and not wonderful. In between the times we have been able to move the winds have been so strong that we have not been able to get off the boat as much as we would like. Needless to say it has been frustrating but spring is coming in the Bahamas and Caribbean too and that should mean some lighter winds and some bigger weather windows.

Great Inagua's claim to fame is its 60 thousand pink flamingos and the Morton Salt Company, the second largest solar salt operation in the world producing over a million tons of salt every year. The company employs 104 people and operates some 80 odd salt ponds covering 12 thousand acres. Henry Nixon, warden of the Inagua National Park (also policeman) drove us on a 43 mile loop through the salt operation and along the miles and miles of salinas and mangroves that are home to thousands of sea birds including the pink "fillymingos" as they are affectionately called. In 1964 the Bahamas National Trust convinced the government to set aside 287 square miles as a preserve for the flamingos complete with warden to protect them. Evidently they were hunted for "fillymingo steak" prior to those days and the numbers were being decimated. As you can see from the pictures it is difficult to get up close to these birds but it was still wonderful to see them in the wild. According to Henry they fly to Crooked and Acklins and Cuba from here....isn't nature amazing?

We returned to the dinghy with two full diesel cans, a take out of grouper fingers, a great haul of sea glass and with big smiles on our faces after our trip with the warden. Much to our delight there was a Haitian sailing ship in the government basin taking on scrap metal. Evidently these vessels come up to trade quite frequently and often bring charcoal to sell. It is about a 120 miles to the north coast of Haiti from here but keep in mind they are on a 50 foot wooden boat with no engine and no GPS....just a compass. Customs and Immigration were there and the police to make sure that none of the men jumped ship. We couldn't understand their concern as there is no place for anyone to disappear on an island with a population of 300. We watched the boat leave the harbour with no engine and no wind. You can see from the pictures that they have to use what they can to maneuver the boat. The Haitians are amazing sea men.

Today is Thursday March 15th and the mail boat "done reached" Mathew Town so we are on our way back into town in quest of fruit and vegetables. We will also return to the best sea glass beach we have ever found. Lynn, on First Edition will be very jealous when she hears this. I will post this blog and then our plan is to sail the two nights and one day to Isle a Vache in Haiti and then along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic leaving here tomorrow night. Chris Parker and the National Weather Service are promising us lighter winds and smaller seas so we will venture onward to new and exciting places.

And I thought I was the only person who had a solar flip flap in their car?!? A post script on the mail boat....the dry goods mail boat and not the lettuce and fresh veggie boat :(

Here is a picture of Henry in his police uniform. That day he had to drive the Governor General around to see the "fillymingos"!

M is for Mayaguana

It is the people that we meet that make things fun. The fellows at the gazebo helped me do that last blog entry?!?

Getting diesel and a take out conch dinner are high on the priority list of a town visit. We have spent the last week in Mayaguana pinned down by squalls and relentless winds. We have almost given up getting to the Dominican Republic; however today we are pushing on to Great Inagua in hopes of getting our momentum back. It is going to be a challenging passage for us with NE to E winds of 20-25 and seas upwards to 8-10 feet. We have 90 miles and an overnight sail ahead of us in these conditions. We are both a bit nervous but we either wait for another week in hopes of less wind or see how we do in these conditions. It has not been easy this year.

We did manage to get to shore on Saturday the 9th as the wind was down to about 15. It is frightening watching the dinghy bob up and down as Rob hoists the motor over the transom and onto to Goldberry. We do it together but the timing with the waves has to be just right. At least all of our efforts paid off and we had a lovely day getting to know Mayaguana. The local ambassador/ greeter/tour person by the name of Sculley Cartright met us at the beach and welcomed us to Mayaguana. We hired Sculley to take us the 18 miles over to Pirate's Well to fill our jugs of diesel. We went along with him to learn about the island and the people. Sculley spends most of his time taking people bone fishing; however from what we could see we were about the only white folks on the whole island...population 350 in three tiny settlements. There was one couple at a small hotel in Pirate's Well and we hope that they like being alone because the place was deserted. This island could be called the very very out island. Much to our disappointment the mail boat did not "done reach" Mayaguana this week because of the weather around Nassau. However we did find a head of lettuce that didn't look too bad and some cheese but narry a carrot or a piece of fruit to be had. I hope you can keep scurvy at bay with fruit cups??!!

On the more positive note we did find Mrs. Emmeline Morris who made us take out conch dinners. Two dinners fed us to two nights...even Rob? We also made several friends at the gazebo in town where you can pick up the local restaurant's wifi signal. The little restaurant wasn't open so we were just going to sit and wait for mrs. Morris to make our take out and we were invited by the fellows at the gazebo to come and sit down. Before we were through they helped me get on line with the password and I was off to the races. When I send my blogs out you just never know where I will be?? Before we were through we had five locals all sitting around having a great old chat with us. Rob and I both felt very lucky to have spent a little time with these hospitable folks. As Freeman said, "It is better in The Bahamas"!

L is for Landrail

The Bird Rock lighthouse that guards the reef as you approach Crooked Island.

This picture of Bird Rock was in Gibson's Restaurant. We are glad that the ocean was calmer when we arrived at Landrail Point. The last trip to Crooked and Acklins we hadn't had the opportunity of visitng Landrail Point on Crooked Island. After many days of waiting for a break in the weather and taking Stugeron (sea sick medicine) while at anchor we motor sailed up to this tiny settlement of 50 people. What they lack in numbers they make up in friendliness. Shawnelle who runs the local gas station pumped our diesel for us and gave us a ride in her jeep to the beach where we had Goldberry pulled up. Then she proceeded to give us a ride around the little community and dropped us off at Gibson's Restaurant. Willemina or Willie told us that she would make us conch dinners for pick up after lunch and we were pleased to hear that. Her daughter-in-law and new four month old baby boy chauffered us around (me holding the baby in the front seat of her car) from one tiny grocery store to the next with narry a vegetable to be found. After three stops we had 6 onions, three oranges and two small yoghurts!?! Once again it is a good thing that we are well provisioned on the good ship Celebrian. After two trips for diesel and our big shop we returned after lunch to Gibson's Restaurant to pick up our dinners and I was able to do the last blog entry....twice in a matter of speaking. Nothing is easy or ever works quite the way you expect it will. Nonetheless we had had a good day and were treated very well in Landrail; however we had to leave the anchorage because of the nasty surge that the point gets. We were picking our way through the coral heads just before sunset but once we were safely anchored and we opened our dinner we found not only our conch meals but a plate of chicken wings and two pieces of roll cake. It had been worth the effort to visit the good folks in Landrail.

We had planned on leaving Crooked and sailing south to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The window of weather that we needed slammed shut by 36 hours and it was no longer possible for us to get to our destination in time. Chris Parker forecast one of the nastiest cold fronts this winter so we had to decide where to go where we could be safe and comfortable. We are presently in Mayaguana in Abraham's Bay. Mayaguana is the most eastern Bahamian island and still offers us a chance to get to the Dominican Republic if the weather ever cooperates. We had another long and arduous 26 hours of motor sailing to get here but at least we are safe and reasonably comfortable. I now know why sailing to windward is called the thorny path? Today, Tuesday March 7th we have been told by Chris Parker to expect winds of 20 to 35 plus and more in squalls and that we are here for at least a week? We were going to try and put Mr. Johnston on Goldberry and get to town today but it is just too rough and not safe to do. We are hoping that we might be able to paddle the kayaks to shore with a change of clothes in our dry bags and walk to town. If we don't do it today we won't get off the boat for at least another five days. Just think about that....five long days boat bound with your partner in a space the size of most people's bathroom ensuite?! I am writing today before I become a little stir crazy and while it is not too rolly below decks. Does anyone wish they were here?

The captain needed a little nap with Sea Bear after our overnight passage. Today is Saturday March 11th and we are still in Mayaguana after having several days of squalls with winds gusting to 40. We have had to take our sea sick medicine for a couple of days as the waves were close to three feet in our reef protected anchorage. We haven't had the dreaded corkscrew death roll but we have had a lively boat nonetheless. Before the winds really picked up we managed to paddle to shore and walk to town but when we got to the little dock area we couldn't get across the channel because of a mangrove creek and thick brush...so near yet so far away. We have tried to stay busy doing a few boat jobs, reading and baking; however it isn't easy being below decks when the boat is rocking. Today the wind is down a little so we have launched the dinghy and are going to motor over to the tiny settlement of Abraham's Bay.

We are feeling somewhat thwarted by the weather forecast as Chris Parker has just told us the next week will be steady 20 knot winds with little change. Three years ago when we sailed to the Dominican Republic with First Edition we had such an easy time and this year it has been a struggle with very few decent weather windows. We haven't given up but we are losing our momentum and at some point we have to decide whether to push onward or turn back to The Abacos. We are still hoping to sail to Great Inagua and the windward passage to the DR but we have to have the right conditions to do so.

The squalls have been constant this week.