U is For Unbelievable Spectacle....Carnival in Sint Maarten

We have had no lack of things to see and do in St. Martin and our timing was perfect for carnival on the Dutch side Sint Maarten. Carnival on the French side is in February but the Dutch celebrate the end of April and May day with a four day holiday. We took two buses from Grand Case to Marigot and then on to Phillipsburg and joined the thousands of happy locals lining the streets for their carnival parade. Carnival goes on for several days and nights beginning with what is called a Juvie which entails getting up at 4am and joining a parade of revellers who dance and sing their way around Great Salt Pond at Phillipsburg. We thought we could pass on that part of the celebration and decided to go to one of the parades which occur during the day and don't involve getting up in the middle of the night.

What a spectacle it was and the costumes were unbelievable. The parade lasted for close to two hours with at least a dozen huge trucks with bands providing the music for the hundreds of costumed dancers. The dancers were of all ages and shapes and sizes and the outfits were amazing. The biggest challenge was to keep their head dresses from blowing off in the wind. The parade we saw was on Monday and yesterday Tuesday May 1st they were going to do it all again. I imagine many folks go back to work today very tired.

Kite surfing is popular at Orient Beach.

Yesterday we took the opportunity to take a bus to the windward side and walk the famous Orient Beach. Being topless is allowed in the French Islands but total nudity is only allowed at the club at Orient Beach. Naturally we had to visit the club and check it out for ourselves. The sign at the beach bar says No shirt No pants No Problem! The captain was in his glory eating pizza and drinking beer at the beach. It was just like being at the cottage but only more entertaining. club Orient is a resort for naturists that has been on Orient Beach for many years and given the number of people we saw on the beach it continues to be popular.

When in Rome do as the Romans do.

T is for The Anegada Passage Unaffectionately Known as The Oh-My-God-A Passage

Today is Thursday April 26th and we are anchored in Marigot Bay, Saint Martin. Saint Martin is shared by the Dutch and the French and we are on the French side. We arrived the day before yesterday after an overnight passage from the Virgin Islands. We enjoyed the Spanish Virgins very much and it was hard to leave the area; however the weather was good for a passage to the US Virgin Islands and John is picking Katherine up in St. Thomas. We had a good motorsail to St. John and anchored in a bay surrounded by multi million dollar homes in the hills. Three quarters of the island is park but the other one quarter is definitely reserved for the rich and famous.

We had an easy day and did a little paddling and we went snorkelling with John around the mouth of the bay. The coral was not great but at least we could see some new growth. From here we sailed back across the three mile channel to St. Thomas and anchored in the lee of an island called Little St. John. Once again we went snorkelling with John and this time we saw much healthier and more colourful coral and more fish. Unfortunately we had our underwater Fugi camera stolen by the drug enforcement agent back in the Dominican Republic so we haven't been able to take anymore underwater pictures. John left us the next day to go into the marina to be there to meet Kathy at the airport. The next day we met up with them back in Cruz Bay, St. John. We had decided that the weather was good to continue on and hoped that they would join us; however they were not ready to move on and decided to stay in the US Virgins for a few more days. It was hard to leave them especially since Kathy had just returned and we had had such a nice couple of weeks getting to know John; however everyone is on a different timetable and we are in boat delivery mode now and not so much cruising mode if we hope to get home to Ontario by early June. We had a glorious day sail through the British Virgin Islands and had a brief stop in Virgin Gorda for a quick paddle and snorkel at The Baths.

I could have spent all day there snorkelling among these magnificent boulders which are under water as well as along the shore. We grabbed a bite to eat and then up anchor just as the sun was going down and off across the 80 miles to St. Martin. This stretch of water is known as The Anegada Passage also known unaffectionately as the Oh-My- God- A Passage. The combination of a strong current and the open Atlantic flowing into the Caribbean Sea can kick up quite a swell and chop between the Virgin Islands and St. Martin and of course we are still sailing east into the ever present trade winds. We had decided to leave when we did because the wind was forecast to be 8-12 knots and it doesn't get much better than that in The Anegada. We must have the record for the shortest trip to the British Virgin Islands...anchoring for a quick paddle and dinner and then off on passage. We were very tired when we arrived in Marigot Bay but grateful to have had an uneventful crossing of the Anegada. We wouldn't have wanted to have had much more wind than we did as we had to motorsail hard through the waves but after 18 hours we were anchoring in a new island paradise.

Spanish Virgins Continued

The architecture in Dewey has both a Spanish and Caribbean flavour.

Rob rowed up the canal to the gas station with the diesel jugs.

Michael the local barber helped me out by giving the captain a good hair cut. He also gave me a trim even though they only do "caballeros" and not "damas." Today is is Friday April 20th and we are on a mooring in Rendezvous Bay in St. John in the United States Virgin Islands. St. John is about three quarter's natural park thanks to The Rockefellers who bought St. John in 1954 and donated the island to the park. Their only stipulation was that they were allowed to build a very fancy hotel retreat on the island. The hotel is still here along with the houses of the rich and famous; however the remainder of the island is national park.

On Sunday Katherine, John's partner is flying into St. Thomas and John is sailing the three miles over to pick her up and then staying in a marina. On Monday we hope that Katerina and Celebrian will move on to the British Virgin Islands. From there we have our last overnight passage across the Anegada Passage to St. Martin. We need good weather for that passage so we are planning to wait in the BVI. The BVI is supposed to be one of the best cruising areas in the Caribbean; however we may get tired of the charter boats.

S is for Spanish Virgins

Our first anchorage at Luis Pena in the Spanish Virgin Islands.

After the first night at the small island of Luis Pena we moved over to the western coast of Culebra. Culebra is the larger island with the settlement of Dewey.

Dewey is a very quaint and colourful town.

The sign says it all....open some days...closed others.

The Spanish Virgins, like Puerto Rico are very hilly. There are many roads much steeper than this but this one gives you the idea.

We hiked the two and one half miles to Flamenco Beach. It is now a park and it was interesting to watch all the Puerto Ricans at play at the beach. Many come across from Fajardo, PR just for the day at the beach.

These Puerto Ricans gave us a lift back to town from the beach. The driver who was a marshall in the Puerto Rican army wanted a picture of the cruising Canadians. More news and pictures to follow.

This is how this is how the other half live. We rented a car from Enterprise whose office was in the Conquistador Hotel.

We waited for the ferry back to Culebra in a little bar. Notice the big box...a brand new shiny toilet...at least we didn't have to fly this box down?!? The Spanish Virgin Islands were discovered by christopher columbus in 1493 and they lie between the US virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. They are totally dependent on tourism yet they are not "touristy" and busy. Dewey is the only town and it is ever so quaint. The islands are a very popular place to come for diving. We snorkelled at our anchorage yesterday and it was quite lovely. The coral is healthy and growing and the water was clean and clear. The Spanish Virgins have lovely anchorages, and pristine beaches and we only wish we had lots of time to spend here; however we will do what we can in the time that we are here. We are pinned down for a few days with a cold front so we may have a chance to do some exploring. We went into town this afternoon and learned a few things from a local cruiser who runs the Dewey Library. Last night the cold front came through with very strong winds and squalls. John almost didn't join us for dinner as the winds and rain were picking up by dinner time. By the time he left in his dinghy for Katerina the wind was quite fierce; however this is a great anchorage and well protected. Today is Sunday April 15th and we have been invited to a potluck on Blue Kai which is a huge catermaran. We met them back when we first arrived in Puerto Rico. John and Kathy have travelled with several of the boats that are here in the harbour and everyone is getting together on the largest boat. Today is Wednesday April 18th and tomorrow we are leaving for the US Virgin Islands.....St. John which is a national park.

R is for Rock and Roll and Rainforest Too

This is a map showing our journey up until Salinas, Puerto Rico. I will be updating the map as I post blogs. I came across this amusing article on the scale of rolling at anchor. Many of you have heard our stories of taking sea sick medicine while anchored so you will appreciate this scale. I have modified it to Celebrian's experiences. 1. Rock a Bye Baby-Gentle movement that is comfortable and might even rock you to sleep; however we put the fine wine goblets away and use our tumblers. 2. Pesky-Periodic rolls that cause unmanned objects to unexpectantly fall onto the cabin sole. A pesky roll can wake you up at night, but usually won't keep you awake. Pesky rolls cause things on deck to make unusual noises that sometimes keep the crew awake. 3. Annoying- Dishes start clinking. Objects roll off un-fiddled spaces. You tend to lurch and walk into walls. Annoying rolls will wake you and might require minor changes to sleeping arrangements. The person on the outside of the berth often feels like they are going to tumble out onto the sole. Using the head becomes difficult because you can't let go. 4. Really Bad- The inside of the boat becomes noisy with stuff rattling and clinking. Unsecured objects become missiles. Sleeping arrangements must be re-arranged from fore and aft to athwartships, or across the berth necessitating one of us sleeping in the pullman berth and one of us sleeping cross ways in the salon. Misery and whining is permitted. 5 The Death Roll/ Also known as The Big Sand Roll -We will take any kind of motion but the dreaded death roll which is akin to a cork screw followed by a rolling that is resonant and intermittent. Just when you think it has stopped it starts up again. It is almost impossible to cook and usually the crew doesn't feel very hungry. If you can not escape just take drugs and go to sleep. Perhaps the best advice comes from an ancient mariner who said," If you feel sea sick....sit under a tree."

It was nice to take some time for a paddle in Salinas Harbour. We watched the pelicans dive for fish so gracefully for such big birds.

Today is Friday April 13th and we are anchored in Luis Pena, a small island next to Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands. The Spanish Virgin islands are part of Puerto Rico and a day sail away from both the United States and British Virgin Islands. Of course you still have to wait for the right weather but at least we don't have to do any over night sails for awhile.

Back in Salinas we rented a car with John and had a great day shopping and touring. Puerto Rico is very mountainous and has the only rain forest in North America. The rain forest was wonderful and we wished we had had time to do some hiking. It was a whole different world up in the rain forest...average temperature of 18C (66F) and lots of rain and lush vegetation including bamboo. The houses were perched on sheer drops in places and must have presented some building challenges. We finished our day with a shop at a supermercado that had fruits and vegetables....it had been a great day.

The next morning we left at 6am for Las Patillas. We travel in the early morning or at night where possible to get the lee from the island of Puerto Rico. We spent the afternoon doing a little paddling and relaxing in our reef protected anchorage. We were up at 3:30 am for our trip to Vieques in the Spanish Virgins. When we were at Vieques we realized that the wind was favourable and that we could continue on to Culebra. We arrived at Luis Pena near Culebra by the middle of the afternoon and had time for a nice snorkel in the anchorage. The coral is much healthier here and the water much cleaner than along the coast of Puerto Rico. These islands are about 10 miles off the eastern coast of PR. John came for an early dinner as everyone was ready for an early night to bed. From Luis Pena we motored the couple of miles across to an anchorage off of Culebra's western shore and awoke in the night to number 4 on the Rock and Roll scale. After listening to Chris Parker's weather forecast we dropped the mooring ball and headed south to Ensendad Honda, a large protected harbour off the small and quaint town of Dewey. Rob managed to make breakfast this morning but we had coffee grains from one end of the galley to the other courtesy of number 4 rock and roll.