We left Christmas Cove, St. Thomas around 11:30AM for Jost Van Dyck, BVI. We obtained official clearance in and out of the BVI’s there, and ate lunch at Foxy’s on the beach.
Foxy’s is a legendary eatery with a long history of fabulous New Year’s Eve parties. They make great burgers, fresh seafood, and have their own micro-brewery on-site. I tried the Foxy’s Lager with my burger. It was okay, but nothing special, and a bit bitter for my taste.
We departed Jost Van Dyck about 3:30PM, bound for Virgin Gorda. Arriving at Gorda Sound just as the sun was setting at 6:30PM, we settled in for the night so as to get an early start for the long run to St. Martin.
Sunday, 19 April –
It is an 80-mile passage from Virgin Gorda to Marigot Bay, St. Martin, on the French (north) side of the island. Good conditions are essential. As it happens, we had good weather and mild seas in the 4’ to 6’ range all day.
Starting at 6:30AM, we dropped our hook in St. Martin at 5:33PM, breathing a sigh of relief, as this is the longest single passage we will make this summer.
Monday, 20 April -
I cleared in and out through St. Martin Customs and Immigration the next morning, which took forever. There was an hour wait before I was even allowed in the office, as there were several other captains in line ahead of me. The process is straightforward; all information is self-entered on a computer terminal, which prints out the forms for verification by the customs officer. However, there was only one officer on duty, and only two computer terminals with French keyboards in the tiny office. Given the large number of yachts that visit the island, it would seem to me they would make better provision for handling the paperwork. Ah, well – who am I to question the wisdom of French officialdom…
We departed St. Martin for St. Barthelmy about 12:30PM, arriving at 4:00PM. This was a short run for us, only 26 miles.
St. Bart’s (as it is called) is a small island with a very nice anchorage and port. We both went ashore to check in (and out) since it was still early.
In marked contrast to St. Martin, the process only took 20 minutes – fast and friendly. We wanted to see a little of this legendary town, playground of the “rich and famous” for ourselves. We were very pleasantly impressed.
The town is quaint, clean, and very French – more so than the other French islands we have seen (with the exception of Guadaloupe). It can also be very expensive. Haute’ Couture shops are in abundance. All the big names in fashion have exclusive shops here along the narrow little streets. It’s like Rodeo Drive, Caribbean-style.
We stopped in to a small open-air bistro for a beer and a glass of wine, where we could watch the street scene unfold before us. It has been a long time since we have seen so many tall, well-dressed, thin and fit people in one place. Many of them appear to be well-off, fitted out in the previously mentioned high-fashion styles. And of course, mixed in were the scruffy cruisers like us, from off the boats anchored in the harbor. We only spent a couple of hours here, but would like to return for a longer visit to soak up the ambience at a more leisurely pace.
Tuesday, 21 April -
Our next destination was the island of Nevis, just south of St. Kitts. Since we had spent several weeks at St. Kitts last year without stopping at Nevis, we wanted to see what it was like.
So we pulled our hook up at St. Bart’s at 7:45AM, for the 50 mile passage to the town of Portsmouth, Nevis, arriving at 3:30PM.During this run, the seas kicked up to 7’ to 10’, with winds gusting to 40 knots. That made for a very bumpy ride.
After dropping the hook, we simply relaxed aboard, and planned our next move. We decided to stop next at Montserrat, because the run all the way to Guadaloupe was too long for one day.
Wednesday, 22 April –
I went ashore in Portsmouth to clear in and out of Nevis. While the officers were friendly, I had to go to three different offices to accomplish my task - Customs, Immigration, and Port Authority.
We hoisted anchor at 10:45AM, a bit later than we would have preferred. The run to Rendezvous Bay, on the Northwest tip of Montserrat, was 33 miles of “bad road” on this particular day. The winds were consistently 25 to 30 knots, with seas running 7’ to 15’. NOT a fun crossing!
By the time we arrived at 4:30PM, we were beat, and the boat was covered in salt from the spray. We decided we needed a day of rest. We would clear customs the following day (Thursday), wash the boat down, and rest overnight before heading south to Guadaloupe.
Friday, 24 April -
We debated the best route to take around Montserrat. As you may know, the island had a major volcanic eruption in 1995, and the volcano has been spewing ash into the air ever since. Another eruption could happen at any time, and the ash cloud tends to drift eastward on the trade winds for several miles out into the Caribbean.
Boats that sail the western shore of the island too close inshore end up covered with grit from the fallout. On our trip south last year, we elected to go around Montserrat on the eastern side. This trip, because of the heavy seas, we decided we needed the protection of the island’s lee (western) side. So, we pulled up the anchor at 8:30AM, and sailed directly offshore about three miles away from the restricted areas before turning south. In this manner, we managed to avoid the dust cloud. There were rain squalls in the vicinity, which helped to prevent the dust from travelling very far offshore.
After clearing the lee of Montserrat, the seas were running 6’ to 10’, with winds clocking 15 – 20 knots. In addition, we were facing a stiff opposing current of at least 1 knot. Overall, we only averaged 5.3 knots of speed on this 40 mile passage (instead of our usual 7 knots). It took us 7 ½ hours to make the port of Deshailles, at the northwestern end of Guadaloupe.
We dropped our hook at 3:45PM, and immediately our radio sprang to life! “KINGDOM, KINGDOM, KINGDOM, this is CHEETAH”. Our friends from Trinidad, Peter and Jenny, had arrived a half-hour before us. They spied our boat coming into the harbor, and hailed us after our hook was down. Obviously, we invited them aboard for cocktails! It was great to catch up with them and their doings since we saw them last in late November last year. They were heading north to Antigua, with a couple of old friends as their guests aboard. We enjoyed meeting them as well, and managed to polish off several bottles of wine together. A FUN evening! They too will not be spending the hurricane season in Trinidad again, so we will see them in St. Lucia.
Saturday, 25 April -
Next morning, a local boatman delivered four freshly-baked baguettes and two lovely brioches. Wow! Fresh Bread Delivered to our Boat! What Luxury!
We ate the two brioches for breakfast, and headed out at 8:45AM, bound for the town of Portsmouth, on Prince Rupert Bay, near the northwestern end of Dominica, West Indies.
This 50 mile passage offered three distinct sailing zones. The first 20 miles, down the eastern lee shore of Guadaloupe, was peaceful – smooth seas, mild winds. Rounding the southern tip of the island, we entered a 10 mile area of confused seas, heavy currents, and wild waves which continued until we had cleared the Iles de Saintes. This is caused by the combination of the western setting Atlantic current flowing over the relatively shallow banks between the southern tip of Guadaloupe, and the stiff trade winds out of the east. A nasty ride!
After clearing the Saintes, the seas settled down somewhat. 5’ to 7’ waves in relatively light winds, 10 to 15 knots.
We arrived in Portsmouth, Dominica at 4:00PM, and were met by our friend Lawrence, a local boatman, tour guide, and all-around “fixer”. We’ve come to know and trust him over the last two visits to the island. We discussed our plans to stay here over the next several weeks. We arranged with him to provide transportation from the airport to Portsmouth for our friend Gayle Danner, arriving here next Saturday, May 2nd, for a two-week visit aboard KINGDOM. Lawrence will also help arrange inland tours and diving trips for us while she is here.
316 Miles – That’s how far we’ve travelled since we left St. Thomas on April 18th. A hard week’s travelling. We don’t expect to move again for several weeks, except perhaps to explore around the island of Dominica. No rough passages for a month! Yippee!
Through it all, our little puppy, Molly, has been a good little trooper. She has upchucked a couple of times during really rough conditions, but generally she finds a comfortable place to sleep through the passages. She is very smart, and is learning to do her business on the foredeck whenever possible, where we can easily wash it down. She is going to make a good boat dog, we think. She has a calm, friendly personality, and enjoys meeting new people. She sometimes barks at unfamiliar sounds, but is not a “yappy dog”. She doesn’t bark at people passing by when we are at the dock, or at other dogs. She has a couple of periods daily of high activity, usually morning and evening, when she insists on playing with us. She runs ‘round the decks like a crazed maniac, and then brings one or more of her toys to us for a game of “tug-o-war” and “fetch”.
Molly has two favorite toys: Hot Dog, and Hedgehog. They are small stuffed toys that she loves to chase around and play with. While we were at anchor in Deshailles, Susan was playing “toss and fetch” with Molly and her Hot Dog. A bad throw put Hot Dog over the side rail, and poor Hot Dog was slowly moving out to sea with the tide (picture Wilson, in the movie Castaway). Susan jumped in, clothes and all, and swam to Hot Dog’s rescue! Yeah, Susan!
Molly with Hot Dog and Hedgehog
Big square-rigger off Nevis
