Since leaving St. Martin over seven weeks ago, we have become more in sync with the tempo of island time. We linger a little longer to soak up the scenery, while keeping the boat and crew happily afloat. After our first year of cruising, I am learning more about being in the moment, and sometimes, well...being lazy. I believe this is the reason for my silent bloggy fingers of late... In seven weeks, we visited seven islands. We had some concern to get south to Grenada to avoid the storms that tend to track more northerly, but as the weather cooperated, we slowed the pace and explored new places for us in the Windward Islands.
The sailing between islands has been surprisingly pleasant. Compared with some of our more uncomfortable and longer passages of the winter months, our day sails have been idyllic with lighter summer winds, sprinkled with refreshing light showers.
Nahanni V underway
Despite the days spent travelling, our daily routines have become a more structured. Most days start with Bomeschool classes, followed by social time with other kids, swimming, and entertainment like reading, games or watching movies. We plan trips ashore to play tourist, seek out provisions, and exercise by walking or hiking.
Science presentation on Manchineel Tree (poisonous tree commonly found on beaches)
After leaving St. Martin, we spent some time in St. Kitts and Nevis. We breezed by these islands earlier in the winter, and we were happy to spend a few more days on the beach and walking into the lush, green forests.
Mount Nevis and Pinney's Beach onshore
Upon arriving in St. Kitts, we were rowing our dinghy into town to check in with Customs, when it started to rain. A dinghy passed us by with a family on board. They smiled and waved, and then turned around and offered us a tow to the dinghy dock. This was our introduction to the the crew of Drakkar, a lovely family from New Zealand .
Party on Drakkar with Cort and Lauren from a visiting charter boat
Playing with Amelia and Boston from Drakkar (with Mom Shannon) on beach
While in Nevis, we walked to the ruins of the Montravers Estate and tried to imagine what this plantation looked like in the 18th Century.
Ruins of the Montravers Estate
The largest Baobab Tree on the island
Ruins of the estate. Efforts have been make to restore the plantation buildings
One of the copper pots used in making sugar cane. (Now used for breeding mosquitoes.)
After Nevis, we made our way back to Guadeloupe and the familiar anchorages from earlier this year.
Sunset in Deshaies, Guadeloupe
We splurged for a few nights in the marina in Basseterre to wash down the boat, fill up our tanks, and get easy access to shore life. The kids loved running back and forth between our boat and Drakkar, and convinced us that it was a good time to have sleepovers. It was a brilliant idea for all; each set of parents got a night out on the town sans kids!
Boston, Simon, Wavey and Amelia on Drakkar
Sword fighting on their trampoline
Breakfast on Nahanni V after sleepover
While in the marina, it was a treat to carry the laundry across the street to the laundromat (vs. getting soaked in the dinghy.) The French islands have the best laveries. They are pricey, but convenient, clean and efficient. There is something satisfying and soothing about bringing loads of clean laundry home. I loved that the laundromat shown below was next to the traiteur, with the best rotisserie chicken.
Laundry in Basseterre, Guadeloupe
It was fun to travel down the island chain with Drakkar. We played a type of leap-frog, usually staying for a few days together in an anchorage before jumping off again. Once we got to Les Saintes, we joined families for some hiking and exploring.
Walking with the goats in Les Saintes
Family photo Les Saintes
Amelia, Shannon, Max and Boston from Drakkar
Le Chameau tower in Les Saintes
On our last day in Les Saintes, we took a mooring directly beside a wreck. We snorkelled over it, and marvelled at how well preserved it was. I left the kids and John to spend more time exploring while I returned to the boat. My initial thought was to tell them they could dive down 15-20 feet, but NOT to go into the wreck. On second thought, I bit my lip thinking,"there is no way they would do that, right?" Wrong. When they came back, everyone was bubbling over to tell me how Wavey dove down to the wreck and found her way into the ship. I was glad I had not been there to see my daring, darling daughter when she came up!
Our first visit to Dominica with the kids was full with day trips and play dates. Dominica is an independent island with a British tradition. It is a large, volcanic island that is less developed overall than many of its neighbours. We anchored in Portsmouth Bay close to Drakkar, and explored the island on a couple of day trips up the Indian River, and around the island by taxi.
Trip up Indian River
Please see Simon's full account of our visit to Dominica on his blog page,Simon SAYS.
Fruit and vegetables are abundant on Dominica, and we filled our backpacks with mangoes and other fruits as we hiked around the islands.
Perfect passion fruit for breakfast
Coconut milk for breakfast
"Mine would be better with rum."
Yum
Our science activities led to several experiments, as we learned about the kingdoms of fungi and monerans. To study fungi, we grew various types of mold (quite easy on a warm boat with lots of humidity), and learned about yeast while making bread. We studied monerans by using bacteria in making yogurt.
Bread mold (taken by Simon)
Science (fungi): Making yeast bread
Gluten free bread
Best science day ever!
Science (monerans): Making yogurt
Yogurt mixed with our last jar of Niagara apricot jam!
While in Dominica, we also celebrated Father's Day. The kids made lots of crafts for John and tried to be on their best behaviour to give Dad a relaxing, quiet day. They put on a Lego play about a day in the life of their Dad from our land-life days. It was very creative and hilarious too!
Father's Day
The Life of Dad: Coming soon to a theatre near you...
We went ashore on Father's Day to visit the Cabrits National Park and hike around the trails. Unfortunately, we got caught in torrential rains and ran from shelter to shelter visiting ruins of an old fort. For a treat, there was a big mango tree and we collected many fruits from the heavily laden trees.
Fort at Cabrits National Park
We returned to the anchorage at dark, soaking wet, and hungry. We ate at a little beach side restaurant called Madiba and had a Father's day feast.
Father's Day fish dinner at Madiba
Happy Dad and Skipper
One afternoon, Simon and I went food shopping and caught some great street scenes from Portsmouth.
Garbage collection day
An unusual home in Dominica
Creative trailer solution
View of Portsmouth, Dominica from the boat (you can almost see Madiba where we had dinner)
John and I had never been further south than Dominica before, so our arrival in Martinique was a new experience for us all. Our first stop was in the town of St. Pierre, which was a fascinating place to learn about volcanoes and history.
In 1902, St. Pierre was an important commercial port in Martinique with ships exporting rum, sugar, coffee, and cocoa grown in the wealthy plantations. It was described as the Paris of the Caribbean for its cultural and social activities. On May 8th in 1902, the volcano tucked into Mount Pelee (located just above the town) exploded, killing most of its 30,000 residents and leaving only two survivors. One of the survivors was Louis-Auguste Cyparis, a man who only survived because he was imprisoned in a cell with very thick walls.
Walking around the town was both pleasant and chilling. The ruins from 1902 were open for exploration; the town simply rebuilt around the ruins and life eventually carried on. The ruins are a constant reminder of the volcano that still lies above.
St. Pierre at dusk from Nahanni V at anchor
Strolling around St. Pierre in the rain with my girl (taken by Simon)
Ruins of city walls and former homes that were built inside them
Ruins of the theatre which was beside the prison where Cyparis survived
Destroyed theatre in St. Pierre
Ruins of theatre
After wandering through the town, we arrived at the Science Centre which had a great video about the eruption in 1902, an exhibit about every active volcanoes in the Caribbean, and a separate discovery room for the kids. A nice way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Centre de Decouverte des Sciences et La Terre
At the south end of Martinique, Le Marin is the yachting centre of the island. It is equipped with a large marina and more yachting services than you can count. We met up with Drakkar again briefly before they moved on to Grenada. It was fun to see them (as always), and they gave us the scoop on where to provision and catch up on laundry...again.
Laundry prices - about 30 Euros (or $45 Canadian) to do 4 loads
We had a selection of three large supermarkets that stocked all good things including the French cheeses, breads and dried goods. Since we were leaving the French islands for Grenada, we made four shopping trips and filled every little space we had with items like gluten free pasta, sauces, drinks, canned goods (French canned vegetables are actually good!) and rice which we were told are less expensive than in Grenada.
Stocking up at Leader Price and having an ice cream treat
You can bring the cart right down to the dinghy dock!
Transferring (unrefrigerated) eggs into our own containers to store in the bilge
Taking a lunch break after all that shopping
On June 30th, we left Le Marin to move to an anchorage around the same bay called St. Anne's. It is here in the beautiful, clear waters that Canada and I celebrated our birthdays on July 1st. The windy and blustery day did not affect our fun. My family cooked fabulous meals, made me wonderful gifts, and we played games for most of the day. A relaxing and quiet way to bring in my big 5-0.
Gift my sister-in-law Doris gave me a year ago to open on my 50th.
On July 5th, after one more provisioning trip, we left Martinique to head to Grenada. We left in the afternoon and had a fantastic overnight sail. By mid-afternoon, we reached the island of Carriacou, just north of Grenada (and governed by Grenada). We decided to stop in the main town of Hillsborough, and check into Customs.
Stretch of white sand in Hillsborough, Carriacou
View of Nahanni V at anchor
Beach stroll
Beach combing on Carriacou
While John and I hung out by the ferry terminal and plugged into the free town wifi, the kids explored around town. While we surfed, checked email and pored over weather updates, Wavey met a little hungry kitty, and scampered off to buy a can of tuna to feed it.
Wavey feeding a stray cat while she waits for us to check our internet on the street
We poked around this little town (which usually means going into every little food shop to see what they offer) and found some street food.
Roasted corn
A couple of days later, we moved about a mile to Sandy Island, an uninhabited islet of sand surrounded by reef and quiet. We were pleased that our new French-Canadian friends aboard La Mer Veilleuse were also anchored there. We spent a few days snorkelling and visiting with Maxim, Karen, Noah, and Alexia.
Sandy Island - an island like the one on everyone's screen saver in January
John of the sea (photo taken by Wavey)
After a few days of being in the water and on the beach, we motored a few miles to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou and found a spot among all the other cruising boats. Everything is pretty laid back in dis place.
Checking out the marine facilities in Tyrell Bay
Despite this sign, we have one of the best wifi signals on the boat here!
We celebrated John's birthday on July 11th, with a fabulous lunch at the Lazy Turtle and a birthday dinner on board.
Birthday Boy
Wavey about to attack her meal of lion fish
Wavey, with the cake she decorated with bits of pineapple
Make a wish!
On our last day in Carriacou, we hiked up to the second highest peak on the island called Chapeau Caree. The crew of La Mer Veilleuse joined us for an energetic afternoon.
Dodging cows and goats on the way up
Wavey and the bull
Simon, Alexia and Noah inspecting a tortoise they happened upon
View of Tyrell Bay from Chapeau Caree
Karen and Alexia at the peak
Wavey, Alexia, Noah and Simon at the top
Sweaty, but smiling!
On July 16th, we left for Grenada where we will be staying for the next few months. We are expecting it to be a social summer with the many kid boats already there. With the busy days to come, hopefully there will be a few lazy days too.
