- GRENADA – MIAMI – 2006
After a great week of cruising the Grenadines with Kya and getting her off on the flight from St George to Houston, it was
time to head north and island hop towards Miami. Kya was really upset that I hadn’t called anyone to help with the trip,
but as I explained to her, I really wanted some one on one time with the boat and felt as though I could handle the boat
alone and really wanted to just take my time and work my way slowly through the islands.
As I left Prickley Bay, I could see the plane Kya was on fly over. As she flew over, the porpoises came to swim with the
boat for the next 20 minutes. I kept telling her about the porpoises swimming with the boat and we looked for them the
whole time she was there and they were a no show. Now, as she flew out, they were back. I couldn’t believe the timing.
For the next couple of days the porpoises were back sometimes twice a day!
The first day was a nice sail up to Bequia where I anchored and went ashore for dinner and a relaxing evening. There
was a good steel drum band playing with lots of people out for the barbeque on the waterfront.
The next morning I left for another easy day up to St Lucia where I was able to pick up a mooring bouy at the base of the
Deux Pitons which are the two volcanic peaks seen from miles away as you approach. They form a beautiful landmark
which St Lucia is famous for. This is a nice place with the luxury hotel complex, Jalousie Plantation, in a lush tropical
setting with nice beach.
The next day, I didn’t get very far, finding another great spot to moor in Marigot Bay. I was immediately met by the guy in
a small boat offering fresh fruit. This was ok, but became a little frustrating when others just kept coming up to the boat
wanting to sell stuff. I was ready for some relaxation in a postcard perfect spot and these guys kept coming over.
Finally, I just waved them off before they could get to me and they stopped coming over. Nice waterfront bar and grill
with steel band, of course.
A little further north on St Lucia, I pulled into the Rodney Bay Marina and found a nice slip with power and water hook
up. The marina is full service and has everything thing you need to just hang out awhile, which I did for two days. I was
able to get the boat clean, inside and out, as well as recruit some help in adjusting the screecher, which was not furling
properly. The guy on the boat next to me was installing a new furling system on his sailboat and making final
preparations for his trip to Venezuela, where he would spend the hurricane season. After helping him for awhile, we sat
and talked about his prior experiences with Venezuela. I was very concerned about the pirate stories I had been
hearing about, but he seemed to feel very comfortable with the place. He loves the outer islands there and highly
recommends cruising the area. I met another couple on a nearby catamaran who were just finishing a year off from work
while they cruised the Eastern Carribean. They said that it was the best year either of them had ever had. We
exchanged stories for over two hours over dinner. Very interesting couple. As I was crossing the parking lot heading
back to the boat from dinner, I was approached by a local guy with the really wild looking hairdo and I thought to myself,
oh great, what does this guy want. As wild as he looked, it turned out to be just friendly conversation. In fact, he was
probably one of the most down to earth coolest persons I met on the entire trip. The guy had lived his life on St Lucia
and just loved the place and everything about his life there. He told me a lot about the island and himself and how
blessed he was to live in such a beautiful place. This guy didn’t have a lot, but he was so happy and at peace with his
place in life that you just couldn’t help but feel good for him.
On to Martinique. I had planned to meet with a guy here who I was told could take care of some minor warranty issues
on Free Spirit as I passed by. I pulled into Le Marin and the place was full with hundreds of sailboats which was very
intimidating with me singlehanding. I decided to stop at a fuel dock to top off the tank and make my call to Phillipe. I
had my lines all ready with fenders out as I approached the dock. There were two local French guys working at the fuel
dock, standing there watching as I approached. I thought how lucky I was to have some help, until I realized at the last
minute that they had no intention of helping, only watching. It was one of those, what do you mean help, I only work
here, moments. They actually just stood there and watched me run front to rear tying up the boat. Then, to top it off,
although they could speak English ok, they seemed put out having to use it with me. Oh well, I did get the fuel and ice I
wanted and made my phone call. I was told that Phillipe would not be available to speak with me until the next day. All
things considered, I decided the warranty issues would have to wait and decided to press on to the north. I have heard
many good things about Martinique and I am sure that if I had stayed that I would have probably loved the place. I was
just feeling as though I needed to get moving north a little faster, as I was making very little progress since leaving Kya in
Grenada. I was already beginning to see that it would be really easy to spend several months exploring the islands here
and I just didn’t have the time now. This feeling would just intensify as I moved on. There is just so much to see and
experience out here and I now realized that all I had time to do was just get a quick look at several cool places.
The next island was Dominica, where I found a nice mooring for the night and a good night of sleep. The next day I
passed just to the west of Guadeloupe on my way to Antigua, where I planned to spend a couple of days. As I was
approaching Antigua, I was picking up a huge thunderstorm on my radar which, as luck would have it, was moving on a
collision course with Free Spirit. The wind started to really intensify and I could see the lightning in the near distance, at
which time I started thinking, I am really not in any big hurry. So I just luffed the boat up to an almost complete stop and
waited and watched the storm pass on my radar screen. Arrival into Antigua was at night but luckily it was fairly well
marked and I was able to pick up a great mooring bouy right by the marina. The next morning, I woke up to see Richard
Branson’s big catamaran tied at the end of the dock near where I was moored. I went ashore and right away ran into
Branson’s deckhand who Kya and I had talked to in Mustique. He helped point me in the right direction as to all the
places to go and see. They were going to be there for at least a couple of more weeks and he said this was one of their
favorite spots. I agree, really a cool place. I ate dinner the first night with 3 girls and a guy that I met at the local bar.
This was a very fun and interesting evening because these guys were raging liberal democrats, very politically
outspoken, and very much Bush bashers. They were there on some government sponsored program that I never really
understood or got a straight answer as to what is was all about. At any rate, they were highly educated and well traveled
and there was never a dull moment on this night talking politics and world travel experiences for probably 3 hours. After
a couple of days, it was time to move on to St Barts.
The sail to St Barts was another easy downwind run which once again resulted in a night arrival. I hate these night
arrivals, but luckily again, I was able to get in with no big problem and pick up a mooring bouy. I did a lot of sightseeing
on foot here. The shops and waterfront restaurants were really nice as well as the beach across the island. I must have
walked ten miles here, but it was very enjoyable. Didn’t meet one person on this island, but it was still a really cool
place. Would have definitely been better with Kya or another friend along.
Next it was on to St Martin. Same thing, lots of walking, nice place, but not really much going on while I was there. Most
boats had already cleared out for the season. I had the marina pretty much to myself. I did rent a car one day to go to
the other side of the island and to track down some marine supplies and groceries. Again, nice place but I was ready to
move on to the Virgin Islands.
First stop in the British Virgin Islands was at Virgin Gorda. I arrived extremely tired and in bad need of some rest. I
arrived at the lower end of the island at “The Baths” which is the famous spot here where the huge granite rocks spill
over into the crystal clear water at a white sand beach. I picked up a mooring bouy here and was going to go to sleep
for awhile after a quick swim. It was such a beautiful spot that a quick swim turned into 3 hours of snorkeling and rock
climbing before returning to the boat. I had totally forgotten about being so exhausted. I finally did get the rest and
stayed 2 days. A quick sail over to Tortolla, where I found a nice mooring in Soufer’s Hole, and I was sold on the BVI.
This place is nice! After a couple of days pondering whether to leave the boat here for a few weeks and get some
friends in to enjoy the place with me, I finally decided that with the hurricane season bearing down, I had better keep
moving and save this spot for another time.
The rest of the trip to Miami was nothing other than long and hard. From the BVI to Provo in the Turks and Caicos,
there was no where to stop and I was just plain tired. After a little rest in Provo there was no rest all the way to Nassau in
the Bahamas. I fueled up and rested for the night offshore and then sailed to Chubb Cay which is at the entrance to the
channel across the Great Bahama Bank. After overnighting here, it was a glassy calm motor across the bank to Bimini
the next morning. Another overnight at Bimini and on into Miami. Finally!
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