• Spot – find Aeeshah      See where we are.

                     Heading south for the summer months…..

Marie Gallante photos click here—->>  Marie Gallante

We left Guadeloupe about a week after returning from the UK and had a very nice sail to  Marie Gallante,

another French island. We anchored in Saint Louis

where we spent several days. St Louis is a small “town” but the main anchorage. It is very quaint and extremely quiet, almost like a ghost town. The residents start their day early, pack up for a mid-day lunch and rest and so by 1pm nobody is around and nothing is open.

While there we took a hike along one of the trails

that headed north from the anchorage. It was one of the marked trails, which wound along the shoreline past

Pointe Du Cimetiere, Anse Canot, Pointe Fleur Depee and on to Vieux Fort.

The trail was lovely with shaded pathways through forested areas where the Spider lilies were blooming. It wound along beautiful beaches, up to the cliff tops and past picnic areas. As usual we bit off more than we should have and so spent about 5 hours hiking there and back. Yes, it was hot, very hot, thank goodness for the shade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day we rented a motor scooter

to carry both of us around the island. We had great fun and had plenty of breeze along the way. In Marie Gallante they grow much sugarcane, processing most of it into rum, for which the island is famous. We lucked out when we spotted an oxen cart pulling a load of sugar cane to the crusher and distillery. Stopping for a photo I was surprised how vehemently opposed the old fellow was to having his photo taken, but I’d already taken it and it wasn’t him I wanted in the shot anyway but the oxen.

We followed the roadways around the shoreline stopping for pictures and to have a look around. It is another very lovely isle, which is delightful to motor around as the roads are just about empty of traffic. Plus being French the roads are excellently maintained. We visited Bourg the capitol then rode on passing splendid beaches that were practically empty up the east coast where not a soul did we see.

The main distilleries, which have actual windmills, are in the interior of the island so we cut inland to check them out. It really is amazing to see the size and thickness of the old windmills. They were made to stand for a very long time.

We visited the Moulin de Bezard distillery and then the Distillerie Bellevue. The Distillerie Bellevue looked to be an impressive operation, but we didn’t do the tour, as our French is still not good enough for us to comprehend much that is said.

We drove to the north coast – Plage de Vieux Fort

– (the beach at Vieux Fort) – where we ate a baguette under the shade cast by a picnic area. We then set off to find and explore places along the north shoreline. It was challenging finding these sites as the sign posting is scant and if they were there, the signs were small and hidden. We found and visited both

Caye Plate and Gueule Grand Gouffre

both being very impressive formations.  Caye Plate is along a cliffside that is extremely steep, looks like a massive worn groove while Gueule Grand Gouffre is an enormous sink hole along the shoreline where the swell powers ashore.

By this stage we were feeling very butt sore, the bike seat wears thin after hours astride. Plus I managed to get burnt on my shoulders so we turned the bike in an hour early and headed back to Aeeshah for a refreshing swim. On returning to the boat we found a big mess, my cactus knocked about, stuff all over the cabin, almost as if we had been boarded and vandalized. We were both well ticked off as we realized that it was probably most likely one of the “friendly” ferry captains that powered up his huge high-speed ferry right next to our boat. We decided to leave the next day.

We sailed to Isle Des Saintes

the next morning for 2 reasons: 1stly if John had an encounter with a ferry captain it might not be good, 2ndly it was May Day holiday and easier to check out in the Saints. As in the past it was a fast sail to the Saints, but a perfect wind angle until the last stretch. We heard a strange waaww call at one point and wondered what it was. Then minutes later I spotted the spouting water from whales. There were 3, one was broadside to us and definitely a hump back the other two were ahead and one halfway breached ahead of us. It was an exciting encounter.

In the Saintes we picked up a mooring and relaxed, visited the town and picked up supplies. We ended up spending several days in the Saints waiting for good wind. While there we met up with Nancy and Dave off of Fawlkes who we had originally met in Grenada 9 months previously.

We sailed out of the Saints with Fawkes

DOMINICA Click here for photos—->> Dominica south to Grenada

but arrived in Dominica an hour ahead of them. They were quite surprised how fast Aeeshah sails. That night in Dominica the PAYS guys were having a barbeque on the beach for all the cruisers. So ashore we went and John enjoyed the many rums swizzles and we both enjoyed the chicken, fish, peas and rice, plus salad. We had a fun night.

Another night we were invited aboard Fawkes for dinner. We had a wonderful evening and Nancy is an excellent cook so the food was wonderful, a garlic dip with bread, then dinner a pasta dish and garlic bread all of which she made from scratch.

We have had several hikes. The first was more a walk along the shoreline to the neighboring bay

Douglas Bay.

This was on the Mayday holiday, which happened to be on the Monday after we arrived. There were families having picnics, children really enjoying a day off school and lots of folks dressed in red off to attend the local ruling party’s rally.

 

A great hike

that we undertook, along with Dave from Fawkes, was the segment 14 on the Waitukubuli Trail.

We walked into Portsmouth and proceeded to wait for the bus, which we were told, could be 20/30 minutes. While at the bus stop we were chatting with some local men who were also waiting for the bus. Well the regular bus did not appear but another “bus” that had a broken windshield stopped to take us to

Capuchin – Cape Melville – where the trail started. On we all loaded and what an odd mix we were: a young girl all decked out in her tight jeans with splits all down them and fancy top, a painter along with his buckets and brushes, us cruisers in our scruffy hiking gear and long poles for walking sticks, an old dear dressed smartly for town, a fellow with empty card board boxes and a bag of Balloo (garfish), plus a man that was an albino with a serious skin condition dressed in women’s clothes, guessing he’s a cross dresser? Dominicans are so tolerant that nobody even blinked. Along the way our driver who was a barefooted Rasta jammed on the brakes, on a slope next to some homes, jumps out jogs across the road, climbs a tree and swings from branch to branch picking these berries. “What is he doing?” I asked. “Picking a fruit that we call plums” was the reply. Back he came to the bus giving us cruisers a large purple berry to try and off we went. Our stop was the very end of the road, literally where the road ran out and was no more.

Our driver had never been there and so was thrilled to see a part of Dominica he had never seen. The trailhead was at the top of some impressively high cliffs from where the trail wound down the side.  Slipping was not an option as it would have all been over; so much care was taken descending. From the bottom the trail followed the rocky shoreline, climbed cliffs, went along the roadway, up steep hills, through fields, passed homes and along rockier shoreline until we reached the end, which skirted the edge of the swamp. It was a lovely hike; very hot at times that covered 11kilometer (7 miles), which took us 4 hours.

 

 

 

   As the weather was miserable we briefly visited the market on the Saturday and purchased excellent fresh produce. By the afternoon the wind was howling and the bay was rough. Several boats dragged, one a green one disappeared from sight with the dingy and the 2 fellows that were trying to save her. Alexis a PAYS guy told us the coastguard had been called. It took the rest of the day before the boat was brought back and secured along with the guys that tried to save her. The wind reached 43 knots but calmed by evening. In fact there was then no wind over night and the boat was rolling as much as 15 degrees from side to side, which makes sleeping really difficult. Mother’s Day arrived on the Sunday and from the calm conditions of the night before the wind switched up and blasted back into the bay. This time it reached 50 knots, hurricane force, really not cool. So we spent most of the day on weather and boat watch hoping nothing would happen. We found out later it was the 1st tropical wave of the season – early start. We did escape from the boat for a short walk and went to the Indian River passing Rainforest riding on our way.

 

 

Before we left Dominica we managed another hike. This

 

 

 

 

was number 13 on the Waitukubuli National trail.

We walked to Portsmouth and lucked out as a bus was just leaving. First of all the driver said he was full, but then the passengers said they were able to make room for us, so it was a very full bus with goodness knows how many of us, many bags of groceries, boxes and huge bags of bread from the bakery to be delivered along the way. The drive to Capuchin, where we started was scenic however the “roadways” were narrow, rutted, steep and wound up and down the steep slopes. When we stopped to let the family off – Granma, Mamma and several children of all ages, that made room for us, the children gave us hugs goodbye, just so sweet!

The hike started off downhill heading slightly inland from the coastal cliffs and then wove its way uphill.

We hiked uphill for an hour; thankfully it was under the shade of the huge trees. The trail continued along the steep sides of the mountains that rise along the northern shore. It was a very steep drop off along a very narrow path where sometimes the path had eroded or been washed away for most of the way up. Finally we reached a ridge where we found that the path continued along the next mountain by way of the ridge along more steep sides. Around to the top we once again climbed. The whole walk was basically, some steep downhills along sheer, steep drop offs, then up hills along similar paths, followed by ridges joining the mountains and more uphill climbing.

The scenery was gorgeous, wonderful view points, deeply forest slopes, trees and flowers of all types, birds singing constantly, butterflies and the sweet smell of blossoms. In areas the locals had been subsistence farming – slash and burn farming method. There we found much erosion and land subsidence as the vegetation is all that holds the sides of the mountains in place. They would be planting, plantains, pawpaw, Balloo, sweet potatoes and such crops. It was one of the best hikes but after 4 1/2 hours we were happy to come to the end –

Penville – where we found a “roadway” and little else, so we were also extremely happy to see a local bus approaching along the mountain slope in the distance. The ride back was brilliant as it wove through beautiful mountain scenery.

 

While in Portsmouth we really enjoyed ourselves, Dominica is wonderful! It was then onto Rousseau, in Southern Dominica for a night. Then a days sail to Martinique, which was surprisingly, smooth sailing this time around – last year it was nasty. We spent the night in Grand Anse D’Arnet on a free mooring ball setting off for

                                             St Lucia

the next day. Again that crossing was relatively smooth – I could read at times.

Rodney Bay in St Lucia was where we anchored and checked in. Rodney bay is a huge anchorage surrounded by beach, with a fort at one end and a cut in the middle, which leads into the Marina and Lagoon.

We had decided to get some supplies in readiness for our summer guests. So we spent time checking out the large grocery stores, which after months of not having been in one can be fun for a change.

We also took a couple of outings. The 1st being a hike to the other shoreline. Once there it is a spectacular shoreline with the Atlantic waves crashing on the shore and horses grazing on the hillsides.

 

 

Another morning we ventured into

Castries the Capitol.

There is an enormous market that sells fruit, veg, tourist items, fish, spices and foods. We roamed

around checking out the market, different streets, the various characters that were about and the points of interest. The cathedral was quite amazing with its paintings of nuns and other persons that had served. The architecture was also quite unique, but again it was in need of some TLC like much of the Capitol.

Nancy and Dave off of Fawkes pulled in the day after us and we got together for a pizza lunch, which turned into a Chinese as the pizza place was shut. Plus we met up to re-explore

Pigeon Island and the fort there.

We climbed to the top of the peak 1st which has a brilliant view of 360 degrees. Then we climbed up to the fort where we met George from Wildcat, small world. It was a fun morning with friends. We had hoped to leave St. Lucia within a few days of our arrival, but the weather gods would not allow us.

We just have to wait for the weather to settle.

We saw the forecasted winds were down for a few days so we sailed out of St Lucia’s Rodney Bay and had a wonderful trip south to Soufriere.

There we had a buoy for the night and set off early the next morning for the crossing to Bequia – St Vincent and the Grenadines. We again had a fast
comfortable sail and covered 70 odd miles in 9 hours, which was with out any problems. We hoped to only be in Bequia for a few days and then to sail straight to Tobago.

While there we enjoyed wandering around ashore, walking to Friendship Bay, which is on the other side, and swimming off of Princess Margret Beach.

Since leaving Dominica we have noticed how brown and dry all the islands have been. Sure enough we found out that they are in the midst of a drought. We were able to still buy water from the water barge and were very relied by that.

We were focused on the weather window that was opening on Thursday 29^th of June to sail to Tobago. It looked to be our best opportunity for the crossing. We left Bequia completely prepared, food made, everything stowed, and all safety equipment readied, and headed to Tobago. However the seas and wind that we found while heading off shore was not what had been forecasted. It was a joint decision to abandon our plans and so we headed into the Grenadines. Saline Bay, Mayeau was where we anchored for 2 nights. There we enjoyed swimming and snorkeling again watching the forecast.

After 2 nights we thought it would be in our best interest to check into Tyrell bay, Carricou, Grenada.

Main reason being we needed to fill water up and restock. So after a brief stop in Petit Martinique for duty free booze we arrived in Tyrell Bay. There we got our water and supplies actually only spending 3 nights before the weather we wanted arrived – at last!!!

We also managed another fun walk – around the headland.

Our intension was to try and reach the old dilapidate house on one of the peninsulas, but this proved too difficult as the ground was so dry and just crumbling away on the slopes. The drought had made much of the foliage die off and so exposed large patches of rocky dry ground that just fell away below our feet. – Not good for clambering up and down steep slopes. However we really enjoyed walking to the headland that looked out over the bay towards Sandy Isle.

Our crossing to Tobago went very well. No boat issues, weather was better than we had hoped for with only a few rough patches. The only downside was my seasickness returned at dusk to give me hell through the night. Poor john had to single hand again for much of the night. We arrived 5 miles off of Tobago at about 4am. John hove to and we both slept till 5:30am when there was the light of dawn. Heading in with the dawn we were accompanied by a large pod of dolphins swimming next to us. Then finally after over a month of heading to Tobago we were there!! What a relief!!!

       “Life … is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”  

                                                        Gilda Radner