Turks and Caicos

Well, I obviously have way too much time and internet on my hands, lol. Three blogs posted in less than a week !  We are currently anchored off of Monument Beach, Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas. We moved over here from the anchorage outside of Georgetown, Exumas three days ago because of expected high easterly winds and bad weather. Yes, the weather has been bad. Windy, overcast( this is the second day with no sun) and wet. We have not had weather like this since, um ..... I can't remember when. Honestly, we have had sun everyday for months now. Oh well,  a good time to catch up on blog posts.

 We had checked out of Culebra, P.R the previous afternoon and were ready to up anchor the morning of Tuesday, April 14th heading out for the Turks and Caicos. This was to be our longest voyage (460nm) yet with just the two of us on board.  When we are preparing for a passage Ian looks at the proposed route on the computer. He puts in waypoints between our start point and destination and by inputting our expected boat speed we can get an expected time of arrival. Working back from this we then figure out our time of departure. We much prefer to arrive at new destinations mid morning/ noon, even if that means departing at night, so that we can get anchored and settled in during daylight hours. Obviously, it's much easier to leave a harbour at night ( follow your in bound track on the chart plotter) than it is to enter an unknown harbour at night.

 The passage went well, the winds were light, just the way I like it. Ian was hoping for more wind to which I say, careful what you wish for! I prefer our passages and sailing to be drama free!!  We settled in to our three hour watches between the hours of 7pm to 7am. This way the off watch person gets enough time for a deep sleep ( hopefully).  I have found reading my Kindle during watch a good way to pass the time. I also seem to snack constantly ( not good). I must say, we had some beautiful nights. The stars were out, the seas were calm and I was treated to a beautiful golden moonset one night, quite lovely.  Still, after three nights I found myself quite sleep deprived and was very glad  to arrive at the Caicos Bank and French Cay on the fourth day.

The change in water colour as you go from thousands of meters deep to around ten meters is very dramatic. There is a line in the water, one side of which is deep blue and the other an amazing shade of turquoise.  French Cay is a small spit of rock and sand on the edge of the Caicos Bank, about twelve NM from Providenciales. It is home to hundreds of sea birds and is in fact a protected bird sanctuary, no humans allowed.   That was fine with us. We dropped anchor in the protection of the Island and relaxed, looking forward to an uninterrupted nights sleep.  The next day we had a good trip across the bank, keeping a sharp look out for coral heads as we approached Sapodilla Bay, where we dropped anchor.

 Sapodilla Bay has a small sandy beach and we spent several days there hanging out. There are no nearby stores but we did have a very nice lunch at the Las Brisas restaurant.

  This is how Ian likes to spend his day. In a comfy chair, under an umbrella, reader in hand and his boat ( on the right) in the distance.

  We rented a car for the day as we needed to get groceries and other boat items. We ended up here at Blue Haven Marina for a delicious lunch. This marina is relatively new and looks very nice, a good place to stay next time we pass thru!

   After a couple of days at Sapodilla Bay we moved the boat over to an anchorage off of South Side Marina. There was no room for us in the marina partly due to the fact that there were already two Antares yachts there!!  There are only 48 Antares ( our boat brand) launched in the world so it is a very rare occasion to have three of them in the same location.  So, naturally, we met up with Christian, Dayna and Caspar from SV Blue  and Alon and Dawn from SV Blue Dawn. It was a real pleasure to meet and spend time with them all and interesting to hear of their sailing adventures.

 Time to move on again. Most of the boats we met in the marina are heading south for the season, we seem to be the only one's heading north? hmmm.   Oh well, we checked out of T& C and motored in complete calm to the edge of the Caicos Bank, this time near West Caicos, where we dropped anchor and relaxed in preparation for our overnight trip to Mayaguana, Bahamas.  

Our Floating Home

 

Zooropa in Brazil

    We have now lived on board Zooropa for nine months and while it has been an adjustment she is a very comfortable and roomy boat for the two of us. I took most of these pictures of her shortly after we had started cruising and while in Brazil ( ah, Ilha Grande). Since then I have added family pictures and momento's and it has become MUCH less tidy inside. I am looking forward to reaching Florida where I hope to cheaply replace cushions and add knick knacks.

Zooropa in the Bahamas

This is a great place to hang out, especially when sailing in a light breeze. The air comes up thru the fabric on the trampolines and is very refreshing. We now have a canvas awning which we put out when anchored ( see picture above) in order to keep out of the sun and still enjoy the tramps. 

Looking back at the boat from the tramps. The dark wrap around glass encloses the salon inside. The clear windshield encloses the cockpit and helm station.  

Ian at the helm coming in to Salvadore

This is the rear of the boat, thats the dingy hanging off the arch which is it's position while we are moving. The BBQ is covered in blue canvas.  We have Nu Teak ( fake teak) which we like the look of but which gets incredibly hot when in the sun. The tan coloured awning at the top can be removed but we leave it out whenever we are anchored. The sun is relentless and the awning gives very welcome relief.  

There is a step down from the cockpit into the salon. We have tons of storage under the salon seats. The beautiful cherry wood table opens out and also can be lowered to the salon seat level.

This is the work area to the right of the cockpit door entrance. It most definitely does not look this tidy anymore, ever! That is one of two TV's on the boat. My washer/dryer is in the cupboard to the left of the sink. 

This is the navigation desk and captains chair, where I am occasionally allowed to sit, lol!  

 This picture is taken inside the salon looking down in to the galley, thats the top of the freezer on the left.

This is the galley looking towards the rear of the boat,thats the guest bedroom thru the doorway. The small wooden door with the latch and hinges is the fridge which is beside the steps back up to the salon.  On the right are the double sinks. On the left the three burner gas cooktop. 

 The galley looking from the other direction, forward. Thru the door is the third bedroom ( not seen) and then the second head (toilet).  In the galley you can see the cooktop again and the oven and convection microwave.  No, we do not have a dishwasher, that would be me!   

   The first guest bedroom.

The second guest bedroom and guest head.  That's the elevated bed on the right.

The stairs leading down from the salon to our bedroom and bathroom. That's our bookcase stuffed with cruising guides. Our closets and bedroom are thru to the right and our bathroom on the left. 

  Our bedroom. I have to crawl over Ian to get out which is tricky, he doesn't seem to mind. 

   I realize now I have no pictures of the cockpit seating area and table. I will try and put one in on another post.

  

Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands

       We checked out of St.Martin ( French side) the morning of Thursday, April 9th. Seeing as this is a French country, check out was an easy one stop affair. Back to the boat to prep for our afternoon departure to Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands. This was an overnight passage for us, we took three hour shifts between 7pm and 7am which worked quite well. As seems to be the case recently, we ended up motor sailing as the winds were light for most of the night. A steady stream of brightly lit cruise ships passed us during the night, mostly all heading to different ports in Florida, ( we have a system on board  called AIS which allows us look up the speed, direction, bearing, destination etc of identified boats). The wind did pick up early morning and so sails went up and engines were turned off, blessed relief ! Nothing beats floating along in peace and quiet, it really is quite lovely.

 We sailed right on by the BVI's , what a shame as we love that area, but we are feeling a bit time pressured ( hurricane season approaches), hopefully we will cruise the BVI's next season.  So, on to Ensenada Honda, Culebra. Ensenada Honda is a large deep bay with many different anchorages. We dropped anchor deep in the bay by the small town of Dewey. We had a ten minute, hot walk into the small airport to check in with customs. Culebra falls under the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico which in turn falls under the jurisdiction of the USA. Needless to say, the check in process took much longer, involving phone calls and multiple forms, than for example Martinique where  a simple form was filled out online in the local street cafe, printed and signed by the barista, passports not required!

Approaching Ensenada Honda

Looks can be deceiving! Inside is an amazingly well stocked grocery store.

Dingy dock and bridge, Dewey

Flamenco Beach, really beautiful

Left overs from US Navy bombing practise

Zoni Beach

Our means of transportation

       We had a great day touring the 7 mile long by 3 mile wide Island, visiting many of it's beautiful beaches. Some of the hills were quite steep but the golf cart managed them just fine.
        Next port of call...... Turks and Caicos.  

St.Martin and Anguilla. A visit with Sammy.

  After five rolly nights at St. Barth's it felt good to up anchor ( 7am. Sun. 29th March) and sail the approx. 16 nm down wind to St.Martin. It also felt good to be arriving at the next port of call within daylight hours, I much prefer to be tucked up in my bed at night, all night, asleep, than be on watch out on the high seas!

 The Island of St. Martin in made up of two countries, the Dutch side called Sint Maarten, and the French side, St. Martin. Fortunately, the powers that be have made it easy for cruisers and visiting tourists. Once you have checked in with customs/immigration in either country you are then free to move around the Island at will, on land or by dingy. That's not the case with your boat though. When moving it from a French anchorage to the Dutch side, or vice versa, you must clear customs with both countries.  

 We had decided to clear in at Simpson Bay Lagoon on the Dutch side. There is a swing bridge which has set opening hours for in-bound and out-bound boat traffic. We made the 11.30am opening and were thru into the huge lagoon.  The lagoon has many marina's, full of mega yachts, and is also a popular spot for cruisers because of the many boat stores and services offered here.  We anchored near what turned out to be one end of the airports runway and so had both small and large planes taking off overhead thru out the day, kind of neat actually.

Sammy's plane over Maho Beach

The next day was spent on boat "stuff" and stocking up with food in preparation for the arrival of my birthday present the following day. Sammy!!  She arrived right on time and with a big smile on her face, is it any wonder.  We were able to leave the dingy at a bar right across from the airport terminal, which saved us from having to take a bus or taxi ride. From there we walked past the airport to the other end of the runway, which ends at Maho Bay. The planes come in really low right over the beach here. They also line up here before take off and people hang on to the chain link fence( which separates the runway from the beach) for dear life as the planes rev their engines for take off. Its hilarious to watch ( safely from the sidelines) as anything on the beach, including people, gets blown into the sea by the jets engine blast. We were standing on the beach as Sammy's plane came in, it felt like I could have reached out and touched it, amazing! So, a quick walk back to the terminal and we were inside in time to greet her.

My birthday present arrives!

  Sammy and I took the local bus in to Philipsburg the following day. This is the port where the cruise ships come in and the shopping is supposed to be good but we were a little disappointed with it.

Sammy on Sandy Island

 The following day had us leaving Simpson's Bay and making the short sail over to Road Bay on the Island of Anguilla. Anguilla reminded me a lot of Barbuda with it's beautiful long white sandy beaches, the only difference being Anguilla has much more development with many upscale homes and resorts. While there we spent one day on tiny little Sandy Island where you can rent beach loungers and be fed a very nice BBQ lunch. We also rented a car for the day and attempted to visit as many Anguillan beaches as possible. I think our favourite was Shoal Bay, what a beautiful beach and view.

Ian hard at work, Sandy Island.

Walking on beach at Shoal Bay, Anguilla

Anguillan sail boats heading out of Road Bay

Dinner on beach - Road Bay, Anguilla

View from Fort Louis - Marigot Bay in foreground with Simpson's Bay Lagoon beyond

 Sammy's week was drawing to a close so we sadly headed back to St.Martin, this time to Marigot Bay which is located at the far end of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. Marigot is the capital city of French St. Martin, a very busy town with lots of shops and restaurants  and a large vendors market at the waterfront. The view from the top of Fort Louis is fantastic looking down onto Marigot town and Bay and out across the lagoon in the distance.  And then, a week later, another trip back to the airport to say goodbye ( I much prefer the arrivals from the departures!)  We loved having you Sammsy, anytime, anyplace, please come again soon.


Next up, Culebra.  

St.Barth's. Land of Boutique's.

After an overnight motorsail from Barbuda we arrived at the lovely Island of St.Barth’s. As you approach St. Barth’s from the south you can also see in the distance the Islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, St Eustatius and Saba. Behind St.Barth’s you see the larger Island of St.Martin. What a wonderful sight they all were that morning. We dropped anchor in the outer harbour of Gustavia, along with tonnes of other boats and many mega yachts. Gustavia has a very busy harbour, there was a constant stream of yachts, ferries and commercial boats going by while small commuter planes flew overhead to and from the nearby airport.

  Gustavia is a pretty little town wrapped around the inner harbor, which is full of mega yachts, some of whose tenders ( dinghy) put our boat to shame! The busy streets are lined with restaurants and upscale shops. The womens clothing available is to die for, but really not suitable for my current life aboard Zooropa. I have to admit I did buy several T-shirts, a hat and a bag which leave no doubt as to which Island I was recently on!

Downtown Gustavia 

  We rented a small car for the day, being informed that you could drive the length of the Island in an hour! We took longer than that and managed to see and walk several nice beaches, plus browse some very nice stores.   

Anse De Grand Saline

Historic downtown Gustavia

Rugged southwest shore of St.Barth's

Even though we really liked St.Barth's, after five very bumpy nights in the anchorage it was a relief to move on. St. Martin up next and a visit from Sammy!

Antigua and Barbudaful!

Yikes, I am WAY behind with my blog posts, so even though we are now in St.Martin ( April 7^th as I write) lets go back to  Feb 26^th when we were departing from St.Lucia.

We had a good sail, beam reach,over to Martinique, motor-sailed in the lee of the Island and then another good sail across to Dominica, where once again we had to motor-sail and then just motor as the wind died in the lee of the Island. It was night by now but there were several other boats around which was comforting. I like to know there are other people out on the waters too in the dark. Once past Dominica the winds picked up again and we had a “rollicking” sail with gusts over 30 knots up to Iles Des Saintes. We arrived there around 8am. dropped anchor and fell asleep for a few hours. Since it looked like the weather was not going to improve over the next week ( high winds) and we were wanting to get to Antigua, we decided to continue on later that afternoon and so stayed on the boat instead of going on shore. The Saintes look lovely and we look forward  to visiting and exploring on our return trip next season.

So, off again at dusk, once again motor-sailing the lee coast of Guadeloupe. Once we were out in the open the winds and seas really picked up. I would describe the passage across to Antigua as “hairy”, Ian calls it exhilarating!  When we sit at our helm seat we are ten feet above sea level, the waves were often coming over the coach roof above us ( fortunately we are well protected by our enclosure).  The good thing was that since it was nighttime I couldn’t see the waves coming, better that way I think.

 

I love coming into a sheltered anchorage where the winds and waves die down   and once the anchor is safely down we can relax. Needless to say, that was the case when we arrived in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua on Feb 28^th. 

                            Serious boat inventory in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua.

English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour are separated by a small spit of land. Nelson's Dockyard was built on the English Harbour side around 1745 and was Britain's main naval base in the Leeward Islands. Today the dockyard has been beautifully restored and offers restaurants, a museum, a great little bakery and grocery store along with many yachting services and supplies to the many boats and cruisers that visit here. 

We did the hike, on very well maintained trails, up to Shirley Heights from which are fantastic views of English and Falmouth Harbours.

       
I believe  this is a Century Plant. It looks like a giant asparagus!

          Hiking the ocean side of Shirley Heights.

The view from Mt.Obama, the highest point on Antigua.

A five hour sail north of Antigua brings you to Barbuda. A fairly large and low Island. It is sparsely populated and undeveloped. The beaches have pink sand and stretch on for miles, mostly deserted.

We visited the Frigate bird colony, the largest one in the Eastern Caribbean. The male birds puff out there red chests to attract the females.The babies still have their white fluffy feathers.  

Next stop St. Barths.