Photo Gallery of the Caribbean Leeward Islands,
12/20/06-02/10/07
Click on the thumbnails below to see an enlargement.
St. Maarten for Christmas and New Year's
Since we
couldn't be with family for the holidays, we were happy to be among
friends from the Caribbean 1500 rally in St. Maarten. These first four
photos were taken by Mark of Little Hawk.
We crossed the
Anegada Passage from Virgin Gorda with Mark and Adriana on Little Hawk,
a 29' Bristol Channel Cutter and the smallest boat to participate in the
Caribbean 1500 Rally.
While waiting
for the bridge to open for Simpson Bay Lagoon, we gawked at some of the
megayachts in the area, including Maltese Falcon which was recently
written up in this month's Cruising World magazine.
We entered the
lagoon in front of these yachts while our friends on Destiny and Little
Hawk cheered us on from the deck of the St. Maarten Yacht Club where
everyone gathers to watch the parade of boats when the bridge opens.
St. Maarten is
megayacht central.
Arriving in St.
Maarten at dawn behind two huge cruise ships, including a Disney theme
cruise. Lisa spent part of the day at anchor listening to Disney
characters over their loudspeakers and wondering whether she was in
Orlando by mistake.
We were treated
to a beautiful rainbow shortly after arriving in St. Maarten.
David steers
the dinghy for an outing to Marigot on the French side of St. Maarten.
In Marigot, we
wandered the quaint village and then enjoyed French cuisine with friends
at the Tropicana.
Lisa indulged
in profiteroles with a large dousing of chocolate sauce.
On Christmas
eve, we joined friends from four other boats in the Caribbean 1500 aboard Destiny
for an evening of rum punch and lively stories about the passage from the
Chesapeake Bay.
Since we were
all tied to the same dock at Simpson Bay Marina, no one had far to go and
the stories and laughs carried on into the evening.
We didn't do
much in the way of gift giving at Christmas, but we did take advantage of
the duty free shopping in Phillipsburg to replace our broken digital
camera which Lisa "wrapped" in a gift bag she saved from last
year.
Lisa made a
tropical fruit salad from a recipe she found on a postcard. With
mango, papaya, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, passion fruit and star
fruit, how could you go wrong? The nearby Grand Marche supermarket
even had fresh mint leaves for garnish!
The crews of Destiny,
Little Hawk and Gyatso joined together for Christmas dinner
on Destiny (photo by Mark at left) and New Year's dinner on Gyatso.
L to R: Mark, Lisa, Donna, Don, Adriana and David.
A beautiful bay
and anchorage on St. Maarten that we visited by land rather than by sea.
The
southeastern end of St. Maarten, just outside of Phillipsburg.
The east coast
of St. Maarten is rocky and rough, especially when a northeast swell is
running.
David waits for
his BBQ chicken lunch at a snack bar on the beach in St. Maarten while we
take a break from a driving tour around the island.
St. Kitts and Nevis
We had good
winds and a quick passage to St. Kitts and Nevis, but only spent one night
on St. Kitts, preferring the quieter and more rural setting of Nevis
instead.
One of the main
reasons for visiting Nevis was to visit Alexander Hamilton's
birthplace. A small museum operates out of this building on the site
of his boyhood home.
Rinky, our
small inflatable dinghy, pulled up on the beach near the Four Seasons
Resort on Nevis.
We shared the
anchorage with a few of the megayachts that we saw in St. Maarten,
including one with its own helicopter!
During the day,
the volcanic peak was almost always shrouded in clouds. At night, we
slept to the sound of singing tree frogs.
Guadeloupe
Deshaies,
Guadeloupe, is also on the short list of our favorite places in the
Caribbean.
The sleepy
little town holds lots of charm and the harbor provides a relatively
protected anchorage, although in fairly deep water.
The dinghy dock
in Deshaies, Guadeloupe is the perfect gateway into the wonderful French
islands of the Caribbean.
This
boulangerie and patisserie, just steps away from the dinghy dock, is the
place to be in the morning.
We rented a car
to visit other parts of Guadeloupe, including this small town on the
windward side.
Some attempts
are being made to restore old structures, but there was not always a lot
of interpretive information available in the smaller towns.
We made the
requisite visit to a rum distillery which offered a free tasting and an
interesting tour of the colorful facility.
David
supervises quality control at the rum distillery.
David tries the
Domaine de Severin rum with lunch at their distillery later in the day.
Lisa was
drooling while taking this photo of the lunch special she ordered.
Gyatso tied
stern-to at Marina bas-du-Forte in Guadeloupe, our second time using the
Med mooring system. Lisa is very thankful for the inflatable tenders
that help you pick up the mooring and back into the slip without mishap.
The visitor's
dock included big racing trimarans, including Capgemini. In
the evenings, people were allowed inside the security gate for a stroll on
the docks and to gawk at the visiting yachts.
After leaving
the marina, we sailed to Les Saintes, a group of small islands on the way
to Dominica.
We enjoyed
walking up to Fort Montgomery overlooking the Bourg des
Saintes anchorage and found the
property in very good condition with interesting exhibits.
A church in Bourg des
Saintes, Guadeloupe.
Sunday means
traditional boat racing in Bourg des
Saintes.
David was
intrigued by the green iguanas we found while walking in Les Saintes.
They were not shy to have their photograph taken as long as they could
continue basking in the sun, and you kept your distance.
This iguana was
a bit more shy and worked hard to blend in with its surroundings.
We spent more
time than planned in Guadeloupe -- 26 days in all -- and enjoyed every
minute of it.
Another
dramatic sunset as a frontal system moves in. We spent the next few
days at an anchorage about a mile from here while waiting for the weather
to improve. We enjoyed the time with new friends on boats from
Switzerland and Austria who helped cultivate our ideas of sailing to
Europe someday.
Dominica
A guided trip
up the Indian River is a right of passage for most cruisers visiting
Portsmouth, Dominica. On a misty morning, we had the river to
ourselves with our guide "Friday" until the return trip when it
started to rain, and we encountered passengers from a small cruise ship.
The lush
floodplain of the Indian River stood in contrast to other parts of the
Eastern Caribbean.
The gnarled
roots of a tree along the Indian River in Dominica.
David ducks to
avoid a branch while Friday negotiates the quiet water of the Indian River
during a morning tour.
The shoreline
in Portsmouth, Dominica, is littered with wrecks from hurricanes.
View from the
northern end of Dominica during a driving tour we took of the island.
The same view
from sea level.
Several
beautiful beaches but no protected anchorages can be found on the
northeast side (windward side) of Dominica.
David hikes
with our guide in one of the national parks on Dominica.
Lisa admires
Emerald Falls on Dominica, but decides against taking a swim even though
it is supposed to be good for you. According to local lore, the
water has special qualities which extend your life.
"Adventure"
cruise ship tourists admire a rock lobster in front of Big Papa's
Restaurant in Dominica.
Our Domincan
guide, Friday, took us on an awesome snorkel trip to a rock wall in the
national park on the west side of Dominica. The sheer cliff dropped
off into the deep blue depths.
Friday drifted
along in a skiff while we snorkeled. The current carried us along
the rocky shore.
We gained a
better appreciation for our guide's TGIF motto as we grew tired during our
snorkel trip. He was there with the skiff for which we exclaimed,
"Thank god, its Friday!
