Happy New Year Everyone!
It is tradition that I share a few of the highlights of the past year with you. Unfortunately we have a few low points to share with you too.
It has certainly been a steep learning curve for us, especially as we decided to ‘follow the path less traveled’ and head down the poorly charted Western Caribbean.
And we were very lucky to have family and friends come out to visit us again.
Let’s start at the beginning
EXUMAS, BAHAMAS
Last year this time we were in the shallow crystal clear waters of the Bahamas.
We followed the ‘well worn’ track of other sailors south along the Exuma chain of islands. Despite being in the ‘back yard’ of the Americans, we found many unspoilt anchorages, good fishing and lobstering, and wonderful sights above and below the water.
It is here we were fortunate enough to have a visit from an old friend from back home in England. Roy had a wonderful holiday with us.
We dropped Roy off in the crazy, crowded anchorage off Georgetown, Great Exuma Cay, and headed south to the rarely visited tiny string of isolated cays known as the Jumento Cays (Ragged Islands).
JUMENTO CAYS (RAGGED ISLANDS)
It was from ‘here on out’ navigation became more challenging. Electronic and paper charts had very little detail of this area. We had to start using a lot more ‘eye ball’ navigation with the assistance of Explorer Chart way points.
It is also where ‘self sufficiency’ became important in our travels. There are few other boats here and only one small town at the end of the string of islands, but the rewards were immense.
We found the little town on the last island, Ragged Island, charming. The people there had been isolated for generations and are the friendliest in the Bahamas. They have little to share, but now have a weekly supply boat bringing in basic foods.
Maxine and her granddaughter on Ragged Island, Jumento Cays,Bahamas
ROUGH RIDE TO CUBA
It was here we got stuck for a while waiting for a weather window to get down to Cuba. We had our hearts set on cutting through the windward passage that separates Cuba from Haiti to get to Cuba’s south coast. In the end we had to beat into the wind and waves to get there. Our roughest passage yet since Northern Europe. We found leaks in the boat we never knew we had.
CUBA
Cuba turned out to be a lot poorer than we had thought. But the people are incredibly proud and friendly. They just wanted to trade for any old electronics, clothes and fishing line.
We wish we could speak Spanish as everyone was so friendly and tried so hard to speak and share with us.
The old cities, old cars and old pass times are preserved here.
Trinidad, Cuba
Santiago de Cuba
There is also plenty of natural beauty. Our favorite string of islands were the Archipiélagode los Canarreos, which includes the terribly touristy but stunning island of Cayo Largo.
It was here we found lobster, as large as the dog, running around on the open sea bottom.
Charts and old guide books were all inaccurate for the areas around this island. Bays have become shallower and coral has grown. Even using the most up-to-date cruising guides and their waypoints we still ran aground, softly thankfully. We knew a few boats that hit coral, not so softly, trying to make night passages. After almost hitting innumerable unlit local fishing boats and an unlit sandbank marker on our first passage that ran into the dark, we made all future passages in light and aimed to get in by the noonish.
MEXICO
After the Jumento Cays and Cuba it was quite a culture shock to be back in ‘the land of plenty’. Our first stop in Mexico was the very touristy island of Isla Mujeres. Bars, restaurants, grocery stores and lots of other cruising boats again. We had not realized how much we had missed them all.
It was here we had our first taste of Mayan ruins with a visit to the archeological site of Tulum. This is known as the first lighthouse and the walled compound was one of the last strongholds of the traditional indigenous people during the Spanish conquest.
MOVING SOUTH
For the rest of our sail south we were very lucky to have Freda Rauscher’s cruising guide, as electronic and paper charts for the Yucatan peninsula and Belize are pretty useless.
Even so, coral does not stop growing, and we needed to be constantly vigil and time our entrances with the noon day sun overhead.
The highlight of this trip was the atolls. A ring of coral that surround groups of tiny islands. There were three atolls and one circular island group along our way south. We just could not resist stopping at them all.
Blanco Chinchorro Atoll, Mexico
BELIZE
It was at these atolls that we finally got to do some diving.
This is the type of diving we thought only possible in the Pacific.
Unfortunately the approach of unsettled weather and the start of hurricane season meant we had to get moving. We had two choices. Head south to Panama, out of the hurricane track, or head inland, up the sheltered waters of the Rio Dulce river of Guatemala.
We opted to go up the Rio Dulce for the summer. We heard that the fruits and vegetables plentiful and cheap, but most of all, the best Mayan ruins in Central America are at your doorstep.
And they were right on both accounts!
GUATEMALA
The canyon entry into the Rio Dulce river is stunning.
It gives you a good entry to the incredible natural beauty of this river so aptly named ‘sweet water’.
There is a lot to explore along the banks of this long river that opens up into two lakes, and we and many other cruisers, felt perfectly safe anchoring up along the way.
The true pearls of Guatemala are inland. Guatemala City is fun, Antigua historic, Lake Atitlan stunning and Tikal awesome. And that is just the big name destinations. We found travel, accommodations and food quite economical, and from here, you can explore Central America as far as your budget can take you.
We did not get ‘that far’ at first. We hung back most of the summer season to work on projects on the boat. Labour is so cheap here, we even splurged and had some fiberglass work done on the decks.
The fellow cruisers and the social activities in the ‘Marina’ district of the river kept us busy between jobs. Acquaintances we made along the way quickly became good friends.
All work and no play makes Cain and April very boring. Luckily friends from England came over to set us straight. Steve and Helen landed in Guatemala with the wheels turning and whisked us off on a mad week of sight-seeing.
It was incredibly fun…..well except the minor fender bender, right at the Marina, that took 3 hours to sort out? That is Central America for you! All’s well that ends well.
We thought we were off to meet family in Roatan, Honduras, for Christmas and the New Year when disaster struck. Cain got ill. This time he did it in style and needed surgery to clear an offal cause of Amebic Dysentery from his system.
He was much too weak at first to do any travelling, so we were very fortunate that family travelled to us instead. We had a great family reunion for the holidays and lots of great adventures together in between.
Just do not mention the bus trip back from Tikal!
Now everyone is going or gone and Cain is regaining his strength.
So we are off too. Our plans have not changed much, but perhaps they we will move a little slower.
We will follow the chain of offshore islands south and probably end up in the San Blas Islands of Panama for a while.
Everyone would like to visit us there, as a yacht is the only way. One brave friend, Steve, has already booked his ticket for March to Panama City.
We will head up to Bocas del Toro, Panama, to lift the boat at some time, but other than that we have no plans for the next year. You will just have to check in and see what we get up to.
It makes a change for us.
We hope desert islands, swimming, snorkeling and good fishing fill our future days this year.
Before I sign off I want to send out a very special thank you to our family and friends, you know who you are. We could not be out doing this without your love, support and helping hands.
We wish you and your families HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND LOVE in the coming year.
Fair winds everyone!
Happy New Year Everyone! 2015
Where did another year go? It all seemed to have happened too quickly.
Where do I start?
Well I guess at the beginning. We decided to head up to the United States for Hurricane Season this year rather than Grenada.
We knew we would miss familiar faces, activities and Carnival, but the boat needed to be lifted out and we needed to find a better dingy and stock back up on spares. So we worked our way north through the Eastern Caribbean up into the Bahamas.
As we moved north through the Caribbean we found that the beaches greatly improved.
No more black volcanic sand or pebbles. We seriously experienced picture perfect coral powder.
With the exception of Puerto Rico.
The rest of the islands changed from richly forested volcanic peaks to lower lying limestone.
With the limestone came sink holes, blue holes, blow holes, tidal pools and caverns to explore as ground water and the sea eroded these islands away into intricate shapes and tunnels.
The clarity of the water improved as we moved north and we experienced some fabulous snorkeling and diving.
Also our fishing luck finally changed a long with our foraging skills.
But the best part of this year has to be family and friends. We were so fortunate this year to make new friends and see so much of the family.
Cain’s parents were so adventurous sailing through the British Virgin Islands with us for 3 weeks. Especially when Patsy is terrified of open water. She was a real trouper. We were very lucky to have them visit us again this year.
April’s sister and family came out and spent some time with us in the American Virgin Islands. The whole family really got into fish identification and underwater photography along with foraging for food. Their enthusiasm and laughter was sorely missed when they left.
April’s brother and family came to visit us in Florida twice. We could not believe what incredible swimmers both the kids were. Although this was a ‘taster’ and they stayed land based, I am sure we will have them off sailing with us soon.
Then we had to split up…over the dog. April stayed behind to mind the dog and work on the boat while Cain headed home to England to see the rest of the family and celebrate his dad’s 80th birthday. His sister and kids were ecstatic to see him and spend some time with him.
I would say April did nothing but work on the boat while Cain was away, but I would be lying. For guess who showed up unannounced. Who else then the famous Auntie Helen. The girls whisked around the area during the day and relaxed to a BBQ and backgammon most nights.
Then came a long hot summer of both of us working hard on the boat. Now that we were in ‘the land of plenty’ we could get anything we needed. And we did. We spent far too much time and money on the boat and in the end we had to leave to avoid buying anything else.
So it was Christmas and New Years in the Bahamas. Back to the easy life.
Although family and friends were the highlight of this year, there were some great adventures we went on.
Finding that sink hole in the middle of the scrubland of Barbuda was incredible.
The full moon party at Beef Island, BVIs just cannot be beat.
Do not forget that crazy beach at the end of an airport runway in Sint Martin.
The BVI’s surprised us with the boulder labyrinth on Virgin Gorda and some great diving.
The snorkeling on the north west side of St.Johns, in the USVIs, was only made better because we were able to do it with family.
And we cannot rave enough about the Bahamas. This cruising ground is bigger than the whole Eastern Caribbean and it beats it hands down. Incredible beaches, blue holes, snorkeling and fishing are just a few of its assets.
And, although it is on the Americans door step, we have been able to have many anchorages to ourselves.
We have found some great caves, tidal pools and blow holes that are barely mentioned in passing in any tour books. We are making our way down the ‘busiest’ part of the Exumas and we can still find space all our own.
Did I mention the good fishing?
Plans for the New Year.
Well this year looks like a year of friends. We have Roy coming from England to visit us in the Bahamas for January and Steve and Shen also coming out from England to visit us in Cuba in March. Then I suppose we will wander over to the Western Caribbean and Central America. Visit the reefs off Belize and the Mayan ruins in Guatemala. We will probably end up in the River Rio Dulce, Guatemala for Hurricane Season or head south to the Sand Blas Islands, we are still undecided.
I guess we will see how the winds blow, because we all know that is what drives this boat and moves us on to new and exciting adventures. We are glad that we can bring you along with us.
Happy Sailing through life to you all.
Happy New Year Everyone! 2014
Can you believe another year has passed.
A lot has happened in a year. We have crossed the Atlantic and spent our first season in the Caribbean.
If fact we left England from Falmouth Harbour and are now in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua for New Years.
I thought I would share with you some of the highlights of the past year.
Of course it all started with the human’s deciding to drag me clear across the Atlantic.
The crossing was not uneventful.
But the highlight was the visit by Whales and Dolphins.
I was very pleased, after 21 days at sea, to finally make landfall in Martinique.
The Atlantic Crossing was an incredible feat, but we now hoped to have many adventures in the Caribbean.
The first thing the humans had to learn was to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the sunsets.
The next thing, if you are on a budget, is to learn about the local fruits and vegetables.
But though it all we were lucky to have family and friends to share it with.
Every ones words of encouragement kept us going and keeping up with ‘The Blog’.
We even had a few visitor fly out.
We feel very fortunate to have been able to experience the wonders of the South Eastern Caribbean.
So, with that in mind, I wish you all the best for the New Year and hope you know you are always in our thoughts.