January - February 2009
Jammin thru da Leeward Islands-a wild fast ride!
Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Nevis & St Kitts and St. Barths
Dominica is situated between the two French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the fact that they are not part of France is evident immediately. They are poor. Really poor. But they are a lovely people living on a beautiful unspoiled island. After a particularly rough passage for Dreamweaver and WS, we pulled into calm, protected Roseau Bay. Pancho, a boat man, came right out and directed us to one of his moorings. We liked him immediately and so allowed him to tie us up just in front of the Anchorage hotel where we could pick up the internet. He offered to take us to customs, but we independent souls decided to do it on our own; it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked, but we figured it out.
Roseau town has charming old Caribbean houses, many very worn, but some are being ‘fixed up’ (renovations would be stretching it) and colorfully painted, their gingerbread trim repaired and gleaming. Everything we need is here, a marine store to fix things that broke on the last passage, a bakery for Ken’s bread, and a farmers market for fresh produce. Much of the fresh produce for the eastern Caribbean islands is grown here.
I had an opportunity to do what I love to do best, get up early and walk for miles through the small island towns, to see things with fresh eyes and when possible, capture images with my camera. A lovely Botanical Garden is at the edge of the city, and there are several streets heading in each direction. Roseau has three old stone churches, and church bells loudly wake up the town at 6AM on Sunday mornings. Everyone seems to go, and in grand style. The ladies dress to the nines! Many wearing floor length dresses, much like bridesmaids or mother of the bride, with hats to match. As I walked by I could see that each one was filled to capacity with clean well-dressed people. They may not have much money, but they do not use that as an excuse to be unkempt. They are elegant, beautiful and graceful in their Sunday finery.
Pancho was our boatman, and as such, the one to go to for anything and everything we might need, like taxis or a tour…and we get the impression it is very bad form to not use your boatman’s services. Well, it just so happens that both he and his wife, Belgian born Cecilia, are tour guides…and the old family car, a taxi! What a coincidence! The lovely Cecilia took us, along with their 5 year old son, on a tour of the southern part of the island. It’s lush and beautiful, much like St. Lucia and Martinique. We went inland to the Rainforest, visited popular Trafalgar Falls, visited a private waterfall park with bubbling hot sulphur pools, and had lunch overlooking the river and springs. We continued up into the Mourne Trois Pitons National Park and all the way back up to the Fresh Water Crater Lake, which is above the tree line, foggy and cold and quite remote. There are so many hikes one could do with more time; this is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground.
Our next Dominica stop was Portsmouth Town Anchorage. Near the anchorage there are several beach side restaurants and bars. The once popular Purple Turtle is suffering due to the loss of their dock. Portsmouth, like many of the island ports were especially hard hit in October 2008 by Hurricane Omar. Small docks and piers have been washed away and beached ships litter the harbor. It is terrifically expensive to rebuild the docks that are the lifeblood of the small waterfront establishments, there is no government clean up money to loan, and heck they don’t even have the money to remove the ship wrecks. We hope a salvage company steps up soon.
Martin, aka the water taxi “Providence” was our boatman here. He set us up with a mooring, offered to provide us with anything we needed, took garbage, laundry, etc., and arranged to take us on a tour up the Indian River. He picked us up from our boats very early the next morning, navigated around a huge wrecked freighter that almost completely blocks the entrance to the river. We were the first ones out that day, and it was still and perfect. We wove our way through the tree canopied shady river, Martin pointed out the spooky, swamp buttressed bloodwood trees, exotic birds, blue crabs and other flora and fauna that we would’ve missed without his skilled eyes. At the head of the river, we hiked up to the waterfalls, it was a good tour, rather similar to the “jungle” dinghy cruises we did in Mexico. Martin dropped us in town to shop, find ATM’s, and have a look around, and then came back for us a few hours later and delivered us back to our boats.
Town isn’t much compared to Roseau, but hey, they had Big Papa’s! It’s not much either, but it does rock out. A medical school, Ross University, is nearby and it attracts many western students, and each Thursday night, they all head to Big Papa’s. They serve dinner upstairs at big funky tables with pretty good BBQ style food, and then quickly the action moves downstairs to an overcrowded beach bar with loud, fun music. Trying to get to the restroom from anywhere is a close encounter of the most intimate kind. Oh my! Age does not matter to these people. Naturally I had to go several times!!!
Guadeloupe
Cruisers like us, who intend to do the whole Eastern Caribbean in one winter and meet friends and family, know that choices must be made. Do we have time to stop at Guadeloupe; the butterfly shaped ‘other’ French territorial island? And if so, where in the butterfly do we want to go? It is divided in two, the east side is Grande Terre, the west, Basse Terre. In the middle is Point a Pitre and for shallow draft boats a chance to sail right through from the south to the north, dissecting the island. That was an option for Dreamweaver and ourselves, but not for the larger Voyager, and they are always there for us. We were all together again, and we know that those “halcyon” days will soon end. Hmmm, we decided we had time for a quick stop, and that Deshaies, a fishing village on the northwest coast was our best bet. It’s another charming island, with more restaurants than anything - also affluent compared to the other islands and quite European. We chose poorly that night, we went for waterfront (why? don’t we get enough living in the water?) ambiance, which with bad food loses its charm, oui? We should have stayed with the ones the Doyle guides suggested - and here is a good time to mention how much we like the Doyle Guides. They are the very best! Informative, well written and complete…when you have a Doyle, you don’t need others. Kudos to you - we wish you had them for all of our travels.
Antigua
We had reservations at the marina in Nelson’s Dockyard, but it took them almost an hour to answer us on the radio, so we just circled around in the narrow passageway - a boat boy from the marina came out and said, “oh yeah mon, hmm, well, sure, let me get someone….” Another hour… finally the manager comes along in a dink and directs us in; it’s stern to, drop the anchor and back in up to a low stone wall. Once in, it was over to customs and immigration, which is conveniently right in the Dockyard. Customs was well …government at work…slowly. They were nice enough, just miserably disinterested in their jobs and customers. We finally got through but only because the soap operas playing in each little cubby hole office finally ended. Seriously, TV was the priority. It also explained the non-existent service at the marina. The Dockyard, and the marina in it, are considered a national park, and therefore employees are also civil “servants” (ever wonder about that term?) …it’s all so clear now. Despite the hurry up and wait nature of our arrival - we were thrilled to be there and ready for all the company we expected.
Our friends Mark and Sue Ohlendorf were on an extensive Princess Cruise and we coordinated a day together to begin in the capital city of St. Johns. We rented a car, right side steering as this was a former English colony, and off we went. We had a great day and somehow traveled the whole island and saw nothing at the same time. Every little road that promised some wonderful sight seemed abandoned. We were frequently lost and laughed a lot. We did find a lovely beachside restaurant near Long Bay for a delicious lunch and visit, and were able to take them down to English Harbor and Nelsons’s Dockyard and to Falmouth next door to see the dozens and dozens of super yachts that were currently moored there. The futuristic looking Maltese Falcon was in!
Our neighbors at Nelson’s were a young couple, Eric and Kristi, on a 43′ Nordhavn “Kosmos”. They are amazing, very bright and enthusiastic, and in the final legs of a two year around the world odyssey. They were here on a stopover to see her visiting father, and then on their way westward, covering some of the territory we just completed, and home to Southern California. They did not have a lot of boating experience, but saw this window of opportunity at this stage of their lives (early 30’s) and prepared brilliantly, trained themselves and once commissioned in Dana Point, California hung a right and out across the Pacific. Eeeek. Rich experiences that I hope Kristi does put in book form. With the right boat, attitude, proper preparations, anything is possible…and yes, they admit to good luck too!
Everyone we met at Nelson’s was interesting, they came and went, and each left a little sunshine. We timed it right and were around for the insane Sunday night at Shirley Heights. Everyone (really) in the area goes up for the music and sunset. There is BBQ for dinner, full bars, and crafters selling their wares, and lots and lots of people dancing and having fun. Big communal picnic tables where groups mingled and conversations took on several directions.
Dottie flew back in and fortunately was on the same flight as Ade’s sister Audrey and hubby Don Hazen who would stay with us for the week. We took another stab at a circle island drive, but this time we were better prepared and checked out resorts, windsurfing beaches, etc. There are several great restaurants just outside the gates of Nelson’s that often have live music. We enjoyed a yummy dinners out at “Abbra’s”, found little Pasta Rite Ya, and Trappas closer to Falmouth. Thursday night it was back for the midweek Shirley Height’s experience, much quieter, but we had to show the others that splendid view. We were looking for more live music with our dinner, and Uncle Don found a local place across from Trappas and was able to talk his way onto the keyboard and offered up a mean rendition of “Johnny be Good”, which the band and female singer caught onto quickly - we got everyone up and dancing- patrons, staff, everyone. What fun. Our newest marina neighbors, two lovely, and up to that point, we thought, proper English couples were there and ROCKED. Told Audrey they thought our party patrol group of 8 was “brilliant,” …hmmm, first time we’ve heard that! One of those nights we will always remember.
Off to harbor hop and find places to snorkel, maybe windsurf and beach comb. We gunk holed all day and finally decided to overnight in Deep Bay on the north west end of the island, just below St. John’s. The shallow wreck of the Andes is there, as well as Ft. Barrington which gave us a chance to do some snorkeling, swimming and hiking and BBQ on deck. We next went into the marina in Jolly Harbor. Ken’s brother Marshall and family had flown in, and soon Don & Audrey would fly out, it’s close to the airport and therefore the ideal place for those situations. We finally found a resort with windsurfing, and wind, so the Hazen’s purchased a Day Pass at neighboring Jolly Beach Resort and spent their last day on island playing tourist, instead of yachtie. We stayed aboard and watched the Obama Inauguration for the morning and then mooched in on them for the afternoon.
Time to move on up island after a really great visit to Antigua. We had a lot of company on Antigua and stayed a few weeks, and we would do so again. I mention this because just after we left there was a tragic murder of a mega yacht Captain right along the walk between Nelson’s Dockyard and Falmouth - the route we walked several times each day and night. It was a purse snatching gone wrong. Despite that, we still think that most Antiguans are wonderful and the island worth a visit, just pay attention the way you would in any city, especially at night and if someone tries to grab your bag - let them have it.
From here, there are many choices. Some backtrack to Montserrat, but she was “erupting” again. Others go to Antigua’s sister island, the remote and pristine Barbuda, but for us - as time was again a factor, that routing would mean missing Nevis and St. Kitts. We have to guard against that “been there done that” attitude which kills the spirit of any adventurer…there is always something unique about another island, or town…but if we try to do them all, we will insure that attitude.
ST. KITTS & NEVIS:
We were on our own in Nevis and it was a frustrating stop. Too many rules, too many ways to break them without even trying. Tie up to a buoy, go in, wait for hours to check in and pay fees for moorings not used - adds up to a $100 stop. Nothing open in Charlestown at all, streets deserted except for insistent taxi drivers. It was a Sunday, and how we keep arriving on Sunday’s is a mystery, it’s never planned, often a factor of weather I guess, but it complicates matters for sure. Decided to just overnight and move onto St. Kitts at first light where it seems it will be a bit more hospitable and have more to offer.
*We did however take a ferry back the following week and had a great day tour of the island when it was “open”. We had a very professional driver-guide, and he filled us in on the local situation. St. Kitts and Nevis, are two islands but one country. St. Kitts built a cruise port and currently all the cruise ships are going there. They also have more resort hotels. Hurricane Omar damaged the resort hotels on Nevis. The Grand Hotel, a very luxe property brought in big spending clients for golf and quiet unspoiled beaches. This property had been the best source of tourists and income for the island has been closed since Omar hit in October, and it looks like it will be down for at least a year. It’s a major blow to the economy and is killing lovely little properties along the coast, like the new Coco Palms, an elegant restaurant and beach club. We told our guide about the frustrations of yachties who are skipping Nevis due to the costly and confusing check in and mooring system. He knows they are over regulated and is trying to convince the government that we boaters are a good source of revenue. There are lovely anchorages north of Charleston, so my advice is, don’t arrive on a Sunday, and plan to stay awhile to amortize the fees…or take a ferry for a day trip!
St. Kitts: St Kitts is great. It’s another drop dead beautiful island, although the anchorage outside of Basseterre is just awful. There is an okay marina at Pt. Zante that they are trying to improve. The Wi-Fi they advertise means than you carry your laptop into the cruise port shopping area and find a curb or bench and steal it from whatever shop is open. Weather dictated a few day stop and it was welcome and wonderful to kind of dig in. We walked all over town, there are a few decent grocery stores (the best one is about a mile out of town), and took another of our all day, circle island tours, again finding probably the worst van and craziest driver - we sure have had some doozies, but they are always memorable characters. This one ended up stealing a baby goat from a herd as we were coming back from Cockleshell Bay. Dottie and I hope that he will raise it for milk, but Ade thinks he’s dinner.
Ken, still on his quest to find the best rum in the Caribbean asked about St. Kittian Rum - Tony, our driver proceeded to pull over to a small neighborhood rum bar along the road. This was definitely a local place, and we all bravely took our shots, deciding that we wanted none of it- shutter. There are little townships all along the coast with funny names like Old Road Town, Bloody Point, Newton Ground. Everyone knows everyone else and it’s very political. You are born into a political party. If your parents were…say, “New Socialists for a Democratic Society” (I made that name up, but they sound like that, you have no clue what they really stand for), then you are too. Jobs are doled out based on who is in power and you are lucky if you belong to that party. It’s really almost tribal and with serious consequences. The people however are all very polite and well mannered, and speak with beautiful Queens English accents and very little of the Rasta sing song we’ve become used to. We met a lovely older dignified black man, and learned that he was a UCLA graduate, from the 1940’s. He and Ade compared notes and were delighted to meet another Bruin.
There are many Anglo’s who have lived there for generations, in fact, the sugar industry was initially run by Irish indentured servants, and it was the Sephardic Jews from Brazil who brought the secret process of crystallizing sugar, which was necessary for shipping, to the island. The islands finally had a valuable export and no longer needed to try and compete with the South for tobacco production. Then of course there are those whites who never left once the island won its independence from England. We took a cooking class from American sisters who have lived there for decades and who were restaurant owners. They said that many of the recipes originally came from the rather boring Irish and English dishes, and then adapted by the African slaves using local ingredients. Where the English had four ingredients, they now have 12. Look for a weekly special “Goat Water”. Sounds terrible, but it’s really an adapted Lamb Stew using Goat…and God only knows what else. Tasty.
Needless to say, the restaurants are plentiful and good. In town we enjoyed “Stone Walls” and “Ballahoo”, and out on the SE peninsula, where there is a good anchorage, Reggae Beach Bar & Grill is great. But it is on, or near Frigate Bay that you will find an endless variety of restaurants. For fun however, you really must try Mr. X’s Shiggidy Shack for a Thursday night Jump Up. Delicious lobster and ribs, a live band and a huge bonfire draw tourists from the posh resorts, locals, yachties and rummies.
SABA/Statia: We’d stopped there on a charter back in the 80’s, so we skipped it this time, but Dottie and Ken made it over and loved the diving.
St.Barthelemy (aka St. Barts or St. Barth’s)
Gustavia, St. Barts: Oooo, lala! Well, this is just beautiful. We tried to tie up inside the harbor, but it was not to be. It’s stern to the wall and outside where they had a spot for us but it was crazy with wakes and just not a nice ride, so after two hours, we hightailed it out to the anchorage where the others were, settled our tummies and dropped the dink. Good choice. It was fun watching mega yachts, little boats and people in the anchorage. We checked in which is convenient and friendly. It is a French Island, but a free port like St.Martin. Euros are the currency, and French is the official language, but English is spoken everywhere.
It had been many years since our last visit and it was a brief one, so it was with new eyes that we explored. Casual Elegant…that fits it. Even the shabby places…and people, are shabby chic. It’s a small town you get to know quickly, but still there is something new that catches your eye when you walk down a now familiar street. I loved it. We went to ‘Eddie’s’ for dinner the first night and it was as good as the Doyle Guide said. We of course sat outside at ‘Le Select’ a few times, trying to act casual and spot celebrities. The people watching was phenomenal. Beautifully clad Europeans were plentiful, but then you’d spot something…or one, amiss. There she was, an older women with Marge Simpson hair, an all white linen outfit, large Olsen twins sunglasses, a huge Kate Spade colorful bag and then hot pink plastic CROCS…it’s just not right. We only hope she wasn’t American.
We usually parked the dink at ‘Le Marine’ on the SW side of the harbor and had lunch a few times, pricey, but good and convenient. The ‘Strand’ has a wonderful location and champagne Lounge. The ‘Wall House’ is also excellent, be sure to make reservations. It would take weeks to try all the great restaurants.
We wanted to see the whole island, and the Dobbe’s, who were here with their Catamaran a few years ago, suggested seeing the island via Quads. Dottie had a neck problem and insisted we go on without them, while they continued to explore on foot. The first order of business is to get to the top of the hill and watch the planes land, right over your head. It was a blast. Up and down the steep hills to the beaches we went. We stopped at posh ‘Nikki Beach’ at Baie St. Jean on the NE side and considered having lunch-until we looked at the menu, and quickly made the decision for just a little cold beverage. It is a seductive ritzy white oasis with beach beds, filmy white draperies and low sofas and tables, and prices to pay for the spectacular view. Great for date night, but just not where you want to dine after a dirty ride around town on a Quad with outfits to match your ride. We hope others weren’t playing “spot the Yank”. We hit every corner of the island and could easily have lingered at any of them. Ahhh.
I could live on this island, can you tell?
