A Special Island: Dominica and Sexy Bones

 Portsmouth, Dominica.  Our favorite nature island in the Caribbean and yes, it rains a lot here!

 Walking around town in Portsmouth, Dominica.  Anyone need a toilet?

Hurricane Maria damage in Portsmouth, Dominica.

The hospital in Portsmouth, Dominica.  Notice the blown out windows.  Yes the hospital is still functional but the conditions are not very good.

Metal building peeled back during hurricane Maria.

This home across from the hospital still has a person living inside.  Incredible.

Market day in downtown Portsmouth, Dominica

The Kalinago Reservation on the Eastern side of Dominica.  This is how you get drinking water.

 Our tour guide Winston standing in front of the barrel he spend 5 hours hiding in during hurricane Maria.  The barrel saved his life.

Dropping our supplies of roofing screws, nails, tarps and kitchen goodies off at the Kalinago Reservation on Dominica.

Sexy Bones house, or what is left of his house after hurricane Maria.

Sexy Bones house showing the inside.  A little paint and maybe some nails might help?  Maybe not.

 Sexy Bones x-sister-in-law on the Kalinago Reservation.  I thought she might like to have a couple books...

Portsmouth PAYS Sunday night BBQ with fish and chicken on the grill.  You gotta have something to drink (Carib beer of course) while you are cooking!

Bounty, one of the PAYS boat boys in Portsmouth with Dawn (Cat Tales) and Maria at the BBQ

Sara and Norm from SV Norsa at the BBQ in Portsmouth, Dominica.  We last saw them in Tahiti when they were with us in the Blue Water Rally and wisely left the Rally.

Rainbows herald a new beginning, hope for the future and special times amongst the beautiful islands in the Caribbean Sea.

S/Y Aspen – February 20, 2018 – Log #156
Aspen Position: 15 degrees 34’ N  061 degrees 27’ W
Portsmouth, Dominica, Caribbean

The tooth saga has ended.  After seeing a French dentist who took nearly a dozen x-rays and poked and probed Captain Steve’s mouth for over an hour, he found nothing wrong except an infected gum.  Fantastic!  The tiny tools, antiseptic mouthwash and advice took care of the problem in a week.  The total cost?  Less than $50.

So it was off to Dominica we sailed, along with 25 other boats that were heading in the same direction!  Wow, what a pounding we took sailing between Martinique and Dominica.  8-10 foot Atlantic rollers shook Aspen while Admiral Maria tried to calm herself by watching the Devil Wears Prada for the five hundredth time on the DVD player.  The wind was blowing up to 25 knots so that made the trip even more rough.

Yet Portsmouth, Dominica was calling us to visit, after category 5 hurricane Maria destroyed nearly everything on the island.  Our friends needed help so it was well worth the effort to visit them.

Unlike Puerto Rico, the USVI, BVI’s and St. Maarten who were also destroyed by hurricanes this fall, Dominica has no big country to support them.  The USA helps Puerto Rico and the USVI.  England helps the BVI’s while France and Holland help St. Martin/St. Maarten.  Dominica is the poorest island in the Eastern Caribbean with only their neighboring islands to help them.

Caribbean sailors have always remained loyal to enchanting Dominica and this season was no different.  We rallied to help out as much as we can.  Roofing screws, food, ropes, tarps, you name it and sailors have arrived to do anything and everything we can for our friends in Portsmouth, Dominica.

The boat boys always take care of visiting sailors in the bay and now it was our turn to help them.  Unlike the damaged islands to the north, Portsmouth harbour is a beehive of activity with over 65 sailboats anchored for Cruisers Appreciation Week, willing to help in any way possible.

After many supplies were distributed, the sailors gave what is needed most to Portsmouth:  Money!  We spend currency on tours, food, rum, beer, in the restaurants and little bars, etc.  How about the little boy or girl selling a trinket on the street?  Sure, we’ll buy what they have but please keep the neckless or whatever they have for the next sailor walking by.

We took a tour with 3 other couples to the eastern side of the island; the Kalinago (Carib Indian) Reservation.  We thought the damage on the Portsmouth side of the island was bad.  Yet on the remote eastern coast of Dominica nearly every house or structure was heavily damaged.  Roofs are nonexistent, walls have been blown apart and the people are living in desperate conditions.

We had our tour van loaded with many supplies to help the Kalinago as much as we could.  Once the supplies were dropped off on the reservation, Captain Steve’s quest began:  Where was Sexy Bones?  (Sexy Bones is Captain Steve’s Kalinago friend/Shaman whom he wrote about in his book, if you remember)

Sexy Bones house was destroyed.  Several neighbors offered differing stories of where Sexy Bones might be.  We pursued each lead, eventually finding Sexy Bones x-sister-in-law who had the most recent information on his whereabouts.  Sexy Bones was somewhere in the bush, she explained.  He had been in the bush since the hurricane but came out when he needed to.  But not today it seemed.  Oh well, another time Captain Steve will catch up with Sexy Bones again and it will seem like old times.

Despite the hurricane damage and life changing events, the boat boys (officially knows as PAYS) hosted their weekly BBQ for sailors.  Nearly 120 sailors showed up to enjoy a chicken or fish supper with unlimited rum punch, along with welcoming speeches by government officials and dancing under the stars until the wee hours.  It just doesn’t get any better in the Caribbean than that.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Still in Martinique?

 Here is a picture of Maria at the dentist’s front door, waiting for him to return from lunch.  I believe the dentist’s office is also home to a hypnotist, as you can see.  Hmmmm.

 A hike on the wild side of Martinique's windy east coast.

 Our small hiking group of sailors on Martinique.

 Crossing a river along the route.  Luckily Maria didn't have to swim!

 Visiting the Clement rum distillery

The various rums that Clement produces.  Of course it is necessary to sample each one!

 Chateau Aubrey on Martinique.  This was supposedly owned by Lord Byron.

Steps up to the Chateau.  It was very eerie inside with crumbling ceilings and floors to avoid.  What a majestic place this must have been, back in the day.

Maria waiting for the bus in St. Anne, Martinique

 Aspen's anchorage in St. Anne, Martinique.  Diamond Rock is in the distance on the left while the coast of Martinique is in the middle and on the right.

The dinghy dock in St. Anne, Martinique.  This is where we put our dinghy when we go ashore.

Another hiking grou of friends in Martinique.  It was a beach hike as you can see.  We were waiting for noon when the restaurant would open!

Sunshine and water in St. Anne, Martinique.

The view from Aspen of our neighbors in St. Anne, Martinique.

Petit Anse d'Arlet, Martinique.  A fishing village along the west coast of Martinique where we anchored for a change.


S/Y Aspen – February 3, 2018 – Log #155
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 25’ N  060 degrees 53’ W
Ste. Anne, Martinique, Caribbean

Almost 2 months later, yes we are still in Martinique.  It is difficult to let go of the French wines, baguettes, cheeses and fantastic reasonably priced restaurants in this special place, deep in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean.  So why not just enjoy it?

Many of our sailor friends are here with us and that lends a daily air of partying to the whole experience.  Hiking, sunset happy hours, beach picnics, a wee bit of Rum and great conversations are part of the sailing experience.

Well we did make two trips to the neighboring island of St. Lucia to get a few parts, or at least tried to get boat parts.  Captain Steve managed to spin the propeller on the dinghy outboard engine (he ran over a submerged rope).  So we needed a new propeller.  There were none in Martinique but St. Lucia said they had one, after a telephone call.  Well it turns out they really didn’t have a replacement propeller, once we made the sail over to that island.  Geeze.  It must have been a “mis-communication”, or so they thought.

We also had to find a dentist in Martinique yesterday.  Captain Steve’s tooth has been bothering him for about a month and after snorkeling it became more painful.  So off on a hike to the dentist we go.  Once we located a dentist about a mile away, we waited for him to show up at 3 pm, after he took a 3 hour lunch it seemed.  Unfortunately he didn’t speak English but agreed to take a look at the troublesome tooth.

Luckily the dentist’s next patient spoke English so that helped things as the waiting patient translated for the French dentist.  After poking around and pounding on the offending tooth it was determined that there might be a cavity under a crown but the dentist did not have the proper equipment to proceed any further.  Hmmmm.

So now we have antibiotics and pain pills to take care of the problem until we fly back to Colorado in the spring.  Let’s hope it works.

Just more adventures in the tropical Caribbean!

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Christmas in the Caribbean

 My friend Brent Weigner at the finish of a 38 mile trail race on Martinique.  I paced him the last 5 miles so I had an easy run, as opposed to his great feat.  The race was Brent's 149th country in which he has run a marathon or longer distance.  Oh yes, Brent holds the world record for number of countries!

The view of Ste. Anne, Martinique from high up on Aspen's mast.

The muscle to winch me up the mast was provided by Laurie (of catamaran Cat Tales fame).  Maria just supervised the heavy lift!

Another aerial picture of the anchorage at Ste. Anne, Martinique from Aspen's mast.

Sailing past the infamous HMS Diamond Rock on Martinique

The rainbows on the flower island of Martinique are so vivid!

Maria admiring the Mini-Transat boats in Le Marin, Martinique.  These 20 foot boats raced across the Atlantic Ocean from France to Le Marin, Martinique - all single handed!

Captain Steve deep into fixing the head (toilet) on Aspen.  What a mess!

A Friend of Denis (FOD) meeting on Aspen with our friends (L-R Steve, Dawn-Cat Tales, Brian-Peace&Plenty, Laurie-Cat Tales, Lorna-Peace&Plenty, and Admiral Maria).  Denis was our weatherman for many sailing seasons in the Caribbean before he sold his boat this year, of all things. 

Admiral Maria with our new batteries and the old batteries still needing to be lifted out from that little space on the left (at 70 pounds EACH)!

Our friends Katrin and Steve on Dorado in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  We sailed around the world with them and haven't seen them since 2011.


S/Y Aspen – December 21, 2017 – Log #154
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 25’ N  060 degrees 53’ W
Ste. Anne, Martinique, Caribbean

Yes, it is that festive time of year in the Caribbean where rainbow colors paint the morning sky above our anchored sailboat Aspen in French Martinique.

Holiday hams are plentiful in the supermarkets, along with pate, cheese, baguettes, French wines and of course rum.

And then there is the music!  Christmas songs from days past are played everywhere in villages and towns on this flower island while children wait for the beginning of their school holidays to celebrate the coming of Santa Claus.

Santa might have a very deep tan and be dressed a little different by wearing flip flops and a Rasta hat but the message is still the same.  It is definitely Christmas time in da islands!

These sailors on Aspen spend their Christmas
in the harbor on the hook
Ste Anne is hot and sunny so no work today,
Let’s shelve the old logbook

The mast and shrouds are filled with lights
‘Neath the waning of the moon
There is an air of celebration within the realm of King Neptune

Christmas is a time that’s filled with music, rum and cheer
The waterfront is reveling - the season has begun
These sailors spend their Christmas in a harbor having fun!

The continents keep drifting but the children sing and play
‘Cause nothing really matters, after all it’s almost Christmas Day
(with apologies to Jimmy…)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our friends, wherever they may be!!

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com

French Wine and Cheeses

Mount Pelee on Martinique with a rare cloudless summit.

Maria enjoying a Coka light in Martinique by the beach

Grand Anse d'Arlet, Martinique with Aspen in the field of anchored boats

Some beach scenes from Martinique.  The sailboat in the last picture was beached during a storm.  So sad...


S/Y Aspen – December 6, 2017 – Log #153
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 25’ N  060 degrees 53’ W
St. Anne, Martinique, Caribbean

The flower island of Martinique, oh la la!  In the Caribbean it doesn’t get much better than this for French wine, cheeses, beaches and French culture.  Oh yes, there are also lots of boat part stores here (chandleries) to fix what happens to be wrong with anyone’s boat.

What?  It isn’t all about swimming in the warm Caribbean Sea, sitting on white sand beaches sipping rum punches, peacefully sailing amongst the little islands in the sun or having BBQ’s amongst the anchored boats in a peaceful secluded bay?

Well sure, that happens but there is also the OTHER part of sailing we don’t talk about very often:  Fixing one’s boat in exotic places.

The Admiral and I arrived in Le Marin, Martinique and decided to kick back and relax, as usual.  Well, Aspen had other plans for us.  One thing after another needed attention on our sailboat.  Here is the list of things we did the first week in Martinique:

1.  Installed a new Rocna anchor while floating around – that was a challenge to say the least since Maria had to skillfully steer Aspen amongst the anchored fleet of boats as Captain Steve hung his body over the front of Aspen while hanging onto 55 pounds of anchor, with one hand, and trying to attach the chain to it without dumping the new anchor into the bay and losing it forever.
2.  Got the water maker running again – Captain Steve had to dive underneath Aspen and find what was causing a shortage of water problem.  The water intake opening was entirely plugged, for some odd reason, with a white substance.  Many ‘hold your breath for a long time’ dives later, we had water flowing into the water maker and it began working.
3.  Changed the third head hose (bathroom plumbing) that we have been dreading for 5 years.  The Captain had already changed the other two hoses but this one is the worst you could imagine.  The hose was completely blocked with calcium carbonate.  The problem was to figure out how to get to the hidden hose deep inside the belly of Aspen and it was a royal pain.  I had to cut the head sink cabinet floor with a reciprocating saw I happened to bring down with me this season.  Without that I would have been hosed (don’t you like the pun???).  I also had to avoid cutting into the hull and sinking us – it was that bad.  5 hours later we had a functioning head again!  Maria is really happy about that.
4.  Our onboard batteries that supply electricity on Aspen for things such as lights, fans, and everything you can think of, decided they had worked long enough (2 seasons) so it was time to get four new ones.  Hauling 300 pounds of batteries from the town in our trusty dinghy and heaving the batteries onto Aspen worked up quite a sweat, as you might imagine in the tropical sun.  After installing the new batteries, the old batteries (another 300 pounds) had to be hauled to the garbage area for a proper burial. 
5.  Captain Steve found his cherry beer at the great French supermarket so now he can drink a complete beer while Admiral Maria sips her very reasonably priced rose French wine from the south of France.  Now that is what Caribbean sailing is all about!

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com

Another Day in the Caribbean; Onboard Aspen

 

Friends Vicki and Suzanne from Colorado came to have dinner with us in Antigua.  It was great fun seeing them!

Deshais, Guadeloupe after the torrential tropical downpour.  It is a river of debris and mud in the harbor!

Just another great sunset over the Caribbean Sea in Guadeloupe.

Iles des Saints, Guadeloupe sitting at our favorite French pizza place along the main street.  What traffic?

Jolly Harbour Marina dock and Aspen is very lonely sitting by herself.  It is low season so not many boats have been launched yet.

North Sound Marina, Antigua where the hurricane damaged boats from St. Maarten and the BVI's have come to rest.  So sad.

The barge Marilyn Monroe was the transport for all the damaged sailboats and masts from the hurricane damaged boats.

This is what happens to a boat sitting at the bottom in Oyster Pond, St. Martin looks like.  Ugggg!

Guadeloupe is on the horizon!

 Pretty view of Iles des Saint, Guadeloupe and the red roofs of the main town.

Scenic waterfront of Deshais, Guadeloupe with one of the rare mooring balls being used!

 

Maria getting caught up on news with a WIFI connection in the Saints.

 The best beach in Iles des Saints.  It is getting cleaned up after hurricane damage by the French military who are camped behind the beach.  Now that must be a tough assignment!

Toes in the sand in Iles des Saints

Dominica, our favorite island in the Caribbean was hit by category 5 hurricane Maria and the lush vegetation was laid bare, as you can see.  Landslide scars litter the hillsides that have never been seen before because of all the trees that used to cover the slopes. 


S/Y Aspen – November 26, 2017 – Log #152
Aspen Position: 14 degrees 27’ N  060 degrees 52’ W
Le Marin, Martinique, Caribbean

Leaving Antigua we had a no-wind motorsail to Deshais, Guadeloupe where we got very lucky in finding a vacant free mooring ball on our arrival.  Finding a mooring in the bay is never easy but since it is so early in the sailing season, several mooring balls were empty so we grabbed one.  Anchoring in Deshais is usually a challenge because the bottom is poor holding and boats drag into one another all the time.  At least on a mooring we should stay in one place as Aspen does circles around the ball with the constant winds shifts at Deshais.

Just as we arrived in Deshais, the heavens opened up and a monster tropical deluge engulfed the anchored boats for three straight hours.  The rain was so heavy it filled the streams that empty into the bay and brought large trees in a tidal bore that engulfed Aspen and everyone else in the anchorage.  The pretty blue water turned a sad shade of black from all the sediment carried by the rivers into our bay.

Because of all the debris and mud, we decided to stay on Aspen and not go ashore until the next day!

Of course the next day was a Sunday and nearly everything in town was closed except a few restaurants.  Customs was supposed to be closed but was open for about an hour, enabling us to check into Guadeloupe.  The owner was using his wifi to update his computer operating system and the computer had locked up, much to his dismay.  So just as we finished checking in, the owner locked his door and went home.

Our next stop in Guadeloupe was Iles des Saints - a spectacular little group of islands that belong to Guadeloupe.  The French love to vacation in the Saints and we joined them of course.

While anchored in Iles des Saints we tried to get our trusty water maker working.  Well that was a complete failure.  No amount of coaxing by Captain Steve persuaded the non-functional machine to give up a drop of water.  So Admiral Maria took over and wasn’t as nice with her fury aimed at the dead piece of steel.

So, we can’t make water and that is a problem as you might guess.  Luckily we found out that water can be purchased at the main dock:  1 Euro for 100 liters (26 gallons).  What a deal!

The only problem is that you can either bring your nice boat against the gooey black rubber tires and fenders on the big dock and be bashed by the constant swell or put the water into your 5 gallon jugs and dinghy the containers back and forth between the dock and Aspen.

Well, there was one other problem.  Aspen only has 1-five gallon container for water (who would think our water maker would quit???).  And we needed a lot of water.

Luckily we met another Island Packet sailboat in the bay who was on a mooring ball right beside us and the owner, Skip, offered us his 3 - jerry jugs to use.  Instead of 15 trips back and forth to the water tap on the main dock, we only needed 4 round trips with our dinghy.

Admiral Maria and Captain Steve loaded 600 pounds of water into Aspen’s tank over the course of 2 hours.  What a job that was!

Once Aspen’s water tank was full we needed a beach break.  The best beach on the island was a 20 minute walk away so off we went to lie in the sand and enjoy the warm Caribbean Sea and abundant sunshine.  Isn’t that was sailing is all about?

With a full water tank we sailed south to Portsmouth, Dominica.  As many of you recall, Dominica was destroyed by hurricane Maria in September of this year (2017).  The category 5 hurricane had a bullseye at the center of pretty Dominica and the destruction was complete.

We wanted to stop at our favorite island to at least tell our local friends we were thinking of them and would return later in this sailing season, once the area is ready for visitors.  It was a great sight, seeing Lawrence of Arabia in his little boat as he came motoring up to us to say Hi.

Lawrence talked about the hurricane and the area’s clean up and how everyone was coping with no electricity since September.  Most houses suffered severe damage and are slowly getting put back together.  In the words of Lawrence, “we will be back as we were, just slowly though.”

We weren’t able to visit the Kalinago Reservation (Carib Indian Reservation) on the other side of the island to see how Sexy Bones was doing.  As resourceful as he is, we are certain he is still tending his vegetable and herb garden while enjoying life!

With only a short visit to Dominica we headed south again and made landfall in St. Pierre, Martinique where there was no hurricane damage this season.  But more on Martinique will be the next chapter in this journey on Aspen.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com

Where we left off in April…

Aspen at Jolly Harbour Boatyard, Antigua - ready to go into the water!

Aspen behind our rented condo at Jolly Harbour , Antigua - no sails or anything else has been put on her yet.  So much work ahead of us...

 Two days later and Aspen still behind the condo at Jolly Harbour, Antigua.  Now everything is fitted again and she is ready for sea and another sailing season in the warm Caribbean Sea.  What a view we have as well!


S/Y Aspen – November 14, 2017 – Log #151
Aspen Position: 17 degrees 03’ N  061 degrees 52’ W
Jolly Harbour, Antigua, Caribbean

Well, how about that?  It is already the next sailing season for Aspen!  How fast time flies, or so it seems.

Aspen survived a category 5 hurricane at Jolly Harbour boatyard in Antigua.  WOW.  Hurricanes don’t get any stronger than category 5.  The eye of hurricane Irma with 220 mph gusts pummeled Antigua’s sister island of Barbuda, completely and absolutely destroying everything on the island.  Antigua is a mere 25 miles away from Barbuda with the massive eye wall of hurricane Irma measured at a diameter of 40 miles.  Antigua took a solid hit from hurricane Irma as well.

News reports from Barbuda told of total destruction while the reports from Antigua seemed surprisingly positive.  “Not much damage in Antigua”, the local broadcasters said solemnly on the TV station being broadcast live via our internet connection as Irma churned murderously right next to Aspen sitting patiently in Jolly Harbour, Antigua.

As our airport taxi dropped Maria and I off at the boatyard, we looked in wonder at pretty Aspen sitting just as we left her in April.  What a glorious sight!!!

We scampered onboard Aspen and noticed lots of dirt and pieces of gravel littering her decks, blown in from the surrounding hills.  Those fantastic hills provided the protection Aspen needed in order to survive the monster hurricane Irma.

The boatyard manager was surprised when I reminded him we were putting Aspen into the water in two days.  “What?” the manager said.  “Don’t you want to paint the bottom and work on your boat?”

I reminded the manager we did all of our boat work prior to leaving in April, allowing us to get Aspen floating as soon as possible and out of the dreaded dirty boatyard.

Aspen was launched last Thursday, on island time of course.  Once in the water, Maria and I motored 1 minute, around the corner to a dock located right behind a condo we rented for the week.

So here we are, watching Aspen float quietly 10 feet away from Maria and I, sitting in our air conditioned condo with hot showers, refrigeration, reliable internet and TV.  We never had the opportunity to have this kind of arrangement before but thanks to our friends, Don and Donna who miraculously still have a Villa on St. Maarten, all of this was possible for us.  But this great arrangement won’t probably ever happen again so we have to enjoy it while we can.

Did I mention that the admiral is really happy???

So what are our sailing plans for this season, you might ask?

That’s a tough question.  Our favorite islands have been literally destroyed by hurricanes Irma and Maria.  Those favorite sailing places are:  Dominica, Sint Maarten/St. Martin, The Virgin Islands (British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands - Maria’s idillic Disneyland sailing places) and even Puerto Rico.

Talking with our sailboat insurance company, storing Aspen in a boatyard anywhere in the “Hurricane Box” - meaning anywhere north of Grenada, will result in at least a doubling of our insurance premium, IF they will insure us at all.

All of this means that we will sail south from Antigua this year and slowly make our way to Grenada where we will store Aspen for the 2018 hurricane season.

Sure we have been south before where there are lots of choices for islands to visit again.  Places lying in the sunshine like Guadeloupe, Dominica (to see the destruction, geeze), Martinique, St. Lucia, Bequia and the Grenadines with the end of the season eventually in Grenada.

Most of our cruising friends will be heading to these same islands so we will rendezvous with them in the Windward Islands this sailing season.

You can bet the rum will still flow as we watch the setting sun during happy hour; the beaches will be blindingly white in the scorching rays of the tropical sun; and the warm Caribbean Sea still invites us to snorkel and swim with her every day.  We are very fortunate to spend winters in this tropical paradise!

So stay tuned and we will share our adventures, both idillic and not so good, during our continuing sails on the good ship Aspen in these little latitudes this season.

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

PS -  Also, our book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com