December 23th, we are just back from Cartagena de Indias and it is still sweltering hot ! Where is the wind they have promised since sunday ? But first an update on our Tayrona National Park trip and the trek to Ciudad Perdida.
On tuesday december 8th we decided to go to Tayrona National Park, we would take a bus to Calabazzo and walk from there to Playa Brava, stay there for two nights and make some walks in the park. Only, december 8th is a national holiday in Colombia, Dia de las velitas, and thus no bus ! We took a taxi, but the taxi driver was not sure were to drop us off. After some asking around he did get it right and by noon we were at our starting point in Calabazzo. We had a quick lunch, soup and fried fish for 8000 COP ( about 2.50USD) and started our walk to Playa Brava for about 6.7KM.
We are definitely on the right track !
We soon found out that this was not a “piece of cake”. The terrain was not easy, the heat was hitting us hard and the backpack was heavy….We walked till 5.15PM to get to the sea.
Too bad he passed us in the beginning, I was still fit and did not need a seat to go up….A nice trail going up.Luckily the trees protected us from the sun.We did not see a lot of flowers but once in awhile…. a beautyFlora in Tayrona Park.Fungus in the woods of Tayrona Park.Finally after a 5 hour walk we could see the sea ! All downhill from here ! 🙂The beach at Playa Brava.The huts at Playa Brava.View from our cabana.
All the way to Playa Brava I had been looking forward to swim in the sea and cool off but when we got there there was a big sign saying we could not swim because it was too dangerous because of the strong currents ! 😦 We did go in the water to cool off our bodies and indeed it was difficult to just stand in the water with the strong undertow.
Our private cabana. Shower and toilet on the first floor.And our bed…..
The next morning, december 9th,we changed our minds and did not stay another night at Playa Brava, but left for Pueblito. It was a hike of about 3 hours – and from Pueblito back to Calabazzo was another 2 hours but at least not a lot of climbing. We had just convinced the lady from the little “Tienda” to take our credit card for a coke and tonic and give us cash back so we could pay the bus….no banks in the town of Calabazzo, as the bus arrived and we could hop on for 5000 COP each. (not even 2 USD)! Happy to be back at the boat and take a cold shower one hour later ! Time to make plans to go to Ciudad Perdida . 🙂
Hut of the Koguis, the indigenous people of the Tayrona region
December 11th, blue skies, 30 degrees celsius, just a tiny breeze. I spent my day cleaning and washing 😦 Stefan spent his day adding two engine hour meters because the ones from Yanmar motor do not work any more (known problem). It is not always fun in paradise 🙂 It is nice to be in the marina and have all the water and electricity available !
We are enjoying life in Colombia ! The people are so nice, we are learning everyday more spanish and the weather is incredible, we have not had a drop of rain since we are in the marina! We are not in the mood for Christmas although there are christmas decorations and parties everywhere.
Lighted christmas trees in Santa Marta.Parque Simon Bolivar in Santa Marta.
Sunday, December 6th, we visited the Quinta San Pedro Alejandrino about 4 KM from the centre of Santa Marta. This was the last resting place of Simon Bolivar, the Great liberator for Colombia ! He died here on December 17 in 1830 from tuberculosis.
The bed in which Simon Bolivar died from tuberculosis in 1830, covered with the Colombian flag.The hacienda where Simon Bolivar spent his last days.The old buildings from the haciendaThe monument for Simon Bolivar.The garden of the quinta.Inside of the monument for Simon Bolivar.
In the park, the great Kiskadee is thirsty.The great Kiskadee is posing for the picture.The yellow-headed Caracara in the Jardin Botanico of the quinta.
We have been exploring Santa Marta at a leisurely pace, drinking a coffee on the plaza Santander, walking and bicycling around the many streets.
Street in Santa Marta at noon.
Street in old Santa Marta.
Carrera 5 in Santa Marta is definitely the busiest street.Carrera 5 in Santa Marta, with a bus forcing it’s way through the shopping crowds.
There are many fruit and vegetables stands on the street.
The avocados are incredible ! We eat one almost everyday.
We visited the Museo de oro and the cathedral of Santa Marta.
The oldest church in Spanish America and the first tomb of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar. His remains were later sent to Caracas Venezuela where he was born. The cathedral was built in 1766 and took 30 years to finish.
In the coming days more updates on our visit to Tayrona National Park and the trek to the Ciudad Perdida.
Friday, december 4th, we are in the marina of Santa Marta Colombia ! Hard to believe it is almost one month since we last updated our blog…We arrived here on monday november 30th after four days of smooth sailing.
We took the bus on tuesday, November 24th in the morning to Willemstad and checked out of Curacao. It was definitely time to leave the Spanish Waters and Curacao! Now was a good weather window. Not too much wind ! The sailing from Aruba to Santa Marta is known as a difficult passage when there is too much wind. We did some shopping in Willemstad, took some pictures and went for a quick stop at the Netto bar in Otrobanda. King Willem-Alexander was here in November 2013 with Maxima. We were back by 4PM, got diesel for the boat and left for Fuik bay just next to Spanish Waters so we could leave early the next morning for Aruba.
On one of our many bicycle trips we visited an aloe plantation. It is incredible how many vitamins in this plant !
At the entrance of the Kura Hulanda museum. It is an anthropological museum with a nice collection of African art.Had to take a seat with other great ones of the earth ! 🙂A walk through Otrabanda, lots of colourful houses, some need a bit of work.When the pontoon bridge is open, a ferry will take to the other side.Lots of colours in town !Unesco heritage site of Curacao.On the pontoon bridge in Willemstad (Punda)The many faces from Willemstad.Stefan in front of The Netto Bar.Stefan with Annette and Jacques from the vessel Panache at the Netto Bar. We checked out on the same day.
Wednesday, November 25th, a great day of sailing to Aruba although in the end we had to motor to make sure we would be able to anchor in Charles Bay before sunset ! An ugly site but a remote place so we could avoid to check into Aruba ! We stayed only for the night ! As you can see from the pictures not all bays are romantic getaways :-), but we got a good night sleep.
Not really a romantic getaway ! Our anchorage in Aruba.Just outside Aruba many tankers were waiting to go to harbour. They are huge !
Thursday, November 26th, we left around 9am to sail to Cabo De la Vela in Colombia, about 24hours of sailing. It was really smooth sailing all the way, sometimes not enough wind. Stefan caught a barracuda after several missed attempts. We had caught a mahi-mahi but when Stefan had him up the steps he escaped 😦 (I was too slow with the net), we also lost a complete lure to an unknown fish…Anyway with the barracuda we had food for 3 nights except that some barracuda are poisened with Ciguaterra toxin. Ciguatera toxin is a heat-stable lipid soluble compound, produced by dinoflagellates and concentrated in fish organs, that can cause nausea, pain, cardiac, and neurological symptoms in humans when ingested. The toxin may be found concentrated in large reef fish, most commonly barracuda, grouper, red snapper, eel, amberjack, sea bass, and Spanish mackerel. These fish live in coral reef waters and accumulate the toxin when they eat smaller reef fish which feed on the dinoflagellates. The area of concern include the Caribbean Sea (where we fished it ) Hawaii, and coastal Central America. As the toxin is not deadly we decided to keep the fish and try…We were lucky 🙂 ! The first piece we had so far (other two are still in the freezer) was delicious and we did not get sick.
Friday, November 27th, around 8 AM we arrived at Cabo de la Vela, South America ! All the fishermen were out with their nets so we had to be carefull and navigate between the plasic bottles on which the nets were attached. We anchored and enjoyed the view ! It was windy, about 25 KTS and the kite surfers were having fun. We were happy to go to bed :-). At 2 PM we decided to go to shore with flipper, we realised when we were halfway to shore we left the fuel on the boat ! We were able to start and take off with what was left in the motor…we had to row back to the boat ! As soon as we arrived with flipper, children from the Wayuu Indians came to greet us. This is definitely a place off the grid ! Only backpackers and kite surfers come here. So laid back, so basic. The huts from the Wayuu indians are made from the inside of the dagger cactus.
Cabo de la vela where the Wayuu indians live.Hut made from the inside of the dagger cactus.I wonder where these doves come from!The main road in Cabo de la Vela.Just new !A “tienda” with the “mochillas” they make.
Saturday, November 28th, we leave at 9 AM to sail to Bahia de Cinto, the first bay in Tayrona National Park, we calculate about 22 hours of sailing. A nice day of sailing but no sun, just at sundown Stefan spots a dolphin right next to the boat. Soon we have 5 dolphins at the bow of the boat swimming and making turns under the water. What a great sight ! They stay with us for about an hour. The night went by quickly and at dawn I noticed the dark clouds surrounding us. I checked on the radar and indeed there was rain in the air. I woke up Stefan to see if we needed to take back sail for squals to come but we decided to wait it out. We got plenty of water over the boat but the wind only increased to 20 KTS ! Oufff ! It rained for about 2 hours on and off and when we arrived at Bahia de Cinto we saw some blue spots in the sky but it was still foggy. What a beautiful bay ! We anchored close to shore, we were there all alone. We closed up the boat and went to bed as soon as we anchored and the anchor was fixed.
Bahia de Cinto in Tayrona National Park, Colombia.Bahia de Cinto.
Sunday, November 8th, we woke up with really loud music at 6.45 AM coming from the boardwalk. Apparently there was a sport happening which started early ! Luckily after an hour the music died, we had an early start on our sunday.
We had decided that on our last day in Bonaire we would go to Lac Bay, a nice beach. We left around 10 AM with our bicycles, our e-readers and beach gear. It was an hour ride against the wind. But we enjoyed the scenery.
On the way to Lac Bay.The beach at Lac Bay !Perfect atmosphere at the beach restaurant !
When we got there we immediately checked with the little bar if we needed to make reservations for the food. We were early and could pick out a nice spot on the beach. The colour of the water was intense blue and two pelicans were looking for some fish. There was a nice breeze, clouds and sun, the water temperature was 28 Celsius, I finished a new book, Het kleine meisje van Meneer Lin from Philippe Claudel. A short nice story, I enjoyed it. Definitely recommended for a short reading. We had fried fish with corn pudding and rice for lunch and there was a band with guitar singing in spanish, the restaurant was packed. The atmosphere was really great ! We swam, fell asleep and went back home at 4 PM to arrive at the boat just in time for a shower and a cocktail at sunset 🙂 . What a great way to end our time in Bonaire. Monday, November 9th, Stefan checked out at the marina and at immigration so we could leave around noon to Little Curacao about 28 NM. The weather was nice, lots of wind and sun. We managed to get there at 3.30 PM, did a little faster than 7 KTS with winds of 20-25 KTS, great sailing ! When we arrived there was one tourist boat who just left and then we were alone…again incredibly blue-greenish water. A deserted lighthouse, a ship wreck and two closed bars was all there was to see. We enjoyed the peace and quiet. Around 6 PM our neighbours from Bonaire arrived (Italians) and at 9 PM another boat anchored in the dark. The anchorage was rolly but it did not bother us.
Hopefully we can avoid this ….shipwreck on Klein Curacao.Deserted lighthouse on Klein Curacao.Sanuk in the sunset on Klein Curacao.
Tuesday, November 10th, we went snorkelling in the morning to see the turtles but did not see any..it was only when we were back on the boat that we saw 5 turtles swimming around the boat ! It was a nice anchorage but we wanted to go to Curacao. We left at 2 PM and arrived two hours later in Fuik Baai, we were the only sail boat. There were some small motor boats fishing and enjoying the bay but they all left at 5 PM. All alone again 🙂 We watched 3 episodes from The Americans (3rd season) outside on the terrace with a cup of tea and speculoos under a beautiful starry sky. Life is beautiful ! Wednesday, November 11th, time to go to Spanish Waters, the anchorage on Curacao,
We are anchored in zone A, top right corner. During the night we were anchored outside the A-zone, on the “K’ from ‘dock’…You can see why I wanted to move as soon as it was daylight !
used by most cruisers. We got there in less than 1 hour, since it was so short we only got the genoa out and motored. The entrance was not easy to see but we managed well. Only when we got there it was full with boats… I got nervous already because the anchorage space is well defined and with a wind of 20KTS you need enough chain so enough room to anchor. We found a good spot and anchored in two times so I was happy. After anchoring we stayed a couple hours on the boat before going to shore. Stefan checked the anchor but could not see anything because the water was too muddy. There was one other boat with the Belgian flag ! We went ashore to check out if we could use our bicycles, got our emails, whatsapped with family and got a drink. When we returned we were not sure if our boat did not move…The boat in front of us “Panache” swinged a lot on his anchor and we had a hard time to decide. At 6.30 PM, chicken was just in the oven, Stefan was sure the anchor was dragging ! There was just a little light when we decided to re-anchor…Picking up the anchor when it has dragged is not as easy as thought because with all those boats around there are a lot of anchors around too ! At one moment, we got so close to Panache that we were going to hit the boat….Stefan kept his cool and got out the fender and I a second one so we could avoid any damage, our anchor had dragged under their boat ! Immediately there were three other cruisers helping us recovering the anchor, Belgians and Dutch. By then it was dark and we had to find a better spot and re-anchor…we decided not to go all around the anchorage and look for a better spot but we anchored a little further from our first spot with the disadvantage that we were in the channel ! Needless to say we both did not have a good night sleep. We set our alarm every 3 hours to check and I ended up checking every 2 hours. We did not move 🙂 but we clearly had to move the boat as soon as it was daylight and boat traffic would pick up ! Thursday, November 12th, at 6 AM I said to Stefan lets move the boat! At 7 AM we had picked up the anchor and had plotted the GPS coordinates from the anchorage in our Raymarine plotter. We took our time and went all around the other side where we found a perfect spot ! Lots of room and close to a dinghy dock. At 8 AM we enjoyed our breakfast in our new spot in 4 meter water and with 40 meter chain! We stayed on the boat all morning to make sure he did not move. At noon we decided it was time to go to Willemstad and officially check-in. The bicycle ride was further than we thought . No bike path and lots of traffic. When we finally got in Willemstad we could not find the immigration and customs office….We asked around but did not get the right directions…Just when we were about to return to the boat and give up we found the immigration office 🙂 . In 20 minutes we had our stamps and were checked in, now get our anchor permit and go to customs to clear in. We could not get our anchor permit without first clearing into customs, which was located on the other side of the river…At customs we had a very slow custom official and it took her 45 minutes to clear us in. Stefan stayed very calm and answered all her questions politely 🙂 . It was 4 PM when we sat down at the Iguana cafe, got lunch and checked our mails ! We arrived back at the boat just before sunset and the boat did not move ! 🙂 I slept like a rose.
Willemstad (Unesco Heritage), more pictures to follow.
Willemstad, more pictures to follow on our next visit.
Queen Emma, pontoon bridge over St.Anna bay.Lost in the streets of Willemstad, but beautiful colonial houses.Streets in Willenstad, looking for immigration.
They use the cactus as fencing material. No way you would try to climb through!
The longest tree in Bonaire.
Today, November 7th, we spent most of the day on the boat. I did some cleaning, Stefan did some repair work on the motor. He installed a new impeller on the starboard side motor. I made pumpkinsoup and the last part of the MahiMahi Stefan had caught during our passage to Bonaire.
November 6th, we rented a pick-up truck to visit the park Washington Slagbaai in the northern part of the island. Regular cars are not allowed because the roads are only dirt roads. We were amazed of the beauty. So many cacti ! We saw flamingoes, iguanas, many different and colourful birds, donkeys and wild goats. We went snorkeling at Wayaka beach and it was incredible! The fish we saw …angelfish, parrotfish, trumpetfish…so many beautiful colours.
Tomorrow is a day to be spent at the beach – it is sunday so time to relax 🙂
Monday we will hopefully sail to Curacao. Ready for new scenery.
This upload was made possible courtesy of the internet of El Mundo Cafe 🙂
Dad, any idea what this bird is ?The nature in Washington Slagbaai park.Kadushi en Yatu cacti.Melon Cactus. Osprey . Did not mind having his picture taken. I wonder if his claws hurt…Flamingos.The Green Parrot.Green parrot.
Sailing from Bequia to Bonaire. A distance of about 520NM…we were thinking of 3-4 days sailing….
We left tuesday October 27 in Bequia which is their independence day, for this reason the check-out was 100EC dollars instead of for free. There goes our nice restaurant dinner money !
We planned to leave at 3PM but when we tried to start the motor on the port side it did not work, the starboard did work.We turned off the starboard and then the port side worked but the starboard did not want to start. With a 3rd try nothing started anymore and there was no noise. We both thought it was the battery. Luckily we could start the generator and after about an hour the both engines started and off we were. We had nice winds and were able to sail between 5-6 KTS, later on even 7KTS. Stefan put out his fishing rod and at 6 PM we prepared dinner, while Otto (our autopilot) took care of the route to be followed. At about 9 PM just before Stefan was going to sleep ( I did the first watch from 9 PM to midnight) we heard the line of the fishing rod go off quickly. Stefan quickly stopped it and started to haul in, whatever it was it was fighting. On top of that we were sailing at 7KTS so that did not make it easier…After 10 minutes we saw the prize but the prize was fighting fiercely. It was a huge MahiMahi. Stefan got him to the steps of the boat and I handed him the gaff (with a hook) to kill it . Just as Stefan took the gaff, the fishing rod together with the metal rod holder broke off and everything disappeared in the black hole of the sea. Stefan and I just stood there staring in the black hole….Going from extreme excitement having caught such a huge beautiful fish to utter amazement when we lost everything…. so close! During my entire watch I was mad I had not taken any pictures when Stefan was reeling in the MahiMahi…
I was happy when it was midnight and I could go to bed till 3 PM. The first day passed by uneventful, there was less wind during the day so we only made between 4-5 KTS. I became nauseous after my watch from 3 AM to 6 AM, mostly because of not being able to see the waves coming and because I was tired. A pill and some sleep did the work. After 2 days I did not feel sick anymore, apparently this is the time your inner-ear needs to adapt to the new situation. Thursday October 29th, it was only 7.30 AM when Stefan called me out of my sleep to bring a towel. I quickly did and great was my surprise when I found Stefan not sitting at the steering wheel but on the starboard side with the wing of a large bird under his one foot and bent over with a tool to cut wire from the beak of the poor thing! Instead of catching another MahiMahi, he caught a brown booby! It was a young bird. With the towel we covered his eyes so he would stay calm and we could untangle and clip the fishing tread from its wing and the hook from its beak. After taking a picture, he was free to fly 🙂 and I went back to bed !
Stefan with his Brown Boobie all fixed up!
Friday October 30th, there was hardly any wind, we only did about 4-5 KTS, really boring.
A lonely visitor, taking a rest.A flying fish who took a wrong turn and landed on our trampoline.Reading, reading, reading, I finished All the light you cannot see from Anthony Doer. Definitely recommended reading.
I had hoped to arrive Friday late in the afternoon but realised already in the morning that that was not possible. We had some problems with Otto who all of a sudden would loose his course and thus we had to intervene. We are not sure why this is, Stefan will try to find out with a technician from Raymarine as soon as we can find one. I read my book during the day and even did a small load of wash. At about 3 PM Stefan looked at his fishing rod and noticed that almost all the tread had played out….Getting it back in was not an easy task ! We did not know what was at the other end since it was so far away and it was really difficult to reel it in. At one point we thought it must be a whole load of seaweed ….It took us nearly an hour when we finally saw the MahiMahi on the end of the line, still fighting but not a lot anymore. This time I had my camera ! We were prepared with all the necessary tools :-). Stefan killed the fish with a blow from a baseball bat. He filetted the fish and we put it in the freezer. The 4th night was a difficult one, I was dead tired and the thrill of the first nights being alone with a full moon, lots of stars and Mars and Jupiter was gone. I wanted my bed for 8 hours straight. But I managed!
The fighting Mahi Mahi.
Saturday October 31st, at about 9 AM we decided to motor a part as otherwise we would only arrive at Bonaire at 11 PM. We were only doing 3-4 KTS which is very frustrating at the end of a passage when you really want to be there. We motored about 5 hours. I cannot describe the feeling when you finally see the land ! At 2 PM we had nice winds and sailed with 6-7 KTS to Kralendijk on Bonaire. What a great feeling ! We could sail all the way till the buoys. A Dutch sailor helped us hook up to the buoy and at 5 PM we could turn off the motor and get ready to go on land and have a decent meal in a restaurant called At Sea 🙂
The next island we will visit is Curacao and then Aruba. They are a day sail away.
November 1st – November 4th : discovering the island at our own leisurely pace with our bicycles. We found an AH supermarket and needless to say we were exited to be able to get all the varieties in cereal, yoghourt, vegetables etc…only the prices were 50% more expensive.We had mussels (1kg) for dinner and a tomato mozzarela salad, speculoos with our tea :-). Bonaire is a popular destination for cruise ships and since about two weeks the season has started. This means on tuesday, wednesday, thursday and sometimes also friday a ship with about 2500-3500 passengers arrives in the harbour. About 16.000 people live in Bonaire so needless to say you can clearly feel it when a cruise ship is in town ! They usually arrive at 8 AM and leave around 6 PM.
Colourful houses in Bonaire.
The snorkelling is fantastic here ! It is really like swimming in an aquarium. I had some bread and the fish ate it out of my hand. Stefan and I did a “discovery scuba dive” and it was super. Being so relax in the water only hearing your own breathing and the bubbles and enjoying the great underwater scenery.
Parrot fish as seen during our dive ! Awaiting pictures from Stefan’s underwater camera this one is from internet.
Today we explored the countryside of Bara di Karta with our bicycles, about 35 KM in total. So different ! We saw parrots, iguanas, wild donkeys and lots of cacti ! Bonaire has five different cacti. They even use the cacti as a fence, minimum care and no way somebody will get through 🙂 It was 4PM by the time we were back at the boat. We washed up and changed and went into town with our laptops to find good wi-fi and finish our blog update. But….nowhere we can find strong enough internet to upload our pictures :-(…
This blog update was made possible by the internet from Whattaburger 🙂 More pictures to follow in the next blog update.
Wild donkeys in Bonaire.Cacti in Bara di Karta.Taking a break under the Tamarind tree
October 20th, early in the morning, 6 AM, we are ready (we think) to climb the volcano from the leeward side, this the longer and more difficult approach and the trail is more overgrown….Rasta Kenny, our guide, is on time but we have to wait 20 minutes for our taxi driver. Stefan is already getting nervous since we need to get to the top before the hot sun is hitting us. By about 7 AM we arrive at the starting point, the beach in Richmond. Rasta Kenny smokes a joint, maybe it is not that difficult then….Stefan takes the lead after 5 minutes of walking and after one hour Kenny stays behind. It was the first time he climbed the mountain since 3 months. He definitely will stop smoking for about 2 months when the tourists are back 🙂 . He tells us about his jail time in Barbados because he tried to sell 450 pouds of marijuana in Barbados. If you can sell it there you are rich but obviously you cannot get caught. Kenny still has a ganja plantation but only sells in St.Vincent.
On the beach with black sand in Richmond, our starting point.7 AM Richmond Beach, crossing the river.
In the beginning the climbing is not too bad and the path is still wide enough.
Slowly going up in a dry river bed.
Soon the path becomes more and more overgrown and steeper.
Where is the path here…? Rasta Kenny, our guide, behind.
When we get to halfway point, I had hoped we were already past halfway…Good thing I did not know what still was to come…
Rasta Kenny with his rubber boots and machete..he had no water and food with him. Luckily we had enough to share.Taking time to take pictures…Marijuana plantation in the back of the picture. There are many on the way up to the volcano.We come from all the way down there at the beach…
Stefan must have an appointment up there…he is going so fast. I can hardly follow and Kenny does not know what is happening to him…Definitely no more smoking the next months…
Higher and higher, also the shrubs…
Almost there, speedy Stefan is probably on the top already.
Inside the volcano.The sight is worth it but now I am going to sit here for the next 15 minutes.
Now we still have to go back down! We arrived at 10 AM at the top, so in 3 hours where most guides speak of 4 hours…Rasta Kenny told me “your man is full of energy man”, I was happy to hear somebody confirmed my feelings. We went down in 2,5 hours, going down was not a peace of cake…luckily it did not rain! When we got back at the beach our taxi driver was waiting for us, it was 1 PM. We got a beer at the first bar, all the water we had with us was gone (3 liter). A nice thought to end the climb was written on the wall (elections are coming up)….
A great thought to think about the remainder of the day!
When we arrived back at the boat, after a two hour drive, the only thing we did was take a dive in the cool water, wash up, and read or sleep…For dinner we had mangos, nobody felt like cooking :-). Another great day in paradise! 🙂
Wednesday, October 21st, we have just arrived in Blue Lagoon Bay on St.Vincent and we have internet on the boat ! What a treat ! We are not anchored but moored on a buoy because apparently the holding is not good here, too many stones and not enough sand. Although Stefan still wanted to anchor I insisted on the mooring because of the good night sleep, there were too many other boats around us moored on a buoy. We motored all the way from Cumberland Bay to here because there was just no wind. Good for the batteries and the watermaker but not something you want to do a lot. We did take some time to do a MOB (Man Over Board) excercise and found out we definitely need some more practice on this! This is scheduled for the next week.
We left Bequia (pronounced Bekway) on October 17th to sail to Cumberland Bay on Saint Vincent.
Port Elizabeth in BequiaChurch in Bequia.Street in Port ElizabethChurch in Port Elizabeth.Small grocery store on our way to Friendship bay. We stopped for a cold drink.Stefan changing the oil.
Stefan had changed the oil of one of the motors the day before. I must say he keeps surprising me :-). We had smooth sailing for about 3 hours and then we needed the help from the motor to get to our destination. We were surprised of the untouched nature in St.Vincent. So beautiful and green. No white sandy beaches in St.Vincent since this is a vulcanic island the sand is black at the beach. We were especially looking forward to the hiking on the island. When we arrived we immediately were helped to not only anchor(the bow) but also have the stern of the boat tied to a palm tree. The boat did not move 🙂 ! There were only two other boats in the bay. No internet except at the one restaurant open. There were several vendors of fish, souvenirs and fruit. We got lucky with the fruitman since he had fresh guava and passion fruit. Yummy !
October 18th, sunday, we were going for a small hike but ended up walking for 3,5 hours! The sun was hot but luckily there were some parts in the woods. We went through the village into the woods and had a feast on the mangos hanging there for the taking.
Stefan eating mango number 3…
The tropical forest was really beautiful, we saw only one other person who told us the road back to Cumberland Bay would take “hours”. We decided to do the full loop anyway instead of turning back…We arrived back at the boat at 4PM so not too bad. Apparently we did miss all the marijuana (it is called Ganja here)plantations during our walk. I read later that St.Vincent has the second highest production of marijuana in the Caribbean. Jamaica is number one. It is illegal to plant marijuana but the government is not doing a lot against it (elections are coming up). One pound costs about 500EC dollars in St. Vincent.
Cumberland Bay with Sanuk all the way to the right.
October 19th, we went to the bay next door, Wallilaboo with Flipper. This is the bay where they filmed the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, the Curse of the Black Pearl. Still today, we are about 10 years later, tourists come to see this bay for this reason.
Wallilaboo bay – luckily the pirates are gone 🙂Wallilaboo bay on St.Vincent
We decided to hike into the town, apparently there was a waterfall. Whlie we were walking we heard the ice cream man and got an ice cream
Can you guess the taste on this one ?
Typical house along the side of the road.
This was the waterfall….
Me at the entrance of Wallilaboo bay.
October 20th, we decided to hike the vulcano La Soufriere today so we had to get up at 5AM as a taxi was picking us up at 6 AM with our guide, rasta Kenny. We would hike the more challenging route, from the beach up to the top, 1230 meter. More about this in my next blog update.
Today, October 13 at Admiralty Bay in Bequia, I am sitting at the Fig Tree restaurant, which is closed today, but I can use their wi-fi, thank you Cheryl ! I cannot believe it has been 10 days since our last update. It is just so difficult to get strong internet so we get to the site and upload pictures. For the Esko readers, AX is superfast compared to the internet which we usually have in the different islands…:-), so I learned to be patient, ofcourse with a rumpunch or pina colada it makes it easier. October 3rd, we left Tyrell Bay in the morning to sail to Tobago Cays. We sailed through the south entrance which apparently is a little tricky with all the reefs, we hesitated but it went fine. We managed to get a beautiful spot in front of horseshoe reef. The weather was beautiful, sun, some clouds and wind. There were only two other boats there. During the season this place can be packed with 20 boats! Time to go snorkeling and hiking on the different islands : Petit Bateau, Petit Rameau, Baradel and Jamesby.
Ilse at Happy Island with JantiStefan and Ilse all happy at Happy Island with rum punch and Flipper in the back. Almost 30 years married 🙂
October 4th, snorkeling, hiking and a lobster barbecue on the beach of Petit Bateau. Returning back to the boat with flipper in the dark was not simple, we had to struggle to get flipper back in the water. It was fun but we were both soaking wet arriving at the boat. No problem with 28 Celsius.
Iguana on Baradel Island in Tobago CaysTurtle swimming near Sanuk.
View on Horseshoe reef from Petit Bateau island. In the back is Little Tabac Island where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. Sanuk is the boat in the middle.
October 5th, special birthday…30th wedding anniversary! My morning swim was to Jamesby Island and Stefan joined with flipper and dry clothes so we could hike (little hike) to the top.
The magnificent Frigate Bird (female) – they are incredible masters in the sky.Their wings are long and pointed and can span up to 2.3 metres.Dad, I need your help in identifying this bird ?White egret ( I think ) – Dad, can you confirm ?
We decide to leave and sail to Saline Bay on Mayreau island. Sailing was perfect, 15 knots of wind and sun. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by a fisherman who was willing to get us a fish for dinner. We went into the little town of Mayreau, 300 people live on the island, no bank, one supermarket…We had pina coladas on the boat to celebrate and were waiting for our fish but at 6PM I knew he was not going to come … it was an anniversary dinner with bread, peanut butter and cheese 🙂
October 6th, we hike on the island of Mayreau, with beautiful views.
Hiking on Mayreau Island.Stefan and Ilse on Mayreau Island.
At the end of the hike we returned back in the little village and peeked in the pre-school building, it was lunch.
Kids sleeping during lunch time at pre-school in Mayreau.
In the afternoon we went snorkeling and had grilled chicken for dinner.
October 7th, we sail to Chatham Bay on Union Island, it rained most of the way but the sailing was good. Stefan fixed the generator by putting in a new impeller ( I am learning now about motor parts ) while I cleaned the boat. Boat life is a constant struggle against salt and sand.
October 8th, it rained almost all day, I finished reading The Japanese Lover from Isabel Allende ( definitely recommended) We did go for a hike, but returned in the pouring rain and I was not prepared for the rough terrain with my flip flops… We ended up in a local bar on the beach with our boat neighbours Barbara and Pierre from France.
October 9th, did laundry in the morning, finally some sun and lots of wind. We went hiking to the village of Ashton.
Turtles coming out for a drink of water after the rain.
We went snorkeling in the afternoon but first bought fish from Pleasure who would also clean the fish for us. After the hike we picked up the fish at the bar of Pleasure and had a rumpunch before sunset.
Ilse with Pleasure at Chatham Bay. Sanuk all the way in the back.
Stefan took out his second anchor because we heard that the night would be rough with wind gusts of 8 beaufort. I had hardly slept the night before, being on an anchor with pouring rain and gusts of wind of 7 beaufort, swinging around the anchor is not good for a good sleep….We were not the only boat in the bay and at 6am in the morning we got up because it was really bad outside and saw another sailing boat swinging close to our boat. Luckily they moved the boat to re-anchor further in the bay. Scary …Needless to say the next night I hardly slept as the weather was the same and this for three days…At one point there is no wind and then all of a sudden there are windgusts of up to 8 beaufort.
October 10th, much of the same rainy weather but did a hike with Alex – Claude Vandamme’s biggest fan – so we could get off the boat for some time.
Ilse with Alex at Chatham Bay on Union Island, Sanuk in the back.
October 11th, still rainy weather but we decided to sail to Bequia Island.It was 6 hours of great sailing, great wind up to 22KTS (5 beaufort) with waves of up to 2meter. I just did not get sick but could not eat during the sailing. We arrived at 4PM and I was starving then! Stefan caught his first fish during the sailing, a great mackerel! He cleaned it and we vacuum sealed it and put it in the freezer, food for two dinners ;-). We went out for dinner at the Fig Tree, so happy not to have to cook!
October 12th, went into the town of Port Elisabeth to the internet cafe, Hannah had said she would be on Studio Brussel with a request….She had requested to play the ‘Stand by Me’ our weddings’ opening dance, to wish us a happy 30th anniversary. We sat there listening with tears in our eyes….Being away from home, even in exotic places is not always easy. We sent emails and chatted with the girls at home. We re-anchored the boat to be closer to land to have internet, to a mooring buoy, but in the end the internet on the boat was still not strong enough to get on a news site. Internet cafe to the rescue.
Sanuk 2014-2018 travel stories 