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| Rainbow over Dominica
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We are in travel mode. Heading north to the USVI. This generally involves shorter stays in each island and less stowing. The difference may be difficult to discern from our normal mode but it is clear to the crew. We take a more active interest in the weather. We postpone projects which might impact mobility. No long term commitments to a specific location.
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| Neighbors at Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe |
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| Adventuress - southbound outside Antigua |
We are currently bound for the USVI to attend Betsy's birthday party. This constitutes a more than adequate reason to alter the sail/anchor ratio in favor of the sailing. Every time we have a goal like this, we rediscover what big fun the sailing is.
We last left you with Queen Emma waiting for weather in Sainte Anne, Martinique. We probably jumped the gun by leaving a little before the weather window opened. When in traveling mode, remaining anchored becomes a kind of torture. The feet get itchy. When you are ready to sail, staying put, even for the best of reasons, becomes untenable. Besides, except for extraordinary weather events, there really is no reason not to go. Our "bad" days seldom exceed winds you'd find on San Francisco Bay on a breezy summer afternoon.
We try to avoid staying up all night and so try to break trips into 20 to 70 nautical mile trips. The first leg from Sainte Anne at the Southern end Martinique is to stop in Sainte Pierre at the northern end of Martinique. These legs along the lee of the taller islands can really be done in any weather as the island blocks much of the wind and waves. The next leg north is Martinique to Dominica across the channel between the two islands. Through such channels must pour all the wind and sea that was blocked by the islands themselves. Particularly the northern ends of the islands build up a bow wake in the prevailing and compress the wind flowing westward. Martinique, like many of the tall islands, has tall mountains anchoring the northern end. These can also spawn squalls as they lift the moving air. This can cause a type of squall known to our favorite weather speculator as "whoopteedo" squalls. He has an unfortunate tendency to talk technical like that but all his listeners knew exactly what he meant. As long as you don't break anything, the channel passages can be fast and fun. The trick is to reef down (reduce sail). Martinique has a huge volcano, which destroyed the town at the beginning of the 20th century. It completely blocks the wind for the first hour of motoring and then causes the winds to twist and gust as you come out from behind the shadow. We tried to warn a boat following us out not to shake out the reef at the first lull because the winds were strong.
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| Admiring a big one |
Our sail from Martinique to Dominica was fast, wet and fun. Our optimistic companion got laid over on his side in the "whoopteedo squalls" (but he also sailed faster than us). We made it up to Portsmouth at the northern end of Dominica getting in well before dark. Just because we are in traveling mode, simple pleasures of place are not to be skipped. Perhaps just a little curtailed. We delivered an old sail to Martin of Providence who is our ambassador to Dominica. Old sails are valued on Dominica for preventing the roof from leaking. If you are carrying one, be sure to save it for Martin. We also did a "drift snorkel" where Martin takes you up current at the top of a beautiful reef and picks you up at the down current end. Very relaxing not having to worry about the dinghy and a long swim at the end. For those of you who know Martin: he built a new boat over the off season. He took the old boat and used it for a mold to cast his new hull in fiberglass. The result: no leaks and better gas mileage. We didn't recognize him because the new boat is no longer pink and white but a very sober looking light and dark green.
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| Trickle down economics
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| Wrapped helicopter |
The next jump was Dominica to Guadeloupe. The boats have been piling up in the transit anchorages and there was a huge exodus at each weather window. During our stay in Dominica the anchorage seemed to inhale boats each evening and exhale every morning. The winds have been blowing so long that there is a huge pent up demand. We got up in time to have anchor up at first light and made our way up to Pigeon Island in the north of Guadeloupe. There we didn't even take the dinghy down but enjoyed a sunset and took off again in the morning. In that crossing we don't even make breakfast but use the 10 mile flat motoring to make breakfast and talk on the radio while already moving. By the time we come out of the shadow of the island, we are fed, coffeed and ready to bounce.
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| Sunset, Falmouth Harbor, Antigua |
The seas in the passage were lively and the winds fresh. The island of Antigua lies to the east of Guadeloupe which is considered "uphill" in the face of the prevailing northeasterly winds. Fortunately enough the winds were out of the east and even a little south of east and we were able to go fast and still lay Falmouth Harbor toward the eastern end of Antigua. We even arranged for a short squall at the end to wash off the salt. Anchor down by 3:30 in a passage that has seen us straggling in after dark under less auspicious circumstances. Here we spent some time making new friends, meeting with old friends and admiring the fine yachts which make Antigua home for the season. Business in most of the islands seems slow but Antigua offers ample evidence that the one percenters are doing fine. The Megayacht index is up and rising.
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| Vickie remembers my order every year |
Next stop: St. Martin.
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