Pics 3

Hi everyone
Pics here are from Les Saintes pic 1= is a cruise boat that came in, pic 2, 3, 4 = views and 5 is the house built like a boat
Roy

Pics2

These pics are of the mini amazon Indian River Trip. 1= 'Fire' our local guide, and 2,3,5 views 4= a land crab, very hard to take pics of these as they shoot down the hole when approached, see his large eye.

Pics1

Hi everyone Internet at last, 1= prize for taking part in the race. 2= Portsmouth beach, 3= Big Papas Restaurant, 4= beach 2 and 5= hurricane wrecked coaster that nearly blocked the entrance to indian river, now you have to enter it right under the stern of this coaster
Roy

Nostalgia Trip

High Folks,
Well I went to the marina at Jolly Harbour and took on fuel and water on Saturday, then went to do the internet, I'm afraid I failed again, no where could give me both connection and power, so will have to wait.
I moved GL Sunday morning, lifted the anchor at 0530hrs then the trip to Engish Harbour and Falmouth Harbour. Present Position: 17,00.60N , 061,46.67W at anchor just off Pigeon Beach Falmouth Harbour.

I won't be able to describe how poignant this is to me, when I joined the Merch Navy (May 1975) I already had the dream of going round the world in my own boat, and these two places had fired a lot of that ambition as somewhere to see.
Since then I went to the caribbean many times over the years and after joining the Mega Yachts even went there as well.
However none of these times did I fully fill my critria on; How, how far (Log reads 6,746 Nm), what time (0830hrs), what day of week (Sunday), what I would wear, and so many others, the list is long, but every item had a tick yesterday, even what I did on arrival during the day :- lamb curry Sunday lunch at Admirals Inn, Nelsons Dockyard, a red wine at the Galley Bar, a trip to Shirley Hights to listen to the best steel band playing all afternoon, with a view un paralelled anywhere I think, then down again to the bar by the tender dock Falmouth Harbour, no longer 'the odd spot' now called 'Mongoose' what a good day, I could actually come home now, not bothered about going anywhere else (but still more to see). Will be trying to contact the Classic Race Regatta Coordinator today, Helen Spooner, hopefully working something out about taking part, will post result when I find out.
Roy

Antigua 1

Hi Everyone,
Have arrived in Antigua, I left Deshaies on Wednesday afternoon at 1300hrs and made it to Jolly Harbour at 0230 Thursday morning, wind was wrong for Falmouth Harbour so have cleared customs here, I am anchored off the beach at Cove Bay Position: 17,04.60N , 061,54.0W, after clearing in I went to the beach, its coral sand here unlike the islands so far which have been volcanic sand, its half a mile long and I had it all to myself all day, deserted, great. Had a little drink in the YC last night and will stay the weekend I think. I have a marvellous view of Montserrat just East of me, as its not that far away. Hoping to find internet this afternoon and will go saturday to catch up, prob take me all day, keep your eye out for next post as should have pics in.
Roy

Rendezvous

Hi all,
Well I can report a successful rendezvous with Micheline and friends, we met up on week last Sunday night, I had a magic time and some good laughs, also invited to the group evening meal one night, very interesting people these divers and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.
Micheline was able to come with me for a caribbean sail on GL up the coast Thursday, when we arrived however we found there was a bus strike on and we only had a short time to say goodbye, I think she visits Beaumaris on Tuesday, so if you are out and about she will tell you all about it.
I am now preparing for my trip to Antigua, but the wind has been a bit strong with very strong gusts, will leave it for a day or two then off to English or Falmouth Harbour.
Still no internet and thats been quite a while now, but pics are waiting to be posted.
Roy

Deshaies

Well I am at anchor in a quiet bay Position: 16,18.43N 061,47.82W, there is a nice place to land in the dingy at the top of a little river that comes out by the port, only local boats in there but the bay is 3 to 5 mtrs deep great for me to anchor in. Will be here a few days but haven't found internet yet.
More later
Roy

Moved again

Hi everyone,
The Saintes Ilses were very nice but the anchor place was awfull, rolling about all the time, mostly due to the ferries going full tilt through the moored boats. I was so far out as well, so anchor depth was 15mtrs, a bit to much for me to cope with, (15mtr chain + anchor = I can't lift it easily)
So have moved again, a night time passage with a good kip on the way, Pointe Malendure about 500 yards from the cliff,
Position: 16,10.40N 061,46.85W, left Monday at 1600hrs and arrived there at 0600hrs Tuesday. The beach is popular and is the staging post for the dive boats and glass bottom boats, many tourists but not many cruising yachtsmen, went to the beach yesterday very hard to get ashore because of the steep beach and large swell, (a bit of the jetty has washed away) then a 15 min walk to the small town. No real facilities for yachts here, so while I wait for Micheline to arrive I will go round the corner to Deshaies as the town is behind the beach, and anchor off Anse Deshaies. Will maybe get internet there as well and post some pics again.
Roy

Ilses Des Saintes, Guadeloupe

Hi Everyone,
Well everything went to plan yesterday and I left the anchorage in Portsmouth, Dominica, at 10.00am yesterday morning, a quiet sail across the stright and arrived at the ilse of Terre-De-Haut and the town Boug Des Saintes at 17.00hrs last night, Position: 15,52.90N 061,35.14W, after a quick tidy myself up, went ashore to sample the delights, found a very Hot Hot Hot sundowners bar, many French girls dancing about with wild abandon, great, a few beers were consumed by yours truly, (will pay another visit tonight!) its a very busy tourist town and very pretty too, theres a house built into the cliff on the north side of the bay in the shape of a ships Bow and bridge deck coming out of the rock, will get a pic of that and post.
More later
Roy

Travelling again

Hi Everyone,
On the move again, I left St Lucia on Tuesday 2nd March, I know I stayed longer but...They gave me the option of taking part in the St Lucia Sailing Club championship Race, as a crew member aboard No. 3 'Atitude' a J24 class racing yacht, they have six J24's and we had 6 races, we didn't do so well and our race sheet was 6,6,6,6,5,4 We had good racing though, what a fun day it turned out to be, Hoping Danielle will send some photo's to me so I can post them on the blog.
So back to the move, I passed Martinique during the night, lost the wind a few times but made good time just the same.
I came round the bottom of Dominica just before dawn and passed Roseau at 0600hrs, I carried on up to Prince Rupert Bay and anchoured off Big Papas bar Portsmouth, Position: 15,34.84N 061,27.74W. Big Papa (who I met there) had a regge night and I joined that and had a good evening. One scary incident however, while away going to customs my boat dragged the anchour and was rescued by a local man! whew! I will be leaving sometime today for Guadeloupe Les Saints islands, closer to where I will meet up hopefully with Micheline and friends. Pics of my trip up the Indian River (mini Amazon jungle river) on Thursday later.
More coming
Roy

More Pics and news

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pic 1

Hi everyone, Well today is farewell to St Lucia, I am leaving as soon as ready today 2nd, not sure yet if I will stop at Dominica or carry on to Guadilupe, depends on wind. A few pics of the race taken by others,

pic 1= GL on her way to SL from Martinique, pic 2= at the start on Saturday, pic 3=Ronnie at the helm, Sven and myself at the Start on Sunday, pic 4= Duncans boat 'Sephina' Duncan & Danielle on board,pic 5= Danielle and me at the party.
My best wishes to everyone I met in St Lucia, not forgetting Peter (Pedro) Barnard who is recovering after his Op. Please keep in touch, I will miss you all!
Roy

SL Independance Day

Hi first 4 Pics of the race, they are taken by Ronnie, a young sailing man from Italy, one of my 2 crew and a very good helmsman on the tiller, in the sombrero is Sven my other crew member from Germany not Mexico. Pic 1= a good action shot from the bow, Pic 2= Sven and myself with three of the big boats in front of us. Pic 3= the boat 'Hot Chocolate' when we were ahead of them, Pic 4= this boat was 'Argentinia' a very fast modern Aluminium boat and the sort of boats we were up against.
More to come
Roy

St Lucia

Hi Everyone,
Well I have now had the results of the 'Indipendence Day Round the Island Race' actual indipendence day was yesterday Monday 22nd Feb, and prize giving was last night. Two days starting on Sat. 0930hrs from the SLYC start line, down the Atlantic side to Vieux Fort, had a terrible start, my 2 crew were late getting to the boat and as the final signal was sounded we were only just hoisting the mainsail! took us 10 minutes to cross the line, but we had a really good sail down the east coast. As you pass down, there are no roads here, so you see all the places you don't see from the land. Arrived at the finish at 17:07 not last but very near, then the anchorage and party ashore. Sunday I had a proper start and kept in reasonable contention with the modern boats, this up the leeward side back to Rodney Bay. GL did very well keeping very close to a modern yacht and sort of had our own little competition with them, sometimes in the lead somtimes behind, all good racing excitment, we were only about a minute behind at the finish line at SLYC. Will be posting the race sheet later, but over the 2 days overall, and out of the 10 sailing boats taking part, GL came 4th, not in the prizes but a very decent result. I had a free berth overnight in the Marina, and I moved back out to the anchorage again. Bit of a top up required for food, and I will be on my travels again.
Pics to come later when I get them.
Roy

St Lucia round island race

Hi Folks, Came back on Wednesday afternoon and arrived Rodney Bay at 11:00pm, have been getting the boat ready for the race and I am just going to the Skippers briefing in 30 mins 5:30pm my time. Race is tom Saturday starting at 8:30am and next post will be able to tell you how I managed to come last, hope I'm only joking.
Roy

Back to St Lucia

This pic of Scholcher with the Pitons in the background is the last one from Martinique, I am on my way back to St Lucia in the next few days to take part in the round island rally, the reason I visited was the St Lucia Yacht Club young sailors had arrived to take part in the 20th Martinique international Optomist and other dingy classes regatta hosted by Club Nautique, I went to show my suport and say hello to Danielle and Duncan who were also there.










So ends my visit to Martinique, but more coming.
Roy

Sainte Pirrie

Following pics of Sainte Pirrie, and the volcano Mont Pirrie that dominates the town, in 1902 and only 2 days after the eruption in St Vincent were 2,000 died and who were forgotton, Mont Pirrie blew its top as well, 30,000 died with only one survivor, a prisoner in his cell, the difference was, the ones that died were mostly the european colonists and land owners, St Pirrie was the capital and was concidered a mini Paris with many fine stone buildings... they were all destroyed, this changed the economics of Martinique, forever, anyway up to date the city was never rebuilt.
Roy

Following pics are 1,2 and 3 views of Trois Islets and 4,5 are 2 views of Stainte Anne

St Anne to Fort de France Bay

Following pics are on the way from Sainte Anne to Fort de France Bay, The rock is called Diamond Rock and when the French and English were at odds here, the royal navy plonked 20 men and some ships cannons on it and for 17 months the english seamen caused havoc with French shipping passing on thier way to Fort de France, so much so the Royal Navy raised the status of the rock to a ship of the line, HMS Diamond Rock, think its the only rock to be called a ship!
so 1= Diamond rock in the distance, 2=As I passed by real close, how did they do that, 3 & 4= 2 views of Fort de France
Roy

Sainte Anne

Hi everyone,
Martinique continued, Pics are 1=arrival at the anchorage 2= the town square 3=Church interior 4= a view
I am posting pics in separate posts
Roy

Martinique Feb 2010

Hi Everyone,
I have been doing a lot of moving about recently, there are many places to visit here, all with anchorages of various types, some good some not so good.
From my previous blog my itinerary has been as follows; Marin anchor for three days, Sainte Anne with trip ashore, Next morning a day trip to Fort de France bay to spot the layout and back to Saint Anne, Next morning Marin for quick shopping trip and dump garbage then trip to La Anse a La Ane with trip ashore, next morning a day trip to Saint Pierre and back, overnight in L'Anse a L'Ane, next morning clean dingy bottom on the beach and walkabout, Next morning trip a to Les Trois Ilets, this is close to The Domaine de la Pagerie, Napoleons Josephine birth place, trip ashore, as I arrived another Yole race (local boats as before), This morning start early 0700hrs, put sail up, run aground! 2.3 feet on my sounder which means only 4'6" water and I need 5'6", had to wait then like a complete idiot for the ferry to come in at 0900hrs, and with full astern the wake bounced me off the mud! then off to Sainte Pierre, trip ashore and where I am at anchor tonight. Each place has its own unique history, Sainte Pierre had a disasterous eruption of Mont Pelee in 1902 which killed just about all the europeans here, 30,000 people, with only one surviour. Tomorrow going back to Fort De France Bay to anchour at Fort De France city, see what I can find there. Will end this visit at Marin, they have good internet there so will be able to post the photo's I've taken, there is also a short movie of my shopping trip, why you may ask, well you go through a narrow channel through the mangrove swamp!
So more later
Roy

On the move again at last

Hi again everyone, Ive been on the move again, I left Rodney Bay Marina on Saturday 12 noon, I had a rough crossing but managed to anchor just before it went dark in Marin, Martinique. Sunday I cleared customs early, very modern computer DIY, when finished you print the form and the officer stamps it, thats it, no cost. Found it was local boat race day so did some quick shopping and back to boat to drop off the stuff, 1st race had started so took pics from boat, then off to beach to take part in the fun. pic 1= pic from boat, Pic 2= race 2 they start from the beach, pic 3= good fun as they jostle for position rounding the mark for the last time, Pic 4= these guys were so far behind but going like full speed, they won the race! see them hanging out balancing the boat with no keel at all.
more later
Roy

Hi everyone,
Have not had internet for quite awhile as I moved out of the marina, I am now anchored outside the lagoon by Pidgeon Island, its about 2 miles away from Rodney Bay and takes 3/4 hr to come ashore there, so sorry I havn't posted for ages. Next plan is a visit to Marin in Martinique and I may even leave today if all goes well. Have enjoyed my stay here, it is a beautiful island and the people are very friendly, so much so, that the social events seem to keep you here as there is always something more to see or do.
I hope to return to St Lucia on about the 18-19 Feb to take part in the round the Island Rally on the 20th, its 2 days with an overnight stop in Vieux Fort, this could be good fun!
Pictures 1 is all those who took part in the farewell flotilla, and GL in Castries sailing around the harbour.
More about the next plan next post.
Roy

January 2010

Hi everyone,
Some more views of the Island after a little tour I did with some friends from the Netherlands, we were with Malaki, he took us to the not so well visited places so we could see the real St Lucia, swiming in a river and seeing the small fishing villages, took us all day and included a swim in a hot mineral waterfall and a visit to the volcano crater which bubbles and steams away, bit smelly as sulfurous. pic 1 fishing village pic 2 swimming hole pic 3 rain forest pic 4 boiling sulfur mud pic 5 the famous Pitons with the town at there base Soufriere.
In the process of planning the next route and will post info later. Hope all had a good time over Xmas and New Year.