Cooksails

On the evening of the 11th, Aaron and I set out for Trinidad with high hopes and tempered sails. A 15-20 knot wind made the close reach brisk but uncomfortable, and we got little sleep on our first shifts off. The monotony of my 12am-2am watch was broken by the sudden sound of cellophane at […]

The 6th was busy. Besides tracking down and testing a “cruising ‘chute,” or large foresail, that we were looking at purchasing, we had to prepare for our passage to Trinidad. We planned on leaving shortly after dinner and sailing through the night, arriving in the morning. But whether we be mice or men, our plans […]

As the wind became light and variable in St. George’s, Grenada, our anchorage suffered. The heat became oppressive with the water of the lagoon too putrid for swimming. Bugs of all sizes found the boat, making us sick on the inside and riddling our bodies with bites on the outside. Fortunately, it was no Riviere […]

We left Tobago Cays on the 31st for Carriacou(pronounced carry-koo), still part of the Grenadines but owned by Grenada(pronounced grenayda). Stopping briefly at Union Island for groceries and customs, then Hillsborough, Carriacou for customs, we proceeded to Tyrrel Bay and dropped anchor in the afternoon. We enjoyed cold beer and looked for the elusive green […]

On the 23rd, an airline delay meant that we spent 8 hours in or near the airport in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia awaiting our parents’ arrival. Finally, they came in around 10 pm. We gathered their luggage, got fleeced by a taxi driver, and rowed back to the boat at its windy and rolly anchorage. […]

We felt good about our anchorage in Rodney Bay, on the northwest coast of St. Lucia, as there were many yachts, beautiful beaches, and no shortage of bars within eyesight of our boat. A constant, brisk wind also charged our batteries beautifully in the absence of our engine. Of course, the gravy train pulled out […]

Our stay in Martinique yielded several of the young voyage’s high points. Despite the lingua-francois, we were able to learn the streets of Fort de France, journey overland to the old capital at Sainte Pierre, and meet some Norwegians before a pleasant passage south to the island of St. Lucia. Fort de France blends Caribbean […]

Judge not too harshly the two men who have remained incommunicado for the past several days; ’twas circumstance, not choice that stole our pen and turned our eyes to more pressing matters. But the storm has ebbed, and now we shall lay forth our recent history, hopefully seeking your satisfaction. We left Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe on […]

We rose early on Monday and managed to get under the north bridge over the Riviere Salee. However, our problems weren’t over as daylight was still two hours away, leaving us 30 minutes to pick our way through the dark river to the south bridge for its single opening de jour. A multitude of inlets […]

Things here are much better now that we are out of the Riviere Selee. We went to Gosier yesterday, it is about 2 miles south of where we are anchored and is a resort town. In Gosier, we picked up a baguette, foies graus, and a bottle of white wine before heading over to a […]