Catching Up...Bequia 13*00.314'N, 61*06.400'W

It seems that the further we go south, the more difficult it is to get good internet access, but the break from technology isn't so bad.

Last night we arrived in Bequia, which is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and today is Captain Ron's birthday....so while he's enjoying a sleep-in, I'll try to get you caught up on our travels...


Mount Pelee Volcano

On May 22, we arrived in Martinique, which is a very French island with virtually no English either spoken or written. Signs, menus, instructions, food labels, labels on anything you purchase - it's all in French and although my vocabulary en francais has improved impressively, our time here has been a great lesson in how difficult it is to be a minority in a county where so much is unfamiliar and what a difference it can make if people choose to be friendly and helpful, or not.

Our first stop here was a tiny village at the north end of the island called St. Pierre which lies at the foot of the Mt. Pelee volcano. In 1900, St. Pierre had a population of 30,000 and was known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was the cultural, commercial and social center of Martinique. The wealth of the island came from the plantations, most of which were around St. Pierre. The volcano started giving warnings in April of 1902 and on May 2, it spewed enough ash to kill some birds and small animals. Twice more that month, the Pelee spewed ash and boiling volcanic mud down it's sides killing 3 people and burying two estates. The only reason people stayed was that the governor at that time couldn't cope with the responsibility of evacuating Martinique's most important city and was pressured by the planters and business leaders who would have suffered financial losses has the city been evacuated. A few had the foresight and determination to leave the city regardless. The volcano finally blew on Assention Day that year and the destruction was massive. There were many witnesses to the disaster as many people were traveling to St. Pierre that day for the Assention Day church services and could see the heavy red smoke descend on the city. Rather than continue, they climbed the surrounding hills to see what would happen next. The end came at 2 minutes past 8 in the morning. The side of the volcano facing St. Pierre turned red and burst open releasing a giant fireball of superheated gas that flowed down over the city releasing more energy than an atomic bomb. An estimated 29,933 people perished instantly, leaving only two survivors - a cobbler who was in his cellar and a prisoner who was in a very thick stone cell. Twelve commercial ships were destroyed in the bay. Many of the town ruins remain today and a local museum has on display many of the artifacts from the town at the time including some very melted iron bells from the church, tools, dishes, even a meal of peas and potatoes that was preserved by the heat and gasses.

While we visited a few of the major cities while we were on Martinique, our favorite was by far the last little village we went to called St. Anne. It's an adorable little seaside town that is full of delightful little shops, beautiful beaches, picturesque seaside cafes, cobblestone streets and church bells that remind of simpler times.

The church and town square at St. Anne, Martinique.


The sanctuary.

All along our travels, we've met some great cruisers and had the pleasure of their company in several of the ports we've been to because many cruisers are, like us, working their way south to get out of the hurricane zone. We have made good friends of a few boats in particular: Kamaloha, with Charlie, Maureen and their two kids Beth and Brenden, Msichana with Mike, Karen and Karen's daughter Samantha(who have been liveaboards and cruising for most of Samantha's 13 years!) and LaLa with Henrick, Maryola, Lala and Mischu, a delightful polish family from Kelowna who have entertained us with stories of their discoveries and blunders of cruising life. While Msichana is spending the summer in St. Lucia, we hope to bump into Lala here in the Grenadines any time and will catch up with Kamaloha in Grenada. It's been so great to have the company, advise, experience and pleasure of other cruisers as we make our way south.

Henrick on Lala.

Another of the highlights of this leg of our journey was meeting and getting to know a delightful couple that sailed from France who spoke no English. One day as Ron was walking on the dock to get back in our dingy, he came upon an older gentleman who was staring at his own dingy scratching his head. Ron asked it he needed some help and the man began gesturing and trying to explain something. Ron finally deduced that the man's gas tank for his dingy had been stolen (we always lock ours with the dingy for just that reason). Ron towed him back to his own boat and when he came back to ours, he remembered we had one on board that was no longer of use to us so he brought it over the the Frenchman's boat and returned with a bottle of rum and an invitation for us to come to their boat for drinks the next night. So, over we went and spent a wonderful 3 hours and many laughs with this couple who spoke no English and we happily entertained them with our Frenglish and passing a notepad and a French/English dictionary back and forth. Through out the evening, Olivia was looking at us all like we were nuts, but having a great time with the new dolly and the pack of smarties they had given her!! It just goes to show that the bonds of friendship can certainly cross into different cultures and languages. It was one of the nicest evening we had had on the island.

On June 7, we left for St. Lucia and had a really great, smooth and uneventful sail into Rodney Bay at the north end of the island. We treated ourselves to 3 nights at the marina dock here and felt really spoiled! Because we were plugged into the power and water at the dock, we could have long showers and run our air conditioning and it was sooooo nice to sleep in a very cool cabin! This marina also has great pubs, restaurants, shops a chandlery and a pool which Olivia enjoyed repeatedly throwing herself into. There is also a spa here run by one of the local ladies and I had the single best full body massage ever for $85 EC which is about $40 Cdn - If you're ever in Rodney Bay - finding Debra will be the most relaxing 90 minutes you could imagine.


Between the Pitons on St. Lucia

Back when we were in St. Kitts, we met a really nice couple from another Canadian boat called Annie II. Diane and Ken have both just retired from the Canadian military and now call St. Lucia home. Ken is originally from St. Lucia and immigrated to Canada as a young boy and always knew he would return someday to the caribbean. When we met them, they were bringing their 26 Tanzer back home from having been de-masted in a storm in the Bahamas. Since leaving the military, they have built a beautiful home and rental villa with a 180 degree view high over the Atlantic ocean in St. Lucia. They graciously invited us to spend a night or two with them, so who were we to turn down such an offer?? Since they live near the southern tip of St. Lucia, we invited them up to Rodney Bay to sail down with us to Vieux Fort where they live. We had a great sail down on Exodo and spent the night at anchor between the famous St. Lucia pitons which are huge mountainous rock formations that stick straight up from the ocean. The following day, as we continued on south under a great sail, we all heard a great big rip and looked to see our head sail falling away from the furler and wildly flapping in the wind. Once the momentary chaos was subdued and the sail brought back inside the boat, the guys decided it was time to fish. Ron brought all kinds of big sparkly, pretty fishing lures (that Olivia thinks are her own rubber petting zoo), but we hadn't had much time or opportunity to test them. Since we could only use our main sail and the conditions were just right, this was the day. After a very short time, the guys brought in a beautiful 15 lb. tuna. There was subsequently anther fish on the line and it gave a bigger fight than the tuna did but eventually got away. Ken says it would have been much bigger than the tuna - possibly a large Dorado or Sailfish, but you know the story about the one that got away...


Ron and Ken and the tuna having a very bad day.


Pouring rum into the gills of a fish is the humane alternative to clubbing them - I guess Diane thought the fish had more than it's share.

We spent two wonderfully relaxing nights at Ken and Diane's home enjoying the spectacular view, great showers, a tuna and lobster feast(I had chicken) and great company. Diane was kind enough to drive us back up to Rodney Bay to have the sail repaired and we were treated to the incredible island scenery during the drive up the coast and through the jungle rain forest. The terrain and vegetation is very similar to Dominica - simply stunning.

Lobster dinner at Ken and Diane's


Olivia and "Socks"

We've just arrived in Bequia which is an island just south of St. Vincent. We opted not to stop in St. Vincent at this time due mostly to our time constraints to get to Grenada, and the recently reported levels of crime in St. Vincent. Hopefully, the conditions will be more favorable for a visit there when we return up the island chain.