Smooth sailing ......with our repaired jib and only 35 miles to go to Grenada.   Amazing.  We have been pushing hard for the last 12 days and have covered lots of water, countries, and islands with very minor problems.  The biggest problem, however, has been keeping Bentley on board the boat for over a week now.  So let me try to back track and fill you in on our travels.

June 11th -  Our repaired jib sail was returned to us by the sail maker at 4:00 in the afternoon, so we quickly left the marina and anchored out for the night to prepare for our 35 mile trip to Dominica.  We enjoyed our 5 day stay at a marina in Guadeloupe.

                                                 Black sand beach at Guadeloupe

June 12th - We pulled anchor at 7:00 am and with main sail up we tried to rehang the jib but the winds were too strong.  So Will tied the jib securely to the rails and we bucked our way through the waves with a 20 knot wind.   We anchored at Portsmouth in Dominica at 2:30 pm.  Too tired to check in but had interesting evening with three boat boys approaching our boat and trying to sell us everything from flags, fish and fruit.  We even shared a few of our beers with one of them named Sugar Daddy.  All happening under a beautiful full moon.

June 13th - We dinghied into town to find customs and immigration.  Walked for miles through a small but colorful town and found the office 2 miles from our dinghy.  The office was located behind some warehouses near a wharf.  It was so unique to see the carbon paper placed between the forms for triplicates of what we needed to fill out.  We were told not to bring Bentley ashore!!  

Carbon paper for triplicate forms.  

Three story building in down town Portsmouth

                                            Fruits and vegetables are plentiful sold at street stands


Back to boat and pulled anchor to move south along the coast.  Arrived in Rosseau 4:45 pm and was approached by boat boy - Pancho.  The water is so deep here very close to shore, so we followed him to a mooring ball right in front of his house.  We had a peaceful and restful night of sleep.

                                                               Pablo and his house.

June 14th  -  Today we leave the Leeward Islands and head for the Windward Islands.  Martinque will be our first stop.  We pulled anchor at 5:00 am and headed east with both sails up, 20 knot winds, and rough seas.  Winds died down about 2:00 so Will tried a little fishing.  We landed two barracuda but let them go as we won't eat that ugly fish.  Winds died down at 2:00 so there was a  nice sail into our next anchorage.

       Anchored at 4:30 near the town of St. Pierre and went into town for a look around.   Martinique is French territory and very relaxed about customs check in and dogs.  Bentley enjoyed stretching his legs.  We met an American couple from Greenville, SC.  They have a car so tomorrow we will go with them to see Mt. Pelee.  This volcano erupted in 1902 and wiped out the town on St. Pierre .  The side of the volcano burst open, releasing a giant fireball that flowed down over the city.  It wiped out the entire city and killed over 29,000 people.   Only two survived...one was a cobbler that was in his basement and the other was Cyparis an imprisoned murderer that was in a stone jail cell.

The stone jail where Cyparis survived

French bakery....always lots of bread

Will's favorite ...elephant ear

June 15th - Met Libby and David at their car at 9:00 am and stopped for some fresh pastries at the bakery before our drive to Mt. Pelee and our hike up the mountain.  Will and David made it up to the crater, while Libby and I only made it up and 1/10th of the way.  It was a long day but a life long dream of Will's.  In grade school he had written a paper about this mountainous country and enjoyed seeing the sights in person.


                                          

                                              View from Mt. Pelee looking down  at St. Pierre

June 16th - After two days of being in Martinique we finally checked in at 9:00 am and checked out at the same time!   Back at boat by 10 and anchor pulled by 10:30 .  Off again to stage for our next stop St. Lucia.   We arrived in Grand Anse and took a free mooring ball.  No town here and not many people but lots of boats.  Must be a mooring place for the French sailors of Martinique.


                               

                                                 
June 17tth -   Finally we are sailing.   No motor, two sails, good winds, slight heel over.....enjoyable.
This is the sailing we have been looking forward to since we left the USA.  Not pounding into the easterly winds and seas!   Arrived at Rodney Bay at 11:00.  It is a huge harbor with a very large marina.  Checked in and out  Found a Digicel phone company for a new sim card for the ipad and we now have internet on the boat again.  It has been hard finding internet spots along the way.

                

Trying to find internet by the sea

Fancy dancy boat boy in this anchorage

Will buys a pineapple just to get him to go away

June 18th -  After such a great but short day of sailing yesterday, we were excited to sail again and move on to St. Vincent.  But no such luck.  We had great winds but a 3 knot current which kept pushing us backwards.  Our 30 mile trip is going to get us into our anchorage after dark.  But at 4:00 about 8 miles away, the current changes into our favor and we are speeding along at 6 to 7 knots.  Will was excited to see the speed reach 7.9 at one point.  So at 6:30 pm we pulled in Chateaublaire and again were greeted by a boat boat...this one in a canoe.  He guides us to a sandy spot that is less than 30 feet deep and we drop anchor just after the sunsets.  We did, however, see many beautiful rainbows today and dolphins joined us as we sailed along.

June 19th -  Heading south along the coast of St. Vincent..easy on the lee side.  We pulled anchor at 9:45 and pulled into anchorage at Willilabou bay where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.  Boat boys are approaching, no other boats, the restaurant looks closed, it is only 11:15...we look at each other and decide to keep moving.  Next task...find diesel.   Ottley's in the guide book is a haul out place, but we see a fuel dock and pull in at 1:00.  Rodney and his partner help tie us up along side a huge pier with no gas pump.  So Will will have to jerry jug it to the boat.  But Rodney and his partner  do all the toting and Will just refills the tanks.  We gave them each 20EC$ as a tip...about $8.00.

                                          Will loved this place.  Maybe a haul out in the future.

Left the boat yard at 3:00......2 hours in a shipyard and only 5 minutes in the harbor where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.  Something is wrong with this picture, I feel.  Anyway, arrived at Young Island and got another mooring ball at 5:15.   I looked around and said to Will,  "This looks like the Caribbean."  We laughed....we are in the Caribbean.

June 20th  -  Quick trip today over to the Grenadines.  If you are like me you may have heard of them, but never knew any of them except Tobagos.  There are many, many little islands scattered around with names I have never heard of.   But I think I will stop here and start another post of all
of the stops we make in the Grenadines.  I am tired of working on this for over 4 hours, and you are probably tired of reading.

We are so close to our destination that we just keep pushing to get there.  Our deadline is July 1st,
and we finally think we just might make it.