Third Leg: A Taste of the Caribbean

Day 40 - 57

The route on our Chart Plotter towards St Lucia

Cruising up the East coast of Brazil in the S-N Atlantic Ocean was exciting as we had the prospect of two stop-overs in the Caribbean to look forward to: Marigot Bay, St Lucia and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (BVIs). Having left Fortaleza, Brazil on the 24th September, it took us 10 days to get to St Lucia, an island in the Eastern Caribbean Island Chain (where the "Moorings Co." has a base and we could re-provision). However, we had to pass through the delightfully docile doldrums, hope that the skipper's operation's manager would give us accurate weather updates on a regular basis (to avoid those pesky hurricanes), and keep ourselves entertained before then.

Watching the sun set over calm waters in the Doldrums

Those ten days were primarily occupied with placing bets on our expected date and time of arrival in St Lucia. We all made various calculations and placed our bets. Everyone, except for me, placed their bets for our ETA as Saturday at various times; however mine was for Sunday. The reward would be free beers at a 2 for 1 special from each crew member upon our arrival - high stakes! 

During the intense heat of the day and calm seas we'd
heave-to (stop)  for a quick dip in the Ocean

Paying particular attention to weather at these latitudes (hurricane latitudes) was a given; yet now it became a race.... on the same boat. None of us could change the outcome as we were entirely dependent on the wind speed and direction, but every change in wind and sea state became a guessing game as we recalculated at every one. This provided at least some excitement as we trundled along at a semi-decent speed of 5-7 knots. With two days to go it became clear that we would never arrive before Saturday - Huuuuzzzzzahhh ~ Those ice cold beers awaited!

One day Pat and I decided to finally write a message in a bottle. We jotted down our position, where we came from and where we're heading, who we are, and asked for the finder to please respond. We sealed it up and presumably it's still floating in the ocean cos there's been no word yet... 

Saturday night before our arrival, we could make out a faint glow over the horizon: the island of Barbados was "in sight" via its city lights. We tuned in to their local radio station and the sounds of the steel drums, which signifies the Caribbean Carnival style music, filled our ears. We'd arrived in the Caribbean Mon. Along with the Caribbean sounds came the squalls: small storm clouds that build up during the day and bring with them a sharp increase in wind and heavy rain. During the day we wanted one to pass over us so that we could have a fresh water shower to rid us and the boat of salt. But when they creep up on you at night it's not so much fun. The helm is exposed to the elements and when it's pouring, pitch black and you're on watch (for vessels, staying on course etc) it's pretty kak. That night I experienced one of the worst ones yet... 

Gros Piton

However, as I came up on deck in the morning to take my next watch, we were already motoring along the Southern coast of the St Lucia and all thoughts of miserable wet were out of my mind. Not long after that, Gros Piton came into sight; a volcano that projects about 800 m (2500ft) straight up out of the Ocean and is an icon of St Lucia - even their local beer takes on its name. We arrived in Marigot Bay just after 1pm and I could hardly believe how beautiful it was! A deep, secluded Bay surrounded by mangroves and steep forested hills with mansions peeking through. The bay itself was filled with various sailing yachts and three large power yachts.  

As we found out, it is catered towards tourism and the money it brings in: locals weaving hats, bags, and all-sorts from palm leaves, to selling tours of every kind and offering any kind of service. Only one road leads into Marigot and the bay itself is traversed via small ferries or dinghies. Every day 3/4 party catamarans blaring loud, pop music - or an even louder tour guide - would enter the bay and drop off a boatload of people. It was a funny sight! 

Marigot Bay;  See our little "Temptress" moored in the center

One of the little local quirks we loved seeing

Our intended 2 day stop-over turned into 5 days as Hurricane Otto had developed along our intended route *sigh*. We spent the days snorkeling from our boat along the mangrove bay, the reefs near the entrance of the bay, taking hikes, playing Siedler, re-connecting online while chilling at the little bars and chatting to the locals. We still all ate on board to save money which lined our bellies from the cheap Rum Punches we discovered at the Marigot Beach Club - a very beautiful bar looking out over the entrance of the Bay. It was a great stay w/ a holiday vibe; yet no place is free from its problems. According to a local guy we chatted w/, there are quite a few gang-related fights which cause tourists to go to the larger marinas or even other islands. Sad news for such a gorgeous location...

"Chateu Marigot" Place of our first Piton beers and loads of these funny signs 

Too beautiful! 

Five days of relaxing in paradise came to an end as we headed out to Sea again towards Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. It wasn't sad though cos we were all ready to keep going on our delivery. There were loads of birds every day and we had radio from the different islands all the time. It took us about three days to get there which passed by uneventfully. We sailed into Road Town early at 6am and w/in the hour the "Temptress" was tied to the dock and we'd filled up our water tanks & drums. Only later did we taste the water: it was briny and really unpleasant, but bearable.

Little Birdie (Scruffles) that landed and stayed on board for the full 3 days - not sure what happened to it when we got on land... :(

My first impressions were of awe - the Moorings base has over 1300 slips for similar sized yachts to dock at; besides the massive Cruise Ship dock and various other marinas in Road Town! After a warm, fresh water shower Pat and I headed into town to see the sights. We thought we'd be leaving the next morning to make a straight shot for Ft Lauderdale, so we wanted to stretch our legs on land as much as possible. Mainly big 4x4s were speeding along muddy paved roads. It was hot and we stumbled across a small store stocked w/ goodies from SA - fun! It was definitely beer time though and we followed the breakwater to Village Cay, where the skipper and mate were already enjoying an ice cold Carib! (Cold things became such a luxury - ICE).

CNN was broadcast on a large TV which absorbed our attention for a while. Mainly because we were so out of the loop in the world's events, but also, CNN is to me, more like a showbiz programme than news. Feeling refreshed, we carried on wandering, and eventually got back to the marina for a swim and free WiFi at the bar. A stop-over here was pure luxury for us. A large resort-style hotel was part of the marina with all the amenities at our disposal. I barely took any photos as I was just swept up and in the moment all of our stay...

After some strenuous relaxing, we made dinner aboard and were promptly whisked away on a tender (small rubber dinghy) by the first mate's SA friends. He'd met up with them earlier and we quickly joined their state of jollity by being introduced to Painkillers - aptly named. Strong and Rummy delicious drinks were flowing at Village Cay and a night of partying ensued! It felt so good to meet up with a large crowd of South African's in the middle of  a Caribbean island and share stories of sailing, hometowns and the yachting industry. All of those whom we met are working for "Moorings" by being the crew that takes out guests who have hired boats for charter. Tough, intensive, yet, rewarding work was the general consensus from them all. I was amazed at the number of South African's that are in the industry internationally, without even having heard of this line of work while in SA before we started sailing.

They shared many insights, experiences and gave us sound advice on our pursuit for work in the yachting industry. Yet, what the yachting industry entailed, we had no clear idea about yet. Pat and I walked back to the marina with a light heart and wound down the evening by the pool. It was not easy waking up at 6:30 the next morning with a massive hangover, but we had a fresh shower (luxury!) and got Jumbo Cappuccino's and turkey sandwiches at the deli. The size of each was an indication as to how near the USA we were...

Hurricane Paula's track

Turns out that we had another 4 days to kick back and relax in Tortola as Hurricane Paula was sweeping in along our path over Cuba (Our path to the US was between the Bahamas and Cuba). It was fascinating tracking all those various hurricanes and planning our route and schedule according to their forces. Hurricanes are unpredictable. Through Geography, I'd always thought they move steadily from E to W and grow in size, then die down as they cross land. Not so simple.... With so many islands and resulting currents and oceans, their paths become hard to predict. All that's left is to track them, and hope that, when you do decide to make a run for it, they don't turn around on their path.

Of course, we were smiling as this afforded us time to relax and then explore a paradise island. That whole day we spent skyping with family and browsing the internet. It was too hot to do much else and we were happy to soak up free WiFi and aircon. As it cooled down towards dusk, Pat and I made tracks to see what the rest of town looked like. We wandered along the waterside road felling relaxed and safe - what a pleasure! Coming across a well-stocked mini-mart, Pat bought a pomegranate (US$4!) and we left. All the islands had been pricey in their produce, but that was ridiculous. At least the beers (1 Heineken can or 1 Carib bottle) were US$0.99. Not much was happening in town, but it was a cool, refreshing night to go for a walk on a new island.

The islands that make up the BVI's

The next day we located a tourist map of Tortola and got ready to head out on a hike to the nearest beach - quite a distance it turns out. Just before leaving the boat, two guys who'd just completed a delivery for "Morrings", came by to drop off the remainder of their supplies! What an unexpected and most welcome surprise! A full gas bottle topped the list (our one was almost empty after having cooked once a day with it, except for boiling water for coffee). Now we could cook as much as we liked with more food than we could finish :) Loads of 2 Minute Noodles, apples, oranges, a range of spices, butter, milk, juices and other treats that made our standard fare delectable!

The deserted Jesiah's  beach providing sweet respite from the heat

With a spring in our step we marched on to find  beach. We walked for 4 hours in sweltering heat along the main road that twisted around the island. Every road looked like a drive way so we kept walking on. It was so worth it as we finally arrived at Jesiah's beach. The road had been washed away in sections after heavy rains so the nearby resort and restaurant were completely deserted. It didn't take us long to cool off and swim in some pretty strong breakers - impressive fro a Caribbean island. Lounging on the deck chairs under palm umbrellas was perfect - Pat even found a full bottle of beer in the sand - score!

We got a lift back with the friendly prison warden and his wife who dropped us off at the marina. It was great having a little time to speak with some locals and see their way of life as they took us through the back roads and the village. The rest of the day was spent lounging at the pool and chatting to the other (5) delivery guys, all of them from SA, except one American skipper. After a few drinks on the dock by the boat. we headed back to Village Cay for our last night on Tortola. It was relaxed with great company and our stay couldn't have ended better.

After a shower, breaky and some e-mails, the 2 delivery guys cast off our lines and after a 1hr fuel stop in Soaper's Hole on the other side of the island, we were on our final stretch to Ft Lauderdale! It took us four days in which time we polished, washed, organised and generally got "The Temptress" ready for the big handover. We worked our butts off all day, had unlimited use of gas, new ingredients, and could see land every day as we passed over the Bahama Channel w/ Cuba to the S. By the last day, I could barely recognise the boat after 2 months! We'd taken off all the protective coverings to reveal leather couches, wooden finishes and marble counters.

At midday we'd heave to (stop) and swim
for 1/2 an hour

On the last day we saw high-rises along the horizon - Miami merging into Fort Lauderdale. Almost there. Civilization. Commercial planes, helicopters, freighters, hundreds of small boats, yachts, and a super busy Harbour channel - we'd reached American waters.

17th Str Bridge behind us, entering the New River 

Lauderdale Marine Centre (LMC) The major yacht repair/rework and workshop Basin

Cruising through the main channel of the New River took us 1.5 hrs, passing massive mansions, each with their own super yacht docked in front like a car - the sheer splendour, extravagance and scale to which each was displayed was astounding. We'd arrived at our end destination, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA after 57 days of sailing and stopping over in four countries. An unrivaled experience under our belts; we sailed across the Atlantic and Caribbean Ocean, and it still makes me smile. The sheer scale of it doesn't seem so extreme - we took it as it came and handed over to the "Moorings" Team a brand spanking new and broken in yacht. Job done.

Renate