Sunday, May 27
At 9:30 A.M. we're motoring through the Simpson Bay bridge
on our way south to St. Lucia. The weather forecast is decent
with 15-17 knot southeast winds for the next few days. The
first leg of the course is due south to Statia. The wind is
more southerly than forecast, but we're able to sail all the
way there without the engine. What a pleasure! When we reach
Statia, the course turns more easterly and we can only carry
the main sail and must run the engine.
Monday, May 28
"I've got a Caribbean Soul I can barely control and
some Texas hidden here in my heart." It's 3:00 a.m. and
I'm singing and dancing in the cockpit as Jimmy Buffett plays
over the stereo. The moon has just set, providing an ebony
backdrop for the brilliant stars. Phosphorescence sparkles
on the wake flowing past the boat. We're still motor-sailing
but the seas are comfortable. A few rain squalls pass through,
but nothing severe.
We arrive in Guadeloupe around midday and have high hopes
that our new course will allow us to turn off the engine and
sail again. Today is our anniversary and we had hoped to spend
it in St. Lucia where we exchanged our vows eight years ago.
We aren't going to make it there today, but a nice sail would
be a good consolation. As we come into the island lee, a squall
over the mountains sucks away all the wind offshore and we
find ourselves motoring across flat seas in a calm. When we
pass the squall line, the wind blows hard out of the south
with short choppy seas and an adverse current. The wind finally
clocks back to the southeast and we find an angle to the waves
that is merely uncomfortable but doesn't slam the boat every
few seconds. So much for our anniversary sail--this really
sucks!
Tuesday, May 29
By 3:00 A.M. I'm exhausted from two days of sleep deprivation.
There's no dancing tonight. Nick has just gone off his watch
and is laying in the floor, wedged between some cushions in
an effort to get some sleep. I'm drinking coffee and sticking
my head out of the cockpit in the wind trying to stay awake.
The Thorny Path continues....
As we approach Martinique at dawn, once again there's no
wind. The wind direction indicator is spinning wildly in circles
and the main sail is flapping uselessly. Instead of continuing
on to St. Lucia and getting there around dark, we decide to
pull into Anse Noire, a picturesque cove where we spent a
night on our honeymoon. After our wedding in St. Lucia, we
had sailed up to Martinique with four friends on a 50-foot
charter boat in the company of Texas cruising boats Kosrae
and Windsong. It was here that Nick gave me a dolphin
sculpture that is on the boat today.
Today, several strong rain squalls hit us as we approach
Anse Noire, but the skies are clearing when we drop the hook.
We're the only boat here and it's just as beautiful as we
remember: the same pier leading to a black sand beach, a small
restaurant tucked behind the palms, and goats clambering up
the hillside. How refreshing to return eight years later and
not find a condo development. After lunch and a nap, we don
the snorkel gear and follow a turtle for a swim over the reefs
on either side of the cove. Later, with the full moon already
rising in the eastern sky, we relax in the cockpit as the
sun melts into the western horizon. Nick blows the conch horn
(still a little farty sounding, but improving). Eight years
ago while watching a similar sunset here, our friend Gail
remarked: "This doesn't suck." Indeed!
Wednesday, May 30
Today is a milestone. We're returning to St. Lucia on our
own boat. Eight years ago we committed to return and today
we'll fulfill that promise. The sailing is fabulous for a
change--a close reach across a gentle swell. By late afternoon,
we see the twin peaks of the Pitons rising in a haze on the
south end of the island. We drop the hook in Rodney Bay. We
did it! We've come full circle.
Sunset at Anse Noire
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Still smoking, the Soufriere Hills volcano on the south coast
of Montserrat. This volcano erupted in 1995 and destroyed
the island's capitol.
Sunset on our lumpy second night offshore
West coast of Martinique, "Island of
Flowers"
Anse Noire
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