Tobago Cays - Day 11

The adventure never seems to end. Another morning and another new port to view and explore. Today is a chance to really enjoy a destination.
the island in the image is of the island used during the filming of the second Pirates of the Caribbean where Captain Jack Sparrow was stranded.



Let me say it right now--I have never seen in person water the color of the water in Tobago Cays--rich turquoise against a blue sky is a picture post card memory.



We were snorkeling by 8AM, again, with turtles. We walked a small island looking for tortoises and iguanas, we found iguanas, everywhere, and some were not too happy to see us. One wanted to keep me off the path, but he heeded to reason when confronted with my diving flipper to make me seem larger than I am.



Snorkeling with the turtles was truly a highlight of the trip. At one point, I had 8 turtles in sight and s long as they are not approached too closely, they do not seem to mind the company. We spent a lot of time with the turtles and even came back after lunch for one last time with them.



But from turtles, we headed off to Horseshoe Reef for additional snorkeling both on the Caribbean side and then the Atlantic side of the reef. The snorkeling in the reef was also fabulous. The park--as it is of St Vincent and the Grenadines is accessible only by boat and is tricky to navigate into and out of. Once in Tobago Cays thought, everything is accessible by dinghy.



I learned how to get my snorkeling gear on in a dinghy with four other people and get out and then back into the dinghy at sea. It is humorous and hard. We tied the dinghy off at buoys in both spots.



The snorkeling was awesome and on the Ocean side we could see the deep blue drop off into the abyss.



We had lunch as a barbecue place which provided a sumptuous outdoor fish barbecue on the beach to enjoy. It was in my opinion the best meal of the entire vacation both in terms of variety and portions, and it all tasted real good too.


After swimming with the turtles again, it was time to begin the return trip to St Lucia--and about 3pm we headed off for Admiralty Bay, Bequia on an anticipated 4-8 hour sail, depending upon the winds. As I am writing this, we are making good speed of 8 knots so a 4 hour sail is looking good.



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Morning - Day 10

I cannot believe it is Day 10 already and sadly our adventure is drawing to a close so quickly. But there is still so much ahead to enjoy.


When I awoke this morning and spied Admiralty Bay for the first time, I was awed by its beauty and also the clarity of the water. There are some long sandy beaches that we spent some tie on while the the captain cleared customs and immigration into St Vincent and the Grenadines for us.



The bay is surrounded by low hills and filled with boats. The harbor mouth is wide and looks out onto the sea.



So what were you doing at 8:30 this morning? I was snorkeling Admiralty Bay in Bequia having the first adventure of the day. The finds of the day were multitudes of trumpet fish, a flounder, an octopus, and a sand diver.

There is adventure ahead today--I can feel it already.



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The Sail to Bequia - Day 9 Continued

We had a beautiful sail of 10 hours when the story we all told. We arrived in Admiralty Bay about 8pm and Pennie and Chris had a great dinner ready as soon as the boat was secured at anchor for the night. It is very different sailing into a dark harbor not knowing what is in store or what is really there except for the lights of the other boats also taking refuge in the harbor for the night.



As we sailed past the island of St Vincent we were treated to fantastic scenery and even the location where the opening sequence of Pirates od the Caribbean was filmed. The sights, once the open water crossing was completed, kept our interest for the remainder of the trip.


We experienced another awesome sunset enroute to Bequia. We were sailing near Kingston, St Vincent at the time. It was awesome.



During the last part of the trip we were finally able to transition the boat from a motorized craft to a true sail boat as the wind finally came alive and we were truly sailing.


It was exciting and quiet to speed across the Caribbean under the power of wind--much like the sailors centuries ago did.

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Departing from the Pitons - Day 9

We are at sea. We awoke this morning under the Pitons and by 7AM I was in the water enjoying the clear water and an abundance of fish while the captain of the ship went into Soufriere to clear immigration and customs.



Chris joined me a short while later and we had a great hour and a half of some really fantastic snorkeling and searching the beach for sea glass. It was a romantic and beautiful morning.

And then, about 9:30 we departed our mooring for Bequia, which is the St Vincent part of the Grenadines. We hope to make Bequia by late afternoon and then the fun part of the sailing adventure will begin.



Sadly, I was so intent on getting into the water this morning that I forgot my camera. The abundance of fishes was special as well as some unique fish that I do not normally get to see such as squirrel fish, drum fish, a number of trumpet fish, spotted trunk fish, and a lot of small eels foraging along the bottom amend the rocks.



We are at sea as I write this--enjoying a relaxing, albeit slow sail south. But St Lucia is still in sight even though our course is firmly set south and the heading is 185 degrees with light winds. The beauty of the Pitons is behind us and unimagined adventures await us ahead.







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Finally At Sea - Day 8

It was a long day of waiting around for the boat to arrive, it was anticipated about 1pm, but about 5pm, it finally sailed into Marigot Bay and we were ready to begin the sea leg of our adventure in paradise. Boarding the boat was a sight to behold--luggage and provisions and people coming aboard as the boat was anchored just outside the navigational channel all from a water taxi. It was humorous and amazing that the only loss was a jar of spaghetti sauce. As we were all pretty busy trying to get aboard and in place three are, unfortunately, no pictures.



The boat is a beautiful Belize 43 foot catamaran named Javelot and the French captain, Marek, seems reedy to treat us to a great adventure. He took our desires and came up with a fantastic sailing plan--in fact, we departed Marigot Bay at sunset and cruised south about 10 miles to the base of the Pitons. It was fully dark by the time we arrived and we moored to a buoy seemingly yards off shore. I can hardly wait to see the sight in the morning.

The cabin is small--yet comfortable tough there is no air conditioning and the boat is swaying gently on the light waves in the bay we are tied up in.

We experienced something this evening that none of us had ever seen before--it can only be called a moon bow--a rainbow caused by the bright light of the moon refracting off the falling rain. Since I do not have an active internet connection, there is no way for me to get the precise term for this event. But, it was really cool.



The nighttime sail under the full stars before moonrise was something I will always remember. And then when the full moon rose--it was spectacular sight.

Who know what adventures await us in St Vincent and the Grenadines! We are all in though.

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Location:Pitons. St Lucia

Back in Bequia

We arrived in Admiralty Bay just after dark completing the sail from Tobago Cay after a day of snorkeling with turtles and seeing the drop off to to deep blue ocean from the ocean side of the reef.

Sadly, time is drawing short on our trip and we will soon return to the mundane trappings of life from this tropical paradise.

More to follow when I get a wifi connection.

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Lunch in Mustique

We sailed this morning from Admiralty Bay in Bequia to Mustique the home of the stars.

We are having lunch at Basil's on the beach.

Life is good and I have Internet for a bit. Longer posts when I get out on the boat.

And I have to return home, why?

Another day in paradise

What is wrong with this picture?

I'm taking it from the shore of Marigot Bay instead of on a boat. The boat is late and won't be here till about 5. Ugh!

Blog update delayed

Prob not a lot of updates as the Internet is down,again, and therefore my iPad won't connect.

We are preparing to board our boat today when it arrives from Martinique. We are about to sail off into an Internet black hole.

So when the blog updates come it means I am getting lucky Internet.

Sent from my iPhone

Rainforest Zip Line Adventure

One of the things I really wanted to do while in St Lucia was to zip line through the rainforest.

Yesterday, my desire became a reality. Chris and I headed off on a rainforest adventure which was great fun and thoroughly educational.

We headed out on an hour long taxi ride to the rain forest picking up some other companions along the way at other resorts. We were met at the entrance to Rain Forest Adventures St Lucia by Jesse who would be our guide for the activity.



We were strapped into harnesses and provided a helmut and looked really ready to zip line--but first there was a training run to teach us the basics of zip lining and ensure we would have fun during the day.


From the training, we headed off onto the tram for a 45 minute and scenic ride up the mountain. Jesse was a font of knowledge and explained the details of the rainforest to us during the ascent. I really enjoyed having such a knowledgeable guide and we had a lot of fun discovering the hidden secrets of the St Lucian rainforest.



The tram up the mountain was in the area just under the canopy so that we could see the plants and creatures that inhabit this zone of the rainforest. As we arrived at the top, we disembarked and began a short hike to the zip line platforms.


We saw some wildlife along the way like this tarantula--which funny enough made a lot of people cringe--but it loved getting its picture taken.



We had a lot of fun. The operation was very safety conscious and after the first platform, which was just above the ground, we were never untethered to either the lines or a tree. At a couple platforms we were at least 80 feet up--and the view under the canopy of the rainforest was spectacular. Normally, you zip line alone, but Chris got a surprise when the guide decided to join her and spin her around on the zip line--just for fun!



After the zip lines--there were nine, we hiked back to the top of the mountain for the tram ride down. The ride down was mostly in or just above the canopy and so we experienced another unique part of the rainforest.



It was a wow day!

And after the hard work of becoming novice zip liners, we ended the day with another Marigot Bay sunset--just because. This is from a restaurant at the end of and above the bay--the whole bay is visible and our villa is on the right side of the hill going to the palm trees about half way down.



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