The Greater Antilles ...

By leaving the British Virgins we also left behind what is best described as the Caribbean boating playground. From now on going west the number of yachts is decreasing and with it the facilities for yachties. For the first time since we started in July 2011 we also had no crew on board, except for Susanne of course.  By now I guess she has become the ‘staple’. The boat felt kind of … life-less and deserted, but after a few hours – sorry, days - we got used to it and started to enjoy it.

The next stop was Cruz Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands; there we received a dress rehearsal by customs and immigration, a taste of what was in store for Puerto Rico. But to that later ……

Besides still searching for that extraordinary beach or anchorage our program focused now on jobs for the boat. Time had come to exchange our trustworthy Portuguese made Valiant dinghy for the more UV and tropical sun resistant type. Charlotte Amalie, the capitol of St. Thomas in the US Virgins seemed the best place. Not only did we manage to find the ‘Caribe’ dinghy we wanted and at a good price, but one of the mechanics in the dealership was prepared to buy our old one. Easy - first job done!

Second on the list was a sail maker - we found the iconic 72 year old, but still going strong German [of course, what else do you expect] Manfred Dittrich, hiding away on an island in Long Bay on St. Thomas. Down came the sail and off we went … with a few prudently placed seams he took the flapping out of our genoa. Thanks Manfred !!!

 Hopefully it won’t end up looking like this.

 The two bigger jobs were done and we continued on our merry way west, headed for Vieques in the Spanish Virgin Islands. I didn’t mind it, but Susanne didn’t appear too impressed …..

 The next bay around though was perfect to give the new dinghy a ‘run for its money’ - meaning we dug out our water skies to fulfill Susanne’s birthday wish.

 Then the theatre opened with the grand performance – we arrived in US almost proper, speak Puerto Rico and had an awesome display of the Department of Homeland Security’s subsidiary called ‘Customs and Border Protection’. I do not want to waste any more of my time [nor yours] by describing their procedures in detail, but the display of the ‘keep-our-borders-secure-phobia’ wasn’t even worth cashing in on our hard earned US visa – we should have stayed away. How lucky are we not needing to live in that country. Basta – no more of that ….

Puerto Rico itself is a nice enough island with ‘Old San Juan’ being worth the visit. The reason for stopping here in the first place was to inspect the Campofresco juice factory / bottling plant of our sailing companion August, who gave us an individual tour and stocked us up with juice lasting until the antipodes. The world’s largest radio telescope situated in Arecibo was also impressive, but for the rest PR was way too much like US.

We left Ponce yacht club on the south coast of Puerto Rico with destination Dominican Republic, distance 175 nm straight east. To get there we had to cross the Mona Passage, renown for its erratic swell and currents. To make things worse we had hardly any wind and as a result bounced around for most of the night. To get a break we made for Mona Island, located in the middle of the channel. But just as we searched for the passage through the reef to get to the beach the forecasted 20kn nor-easterly finally arrived and we decided to continue. After another 8 hours of steady sailing we dropped anchor at Saona Island off the south eastern tip of the Dominican republic. What a magnificent welcome.

 

Final destination was the marina Zar Par in Boca Chica. The plan was to finish the list of maintenance jobs on the boat and in between experience the island of Hispaniola by day trips.

After having been here now for almost three weeks I must say that the Dominican Republic is a clear ‘reality-check’ compared to most other Caribbean islands. Life is a daily struggle for survival for the larger part of its population as the country faces politically, socially and economically some serious challenges. Having been without colonial mentor for almost 200 years, determination provided this people with an early independence and a colourful history, which was not without problems. Despite the lack of money, infrastructure, resources and general basic education this determination still shows in the vigor and strong zest for living life in the here and now. In the buzzing capitol Santo Domingo and also throughout the rest of the country, cars and motorbikes deemed clearly un-roadworthy in many other countries are used very effectively as public transport and to bring produce to the consumer.

The rampant rate of new born babies is responsible for the average age of the population to be very low with 26.1 years. Non-existent long-term vision and planning result in very high unemployment and many people including a large number of Haitian refuges live in sub-human conditions in metropolitan slums and villages; forgotten and without future, a breeding ground for crime and prostitution. However, despite all that people are friendly, have a smile on their face and get on with life.

Perhaps a few last impressions of the wonderful Caribbean before heading for Central America - Colombia and Panama – and more adventures.

In the lap of the’ Virgins’ ….

After cleaning and re-provisioning the boat in St. Martin with ….. you guessed right: good Bordeaux wines, French cheeses and bread and all the other culinary delights available….. we started out with a new crew – Monika, Thomas and Anja, Jutta, Timmo and left over from the last leg, Susanne.

 To ease the crew in we began the next day with a short 8 miles trip across to Anguilla. Compared to mountainous St. Martin it looked a bit like a pancake on the horizon, but in fact it is known for its long white beaches. We anchored in Road Bay and again visited customs and immigration to clear in. The bay had been subjected to a hurricane storm in the late 90’s and the results are still clearly visible.

Then it got a bit more serious and the next leg was a 70 miles overnight sail to the British Virgin Islands. We decided to use Dog Island as a jumping board. 10 miles away from Anguilla directly to north-west we stopped there for the day and what a place ….

After a grounding dinner we headed off just before dusk and for all the new crewmembers it was a first time experience to sail overnight. The watch teams were set up and we set forth to conquer the night. The stars were a bit shy and hard to navigate to, but the helms women were still successful and we arrived safely in Virgin Gorda

After clearing in at Spanish Town we sailed to the Bitter End resort located at top end of the island. The North Sound is a bay surrounded by numerous larger and smaller islets and extensive reefs and is home to a number of exclusive resorts and marinas. It is a paradise for the uninitiated snorkelers to make their first safe Caribbean underwater experiences. We docked at the Bitter End Yacht Club for re-provisioning, shopping, internet and of course ‘Happy Hour/s’ at the Crawl Pub

Then we turned south again along the Sir Francis Drake Channel and the chain of island making up the southern fringe of the channel. First stop were The Bath, a garden of massive granite boulders piled up randomly, surrounded by wonderful snorkeling grounds. On land you can discover the cave walk, which leads you through and under the boulders to Devil’s beach.

The next few days we stopped at all the little isles like Cooper Island, Salt Island and last Norman island. On Salt Island we found 'our' Robinson Crusoe set up: an empty island with some houses belonging to a local family and a deserted beach. We snorkeled to the beach and discovered an abundance of conch shells laying on the sea floor. With the permission of one of the family members, a fisherman who happened to be on the island collecting hermit crabs for bait we dived for enough conch shells to make a meal. We collected some tools from the boat and on the beach proceeded with extracting the meat from the shells, cleaning and tenderizing it coral rocks. Then we turned it into a wonderful meal for the evening - fresher it ain't be possible ..... 

Next on the itinerary was Susanne’s birthday. We celebrated with cake and champagne, followed by a rustic meal on the party schooner called William Thornton, which is permanently anchored [what a great idea !!!] in 'The Bight' on Norman Island. After the meal we had a dance before leaving the party boat, but were invited to listen on during most of the night.

We crossed the Channel to Tortola, the main island of the British Virgins and made a day stop in Smuggler’s Cove to extent our snorkeling experiences. Then we were headed for Cane Garden Bay. Up to now we experienced the Virgin Islands as a sailing paradise, but what we were missing was the true Caribbean spirit and presence of their people.  Cane Garden Bay made up for it. Great beach bars and the Callwood Family rum distillery were proof that the British Virgin Islands were still Caribbean.

Last stop but certainly not least was a little dream atoll called Sandy Spit, located off Jost Van Dyke island. Shall we let the pictures do the talking …..

 

Soper’s Hole was our final destination for this leg – a British Virgin Island special