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Day 175, Thursday 19 February 2004

At eight in the morning I go to customs. They are still closed, although the opening time is 08:00 am. I first do some shoppings. When I return after 20 minutes they are just opening. For the first time we get problems with Camelia's passport. According to the official she needs a visum. I look a bit amazed to her and tell her that about 2 years ago it was ended and that we had no problems on any of the islands sofar. She shows me a paper from 1994 (!!!) and shows that it visa is needed for Romanian citizens. When I tell her that she lives in Holland and has a Dutch residents permit it solves the matter. I have to get her permit so Camelia can enter Sint Maarten.
Till now there is nothing which reminds us of Dutch influence. Or maybe there is. The bridge. We have not seen islands having a bridge to a lagoon.  At 09:30 am we pass the bridge. Someone from the marina is waiting for us and helps us mooring. The service is great. We are surrounded by mega yachts.
Lets go to work. We have to repair the sials, the fridge, the anchorwinch. Stop the leakage, clean the boat, etc. I first go find a sailmaker. He tells me that there are hardly sailmakers anymore which make furling mains with batons because of the many problems they faced. Like us. He is going to see if he can find the batons. Than we have to arrange the current. Again something which does not remind us of Holland. This is the first island where everything is 110 volt. Only the dutch side. French is 220V. Fortunately the marina has 220, but a different plug. When I go to the chandlery they look to me like they see water burning. After having visited 3 different shops I give up. The marina is ready to borrow us one.
In the afternoon we get the sails down. What a nightmare. In the top of the sails, the bottons do not
's Middags halen we de zeilen naar beneden. Wat een kriem. Bovenin blijven stukken van de zeillatten zitten. We zijn bijna 2 uur bezig om die er uit te krijgen. Stel je voor dat je dit op de oceaan had moeten doen. Dit was echt onmogelijk geweest. De laatste halen we er uiteindelijk uit door de zak een stukje open te snijden. Hij moet toch naar de zeilmaker.


Dag 174, Woensdag 18 February 2004

Van : St. Kitts                                  Naar : Sint Maarten

De dag begint slecht. Allereerst hebben we slecht geslapen omdat er veel golfslag stond en we lagen net iets te ver van de heuvel af, zodat we toch veel wind pakten. We willen om 8 uur het anker ophalen als de ankerlier het begeeft. Dit betekent het anker met de hand op te halen. Vervolgens trekken we het grootzeil uit en vliegt er een zeillat door de lucht. Als we kijken, zien we dat de zak helemaal is gescheurt. We kunnen een groot deel van de zeillat niet meer redden. Als we het grootzeil binnen willen rollen, loopt deze vast. We varen naar de volgende baai en gaan daar achter een heuvel liggen om een beetje uit de wind te gaan. We rollen het grootzeil in. Dan bedenk ik me hoe dit had moeten gaan als dit op de oceaan was gebeurd. Het is een hele toer om het grootzeil met een stevige wind naar beneden te halen.
Goed, na alle tegenslagen komen we toch weg. We varen eerst een stuk op motor tegen de wind in om ver uit de kust te gaan. Dicht langs de kust zijn veel ondieptes met riffen. Als we circa 2, 5 mijl uit de kust zijn, rollen we het grootzeil en de genua weer uit. Zonder de laatste zeillat is eigenlijk geen probleem.We varen halve tot ruime wind, hetgeen een heerlijke koers is.
Tegen 4 uur in de middag komen we aan bij Simpson Bay op Sint Maarten. We ankeren tegenover het Pelican resort. Ik ga direkt met de dinghy aan wal om in te klaren, maar de douane is al dicht. We besluiten om in de baai te blijven liggen en pas morgen naar Simpson Bay Marina te varen. Ik ga alvast even kijken bij de marina en het blijkt dat ze ons al ingepland hebben. In de baai liggen ontzettend veel megajachten. Monaco is er niets bij. Als ik terug vaar, valt me op dat ons bootje toch maar een klein schiet bootje is vergeleken met wat hier allemaal ligt. Maar met dit kleine schiet bootje zijn we toch ontzettend blij.
Tegen de avond gaan we naar het Pelican resort en drinken we een pilsje en rumpunch aan de bar op het strand. We genieten van een mooie zonsondergang. Als we zien dat we er spareribs en kip van de barbeque kunnen eten bestellen we hier ons diner. We beseffen ons dat we weer een belangrijke etappe van onze trip hebben afgelegd. We beschouwen het als de vierde etappe van de vijf af te leggen. De eerste was de Middellandse zee, de tweede Canarische Eilanden, de derde St. Lucia en nu dus St. Maarten. Het laatste stuk zal naar de Bahama's zijn.


Day 173, Tuesday 17 February 2004

From: English harbour                      To : St. Kitts

When we wake up, we still do not know where we go today. We can go to the North to Barbuda. This we can do via the east or via the west of Antigua. I quickly bring away the waste and we store the dinghy on deck. When we leave there is a considerable swell and finally we decide to sail to St. Kitts. It is another fantastic sailing day. We go in a broad reach and reach speeds of 7 to 8 knots. The total distance is 52 miles. We do not see any other boat. . We go at anchor in a bay in the south of St. Kitts. From the bay we can see Nevis. There are 2 other boats. Camelia makes pizza and eat outside.


Day 172, Monday 16 February 2004

I tried to update the page, but the internet did not work. They where working on the antenna. During lunch we went to a nice little restaurant. There where some snobs around, most likely coming from some of the big yachts. The restaurant was nicely located on the bay of English harbour.
In the afternoon we went shopping for the bbq tonight with Pat and Mike. Tomorrow we want to leave and therefore we checked out with customs. Around 7 I pick up Pat and Mike and we enjoyed a nice evening on the boat. This will be the last time we see them. We go North they go South.


Day 171, Sunday 15 February 2004

Again a day of relaxing. Time really flies. Camelia prepares a nice lunch, warm camembert. Around five we sail and walk to the Antigua Yacht Club where we meet Pat and Mike. The average dinghy is having an outboard of 50 hp. Eric, our driver brings us up to Shirley heights. From here you have a fantastic view over the ocean as well as English and Falmouth harbour. There are a lot of people. There is life steel band music and around 19:00 they start with life reggea music. It is all very nice. We order some food from the barbeque and dance a little. Camelia really enjoys the reggae music. Around nine we go back to the boat. For tomorrow we invited Pat and Mike for the barbeque, which means we stay another day in English harbour. That is no punishment whatsoever.


Day 170, Saturday 14 February 2004

A day of relaxing. We swim a little, read, etc. Around noon I go ashore to update the webpage and look at emails. Around three pm we make a walk to Falmouth bay. Unbelievable how big the yachts are overhere. There are millions and millions dollars of property. When we walk to the other pier, we all of a sudden see a well known boat to us : "Private Affair". Mike and Pat are hard working. They just got back their generator which was malfunctioning already since the crossing. We take a beer on board and talk a bit. They have been upto the British Virgin Islands and are now slowly crossing towards Barbados. There their son is going to marry in March. Tomorow they are going to "Shirley Heights" and we decide to join. Back on the boat we read and in the evening we take our Valentines diner ashore.



Day 169, Friday 13 February 2004

From: Deshaies                To : English Harbour (Antigua)

What a fantastic sailing day. As soon as we leave the bay of Deshaies we raise the sails and only close to English Harbour we take them down. The whole way we have 15 to 18 knots wind. Marvelous. We both read a book and the boat sails itself to Antigua. Halfway we here on the radio that one boat spotted a whale. We cannot see anything like a whale. Normally we like it when we arrive, but this time we could continue for another couple of hours.
English harbour is a nice bay, one big museum. There are still the original buildings from the 17th century. The custom clearance take long time. There are a couple of boats ahead of us and all of them have big crew on board. The immigration officer is studying each and every passport carefully.


Day 168, Thursday 12 February 2004

From: Castaways               To : Deshays (Guadeloupe)

It is going to be a long trip today. 55 Nautical miles. We leave already at eight in the morning. There is a nice breeze. The waves are not that high as we are sailing behind the islands Marie Galante and The Saintes. We have full sails and go with 7 to 8 knots in direction Guadeloupe. It is long time ago that we sailed so nicely. It remains dry. Behind Guadeloupe the wind disappears for a moment and we continue on engine. Deshays is a little village with some restaurants at the bay, a church, supermarket and some gift shops. When we arrive we make a short walk in the village. Back on the boat we put the dinghy back on deck. Tomorrow we hope to go to Antigua.


Day 167, Wednesday 11 February 2004

From : St. Pierre                  To : Castaways (Dominica)

We leave early. Eight in the morning. First get the stern anchor out, put the dinghy on dek and finally get the main anchor in. Behind the island the waves are not too high. As soon as we pass the island initially the waves are ok. It are long waves and there is a nice wind, 20 knots and so now and than 25 knots. There are coming some squalls. If we get a squall the wind increases and so do the waves. We sail a broad reach. So now and than we get a high wave which pushes us away, but all in all it is much more comfortable compared to a couple of days ago when we sailed from St. Vincent to St. Lucia.
In Roseau, the capital of Dominica, we custom clear. We throw the dingy into the water and put the outboard. Camelia keeps sailing around, whilst I  go to custom clear. This was done quickly and we continue our sail to Castaways. When we arrive, Jan is already waiting for us. At the hotel we take a drink and than Jan drives us around. We visit his home. He has a fantastic view over the Caribbean Sea and with binoculars he can see all vessels passing Dominica.
In the evening we eat with Jan in "Stoneage", a nice little restaurant. It is situated far from the main road and has a nice view on the Caribbean Sea. Didier is the innkeeper. We met him and his girlfriend a couple of weeks ago at Castaways. There are 4 other clients, guess what nationality......., yes, Dutch.  We take one for the road at Castaways and than say goodbye to Jan.


Day 166, Tuesday 10 February 2004

From : Anse Mitan                To : St. Pierre

In the morning we go shopping in Anse Mitan. We meet Wim of "Dolce Bella". He had some problems with his propeller shaft. He tells us that after the weekend again lot of wind is expected. They leave today to St. Pierre. We discuss and decide also to leave today for St. Pierre. We rather have some extra time to come to St. Maarten rather than being short of time at the end. Also would we like to visit some other islands such as St. Kitts, Nevis St. Eustatius, Saba, Antigua en Barbuda. All of the islands is not possible. If we can sail to Antigua we will go there, otherwise we will go via Montserrat, St. Kitts and St. Eustatius to Sint Maarten. We meet Ronald of "Vijla" and tell him that we have to postpone the drink for Sint Maarten next month.
Around 1pm we leave. There is a lot of wind and with only mainsail, we blow out of the bay. When we arrive two hours later in St. Pierre we see "Dolce Bella"already at the anchorage. There is a lot of swell. This is going to be a restless night. We sail around a bit to find a good place and to see how to anchor. Finally we decide to put the bow against the swell by putting a stern anchor. This means that we have the wind from aside, but with the mountains there is not too much wind. When we are finally anchored, it appears that "Samsam" is laying much more comfortable than all the other boats. Also here are a lot of Dutch boats. There are 10 boats of which 4 Dutch.
The crew of "Dolce Bella" come to us for a drink. After they left, we take diner and watch a movie.


Day 165, Monday 9 February 2004

There is still a lot of wind so we will stay here for another day or two. As the anchor is holding well now, we take the ferry to Fort de France to custom clear. According to the guide, the customs office is next to the cruise terminal. However, there are 2 terminals and off courste we first walk to the wrong one. We look for the tourist office to ask where we can find the customs. It is on the other side of the city. After a long walk we find it. The formalities go very quickly. When we walk back, we see the custom officer of St. Pierre. He recognizes me and we have a short chat.
We do some shoppings and go back to Pointe de Bout. Although we are in a Bay there are lots of waves which come all over the ferry. When we are back on the boat, we are being called by "Vijla". They saw our boat. In Las Palmas we met Ronald and Bea with Olga and Onno of "Jobber". In the afternoon we pay them a visit. They arrived in Tobago. From the Cape Verde it took them 21 days. They had very small winds.


Day 164, Sunday 8 February 2004


From: Marigot Bay            To : Anse Mitan (Martinique)

We leave around nine, just after breakfast. The first part goes again quiet. We sail close to the coast. From Pigeon Island we start the crossing to Martinique. We can sail half wind. There is again windforce 7, but this time there are no squalls, so no gusts either. When we did more than half, the waves slow down a bit. It is a very comfortable sailing now.
When we arrive in Anse Mitan we have to anchor 3 times, because the anchor did not hold. On the vhf they warn for winds of force 9. We put another anchor, just to be sure. This weather will hold for the next 48 or 72 hours. We will wait here in Anse Mitan till the weather improves.


Day 163, Saturday 7 February 2004

From: Young Island            To : Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

The wind is quiet. I check the weather forecast and especially for Monday they expect bad weather. At least as far as the wind direction is concerned. Untill Thursday the forecast is windforce 6, mainly from the East, but Monday from North East. According to the guide the stretch between St. Vincent and St. Lucia is a difficult one. We will have to cross it one day. If we stay till Thursday, we will be short of time to reach St. Martin in time. We called Rolf to check the weather forecast on the internet. Windforce 6, but gusting to 70 km/hr. We decide to try it anyway. If it is too heavy, we will go to Wallilabou.
The trip along the island goes very smoothly. There is only 15 knots wind. When we pass the island, the wind is increasing to 30 knots. The waves increase and we get a lot of water over us. There are a lot of squalls around us. The first one we pass well. 35 knots of wind or windforce 8 bft. The weather improves a little, but the waves remain. Than the next squall. Heavy. The wind increases to 40 knots. Still force 8, but 1 knot more and we have 9. Fortunately we see more boats crossing. Not that they will be able to help, but it gives a good feeling. Again a squall. Now we measure a record wind of 42,9 knots or windforce 9 bft. This we never experienced before. Together with waves of 5 meter, this is a real experience. The boat remains well under these conditions. So now and than the solar panels are touching the water. Now it seems we had the worst part. We can see the pitons of St. Lucia. It is still about 2 hours sailing. Than all of a sudden we see nothing anymore. The wind blows heavily. Still another squall. There is so much rain that we cannot see anything. There was a boat very close in front of us which we cannot see anymore. Again above 40 knots. The wind is not such a problem. We get used to the wind and the waves. The rain makes it very inconvenient. Near St. Lucia we hear a "panpan" message. A French boat is having some engine problems. The first 3 calls are not being answered by anyone. Just when I wanted to take the vhf to reply, an english boat is answering there call. He decides to assist the boat and tow it to Souffriere. The French coastguard is calling and advices that a rescue boat is standby in case of need. Both boats can manage it and the rescue boat does not need to sail out. Around five we arrive in Marigot Bay. It is still raining. So much rain we have not had in the Carieb till now.
We are glad we made it. Tomorrow another stretch and after that we hope it will become more quiet.


Day 162, Friday 6 February 2004

This morning we went to the botanical gardens. The daughter of Charley Tango drove us there and we agreed she would pick us up at 2:30 in the afternoon. The botanical gardens are beautiful. Trees very old and lots of spices like muscat, Vanmorgen zijn we naar de botanische tuinen geweest. De dochter van Charley Tango heeft ons er heen gereden en we hebben afgesproken dat ze ons 's middags om half drie weer op haalt. De botanische tuinen zijn erg mooi. Bomen ontzettend oud en vele soorten specerijen zoals nutmeg , cinnamon, etc. Although we did not ask for a guide a guy walked with us and told us many things about the various trees and flowers. With a guide you learn much more. Also we have a look to the parrots. Most of the parrots have the same colours, the colours of the flag of St. Vincent. After a walk trough the gardens, we wald to Kingstown. It is a reasonable developed city with many shops. It looks much more developed than e.g. Castries, St. Lucia. We are late and eat quickly a chicken at Kentucky chicken and afterwards do our shoppings. Fresh food is difficult to buy. This supermarket has some frozen meat, but e.g. yoghurt we cannot get. We will be glad when on Martinique we can restock. At the entrance of the supermarket our driver is waiting and drives us back to the boat.
The weather forecast is forecasting much wind and it looks that we will be stucked here till Thursday. Charley proposes to make a tour Sunday or Monday. He has some guests in a hotel nearby which also want to make a tour and he could combine it to reduce the price. We tell him we will come back on it tomorrow.
In the evening I clean the barbeque. It is full of lobster legs. When I cleaned it, we bake some pork chops on it for diner.


Day 161, Thursday 5 February 2004

From : Lagoon Bay             To :Young Island

It is raining a lot when we wake up. As soon as it is dry, we clean the rest of the boat. Around noon we are finished. The boat is clean, the batteries are charged and the watertanks filled. Now we can do without a marina till we are in St. Martin. We leave for Young Island. This is only 2 to 3 miles sailing. Just when we want to anchor it starts to rain heavily. Fortunately there is still a boatboy around which helps us to moor at a buoy. It is adviced not to go on your own anchor.
In the afternoon we just loose the time a bit. I still clean the hull and Camelia is reading a bit. Late in the afternoon we take a walk. It is a very busy road.
Back on the boat it is time for a drink. We do not have to much to eat and during our walk we did not see a supermarket. This means canned food. We will have to consume that one day. .


Day 160, Wednesday 4 February 2004

From: Bequia                     To : Lagoon Bay (St. Vincent)

In the morning I first go ashore to bring away the garbage. The weather is bad. Lots of squalls. Just when we want to store the dinghy, we get visitors. Ineke and Ger of "Rhea". They already saw us and knew that from the magazine Zeilen that we started our trip in Croatia. Maybe I wrote it before, but still I am amazed how many Dutch people we see here. In every bay or anchorage we see one or more Dutch boats.
After the coffee we leave. There is a strong wind, force 6. It is only one hour sailing, but a difficult hour. There are high waves and we really have to beat against them. At the Lagoon Bay we go inside the marina to clean the boat and to recharge the batteries. Next to us is "Drumhorse", which also joined the ARC. I clean outside whilst Camelia takes a sleep. She took a pill against seasickness, which makes here very tired. When she wakes up, we take all the pillows out and clean the boat inside.


Day 159, Tuesday 3 February 2004

From : Pte St. Vincent      To : Bequia

As we have nothing left for breakfast, we motor to Petit Martinique. On the island there is only one restaurant. We ask if they serve breakfast. They do, but it will take some time. We make a walk around. There is a school, a postoffice, a supermarket with so little things. I believe that we have even more on the boat than they have in their shop. The people are very friendly. There is so much difference between one island and the other. Most places where there are a lot of tourists, the people are not too friendly. If you come to the little places, they are. We get a very nice breakfast. Camelia takes french toast, which is toast baked in eggs and with some spices. Monique gets a poached egg on bread and Gerard and myself bacon and eggs.
After breakfast we bring Gerard and Monique to the next island, Carriacou which is part of Grenada. We do not dare to get close to the shore and anchor outside. I bring them to the shore. When we arrive a small bus going to the main village just came and waits for Gerard and Monique. From there they will take a ferry to Grenada. We had a great time together. The highlight was definitely eating lobster in Tobago Cays. They have seen the nicest part of the Caribbean.
We motor further to Bequia. There is not too much wind which is good. Untill Dominica, where we hope to arrive in about one week time, it will be mainly headwinds.


Day 158, Monday 2 February 2004


From : Tobago Cays          To : Petit St. Vincent

Camelia en Monique are ordering 2 lobsters for tonight. This time they ask Seosoning / Onion to bring bigger ones.
We go with the dinghy to the reefs. Tobago Cays is a horseshoe of reefs. It are the most beautiful ones in the Caribbean. We snorkle and swim a bit around the boat. There are buoys for the dinghies so you cannot damage the reefs. On the way back we pay a visit to "Aditti", a dutch boat which lies normally in our homeport Lelystad. They are sailing around for 2 years with 2 children.
Back to our anchorage we go to the beach. The girls buy a few t-shirts on the beach. I got one with the slogan "Sail more, work less". A slogan we have to remember.
Around three we go south. It is the intention to go to Union Island. Halfway we see a nice little island called Palm Island. We try to anchor there, but there is to much swell. In Union Island a boatboy comes to offer a mooring for EC$ 40. We decide however to anchor. The first time we anchor too close to the ferry boat so we try again. A boatboy is coming and tells us that it is not save to anchor here, because the anchor will most likely not hold. After some negotiations we get a buoy for EC$20,=. Although we thought we did. Just when we moored, he is asking EC$ 30,=. As I refused to pay the latter amount, finally the boy agreed. It did give us already an unpleasant feeling. A bit further down people are fighting. A boatboy with the boat "Never give up"is fighting with a French boat. "Never give up" is very agressive. A bit later he comes to us. He asks us what we paid. Initially I refused to tell, but he claims to be the boss and finally I tell him we paid EC$ 20,=. He tells us in a very unpleasant way that he does not agree and will bring us back the money. After some waiting he is not coming back. We however do not like the atmosphere at all and do not want to leave the boat unattended. Finally we go away and sail to an island futher south, Petit St. Vincent. A little anchorage place.
We enjoy the lobsters which we bought in Tobago. Camelia is getting much more experienced in killing the lobsters. It where two very big lobsters with a lot of meat. Delicious..........


Day 157, Sunday 1 February 2004

From : Port Elizabeth        To : Tobago Cays

In the morning we invite "Oscar"for a coffee. We catch up a little. Basil gives us some suggestions for anchoring in the Tobago Cays. Elia seems to remember Camelia quite well as she is spoiling her with candies. Whenever she wants a twix, she is asking her parents to buy Camelia's candy i.o. twix.
Initially we intended to go to Canoan Island, but looking to the chart, Tobago cays is only one hour further south and decide to go there. Just few miles south of Canoan, the colour of the water is changing to light green. It is really beautiful. Basil adviced us to anchor in between the islands. Great advice. There are no boats and we are just on swimming distance from the beach. It is really beautiful...............
Onion, the boatboy is coming to us and wants to sell some lobster to the girls. He succeeds and for EC$ 90 he will bring us two alive lobsters. We go to the beach to have a swim. There are no words to describe this little paradise. Palmtrees, white beach, clear water, sunshine, beautiful girls, what more you want............
Around 5 Onion brings us the lobsters. Two big ones. We put them in a basket with water before they fall in the hands of Camelia. No one of us dares to cut the lobster, except Camelia. They still move. Camelia takes a strong knive and puts it in the head, like Onion adviced. The first one was difficult to kill and to split in two. The second went much smoother. Monique prepared some salad and Gerard put the lobster on the barbeque. This is real life. The food is delicious. We might take some lobster again tomorrow.



Day 156, Saturday 31 January 2004

From : Wallilabou              To : Port Elizabeth (Bequia)

Shaun, the boat boy comes immediately to us with bread when he sees one of us on deck. He goes back and picks up the ice and than wait for us to have breakfast. When we finish breakfast Shaun is releasing the stern line and we sail to Bequia. We start with the engine as there is not too much wind. When we get off the coast a bit we raise the sails. It goes smoothly with a wind of 3/4 bft. In between the islands there is much more wind. Gerard is taking the helm, but when we are halfway the wind increases to 5/6 bft and he asks me to take over. A ferry comes close by. Right at that moment the wheel is getting loose and I cannot steer the boat. We quickly discover the problem. It was not tight enough. Each time in the port we take of the wheel so we can pass easier. When we put it back you have to tighten a screw which we did not do good enough.
In Bequia a boat boy comes to us with a speed boat. What a difference. In Wallilabou it was a rowing boat, here it is a speedboat. He offers us a mooring, but we first try to anchor. As is mentioned in the pilot, you may have to try various times before the anchor holds. We try, but it does not hold. We even dive down to put the anchor deep in the ground, but it is loose sand and we do not trust it. Finally we take a mooring.
We take a walk in the village. Camelia and Monique are flirting with the guys selling fruits and vegetables. Camelia buys from 3 different people.
Afterwards we go to take a drink at a beach bar and read a bit. Monique stays in the water.
When we came in we saw a boat, "Struner", from Delfzijl. Gerard and myself quickly go there to have a chat. On the way back I see Oscar. There is no one on board so we leave a message.
For the evening Gerard and Monique invite us for diner. It is a nice restaurant with view on the bay. We take curry with shrimps and chicken. The food was very good.