Home page

February 5, 2002, we left the dock in Trinidad to begin our traveling season.  We sailed north with our French friends Georges & Anna on  Ofelia and Georges & Josette on Janireva.   We anchored briefly in Grenada and Carriacou then continued to Rodney Bay, St Lucia where Joan flew home for three weeks to deal with a family crisis.  Continuing north,  we stopped at Saint Pierre, Martinique for the night then went on to Portsmouth, Dominica where we caught up with our friends.  After a brief stop, we sailed north to the small French island group Isles des Saintes.  We explored these beautiful islands for several days then continued north to Guadeloupe.  Port de Plaisance Marina in Pointe à Pitre was our home base for three weeks.  We rented cars and explored the two butterfly-wing halves of Guadeloupe. 

Leaving, we cut through the canal separating the two halves of Guadeloupe and sailed to Antigua for Classic Boat Race Week.  This short six hour trip in open ocean turned out to be one of Joan's most unpleasant passages.  The wind was between 20 to 25 knots with ten to twelve foot seas on our beam.  Viking Rose was going full out but to say we rolled a lot would be a gross understatement. 

After watching the beautiful classic boats race and enjoying Antigua, we headed back south, first stopping in Deshaies, Guadeloupe,  then Iles des Saints and continuing on to Dominica.  Returning to Saint Pierre, Martinique, we found the French islanders preparing for a big celebration, the 100th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Pelée which totally destroyed the city.  After the celebration, we continued down the coast of Martinique stopping in the capital Fort de France,  then Anse Mitan and finally Sainte Anne. 

After several weeks anchored off the beach at Sainte Anne, we continued back to St Lucia where Joan once again flew home for a couple weeks.  Upon her return, we continued south to Bequia, Canouan, Tobago Cays, Union, Carriacou, and finally anchored In St. Georges, Grenada.  There we met a delightful South African couple Francois and Inge with their two children Joshua and Joan on the sailing vessel Sacajawea.  Becoming friends, we both postponed our sailing plans and spent several weeks together exploring Grenada and watching their carnival celebration.  Painfully, we said goodbye and prepared to make our passage to Venezuela.  While staging for the passage in Prickly Bay, we had a Westsail Rendezvous, three Westsail 32s (Petrel, Aloha and Pamela) and Viking Rose, a Westsail 42.  The next night, we traveled with Pamela and Aloha to Los Testigos then Margarita, Venezuela.  We stayed two months at anchor in Porlamar and returned alone to Trinidad where we are now.  At Trinidad and Tobago Yacht Club (TTYC), we have a land phone and local internet server so communications are good.

A wise man once said, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." 

On February 5, 2002, we left the dock in Trinidad.  Our goal was to get to know two major islands, Guadeloupe where we had only  stopped briefly, and Antigua where we had never been.  We visited Saint Pierre, Martinique for their centennial recognition of the eruption of Mt. Pelee.   After that, we continued south along the coast of Martinique, stopping at Anse Mitan and Sainte Anne. 

The 4 of July found us in the Tobago Cays and, from there, we proceeded to St. Georges, Grenada  where we met a delightful South African couple François and Inge with their two children Joshua and Joan on the sailing vessel Sacajawea.  After Grenada, we went to Margarita, pictured in the last update. 

Guadeloupe is a French island shaped like two wings of a butterfly with a small river Rivière Salée running between the two halves.  The island sits slightly askew, tilted to the northwest.  The eastern half has a rocky coastline facing the Atlantic Ocean and low rolling hills used mostly for growing sugar cane.  The western half has high volcanic mountains and rainforests with waterfalls.  Whoever named the two halves was confused or had a sense of humor since each half is named the opposite of its geography, the eastern side with low rolling hills called Grand (high) Terre (land) and the western half with high volcanic mountains called Basse (low) Terre (land).  Grand Terre once had high volcanic mountains, but over millions of years, the mountains eroded.  Basse Terre is much younger and still has its high mountains.

During the three weeks we were at the marina, we rented cars often to tour the island and shop.   Many products are imported from France so shopping was good with both French and Caribbean influences. 

Large
fish trap made of wire and saplings held together with wire