Sunday, April 6, 2008
REPORT FROM RYAN
After the conclusion of the Heineken regatta we took care of the necessary boat work and took the main sail to get repaired. While waiting, we noticed that there was a big storm in the North Atlantic that was hitting the islands in 4 days. If we waited for the repair, we would not have been able to get to Barbados by the 1st to pick up Matt Cordeau and see the islands on the way down. With a last minute decision we picked up the sail, which is still usable with a reef in it and set sail for Saba. Our goal for Saba was to climb to the highest peak (3000 ft) and get the stamp in the passport. We did in fact make it to the top and see most of the island which was absolutely beautiful. From Saba, we continued south east to Guadeloupe before the big storm hit. Once we arrived we realized that the Island was extremely large, and public transportation was hard to find. We rented a car, which made accessing the surf spots a breeze. We surfed Port Louis, which had the biggest surf it has seen in years, so we were quite fortunate. We decided to hang around till the 24th so we could meet up with a friend that raced with us in the Heineken regatta. After hanging out with Dan for a day, we decided to push off to Dominica. This sail was quite rough but only took 8 hours. On this sail our engine stopped charging the batteries which would eventually become a serious problem. Not being able to charge the batteries means that we would not be able to start the engine once they get below a certain charge. We got a local mechanic to fix the problem which was a huge relief. We could now use lights and keep our food cold.
Due to the large size of Dominica, we decided that a rental car was the best way to see the whole island. After getting the car we made our way to one of the Islands natural waterfalls (Trafalger Falls) and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. After looking at the map of the island, we thought that the drive through volcano would be cool to do as the only drive through that we had encountered before was Mc Donalds. This turned out to be amazing. We then cruised the North Coast of the Island which was extremely lush, covered with Palm Trees, greenery, rainforest, and single lane roads. This was definitely the coolest drive that we had ever made. Our plan was to depart the next day and make the trek to Barbados. When we woke up we noticed that one of our friends from the BVI was anchored right in front of us. After reminiscing, we pushed off for Barbados. This sail took 35 hours and was quite rough. We ended up ripping our genoa so we were limited to our main sail. We arrived early morning on the 1st, just in time for Matts arrival. We spent the next couple of days touring Barbados, getting the boat back in shape and checking out its famous surf spots.
We departed on the 4th and headed south west to Grenada. Along the way, we decided to stop off in the Grenadines to check out the scenery and enjoy a swim in the Tobagao Cays. This was an area with a lot of little islands and a huge reef. Very cool spot to spend an afternoon. It was another 10 hours to Grenada which is where we are currently anchored.
So whats next…….We are heading to Caracas(Venezuela) tomorrow which is probably going to be a 3 day sail, then push off to the ABC islands to pick up Maggie on the 15th. From there we will work our way west to Panama to go through the cannal and meet up with family. We’ll keep you posted.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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