M m m my Corona schedule

Like most everyone these days, my life has become a series of mostly dull and repeating events, except for the fact that we are on a beautiful island in the Caribbean. I know, you don’t feel the least bit sorry for us, but there are some challenges! Today, for instance, I got the sneaking suspicion from the nice lady at the local market, that the revoking of liquor licenses in St. Lucia, which was announced yesterday, would mean we had to stock up on rum at 10am.

Anyway, in case you are interested in the daily routine of one who is under lockdown in St. Lucia, here goes:

7am - I get up without alarm clock and start the coffee. I sit on our back porch (see below) and read the news. BTW, those are heated towel racks you see in the background there!

8am - There is a VHF radio Cruisers Net run by Marsha, a long time sailor who provides announcements, etc. which these days turn out to be mostly local updates on the virus, like which restaurants are open for takeout or where to get a visa extension when the local customs office has closed.

8:30 on Mon., Wed. & Fri, there was an organized yoga class on this nice porch by the bay, but it’s no longer allowed, so I do my own yoga thing on the bow of our boat on these days.

9am - noon - I go to the local MarketPlace and run other errands since most of the marina stores are only open in the mornings. On my way on and off the docks, I always have a chat with the security folks who are here 24/7 working to protect the marina. We also take care of business at this time (paying bills, figuring out how to vote remotely, etc.) and do boat projects (washing the hull, cleaning canvas, fixing the hose in the head, etc.)

1pm - We usually get around to lunch which is either tuna fish or cold cuts & cheese roll ups, unless one or both Andrew and I are sick of them and just eat a pile of tomatoes before they go bad or buy something at the local Cafe Ole! We have vendors stop by the dock on occasion with huge bundles of fruits and vegetables that they want to sell all at once. Invariably, we have to binge eat something so it doesn’t go to waste!!

2pm - 4:30 - We try to get more projects done or we take the dinghy out for an explore, to fish and/or swim in the Bay. I’ve also had a chance to read some good trashy books during this time.

4:30 - I like to do some laps in the pool before a shower and/or cocktails.

5:30 (ish) - Cocktails and social media hour where we call, mom, the kids, our friends, etc. If you want to get on the list, let us know. We’d love to catch up with you!!!

7pm (or later if Andrew is cooking) - We have dinner. Usually on board. If I’m cooking it’s some quick chicken, pork or beef dish I’ve found in my pressure cooker or Cooking Onboard recipe books. If Andrew’s cooking, it’s often fish purchased locally from a fisherman or some other creation. On occasion we take advantage of the local restaurants that provide take-out (great pizza at Elena’s cooked in an outdoor brick oven by Alex, from Naples, Italy.)

8pm - French class. Even though we are no longer in the French islands, I’ve decided to keep up my 57 day streak on DuoLingo, just for the heck of it.

9:30pm - Clean up and make phone calls to other night owls or go to bed and repeat the whole schedule the next day!

So that’s a day in the life of a couple of sailors that are stranded in St. Lucia!! Like you, we don’t know when life will get back to our normal, which means we don’t know when we will be leaving and come home again.

Here’s hoping we see you all sooner than later in better circumstances!!!

Lockdown in St. Lucia!

Since my last post (3/17), we’ve been trying to enjoy paradise in the midst of the COVID -19 pandemic. We spent a few more days in a mild form of denial, paddling on my SUP over to Doolittle’s restaurant in Marigot Bay for lunch and enjoying a new drink called Kiss the Bliss. Not sure of the proportions but it’s made of vodka, blue Curacao, lime juice, and grenadine syrup that is shaken with ice. I highly recommend it if you have the time to experiment and find the right mix!

We also ate at Masala Bay, one of the best Indian restaurants I’ve ever eaten at and with a beautiful view of the harbor. On the dock, we met the local fisherman, John, who introduced us to Corvino (sp?) fish and how to cook it with a turmeric & garlic rub. After we told him how much we enjoyed it, he came back the next day with the most enormous lobster I’ve ever seen!

As wonderful and relaxing Marigot Bay was, we decided to head back to Rodney Bay on March 19th in order to be in a position to provision food, have access to a chandlery and be in the company of other cruisers as we all try to sort out our next steps since all of the islands are closed and we all need to get our boats to safe harbor by June.

The options for us, in order of preference, seem to be:

1) Wait in Rodney Bay until Trinidad opens up and then go there as originally planned to be out of the hurricane belt and get some boat work done. The advantage of this option is that the boat would be where we want it to be and out of the hurricane zone. The disadvantage is that we don’t know when (or if, for that matter), the island will open up in time.

2) Leave the boat (hauled or secure in the water) in Rodney Bay Marina and fly home. The advantage being that we are already here, the virus is currently contained and the airports are still open, etc. The disadvantage is that we are in the hurricane belt (although they haven’t had one in ~25 years) and we don’t know if insurance will cover us.

3) Sail ~ 2000 miles back home. Advantage: we would be home! Disadvantage: It’s a long slog for two people and we could be sailing into the storm (so to speak) with regard to the virus.

It’s a scary decision we have to make but not one we feel we can make yet until we hear from our insurance company and about availability of haul out, etc. but we are in this with many other good folks who face the same dilemmas and are all trying to help one another.

At the moment, we are safe with access to provisions, laundry service, beautiful weather and good people. I cannot complain knowing that the whole world is going through one challenge or another. God bless us all and we’ll see you when it’s all over!!

Cruising in the age of COVID-19

We are truly in a worldwide epidemic! On Friday the 13th (!), we left St. Anne, Martinique for Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. It was an uneventful ~ 3 hour motor-sail. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Gregory in his floating fruit stand. We bought some papaya, mango, bananas, etc. knowing little about how precious they would become in the future.

Andrew headed to shore to check in with customs and shortly after returned to pick me up as a new policy for taking everyone’s temperature was being implemented. There were lines and delays at customs like we have not seen before but in the end it was fairly painless (even though my first temperature reading was above the required limit and despite feeling fine, I was concerned about being let in).

Rodney Bay is a big bay with a lagoon that has a nice marina and other services (restaurant, chandlery, grocery store, etc.) but a little choppy and noisy outside of the lagoon. I love the colorful wooden boats and big resorts on the bay but much of it looks quiet and unoccupied.

We walked in to town to find a Digicel provider so we could get ourselves a Wifi hotspot. In this day and age, with travel restrictions that may limit us from getting home anytime soon, it’s helpful to at least be able to stay connected online! The nearby mall was empty, hand sanitizer was on the counter in the shops and we we’re told the grocery stores were crowded and running out of inventory. COVID-19 preparation has clearly hit the Caribbean!!

After picking up our Wifi connection to the world, we walked down the beach to the St. Lucia Yacht Club. It’s a classic old bar decorated with yacht club flags from all over the world and a very chill vibe but Andrew wasn’t interested in their food so we went next door to Spinnaker’s, a nice place for curried chicken, on the beach overlooking colorful beach tents and out to the bay, where we could see Billy Ruff’n.

On our way back to the boat, we were approached by a guy collecting funds for a kids cricket game. Feeling sorry for everyone’s struggles these days, I convinced Andrew (who had some small bills) to give him some money. When we got to our dinghy, we found out from a guy who was helping people in and out of their boats, that the cricket game is a scam, however the guy helping with boats is probably a scammer too, but we tipped him anyway.

In Rodney Bay we were feeling a bit vulnerable between the scammers, reports of dinghy thefts and the Corona virus concerns so since we have some time before our slip reservation here starts, we decided to bide it out at another destination in Marigot Bay, where you can pick up a mooring from the nearby resort and use all of their facilities while you’re there.

Marigot Bay Resort is on a very small lagoon, safe & breezy enough but there is barely anyone here. We picked up a mooring for a couple days and headed ashore to grab the famous shrimp burrito at Chateau Mygo. Apparently, most of the facilities along the bay are owned by a single family and things are generally still open. The restaurant was a cheery (considering the times), colorfully decorated place that looks out on the bay. While sitting at lunch a huge ~200 foot yacht passed by the restaurant and through the channel. It was quite a sight given the channel is barely 200 foot wide and the yacht simply blanketed the place.

At lunch, we met a young couple on their honeymoon, who told us to forget about going home anytime soon and even if we did, self quarantine (away from the family members who are the purpose of my visit) would be necessary for at least 14 days, which is longer than I had planned to stay. Everyone down here has implemented hand washing, extra cleaning precautions and enhanced security and yesterday the Prime Minister closed all ports to foreign yachts. I guess we’re lucky to be here!

The sunsets are beautiful, the infinity pools and lounge beds that we have access to at the resort are luxurious and the little birds that steal sugar from the table are amusing, but I feel stranded. I hope we all get through this safely and sooner than later!

Meeting new friends in St. Anne, Martinique

On March 5th, our guest left from Fort de France and we headed further south to St. Anne, Martinique. It was an uneventful 2 hour motor sail, except that we passed close by Diamant Rock, which we had seen the previous day from land. It was quite a site to see the 40 - 50 foot sailboats dwarfed by the giant rock that had been thrown 2 miles off shore by an ancient volcano.

We arrived in St. Anne to see hundreds of sailboats at anchor across a bay spanning a mile and a half wide. We heard that some friends of Billy Ruffn’s former owners were here so we went looking for a blue hull named Capers. Amazingly, we found the boat and anchored right behind them, although no one was on board. Later that afternoon, a dinghy pulled up to Billy Ruff’n and Jim and Pat, who had recognized their old friends’ boat, introduced themselves.

The next morning, we were treated to hot croissants delivered to the boat by the local bakery. After breakfast, we took the dinghy to the town dock, which like many of the towns we’ve seen in Martinique, led to a pretty church and was flanked by a nice park. We walked through town, passed some of the best, albeit touristy shops, I’ve seen in Martinique and the pre-requisite bakery and then continued to the next town over called Caratin. There was supposed to be a fellow running an operation that supplied ice & water to boats in the harbor and would take, clean & return laundry, but we found his shop closed and out of business.

Next door, was a great lunch spot called Pirates Beach Cafe, where we had one of the best lunches (Salad de Mer and a burger) that we’ve had in a while and ate in the company of all kinds of skeletons and creative pirate decor.

The next day, I went for a walk with our new friends to Saline Beach, which is purported to be one of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean. It’s a bit crowded but we were entertained by the visuals at the gay and nude beaches along the way and met up with Andrew for beers, Poulet a la diable and ice cream at La Dunette in town afterward.

One of our favorite habits we’ve adopted in the French islands has been to purchase a baguette every day and use the leftovers for French toast in the morning. We’ve also become accustomed to walking miles for great Cajun spiced chicken or the latest find, a Magnum Double Caramel ice cream bar! Somehow, despite this, we manage to stay fit and healthy in the midst of the omnipresent news about Corona virus.

Waiting for a calm day, we held off a 3 mile dinghy trip to Marin, where we hope to visit the well stocked chandleries that are in that town, to knock off the list of boat supplies that has been growing. Despite 10 knots winds, we made the trip the next day only to discover that finding the chandleries was something of an adventure. Wandering down a creek that look like it was going nowhere, we found a place called Clipper Ship that wasn’t in our guide but we didn’t find Le Ship or Caribe Marine, at least not where the guide had them.

After two scouting adventures, we finally found the last two shops near the Marin Marina, checked off about 80% of our shopping list and found a nice place for lunch (another burger & grilled fish). While we were in Marin, the technician we’d been working with to order a new windlass called and happened to be in town so we got together with him after lunch to get the bad news about shipping a new windlass from New Zealand... it’s expensive!

While in St. Anne, we’ve seen some really beautiful sunsets including a few with the dramatic green flash (not captured here), enjoyed meeting new friends and finding our favorite burgers.

Five days with Mirkil

Our friend Jay arrived on Feb. 28th, just as Marc, the engineer, was installing our re-built windlass. Jay’s plane literally flew over the boat, so we waved as it went by. An hour later, he was waiting at the Etang Z’abricot Marina office for Andrew to pick him up in the dinghy. The next few days, we explored Fort de France and the surrounding bays with our friend.

We visited the Grande Marche in the city where fresh fruits & vegetables, spices and other goodies are sold on Saturday morning. We saw some of the beautiful colonial architecture such as that found on the Hotel de Ville and many government buildings.

We took a short motor sail to Anse Mitan, a lovely beach across the Fort de France Bay. It was busy with kids playing, beachside restaurants and little shops. We enjoyed the people watching (mostly scantily clad people that shouldn’t be) as we walked around and took a meal at Barracuda’s. 

The next day, we took the boat along the green hilly coastline to another bay called Grande Anse D’Arlet, where we anchored with hundreds of boats of all types. On shore, we walked the promenade along the beach, spotted these two young girls selling “coiffures” and the occasional topless bather and enjoyed a meal of crevettes (shrimp), curried chicken, and pomme frittes at P’ Ti Bateau.

Our last day with Jay, we took a land tour to La Mauny Rum Distillery, where we learned that different rum brands use various methods for creating their special flavors, including using steel or copper distillation vats and sugar cane from different areas of the island.

After the rum distillery, we drove by Le Diamant, a huge rock that was apparently thrown 2 miles offshore by a volcano many years ago and today provides a landmark for cruisers and quite a site from shore. We saw it up close the next day, which provides some additional perspective.

On the other side of town from Le Diamant is a modern sculpture installation called Cap 110, which provides another view of the rock and a poignant memorial to local victims of the slave trade. 

Next we stopped for lunch of King Mackeral and fricasse of lambi (which turned out to be conch) in Ans D’Arlet, a quaint seaside town with a beautiful church grounding it’s center.

The last stop on our tour was the Village de la Potterie, where we saw beautiful vases and bowls made of the local red clay and got to purchase some handmade chocolates to restock my dwindling on board dessert offerings.