“Oh Christmas Winds, Oh Christmas Winds…”

Route from Martinique to les Saintes

Motivator subscribes to weather guru Chris Parker’s email service for forecast information as do a lot of cruisers in the Bahamas and Caribbean.  Unfortunately, sometimes Chris has bad news for us:

“SYNOPSIS:
Some folks may call them the "Christmas Winds". Whatever you may
choose to call them...strong Trades, driven by a persistently-tight
wind-gradient arrive in E Caribbean as FrontalTROF settles S-ward
along N Parts of E Caribbean about tomorow night...and gradually
shifting S to S Parts of E Caribbean by late Sun8-Mon9.

Although we may see an occasional 24-36 <with> interval of slight
moderation (down to ENE@20-25/8'...for instance about Wed11 as a
ColdFRONT presses S&E in W Atlantic)...except for such brief intervals
of slightly-less-bad conditions, I see no break to strong Trades in
the next few weeks.”

                                                              Chris Parker @:                                                                                                                               http://www.caribwx.com/

He went on to say if you need to get somewhere, go now!

Fort de France, Martinique

I pulled Pollie out of the Fort de France’s dress shops, and we headed north. It was our fourth time in Fort de France enjoying the shopping and the feel of a French island city.  The crossing between Martinique to Dominique was easy, even when we were not in the lee of the islands.

Approaching Dominique

At Portsmouth, Dominique we did a touch-‘n-go.  We put up the Q-flag and did not go ashore.  We had hoped to spend some time there, but given the option of being stuck in Portsmouth or Terre-de-Haut for two weeks, we picked Terre-de-Haute. 

 Indian River, Dominique

Dominique is a very scenic island and the government is promoting ecotourism, but it is a very poor country.  It is hard for us to overlook the rampant poverty and enjoy the scenery.  We did get to visit briefly with our friend Martin and give him a donation of T-shirts he can distribute. 

Terre-de-Haut

Just twenty-one nautical miles away in les Saintes, Terre-de-Haute the situation is just the opposite.  It is a very popular tourist destination with clean streets and restaurants serving great French food. 

 But damn, more dress shops.

Motivator’s route into les Saintes

We managed to tuck in close to Terre-de-Haut in the lee of the island and take a mooring ball.  As I type this posting, the wind is at about 20 knots with gusts much higher.  As long as there is some northerly component to the wind, swells will wrap around the island making for some uncomfortable roll action.  By Wednesday the Christmas winds should be out of the east.

Please sing to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree:

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds!

How ever keen your presence

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds,

How ever keen your presence

You blow and blow us to and fro,

The white caps froth, palm fronds fly off.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

Sea water sprays. Are nerves are frayed.

The dinghies swing.  The halyards ring.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

                                    By: Pollie Howland

Migration North

Grenada Sunset

With hurricane season officially over, according to the insurance companies, most boats departed Grenada and headed north.  A few are planning to head north then west to cruise the Western Caribbean.  Few of the U.S. or Canadian boats we met were headed home.  Most plan on staying in the Caribbean.

One boat we met is headed east.  Their first leg is out of Martinique where they will be place on a Dockwise Yacht Transport that will take them to the Mediterranean.  There they plan to enter the Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally.

Sandy Island

Our first stop was Sandy Island near Carriacou which is still in the country of Grenada.

Mustique

Because all of the boats travel at different speeds and the crews have different agendas, it does not take long for the boats start to disperse themselves to different anchorages.

Bocce Ball on the Beach

However, it was Sunny’s 50^th birthday on November 21^st, and we were all invited to Bequia to help her celebrate.  The celebrations began with “beach games.”

Sunny Abercrombie

That night at dinner, the birthday girl got the two things she has always wanted, a machete and a coconut bra.

The next day we all celebrated Thanksgiving together with a very traditional meal prepared by one of the local restaurants.

Admiralty Bay, Bequia

Bequia in the Grenadines is a popular anchorage, but soon it was time to move on.

The Pitons

Our next stop was on the island of St. Lucia at the town of Soufriere.

 Soufriere seems to be the bedroom community for the nearby resorts.

Sugar Beach Hotel

The contrast between the town and the resorts is rather striking.

Our next stop is one of our favorites, Marigot Bay.  This small hurricane hole in the mangroves is home to a Moorings Charter base and has several nice restaurants.

This time we discovered that our mooring fee entitled us to use the pool at the nearby hotel.

  Jeff from Izzy R crewing on Loose Cannon

We managed to get to Rodney Bay just in time for the Mango Bowl Regatta.  From here we plan on heading to Martinique.   The prevailing wisdom is that we need to be out of the Windward Islands and into the Leeward Islands before the Christmas Winds.