Cruising Caribbean, Part1
Nov 29th, 2018 -Jan 21st, 2019
Antigua
21 Nov-2 Dec 2018
Bob, Our WindWane and back-up auto pilot gets a good cleaning before put to sleep for now.
We did some beautiful hikes around English harbour and Falmouth,
Horizon is behind us in her anchorage at Pelican beach, Falmouth
Lots of big boats in Falmouth harbour
View over English Harbour and Falmouth from the top of Shirley hights, an old fort.
We left English Harbour and our destination was Green Island, but the sea was to rough so we detoured to Indian creek which was a real treat. We had the whole place to our selves. Very protected and beautiful
At the inlet to Indian creek we sailed past Eric Clapton's property, pretty impressive!
At the far end of the bay was a mangrove swamp that we explored
Our own hide away :-)
It was so private here so we dared to fly the drone, our Blackbird (SR71)
Can you spot Blackbird?
We got company...Oink, Oink
Dominica
4 Dec-6 Dec 2018
Approaching Portsmouth, Dominica.
We had our own local guide to drive us around the island. He showed us his village and all the local beauty
Pretty scary roads at times. A lot of the villages were built up on ridges
The East coast of Dominica.
Our guide hiked with us to this beautiful waterfall, of the beaten track. He was amazing. He turned 70 next week!
We visited Red Rocks on the east coast of Dominica. Spectacular, reminded us of Utah :-)
Beauty in the rain forest. We did a trip up Indian River
This is were they filmed the part of Pirates in the Caribbean where the old witch was living in the swamp
Last night in Dominica. We sailed down the coast to Salisbury. We had a great sunset dinner at Chez la Doudou. A little resort run by Beatrice and Harald.
Martinique
7 Dec-12 Dec 2018
We left a stormy Dominica in the early morning. A couple of hours and great sailing later we are suddenly in “ Europe”, Martinique that is! Another beautiful sunset to enjoy, in St Pierre 😊
The guide book said there was a great "hike" up to a Virgin Mary monument with great views over St Pierre. We found the views but not really the monument ;-(
But we got well deserved drinks after :-)
The Skipper ready for rough weather
Fast sail down the coast to Grande Anse D’Arlet . We past Fort de France, the busy capital, on the way.
Grande Anse D’Arlet . A little piece of the Mediterranean :-)
I did hiked to Morne Champagne and over to the next bay, Anse D’Arlet . In the meantime Anders moved the boat.
Left early morning for Marin, on the Eastern part of the south coast. Past the magnificent Diamond rock!
I took a bus to what I thought was Morne Gommier. Very interesting bus ride indeed, and then suddenly the end stop was in a small town up in the mountain, Riviere Pilote. I was lucky I started to talk to a guy, which was also a bus driver. He said he could drop me off close to it. But he said the walk is very steep. Indeed it was...
Very green and lush
It was worth the hike. The views were 360, beautiful. I could see the marina and our boat, and Diamond Rock that we past a couple of days ago.
Guadeloupe
13 Dec- 21 Dec 2018
We left Le Marin, Martinique, on Dec 12th for a 20 hours 149 nm passage north to Iles de la petite Terre, Guadaloupe. Great beam reach sailing on the east side of Martinique and Dominica. Iles de la Terre is a small National park of islands.
The old lighthouse
Nature hike on Iles de la petite Terre. Lots of Iguanas, and I mean a lot of them...
The next morning I was so inspired by the quiet beautiful morning so I baked us some breakfast rolls
On the windward side of Iles de la petite Terre,
Marie Galante, Guadeloupe
Anders found a "what"
We did a swamp trail.
Saw some beautiful birds at this swamp/lake
Our own anchorage! This beach!!! We are anchored at the end of it
When I did a hike Anders worked on trying to figure out the holding tank sensor. Always a boat project
There was a big regatta in St Louis
City dock in St Louis
I have never seen any tighter parking! Would love to see them getting in to the cars
Terre le Hauts les Saintes, Guadeloupe
Hiked up to Fort Napoleon! Beautifully renovated
Anders is checking out the canons
The museum
Columbus ship, Santa Maria
Climbed another peak. This beach was just totally stunning 😊 And you can see Dominica in the distance
That's the peak we climbed. Now we're down at the beach
Well deserved beer
I Love Pelicans :-)
I hiked up to Chameau , the highest point of the island. Beautiful views of the bay, and Horizon!
The view from the top!
Hermit crabs on the trail
Rooster was begging for food at the beach
Christmas time in the Caribbean
Time for that Christmas hair cut!
Guadeloupe
Fast beam reach from Les Saintes to Guadeloupe. 9+ knots in pretty calm seas. Sailing at its best 😀
Hiked to the very impressive Carbet Waterfalls, 350 feet. Unfortunately lots of the trails were damaged after the hurricanes so we couldn't get all the way close
Crayfish Waterfalls. Hiked up to the upper one . We had it all to ourselves.
We took a side road, but there was an obstacle...
Visited the Rhum museum....of course tasted and bought some delicious local Rhume
Cascade Acomat, Point Noir. Short hike to a beautiful waterfall and natural swimming hole
Excellent snorkeling around Pigeon Island
Last night in Guadeloupe. Deshaies, near the north end of the west coast
Left Guadeloupe with the first light. A little squally in the horizon. Next port is Green Island, Antigua. Back to English speaking island, Yay 😀
Antigua
22 Dec-31 Dec
Green island. Epic anchorage inside a big reef, All sheltered from the sea but the whole Atlantic in front of you
Very appropriate wine ;-)
Full moon over Green Island
Exploring Nonsuch Bay. On top of this tower we found this little guy hiding all alone :-( He was calling his moma but when he heard us he hid and was totally still and quite. Smart little guy. Horizon is at anchor.
Nice downwind sail back to English Harbour
Christmas Eve. That is when we celebrate Christmas in Sweden. Traditionell, at least after what we could find, Christmas lunch.
We had a nice Christmas dinner at a restaurant under the full moon. And to end the evening another must on Christmas, Karl Bertil Jonsons Jul. On TV!
Christmas day celebration in English Harbour with good friends Lisa and Andy. Also Outbound owners, hull #59 Kinetic
Wing on Wing sail up to Jolly Harbor. Look at that blue water
Time to do laundry to get ready for Benjamin and Tessa's arrival. All the washing machines and dryers were gas driven!
Yay, They are here...and they brought homemade (Ben) Christmas cookies and Glögg. Yummy :-)
We want to try all the local tropical fruit
Two Outbounds next to each other. Hull 67, Horizon and Hull 59, Kinetic
Hiked up to Fort Barrington in Deep Bay
At the fort. Looking down at Deep Bay
Windward side of the island. It is raining over Barbuda in the horizon
Sundowner
Kitchen duty
Dad and son is planning tomorrow's route
We're going through the horse channel, on the north side of Antigua
Barbuda
31 Dec 2018-2 Jan 2019
New Years Eve! Happy early New Year from the Horizon crew. Heading to Barbuda, don't know if we have coverage
Trying to catch dinner ;-)
Our New Years anchorage on the south side of Barbuda. Pretty sheltered inside all those reefs
Sunset snorkeling on New Years eve. What a great way to end 2018 :-) Happy New Year!
2019, Barbuda
Left our secluded anchorage on the south side of Barbuda after a morning with great snorkeling. That water !!! New anchorage, Low bay, with the most amazing beach. After that we did a Frigade bird tour. An amazing experience with a local guide. He gave us 6 lobster which we cooked for dinner. What a great way to spend New Year’s Day😊
Approaching Deep Bay! This is a very ruined hotel from the hurricane :-(
The most amazing, almost pink, beach
Selfie on the beach
Frigade bird tour. An amazing experience with a local guide.
This container was airlifted in to the swamp by the Hurricanes
We saved a Frigade bird that was down in the water. If they go down they can not get up by them self
Our Guide, George, gave us 6 lobster which we cooked for dinner. What a great way to spend New Year’s Day😊
St Barth
3 Jan-4 Jan 2019
We did a overnight passage, 10 hours, to St Barth. We had some squalls during the night.
Approaching St Barth in the morning. Pretty stormy waters
Gustavia
Fun to be on old Swedish territory
Tessa and I did a hike at Anse a Colombier.
We found this guy in the bilge :-(
Anguilla
4 Jan-5 Jan 2019
Sail from St Barth up to Anguilla. Nice downwind sailing. The highlight was this playful dolphin that stayed with us for at least 20min. He showed us all his tricks :-)
Ben is trying to get some good pictures of our dolphin friend
The south coast of Anguilla
Arrived in The Valley, just in time for Happy Hour
Bets Pina Colada!
Sunset selfie
We found a wonderful grotto in Prickley Pear Cays
Going back in time. Dog Island. We were here exactly 10 years ago, and it’s exactly as beautiful as we remembered 💕
And Exactly 10 years ago we were here at the same bar at Prickley Pear Cays. Just as good as we remembered!
Tessa the Skipper! Sunset sailing
St Martin
6 Jan-8 Jan 2019
The Iguanas were plenty here in Anse Marcel
We now learned that Iguanas can swim
This siting was in the inner harbor that seems really protected.
This catamaran was half sunken and look at all the docks that are up on shore, on the wrong side of the harbor
Anse Marcel anchorage. We were here ten years ago, and now we hardly recognize the place after the hurricanes. So sad :-(
Playtime on Horizon :-)
Best snorkeling in St Martin, Rocher Creole
More play time, now in Marigot bay
Going in to Simpson bay via the bridge, Dutch side and very close to the airport
Have you ever been dropped of at the airport in a dinghy? You can see the terminal right behind us. Very cool . Off they go :-(
Saba
9 Jan-10 Jan 2019
Saba bound. We're on our own again. Quick smooth beam reach all the way.
Our unreal anchorage! So beautiful
The snorkeling by Diamond rock was excellent
This is the capital, Bottom! Built on a plateau
For a long time they didn’t have roads because everybody said it was impossible to built
Anders on his way up to mount Scenery on very well maintained trails.
Jungle hike
Free snacks
At the top. The town Windward is below. You have to be quick to take picture between the fog/clouds
Down below is the airport
On our way down, all 1064 steps!
The fog came and left quick
A good hike!
Well deserved beer and lunch in Windward.
Not the prettiest of harbors
This is called the ladder. This is were they had to get everything in to the island back in the days. Crazy
St Croix
11 Jan-12 Jan 2019Saba was very special. So quaint. Rugged and rough at sea but so green and clean up in the villages on the top. The Island that touch the sky felt real at the top of Mt Scenery. Now we moved on, left Saba in the sunset and arrived in St Croix for the sunrise
Watt & Sea caught some sea weed
In St Croix we need to clear in to the US. They had a tablet with this app. Very convenient. Except we got denied entry to the US, because the tablet didn't ask for our passports. After lot of time and several phone calls we got approved entry to the US. Now we have the app on our phones so next time it will be super easy :-)
This doesn't look good :-(
Fort Christianstaern, in Christiansted. It is an historic site
Big fishes were roaming the harbor
That is one big plastic recycle piece!
On my Birthday we launched our new spinnaker for the first time. So Beautiful, and Swedish :-)
We rounded the north west corner of St Croix on our way to Fredriksted
Fredriksted city pier. We enjoyed a good birthday dinner here
Culebra, Spanish Virgin Island
13 Jan-15 Jan 2019
Spend last night in Dewey, the only town in Culebra.
Tonight we anchor in Isla de Culebrita. Hiked up to an old Lighthouse with great views
Yesterday we enjoyed Flamenco beach, ranked one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
We moved on to the secluded island of Cayo Louis Peña for our night anchorage.. Just west of Culebra.
Puerto Rico
16 Jan-...
Nice downwind sail to Isla Palomino, just east of Puerto Rico
Cleaning the dinghy engine. Getting it ready to store it
A little stormy today over Puerto Rico, I think we stay here a little longer in sunny Isla Palomino
We are now docked in SunBay marina, Fajardo. Not on this dry stack though ;-) During the hurricanes they took down the two top rows but left the others. They had no damage at all on any boats in the marina. It's a very well built and managed marina. We feel very safe here
For a good cause
We found a nice authentic restaurant i Fajardo ;-)
Best breakfast place ever, Las Vistas Cafe. Thanks for the recommendation Ben and Tessa 💕
We hiked up to Mount Britten in El Yunque Rainforest. This is Mount Britton tower
Beautiful 360 views from the tower
Bush walking
We found a natural pool. So refreshing
Horizon is safe and secured in SunBay marina. Hard to leave but we will be back in two weeks 😊
This ends Cruising Caribbean winter 2018-2019, part1.
See you soon again in Cruising Caribbean winter 2018-2019, part2