Bahia de las Aguilas

Bahia de las Aguilas, to Marina Zarpar, Bocas Chica, Dominican Republic

28-January-2020

Bahia de las Aguiles and on to Zarpar

The green line, Bahia de las Aguilas to Marina Zarpar

After a few hours of comatose-like sleep we took a look at our serene surroundings. Although there were no cruising boats at anchor there were a few groups of people on the beach and a couple of local pangas offshore waiting to shuttle the people back to their hotel around the point to the north. The white sand beach is more than a mile long and the few groups were well spaced so I am certain they felt the beach was theirs alone. The coast behind the beach had a dry vegetation with some cactus visible. A low rock cliff face rises to the plateau stretching out to the east, distinctly different than the lush greens of Jamaica.

We were visited by a young panga operator requesting a light for his cigarette. Mags gave him one of her lighters so he was smiling gratefully as he departed. On subsequent trips he made with tourists he waved happily and we heard him telling the passengers that we were “amigos Canadienses”. The tourists appeared to be local Dominicanos or possibly Dominicanos from the US who had returned for vacations.

We were anchored in about ten feet of water with great visibility. As it was a long sand beach area we did not expect much for snorkelling but we were pleasantly surprised. It was a mixed sand and sparse turtle grass bottom with several varieties of gobies, blennies, wrasses and other bottom fish swimming. It is always good seeing a healthy sea scape.

The anchorage was calm and the engine had cooled down so back on board I again filled the day tank with clean fuel and because I had no new 10 micron filters I put a 2 micron in instead. Sleep had been the one thing I really needed and Bahia de las Aguilas, Bay of Eagles, had provided that.

Awhile later in the day another panga operator was trying to load a family of about eight people and at least three generations onto his boat. The wind had come up and a small surf was building on the lee shore. The family was evidently not familiar with climbing over the gunnel of a boat and they were too slow for the operator to stay stern to the shore. The bow caught a wave, spun parallel and broached the panga. Everyone scrambled back to the beach and appeared quite useless as the poor operator struggled to gather the lifejackets that had washed up on the shore and get his boat off the beach. He managed to restart his engine but the panga was obviously riding low in the water. He gradually made for deeper water to be out of the breaking waves, eventually getting out to where we were anchored. Fortunately the space under the bench seats were sealed floatation chambers but the spaces between were full of water. He explained he had lost his bailer and hoped we could help. We always have several empty five liter water jugs for just that purpose so I cut the bottom out of one and in no time he had it bailed. He did not want me to use a bilge pump to help which may have been a lot to do with saving face. He was a nice guy and very grateful and agreed emphatically when I said the passengers had been “demasiado lento”, too slow when boarding the panga. The family did not re-board the panga and the operator eventually returned north in the direction of the hotel.

Still later that afternoon we were surprise to hear the first loud music from the beach. A 4 wheel drive SUV was at the shoreline with doors open, music blaring. It only lasted briefly and we were fairly certain that the “ship wrecked” family had requested a ride back rather than face the perils of the sea again. It was a decision they may have questioned because as we watched the SUV depart in the distance it climbed a very steep rough cut grade up to the plateau, bouncing its way up as it made the crest. I am sure the tourists had a great story of a near death experience when they returned to their homes.

Once again we were left to our solitude under a canopy of stars when night fell.

Cabo Beata

The following morning we were anchor stowed by 0900 hrs on a bright sunny day, winds under 5 knots with a slight swell. More motor sailing. By 1300 hrs we rounded Cape Beata passing through the shallow pass between Isla Beata and the Cape. This is the most southerly tip of Isla Hispanola, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and is noted for strong easterlies blowing through. On our starboard rested the rusting hulk of a large freight that had beached in a storm on Isla Beata. We were quite content with our benign conditions.

On east side of the cape were fifty plus wind turbines. It was good to see the wind energy being utilized. Rather than run north up the coast to either Bahone or up to Salinas we cut across the large bay on a direct course to Boca Chica because we knew there were boat supply stores and possibly we could get the fuel filters we needed. After a pleasant day motor sailing darkness fell and the lights on the distant north shore of Salinas and smaller towns became evident. The flashing red lights on the tops of wind turbines showed another large wind farm in the far off north-west.

Night time, perfect for more engine issues. At 1900 hrs we had to stop to clean the fuel filter again. This occurred four more times before dawn as we tried to glean more fuel from the main tank because our combined day tank and the remaining five gallon cans was not enough to reach the marina. I replaced the 2 micron and the last of the 10 microns with two new 2 microns and continued as the glow of the lights of Santo Domingo filled the sky. The frequency of passing freighters confirmed we were approaching the DR’s busiest port area. Dawn came slowly and with it the unearthly forms of the container cranes in Port Andreas emerged showing our destination. We wound our way past two container ships and up the shallow channel past Club Nautico. Our entry instructions were to stay as close to the docks of both marinas as possible because this is power boat country and deeper draft sailboats are challenged to enter. We made a 180 degree turn in the narrow space with an on shore wind and brought Kanilela gently to the dock.

Storm cloud over Marina Zarpar

Sleep beckoned but first we had to do our entry to the DR as this was our first official land fall. The immigration officer and the armada naval officer were both at the boat promptly but unfortunately could not begin until the customs and drug enforcement officers had arrived. After visiting with both of them, taxing my sleep deprived Spanish, the other two arrived about an hour later. The drug enforcement officer, in his blue jeans, loose fitting untucked shirt with a gun stuffed in the back of his belt and swagger to match the image had clearly watched too many Starskey and Hutch episodes. After he and the customs official had opened every floor board hatch, checked lockers under the berths and rifled through clothes storage a $20 consideration for the distance they had to travel was accepted as completion of the inspection. I have forgotten the official charge, possibly $65 total for the four departments. The marina staff and immigration and armada naval staff were extremely friendly and helpful.  Finally we were landed into the country and sleep won out.

Port Antonio Jamaica to Bahia de las Aguilas, Dominican Republic

22-January-2020

An Eye to the Weather

After a long spell of unusually calm weather during the time we land travelled Jamaica and finished boat projects the weather was suddenly forecast to revert to the seasonal Christmas winds which are strong trade winds and squalls out of the north east.  Two boats, s/v Pepper with Hatty and Phil out of Great Britain and the family catamaran s/v Tribe with Yogi, Steve, Kao and Kikko out of the US were both meeting family arriving into Puerto Rico and St Croix respectively and decided to run towards the weather. Tribe made it to St Croix to meet their son/older brother who at 18 was sailing his own boat from the Mediterranean to St Croix with some friends. A proud mother and father were not going to be stopped by a little wind! Pepper stopped in Salinas, DR with high winds keeping them on the boat at anchor for a few days. They were then held waiting for a clearance zarpe even after the passing weather had dissipated because the Guerra Naval felt it was still too windy for them to leave. Pepper did finally make it to Puerto Rico to meet their incoming sons.

Mast head shot of boats waiting for the next weather window, Nychea and Contigo in center,

M/V's Blessed and Figment top of frame.

The remaining Cruisers prowled the docks of Errol Flynn Marina stopping to discuss the latest forecasts and trying to interpret the most recent windy.com graphics. Two Dutch boats, one with Rick who we first met last year in Cuba, were planning to head east around Jamaica and then south west to the Caymans and Panama. Jill and Tony on s/v Nychea  and Gabi with Chris crewing on his boat were heading north through the Windward Passage and on to the Bahamas. And finally, two America boats with John, Lyn, Amanda and Alberto on m/v Blessed, Don and Jan on m/v Figment and Mags and I on Kanilela heading east into the wind and waves.  Just before the weather arrived, Conor and Karl, a lovely young couple on s/v  Contigo, arrived in from Ile a Vache, Haiti. They were incredibly interesting people with a wealth of information about our prospective destinations. Several great conversations ensued while we discussed respective plans, both short term and long term as well as the state of the world.

A brief weather window opened and within 24 hours we had all departed, saying goodbye to Conor and Karl and Canadian Ken who were staying longer. Hopefully we will see them again.

It took me a long time to say goodbye to all the wandering 

goat friends I made in Port Antonio.....

We left Port Antonio at about 10:30 am with the option of stopping in Ile a Vache, Haiti in 150 nm or on to Bahia de las Aguilas, Dominican Republic about 260 nm. The winds were gusting in the high teens, low twenties and the seas that had not yet subsided very much were running with peaks in the 3 to 4 meter height, both directly on the nose. Fortunately part of our routine is that we check the engine room regularly and after a couple of hours Mags reported water pouring in at the propeller shaft. A quick examination revealed the clamp that holds the hose joining the shaft log to the stuffing box had failed letting the stuffing box slide away resulting in water pouring in. Mags pumped the bilge while I collected tools and a clamp to make a quick repair. By the time the stuffing box was repaired the bilge pump had cut out so Mags completed pumping the bilge with the emergency manual bilge pump which worked fine. We located the problem with the bilge pump as an electrical connection that had been pulled apart during the stuffing box repair and fixed that only to start having problems with water and sludge plugging the fuel filters after thrashing around in the adverse wind and waves.

I had drained the fuel tank during our haul out but there was still a vee at the bottom of the tank that had not been flushed. Our fuel filtering consists of a 10 mic Racor, a 2 mic Racor and finally the factory spec’d Yanmar filter. Initially, draining and recharging the 10 mic with the clean day tank fuel and after about ten minutes switching back to the main tank permitted us several hours of running. Finally the filter was so fouled that I replaced it. Although we had several 2 mic filters I soon was down to my last 10 mic. After about 28 hours of travel we were stopped off the coast of Haiti about five miles from the entrance to Ile a Vache while I added clean diesel manually, one gallon at a time to the day tank. There is no access to the day tank from above. It is situated in the engine room with about six inches of space above and is usually filled by transfer pump up from the main tank. The transfer line does have a 30mic Racor 500 but the diesel in the main was so fouled that I did not want to risk fouling the day tank as well so the only solution was using a one gallon oil container pouring on the flat into the day tank while standing on the hot engine in rolling seas. Not good. I managed to put six gallons clean diesel from our spare five gallon containers and probably lost an equivalent volume of sweat while doing it.

The winds had dropped as predicted and the seas were down to about two meters so we could have sailed slowly north to Haiti but there would be no source for filters and from what we had heard we would be constantly visited with requests for work, money or candy depending on the age of the visitor, giving no freedom to get some much needed sleep. We decided to keep motor sailing the next 110 miles to Bahia de las Aguilas.

As I have often said, cruising is doing boat repairs in exotic locations and this trip was no exception. During the night the auto pilot quit. After chasing power supply circuits and checking connections and fuses I found a fuse holder that was melted. Interestingly, the 10 amp fuse was still good but the factory sealed wiring to the fuse holder must have been poorly made causing the connection to overheat and melt the housing. After repairs were completed we were on our way again.

At 12:45 pm on the third day after countless hours in the hot engine room draining the filters too many times to have an accurate count we finally dropped anchor in 10 feet of water, sand bottom. Our first transit cruise of the 2020 season was finally at an end. The beauty of the Caribbean is the shallow anchorages with warm water that you can dive into and check your anchor. Bahia de las Aguilas is an uninhabited bay with no access roads. The silence was deafening. And so to sleep.

Port Antonio

Port Antonio, Jamaica, post 2

20-January-2020

The Last Word

We have had an extraordinary time in Jamaica but it is time to go.

Port Antonio park with Kanilela in the background, a beautiful place with wonderful people

In the final week our Guernsey Island friends, Jill and Tony, on s/v Nychea rented a car and we went to Moore Town, a Maroon Village high in a valley, nestled between the John Crow Mountains and the Blue Mountains. The Maroons are descendants of freed slaves who were granted tracks of land in the late 1700’s. Several of these settlements are in the central Cockpit area of Jamaica, Moore Town is the most easterly of the settlements. Nanny Moore, the matriarch of this group, negotiated the deed for Moore Town in 1784 and the community has been occupied ever since. Politically it is a self-governing body with a Coronel who is either appointed or if the appointment is contested, elected. As with most rural communities the Maroons are facing a depopulation as the young depart for the bigger towns and cities. You are welcome to visit the Maroon villages but they do want you to have a local guide to show you around and to explain their history, culture and present way of life.

As we entered Moore Town we were introduced to Theodore, a young man who had travelled extensively in the US and France as a chef and has returned to his home in Moore Town.  The valley is lush, verdant tropical rain forest with an amazing variety of flora. Theodore began our walk with a visit to the memorial to Nanny Moore and some more recent Coronels with an explanation of the history of Nanny’s negotiations to receive the original deed. We then walked to the pre-school to be greeted by the cutest group of children aged 2 years 8 months to 5 years 8 months. They are usually in two classes but one teacher was away and the remaining teacher, who I believe was Theodore’s cousin, introduced us to the group of probably twenty smiling faces. All wearing spotless uniforms and most of the little girls had beads braided into their little mini braids. Too sweet. They were very polite and even the youngest were at the blackboard doing arithmetic. Clearly this is the reason that members of this community have gone on to receive advanced degrees at Ivy League universities and one was a former Prime Minister of Jamaica.


We then went down the road a short distance to the Coronel’s house where Theodore introduced us to Mr. Lawrence who has been the Coronel since 1995. He is a very personable, engaging man who spent his early life away from the village in the merchant marines and in college. He told us of his return to Moore Town at the request of a group of towns people when a new Coronel was needed. As the Coronel he has represented the community at numerous international indigenous people’s conferences around the world, last year he was in the Seattle area. The Jamaican Maroon communities have a unifying body that brings the various community leaders together to discuss common challenges and possible solutions. Mr. Lawrence was going to attend one in the following month. He was a very soft spoken, thoughtful, intelligent man who clearly is committed to the sustainability of the community and gave freely of his time to visit with us on the veranda of his humble home. An hour to cherish and remember.

Theodore then took us on a twenty minute hike on a trail up to Nanny Falls. Along the way he pointed out numerous plants explaining both their herbal and nutritional properties as well as all the tropical fruits we encountered as well as cacao that is the source of chocolate. The hike was generally easy ending with a steep and slippery decent down to the pool at the bottom of the falls. We were the only people on the trail and at the falls. Although not the largest falls in Jamaica to our mind the best because of the sheer beauty and tranquillity of the location.

The tour ended with an excellent chicken rice and beans lunch prepared in the communal kitchen. I am not certain to what extent the village members eat at the community kitchen but definitely the elders all appeared to eat there. We all left feeling we had experienced something quite inspiring and wish the community enduring success. Thank you to Theodore and all.

Everold and George with Mags and me at Soldier's Camp, a great restaurant

On one of our final nights in Port Antonio George Munro took Mags and I out for dinner at “Soldier’s Camp” Restaurant set in a small suburb village on the south west edge of town. The owner, Everold Daley, is an ex-military chef who prepares the most excellent Jamaican meals. The restaurant is open air with large roofs shading the space which is adorned with the banners and flags of military organizations from around the world. Being with George we received the welcome of foreign dignitaries from the owner. It was a great note to end our Jamaican sojourn and to express our thanks and a good bye to George. He and his style of management of the Errol Flynn Marina were a large part of Jamaica being one of the best if not the best stop since leaving Vancouver.

Port Antonio, Jamaica

1-January-2020

Yah Mon, Jamaica is Fabulous


This post should be prefaced with a big thank you to our friend Russell in Bocas who first told us about Port Antonio and how safe the harbour is because hurricanes rarely hit this coast. Also, the Marina has a haul out boatyard with embedded concrete anchors to strap your boat should a rare hurricane occur. And finally, Russell said that because Port Antonio was not a big tourist destination the locals were very friendly, not trying to hustle business and theft is very rare.

We sailed the 100 miles down from Santiago de Cuba (yes, a long overdue post on Cuba is still in the works) arriving in Port Antonio on 17 May 2019. The coast is a mountainous verdant green. Houses dot the hills but there are no big resorts or high rises evident. The entry to the harbour is made with the lighthouse to port into the East Lagoon with Errol Flynn’s Navy Island to starboard. The entry to the West Lagoon is immediately to starboard following the narrow channel behind Navy Island, now a deserted park with the remnants of Errol Flynn’s docks and houses overgrown in the lush, dense vegetation. Once into the well protected West Lagoon, the Errol Flynn Marina is on the left. This was to be our introduction to Port Antonio, warm hospitality. Float planes kept flying low into the harbour and helicopters were making numerous low passes, we felt like we were back in Vancouver harbour.


We had emailed from Cuba and radioed as we approached the coast. When close to the Marina we could see there were people ready to guide us to our berth and receive dock lines. Everyone with big smiles and friendly greetings. The marina attendant introduced himself as “Flower” and the two others were “Hulk” and Pressley. Nicknames are ubiquitous in Jamaica, nearly everyone has one. We were informed that we had arrived during the filming of the next James Bond movie due to open in April 2020 hence the one float plane making numerous passes and the one helicopter with a camera pod filming everything. The West Lagoon was a stand-in setting for Santiago de Cuba and the boatyard had a faux Capitan del Puerto guardhouse. A small classic sailboat down the dock was Bond’s retirement pastime.

Explosion on the Bond movie

The 24 hour secured marina has berths for approximately 20 to 24 boats depending on their beam. The office complex has a laundry, hot showers and a pool side restaurant. The complex is owned and managed by the Jamaica Port Authority and encompasses at least a kilometer of well-designed and maintained shore line park around the West Lagoon and opened in 2002. Starting at the entry to the lagoon with a public beach, a small cruise ship terminal, the Errol Flynn Marina, a long park adjacent to the town past the locally used “Ole Marina” ending with the boatyard. The boatyard, also with 24 hour security, has a well maintained 100 ton by 24’ wide marine lift, washrooms with showers, indoor secured storage areas for dinghys, outboard motors and sails. The yard was built with 5 warehouse/shop bays that could house various marine support businesses but unfortunately the 2008 economic crisis put an end to the development of a big yacht industry in Port Antonio as it did in numerous other countries we have visited.

Kanilela with tie-downs

When we arrived we met George Munro, <gmunro@portjam.com> who at that time was the boatyard manager and who helped us source everything we would need to put Kanilela to bed for another hurricane season. He personally runs the travel lift for every haulout and splash with careful attention to every detail. We removed our furling genoa, furling stays’l, main sail, bimini, dodger and the wheel to reduce all possible windage prior to tarping the cockpit then used heavy webbing straps winched tight to the anchor blocks to ensure no tipping.

George's Yard office and marine lift

While preparing Kanilela for storage we had Hulk, his wife Rudy and Pressley do our much neglected varnishing with a well applied 8 coats of Epiphanes. Although Port Antonio has good hardware stores, marine supplies are somewhat limited but there is an excellent well stocked marine store, Durae’s Boat Sales and Marine Supplies, in Uptown, Kingston that stocked the Epiphanes. Durae’s prices are very reasonable considering the duty the Jamaican government puts on imported goods and is the best stocked marine store we have seen since Fisheries Supply in Seattle. On a subsequent visit to Kingston in November I met the semi-retired owner, Ducos (sp?) and his daughter, Holly and son-in-law, Jodie who now are the managers.  The store is located in a residential neighbourhood and over the years it expanded until, when Holly was still very young, they had to move into a new house and the store took over all of the space. The stock is organized by room locations so finding what you are looking for is an adventure. There was a fire several years ago that destroyed most of the house but Ducos rebuilt and restocked so it is all new with well presented stock, just in an assortment of rooms. Ducos, Holly, Jodie and Gizelle are really friendly and helpful and if your arrival is timed right and Ducos is there he will insist you have a glass of over-proof rum punch that goes down far too easily. It makes for a mellow, enjoyable trip through the Blue Mountains back to Port Antonio as I can attest to after a few occaisions. If you are not in Kingston, Tara Courier Service do a daily trip to Port Antonio and delivered the varnish the next day for a reasonable $7.70. ($1000 Jamaican)

You never walk away from a boat that is your home and that you are leaving in a potential hurricane area feeling completely secure but we knew we had done all reasonable precautions. We then took a taxi to Kingston Manley Airport to return to North Vancouver with a visit with Bree and Matt in New York and made it home in time for Emilia’s fourth birthday on June 5^th.

Our time away from Kanilela is bracketed by a June 5^th birthday and Ojie’s October 5^th birthday, this year her seventh, time flies. Highlights of our summer consisted of building a set of stairs down a rock face to Secret Cove on Dustin’s new property, with daily progress reports from the two little foremen who clamboured thru the construction with the ease of a pair of mountain goats, a visit to see Ross and Betty on Thormanby Island, time with Rod and Annie up in Oyama, visits with Maria and Adam in Langley, and dinners with Rick and Helen, Wendy and Tony, Heather and Gary, Bob and Francine, Brenda, Paul and baby Ava Grace and finally ending with a visit to Prince George to see my sister, Dora, nieces Meredith, Megan and Debbie and their respective families. I extended my usual departure date to attend my former colleague and good friend Vic Lemecha’s 80^th birthday in Canmore Alberta, he and Sharon never age, incredible.

I returned to Kingston on November 6th and stayed in the small village of Port Royal on the end of a long sand spit that gives protection to Kingston Harbour. In the days of pirates feeding on the gold laden Spanish galleons, Port Royal was the wealthiest and most debauched town in the Caribbean, infamous the world over. A devastating earthquake brought an end to that and it is now a quiet, rustic village with friendly people and a historic fort to visit. George had given me the name of a sail repair man, “Jagga”, Garen Ricketts who lives in Port Royal hence my main reason to stop there. I had an enjoyable two days using Port Royal as a base to organize shipping the sails to Jagga when I returned to Port Antonio, picking up marine supplies, eating jerk chicken and drinking Red Stripe beer. I had Harry, Harold Anderson, a Port Antonio taxi driver, meet me at Durae’s to take me and  all the boat material I had brought from Canada and purchases in Kingston back to Kanilela. 

Returning to a boat after six months away is always done with trepidation but everything on the boat was fine, all the work preparing for our departure had proved worthwhile. The diluted bleach washing of all surfaces followed by a misting of tea tree oil had prevented any mold and the small borax and sugar cakes placed in dark corners showed no signs of being eaten but there were no roaches or insects on the boat either. After the horror stories we have heard we were once again very pleased with the results of the effort. I began reinstalling the sails, bimini/dodger and doing some fiberglassing on the lazaret and anchor locker hatches as well as getting the boat ready for another season while Mags had wisely stayed in North Van getting our lives there in order for another winter away.

The boatyard in the top left across the Lagoon from the Errol Flynn Marina. Ken at anchor. 

The Errol Flynn Boatyard is the perfect place for a haul out and doing repairs. You can live aboard while doing work and it is an excellent place to leave your boat while land travelling in Jamaica. George Monroe, now the yard manager and acting manager of the marina as well, is the nicest, most helpful, conscientious person who has now become a good friend. We will miss his humor and conversations when we finally depart Port Antonio. George has assembled a very competent group of boat repair and maintenance people capable of excellent quality work. We saw a somewhat worn older white fiberglass powerboat transformed into a new medium pale blue hull with a very good finish all with Jamaican talent.  Kimone Bell, in the marina office, was always available by email when we were away and sharing information when we were back at the marina. 

Top of mast photo of Errol Flynn Marina office, restaurant and pool, with Catholic church behind

Right behind the marina office is the Knutford Express Bus terminal with service to all parts of Jamaica. We did not want to sail west to explore the country because we would have to then beat east to continue to Puerto Rico and the Eastern Caribbean so the inexpensive air conditioned bus with wifi was the perfect solution plus it afforded us a scenic view of the country. On our first leg west to Montego Bay we met a British couple, Ann and Shaun from Chester, who visit Jamaica annually and recommended Toby’s Resort where they stay. Priced well below the typical big name resorts but well maintained for its age and staffed by friendly locals, it met our needs perfectly. We also went out to a good restaurant with them one night ending with a visit to Shaun’s favourite, small, rustic local bar run by Shawna. We were immediately brought into the conversation with the three locals drinking there as we had reduced the bar to standing room only with the addition of the four of us. A great time. Montego Bay is a tourist destination and some locals can be excessively persistent about providing service we neither wanted nor needed but it was fine and easily handled so Mo’Bay is a good stop. The local museum/art gallery located on Sam Sharpe square was excellent.

Pool at the SOV Westside, Negril

Next day we boarded the Knutford bus to Negril. As an aside, the Knutford web site is excellent for last minute booking as you decide when to move on and payment can also be made on line. After passing through beautiful countryside we arrived in Negril, a small town on the south west corner of Jamaica. The town is divided with the BnB/small resorts on the white sand beaches of Long Bay to the north and the small resorts on the cliff faced shoreline of the West End. Negril has a reputation for aggressive hustlers trying to take you in their taxi to their beach resort but after getting off the bus and telling the pushy ones to “chill mon” we found ourselves left with one driver willing to go where we told him to go at a price we told him he should be charging. All good. We found a place just reopening after a rebuild on the West Side so we could snorkel the cliff faces. The SOV (it was to be the Sovreign but the name was already registered in Kingston) was good but still getting all systems up and running.  Andrew, who seemed to do everything as well as bartending could not do enough for us so made up for the reopening shortfalls. We had a good time snorkelling and found a great jerk meal at the Sweet Spice Restaurant on the east edge of downtown.

Port Antonio Xmas tree

After a couple of days we continued along the south coast back to Kingston where we again stayed at Deez’s Inn in the Uptown, Bradican area. The Bob Marley museum is well worth a visit and our guide was amazing. Our group was mainly Jamaicans living abroad who had returned to visit family and friends and were totally engaged with our guide. It made it a lot of fun. As it was our fourth time in Kingston we were able to use the local city buses and route taxis, both very good and safe. While we are told there are parts of Kingston to be avoided, notably Trenchtown, Trivoli Gardens and the downtown westside, we never experienced any issues. Everyone was friendly and helpful when needed.  Finally after another obligatory trip to Durae’s to see our friends and spend boat dollars we returned to Port Antonio.

After some very good maneuvering without a tug the 

Seabourn Sojourne joined us in the west lagoon.

We splashed the boat a couple of weeks ago and returned to the marina. It felt like coming home. We are still detailing a thousand little things and starting to watch for a weather window to head east. New Year’s eve day we had a small cruise ship with 400 passengers, only the fourth to visit in two months so it provided some excitement in town.  

Crews of Blessed, Nychea and Kanilela on New Years Eve 

 Last night we went to dinner with Jill and Tony on s/v Nychea out of Guernsey and Amanda and Alberto on m/v Blessed from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at Fusion Bites Restaurant then returned to the dock to be joined by Ken out of Calgary and Dennis from the Netherlands for some more drinks. We almost made it to midnight! 

Top of the mast view of Port Antonio

We still have not been to a Maroon village in the Blue Mountains coffee country so still things to do but we are starting to loosen the docklines.

The aquamarine 130m deep Blue Hole thru the canopy, yes, Brooke Shield's Blue Lagoon

An old Lodge on Titchfield Peninsula behind the marina

Every Grady White needs its 3' long pet Iguana

A Port Antonio sunset

Grand Cayman

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

5-March-2019

Picking-up crew for the Cuba sail

The estimated 350 Nm trip from Providence ended up being 406 Nm as we altered course to give wide berth to the infamous Gorda Banks. With sporadic piracy again on the rise we even went east of the Rosalind Banks which required about 9 hrs of motor sailing to get the easting we needed to clear the bank. The trip was 3 days and 3 hrs long with close hauled sailing for 60 hrs of the 75 hrs and motor sailing the rest of the time for the crossing. This was the first longer sail since returning to Kanilela in November but we felt ourselves settling into schedule of life at sea pretty quickly. The NE winds had us close hauled all the way so it was quite bumpy, especially when motor sailing tighter into the wind.

When my “big” brother, Doug joined us in Panama to transit the canal he made some repairs to our Single Side Band (SSB)/Ham radio which dramatically improved our sending and receiving abilities. It was great on the longer crossing to be able to get Chris Parker’s weather reports daily and managed radio contact with Randy and Dawn from s/v Reciente who were on their way south to Panama and Steve Warren from s/v Warren Peace who had heard my calls to Randy. Steve was in the San Blas Islands about 550 miles south of Grand Cayman expecting Reciente to arrive any day. The name Warren Peace is unique enough that I was certain it was Steve Warren from the Bluewater Cruising Association who left Vancouver a few years before Mags and I left. Although we had never met in person before it was great to finally talk to Steve because we had met numerous cruisers who had asked if we knew Warren Peace. 

Calm day at the Immigration Dock

After the tranquil life style of the past months we knew that we were probably in for a cultural shock in Grand Cayman Island. Weaving our way in past the numerous shuttle boats running from the three cruise ships anchored and all the other commercial and pleasure craft confirmed the tempo had changed. We were initially directed to return to the outer staging area avoiding the cruise ships but before we got headed out we were called back in to the Immigration/Port Captains concrete pier. Although we had read numerous horror stories of boats smashing the concrete in the swell from the open Caribbean we were fortune to have a perfectly calm sea to arrive and moor. The two female Immigration Officers who met us were exceptionally friendly and helpful and we were done entry in minutes.

Mags’ cousin Ann and her husband Tom were arriving from Liverpool so we decided we would check in to Barcadere Marina. 

Coral heads tight on both sides entering the North Sound

The interesting challenge with Cayman is the only all-weather anchorages are in the North Sound and it has an extremely shallow entrance, a reported nine foot depth between submerged corral heads into an equally shallow huge lagoon. To get to the marinas or anchorages you have to follow very specific way points and generally cannot draw more than 6’ 4”. Frank Virgintino’s, Free Guide to the Caymans is available online and is extremely helpful but recent local way points for specific locations are imperative as buoys wander and disappear!

Barcadere is a new marina close to the airport and within walking distance, a long walk, to downtown Georgetown. There is a very good restaurant and bar as well as a small store and fuel dock at the marina. Staff were very friendly.

Ann and Tom arrived from Liverpool for the sail to Cuba

 Having four people and wanting to see all of the island we rented a car at the airport. Life was easy. The huge modern stores with food and hardware were amazing. We had been warned to expect high prices and with that knowledge and the sheer joy of finding almost anything you could want we still enjoyed a buying spree.

As well as being an international banking center for the world, Grand Cayman hosts a continuing parade of cruise liners, often having 5 ships in Georgetown at a time. Many of the boats in the marina were charter boats that take people from the cruise ships on various day charters. The crews were really friendly and helpful. 

Stingrays do not strike unless they are stepped on

so shuffle your feet along the bottom

The owner of an excursion boat moored near us treated us to a trip to Sting Ray City. We had great time shuffling our feet on a shallow sand bar making sure not to step on any of the numerous stingrays. 

Ann and Mags feeding squid to a big female

The females are the biggest and love to be held and fed squid which explains the great numbers that patrol the shallow sand bar in the middle of the North Sound.

Having the car let us drive on every road on the island enjoying small restaurants serving great jerk chicken and visiting the more remote beaches and villages. 

Providence

Providence, Columbia

1-March-2019

Slowly northbound

Providence Island is about sixty sailing miles from San Andres, about fifty miles from north point to the south point so it makes for a good overnight sail if you do not sail too fast. As it turned out that was not our problem.

We untied our Med moor lines and with help from Stephan from Coco Prinz and Guillermo from Nene’s we untangled our anchor rode and headed south down the entry channel. Mags was great on the helm while I manually cranked the windlass retrieving our chain. The repairs to the solenoid were working intermittently at best. A project for Providence….

We arrived at the Providence entry channel way point in the early morning having motor sailed in near calm conditions, doused our sails and motored past Morgan’s Head on the west coast of Isla Santa Catalina into the anchorage. It is always a joy to arrive in an anchorage to a radio welcome, in this case it was from Mike and Michelle on s/v Minuet, friends from Bocas del Toro who we had not seen for more than a month. They were in the process of clearing out of Providence while we were clearing in. Mr. Bernardo Bush is the sole agent for the island and you must use an agent. After completing the forms at his office which is in the small town of Isabel beside the anchorage we then rode by motorbike to the Capitan del Puerto, to sign forms and get a new stamp from the Immigration officer who had obligingly come to the Port Captain’s. Because Mr. Bush had business elsewhere it was agreed that she, the Immigration Officer, would give me a ride back to town on the back of her motorcycle. These have to be the most accommodating, friendly people anywhere.

Kanilela, second from right with the locally named Morgan's Ass in the distance

Mike and Michelle were not leaving until early the following morning so we went to an excellent restaurant, Miss Francia’s on Isla Santa Catalina where the barracuda was superb. Also, the opportunity to visit with Mike and Michelle and get a wealth of local knowledge was greatly appreciated. They were headed to Isla Mujeras, Mexico so our next shared anchorage could be well into the future as our paths diverge.

Providencia, or as the locals often call, Old Providence, has a small island, Isla Santa Catalina, attached on the northwest corner by a floating foot bridge called Lover’s Lane. The names are further confused by the locals calling it Ketlina Island. The waterfront sidewalks are lined with brightly painted hand rails and many small alcoves with benches and shade trees on both islands. Everything is so clean and well maintained, the civic pride is obvious. 

At the Providence end of Lover’s Lane Bridge a collection of motorcycles are parked because no vehicles allowed on the small island. The finished sidewalk goes right for about 200 meters past approximately ten homes ending with an ancient cannon that had no doubt seen action in the days of Captain Morgan who lived on the Island.

stairs up to the Virgin Mary statue

 At the bridge, the sidewalk also extends to the left about 800 meters along the coast past a few restaurants and small hostel type hotels and another ten or so local homes ending with a steep, 81 step, promontory lookout with a statue of the Virgin Mary. Miss Francia’s is along this coast and the sidewalk has a small public dock. From the Statue the finished trail drops down to a beach with clear water for swimming and snorkelling. A dirt trail continues to Morgan’s head, approaching from above giving great views of the coral heads and sandy places for the dinghy anchor.

Downtown Santa Isabel

On our walk we met a lovely couple from the San Francisco area who were staying in one of the hostel/hotels and we agreed to meet for dinner at Miss Francia’s. Back on the boat we were visited by a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, couple, Randy and Dawn on a classic 51’ ketch s/v Renceinte who had already been in Providence for one month followed shortly by a visit from the newly arrived m/v Fish Vicious with Doug and Nancy from San Francisco. Doug and Nancy agreed to join us for dinner with Ron and Susan our recently met land travellers. Another fantastic meal at Miss Francia’s with engaging conversation with our newly met friends.

The crews of Zverver, Renceinte, Fish Vicious and Kanilela

As the week progressed we enjoyed numerous snorkeling opportunities and had the pleasure of a new arrival to the anchorage, a beautiful Dutch ketch Zverver with owners Diederik and Ilsa. As a group we visited sites around the island spending time in engaging conversations and enjoying the incredible local hospitality.

Of course, no stop occurs without the obligatory boat repairs. There is an oft repeated line that 9 out of 10 times windlass problems are in the solenoid. As our exit from San Andreas with the rebuilt solenoid proved, we were the 1 out of 10 exception. After removing the motor and separating the gear box the problem was still not obvious but in checking everything possible it became apparent that the housings for the four brushes were all corroded enough to inhibit the springs designed to provide tension of the brushes to the rotor. Lofrans is purported to be one of the best built windlass brands so I was a little disappointed that the brushes housings were made with a stamped mild steel material located in one of the most moisture plagued parts of the boat. Cleanup done and the fight to reinstall the windlass in an impossibly tight location completed, all was working fine. Providence/Providencia ranks at the top of our list of favourite ports of call for Kanilela.

San Andres, Columbia

San Andres, Columbia

22-February-2019

San Andres is a positive surprise.

As expected it is a beautiful tropical island but several cruisers had said we should not bother stopping as it was so commercialized. Several years ago a Columbian president decided to make San Andres a duty free port and a playground for wealthy Columbians.

The clean Malecon

The main town is situated on the north east end of the island and the waterfront has a Malecon, sidewalk, that follows the coast from Nene’s Marina around the coast to a long white/golden sand beach.

white sand and hotels

kite surfers and shade tents

A new lifeguard in town.

The beach has long expanses of shade tents with chairs rented by the tourists who stay in the large hotels and apartments that line the land side of the shore road and malecon. In the blocks behind, modern high ceilinged, air conditioned, full frontal glazed, immaculate modern stores representing the name brands entice the wealthy tourists to spend, spend. SPEND. Actually, most of the stores have few or no shoppers and the beautiful, young, smart-uniformed staff stand by the open front doors, perusing their cell phones while mildly curious if the passers-by may indeed enter the store. There is a Columbia Brand store where for a mere $1,600,000 Columbian Pesos, now quickly do the math and divide by 3,000 to get $266ish US$, for one of their ubiquitous fishing shirts. I passed.

The beauty of San Andres lies immediately beyond the big brand stores. In the nine days there Mags and I developed our “go to” merchants in the small crowded shops where if they did not have what we wanted they would give us directions to another small, crowded shop that appeared to have everything the previous merchant had plus that one thing we were searching for. Oh, and for a price comparison, I managed to by two pair of soccer shorts for $12 US. We often ate in the small cafes where a large bowl of soup, a quarter of a big chicken or several pork chops, with salad, rice, beans and bread cost $3 to $4. Poor Mags was generally full after the soup.

Balconies on a government office and our 

grocery store beyond

The people, shopkeepers and other customers, were incredibly friendly and curious as to where we came from and I think, more than mildly surprised that we had ventured into their side of town. The tourists do not. We did go to a higher end restaurant, The Gourmet Shop,

The Gourmet Restaurant's pork medallions in sauce and 
chicken on a baked pear sauce

 where both the flavours and presentation were excellent. Our meals and drinks were about $35 for both of us, far more economical than comparable in Vancouver.

San Andres is very safe, with the exception of the traffic. Timing your crossing of streets to coincide with the flow of motor bikes, golf carts, quads and cars is an art we perfected in Asia and were soon back to using. Just do not change your pace or intention. We rented a quad and drove on every road on the island, first the coastal perimeter and then the various interior roads. We stopped for a ceviche and camarones lunch,  lunch, watched the wind from a coastal blow-hole blow the tourist’s long hair vertical and stopped for a very good snorkelling excursion on a deserted lava-lined beach. Well, deserted until the other people in their rented vehicles saw us and decided we were where they should be. Actually, great fun and we were surprised how many of the tourists were from Brazil. We also visited an old wood structure home Museum that had raised generations of San Andreans, with a lovely guide explaining the old implements and furnishings, some of which Mags and I grew up with. In the interior villages the smiles were infectious, from little children to the elderly. Again, we encountered no tourists off the coastal road. So, quite clearly, San Andres is a tale of two places and the very good side so completely outweighs the part that did not appeal to us so we are really happy we stopped.

Ceviche and Camarones

The marina staff led by owner, Nene and supported by Antonio and Guillermo were really helpful and friendly as was our agent Rene. Our marina neighbours, Stephan, originally from Belgium, and his wife, Pamela, from Costa Rica, on s/v Coco Prinz were enjoying the drier cooler air of San Andres so much they decided to stay another week or so. They were fun people to be med moored beside. We had been across the dock from them in Bocas del Toro. Cruising can be a small world.