Hal wrote about crossing the Atlantic on the Rose of Sharon in the February S-t-S. They left the boat in Barbados and he flew back to Olympia for Christmas. He went back to bring the boat through the Caribbean to Florida, and wrote about it for us.
Four days after Christmas I fled Olympia to see my new one week old granddaughter, Shoshana, in Florida. The 2nd of January it was back to Barbados. Lew Meyer had held the fort on the boat since our arrival from Europe and West Africa. We had three days together to work and play, then he had to report home after 4 months abroad.
The crew consisted now of John Werner, the owner, and two old sailing friends, Dennis Andrews an Englishman from San Francisco and his lively girlfriend Terry Hill. We three men were all about 66, Terry about 20 years younger. She enlivened the trip very much. After another few days in Barbados it was off to Grenada, the southern most island of the Caribbean chain.
From there until Ft. Lauderdale one is in sight of land continuously, except between St. Martin and Virgin Gorda, approx. 75 NM, and Puerto Rico to the Turks and Caicos Islands, approx. 600 NM. Total distance about 2200 NM, but not in a straight line. The islands and island groups are quite mountainous in part and become flat in the Turks-Caicos-Bahama chain. Water depth is in almost direct proportion and varies from 7 to 30,000 feet, North of Puerto Rico.
The majority of the islands are former British colonies, forced into independence about 25 years ago; now nine independent little states within the Commonwealth, each with its own flag. Language, culture, tradition etc. quite British. The population is mostly black, very well educated, nice, polite, and pleasant. Laws are enforced in the Queens name, Judges in red robes and white whigs etc. The police look sharp and are unarmed, crime low by our standards.
An army of polite and mostly uniformed civil servants handles the red tape. Everything in duplicate etc. It's a sort of make work program . During a recent election in Barbados the candidate for Prime Minister called them the army of occupation. Generally the money for good maintenance and improvement of the infrastructure is lacking .Tourism is the main industry, with computer accounting for US firms a close second. Yes, many of your credit card accounts are maintained here.
In almost direct contrast are the French islands , which are part of metropolitan France. The European Community tax moneys flow freely here. Excellent roads, much new construction, everything technical, such as telephones and ATM's, works, and very well at that. The population here ranges from black to mixed to white. All consider themselves Frenchmen. Some of the islands were settled centuries ago by Breton fishermen. Shopping is a pleasure, as in Europe or at home, prices relatively modest for food with a wide offering. Restaurants are many, all good, from modest to very expensive. The French can cook, oh la la.
Barbados, the most English of the islands looks like a tropical South England. Many hedges, rolling country side, not hilly. One has the impression of a gigantic park. The people are exquisitely polite, friendly, and go out of their way to be helpful.
Grenada is lush, green and mountainous, rain forests and waterfalls. The capital, St. George around a beautiful bay, is picturesque, but a bit down at the heel. Money is lacking and the tropical climate is not the best for paint etc. Carriacou, belonging to Grenada, is much smaller with two little towns. Mostly populated by sailors and fishermen, some of them white. Good anchorages, excellent swimming. Let me mention that the water temperatures were almost always about 79 degrees until Florida. Water almost always clear as glass down to 50-100 feet.
The Grenadines were next, Union and Palm Islands, Tobago Cay, a lovely anchorage between three uninhabited islands and a coral reef. About 40 boats there. Excellent snorkeling, to which Terry introduced me. The whole place is a National Park. Bequia was also delightful, with a mainly mixed seafaring population. They still engage in limited whaling here, for their own consumption. We by-passed St. Vincent.
St. Lucia was next. Again lush and mountainous, perhaps the loveliest island of them all. We came up along the west coast to Marigot Bay, a piece of heaven. A small bay surrounded by steep mountainsides, clear water, a sand spit with coco palms, romantic beyond compare. Rodney Bay further up the coast had much more room. Hundreds of boats there at anchor and in the marina Castries, the capital, was a 20 min. jitney ride away. Most of the land transportation on all of the islands are little Japanese mini-busses. Up to fourteen people fit in, you stand on the roadside and point to the ground. They stop, and for small change you are taken to any stop on their route. It's fun and one meets the people, all to the sound of steel bands and reggae.
Then came Martinique. We by-passed Fort de France and stopped at St. Pierre instead, below Mont Pelee. You may recall that in 1902 the whole city and population of St. Pierre were wiped out in minutes when the volcano erupted. 30,000 died, two survived. Now it is a quaint small town, nice cafes, shops and restaurants.
Enroute to the Isles des Saintes, a group of small French islands south of Guadeloupe, we passed Dominica. The Saintes are mostly white in population, as was St. Pierre. A beautiful anchorage, and a very country like atmosphere. Much fun having lunch, "rubbernecking" and the like. One of the modern Sail Cruising vessels belonging to Club Med was anchored nearby all day.
Guadeloupe was bypassed enroute to Antigua. Once we left the lee of Guadeloupe the sea became very rough, Force 7-8 trade winds from the northeast hit us. The five hours to English Harbour were unpleasant, although we were well in sight of land, with Monserrat off to port. English Harbour had a full anchorage, so we moved around to Falmouth Bay, much larger but more exposed. Probably over 100 sailboats at anchor here, many quite large, threemasters of up to 120 ft. The anchorage was quite choppy, the behinds always got wet in the Zodiac.
Nelson's Dockyard, a National Park, was well worth visiting: well fortified and situated among the high hills. We went to a barbecue on one of them, Shirley Heights, to watch the sunset and spectacular view with hundreds of fellow sailors. A bar in one of the old buildings, and a steel band outside. Dancing, romantic, fun, and good memories.
Left Antigua for Nevis enroute to St. Barthelemy. In Nevis we stopped for water and gasoline for the Zodiac. Anchored overnight there. Very pleasant small place, too bad we didn't have more time. On to Gustavia the capital of St. Barts. This place is French, but was Swedish from 1784 till 1888, hence the name of the capital. Another beautiful place. A number of large sailing ships at anchor there, two fourmasters among them. Lord and Lady Andrews, as I had dubbed Dennis and Terry, invited us to diner in the oldest and best French restaurant there. It was superb, food, wine and company. Also one of the few times we had to dress up, speak: shirt, slacks, socks, and shoes. We were in shorts alone most of the time.
St. Maarten / St. Martin came next. A Dutch/French island, without a formal border. The Dutch south is crassly commercial, for the cruise ships which come daily as many as four or five at once. But shopping was good, also maintenance facilities for boats. The French north is much nicer and more intimate. Again a plethora of nice boutiques and good restaurants. The local boulangerie offered fresh croissants via Zodiac in the morning. Mardi Gras was about to start. A pleasant place to stay.
Halfway to Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgins, a distance of about 80 NM, we received a radio call from, you guessed it, the US. Coast Guard. "Maintain course and speed , we plan to board you in a little while." The 170 ft Cutter # 622, Courageous, was about 3/4 mile back on our starboard quarter. A 20 mm on the foredeck was pointing in our direction. Nine heavily armed men came over in Force 6 seas, 5 boarded us. They were doing a "Safety inspection" apparently looking for drugs, didn't find any. They were quite polite but didn't leave until giving us a ticket for not having a ships bell. The armed bureaucracy must justify its existence somehow, my opinion. As we were US flagged there was little we could do, despite being at least 60 NM from the nearest US. Territory. Well, it added excitement.
Virgin Gorda was all the more inviting. Dropped anchor at Bitter End YC, nice swim, quite windy, cocktails ashore. Next morning down the Sir Francis Drake channel. Stopped at Salt Island for snorkeling, over the wreck of the Rhone, which sank here 140 years ago. You can see everything clearly over 70 ft down, including the scuba crowd.
Continued to Caneel Bay on St. Johns, US. Virgins. Cleared into the US in St. Cruz Bay only a dinghy ride around the corner. Received a pleasant and warm welcome from our Immigration and Customs. They even suggested the second best restaurant for us and made the phone reservations, how about that? The best place at Caneel Bay, the Rockefeller resort and also National Park, no reservations for week, also one needed coat and tie. Spectacular view and food.
St. Thomas came next, Charlotte Amalie is the main port. Sharon, John's delightful spouse joined us here. Much damage still in evidence from the hurricane less than two years ago. The old Danish buildings in town came through without a scratch, 4 ft. stone walls and 1 ft. wood beams, built to last. This place was a Danish colony until 1917. Cruise ships, up to six per day. Mass tourism in its worst form. Regimented by tour directors and activity counselors with bullhorns, the docile crowds did as they were bidden for the most part, including the purchase of garish souvenirs. It was the same scene in most of the Caribbean, and the same ships again and again.
We left for the Turks and Caicos Islands about 700 NM distant. The Puerto Rican north coast was on our port side, when it seemed that we had fuel flow problems again. San Juan only 15 miles away, we decided to go there and sort our troubles out. What a wonderful surprise, San Juan was rightly called the Pearl of the Antilles. The time spent here included a long walking tour of Morro Castle and the old Spanish city of San Juan. All being under control again, we left 2 days later, heading for Grand Turk. Time now became a controlling factor, as Sharon had to leave from Provro on the 13th, and Dennis and Terry from Miami on March 4th.
Grand Turk was bypassed, and we entered Cockburn Harbour on South Caicos. Sounds impressive, but it is only a small place with room for two vessels to dock. The Customs shack was near and we completed the entry formalities. The smaller the place ,the more elaborate the procedures. This place was British they did not want to be a part of the Bahamas. The people again are the greatest asset, nice, polite friendly. These islands are among the best for diving and snorkeling in the area. Water in unbelievable yellow-green-bluish hues changing with depth, sunlight and bottom. We were next to three Haitian trading sloops, the last working sails in the Caribbean.
Off to Providenciales, Provo, a whole days trip through shallow waters less than 10 feet much of the way, we drew 6 1/2. A sharp lookout at all times, you learn to read the depth after a while .The same held true for almost all of the Bahamas.
Cleared out and headed for Acklins Island where we anchored overnight. Continued to Long Island, anchored at Clarencetown. A delightful dinner ashore from two local ladies who run the only restaurant. Delicious and only $7 per head. Conch fritters and "fresh" snapper. I've rarely eaten better. Chatted with two of the other boats at anchor there.
On to Georgetown on Exuma, where we formally entered the Bahamas. Attended a large barbecue and danced with fellow yachties anchored there. A very wet ride back to the boat.
Continued next morning to the Bell Island area, another National Park, and anchored in the lee on Cambridge Island, but not before touching bottom briefly. You can't be too careful in the Bahamas. Lovely setting, all alone and oh so peaceful, close to full moon.
On to Nassau, where we ran aground on the rocks at the harbor entrance. We going very slow and the rapid Ebb tide current did it. We came off quickly after applying power. Thank god it was the skipper this happened too. Docked 10 minutes later.
Nassau is the capital and main port of the Bahamas. Much history here, many nice old buildings similar to Savannah or Annapolis, not as elegant as Charleston. Again a big, tourist trap for the cruise ship crowd. We had dinner at Club Med on Paradise Island. An inexhaustible French buffet, all fresh, with cooks and bakers in attendance. Excellent choice of good vins te table included. The whole thing topped of by a lively floor show.
Left next midday for the end run to Ft. Lauderdale. Anchored together with a cruise ship in the lee of Stirrup Cay. Two hours out to cook and eat dinner. Then anchor up for the last time. Seas were rough in the North Providence Channel and the Florida Straits. Land- ho, at 0620, the lights of Florida from Miami to Palm Beach at the horizon. It took another 5 hours until we entered Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale. The Gulf Stream was strong. Tied up at 1340, March 2nd 1997.
The Rose of Sharon, John and I, started in Leiden Holland, on October 13th, 1996, and were home. Sixteen countries, 35 islands, approx. 7500 NM, 1000 hours at sea, 6600 gallons of fuel, and a lifetime of memories. Along for the transatlantic portion was our friend Lew Meyer, Willem de Ruyter, and Clay Kesterson. For the last leg from Barbados, Lord and Lady Andrews AKA Dennis and Terry. Sharon Werner, the Rose, was able to accompany us from St. Thomas to Provo. I am indebted to each of them.
Hal Zerbock