Blanquilla

We arrive in Blanquilla after a 12 hour sail. The weather was great and the seas mellow enough so Anne did not get seasick. Our guidebook tells us the best anchorage is on the lee side of the island right in front of the two palms. If this was a movie there would definitely be a treasure buried here

A couple of boats are anchored off the beach. They are flying French flags. We'll warm up our pantomime technique and go visit later. We head a bit further down the beach where we are all alone. Nice!!
This island is known for it's beautiful beaches. So far so good
The island is flat and probably not much higher than 20 feet above sea level. It is dry with lots of cactus and other low growing plants

We anchor right off the beach. Easy to swim ashore. Easy to snorkel the rocks and reef. But a few days later a storm moves in and we have a 180 degree wind shift. Our boat is now almost dry docked on the beach. Fortunately it is daytime and we pick up our anchor and move

Cactus Hill

There are a few trails for hiking on the island but mostly we climb up and down to beautiful beaches
There are not many trees here but at least they have some personality
At night we hear the donkeys braying. Inland we find their almost dry watering hole. Maybe it will rain soon?

A short dingy ride away we find Americano Bay. Named after Mr. Blankenship, an American, who found the prettiest spot on the island. Not sure what happened to him but

There is only a relic of his island house left and no sign of Mr. Blankenship... or anyone else.

Enjoying the scenery
What does that hand sign mean Captain?

There are all kinds of small places to explore
And big lagoons (the guidebook calls them fjords)
Inside the fjord there are mangroves
Big Caves
No treasures just one pirate
The scenery is amazing
Everywhere
French Angel Fish

Fish or rock?

Man or tree?
It is time to move on. A last walk on the beach and we'll take off for Los Roques. A 2pm departure should get us there by morning. Bon Voyage.

See you in Los Roques.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

Los Testigos

We leave Grenada at midnight. The moon is up and the sky is glittering with stars. Sailing at night can be beautiful. We set our course, turn on the autopilot, radar and begin negotiations for who will sleep first and who will take the first watch. Thanks Steve.


Early the next morning we discover a stow away. He is as sleepy as we are and has no intentions of leaving. OK with us.

We arrive at Los Testigos (Witness Islands) early in the morning. There are 6 small islands here with numerous rocks scattered around. Our electronic map is not accurate and there is a crazy current running between the islands. Fortunately our guide book has great detail on how to approach the main anchorage.

The sky is full of birds. They are diving and swooping for breakfast while keeping a close eye on us. To their disappointment we are not fishing. The poles are put away for the day.
As we come around to the main island we are greeted by a fleet of decorated boats. Is this our greeting committee?
It is a holiday celebrating the Virgen del Valle. Since there are no airports on this island, friends and family have arrived from the mainland via boat.
These islands are all about boats. They love their boats. They love to go fast in their boats and showing off to visiting yachts. Put on a life jacket please!!
We are anchored with a few other boats. We are taking a much deserved rest after our night-long-passage. Loud music infiltrates our foggy brains. We look and see an entire fleet bearing down on us. We are in a panic. Do we pick up our anchor and move? Are they going to go around us? Is this the navy? Have we broken some wierd Venezuelan law? Ha Ha, they come close but only to wave, dance and yell the name of our boat.."Fine Line, Fine Line, Fine Line"...ha ha ha ha. OK, back to sleep.

Approximately 160 people live on these islands full time. But now there are people everywhere. Tents line the shore.
Everywhere you look there are people having a good time making due with very little. There are no stores but there is no shortage of beer, rum and delicious empanadas.... and creative housing "island style".
Los Testigos are known for their fishing, beautiful water, beaches and sand dunes.

We hike up a very steep sand dune and on the other side of the island we find a beautiful beach.
And we find wild animals.
Steve can't resist. He rides this beast with wild abandon and walks away a proud man. He didn't get tossed, no sir, not this captain.
We are on our way back. The sand is hot hot hot. You can't wear shoes, it is too soft. You gotta run for it
Anne may be old but turn on the heat under her feet and well.... see for yourself. Adios muchachos.
Back on the boat we are continually buzzed by locals. They wave, stop to say "hi", practice some English and laugh at our pathetic attempts to speak Spanish.
We move our boat to a more secluded anchorage. We need some peace and quiet. There are no other boats here and for a good reason...the water is full of these creepy jelly fish
We decide we have had enough fun here is Los Testigos. Time to leave and head to Blanquilla. 90 miles west is our next stop. In order to arrive during daylight hours we must depart Los Testigos around 3am. We enjoy a great dinner and beautiful sunset and then it is time for some sleep.
The next day we are delighted by some great company

We have two lines out trolling for fish. The birds won't leave us alone. Sadly we catch more than one bird and decided to retire the fishing poles.
The dolphins come and go. They make us smile.

Check it out.

See you in Blanquilla,


Anne and Steve
S/V Fine Line

Going West: A Brief Note

We leave Grenada at midnight. We begin our trip west. It is hard to say goodbye to all our good friends and the comfort and conveniences of this island. We are sailing west through the out islands of Venezuela: Los Testigos, Blanquilla, Los Roques, Los Aves then on to Bonaire and Curacao.
But it is adventure we are after. And adventure we find. Since we have found internet in a small restaurant on the island of Grand Roque, we will give you a glimpse of our journey. But stay tuned for the entire story once we reach Bonaire in mid-October.

Find out if Captain Clean can stay on this wild bucking rhinoceros???

Who is chasing Anne and why?

Is this a greeting committee or has Hugo sent the navy after us?

See you in Bonaire.

Anne and Steve
S/V Fine Line

A Detour South

Grenada is home-away-from-home for us. We spent 4 months here last year during hurricane season. We know how to ride the bus, we have lots of friends here, the water is great for swimming, and there is no shortage of restaurants and bars. We drop our anchor in our favorite bay and plan to stay for awhile.

That is until our battery charger stops working....oh no! We live on 6 deep cycle marine batteries. Gotta be able to charge them. Fortunately there are lots of smart electrical people around but to our dismay we find out the part we need is not made anymore. Seriously?!! It is only 4 years old and the part is no where to be found. We are told to buy a new charger and we can get one in Trinidad. Great.

Trinidad lies 85 miles south of Grenada. We had no plans to go there...ever, but now we find ourselves planning the trip. We will leave Grenada at 9pm at night and arrive in Trinidad at sunrise. We are traveling alone and even though we are not scared easily, we know there are occasional pirates that prey on cruisers in these waters. We go over how to use the flare gun as a weapon and other tactical manuvers we know will make boarding our boat difficult.

It turns out to be a great trip. No worries no problems except the 2 knot current we fight the entire trip. We are now very close to South America. This is the furthest south we have ever been.


Trinidad is a very lush and tropical island. Parts of the island are very beautiful. Parts of the island are very urban and industrial. Oil and natural gas are king here.

Many years ago Trinidad was part of South America. Even though the closest point is now 7 miles away, the island still has many beautiful South American species of animals and plants not seen in the rest of the Caribbean.

Close to the island we encounter some traffic. Big tankers move oil and gas from offshore drilling platforms. Good morning!

There is a go-fast ferry between the island of Tobago and Trinidad. It moves along around 30 knots. Very fast. Leaves a nice wake...where is the wake board when you need it!

Soon we arrive at Bocademonos.

It takes us a few days to figure out where the best anchorage is. It is at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association. Sail boats only, no powerboats are welcome here. And, be prepared to pay for you stay. Unlike other islands, this island charges boats to anchor.

We also learn that our battery charger is not broken and does not need a new part. We just need a new breaker on our generator. So, yes, we came all this way for naught. But we have some unspent "fix-it $$$" on hand so we decide to stay and explore for awhile.

The island has some great nature preserves. One of the most talked about is a bird sanctuary up in the mountains. We rent a car, fill it up with .75 cents/gallon fuel and head towards the Asa Wright Nature Center.

It is green and it is beautiful. It is hot, we are in our rental car and we have air conditioning. We are smiling.

.

The roads are narrow but we are getting away from the mayhem of the city. There are very few signs and we begin to worry we may be lost. We stop to ask directions and as quick as you can say "no hitchhikers" we have a passenger in the backseat holding a 30 foot bamboo pole out the window. Our newly acquired friend is a delight. He is an ancestor of the earliest inhabitants, the Carib Indians. He is a Shaman from his village and assures us we are on the right road and we can drop him off at the next turn. Out he jumps and waves goodby. He disappears into the lush growth.

A few more miles and we arrive.

This place delights the senses

From the balcony you can watch shimmery hummingbirds at the feeders

Birds appear in a variety of colors

Down below is a curious Gold Tegu

Up above is a curious Steve

And down below again is a Paca also known locally as a Lappe.

We are overnight guests here so we enjoy the traditional afternoon tea served at 4pm sharp. They are so very civilized here they even serve locally grown coffee. Ahhhhh!

The day visitors have all left and we have the place to ourselves.

Afternoon tea bisquits for the birds

Strolling around the grounds we meet all sorts of creatures

A Pigmy Owl

The next morning we get a rare opportunity to hike down into a gorge to see the rare OilBird. These birds are closely guarded by the nature center. Too many visitors and the flock will leave and relocate itself.

The hike down is beautiful

The birds are tucked back, deep inside a cave. These birds are very shy, no flash allowed. We enter the cave two at a time to get a good view.

The young OilBirds become very fat before they reach adulthood. They can weigh up to 50% more than the adult. They were a great source of oil for the early inhabitants and were frequently used as torches. The backdoor to the cave is open

It rains alot in the mountains and there is no shortage of waterfalls

During the night you meet totally different creatures

We leave Asa Wright and head down the mountain towards the north coast. It has rained over 3 inches in the last few hours so it is a wild wet ride down the narrow one lane road. Once down we celebrate with a Trinidad favorite...Bake and Shark. Fried bun, fried fish, lots of condiments. Delicious.

We have been in Trinidad for 10 days. It was fun but we are ready to return to Grenada. We leave at 4:30 am. The sunrise is worth getting up early for.

It is going to be a good sailing day. The current is nudging us from behind, the wind is on our beam, the coffee smells good. Perfect.

See you back in Grenada

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

A Few Weeks In Carriacou: Part 2 The Regatta

The island of Carriacou is the only Carribean Island to host a sailboat regatta during hurricane season. Seems a bit risky but hurricanes rarely arrive in this southern island and if they do head this way it is typically a bit later in the season. Just the same, the big yachts have left the area leaving paradise a little less crowded for the rest of us.

The Carriacou Regatta consists of races for yachties like us and races for local boaters like these guys. Carriacou Island is known for its boat building and it is evident in these beautifully crafted vessels.

Hillsbourough (downtown Carriacou) comes alive during regatta. It is easy to find a nice place to hangout and watch the races. We arrive with friends John and Nancy from S/V Silver Seas.

Lunch anyone?

Should your boat need a bit of a tune up before the race.....no problem

The riggers are available to solve any problem

The local boats get ready to start the race. Unlike yacht racing, these boats leave from the beach. Ready, set.....

GO!

Some bigger boats start in the bay.

Yacht race starts are sheer chaos. The seasoned racer relishes this battle for good postion on the start line. Sails up, we get ready to move into the start sequence.

As we jockey around for position we check out our competition. The catamaran in this picture is a lightweight local boat named Ned Kelly. We keep an eye on her.
Next we spot a Lagoon 47, Koolau. They have a crew of 11 onboard. Too bad this race is a "two man" race. They are disqualified later.

The only other boat in our class is this brand new Dean Catamaran called Merlin. It is a pretty boat but is it fast??
It is busy at the start, boats everywhere trying to get into postion for the best start.

We nail the start. Merlin is right next to us.

Behind us we see the other two catamarans. So far so good....

In front of us is the rest of the fleet. They started ahead of us but we are quickly gaining on them.

Around the first mark, Sisters Rock, we see Ned Kelly gaining on us. Merlin is falling back and Koolau is moving up.

We keep a sharp lookout to see what the local boat, Ned Kelly, will do. Will she tack closer to shore? Local knowledge of currents and wind conditions could work in her favor.

Soon it is us and Ned Kelly. She is staying close behind us and seems to be gaining on us.

We are on the home stretch.

The wind is behind us, time to hoist the Gennaker. We cross the finish line first with Ned Kelly 3 minutes behind us. The other two catamarans finish 40 + minutes behind us.

There are lots of activities in the evenings between races. We go out to dinner with friends (l to r) Wendy, Jim, Pat and Geoff.

Too sore and tired the next day to race we muster enough energy by 3pm to attend an afternoon auction fundraiser. The Carriacou Childrens Educational Fund was created 9 years ago. Since that time they have raised over 37,000.00 US dollars for the children of Carriacou.

There is lots of good boating stuff to buy.

Sold!

The last race of the regatta we invite Geoff and Pat from S/V Beach House to join us. This particular race is open to more than two people and we are happy to have extra hands on deck.

We begin the starting sequence and keep an eye on the competition. Ned Kelly is not racing today but we know Koolau is going to be a strong competitor.

Steve manuvers us right up to the starting line with 8 seconds to go. Luffing the sails he keeps us from crossing early and he squeezes out Koolau. They fail to make the start and by the time they come around they have lost more than 3 minutes. Sweet! Yes, we are competitive.

We are moving nicely and next to a beautiful racing boat named Spirited Lady. She is owned and sailed by a woman, Susie, from the UK.

We win our race, 20 minutes ahead of the second place boat Koolau. The crew is smiling. It was a fun regatta.

It is time to head to Grenada. See you there.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

A Few Weeks In Carriacou: Part 1

We are at anchor in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou. We are waiting for the Annual Carriacou Regatta to begin on Wednesday, 7/29. While we wait we begin working on boat projects, do some hiking, visit with friends and clean out boat lockers.

We find a few bottles of rum in the liquor cabinet but as we dig deep in other lockers we find more and more and more


Seems we have a rum-hoarder (rh) onboard. He has stowed bottles of rum in places even he no longers remembers



The Captain is found guilty as charged and is sentenced to a day of labor making conch horns for the Carriacou Children's Education Fund Steve makes great sounding horns. It begins with picking a nice looking shell. He only uses shells that are without animals, usually left on a deserted beach by local fishermen. The fishermen cut the shell to release the animal inside (It is a local delicacy).This cut must be covered and a new opening created for a mouthpiece. Done right, it makes a nice instrument.
We like Carriacou alot even though it is the rainy season and thus it is HOT and HUMID. We go hiking in the morning, looking for remote places to visit

There is not much traffic here, mostly foot traffic

Everything is green and lush. Corn plants are in most yards.

The Flamboyant Trees are blooming

Old building are decorated with colorful blooms

Paradise Beach

Stay tuned for more of Carriacou.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line

Traveling South, Take Two

This is beautiful Deshaies, Guadeloupe.There are not many boats here this time of year. Most cruisers have stashed their boats out of the hurricane zone. Many folks return to their home countries for the summer but others, like us, choose to stay and enjoy the lazy, sultry island summer. Our friends talk us into visiting the local botanical garden.

It is very very hot and we longingly gaze at this pond. Too bad it is full of Koi

With big lips

Steve takes lots of photos of the exotic plants....enjoy

A bird in paradise?

Friendly birds please don't #^%$$ on my head.

Orchid show

Amaryllis

Grand finale

We hike in the rainforest and this time of year you are guaranteed rain in the forest.

Elephant ears the size of Jane

After a strenous day of hiking we enjoy a quiet evening on the bow of Fine Line. Left to right: Anne, Cynthia, Jane, Dick and Mike.

Did we see a "green flash"? Hmm, some did and some didn't.

Soon we are heading to St. Lucia where we wait for Meghan to arrive. Steve is beating me up in Cribbage. See the smug look on his face?

She arrives and we spend a few days in the harbor waiting for her suitcase. Why is it so hard to put a suitcase on a plane? After 48 hours and it finally shows up. It is a good thing too because

She had to borrow some of her Mommy's clothes. You look so sophisticated.

We rent a car and tour St. Lucia. We have not been to the windward side of this island before and we love the pretty small towns and beaches.

Pitons in the background.

Pretty countryside

Before we leave St. Lucia we anchor next to the Pitons. It is one of our favorite spots.

We make a long trip to the Tobago Cays. The beauty of the water is only surpassed by

the beauty underneath.

The Horseshoe Reef is spectaular. It offers protection to a small group of deserted islands. You can snorkel for days and not see the same thing twice.

The entire area is part of a marine park so you can only look, no hunting allowed.

A beautful conch shell. The occupant is hiding but he is home.

Another great looking conch.

Green Turtle coming up for a peek

Taking a stroll through the grass, Bon Apetite

Trunkfish

Banded Butterflyfish

A May May

We find some land animals on one of the deserted islands. Not sure how this tortoise and his friends got here

The view from the top of the island. Fine Line is all the way to the left.

Hello

Taking a break and thinking about a swim again.

Next stop is Union Island where we seek refuge from a storm. The day after, however, it is pretty nice and Meghan enjoys some sun and a good book.

Union Island is home to Happy Island. Happy Island is made from Conch Shells and it has a great Happy Hour. We go to Happy Hour on Happy Island. Can't say that too fast after Happy Hour.

Meghan looks happy on Happy Island. Janti is the owner/builder/bartender/BBQ specialist.

He gives Meghan a good twirl on the dance sand. He likes your style girl.

Escape from Happy Island takes us to Chatham Bay. A great bay to just relax, walk on the beach and

have a mango juice while you float.

Just a hop and a skip away is the island of Mayreau. There are goats everywhere This pretty Catholic church sits at the highest point of the island The view is to the south east with part of the Horseshoe Reef visible and the island of Petite St. Vincent in the distance.

We head back to Bequia and it is almost time for Meghan to leave. Time to wind down

And hang out

Eat a great meal at the Devil's Table

He's gonna miss you

Bye Meghan

Bequia ferry to St. Vincent....first leg of a long trip home.

Now there is only two of us again. Time to move south to Grenada and then we will explore new cruising grounds to the west.

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line