Colombia, an incredible country to discover! Part 1

December 18, 2021April 12, 2022 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

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You might think of Colombia as the cartel controlled country of Pablo Escobar and the Orejuela brothers.

You might think of it as a dangerous, messy country where guerrilla groups (like FARC) kidnap politicians and affluent people to finance their cause and paramilitary groups, financed by drug money, fight the insurgents.

Well, that Colombia now belongs to the past.

With the dismembering of the Medellin and Cali cartels, and the disarmament of guerrilla groups like the FARC, things have changed.

And people are eager to show the true make of their country. Which is kind, not violent. Humble, not arrogant. Focused on productivity, not idleness.

Indigenous people living inside Parque Tayrona

There are many reasons why Colombia has been one of our favourite destinations so far;

people are so friendly, welcoming, and polite that you instantly feel at home;
their history, both ancient and more recent, is really interesting to discover;
you get to enjoy a great variety of landscapes and places; from the mountains and jungle of Sierra Nevada to the palm tree fringed white sand beaches of Capo San Juan (Tayrona National Park); to the beautiful and developed cities of Cartagena and Medellin;
the abundance and variety of fruits and vegetables available is incredible and…
…everything is so cheap!

Do you really need more reasons to visit such a country?!

When we got to Santa Marta in mid February, they had recently relaxed the Covid restrictions, and we were struck by the incredible amount of people strolling about the streets of the small town centre, around Parque de los Novios, buzzing with bars and restaurants.

Santa Marta (and the whole province of Magdalena it belongs to) had really strict anti-Covid measures in place during the lockdown, with the town almost completely shut for 5 consecutive months. No wonder people were so eager to go out now that they could!

Wearing masks was compulsory, and there was still a curfew in place; restaurants would shut around 8pm and no one was allowed out after 11pm.

11pm? That’s the middle of the night for us sailors!?!?

We were not really troubled by these restrictions, and happy to be able to travel around to discover the beauties of such a wonderful country, despite the unfortunate circumstances.

Our visit to Tayrona Park and Minca

We spent the first week in Colombia visiting Minca, a beautiful and peaceful town in the foothills of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and the National Park of Tayrona, both easily reachable by cab from Santa Marta.

Minca

Minca is a famous destination for yoga and spiritual retreats and happy/hippy-like people! Just be aware of mosquitos when you go there! We got eaten alive by some kind of Frankenstein mosquitos, whose bites would leave you with and a strong desire of peeling your skin off to get rid of the unbearable itchiness…

Having said that, we had great fun visiting the thermal waters of Pozo Azul, which were freezing cold and gave us a nice break from the heat. We went there on a Monday morning, as we were told it can get quite busy at weekends. Colombians tend to come here to cool down and relax after the working week.

After our dip in the refreshing waters of Pozo Azul, we were taken to La Victoria coffee plantation by motorbike, up the winding roads of Minca, and then through dirt roads across the jungle. Once there, we headed straight to the bar and tried some tasty arepas – it was passed lunchtime and we were all starving! Lunch was followed by a first taste of their coffee, then our tour guide appeared and took us around the coffee plantation. The visit lasted about an hour and was very interesting thanks to our knowledgable guide.

What we learnt about Colombian coffee, so called “washed coffee”:

Colombian coffee is technically a type of Arabica coffee, or better said, is derived from Arabica coffee;
Coffee beans are actually green :), they turn dark brown when roasted;
Colombian coffee is de-pulped (the skin of the cherry is removed) straight after it’s picked, washed, left to ferment in water for 18-24 hours, and then dried. In natural coffee, instead, the cherry pulp is removed once the drying process is complete, not before;
Colombian coffee is more fruity and has more acidity than the natural coffee. Washed coffee enthusiasts praise this kind of coffee for its purity, since it allows you to taste all the vibrant notes and distinct flavours of the variety.
For more info on all the steps of the ‘washed coffee’ process, you can check this article!

This is where the fermentation happens, before the drying process starts.

Tyrona National Park

The Tayrona National Park is a massive park, with 3 entrances and different routes you can either walk or ride with horses. We chose the middle entrance, El Zaino, and walked for 2 and half hours, all the way to Capo San Juan, and then back. While walking along the paths through the forest, we saw Capuchin monkeys sitting on tree branches and skilfully opening and eating coconuts. We also spotted a capybara, and some parrots amongst other wildlife.

The landscape was incredible throughout, and there were plenty of little kiosks along the way, selling all kind of refreshments. We even had a proper hot lunch, with grilled fish and ceviche, in one of the many restaurants by the beach. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and decided to spend the night in an eco-resort near the Park, Quetzal Dorado, (www.quetzaldoradoeco.com).

Some indigenous people joined the music festival

Everything was going so well, until…..Gc decided to cut his foot open!

The day before our scheduled trip to Cartagena, Gc had a ‘cleat accident’…

A small premise, before getting into the nitty gritty of what happened just after 11pm at Santa Marta marina, sometime around mid February 2020.

Many years ago I made the mistake of telling GC that I really liked his feet and hands! Well, ever since he’s been trying in all possible ways to disfigure them.

Within 2 years, he managed to;

brake his little toe (kite surfing accident),
brake his left foot’s big toe (a desk slipped from his hands and fell right over it braking it into 3 parts, ouch!!)
severely damage the other foot’s big toe. This story would definitely deserve a chapter of its own, but to cut it short, he somehow kicked a cement ball mistaking it for a real football!!

Clearly, he has no luck when it comes to his feet….

This particular night of mid February at Santa Marta marina, he was adjusting the mooring lines as the wind had picked up and was now blowing quite strongly. I have to say that while at the marina, we often experienced winds of 40+ knots coming down the high mountains of Sierra Nevada that surround the marina. And the boat was often covered in red sand that was difficult to get rid of…

Anyway, this particular night of mid February at Santa Marta marina I’m telling you about, Gc was fixing the lines, and in doing so, feeling very feline-like, he jumped down the port side of the boat and landed with all his weight on something rather hard.

What had he landed on?

It was one of the pontoon’s S- shaped cleats and he had landed right on top of it with his right foot. Pain and blood followed.

Someone else instead was already sleeping very deeply and soundly, dreaming of walking around Cartagena while eating an ice cream! Suddenly, someone was calling her name, one, two, three times…Paola, Paola Paola! The sound becoming louder and louder. Rather annoyed, this someone finally woke up and dragged herself upstairs still half asleep…

What was in front of my eyes was a war like type of scenario. Blood everywhere, Gc’s foot up on the table and some internal parts of it, that should have stayed so, were now way too visible…

All I could think of doing was…fainting!!

For the first 5 minutes I could not stand up! I had very limited autonomy as my head kept spinning around, and I had to keep my centre of gravity very low when walking around trying to help Gc, gathering bandages and antiseptic spray.

What a disaster! One man down… and one woman lying down!

Gc’s new shoe!! Home remedy of a boatman!

Despite my insisting, Gc didn’t want to go to the hospital. He was adamant he was not badly hurt and we could just go to sleep and deal with it the day after. Thirty minutes later, he was in bed snoring while I was regularly checking his breathing to make sure he was still alive and wouldn’t bleed to death during the night….

The morning after, I accompanied ‘DIY Gucci shoemaker’ to the hospital. Thanks to Kelly, and all the marina staff, who were very helpful and supportive, we got in touch with a private clinic that was happy to receive us and look into the matter more closely.

Several forms later, Gc was given a real life tutorial on how to give stitches to…his foot! He kept saying we needed to learn how to do it, in case of accidents at sea, so I guess this was his chance to learn first hand…or first foot :)!

Sailing in the 5th most dangerous waters, ever!

December 2, 2021December 11, 2021 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

Cabo de la Vela had been our nightmare for weeks – the countless sailors we’d spoken to agreed on one thing only; “be careful when rounding it, that’s where the winds compress and blow like crazy, there are huge waves and the wind blows at 40+ knots”. To my probably naive question, when is the best time to do the crossing, the answer had been “when it’s less shitty”!

The 400 miles between Aruba and Cartagena are famous for having the worst weather conditions in the Caribbean, and the passage ranks among the top five worst passages around the world.

Though all sailors agreed on the fact that we shouldn’t underestimate Cabo de la Vela and that the crossing from Curaçao to Colombia was the roughest of the Caribbean’s, there were different currents of opinions when it came to the best way to round the Cabo, with some sailors saying the safest way was to keep more than 100 miles off-shore and be weary of the gusts (“reduce all sails and bring them all down if you need to, motoring your way through”); and others saying it was much better to go closer to the coast as to be protected from the wind gusts.

**Half relaxing half sleeping, fighting the seasickness caused by the confused seas!**

I’m glad we asked!

It goes without saying, we were all a bit nervous before departing. To be on the safe side, I called all family members and friends in case it was the last time I heard their voices :)!

This was one of those times I wished I didn’t have so much information about the passage, and boats in general! When we first bought Gladan, I enjoyed sailing so much more! You know why? I had no idea of all the things that could break and go wrong and therefore it was all about, you know, enjoying!!

You know what they say, “if there’s anything worse than knowing too little, it’s knowing too much”…

For example, one of my misconceptions at the beginning of my “sailing career” was that I’d feel reassured by the presence of the coastline, thinking “what could possibly go wrong?… there is land nearby!”

What I’ve quickly learned is that if you’re caught in the middle of a storm with strong winds and big waves, you’re better off waiting out at sea than trying to, for instance, enter an harbour. The things you learn along the way!

The Crew

With Beatrice, Gc’s niece, it was three of us onboard for the crossing. Well, two (kind of) experienced sailors and a beautiful anchorwoman in charge of reporting our sailing voyage minute by minute.

We couldn’t find any sailing buddies on a similar time schedule, so we were going to cross on our own. And since Beatrice’s boyfriend, Ludovico, was going to wait for us in Colombia, there was no time to waste!

The pre-departure

Few days before our departure, we met a couple, an Italian skipper and his English partner, who had just sailed upwind for 3 consecutive days from Santa Marta to Curaçao. They had been bashed by 30+ knots of wind and 3 metres waves for, I’d like to stress that, 3 consecutive days, while treating themselves to roast chicken and vegetables, and apple pie.

Now, I’m kind of a competitive person and I thought – if they managed to do it upwind while fleshing out a chicken thigh, surely we can do it downwind while slicing a pizza!

And off we went!

The departure

We set off from Santa Cruz Bay, north-west of Curaçao, very early in the morning on San Valentine’s day. The wind was 20 to 25 knots so quite ideal for sailing, but the sea was very confused with waves coming from different sides, making the first part of the journey rather uncomfortable. The sky was grey most of the day but, at least, it did not rain.

**Beatrice and I on shift :)!** **Though it might look otherwise, we did keep an eye on the road, from time to time!!**

The sea conditions improved when we got closer to Aruba: the sea was flatter and we were sailing at a broad reach (at 135° off the wind).

We also got signal because of the proximity to land, so Gc could do some of his beloved Facebook lives and Beatrice could speak with Ludovico to reassure him; we had started our trip and we should get to Colombia in a day or two…

**The second day of the crossing, the sun was shining and Gc didn’t miss his chance to polish his beloved Gladan!**

Bioluminescence, my friends!

The best part of the trip was the 2nd night of sailing, when we passed by the Los Monjes islands, off the Venezuelan coast. For the first time since we started sailing, I witnessed the phenomenon of bioluminescence.

What an incredible thing to experience!

While Gladan was smoothly sailing across the ocean, at a comfortable speed of 7.5 knots, downwind, his wake was populated by teeny tiny sea fireflies that made the whole experience magical!

The funny thing about this phenomenon is that the light produced by the microscopic plankton is actually a defence mechanism. The light these microorganisms release helps to temporarily blind their predators, or to attract their predators’ predators, taking the attention away from them! Teeny tiny yes, but incredibly smart!

**Beatrice enjoying the first lights of the day!**

Rounding Cabo de la Vela

We had planned to round the tricky Cabo de la Vela in daylight but Gladan sailed so fast that we got there around 4 am, in full darkness.

The wind blew at 30 knots. We had only the jib on and were ready to reduce it when necessary. We had opted for an in between option (from the two conflicting ones that had been recommended to us), and decided to keep 30 miles away from the coast, following the 100 metres depth line.

**Our track for the crossing from Curaçao to Santa Marta.**

We were all on alert; the treacherous Cabo was here, and so were the huge waves!

As in all matters of life, perception is key. Depending on the point of view you adopt when looking at things, you perceive them differently. This applies to waves as well!

One thing is to see a 3 metre wave from the cockpit (meaning from a position of disadvantage, where you feel like you’ll be submerged by it, should it decide to briefly pay you a visit) and a totally different one is to experience it from the height of the flybridge, zipped inside the enclosure (and sometimes also tucked in below the blanket… ).

As I said, it’s all a matter of perception. And waves do look smaller when you’re taller than them – that’s why I spent most of the passage on the flybridge!

When wind gusts reached 35 knots, we reduced the jib till it looked like a handkerchief, and waited to see what’d happen next. We had to keep an eye on some unexpected shallow patches we got quite close to, with the sea depth suddenly dropping from 100 metres to less than 20 metres. We realised that something was wrong because the waves quickly got steeper, so we adjusted the route to move away from the shallows.

Several hours later, we could see the peaks of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range in the world. Our destination was close!

Little we knew that the worst was still to come. The last few hours were the scariest ones, at least for me. Once we reached Cabo de la Aguja, it was time to turn and start heading south towards the marina de Santa Marta. The wind reached 40 knots and waves were coming from the side.

**A female frigate bird with her freshly caught prey**.

During our last miles, we had big following waves, a few of which broke into the cockpit and flooded it. Since we had left the saloon’s door open, I rushed downstairs from the flybridge, and shut the door behind me. Luckily no water had got inside, but it could have been very dangerous. I spent the last thirty minutes or so tiding up the messy living area, while Gc and Beatrice were filming the huge seas behind us.

**Beautiful sunset @ Santa Marta marina.**

Arrival in Santa Marta

Once close to the marina, the sea was flatter and we were filled by the excitement of realising that;

a) the passage was over and we were still in one piece,

b) the 3 days long ride on the rollercoaster was about to end

c) we were finally going to sleep!

Ludovico, Beatrice’s boyfriend, was already waiting for us on the pontoon. The marina of Santa Marta was different from what we were expecting. It is very modern and surrounded by skyscrapers and high mountains.

**We made friends with the security guards of the marina – everyone was very polite and efficient there!**

It’s part of the IGY chain and it’s a gated marina, with security guards checking on people coming and going, as Ludovico could testify; he was thoroughly questioned before being allowed in!

**The view from our dock, inside the marina.**

We celebrated the successful ending of yet another adventure with very cold beers. We had made it through the fifth most dangerous waters in the world, in one piece!

**There is nothing like a well deserved drink after a long passage!**

“Bonbini Dushi”!! Sailing through tricky waters to get to Curaçao!

October 14, 2021 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

A time comes when you know you need to go. You get some kind of ‘island fever’ and start feeling restless. You miss that cocktail of freedom, fear and excitement you only experience when sailing.

After months spent with our new friends in Bequia, playing pétanque and tennis, hiking and having way too many sundowners…saying goodbye wasn’t easy. But we had to!

^{The view from the top of Mount Peggy, Bequia}

Our next destination – Curaçao

Curaçao belongs to the so called ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao). Geographically speaking, they’re not in that order; the first island you encounter coming from East is Bonaire, Curaçao is in the middle, and Aruba is the last of the three. I’m specifying this for a reason, other than just being pedantic :): while sailing east to west is quite a pleasant experience, I wouldn’t say the same about the opposite. Let’s say you come from East and decide to stop directly in Curaçao, like we did; going to Bonaire from there is no cup of tea! With 2.5/3 metres waves in your face and the wind on the nose, even a relatively short journey from one island to the other needs to be carefully planned.

^{The last goodbye to our good friends Joakim and Virginie from Drakkar @ Plantation House Bequia}

Coming from Bequia, our trip to Curaçao was roughly 460 NM, which at an average speed of 6 knots, meant 3 nights and 4 days of downwind sailing. We took it easy and sailed most of the time with only the jib on. When the wind was lighter, 15 to 20 knots, we would have both the jib and the code 0 open.

The sailing was very enjoyable, despite the big waves (2.5 metres). Luckily the period between them (the interval between one and the other) was such that they didn’t bother us too much, that’s also because they were coming from the back!

Sailing through tricky waters

In the past, there have been incidents of boats navigating close to the Venezuelan coast, who had been boarded and robbed, so we were a bit afraid at the idea of sailing in tricky waters. And when I say a bit, I mean I would freak out any time a boat, especially of fishermen, appeared to be chasing us. Mentally, I would go through all the best hiding places on the boat (wrapped up inside the code 0, or the second jib, inside one of the spacious cupboards containing electric cables, under the mattress in our cabin, right next to the leaky boiler Gc keeps fixing!)

I would have preferred to wait and travel in a convoy, but we couldn’t find other sailors leaving at the same time, so we decided to go anyway. I mean Gc did….:) I’m ok with procrastinating!

Our tricks not to be tricked!

During the navigation, we kept at a great distance from the Venezuelan coast, and turned the AIS off at night, from time to time. Luckily, the passage was uneventful, and we only met loads of cargo ships and few fishing boats on our way. The first night was quite challenging as the area off the Grenadines was very trafficked.

We kept seeing one cargo after the other on the radar, and needed to make sure we wouldn’t get hit by any! The other two nights instead, we were almost completely on our own, no one else around except for a great full moon which made the crossing quite magical.

Gc and I did 3 hour shifts starting around 9pm and finishing at 9am. After the first one and half days, we got into the routine and didn’t feel tired anymore. Gc spent most of the crossing experimenting with a new way to make focaccia dough, which doesn’t require kneading, and baked one tray after the other.
I spent time reading books, memorising poems and eating a lot of focaccia, while Gc perfected his technique :)!

“Bonbini Dushi” – Welcome to Curaçao sweetheart!

When we finally got to Curaçao, it was noon. Entering Spanish Waters, the main anchorage, was quite an experience. After months in the Grenadines, we were immediately hit by the change of scenery; luxurious villas scattered along Santa Barbara beach and golf resort, super yachts moored along the pontoon. We were not surprised to find out this is one of the richest and most expensive parts of Curaçao.

Spanish Waters’ anchorage though is definitely not one of our favourites. It is very crowded, the water is muddy, and it’s quite dangerous to swim around because of the motor yachts constantly passing by at full speed, and with loud music on. No chance of them seeing or hearing you if you happen to be swimming in the wrong place. A few weeks before our arrival, a boy had lost his life there, run over by one of these speed boats.

At weekends, there is more traffic here than in central London!

The only dinghy dock where you can leave the tender is small and rather neglected. You’ll see dinghies parked in second and third row and getting off yours can be quite challenging. The only positive note is that there is a security service, so less chances of your dinghies being stolen.

Despite this premise, we loved Curaçao and actually had a great time there! After 30 minutes on the island, we had already experienced first hand how nice, kind and genuinely happy to help, locals are.

The day we arrived and anchored in Spanish Waters after 4 days out at sea, we needed to go to Punda (the town centre) to check in into the island. This is a rather time consuming process as the customs and immigration offices are far from Spanish Waters, and they’re not close to each other. We read that it normally takes up to 3 hours to complete the check in.

Our case, though, was quite different! After leaving the dinghy at the gated dock, we asked for information about the buses going into town. The guard standing close by told us that they were not very frequent, that we had just missed one, and would have to wait at least an hour for the next. Reading disappointment on our tired faces he added, “wait a second”…and stopped a car about to exit the parking area. After a quick chat with the driver, we were welcomed aboard a comfortable Toyota Yaris and offered a lift all the way to the Customs office!!

Thirty minutes later, we were on a hunt for the immigration office, which was proving very difficult to find…we asked for information and… there we go…. another kind driver offered to take us there! He dropped us in front of the immigration office and waved us bye!

Last but not least, once we had completed all the check in procedure, we mentioned we didn’t know how to find our way back, and one of the immigration officers offered to give us a lift back to the town centre; 3 lifts in less than 2 hours! What a welcome!

^{The Queen Emma’s Bridge, connecting Punda and Otrabanda. It’s also known as the “Old swinging lady” as it was built in 1888!}

Once in the beautiful town centre, we found a nice bar by the canal, and sipped the first cold beer in 4 days, which tasted incredibly great. Around us, the colourful building of Punda’s promenade, which looks a bit like a little Amsterdam, with Queen Emma’s bridge (“The old swinging lady”) opening in front of our eyes to let a boat through.

^{A stop for flamingos watching in…..Curacao}

Our time in Curaçao

You know you’ve been too long in the Grenadines when you get overexcited when stepping inside a Carrefour! When we first went to the big Carrefour inside Sambil shopping mall, I felt overwhelmed at the sight of so much food!

There was even a deejay playing music in the middle of it!

Curaçao is incredible when it comes to shopping, it has several shopping centres, all kind of shopping districts and an incredible variety of produce. Fruits and vegetables are so abundant and cheap!

The first week went by running around to buy boat parts, fixing things, doing shopping (we bought new cushions and carpets for Gladan, bedsheets, clothes and whatnot, after months of deprivation :)) and getting Gladan ready for our new guest, Beatrice, GC’s niece who would fly in to join us for a few weeks.

Thanks to Beatrice we had a chance to feel on holiday again and spent a few days exploring the island. We went to the north-west part of the island, which is plenty of beautiful beaches, bars and turtles popping their heads out from time to time in Playa Blanca.

Locals are very relaxed and there is a great blend of cultures, religions, and languages.

We found a pirate in Curaçao!

“Nay nay” – Jo would say in between a cigarette and a sip of the fourth cup of our espresso coffee. ‘This coffee is amazing, Señorita!’

^{JO’s “dinghy” is an old rescue boat quite oversized as a tender 🙂}

Jo is a legend around Spanish Waters and does a bit of everything. He was recommended to us by another sailor who mentioned he was a good mechanic – although a bit eccentric… Originally from Holland, he’s been living in Curaçao for the past 20 years and knows everyone there – especially beautiful women!

A few times he had to start his engine in a hurry and quickly sail away to escape from some very upset husbands. “One morning, I was drinking my coffee – filtered coffee, not even a tiny bit as good as your espresso, Señorita– he started telling me the story- when this woman I had only met the night before…you know how it is…showed up with her suitcase and told me, “Jo do you have an engine on your boat?” Yes of course, I do! “Then turn it on, quickly. My husband wants to kill me!” So I lit a cigarette, gulped down my coffee, and started the engine…”

Slim and fit, with blondish hair crowning his head like a crest, and a cigarette always in his mouth, Jo looks a bit like a pirate. He certainly is one of a kind! Despite his rough look, he is a generous, cultured and caring person. After working in a kindergarten for many years, he decided to change lifestyle and career and started working on cargo ships travelling around the world on big beasts.

Nowadays, Jo organises day tours for families on his 2 motor boats. He loves entertaining kids and their families and also makes pizza for them on board: “I make the real one, with great fresh ingredients not the shitty stuff you find around here…”

When it comes to food, Jo definitely knows his stuff. He took us around the island, introducing us to the best selection of street food; Sunayna’s chicken soup, the “batidos” truck which also makes amazing arepas, Mama’s Indian food…our heads were spinning around….so much food and so many stories from his past!

Going out with Jo meant stopping at every corner to eat something here or drink something there. A constant feast for our palates and souls.

I think we met the best pirate of the Caribbean’s!

When Gc (almost) sued Pope… and our stay in Grenada & Carriacou

Image ~ March 4, 2021 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

Getting back to the Caribbeans after our summer break in Europe was no cup of tea. When Covid started to spread, all Caribbean islands shut their borders to avoid contamination. Health infrastructures in most Caribbean islands are very poor, or sometimes non-existent, so governments have been trying to protect islanders first by isolating them, and then by imposing very strict measures to people visiting their countries.

By September, most of the Caribbean islands had reopened, but procedures to enter the country were still very strict: not only you needed a negative PCR test to board the plane, but once landed, you were also requested to quarantine in a designated hotel for at least 4 days, until you’d get the results of a second PCR test. If they came back negative, you’d be free to move around.

Gc’s case was a bit more complicated……because he didn’t get the right test before flying back to the Caribbeans (he got a serologic test instead of the requested PCR test), and he got himself in trouble and was then requested to quarantine for the full 14 days. Luckily (at least for his pockets), he managed to quarantine on board his beloved Gladan, at Canouan Marina.

The experience is not one he recalls with pleasure…instead of being able to enjoy the facilities of the 5 star marina he was paying to stay at, he was locked inside the boat, with 30+ degrees, 80% humidity level and tons of mozzies. One night the mosquitos were bothering him so much that, frustrated, he decided to challenge them. He shut himself in the bathroom, turned the lights on and offered himself as bait, waiting for them to attack. Fully armed with towels, our Italian Stallion of the Caribbeans, tried to kill as many as he could, shouting in a frenzy of rage. Luckily, there was no one around to hear him…

To buy food, he needed to text the marina staff, who’d come to pick up the list of food he wanted as well as the money, both conveniently placed inside a plastic box left outside, to avoid any direct contact.

^{Paradise Beach – Carriacou. Gladan is now part of the wall of fame!}

^{Paradise Beach Club was a great place to spend an afternoon with plenty of other sailors and fun activities organised weekly!}

After 4 days of initial lockdown, Gc was administered a PCR test by the Doctor of the marina, Dr. Pope, a very friendly and chilled out guy, whom we had previously met as he’s the one going around and taking sailors’ temperature upon arrival at the marina.

The day after, the results came back negative, which should have meant that he was free to go… Gc phoned Dr. Pope to ask for confirmation.

Pope said he’d check with the health authorities and get back to him. Few days went by, and no news from the Dr…..so Gc decided to get in touch with the health authorities directly. The person answering the phone that day was adamant he’d still need to complete the 14 days of quarantine even though he’d tested negative.

Ten days down quarantine lane, Gc was struggling to sleep and function normally due to the unbearable heat and the unforgiving mosquitos…

By then, with the quarantine almost over, it was time to get another PCR test as that was the requirement to enter the island of Grenada, the next destination.

GC got again in touch with Dr. Pope to schedule an appointment. “Good morning Dr. Pope, it’s Giancarlo here from Gladan” – GC said. “Ah, Giancarlo…..” – Dr. Pope’s voice sounded strangely apologetic. “Giancarlo, I’m so sorry…”

Sorry for what? Gc thought. He had just called him! “I was meant to call you back….wasn’t I?” – The Dr. continued. “To tell you that you were free to go… You’re not still in quarantine, are you?”

Gc couldn’t understand what Pope was trying to say…”Giancarlo please don’t sue me, I’m very sorry. You were free to leave when your test came back negative, but I forgot to tell you!” – Pope further explained.

Gc was on the verge of collapsing! Did that mean he’d spent 8 extra days in hell for nothing? He could have gone to the beach, the restaurant, the pool….instead of being confined inside Gladan. Gc couldn’t believe his ears!

Several G&Ts and a few days later, Gc was on his way to Grenada, leaving Canouan Marina, Dr. Pope, and the unhappy memory of his lockdown behind.

^{Gladan was wounded after a steel boat hit us in Guadaloupe….unfortunately we were not onboard when it happened, and neither were the owners of the steel boat when it started dragging towards us.}

Gladan needed to undergo a bit of aesthetic work since another boat had crushed into us a few months before, while we were at anchor in Deshaies, Guadaloupe, a bay with notoriously bad holding.

Once in Grenada, Gladan was hauled out at Clarkes Court shipyard and spent 2 weeks on the hard.

By the time Gladan was splashed in, I was also back in the Caribbean’s, after quarantining in Barbados for 2 weeks, and – one might think – conveniently avoiding the joy of being stranded in a hot and dusty shipyard while the works were carried out!

^{My quarantine at the Hilton in Barbados…not so bad after all!}

Once reunited with Gladan and my better half, it was time to discover the island!

Grenada is quite a big island, famous for its spices and chocolate.

We spent 3 weeks anchored in Gand Anse, a huge bay with a 3km long sandy beach. It was a great anchorage as it was quite sheltered from the prevailing winds, and located close to Spiceland Mall shopping centre as well as several good restaurants and bars.

^{View from 61° West restaurant & Bar, Grand Anse. Great food and drinks!}

We rented a car so that we could move around easily: the island is big and not well connected by minibuses.

For us, digital nomads, finding a good spot to work from, whenever we move around, is rather vital. And such place needs to meet certain requirements; fast wi-fi, good coffee, air con (possibly not set to freezing temperatures..) and decent food.

As you can imagine, these things are not so easy to find in one place, but this time we were in luck! We managed to find two places that offered the perfect working conditions: “Knife and fork“, inside Spiceland shopping centre, and Bella Milano, not far away form the mall. The first had great smoothies and decent coffee, the latter real Italian coffee and pastries.

^{Office with a view…! Paradise Beach Club, Carriacou.}

We also found one of the best pizzas in the Caribbeans at Antonio’s. After months in the Caribbean’s, a delicious pizza is always a treat and their pizza was really good even for Italian standards!

For drinks and live music Aziz was the place to be!

^{Grenada is famous for its HASH. Every Saturday, locals organise hikes in a different part of the island and everyone can join in by paying a small participation fee. There is a path to be discovered and clues along the way. Food, drinks and music await the “runners with a drinking problem” that find the right way back!}

Grand Anse was also close to Port Louis Marina, easily reachable by dinghy. Every Friday morning, we’d visit the local fruits and veg market, inside the marina, where we’d get our organic provisioning and delicious homemade guava juices.

Carriacou is only 15 miles away from Grenada and is part of the same administration, together with Petit Martinique.

It is a small and rather wild island with basic (expensive) provisioning and beautiful natural beauties.

^{Sandy Island – Carriacou – Thanksgiving day’s Party}

We spent most of our time between Tyrell Bay, the main (and rather crowded) anchorage, and Sandy Island, the most charming place on the island, where you can only stay at a mooring buoy by paying a daily fee.

A visit to Anse la Roche it’s also a must, and the lobsters served by Tim the King at his restaurant on the beach are to die for!

While in Carriacou, we made a lot of friends and spent an incredible couple of weeks, eating loads of really cheap lobsters, snorkelling and walking around to explore the island!

^{Thanksgiving party on Sandy island – Carriacou}

^{Our friend Alex, he made us discover The Paradise Beach Club in Carriacou and kept us company during our stay on the island!}

^{Alex, Karen and Hugo with their beautiful little one!}

^{It’s always difficult to leave behind the friends you’ve made along the way…}

When we (almost) faced hurricane Gonzalo!

February 13, 2021February 13, 2021 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

Seventy two hours before Gonzalo was meant to hit the leeward islands, we were on our way to Bequia from Union island (Grenadines).

_{Pelicans social distancing at Frigate Island – Union}

^{Pelicans….so beautiful and powerful, even while at rest}

We had found out about ‘it’ only a few hours before, when all of a sudden there was a commotion in Frigate island and everyone had started talking about this perturbation forming in the Atlantic.

Within an hour, Frigate Island had quickly turned from buzzing place for kite surfers to open air consultation room, with sailors moving from one boat to the other, small groups assembling and dissipating, people exchanging calls on the VHF…

^{Frigate Island is THE place to be for kitesurfing!}

When we got to the Caribbeans, one year ago, everyone would tell us that hurricanes could be predicted up to 2 weeks before, and that there would be plenty of time to move far away from their eye, in one direction or another.

“Don’t worry!” – They’d say. “You’ll be sipping your rum punch in a safe place by the time the hurricane hits!” Well, it wasn’t exactly like that with Gonzalo!

Now, we all knew 2020 was going to be a very busy seasons for hurricanes, the signs were all there… it was the end of July and we had already made our way to the letter ‘G’ of the alphabet!

We also knew that 2020 hadn’t been herald of great news till then…with a global pandemic and our nostrils being closely inspected twice monthly, on average…

So it should not have come as a surprise when our friend Gonzalo started heading towards us and no one knew, up to 24 hours before, where it would end up!

^{You know it’s bad when the colour changes from blue to dark red….}

I’ve very quickly learned that perturbations forming off the African coast, can either dissipate while travelling through the Atlantic, or acquire strength, become bigger and start heading north where they normally encounter more favourable conditions.

Our Gonzalo did not dissipate, did not get bigger, and wasn’t heading north but was acquiring strength nevertheless – so much so that 48 hours before its arrival it was forecasted as a category 1, possibly 2, hurricane. See, the issue with Gonzalo was that it was small and therefore unpredictable!

The two main weather forecast systems, the European one and the American one were in total disagreement, with one forecasting Gonzalo heading north and the other south.

Now, considering that I’m not particularly fond of the idea of witnessing a ‘simple’ tropical storm, you could imagine how thrilled I was at the idea of finding myself in the middle of a category one (or possibly 2) hurricane.

When we (almost) faced hurricane Gonzalo!

Panic started to take over!

Within 2 hours from Gonzalo appearing on all forecasting models, I was lifting the anchor and we were on our way north to Bequia, with the possibility of travelling further north once it would become clearer which way Gonzalo would head.

^{Sundowner with other sailors, where should we go? North or South?}

Once in Bequia, more “consultations” took place with sailors amicably discussing which way to go over a beer or two.

All this discussing and drinking, though, didn’t bring us any closer to making a decision. So 30 hours before Gonzalo was meant to arrive, all options were still on the table:

Heading all the way South to Trinidad and Tobago (150 miles, which equals one full day of navigation). Some experienced sailors were adamant this was the best choice as hurricanes heading south tend to lose strength;
Heading south to Grenada, (65 miles which equals roughly 12 hours of sailing) and try and find space in the mangroves. Some friends of ours were heading there, so that made this option quite appealing;
Staying in Bequia – no hurricane had hit Bequia since 1955 and the locals were assuring us there is something about Bequia that just keeps them away. Do we believe them?
Going to Canouan Marina (25 miles which equals 4 hours of navigation). Our friends Tom and Laurie were there, and they assured us the marina was very sheltered and the staff friendly and helpful.
Heading North to St. Lucia (50 miles, which means roughly 9 hours of navigation) or all the way up to Martinique (90 miles, 15/16 hours of navigation).

The more we’d talk to people about it, the more confused we’d get. We kept changing our minds and the uncertainty didn’t make it easy to sleep at night.

Finally, Gc and I decided that on Friday – Gonzalo was meant to hit us on Saturday afternoon – we would wake up early in the morning, check the latest weather forecast, and decide what to do.

^{On our way to Canouan….hoping for the best!}

^{We even caught a barracuda on the way to Canouan!}

What did we decide then?

Friday morning at 6 am, we checked the forecast again and decided that the best option for us was heading south to Canouan Marina (only 25 miles away) for several reasons;

We didn’t want to travel too far and find ourselves out at sea in rough weather conditions hours before the hurricane-to-be would hit;
Being inside a marina, we would be able to prepare the boat, removing all sails, the Bimini, and anything that could blow away, and tie up the boat with as many lines as possible;
Worse comes to worst, we would abandon ship and take refuge in a nice 5 star hotel, drink a glass of red wine and take a hot shower praying for the worst to get over soon.

^{When a big squall comes the sky becomes white, and within few minutes, you don’t see anything around you.}

I knew Gc’s heart would be badly scarred for life, should something happen to Gladan, but it was a risk I was ready to take!

And so, 20 hours before Gonzalo would hit us, we entered Canouan Marina hoping our choice had been the right one.

^{Gladan ready to face Gonzalo. She looked so naked without her sails up!}

During our sail down to Canouan, we met several boats sailing south and several others motoring north as fast as possible. Clearly, no one had any idea of what was going on!!

^{Taking the main sail down is a tough job!}

Inside the marina, we spent the afternoon and evening ‘undressing’ Gladan; removing all sails, deflating our paddle board and kayak, dismantling the Bimini, and creating a spiderweb of lines that would keep us in place. After many hours of hard work we took a nice, long, hot shower in the amazing bathrooms of the luxurious marina and went out for dinner at the gourmet restaurant.

^{The last supper! Better enjoy till you can, right?!}

We checked the weather forecast once more, and with great relief, saw that Gonzalo had been downgraded to tropical storm and was headed south to Grenada! Great news for us, perhaps less for the ones that headed south….!

^{The sky is getting darker and darker…something is coming!}

The morning after, around 7 am, Gonzalo arrived – its eye deep south on Trinidad and Tobago. For us, that meant winds of up to 30 knots, with gusts of 40 kt, and torrential rain which only lasted couple of hours. Then it was over!

I was still half asleep and I would have probably missed Gonzalo hadn’t it been for the noise Gc was making while giving a good scrub to Gladan. Who else would have thought of using a tropical storm to do some spring cleaning?!

We want to go home!!…Travelling in corona virus times!

January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 ~ sailingladan ~ 1 Comment

Leaving the Caribbeans to head back home was no easy task!

After 8 months in the Caribbeans amid a global pandemic, lockdowns, PCR tests, and last but not least, hurricane season, home was looking more and more like a mirage. Would we ever be able to make it back?

The nurse told Gc off because his nostrils are too narrow for their rather enormous cotton buds!

After loads of research and negotiating, we finally found a safe place where to leave Gladan during the hurricane season so that we could fly back to Europe and see our families and friends.

The place was Canouan marina, which is brand new and has been built for luxurious superyachts, slightly bigger than Gladan…

It was built by Italian architects and it looks like a small version of Porto Fino or Porto Rotondo, with the addition of an airpot right next to it, so that yacht owners can fly in and out with their private jets in no time.

The Promenade with the reception, supermarket, bakery and gourmet restaurant.

We found out about this marina thanks to our friends who decided to take refuge inside it when Gonzalo, one of the first hurricanes-to-be of the season, decided to give us all a good scare coming right towards the Grenadines….but that’s another story!

Laurie on Imiloa, their beautiful Leopard 400!

Because of Covid, and thanks to the special hurricane rates, we managed to get a mooring in the marina for the whole month of August at a reasonable price, without having to sell any of our beloved limbs 🙂

The marina consists of a channel, almost a mile long, and once you’re deep inside, you’re so sheltered and the boat is so stable that you feel like being on land – which means you’ll sleep like a queen! And possibly sweat like a pig :)! It can indeed get a little hot if you, like us, don’t have air con on board. The moorings at the very end of the channel are so sheltered that no breeze will ever reach you! Only mozzies will!

Yes, there is a little suffering involved, but it’s all worth it when you enter the marina’s bathrooms…which are literally to die for. I thought that Lymington marinas’ in the UK were great…until I actually saw these ones! Suffice it to say, Gc managed to do yoga inside the shower bed and neither of us had ever taken so many unnecessary showers before!

Not to mention that you’re escorted around the marina on golf carts and given lifts to and from the well assorted and very convenient supermarket inside the marina. (P.S. Prices are in EC not dollars, in case you were wondering!). The staff seem to take offence every time you venture out for a walk; wherever you are.. they spot you, chase you, and take you on board their golf carts or dinghies. There is no escaping from them…they’ll intercept you even by sea 🙂

Canouan Marina’s facilities are top notch! This is me enjoying the beautiful sunbathing area by the pool at ‘Shenanighans’, restaurant and beach bar, and the view of the Grenadines!

The staff is so friendly that it all looks rather unreal. But we were there and experienced it…it’s all true!

When we planned our trip back to Europe, we thought we had it all figured out. We would need to get a ferry from Canouan to St. Vincent (SVG), then a flight from SVG to Barbados and then finally a direct one to London. Easy! And of course, we would need a PCR test, taken 72 hours before travelling.

After phoning the ministry of health of all the islands involved in our journey several times (my advice is always double check the information you’re given as you might find yourself in troubles if you don’t…), as well as the various ferry companies (a reduced service runs between the Grenadines due to Covid 19), I found out very last minute (Friday morning and our departure from Canouan by ferry was meant to be on Monday..) that the SVG government had decided to postpone the bank holidays that would normally take place in May to…. August! And not just any time in August…. but the Monday and Tuesday before our Wednesday’s flights to Barbados and London. Sweet!

This had two types of consequences;

the ferry we were meant to catch from Canouan to SVG was not running anymore…and
we couldn’t get tested 72 hours before travelling to Barbados because even if we did, the lab wouldn’t be able to give us the results in time for our departure.. due to the bank holidays.

So what to do now?

Thanks to our friends Laurie and Tom, we got a lift on their sailing yacht from Canouan to Bequia where we spent 1 night before taking an early ferry to SVG where our first flight would take off from. We got to the airport way in advance and right when I thought I could finally sip the first coffee of the day (it was an early start so no time for breakfast…) two things happened;

the airline staff didn’t want to let us board the plane because we didn’t have a negative PCR test…
and, cover up your ears, all coffee places at the airport were shut!

Saint Vincent airport the day we flew back home…no one there except us!

Clearly, I was more concerned about the latter…this piece of news was truly devastating.

What happened next? I forgot to mention that during one of my many conversations with the ministry of health officials, they had told me that it was ok to fly to Barbados without a negative PCR test because we could get tested at the airport upon arrival. “Yes, but we’d only spend a few hours at the airport while waiting for our connecting flight to London” – I had mentioned to them. “No worries”- they had replied- “we’ll email you the results and you’ll see them once in London”.

The logic of that totally escaped me, but I was not going to question something that for once worked in our favour, was I? Basically, the UK didn’t require a negative test for passengers to board the plane and we wouldn’t stay in Barbados longer than couple of hours. What would be Barbados’ government’s interest in testing us then? Apparently, they dig up your nose for statical reasons only…

Go figure!!

After putting Barbados’ ministry of health’s officials on the phone with SVG’s airport authorities – which was even more complicated than usual since, because of Covid, the staff were wearing masks so their voices were muffled and they couldn’t understand each other….then again because of Covid, they couldn’t hold my phone themselves and we had to hold it close to their mouth which was quite a job considering that there was PPE in between us! A Caribbean’s version of Shakespear’s comedy of errors was taking place in front of my eyes!

At some point during this whole shenanigan, Gc started to lose his temper and while listening to him explaining to the staff how common sense had gone down the drain and how this was the end of a civilised world…..all I could think of was: “if we finally manage to board the plane, will they serve coffee ☕️ during the flight?”

First coffee of the day!! At the airport in Barbados waiting for our flight to London.

In the end, we did manage to board the plane, and NO coffee was served during the flight because of Covid…

Few Covid forms and passport stamps later, around 2 pm, I had my first coffee of the day, in Barbados’ airport, while waiting to board the plane back to London. Life was great again!

Finally on the plane!!! Time to go home!

The best of the Caribbean’s: Saint Vincent & the Grenadines!

October 24, 2020October 28, 2020 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

We spent almost a month in Martinique waiting for borders to open up so that we could head south. As soon as we heard that SVG – Saint Vincent & the Grenadines – were opening up again we contacted the authorities to enquire about the new Covid formalities to enter their country.

Within 24 hours they’d got back to us with all the details. We would have to;

sail directly to the quarantine area in Young Island – without stopping along the way;
get tested upon arrival;
wait for the results onboard – it could take up to 48 hours.

In Covid times, rules can change literally any minute, so we decided to seize the moment and go!

We took off from St. Anne around 6pm, accompanied by our friends on board of Living Daylights, Luca and Leyla with their 3 beautiful children. It was a great overnight sail across to St. Lucia and along its coast.

Around 5 am we spotted the majestic Pitons in the first lights of the day. I was sitting on the little bench on the port side of the bow, taking in the warm breeze, feeling part of the night, and really connected to the universe, when I heard splashes around me; it was a school of dolphins which ended up escorting us all the way to the end of the island. Magical!

By 8 am we were still a few miles away from the North side of Saint Vincent. The wind had picked up and it was now blowing at 35 knots. The sea was very flat and Gladan was doing 9 knots with only the jib on! Considering that at 9.30 am we were expected in Young Island to be tested for Covid 19, there was no time to waste and we were glad for the extra push the wind gave us!

We got to Young Island 15 minutes before our appointment, just in time to take a quick shower after a sleepless night. At 9.30 o’clock we were on the dinghy dock with the others.

The organisation was great and within 30 minutes we were done with the test and ready to go to sleep after our long night of sail. The nasal swab was not particularly pleasant – unless you enjoy when someone’s trying to reach your brain through your nostrils, you’re not going to like it!

The swab lasts just a few seconds – the runny nose will stay with you for much longer though! Ouch!

Twenty-four hours later, we received an email with the results: negative! We were free to go. We wasted no time..we went out to celebrate with a few drinks and a delicious dinner!

The morning after, before heading south to Bequia, we found the time to climb the 255 steps up to the top of Fort Duvernette, a tall outcrop from which to enjoy an incredible view. The English built this fort to defend the colonial hub where ships were loaded with sugar before sailing off to England.

After only a few hours of navigation, we got to Bequia – which we had shortly visited over New Year’s Eve, when the only Corona we all knew about was to be served very chilled! Good old days….

Our friends in Bequia invited us over for dinner in their beautiful house. What a fun night and what a view from the terrace!!

Be careful when you go to Bequia…It’s got that Hotel California kind of vibes…once you’re there, you never want to leave! All the people we know agree with us; it’s one of the friendliest islands in the Caribbean’s and attracts only the nicest and most interesting people.

Which is why it reminds us of Leros, in Greece, the island where our sailing adventures (almost never) started from….we liked it so much there that we stayed one and half years before finally setting sails to explore the world!

A quick list of things to do in Bequia;

The Rum Shop Tour, to mingle with locals and support small businesses;
Try one or… all the beautiful hikes of the island;
Have freshly made, incredibly tasty cocktails at the floating bar;
Try breakfast at The Plantation House: you’ll get the best pastries and full English breakfast of the island, in very sophisticated surroundings;
Eat pizza and more at Mac’s Pizza & Kitchen;
Enjoy sundowners at Jack’s beach bar – Princess Margaret Beach.

To avoid being sucked up by the island, after 10 days in Bequia, we made our way to the Tobago Cays.

Definitely one of the best places in the Caribbean’s – although I’m sure I’ve said that before… :). Tobago Cays is a group of 5 uninhabited islands (Petit Rameau, Petit Bateau, Baradal, Petit Tabac and Jamesby) surrounded by a 4 km Horseshoe Reef, with wildlife and pristine waters.

Definitely the best place for snorkelling and diving, with thousands of different fishes, turtles and a few nurse sharks. Paradise on earth!!

In high season you can eat bbqed food on Petit Rameau’s beach. There are tables and benches under the trees and 3 to 5 different stalls selling drinks and food. At the beginning of January 2020, we had lobsters served with rice and salad. Really tasty and so popular you need to book in advance to make sure to find space!

This time round, at the beginning of July, we had the Cays almost to ourselves and really made the most of them. The islands are totally wild and you need to get provisioning beforehand as there are no shops or bars. Some fishermen will stop by daily to sell fish or bread and pastries though.

When exploring the little island of Petit Tabac, we bumped into some volunteers taking care of the marine park. They told us the island had been a filming location for the first Pirates of the Caribbeans’ movie and mentioned we could walk around the whole perimeter. After the first few minutes of our walk, we started running as quickly as we could… trying to escape from the thousands of mozzies feeding on us! Wild stuff!

The Best of Martinique, even during lockdown!

July 3, 2020 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

We sailed to Martinique for the first time in January and arrived in the beautiful and crowded bay of St. Anne, in the southern part of the island, after a short but quite choppy passage from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.

Back then our friends Salvo and Patti were still on board of Gladan with us, our Australian friends Steve and Deb would shortly join us to explore the island together and none of us had any idea of what would happen to the entire world a few weeks later….

After four months, we are back in the same bay, St. Anne. While still very crowded, the atmosphere in the bay has entirely changed. Sailors keen to head north to explore the Leeward islands have now been replaced by weary skippers waiting for borders to open up and quarantines to be lifted to be able to head south, away from the hurricane belt. The Club Med resort on the beach is closed, most restaurants and bars are yet to reopen after the lockdown, and the cute little village has got a sleepy and somber look. The virus has brought silence where music and dancing were before, emptiness has replaced people’s buzzing around, face masks are now covering bright smiles and filtering laughter.

Despite all, combining our two visits we’ve managed to see quite a lot of this beautiful French island.

Here is a list of my favourite places to visit and things to do in Martinique!

Pay a visit to the Balata Botanical Gardens. They are close to Fort-de-France, and high up on the hills so getting there by car is not the easiest task! Once you’ll see the gardens though, you’ll realise it was worth the hassle. Jean-Philippe Thoze’s creation is a real celebration of nature’s beauty. The horticulturist, landscape designer and poet who designed the gardens, mixed together a hundred varieties of palm trees, tropical flowers, giant bamboo, and delicate water lilies – a real blaze of colours and perfumes!

A feeding station by the Creole house at the entrance attracts several hummingbirds, who seem to be welcoming you to this tropical paradise!

I was left speechless in front of such delicate beauty..

Hike from St. Anne to Grande Anse des Salines. Follow the footpath that takes you along the coast through the woods.

Walking through the woods St. Anne to Les Salines

It took us more than an hour to get to Les Salines beach and I would advise anyone willing to embark on such a beautiful adventure to bring a lot of water and wear plenty of sunscreen. Along the way, there are several bays where to stop for a quick dip when it gets too hot! Once we reached our destination, we stopped in one of the bars on the beach (the one selling fresh local fruits) and had a tasty smoothy and a few accras (codfish fritters) to gain some strength back! Beware of their Capirinha though if you want to get back in one piece!

Stop in Anse d’Arlet and breathe in the relaxed and peaceful atmosphere of this very picturesque village, with its cute church and long promenade. And don’t forget to do some snorkeling in the area marked by the buoys, on the left-hand side of the dinghy dock. We spent a few nights in this bay and saw beautiful trumpets fish and angelfish amongst many others.

On our second visit to Martinique, we finally managed to eat at L’Escale which is a gastro bistrot in Grand d’Anse. The place is normally very popular and therefore busy. In these special after-lockdown/Covid-19 times, it was half empty and the food was good but not as special as we expected it to be. Gc’s tuna tataki was definitely tastier than my dorado fillet and I started to fear Gc’s comments might not be so kind. Having insisted on trying this restaurant, I was the one to blame…. Luckily, I was saved by the dessert; a chocolate and toasted hazelnuts core fondant, served with coconut ice cream, which we shared and found rather delicious. Phew!! Gc was in a good mood again!

The best restaurant in Martinique, in our opinion, remains Zanzibar, in Le Marin. The atmosphere is sophisticated without being pretentious, the service is excellent and the food is top quality. I think Gc said the sea bass he tried there was one of the best he’s ever tasted in his life! Big words :)!

Visit Habitacion Clement Distillery in Francois. Definitely a must go! The distillery is set in a beautiful parkland with botanical gardens, open air exhibitions, indoor art galleries, an ancient mill, the old distillery, and the Creole house were the doctor and former mayor of Francois, Homare Clement, used to live. We were told the visit would last roughly 2 hours, but we would have spent many more wandering around this incredible mansion if it hadn’t been for the rum calling us! The boutique where the rum tasting takes place closes at 5 and it was 4.45 when we rushed through the doors ready for our shots!

Discover a totally unexpected pottery village in the heart of Martinique! We spent one night in Trois islets, a sleepy village around the corner from the much more popular and touristy Anse Mitan. The village itself doesn’t have much to offer and once you’ve visited the mangroves either by dinghy or canoe, you’re left wondering what to do next…that’s when we discovered this village literally in the middle of nowhere!

We left the dinghy at the floating pontoon hoping to find it again when back and went out exploring. The village is massive with plenty of little shops selling ceramics and a gigantic brick factory. There are also a few restaurants in the village and we ended up having dinner in a very fascinating Thai restaurant, La Case Thai, totally booked up for the night. Our waitress was the kindest and funniest young lady you can possibly meet and the food was not bad! What an interesting discovery!

A random statue in the middle of the brick factory!!

From Saint Martin to Martinique; sailing in times of Corona virus…

June 21, 2020June 24, 2020 ~ sailingladan ~ Leave a comment

Three months and a pandemic later, Gladan was finally able to move again! I have to admit leaving Saint Martin was tough….After spending so long in the same bay (Grand Case), we knew and loved every inch of it, became friendly with the locals and had our pet barracuda “Barry”, hiding under our hulls and making a daily appearance to say hi.

Dandi and James towed by us on their canoe. They showed us the best places where to catch fish in Grand Case…. !!

A sting ray also made its appearance in Grand Case the last week we were there!

Before leaving for good, we managed to move from Grand Case to Orient Bay, a wonderful place and number 1 destination for kite surfers.

Simon and GC having a “friendly” race on their hobby cats

Now, Orient Bay is completely different from Grand Case. It is an upmarket touristy resorts with residences, bars, shops and restaurants. The scenery changes completely and the people around do too. Orient Bay has one of the longest beaches in Saint Martin and is quite exposed to the wind as it is on the East side of the island. Approaching the bay could be quite challenging if the weather is not settled as there are breakers forming at the entrance.

My favourite spot in the bay was the yellow beach by Îlet de Pinel. Waters are quite shallow here and anchoring might prove challenging, but if you find the courage to venture in, you’ll be highly rewarded. It is a very sheltered spot, the sea is flat as a lake and you’ll be met by hundreds of conchs when you land on the beach!

Because of the Covid 19 virus there were no tourists on the islet; we had it all to ourselves…except for a few iguanas and these friendly and funny looking mollusks!

Orient bay was great fun, especially for Gc and Simon who, after patiently waiting for the right weather window, managed to take kitesurfing lessons with Fred from http://www.gokitesurfing.com/ .

By the time Gc managed to stand on the board and actually surf on it for almost 1 minute, it was time to move southward :)!

With the hurricane season having officially started on 1st June, we were constantly on the lookout for islands whose borders would open soon. Towards the end of May, a post appeared on Saint Martin Facebook group saying that the French prefecture had approved a new decree that would allow boats to move freely between French islands, without having to quarantine.

We visited the beautiful little island of Tintamarre, only a few miles away from Orient Bay.

The news of the decree was out there but the authorities of the French islands didn’t seem to be aware of it. It took us some time and many phone calls to get assurance that moving from Saint Martin (French side) to Martinique, another French island, without stopping on the way we wouldn’t need to quarantine upon arrival.

Once we got confirmation from at least two different sources, we checked out of Saint Martin and prepared to sail 237 miles to Martinique.

We left Orient Bay on a Saturday at 4 am with a beautiful full moon and very confused waters. The first half day of sailing was very uncomfortable with steep waves coming from different directions and winds stronger than expected. Things started to improve once we passed St. Kitts and Nevis and Redonda island.

Once in the shadow of Monserrat the sea was much flatter, the wind a perfect 18/20 knots and the sun had just left space to a wonderful full moon fighting with the clouds to show its luminous face.

We could smell the sulphur from Monserrat’s active volcano and tried to keep away from the shore as much as possible not to be covered by its dust. Few squalls formed in the sky and travelled in our direction, but then, last minute, decided to spare us, leaving us to enjoy the beauty of the night with its silver coloured sea and the warm sea breeze.

Gc and I slept on the flybridge doing short shifts of 30 minutes each at first, then 1 hour, then 2 hours once daylight made its appearance around 5am. By then we had sailed to the southern tip of Guadaloupe.

The second day of navigation saw us sailing from Guadaloupe to Dominica, which being quite mountainous, was engulfed in clouds and difficult to spot. The weather was nice and we kept on sailing with two reefs on our main and the jib fully open. The highlight of the day was the to-date unknown fish we caught and unsuccessfully tried to identify.

This poor soul…whatever its kind… was delicious, thanks for feeding us!

The weather conditions started to deteriorate just before sunset, 30 miles from St. Pierre, Martinique; our final destination. We had the wind on the nose and the waves giving us a good, constant shake.

30 miles away from St. Pierre, Martinique..

We had to roll the sails in and motor all the way to St. Pierre where we got at 10.30 pm, tired and hungry. With only one great regret….We didn’t have any red wine onboard! We anchored in the dark, cooked some dinner and went to sleep.

Mount Pelee – St. Pierre. The volcano exploded in 1902 destroying the entire town and killing most of its inhabitants.

The day after we got in touch with Cross Ag (the coast guard) to inform them of our arrival and to ask permission to go ashore to check in. When they finally answered us, they said they’d send us an email with the health questionnaire to fill in and the instructions to follow re. quarantine.

Quarantine? Quarantine?! What quarantine? The following 30 minutes were a whirlpool of thoughts and blame game.

My first thought, believe it or not, was that we didn’t have any red wine onboard!!! How would we survive 14 days without any?! Then I realised we didn’t have that much provisioning either… I quickly went to check the cupboards and found enough pasta for us to last more than a fortnight! Gc’s theory being “if you have pasta and rice in storage you won’t die of starvation”….which he happily remind me of every time we go to the supermarket and I complain about the content of our shopping baskets!

St Pierre, with Gladan resting peacefully after 2 long days of sailing!

Before losing hope, we explained to the authorities that we were told we wouldn’t need to quarantine and that’s why we had travelled 237 miles without ever stopping, and that we were very disappointed to find out the opposite. It took some convincing, but eventually we were given some good news; we wouldn’t need to quarantine and we could go ashore to check in!

After a big sigh of relief, we quickly went ashore, checked in and bought some Bordeaux! You never know what to expect in these difficult times…

Why do people sail the Atlantic? Interview with Gladan’s skipper!

June 4, 2020 ~ sailingladan ~ 1 Comment

Every year roughly 1500 boats cross the Atlantic from East to West and 1000 from West to East. Why do people do it? I mean why undergo a stressful and potentially very dangerous passage that can take up to a month when you can catch a plane and spend 8 hours eating, drinking and watching films?

So why do people cross the Atlantic?

I always ask this question when meeting people that have done the crossing. An accomplished lawyer from England who was about to embark on his second crossing told me:” What would you like for people to read on your tombstone? “She sailed the Atlantic twice” or… “She worked in an office 9 to 5, Monday to Friday?”.

A retired CEO from Switzerland and skipper of a steel boat whom we met in Greece told me that, many years before, she had decided to do the crossing because she wanted to study her own reaction when confronted with limitless waters. “I thought the big blue might frighten me. The idea that we wouldn’t be able to see land for weeks, that there would be so much empty space around…. Well, I did not get scared. I did not panic. I was too busy carrying out my daily tasks and enjoying the feeling of complete freedom”.

This time, I had my chance to ask Gc the same question…and much more!

Patti and Gc testing the media equipment during the crossing

Why did you want to cross the Atlantic? I’ve always thought that crossing the Atlantic was a massive challenge, and doing it would bring me a sense of achievement. I remember many years ago, I was in Sardinia taking sailing lessons and my instructor mentioned he had crossed the Atlantic. I looked up to him in awe and wondered whether one day I’d be able to do it myself.

What was the best part of the crossing? Overcoming problems. Problems that seemed fairly important and almost with no solution at first. And then we, I mean the crew and myself, we would put our heads together and think of a way to resolve them. Upon succeeding, a great sense of achievement would follow; we were back on track, feeling safe again and making progress on our journey.

What was the worst part? I guess the worst part was the unknown. Not knowing what to expect. That’s rather challenging and scary at the same time. Also…the big waves at night! The first few nights, when surfing down 4/5 metres waves…..you’re not used to it. You see them growing at the back, reaching the height of the boat….you’re always expecting for them to break in and flood the boat! And each time, to your surprise, they don’t!

Another thing I struggled with at first was delegating responsibility. As much as I trusted the crew…it was hard to let go. The crew were all experienced sailors yes, but mono, not catamaran, sailors. The idea that they didn’t really know how the boat behaved with big waves…What if there was an accidental jibe? All these thoughts would keep me awake at night…especially the first week or so.

Do you think that crossing the atlantic has changed you? I don’t think it has changed me per se, but it has definitely given me more confidence in sailing. Everyone is full of insecurities and knowing that you can achieve something as big as this…it’s definitely a confidence booster! It has also been very useful in terms of understanding how to make the team work together. It’s not so easy to make sure that different people who barely know each other get on and live together in harmony….for 3 weeks! We heard stories of boats stopping in Cape Verde (the only possible place where to stop along the way) to drop unhappy members of the crew…or skippers constantly fighting with their crew. We managed to keep everyone happy on board…I guess the good food took a great part in that!

What would be the normal sails setting during the crossing?

Well, we had a long debate about that during the crossing. The crew was convinced that it would be better to have the main fully up most of the time. Personally, I was of the opinion that we needed to reef it. I didn’t want to be constantly on the lookout, I preferred a more relaxed way of sailing.

So we would normally have one reef on the main and the jib fully open. When spotting a squall approaching, we would reduce both sails, by putting 2 reefs on the main and one on the jib. With wind coming from 160 degrees, we would have to be very careful not to jibe; Gladan has got a big main and with the big waves we could accidentally jibe.

Did you break any sails during the crossing? The sea through window of the jib was torn apart. Luckily we had a second new jib that I had made in the UK before the crossing, so we were able to substitute the damaged one. I bought the second jib with the idea of sailing with two headsails, wing on wing, having them furling and unfurling on the same roller…. although I never managed to do so! A couple of the mainsail’s battens dislodged themselves…the topping lift broke and the code zero was beginning to show signs of being overworked. Overall, nothing too major though.

Gc checking the mast and mainsail…is everything ok?

If there is one lesson you learn by sailing across the Atlantic is that, in most cases, there is a solution to problems, you just need to find it!

What was a typical day like? During the crossing days actually last 24 hours! Our shifts were organised in pairs, so each pair would have 3 hours on and 6 hours off to sleep, relax but also carry out daily tasks such as cooking and boat maintenance. At midday we would all gather around the table in the kitchen for the daily weather forecast and general updates, and then decide on the best meals ideas for the day. Shortly after everyone would go on with their tasks. The most popular place onboard was the flybridge where people ‘on duty’ and ‘off duty’ would gather and often have long discussions about life, philosophy, macroeconomics, and, of course, sailing!

How eco-friendly was the crossing? We tried to have a zero impact crossing. We were almost completely self-sufficient thanks to the solar panels. Occasionally, we had to turn the generator on to make water and recharge the batteries, but overall we used just under 30 litres of diesel during the 3,700 miles crossing. We only used the engine for 8 hours when there was zero wind and Gladan was drifting! All the organic waste was thrown into the ocean and at the end of the trip we only had 3 large bin bags of plastic, glass and tin. It made us realise that it is not that difficult to be energy efficient and eco-friendly at the same time which gave us a great sense of satisfaction and independence from ‘civilization’.

You can cut that umbilical cord and be pretty much self sufficient for months, living completely off the grid.

Finally, what advice would you give to people wanting to cross the Atlantic? Don’t be afraid! Just be prepared. Don’t underestimate problems, even little issues if not tackled straight away can escalate and become nightmares. Make sure you have spare parts onboard, run daily checks for chafing, make sure you have a fully equipped first aid kit with plenty of strong antibiotics…sadly, there was one fatality this year. A young father sailing with his family died after contracting an infection in Cape Verde. Without the necessary antibiotics, he passed away in the middle of the ocean and the wife couldn’t even use the satellite phone and computer to raise the alarm because she didn’t know the password. It is very important to think things through and be prepared.