As we arrived in Fort De France, we strolled in the main street of the town and caught this impromtpu dance at the sound of the drums....Des le premier jour a Fort de France , nous avons ete temoin des premiers souffles carnavalesques au son des tambours qui ont entraine cette doudou a la dance!

After an hour, we arrived to this pretty little village. Typical architecture, attractive malecon, and interesting sites...such as the oldest movie theater of South Martinique!!!

It was enjoyable to chat with an elderly man – 85 years old – who was too happy to recount stories of his life as a fisherman and post carrier in the “metropole” . He knew very well the path that we just hiked and used to do it twice a day !

Apres avoir marche sur le sentier contournant le Morne Champagne, nous sommes enfin arrives au bourg des Anses d'Arlet...mignon comme tout avec ses petites maisons creoles, son eglise au bout du quai, et son Cinema Atlas, le plus vieux du sud de la Martinique! J'ai fait une jasette avec un arlesien de 85 ans qui s'est fait un plaisir de me raconter ses tribulations de marin pecheur et sa carriere de facteur!

Due to strong swells in the Atlantic, some surf was felt throughout the night...not much movement here on the west side of the island, but rather the sond of waves crashing on the beaches....After breakfast we calked the windows and around 10h30 we began hiking to the next settlement of Anses d'Arlet...we took the path across Morne Champagne and enjoyed the view of our anchorage...

Asked what these grasses are for, a fisherman explained to me the "science" of attracting fishes by throwing this mass of grasses (banana leaves) in the water...he drives as far as 150 miles offshore and fills his boat with fishes...We could learn from him..so far, the only fresh fish eaten on board La Buena Vida came from the fish market!

On Sunday night, we get a taste of what the big carnival will look like in a couple of days. There is a mini-parade supposedly starting a 17h00 with groups from small communities of the South of Martinique. After almost an hour wait, here they are:men and women of all ages dressed in red, in blue and in white, with frills, sparkling ribbons or newspaper clips, playing big drums and calabash…they chant and dance through the village streets about 4 times before stopping at the market place for a longer demonstration of their skills. We are amazed and can only look forward to the soon coming parades in Fort de France! Last year, there were no celebration due to the strike movement in all French departments...so this year, there is a rebound of energy! There were thoughts for the people of Haiti who, unfortunately, are having other worries than carnival parades...

Pour nous donner un avant-goût des grandes célébrations du carnaval qui se tiendra a Fort De France du 11 au 17 février, nous assistons a une mini-parade de groupes appartenant a diverses régions du Sud de la Martinique. Mini-parade???? après une attente d'une heure, ca a valu la peine: la parade arrive! Plusieurs groupes de danseurs aux costumes multicolores font le tour des rues du village 4 fois et arrivent , exténués a la place du marche ou ils donnent une démonstration de leur danses et musique! Merveilleux! Nous avons donc très hâte d'assister au reste des parades...faut dire que l'an dernier, tout avait été annule du aux mouvements de grèves dans les territoires et départements français...ca devrait donc être deux fois mieux cette année!!! Malgré tout ca, les Martiniquais pensent a leurs frères et soeurs haïtiens qui ont d'autres malheurs s'acharnant sur eux...

On Saturday evening, we go for a stroll in the pretty village and enjoy the view of the illuminated church for the 19h00 mass. The doors are kept open as if to invite more people inside…although it is already full. We stay late in the village and join the crowds at the market place to enjoy salt cod cakes or accras de morue as well as creole chicken…fingers licking good.

Time to leave Le Marin for Ste-Anne…we are looking forward to walk to the Salines, one of our preferred hikes. It is Saturday morning and the paths are deserted and the beaches are not yet flooded with tourists … visibility is great on that day and enables a great view of St Lucia’s mountains. After a swim, we enjoy sitting in the shade of palm trees while eating our baguette sandwiches and drink cold Lorraine beer (yes, it’s ok to drink alcohol on the beach here!!!).

At some point, it seems that all cruisers meet again...we have now spent time with our friends Peter and Ruth on Aquataurus and with the delightful scottish family on Seawarrior with whom we indulged in Gin and Tonic, Martinique Rum and salt sticks last night!!!

It has been more than a week that we arrived in Martinique...once more! Our goal was to shop...food and drinks!, to do rust work and to enjoy the French way of life of the Antilles before the Carnaval, from the *th to the 15th February.

We have done all that...but the weather has been rather difficult with frequent daytime and nighttime squalls, strong winds, and cloudy days...we are anchoring in a pretty mangrove lined lagoon where the wave action and wind effect are reduced...

Mango dilemma!!!
We gathered those beautiful and giant mangoes in Bequia and now the time has come to eat them!!! They are wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! They make great pancakes........................

The passage betwen St Lucia and St Vincent is ca. 20 miles long ; the silhouette of the Pitons was easily recognized and was a familiar sight. It seemed like an eternity that we had been in St Lucia ...we had reached the 14th latitude! We anchored in the beautiful bay of Anse La Raye, just south of Marigot Bay. We were the only boat there...it is an unspoiled place compared to the other bays. In the night, I heard women's voice singing and in the morning, fishermen went out in the colourful boats to set their nets...

The sail from Bequia to St Lucia - 54 miles - was just like in the magzines...15-18 knots steady breeze from the East, but no fish..although we were having the line out for the entire trip!

There was no moon during the crossing from Bequia to St Vincent ..but as the sun rose, the stars slowly receded..and then we slowly sailed along the St Vincent coast. What a wonderful island...rugged shorelines, rocky mountains, so different from Grenada.

Nous devions quitter Bequia aux petites heures du matin pour nous aasurer d'\arriver a Ste Lucie avant la noirceur...le ciel etait etoile, et au lever du soleil, nous etions arrives a St Vincent que nous trouvons tellement imposante avec ses montagnes rocheuses et ses petites plages de sable noir!

After our friend's Uwe departed Grenada, the time had come to leave the windwards islands...leaving Grenada after several months of wonderful times with hiking, walks through St Georges, fun times in Hog Island. The passage between grenada and Carriacou was once more a tough one, with the underwater volcanoe Kick'em Jenny and other surrounding islands creating their share of currents. The next leg to Bequia saying goodbye to the wonderful - but at this time of the year too crowded Grenadines - was a great sail ending with a couple of days in Bequia. We once more gathered several pounds of mangoes, enjoyed a wonderful sunshine and left for St Lucia at 4h30 in the morning.

Callaloo soup…a caribbean delicacy! The leaves are huge, the taste close to spinach, and easy to make. I used the recipe of our dutch accordeon player, henni on Windjammer, and it was a great success! Our friend Uwe tried it at the Yacht Club restaurant and found mine wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy better!

Nous aimons faire la soupe aux callaloo…specialite des iles. Hennie, notre joueuse d’accordeon hollandaise, nous en avait preparee une pour la soiree du 31 decembre...inspiree, je l’ai recree avec un grand succes!

Another day, another fall...After Concord, Heiner felt that Uwe might enjoy the Seven Sisters Fall in the national forest of the Grand Etang Park...The ground was less muddy than at our previous visit, in October with our friends Carole and Daniel. And it was more serene...as Heiner and Uwe remained alone after a large group of german tourists departed the site. Both enjoyed this "guy's outing" and spent much time swimming in the crystal clear water of the falls...

Another “expedition” ..this time to Concord Waterfalls, on the western side of the island. We took the bus from Prickly Bay to St-Georges (2,50 $ Caribbean) and then to Concord ($3,50 Caribbean)…the road was reopened..(there had been a major explosion on that stretch last fall). We wanted our friend Uwe to experience traveling with a minibus, island style, and to view at least one waterfall…The weather was very gray that day and as we got out of the bus it was pouring rain! We took shelter in a boutique where printmaking on fabric was the specialty and clothing and other Grenadian products were on sale. The staff was from Concord and Gouyave and were delighted to have visitors..although there are sometimes 4 cruiseships in St-Georges harbour, these far away places (10 miles!) don’t profit from the tourists influx…we wonder if anybody profit from these cruiseships visitors except maybe the local shopping center in St-Georges where all visitors stream to by pizza, Subway sandwiches (!) and some tee shirts… Back to our expedition: from Concord, we walked 1.5 hour under a light and refreshing drizzle rain through..a real paradise! It was breathtaking to wander through the country side where cashew trees, star fruit trees, cocoa and nutmeg trees grow among bamboos and coco palms..such a bounty! And with the light rain, it gave a real “rain forest” touch to the landscape…

The fall itself was beautiful but we were so wet anyway that a bath did not feel "needed"!



Notre expedition a Concord fut un success: nous avions vu celles des Seven Sisters, grimpe au Mont Qua Qua et vu le lac du Grand-Etang. Cette escapade fut tout a fait differente, comme dans un paradis terrestre ou poussent tous les fruits exotiques imaginables !!! Cette marche de 1.5 heure nous emmena a la chute Concord mais nous n’avions pas envie de nous y baigner puisque nous avions ete sous la pluie au cours de notre marche !Ce fut une superbe decouverte et nous a permis de voir une autre facette de la flore grenadienne.

First time snorkeling with a S U I T...getting into it is difficult! But with the help of your friends, everything goes! Uwe enjoyed swimming with the turtles and the colourful fishes of the Tobago cays...

The dreams of some are the nightmares of others…it was late at night when the chartered 46’ Beneteau S/V Thetis anchored besides us…like 15 feet besides us. We warned the skipper:

LBV: Hi neighbours..you are really to close!
BENETEAU: We’ll be OK, we have 2 fenders at the back..
LBV: Really???? That's all? Will you keep watch tonight?
BENETEAU: …(they probably wondered what watch meant!)
BENETEAU: How many meters of chain do you have out?
LBV: 25 meters
BENETEAU: We have 14 m....

At this point, several of the crew members got all the fenders out and another 10 m of chain which made our proximity even greater. During the night, our boats were so close that we could have jumped in their cockpit. We were concerned that if forced to reanchor, they probably would pick up our chain instead of theirs!!!
This morning, as we prepared to lift anchor…we first blew the horn as a warning but it took a good 20 minutes before Skip came outside. He sheepishly said that it would be ok…we “forced” him to come out…here he was, standing like a wax statue at the bow, probably wondering what one could do…(as I am writing, a couple of hours later, he has probably not figured it out yet…).

Bye Bye 2009 , you were a fun year...and so was the party!!!
Notre "Bye Bye" a 2009, tout en musique et rires!

GOOD BYE 2009! 2010 HERE WE COME!

Last year at that time…we were already in the Caribbean, in the US Virgin Islands more precisely! We were still new to the area and 2009 has been a year of discovery, encounters of all kinds, and unforgettable experiences (the good and less good ones).

Since our departure from Kingston, Canada in September 2008, we traveled ca.4000 nautical miles and visited 20 islands! We have not yet listed how many kinds of rum and beer we drank…but we really made a distinct effort to taste each island’s beverage! Butter and cheese were mostly from New Zealand…thank God for Martinique and its imported goods from France! We met hundreds of people of different races and nationalities, locals and cruisers included! And as a bonus, we got to spend more fun time with friends …so much more than if we had been home!

As the year comes to an end, we look back and can’t help to feel good about our voyage on La Buena Vida. We had fun telling our stories and showing pictures on the Blog: Sharing the stories make the experiences so much richer! We wish all of our readers all the best for 2010!

AU REVOIR 2009! 2010 ON ARRIVE!

Ah! Le fameux bilan du dernier jour de l’année…l’an dernier, nous étions tout juste arrivés dans les Caraibes et nous célébrions cet événement à St-John dans les Iles Vierges américaines. Au cours des 4000 milles nautiques parcourus depuis notre départ de Kingston, Canada en septembre 2008, nous avons visité 20 îles, fait des rencontres de tout genre (si on compte les personnes, la faune et la flore!) et fait des expériences (bonnes et moins bonnes) qui resterons inoubliables! Et comme bonus, nous avons aussi passé beaucoup plus de temps avec des amis et fait avec eux des expériences qui resterons de merveilleux souvenirs (on espère!)...

Alors que nous disons au revoir à 2009 et saluons 2010, nous ne pouvons qu’espérer que 2010 sera à la hauteur! Nous continuerons de relater nos expériences sur le Blog car de les partager avec vous les rend encore plus enrichissantes. Merci à vous, chers lecteurs et lectrices! Nous vous souhaitons une merveilleuse année 2010 !

Gorgeous frangipani flowers ....

Every turn of the road had fabulous views and then we came to this old estate with cows and bulls grazing under coconut plams...

Holiday season? Yes, instead or doing work we snorkel or hike...One of our best hikes was to the Atlantic side of Bequia, to a place called Industry. The beaches are fabulous with black and whitish sand and the view of neighbouring island breathtaking...especially seen through the palm trees!

Merry Christmas! Ein Frohes Weihnachten! Joyeux Noel!

Yesterday we went to a concert given by "The Steel Kings"...a steel pan orchestra composed of 30 kids from Bequia! The concert took place "under the big almond tree", there was popcorn, roasted almonds, and a great ambiance as locals and visitors enjoyed the Xmas music played by these talented children...under the direction of Elvis, a great pan player and teacher. Tomorrow, we'll celebrate Christmas german way...with other german cruisers on board s/v Via Vitae, Segelklub Bracke! Pictures will follow...To all of you who have read our blog, we wish a Merry Christmas and great holidays!

Comme en temoigne cette belle creche avec tigre et chameau (qui est surement plus belle la nuit quand illuminee), nous voila presque a Noel...hier soir, nous avons assiste a un concert de steel pans joue par les enfants de Bequia sous le tres majestueux amandier de la place du village. Il y avait beaucoup de febrilite dans l'air, ils ont joue "nos" airs de Noel comme Jingle Bells, Silent Night, et Felix Navidad...il y avait du popcorn, des amandes grillees, des hot dogs...Tout y est sauf la neige! Bien que ce soit difficile pour nous, gens du nord, de rentrer dans l'atmosphere des fetes sous les palmiers, nous feterons quand meme la Noel demain, avec 3 autres couples d'allemands: ici, c'est le jambon qui est le mets traditionnel...nous prendrons des photos! A vous tous qui avez suivi nos peripeties sur ce blog, nous souhaitons de belle Fetes et un joyeux Noel!

This year, Christmas will be celebrated in Bequia! After a fast sail (6+ knots) from Union Island, we arrived in Bequia, once more! There are several boats anchored already...We had music and carols already blasting from land...we'll see what the celebrations will be this week. Stay tune...

Great news..Uwe is coming for a third visit this year...on december 30th, just in time for the big fireworks!

A last walk to Hillsborough Carriacou!
This morning we went back into town to check out at Immigration and Customs and to do our last groceries shopping. Because we are not going to be able to make it to Martinique before Christmas, we had to stack up on wine, gin, flour, cheese etc... as resources in Bequia (St Vincent and The Grenadines) are more limited and more expensive. By the time we get to Martinique, we will be starving for French goods and spirits!

Again today, we enjoyed our beautiful walk. This time in 96 degrees humidity and about 30C.
On our way back, Norbert, our favorite bus driver, confirmed that the distance from Tyrrel Bay to Hillsborough is about 3.8 miles long! He said and that he respected our desire to stretch our legs rather than taking his bus to town.

We will miss the nice people of Carriacou but we look forward to be moving on to our Christmas destination (Bequia) where we will meet with our German friend Uwe. We understand that he has to follow a long and complex travel path to meet with us in Bequia...

Christmas Winds!

The last week or so, the Christmas Winds picked up, blowing hard from the ENE. According the the forecast, we may have a break (thanks due to some strong winter storm in North America and Canada) in the wind strenght, and some shift towards ESE.

If this is the case, we will move North towards Bequia in order to spent Christmas there.

While waiting, we use the time to work on the boat. We just finished the wood in the cockpit (applied 4 layers of Cetol) and will do some varnishing inside - so that we will look pretty for Christmas!

We had a nice evening with Peter on Aquataurus - he was passing through on his way to Grenada to pick up his new dinghy. Initially, we had thought of going with him to do our Christmas shopping there, but he needs more time than we could afford away from the boat.

This morning we walked, once again, to Hillsborough, did our vegetable and wine shopping at the local fruit vendors and grocery stores. It was an enjoyable hike, followed by a cooling swimm. We never tire from the beautiful vistas and also from witnessing the local life, like these children playing around a majestuous mango tree...


At the end of the afternoon, we went with german friends (s/y Bagalut - Germany) to a Halleluja, a boat cafe, to "support the local economy" for a beer (3 for 10EC, hard to beat!). We were quite a group there, with several canadian boaters, german and dutch sailors, and many locals just having a good time ..Denise, the owner, was delighted to have so much business!

Taking a walk in Carriacou!









After being back in the water, the wood in the cockpit needed some TLC! And people wonder what we do all day!???


We had an early start with the varnishing this morning - only to be challenged by some dark clouds which decided to spoil our fun and dump some rain onto the freshly painted wood. We'll see how it comes out.

As we felt like escaping the fumes, and the restriction of the freshly varnished cockpit, we decided to take a walk from the Tyrell Bay anchorage into the town of Hillsborough. Something like 3 to 4 miles or so, along a winding road.


One of our first challenges was to inform all passing mini-buses that we did not need a ride, we were walking! Yes! Walking! No thanks, we will walk, thanks anyway. Yes ... we will walk .... After a couple of passes by the same buses it became clear that we were indeed walking all the way to Hillsborough!




Actually, it was a nice walk (nevermind, it was almost noon and about 32C - our preferred time of the day (and temperature)) to be out for a hike! Indeed, no matter how we structure our day, we end up at noon time on the road!

But walking enables you to see so much more, meet people, chat with them, study buildings, plants and landscape. Here we visited Rastaman Bennet Frank in Brunswick along the road. He runs a plant nursery ... and specializes also in bicycle rental, jewelry, clothing and balusters. We had fun talking to him and to visit his home. He had a booklet with all the cabinet members of the late Maurice Bishop government (1982). We could say that Bennet, like most Grenadians we met, had a strong sense of loss of identity with the death of Maurice Bishop.

If you ever come this way, see him!

Eventually we made it to Hillsborough and enjoyed an excellent roti (beef!) at Ann's Eating Delight and walked over to a beach bar run by Cuthbert Snagg, a place we had visited last october with Karen and Lindsay..once again, it was the perfect spot to enjoy a cold Carib beer with our feet in the sand.

...on the way back, heavily loaded with food items, we took the bus with Norbert - he was glad to have business. Not much going on man at this time of the day!

Well, we had to go back to work - another coat of varnish and to update the blog. It is late afternoon, almost time for a "sundowner"!

Ya man, see ya .....

Life on the hard is hard! Carriacou, Tyrrel Bay Haul Out Marina!

Ok, we had to haul out again, 2 months after we left Ottley Hall, St Vincent. We noticed some rust spots in odd locations above the waterline and were also concerned about some rumbling sounds which we attributed to the shaft bearing.

Fortunately we had bought a replacement bearing in Grenada at Island Waterworld.

The facilities here in Carriacou look very adventurous but were certainly frequented by many cruisers. In addition there were a number of top notch mechanics available in case we needed their help.

Indeed, we did!

After 2 days of working on the shaft coupling to remove the safety pin, we had to ask for assistance by Joerg, who in turn spent another 7 hours to grind out this bloody pin!

But then we managed to drop the rudder, remove the shaft, replace the bearing and reassemble the whole system again.

At the same time, Philip the welder cut out a section around our stern to replace it with new metal.

Today, Monday, and after 5 days, we finally launched and left the mosquitoes behind, left the young bulls behind, the cats, the dogs, the chickens and the parrots....nevermind the very rustical washrooms and once again we can use our boat and its facilities again.

Needless to say, we had a major cleaning today. The greasy sandy soil of the yard had left the deck of the boat black and spotty...

We enjoyed the marina staff very much, and appreciated their support and sense of humour. ..we might come back again if the washrooms see some improvement!

We are back again in the cruising mode...tomorrow is shopping for food.