Happy New Year from Dominica

When we passed by this beach yesterday we saw the locals enjoying some family time on and in the water. From young to old everyone seemed to have fun, children splashing or building sand castles, adults bathing while chatting to others or sipping on a Kubuli (local beer). Just a very relaxed atmosphere on a sunny Sunday afternoon with a lot of smiling faces. And they don't have much...

Since we moved on Habibi certain things are less important to us as they used to be. We enjoy every day even when for example discovering light beer in a supermarket (for Rahel of course) is the highlight of it! So, today is New Year's Eve? We don't fancy a big party. Actually we don't even have any plans. And don't get this wrong - we do not say this lifestyle is right for everyone. We really just say we learned a lot of new things the past year.

So, even there will be no big party we will spend our time gorgeously: We're having some sundowners with new found friends on their boat in a nice anchorage!

But we never forget our roots. All of you who made our dream possible and believed we can do it. There are so many people we should thank for that continuous support we get with our crazy sounding dream.

So lets say Thanks to you all: Blog Followers, Facebook Followers, our Families & Friends and as well the zillion of other people which contributed in many different ways to make our dream come true...

Thank you all and have a blast in 2013 and of course in many more years to come!

With much love from paradise
Marco & Rahel on Habibi

Enchanted

Rainforest Hike

Oh my, we heard so many things about Dominica - bad and good. The best way to adjudicate upon something is always to check it out by yourself - and so we did.

Dominica is a poor country that has to rely on its own resources and the islanders have a standard of living well below those of its richer neighbors Martinique and Guadeloupe which being part of France enjoy generous subsidy. But as it says in our guide: "If Christopher Columbus came back today Dominica is the only island he would recognize." There are no fancy supermarkets or stores. It's still an unspoiled country as it is off the beaten tourist trail (except for some cruise ships that stop by) due to the lack of an international airport and luxury hotel developments. This on the other hand makes it an exciting destination for nature lovers. Dominica is famous for its lush mountainous rainforest, the many rivers and waterfalls and is home of many rare plant, animal and bird species. There are a number of National parks or reserves on the island. The Waitukubuli National Trail project (the original Carib name for Dominica is Waitukubuli) encompasses 114 miles of trail that winds from one end of Dominica to the other. Interesting from a cultural point of view is that there are still around 3'000 Caribs (the original inhabitants) living in a 15 km2 territory in the north-east that was granted to the people by the British Crown in 1903. On all the other Caribbean islands the Caribs were extinct by the European Conqueror.

Petty theft from yachts is on the rise in the Caribbean in general. We're staying in Portsmouth in the north east corner of the bay because that's where PAYS (the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security) is active. That's a group formed by the Indian River Guides and other businesses. We call them simply "boat boys" and they offer different kind of services: they run night patrols in the anchorage, maintain the moorings and dinghy docks, sell fruit, take your laundry, act as a water taxi and offer river and other tours. They really seem to work together as once we'd appointed Martin from "Providence" to be our guide we never got bothered by any other boat boy.

Martin "Providence"

We went on a hike with Martin on Dec 24 and what he described as an easy walk in the rainforest turned out to belong to the "difficult" trails according to the Waitukubuli website... Totally exhausted and gasping for air we had already reached the peak of the nearby mountain by 8am. We needed some time to recover before we could enjoy the beautiful view over the bay!

Portsmouth in the background

Another attraction that is not to be missed is the Indian River Tour - and it really is out of this world! For one to two hours you're riding on a row boat through the mangroves in total silence. We went in the early morning just when the sun was rising and the wild life waking up - it was magical and well worth to get up at 6am!

Indian River

We're going to stay in Dominica at least for another week. There is still so much to explore be it on land or in the water as there is a marine park nearby where we want to do some snorkeling. I wish we had an underwater camera...

From paradise with love
Rahel

You're never the biggest boat

We thought Dominica would be an exception - but even here you can observe the following phenomenon: when you think you're the biggest boat there is always an even bigger one coming!
The sailboat on the right - by the way under Swiss flag* - is an Oyster 575, around 60 feet and we thought it was big. Till "Skat" the yacht on the left arrived... We learned that it is 233 feet long, has 16 crew, 2 x 2700 hp, 210'000 l fuel and a helipad on the upper aft deck servicing a helicopter painted in military look colors matching the yacht.
The most interesting part to us are the information given about the owner Charles Simonyi - he is originally from Hungary, like Rahel's dad! He made his money with Microsoft and reading his biography is quite impressive! As he's spending 6 months on board of his yacht there is a big chance that he is on board right now to spend Christmas in Dominica and not in a hip place like St.Barths or so - which makes him even more sympathetic.

* As we see currently so many boats flying the Swiss flag, an American friend is doubting that Switzerland has just around 8 million inhabitants - he is insisting that he counted nearly that many Swiss flagged boats in the Caribbean alone :-)

From paradise with love
Rahel

Greetings from Dominica

We arrived safely in Portsmouth/Dominica (not to confuse with the Dominican Republic!) yesterday afternoon.
Our passage starting early morning from Saint-Pierre in Martinique was overall a fast but not a too pleasant one. In the channel between the two islands the swell hit us almost from 90 degrees and was more 9 than the predicted 6 feet - a feeling like on a roller coaster. Marco and I swallowed each a seasickness tablet just out of precaution... After this rather bumpy ride as soon we were in the lee of Dominica the wind died as usual, the sea became flat like a mirror and we turned on the engine. But to our surprise we encountered some stretches along the coast where we could unfurl our genoa again and had a fantastic sail - this time in flat seas! While approaching the anchorage in Portsmouth the wind peaked with 25 knots which made it difficult to get the timing right to furl our mainsail (an in-mast roller furling, always to handle with highest care that it doesn't get stuck) - but we managed it. Then we had to choose an anchor spot among all the mooring balls while we were welcomed by a boat boy. We made sure that the anchor was well set as the wind seems to be brisk here all the time. Marco then agreed with Monty, the boat boy, on a price to drive him with his speed boat to customs as it was short before closing time. The immigration process went quite smooth as you can check in and out at the same time. We now can stay up to two weeks and don't have to go back to customs. We like Dominica already!
Our stroll through town this morning was very pleasant: people seem to be very friendly but not obtrusive. It is an interesting mix of poor and rich, of modern and traditional. We are glad to be here to spend "Christmas" and are looking forward to explore Dominica's highly praised natural beauty.

With love from another paradise
Rahel

we're on holiday

The sun came back after a few days of rain. We rented a car and toured the island a bit. Wow, Martinique is a great place for driving! The streets are actually maintained and the signs well placed. It's like you would be driving in France. But with a Caribbean touch of course!
So we got to see some of the windward side which was just gorgeous. We were driving mile after mile through banana and sugar cane plantations always with a nice sea view.
The internet connection is limited at the moment so we'll post more later.
We're on holiday so to say!

From paradise with love
Rahel

Rain in Martinique

Today's forecast for Martinique looks like this:
070-080@22g30, squalls with 5-8k enhanced wind! Seas 10'/8secENE-E.
Translation for all non sailors: this means we really have a sh... weather here right now! A lot of rain, even more wind and high seas. Thanks god there is only some wind chop in our anchorage and so far it is not rolly (fingers crossed!). As there is only rain with a squall we can still get to shore dry by dinghy - we just have to get the timing right.
As this weather will linger for the next couple of days we decided to rent a car. Firstly to get off the boat and secondly to explore the island a bit. Let's hope we'll find some sun...

From paradise with love
Rahel

perfect conditions - unexpectedly

Kingstown, St. Vincent

reflections

St.Vincent NW coast

beautiful sky

another Swiss boat, 79ft!

cloud formations

sunset

St.Lucia, the Pitons before sunset

Martinique, Club Med in Le Marin

Rahel on the helm

Le Marin, careful not to end up like the boat on the left...

morning sport

Marco looking out for an anchor spot

How do we plan a passage? We basically calculate the distance to cover and then assume an average speed.
As we had decided to skip St. Lucia our last planning was regarding the trip from Bequia to Martinique. The wind was predicted to be around 10 to 12 kts and according to our experience it usually dies completely in the lee (behind) of the islands (we had to pass two islands on our way, St.Vincent and St.Lucia). Our Island Packet sails perfectly in winds of 15kts and more but below that she is usually, ehm, like a stone in the water... And we don't like arrivals at night especially in a new anchorage. Therefore we decided to make an overnight trip and calculated with an average speed of 4.5 kts. That lead to a departure at around 10am in Admiralty Bay and an estimated arrival at 7am the next morning in Le Marin. That was the theory.
As you can guess, the reality looked different. We encountered the most perfect conditions we've ever had! Wind speed, wind direction and sea state played out so well that we made an average speed of close to 7kts. Our enthusiasm quickly diminished when we started to calculate our ETA (estimated time of arrival) somewhere around 2am - or in other words in the pitch dark of the night... You need to know that Le Marin is an entrance full with reefs. Yes, the channel is well marked with buoys - OK in daylight but not so nice in the dark. Additionally, the French fishermen endure a sport called "catch a yacht", therefore the whole entrance to the channel is covered with fish traps and nets. Really, it looks more like a well planned mine field than an entrance to one of the main harbors in the Caribbean!
We had to slow down - urgently!! Almost with tears in our eyes we reefed our sails... But still, it was one of our most perfect sailing trips.

What's the lesson we've learned? Don't underestimate Habibi - she performs very well even in light wind conditions of 10 to 15 kts! In the planning of our next passage we'll have to take this into account when calculating our average speed.

From paradise with love
Rahel

The Grenadines – a culinary flight

Banana - Guava Colada @ Firefly Plantation

We enjoyed our stay in St. Vincent & the Grenadines - a lot! Not only did we enjoy the islands' natural beauty, the friendly people and the clear turquoise water but also the culinary experiences we've had. We had some of the best food the past four weeks of our whole one year journey! Here is a short list of our Top Five favourite places (or people):

1) Carriacou / Tyrell Bay: The Slipway Restaurant, see what they say on Trip Advisor

We didn't even know it existed till we stumbled over it by accident. The restaurant is furnished and decorated in a simple but lovely way. On a blackboard you’ll find written the menu which might look limited but the food was excellent: we had tuna, mahi-mahi and cornish hen - all was cooked to perfection and accompanied with some local vegetables and potatoes. There was just one dessert to choose from - a New York cheese cake - and it was to die for. The service was surprisingly attentive and charming... something you start to appreciate again after some time in the Caribbean. The best value for money we’ve got since a long time!


2) Bequia / Lower Bay: Fernando's Hideaway, top rated by Trip Advisor
 
We went to check out the location of this restaurant by day light as it is (like the name says) "hidden away" up the hill in Lower Bay. It is only open for dinner and a reservation is needed at least one day in advance. It looks like Fernando turned the outdoor terrace of his private house into a restaurant. A simple kitchen, tasteful furniture and decoration and a great service - finish is a hidden gem with a cozy ambiance! The owner goes out fishing in the morning and that's what he serves you for dinner. Our perfectly cooked fish was served with a variation of veggies seasoned with tasty herbs. The prices for food and drinks were very reasonable especially given the unique location. Too bad there was no space left for a dessert!


3) Union / Chatham Bay: Tim's shack

Tim was one of the "boat boys" that came out to Habibi while we've been anchored in Chatham Bay. These guys sometimes can really be a pain in the a... But we learned quickly that Tim was different. In a charming way he introduced himself and chatted with us. He mentioned that he runs a shack on the beach (means he offers a BBQ dinner with the choice of lobster, fish or chicken) but there was no pushing as it's often the case. One day he even brought Marco some bait so he could go fishing - this was literally cutting his own business! We then decided to give it a try and went to his "restaurant". It's located at the far North side of the beach – it’s recommended to take a flash light with you as the path from the beach to the place is not well lit. The ambiance of the restaurant, the selection of drinks, the food and even the washroom left us with surprise – it was much nicer than we expected it to be. Amazing how an inventive person like Tim can perform magic without running water, electricity or a road that connects him with the “civilization”!


4) Bequia / Spring: Firefly Plantation 

This beautiful Hotel is located in the middle of a lush plantation with an amazing view over Spring Bay. We just stopped there for a drink - the food sounded appealing but was a bit on the pricy side. Nevertheless the service was very friendly and we even were welcomed by a committee of dogs and a cat ;-) Just sitting there and enjoying the view was priceless. If someone is looking for a luxury holiday this is the place! And you could even combine it with a stay in its sister hotel over on Mystique!


5) Bequia / Admiralty Bay: Joseph in his little power boat "P'nut"
 

This is not about a place, this is about a person. Sometimes in the late afternoon you see (or better hear) a little wooden motorboat cruising the bay. The boat’s name is “P’nut” and in it sits Joseph, sometimes rowing sometimes running his noisy outboard (depends on the wind). He is always smiling and almost excuses himself that he can only come out in the evening to sell fruits and vegetables from his own garden. We bought a papaya, some passion fruits and spinach from him and everything was absolutely gorgeous. Joseph is very honest and will not tell you that the bananas are ripe enough where they aren’t. He even is very cheap so we’ve been happy to learn that this is not the only job to earn his living! 

From paradise with love

Rahel

should we stay or should we go?

As mentioned before the only one who is guiding us is the weather. If the forecast is bad we stay, if it's good we go. Unfortunately it's not always as easy as that... Perfect conditions for us would be 10-15 knots of wind out of the East and seas at around 3-4 feet. The wind velocity at the moment are higher and so are the seas. That wouldn't be a problem for Habibi but the wind direction is more from the North - and we have to go North! It means we had to motor against wind and seas - no bueno. So we are waiting, listening to the forecast, checking the web and talking to fellow sailors. We sometimes think that we are too cautious. But then we're talking to cruisers who are on the way since 7 or 13 years, some of them even circumnavigated the world two times - and when those folks tell us they rather keep waiting than get beaten up out there we are relieved!

We see boats coming and leaving every day, most of them are charter boats. They have to set sail at one point no matter how bad the conditions are. We are happy that we are not pressured to move from A to B at a specific day. And there are worse places to wait for a weather window than Bequia ;-)

Admiralty Bay: Habibi is the 4th boat from left

Check out more pics on our Facebook page here!

From paradise with love
Rahel

"stuck" in Bequia

Visiting the same area for the second time gives us the opportunity to take a closer look of places we didn't have the time for last season. Like for example Bequia. We had just stopped here to check in and left after one night. Now we're just realizing what we've missed!

Marco checking the anchor in clear water

Habibi is anchored in Port Elizabeth close to a beach in clear, turquoise water - you can see to the ground even at night!! We never snorkeled so often off the boat like here (OK, one reason might be to check the anchor...). The town is tiny but lively. People are friendly and laid-back, there are a couple of nice restaurants right on the waterfront with good dinghy docks where you can sip on a cold beer while watching boats coming and going. It's an island of sailors and boats. We can somehow understand folks, often ex-sailors, who have chosen this charming island to "swallow the hook"...

beautiful traditional sailing boat

We still have to discover the island (it's only 18 sq km in area) and it looks like we'll have plenty of time for that. According to the weather forecast we had to make a decision to leave right away or stay another week - we decided for the latter ;-) We're not in a rush to be somewhere at a certain time...

It would be nice to experience the arrival of the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) though. The first boats just set sail in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria bound for the 2'800nm westward across the Atlanic to the Caribbean and should arrive mid of December in Rodney Bay, St.Lucia. For the first time since 23 years the start has been delayed due to bad weather. We wish all of the participants fair winds and a safe trip!

From paradise with love
Rahel

sleepless in paradise

Palm island and Janti's Happy Island (a bar in the middle of a reef)

This picture was captured at Clifton, Union Island. A charming town where we checked in for St.Vincent & the Grenadines. It’s great for provisioning and choosing fresh produce in the picture perfect market is a lot of fun as the vendors are very friendly. The only downsize is the anchorage. It is surrounded by reefs and it also has a small reef in the center called “roundabout reef”. According to our guide “the holding is unreliable and you should even consider an anchor watch”. Boat boys are trying to sell you their moorings which obviously also aren’t reliable. We’ve been here before and didn’t have any problems anchoring.

We were just about to sit down for dinner as a squall approached. The wind picked up considerably and it started to rain hard. Marco felt something was wrong and went up to have a look. “We are dragging, and how!!!” he screamed from upstairs. I flew up the ladder and saw the boat that was supposed to be anchored behind us passing by… Great! It was pitch dark, raining cats and dogs, the wind was howling and our anchor was not holding?! And you must know that having an anchor light is a luxury in the Caribbean so there were boats anchored around us we couldn’t even see – a real nightmare! But we managed the situation without even screaming at each other. We re-anchored and then held an anchor watch – like our guide recommended in the first place. Means we’ve been up all night to make sure we didn’t drag into another boat.  Don’t push your luck twice…

There was a Charter Catamaran anchored behind us that we watched out for in particular. In the morning they lifted the anchor to leave the anchorage. And you know what? They drove over the Roundabout Reef with full throttle and ran aground hard! Why did we stay up all night if this captain tried to trash his boat the next morning anyway?? 

The whole last year anchoring was straightforward. Our anchor was holding even in 40-50 kts of wind and changing currents. We usually set an anchor alarm that would ring if we were moving and slept fine. That changed now a little. We’re choosing our anchoring spots more careful, Marco even snorkels to check the anchor and we’re getting a little nervous when the wind picks up.

Nevertheless we’re enjoying the Grenadines with its green-turquoise water, small islands and friendly people. It's like paradise even though we might be sleepless at times...

From paradise with love

Rahel

Lobster

Yes, we live currently in the lobster paradise. And since the season for this poor creatures started a few months ago we (HE) join the hunters.

There is just one problem: Even though I love fish I really do not like shellfish! Knowing that my hubby likes this little monsters our marriage faces another challenge. I mean eating something you do not really like is one thing. Seeing this poor creatures fighting for their life on the cockpit floor is another thing! And realizing your husband is getting glassy eyes when taking his biggest knife for the kill does not really help to appreciate this kind of "food". What should I say. The poor lobster lost and even if I hoped otherwise it was clear what we would have for dinner. Damn!

After cleaning the cockpit - and believe me you have no idea how sticky lobster blood is - it was time to cook that poor bastard. Thanks god, despite all that hunt and kill instinct of my husband there was still some decency...he asked me if there would be a way I could enjoy shellfish.

What should I say. He got lobster tail with garlic butter from the grill while I got gambas al ajillo. OK not really, it should be called lobster al ajillo. I learned it's the most decadent way to eat lobster. I mean this is normally made with the cheapest shrimps a Spanish restaurant can find, right? But whatever, that's almost the only way (except Rock Hall Crab Cake of course) how I would eat shellfish.

So the lost of life was not for nothing. It left a big mess in the kitchen, but eating what our guys kill is probably a way to keep a marriage happy, right?

With love from (lobster) paradise
Rahel

Good to be back - to the cruising life

Marco's off to catch dinner

Maybe you remember - our last anchor maneuver before we arrived in Grenada was in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou. It was here where our old anchor windlass died, the last time we anchored before Hurricane season - you can call it "blessing in disguise". And it kept us busy for a couple of weeks to mount our new one, we wrote about it here and here.

Now we're back and can enjoy it much more! It is a very protected huge bay and it seems even though there are a lot of boats you always find a nice spot. In comparison to St.George's it is very quiet and not at all rolly. So you can tell we slept like babies the last night and there is nothing better than to wake up in an anchorage, having a coffee in the cockpit and enjoy the scenery.
It must sound silly to you but we need some time off from our time off ;-) Seriously, we worked hard on Habibi the last couple of months! Therefore we're enjoying to do whatever is in our mind at the moment: Marco can either fish off the boat or take the dinghy and I'm taking pictures, swimming or reading - soon we'll be discovering the island a bit. So stay tuned for more!

what view to wake up to

Tyrell Bay in morning light

fishing boat from Venezuela - do they don't have enough fish there?

notice the BIG dog in the front!

With love from paradise
Rahel

So long Grenada

St. George's in the back

Do you know the expression "sticky lines"? It means there is always something that prevents you from leaving the marina - or gives you the excuse of postponing your departure. We really planned to leave beginning of November. But then there was this nasty swell out in the anchorage! Why should we leave our quiet dock just to be rolling around on anchor? So we stayed a few more days. Then Marco and I fell ill. At the same time and that happens very rarely. But finally we had enough, untied the dock lines and just left.

After five months in the marina it feels great to be out again. No traffic noise, enjoying the view, the sunset and the peace. Finally we'll be out sailing again - we're so looking forward to the new season!

Here some final impressions of St.George's, capital of Grenada:

leaving Port Louis Marina

General Hospital of St.George's

another Swiss boat on the left

s/v Helios is leaving as well

our friends Carol & Alex on s/v Nepenthe

a nice sailing boat with a center cockpit

the captain is relaxing

a squall on the horizon

a boat cruising into the sunset

With love from paradise
Rahel

One year of cruising!!

Exactly 365 days ago we untied the dock lines in Rock Hall MD and started our cruising adventure on Habibi - with mixed feelings. We left behind so much but even more was waiting for us out there!

Just for the fun of it, let's put it into some numbers:
So far we cruised the distance of 4'500 nautical miles (around 8'300km).
We stopped at around 70 different anchorages or marinas in 10 different countries.
We ran aground 3 times but managed to set us free either with the engine or while waiting for the tide to rise...
We saw winds from almost 0 up to 50 knots and seas as high as 15 feet (5m).
The water temperature climbed from freezing 12.5C up to pleasant 31C.
We published around 135 blog posts and 1'245 pictures on facebook.
And the most amazing number: Marco and I never have been separated more than a couple of hours during the past 365 days!

We've met countless people on the way - amazing, surprising, awkward, generous, odd, open minded, stingy, spontaneous, lazy, chatty, wonderful people. Some of this encounter led into friendship, others did not. But all in all - if there is any kind of emergency (and be it running out of booze) we experienced the cruising folks as very helpful.
As we've already pointed out in various posts cruising life isn't always as sweet as it appears to be and there have been times when we were more then ready to sell Habibi right away! But cruiser's must all suffer from amnesia ;-)

Our minds (and camera's chip) are filled with all the beautiful places we've been able to visit. The reason we stayed in Grenada so long was on one hand Hurricane season and on the other hand some work that had to be done on Habibi. Now the next season is waiting for us and we are READY! Ready to be sailing again, to explore new places and revisit places we've liked. Ready to meet old and new friends. Ready to fish, relax, enjoy - maybe even sipping on a cocktail while watching the sunset on the beach...
Stay tuned for new adventures on Habibi!

With love from paradise
Marco & Rahel

Project: Fuel polish

Those of you who know Marco personally most probably are aware that he likes to research a lot - mostly about boats at the moment of course ;-) He is regularly checking forums and technical sites in the web to inquire and is reading in the books we brought over. When we bought Habibi we still lived thousands of miles apart and we couldn't do work on the boat ourselves. So Marco spent most of his free time reading and learning about maintaining a boat - I didn't always like it back then... but I'm even more happy he did today! It gives him the ability to fix problems or improve a system on his own. Imagine we'd to call a "specialist" every time we're facing a problem!

For quite some time he had this idea of assembling a "fuel polish system". He explained it to me but to be honest - I couldn't really picture it. He ordered the parts: a filter, a pump, a switch and some rubber pipe. I still didn't see how that would work. He needed a box and our friend built one according to the instructions given. NOW I understood!
It's actually simple once you've seen it. And brilliant. We can use it either to filter diesel before it goes into our tank (you suck it out of a jerry can, it goes through the filter and then into the tank) or we can use it to clean the diesel that's already in our tank. On the sucking end there is a long copper pipe mounted that allows to reach till the bottom - that's where the residues are hidden.
OK you might ask yourself now why all this hassle, money and waste of storage place? First, you don't want to clog your engine because of dirty fuel. This usually doesn't happen in a quiet anchorage but in high seas while drifting onto some cliffs! Second, to prevent that you can hire "specialists" who come to your boat with their fuel polish equipment (usually it's old, dirty, worn out and incomplete) and ask a lot of money for it.
So Marco thought it is good invested money as we could even use the filter as a spare for the engine. I think my husband is a genius!

filtering fuel before it goes into our tank

filling the tank with "clean" diesel

checking the filter for some residue

fuel polish system in action

With love from paradise
Rahel