Landfall Barbados

Approaching Barbados

Passing the cruise ship docks - several in every day

 

The Jolly Roger - one of many outings for cruise ship passengers

Sailboats moored in the Careenage

Beautiful beach on Carlisle Bay where Maggie is anchored

Landfall Barbados

Jan.28, 2017

We have been in Barbados for 4 days already, but just haven't had a moment to do a blog entry. This is the official end spot for the BPO rally. We left from Grenada Nov 2014 and Martinique in Jan 2015. We haven't cruised in Barbados before, so it is another port to explore. We will feel like we have circumnavigated when we get back to Grenada. Haulout is already booked for April 18 and a flight the next weekend. Then we will be home at least until after next Christmas.

Since being here we have been sleeping long hours at night to catch up from the passage. The autopilot never did work for the last 500 nm, so we spent that whole time taking turns hand steering. At night, one person would sleep in the cockpit while the other was steering an hour or two at a time. We were lucky the weather was ok, the classic 15 to 20 knots,  on a beam reach. Rob got the only 2 hours of rain on his night watch. Some achy muscles for a few days, however. We passed 4 fishing vessels at night that did not carry AIS. That makes it difficult to know which way they are travelling. We had a much too close encounter with one of them.

We got in after 13 days which is a good speed for us. The "marina" where you go to check in with customs and immigration was a surprise. It is only a place where boats can tie between a buoy and dock. You then would need your dinghy to move from boat to dock as the surge wouldn't allow you to tie up close enough to get off. We tied to a local fishing boat that had its own finger pier. The owners were willing to let us stay there two nights. That gave us a chance to hose down the boat, do the laundry, and fill the water tanks while we had access to water. Also, it was an easy walk to town for cash and SIM cards and groceries.

We are now anchored out in the bay off town. It feels great to be back at anchor. We haven't been anchored since Rodrigues last June. The breeze is nice for sleeping. The water is clear to the bottom even in 40 ft. There is a small harbour in town called the "Careenage". No Regrets and Tahawas are in there. It is quite tight to enter and you need to wait for a drawbridge to open. Then you are tied "med moor" right in the middle of downtown. There are several cruise ships in the commercial harbour each day from Jan to March. Because of their tours, there are  boats of all types coming and going from the two harbours. The beach ashore is beautiful, but always full. The jet skis are circling around us during the day. And the bands play well into the night.

The dinghy motor didn't like sitting around for so many months not in use. It started but wouldn't keep going- not very convenient to have to row in. We were lucky to find a technician to look at it on Fri. He cleaned all the insides, suggested a repair on the fuel line and new, clean fuel and tanks. Now it is behaving like new! We need that reliable "car".

Thurs morning we had a chance to get together with Barry and Anne from Cat's Paw IV. Anne is the sister of Bob who crewed for us. They have been cruising for 10 years. Even though they were leaving for Grenada just as we were arriving, we really enjoyed the brief visit. Nice to see another Canadian flag in the anchorage.

We have no specific plans for leaving here. Having no plan is our treat for the end of the rally. The best autopilot repairman is away until after the weekend. Right now Rob is installing new dinghy davits that we had made and shipped here from Annapolis. The main engine didn't start when we tried it underway when the winds became too light. But Rob spent a day working on that while we were travelling, so it is in good shape now. The party to celebrate the end of the BPO is scheduled for Tues, Jan. 31. Some new and returning crew will have flown in by then. The first boats have arrived from the Caribbean Odyssey. The fastest one was a Swiss 48 ft catamaran, 17 days from Tenerife to here.