Barbados Visit Week 2

Carol aboard Ecstacy

Brightly coloured buildings of Bridgetown

Maggie and other anchored in Carlisle Bay

Large rubbish fire near the marina

Fishmarket

Rob trying to get internet at The Pirates Cove

Jimmy Cornell with some of the younger crew of the Caribbean Odyssey

Barbados Visit

Week 2

Feb.5, 2017

Today is Sunday, and on Tues we will have been here two weeks. We are ready to set sail again. Hope to make the arrangements for checking out tomorrow, and then leaving Tues. We have decided to travel to St. Anne's in Martinique. Since we left from the neighbouring harbour of Le Marin Jan. 2015, it will feel more like we have "closed the loop". Besides, we need a spot to stock up on wine and cheese and pate and baguettes. Most stores here only sell rum, and more rum. Tahawas and No Regrets left Thurs for Grenada. We hope to cross paths again as we travel south and they travel north. Most of the islands are an overnight trip from Barbados.

Jimmy had a windup, celebratory cocktail party at the Yacht Club on Wed for the BPO boats and the Caribbean Odyssey boats. 13 of their 15 boat fleet were already here. Sat night, Feb.4, there was another rally party and dinner on the beach for the Caribbean Odyssey boats that arrived after last Wed. and any of us still on the island. We may meet some of them again around the other Caribbean islands.

When we first moved to the anchorage there were only 4 visiting boats anchored. Now there are about 2 dozen. Most of the Odyssey boats are moored in the careenage. It is interesting to see all the varying flags. All the boats have crossed the Atlantic to here. There are even 2 Canadian ones near us. One bought their boat in Greece and sailed here, but haven't met the other yet. We have met quite a few Canadians while touring around the island. Some have winter homes here, or are on vacation, or cruise ship. The cruising sailors we met in the South Indian Ocean were mostly planning to leave Capetown after Christmas. They would not be here yet.

It has been an unusually windy week, so the boats are really rolling out in the anchorage. But after all the passages we can sleep through this. What we are having trouble sleeping through, are the beach parties on the weekend. The nightclub just ashore has the music full volume until 3 am. Need to leave before next weekend, at least.

Pebbles Beach is a lovely beach during the day. We tie up in the harbour and walk over instead of beaching the dinghy. Right now we are negotiating with a dealer in St Lucia to trade our dinghy and motor for new ones. If we had a lighter 2 stroke engine, we could pull it up on the beach easier. And now that Rob has reinstalled the dinghy davits, we would like to go back to  the size of dinghy we had before the accident in Tahiti. We never liked the one we had to purchase there.

We have been doing lots of walking and taking the bus around to sights. We visited St Lawrence Gap, a touristy area on the southeast coast. From there we went to the Oistin's Friday night fish fry, with lots of vendors and music. There are good fish markets in each coastal town, but this is the largest. Another day we did the obligatory Mount Gay rum tour. It was actually very interesting with lots of history thrown in. And, of course, the samples. On Thursday, we went out on a 64 ft old wooden sailing vessel called "Ectasy". One of the owners invited us when we met at the customs dock rafted to his fishing boat. They invite friends and their guests out for a free 3 hour sail once a week, as a community service. Being on a sailboat is not a novelty for us, but it was fun to meet the other guests and learn more about the island. It's always nice when someone else is doing the work, too.

There continue to be many types of cruise ships in town. One night their garbage was burned at the end of a spit off the harbour. The flames were so huge I was glad it wasn't a windy night as we were nearby at the docks then. Of course, there are lots of shops in town for the tourists, but no good deals. We have been spoiled travelling in less expensive places.

Yesterday, in one of the parks, a stage and decor were being set up for Chinese New Year. I'd like to check that out. If we had more time, there is the museum, more rum factories, the garrison, cricket, horse racing, golf, gardens. Even a day spent swimming and reading on the beach would be nice.