We may be back from the latest adventure, but there are plenty more tales to tell, and more trips ahead. More Jewel of the Sea Sailing Adventures coming very soon!
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| At anchor. West End Tortola |
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Captain Jewel November 2024
Home of the Pirates of the Caribbean
The latest iteration of Disney’s franchise hits American
theaters this week. We experienced many of the sets where it was filmed,
including these moments. (Enjoy "Dead Men Tell No Tales". Sadly, we won't be seeing it, because nothing down here resembles a movie theater):
Watch as we make our way down the river where Witch Tia Dalma resides! |
| Hampstead Beach where Jack Sparrow narrowly escapes the island cannibals |
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Joe and I overlook the Twin Peaks where the Black Pearl was strandedJulianne 5/28 |
The Devils Bridge
The British like to pretend that slavery is a sordid chapter
in human history whose cross we Americans must alone bear. The truth is they
were complicit in its enterprise. British aristocracy became enamored by the
West Indies. They enlisted and financed ships to come to these islands amongst which
we now sail. Their directive was to
procure the coveted tea and spices that are abundant here. English and American
schoolchildren hear of slave ships bringing the scourge of slavery to the American south, but little about the routes
many British ships made before embarking on their transatlantic passage to the Caribbean. These ships
would first head south, where they would capture, enslave and transport, in
horrific conditions, the people of West Africa. These people would be put to work on the sugar plantations
and in the tea and spice fields of places like Antigua, and serve their
indentured lives under feudal lords, many of them Dutch, in plantations such as
Bettys Hope.
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| archeological remnants of the slave quarters at Bettys Hope Plantation |
The conditions
were so horrid so that many slaves chose to run away and cast themselves into
the nightmarish, crashing waters off a small outpost on the northeast corner of
Antigua, rather than further endure their plight. This place has come to be
known as the Devil’s Bridge. If you listen closely, the air blown through the
holes in the rocks by the water sounds like screams. It is truly one of the
most haunting, and most reverent, places of our journey.
Not Barbados
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| Barbuda. Not Barbados |
Barbados is a beautiful island in the Windwards that many winter
weary sun cravers love to visit. The latest island in our travels is often
mistaken for Barbados, but unlike Barbados, the tiny island of Barbuda is
rarely visited by outsiders. Barbuda is in the Leewards, hundreds of miles
north of Barbados, and is not a vacation spot for several reasons. It is completely inaccessible except by boats with very shallow drafts
(bottoms), and most sailors (ourselves clearly not included) with shallow drafts would be foolish to venture this far
into the remote part of the Caribbean Sea. No cruise boats will ever make it here. It is also not on most travel itineraries because there is virtually no
infrastructure here. Minimal power. No hotels. A couple thousand residents and
a couple of makeshift lean-to’s where food might available…if you are here on
the right day.
But if you want to see a Caribbean island that has not yet
suffered the blight of mankind, Barbuda is the place for you. With no lack of
effort we got here, found an anchorage where we prayed the boat would hold, and
were taken on a “tour” by Claude. Claude was a somewhat droll and unenthusiastic host, but
was nonetheless fascinated that we had made the effort to visit his
outpost. We pressed him to show us around his atoll, and he reluctantly accommodated.
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| Claude and the intrepid crew |
Basically, Barbuda is a gigantic pink sand
beach. The waters around it are rough but absolutely pristine. Lobsters are
everywhere, and there are almost no restrictions on taking them.
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| Gigantic Lobsters...$10 apiece! |
So other than
a visit to their national treasure, a protected giant frigate sanctuary, we
spent the day consuming giant lobster and drinking Carib, the local brew.
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| The Frigate Birds on Barbuda have wingspans of 4 feet |
We
stayed up all night, fearing the anchor would pull and strand us here like
Gilligan and his cohorts. It held and we hightailed it back to Antiqua, proud for having been among the few sailors to have checked Barbuda off the bucket list.
Paradise Apocalypse
I have regaled you with story after story about paradise and
what it looks like. Today I give you a small taste of the apocalypse.
Joe P. was born and raised on Montserrat, a small island
about 40 miles southwest of Antigua. We had heard he gives tours of his island,
and about his special ability to share its history. We knew we had to sail
there, we knew we had to track down Joe, we knew we had to hear what
happened. In the two minute video below, I give you a first hand account of apocalypse in paradise....
The effort to dig through the pyroclastic flow
Thanks to Joe for showing us the resilience
of the people of Montsterrat
Julianne April 10th, 2017
Sacre Bleu
What if you could sail up to the shore of Nice, but nicer? We
accidentally encountered a tiny archipelago of islands south of Guadelope that
are firmly and fastly French, and phenomenally out of sync with the third world
island genre. The Isle de Saintes aspire to be anything but third world.
Sailing north from Dominica in light winds, we pulled in to the islands hoping to nurse a gaping hole in our jib. Using rusty high school French and ample sign language, we found a sailmaker-- Phillipe-- who graciously put us back in business within a day.
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| Phillipe spoke no English but saved our butts |
This tiny series of 4 islands has upon its main isle the
small town of Bourges de Sainte. The narrow streets are filled in the morning
with vendors sitting on chairs dispensing hot, freshly baked croissants and
baguettes from a bag in their lap.
Every other store front is a small
restaurant trying to outdo its adjacent neighbor in culinary artistry.
When you are not partaking in the cuisine, you are hiking
1000 feet to the top of Chemeaux, the highest peak on the largest island, Terre de Haute. There the French erected a lookout, which would have served them
no purpose other than to predict their doom, as it is too high for cannons to
mount a useful defense. Fortunately for them, the islands were strategically
useless to the naval powers of the time, so they, the Brits and the Spaniards, just sailed on by, and left
the Saintians to fait le pain and boissez le café au lait.  |
| the fortress atop Chemeaux |
We stayed three days. Gained a pound a day.
julianne 3/25/17
julianne 3/25/17
Black Gold
Dominica, though
approximately the size of Martha’s Vineyard, has nine main volcanic areas, the highest
concentration of “live” volcanoes in the world. It also has 26 mountain tops,
one of which climbs to over 5000 feet, and each of which is covered with dense
rainforest. The Dominicans are highly protective of their ecostructure and have
successfully fought against any large scale development intrusion. There are no
Hyatts, Marriots, Omnis or any other big box hotels, and any building at all is
highly regulated.
Because it is so
highly volcanic, it is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles. One of the
great tourist things to do is to visit one of the thermal spas, small
operations cut into the forests by individuals who have owned that spot for
generations, and bath in their beautiful hot springs. The island itself is still being formed by geothermal activity,
and has earth’s second-largest hot
spring, Boiling Lake.
Julianne March 18th, 2017
Most fascinating
to me is the sand.
It is black volcanic pulverized pumice, as fine as baby
powder and specked with flecks of gold. I exfoliated with it, washing it off in
the beautiful turquoise waters abutting the beach, and my skin felt as if had
regenerated. We could not help but to scoop up a bagful, one of the few ‘souvenirs’
we have ever removed from our island hosts. I will be returning it to the
states, and those of you who are worthy shall share in a sample of this
remarkable natural beauty product. Add a couple drops of Dominican coconut oil, and I challenge you to
find better skin care in even the finest
resort spas.
Julianne March 18th, 2017
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dominica offered us so many wonderful experiences. At the top of a mountain near the town of Calabishie, we encountered the Pointe Baptiste Chocolate Estate, courtesy of our guide Charlie. I share with you our experience in the video below.
Julianne March 1st, 2017
The Last of the Kalinago
When James Fenimore
Coooper penned “The Last of the Mohicans”, he said this:
“…there was no
recess of the woods so dark, nor any secret place so lovely, that it might
claim exemption from the inroads of those who had pledged their blood…to uphold
the cold and selfish policy of the distant monarchs of Europe..”
While he was writing of the exploit by Europeans of north american Indians,
his words could equally apply to the history of the Kalinago Indians of
Dominica. They are the last surviving descendants of the native peoples that
made their way from South American up the island chain of the Caribbean,
settling in islands as far north as the Bahamas. In our travels throughout the
islands over the years, we heard time and time again about these original inhabitants, typically referred to as the Caribs. Until we got
to Dominica, we assumed they were a long
extinct sect. We were wrong.
Christopher Columbus and his 17 ships made his 1494 second
voyage to the new world, and he and his crews were the first whites to lay eyes
on Dominica. They never touched its soil due to the rocky bottom of the
shoreline. Later Spanish expeditions
did, however, and immediately laid waste to the population they encountered.
Those they did not kill with flu and small pox, they killed for their refusal
to allow exploitation.
These "Caribs" were in fact the Kalinago, and they did not go easily into the night. They were
warfaring and territorial and while some assimilated, most
refused and rebelled violently. Spain decided that obliteration was appropriate.
They massacred hundreds on a site whose
town is to this day known as Massacre.
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| A mural on a building in the town of Massacre ,depicting the event |
The Spanish and later French invaders could
not eliminate the Kalinago, however, because the remaining Kalinago had retreated to the verdant rain forested
mountains where their would-be exploiters dared not venture and where they continued
to perpetuate their unique culture.
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| Inside the Kalinago territory |
Finally, in 1904, England, who by then had control of
Dominica, gave to the Kalinago their own territory, consisting of 3700 acres on
the west coast. Today, it is home to the last 3000 of these native peoples, who
continue to foster their heritage, including building boats of remarkable
workmanship. We had the good fortune of
accompanying our guide, Charlie, into the heartland of the Kalinago, where we
learned of their history and shared a taste of their rich bounty.
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| The Kalinago infuse their rum with...everything around them |
Ponce and his Wrong Turn
In what has been almost three months in the West Indies, we have
visited 11 diffferent islands[1].
Each has its particular charms to offer, and there are those to which we will
return and those where once is enough. Of these, though, none has captivated us
in quite the manner as has Dominica. It is green, serene and placid yet filled
with wonders. Volcanic black soil beaches are bountiful, isolated and unsullied, lapped by cerulean waters.
Fresh water is abundant, which is almost miraculous in the Caribbean.
The air smells of
nutmeg. Blooming Birds of Paradise are everywhere, and the parrot, which appears on the national flag, soars majestically. There are no mosquitoes to speak of. The
island is free of predatory animals including snakes. Waterfalls are everywhere, pouring from the mountains, which are almost always mired in rain clouds
while the rest of the island bathes in sun.
Disney chose this island to film
many of the scenes in the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies, clearly because it offered vistas that even the best CG
artists couldn’t replicate.
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| Look familiar? Watch Pirates of the Caribbean II |
As I write this it is mid February. We arrived at the end of
January and each time we think to pull anchor, we awake to the incredible
sights and sounds of this paradise, and ask ourselves, “why?”. Where could we possibly go next that would
present a more glorious setting in which to
experience our retirement? Forgive me, then, if many of the posts to
follow are about Dominica.
We hired several locals on the advice of sailors we met along the way. The first of these, Martin, introduced us to some of the treasures that comprise this magical place.
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| Martin Carrietere, botanist and guide and now, dear friend |
Martin, a native Dominican , obtained a
botany degree in Trinidad and returned to his home to become a guide and share
his knowledge of the miraculous curative bounty that is the flora and fauna on this island.
As he took us on mountain hikes, he would pull plants and describe for us the
manner in which they are used: for healing wounds, stopping fevers, reducing arthritic conditions,
soothing burns, curing migraines and incidentally, providing longevity. The longest living human being on record, Dominican Elizabeth
“Ma Pampo” Israel, died at 128. During
our stay, we have repeatedly run into people who proudly tell us their age, and
we are aghast at their state of preservation and vitality. The lifespan in
Dominica is in fact, longer than in the United States, and they have more centenarians
than anywhere in the western hemisphere. (see: http://www.avirtualdominica.com/project/dominica-centenarians/)
It is clear to us that Ponce De Leon
landed on the wrong shore. His fountain was here, within these shores.
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| Atop Red Rocks (800 feet above the bay below) |
[1] St
Thomas, Tortola, Norman Island, Peter Island, Cooper Island, Jost Van Dyke,
Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Marina Cay, Antigua, Dominica
Eden Redux
At the south end of the Leewards there is an island of such great
wealth, it mesmerizes you to the point of paralysis; it takes hold of you and will not let go. Its wealth is not in gold; it is in green. Dominica (‘dom-en-ICA’)
is known as the nature island. It is said that if Colombus returned today, this
would be the only island he would recognize as it has remained unsullied since he
first pulled into what is now Prince Rupert Bay in 1493, and where we are now anchored. There is nothing to do on this island
but to experience its beauty: endless rainforests, cascading waterfalls, hot
springs, tiny towns tucked into valleys between volcanic peaks, fresh water
rivers running through vistas that take your breath away, gorgeous beaches upon which human feet rarely trod. I have not been to Hawaii, but I imagine this place would give it a good run for its money. Our
sail here was long and the winds cooperated, but after a mishap with a shredded
jib, we were glad to make landfall. Once we realized what we had found, we
knew this is where we will be keeping our anchor planted for a long time. In the posts to
follow, I will share some history and our experiences. For now, I share some of the sights.
Julianne January 30th, 2017
Julianne January 30th, 2017
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| The Calibishie coast |
The town of Trafalgar
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| Joe at Milton falls in Syndicate Park |
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| The formations at Red Rocks |
Photo Ops
If you have not already visited "Journeys Present", you can share some of our moments if you
Island Customs
While the cultures of the various islands we visit are diverse, what seems consistent throughout the Caribbean are their customs.
I am not referring to cultural traditions. I am talking about the
administrative process of ingress or
egress from these nations. You think of the customs process as waiting in line
and approaching an officer in a booth to hand him your passport and to tell him the purpose of your visit. The process of clearing customs
when you are sailing the Caribbean is a vastly different, and remarkably patience-testing experience.
When you arrive in a Caribbean country by boat, you have to go to customs to check in. Let me
offer you some flavor for the process as it exists universally throughout these
islands. First, as you drop anchor, you must raise a yellow flag on your
yardarm. This signifies that your boat is under quarantine: no
member of your crew may leave the boat except the captain. The captain must
take the dinghy to shore and find the customs office. If the captain is lucky,
the office is open. If the captain is luckier still, the customs officer speaks
English. Without exception, however, this officer is cantankerous. He is annoyed that you deign to enter his country, and is quick to inform you that the paperwork evidencing your departure from the previous
country (a country a few miles away
across the sea, but which might as well be on the opposite side of the planet)
is defective.
Eventually, he ushers
you away from the counter instructing you to fill out forms or to complete them
on non-user friendly software
glowing from a computer that went out of vogue in the late 1980’s. In Antigua,
the customs officer walks around with a two foot long bamboo stick and if you
are not moving through the application quickly enough for his tastes, he taps
your screen with this stick and admonishes you how to answer the questions. Assuming his printer works and he can slowly dot
matrix his approval form, he stamps the form with annoyed fanfare and
directs you to Immigration.
If you are lucky, Immigration is somewhere in the geographic
vicinity of Customs. This is rare. For example, in Union Island in the Grenadines, it
is a mile away down a rugged road. At
Immigration, they look at your passport and
interview you about your crew and the contents of your boat. They also
check your indentity against their database; a database on a computer that makes the customs computer
look like HAL 9000. Assuming you are not
on their list of offenders (anyone you might have pissed off on your last visit is probably related to the
immigration agent ), you are given clearance…to go to the Port Authority. Again,
an office that may or not be within shouting distance, and may or may not be
open. Here is where you pay for a permit to anchor in their fair waters and
tread upon their sacred ground. Only with this permit in hand may you return to the customs office,
where Mr. Bamboo Stick will now give you and your crew an entrance visa. For an additional
fee of course.
All the while, your crew remains imprisoned on the boat
wondering if and when they will ever see their captain, or touch dirt, again. The customs process ends with the
mandatory raising of the flag of the host island on your mainstay, signifying
that from wherever you have come, you are now a conquest of this beautiful island off your bow.
You are in fact so much a part of this island, you may not now leave the
island until you check out, a process no less entertaining than the arrival routine. In between, you get to play in paradise, so when it comes to customs, you simply learn to stay island calm.
Coffee with a View
We ran out of coffee. That is not necessarily a bad thing in the
Caribbean, because opportunity for fresh, indigenous coffee abounds here. On
this occasion, we were anchored in Falmouth Harbour and heard about a coffee
roaster high in the hills that surrounded us. It was Sunday, so the “bus” (
actually a guy with a van who circles the area) was not running. The beanery,
we were told, was at the top of the highest peak we could see. I suggested we
hike it.
This sounded like a good idea at
the time, but less so two hours in,
about 700 feet up, the sun high and
scorching, no beanery in sight. No sign of civilization. We were told the beanery roasts
their beans every day, and that we would smell the aroma as we got close. We kept our sweaty noses glued to the air,
sniffing, hoping. .
Finally, a clearing, and there it was. Except that it was
Sunday. No aroma. No roasting. No coffee. Locked door. I don’t drink it, but
Joe does not do well without his morning joe, so I knew the walk down was to be
cheerless. The consolation: the view
from the top.
Julianne
January 15th, 2017
The next day, the bus was running, and back we went. The
beans had been brought in from the plantation that morning and were still
roasting so we waited. As we waited, boat chefs from the monster yachts poured
in to procure their pre-ordered bags of coffee specially roasted to their owner’s
taste. The beanery proprietor gave us a private
tour of the small facility. Joe’s
patience was rewarded with coffee he has been enjoying for days and will continue
to do so as we head south for several weeks.
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| Toasting our persistence |
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| The Beanery, all alone at the top of a mountain |
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