Log Book of: Figure the Odds

Log
Book

We'll that last newsletter that we sent out took us through Wednesday, March 5th. Jon was anxious to set sail, so the newsletter had to be cut short.
To make a long story short, on Thursday, March 6th, we sailed into St. John, Antigua, the capital. St. John is a large, neatly laid-out town. The port is the focal point of commerce and industry, as well as the seat of government and visitor shopping. Trade winds keep the streets fairly cool, and they were built wide just to capture these breezes. Protected within a narrow bay, the port city consists of cobblestone sidewalks, weather-beaten wooden houses, corrugated iron roofs, and louvered Caribbean verandas.
In September of 1995, Hurricane Luis came to call on Antigua, with 140 m.p.h. winds. If left devastation in its wake, forcing some hotels to close for renovations during the winter season of 1995-96. A popular T-shirt sold on the island told the story: "Hurricane Luis-you dangerous, you ferocious, you terrible, you too damn wicked!"
Mango and mahogany trees were pulled up by the roots. A school was completely blown away. Roofs were missing all over the island. But as with past tragedies, the people of Antigua began to reconstruct almost immediately.
In the town of St. John, Cliff, Cathy, Virginia and Allen walked to the St. John's Cathedral, while Jon and I spend a few hours alone. St. Johns' Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral, has had a disastrous history. Originally built in 1683, it was replaced by a stone building in 1745. That was destroyed by an earthquake in 1843. The present pitch-pine interior dates from 1847. The interior was being restored when, in 1973, the structure was badly damaged by another earthquake. The towers and the southern section have been restored.
Friday morning we set sail for Falmouth Harbour. The sail was a nice beam reach, so the sail was nice and smooth for Mom. When we reached Falmouth Harbor we went shopping in Nelson's Dockyard and watched as Rose, a 180 foot working wooden tall ship entered the English Harbour. Rose has a crew of 15 and the rest are individuals who pay $750.00 per week to learn how to sail a wooden tall ship. The atmosphere onboard resembles that of the movie "White Squall."
Friday evening, we met up with Michael and Swanie. Michael and Swanie purchased a boat from our boat broker, Paul Fenn, a few years back. Paul told us that they would be spending a week or so in Falmouth Harbour and that we should meet up with them to talk about our similar experiences. We ended up anchoring right behind them on Friday afternoon. Wow, what a small world.
After dinner, Jon and I dinghyed over to Michael and Swanie's boat to say hi. They are a very nice couple, and we invited them over for dinner on Saturday night.
Saturday morning, my parents had to get up early to catch their 7:30 a.m. flight back home. We were sad to see them go, we had a great week with them onboard.
After their departure, we hiked up to the Dow's Hill Interpretation Center. The only one of its kind in the Caribbean, it offers multimedia presentations-a journey through six periods of the islands history, including the Amerindian hunters, British military, and the struggles connected with slavery. A belvedere opens onto a panoramic view of the park.
After our tour of the Interpretation Center we ventured down to the footpath of Fort Barclay. The fort is a fine specimen of old-time military engineering.
The rest of our day was spent cleaning and cooking in preparation for our dinner with Michael and Swanie. Jon and Cathy prepared spaghetti, salad and french bread. The evening was great.
Today, we are going to our first Jump Up (the local phrase for a BBQ). The Jump Up begins at noon in Shirley Heights. The Jump Up is suppose to have wonderful food and various steel and reggae bands playing until midnight.
Shirley Heights was named after General Shirley, governor of the Leeward Islands in 1781, who fortified the hills guarding the harbour. Still standing are Palladian arches, once part of the barracks. The Block House, one of the main buildings, was put up as a stronghold in case of siege. The nearby Victorian cemetery contains an obelisk monument to the officers and men of the 54th Regiment.
We will give you all of the details of the Jump Up tomorrow. We miss all of you and we are looking forward to our next group of guests. Tammy and Darrin will be flying into Guadeloupe on March 21st. Jon is busy scoping out the islands that we will take Darrin and Tammy to.
Until next time, take care and keep the emails coming our way.
The crew of "FIGURE the ODDS"
Greetings from Antigua,
Yesterday, we walked four miles up to Shirley Heights to attend our first Jump Up (BBQ). We met Michael and Swanie at the dinghy dock, and we all chatted the entire way to Shirley Heights. The walk is straight up, but with all of us talking so much the walk went by very fast.
We reached Shirley Heights just as the steel band was setting up for the night, so we parked ourselves on the nearest picnic bench. From our table we enjoyed the sweeping view of English and Falmouth Harbour.
The steel band began at 3:00 and played, almost nonstop, until 6:00 p.m. This band was out of this world. The reggae band started at 6:00, and by this time all of us at filled up on BBQ chicken and ribs.
Besides enjoying the music and new found friends, we bought hand woven baskets, tapes of steel band music, and seed pods that had been decorated and are used to rattle for added musical pleasure.
Cathy took her rattles a little too far. As we were getting ready to leave she decided she would dance with herself and her rattles. Of course, Jon was quick to video tape this rare sight. Cathy very rarely dances, much less by herself and many rasta men. Cliff soon joined her on the dance floor, while Jon and I stood watch over our goods.
We walked most of the way back to the boat in the dark, but we eventually caught a cab because I had somehow lost my right contact lens as we were running down the hill. Anyways, we made it safely back to the boat and went right to bed.
This morning, we set sail for Green Island. Green Island is unspoiled by buildings. There is abundant bird life, including redbilled tropicbirds, white crowned pigeons, ospreys, night herons and pelicans. Most of the day was spent reading in the sun and beachcombing.
Tomorrow, we plan to sail back to Falmouth Harbour to pick up a package and check out of customs. Then, Wednesday morning we will set sail for the island of Guadeloupe. I believe Guadeloupe is about 40 or 50 miles south of
Antigua. As soon as we reach Guadeloupe I'll send out another newsletter.
Until next time, take care and keep in touch.
The crew of "FIGURE the ODDS"
We made it to Guadeloupe!!!
We left English Harbour, Antigua this morning at 8:20 and arrived here at Deshaies, Guadeloupe at 2:00 p.m. The total trip was roughly 41 miles. We had 12-23 knots of wind. Apparently a low pressure system split a high that was creating high winds and we had a "light air day". The sky has been real hazy lately. We heard on the weather/news this morning that it was due to dust being carried over from the Sahara! Apparently, it is worsened this time of year by camel mating season in Africa.
Now it's history time!!! Guadeloupe, known by the Caribs as Karukera (Island of Pretty Waters), has a population of 330,000 and is part of France. It is mainly agricultural with the emphasis on sugar cane, and the local "rhum" is highly valued in France.
Guadeloupe has the shape of a butterfly with a river dividing the wings. Whoever named the islands had a sense of humor because the larger mountainous one is called "Basse Terre" (low land) and the smaller low one "Grande Terre" (large land). Grande Terre is a much older island. It once looked more like Basse Terre, but over millions of years its mountains have eroded.
Teresa & Jon went into town to find customs. After a few stops, and absolutely no French language skills between us, we finally found it. We then went for a hike up the Deshaies River (creek). We boulder hopped up about 1/2 mile then went for a swim. Fresh water is a welcome change!
As soon as we have more info. on the island we will be sure to send it your way.
Smooth sailing,
The crew of "FIGURE the ODDS"

Greetings from Basse Terre,

We are currently anchored off a large ship dock. This anchorage is pretty rolly, but we have spent most of our time on shore exploring.
Yesterday, we rented a car and drove up to the top of the volcano, La Soufriere. We hiked to the bottom of two waterfalls. It was very difficult for us to find our way to the various hiking trails because all of the maps are in French. We thought we could just look at the maps and find our way, but it's not that easy. Also, the gas is very expensive-$15.00 U.S. dollars for five liters.
We took many pictures and Jon and Cliff video taped our hikes. This island is very lush and it rains quite often. We've read that the island gets 250 inches of rain a year.
This morning we visited the local market where all types of fruits and vegetables are sold. We bought two heads of lettuce for $2.00, two pounds of potatoes for $2.00, various bags of spices for $2.00 each, and the best buy was an assortment of exotic flowers for only $2.00. I figured out that at wholesale in the U.S. these flowers would have cost $25.00. Wow!!!
Another eye opener was the price of having film developed. Two rolls of film cost us $60.00 to be developed. Oh, My!!!
While Cliff and Cathy are off checking out the local cemetery, Jon and I are cleaning the boat and preparing lunch. After lunch, we will set sail for the Saints.
Jon and I are really looking forward to return home in April. We will only be home for 10 days, but it will be nice to be on solid ground.
We'll send more news later

Dominica

Darrin & Tammy joined us on Guadeloupe on Friday night. Saturday morning, we left for Les Saintes.
We left Les Saintes this morning around 8:00 a.m and sailed to Dominica. The sail was awesome, 20 knot winds and calm seas.
Nature lovers who visit Dominica experience a wild Caribbean Setting, as well as the rural life that has largely disappeared on the more developed islands. Dominica is, after all, one of the poorest and least developed islands in the Caribbean, where many of its citizens make a subsistence living from fishing or living off of the land.
Hiking and mountain climbing are good reasons to visit Dominica, and the flora is extremely lush-and often rare. Covered by a dense tropical rain forest that blankets its mountain slopes, including cloud-wreathed Morne Diablotin at 4,747 feet, it has vegetation unique in the West Indies.
Untamed, unspoiled Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-ee-ka) is known for clear rivers, waterfalls, hot springs, and boiling lakes. According to the myth, it has 365 "rivers," one for each day of the year. This is the most rugged of the Caribbean islands.
With a population of 71,000, Dominica lies in the eastern Caribbean, between Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. English is the official language, but a French patois is widely spoken. The Caribs, the indigenous people of the Caribbean, live as a community on the northeast of the island. The art of traditional basketry is still practiced by the Carib community, whose numbers have dwindled to 3,000.
The mountainous island is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide, with a total land area of 290 square miles, much of which has never been seen by explorers.
Because of the pristine coral reefs, dramatic drop-offs, and ship wrecks found in the crystal-clear waters (with visibility of 100 feet plus), scuba diving is becoming increasingly popular, particularly off the west coast, site of Dominica's two dive operations.
Yearly rainfall varies from 50 inches along the dry west coast to as much as 350 inches in the tropical rain forests of the mountainous interior, where downpours are not uncommon.
The Carib Indian Reservation, in the northeast, is a wonderful place to visit. In 1903 Britian got the Caribs to agree to live on 3,700 acres on land. Hence, this is the last remaining turf of the once-hostile tribe for whom the
Caribbean was named. Their look is Mongolian, and they are no longer "pure-blooded," as they have married outside their tribe. Apparently, after the caribs had conquered the peaceful Arawaks, they kept them "penned" in cages much like animals. They actually cooked and ate them like cattle!
Deep in the National Park is the Emerald Pool Trail, a half-mile nature trial that forms a circuit loop on a footpath passing through the forest to a pool with a beautiful waterfall.
Sulfur springs are evidence of the island's volcanic past. Not only sulfur springs but also the boiling lakes are bubbling evidence of underground volcanic activity. You have to watch where you walk, because a fall into the boiling, muddy lake would kill you quickly.
Well, enough about the history of Dominica; onto today's adventures. About 2 miles out of Prince Ruperet Bay, a boat boy met us to offer his services. Many people we have met along our voyage have warned us about boat boys. Basically, they come up to your boat either in a dinghy, on
a surf board, or on a modified jet ski (a shell of a Yamaha Waverunner with an outboard attached). They introduce themselves and try to sell you anything from garbage service, fruit, bread, taxi tours, dinghy tours, to guided fishing trips.
Our guide book told us to greet the first dinghy boy, we come upon, kindly and and have him direct us into the bay. We'll 2 miles from our designated anchoring destination "Jeff" greeted us. He was very nice and told us to tell all of the other boat boys that we are doing business with "Jeff."
After we anchored, we asked Jeff if he could take us on a tour up the Indian River. He agreed and told us that it would be $10.00 U.S. per person. Of course, Cliff wanted to negotiate, and he was able to get Jeff down to $50.00 for all six of us.
We stuffed our ice chest with beer and soda's and set out to see the river. At the entrance of the river there were many boat boys who were stationed to harass anyone entering the river without a boat boy. Luckily, we had Jeff.
The river quickly narrowed and was completely overhung by huge swamp bloodwood trees on either side. Their massive roots spread out above the soil and down into the water, twisting and tangling into interesting wavy designs. Here and there long vines dangle into the river and we saw fish below and crabs on both banks.
Halfway up the river Jeff turned off his outboard engine and rowed us the rest of the way. About one mile up the river, we came upon a large tent like bar. Inside the bar was a small gift shop and gardens were neatly manicured on the outside.
Jeff took us for a short hike along the river, occasionally pointing out local lizards and plants (and a small snake!).
We came upon a huge shipwrecked barge on our way back to our boat. The barge's name was Emmanual Kingston. Cliff asked Jeff if it was o.k for us to scale the side of the rusted ship and check out the inside. Of course, Jeff thought we were crazy, but we pulled up to the side of the ship and Cliff scaled up a fire hose that was draped over the side. Cathy was next to scale the side, actually Cliff pulled her up the entire way. Jon, was the third one up the side, mission accomplished. Yes, I went next, and Cliff & Jon had to pull me up as well. Remember this is a rusted abandoned ship that has 20 foot sides.
The inside of the ship was ransacked, papers and charts were scattered all over the floors. I ended up picking up many ship logs and envelopes. I kept one envelope and clearance document dated 1985. Supposedly, the boat, and several others were washed ashore by Hurricane Luis in 1995.
As I write, it's 5:45 p.m. and the guys just took off to check out the ship with flashlights. What squirrels....
Us ladies, are cooking and chatting.
Until next time . . . Stay Cool!!!

Dominica

Imagine that you are in Dominica and it is 86 degrees outside. You drive three miles, in a dinghy that is powered by a 40 horse power engine, and you finally arrive at the gas dock. You fill up two, six gallon gas cans with fuel and also get a quart of 2 stroke oil. The gas attendant tells you that it will cost 76 EC for the gas and 10 EC for the oil (Eastern Caribbean Currency) . You look in you pocket and see that you don't have enough EC, and the attendant can't break a $100 US bill. You ask if the attendant if will take French Francs. He says yes, that 100 Francs = $40 EC. You give him 300 French Francs, and he gives you $34 EC as your change. You are being rushed by the guide taking you fishing.
The question is . . . have you been ripped off? If so, by how much?
Other useful conversions:
100 Francs = $20.00 U.S. (usually)
$1.00 = 2.5 EC
Those who answer correctly will receive a coupon good for a free cocktail while sailing on Figure the Odds (travel not included).

Bonjour,

Yesterday, Darrin, Tammy, Jon and I went on a two tank dive. Both dive sites were great. We saw tiny animals, and sponges which look like ancient urns, in colors ranging from yellow to a psychedelic luminous blue. We are looking forward to diving again in the Grenadines.
We sailed from the island of Dominica to Martinique today. The sail took us approximately seven hours. Martinique is the largest of the Windwards, and apart from a few short spells under the British, has been French since it was colonized. It is a part of France and feels it, with excellent roads, expanding industry and a thriving economy. Fort de France is a busy city, bustling with shoppers and cars. The smaller towns are quieter and sometimes look so clean they could have been scrubbed. That typically French smell-a blend of Gitane smoke, pastis and well percolated coffee-wafts out from bars and cafes.
Napoleon's Empress Josephine grew up in Martinique on a 200 acre, 150 slave estate near Trois Ilets. A strange quirk of fate links Josephine and Martinique to the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1804 Napoleon was master of Europe, but the British still had naval supremacy and largely controlled Caribbean waters. However, ships were always scarce and some bright spark noticed that Diamond Rock on the south coast of Martinique was just about where they would station another British vessel if they had one, so they decided to commission the rock as a ship. In those days it was quite a feat to climb this steep, barren, snake-infested pinnacle, and equip it with cannons and enough supplies and water for a full crew of men. But they succeeded and for some 18 months H.M.S. Diamond Rock was a highly unpleasant surprise for unsuspecting ships sailing into Martinique. Napoleon was incensed; this was after all the birthplace of his beloved Josephine. Napoleon, brilliant though he was on land, never really understood his navy or its problems, and considered them feeble shirkers. So he ordered them to sea under Admiral Villeneuve, to free the rock and destroy Nelson while they were about it. Villeneuve slipped out under the British blockade and headed straight for Martinique. Lord Nelson was well trained and battle ready fleet smelled blood and bounty and hurtled off in hot pursuit. However, poor information sent him on a wild goose chase to Trinidad and Villeneuve liberated the rock and returned to France, prudently keeping well clear of Nelson. Napoleon was none too pleased with Villeneuve as the British fleet was still in control of the high seas, so he was ordered to report in disgrace. Villeneuve preferred death to dishonor so he put his ill prepared fleet to sea to fight Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Ironically, Villeneuve who wished to die, survived the battle, while Nelson died.
Martinique has mountains dotted with lush vegetation, rain forests bursting with bamboo and breadfruit trees, and even a patch of desert in the south.
The early Carib peoples, who gave Columbus such a hostile reception, called Martinique "the island of flowers," and indeed it has remained so. The vegetation is lush, and includes hibiscus, poinsettias, bougainvillea, coconut palms, and mango trees. Almost any fruit can sprout from Martinique's soil- pineapple, avocados, bananas, papayas, and custard apples.
We are currently anchored in Anse Mitan, the main tourist area in Martinique.
Tomorrow will be a day of shopping. Tammy is looking forward to browsing through all of the local boutiques.
>From the crew of "FIGURE the ODDS"

Bonjour,

For Easter Sunday we rented a Twingo, which is a very small car, and toured the island of Martinique. We were lucky to be able to rent the car because every store on the island is closed Friday through Monday for the Easter Holiday.
We managed to find a hike on the map that looked as if we could handle it. The hike ended up to be 1900 feet straight up, then a long walk along a four foot wide ridge, then straight down another 1900 feet. The hike was very strenuous, but we saw hundreds of wild tropical flowers growing along beautiful fresh water rivers.
The highlight of our day was trying to order lunch at a French McDonalds. We had accomplished this once before with little difficulty, but this day was a different story. We placed our order with one lady, who seemed to understand everything we ordered, but she never filled the order. Instead, she continued to take other orders. After waiting at the counter for about ten minutes, we finally saw our order begin to take shape on a tray, but it was all mixed up. Fortunately, three customers behind us spoke a little English and tried to help us out. After about thirty minutes, we had our order in full.
We've leaned that we need to take our French Dictionnaire with us next time.
The following day, Monday, we drove around looking for more hiking trails. Along the way we enjoyed the sights. Martinique is a very diverse island, with farm land, swamps, rolling hills, rain forests, small villages, and bustling cities. We ended up driving around three fourths of the island.
We hiked to the top of Mt. Pelee, but it was so cloudy that we couldn't see down inside the crater. What a bummer.
By the end of the day, all of us were glad to be back on the boat.
Today, we sailed from Pointe Du Bout to Le Marin. The sail took us about four and a half hours, but he sun was shining and the seas were calm. A little more wind would have been nice, we only had 6 - 15 knots of wind.
Jon and I are looking forward to our visit home. We will be flying home on Thursday, April 3rd for ten days. We are excited about seeing the construction of our new home. Jon's shop, which is larger than a hanger, has already been completed, and our house is at the tail end of the framing stage. Our trip home will allow us to deal with dreaded taxes and to finalize any loose ends with our house. Cliff and Cathy will be staying on the boat in Martinique to hold down the fort while we are gone.
Cliff and Cathy too are looking forward to their trip home on April 15th. It's been great fun having them on board and we are going to miss them. On the other hand, Jon and I are looking forward to the time that we'll be able to spend alone until we return home in June. It's definitely going to be a challenge to sail with just the two of us, but we have many more friends coming down to visit. We actually only have to sail approximately two weeks alone out of the next two months. We'll do just fine.
The computer will be shut off the week of April 3rd - 10th, so we'll talk to all of you after we return on the evening of the 10th. Until then, take care and Bonjour!!!! To be continued...