Passage record from Florida to Bahamas to Trinidad

Take Time’s cruise to Trinidad
We left Lake Worth, Florida on December 23 and headed to the Berry Islands and anchored in Hoffman Cay for Christmas. The crossing was OK, but we should have waited one more day as we still had northerly winds. So when we got to the axis of the Gulf Stream we had a few beam seas that were uncomfortable for Carol, but the boat handled fine. Christmas was spent in the Bahamas with great weather and a beautiful anchorage. We wanted to take advantage of the great weather and keep cruising, so we cruised through the Bahamas in only 3 days. We spent 1 night in Highborne Cay, and then left for a 20 hour run to Clarencetown. On the way to Clarencetown the seas and wind picked up a bit, so we decided to stay there for the night instead of going on. The next morning we knew we would have great weather and decided to go all the way to Provo, Turks & Caicos, which was a 25-hour run. The weather was wonderful, and we got into Turtle Cove Marina just in time to spend New Year's Eve and bring in the New Year as we started our adventurous journey south. We only spent 4 days in the Turks & Caicos, when a great weather window gave us an opportunity to get to Puerto Rico. We left Turtle Cove Marina on January 4, 2006 and made a 52-hour run to Boqueron, Puerto Rico. This passage was wonderful, as the seas and wind were so calm. By the time we got to the Mona Passage we didn’t know we were there. As you know the Mona can get pretty rough, but we watched weather and happened to be at the right place and right time for this great weather. We had gone to Boqueron, Puerto Rico, and ended up taking the dinghy to Mayaguez to check into customs on January 6th. So for anyone traveling this way, you can check in at Mayaguez and it is easy. I would not suggest taking your dinghy unless you have a big fast one. The only thing you must remember is that if there is a cruise ship coming in, or already there, you will have to wait until customs is done checking in all their passengers. They will tell you to come back in the afternoon, or the best time is to get there before the cruise ships probably before 8:30am. Also you can anchor there to wait, and there is a dock to tie up your dinghy.
After this last long run we knew we had all small jumps, and lots of Islands to see. We knew that we did not have to make these long runs, but the weather was so good we just could not pass it up, to get further down the chain.
We then cruised the South coast of Puerto Rico and enjoyed the 2 to 3 hour hops to most of the anchorage’s. The many spots along the coast had anchorages that you could stay at for many days or weeks. The snorkeling, swimming, and gunkholing into the mangroves were lots of fun. We spent several weeks there. We then had to go to a Marina to fly home for a family emergency. We ended up in Ponce, and I would not recommend going there unless you like very loud music until 2:00 or 3:00am nightly. But we did not have much of a choice, there was a small airport right there for us to fly from.
We then moved on to the Spanish Virgins, Vieques, Culebra, Culebrita, and Isle Palaminos. A few of the anchorages were closed on Vieques as they were still getting rid of the unexploded ordinances. Our next stop in Puerto Rico was back to the mainland and to Puerto Del Ray Marina, and wow what a marina, it is massive. We spent a week there and visited the rainforest, and Old San Juan. We have now spent January and into February in Puerto Rico, with a 10 day departure back to the states.
It is now February 20th and we are heading for St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We anchored next to the cruise ship dock in St Thomas, and watched the cruise ships coming and going. The dollar buses are a good way to see the Islands, but you have to be prepared for the ride of your life. The fast driving, skinny roads, & open seating, all add up to an interesting view of how the locals get around. Most of the US Virgin Islands have a mandatory mooring ball fee, which is $15.00 per night. These fees all go back to the park service, which helps maintain the balls and park.
We then traveled to St James & St John, in the US Virgin Islands. All of these spots were good for snorkeling, hiking, and sight seeing.
After spending the rest of February in the US Virgins Islands, we are now headed to the British Virgin Islands. We spent about 2 1/2 weeks traveling to many harbors in these wonderful waters. We anchored in several anchorages at these Islands, including, Jost Van Dyke, Little Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Marina Cay, Peter Island, Cooper Island, Virgin Gorda, and Prickly Pear. The snorkeling and sunsets were great, and we got to go to many of the bars, and restaurants that are popular on these Islands. And there are many so you do not have to worry about where to get your next painkiller.
Now after all these short hops and close anchorage’s, we needed to check weather, and plan a longer passage to cross the Anegoda passage. We staged in Eustatia sound near Prickly Pear Island on March 22, for the 11 hour run to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, which is at the beginning of the Leeward Islands. All went well and we arrived in Saint Martin mid afternoon. Saint Martin happens to be a cruisers haven, with many boaters in the Lagoon that are long time cruisers and can give you lots of information. We stayed in Saint Martin a week, and enjoyed the French croissants, the inexpensive wines, and having WIFI.
We could have stayed longer in Saint Martin but we still had many Islands to get to and visit, so we decided to cruise on to Saba.
What a beautiful and clean Island, we really enjoyed taking a tour around this Island. And if you ever do get to Saba, you should go up to Willard’s of Saba for the view, as it is 2000 feet up.
Next was St. Kitts in the chain, we arrived there on March 31,and we really were not treated very well on this Island. We are not sure what it was, but were told by a student of the medical school, that they stopped producing sugar cane closing the mill, and that there was a lot of unemployment. And the only jobs were in the service industry, which the locals did not want to do. Anyway we made the best of the visit, and moved onto Antigua. We spent a week trying out the many anchorages of Antigua. Then we cruised over to Barbuda to visit the long stretch of beach with the pink sand. And it really was pink. The pink was a lot of little tiny pink shells that were carried in by the surf. This was the longest beach we had seen so far on our trip, I think it was about 11miles long, and only about a dozen people there. We then went back to Antigua to do more anchorage hopping, and maybe would go to Montserrat. But when we got back to Antigua, you could see Montserrat in the distance blowing steam and ash, so we decided it was not the best time to go there.
Now on to the French Islands, we headed for Guadeloupe, and The Saints, plenty of baguettes and French pastries here. Being able to speak French would help, as many people do not speak English including some customs officers. There are many old forts, and hiking trails to check out, and also plenty of shopping.
The next Island down is Dominica, which is not French, but is sandwiched in between Guadeloupe, and Martinique, which are both French, so many locals do speak French because of the French tourists that travel to Dominica. This was the first Island that we encountered boat boys, but they were courteous, and not pushy. They did come by every day just in case you might want something or needed any work done on your boat. And we did get our boat washed to clean off the Montserrat ash, by 2 boat boys for $50.00. But if you said no thank you they would except it and go away. We toured the Island, which was well worth it, as the locals are very well trained. They had a lot of information to share with us, like the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, which had some of the scenes, filmed on the Island.
It’s now April 30, and we decide to cruise to Martinique. This Island has the best Farmers Market that we have seen in all the Islands. It is located in the harbor at St. Pierre, they have a variety of fruits, vegetables, spices, and they also cut up fresh fish that was just caught. We also spent time in several other anchorages on Martinique, and visited other parts of the Island. After 8 days there in Martinique it was time to move on, so we headed out for St. Lucia.
St Lucia, Rodney Bay was a great anchorage, and the Jazz Festival happened to be going on and we could hear the music from the boat. Seal and a few other musicians we knew were playing. And it also happened to be a full moon, which is also when the glow worms come out to mate. We got to see this display of the glow worm orgy right from the stern of our boat. This display happens for three nights following a full moon, the glow worms engage in their phosphorescent mating display. Sometime after sunset, the females come to the surface and while swimming in circles, emit their eggs in green bioluminescent clouds. Nearby males, flashing excitedly, streak towards the female, ejecting their sperm in a passionate display of marine fireworks. The whole show lasts for less than 10 minutes.
Then of course there are the Pitons, we picked up a mooring ball between them for 1 night for a total of 13 days in St Lucia.
Again time to move on it is May 19, and we skipped St Vincent as there were to many boat boardings we had heard about, on the security net, and when we cruised by the harbors, there were no other boats. So we opted to go to Bequia, and spend a week there. Moving on to Mustique from Bequia on May 25, we picked up a mooring for 3 nights. Then we cruised to Canouan for 2 nights, with the Tobago Cays following on May 30. We stayed for 10 days, snorkeling the reef swimming, and checking out the many little Islands there.
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From the Tobago Cays we traveled to Union Island, & Carriacou then on to Grenada. It is now June 18 and we are cruising the small bays in the south of Grenada.
After spending 2 weeks in Grenada at True Blue Bay, we have been watching for weather to cross to Trinidad. It is about 83 miles, and we want to make sure the weather is right. On July 1 at 7:00pm we headed out to Trinidad as the weather was supposed to be good. The trip was good except for one exception, one rouge wave. When this happened, the contents of the medicine cabinet emptied out onto the bathroom floor (I forgot to lock the latch). This included a glass jar that had cough drops, which shattered throughout the boat, a bottle of aloe vera gel for sunburn (blue gook) all over the sink and walls. I had to clean up the mess right away or step in glass for the rest of the 12.5-hour trip. We arrived in Trinidad at 7:30am on July 2 and are now at the Crews Inn Marina for hurricane season.