Peter Amos

Left the Pitons and headed up the coast under 7-15 kts of wind. Stopped for lunch and a lovely snorkel at Anse Cochon. Then back up the coast. Provides assistance to a local? boat with engine trouble - towed them into Castries. Then final sail close hauled with a few tacks into Rodney Bay. Great trip!!

Unfortunately the wind had swung to the SE and so, annoyingly, we had to motor all the way to St Anne’s despite reasonable wind strength. Anchored easily in the huge bay.

Left at 6am motoring south on east coast of Dominica in almost no wind. As we cleared the lee of the island wind came up to 12-14kts so we had a great crossing to Martinique. Again, as we passed into the lee of the island the wind switched off so we motored the last little but into St Pierre and picked up a mooring ball. Arrived nicely on time at 3pm for provisioning U Express.

Left in very light wind under motor. Wind started to fill in - reached 10kts so we tried to sail but after some time at 2kts of boat speed abandoned our attempt and motored in. Picked up mooring ball with PAYS. Joined beach BBQ party organised by PAYS. Good food and lots of rum punch. Stayed a day in Portsmouth. Early morning trip up Indian River with Martin. Climb up to Fort Shirley and East Cabrit in the afternoon.

After leisurely breakfast and swimming with turtles headed out in what looked like calm conditions. Around the headland went from zero knots to 20 kts of wind especially as a squall came through. Able to sail on close reach along the shore. Anchored towards the northern end of the bay on edge of mooring field. Good holding in 15ft.

Left St Lucia on 20+kts of wind. As we got out in the channel, wind settled in around 18kts on a tight reach. Waves around 1.8m, from the east. Closer to Martinique wind swung more behind us until shelter of the island prompted us to drop sails and motor into the bay. Picked up mooring ball. Nice little town.

Day sail while waiting for Johns lost bag to be delivered to Rodney Bay. Nice easy reach down the coast to Anse Cochon. Picked up mooring ball for lunch. Headed back up north on close hauled course. Nice sailing, almost no waves.

Log by JM: As we set off from Haverstaw following our track in back out over the shallows a pair of barn swallows were attempting to stowaway in our boom. It was a grey murky morning as we continued up river. In the mist Bernard was spooked at the sound of every train that passed along the shore thinking it was a barge coming towards us. Even on a grey day the bluffs above the river and the mountains behind looked spectacular. The history of the area is interesting from an industrial, economic, social and military perspective too. Especially the later as we passed the military academy at West Point. Beyond West Point, the convergence of a tributary at a sharp double bend in the river creates a wicked rip. A few days ago it was Hells Gate, today it was Worlds End. There seems to be very ominous theme to our trip. Through the afternoon it had brightened up and we were storming along under full sail. Reaching Poughkeepsie, we passed under our umteenth bridge, but this one was bigger. A rail bridge, it crossed the river between cliffs at almost 1,000 feet above the river. Our destination for the evening was Kingston. Anchored off in a fresh southerly breeze we waited for the wind to ease and swing round to the west before taking the dinghy ashore. We came in like the SBS through the long harbour entrance which was littered with wrecks of old steam ships and barges. Once we found a place to lie up, it was a long hike through the town for groceries. Thank goodness our new friend Patrick lent us a cart, even if it cost us $10. Back onboard, it was sausages for dinner. Snookers goodo!! As we turned in I can believe we just have one days sailing left.