|
|
On this trip they logged 5,000 sea miles, encompassing numerous daysails from one anchorage to another, seven overnight crossings, and five passages lasting from three to five days each. Along the way they visited a couple dozen countries, almost all of them for the first time. They learned and spoke Spanish in the Central and South American countries of their trip. When their English, Spanish or Kit’s Fractured French failed them, they communicated by pointing and smiling. In addition to several separate and very strong English, Spanish and French dialects, they encountered a number of Mayan and Kuna Indian dialects in Central America, Papamiento in the ABC islands, Garafunday in the Bay Islands of Honduras and the Caribbean coasts of Guatemala and Belize, and perhaps a dozen different Creole and Patois hybrid languages in the Eastern Caribbean. They met many interesting cruisers from countries around the world, and particularly enjoyed meeting many locals, from sophisticated big city types to Indians in their thatched roofed huts. They experienced boat system breakdowns and effected our repairs in myriad exotic anchorages. They’ve been in calms and been in storm force winds. They were in big cities, medium-sized towns and remote, primitive Indian villages. For them, it was an incredible achievement and a great privilege.
They departed Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on January 9, 1998, arriving in Turks and Caicos after a 4½ day non-stop passage. Following a few days of rest, they departed Turks and Caicos and arrived in the BVI after a 3 day non-stop passage.
After a week in the BVI, they crossed the Anagada Passage to St. Martin on January 31. They cruised St. Martin, St. Barts, Saba, Statia, St. Kitts & Nevis, then crossed to Antigua on February 21. They saw the Total Eclipse from English Harbour in Antigua on February 26. [If you are interested in details of this and other eclipses, including maps and detail coordinates of their paths, click here.]
From Antigua, they spent several weeks cruising Guadeloupe, including The Saints. By the end of March, they were in Dominica, and in early April they visited Martinique. Mid April found them in St. Lucia. On May 1, they arrived in Bequia, having skipped past St. Vincent.
After cruising the Grenadines, they arrived in Carriacou, the northern port of entry into the country of Grenada, on May 19, and moved on to the main island on May 28. Trinidad was reached on June 4 after an easy overnight passage from Grenada.
They took a short vacation from their cruise to visit family and friends in the U.S., leaving Trinidad on July 20 and returning August 11.
An easy overnight passage on August 20 took them from Trinidad to Los Testigos, a small group of Venezuelan islands about 90 miles northwest of Trinidad. After exploring the main island in that group, they had an wonderful 50 mile crossing to Isla de Margarita on August 25, flying their spinnaker for the last third of the passage.
From Isla de Margarita, they moved on to Cumaná, Venezuela, their first stop on the mainland of the South American Continent, on September 8. From there they moved on to Puerto La Cruz on September 23. Leaving their boat there,they took a short inland trip into the Andes mountains.
They arrived at the Dutch island of Bonaire on November 25, having left Puerto La Cruz on November 9 and stopping at the Venezuelan islands of Isla de Tortuga, Islas Los Roques and Islas Las Aves on the way. After ten days in Bonaire they went to Curaçao, where they saw a good weather window. So they departed directly for Cartagena, bypassing Aruba entirely.
They arrived in Cartagena on December 13 after a boisterous four day passage from Curaçao. They saw winds of up to 40 knots on that passage, making it their most challenging sailing to date. While in Cartagena they took a short side trip to Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, over the long New Year's weekend to visit an old friend from Bear's college days.
The San Blas Islands of Panama, home to the Kuna Indians, was reached on January 16 after a day and a half crossing from Cartagena. They explored the islands and thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the very traditional Kuna people for more than 6 weeks.
They arrived in the Cayos Cochinas, located just off the northern coast of Honduras on March 6 after a beautiful and very easy 5-day non-stop passage from the San Blas Islands. After exploring the Cayos Cochinas and the Bay Islands of Honduras, the moved on to the Rio Dulce of Guatemala, arriving on March 20.
After exploring the Rio Dulce they moved on to Belize, arriving on April 6. A 3½ day passage through the Yucatán Straights to Key West, Florida, brought them back to the United States on April 28. Working their way up the Florida Keys, they made their way back to Ft. Lauderdale on May 4, 1999, to close the circle.
|
|