St. Vincent

Katherine Petting Cool Breeze at Gary's Farm

If you like remote unspoiled destinations, then definitely get the courage to visit St. Vincent. This is a large island in the West Indies that is still untouched from massive tourism, resorts, and shopping. Most people on the island do their own farming and many are fishermen. St. Vincent is another fruit paradise, it’s lush, green, and mountainous. This Island is discreetly known for it’s Ganja (Marijuana) farming and that might be one of the reasons that negative opinions have spread around about St. Vincent. However, locals have been more friendly, giving, and loving than many other islands in this region.

Earthling was anchored in Cumberland bay for 11 days and during this time we got to know almost everyone in this area. It has been easy to bond with the locals and some are going to be friends for life like our new friend Gary. He lives in Coulls Hill and his farm is further up the hill in a valley. Gary invited me to go farming with him and the invitation was accepted. We had a full farming day and did chores, such as moving animals (goats, sheep, horses, cows) and tied them up in different grassy places. I climbed mango trees and picked some of the biggest and tastiest mango ever seen, dug out and filled bags with freshly made charcoal and a variety of other vegetables. On the way home down the hill, I carried an overloaded backpack and another large bag full of mango, bananas, pineapples, wax apples, peppers, green onion, eggplants, limes, and so forth. Nobody should go hungry on this Island and it’s certainly easy to live on the minimum resources available.              

Gary moving around the goat

Lime Tree

Mango bigger than my hand

Digging up Charcoal

Avocado Tree

Cacao Tree

Roads are few and far many here. Even though distances are short, it might take longer than expected to get around since there is lots of hills. One should not be afraid of riding the minivan that zooms through turns with full passenger capacity (15-18 people) in a minivan as the Rasta music is jamming! After all, this is the best way to get around on a budget while having the most fun!

There are many waterfalls on this Island and we got to hike to one with our cruising friends and neighbors Mike and Rebecca. The hike to the Trinity Falls took longer than originally anticipated but it was well wroth it! Trinity Falls is spectacular and unique, the pressure of the water in the fall is so strong that swimming would be dangerous and obviously not recommended. Even so, this group of Earthlings was not afraid to dip in the fresh water to get the sweat off after a several hours of hiking! Please be careful if you want to be crazy like us!

Trinity Falls

Bath by the Falls

Mike is loving it

Katherine behind the Elephant Paw Leaves

A couple days ago Katherine and I went on a dinghy adventure and rowed to the bay south of Cumberland, Wallilabou. The distance was underestimated since last time Mike zoomed there on his tender. Rowing 45 min each way was a great exercise but more importantly we met a friend of Earthling, the French Trimaran “Margaret”. It seemed like “Margaret” has been anchored in Wallilabou for a long time, the anchor lines had lots of growth on them! We sat down with Eric and his wife at the Anchor house and over a couple of drinks, they explained that Eric had suffered a serious staff infection. A mosquito bite on his leg was the cause of the infection and he had to be on antibiotics for three weeks. Now he was almost back to normal health and the following day was their last day in St. Vincent. He suggested that we have a BBQ at the local beach bar run by Rasto. Done deal! The following day a great local BBQ was put together for Eric and we enjoyed some delicious food along with the entourage. Wallilabou has also become an attraction site since the recording of the movie, “Pirates of the Caribbean” took place here where remanence of the stage is still on display.

Stage Canon

Grilled Crayfish

Coffins

Eric, Rasto and I Uniting

Furthermore, it appears that staff infection is common in the boating environment.  Sandflies have been eating us alive here, especially since we are anchored so close to shore near an old mango tree! The solution is to clean all the bites regularly with alcohol and stay on top of your hygiene!

Love from St. Vincent  

Living on the Edge

Earthling in the corner of the bay

Many times throughout life, I have found myself living on the edge. I’ve survived situations where the probabilities have  been against me! Last night is an example of one. I get goose pumps thinking about how dangerous the recent situation was that we were put in!
The last few days Earthling has been anchored in a peaceful calm bay of Cumberland in St. Vincent. This bay is deep and boats have to anchor close to shore in addition to having a stern line tied to a tree. Tall palm trees and bushes seem touchable from the boat. Twittering birds, mangos falling and hitting the ground and the water crashing on shore are the only sounds we hear. The water in Cumberland bay is flat 99.9% of the time and it has been partly cloudy since we got here. Our experience with the locals has been more than welcoming as we have already come close to making friends for life here in St. Vincent.

Full Moon Bonfire

The biggest full moon of the year appeared last night and as an Earthling tradition, we like to have a bonfire when there is a full moon. Even though it was a rainy day and the wooden logs were damp and wet, we were eager to get a bonfire going, especially since new friends from the village close by were invited. The bonfire was a success and the time spent enjoying it was exhilarating. A few hours into it our stomachs started to growl and it was time to head back home to make dinner.
As Mike, Rebecca, Katherine and I tried to get on ZTC's dinghy, we realized how sudden the waves were becoming bigger making it difficult to get on the tender. When we got to Earthling, it felt like this is was serious, the swells were lifting the boat up and down, averaging between four to six feet and within minutes the bay had become complete turmoil with the rain and wind picking up significantly. More anchor line was put out and within a short time we see the two other sailboats in the bay pull up anchor and quickly leave. Shortly after “Zero to Cruising” left the stern line behind and was gone. The extra line put out brought us closer to shore, and the best solution was to pull up anchor and leave along with everyone else. Easier said than done due to the position of the boat, we were in a very tight place located in the corner of the bay. I was concerned that the waves might wash the boat ashore as I was trying to pull up the anchor and chain manually. I’m glad to have had another crew member  aboard verses being solo, however, Katherine’s boating experience is limited!
The engine is in forward gear, Katherine is behind helm, I’m at the bow trying to pull up the chain as the waves are crashing within feet of us. It took a long time before half of the rode was in! (Or maybe it just seemed like a long time) As we were trying to pull up the anchor the stern line eased but never let go. The pressure on the chain was so strong it cracked the wood underneath the anchor carrier. Furthermore, the anchor was stuck and wouldn’t come up! Plan B was to leave the anchor, chain, and rope behind and retrieve it later with hope that the strength of the swells didn’t pull us ashore. It was then an inner voice told me to stay put! If conditions were to get worse within the next hour, we would have to risk it and go! I suggested for Katherine to get some sleep. I sat down in the cockpit with the spot light in my hand, observing the swells, the stern line, and the reefs behind the boat. Here I am once again, living on the edge! Why did I fall into this situation? Within the next hour, winds died and waves diminished drastically! It felt more relieving, but I was still in a state of distress! 
During this whole time we were keeping in touch with ZTC and Black Baron (a local restaurant owner) to check the conditions at sea. Black Baron came back to the bay after a few hours and ZTC returned at sunrise.
These kinds of challenges are a learning experience. It is the most drastic and often times life threatening situations that make us appreciate how lucky we all are. Katherine and I are safe and our angels protected us from this life threatening situation.
The following day we found out that the locals were anxiously watching Earthling from up the hill throughout the night. They were amazed with what had occurred and thought we were brave to have stayed put; some thought it was stupid. I'm thankful we are safe and Earthling is without any damage!

Love from Living on the Edge