The Caribbean – The Windward Isles
The Windward Islands were the first that Thomas and Gaylyn explored. Martinique was a treat and after paying 5 euro at a local café and checking in online, they had officially arrived. This tropical island was very Europeanised including the social structure and supermarkets. It was a great introduction to the Caribbean, but provided a false sense of security in the manner of shopping items, prices and culture. The rest of the Caribbean had rudimentary supermarkets and Gaylyn soon learned the hard way to alter her shopping and cooking habits. She soon adopted the trick of trying dishes at a local café or restaurant and then interrogating the cook about the ingredients and where to obtain them. It was a culinary culture shock for the crew of Qi. It took her two months before Gaylyn would stop trying to buy mushrooms, strawberries and palm sugar at the other islands.
At the time, each island in the Caribbean needed to be checked in and out off with various fees and procedures attached to the process. The purchase of a guide book explaining these and the whereabouts of supermarkets, markets, hikes and anchoring conditions was a vital addition to the bookshelf. Even the phone number of mooring owners were available.
Their experiences with the moorings and the anchorages in Dominica became more and more concerning. They were happy to be on a mooring instead of anchoring amongst the coral bommies. Firstly, because of the damage caused to the coral and secondly, they didn’t want their anchor chain getting stuck between the bommies making it an adventure sport to lift the anchor. Early one morning before day break, they were hearing a gentle clunk, clunk on the side of the hull and then voices. Upon investigation, they were greeted with a friendly, ‘Bon Jour’, from a woman on a French boat whose mooring had dragged and their boat had met with the aft side of Qi. After helping them to untangle with the mooring lines, Thomas became aware that they too had dragged and were about 100 metres from their original position. Havoc calmly broke loose and the matter was rectified and the crew were soon back to sleep once they’d re-anchored.
Another time, in the same bay, as Gaylyn and Thomas sat in the cockpit having dinner, they noticed a different French yacht dragging its anchor. Their dinghy motor wasn’t working so they rang the mooring guys, who rescued the boat and re-anchored it. The grateful young French sailors brought over a bottle of wine the following evening and explained that they had tied all their university funds up in the boat and they had planned their circumnavigation as their gap year adventure. They said that not only had Gaylyn and Thomas helped saved their boat, but their futures as well. The wine was graciously accepted when all was considered. The lesson here was, don’t go camping for a few days on an island and leave your anchored boat to the fate of the gods.
Thomas and Gaylyn did leave the boat often and had plenty of adventures, especially on Dominica. This island quickly became their favourite. They ventured on a difficult hike to The Valley of Desolation to see the second largest boiling lake in the world, (the first being near Rotorua in New Zealand), an island tour including swimming in hot waterfalls, and a visit to Titou Gorge, where Jonny Depp jumped amongst the rocks off a cliff in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, (although the guide told them that the scene where he jumped and the scene where he landed were two entirely different locations). They also dived on a wall and into Champagne Beach where bubbles rose from the bottom of the sea. It was like diving in a glass of champagne. Gaylyn also went horse riding through the lush rainforest. This island has so much to offer adventurous visitors.
Other windward islands incorporated beautiful dives and swimming with dolphins. Heck, even shopping was an adventure. Gaylyn and Thomas ended up sailing north to the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean before venturing south at the end of the season and before the start of the hurricane season.
