The Eastern Caribbean is a bit more of a challenge. It’s remote and the distances between islands make for a more robust sail in more aggressive seas. And the place is a contradiction, at times. One can find huge & elaborate facilities and then there remains those island bars and restaurants that are nothing more than a pile of driftwood artistically sitting there on the beach.
These islands are called the Windward Islands. Columbus knew that he had to fall-down well below 30 degrees of latitude to be pushed by the Easterlies to the Americas. With such restraints, a majority of 16th century sailing ships found themselves right HERE. The island bearing to the windward in reference to that vessel became the Windward Islands.
Local beer here is Hairoun and the preferred currency is the EC’s - the Eastern Caribbean Dollar. You get a handful of EC’s for each US dollar. This circumstance originated the familiar Jimmy Buffett quote “EC come EC go”
Captain Jack Sparrow set fire to his rum on this very island of Petit Tabac as a signal for help from other pirates. It’s no wonder that the film “Pirates of the Caribbean” used this beautiful island as a backdrop for the their motion picture of tales from the Caribbean.
The seas were a bit tall when Captain Francisco caught this beautiful Barracuda. He gave the fish a snort of the “170-proof” rum (that they also use to make local rum punches) to calm him down. Within an hour, Julietta had prepared us a beautiful seafood lunch.
Melissa and I always find time to enjoy the things around us. We also spent some beach time on the island of Bequia (pronounced Beck-Way) after the voyage. The people are as lovely as their island!
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